 And finally, I can't tell you Falcons fans out there that you're listening to and maybe watching the show on AtlantaFalcons.com. I am beyond excited for today's guests and I don't wanna, I wanna get right into it, but today we have who I believe is the greatest running back in Falcons history. One of the best all time. If you guys know me, you know I love running backs and I put them right up there with the best. And I'm talking about Walter Payton, Tony Dorsett. Barry Sanders is in a special class, but I'll tell you what, William Andrews, former Atlanta Falcons player, career cut short and we'll get into all this. He got better every single year. Statistically, his runs, we'll put him up with anybody. William, I am so stoked. I don't wanna get going here, but I just wanna just convey how excited I am to finally have you on here and for different reasons over the last few years. We haven't been able to get you on, but you're on. Welcome to Bird Noises presented by Bose. How you doing? I'm doing great. Thank you man for having me. I really do appreciate it. Well, listen, you know, I wanna talk about your career here obviously. I wanna talk about, you know, your thoughts on, you know, some of the years that you were here, also just in the context of other great running backs, but you know, let's just start with two runs in particular because I think in anybody who has a phone or a computer can go to YouTube and watch these two runs. They both occurred in 1982. And I'm not sure, I'm hoping that you remember every single play in the play call here because I can't get enough of them. One was against, they came in two games within a three week span against the Denver Broncos and the San Francisco 49ers. And oddly enough, they were little swing passes. Yeah. One was to the left, one was to the right. Let's talk about that Broncos game because it ended up being an 86 yard reception, but it was all run. I mean, it was a pass to the flat. And you know, you can mention the guy that, you know, you ran over, but yeah, let's go ahead. Let's get to that play. The play was set up basically because it was a drop back pass, Steve had to drop back. And we were, after we check our linebackers and where he is and that kind of thing, then we did like a little swing, a little swing hook, if you will. And to see, cause we always had a saying, save a sack, throw it to the back. So that's pretty much how Lynn and I were involved in all our plays. We check our linebackers cause we had to take our outside linebacker. And once they did that, then we were swing routes because we were secondary receivers based on what he was doing. If he couldn't see his primary guys downfield, he knew he could get at least five yards to five to six yards from us being in the backfield. Yeah, so you took, it was a quick hit to the flat to the left. And the defender who came up, was it Steve Wilson from the Broncos? Steve Wilson, yeah. He came up and it was within seconds, right? It was within, I think he was right there on you within five yards. Yep. Well, one of the things you got, I always remember with me, you had to wrap me up completely. And it couldn't just, it wasn't just one guy to do it. It's got to be more than one guy. And not bragging on myself, but that's just my prowess in what I used to do when I ran. Now what I did was I faked him to the left. Yeah. Faked him to the right. He didn't take either one of those. And then so the next move was to plow right through him. And I did so when I did that, I kind of knocked him down and it was clear sailing from right there. And then I got some help from downfield from junior middle and half of jinkers down that sideline. And so that made it go and so I had to score a touchdown that eight, six yard run then. Yeah. I'm watching the replay right now. I've watched it probably about 150 times, but it was actually to be more accurate. He Wilson came up. It was more like you had, I think you're about maybe five to seven yards downfield. And then you're right. You had an escort down there, but Tommy Jackson, the linebacker from the Broncos. Thomas Jackson, yeah. Hall of Famer, really, really good linebacker. In fact, he was middle linebacker when the play started. I think you guys were an eye formation. And he tried to chase you down in Dove at the end, but you were a big man with a lot of speed. I compare you to Earl Campbell. Earl Campbell was a big back, powerful back with tons and tons of speed. And I think you were right there with the same speed. You had very, very, I don't want to even say deceptive speed, but that play was just that's the one that gets you off your seat and watching that one. It's, I'm watching it again. You've got actually like three guys coming up on you. And one guy thought you were tackled and just kind of was flat footed. And then you turned on the afterburners. Well, I gotta tell you, I don't have, I didn't have blazing speed. I just had enough speed to get out of the way. And so as that play you can tell, guys were gaining on me. I did everything I could so they wouldn't catch me. So that's what you gotta always realize is not how much speed you guys, don't let them catch you. And the thing of it is you never look back because when you look back, people can catch you. Yeah. Well, a lot of guys now, they have the benefit of the jumbotrons, right? They're running, they're looking up and they're watching the whole field behind them. Sorry, that wasn't in our vocabulary back then. Unfortunately, that was in 82. That was the strike shorten season too. Yeah, it was, yeah. It was nine games. When you look at your career and we're gonna get to another run that season, but your output, you ran for 1,000 yards, 10-23, 13-08 in 1980, 13-01 in 81, then the strike shorten season, you had 5-73 in nine games. And then your best season, it was in 83, you ran for 1,567 yards. I'm not even talking about the reception. You had, a few of those years, you had seven, more than 700 yards, more than 600 yards receiving. And then of course, 84, you missed the season. We'll get into that. But you ended up coming back in 86 in plan, but we'll get into that too. But let's stay back on 82 because I believe it was a Monday night game. And I wanna say that only because it was Howard Cosell, Don Meredith and Fran Tarkin did not have the call. I'm pretty sure that was a Monday night game, which you guys, I don't think you guys were on a ton of Monday night games, were you? No, we were not. And that play, I don't know, do you remember that play before I explain it? A little swing back when Ronnie came up to hit me. Yeah. Yeah, well, you know, running. That was a swing to the right this time. Yeah, yeah, you have to watch Ronnie a lot, right? Because, yeah, yeah, he did it. And one of the greatest catch that I played against, and I got it, there's a number of my good name that I played against, but he was talented as all get up. Now, I hit, you know, I learned from, that he was a running back in high school. Yeah, yeah, I believe that. Instead of being a defense back, so I can see his prowess to come up and hit people like that, but it just so happened, it was a quick little quick flair to the right, and I didn't have time to catch myself. So what I did is I balled into the tightest ball I could get it myself into. And so all he hit, all he could hit was just a solid shoulder and thigh, and then he bounced off and I bounced away from him and went up and about four or five other guys hit me in the middle right there. And then I kept going, and then the guy came from the back and grabbed my shoulders. You know, of course that had been collar, collar, and if it were today's world, but back then, it was no such thing. So, you know, every man for what he had and what he could have, and that's what it was. So, like I said, I can't, when I go back and look over the, what I used to do, I'm satisfied with some of the things that I've accomplished and all that kind of thing. So I can't be, I'm not sad about anything. I love playing the game, and I had a love for it. I didn't, it wasn't out there for money or anything like that, because I wasn't making that much, but I was enjoying myself because I had a good time. Yeah, I would, yeah, you had a, it was not as long as it should have been. We'll get into that, but on that play, to be fair to you, Ronnie Lott was like lined up on the line of scrimmage. Yeah. I'm watching the replay right now. As soon as you looked the ball in, I mean, in a split second, the minute you looked upfield, he was in your grill. Yeah. And Ronnie Lott, everybody knows, he hits like a Mack truck. Oh yeah, he does, but, you know, but I'm the repair guy. Yeah, well, he needed to repair after that. So, you know, I'm, look, I'm just watching the replay here. I'm just reliving it because I can't get, what a backfield too. It was you and I believe Gerald Riggs, right? Yeah, we had, when Lynn Kane was, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Lynn Kane. Then Gerald came in the next couple of years. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I'm watching, okay, so I'm gonna call the play up here. So, they almost jumped offside. Lebar Kowski, like literally just steps, snaps it, steps, throws it. Correct. I mean, it was like a two, three yard pass. Yep. And you're just getting up to, you're not even beyond the line of scrimmage and the lie is hitting you. That's what I mean. I had, I got at no speed. So when I saw him out of the corner of my right eye, that's when I gathered myself and got into that ball and all he did was hit shoulder and die. That's all he could hit. Now I just paused it here. There are one, two, three, four. You are in a circle, a red circle of red 49er jerseys. All of them have their heads down, hitting you. It's almost like it was timed. They are hitting you at the same time. Yeah. Yeah. And you have your head down and they fly like bowling pins and you're downfield. And I listened to the audio. Howard Cosell, I don't know if it was Howard Cosell or Fran Tarkin, one of them jumped out of their seat in the booth on the call and cause they were stunned. And Howard Cosell said he called it the greatest, as good at evidence of power running in any game you'll ever see the late great Howard Cosell said there as you were coming back to the huddle. But man, if it wasn't, and you had that, you had Nascor too for that one. You had like five guys and somehow Eric Wright comes in between all of them and catches you. He comes from behind you. Yeah. Did you give some of your teammates a little crow for that? One of the guys left the door open. So that's what happened. Cause that would have been, I'm telling you what, I mean, it is a highlight film type run and it's here we are what, 2021 and still talking about it, still excited. You were four year pro at the time, 26 years old out of Auburn and who, which you know, you had some pretty good backs there too. Well, I'm kind of mad. I'm kind of upset cause they didn't have it one of the greatest runs. You know, they got all these guys that got all these great runs and I said, huh, I had something just like that, but they didn't put mine in there. And you know, you gotta look at it. I understand, see, I was a true fullback. I was not a running back or a tailback. I was a true fullback and they don't have those anymore. Right? Yeah. I mean, there's, you can count on one hand how many teams actually have one on the roster. Correct. So the tailback and the fullback are completely different two positions because one's a two and I'm always in a three position. Yep. And the three position is directly behind the quarterback. So I had most of my most enjoyable time behind the quarterback because I could see everything that's going on. I knew it. I knew what every lineman did up front. I knew which way the quarterback gonna step out and do what he had to do and that kind of thing. Cause our job was to protect him on at any point, at any time. Well, I'll tell you what, then you may get even stronger, even stronger case to be in the hall of fame, William, because if you're saying that I'm a fullback, you show me a fullback that runs for 1300, 1500 yards every season and catches passes out of the backfield like a scat back, like a third down back. Right. And has the power of a tight end running. You were something that, you know, there were very few of in the NFL. I was a true all purpose that. Oh, for sure. Because I never came out. On third downs, I could run around just as good as the wide receivers. I could catch just as good as any of them in the whole nine yards. So they never brought me out when it came to that. The only way they brought me out, it was second half and we were so far ahead that they just sat me down and arrest me. That's the only time I came out. It's unbelievable. And so people can go look up those runs on YouTube and just search William Andrews Broncos, William Andrews 49ers. I think the other ones called William Andrews runs over Ronnie Lott and they can watch them get the popcorn out and scream like I do. I'll tell you what, your seasons, you know, we just went over your seasons in, you know, 84, you were getting better as each year you were in the league and then you had that devastating injury that really, in essence, in essence, ended your career. I know you came back in 86, but what do you remember of that? And if you can go back to that, will you just describe what happened and if you want and just describe what must have been going through your mind and did you know it was as bad as it was gonna be? Well, I can go back and I look at what happened that day, you know, at the time I wasn't in training camp because we were discussing my contract increase in my pay and so that's the reason I wasn't in training camp like everybody else was to get started and the day that they signed me, I came in and start going through the drills and all like that. I was in the probably best shape I was in all my life at that time. And so I came out to practice and I've run this play a hundred times, man. And when I made a cut, I made a cut in one of the linebackers that I'd always played against. And I made a cut on him and when I made the cut and planted my left foot, everything with Haywire did. And so I felt it immediately that I had torn something really bad. I didn't know what it was, but at the time he caught me and laid me down. I said, just lay me down here. I said, I'm hurt, I'm hurt pretty bad. So he did and the trainers came over and ran over and grabbed me and took me inside. And they took, they looked at it in the leg. My knee was swelling. They said, boy, he did something. And so they took me downtown to Piedmont. And I tell you, I didn't know I was that popular when they stopped and they cut in on all soap operas. They stopped all the soap operas to announce that I got injured and I was on my way down to Piedmont. So when I got down there, there was a young doctor by the name of Eve Hunter. She's the one that examined me. And she said, oh my God, William, she said, you really messed this up. And they took that craze and saw what was going on. And I had damaged three of the four major ligaments. So she said it was like a little explosion in there. And I had torn all of the ligaments. The only thing that was left intact was the media, which was the inside ligament. That's the only thing I had left. Wow. And of course, back then, they didn't have the, they've come so far with arthroscopic surgery and reconstruction surgery. They just didn't have that back then. But you know, my hat's off to John Garrett. My hat's off to John Garrett and his staff and his team and what they did for me because John was out of town. And at the time, Eve Hunter was there to, not to administer the surgery, but she was there to do the diagnosis. And when he got back, they brought him on vacation. He came back and that afternoon they did surgery, he did surgery on me and he told me what I was up against and that kind of thing. He said, well, you don't look like you're gonna be able to play again. I said, well, you know, the thing I'm looking to do is if I can get in the yard and play with the kids, I'll be happy. I said, but if the ball is gone, it's gone, but I just want to be able to get in the yard and play with the kids. And that's it. And so the good Lord blessed me enough to have that aspect of my thinking to get me back up and going. Cause it took me about 23 months to get myself back. And that's a long time to be out and then trying to come back because you got younger players that's gonna be a lot faster and stronger and that kind of thing. But I went through the process of trying to return. And then again, I left on my terms, not somebody had to cut me anything like that. So William, you got that news and I can't even imagine how devastating to hear the words, hey, you know, I think it's over. Did they tell you that before you tried to come back or did they tell you that after you said, you know what, I'm leaving on my terms? No, it happened before. Okay. After I had the surgery, after I had the surgery, they said, William, you blew three of the four major ligaments. And we had never seen a player come back off of something like that. So I would strongly think that you would want to consider retirement. I said, well, here's the thing. You know, I came in to win and I'm gonna leave a winner. So as I told them, I said, look, I would rather go out and try to see if I could as opposed to you just telling me just to walk away from it. So I did that. I did that. So I left no doubt in my mind because I know when I can do something and you know, of course, you know, when you can't do anything either. But I had to find out for myself whether I could or whether I couldn't. So came to the conclusion when they start moving me around on the offense and that kind of thing, I knew it was time because the coaches wasn't looking at it like I was looking at it for me to come back and see if I could play again. If not, you know, no need to play with it. And I don't need anybody playing politics with my injury or anything like that. So I told, I said, look, so let me, I said, let me get a hold of Mr. Smith. Let me go talk to him. And he and I have that conversation because that's the one that pays me. And so I would rather go to him in an honest to sit down and have a strong conversation with him. And when I suggested that the trainers Jerry, he said, well, my dad has a great idea. He said, why don't you go sit with Mr. Smith and see where you guys are? And I think that'd be the best thing for you. So I did that and Mr. Smith was actually happy that I came in and sit down and talk with him. And I said, you know, I've done everything I know to do for this organization. And y'all have been really great to me and I do appreciate everything you've done, I think, but I think it's time to hang my cleaks up. And so he said, William, he said, I hate to lose you because you were one hell of a one that we've ever had. So I said, well, Mr. Smith, I appreciate the opportunity you gave me to be a party organization. And so we left it at that. And that afternoon we announced that my retirement. And so he has to end the day just as happy as I can be and that I made the decision and not them. Well, you will go down as one of the great, certainly you're in the Falcons Atlanta Falcons Ring of Honor, you know, had that injury not occurred, you know, there's no question in my mind and probably in your mind that you would be the franchise's all-time leading rusher. It's just, you know, when I look at your numbers and when I look at your career and I look at the teams you are on, you weren't on, you know, it's not like you guys were perennial playoff teams. Right. Do you think that hurts you when it comes to the Hall of Fame conversation? Because you look at other running backs and I'm talking about tailbacks who are in the Hall of Fame. I mean, you hold your own. Now, look, people might get on me for comparing you to Gail Sayers but Gail Sayers is a guy that comes to mind whose career was cut short like yours. Right, oh yeah. Who was a fantastic, unbelievable runner unlike anything we had ever seen. Without a doubt. Without a doubt. I'm not saying that you and Gail Sayers are the same kind of back, you're not. But when you just look at the length of your careers in the production of your careers, it's very similar and he's like, you know, no brainer into the Hall of Fame. I don't know, I just, do you ever think about that part of it? And then I just wanna ask you a question about Lanna Falcons in general in the Hall of Fame. I don't think about that because, you know, when I look at Gail Sayers, right, Gail Sayers was a guy that could stop on a dime and give you five cents change. Unbelievable. That's just the way he was. And when I look at Jim Brown, I look at Jim Brown, I look at OJ Simpson, I looked at all those guys and never played with OJ, never played with Gail. But I play, I mean, Jim Brown or Gail, but I played with OJ and he was probably one of the most prolific backs I've ever seen in my life. A lot of me, a lot of guys called me Jews just because I wore the number in college but I wouldn't know where you can get your caliber. But as I came into prominence in the Falcons organization when I was a rookie, I had the opportunity to meet OJ and I said, man, it's an honor to meet you. He said, no man, it's an honor to meet you. He said that you up and coming, man. I really like your style. So I get compliments like that from other guys even with my buddy that played at San Francisco I forget the running backs name that was at San Francisco at the time, Roger Craig. Roger and I had, Roger had similar styles of running like I do, high knee, low to the ground and that kind of thing. And so Roger and I had a chance to spend some time after we got out of the league. And I said, man, you weren't a hell of a guy. He said, what are you talking about? Man, you are. I said, man, look, all I was trying to do was get out of the way. You said, they said, well, you did a good job. So, but I get, I get a kick out of talking to the old guys back in the day as to when we played. Now to our conversation concerning me being a tailback and the other running backs, right? Yeah. They can't compare me to anybody else other than a fullback. Okay. I talked to the guys that was here at the Black College Hall of Fame, I guess a couple of years ago. And I said, let me ask you a question. Why did you guys just looked over fullbacks? I said, the last fullback to ever go in the Hall of Fame was Larry Zonka. Okay. I was just going to ask you who you thought the best fullback was. That's who it was Larry Zonka. Number 39. Okay, so I'm saying, come on now. And you're going to compare us to running backs. I said, we were fullbacks, true fullbacks. So you got to have a category for fullback as opposed to lumping everybody in his running back. I said, because we don't do the same thing. And we don't. Larry Zonka. You know, Larry Zonka, great back. He played for the Giants and the Dolphins. Everyone knows that he was on that undefeated team, right? And so, you know, I'm sitting here, I'm pulling up just in case you're wondering, I'm pulling up his stats. He had one, two, three, three seasons he clipped a thousand yards. He played a long time. He played nine, 10, 11 years in the league. Was on some really, really good teams. And that, you know, that always helps your case, right? Oh yeah, no question about it. No question about it. Being in Atlanta, you know, in just, it's just tough. It's just tough, you know, because that's what I wanted to ask you too. You know, when you look at it, let's look at it on the merit though. Okay. Just from the merit standpoint, okay? Nothing else, right? Yep. I was a fullback. Fullback. I wasn't a running back. I wasn't a tailback. I was a fullback. Don't change categories when you have fullboats, fullbacks putting up numbers like tailbacks. Exactly. Don't do it that. That's the wrong way to do it. That's the case that needs to be made. I've argued with these guys. I said, look, I was a true fullback. I wasn't a tailback. I didn't line up seven yards. I said, let me ask you a question. Who gets to the line of scrimmage quicker than the tailback? The fullback, I'm only three and a half yards from the tailback. The tailback got seven yards to make his mind up. I only got one. So they give me a hard time about it. I said, but look, you got to admit, who got to make their mind up quickest? Yes. Fullback or the tailback? Yep. I said, you got seven yards of middle and P around down in the back of me. When I get the hand off, I got to make my mind up in two steps. Well, a lot of times too, in a lot of cases, the fullback is treated like a pulling guard or like a tight end and they're not getting. And I did it all. The touches, like the big tailback. I did it all. Not bragging on myself, but I did it all. No, you didn't do it all. I mean, I got evidence. I got evidence. Yes. And people need to go watch and look and compare. I need to make that. You know what, I'm going to do what I can. On the stage that I have. It's not maybe not the biggest stage, but I'm going to start making some noise for you. We've tried with Tommy Novus. We're going to keep trying with Tommy Novus. Well, we've got to get you in the hall of fame. I agree with you 100%. But there's other guys that I look at that should be there prior to me, right? You had Jeff Van Note, which plays the longest center in Falcon history. And Mike Ken, one of the greatest offensive linemen that I've ever played with and are against. Mike Hell is on in a number of years that he played there. And this guy still looks like he still can play. Not disagreeing with you at all. But the fact that the fact that the matter is they, we had some sports guys here in Atlanta that didn't like the organization of ranking Smith and the Falcon. And so Furmer Bishop is one of them that he didn't give us any kind of coverage or anything like that. The only thing he did was bad mouth us. But the point I'm saying is, you can't go and let one guy take over the setup of what a team does because you got more than one player. You know, you can have one voice in the newspaper, but hell, we got 22 guys out there playing both on 11 on offense and 11 on defense. So you got to look at the merit of what these guys are doing, not just because you don't like the owner or the other team itself. You can't do that. That's a disservice to us because we out there giving everything we got, giving our hearts in terms of entertaining people. And the one thing you got to remember about me, I gave everything I could on the field. I left it out there. I didn't take any home. I left it on the field. And when I left, I left the game on my term and not everybody else's. I love that. No doubts. But you know, when I look at the Hall of Fame, you're in the ring of honor, deservedly so. Lana Falcons ring of honor. When I look at the Atlanta Falcons who are in the Hall of Fame, you're gonna see where I'm going with this. Tommy McDonald, Eric Dickerson, Deion Sanders, Chris Dolman, Claude Humphrey, Brett Favre, Morton Anderson, Tony Gonzalez, and then Norm Van Brocklin, head coach. Right. Most of those guys made their marks on other teams. Deion made an impact here. Right. Claude Humphrey made an impact here, but then he went to Philadelphia. Correct. It just feels like to me, when you talk about the players that you just mentioned who are not in the Hall of Fame, yourself included, Tommy Novus, Mr. Falcon, the first ever draft pick. Yeah, for sure. Who was on the cover of Life Magazine and Time Magazine and Sports Illustrated. Got Heisman votes coming out of Texas. Played on some bad teams. You played on, I believe, one winning team, right? You had a couple of teams that won seven games. 1980, yeah. Yeah, I wanna ask you about that team, but, yeah, great, great team. But it just looks, the optics of it, just don't look or don't mesh well with me. It doesn't add up with me either because I played with these guys and against some of the guys that you mentioned, right? Yep. The thing I wish is Mike Ken and Jeff Van Note. If I had to look at two players that was on the Falcons and also Tommy, because I didn't play with Tommy, but I played with Jeff Van Note and Mike Ken. Yep. These two guys right here are my heroes in terms of what they helped me do out there on the field because they protected me like nobody's business. When I was running, they said, look, just tell me what you want us to do and I'll do it. And that's what they did. So you gotta realize that as you play against guys, you get to know who they really are. And all of these guys that you mentioned, a perfect gentleman when it comes to what they can do and how they do it and what they do in all season and what they do in doing season. So I got mad respect for all of them and I'm just not bitter, but I'm disappointed in how the selections are done based on what they talk about Hall of Fame. Every one of those guys were Hall of Fame candidates. I can tell you that right now. You got guys that hadn't been in the league long and they all of a sudden, they in the hall, really? You gotta be kidding me. You haven't seen these guys. I said, number two is they don't work as hard as we used to. I mean, they get a hang there. They can sit out for a couple of games. We couldn't do that. I'll make a joke, but the fact that I'm not... No, I hear you. No, well-taken. I get it. The fact that the matter is you can step your toe, man. You won't stand for two weeks. I said, what's up with that? And you know what they did? They cut our shoe, man. So our big toe would stick out of the shoe and we still play, man. Come on now. These guys are getting 10 pairs of shoes. I said, come on, man, don't do that. Well, that's a great segue. Let's, you know, I want to ask you, let's play a little, this will kind of maybe evoke some stories, some thoughts, but also, you know, feel free to go where you want with this, but I just want to just say a word or phrase or a name. And all you have to do is just say the first thing, first thought that comes to your mind and we'll just keep going. If you want to come out afterwards, go ahead. And I tried to think of some guys that played along the same time you did as well. But here we go. Are you ready? This is a bird noises hot seat here. Best team you ever played on? 1980. Yeah. We established that one. The hardest hitter you ever faced? That brand TELT. Oh, number 10 linebacker, the Jones. Oh God, that man, that was a stone. He was a stone, man. Let me tell you, this cat was a stone, man. True story. I had his jersey growing up. My dad was a Giants fan, made me wear it. This guy was a stone. He was stone, man. I've never hit anybody this hard. I've never tried. This guy, I went and hit him, man, and I saw a damn bird flying around my head. I said, God, and I used to tell him. He played with some good linebackers, too. Harry Carson. Yeah, I used to tell Lynn. I said, Lynn, look, I can't move this guy. I said, so what I'm going to do, I'm going to try to position myself so you can make the best cut you can. I said, but this boy is stone. I can't move. You know what, you don't hear a lot of people talk about Brad Van Pelt, but he was good. Man, look, hey, look, you know, this is what I'm telling you, man. I played with some great ones. You hear me? And these guys were stone. This guy was a stone. He was like an anvil. You had to have some strength to move this cat. I was not expecting that. All right, that's cause biggest trash talker you ever came across. Biggest trash talker, Hollywood Henderson. Oh, number 56 for the Cowboys. Oh yeah. Yeah, I believe it. I believe it. Yeah. What's the funniest or weirdest thing he ever said to you? That you remember? Or that you just recall him talking about? Oh, that I wasn't going to gain three yards. Yeah. I said, really? I said, I'm going to gain three and I'm going to gain three on you. Sounds like you talked a little trash too. No, no, but I knew what I was going to do. I didn't, I wasn't there to play with him. Yeah. But nevertheless, great guy though, great guy. Yeah, amazing story, right? Meet him in person, great cat. I mean, I like him. I don't turn his life around. Yeah, the thing against of my, but, you know, I think they do it because they're not sure themselves and what they're going to do that day, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And when he started talking trash to everybody else, I mean, I've been talked trash too for most of my life. So what the hell is the difference? Do you remember when he won the lottery? Yeah. Yeah. What did you think when he won? I was happy for him. Okay. I said, man, this song girl won the lottery. I said, you know, this cat, I played against this cat. And all of a sudden now he don't want to damn lie. I said, I mean, but that's just calmer though, you know what I mean? Yeah, he had some tough times. Yeah. But boy, was he good though? Yeah, he was. He was no question about it. And played at HBCU. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. And then most of the guys, I gotta tell you this, most of the guys that I played against, some of the best guys I've ever played in in my life, went to HBCU. Now I went to a predominantly black, white college, right? But these guys went to black, and I'll tell you, they are some of the greatest cats that I remember in my whole NFL season. These guys were great. Deion Sanders head coach now, right? Yeah. And loving it, right? Loving it. I know Deion, the younger cat, but that's another trash talker too then. But he could back his up, because he had speed and he had some giddy up in his shoes, let me tell you. Yeah. He was good. He was... And I wish him well though. I wish him well though. Yeah, it's a great story. I hope he has success there. All right. Best player you ever shared the field with, either it could be on your team or someone you played against? Walter Pagan. Yeah, Sweetness. Yeah. Meanest or dirtiest player you ever played with or against? Conrad Dobler. Okay. Earl Campbell. Badest cat I've ever seen. Tony Dorsett. The smoothest I've ever seen. Walter Payton. Feel some. This cat was feel it. I mean, he was feel some. He really was. Barry Sanders. This guy, you know, Barry is one of the most unique cats I've ever had the opportunity to watch. This guy could run sideways faster and I could run up the field. That's a great description. And could get a yardage as he was running sideways. That's a god thing. That's the craziest thing I've ever seen. But what a bat. What a bat, man. You're not lying. Gerald Riggs. Gerald, power and speed for a big guy. All right, your QB won. Well, one of them anyway. Steve Barkowski. One of the finest quarterbacks I played with in all my career. I was looking at your stats and someone I work with. I didn't realize that I should have. Dave Archer. Dave. Probably one of the best cats that I know as far as just his mental attitude in terms of what he was going to do when he had to do it on a daily basis. Now for a really, really important question. What do you think of the name Bird Noises? I never heard of it before. But it's squawking real loud right now. I love it. Oh, I am so glad that you came on and we are going to start. We got to get you in the hall, man. And we got to get those other guys too. Well. But it's time. It's time. And it's just. You know, I got to tell you, though, man. The fullback argument, though. Well, here's the thing. And let me be blunt about this. And I don't care. I don't care who knows it or whatever. They've got young kids trying to say who should and who shouldn't. These young guys that are sports writers and all that kind of stuff, they've never seen the caliber of players we were when we were back in that day. So don't give me this about this guy coming out of college. He all world. He all is. Well, he hadn't been through anything. You get the guys that's been through some trenches and some mud holes and that kind of thing. And then you come talk to me. But right now, don't don't do that because these guys couldn't hold these these guys couldn't carry these guys. Jockstrap strap. The young guys that they couldn't carry these old guys. Jockstrap. I can say that right now. It couldn't. I'm so glad you brought up. And I can help. Man, look, I'm telling that guy, man, was so. I mean, he was like a pillar of stone. And I bet you I'm to your point, though. I bet you a lot of sports writers today. Not I don't know. I don't want to say that. But maybe some of the younger ones, they probably couldn't tell you a whole lot about Brad Van Pelt. No, they couldn't. But I can't. Oh, I'm just good. Yeah, yeah. Raising ourselves. We're aging ourselves a little bit. But but don't get me wrong. Yeah. The finest player that I could ever play against, because he kept me honest. OK, I couldn't just go out there, you know, have hazardous and try to do what I need to do with him. He said, I'm here to play and I'm going to play all day. And trust me, he was there all day to play all day. And most guys don't do that. They can't do it. But this guy was there all day, every day. William Andrews, I am so glad you came on. It's a pleasure and an honor to finally meet you. I hope when this pandemic is over, I get to meet you in person. Hey, well, I'm looking forward to that now, because I learned about the Squawk Box now, man. We in trouble. And I tell you what, if anybody knows where I can buy in Atlanta Falcons, throwback jersey with the red numerals, white jersey. I want a number 31. I want a bad. That's a bad man right there. You're a bad man. And thank you. You're a great man and a humble man. And it was it was it was my pleasure. Thanks for coming out and please let's do it again. No, no, I wish you would. I mean, I would love to be involved in what you guys are doing because I hear what you guys are doing pretty fabulous. And my hats off to Brinkley. Oh, Brinkley, yep. She's awesome for, you know, thinking of me to come on your show. And she is one great gal that we treat her like a sister because we always call her. And she said, OK, William, what do you need today? So but she's always been there for her and my buddy Winston out there. Kevin Winston. They do a good job for for the older guys. And I just can't my hats off to him. I just can't do no praise it because she's some kind of gal. And we love her. Yeah, Kevin Winston and Brinkley Fork. Yeah, they are two awesome people. They they are. Yeah, you know, I've been here. I got here in May of 2017. And I pass, you know, Kevin's office every day on the way out the door before pandemic. And I pass Brinkley's desk on the way to lunch. Every day. So you know, I was going to see him both. And two of my favorite people in Flowery Branch. No question about it. No question about it. No question about it. They they are some fabulous folk. And I just really I love being a part of them so that we can be a part of you guys. Yeah. And the good news from all this, too, is is that I I Brinkley won't have to hear me say, can I get William Andrews? Can I get William Andrews? Now I'm going to say, can I get him back? Yeah, I think I'm on speed that with her. Well, hey, man, I appreciate you. And I don't know if you read straight from the beak, but whenever I can bring up running backs and whenever I can bring up Falcons running backs, I I'm sure to plug you. I've had you in a couple centerpieces on the on the website. So, you know, if you ever see a picture on the site, you know, I'm probably grinning. Well, I do appreciate. And then also, I just like to mention hats off to all of the great ones that we've lost, Hank Aaron and Don Sutton and some other guys that we have lost in our midst because these guys were heroes of mine and a lot of other guys, even though we played different sports, but they still were heroes. And so my condolences to the families and that kind of thing. So if that's part of what I could do before I leave your show I would like to certainly mention that those passing and we really do just miss them and appreciate them. You know, it's it's it's great you bring that up because, you know, talking to you, it's it brings back, you know, a great part of my childhood when I was just first learning the game and my dad was taking me to Giants Games. Right. In Patriots games, I grew up in upstate New York and, you know, you guys weren't on TV a lot. But I do remember the 80s season. I remember the playoff game against the Cowboys. I remember a lot of those games. But you talk about Brad Van Pelt. I mean, I would have never expected anybody to bring up Brad Van Pelt. You talk about Don Sutton. You know, when I was a kid, you know, everybody where I went to school, you know, were Yankee fans. And it was Yankees Dodgers, if you remember, every year. It felt like or at least back to back years, right? Correct. And Don Sutton was, you know, the curly hair. Great. Oh, yeah. And then you talk about the King. Hank Aaron. Everybody knew, everybody knew the King. Hank Aaron, just like they knew Paley, right? Just like they knew, right? And it's awesome that you bring those up, those names up and it's sad that we've lost them. And, you know, I put your name right up with the great ones in my childhood and my memories. And it's been great. And look forward to talking to you again and stay healthy and be well. I'm going to do my best. You too, and, you know, just keep your head down. You got it. I'm a grinder. You know it. I got you. Well, that's great. Thank you so much for having me on your show. I really do appreciate it. And anytime I can ever be of service, I'm right here. All right, William. If I can keep my head down and have guys bounce off me like you did, I'll be good. All right, man. Well, take care of yourself.