Matt Diaz has worked extremely hard to lose 270 pounds over the past six years.
But his proudest moment came in March 2015 when he decided to film himself with his shirt off to prove an important point about body positivity and self-love.
Matt had lap-band surgery in 2009 at age 16.
Through the course of his weight-loss journey, Matt became passionate about promoting body positivity for people of all shapes and sizes.
To stay motivated, he started sharing his journey on social media, posting before-and-after photos, answering questions and giving support to followers, and even sharing his meals and favorite workouts. Six years later, Matt is down over 270 pounds and is a very active voice in the online body-positivity movement.
But in all his years of sharing his story, the one thing he’s never done is showed what his body looks like after 200+ pounds of weight loss. So he uploaded the video above to show his followers his true self.
Shortly after he posted the video online, originally to Tumblr, it quickly went viral and garnered thousands of shares and comments from people around the web. I was one of the thousands touched by the video, so I reached out to Matt to find out more about what motivated him and what he hopes others can take away from his story. Here’s what he had to say:
Why was it so important for you to post this video?
“I’m a really big advocate for self-love and body positivity. I think it’s important that we learn to love the bodies we’re in, even if we don’t necessarily like every little thing about them. However, in the time I’d been writing and talking about it, I’d never actually shown my excess skin to anyone. It felt dishonest somehow, to others and to myself. I couldn’t tell others that I wanted them to love themselves and keep myself hidden away and ashamed of my skin.”
“I know what it feels like to hate your body, and to be depressed about it, and I never want anyone to feel that way again. So, if making myself vulnerable can help one person, why not?” — Matt Diaz
What’s the response been like? Anything particularly unexpected?
“I think that putting any opinion on the Internet will garner a certain amount of negativity and cynicism, but I haven’t seen anything like that at all. I’ve read every comment and message since the video has gone up, literally thousands, and they’re all so thoughtful.
A really surprising side-effect were the number of transgender people who’ve thanked me saying that they understood my struggle, even though their body-related insecurity grew from different roots. I’d never even begun to [think] of what that must be like, and the fact that my message could help even though my problems began somewhere else is really incredible.”
What advice or words of encouragement do you have for someone who’s struggling to love their body?
“I know it’s difficult, especially when you’re starting out. I want you to remember that you are not the problem, certain aspects of society are the problem. You’ll constantly be told that you’re too heavy or too tall to be attractive, or you’re not masculine or feminine enough, or that your skin isn’t the right tone or your hair isn’t the right color, and these people are always always always wrong.
Luckily, we’re slowly starting to see these ideas get phased out by modernity. Plus-sized, un-retouched models are getting more attention in major brands, more attention is being put on the alternative scene for high fashion, it’s becoming clear that these negative ideas are not going to last, though it’s going to take a while.”
“Understand that to love yourself is to contest the negative things that were put into your head. Every smile, tattoo, bathing suit, and crop top is a small revolution. Tell yourself you’re beautiful every day, and I promise you will be.“ — Matt Diaz
Watch video below:
Matt’s story is a personal one, but it’s one we can all learn from.
I think the most important thing to take away here is that self-love takes time and is different for everyone no matter what they look like. It’s also worth noting that for Matt, losing weight was an important part of his journey, but that might not be the case for everyone. Even so, our society has such incredibly high and unrealistic body standards that even many of those who do work to lose weight end up feeling uncomfortable or being shamed for not having “perfect bodies” once they’ve lost weight.
There’s no such thing as a “perfect body” because everyone is different, which is what makes us beautiful and great! I’m glad there are people like Matt in the world who are not only willing to share their stories but also to inspire others by showing that body confidence comes in all shapes and sizes, and that everyone deserves to feel good about who they are. Here’s hoping Matt’s inspiring words can help others begin to love and accept themselves, no matter where they’re at in their journey.
He’s taking the beauty world by storm, one tweet at a time.
Maybelline just recruited Gutierrez to be the face of its new mascara campaign — the very first time the role has ever been given to a man.
From a promotional standpoint, the move was a smart one. Gutierrez has amassed millions of social media fans who follow him for his expert makeup advice and hilarious online presence.
But with all the extra fanfare lately, Gutierrez, who is openly gay, has attracted some unwanted attention too.
On Jan. 6, 2017, conservative blogger Matt Walsh tweeted out a photo of Gutierrez, writing, “Dads, this is why you need to be there to raise your sons.”
Dads, this is why you need to be there to raise your sons.pic.twitter.com/8ybirgppKi
Dads, this is why you need to be there to raise your sons.pic.twitter.com/8ybirgppKi
Needless to say, Walsh’s tweet — which racked up nearly 5,000 favorites and over 1,600 retweets — encapsulates a whole lot of bigotry and ignorance in less than 140 characters.
Walsh’s rhetoric wasn’t just harmful, though, it was factually incorrect too.
Gutierrez’s dad, “Manny Sr.,” has been there for the social media star.
In fact, he’s been one of Gutierrez’s biggest supporters.
After Walsh’s example of fragile masculinity went viral, Manny Sr. — who works for his son and is “so proud” of him — decided to throw in his two cents. He wrote a message addressed to Walsh and asked Gutierrez to share it on his social media accounts:
My dad is a fucken SAVAGE, I can’t with him pic.twitter.com/iWceEmZ6L4
My dad is a fucken SAVAGE, I can’t with him pic.twitter.com/iWceEmZ6L4
“Not only am I proud of what [my son] has accomplished, but I’m more proud of the person he has become,” Manny Sr. wrote.
“I know the words you speak are from lack of knowing anybody from the LGBT community,” he wrote. “If you did, you would soon realize they are some of the most real and kind hearted individuals that walk this planet of ours.”
Fortunately, Manny’s tweet with his dad’s message has spread much further than Walsh’s original hateful comment, garnering more than 12,000 retweets and nearly 60,000 favorites.
Gutierrez’s dad’s love for his son reflects a broader shift in parents who are accepting and supportive of their LGBTQ children.
While the popularity of same-sex marriage doesn’t necessarily indicate progress on all queer issues, it does serve as a general barometer to gauge Americans’ evolving attitudes on LGBTQ rights. And in that sense, we’ve come a long way.
Not only has national approval of marriage equality trended upward in recent years — surpassing 60% in 2016 — but, more specifically, parents of a certain generation are coming around to the idea too: A 2016 WedInsights study found that 60% of married same-sex couples reported having emotional support from their parents — up from 46% in 2013.
There are many more Manny Sr.’s out there.
In response to the letter, fans applauded Gutierrez’s dad.
Whether it was through an abundance of exclamation points…
…attempts to recruit Gutierrez’s dad for public office…
“The Carol Burnett Show” ran from 1967 to 1978 and has been touted as one of the best television series of all time. The cast and guest stars of the show included comedic greats such as Tim Conway, Betty White, Steve Martin, Vicki Lawrence, Dick Van Dyke, Lyle Waggoner, Harvey Korman and others who went on to have long, successful comedy careers.
One firm rule Carol Burnett had on her show was that the actors stay in character. She felt it was especially important not to break character during the “Family” scenes, in which the characters Ed and Eunice Higgins (a married couple) and Mama (Eunice’s mother) would play host to various colorful characters in their home.
“I never wanted to stop and do a retake, because I like our show to be ‘live,’” she wrote in her memoir, as reported by Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “So when the ‘Family’ sketches came along, I was adamant that we never break up in those scenes, because Eunice, Ed, and Mama were, in an odd way, sacred to me. They were real people in real situations, some of which were as sad and pitiful as they were funny, and I didn’t want any of us to break the fourth wall and be out of character.”
It was a noble goal, and one that went right out the window—with Burnett leading the way—in a “Family” sketch during the show’s final season that ended with the entire cast rolling with laughter.
In the scene, Eunice, Mama, Dan (an old friend of Ed’s) and Mickey (Ed’s employee at the hardware store) are playing “Password” and the word they’re trying to get their partners to guess is “ridiculous.” Eunice (played by Carol Burnett) gives Mickey (played by Tim Conway) the clue word “laughable,” and after pondering for a bit, he says “elephant.”
Eunice scolds him for his bizarre answer, then Conway launches into a wild ad-libbed story about a circus elephant that goes on and on and on.
Burnett is the first one to lose it. The cast barely keeps it together through the sketch.
But that was just one take. Between takes, the director gave the actors a note: The elephant story would be different in the next filming—and good luck.
The next elephant story was even wilder than the first, and Burnett and Dick Van Dyke couldn’t stop themselves from laughing. Conway himself breaks a couple of times, and even Vicki Lawrence (playing Mama), who famously never broke character, had to hide her face for a moment.
Then, just when they finally got themselves composed and Burnett was able to deliver her line, “Go on, Mama,” Lawrence delivered the most perfectly timed a-bomb and the whole cast exploded:
So delightful. And for an added bonus, watch Vicki Lawrence tell the story about how that scene came about:
Pets are lifetime companions that can quickly become part of your family, including extended family. Family members build their own unique bonds with pets residing in other family members’ homes, especially if they visit frequently or are prone to longer visits. While it may be difficult to discern if an animal like a cat or pet snake misses their people when they’re gone, dogs wear their hearts on their full body wagging tails.
So when a pet owner dies before the pet, it can be difficult for the dog left behind without a familiar face to reassure them. This human-pet bond was the cause one man to trek from Seattle, Washington all the way to Gulfport, Mississippi. Traveling from the Pacific Coast to the Gulf Coast to pick up his four-legged family member left behind.
In a post shared by the Humane Society of South Mississippi, they explain that a dog named Alex was brought to them after his owner passed away.
Alex’s human brother, fresh with grief was all the way in Washington state trying to handle final arrangements for his parent. But the distance wasn’t going to stop the man from reunited with his furry brother so he could live out the rest of his years with family.
“Yesterday, Alex and his owner’s son were joyfully reunited. Alex’s happiness was palpable, reminding us all of the incredible bond between pets and their families,” the Humane Society writes.
This act of determination and love has commenters feeling all warm inside, wishing other animals have the same luck.
“This makes my heart so happy. Kudos to this amazing young man. Some people don’t have any idea how we as humans can break an animal’s heart. And then some people just get it. Thank you, sir,” one person writes.
“Thank you for caring about your family animal. God bless you both. Thank you HSSM for taking care of him in the meantime,” another says.
“This! Pets are a connection to our loved ones. I wish more people could understand. Happy blessings to Alex and his human brother. His dad is resting peacefully knowing Alex is in a good loving home,” a commenter shares.
“This man is awesome and a testament to how he was raised!! So sorry on the loss of his Dad. I am sure he is looking down on his son, proud and thankful that his fur baby is safe and loved. That photo makes me so happy you can see how happy the pup is,” someone praises.
Hopefully, Alex spends the rest of his days knowing he’s the goodest boy who was not only loved by his owner but by his big brother too.
Sometimes we’re not in the mood to be touched, and the same goes for our pets. While cats are notorious for snubbing humans who dare to touch them without explicit affirmative consent for exactly 3.5 pets, dogs are different. Dogs like to get head scratches, butt pats and for some reason slapped on the ribs somewhat aggressively. I don’t know why dog owners do the last one but I’ve seen it enough to think it’s a thing that dogs enjoy.
The point is dogs generally want you to pet them as often as humanly possible and until it feels like your arms are going to fall off. They try to climb up on your lap because being as close to your cornea as their snouts will allow is comforting to them. But apparently, dogs also get into moods where they don’t want to be touched by their humans.
Weird, right? A chocolate lab on TikTok is simply not in the mood for pets and his reaction to his owner attempting to pet him has commenters in stitches.
The dog, Colby, looks as if he’s trying to relax when you see his mom’s hand reach out to pet him. He doesn’t break eye contact with his human, Morgyn Seigfried, as he gently pushes her hand away with his back foot. She tries several times, and each time Colby has the same response.
“Let’s not make this more embarrassing than it has to be,” one commenter wrote.
“He said pet me…WITH YOUR EYES,” another person said.
While some were imagining what the dog was saying internally, others just found it hilarious, especially because he uses his hind leg to reject the affection.
“Such a boss move to use the back leg and not the front paw,” someone wrote, complete with a crying laughing emoji.
“The fact that he used his rear leg makes the exchange even better,” another commenter said.
Colby is clearly over Seigfried’s need to touch him, as you can see for yourself below:
Megan Thee Stallion’s new album, Megan, is one day closer. Today, the Houston hottie shared the tracklist, revealing that the project will be 18 tracks long, with features from past collaborator GloRilla, Brooklyn drill rapper Kyle Ricch, R&B hitmaker Victoria Monét, Texas royalty UGK, and Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba. The snake motif that has unfurled over the past year continues, with “Boa,” “Cobra,” and “Hiss” joined by “Rattle” and “Mamushi,” which is the Japanese word for “snake.”
As usual, Megan’s love for Japanese anime shines through, as well, with a track titled “Otaku Hot Girl” borrowing the Japanese term for “fans” or “nerds,” which was co-opted by American anime fans to refer to themselves. Meg recently updated the cover of the album in response to fans’ lukewarm reception of the original, butterfly-themed cover. She went back to her snake theme, using a photo of herself emerging from a giant egg covered in slime.
During the tour promoting the album, Hot Girl Summer, Thee Stallion proved many of her haters wrong in saying she isn’t an arena artist, hanging out with WNBA stars like Angel Reese and Brittney Griner, and found herself upgraded to headliner on festivals like Lollapalooza and Outside Lands after Tyler The Creator dropped out.
Megan is out 6/28 via Hot Girl Productions LLC. Find out more information here.
Teachers are almost always teaching even when it’s not in their lesson plan.
Those that were born to be teachers find teachable moments everywhere and one woman found herself in one of those moments. Though this one was likely just a bit more personal than she probably would’ve liked.
Emily Elizabeth posted a TikTok video about how she found herself in a predicament in front of her classroom full of 10 and 11-year-old kids. The teacher explained that she was noticing a lot of commotion and whispering among the little girls in her class while she was wearing white pants. After reminding the girls to stay on task, the whispering continued, prompting Emily to be more direct.
That’s when one of the girls asked to speak with her privately dropping the bomb that no one that gets periods wants to hear in public.
“She goes, ‘I’m sorry Ms. Emily, but I just want to let you know that I think you might have got your period,'” the teacher recalls.
But instead of freaking out or being flustered, Emily decided to swallow her embarrassment and use the moment as a teachable experience. She promptly told the concerned girls that it was fine and that she had a change of clothes that she could wear. Just before excusing herself, the boys noticed something was wrong so they curiously asked. Emily informed them that she had gotten her period and while she was annoyed, she was perfectly fine.
One of the boys even sent her an email double checking that she was okay in a less public way. The sweet reaction from her class warmed her heart and the hearts of viewers.
“That boy who emailed…his parents must be incredible,” one commenter says.
“You set an excellent example! And to not hide it from the boys who asked because that would have spoken SO LOUDLY to the boys and girls about normalizing periods,” another writes.
“The email, you sound like an amazing teacher with an amazing group of kids,” someone says.
Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson played for 21 seasons in the major leagues, starting with the Kansas City Athletics in 1967 and retiring as a Los Angeles Angel in 1987.
But it was the year he spent playing minor league ball in Alabama that he opened up about in a Fox Sports pregame show at Rockwood Field in Birmingham. Jackson had played 114 games with the Birmingham Athletics before being called up to the majors, and when Alex Rodriguez asked him how it felt to be back in that place, he said bluntly that it was “not easy.”
As a Black player in 1967, Jackson faced virulent racism when the team traveled throughout the South, from restaurants to hotels to fancy venues the team was invited to. He shared examples of being called the n-word and not being allowed into various establishments. He said he’d never want to go through that experience again and wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
He also shared how his managers, coaches and teammates had his back during such incidents. They refused to eat where he couldn’t eat or sleep where he couldn’t sleep. He said they helped him refrain from responding to racist attacks when he was “ready to physically fight.”
Watch him tell his story:
— (@)
Here are his remarks in full:
“Coming back here is not easy. The racism when I played here, the difficulty of going through different places where we traveled. Fortunately, I had a manager and I had players on the team that helped me get through it. But I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. People said to me today, I spoke, and they said, ‘Do you think you’re a better person, do you think you won when you played here and conquered?’ I said, ‘You know, I would never want to do it again.’
“I walked into restaurants, and they would point at me and say, ‘The n***** can’t eat here.’ I would go to a hotel, and they would say, ‘The n***** can’t stay here.’ We went to Charlie Finley’s country club for a welcome home dinner, and they pointed me out with the N-word: ‘He can’t come in here.’ Finley marched the whole team out. Finally, they let me in there. He said, ‘We’re going to go to the diner and eat hamburgers. We’ll go where we’re wanted.’
“Fortunately, I had a manager in Johnny McNamara that, if I couldn’t eat in the place, nobody would eat. We’d get food to travel. If I couldn’t stay in a hotel, they’d drive to the next hotel and find a place where I could stay. Had it not been for Rollie Fingers, Johnny McNamara, Dave Duncan, Joe and Sharon Rudi, I slept on their couch three, four nights a week for about a month and a half. Finally, they were threatened that they would burn our apartment complex down unless I got out. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
“The year I came here, Bull Connor was the sheriff the year before, and they took minor league baseball out of here because in 1963, the Klan murdered four Black girls—children 11, 12, 14 years old—at a church here and never got indicted. The Klan—Life Magazine did a story on them like they were being honored.
“I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. At the same time, had it not been for my white friends, had it not been for a white manager, and Rudi, Fingers and Duncan, and Lee Meyers, I would never have made it. I was too physically violent. I was ready to physically fight some — I would have got killed here because I would have beat someone’s ass, and you would have saw me in an oak tree somewhere.”
People praised the commentators and show producers for letting Jackson say what he wanted to say without interrupting or cutting him off. Some shared that it’s vital to hear this part of our history from first-hand sources, as there are Americans who forget or deny that such incidents were commonplace within current adult lifetimes. Even knowing that Black players had a lot to overcome as segregation waned, it hits differently when you hear specific details.
Jackson’s story is a difficult but important reminder that Civil Right Act of 1965 changed the laws but didn’t magically flip the racist beliefs that made it necessary in the first place. But it’s also a good reminder that individual Americans rejecting those beliefs and standing up for racial justice is a part of our national history as well.
Chance The Rapper’s comeback trail continues with “Stars Out,” the latest single from Star Line, the follow-up to the Chicago rapper’s debut album, The Big Day. While previous singles “Buried Alive” and “Together” were heady, introspective songs about Chance’s efforts to rebuild his confidence and take care of his family after his first album underperformed, “Stars Out” is more celebratory, with Chance in more of a party mode, pulling out his Rolls-Royce Phantom to flex for a night on the town. However, Chano’s serpentine lyricism is still on full display, with rapid-fire punchlines peppering a jazzy instrumental.
Although it’s getting a little late in the year for Chance to hit his intended release window of spring 2024, Chance has probably earned himself a little grace with his confident singles. He also deserves a little after experiencing some upheaval in his personal life; in April, it was revealed he and his wife Kirsten Corley had agreed to a divorce after a trial separation — a decision that definitely prompted some soul-searching for the noted wife guy. Now that he’s recalibrated his identity to account for the loss, though, he’s got the release of Star Line to look forward to — and so do we, the fans.
George Kittle has established himself as one of the NFL’s best and most complete tight ends, helping the San Francisco 49ers offense in any way he can. Kittle is an elite receiver, with three 1,000 yard receiving seasons as a pro, including the 2023 campaign, but takes just as much pride in his blocking as he does running routes.
Being able to do it all is why Kittle loves the tight end position, and he wants to give tight ends across the league the tools to succeed. That’s why Kittle, along with Greg Olsen and Travis Kelce, launched Tight End U back in 2018, which has become an annual event bringing in tight ends from across the league, from stars to guys fighting for roster spots, to let them refine their technique, learn from the best, and also unwind a bit before the season starts.
Ahead of the 2024 edition in Nashville, we caught up with Kittle on behalf of Bud Light — who are throwing the fellas a pool party and concert for this year’s Tight End U — to discuss his offseason, wanting to build a brotherhood at the tight end position, why it was important to give tight ends a place to get better, his favorite young tight ends, and a power ranking of the guys that’ll put back the most Bud Lights at the pool party.
How’s the offseason been and now getting into mini camp and all that, how are you feeling as you get ready for another season here?
Offseason’s been really fun. I’ve been able to do enough to kind of get away, let the body recover, rest, let the mind recover, but at the same time have been able to keep on with the training, rehab, all the stuff I’ve been doing to get ready for another football season. Being back in the Bay for a month was really fun, just to see new teammates and old teammates. It’s kind of crazy, cause I feel like this is one of the newer teams I’ve ever been on with the San Francisco 49ers besides like, my first two years. Like, we have an entirely new defensive line, at least that’s what it seems like besides about three guys. We just kind of have new faces all over and guys that are gonna have to have big roles, but after meeting them and having conversations with them, they seem like great guys and I’m glad that we have them on our team.
Besides that, you know, the summer is always a time of, it’s the last 40 days before the season starts. And then it becomes another seven months of like just a grind. And so it’s how much time do I want to keep my mind at ease or what’s my anxiety level of trying to train and be the tip-top shape for training camp. So it’s always a fun, interesting balance that my wife makes fun of me for, but I’ll figure it out at some point.
Part of that is Tight End U, and how did this come about? And why is this something that you still want to make sure is something you’re doing and putting your effort into, as you note, in this time of year where time is precious for you?
Tight End U really, it came about because I moved to Nashville back in 2018. And Nashville is like a booming place where a lot of NFL football players live, because it’s got a very mild weather in the winter, no state income tax, guys really like being able to buy big properties down here. And so, after one of my seasons, I asked Greg Olsen to come down when he was retiring and he was like, ‘Hey, let’s make it a bit of a thing. We’ll get Travis [Kelce] involved, and we’ll start inviting guys.’ And it went from we thought we’re gonna have 15 to 20 guys to we had 50 guys the first year, we’ve had years of 85 and I think this year we’re around the 70 mark.
And just really, the reason we wanted to do it was we wanted to bring guys in to increase the brotherhood of tight end position. Because I think when you think about the tight end position, it’s not like me and Travis Kelce ever really like play against each other. Like, we’re going against each other’s defenses, right? So, you know, and I always root for all the tight ends across the league, except for when they’re playing my team. I think that goes for everybody. But it’s really fun to bring everybody together. Now you have like young guys who, they’re not shy to meet Travis Kelce, they’re not shy to talk to Greg Olsen, David Njoku, Evan Engram, like they feel comfortable going out and talking to these guys.
And that’s a big part of it, I just want everyone feel comfortable talking to each other, making them feel like they know everybody across the league. And then also it’s really fun to when you get to go up there to get to listen to Gronk talk about his yards after catch with the highlight tape. To hear Jordan Reed, who’s one of the best release guys, like one of the best receiving tight ends ever, to hear him talk about his thought process and his releases and then go out into a field and then do those releases. So you feel like you’re adding things to your arsenal. But the same time, when you hear like Travis talk about why he’s running routes and a certain way he’s doing it, it’s giving you an idea of his thinking, so halfway through the season when you’re watching Travis’s film about like, hey, they played the Giants and I play ’em, I have to breakdown this film. Hey, now I have a decent understanding about why he ran the route the way that he did, instead of just sitting there trying to guess.
I think that’s a really cool part too, you’re just understanding the way guys think. Or, I think the best thing is, you bring all these guys together and we always do a panel of like all the vets who’ve been in the league for longer than eight years — anywhere from Travis Kelce guys to guys who have grinded about six teams in eight years. And I think that’s really cool and it just kind of tells young guys, like these are the things I did well, these things that did bad, but I’m still in the league and I’m still grinding.
The tight end position, it’s such a unique spot because you’re tasked with doing so many things and each team is going to ask you to do different things. And how important is that to give young guys that idea of the breadth of the position and the things you’ll be asked to do. One offense might be more receiving, one offense might be more blocking, downfield, short stuff, and bringing everybody together and letting them see kind of the world outside of their locker room and their system. How important is that to developing those skills?
I always say the tight end position, in my opinion, is the most fun because it’s the only position where you actually get to do everything. I get to run routes, catch the ball, score touchdowns. I get to run block defensive ends. I get to do gap scheme with my offensive tackles, rollout linebackers. I get to pass pro $150 million rush ends, which is really fun for me. And like I’ve had reverses in the past, I got to run the ball and Trey Burton threw a touchdown in the Super Bowl. So like tight ends actually gonna try everything. You see Kelce throwing the ball randomly from time to time even on plays aren’t called for him to throw it.
So tight ends get to do everything, which is really fun, and what I want is I want all these young tight ends is to realize that because you play tight end, you get all these opportunities, I want them to have confidence in everything that a tight end does. So when their coach calls them and says like, ‘Hey, you have to pass pro, and if this guy blitzes, you have to pick up the defensive end by yourself.’ I want him to have an understanding of like, okay, I learned at Tight End U this year, I’m gonna keep my head on the inside shoulder, let them win upfield, don’t lunge, keep my head out of it, and like try to run him by. And I’m going to try to give guys tips, so they’re not just in the dark there.
And one thing too is I think at the tight end position, there’s a lot of great tight end coaches in the league, but I think that there’s not a lot of great tight end coaches in college. So I think a lot of young guys don’t really pick up on all the tips that you need to learn. Now I was very lucky when I got the NFL I had a tight end coach, John Embry, who coached Tony Gonzalez and he coached some Buccaneers Pro Bowl tight ends, so he’s had a really solid string of Pro Bowl tight ends. And he kind of taught me the foundation of being an NFL tight end as opposed to what I was in college, and helped me learn a lot. So I just try to pass on some of those tips to all the young guys.
This year you’ve got a partner in Bud Light who’s gonna help you have a little fun off the field as well, how did that come together and how excited are you to give the guys a little pool party so they can wind down a bit as well?
One thing I love about tight ends is that we’re all pretty easygoing, and a thing I really love about Bud Light is their goal is just to make everything really easy and enjoyable. Whether it’s a backyard pool party, whether it’s a country concert, whether you’re just hanging out with your friends, I really enjoy that about Bud Light. And you know, they’ve been a partner since day one of Tight End U since we first started it four years ago. They’ve been a partner of mine since 2020, and so just it’s really fun to be able to partner with somebody who also sticks around for the entire thing. So that’s been really fun. We’re really looking forward to the backyard pool party. We got a DJ, let guys let loose a little bit. Let ’em have some fun out there in a pool in this Nashville heat and humidity. It’ll be good for the boys a little bit, I’ll tell you that much.
Power ranking, who’s gonna put down the most Bud Lights at the pool party?
That’s a great question. I think it’s going to be a toss up between me and Goedert. Dallas Goedert’s an absolute stallion. He’s one of my favorites. And so that’s my goal. It’s going to be me and him, and then maybe I get my guy [Robert] Tonyan in on that a little bit. He needs some encouragement once in a while, but I think I can get him going.
What’s the advice that you really hope guys can take away from Tight End U beyond just the specifics of the on field craft, but the thing you really want the young guys who come in to take away from the experience?
Well, like I said, I was really lucky. I had an awesome [tight ends] room when I was a rookie, right? I had a vet tight ends coach who was super old school, we’re gonna work our tails off, I’m gonna make it as simple as possible, and I’m gonna try to give you all the tips that you can use on your tool belt, like your Batman [belt] that you can use in a game. But then I also had to vet tight ends in that room between Garrett Celek, who was an eight year guy, and Logan Paulsen, who was like a 10 year guy. Both long tenured tight ends who were known not for receiving stuff, but their reliability and stuff like that.
So I learned how to build this great foundation and if I can just pass on like 10 percent of that information that I was given to these young guys and it sticks at all, I just want to give these guys the confidence in themselves to go out there and earn a roster spot. Because like Tight End U’s not about — like, I love having the big name guys here is great, but if I can like make an impact on one practice squad guy last year and it gives him, like, ‘This gives me a little bit more confidence, I have a little bit more understanding.’ And now he can go out there and make a roster spot, like that’s that’s what Tight End U is about. And so it’s just about giving these guys more tools in their tool belt where they can go back to training camp in 40 days and be like, this is what I learned, this I’m gonna use, these the techniques I’m going to use, and just give them another opportunity to win.
Lastly, is there any guy that stands out as a young guy in the league that you particularly like watching that’s come up recently at the tight end spot?
I think the obvious choice is Sam LaPorta there. He’s an Iowa guy. He had almost 1,000 yards this year, 10 touchdowns, like just an absolute freak. He’s in an offense where he’s featured a ton and Jared Goff does such a good job of all those bootlegs, play action stuff, and hitting tight ends over the middle. But besides LaPorta, I think my guy Michael Mayer out with the Raiders. I think he had a year of learning and he played good football, you know, he made some good plays, but a lot of it was just learning how to be an NFL football player. And I think he’s going to take a huge step forward this year, especially now that added Brock Bowers and like, I don’t think that’s going to take away necessarily from many of his targets, but I think it’s going to just open up their offense. So now you have two really good tight ends and Davante [Adams] on the outside and they still got good running backs. I think that offense is going to be able to take a step forward. I think you’re gonna see Michael Mayer take some good steps.
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