In the Moment with David Greene

Pedro Martínez asks “Who’s Your Daddy?” Now Mar 07, 2023

In the 2004 American League Championship Series, the Boston Red Sox came back from three games to none, eventually forcing the New York Yankees to Game 7. During the do-or-die situation at Yankee Stadium, famed Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martínez was unexpectedly called to the mound in the seventh inning while the Sox were up 8-1.

“I had no business being in that game,” Martínez told In The Moment’s David Greene. “I had a day’s rest.” Martínez had just pitched in Game 6 and was not supposed to play, especially with such a large Boston lead. He only had a few pitches to warm up, and Martínez let up two runs, giving the Yankees momentum.

It was a tense inning, and Red Sox fans were dreading a repeat of the 2003 season, when the Yankees won in Game 7. But Martínez drew strength from Yankees fans, who were taunting him with chants of “Who’s Your Daddy!! Pedro! Pedro!!”

He eventually retired Yankee’s John Olerud and Miguel Cairo to escape the inning.

The Red Sox went on to beat the Yankees 10-3 and advanced to the World Series where they would sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in four games. That championship was the first one for the Red Sox in 86 years, breaking the infamous “Curse of the Bambino.”

All these years later, that season is one of the most memorable in baseball history. And it still leaves Martínez wondering how he ended up on the mound.

“I’m still searching for an answer,” he said. “No one explained to me why.”

Introducing: Roughhousing, Part 1: Hell Week Mar 02, 2023

In Religion of Sports' latest podcast series, Host Iggy Monda takes listeners inside America’s locker rooms and field houses to explore hazing in high school sports today. Through deeply personal stories of kids who have hazed, parents who have fought for accountability, coaches who are scared of what their players do when they’re not looking, and people who have hazed others, he ultimately asks why hazing is so ingrained in American culture – and what it says about us.

Follow ROS Presents: Roughhousing for the full series.

Olympian Alexi Pappas and the Art of Reinvention Feb 28, 2023

American-born runner Alexi Pappas competed for Greece in the 2016 Rio Olympics where she smashed the Greek world record in the Women’s 10k. But her journey to the Olympics didn’t fill the void she had expected. Pappas speaks publicly and in her book, Bravey, about the loss of her mother when she was just 5-years-old and the impact that had on her life – on and off the track. She’s now become a mental health advocate for athletes.

Pappas sat down with In the Moment’s David Greene to discuss why she considers the 2016 Olympics to be the “end of the beginning” of her life.

Greene talks to Pappas about her running career and how she draws on that training as she moves into the next phase of her career.

Journey to Gold for Olympian Lindsey Jacobellis Feb 21, 2023

In the 2006 Torino Winter Games, first-time Olympian Lindsey Jacobellis missed out on the gold in the last second of the women’s snowboard cross final. It was a devastating and unpredictable loss for “America's sweetheart” of snowboarding.

Jacobellis would go on to attend the next three Olympic Games, falling short of the podium every time. That was until the 2022 Beijing Winter Games when everything came full circle for Jacobellis and her 16-year road to redemption.

Jacobellis sat down with “In the Moment” host David Greene to re-live both of her career defining moments.

Former NFL QB RGIII Talks Comebacks and Commitment Feb 14, 2023

Thanksgiving Day, 2012 was a huge turning point for then-rookie quarterback Robert Griffin, III - RGIII - and Washington. They were three and six and their head coach, Mike Shanahan, had already said the season was essentially over. Then Washington did something no one expected when they took on the Cowboys in Dallas. They won.

“You go on Thanksgiving and you obliterate the Cowboys, which is America's team, and you go out and you do it in a way that no one’s ever seen it done before,” RGIII told In the Moment’s David Greene. “And that game helped us do it every week after that on the way to the postseason.”

Griffin is proud that he spent eight years in the NFL, even after a career-altering injury. He went on to play in Baltimore, and helped serve as a mentor to quarterback Lamar Jackson. He now has a career as a broadcaster for ESPN.

Raiders TE Darren Waller: “I’m Meant to Be Here… It’s not by Accident” Feb 07, 2023

Raiders tight end Darren Waller is now considered one of the best tight ends in the NFL. But just a few years ago, he wondered if he would ever get back to the game. After being suspended for a year from the Ravens for a positive drug test, he was working in a local grocery store and going through rehab.

“When I took that job, I had no desire to play football,” Waller told In the Moment’s David Greene. “I was just trying to regain structure in my life.”

But Waller did come back to the NFL. The Raiders signed him in 2018. A few weeks later, he was playing in Cincinnati against the Bengals. Waller felt this was his moment to prove himself.

He caught a pass for 44-yards. “Just ran like I was running from a dog, put my head back and just ran,” Waller said.

David Greene sits down with Waller to break down why that moment meant so much to reviving his career. The two dive into the rollercoaster of a season the Raiders had last year including the controversy surrounding former head coach, Jon Gruden, who resigned after racist emails he wrote surfaced.

While Waller says the racist language didn’t sting him personally, he understands why others in the league were offended.

Reliving Super Bowl XLII with Former Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin Jan 31, 2023

Former NFL Head Coach Tom Coughlin sat down with In The Moment’s David Greene to relive arguably one of the most famous games in NFL history and how he coached the underdog Giants to a victory over the undefeated patriots to win Super Bowl XLII.

Center Ryan Jensen on Protecting Tom Brady Jan 24, 2023

The big question in football right now: What will Tom Brady do next? The Tampa Bay Buccaneers ended their season with a 31-14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys last week. Now, people are wondering if Brady will leave the Bucs, join another team or retire – again.

In the Moment’s David Greene spoke to Buccaneers Center Ryan Jensen about what it’s like to protect Tom Brady on the field. And he spoke to him about what led Brady to retire, then unretire last year. Jensen said Brady’s decision to come back to the game came down to one very simple thing.

“Is this how the greatest quarterback of all time is gonna go out?,” Jensen said. “Personally, I didn't see him going out that way.”

But will that championship spirit keep Brady in the NFL this time around?

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Andrew "Big Whit" Whitworth Re-lives Beating The Bengals to Win Super Bowl LVI Jan 17, 2023

Andrew Whitworth, also known as Big Whit, spent 16 seasons in the NFL as an offensive lineman – 11 of those years with the Cincinnati Bengals before going to the Los Angeles Rams.

Despite being a 4-time Pro-bowler– Whitworth constantly found himself on the losing end of big games. When he finally made it to the Super Bowl with the Rams in 2019, the media narrative was that he was old then.. And this would probably be his last game. But the 13-3 loss to The New England Patriots just kept him going… so he could help the Rams win three years later. Big whit sat down with In The Moment’s David Greene to re-live the moment he beat his old team to win Super Bowl LVI.

When Rex Chapman Dropped 39 Points on Michael Jordan Jan 10, 2023

On February 23, 1996 then-NBA star Rex Chapman dropped 39 points against Michael Jordan beating the infamous 72-10 Chicago Bulls. Chapman would go on to play 12 years in the NBA. A series of injuries and surgeries lead Chapman to develop an addiction to opioids. Following an arrest, he was able to overcome his addiction, and turn his life around. He talks to David Greene about how he became a beloved social media personality and advocate for people struggling with addiction.

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A Super Bowl Moment Brings Heartache and Relief Jan 03, 2023

On February 1, 2009, the Arizona Cardinals faced off against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII. For Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, this was the moment to cement his legacy. For Steelers safety Ryan Clark, it was the end of a yearlong battle with an illness that nearly killed him.

The game had two moments that brought both of these athletes to their highest and lowest points. We look at the game from both sides of the field, and hear why this Super Bowl caused “heartache” and “relief.”
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UFC’s Francis Ngannou: “Becoming a heavyweight champion was …. my own revenge on my life.” Dec 27, 2022

When MMA fighter, Francis Ngannou, stepped into the octagon to take on then-UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, he wasn’t just trying to win the title. Ngannou was on a mission to prove himself to the world.

“Life threw me a lot of punches,” Ngannou told In the Moment’s David Greene. “Life put me down and made people doubt me.”

Ngannou spent years of his life trying to put that doubt behind him. He grew up in the mountains of western Cameroon and started working in the sand mines when he was just 9-years-old. He said he would be thrown out of school for not having basic necessities like paper or pen. From a young age, he was determined to leave Cameroon to overcome the poverty he was born into.

It took another decade for him to realize his lifelong ambition. On March 27, 2021, in his second bout with Miocic, Ngannou knocked him out just 52 seconds into the second round. He says the victory was “my own revenge on my life, on my childhood.”

Ngannou doesn’t want to encourage Cameroonian youth to make the same dangerous journey he did, but he wants to help them succeed. He’s opened a youth gym in Cameroon and is planning two others.

“The main goal of it was just to empower those kids,” he said. “To make them believe in themselves, because growing up out there, having a dream was very hard.”
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We initially ran this story on 10/4/2022

Overcoming Post-Olympic Depression ft. Alexi Pappas Dec 20, 2022

American-born runner Alexi Pappas competed for Greece in the 2016 Rio Olympics where she smashed the Greek world record in the Women’s 10k. But her journey to the Olympics didn’t fill the void she had expected. Pappas speaks publicly and in her book, Bravey, about the loss of her mother when she was just 5-years-old and the impact that had on her life – on and off the track. She’s now become a mental health advocate for athletes.

Pappas sat down with In the Moment’s David Greene to discuss why she considers the 2016 Olympics to be the “end of the beginning” of her life.

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Carli Lloyd’s Historic World Cup Hat Trick Dec 13, 2022

In the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup final, the USWNT suffered a devastating loss to Japan after the 2-2 match went to penalty kicks. In 2015, the two teams faced each other again in the final and this time, Carli Lloyd and the USWNT had something to prove. Lloyd went on to become the first woman in FIFA World Cup history to record a hat trick in a final in their 5-2 win over Japan.

Lloyd sat down with David Greene for a special live taping of In the Moment to relive her historic hat trick.

The Road to Gold for Olympian Lindsey Jacobellis Dec 06, 2022

In the 2006 Torino Winter Games, first-time olympian Lindsey Jacobellis missed out on the gold in the last second of the women’s snowboard cross final. It was a devastating and unpredictable loss for “America's sweetheart” of snowboarding.

Jacobellis would go on to attend the next three Olympic Games, falling short of the podium every time. That was until the 2022 Beijing Winter Games when everything came full circle for Jacobellis and her 16-year road to redemption.

Jacobellis sat down with “In the Moment” host David Greene to re-live both of her career defining moments.

Extra Episode: "The Last Cup" Nov 29, 2022

With the World Cup upon us, we want to introduce you to a new podcast from NPR and Futuro Studios: “The Last Cup,” a podcast series about soccer and the immigrant experience.

Lionel Messi is known as the best soccer player of his generation, but there's one dream he's never achieved: winning a World Cup.

Host Jasmine Garsd tells the story of Messi as a young immigrant who left Argentina on his way to soccer stardom. Now, he faces his last chance to win a World Cup - and the respect of his home country.

Leaving your country, the search for success, and the dream of returning one day; Garsd sets out to explore these themes in her own life as an Argentine immigrant in the U.S.

What does home mean when you are so far away, for so long?

From the “worst kick” of his career to a Super Bowl for former Giants placekicker Lawrence Tynes Nov 22, 2022

The New York Giants are facing off against The Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving in a division rivalry game that could determine which team comes out on top of the dominant NFC East.

Former Giants placekicker Lawrence Tynes knows what it’s like to be under that kind of pressure. During an NFC championship game in 2008, Tynes made “the worst kick” of his career, sending the Giants into overtime against the Green Bay Packers.

Tynes spoke to In the Moment’s David Greene about how he came back from that missed kick to send the Giants to the Super Bowl.
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Reliving One of the Biggest Upsets in Soccer History Nov 15, 2022

The launch of the 2022 FIFA World cup is just around the corner and the youngest team in USMNT history is set to represent the US on soccer’s biggest stage. Former USMNT striker Jozy Altidore sat down with David Greene to relive his time representing the US in two World Cups. His 2009 goal led the US to upset Spain and break that country’s 35-game winning streak. Some still consider it to be one of the most important wins in US men’s soccer history.

“It was like a flag bearer moment for us. We stuck our flag in the ground. It was a huge moment, a huge indication of where the sport in our country's going” said Altidore.

Share your favorite World Cup moment with us on Twitter and follow us on Instagram.

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Ryan Clark: “I had tears in my eyes…this is how we'll always be remembered” Super Bowl 43 Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals. Nov 08, 2022

During the 2007 NFL Season, Steelers safety Ryan Clark was pulled off a plane after a team loss in Denver Colorado and rushed to the hospital. Clark would later have his gallbladder and part of his spleen removed due to a medical condition caused by the sickle cell trait.

“I laid on the floor,” Clark told David Greene, “if I could just numb myself a little bit, the pain will stop.”

Just one year later, Ryan Clark and the 2008 Steelers defense were the best in the NFL. With a 12-4 regular season record, they led the league in fewest points and yards allowed per game, and they ranked second in sacks with 51. “We walked into every stadium saying people are gonna have trouble beating us, because they can't score,” Clark said.

Pittsburgh was the favorite going into their Super Bowl 43 matchup against Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals. But the game was anything but easy for that Steelers defense. They let up a late fourth quarter comeback.

“I had tears in my eyes because I was like: ‘This is how we'll always be remembered,’” Clark said.

After a miraculous touchdown from Ben Roethlisberger to Santonio Holmes, the Steelers beat the Cardinals 27-23. For Clark, it was so much more than a win.

“It was the first time I had exhaled or relaxed in over a year,” he said.

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Robert Griffin, III on returning to the NFL: “When that opportunity comes to play… then I’ll be back playing.” Nov 01, 2022

Thanksgiving Day, 2012 was a huge turning point for then-rookie quarterback Robert Griffin, III - RGIII - and Washington. They were three and six and their head coach, Mike Shanahan, had already said the season was essentially over. Then Washington did something no one expected when they took on the Cowboys in Dallas. They won.

“You go on Thanksgiving and you obliterate the Cowboys, which is America's team, and you go out and you do it in a way that no one’s ever seen it done before,” RGIII told In the Moment’s David Greene. “And that game helped us do it every week after that on the way to the postseason.”

Griffin was from Texas and had won the Heisman Trophy at Baylor University in Waco. When he showed up on that Thanksgiving, his friends, family and fans were in the stands cheering him on.

“To see and hear the crowd at the end of the game, chanting a name that they had given me – RGIII – that was born in college,” Griffin said. “That type of atmosphere literally raises the hair on your arms and on your back and makes you feel a certain type of way.”

After finding fame early in the season, Griffin was dogged by injuries. He re-tore his ACL in a crucial wild card matchup against the Seahawks.

“It was almost as if my leg was being ripped off and I crumbled immediately in that moment – crumbled to the ground,” Griffin recalled.

Griffin is proud that he spent eight years in the NFL, even after that career-altering injury. He went on to play in Baltimore, and helped serve as a mentor to quarterback Lamar Jackson.

And he says his football career isn’t necessarily over.

“When that opportunity comes to play, if it’s the right opportunity and the right situation, then I’ll be back playing,” Griffin said.

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Pedro Martínez: “Who’s Your Daddy?” Red Sox vs. Yankees 2004 ALCS Game 7 Oct 25, 2022

In the 2004 American League Championship Series, the Boston Red Sox came back from three games to none, eventually forcing the New York Yankees to Game 7. During the do-or-die situation at Yankee Stadium, famed Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martínez was unexpectedly called to the mound in the seventh inning while the Sox were up 8-1.

“I had no business being in that game,” Martínez told In The Moment’s David Greene. “I had a day’s rest.” Martínez had just pitched in Game 6 and was not supposed to play, especially with such a large Boston lead. He only had a few pitches to warm up, and Martínez let up two runs, giving the Yankees momentum.

It was a tense inning, and Red Sox fans were dreading a repeat of the 2003 season, when the Yankees won in Game 7. But Martínez drew strength from Yankees fans, who were taunting him with chants of “Who’s Your Daddy!! Pedro! Pedro!!”

He eventually retired Yankee’s John Olerud and Miguel Cairo to escape the inning.

The Red Sox went on to beat the Yankees 10-3 and advanced to the World Series where they would sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in four games. That championship was the first one for the Red Sox in 86 years, breaking the infamous “Curse of the Bambino.”

All these years later, that season is one of the most memorable in baseball history. And it still leaves Martínez wondering how he ended up on the mound.

“I’m still searching for an answer,” he said. “No one explained to me why.”

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Denver Nuggets Bones Hyland: “The back-to-back-to-back threes – that was one of the biggest moments in playoff basketball.” (April 2022 NBA Playoffs) Oct 18, 2022

Bones Hyland of the Denver Nuggets lit up the court during game 4 of the 2022 NBA playoffs against the Golden State Warriors. Denver was down three games to none, and needed to shift the momentum. Hyland helped the Nuggets do just that when he hit a trio of three-pointers in just over a minute.

“The back-to-back-to-back threes – that was one of the biggest moments in playoff basketball,” Hyland said.

The Nuggets won 126 - 121. Even though Denver would go on to lose the series, that moment gave Hyland the chance to show what he could do against NBA greats like Steph Curry and Draymond Green.

“When I step on a court, I believe I'm a star. So when I'm going against other stars, I got love and respect for them. But when we're in between the lines, you know it's war,” Hyland said.

Hyland is 22-years-old and starting his second year with the Nuggets. But his career nearly ended before it began. When he was 17, he had to jump out of his bedroom window to escape a house fire in Wilmington, Del. He tore his patella tendon, and doctors told him he would never play again. But Hyland didn’t give up.

“Zero chance,” he said. “I don't listen to that.”

Hyland lost his grandmother and his baby cousin in the fire. He now has tattoos honoring them on his left arm.

“If I'm going through something or I just need some extra motivation, you know, I just look to my left arm and my shoulder and that's my why – right there,” he said.

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Steelers Cam Heyward: “This is the opportunity, everybody's gonna be watching.” (Steelers vs. Kansas City Chiefs 2016 season) Oct 11, 2022

It was one of the worst defeats in Pittsburgh Steelers history. In week 3 of the 2016 season, the Philadelphia Eagles drubbed the Steelers storied defense 34-3.

The next week, the stakes were even higher, as the Steelers faced off against the Kansas City Chiefs in primetime Sunday Night Football.

That kind of pressure would be hard to shake off. But Pittsburgh defensive tackle Cam Heyward went on to have one of the best games of his career.

“One thing I’ve learned in my career is if you have one bad performance all you can do is get ready for the next game,” Heyward said. “This is the opportunity, everybody’s gonna be watching.”

Heyward notched seven tackles and three sacks, helping to lead his team to a much-needed 43-14 statement win over the Chiefs.

Heyward inherited his competitive spirit from his father, former NFL running back Craig “Ironhead” Heyward. Cam lost his father when he was in high school. But his mother advocated for him as he navigated college recruitment and the NFL draft. He found himself playing in the same city as his father’s beloved alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh.

This season, Heyward says he is focused on pushing himself and the Steelers injury-depleted defense toward a winning season. “I think we can compete with anyone,” he said.

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UFC’s Francis Ngannou: “Becoming a heavyweight champion was …. my own revenge on my life.” Oct 04, 2022

When MMA fighter, Francis Ngannou, stepped into the octagon to take on then-UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, he wasn’t just trying to win the title. Ngannou was on a mission to prove himself to the world.

“Life threw me a lot of punches,” Ngannou told In the Moment’s David Greene. “Life put me down and made people doubt me.”

Ngannou spent years of his life trying to put that doubt behind him. He grew up in the mountains of western Cameroon and started working in the sand mines when he was just 9-years-old. He said he would be thrown out of school for not having basic necessities like paper or pen. From a young age, he was determined to leave Cameroon to overcome the poverty he was born into.

It took another decade for him to realize his lifelong ambition. On March 27, 2021, in his second bout with Miocic, Ngannou knocked him out just 52 seconds into the second round. (Watch the full fight.) He says the victory was “my own revenge on my life, on my childhood.”

Ngannou doesn’t want young Cameroonians to attempt the same dangerous journey he did, but he wants to help them succeed. He’s opened a youth gym in his home village and is planning two others.

“The main goal of it was just to empower those kids,” he said. “To make them believe in themselves, because growing up out there, having a dream was very hard.”

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WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne: “I’ve come this far… I can’t not finish” (2019 WNBA Finals) Sep 27, 2022

Two-time MVP Elena Delle Donne is considered one of the best to ever play in the WNBA. In 2019, she led the Washington Mystics to their first WNBA championship in franchise history. Playing through three herniated discs, a broken nose and a knee injury, Delle Donne managed to dominate in the winner-takes-all Game 5 putting up 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

“I was given all the warnings. I was told, like, this isn't the greatest way to go about this,” Delle Donne told In the Moment’s David Greene, “but I wasn't gonna listen.”

Delle Donne’s decision to ignore warnings from team doctors and play through her injuries helped the Mystics cement the win. She credits her mindset about playing through the pain to her older sister, Lizzie, who has cerebral palsy and was born deaf and blind.

“The things she has to overcome is way more than any of the pain that I had to deal with in Game 5,” Delle Donne said.

In The Moment’s David Greene sat down with Delle Donne at the Mystics practice facility in Washington, D.C. to discuss that game and how her close relationship with her sister helped shape her uncommon career path in the WNBA.

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NFL Great Larry Fitzgerald: “That was my moment… only to have it snatched away.” (Super Bowl XLIII) Sep 20, 2022

Larry Fitzgerald is considered one of the best wide receivers of all time, and is expected to be a first ballot NFL Hall of Famer. But in his 17 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, he made it to the Super Bowl just once. In 2009, the Cardinals were the underdogs against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

They were behind Pittsburgh most of the game until the last few minutes of the fourth quarter. That’s when Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner connected with Fitzgerald, who avoided two safeties to make a 64-yard touchdown. With 2:37 left in the game, Fitzgerald thought the Cardinals were on their way to victory. Then came the play that still haunts Fitzgerald: Ben Roethlisberger hits Santonio Holmes for the final touchdown ending the game with a Steelers win. You can still hear the pain in Fitzgerald’s voice more than ten years later.

“Uhhh man, it's just like pure heartbreak,” Fitzgerald told In the Moment’s David Greene. “It's a feeling of despair [and] hurt that’s really hard to even express.”

Fitzgerald last played in 2020. He says he’s now focused on supporting his community as executive chair of the Arizona Super Bowl Host committee. He’s also a minority owner of the Phoenix Suns and in 2005 launched The Larry Fitzgerald Foundation in honor of his mother, who passed away as a result of breast cancer in 2003.

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Raiders TE Darren Waller: “I’m Meant to Be Here… It’s not by Accident” (12/16/2018 Raiders vs. Bengals) Sep 13, 2022

Raiders tight end Darren Waller is now considered one of the best tight ends in the NFL. But just a few years ago, he wondered if he would ever get back to the game. After being suspended for a year from the Ravens for a positive drug test, he was working in a local grocery store and going through rehab.

“When I took that job, I had no desire to play football,” Waller told In the Moment’s David Greene. “I was just trying to regain structure in my life.”

But Waller did come back to the NFL. The Raiders signed him in 2018. A few weeks later, he was playing in Cincinnati against the Bengals. Waller felt this was his moment to prove himself.

He caught a pass for 44-yards. “Just ran like I was running from a dog, put my head back and just ran,” Waller said.

David Greene sits down with Waller to break down why that moment meant so much to reviving his career. The two dive into the rollercoaster of a season the Raiders had last year including the controversy surrounding former head coach, Jon Gruden, who resigned after racist emails he wrote surfaced.

While Waller says the racist language didn’t sting him personally, he understands why others in the league were offended.

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Bucs WR Chris Godwin: “It was an out of body experience” (2020 NFC Championship) Sep 06, 2022

Tampa Bay’s Chris Godwin is one of the NFL’s best wide receivers. But the career-defining moment that sticks with him: when Tom Brady handed off the ball to him for a five yard run in the 2020 NFC championship game. Godwin says time slowed down. “I'm watching what's happening as I'm doing it,” he tells In the Moment’s David Greene. “It's like an out of body experience.”

Now, after sitting out part of last season due to an ACL tear, everyone wants to know if the fantasy football favorite will play in week one of the new NFL season.

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Introducing: In the Moment with David Greene Aug 30, 2022

From the people who brought you Man in The Arena comes a new podcast that takes you inside the mind of an athlete during one of the most important moments of their career. Each week, In The Moment host David Greene sits down with the biggest names in sports to dive into career-defining moments from their point of view, second-by-second. This podcast transports listeners to in-game moments: from Super Bowl touchdowns to heavyweight title fights and everything in between. Hear athletes like Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin, NFL legend Larry Fitzgerald, UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou, Las Vegas Raiders tight end Darren Waller and more as they relive every heart pumping detail of a moment that helped shape their career.
New episodes are released every Tuesday, starting September 6, 2022.
Subscribe now wherever you listen to podcasts. From Religion of Sports and PRX.

MAN IN THE ARENA (Bonus Episode): Tom Brady Retires Feb 03, 2022

It's finally time to talk about Tom Brady's legacy. Gotham Chopra is the director of the ESPN Plus docuseries “Man In The Arena” and host of this podcast. He’s also spent a lot of time working closely with Tom as a collaborator and friend. In this bonus episode, Gotham shares his unique perspective and reaction to Tom Brady's retirement. He'll also take you behind the scenes of "Man in the Arena." Journalist and former NPR host David Greene guest hosts.

Guest: Gotham Chopra

MAN IN THE ARENA Part 10: Post Game Jan 18, 2022

There’s an old saying that pro athletes die twice. First, when their career ends. Second, of course… when they actually die. The transition from pro sports to regular life is so extreme that it feels as terrifying as dying. And what’s especially scary about that transition is that you’re facing … the unknown.

Tom Brady has figured out the formula to keep playing football for at least the foreseeable future. In some ways, you can look at his time in Tampa as a kind of second life. But even Tom refers to whatever comes after his NFL career as… “the void on the other side.”

This episode, the last of our series: Post Game. What do you do when you no longer have the very thing that has given your life order and purpose? We’ll look for answers from athletes, as well as another group with some surprising similarities to organized sports. And, we’ll hear from someone who has interviewed hundreds of Americans about their own moments of doubt and pain.

All to answer the big question: How do we face the void on the other side?

Guests: Tony Gonzalez, Nate Boyer, Denver Morris, Bruce Feiler

MAN IN THE ARENA Part 9: Football vs. Football Jan 11, 2022

This episode looks at how the NFL and Tom Brady are viewed by the “other” football—AKA soccer. Can American football ever speak the language of international sport, become truly global, expand its appeal across the pond... and even beyond? Or is there something about the game that makes it... too American? And what can football tell us about who we are as a country?

Guests: Harry Kane, Roger Bennett (Men In Blazers), Brendan Hunt (co-creator Ted Lasso)

MAN IN THE ARENA Part 8: Real Talk Jan 04, 2022

When Tom Brady won his first Super Bowl, social media barely existed. But now Brady is kind of a master of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, even Tik Tok. For Brady and other athletes, the key to success is making people think they're seeing the real you—something that is a lot harder than it sounds.

And we’re now in a world where pretty much all of us can share something about our personal lives online. But is this online version of ourselves really true to life?

And what do the differences between how we present ourselves—and who we actually ARE— show us about what is and isn’t “authentic?”

Guests: Doug Sanders (Sanders Sports and Entertainment), Jennifer Szalai (New York Times)

MAN IN THE ARENA Part 7: Risky Business Dec 28, 2021

At one point during Super Bowl 51, the Pats had a .02 percent chance of winning the game.

But that game wasn’t the first time that Brady faced long odds. In fact, in a lot of his previous playoff games he’d had win probabilities in the low single digits: 7 percent, 4 percent. But Brady and the Pats kept winning, and in Super Bowl 51… they did it again.

So is Brady magic? Or do we just have the idea of probability all wrong?

This episode looks at how probability - and risk - influence how we make decisions, especially… when the odds are against us.

Because as Tom has shown us again and again and again, there is a difference between impossible and improbable...

GUESTS: Neil Paine from 538, Doug Kezerian from Daily Wager, Alessandro Bonatti, game theorist from MIT, plus two coaches from the "greatest high school football game ever played."

Thanks to ESPN and Eddy Clinton for the clips used in this episode.

MAN IN THE ARENA Part 6: Time Out Dec 21, 2021

Time just seems to move differently in football. There are 60 minutes on the game clock, but the games take three hours to play.

For the players, time can seem to slow down at certain moments, during certain plays. But then... the whole season seems to go by quickly. And most careers are over in only a few years.

And it's not just football. For all of us, time flies, it crawls, it stands still, and when we look back we think... Where did it go?

This episode looks at what “football time” can show us about time itself, why we perceive it so differently depending on what we’re doing, and how we may be able to change that…

GUESTS: Chris Matthews, Sport and Performance Psychologist Mike Gervais, Mike Reiss

Thanks to ESPN and the CFL for the clips used in this episode.

MAN IN THE ARENA Part 5: Fail Safe Dec 14, 2021

When you’re taught that winning is everything, losing the Super Bowl can be a significant blow. And after a dynasty that saw three titles in four years, a decade-long championship drought can hit hard. But sometimes the biggest failures can ultimately lead to success.

GUESTS: Rich Ohrnberger, Xiaodong Lin-Siegler from Columbia’s failure-studies research center

Thanks to ESPN and The JFK Presidential Library for the clips used in this episode.

MAN IN THE ARENA Part 4: Almost Perfect Dec 07, 2021

Only one team in NFL history has had a perfect season, and it wasn’t Brady’s Patriots. In 20007 Tom Brady and the Patriots were on the cusp of perfection when they fell short against the Giants in the Super Bowl. But perfection is a spectrum, and how we define it depends on the metrics we use to measure it. Could that Giants team have been the one with a “perfect” season that year? Could even the 1972 Miami Dolphins’ perfect season have fallen short in some ways?

GUESTS: Kevin Gilbride, Perfection researcher Gordon Flett, Podcast Host Dan Nastasi and Former Dolphin Larry Little

Thanks to ESPN and ABC for the clips used in this episode.

MAN IN THE ARENA Part 3: Haters Nov 30, 2021

America’s collective adoration of the underdog means that people love to hate Tom Brady. In the world of sports, hatred is inevitable, so why are haters always gonna hate? And in the context of sports, could hate be a positive thing? What might it take to change one fan’s mind?

Featuring: 12-year-old viral Brady-hater Ace Davis, Asst. Prof. of Psychology at Univ. of Central Arkansas Marc Sestir, and Chad Neidt, the Broncos fan who wrote the “FU Tom Brady” song.

Thanks to Chad Neidt, Brandon Perna & ThatsGoodSports, 12:05 AM Productions, LLC / Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Lex 18 News for the clips used in this episode.

MAN IN THE ARENA Part 2: The Icon Nov 23, 2021

In 2001, Tom Brady became the Patriots’ savior when he helped the franchise win their first Super Bowl. But why did the city embrace a guy that might not have fit the profile of a blue-collar Boston fan? How did Brady help redefine what it means to be a Boston sports fan? And how much do the players we think of as “ours” really belong to the community that roots for them?

Guests: Boston sports fans the Varela family, Seth Wickersham, Playwright and Boston fan Tori Sampson, and a Pats fan who converted to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after Brady left.

Thanks to Columbus 81 Productions, ICM Partners, Worldwide Pants, CBS, 60 Minutes and Veritone for the clips used in this episode.

MAN IN THE ARENA Part 1: Game of Chance Nov 16, 2021

Here’s the Tom Brady Origin Story: Twenty years ago, a hit by Mo Lewis knocked Drew Bledsoe out of the game. Brady stepped onto the field and a dynasty was born. One play determined Tom Brady’s future and the future of a franchise. Or did it? Is this story more myth than fact? What if that hit hadn’t happened? One small moment can make a huge difference, but is there more to it than that?

Featuring Herm Edwards, Rex Ryan, New York Times Science Writer Dennis Overbye, Boston Sports NBC Reporter Michael Holley.

Introducing 'Man in the Arena' Oct 29, 2021

Whether you love him or hate him or are somehow completely indifferent, you’ve probably spent the last 20 years thinking about Tom Brady. Brady has altered friendships, families and communities. He’s changed the trajectory of careers and reputations, enabled fairy tale dreams to be both realized and dashed. This 10-part series looks at those two decades of Brady through the eyes of the fans and the haters, those in the arena and those outside. As host, Gotham Chopra grapples with these big themes, while grounding the podcast in his personal relationship with Tom and his journey from a Brady fan to Tom’s friend.

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