Just ahead of Super Bowl LVIII, “Listen Inn with KNN ” Host, Founder and Executive Producer Kelsey Nicole Nelson welcomed special guest NFL Super Bowl champion, and former NFL player Larry Centers to the show. The duo discussed the upcoming big game in Las Vegas and reflected on his football career. Centers was a standout fullback who played 13 seasons in the NFL. He set multiple records, including owning the NFL record for most passes caught by a running back in a career along with three Pro Bowl appearances. Later in this career, he would go on to win a championship with the New England Patriots in 2003 playing alongside quarterback Tom Brady.
The conversation begins with Nelson and Centers discussing the importance of paying attention to detail in football referring to how the Kansas City Chiefs franchise does this with an extreme amount of success. Even with this detail, the Chiefs entered Sunday’s game as the underdogs. This was the narrative the Chiefs squad had throughout the playoffs and it continued leading into the Super Bowl. “The thing that stands out to me about the Kansas City Chiefs is that they persevered throughout the year. They were up and down as everybody saw during the regular season with dropped passes plus locker room issues. But, to see them now putting it together in the end to do what’s really important and that’s reach the Super Bowl” Centers said.
The conversation continued with Nelson asking Centers about his past time in New England and about the departure of one of arguably the best coaches in NFL history, Bill Belichick. Centers explained the soft spot he will always have for the New England Patriots organization, reminiscing on the time the organization called and pitched him to help them win a Super Bowl. He explained his role as being the older mentor and leader in the group, which he sees that Belichick misses in today’s game. “I think Bill has pretty much lost his way in terms of having success. He’s known for bringing in older proven guys that bridges the gap to be an interpreter for coaches and younger players. But, I think Bill will bounce back no matter what he chooses to do. He’s a stigma. We said earlier paying attention to detail,” Centers said.
Talking more about winning in football, Centers went more in depth about his championship later in his career and what it means to him. “The ring is the ultimate validation for a professional career. As you see in basketball, a lot of times when you are done and it’s over, you look back if you didn’t win the big one, it will always be an asterisk beside your name. And I’m super thrilled I was fortunate enough to go and play with a quality organization and players and come away with a big one,” Centers said.
Piggybacking off of Centers’ time in football, Nelson asked him how he knew that football was something he wanted to follow in life. Centers said, “With football you always have to have a contingency plan because it’s not a high security job even if you’re in a good situation you can get hurt and that’ll be it. But I put my heart into football pretty young. I had older brothers that played and once I went to college and saw the talent level I said to myself ‘hey,’ I can take this to the next level.”
You can catch “Listen In With KNN” sports talk podcast and radio show with KNN every Tuesday and Thursday at 6pm ET. View the full episode below.
