Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to this episode of hustle and pro. I'm your host, Kelly Walker, and we have Trey Taylor with us today.
I know you're busy. I know this is a busy week, so thank you for sitting down.
[00:00:12] Speaker B: Thank you for having me.
[00:00:13] Speaker A: Yeah. All right, so I told you, you I work for the city of Frisco, and we put on these cool sports events, but then I also have this sports podcast, and I talk to local athletes from the youth to the pro level. And, like, you're perfect fit, right? Because you're right there and touching all these topics here. So I want to go backwards a tiny bit. I know all the interviews you're doing this week are about this east west shrine bowl game and your next step. But I want to go back to when you were here in Frisco and growing up. Did you grow up in Frisco all your life, or did you move here?
[00:00:43] Speaker B: Yeah, so I grew up here. I was born in Dallas and then moved here when I was three years old.
[00:00:48] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:00:49] Speaker B: And so I saw El Dorado as one long dirt road and one Frisco high school. And I saw those places really progress into what it is today. So it's been special for me to come back here and train and have the shrine bowl where I grew up.
[00:01:02] Speaker A: Yeah, you really did see all the growth then. So you grew up in FISD and played football at Lone Star High School. What else did you play? Other sports?
[00:01:11] Speaker B: I played basketball and I played track. I ran track. Basketball. I just stopped growing. So I wasn't the point guard that I wanted to be. And then, let's see, what else? Track. I ran the 400. 201. Hundred.
[00:01:24] Speaker A: Now, I know somebody who knows you. And when they found out I was coming to talk to people, they said, you got to talk to Trey. He's one of my babies, and you'll love him.
Do you have any guesses on who you think this is from Lone Star?
[00:01:40] Speaker B: Coach Rayburn.
[00:01:41] Speaker A: No, not coach. No. Good guess. I didn't ask Coach Rayburn about you, Miss Splitter.
Yeah. Did I say her name right? Allie? Yeah, I know her as Allie Splitter. Yes. Yeah. And so she said, oh, my gosh, I love him. I love him. And I said, tell me about him. Like, what was he like? I haven't talked to him yet. And she said that she gave me two cool pieces of information. Your dad played for SMU. Yeah. And that your brothers love you and look up to you. Is this true? So, tell me about your family.
[00:02:15] Speaker B: So, parents split when I was, like, three months old, and then my dad and mom got remarried, got three younger brothers, ten, eight and six. All of our initials are TJT. So they kind of try to follow my footsteps everywhere we go. They try to surprise me. They try to sneak up on me. You ask any of them who's going to be better than Trey in the future, they're all going to raise their hand. I love how competitive they are, but at the same time, they're my boys.
I feel like I'm going to be a really good dad because of me getting to experience and watch them grow up. And it's kind of cool just seeing how much they have grown on me in the last 1310 years. It's wild seeing how much you can love somebody that really comes, not even your full blood.
[00:03:04] Speaker A: That's amazing. Are they like teenage boys? Are they young?
[00:03:08] Speaker B: Ten, eight and six.
[00:03:09] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:03:11] Speaker B: They're climbing the ranks right now. The ten year old, like, when he hit double digits, I started crying. I was like, what is going on?
It feels like it's on my own, little kid.
[00:03:21] Speaker A: Yeah. You have ownership in them, and I love that they look up to you. So were these, like, the kids that are screaming for you at every high school football game and, like, your little fan club?
[00:03:31] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:32] Speaker A: And what about when you left?
Went. Did you go straight to air force?
[00:03:36] Speaker B: I did.
[00:03:37] Speaker A: Okay. You spent four years there?
[00:03:39] Speaker B: Four and a half.
[00:03:39] Speaker A: Four and a half. So was your family able to go watch you play in college?
[00:03:43] Speaker B: Yeah, my mom and dad, everybody came.
My mom and dad didn't miss a single event. And if they did, it was because of an emergency.
Yeah. I mean, every single game I saw my parents, and that was really special for me because you can be in Hawaii and feel like you're alone and at least you have your team. But when you have a family member there, it brings a whole different dimension to how you can even approach the game. So I was really happy and thankful that they were able to do that for me in my career.
[00:04:17] Speaker A: Yeah, that's pretty amazing. So I was wondering, before I talked to you, I'm like, you grow up here, you play in these facilities.
The one time, this first time ever that this triangle has played in here is your year. I'm like, are you excited because you're home, or do you want to be experiencing this somewhere off on the road?
[00:04:40] Speaker B: Half of myself aside, says that I do want to come. A big traveler. I like seeing new places. I like experiencing new things.
But it's so special to be able to play on this familiar tour around these familiar faces.
I wouldn't have gotten this experience. I wouldn't been able to see my family like this, and I wouldn't have been able to thrive like I feel like I am if I was at any other city in America, out of all states, out of all cities at any time in the world, that this had to happen here. It happened in my year that I came out, which is insane, right?
[00:05:13] Speaker A: Like, what are the ods?
[00:05:14] Speaker B: Yeah, the ods are so small.
[00:05:15] Speaker A: It also allows you say it's your birthday or something. You get to celebrate with people you know and love. So happy birthday.
[00:05:22] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:05:23] Speaker A: So, man, that's quite a good birthday week, right? You're in the middle of an important life transition, and you get to celebrate your birthday with all these people. I'm sure you've met some. First of all, you're the only one from air force here, right?
[00:05:36] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:05:36] Speaker A: So you have people here that you've played with against or. No. Is this all new people to you?
[00:05:43] Speaker B: Yeah. So I've played against a lot of these people. They have a few mountain west guys here that I've started to become really good friends with because we might be end up on the same team.
[00:05:52] Speaker A: Right.
[00:05:53] Speaker B: And then there's also people that I grew up with here, but it's really special to be able to network and meet these new people that I've never met in my life, and that might end up being really good friends for me down the road. So that's been pretty fun for me to experience, to get to know different people.
[00:06:10] Speaker A: Do you think? I mean, there's probably some other guys here who have played a game or two, maybe some postseason stuff at Ford center and been around the star for playoffs or something, but you played a lot there, right? I mean, that was your regular rotation between Toyota, Kirkendahl and here. So do you feel like that's some kind of advantage? You feel more comfortable and you're home as far as the games and the scouting and the prep in the game itself, for sure.
[00:06:37] Speaker B: The prep and the jitters. So they had people when they first walked into the stadium when we first got here, people were in awe. People were recording everything. People were just, it was foreign to them, and we're spoiled here. So I walked in, I was like, we get to warm up. It's like, this ain't nothing that I haven't experienced before. So that definitely was a little edge for me, especially on the first day. The nerves were down because I've been in this environment before with the whole stands flooded, and so it was special for me to have a place where I called home, I still call home for me to be able to play in front of people I really care about.
[00:07:12] Speaker A: Right? Yeah. Have they given you guys a tour of the star? Like, have you all gotten to see anything besides practice playing field stuff?
[00:07:20] Speaker B: Not really. The only things I've seen in the star are the playing field before this week.
[00:07:26] Speaker A: Have you ever been behind the scenes and seen the war room and the headquarters stuff? Okay.
[00:07:32] Speaker B: I've seen the locker room. I've seen where the trucks park, and I've seen the field.
[00:07:36] Speaker A: You just seen the football player side. Okay, well, one day you need to get through the other side.
It's cool. I mean, growing up here, I'm sure you enjoy the Cowboys. I know you all are all trying to be neutral and cool this week, but the facilities are obviously awesome. I always think, man, our high school players are spoiled. They're fortunate, all that good stuff. But do you think playing high school football at the, like, where can you go from there that's going to equal that?
[00:08:06] Speaker B: I mean, there are very few places in America that you can go that's going to up the experiences you had in high school.
[00:08:12] Speaker A: Right?
[00:08:13] Speaker B: Especially people who don't go to the major, mid major schools. They go to a stadium that's lower.
[00:08:21] Speaker A: Than they're going down.
There's all the big football schools you think of, like Oregon, Ohio State. Like, there's probably a lot that are pretty awesome.
[00:08:31] Speaker B: But what I will say is that I really appreciate what the star does for a lot of kids because a lot of kids don't get the opportunity after high school, like, a ton of them. And so they experience a lot of what people will never be able to experience in a stadium setting with everybody else that went on to play college ball. So I think that makes the experience a lot cooler for.
[00:08:52] Speaker A: So I want to talk about that. What you just talked about, kids and a lot of people, high school, senior year, they're done with postseason or whatever, regular season, and they're done. That's it. They hang them up, and it's really sad. And whatever, you got to pass by that step. And then the next round, when you're done with college ball, you're done.
If you're looking at your career and all those check marks, benchmarks, whatever. Where do you think you are right now? Where do you hope you are right now?
[00:09:24] Speaker B: I hope I'm stepping into even more years that I played in high school and college. In this next step, I saw how emotional they can be for a lot of people who this was the last game and I appreciated. I've always appreciated the love and time and commitment that a lot of my teammates have given me and the team and the coaching staff.
It's definitely very emotional for a lot of people. So I'm just blessed I have the opportunity to keep on going, but I'm not just doing it for me, I'm doing it for all the guys that I've grinded with my whole life.
I guess just didn't make it as far.
[00:10:02] Speaker A: Yeah, you're probably carrying a lot of their excitement with you or they're done, but they get to still live it. Watching you and rooting for you. Is that pressure, though?
[00:10:13] Speaker B: Not really. I feel like the amount of pressure, I feel like I've been put under growing up with football. It's nothing compared to what I do now.
I'm just happy that I'm able to do what I love to do every day now for however long as I can go for because not everybody's afford this opportunity. There are a few people here at this event that won't be afforded the opportunity. So it's just about me. Keep pushing and keep carrying on and just getting better day by day. But I definitely try to bring the experiences that I'm making right now along with some of my friends.
[00:10:51] Speaker A: Yeah. Let's talk about this event as a whole. Not just the game on Thursday night, but the conversations you're having this week and the learning you're getting and all the exposure you're getting. What surprised? Like, you don't have to say which teams you can if you want, but what surprised you about conversations you're having with NFL representatives or what you've learned from PA guys or whatever it is. I don't know what stands out to you.
[00:11:19] Speaker B: I think the thing that stands out most is honestly the transition from college to here, some of the interview process, I feel like that's the easy part. I've talked my whole life. I feel like I'm a pretty good communicator. But when it comes down to the football side of things, that's where honestly, I was a little, not frightful, but I was nervous for because the question mark behind my name was always, can he perform like this against bigger and.
[00:11:46] Speaker A: Better talent because of where you went.
[00:11:49] Speaker B: To play and who I was playing.
We lost to Hawaii and they have people here in my same position who went undefeated their whole season in really big conferences. So they had question marks for sure on what I could do for an NFL team and what I can do against this talent. But the academy, they set me up in a very good spot for me to be able to compete and do what I love to do against the biggest talent that we really have in the country. And so I surprised myself coming here.
[00:12:18] Speaker A: Honestly.
[00:12:22] Speaker B: I've done better than I thought I could even do.
[00:12:24] Speaker A: So when you're at these practices, you're seeing the best of the best around you. You feel good about it?
[00:12:31] Speaker B: Yeah, I feel really good.
[00:12:32] Speaker A: Good.
[00:12:32] Speaker B: I feel really good.
It's just definitely a confidence piece that I really need to work on. But at the same time, I've started building that confidence more and more. Like each step. You asked me, what step do you think I'm in? I think it's step by step for me because now I gained that confidence through every step that I take. And so getting to college, I was like, oof, I'm just going to be happy to travel. I just want to experience Hawaii. I just want to travel with the team. I'll be happy with that. Then take another step. Gain confidence the next year. Gain confidence starting. Gain confidence playing reps. Gain confidence making all mountain west. Gain confidence the next year. Winning awards. And then now I'm gaining confidence actually going against the talent that I felt like was at a time, especially in high school and starting college superior. Now, the step that I'm taking is probably the biggest step that I've taken so far, even though it's just a few days that this step has been taken. But this is huge. This is a huge event for me. I'm so glad took the opportunity and this event probably changed my life, right?
[00:13:40] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, it is life changing, right? Because this is the top level you've been at thus far, and so it can go a couple of ways. Right.
You get drafted and you end up continuing to play. If it goes the other way, what is your life going to look like after Air Force and being just you?
[00:13:59] Speaker B: Yeah. So even if I do get drafted and I play for however many years, it's the same as if I, for some reason, they get drafted right now, I would go straight into the air force and be an acquisitions officer, and I would be doing that for at least five years.
[00:14:16] Speaker A: Can you tell me what that is?
[00:14:17] Speaker B: Yeah. So I'm just like, acquiring resources and selling resources and that kind of stuff for the Air force. So it's kind of like a finance job. There's a lot of supply chain and management that happens with all that stuff. A lot of training that's going to happen along with it, but the academy sets you up in a place where I feel like I can succeed at this because of what I was with at the academy and I can definitely succeed at the next job that I'm in because of what happened at the academy.
[00:14:45] Speaker A: That's a good base. Like a base for your life.
Well, you keep saying the academy, you're set up well because of the choices and the path that you've taken. And yes, they've helped you, but you're doing it and you're setting yourself up for success either way. Right. Whatever comes your way, like you're now prepared for it.
All right, so what are you most looking forward to as we wrap up this week? When you guys play and anything else?
[00:15:15] Speaker B: Looking forward to seeing my coach here on Monday? No, I'm tripping.
He'll be on Thursday and he'll be able to see the game and I'm really looking forward to seeing him. I've had some people come through here, but I love seeing my coaches come down and then my family being able to watch the game in person and watch it on a big live stream.
I'm excited for people to be able to see what we put together on the east team. Feel like that we're going to dominate this game. Think that defense carries and this defense that we've built here, we're strong. So I'm looking forward to everybody on the east team and west team, but definitely the east team showing what they came here to do and dominating and raising their stock even more.
[00:15:56] Speaker A: Yeah, it sounds fun. These all star games are kind of weird, right? When you bring all these guys together that probably don't know each other and different talents and different all this and it's always amazing how fast you guys pull together game plans and can figure it out and pull off really good product out there on the field and really entertaining. So what number are you wearing?
[00:16:16] Speaker B: I'll be 27.
[00:16:17] Speaker A: 27? Is that your number? Number?
[00:16:19] Speaker B: No.
[00:16:19] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:16:20] Speaker B: My usual number is seven. Okay. But 27 has its perks. I feel like that's going to be more of the number that I will be wearing in the NFL whenever that time does happen.
[00:16:32] Speaker A: You can get used to 27 if you need to.
[00:16:34] Speaker B: 27 for sure.
[00:16:35] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay, well, I'll be out there. I'm bringing some fisd boy football players with me. Cool. And they'll be watching for you and rooting for you and let's see. So what are they watching for you to get some picks?
[00:16:47] Speaker B: Yeah, I need some interceptions, some tackles. Bring them the ball when I do it.
[00:16:51] Speaker A: Okay. We'll be rooting for you. So happy birthday. Thanks for taking time to talk to us. I know you're a sought after interview here because you're like the Frisco guy. Everybody wants to talk to you, so I'm glad I got in line and got a few minutes to talk to you.
[00:17:03] Speaker B: I'm glad I got to talk to you. I was fun.
[00:17:05] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:17:06] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:17:07] Speaker A: And thank you for joining us for this episode of Hustle and pro. Be sure to follow us on YouTube and Instagram, and we'll see you for the next episode.
