When Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor, and Channing Crowder started The Pivot Podcast in 2022, they were unsure of what to expect. What started as an idea among the three of them soon became a podcast that has grown over time and even earned an Emmy nomination.
As the three sat down at The Paley Museum in New York City on Tuesday night for a live recording of The Pivot Podcast, the first thing Clark did was thank both the crowd and his co-hosts for where the podcast had gone.
“You’ve stopped us in airports, or sent direct messages, commented, and for every show you’ve watched, every clip you’ve retweeted or reposted, we are so grateful and so thankful,” Clark, who was recently laid off from ESPN, said. “So thank you so much, and on behalf of me personally, and some of the things that have gone on the last two weeks. First of all, thank you to my brothers for holding me up and holding me down when I needed it.”
Taylor also followed those sentiments. The former Jaguars running back, who rushed for more than 11,000 yards and made a Pro Bowl, was quiet during his NFL career. He spoke about how The Pivot has allowed him to be more outspoken as he has grown alongside Clark and Crowder.
“I never thought this would be what it is,” Taylor said. “That very first moment, the meeting we had down in Fort Lauderdale to really talk about the concept five years ago. Then, to fast-forward to December, when we all flew here and met here, rehearsing, walking across the train tracks, doing it over and over, bending the corner and doing it over, getting off the elevator, working on timing, I never thought that would lead to this. To be able to go on this journey, someone who didn’t speak a lot throughout my playing career, and my wife says, ‘Who is this guy? How’d you all convince him to talk so much, not know when to shut up sometimes?’ So I appreciate you guys for making me want to be better and doing this.”
In a more full circle moment, their first guest was former Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress. It was only fitting that the live show in the Big Apple featured that guest four years later. The four spoke for nearly an hour about what they learned during their playing career.
Burress, who spent four seasons with the Giants and is famously remembered for catching the game-winning catch in the team’s 17-14 win over the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, chopped it up with the three hosts like it was just four friends catching up.
“It’s really the base of our show, bro,” Crowder said. “We are just talking to the boys, we are just chopping it up, and that’s the comfort level. I think that’s why the show has been so successful.”
He talked about how it felt like a winning culture was set while he was with the Giants. It was the same feeling he had during his first five seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, when he made five Super Bowl appearances. Despite that being the vibe in the locker room for those teams, it wasn’t the same during his lone year with the Giants’ stadium neighbor, the Jets, but the Jets had the best of all three teams.
“It’s kind of a championship mentality of the work [in Pittsburgh that you put in every single day to get to the pinnacle of the sport,” Burress said. “Even when I was playing for the New York Giants, you walk in ‘man, we don’t kick somebody’s *ss this week’. It didn’t feel like that when I was walking into Florham Park. That was it. I had the opportunity to play for two great organizations with the Maras and the Rooneys. I love Woody [Johnson], but we just couldn’t win.”
There, Burress was also able to relive the Giants’ miraculous run to the Super Bowl in 2007. He talked about what made the Giants confident they could conquer the then-unbeaten Patriots, led by Tom Brady and Randy Moss, who had beaten them to close out the regular season.
“We didn’t think that they were more physical,” Burress said. “They didn’t want to fight and scratch. I think I’ve watched the game maybe twice in my whole life, and only because I was there. I remember our defense was able to get to Brady without blitzing, and it was spectacular to watch those young men, but [Michael] Strahan is old. To watch them get after Brady and that offense and the manner that they did is one of the best defensive performances that I’ve ever seen.”
The show being held in New York allowed Clark to share a special moment with his son, Jordan, the morning of the show.
Jordan is a safety for the Jets, and Clark was able to go to the team’s training camp that morning and be able to watch him. While he made a living playing football, Clark wanted his son to know that there is more to life than the gridiron. But there’s an overwhelming pride in seeing him create his own legacy in the NFL.
“The things I want for my son are 10 times greater than how I ever wanted it for me,” Clark said. “There’s a level of stress that comes along with that, or such a level of joy, a level of pride to go on this journey with him since he started in eighth grade. It’s truly been one of the honors of my life. Being his father is such a blessing to me. It’s such an honor, and I got to see him today. I got to watch him at practice. We went to Jets practice, and I got to hug him. I got to talk to him about what his day was like, and that’s what life is for us. Life isn’t football, but the fact that he loves something that I love the same way, and I get to see him do that and continue not my legacy, creating his own legacy, is what’s most important.”
Clark and Crowder also came to the function decked in New York gear. Clark wore an NBA Champions shirt for the New York Knicks, who won their first NBA championship since 1973. Crowder opted for a shirt commemorating John Starks ‘ dunk over Horace Grant and Michael Jordan in the 1993 NBA Eastern Conference Finals. Both gave their love for being in the city, while Clark talked about how the 76ers recent signing of LeBron James could affect the Knicks chances to repeat.
“It’s LeBron,” Clark said. “What’s magnificent about LeBron’s career is that he could still shift the balance of power at this age now. He can’t do it like he used to. It used to be just because he was on the team, it shifted. He has to be a little more selective now, but absolutely, Embiid, Maxey, Jalen Brown, V.J. To have that sort of squad along with LeBron James, it’s going to be fun. But what I saw Jalen Brunson do this year, bro. Absolutely phenomenal.”
