Michael Dean Perry on 2020: "I was Excited, Of Course, When They Took Care of Pittsburgh Back to Back"
Cleveland Browns legend Michael Dean Perry was kind enough to spend thirty minutes talking about his career, his excitement about the team now and then delved into life after football and an issue the NFL Alumni Association is taking head on with its retired players; obesity. Perry has teamed up with the Huddle Up: Let's Talk Obesity campaign to talk about his own life as well of that of his brother, William "The Refrigerator" Perry, that have helped shape his decisions in life after football.
Perry discussed how excited he is about the team being where they are now, especially when they struggled for so long after his career ended. Beating the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs brought back some good memories and feelings about his team playing with the Browns.
In fact, when he talks about the Browns beating the Steelers in 2020, he can't help but flash a huge smile.
"I was excited, of course, when they took care of Pittsburgh back to back. So that brought a big grin on my face last year, so looking forward to this year." - Michael Dean Perry
I wanted to ask Perry about the success he had so early in his career at defensive tackle, because it wasn't common. After being a second round pick, 50th overall, Perry, 23 years old, came in as a rookie and chipped in six sacks while only starting two games. He would become a 1st team All-Pro in only his second season.
Considering where the Browns are right now with such young defensive tackles including Jordan Elliott, (23), Marvin Wilson (22) and Tommy Togiai (21), I was curious to hear his thoughts on the challenges of playing the position and why he thought he was successful so quickly.
In the second part, I asked Perry about the NFL now, both in terms of who he enjoys watching, how the NFL has changed in terms of preparation and the 17-game schedule.
Then we start to talk about life after football, talking both about what he is trying to encourage through the Huddle Up: Let's Talk Obesity campaign as well as some of the improvements players have made off the field including the lessons he learned. He tells a story about trying to get life insurance almost immediately after he retired that is sobering.
Continuing with part three about life after football, Perry talks about how he learned from his brother, William, and the impact that had on his approach.
Perry, who will celebrate his 56th birthday on Friday, has a goal is to continue to drop weight as he gets older to take stress off of his joints including two surgically replaced hips, which he's had since he was 40 years old. He is trying to live for his children and grandchildren as well as improving his own quality of life.
Perry, who made sure to correct me and say he was nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, is the type of success story the NFL needs when it comes to players who have retired, that are enjoying life after football. Perry's trying to help other players be able to enjoy their own lives after football, as he notes, for potentially 40 to 50 years.
When the NBA has big events, they have so many legendary players that show up to everything like Bill Russell, that are tremendous ambassadors for the game and its continuing growth. The NFL needs to get to a point where not only do they have these great ambassadors like Perry, Ottis Anderson, Steve Young, John Runyan and an obnoxious number of former Steelers that have joined this campaign, but they need to be able to live on to keep telling their stories so they aren't lost to history and the game keeps growing, improving.
