Former Saints Fullbacks Terrelle Smith and Mike Karney Open Up About Playing Careers, Life After Football & Much More [Audio]
Everything evolves over time.
When it comes to sports, some evolve more rapidly than others.
While baseball has evolved quite a bit in the last century, its been at a much slower pace than some of its American sports counterparts.
Watch an NFL game from the 60s and 70s, and it feels like a different sport compared to the one today.
Watch it from the 1980s and it may feel like a different league entirely if you are under the age of 30.
Even watching a game from the first decade of the 2000s will remind you how much football has evolved in recent years.
As the game has evolved, positions have done so with it.
Fullbacks used to be on every roster, a key cog of a Pro-Style and West Coast offense.
Today, some NFL teams don't even carry a fullback on the roster.
Two former NFL fullbacks who were drafted out of Arizona State by the New Orleans Saints have plenty of memories from their playing days, and plenty of thoughts on how the fullback position has unfortunately become devalued by some franchises when comparing it to their playing days.
Terrelle Smith was the first fullback taken in the 2000 NFL Draft, going 96th overall in the 4th round to New Orleans.
Four years later, the fullback who replaced Smith when he left Arizona State replaced Smith when he departed the Saints in free agency.
Mike Karney was the first fullback selected in the 2004 NFL Draft, going 156th overall to New Orleans.
I had the pleasure of interviewing both Smith and Karney on my show, as the two reconnected after 15 years.
It was awesome hearing them swap stories about their paths to the NFL, the art of being a standout fullback, the craziest teammate they ever had, and much more.
Plus, we gave our Mt. Rushmore of fullbacks, discussing the greatest ones of all-time.
If you missed the interview, you can listen here.