Hey, what's going on, everybody. I'm Trevor Noah.
This is The Daily Social Distancing Show,
and today is February 8.
Which means you only have a few days left
to prepare for Valentine's Day.
So why not surprise your partner
by doing the most romantic thing you could possibly do
during quarantine.
Book a really nice hotel
and leave them alone for an entire day.
Anyway, on tonight's show,
Tom Brady keeps doing Tom Brady things,
where to go on vacation after you stormed the Capitol,
and the endless scandals of the Joe Biden presidency.
Plus, we're gonna be talking to Super Bowl winner
Leonard Fournette
and renowned surgeon and author Atul Gawande.
So let's do this, people. Welcome to
The Daily Social Distancing Show.
-? ? -ANNOUNCER: From Trevor's couch in New York City
to your couch somewhere in the world, this is
The Daily Social Distancing Show with Trevor Noah.
Let's kick things off with the Super Bowl.
It's the world championship of a sport only played in America.
And yesterday's game was one for the record books.
NEWSMAN: This morning Tom Brady is running out of fingers
for his rings, capturing his record seventh Super Bowl
at age 43.
I think we knew this was gonna happen tonight, didn't we?
NEWSMAN: The Bucs didn't just win,
they trampled last year's champs,
the Kansas City Chiefs, 31 to 9.
The Weeknd, also electrifying on stage,
singing some of his biggest hits in a slickly-produced
halftime show, using masked dancers
to keep things COVID-friendly.
Hell yeah. What a great halftime show.
And it looks like the Weeknd finally found a use
for all that toilet paper he's been hoarding.
And how about Tom Brady winning his seventh Super Bowl ring?
At this rate he's gonna be the first player with
a Super Bowl toe ring, people.
I mean, at this point, Tom Brady has led the kind of life
that eight-year-olds narrate to themselves in the backyard.
(child voice): The crowd goes wild!
Tommy wins his seventh Super Bowl
and now he's rich and he's married to a supermodel
and now he's riding a dinosaur! (roars)
(regular voice): And, look, I know a lot of people
don't like Tom Brady.
Anyway, let's move on now
from the Super Bowl to the big game in Washington.
Tomorrow the U.S. Senate will begin
its annual impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump.
And there's three possible outcomes.
He could be convicted, he could be exonerated,
or, the most likely one:
he could commit new crimes during the trial
that he'll get impeached for next year.
But whatever happens to Trump, hundreds of his followers
are already facing consequences for rioting at the Capitol.
Although at least one of them is getting a chance to cut loose
before she might get locked up.
NEWSWOMAN: A woman accused of participating in the deadly
Capitol riot will get to go on vacation later this month.
NEWSWOMAN 2: The judge in Washington, D.C.
granted Jenny Cudd's request to travel to Mexico.
The motion was granted and filed yesterday.
Cudd's lawyers say she had a prepaid weekend retreat
for herself and her employees at Becky's Flowers
to go to Riviera Maya, Mexico.
The retreat would reportedly serve as a work-related
bonding time for employees and their spouses.
Aw, yeah.
Insurrection at Club Med Cozumel!
Honestly, if I were this woman's employee,
I'd be a little nervous to go on a bonding retreat.
I mean, these aren't the kind of people I'm putting on
a blindfold and going on a trust hike with.
Okay, I'm sticking my hands out. All right.
Closing them like you say... Wait, ho-hold on.
Am I... What am I do... Am I strangling Nancy Pelosi?
Damn it! Not cool, Jenny!
What I love about this is that this woman
planned the vacation before she participated in the riot.
So, in her head, she was gonna go to Washington,
overthrow the government and then, what,
hit the beach for two weeks?
And, like, how serious of a revolution
were you planning, lady?
These rioters were all shouting that it's 1776 again,
but none of the Founding Fathers were like...
On July fourth, we declare our independence.
Then, on July 5, we get that beach house in Cabo.
Thomas, you're in? Shit's gonna be lit, bro.
And, look, obviously, I want this woman
to be held accountable for her actions.
But I also...
kind of want to party with her in Mexico.
I mean, think about it-- if she and her friends
can turn a boring election certification vote into this,
you best believe their spring breaks are gonna be wild.
And, look, I know a lot of people are angry about
this story, but the law says that if you can post bail
and you aren't a flight risk, you can go back to your life
until they actually convict of you a crime.
And I'll be honest: I agree with that concept.
No one should sit in a jail cell
because they might be a criminal.
If anything, the problem I have
is that people who can't afford bail have to stay in jail.
I mean, what are the courts scared of?
No one is easier to keep tabs on than a broke person.
You know where a broke person isn't going?
Mexico. Or the movies.
Or out to dinner.
You want to track a broke person, well, they're at home.
And, finally, some education news.
February is Black History Month.
A beautiful time in America when Americans
celebrate all the Black people who died
rather than help the Black people who are still alive.
But now, a debate about how to teach Black history is causing
a bit of a stir in one of America's least Black states.
In Utah, a school reverses a decision which would have
allowed parents to opt out of lessons on Black History Month.
This is happening
at a charter school in Ogden, Utah.
Initially, the school's director said he was asked
by several families to opt out and he obliged and sent out
a document asking if other parents
wanted to do the same thing. But now the school
is backtracking after pushback from parents
and Black history supporters.
Wow. First of all,
what an embarrassment for the school.
If I were them, I'd try to play the whole thing off
as an intentional history lesson.
Uh, you see, parents? (chuckles)
You wanted to opt out but you're not allowed to.
Just like the slaves couldn't.
Black history accomplished. (chuckles weakly)
Now, people are saying that trying to opt out
of Black history is racist,
but even more than that, it's stupid.
Because Black history is exciting.
It's got racism, war, oppression,
dudes with Afros and leather jackets.
If you have to opt out of something, you should
opt out of boring shit like trigonometry.
You don't need to know that an isosceles triangle
has four sides, trust me.
Regardless, though, it's a good thing the school backtracked,
because this is a slippery slope.
If you let kids out opt of Black history,
then you'll have to let them opt out of white history.
And then what-- Asian history?
And before you know it, kids'll be showing up to school like,
back off, Teach. I'm just here for lunch.
But let's move on now to our main story.
President Joseph Ramaphosa Biden.
Over the weekend, Biden took a short break
from his day-to-day presidenting
to catch the Super Bowl from his home in Delaware.
And if you aren't immediately outraged about that,
well, you obviously haven't been watching
the last 48 hours of conservative news media.
Joe Biden is planning to travel across state lines
to watch the Super Bowl,
despite calls from the CDC not to travel.
Biden and his wife Jill are going to spend the weekend
at their Delaware home. Now, this, just a few days
after the CDC warned Americans against traveling this weekend,
stressing it could increase their chances
of spreading the coronavirus.
What happened to the suggestion that you shouldn't travel
during this, uh, COVID epidemic?
MAN: He-He's setting a horrible example and he's not practicing
what he preaches in any shape, form or fashion,
and if he really thinks that, uh, going out and traveling
at this particular point in time is putting people at risk,
then he's doing exactly that. He's putting thousands
and thousands of people at risk by doing this.
Uh, it's very hypocritical.
Why does he need to go... You know, what's wrong
with the White House? What's wrong with spending
-the weekend in the White House? -I guess...
Unbelievable.
You are setting a horrible example, Joe.
If you go to your home in Delaware,
soon, everyone will go to your home in Delaware.
And then, they'll expect snacks, Joe.
And what are you going to do--
buy tortilla chips for 300 million people?
There's no way the store has that many,
so you're going to have to get those quinoa chips,
and I know they're better for you,
but they taste like cardboard, Joe.
And don't tell me, "Oh, but Trevor, isn't it different
because he's the president, and he's flying on Air Force One?"
No! What if I fly on Air Force One
right after Joe Biden? Huh?
Coronavirus can linger for hours, people.
And I also know that people are saying, "Oh, come on.
"Why are you criticizing Biden
"for traveling during the pandemic
"when Donald Trump spent every weekend golfing
"and coughing on the Mar-a-Lago buffet table
and hosting rallies at the same time?"
But that's not the same!
Donald Trump wasn't being a hypocrite
because he wanted people to die of COVID.
But it's not surprising
that Biden bent the travel rules for himself.
Because he's been president for less than three weeks,
and already, he's had more scandals
than we can keep track of.
Although, my friends, we are going to try,
in our branch-new segment, "Joe Biden:
the Worst President in History That We Can Remember."
? ?
It will never happen.
There are two things that are unforgivable
for any American politicians.
Releasing the aliens from Area 51
and insulting the troops.
And last week,
Biden's press secretary launched a gratuitous attack
on the newest and bravest troops of all.
STUART VARNEY: White House Jen Psaki facing criticism
for mocking the Space Force.
May I ask whether the president has made a decision
on keeping or in keeping the scope of Space Force?
Wow. Space Force.
It is an interesting question.
Um, I am happy to check
with our Space Force point of contact.
I'm not sure who that is.
I will find out and see if we have any update on that.
Well, the top Republican
on the House Armed Services Committee
is now calling that comment disgraceful,
and he's asking the White House press secretary Jen Psaki
to apologize.
She's literally openly mocking a branch of military
that was actually enacted by Congress
with Democratic support.
There is some arrogance there.
There's a little condescension, as well.
A hundred years from now, the Space Force will be
one of the important parts of our military.
This is no joke.
How dare you, Jen Psaki.
Space Force is an illustrious branch of the military
that was formed an entire year ago
because Donald Trump had a weird sex dream about Alf.
If you're gonna mock Space Force, maybe,
maybe you should mock all the people who were cut in half
when Neptune stole Saturn's rings and threw them at Earth.
Oh, wait. That never happened,
because Space Force saved us.
Space Force is no joke, okay? This isn't funny.
America's sending troops to space
where they have to poop in a little bag.
You think that's funny?
And if the bag gets too full, the poop escapes,
and they have to chase the floating poop
around the spaceship. Does that sound funny to you guys?
A bunch of guys in fancy uniforms
floating around a room, trying to grab a poop.
And then their boss opens the door, and he says,
"What's going on? Aah!"
And then, the poop goes in his mouth.
Is that a joke to you?
You think any of this shit is funny, huh?
Now, insulting the military is bad enough,
but before the Space Force scandal had even died down,
Joe Biden took things a step further.
This time attacking the honor and decency
of our heroes in law enforcement.
There is some controversy over comments
that the new president made about these...
about FBI agents as a generality.
He made these comments,
and it's getting a lot of reaction. Listen.
By and large, the vast, vast majority
of these men and women are decent, honorable people.
What should be taken away from that, for him to say,
"The vast majority
of men and women are decent, honorable people"?
Why suddenly, the-the qualifiers on, you know, the arbitration
of who's a good guy and who's a bad guy?
What percentage of people are we talking?
Are 80%, uh, good and decent people at the FBI? 90?
Uh, can you be more specific?
Yeah, Joe Biden, be more specific.
Is it 99%, or is there just one bad guy, huh?
Is it Doug?
It's totally Doug, isn't it? I knew it!
You know he cheats on Margaret, right?
Like, what have you heard?
But this is just reprehensible.
How dare you say that the vast, vast majority
of FBI agents are honorable,
when clearly, it is the vast, vast, vast majority.
I mean, if you cared about those agents at all,
you would have thrown in a third "vast."
And I especially understand why this must have been a shock
for the folks over at Fox News
to hear a president slander the brave members
of the corrupt deep state like that.
I mean...
I just hope that decent, honorable scumbags
like James Comey don't hear about this.
(crying)
Now look, it's not surprising
that Joe Biden is bringing scandal to the White House.
I mean, after all, his entire campaign was little more
than just a front to launder money for his son Hunter Biden.
And just as everyone predicted,
Hunter is already turning Daddy's presidency
into his own personal piggy bank.
NEWSWOMAN: So, Hunter Biden has a new book
that is set to come out within his father's first 100 days.
NEWSWOMAN 2: But critics are pointing out,
President Biden said his family wasn't going to do this.
They weren't going to cash in on his presidency.
Did he write a book for free?
The real concern here, though, is,
Simon & Schuster is... is the... is the, uh,
is the company that cancelled Josh Hawley and his book,
but they're doing the book for Hunter Biden.
How will this book be used?
Will, uh... will it be kind of a test of loyalty
to Joe Biden to buy the book?
Will there be mass sales?
Yes, my friends, welcome to Joe Biden's America.
Where if you want a COVID vaccine,
you'll have to pass a pop quiz on Hunter Biden's book.
What important lesson did Hunter Biden learn
in chapter nine?
Uh, to believe in himself?
Wrong! Give him COVID!
And what if you're getting the vaccine?
Biden will still know if you bought the book.
You know why?
Because our bookshelves are in the background
of all our Zoom meetings.
Did Joe Biden engineer the coronavirus just
to make sure we all bought his son's book?
I'm just asking questions, but, yes, that's what happened.
This is what we're facing, people--
scandal, after scandal, after scandal.
The unfortunate truth is that Joe Biden's incapable
of doing literally anything right as president.
In fact, even before his first day in office was finished,
Biden had racked up three major scandals.
Joe Biden made fighting the coronavirus pandemic
the main staple of his campaign.
However, many have noticed
that Biden and other high-level officials
at his own inauguration were failing to socially distance.
Even wearing their masks was, at times, optional,
or not correct, the way they were doing it
when they were within six feet of others.
Look, there was a lot of hugging going on.
And these were not necessarily people who shared bubbles.
Joe Biden hired private security
as if he were not satisfied
with the National Guard and the military.
He wanted even more guns at his behest.
Joe Biden jumped the gun a little bit today.
He got sworn in at ten minutes to noon.
I don't mean to nitpick,
but, um, it does say noon, according to the law.
That's right.
Joe Biden stole ten minutes of Donald Trump's presidency.
Or as Fox News calls it, "Ten Ghazi."
Who knows what Trump could have accomplished
in those ten minutes?
I mean, maybe that's when he was finally
gonna release his health care plan.
He could have used that time to walk down half a ramp.
And do you have any idea how much Fox News
Trump could have watched in that ten minutes?
Like, ten minutes.
So those are the many Joe Biden scandals exposed
by the muckraking journalists of conservative media
in just his first three weeks in office.
And who knows. By this time tomorrow, we could find out
that Biden left the toilet seat up,
or even worse-- spoiled the end of WandaVision.
And when he does, we'll be there to tell you all about it
in another episode of "Joe Biden:
the Worst President in History That We Can Remember."
All right. When we come back,
Dr. Atul Gawande tells me what it's like
vaccinating people at Fenway Park,
and Super Bowl champion Leonard Fournette
is joining us on the show.
You don't want to miss it.
We have a president who is a true leader, in my opinion.
One I happen to believe will be regarded
as one of this country's greatest presidents.
Indeed, our greatest.
This is a man who multitasks. He is smart.
He is filled with energy. Nobody's a close second.
-He comes from a pretty good, uh, gene pool. -MAN: Absolutely.
Have you ever seen a man as...
st... I'm gonna... I was gonna say tough, but strong.
He's already set a standard for presidents
that most, uh, mortals won't be able to meet.
You're also one of the most loved and respected.
I would say that, also.
-DOBBS: In history. -The great Lou Dobbs,
he said, "Trump is the greatest president
since Ronald Reagan."
And then I said he's the greatest president ever.
Lou Dobbs, he said, "He's the greatest of them all."
I said, "Does that include Washington and Lincoln?"
And he said yes. Now, I don't know if he was for real.
Thank you, Mr. President.
And yes, I was for real.
I think he is doing God's work.
God sent this president, and I'll tell you,
the evidence is accumulating mightily.
How would you grade President Trump's leadership?
Superb, great or very good?
You are, if I may say,
everything as advertised as you ran for president.
This White House is energized.
There's sunshine beaming throughout the place
and on almost every face.
It will be century after century
of veneration for this president.
He's not perfect. Nobody's perfect.
But he's done a really good job.
Well, he's pretty close to perfect, Sean.
We end almost, uh, you know, every evening, it seems,
saying, you know, thank you, President Trump.
Have a great weekend.
The president makes such a thing possible for us all.
Welcome back to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Earlier today, I spoke with Dr. Atul Gawande.
He's a surgeon and a writer for The New Yorker
who is helping vaccine distribution efforts
at venues like Fenway Park.
We talked about that,
his latest reporting on coronavirus
and what the outlook is.
Dr. Atul Gawande,
welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Great to be here.
You are coming to us from Fenway Park,
one of the many stadiums and arenas
that are gonna be used as vaccination sites
around the country.
How is the rollout looking?
You know, America's been in an interesting place
where it seemed like everything was going well,
and then all of a sudden, there weren't enough vaccines,
and then there were too many in some places.
What does it look like on the ground right now?
Well, I'm part of a consortium
that's been running vaccine operations to scale
at Gillette Stadium, Fenway Park,
Reggie Lewis track and field here in Roxbury,
and those have escalated.
You know, we had to start at a few hundred a day.
We're past 5,000,
uh, across all of these sites per day,
and that will just keep on scaling upward.
Um, and, so, I think that our problem with distribution
will gradually get better and better.
The two problems that remain. Number one, you point to supply.
Um, how much can vaccine get pumped out?
It's a big deal that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine
was submitted for, uh, consideration
-by the FDA just last Friday. -Mm-hmm.
And that will potentially bring more supply.
The other big concern is equity.
We are not getting to the, uh,
the-the people of color and the rural settings,
which have had some of the worst rates
of, uh, of spread.
And, uh, and br... And bringing those people in
has got to be a high priority now.
Let's talk a little bit
about your article in The New Yorker.
You've written for The New Yorker for many years,
and now more than ever, people are reading your writing
through a different lens.
Uh, your most recent article
is entitled "Don't Tell Me What to Do."
And it focuses on a really fiery town hall meeting
in a small town in North Dakota.
Why did you think it was so important
to focus on a fight happening in a small town in North Dakota,
and what do you think that tells us about the larger story
about America, its vaccine rollout
and social distancing rules and masks, et cetera?
Last November in North Dakota,
uh, that was the site of the...
That was the state with the largest rate of infections,
the largest rate of hospitalizations,
and deaths were, uh, deaths were climbing.
And Minot was the hottest
of the hot spots in that state.
And, so, what I want to understand
is how does a community in the midst of all of this,
uh, react?
And, you know, the state had resisted
having any kind of a mask mandate.
-Mm-hmm. -There continued to be battles over the basics.
And, so, this city council had a member--
uh, her name is Carrie Evans--
who said, "You know what? I'm just sick of it.
"I'm going to propose a mask... a mask mandate
and force it to vote."
And what unfolded was this debate.
It was a... Really, it reflected a city,
a townwide debate
over whether the government could tell me what to do
when we aren't willing to do it.
And would that work?
Uh, they-they fought it out.
It was closely voted,
but they did adopt the mask mandate.
Um, and that was only the beginning.
People ignored the mask mandate after it was adopted.
Uh, it didn't have any penalties associated.
But then hospital leaders started coming out and saying,
"Our hospital is completely overrun."
-Wow. -And you see in place after place
is a story like this where we're late
in coming to realizing what needs to be done.
But in the face of what becomes
just a terrifying bubble of a viral transmission.
Uh, Carrie Evans said it was like steam.
You-you go to the store,
and you felt like it was this steam.
You know there are infected people
walking around the store,
and that was, um, uh...
that was the world they were in.
You're a doctor, and so that means
you are in the world of convincing people
that medicine can and will help them.
You're also in the world of listening to people's concerns
about why they're afraid to participate
or not participate in taking a medicine or not.
There's a more interesting dynamic conversation
happening right now in and around America's schools.
Many parents want their kids to go to school.
Many teachers are saying, "We can't go back
into the schools unless we're vaccinated."
The CDC has come out and said
teachers don't need to be vaccinated
to be at school with these kids.
Where do people stand? Because it feels like
there's so much contradictory information.
Are the kids a threat to the teachers? Are they not?
Can the teachers survive without getting a vaccination?
What should we be listening to,
and what is the voice of reason in the room?
Well, you know, in many ways,
this is what I was trying to unpack,
even in Minot, North Dakota, 'cause I spent a lot of time
with the people on the other side of the argument,
the people who said... who said...
A-And what you hear, whether it's teachers
saying they don't want to go back to school
because of fear of the virus
or others who say, "I don't want to fear the virus.
Get rid of the masks,"
what you have is a tremendous amount of pain.
I mean, the level of pain that you see in the country...
The people I were t... I was talking to
who said they don't want to wear the masks
are the people who are feeling like
their jobs are disappearing,
and they're seeing it happen.
They are seeing their kids not being able to go to school.
Uh, they've seen 'em lose a whole year of,
you know, a real robust education.
-Right. -And so I understand where folks are coming from.
At the same time, this is the battle.
We have to argue it out.
And, ultimately, the science is on the side of saying,
yes, we can return to the schools.
Let's bring testing in, and that can help provide reassurance.
Yes, we can defeat this virus,
but you have to wear the masks.
And that means curtailing things like your favorite bar
-or being out here at Fenway Park. -Mm-hmm.
But-but we are making our way through it.
It is tremendously hard to keep your foot on the pedal
for what are gonna be months to come.
We are gonna slip.
We're going to have this battle and debate,
and it's gonna-- it's just gonna continue.
And this is the nature of our democratic fight over that.
Yeah. It's gonna be a fight.
It looks like we're still in the middle of it.
And, um, hopefully, we're not just in the eye of the storm
but we're emerging from it.
Um, Dr. Gawande, thank you so much for taking the time,
and, uh, good luck with your efforts out there at Fenway.
Thank you.
The latest issue of The New Yorker
with Dr. Gawande's article is available today.
All right, when we come back,
we'll talk to a man who went from being jobless
to winning the Super Bowl in one season.
That's right, folks. Leonard Fournette
is joining us on the show.
Stick around.
Welcome back to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
So, earlier today, I spoke with Super Bowl champion
and Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette.
We talked about last night's game,
his journey to becoming a Super Bowl champion,
and what's in store for the future.
Leonard Fournette,
welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
And, more importantly, welcome to the Super Bowl championship.
-(chuckles) Thanks for having me, my guy. -How does it feel...
How does it feel, man? I mean, l-like,
26 years old,
your first Super Bowl appearance
and your first Super Bowl win at the same time.
And, on top of that,
you-you really played a part in the team.
Like, I've been part of winning teams in high school
where I did absolutely nothing
and then I got to stand up at the, you know,
and just celebrate with the team.
But you were actually part of the team winning.
Do you understand the gravity of what has happened to you?
What is going on in your head?
Uh, I'm just gonna start off just from the beginning
of the season, you know,
from being cut from the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Um, it was confusing.
You know, um...
I did everything I could to help the organization,
also my team and, uh, just become a better man
to help my teammates, too.
So, just from that, uh,
and then from Tom Brady to Devin White reaching out to me
and wanting me to join the-the Bucs organization,
to help 'em get a ring.
And I had an up-and-down season.
You know, it wasn't the best.
Uh, my stats wasn't how they used to be.
A thousand yards, uh, as many touchdowns as I wanted.
-Right. -So it-it was always up-and-down for me.
But, uh, when the playoffs came,
the playoffs came and I-I flourished.
You know? Uh, it's something I can tell my kids,
uh, my grandkids, how I just persevered
through whatever I was going through,
stayed focused, kept God first,
and now I'm a world champion. (chuckles)
You went from, um, carrying the nickname "Playoff Lenny,"
and, uh, I loved your tweet, which was, uh,
"Well, I guess now it's gonna be, uh..." (chuckles)
-Super Bowl Lenny. -"It's gonna be Super Bowl Lenny."
I love that. You know? I-I love that
because of the pure joy and the elation, you know?
This-this has been quite a journey for the team as well.
I mean, you got blocked
from going to the Super Bowl for the first time.
You got stopped by Tom Brady.
And then you fast-forward to 2021
and Tom Brady is there, you know, celebrating with you.
Tom Brady, who reached out to you personally, was like,
"I want you to play with me."
What has that journey been like,
playing with arguably the greatest quarterback
of all time?
Uh, that journey, man. It's been-- it's been crazy.
You know? To see--
to see why he has the résumé he has
and why he's so respected in the game.
And his ritual,
how he does in order to win games,
big games, uh, perfam--
perform under the big lights, I've seen it firsthand.
You know, I'm in the back with this guy.
We're meeting together.
He's calling me at night,
asking me what plays I like,
what I think about this run
-or what I think about this pass protection. -Wow.
And, uh, just to see how he cares about his teammates,
it's amazing, you know?
And I see why he's-he's considered
one of the best in the game.
I would love to know, because I don't get the opportunity
to talk to many people who have scored a touchdown
in a winning game at the Super Bowl,
I would love to know, when you're running
into that end zone, when you're running towards it,
what is going through your mind?
Are you thinking or is your brain just going?
Is your-- Are your muscles moving without you?
What is happening in your brain in that moment?
Well, I can say, uh, it's just a skill set we have.
You know, it's a-- it's a God--
it's a God-given talent that he gave to me, you know?
And, uh, it's just everything that's in the game is instincts.
You know, you practice so much, uh, your skills,
the drills you do. You work at it so much,
it becomes second nature in the game.
I say it's from practicing, you know,
uh, hard work and dedication.
You know, uh, trying to perfect your craft
at the end of the day.
I feel you there. I have-- I have a similar thing.
Uh, sometimes I'll go to the kitchen
and I'll open the fridge
and I think I'm gonna get water and then I get ice cream.
And I don't even know how that happened.
It's just, like, an instinct.
It's just something inside me that gets me going.
Listen, listen. That-That's just a bad habit.
You can-- you can break a bad habit in 30 days.
That's all. 30 days, you can break a bad habit.
Just try to drink water for at least 20 days straight.
Um, let's talk about life now.
I mean, this morning must have been surreal for you.
You know, the night after a victory
and then the morning after. You know, 'cause the morning,
you wake up and it's like, "Was that a dream? Is it real?"
'Cause there's a moment of silence. I-I know--
I think you know what I'm talking about.
There's just a moment where it's like, "Wait,
did any of this actually happen?"
What was the feeling like with the family?
Because-- I mean, it could have been one of two mornings.
It could have been like one of those, "Shh.
Keep quiet. Daddy's not in a great mood" mornings.
You know? Everyone just, like-- just give him hugs.
Or, I mean, it was jubilation.
What-What's that feeling like for the family?
Uh, I mean, it was great, man,
to have my family come on the field and celebrate with me.
Um... as a kid, I've always dreamed
-of playing the Super Bowl. -Right.
And now that that-that finally happened
and my family was there to witness that,
uh, me score a touchdown
or even much play in a Super Bowl,
for them to come on the field and celebrate that with me,
uh, there's no better feeling than that, you know?
Um, like, you understand?
Like, all those things I was going through prior the season,
before the season, uh, my family felt that.
They know how much I love football,
they how much I put my-my soul,
I dedicate myself to this game.
And when things wasn't going right, you know,
uh, they feel my pain, too.
So my family played a big part in my success
about, you know, keeping my faith, holding my head up.
My mother always told me, guys, it's-it's a test of time
for you, son, but, at the end, you gonna come out better
than ever. And that's what happened.
I would love to know, uh, before I let you go,
where the journey goes from here.
For many people, winning the Super Bowl would be the end.
You're young. You're-you're amazing.
You're-you're great at what you're doing.
So this is just the beginning.
This is just part of your story.
You're also somebody who's been very vocal.
Like, you know, people applauded you
for-for being outspoken during the Black Lives Matter protests.
You were leading some of those protests.
You've spoken your mind.
You know, you're-you're a man of faith, a family man.
You have so many things going on.
I'd love to know, what do you dream for now going forward?
Because, as you said, this was your dream.
So now where do your dreams take you from here?
I think from here on out, you know,
about becoming (stammers)
I'm already a better man, but being the best that I can be,
for my kids and for young, for younger guys
younger generation that looks up to me.
You know, just showing them that, you know,
I'm from New Orleans, you know, so just showing them
-things are bigger than New Orleans, you know? -Right.
Uh, I've seen, I've been on both sides, you know?
Not having money to being rich.
You know, so I know how it is.
And I just want to give those guys, uh, just hope.
You know, the littlest things can,
can inspire a generation or a person, you know?
I just want, I want to be that guiding light.
Uh, hopefully, guys look up to me like Tom Brady,
like Aaron, you know, the greats in the game.
-Mm-hmm. -And I just want to be part of that legacy.
To say that Leonard Fournette, my last name,
helped change the world become better.
Well, I'll tell you this, man, with a Super Bowl ring,
you're on the path to greatness already.
Super Bowl Lenny, thank you so much for joining me
on the show, man. I appreciate you.
Thanks for having me, my guy. Appreciate it.
All right, we're gonna take a quick break.
But we'll be right back after this.
Well, that's our show for tonight, but before we go.
This month, as you know, is Black History Month.
So please consider supporting Barbershop Books.
They create child-friendly reading spaces in barber shops
and provide early literacy training to barbers.
All to inspire Black boys and other vulnerable children
to read for fun.
If you're able to, go to the link below
and donate whatever you can to help create a future
where all children identify as readers and enjoy learning.
Until tomorrow, stay safe out there,
wear a mask and remember,
if you want to opt out of Black History Month,
you have to say it to a Black person's face.
Good luck.
Now here it is, Your Moment of Zen.
Come here.
She wants to talk to you just a second, too.
Come on up here, girl. Whoa, babe.
I know you're a big rascal.
But, uh, she-she wanted to tell you this.
Thanks for mentioning everything, you know,
how she did on her predictions.
She told people that, uh, how to bet.
You know, Nathan in our office decided he would bet
with Kansas City-- he was a dumb bunny.
Baby Dog can only do
what-what she's said in the past.
And she whispers to me all the time and she says,
Listen to the Baby Dog.