The Power Of Eating Local with Joe Thomas (Hour 2)

On location, it's the Todd Alba Show.

And now, pursuing truth wherever it may lead, here's your host, Todd Alba.

Across Wisconsin on the Civic Media Radio Network.

and streaming worldwide on the CFMedia app.

Good afternoon, everybody.

Todd Albaugh here along with Mr. Aaron Zommers, our producer and engineer back at the World Headquarters in downtown Madison on a beautiful day here in southwest Wisconsin.

We are on location at Six Springs Farm.

It is the 29th of July, 2025, and it is an especially great day to be a Wisconsinite.

Welcome in, everybody, for this great on location show.

I should mention Chris Gizzi, our on-site producer with us as well as long as...

as long with Zomers back at the World Headquarters.

Mr. Zomers, I can only say I wish you were here back in my part of the state, the Driftless region, because we got a very special guest with us today.

Yes, it's one that Todd has been excited about for a long time, and I think all of us really.

Yeah, it really is, and a lot of people are looking forward to it.

So let's get right to it.

He's sitting next to me for those watching on the stream, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

If you're not, if you want to see a great visual, we are literally

Outstanding in our field, well not our field, but Joe Thomas's field.

He is a Hall of Famer for the Wisconsin Badgers and College Football as well as in the NFL for the Cleveland Browns and the owner and founder of Hall of Fame Beef.

Sitting next to me, Mr. Joe Thomas.

Joe, thanks for letting us do this.

Oh man, this is so cool.

I never in my wildest dreams in 2012 when I bought this farm thought I'd be sitting next to you, Todd.

In my past, you're doing a live radio show throughout, not just Wisconsin, throughout the world.

We heard it.

This is the worldwide headquarters down the street in Madison.

And I guess, can this be the worldwide headquarters for Six Springs Farm?

It is.

I think you just made it so.

There it is.

A lot of worldwide headquarters around it.

It is

beautiful.

It really is.

This means so much to me.

As we were talking before, people, our regular viewers and listeners of this show, Brady Ewing, a fellow Richelon Centerite, our parents live two houses apart, watch them go through Wisconsin.

And he's kind enough.

Well, we just start.

this show almost three years ago.

He was one of the first guests that came on continues to do it and just watching his career, watching your career from afar, never thought I'd have a chance to sit next to a Hall of Famer.

I used to watch you on Sundays all over national television and then watch it on the NFL Network because you do it all not just a player.

You're also an analyst.

Yeah, I had to find a way to stay in football when I retired without coaching because the coaching lifestyle didn't exactly mesh with the cattle ranching and the dad lifestyle.

So it was a perfect combination to be able to stay around the game of football, give me a reason to watch all the games, dial in, do the homework, but then still have a little free time to get out here to the farm, do some hunting, chase some cattle around, coach the kids and still have that little bit of balance that you don't get when you play in the NFL.

Yeah, well, I hope our listeners, our viewers will stick around for the entire.

two hours.

Gonna be a jam-packed show.

Gonna talk with Joe just a little bit about his college career, the transition to the NFL, and then we're gonna get into a lot of what the heck are we doing in a field, and how does a kid from Brookfield end up in southwest Wisconsin raising cattle, and then our friend and co-host for the afternoon, Brady Ewing, is gonna join us here on the set as well.

And he never, no Joe, who's gonna show up at Six Spring the Farm might have a surprise guest by the end of the show.

We might have a surprise.

I'm really excited.

I hope it works out the man.

He's extremely busy.

He's also in agriculture.

And we've been trying to find a time to get together and bring him out here and show him the farm.

And I'm just crossing my fingers that works out today.

We're hoping for it.

And also in hour two, again, our regular listeners and viewers know we do this goofy thing in hour two called What's Worse, today, the other white meat edition.

That's what happens when Brady and I hang out together.

I'm the other white meat, I decided.

But no, it's chicken or beef, or chicken or pork.

Chicken or pork, we'll do that in hour number two.

And Joe has been kind enough to say he'll take some of your phone calls in hour number two as well.

Your chance to ask the Hall of Famer something about farming, about his football career, we'll take those calls in hour number two as well.

Joe, let's just start off.

tell us a little bit.

First of all, we'll do the present and we'll go back.

But this is a beautiful place in southwest Wisconsin.

Kind of a stone's throw, we'll say, from where Brady and I grew up in Richland County.

It's a beautiful part of the state.

What just initially made me you grew up in Brookfield, but by the way our own Dan Schaefer political editor when he heard this was happening He goes, you know, I went to church with Joe

Thomas's family

and the Lutheran church

There you go across of life Lutheran church there in Brookfield.

Yeah, so I'll bring a Dan Schaefer back some snack sticks But you open Brookfield, but you weren't a farming kid growing up, right?

No, it wasn't.

I drove by some farms that looked like they were having a good time out there when I would drive by, but I was always a country kid, even though I did grow up in the suburbs, you know, for family vacations.

What we did is my dad would take us in the van.

We'd drive up to Canada and we'd go fishing.

We'd go canoeing, camping up in the Quedico and the wilderness up there or the Boundary Waters.

And so from when I was a little kid, I was just in love with being outside.

I did not want to be inside one second.

I wanted to be dirty and I wanted to be sweaty to be wrestling my butt.

catching fish, you know, I got into hunting when I was in middle school through one of my friends who had some land up in Trempleau County and I just always had this feeling like I just.

Maybe didn't miss my calling, but I wasn't born into a family of Farmers and I always wished I would have because I have great grandparents great grandparents same with my wife that were Farmers and then left the farm and you know moved to the city like a lot of people But once I got to the NFL I always thought like hey if I can take anything from my career I want to be able to have a little spot of my own in the country where I can hunt and fish and take my kids and make those amazing Memories that families that have the opportunity to get outside and get into the country are able to make

and I was lucky enough that I found the perfect place here in

Muscaday, Wisconsin.

Yeah, I think it's great.

But also, I love that story because I think it speaks to so many people.

We were just up in Butternut last week.

We did the show up there in Hayward.

And I think about how many guys maybe want to play football or girls want to play professional basketball, whatever it might be.

And they're sitting there in rural Wisconsin, man, man, if I could just play the NFL.

And here's a hall of famers sitting there in Cleveland going, man, if I could just get back to Wisconsin.

You know what I mean?

Exactly.

I mean, that's why I played football.

So I could make enough money to go farm when I was done, right?

There is life after football.

It includes some farming, but no, I mean...

I was in college and it was funny because I had a friend who had a farm in Gotham and I'd never been west of Madison growing up, you know, growing in the Milwaukee area.

It's pretty flat.

Not a lot of hills out there.

And I didn't even know that the driftless part of the state existed.

I didn't realize we have hills like this.

I didn't realize we have valleys and trout streams.

And it was in college when my friend invited me out to Gotham and I drove out here to do some turkey hunting and I all of a sudden hit that first bluff as you leave Madison on Highway 14.

going west and I'm like, where did

I go?

I

don't think I made it all the way to Colorado.

Is this the Rockies mom?

And it was at that moment where I was like, well, okay, now I know where I want my farm.

If I got a chance to get some land, it's in the western part of the state.

It's the drift list because it's wild.

The people are wonderful and fantastic.

The hunting is amazing.

The trout fishing is incredible.

And you have this unique biodiversity that's right here.

And although I didn't have a lot of plans to be a farmer, I knew that, hey, if there was a place that I ended up

raising livestock or I wanted to tend to crops and cash crop.

Like this is where you want to be because it's got the most fertile soils in the state.

It's got the most interesting topography.

We keep out a lot of the big, huge corporate farmers because we don't have those big fields that they can efficiently plant with the giant tractors and the big combines.

And so there was a small town family farm feel when I was out here.

And it was, it just felt like home the minute I walked out for the very first time, Turkey hunting in Gotham, Wisconsin, not too far down the river here.

Mom lives still lives back in Richland center and whenever I drive back from Madison, I get spring green.

I see those kind of bluffs and hills.

They think, well, I'm home.

I mean, there's a certain feeling out here.

And it's really cool to hear somebody like you connect with that and feel that too.

And that's why I talk it up a lot.

I'm very proud to come from this part of the state for all the reasons that you said.

You were talking with Joe Thomas, Hall of Famer in college and the NFL as well as far as football.

We're here at his farm, Six Springs Farm in southwest Wisconsin.

Joe, you were one of the last players that played for the great Barry Alvarez for the Wisconsin Badgers, played all four years at Wisconsin, had a great career there.

Just let's, before we get to the present, we'll bring Brady later on, do the over-under for this season later.

But let's talk about your

time.

With the pressure on him, I'm not ready

for that yet.

But talk a little bit about your career at Wisconsin.

Again, Barry Alvarez, a legend in his own right.

Yeah, Barry was so awesome to play for.

And I just feel so fortunate because I played three years for Barry.

And then my last year with Brett Bielema, so I got to see both coaching styles and kind of see the beginning of Brett's career and then where it was right there at the end of Barry's career.

And I learned so much, not just with football, but just about being a man, being an adult, taking responsibility.

being in charge of your own happiness with Barry because I always thought that even when you walked in there as an 18 year old freshman he treated you like a man but then he expected you to do man things like he worked your butt off and it really taught you that work ethic, taught you what the culture of being a Wisconsin badger is all about.

It taught you about you know how you go through hard times and adversity and you pull together and the meaning of

Working for not just yourself but the team concept of doing something for the man that's next to you and those are lessons that

I took throughout my NFL career that helped me.

And then now they're the same values and lessons.

I'm trying to teach my kids and there's no better place to teach him those values than in Wisconsin and on a farm in Wisconsin.

So that's why it's just every chance we get, we bring the kids out here.

We're trying to work the cattle.

We're trying to go run around and get dirty and just teaching about what childhood should be all about, right?

I watched the Brewer's game last night.

Jacob Izarowski, the Miz, was on the mound.

Got beat up a little bit in the first inning, had a couple.

maybe a bad call and a ball off of his leg.

And the Brewers were down 3-0 in the first inning, but the kid kept his composure, bounced back, and as you said under Barry Alvarez and football, I think it reveals who a person is internally, as well as athletically, when you have to go through and push through those hard times in athletics.

Yeah, I think adversity does a great job of revealing who you are, your true character.

My wife and I always laugh when you meet like an old, crusty person.

You talk about...

Age kind of just reveals who you are.

You just become more of whatever you are.

And that's the same thing with adversity.

If you're a person that's always looking to cut and run and looking for an excuse not to fight your way out of something, it's going to show up when times get tough.

It's going to show up on the football field, on the practice field, in training camp when it's 90 degrees and you're sweating, you're losing 10 pounds of sweat every single day.

And it would be easy to just be like, ah, hamstrings a little tight today.

You can see me in the training room, right?

It's air conditioned in there.

Just having that mentality, like whatever it takes, I'm going to figure it out because this is important and making it about somebody besides yourself, which always makes you fight harder and work harder.

And I'm just so thankful to have that background, obviously growing up in the state, learning the values that the state of Wisconsin has.

also learning the culture of what a Wisconsin Badger meant going back all the way when Barry first got there in the 90s and it's important life lessons like I mentioned them.

I'm telling my kids today and trying to preach to them of course they're never listening but at some point maybe one of those things will strike home and they'll remember it.

Two minutes from before the first break Joe.

I was at the Dane County Memorial Coliseum for a Badger hockey game the night that they introduced Barry Elvarez and the place went crazy.

How about

that?

And we all from the outside said this guy had something.

What was it like to be in the locker room later on after he'd been there a while?

But to witness that, the guy just seems to have a vision that it's unshakable.

Yeah, he was a guy that came to Wisconsin with a vision.

He knew what he wanted and he knew how to get it done.

And he knew the guys that he needed to get in there to make it happen.

And I mean, they had a lot of turnover.

I'm sure in the first couple of years, there was a lot of guys in the team saying, oh, this Barry Alvarez guy, he'll never work.

I can't play for him.

I'm out of here, right?

And that's just natural when you're bringing in a new culture, a new way of doing things.

But you have that vision, that unwavering

vision of how things have to go and the type of people that you need, not only just from the player standpoint, but the coaching standpoint to get to that ultimate goal.

And for Barry, it was so important that they were able to turn it around and get to that Rose Bowl and win it.

Because then that just proves your theory, not only for everybody else, but for yourself.

That this is the right track.

These are the things and the values that I need to teach on this team to have consistent success.

And then he went on and he did it for a really, really long time.

I was I was going to school at Platteville in 94 with winter.

Rose Bowl, and it was electric.

I mean, it was fantastic.

Joe Thomas is our guest.

We are here at Six Springs Farm in southwest Wisconsin.

When we come back, Joe got drafted third, but instead of going to the draft, he did something else.

We'll tell you what that is after this.

Don't go anywhere.

It's the title of all show live on location at Six Springs Farm on the Civic Media radio network.

It's Friday after five.

I got here just in time.

Went ahead and went a line four.

I went and lost my mind, and I ain't been here long.

But the barbers in the pond going up, down, up, down, up, down.

Tonight we're

going to raise.

Welcome back to the Cowboy Show.

Why?

live on location from Six Springs Farm here along with Joe Thomas, the proprietor there of also NFL and pro or college football Hall of Famer.

Straight off of Joe's Spotify playlist.

So we appreciate you sharing some of that.

Zommer is going to be playing some of that back at home, but your country music guy.

I love country music.

I actually went to two days of Morgan Wallen when he was at camp.

I saw

that

on

your

Instagram.

Yeah, I went the first night with my wife and some of our friends.

It was awesome and I was still buzzing the next day and my kids are big Morgan Wallen fans.

Should we just try to get some tickets and

get out there?

We got to

take these kids.

I mean, it was such an amazing event and being the first concert at Camp Randall in, I don't know, decades.

They really did an awesome job and the fans were out there.

It was an awesome show.

So I'm really happy I took the family there.

Unfortunately, my six-year-old had had enough.

right before Morgan won came out wearing my jersey.

Oh,

I

didn't even get to see that.

I was carrying her in the parking lot by lot 17.

and she was crying.

It was like 11 o'clock at night because there was a rain delay that night and so it got started a little bit later and all of a sudden my phone is just blowing up.

I got my Apple watch on so they can see all these people texting me and I finally looked and there's a picture of Morgan Wong wearing my jersey.

I'm like, are you serious?

It's happening right in there right now and I just left with my six-year-old.

So that was a surprise, but it was a fun story.

I can tell her when she gets older and more responsible.

But people are talking about this on socials that they didn't reach out to you.

They didn't coordinate

you, right?

No, no, no.

I mean, I'd been in communication with their manager and they gave me tickets, which I was

very

happy for because they were not cheap tickets and not easy to get.

But yeah, I was like, you know what?

If he's going to wear my jersey, it would be nice to get a heads up so I could at least like.

Stay for one more song,

maybe.

I mean, obviously they didn't know that that was going to be the situation, but it was kind of funny.

So I'm hoping to see him again because he's coming to Cleveland on the big stadium tour.

So I'll be out there for the Browns preseason games and stuff.

So I'm hoping to catch him one more time.

By the way, years ago, my dad is a big music guy and we flew out to Cleveland together for a dad's sun trip.

We went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is spectacular, but people don't realize how close that is to the stadium.

got to go in it.

It's a really cool stadium right next to the Lake Erie there.

Yeah, it's awesome.

They did a great job right there with that little riverfront, lakefront area.

the whole river as it goes in is called the Flats District and they've renovated it with a ton of cool like music and bar and breweries and so that area is really cool and then you go around the corner and you're right on the lake and it's the Brown Stadium you got the Science Center right there which is a great spot for kids especially my wife had three little kids and I was in

practice all day and so she went there all the time because it was a good way to waste a few hours and get the kids out of the house and then right next to it's the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame which is awesome if you're a fan of

any music really going there and seeing the memorabilia and hearing the stories it's incredible actually when I got inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame we had a celebration in Cleveland for all my Cleveland friends and family and some of the people from the team and so we actually had it at the rock hall which was really awesome yeah it was a special night

that's really really amazing well speaking of special nights after playing for Wisconsin

did outstanding, end up getting drafted third in 2007 in the NFL draft.

And today, of course, we was up in Lambo this year, and it's a week-long production now, right?

It wasn't quite that, but they wanted you to come to the draft.

They did.

They were upset when I said, I've got better things to do.

I'm fishing with my dad.

It's been on the calendar for like 18 years at this point.

I've been doing this since I was four years old.

Didn't you guys get the memo?

Gil Brant, he was a scout for the Cowboys for a long time, actually made the NFL Hall of Fame as a scout.

I don't know if he's the first one ever, but legendary figure in NFL circles and at that time he was working for the NFL and he was selecting the five players that they were going to invite to the draft because at that point they would just invite five guys, they would come and then do the dog and pony show where you're

expensive suit you probably can't afford yet because you haven't signed your contract go and shake Roger Goodell's hands hang out with all the media people put your face on TV and as a lineman that was not exactly a high priority

for me

first of all I didn't have a suit so I'm trying to figure out okay how do I get a suit made that's gonna be costly I don't want to do that not exactly a suit guy and then also I was like why would I want to go hang out with a bunch of people I don't know on draft day if this is supposed to be a special day I want to be with the people that are meaningful to me like my fans

my dad and knowing that after you get drafted you basically get put on a plane and immediately you go to your city you have media press conference and then you jump right into rookie minicamp and then you're pretty much gone until about the first of July and then they give you a few weeks off before training camp starts but I mean it is fast so you go from just training and being done with college and getting ready for the combine and the draft to all of a sudden boom.

You're on a team.

You are now, especially me as a first round pick, you are the guy that's got the pressure that all the eyes are going to be on.

And so things get really busy.

And I was looking at the calendar like, I don't know, the next time I'm going to be able to fish with my dad, it's going to be so I'm definitely taking this opportunity.

And so Gil called me a couple of times and was all excited.

Hey, can't wait to tell you, Joe, we're going to have you out to New York for the NFL draft.

And I don't think I said anything the first time we talked because I was a little surprised, but I also didn't want to.

tell him right away and like, you know, make him be upset.

So I just told my agent, I was like, I don't think I'm going to go to the draft.

I'm just go fish with my dad.

And he's like, OK, no problem.

That's no big deal.

I'm like, they tell me I'm going to get all these marketing dollars, but I'm aligned.

I got a face for radio and they don't really want to see me.

It's not really worth my time.

And I'd rather just go fish.

And so I told Gil then the next time he called and I think he was pretty surprised because nobody at that point yet had said they're not going to New York because I think people saw it like like he was trying to portray it as hey look at this great opportunity the NFL world can get to know you they can see your face you know as a football player you're wearing your helmet all the time so people don't really know your face like they do in the other sports and so this is your big

big breakthrough opportunity.

And I said, Gil, I appreciate it.

That's a great honor.

But I'd rather go fishing with my dad.

And I'm going to just be honest, like, I think if I make any money in football, it's going to be on the field.

It's not going to be doing endorsements for Dove chocolates or somebody like this.

I'm a football player.

I'm a lineman.

Okay.

And so he was like, whatever went back to the NFL.

And then I get another call and the tone changed a little bit.

Now he's like pissed because you could tell the NFL was giving him heat.

Like, Hey, we got to get these five guys there.

We got a show to half.

Like there's no show without the actors.

So we need him there.

And so then he started hitting me with this real heavy full court press about like, Hey, you, you got to, you got to be here or they're going to think you're pre Madonna and we'll maybe finish after the commercial break here.

He's a pro.

He works for the NFL network.

Come on, we'll finish the story on the other side.

Pam Yankee Midwest Farm Report.

The ag update is next.

We'll be back live at Six Springs Farm after this.

Don't go anywhere.

It's the all ball show on location on the Civic Media Radio Network.

And he said, let me tell you a secret about a father's love.

A secret that my daddy said was just between us.

He said, daddies don't just love their children every now and then.

It's love without end, amen.

Welcome back to the Toddleball Show from Lake Michigan to Lake Superior.

Green Bay to the Mississippi River at all points in between across the Civic Media Network.

Glad to have you along on a Tuesday afternoon.

We're live from Six Springs Farm in beautiful Southwest Wisconsin.

That is home to me and home to the person joining us here on the set.

The one, the only he is a three-time Big Ten champion with the Wisconsin Badger football team and spent three years in the league, as they say.

Mr. Brady Ewing joins us now.

Brady, thanks for coming on down to hop, skipping a jump.

How are you doing, my friend?

Doing great.

Thanks for letting me join you guys today.

It's our pleasure to, of course, our main host here at Six Springs Farms, the owner of the proprietor, NFL Hall of Famer, College Football Hall of Famer, Mr. Joe Thomas.

Joe, once again, thank you for allowing us to come out here and tell this story.

Really, really appreciate you doing this today.

Oh, this is awesome.

This is so special for us out here to be able to tell the story of the farm and tell the story of the great people and places and the great things we're doing here in the Driftless area.

Yeah, absolutely.

So before the break, I had to step

away and do a little midwest far report.

And who is better than Pompeii and Bianchi?

Nobody.

Nobody.

I thought she was AI before AI existed because she never makes a mistake.

She's so clear and perfect.

interesting every time she does all the market reports and stuff and I just love this I wish I could just listen to her all day like if I could just put that on the radio in the skid loader the tractor and just have her talk egg to me all day long somebody needs to develop that app and I buy it

I'm down for that and of course she's a big NFL fan

for the Packers,

of course.

But I mean, she loves the NFL.

Yeah.

Fabulous Farm Babe is also an NFL fan.

I mean, I'm not surprised.

She's the total package.

She really is.

We're happy and fortunate to have her here as part of the Civic Media Radio Network.

Joe, before the break, you were telling us a little bit about being drafted number three in 2007.

You skipped the draft.

Back then, it was always in New York because you wanted to go fishing with your dad and your grandpa.

and your agents can be okay, but other people really wanted you to come.

Well, the NFL realized that in order for them to make tens of millions of dollars with TV rights, they need the players there, but they weren't sharing it with us at the time, and so I think...

after they kind of took a little hardball approach to say, if you don't come, they're going to think you're a pre-Madonna.

Nobody's going to want you.

I was like, OK, we'll see.

I think I'll be all right.

I don't think I'm getting docked because I'd rather go fishing with my dad than be on TV.

So we pushed back.

I'm so happy that I went fishing that day.

And I never did it for anything other than

I just was not interested in New York and I'd much rather spend the day fishing with my dad.

And it's interesting because that story resonated with so many people.

And even to this day when the draft comes up and I got a chance to work the draft this year in Green Bay, there's so many people that aren't Browns fans.

They're like, hey, you're that guy that went fishing with your dad.

And then they'll tell me a story.

that it's always, it's so close to my heart because they'll tell me, you know, my dad passed away 10 years ago, but that's what I always love to do on the weekends with him.

And I have so many great memories of him fishing.

So thanks for doing that because it gave me an opportunity to reflect on our relationship.

And so just doing something unintentionally, having an effect on people and giving them the emotion, the feeling, the family opportunity to reflect on those times that they had.

and what fishing provides, what the outdoors provides to so many families.

It's so cool because I'm hoping that that's a story that.

keeps being told and gives people a reason like, you know, and instead of working today, I'm gonna go fishing with my kid.

I'm gonna make the time because it's impactful.

It's memories that they're gonna remember for the rest of their life.

Brady, we talk about this on this show all the time, but the value of time with family.

And I think that story about Joe, A, just tells you everything you need to know about this guy.

But I think from a fan perspective, to your point, Joe, I mean, we announced that you were coming on last week.

We had people texting in saying,

I always love Joe Thomas because he gave the middle finger to the

draft.

Fair words,

not mine.

But put his family first.

And Brady, I think that is just so important to the character and somebody who played in college, who played in the NFL.

Isn't that the guy you want in your team?

Oh, absolutely.

I mean, to have your priorities in line to where you want to spend time with your dad, even amidst a big opportunity like that is crazy.

I mean, I know myself as a dad, I find excuses now to not take my kids fishing.

But what a better example from Joe to say, even in this big pinnacle moment of your career, to still prioritize that.

And maybe there were some ulterior motives with

throwing up the middle

finger.

It's really cool.

And I remember, you know, looking up to you as a kid growing up in the state of Wisconsin to remember seeing that and hearing that story.

It was impactful to me at that time and still is today.

So thanks for that.

I think it just it really set the tone for a lunch pail kind of guy in Cleveland.

I'm coming in here to work my ass off, not to be a pre Madonna.

Yeah, obviously, I didn't know who was going to draft me.

Maybe if I got drafted in New York or LA or, you know, Arizona, it'd be a different reception.

But as soon as I got to Cleveland, I mean, that was what all the fans wanted to talk to me about.

Oh, that was so cool.

We knew you were going to be one of us.

When you decided to go fishing with your dad, you had the priorities in order.

And Cleveland's a lot like Milwaukee, like Ohio, Wisconsin, very similar type people, very similar values.

Family is really important.

The outdoors are a big part of a lot of people's lives.

And so they were Browns fans.

they also knew like, hey, when you went fishing, it told us a lot about who you are and what's important to you and that you're going to be a great fit here for the Browns.

One of the coolest things to bring up another sport for a second ever got to do is go to the old county stadium and see Cal Ripken at Milwaukee County Stadium back in the day.

But Joe, you're the Cal Ripken of the NFL.

I mean, 11 years, 11 seasons at Cleveland had 10,000.

363 consecutive snaps, not games, folks, snaps, the longest in the NFL.

You just came to work every day and got it done.

Yeah, that is the mentality that I had growing up.

That's the the values and the perspective that my dad gave me.

Like my dad, I think.

never missed a day of work in like 20 years.

And there was one day in Milwaukee that he told me about when I was a kid where they got like 16 inches of snow.

And he was living, I think, in Walto's at the time.

And it was like 15 miles to get into the office.

And instead of making an excuse and finding a reason why I can't work out and I can't get my stuff done today, it's like, OK, he's like, I put my cross country skis on and I skied to work.

I had a backpack with my suit and everything I needed.

I got there and I got my job done.

I think it's interesting, like, when you make that decision, this is what I'm gonna do, and I'm not gonna let anything stop, it's almost a freeing feeling, because then you don't have to think about every little thing.

Should I do that today?

I don't know.

How hard should I work?

You're able to just eliminate that from your mind, and it's like, I'm here to work, I'm here to do the job, tell me what you need done, and I'm gonna do it.

And I think it's just a nice, easy feeling, a freedom, and...

It gives you the ability to just focus on what I have to do.

And whatever it takes, I'm going to be the best left tackle I possibly can.

I'll be there every day and you can count on me.

We're here at Six Springs Farm in Southwest Wisconsin talking to NFL Hall of Famer College football Hall of Famer Joe Thomas along my co-host for the rest of the show Brady Ewing in his own right three time Big Ten champion for the Wisconsin Badgers and also spent three years in the NFL.

Guys, I want a little discussion here.

I'm just going to sit here and watch.

But

what I'm

interested is, I mean, Joe, you were blessed, I would say, but you worked your butt off to earn it, but also just fortunate in this sport to have 11 consecutive seasons until it wasn't a bye.

except

you tore my tricep

in year 11.

Brady, your NFL career was cut short by injuries.

You were pretty much healthy your entire time at Wisconsin, then just ran into the injury bug in the NFL.

Didn't get to spend as much time there, but like both of your observations, Brady, you and then Joe, what do you take away from the time that you did have in the league, in football, and how do you apply that to what you do today?

It's what Joe talked about earlier.

The lessons you learn going alongside a team, searching to pursue a certain goal together, going through that adversity, going through the daily grind where you have to make that decision.

Because even if you do make that decision, there's still days where you're like, oh crap.

We're going to go out there and we've got to do this thing again.

And I'm interested in Joe's perspective on that.

Because as a guy that contrasts his career playing three years, all of which ended up on injured reserve at some point.

I didn't really have the ability to make that decision, so I'm interested to hear how you did that, especially as your career aged.

How were you able to make that decision and still find that balance to keep yourself healthy and still go out and attack it and lead the team in an organization that you were a staple for many years.

It takes a lot of good fortune and good luck to play a full NFL season and be healthy, right?

I mean, it's a very violent sport.

There's a lot of big collisions and things can happen.

I mean, even things that aren't your fault, like the pile falls on the back of your legs or things like that, that really are hard to control.

But I always just prided myself in my preparation and that was the film work that was study the playbook, understanding, hey, okay, if I'm running an outside zone to the left and that back's going to cut back, this is the hole.

There's going to be a dude flying in from the other side, tackling him.

So I better keep my feet moving and drive my guy out of the hole.

Or that's the back of my knee.

That's the entire pile is going to be tackled on.

So having awareness like that helped.

Obviously, God given ability is really important.

Your genetic makeup, just like the 100% wagyu cows behind us genetically predisposed to having buttery, delicious, marbled beef.

But you're not going to get there unless you feed them the right way.

And that was the same thing like in my career.

I knew that I had to eat the right way to be able to keep the weight on, to be able to recover from the hard workouts.

And then as my career wore on, it was much more about focusing on the things that I needed to do off the field, yoga, stretching, cold tub, hot tub, massage, the dry kneeling, all the different things that helps keep you on the field.

And really a big part of it for me was finding yoga.

practicing yoga on a almost daily basis and learning to connect your mind to your body and being able to feel and sense within your own body as an athlete.

I'm sure Brady you felt the same way like you know when something's not working right sequencing the muscles are not all firing the way they should and trying to take care of it before practice starts rather than going out there and saying I'll just play through it and then all of a sudden now you're favoring that and then you do get injured somewhere else and so just really

being diligent with all of your prehab with all of your rehab and making sure that your training is spot on so that you're going to at least give yourself the best chance to stay healthy when you do go out there.

It's fascinating to me and I you know as you look at you know my career and the things to go back to your question what I learned from that time physically I think you learned a ton about your body about your mind about pushing certain limits and being able to

channel what you've learned there as a dad in the business world, that motivation, the way that you find yourself, you know, facing certain situations where, like you said earlier, it's like, okay, I got no choice.

You know, I got my family counting on me.

I got, you know, this thing, like, what am I going to do?

Curl back in a corner?

Like, that wasn't an option on the football field.

And if it was, you wouldn't be a part of the team.

And so using those lessons, let alone the relationships that you have, the people that you meet.

the people that you're able to have an impact on just because of the platform that the games blessed you with.

Your platform far exceeds anything that I've been fortunate to have.

But yeah, it puts you in contact with some amazing people.

And you get to learn from them too.

So I'd say that's some of the biggest blessings of my football career.

Joe, two minutes left here before the next break, but.

usually what you both said, I think those of us who are fans, we think, oh, I see a lot of high school football games.

And those guys work hard too.

But what you said, both you said, the preparation, the awareness, taking care, it is a job.

It's not just going out there and playing a game like kids every Sunday afternoon.

It is a full time job to take care of your body and your mind so you can perform.

Yeah, there's a reason that a lot of NFL players are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on chefs and massage therapists and all these personal trainers and physical therapists because your job is your business in the NFL.

And I've got to stay healthy.

I've got to be at my best.

I got to be in great shape at all times because this is what I'm writing, whether I succeed or I fail when I'm out there.

Like Brady was saying, my family's counting on me.

My teammates are counting on me.

The city's counting on me.

And that was one of the things that I mentioned in my Hall of Fame speech down in Canton a few years ago was the lessons that I learned from Barry Elvarez.

And one of the things he would always say is, count on me.

We had a big sign in the locker room that said, count on me.

And that's the type of teammate that he wanted.

That's the type of teammate that I always strive to be.

I want to be that guy that could say it in hard times.

Hey, count on me.

Let's go.

I know we're down 14-0 right now, but this is our roadmap.

to getting that victory and count on me.

Follow me.

I'll be the leader.

I'll be that guy that's breaking down the door.

So if you follow me, we'll be all right.

We're gonna come back.

Talk more with Joe Thomas, Brady Ewing, little Badger football and transition into hour two, which is going to be all about beef.

Don't go anywhere live from Six Springs Farm here in Southwest Wisconsin, across Wisconsin on the Civic Media Radio Network.

going through downtown Milwaukee, Green Bay, Eau Claire, whether you're on a tractor in Amory or Richland Center.

You haven't got it as good as we do, right?

Is it Jim Harbaugh?

Who's got it as good as we know?

Nobody.

I know that answer.

Nobody.

We got a good here, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome back to our live on location show today from Six Springs Farm in Southwest Wisconsin.

Hall of Famer, the NFL and college football.

Joe Thomas is not only our host, but our guest as well here at Six Springs Farm along with three-time Big Ten champion.

He's been three years in the NFL.

Mr. Brady Ewing on the set with us as our

co-host for the rest of the show as well.

Joe, off the stream.

I've got to get up here because I don't have the glasses on.

Tony on YouTube says, who wins between Joe Thomas and current Miles Garrett?

Between Pete Joe

Thomas.

Oh, Pete Jen.

Pete, Joe Thomas, and current Miles Garrett.

He says, since Joe obviously wins, should the Browns have also paid you $40 million a year?

OK.

I'm glad that they answered the question for me.

Yes.

I mean, that's the easiest question.

We're probably good all day.

I'm in full agreement.

Call me.

I need a new agent.

Thank you, Tony.

On YouTube, we appreciate that.

Look guys, let's let's talk a little bit about badger football But I don't want to ignore this year before we really get into talking about a lot of why grew beef especially an hour or two That's good.

That's a really cool part about being out here today Brady and I've talked about this Joe on on our show and

Before each season, Brady and I have looked at the schedule and offered our prognostications.

Now, look, there may have been two of the three people on the set today that bought all the hype in year one of Luke Fickle.

Instead, they would get to the college football playoffs.

And it's not Joe Thomas.

Not

good.

Good dreams happen.

Good dreams happen.

But just give us your reflections.

I mean, I said to Brady once a couple of three weeks ago.

I said, can you name one person on the current Badger football roster?

And for the first time since I can remember, I can't.

And I mean, I know there's an IL now.

There's a transfer portal.

And it's not the same as when you guys played, right?

But I think there's a lot of Wisconsin.

JJ Watt was back in Wisconsin last week, week before, really trying to connect the past with the present.

But give us your feelings, Joe, on this current iteration of the Badgers.

They have what some are saying the toughest schedule in college football this year.

What are your thoughts?

It's a tough schedule.

I mean, you look at it when Brady and I were playing, you had at least four cupcakes on the calendar that you knew you're going to win those.

And then, you know, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, they weren't as good as they are right now.

And so.

You knew if you played well enough, you're going to win those games.

And then as long as you beat either Michigan, Ohio State, or Penn State, you're going to have a 10-win season.

And it would be chalked up to a great success.

But the NFL and college football are a lot more similar now, where the schedules are a lot more challenging, obviously with the realignment of the Big 10 and adding UCLA and USC and Oregon.

you've got every single week where it's a really tough battle and you can't just sneak by by beating a bunch of patsies and get into a bowl game and so I think it's a challenging time because of obviously NIL and the transfer portal and then on top of that you have a much more difficult schedule than when we were there but

All of those things put together.

And by the way, fans' expectations are still what they were 10 years ago about, hey, we got to get to 10 wins to have a successful season, even though the field of college football is just a lot different.

I think the transfer portal, NIL, they've made a lot more parody throughout the league.

It's one of the reasons Nick Saban didn't want to do it anymore because he couldn't stack his roster with five-star recruits the way he used to because other teams can pay money too, just like they've been doing forever.

What would I say to that?

Ready?

Yeah, it's going to be a tough year.

I mean, I talk about the non-conference schedule we used to have.

You know, if you played well, if you showed up and did what you were supposed to do, those were typically wins.

Now they got Alabama, I think, this year as a non-conference game.

And you look at Illinois, you look at Minnesota, you look at others that, yeah, they're not Gimmies anymore.

And they've been outperforming the Badgers the last couple of years.

So it feels weird as a former player to where, you know,

We've traditionally been one of those top tier teams with the realignment, with some of these other programs coming up, like Belima bringing Illinois up.

It's tough to see as a forward badger.

It's tough to see them struggling.

I'm hopeful with the new offensive coordinator.

And I like his mindset.

I like his mentality of being our, I think he said run first offense, I believe is what he said, but just that mentality piece I feel like has been missing in the identity for.

The Badger, she had the last couple years of that run first physical type off.

And just a couple minutes left.

But I think that's what his fans, you know, what do we know?

But I think that's what frustrated that, hey, I mean, Chris McIntosh rolled the dice, decided to blow it up, let Jimmy Leonard go.

I think a lot of Badger fans are like, why blow up what had been more or less working for so long?

You rolled the dice, what was the whole new system, and people feel like you've lost three years.

Yeah, there's a lot of.

love for Wisconsin people in Wisconsin, right?

We love the homegrown story.

We love the guys that grew up in the state and played for the Badgers.

And so I played with Jimmy and the NFL and in college, a great human being, a great coach.

And so when you make that decision, the pressure gauge is dialing up, especially you let Paul Crisco, who had had a great run here at Wisconsin, so a lot of pressure.

And then all of a sudden, you're not able to have that success early on in your career as a coach.

And so people are wondering rightly so, like, hey, are we going to turn this thing around?

Can we get back to who we used to be?

And I think

Coach Fickles done a good job recruiting, but one of the big issues I think that Brady mentioned too is just.

that dislocation between who Wisconsin's always been, who are the players that we can get in here that can make a difference, and what is our difference maker, right?

It's always been, hey, we're gonna get the most out of all of our guys, they're gonna play a great team football, they're gonna be selfless, and they're gonna work really hard, and we're gonna be able to use those tools to turn us into a really good team, and I think when you had an offense that was pass first, and then now you don't have a quarterback because they've been injured, and then it's always a little harder to recruit top-end quarterbacks at Wisconsin, and you kinda get away from us running the ball.

and getting big and physical.

It's all those perfect storms put together that led to frustration in Badger football, but going back to that run first physical style, leaning on what we can do from a recruiting standpoint, what type of players we can recruit and produce in the state of Wisconsin.

I think things are looking brighter for Badger football.

Come on back, our tune from Six Springs Farm in Southwest Wisconsin, Joe Thomas Brady Ewing, What's Worst and Why Goo Bee?

Stay tuned.

On location, it's the Todd Alba show.

And now, pursuing truth wherever it may lead, here's your host, Todd Alba.

Across Wisconsin on the Civic Media Radio Network and streaming worldwide on the Civic Media app,

Good afternoon, everybody.

We are on location here at Six Springs Farm in Southwest Wisconsin, along with Mr. Aaron Zommers, our producer and engineer back at the World Headquarters of Civic Media in downtown Madison, above State Street, and our on-site producer, Mr. Chris Gesey, who we appreciate all of his help in coordinating this and making me at least look better, which is a tough task in and of itself.

So we appreciate all of Chris's help as well.

Zommers, it's warm out here.

in the fields of where we're looking at the Waigu beef cattle behind us, but it's pleasant where things like down in

Madison.

Very good.

Zomers is very heat sensitive.

Not a fan of the

heat.

Not a fan.

In fact, you were supposed to go to the Brewers game last night and you got like heat stroke or something for God's sake.

Yeah, I kept feeling like I was going to pass out whenever I was standing up and I thought to myself, you know what, sitting out in 100 degree heat is not going to help this.

Probably not.

But the Brewers got a big win.

They came from behind.

The Miz was down 3-0.

Brewers came back.

Big win over the Cubs.

The second game in the three game series kicks off tonight with the pre-game show over many of these stations across Wisconsin.

The Civic Media Network pre-game show at 6-0-5.

First pitch from Ampham Field.

the walkie against Chicago tonight on the Brewers radio network around 6 35 6 40 you can hear it on several stations across civic media including W R C E and Richland Center W I S S in Oshkosh W B Z H up in beautiful Hayward and also W R J N in Racine, Wisconsin.

Always appreciate the fans of the Brewers.

They're they're hot guys.

The Brewers are hot.

The best best record at baseball right now.

Joe Thomas Brady Ewing here at Six Springs.

Joe Thomas, the Hall of Famer, Brady Ewing, former three-time Big Ten champion with the Badgers in three years in the NFL.

Joe, again, thanks as we start our two here.

We're going to get more into beef.

But again, thanks for being our host and letting us come out here today.

Yeah, it's so great to have you guys out here to show you a little slice of heaven down in Southwest Wisconsin.

Speaking of Southwest Wisconsin off of the text line guys, Sean listening in in W R C E and Richland Center says growing up in Montfort never thought I'd see an NFL player living in Southwest Wisconsin, let alone two very cool and awesome show.

I love it, man.

There's all sorts of talent down here.

Obviously, we got the work ethic here in the drift list, but I played with a couple kids or a kid from Lancaster, Zach Hampton.

Oh, yeah.

Luke Swan from Fenimore.

So there's a lot of talent.

Don't sleep on the drift

list.

I don't know.

Under-recruited.

Yeah, that's right.

Under-recruited, absolutely.

Absolutely.

Also, a Dave in New Berlin listing in saying there are 18 teams, the Big Ten.

That creeps me up at night.

Thoughts, Mr. Ewing?

Oh man, it's tough competition.

You think about, we talked about it earlier, just all the different teams going from East Coast to West Coast having to be able to throw in some of those challenges.

You live it in the NFL, but it's a little bit different in college.

Usually you're bus driving or a quick flight and you're home.

And yeah.

They're not calling it the big 18 yet.

We don't

need that, do we?

We need the big 18.

I

don't think we got the big 18 anytime soon.

I think it's

going to be the big 10.

But it is interesting how there's kind of just four conferences now.

And I think the good news with that is they'll at least be able to get together and make some of the changes that are necessary because there's fewer people that have a say in what's going on.

And I think finding a way to get parity, kind of salary cap, make it a little bit more like the NFL.

So you do have a little bit more parity in the

talent acquisition standpoint, I think will be good for the long-term health of college football.

Joe, do you think that we're moving towards, say, something in the soccer world of different levels of professional leagues?

Is there truly going to be four major conferences in one league that's a feeder to the NFL?

I mean, I think that's kind of what we're getting right now.

And it's tough to say where legislation is going to end up with paying the players.

And can it come from the school?

Does it have to come from boosters?

I think they're trying to figure out

what makes the most sense and how they're able to preserve all the college sports, not just the revenue sports.

So they've got a tough job.

It's a tough time to be involved in college athletics right now because there's a lot of question marks and there's a lot of changes that need to happen.

But the mechanisms of change aren't exactly super clear right now.

Before we move on into beef one last football question for you as one of my favorite announcers Brent Musburger was fond of saying when he worked with Kurt Herbst Street my friends the desert The guys out in the desert say that the over under for Wisconsin Badger football wins is five and a half I ask you Brady Ewing over or under?

Taking the over over taking the over Joe Thomas

I got the over.

I'm believing in them.

I think it's going to be a good turnaround year.

The Badger teams have always done the best when nobody gets to give them a chance.

Everybody's sleeping on them and it seems like we've always struggled when we go into the season with high expectations and all these guys that are going to play in the NFL.

So I think we're in a good spot.

I'm not sure we're ready to win the Big Ten Championship just yet, but I think we're definitely going to surprise people this year.

Two professional football players have taken the over.

The goofy announcer guy who never played football says, I bought the hype, not buying it.

I'm taking the under.

Oh, wow.

That's going to be a tough year to be a fan.

I hope I'm wrong.

I hope I'm wrong.

I get it.

I'm just honest.

We'll see.

Yeah, absolutely.

All right.

It is coming up on now 12 minutes past the hour of three o'clock.

Time once again for an on location edition of What's Worse.

Let's

go.

You can get with this, or you can get with that.

Once again, for what's worse, nothing to give away, no prize, what are you involved?

It is your chance to have your voice heard on all 11 Civic Media Ready Network stations across the state of Wisconsin.

No better place to advertise than right here at Civic Media.

We would love to have you as a sponsor, a partner.

Check us out at civicmedia.us.

All right, Joe, Brady knows the drill here.

We do a little goofiness in hour two.

We ask people to either text in, you can text on the Civic Media app, download it for free on your Apple or Android device.

I simply go to the search bar, type in Civic, C-I-V-I-C, media, it'll pop up, takes less than a minute, it is free.

It's what CBS's Gail King calls a deal.

You ever meet Gail King?

I haven't.

Maybe I should.

She sounds like a

real

thrill.

I watch every morning.

I won't ask you the worst.

Who's the coolest person in broadcasting the internet?

Oh,

jeez.

There's a lot.

I mean, there really is a lot of really awesome people in broadcasting and working for NFL Network.

I've got to work with a lot of them.

Chris Rose, he's my partner doing pregame preseason for the Cleveland Browns.

He's awesome because he's just such a humble guy.

He's had an unbelievable, amazing career in baseball.

and football working all across the media platforms and he's just such a nice, humble, fun person to work with.

So I'd say he's definitely up there.

Then Dan Patrick's another guy that always comes to mind because when I was first starting out, we had mutual friends and they connected us and this is like...

one of the all-time greats in football media.

And he took the time to just spend an hour on the phone with me, just talking and helping

me

through the interview process, what to think about, how to follow up on questions, and how to tell interesting stories.

spent time and I think that's the ultimate gift.

When you're a busy person, when you're somebody that's of that status, to give somebody the gift of time is the ultimate show of respect and care and servitude for somebody else.

That's great.

I'm a big Diane Patrick fan, so that's really cool to hear.

All right, here's our goofiness.

Text in, call in.

The number is 855-752-4842-855-7524842.

Category today on location, what's worse, chicken or pork?

Chicken or pork 8 5 5 7 5 2 4 8 4 2 8 5 5 7 5 2 4 8 4 2 or Texas on the civic media app What's worse chicken or pork Zomers?

I don't know who came off the graphics today, but neither neither one looks particularly appealing If

I had to describe them both I would just say black

Right there.

Black and

charred.

Yeah, a Cajun.

A Cajun chicken and a pork.

What's worse, chicken or pork, because guys we all know what's best, which is

Wagyu beef.

Obviously, we know what's the best, so that wasn't even a question out there, but...

I mean, I thought we were looking at charcoal.

I

thought

somebody

hadn't yet lit their charcoal grill because those things not

good a while not not good at all Here's a let's get into while we're waiting for people to call or text in on what's worse chicken or pork Let's take a look at the Facebook patty watching us on Facebook says Wondering if any of those wagyu cattle behind you are from DZ wagyu in Bloomer.

Thanks for purchasing

15

We've got a few.

They're not behind us.

These are the mama cows.

But as we've been building up our Wagyu herd, we've been buying from some local producers that are all buying genetics from Vermont Wagyu, which is kind of a longer story that will tell about how cool it was that as we got into the Wagyu game, one of the top producers in the country for the last 20 years, winning Best Stake in America Award a few times, is Vermont Wagyu.

And they've been in the business a long time.

They're looking to get out of the cattle, the genetics.

and they found us, they heard about our story, decided hey we want this herd that we've spent two decades putting together to create the best beef.

the best stakes on planet Earth.

We want Six Springs Farms to be the steward of our herd to kind of be able to move forward and take our genetics and what we're doing and wag you to that next step.

And hopefully continue to promote Wagyu beef as a beef business that can help family farmers and kind of be our secret weapon over some of the bigger commercial corporate farmers.

And when we've been kind of adding those animals, we've been finding some of the other producers that have been buying genetics and using the same bloodlines that came over from

Japan and yeah, DZ Wagyu up in Bloomer near where my in-laws are, one of the folks that we bought some sears from in the last year.

And so we're really excited to be able to kind of promote the greatness that is the producers, the farmers, the small family farms throughout the driftless and the awesome product that Wagyu beef provides.

Also, I can tell you the patty is the great

decorator.

She and my sister friend, she helped decorate for my niece's graduation.

That was an inside job.

When she when she heard you're going to be on there, very, very excited.

So yeah, that was that was great.

While we're waiting for some of our more goofy insiders, we can take the graphic off there because people really want to see Joe Thomas.

And but what's worse, chicken or pork, you give us a call 855-752-4842, 855-752-4842, or or Texas on the Civic Media app.

I guess Whistler, a provincial and center listening to be

Thanks for calling in and watching chicken or pork whistler.

What's worse?

I'd

have to say chicken because pork, you know, that's the other white meat and I really like it.

Yeah, amen.

I love it.

I can't argue that preach.

A couple of my young nephews.

Kids, I think Joe at one point worked for you.

Brady Rome.

Oh yeah, when you first first got your farm.

Brady and Brayden Roan.

They worked your farm for a little bit.

They did.

Yeah, I wish they

were still working out here.

Those guys were hard workers, couple wrestlers.

We just talked about the great tradition

that

this part of the state has with wrestling.

I don't know if Jared won a state title, but I know Brayden did.

And now I think Brayden's working in Blue River Fire Department and great

kids.

Yeah, they both are.

They both are.

My grandson now is a wrestler and he's getting involved in

like sand wrestling and going to tournaments and stuff.

Right now they had a big thing in mineral point last weekend and he won first place in his division.

Hey, all

right.

We love

it.

Thanks, Whistler.

Appreciate you calling in.

Thanks for a listen up there on the RCE, the old.

I like to call it the home.

That's where I got my starting radio.

But we'll be back when and just up the road and just another great part about Southwest Wisconsin.

Minute left.

Oh, not giving us time to really get into it.

But when we come back, I want to hear what drew a guy grew up in Brookfield, spent a Hall of Fame career in NFL.

What really made you want?

I guess we got a minute here going to the break.

But what really made you want to do this?

Well, I was always a country boy at heart, but the reason I got into beef was because my kids wanted some pet cows.

And I was

like, well, I can't do dairy.

Can't be

there every day.

And hey, I love beef.

I love that.

They're very delicious.

And, you know, you're not supposed to eat the rest of your pets.

If I got to get a pet animal, like at least when it's all said and done, I'm going to enjoy a nice steak.

That's right.

Hall of Famer Joe Thomas got into beef because his kids wanted some pets.

The stories you didn't know.

Now, as Paul Harvey said, now you know the rest of the story.

Back after this from the Six Springs Farm is the all ball show on location across to Wisconsin on the Civic Media Pretty Network.

She thinks my trap is sexy

Welcome back to Six Springs Farm.

We are on location here in Southwest Wisconsin for the All Balls show.

Gonna get a farmer's tan today.

If you're out here in Southwest Wisconsin, sun is out, guns are out.

Not mine, but Joe Thomas is a Brady Ewing.

So there are two guys.

I got a couple of guns here.

We are here on location at Joe Thomas's farm, Six Springs Farm, Joe Thomas NFL Hall of Famer, College Football Hall of Famer, Brady Ewing, three time Big Ten champion and three years in the NFL Zomers.

You may have to host the rest of the show because Joe just brought out some samples of Waigu beef and the snack sticks.

Holy smokes, Joe.

I'm in the Wagyu business, right?

We also raise sort of vetting, so I don't discriminate.

You know, sometimes you just want a little bit more of that traditional American beefiness, but for the most part, all I'm trying to do to promote people to buy the Wagyu and then promote other producers to try to get into producing and raising Wagyu is like, okay, we all love beef.

We love eating steaks and hamburgers and all the things.

Try that.

And I dare you to tell me that's not the best steak you've ever had in your entire life by a million miles.

It's incredible.

And this was cooked by an offensive lineman.

Imagine if somebody knows what they're doing and they were cooking that,

blow your mind.

We're putting a couple of photos up right now for those watching this stream on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

And I mean, that's just the marbling in there.

First of all, Joe, and then that kind of medium rare.

I mean, holy cow, that's that's not done by by synthetics or I mean, it's natural genetics right there.

Tommy, I know.

OK, so part of it before the break, you said your kids wanted pets and you said, fine, I'll get some cattle.

But there is a little bit more serious side to this because you talked very openly later in your NFL career about having some memory issues and that sort of thing in your health.

And this was really was not, was it not started by impetus of just saying, hey, I got to take better care of myself and I want to pass this

on to other people.

So I retired in 2017.

Everyone's like, oh, you're so young.

You're still playing great.

Why would you walk away from the game?

I'm like, well, if I could still play, I would.

This was not voluntary.

My knee.

My joints, they were really in bad shape.

I mean, I just had my hip replaced three months ago, doing well now.

But like the game of football, just it takes a toll on your body, especially for me playing 10 and a half years, never missed a play in college.

I think I missed a couple of plays once in a bowl game when I wore my ACL in the second half.

But other than that, like I was

always

available.

And so it beats you up.

And when I retired, my doctor for the Brown said like,

Hey, your knee, it's not gonna get any better because the only thing we can do is give you a knee replacement or you can lose weight and it's gonna make a huge difference because one pound on your body puts three pounds of force through your joints.

And so I was like, enough said, I'm tired of sliding down the stairs on my butt and getting my knee drained and injected every single week.

I wanna do whatever it takes to get myself feeling better because if I don't feel well, I'm just gonna be grumpy and I'm gonna be a terrible dad.

I'm gonna be a terrible servant to my wife and my communities.

And I wanted to make a change.

And so I really dove into the wellness and did as much research and studies about, OK.

How do I reduce inflammation in my body?

How do I eat things that are going to be medicine for my body and make me feel better and not make me feel worse?

When I was playing in the NFL, I had to eat a lot to be able to keep 310 pounds because I'm not naturally a huge guy.

So, I mean, seven, 10,000 calories and they weren't good calories.

They were

ice cream and cookies and pastas and

we almost have to to get the amount of calories

you need to maintain that.

If you're eating Brussels sprouts and asparagus, you could spend the entire day eating like a cow and you would not get enough calories to maintain 310 pounds.

But obviously things are different when you retire.

And so I found low carb keto diet, basically like just cutting out carbs, focusing on really high quality proteins that are raised the right way.

And then really high quality vegetables.

We've had a garden for 20 years since I was a rookie in the NFL.

And so raising my own food as much as I could to know what was in that food.

And so that I knew it was going to be good medicine for my, my body because.

It's a lot cheaper to eat well and treat yourself well than it is to down the line pay for the medical bills that come when you're not doing things the right way.

And so as I started researching how I could get some pets that I could eat for my children, which turns out to be cows, I realized like, wow, this is going to be a big difference maker because the commercial box beef that you're getting at the grocery store or a lot of butcher shops.

We don't know how they were raised.

And now that I looked into it, now I'm in

the

beef business, now I know how they were raised and I'm definitely not buying that stuff anymore because there's such a difference in the quality when you're buying from a small family farm.

When you know what's being fed to that animal, how they're being cared for, the animal husband tree, the fact that if you were raising.

beef on a family farm in the Driftless.

They know where that animal's been its whole life.

It's not like it's coming from Mexico, getting shipped up to a feedlot here, getting backgrounded somewhere else.

You know exactly what you're getting.

And that was really important for me with my own health journey, losing 50 pounds, feeling better, feeling more energized in a much clearer head space.

And I've got four kids and I want to make sure that I'm feeding them and teaching them the right way of what to eat, how to eat, and then

letting them experience how it makes you feel.

And so that's really one of the big things that led me into being excited about raising my own beef.

And then it led me to Wagyu, which...

is much higher in oleic acid, which is olive oil, basically.

That's why the Mediterranean diet, they always say is the best, most healthy diet ever, because it's high in that oleic acid, which is good for inflammation.

It reduces it.

It's good for your heart health.

It reduces your bad cholesterol, your LDLs.

And

it makes you feel a lot better.

And that's actually also why when you eat that wagyu, it's got that amazing butteriness, that tenderness that people are all looking for when they're experiencing steak.

And so it was really the best of both worlds.

It was pretty much a no-brainer for me to raise my own wagyu.

Brady, a minute left here, but we talk about, you're on the dairy side of agriculture, and you know, I changed over to Organic Valley Milk back in 2007 when I was living in Florida for a few months.

It completely changed my digestive system.

You see this on dairy too.

Oh, absolutely.

I mean, where things are sourced, the diet they're fed, just like human beings and trying to optimize your health by what you put into your body that's...

some of the greatest medicine that we have as I'm sitting over here choking over my first bite of Wagyu.

Amazing.

Converted.

Yeah, it's fantastic.

We're going to talk more specifically about Wagyu beef and what's important, Hall of Fame beef, how you can get it and our friends up the road, Prem Meats and Spring Green.

That's how you can get Hall of Fame beef.

Joe Thomas is the owner.

We are here at Six Springs Farm along with Brady Ewing.

Don't go anywhere.

We'll come back after a farm update after this on the Civic Media.

Pretty a network.

Six lanes, taillights, red ants marching into the night.

They disappear to the left and right

again.

Welcome back to Six Springs Farm.

We are on location with the all-ball show across the Civic Media, ready to work.

It is now 35 minutes past the hour at three o'clock on a beautiful...

gorgeous picture.

Perfect afternoon in Southwest Wisconsin.

Glad you're here.

We are here at Six Springs Farm.

Joe Thomas, college football and NFL Hall of Famer is not only our host here at Six Springs, but also our guest for the entire show along with Brady Ewing, three time Big Ten champion and three years in the NFL.

Always appreciate Brady taking time out to be a cohost and be here on the show.

Guys, check out the text line here.

Jim.

from Brookfield, Joe's hometown, says hi Joe, an old Brookfield Central alum who played Lancer football back in the late 70s.

Thank you for giving us an alum something to mention and be proud of when talking about BC Lancer football programs, even though your era pushed out all the memorabilia to the back of the trophy area, Joe.

Sorry about that.

That's something

I can't

control.

They're always looking for more donations for a bigger trophy

case.

Jim, don't be

afraid to open up that wallet.

There you go.

Let's see here.

All we were doing before the break there, what's worse, chicken or pork.

Tyler, listening on WFHR from Wisconsin Rapids says, if a chicken and a pork were given an intelligence test, I think the chicken would cross the road to get out of it.