CBS.comThis isn’t quite what Steve looked like 31 days later.
Yesterday, I chose to dive in on the CBS conference call with Survivor: Redemption Islands latest castoff, Steve Wright. Steves been one of my favorite contestants this season, both as a convenient whipping boy due to his sudden physical deterioration and continued impractical dreams of team unity in a game where individual glory is the ultimate prize, and also as an emerging humorist whose even-tempered and sane reactions served as the perfect foil to the tornado of lunacy that is Special Agent Phil Sheppard.
Steve came across as a benevolent, good-natured fella, a stand-up guy and, at times, a stand-up comedian with a smattering of killer anti-SAS one-liners in the twilight of his run.
He also played 13 seasons in the National Football League, making him the most accomplished former athlete yet to give Survivor a crack. Steves an articulate, contemplative guy and a successful businessman, so he had plenty of interesting things to say about people like the Puzzle Wizard, all the members of Stealth R Us and Russell. So lets dive in, shall we?
Im changing the format, at least this week, of how I present these interviews. My questions and those of others wont be presented in separate blocks anymore. It’ll probably just read better as one linear display moving from topic to topic, eliminating some of the redundancy and rehash that comes with the interviewee addressing slight variations in questions from person to person. But youll still probably be able to pinpoint some of the moments where I chimed in. For example:
A lot was made within your tribe about how good David was at puzzles and that you guys really wanted him to handle all of those, yet he never seemed to have much success when the rubber met the road. So where did that whole reputation stem from, just the fact that hes a lawyer?
Yeah, part of it was the lawyer aspect, and wed seen him doing some other puzzles when we were getting ready to start everything. We all talked about what our strengths and weaknesses were and he really pounded it home that he lives doing puzzles, loves to do them and is really good at them. So it was like, OK, man, step up, you know? Huge mistake that Julie and I sat out of one and they let Stephanie handle the puzzle. But yeah, it was kind of him asking for that position more than anything.
They showed this last night and also last week where you and Ralph got voted out back to back. So Ralph shows up to Redemption Island, and hes talking to Mike and Matt about how youve lost so much weight and he actually says, Steves pitiful. And they made it seem like you showed up a second later. Did you know that Ralph was talking about you or did it not really time out the way they made it seem?
CBS.comYou just can’t be mad at anything Ralphie says.
No, I had no idea he was saying that and Ralph didnt know I was coming behind him. We all knew that I was hanging on to that (mystery deck of cards) and Ralph didnt know what it was and none of us did either. Yeah, I was up there a half hour or so after him. And I was looking pitiful (laughs). I mean everybody was thinking I was looking pretty pitiful just hanging on.
Phillip: Crazy or not crazy?
I dont think hes acting. When you get filmed 24/7, it comes out. So yeah, I think hes crazy, Im not shy to say it and that was all that was meant by it, just the way Id call you crazy.
Can you talk about what it was like to be caught in such an awkward situation (the racial rice bit)?
It wasnt a big deal. I saw it as a positive that hes imploding and it was just going to be to my benefit; I knew that Id shine out of something like that. And I did my best to try to get him removed. I was a little concerned about my safety going into the evening and the dark hours with the hatchets and machetes around there. Who knows how far hed want to take it. That was the only uncomfortable part but, other than that, Ive had just a ton of support from black guys I played with, my black brother-in-law and everything else, so I didnt really have an issue or think that I was going to be shown in a bad light because there was none to shine.
Did you get a sense that Phillip was acting so strange as a strategy? Last night he kind of alluded to that.
Yeah, he alluded to that with his sister. Like I said at the beginning, I think you can only be an actor for a short time. Theres no way you can act with the cameras around for 24/7, 30+ days. You know, the real yous gonna come out like it did with me or Grant or Mike or anybody else. The real you gets exposed. Just as when he said hes the red-headed stepchild to the girls or thought that Grant and Boston Rob were after him, he just thinks the worlds coming down on him. And I havent walked in his shoes. But he feels the worlds out to get him and he feels hes got to blow his chest up about his FBI experience, which Im sure was a very short stint, if at all. I just dont think that they would take somebody as emotionally and mentally unstable as him.
CBS.comDoes this look like somebody who’s mentally and emotionally unstable?
Can you talk about Robs hold on Ometepe and what you couldve done differently with him?
I kind of did everything I possibly could. I let them know that we were voting for him. The only thing I wouldve possibly done different and it wouldve been good television — is just go over when theyre all laying on their bamboo bed, Rob included, and say, Hey guys, were all voting for Rob. If anybody wants to jump on board, this is your time to do it. Otherwise, with me, they were calling me a T-Rex or something like that because I was losing so much weight you could see my bones. I was falling apart and I was beatable. But the bed youre in right now is his bed and hell boot you out when hes ready to. I wish I wouldve done that in hindsight, but I did let everybody know, even at tribal council, that we were all voting for Grant at one time, that we were all voting for Rob, just hoping that one or two of them would flip when theyre up there quietly writing the names down. We couldnt get them to shake off that Kool-Aid that they were drinking.
What was harder: blocking for Tony Dorsett or blocking out Phillip?
The more enjoyable one was blocking for Tony Dorsett on the longest run in NFL history. Ive dealt with guys like Phillip before and I feel sorry for the guy. Thats why I tried to reach out to him and say, Hey, I cant believe Ive got to apologize, but Ill do it to get rid of the big elephant in the room since were going to be around each other a few more days. You try to keep moving, but it really bummed me out that he thought that was in the air. But thats who he is.
So Jeff Probst has been saying on Twitter and all these different interviews that voting off Russell and throwing the challenge was the biggest mistake ever. Do you really feel like that came back to bite you guys or was it really just circumstances happening the way they did?
It was totally circumstances. More than anything it was the one-man wrecking crew: it was Grant. He was just killing us just by himself, he was killing us. You know out there catching the balls on the beach and shooting the baskets, just all the other competitions.
CBS.comHere’s the real reason that Zapatera was blown to smithereens. Well that, and the fact that they were just a shamefully lousy tribe.
We won the challenge right after we threw Russell off. Russell wasn’t contributing anything. As were working to gather wood or out fishing or going crabbing, he would just lay around. And we just knew from his history that hes hiding my shoes or doing something with my canteen always just kind of kept you on edge or made you uncomfortable, putting that edge in the camp. He was a vocal, pudgy guy who brings a lot of bad vibes to the camp. We had to live with him for eight days, and it was eight miserable days after we arrived at Zapatera. He was just working on trying to pick us apart and dividing us.
He got us all together and said he’d changed and that he was part of the team, and I swear a half hour later he had me off to the side because he thought we were going to connect. He was just a little intimidator. He didn’t like Mike and thought Mike needed to go, and I was like, What are you talking about? We didn’t even build the shelter yet. And that guy just went on and on and on.
I pulled him off to the side a couple of times and said Hey, let it go. Let it go for a couple of weeks. I’ll be glad to talk with you about it in a couple weeks after we’ve won a couple of challenges and whittled Ometepe down. And he’d say okay, and then a little later Julie would come over and say Hey, he’s wearing me out. He’s trying to tell me to get rid of Steve as soon as we can, that (I’m) a big threat. Or wanting to get rid of Ralph. It was just non-stop.
You just can’t have somebody around like that. It’s like in business you hire slow and fire fast. When you feel that somebody’s just going to eat apart your team, you get rid of them. So Id rather do the best we can and just get rid of his ass. (Losing challenges) had nothing to do with Russell — it was just all Grant.
It’s really been pleasant, I’ve been going through a lot of interviews and there aren’t a lot of people asking about (Russell). He’s just dust.
What about Rob? Do you feel you wouldve voted out Rob first if hed been on your tribe?
No, I don’t think so. Rob is more of a team guy. I think he gets it a little bit more. I like Rob. Rob’s been playing a smart game, and he doesn’t rub you the wrong way. He just flies low under the radar, hasn’t really upset anybody, and brings a lot of experience. No, it would not have been the same with him. But who knows, I couldve wound up drinking the Kool-Aid too at this point, I dont know.
CBS.comThis guy? This is not Steve’s kind of guy.
One other thing that Jeff insinuated online was that you may have just thrown the final challenge at Redemption just to go and relax and be on the jury. What’s your response to that?
No, I didn’t. From the first week youre thinking, Oh my Lord, get me out of here, but you just keep plugging along and I knew I was only seven or eight days away. Anybody could hang in there for that.
If you were in Rob’s shoes, would you keep around someone like Phillip until the end under the assumption that hed get no votes?
I don’t know — good question. Yes, you might keep him around, but I cant stand having irritating people around me. I think Rob’s played a pretty straight-up game, a very smart game. Who knows if somebodys gonna bring (Rob) along, you know? I would think hes got a pretty big mark on his head too.
When youre watching the show unfold on TV, has there been anything thats surprised you or that you werent aware of when you were out there?
Yeah sure, it’s been pretty humorous. I can’t wait to see them in New York and rib them about it. You know, mostly little things, stuff from the other tribe. Stuff thats predictable. Just kind of them making fun of you, or when I was trying to convince the girls (Ashley and Natalie) to come vote with us (against Rob), and then seeing them run back to tell their daddy. Its just like, Really? Is that something you HAD to talk about? Its kind of funny to watch, but pretty embarrassing, I’d think, for them to watch and see that they stooped to that, and just got sucked into Rob’s world.
THE NFL SECTION
How do you compare the “Survivor” experience with the NFL?
There’s nothing even close. In training camp, you’ve got so much food at your disposal, they’re making sure that you’re keeping your weight up. I mean were getting weighed every single morning in training camp. I’d lose roughly 10 pounds a day in practice, and youd have to be back up the next day. Then you get a soft bed and air conditioning. Nothing prepares you for starving. You have just a handful of rice day after day after week after week after week. Im 250 pounds. My body needs 1,500 calories, Im just guessing, to stay even. And Im just eating a little bit of rice, just being broken down, losing over a pound a day. Nothing even close. Nothing can prepare you for that. Just brutal. And youre not sleeping very much. Youre lying on bamboo and its raining on you.
CBS.comSteve discusses an interesting concept: Perhaps someone will drag Rob to the final for the same reason that he wants to take Phil.
Obviously youre a former NFL player and one element of the whole labor situation right now involves seeking more money for the retired players. Are you involved with that in any way or do you have an eye on how this lockout is going to play out are you pulling for a certain scenario?
Yeah Im the Director of New Business Development for the L.A. Chapter, which I have been for the last three years. Im involved with trying to get a team in (L.A.), finding new opportunities for the retired players to put money in their pockets. I did come back from the Marco Island (Fla.) NFLPA convention about a month and a half ago and its pretty ugly. I think its like any big, heavy negotiation thats going to extend a long ways off. And its really sad because theres $9 billion involved. And to be honest with you, I question things from our side, the union side, the retired players side. You know, how much of the truth were getting to how much of the truth were hearing from whats happening to the owners. I think everybody will blow their chest up, well miss a couple of preseason games, and theyll get everything settled. It involves too much money for each hosting city. Theyll get something done. The players and the retired players ARE the game and the owners are all billionaires for a reason, so there are quite a few moving parts that hopefully will get worked out, the season will get started and some of this will come back to the retired guys that Im involved with.
So youre involved with potentially trying to get an NFL team to return to Los Angeles?
Well Ive just been in a lot of the preliminary talks. Ive been to them probably four or five times over the last 15 years. Just being in the room, from the group that tried to bring (a team) in, to the group that is bringing the team in (NO idea what that means since theres no agreement currently in place for an L.A. franchise … that I know of), and just seeing how we can all work together. One of the things I want to do, with whatever group does do the building, is build a Legends Lounge or some place. You got guys out in L.A. like Otto Graham, you got thousands of retired players, and a lot of these guys are just stuck behind. And Im just trying to figure out a way to maybe put more money in their pockets at an early stage as the stadium is being built, plus a lot of other things. Im trying to stay involved as much as I can.
CLOSING REMARKS
Well thanks for the insights on the NFL, Steve, I really appreciate it. Ill tell you what: you busted out some pretty great one-liners over the last couple of episodes and you left me laughing before you got voted out, so I want to thank you.
(Laughs). Alright, man! I appreciate it.
So there you have it. Steve Wright, ladies and gentlemen. Very impressive character. I know that sounds like a hoot coming from someone who often skewered him this season for his slow-moving, slow-talking approach, but now Im thinking that its at least equally attributable to his being a hybrid Midwestern-California dude as it is to any damage he sustained from blows to the head living in the NFLs trenches for more than a decade.
Hes just a kind, friendly, chilled-out guy. Hearing him speak at length is disarming, quite frankly, because theres fewer and fewer souls like him these days. He doesnt seem to have a malicious or bitter bone in his body and I think its a safe bet he wont be one or those jurors who come to the final tribal council, freshly sharpened axe in hand, ready to completely lose their composure and embarrass themselves whilst under the delusion that theyre sticking it to the finalists. That wont be Steve. Hes too cool a customer and too professional for all that.
Thanks for reading, feel free to comment below and spread the word until we resume this party next Thursday.
{If you have secrets too dark for the light of public consumption or just prefer to send me hate mail directly, you can reach me at oshanahan@repub.com}
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