This episode of the Walk On Podcast, I'm joined by former college basketball player, Tony Cates. You can follow Tony on IG at @supertcates Tony shares his story of resilience, leadership, regret, and the power of a strong mindset. During Tony's athletic career he had to overcome illness, homesickness, and injury - which ultimately ends his career and brings him to writing his first book called 'Lead To Unite'. You can find 'Lead To Unite' on amazon via paperback or on kindle - https://a.co/d/ghFcdrK

In this episode of the Walk On Podcast, John is joined by fellow former Gator and walk-on Chris Pintado who played with John from 2006-2009 under Urban Meyer. Chris and John focus specifically on the years of 2008-2009, following the storyline presented in the 4th episode of the docuseries SWAMP KINGS on Netflix. They talk about the University of Georgia's celebration in 2007, what the offseason heading into 2008 was like, Coach Urban Meyer's preparation for bowl games, winning the National Championship in Miami against Oklahoma, and falling short in 2009 with the loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship game. This is the final companion episode of the WALK ON PODCAST that goes along with the final episode, episode 4, of the UNTOLD: SWAMP KINGS docuseries on Netflix.

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Chris said you can meet him in the streets.

You can follow John on IG ⁠⁠@jbanksfl⁠⁠

Gym Owner, Personal Trainer, or fitness coach? Work with John and his partner, Big Tyler Stone, in the Gym Owners Revolution. Join their international group of fitness professionals at ⁠⁠https://community.hackyourgym.com/⁠

Subscribe to the Walk On Podcast channel on YouTube at ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@walkonpodcast⁠ 

Please give the show a 5-star rating here on Spotify and share with friends and family. It helps get these stories out to coaches, families, and players around the country.

The Walk-On Podcast gets you inside the locker room. Hear the real stories directly from the very players who didn’t get that ever elusive scholarship right out of high school. Who willed their way onto the biggest teams in the nation and eventually to game day through grit, grind, and an admittedly insatiable drive to do the unthinkable. We're serving up raw stories from championship seasons, overtime victories, locker room antics, devastating losses, and brutal off-season workouts. Tune in and get a taste of the glory, the pain, and everything in between.

In this episode of the Walk On Podcast, John is joined by fellow former Gator and walk-on Roderick Blackett who played with John from 2006-2008 under Urban Meyer. Rod and John focus specifically on the years of 2007-2008, following the storyline presented in the 3rd episode of the docuseries SWAMP KINGS on Netflix. They talk about the 2007 recruiting class of the Pouncey twins, Aaron Hernandez, Rainey, Ahmad Black, Cam Newton, Joe Haden, Major Wright, & more, the legal troubles, arrests, and deaths surrounding the program at this time, and more behind-the-scenes stories of this championship team during their tenure at UF. This is a companion episode of the WALK ON PODCAST that goes along with the 3rd episode of the UNTOLD: SWAMP KINGS docuseries on Netflix.

You can follow John on IG ⁠@jbanksfl⁠

Gym Owner, Personal Trainer, or fitness coach? Work with John and his partner, Big Tyler Stone, in the Gym Owners Revolution. Join their international group of fitness professionals at ⁠https://community.hackyourgym.com/

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Subscribe to the Walk On Podcast channel on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@walkonpodcast 

Please give the show a 5-star rating here on Spotify and share with friends and family. It helps get these stories out to coaches, families, and players around the country.

The Walk-On Podcast gets you inside the locker room. Hear the real stories directly from the very players who didn’t get that ever elusive scholarship right out of high school. Who willed their way onto the biggest teams in the nation and eventually to game day through grit, grind, and an admittedly insatiable drive to do the unthinkable. We're serving up raw stories from championship seasons, overtime victories, locker room antics, devastating losses, and brutal off-season workouts. Tune in and get a taste of the glory, the pain, and everything in between.

In this episode of the Walk On Podcast, John is joined by fellow former Gator and walk-on Andrew Blaylock who played with John from 2006-2009 under Urban Meyer. Andrew and John share about what campus life was like in Gainesville, practicing everyday against the 2006 Florida Gator defense, and earning their stripes as walk-ons as the team goes to win a National Championship beating Ohio State. This is a companion episode that goes along with Episode 2 of the UNTOLD: SWAMP KINGS docuseries on Netflix.

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You can follow John on IG ⁠@jbanksfl⁠

Gym Owner, Personal Trainer, or fitness coach? Work with John and his partner, Big Tyler Stone, in the Gym Owners Revolution. Join their international group of fitness professionals at ⁠https://community.hackyourgym.com/

Subscribe to the Walk On Podcast channel on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@walkonpodcast 

Please give the show a 5-star rating here on Spotify and share with friends and family. It helps get these stories out to coaches, families, and players around the country.

The Walk-On Podcast gets you inside the locker room. Hear the real stories directly from the very players who didn’t get that ever elusive scholarship right out of high school. Who willed their way onto the biggest teams in the nation and eventually to game day through grit, grind, and an admittedly insatiable drive to do the unthinkable. We're serving up raw stories from championship seasons, overtime victories, locker room antics, devastating losses, and brutal off-season workouts. Tune in and get a taste of the glory, the pain, and everything in between.

In this episode of the Walk On Podcast, John is joined by fellow walk-on Vernon Shelton who played with John from 2006-2007. Vernon was with the Gators starting in 2005 and shares stories, perspective, and more about what life was like on the Florida Gators team in 2005 to the start of the 2006 season. This is a companion episode that goes along with Episode 1 of the UNTOLD: SWAMP KINGS docuseries on Netflix.

Gym Owner, Personal Trainer, or fitness coach? Work with John and his partner, Big Tyler Stone, in the Gym Owners Revolution. Join their international group of fitness professionals at https://community.hackyourgym.com/

This is the Intro episode to the Walk-On Podcast with host, John Fairbanks. In this episode John is joined and introduced by Tyler Stone where they share John's backstory to joining the University of Florida Gators football team, where John walked-on and eventually earned a scholarship from 2006-2010. They tease out the next 4 episodes of the Walk-On Podcast being companion episodes that go along with the UNTOLD: SWAMP KINGS documentary that hit Netflix earlier this week (as of this recording) where John and other walk-on players from those years will get together and share behind-the-scenes insight, stories, and more that wasn't shared in the Netflix documentary.

You can follow John on IG @jbanksfl and you can follow Tyler @tylereffinstone

Gym Owner, Personal Trainer, or fitness coach? Work with John and his partner, Big Tyler Stone, in the Gym Owners Revolution. Join their international group of fitness professionals at community.hackyourgym.com

Please follow and subscribe to the podcast and leave a 5-star review. It helps get these stories out to coaches, families, and players around the country.

The Walk-On Podcast gets you inside the locker room. Hear the real stories directly from the very players who didn’t get that ever elusive scholarship right out of high school. Who willed their way onto the biggest teams in the nation and eventually to game day through grit, grind, and an admittedly insatiable drive to do the unthinkable. We're serving up raw stories from championship seasons, overtime victories, locker room antics, devastating losses, and brutal off-season workouts. Tune in and get a taste of the glory, the pain, and everything in between.