Summits Podcast, Bryan Babb
[00:00:00] Vince Todd: Hey everybody. Vince Todd here from the heroes foundations, the summits podcast. Here we are episode numero UNO, Mr. Brian, bad, good friend heroes, foundation, board member, more importantly, cancer survivor telling us about his cancer story. I hope you enjoy.
All right. Cadet Bab. Yes, sir. Welcome to the summits podcast. 
[00:00:41] Bryan Babb: Thanks for that. 
[00:00:44] Vince Todd: You're a maiden voyage here. Very impressive. Well, thank you. We 
[00:00:48] Music: try start 
[00:00:49] Bryan Babb: low and then aim high. Right? 
[00:00:51] Music: You got to start somewhere. That's air 
[00:00:52] Vince Todd: force. So the hell, no. Um, so talk to us, uh, let's start out [00:01:00] with. Born and raised you're you're a Hoosier born and raised, 
[00:01:03] Music: correct?
I am. Yup. 
[00:01:04] Bryan Babb: Almost a little bit about that. I was born in Annapolis, spent first five or six years of my young life and Avon ish area, probably unincorporated at, just outside of Avon. And then we moved to Carmel, uh, when I was around six or seven. So I grew up in Carmel, um, went to Carmel high school, graduated from there.
And so that was, that was the first formative years of my. So you're a 
[00:01:30] Vince Todd: Greyhound. Yeah. Yeah. What a leading up to, to high school, I assume you were doing all the usual. Youth sports, Carmel dads club and all that fun 
[00:01:41] Bryan Babb: stuff. You know, interestingly, we lived, uh, just north of the a and you might remember this, everybody else is probably too young, but the notorious motor side drive.
Yeah, 
[00:01:53] Music: well, you're way older than I 
[00:01:54] Bryan Babb: am, but there was a drive in, um, that was on the south part of caramel. We actually [00:02:00] lived just north of. And 
[00:02:04] Vince Todd: Angela and road driving 
[00:02:05] Music: and Carmel, there was, there was a neighborhood 
[00:02:08] Bryan Babb: or, and it was party central. It was out of control on Monday nights. I'm not joking like thousands and thousands of kids would go in there.
And it was just a lot of fun. But anyway, so I was almost at, in north central, so I played Carmel dads, club baseball, but everything else, uh, Football, all that stuff early on. I played basketball. I played in Nora. Okay. So I knew a bunch of the north central kids growing up. Okay, cool. 
[00:02:36] Vince Todd: Yeah. Favorite sport back then?
Oh, football. 
[00:02:39] Music: Yeah. Favorite sport today? Still football. Yeah.
[00:02:45] Vince Todd: What, what, what, why, why football? What, what about football is your favorite? 
[00:02:50] Bryan Babb: You know, So, um, you know, from the earliest time that I played the game and actually back then, it was interesting. I have twin [00:03:00] 13 year old boys now, and they never played tackle football in uniform until I want to say the third grade.
Okay. And, uh, we started in kindergarten back then. We were out there at kindergarten helmets course, you know, there's the whole CTE thing and everybody's kind of down on football and the numbers have been down recently. It was just, it was fun. It was is what I is. It's I enjoyed doing it. And, uh, it was, it was good to be, you know, out there, the center of attention involved in every single play, as opposed to, you know, baseball, which could get boring at times, especially when you move to kid pitch and it's nothing, but one walk after another.
And then basketball was w was fun too, but football was definitely my favorite. Yeah. 
[00:03:42] Vince Todd: So you and I have had this conversation before both having played quarterback pre. Serious concussion protocol and all that stuff. How many concussions by today's technical standards do you, do you think you 
[00:03:56] Bryan Babb: probably had?
Yeah, so I remember I had a, I played [00:04:00] quarterback at caramel. I had one that caramel that was so bad that, uh, I remember, uh, And it was, it was so, uh, and back then, like being focused on players that were hurt wasn't on anybody's mind. So here I was a starting quarterback and I remember the entire locker room was emptied and I was still just sitting there and one of the managers came up to me and he was like, are you going to take a shower or not?
I was like, huh. I mean, I was completely fogged out. So eventually I was so late getting home that it, and I had, I was driving them because I was a senior. My dad actually came back and checked in on me because I hadn't come home. And so that was the one I remember at Carmel and then at army. Um, and it was it's part of my cancer story, to be honest with you.
But I got knocked. I got my helmet turned around and I got knocked out of a game. Uh, and I was literally had no idea where I was. And it w it just, it dislocated my jaw. That's how hit it 
[00:04:57] Vince Todd: was. I never had anything that bad, but I do [00:05:00] recall many, uh, going back on your, on your back and smacking your head, this is a course before a field turf and rubber pellets for the cushioning and all that they have today.
Not that you know, not to take them away from the hits stuff today, but, you know, plenty of guitar that, that field that got used by CYO and all that. I mean, that's still a patch because we came concrete. I remember smacking your, you know, the helmet on the back on the ground and it seeing stars many 
[00:05:26] Bryan Babb: a time.
No, yeah, yeah. It was, you know, I didn't get hit much at caramel cause we, we threw the ball, but when I played an army, I was basically a glorified running back. So I got hit all the time. Yeah. 
[00:05:38] Vince Todd: Fun times. Good times. Um, so Carmel high school we'll call collect. What class were you? 84. 
[00:05:45] Music: 84. Were you born in 84?
Was not. Six years, six years too 
[00:05:51] Vince Todd: early. It's kind of a family show, but kind of not a family show. So if you want to tell them to whatever 
[00:05:56] Music: you can, I've heard it before. Yeah. Mostly from my right. 
[00:05:59] Bryan Babb: Oh, it's [00:06:00] okay. So 
[00:06:02] Vince Todd: 84, he played football. Well, what else are there supports at Carmel 
[00:06:07] Bryan Babb: high school? So I played, um, in junior high, I play all the three, the three balls.
I played basketball, baseball and football. Um, I, uh, played baseball and basketball. And back then you, uh, the high school was sophomore, junior and senior. So freshmen were not at the high school. And, um, my sophomore year I played all three and then, um, Jim Belden was our coach back then for Carmel. And he said, you know what?
I'm not telling you to do this, but it'd be nice if you get in the weight room, put on some more weight, work on your speed and agility and stuff like that. So I quit both baseball and basketball. And to be honest with ya, that's I regret that, but I did it to, to focus on football and then, uh, Interestingly a great guy by the name of Scott Rogers.
Who's here locally. I was set to start my junior year at caramel. He [00:07:00] moved in from south port. Um, and he was, I think it was, uh, uh, it was like a, it was a big hullabaloo IHSA thing because he was clearly the quarterback itself. He moved into caramel and he ended up getting a full ride to Notre Dame for BA baseball and football.
He was a really good athlete. So I did not play my junior year. And so that was nothing that was kind of frustrating. But at the end of the day, I just played football the last two years. 
[00:07:24] Music: So do you keep up a caramel sports today? 
[00:07:27] Bryan Babb: I do. I mean, like for example, I was, I was watching the basketball game, which was awesome.
Interestingly, they were not very good in basketball when I was there. They just weren't. I mean, they're good. They're good. In the seventies when Herman and those guys were there, they won the state championship back then, but then for many years, uh, they weren't good when I was there in the, in the eighties and the nineties.
And then I think it was the late nineties or the early two thousands. They had all that bad publicity. But the hazing stuff. And then, but the coach they have now is just phenomenal. And I watched, I took my boys two years ago cause he obviously didn't play last year. I think it was two years ago when they beat Ben Davis.[00:08:00] 
And it was one of the more remarkable things I've ever seen in my life. I mean, they had, they had these two little blonde hair kids caramel did, and they were so unbelievably athletic and everybody on, uh, I mean, Ben Davis just looked like a better, more athletic team. Yeah. There one guy there, big guy was going to, uh, I on a full ride to Ohio state for football and he could motor.
Yeah. I mean, he really could. Uh, but I mean, Carl did great. So yeah. So I watch him, you know, and I, I always, everybody, there's not a, there's not a lot of love for the old caramel greyhounds and the fishers HSE school system, but yeah. I tease them 
[00:08:35] Music: all the time. And, um, do you think if you were, if you were playing today, would you see the field-based.
The talent that goes through Carmel now it's because they have, yeah, 
[00:08:45] Bryan Babb: we were pretty big back then, but it is. I mean, it's, it's a question that, that it is, it is not on the other hand, I will tell you this, that, I mean, my boys played on a all-star football team, uh, two years ago called the Knights and, um, All the [00:09:00] kids in HSC were together and we beat everybody.
We beat center Grove, we be Carmel. We beat Westfield. We beat Ben Davis. We beat warrants central. We beat everybody and handily. Now of course, you know, now they're gone. They're all split up. Yup. Yup. But there is an advantage that, I mean, those kids, you know, they're all, they're all playing in positions that you might not get a chance to play in a caramel.
[00:09:22] Music: Yeah. 
[00:09:24] Vince Todd: So high school is over 
[00:09:25] Bryan Babb: high school is over. So I was, uh, I got, uh, I was recruited by like the Ivy schools, the academies, um, 
[00:09:35] Vince Todd: for a post background 
[00:09:36] Bryan Babb: check that was, uh, both. That's good. And, and, and for the reason that I'm gonna tell you about it right now, I was completely low with my girlfriend and she's like, don't go to any of the academies.
Don't go to the Ivy league schools. Don't leave the state of Indiana. So I ended up long story short, going to DePaul. 
[00:09:54] Vince Todd: You made your college initial college decision, right. And based on your girlfriend, 
[00:09:59] Bryan Babb: [00:10:00] that's correct. And I turned down. And my dad, I thought my dad was going to kill me. And I went to DePaul quite frankly, for two reasons, a Nick Moross, who was the coach would follow me at all my caramel games.
Um, he was a great guy and a great coach. And, uh, it's a really unique sort of, uh, atmosphere there that a great tradition where the best traditions out there, you know, in the mono bell. And, uh, but it was also close enough to where, uh, my girlfriend was going through. So 
[00:10:27] Music: what's that? Yep. Yep, yep. 
[00:10:30] Bryan Babb: Yeah. Yeah.
And at that time there was a guy by a guy named Jim Everett who was a quarterback there. And Scott. And they both ended up playing the pros so that wasn't, it wasn't going to work out for me. So anyway, so I went to DePaul for a year and I was like, I'm not very mature. I can't handle this. I was an SAE, uh, that was out of control truly out of control.
In fact that house ultimately ended up getting kicked off campus. I think they just repopulated [00:11:00] or recolonized or whatever the word is this last year. Um, and so I was, I told my dad, I said, um, um, I can't handle this. I need to be told what to do. So he got me another appointment and, um, and I went, yeah. So 
[00:11:13] Vince Todd: how does that work if you, if you turn them down initially you went somewhere else for year.
Yeah. You want to reapproach that? I assume. They're not just saying, oh yeah, the offer is still good. No, 
[00:11:23] Bryan Babb: no. So we had to go back. It was damn. And as a Congressman, he got me, my, the first one I got, I got nominations from Burton and quail. And then the second one was just, I don't know how dad did it, but he did it.
And he got one from Burton again. And so I went and then I also had a football assist and I wasn't crazy recruited by them, but it helps getting into those academies. When you have an athletic assist. As we know are, are a friend that got all the, uh, fake, uh, uh, polo players and the seriously. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Yeah. But no, they, so that [00:12:00] helped because I mean, if you're not, you know, the non-athletes that just get into those places, like on their academic credentials are like crazy intelligent and have crazy good test scores. Like I was like a 12, like 50 sat or something like that. And how bad? Well, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't what it, it wouldn't have been good enough to get into west point, not even close.
[00:12:22] Music: What are the, what are the scores these days? For me, it was like how to 1800 or something or 2206, 16, 16. Okay. Yeah, I did terrible on them. So 
[00:12:33] Bryan Babb: yeah, I did not. It was not a good standardized test. Yeah. 
[00:12:36] Music: Act. The only way I got into Purdue, 
[00:12:40] Bryan Babb: what was your routine? 
[00:12:41] Music: Uh, act, what's it out of it's it's a 35 35. Yeah.
I got 33. Nice. Yeah, that's 
[00:12:50] Bryan Babb: awesome. That's very good. 
[00:12:52] Music: Alright, now clap. Nice golf, golf clap. Now I feel 
[00:12:57] Bryan Babb: stupid. 
[00:12:59] Vince Todd: All right. [00:13:00] So you're at west point playing football, correct. Um, how was, how was the jump from high school football to, to D one. 
[00:13:11] Bryan Babb: So interestingly cause as a D three first. Okay. Right. Actually the very first game I ever played very first culturable game ever played was for DePaul.
And I started against Dayton, the fliers, and they had actually just transitioned from division one to division three. So they actually had a handful of guys that were, there were no longer scholarship players because they weren't getting paid to be there, but they were actually massive, huge individuals.
And, uh, I will tell you, I've, I've been asked this a lot, the big difference between. High school to division three division one. The big difference between division one in division three is the speed. I mean, I'm not joking. There are massive human beings playing division three. And when you, when they go out and you're just like, oh my goodness gracious.
I mean, those are big athletic people and they are, but the division guy division one guys move a lot faster. 
[00:13:58] Vince Todd: Yeah. So it's funny that you say, [00:14:00] I kind of thought that might be your answer. The reason why I say that is we know a, a NFL draft. Who worked his way up high school college now in the pros. And he often gets the same question.
What's the biggest difference, you know, referee a top college, you know, a bowl game, right. To the NFL. And he's like, you know, the guys aren't necessarily any bigger. Once they get to the NFL from, you know, a top D one schools, he goes, it's the speed. And he's the, the empire zone part behind the lie backers.
And he goes, honestly, half my job is staying out of the way that I don't get pounded because he's got guys that are, you know, six to two 50 and they run a sub four or five 40 he's like that. I don't want to get hit by that. 
[00:14:45] Music: That's just the brick 
[00:14:45] Bryan Babb: wall. Yeah. But that's it though. It's a speed. Yeah. 
[00:14:50] Vince Todd: All right.
So April being testicular cancer awareness month, um, Ryan, what's your cancer story? 
[00:14:57] Bryan Babb: So I was, so I went to west [00:15:00] point. Then I transitioned from DePaul and we had 13 quarterbacks that were there. The academy football's a little different because you can literally have hundreds of people go out and they're all there on school.
[00:15:10] Music: You said 13, 
[00:15:11] Bryan Babb: 13, 13 quarterbacks. I know 
[00:15:14] Music: we're on the 
[00:15:14] Bryan Babb: team. Oh, uh, I think we had, we probably cloud close to 120 550. I think they still have those numbers today. Wow. Um, so now my head coach was former, uh, cultural hall of fame guy, Jim, Jim young, who coached. And, um, and then he got out of coaching, naturally left Purdue, and then he went to army.
And so coach John called me and he said, Hey, just so you know, um, you know, we recently transitioned to the wishbone. You are throwing quarterback at Carrum while you've got a good arm. You're a good athlete, but you're probably never going to play here ever again. But I'm cutting, uh, nine of these other quarterbacks and I'm keeping you and two other guys and these two other guys at some point in [00:16:00] time might be able to work in the starting rotation.
You probably never will, but I need somebody to run the scout team. That's got a good arm because that's, we play good quarterbacks that have good arms. So I said, sign me up, whatever it takes to make the team so long story short, I ended up working my way up to third, third string and. It's like I said, we ran the wishbone.
And if you didn't have, even when you handed the ball off to the fullback on the re the triple option, the, the guy on the end, which is always the big defensive and athletic guy, his job was to hit you every single time. So even if you handed the ball off, you got hit and we didn't hand the ball off, you went down the line and option them.
You'd still get hit. So my junior year we had, uh, the two guys in front of me. So, um, I played, uh, I came in the wake forest game, uh, and I ended up, uh, finishing that game. And then, uh, the very next Monday, um, they came up to me, we were set to play Boston [00:17:00] college and I went into the film room after school on Monday, and they said, you're starting this Saturday.
I was like, excuse me. And they said, you're starting. I said, okay. So, um, In the weeks leading up to that, my, my testicle had been hurting me. And, uh, what had happened two weeks prior was I was out throwing the ball and I got distracted. We were like, we started at 10, you go to 20, go to 30. So we're at the 30 yard line, throwing the balls back and forth, warming up.
And I got distracted. I look away and I got, I got nailed right in the. With a, with a football from 30 yards away and doubled over couldn't practice that night, I basically just had to go back to the locker room and call tonight. And, uh, and, and so, but that's actually when it started to hurt. And so I was like, you know, and I really didn't notice a mass on it, but it kind of was a little bit bigger because I made it, I was down there checking them out because it hurt.
Cause I got hit. Yeah. And then, um, so [00:18:00] then all of a sudden, the next week, a minute, wait for. Somebody, right. This is pretty cool. Cause remember the guy told me I was never going to it. And then all of a sudden I'm starting at at Boston college. And so, uh, and I'm team captain for army and bill Romanowski is team captain for Boston college.
It makes perfect sense. Yeah, of course it does. And so play that game almost when it lose 25 to 29, uh, had a great game buzz and then next week start at, uh, and by the way, my testicle still hurts. Start her still hurting, starting her. But I just I'm like, nah, I'm just, it's from the hit and whatever. So then I go into the Colgate game and that's when the guy, uh, almost separates me from the face of the earth.
So the guy that played 14 years in the end, Uh, from Colgate, I can't remember his name. He was a really, really physical middle linebacker. And so not me out of the game. I go to the side of the game, somebody else replaced me and finished the game. And then, um, I couldn't, I couldn't talk [00:19:00] because mom, I don't know if you have.
Draw dislocated or broken? Nope, it's terrible. You cannot, I mean, you can't eat, you can't talk, you can't do anything. I saw, I was like, oh, I can't my T's. And so they took me to the hospital. They said, it's not broken, but it's dislocated. They reset it. And then I told them, Hey, you know, while I'm in here, my Tesco has been hurting for a while.
So they took some, this is the hospital, uh, Keller army hospital. That's on the west point. And so. They took some blood tests and they said, you're going to Walter Reed Monday. Cause they have tumor markers and then just knew what it was. So I went in there and um, you know, they said, um, there's a couple of things we can do, you know, you can go through.
And you can go through. So 
[00:19:51] Vince Todd: take a step back real fast when they said you're going to Walter Reed. Did they tell you why? Yeah. 
[00:19:56] Bryan Babb: Okay. Yeah. Yeah, they did on the spot. Yeah. They said [00:20:00] we're pretty sure you have testicular cancer. And we're not sure how advanced it is. And they said, that's the bad thing. The good thing is, is that it's a remarkable hospital to have a lot of diff they have a lot of experience because they draw on this remarkably diverse population as the army where people are from everywhere.
And so they said, we'll get you set up there and we'll fly you in on Monday. And we'll just see where it goes. And then I found out. When did you tell your 
[00:20:25] Vince Todd: parents that same night I assume, 
[00:20:26] Bryan Babb: or today they, they actually, um, so my parents had flown in for that game. Okay. For the Colgate game. So they were there, but then they flew back on Sunday and then, uh, they went back and took care of their affairs.
And then my dad was there with me on Monday at Walter Reed. And so, um, I was there and, uh, I dunno, family show without being too graphic. But so one of the things they say, when you have to sit there cancer by noses, especially when you're young, is [00:21:00] that, you know, Hey, what are the chances that you're not going to be able to, to, you're going to lose your capacity to produce sperm.
So you go to a sperm bank for three days for three, for a week. So. They're like, we got it. You got to go to the sperm bank this week because we've got to get this thing off you as quick as we can. So I did that for a week. Um, they froze all my sperm, uh, and then I had, uh, the operation and cause their choice was two things.
They said you can, like I said, you can leave it on there. Um, we won't take it off and we'll see if we can shrink the size of the tumor de. Uh, with radiation and chemotherapy and then, but the bad thing is it's, you know, it's hurting your body is damaging your body and you might just, you know, who knows? I mean, it might just be, uh, uh, um, it's definitely cancer, but, but, but that might not work out.
You're going to be in the hospital a lot longer. Uh, you'll probably miss your entire year. [00:22:00] Um, because you'll just be too sick to go back to school or alternatively, we can just go right in and take it off. And uh, and then we've got it and we know what the extent of it is. And, uh, 
[00:22:11] Vince Todd: and you'll be lighter and faster and jump higher.
And you 
[00:22:15] Music: only need 
[00:22:15] Bryan Babb: one, correct? Well, and they also said on apologize, part of taking it off was also, you do something called a lymphoma lymphadenectomy so they, they took off, they literally opened me up and took every lymph node. Oh, wow. And because the way that cancer spreads is that it goes, obviously it's external, it's in the testicle.
And if it, if the way it spreads, the rest of the body is through those lymph nodes. So they know that if they get it before it goes, Maybe even partway through them or all the way through them, if they get it before that, and they take all your lymph nodes out and it hasn't gone in there, then your, your cure, I 
[00:22:49] Vince Todd: wonder because it's been 20 plus years.
Yeah. I wonder if they still do that today. I dunno as part of standard protocol or only if they detect that maybe 
[00:22:57] Music: it has 
[00:22:58] Bryan Babb: spread perhaps no. And you know, what's interesting is [00:23:00] that, so of course, you know, um, Lance Armstrong came to India because that's. Started the protocol. So they actually asked me that, they said, we got to ask you this, you know, do you want to go back to the Annapolis and do this?
And I said, well, I said, yeah, of course I'd like to, because that's my hometown, but what's the drawback. And they're like, well, you have to pay 40 on your dime. And my dad's like, we're good right here.
[00:23:23] Music: it works 
[00:23:24] Bryan Babb: well. And they said, I mean, by the time I was there, that they had, they had standardized the protocol. They knew what to do. So long story short, I went in, uh, I had the surgery and a really cool story and true story is so I wake up from the surgery and, uh, the first thing I have three C in intensive care is three Navy football players.
And, uh, with the, uh, football signed by the entire night. Which I still have in my office, so that's pretty cool. Um, and they were like, Hey, hang out. Some good Navy guys would yup. Yup. [00:24:00] Yup. It was, it was very, it was very, very cool. So, um, yeah, so I did that and then, um, uh, they did my lumpectomy and then they came back and there was no cancer in any of my lymph nodes.
And by the way, the kind of cancer that I had, there's, there's a couple different kinds. And I had the D most aggressive, most names. But they caught it early and you know, just one my time. And then, uh, I spent a couple of more weeks in there, ended up, I think I ended up being in there probably about two months.
Uh, and then I ended up making it back for the army Navy game. So I sat on the sidelines and watch. Nice. And then I was back in school in January and I actually was back competing for a starting quarterback position in spring ball. Okay. It's amazing what the body can do when you're young like that and in shape.
And then I dislocated my, uh, uh, collarbone, uh, in spring ball broke it almost in half was right back in the hospital. Again. I was [00:25:00] like, oh my God, I can't believe I'm back. And then that's when coach came in and said, you know, well, we got these younger guys. I said, I get it. I said, I'll just run the scout team.
So, but we had an awesome year. I mean, we won the commander in chief's trophy that year. We went to the sun bowl, lost Alabama. By one point we had a really good team. So it was a great experience. 
[00:25:19] Vince Todd: Now, many people can say they lost Alabama by only one point. I 
[00:25:22] Music: know, 
[00:25:22] Bryan Babb: I know bill Curry was the coach for Alabama.
I believe that that game cost him his job because. Army really. I mean, but we were really good back then. We went to, we went to three bowls in that area when I was there. That was the only bull we lost. And that was Christmas Eve, 25 to 24. Uh, it's terrible. But yeah, it's still 
[00:25:42] Vince Todd: hot. 
[00:25:43] Music: No, wakes up in a cold sweat at night, sometimes thinking about it.
And Derek 
[00:25:47] Bryan Babb: Thomas was there. Defensive end, Derek Thomas. The guy was for the chief's tragic, got in that accident and was, he was a quadriplegic for about six months. And then he ended up dying right after that, but he was a [00:26:00] freak and he was tough to, but yeah, it was fun. It was a great experience. He wanted 
to 
[00:26:04] Vince Todd: rupture 
[00:26:04] Bryan Babb: her job.
Probably. I did not plan that game. I did not play in that game, but it was the whole bowl experience was fun. You would've loved events. I'm sure I'm not joking. You literally go there and they stamp you with these like proprietary, like some bull football team. And you go in any bar in those towns and you drink for free.
You eat for free. All the players did. I mean, I can't, the 
[00:26:29] Vince Todd: players should be drinking. 
[00:26:32] Bryan Babb: Are you kidding me? It was out of control. We were there. We were there for seven days. Oh, wow. Yeah. So we flew in, I think, on a Sunday and the game wasn't until the following Saturday. Wow. Yeah. And we were hanging out with, with the Alabama guys.
It was a lot of fun. And then towards the end of the week, you start to not, do they have all of these functions early on set with them. So you guys were all together getting to know each other. And then towards the end of the week, they, they kind of singer single out the teams and, um, [00:27:00] but it was fun. Good time.
Yeah. Nice. 
[00:27:03] Vince Todd: So. That's good. Good. And 
[00:27:05] Bryan Babb: did the story. It was a good end of the story. Yeah. I mean, it was because I didn't have to, I didn't have to do chemo. I didn't have to do, uh, radiation. Uh, now one really cool story. I forgot to tell you. It was so when they, when they, when I had my operation and the Navy guys came in and then about two days later, I still hadn't heard back, uh, from the bio.
On whether or not it was at spread or not. Yeah. So all of a sudden there's a knock on the door and this guy comes in, his name was Paul Pasquina and he was one of my teammates. He was a quarterback on the football team. It was two years ahead of me. And he was actually an, a doc and intern at Walter Reed.
So he came in and he, uh, he handed me a pizza and he's, and he was the one that was the delivered. The good news. The told me I was cancer free. That's 
[00:27:55] Music: cool. Yeah. W what did that feel like when you got that amazing, huge relief? 
[00:27:59] Bryan Babb: Oh [00:28:00] yeah, because I'll be honest with you at that age. You really don't think about Diane.
What I really wanted to do. It's kind of a big thing. I mean, when you go through that shared experience at west point, not difficult, it is you want to graduate with your class. Yeah. And I knew that they told me, they said, look, if this thing comes back, and that was one of the reasons why I went ahead and went to the surgery, they said, because if this thing comes from.
Then you're, you're not, you're not going to, you're going to go right back to school, if not, you're going to miss the whole year. And so the first thing I thought about, to be honest with you, it wasn't so much that I was going to live. It was that I wasn't going to have to miss my year and be in a different west point class.
Yeah. Some of the stupid stuff you think about that, but it mattered. It 
[00:28:37] Music: was big at the time. It was, it was, 
it 
[00:28:40] Bryan Babb: is because those are all my good friends. Yeah. So you 
[00:28:43] Music: graduate 
[00:28:44] Vince Todd: and then what'd you graduate with. 
[00:28:48] Bryan Babb: Uh, bachelor's of science. What 
[00:28:51] Vince Todd: did you think you were going to do at that point? 
[00:28:54] Bryan Babb: You know, I didn't know.
I mean, I knew I had to go out in the army and so I was actually [00:29:00] headed 
[00:29:00] Vince Todd: and you commit to four years, then five. 
[00:29:03] Bryan Babb: Okay. I was, so I was headed to Fort Stewart, Georgia, the 24th infantry division, which at the time was the leading. Infantry unit armor unit, the whole sort of combat team that actually went over to desert storm.
Okay. So a lot of my classmates went over there, but when I went to, when I graduated from west point, you go to, you have to go to a basic course officer basic course, and it depends on which branch you get. Infantry armor, aviation, medical services, whatever I was feeling. Okay. And so, uh, I went to Fort Ord, excuse me.
I went to, um, uh, in Oklahoma to Fort sill. And when I went there, uh, they said as the army has want to do your orders have changed. Um, you score well on the language aptitude tests. We have nukes over in Germany and Turkey and the Netherlands, and you're going to go take a battery of nuclear weapons, and you're not going over to war, but [00:30:00] by the way, before you go over there and learn how to speak.
So you're also going to go out to Carmel, California, um, to Monterey to the defense language Institute, learn German for a year. So that's about it. No, it wasn't. It was, it was sweet. So went out there and lived there for a year. Um, and then learned German nine to five. And then I went to, we had our nuclear weapons for a year, and then we got rid of them because when the Soviet union disbanded, they entered into a treaty and these were all, these were like tactical nukes, like.
Uh, probably blast radius of maybe half a mile. This is designed to take out a Soviet tank battalion. Okay. Smaller, smaller nukes. And so we got rid of those and then I spent three years up in Heidelberg, which anybody, if anybody's ever been to Europe is just the most beautiful place in the world. I mean, there's, you know, to the, to the, to the victors go the spoils.
Right? So when we, when we won world war two, that's where we set up our European headquarters for a reason. It's like living in a. [00:31:00] Wow. So I did that. And then I wanted to, I realized I had a lot of problems when I was at my nuke unit with my soldiers, because we didn't have any money. And when you go in the army, you want to do two things.
Uh, you want to go in the woods and run around and you want to shoot stuff. And we couldn't do any of that because we didn't have any money because the nukes were going. We were just babysitting them so nobody would steal them. So I had, I had soldiers getting a lot of trouble and I was constantly on the phone with Jack.
And I just said to myself, you know what? I want to be the answer. God, I don't want to be the guy asking all the questions. So when my five-year is toward the end of my five years, I said, Hey, I'd like to stay in, but I really want to transfer branch transfer to JAG Corps. And I want to go to law school.
And back then they were transitioning from a million person army down to like 350,000. So they were just trying to get rid of people and they were being completely inflexible. And so they were like, You're not doing that. You're going back to the advanced course and at [00:32:00] Fort sill in Oklahoma. And you're going to get ready to go take, uh, uh, uh, how it's your battery?
And I'm like, nah, I'm going to get out and go to law school. Now my little brother was who's six, seven played basketball was point. He was two years behind me. He also was in the army at that time and he didn't even serve as five years. They said, if you want to get out, get out. I were that desperate to get rid of people.
So he went out and went to Georgia tech and got a master's and he's doing something else now, too. So, but that was, that was the whole sort of army career thing. Yeah, 
[00:32:30] Music: that's good. That's a 
[00:32:30] Vince Todd: good one now. So you get out, go to law school and law school. Um, are you for those school? Correct. Okay. 
[00:32:37] Music: Well 
[00:32:37] Bryan Babb: that's okay.
So yeah, so I took my L sat over in Frankfurt and, um, between. No, it was really weird because you had to sign something because of the timing of it that like, you swore that you didn't talk to anybody 
[00:32:54] Music: because you got the tests. 
[00:32:55] Bryan Babb: Correct. And so, uh, I took the test and [00:33:00] I applied to like a couple of Ivy league schools and I applied to Notre Dame.
I U N D N I U Bloomington. And I did it on the last day on. That's the last time you ever went to apply to grad school because they've already got, you know, they're, they're looking for the superstar, right. You know, the Vince, Todd of the world, amazing GPA and his amazing standardized test scores. But seriously, I know for too.
Yeah, I know. Well, so, so when I'm at home with my. And Fisher's living. Cause I got out of the arm because oh. And by the way, I wanted to defer a year. So I just wanted to be a normal guy. Cause I had gotten a master's from Boston CA Boston university. When I was over in Germany, they had a, uh, metropolitan school over in Belgium.
So I just wanted to be out of school and just nine to five, like just work. And so I'm living with my parents. I get the Ivy league schools are like, thanks. But no thanks. I get Notre Dame. [00:34:00] They're like thanks. But no. I get I, you Indy they're like, thanks. But no, thanks. I'm like, oh, this is awesome. So I'm literally, you know, one, no way from, I don't even know what to do and what I can't get into law school seriously, but I U Bloomington came through and the rest is history.
They're smart down there. 
[00:34:19] Vince Todd: They're smart. 
[00:34:20] Music: Right. Annual right, right. 
[00:34:23] Vince Todd: Totally. Yeah. So are you law school? 
[00:34:27] Bryan Babb: I lost a couple of years. And then, uh, and then I got out. So, so I was, I was one of the older students. I was old. I started law school when I was 30. Yeah. Yeah. And so, uh, some 
advantages 
[00:34:41] Music: it does. 
[00:34:42] Bryan Babb: And it doesn't, I mean, I'll be honest with you.
Most of the kids that go in there straight from undergrad, they're like just, you know, they're just so focused because they all. They want to go out there and get the most of them, want to get the big pain law firm job. And there's just not a lot of them. [00:35:00] So I, you know, my first year I was straight BS, slap dab in the middle of my class, which does not bode well for getting the big law firm job.
And so, um, uh, I tried. I applied for a couple of different internships at law firms. All of them got rejected. It's hard to get in. It was hard to get in that summer after your first year anyway. And, but I ended up clerking for a trial court judge up in Hamlin county, which was awesome. He was fantastic. It was such a great, it's a trial court judge and bill Hughes.
Who's an awesome guy, super smart guy. And, uh, and then I came back and, um, I ended up, um, writing off. To the law journal, they have three law journals down there. The flagship one is, is the Indiana law journal. I amazingly ended up writing onto that because most people grade onto it as you're in the top 10% of your class, you grade onto it.
I obviously wasn't that. So I wrote onto it, [00:36:00] long story short, my grades started getting better. I ended up, um, being selected the editor in chief of the law journal my third year. So I went from really worried about having a job, to be honest with you, I could do whatever I wanted. My third. And, uh, a position came up where one of the Indiana Supreme court justices needed it.
Clerk because one of their clerks had left. And so I saw that come through and I was like, that's what I want to do. So I called bows. They had already given me a job at that time. And I said, Hey, would you mind if I applied for this? Would my job still be waiting there when I came back? And they said, yes.
So I interviewed for the job. Um, he and I hit it off really good. Frank Sullivan was his name. He was an associate justice for many years in the us Supreme court. So I clerked for him for a year and a half. And then I've been at Bose ever since. So it's been lucky because Indiana is a great place to practice law.
Why do you say that? Because it's a relatively small bar. Um, and so people have to [00:37:00] be decent with each other. Um, and I see it. I mean, when you litigate against people from big cities, Chicago, New York, LA, uh, Atlanta, Um, they're there. They can be, uh, difficult to deal with because the chances of them ever circling back and having to deal with you again are pretty small, but in Indiana it's pretty insular.
And so everybody's, everybody's pretty decent with one or 
[00:37:28] Vince Todd: other, well, I mean, it's Indy three ways back to Kevin bacon says so 
[00:37:31] Bryan Babb: true. It is true. So there's just enough people. Um, that there's plenty of work for everybody, but there's also the, the bar is small enough. The judges are great. I do appellate law.
So I spend most of my time in front of the court appeals and the Supreme court, our judges are great. It's not a political process. You go to other states and you have these just embarrassing in fights, even on the state Supreme court justices, uh, where they're just, they're bought off by special [00:38:00] interests.
They, they appear to be that way. That's what the judge, that's what the lawyers think. They're just at each other, but our core is awesome. It's all merit-based um, and it's, it's a privilege to practice in front of them. Good. So, yeah. 
[00:38:14] Music: That's good to hear. Yep. Yeah. So 
[00:38:17] Vince Todd: you're a Bose, we have like anywhere else in India, you need mutual connections, mutual folks and friends in the same network.
Um, when did you first become aware of the heroes 
[00:38:29] Bryan Babb: foundation? Yeah, so, so my ex you know, Uh, she was a cyclist and, um, you know, I kind of entered that stage of my life. I think back then, it was probably, I think in my early forties. Um, but she was, she caught the bug. She was all, she was all already teaching at lifetime and stuff like that.
So I eventually transitioned into that. And then once I got in there, um, she just happened to that happened to be the crew that she was with. And so that's how I [00:39:00] met Don. And, and you and everybody else. And so it was just from that association of, of the cycling aspect of it, 
[00:39:08] Vince Todd: and obviously natural attraction due to the cancer experience that you've had.
Oh, without a doubt. Yeah. Brian's now a board member with the Harris foundation and has been on the board for a handful of years now. Uh, we, we appreciate all the, uh, the time and energy that you provide and, and, and. Hmm, dare 
[00:39:28] Music: I say, 
[00:39:29] Bryan Babb: oh, I know that was, I know that was 
[00:39:30] Music: difficult 
[00:39:31] Vince Todd: for you to say my, my jaw got a little bit.
So
what would you say? And it sounds like a shameless plug, but I'm gonna say it anyway. What would you say? What aspect of the foundation? Um, I don't know what excites you the most, but that your, that, that interests you the most and, you know, looking forward, knowing your involvement for the past five to 10 years.
What, what excites you about the potential? [00:40:00] Uh, yet for the 
[00:40:00] Bryan Babb: foundation? Well, for me, you know, having lived through it, I can tell you that. Um, and I don't know if it was a product of just kind of being away from home or whatever, you know, I was in the army and even though my parents spent time with me and came out there and were with me, I mean, it's a pretty terrifying experience to have to deal with it.
And, um, and I I'd never, I didn't know anybody that had, that had been through. Um, I'll be honest with you. I mean, I was probably, um, at Walter Reed, um, maybe in some respects because I'd happened to be the starting quarterback, um, at army when it happened. Um, I mean, I noticed that for a while that, um, most of the kids on my wing were much sicker than me, much younger than me.
And most of them were not surviving. Uh, and so, you know, to have that [00:41:00] and I, and then I really, you know, other than the story of Paul Pasquina, which was awesome, but Paul was so busy as an intern. That was really the only time we ever had chance to because Walter Reed's a massive place and he was at a completely different part of the hospital.
And so I only saw him that one. So I, there was just nobody there for me to. Talk to, to walk me through the process. And to me, you know, I mean, you know, the stuff that we do that heroes does to help people navigate this and to just make sure that people know that there's people out there to help them. I mean, the whole Lego thing that the stuff, especially when you're kids, you know, my daughter was sick and, uh, she had, uh, You know, a very rare disease and histiocytosis or spine collapsed, um, or one of her vertebrae just disintegrated.
She has a few spine. Um, you know, that, that happened when she was, you know, very young, um, ten-ish [00:42:00] and, um, you know, that, that to have people that in the community. Can support you that can answer your questions. Um, I mean, to me, it's just, you know, if you're super busy person and there's, there's, you know, you can't please, everybody, you can't give to everything.
But for me, it was just an obvious choice that this is what I want it to be aligned with because that, that NAB those navigational tools, that support structure, uh, is, is helpful. And even to this day, I mean, I still see people in heroes, the bad stuff happens to them. All. And so, you know, even people that aren't lucky enough to have a close affinity that I have, like through the cycling aspect of it, um, you know, people are still there to help them and, uh, we should be helping.
I mean, there's a lot of very successful people in it and they should be doing their part to help help folks that, that, that are. Yeah. [00:43:00] 
[00:43:00] Vince Todd: So if you were talking to the 20 something Brian Bab of today, uh, going through the same experience, what would you share with them? 
[00:43:09] Bryan Babb: Well, I would say, you know, get good doctors, um, that's the first thing.
Um, and because you need, you need good experience. Um, but I would also tell them, you know, uh, Uh, especially for testicular cancer. And I tell my boys this all the time, uh, you know, you gotta check yourself and check yourself before 
[00:43:34] Music: you wreck yourself. That's trying not to say that so 
[00:43:37] Bryan Babb: hard. It's true though.
I actually tell my that. I tell that to my kids all the time. Um, so. You know, I would say if you have to do the self-examination and something, I mean, something in my mind, I knew it was wrong, but it really was. I don't know whether it was a blessing from, from above that I got hit in the groin with that football.
[00:44:00] Um, I don't know if maybe that what was accelerated, maybe that accelerated the, the, the, the growth of the tumor, maybe that drew my attention to it or whatever, but after a while after three or four weeks, and I didn't want to say anything to anybody, because I'd finally realized my dream. I was finally.
But after a while, I mean, you gotta be like, yeah, something's not right. So we just got to get checked. And that's what I would tell young guys is that you have to, you have to check yourself and, um, and if 
[00:44:28] Vince Todd: you notice something 
[00:44:30] Bryan Babb: speak out, correct. Yeah. And don't be embarrassed about it. And you know, it's just, you know, it's just, it's just the way it is.
I mean, you gotta, because it's, it's highly curable. You just gotta check it. You just gotta get it in time. Yeah. 
[00:44:44] Vince Todd: Good buddy, Dr. Larry Einhorn for, for that, for sure. Well, I know Daniel feels the same way, but we appreciate you. We appreciate your time and your support, um, and your friendship. So likewise buddy, 
[00:44:57] Bryan Babb: thanks for sharing the story.
Yep. I appreciate it. I it's an [00:45:00] honor to be on the board. It's an honor to, to be associated with the group, um, for, uh, you know, in terms of people that as you, as, as athletes, Especially. I mean, I think to me the biggest part of the privilege of being associated with them from a personal standpoint is that you're always used to being an athlete.
And it's really hard to, at least for me personally, to, to not have that sense of physical fitness, you really can't enjoy yourself. And so that's the great thing about us being associated with the cycling stuff is it gives you an excuse to be with other great people and go out there, especially for a great cause and try to stay fit.
So it's, it's great to be in. Yep. Well, thank you. Thank you, buddy. 
[00:45:38] Music: Appreciate it. Okay. Go Navy 
[00:45:40] Bryan Babb: army.
[00:45:57] Vince Todd: Hey everybody. I hope you enjoyed that episode. I know we [00:46:00] certainly did. Don't forget to subscribe like and hit that notification bell.