They are who we thought they were.

"They are who we thought they were." – Dennis Green.

This might be one of the most famous quotes in professional football. Let me set up the scenario so you understand why. The year was 2006, the teams playing were the Chicago Bears Vs Arizona Cardinals in Phoenix AZ, the Bears came into the game undefeated on the season, and were losing by 20 points at halftime. Let’s stop there for a second. Now what would you say the outcome was if I told you the Cardinals had already beaten the Bears that year? A lot of people would say I was lying because the Bears were undefeated going into the game that day. However, in fact the Cardinals beat the Bears in a preseason matchup earlier in the fall.  Knowing this and knowing the Cardinals were up 20 points in a professional football game, you’d probably say the Cardinals won the game. Well, they didn’t. The Cardinals gave up a 20 point lead and lost the game 24-23. After the game, the head coach for the Cardinals, Dennis Green, went on a rant where he’d use the saying “They are who we thought they were.” but what did this mean? Later on in an interview Dennis Green explained that the team and coaches built a game plan to put points on the Bears defense because they thought the Bears were a “one-dimensional team.” Meaning, they could only really play one side of the ball well, but not both offense and defense. Yet somehow after all the planning the Bears were still able to pull out the win.

Though some people may not be football fans and not really care about the “X’s and O’s” enough to know football history, we can all take a lesson from this little tale that I outlined. That lesson is, never assume you know something or someone until you can validate your answer and/or opinion. This happens so many times in our society, especially with social media and having the world at our finger tips. We lose sight of just how much damage ones opinion can do to somebody. This isn’t just a blog for me to release my thoughts. If I am guilty of doing something I will admit it and I admit that I am guilty of doing this. You get an impression of someone through someone else and you roll with it. Never taking time to look back at the destruction you are leaving in your wake. Be it a loss in the NFL, the loss of a friend, the loss of respect that someone had for you, or even the loss of a missed network connection. In a day and age where knowing the right people can get you to the right places, missing a network connection could be devastating to your career. And it almost happened to me…..

For those who found this blog and don’t know me, I have a connection to a well-known band and spend a good bit of time with them. So I get the privilege of meeting all types of people and connecting with them throughout the United States….. Now to the story…..  It was the summer of 2016 in Prattville Alabama at the Blue Iguana. The bill that night was highly anticipated and I believed sold out within hours of the doors opening. The opener was a brand new band with a front woman who has a set of pipes on her. She was someone the music scene needed to see but she isn’t the focus of this story. It was her fill-in guitar player. As she took the stage that night, I looked up from talking to management of the venue and notice a tall man with shredded clothes and a Marge Simpson type hairdo fiddling with his foot pedals. When the lights hit him my mouth hit the floor; there in the smoky music venue stood Voodoo Jones. For those who don’t know, Voodoo Jones is a legend in the State of Alabama. He’s a musician that you listen to and know he could  walk into the local Toys-R-Us and make a Fisher Price guitar sound like Custom Les Paul straight off the assembly line in Nashville Tn and here he is playing a show unannounced and I have the chance to meet him… He got away before I could meet him that night. I don’t recall why her original guitar player wasn’t with them that night but I am glad he wasn’t, even though Voodoo Jones got away.

Me and Roger Jones AKA Voodoo Jones

Fast forward to a month later I received an invite to attend an acoustic show south of Birmingham. The band playing was Jagermuffin and the lead singer of Hunting Delilah, Troy Mowry, who invited me out was in the band. As entered the bar I noticed a tall guy sitting on a stool in shredded clothes and had a Marge Simpson like hairdo. As I slowly brought my head around and focused my site on him it hit me…. That’s Voodoo Jones!! As I walked up to meet him he looked up, smiled, and said “Hey Biscuit, good to see you.” WAIT! Did he just??? I believe he did… He not only knew who I was, he knew my nickname that I go by in the music community. Little did I know, but Voodoo was a fan of Sunday Funday which was a Facebook live show I put together every Sunday afternoon. After this exchange we spent a good bit of time talking and just getting to know each other.

Me with Jagermuffin

Over the past year I have gotten to know the man behind Voodoo Jones. His name is Roger and I think what shocked me the most was when I found out that after having an extremely successful campaign as Voodoo Jones, Roger is now in a country band, Who Shot Lizzy, laying down some southern twang and heavy licks.  His significant other, Bre helped start my jewelry rock business “Biscuit Rocks and What nots” and the friendship and partnership have blossomed from there.  I’d always seen him as Voodoo Jones the rocker. I never thought to see him as Mr Jones, the entrepreneur, the guitar builder, the guy with a heart the size of Texas, or the master of all things home renovator. I dang sure never saw him as a country music guitarist.



Jagermuffin on Sunday Funday

Roger at the 151 for Sunday Funday

When it came time to finally meet him, I had this one persona stuck in my head, Rock Legend. I wanted to ask all these things about music and life on the road. I wanted to know why he wasn’t playing with Voodoo anymore and when the reunion tour was going to be. All he wanted to know was when he could be on my little Facebook live show on Sundays…. I guess this is what momma meant when she’d say “never judge a book by its cover.” While I am sweating trying to keep my composure, this guy wants to come spend time goofing off on a Sunday afternoon with me and my friends. It is also a valuable lesson in how important you are to people whether you know it or not.