The Invasion- former Cowboys DE Greg Ellis

0:00Addiction steals families, careers, futures. It steals lives, but you can still come back with help from Saun Tay Center for Healing. Saun Tay Center is successfully treating the disease of addiction for 30 years. Reach out to Saun Tay today at Saun Tay Center dot com. Let's jump on over to the Diamond Factory Ticket hotline and say hello for a conversation. You guys remember him well. Former first round pick of the Dallas Cowboys. It is Greg Ellis joining us. Greg, how you doing, man? I'm doing great, man. How are you guys doing? We're doing well. We appreciate the time here this afternoon. Before we talk a little football with you, I know you've got a big project that you've been working on with mental wellness and you have a new film that you've been working with called My Dear that is available to watch. So tell us a little bit about that and how you got into this. Well, first how I got into it. It's just over the years of my life, man. Even going back to my childhood, mental wellness, mental health issues and challenges with family members.

1:03I deal with anxiety myself. A lot of teammates, you guys are familiar with some of them that I play with and unfortunately, guys even at that play, you know, in and their life, I wear a suicide. So it's near and dear to my heart and I want it to be a part of the solution if you would. And that were a solution when you tell my mental health is huge. But you know, we attack it from what I'd like to say at the root cause and when you look at any type of wellness challenges, it stems from issues us using our bodies and doing things that we were never designed to do, which invite chaos and then that's where all the unhealthiness, mental, physical and everything in between comes and for play. And so it's really trying to help people bring awareness to manage the misuse that we're doing in our life. A lot better. If you can do that, then you have a greater outcome for as mental wellness and just overall holistic wellness

2:07included. And so that's the app. That's what we have created as the app called getting my help. And that's what it does is to help people to manage their misuses better. People can download it from the app store, getting my help. And the other question you ask was about the movie that we have. It's we show it privately. It's not out for distribution yet. We use it right now as a ice breaker to talk about mental wellness to draw people in. We're having a screening of it. September the 19th vest this month, which has come to be known as suicide awareness or prevention month. And so in honor of that, we're showing the movie September the 19th and Arlington at the Look movie theater. People can go to Eventbrite, look up my dear, the movie that we're showing at the Look movie theater in Arlington, Texas. I know that was spitting out pretty fast,

3:11but I want to get to what everybody else want to get to. I know they want to talk football. So that's that's what I've been doing here lately. Just doing my part to try to bring awareness and helping in that area of mental wellness. This is Greg Ellis, former first round pick of the Dallas Cowboys. Before we talk football, I do have a little more question because it seems like now people are more apt to talk about the issues that they had. And I feel like when you were playing, you just kept that inside. Like there was not. I don't want to say it wasn't cool, but you just you just didn't do it. You didn't share with everyone. You just tried to handle it privately. And that has to help a lot of people now knowing that they're not going to get this label put on them as being solved. They're not a man because they're discussing what's going on inside their head. That's right. That's right. And and you are so right. When I was playing even special before I was playing, it was it was even worse with people being comfortable or able to talk about, you know, mental issues, if you would. When I was playing, it got better, but it was still taboo if you would. But now I'm glad to see

4:17the way the NFL has it. It's not totally where it needs to be. But the NFL, you know, they kind of forced coaches, ownership, management, everybody in between. Hey, pay attention to the mental aspect of this thing. We know you guys want to win and those players want to win. But we also have to understand that we have to leave room and factor into the equation, the mental side of it. Because football is an NFL football, D1 football, and even high school football nowadays, men, it is an extremely big business comes with a lot of demands. The era for margin is so small. And so everybody players included your guilty of pushing yourself sometimes too hard, if you would. But we understand. So we even more so now than ever, we have to make sure that we leave room for the mental side to be working through the equation of the holistic wellness of football players.

5:22And even coaches to be honest, which year's will? We're getting the app that Greg Ellis joining us here on the ticket that he has created and the founder of Getting My Help. It's a wellness app in foundation, but the app available in the app store. So download that getting my help. But Greg, let's do talk a little football because of course, you mean, man, you played on some really good Cowboys teams. You were on that O-7 team that we all thought might be the team that could break through. But do you think this version of the Cowboys was some of the changes they've made in the off season? Do you buy into what they're doing right now here in 2026? Well, I'm not so from, you know, ask me from the heart. I can't say me buying into it weighs in or not because I'm not in that inner circle close enough if you would. And so me on the outside looking in, I have to have a fan perspective. And from that

6:22side of the coin, yeah, I buy into it because, you know, it's our team is the team we hear in Dallas, the team that most of us want to win. And so, you know, I got to ride the horse with him if you would. Shady, you know, they've made a lot of changes especially on the defensive side of the football. I mean, I was, you know, you think about it since I was there coaching not last season, but the 24 season. I think every single defensive lineman that was there when I was there is no longer there anymore. So the tides turn really quick in NFL, especially with the Cowboys. And so, we all have to agree that they're looking for solutions. We can't blame them for making changes. And so this new Dallas Cowboy team that we're going to see take the field on Sunday night. I'm excited to see it. You know, what I would say this about defense, I don't think it's going to be a middle of the row situation for the defense. I think it's going to be a home run or is we

7:25going to strike out. And I say that because I think from again, little as I know about it, the defense seems to be put together like we're going to blitz the crap out of you and we're going to make it happen on your side of the line of scrimmage. And that's good. But unfortunately, sometimes if you don't get home, you usually given up big plays. And so I think that's going to be our defense. Obviously, you know, I'm hoping that it works out good for us. We make it happen on their side. We get those big plays versus giving them up. But based on how I'm seeing the team being put together, that's what it seems like defensively that we are. Former first round pit, Greg Ellis joining us here on the invasion lunchtime roles along. Now it was obvious that they had communication issues last year and they're trying to correct that. And that seems to be the key phrase for this year. Was it obvious to you as you watch this defense be historically bad for this franchise last year that communication was probably at the top

8:26of the list of what was going wrong with this defense? Yeah, I mean, the left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing and in football, I'm speaking defensively man, that you that's well, we saw the results of when that happens. And that's what did happen last year. It's like, oh, I thought we was doing this or I thought he should. And when you get into all that type of communication or talking like that, it's bad. It's going to go real bad and the bullets going to catch it with you and it caught up with us last year. And in the results is what we saw. So hopefully this year communication is bad. You know, I'm more of a fan of, hey guys, if we're a lot of newness is going on, that's the vanilla and make sure that we know what we're doing. If we got to line up and play base defense every time, as long as we know what we're doing, I rather take my chances that that versus pushing the envelope so much to try to be excited that the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. That offensive coordinator

9:29spend too much time in the office quarter back spend too much time in the office, they're going to find that weak spot when you're not on the same page on the defensive side. So, hey, be vanilla and you spend hours on drafting great football players. Be vanilla if you're not on the same page. You know, ideally, right, you want the best athletes and then you still want to, you know, bring some exoticness to it. And if you can have that, that's the best of both worlds. But if I have to pick that poison, hey, let's be vanilla, they're going to know what we at, but you guys are paid good. You know what you're doing? Play 100 miles per hour. Let's go play football. But I think we got in trouble last year. So, where we were trying to bring the exoticness to it, but not on the same page and that kills you. You've been around this franchise for a long time. You played for them for a while. Then, as you just mentioned, you came back and coached for a couple of seasons in different perspectives and different views, different phases of your life.

10:32But what do you think has been the problem with this organization getting over that hump to get back even to an NFC championship kick? Yeah, man. It's, you know, I just came across. I was looking at, I guess you can hear my first phrase is like, I'm right. You can definitely hear it. You know, the Netflix special about the Dallas Cowboys and I just started looking at it yesterday, literally yesterday. And it's a good piece. Good, good, you know, thing they've done. But the doubt, even before I got here, because I got to see behind that through that special on Netflix, it's hard to put the team together the way they put it together when they were winning Super Bowls. Everything and I was blessed to play on the tail in with those guys. My Emmett Dion, Troy and all those guys. But the jail that that team had, it just doesn't always happen that way.

11:34And obviously it hadn't happened that way since those guys have been in place. The locker room and all that kind of stuff, everything that was into the equation, pieces just were in the right place. Now since then, it's obviously pieces have not been in the right place. People in 10th, when I mean people, I mean every single person or have ever been a part of their organization, their intent is, hey, let's do the right things, get pieces in the right place. But obviously for sometimes unseen variables has prohibited those pieces to be in the right place at the right time. And if you don't have it in the right place at the right time, you can't, you can't win, you can't win. And that's what the team has been lacking. Again, everybody's intent is going in the right direction, but right talent, right chemistry just obviously has not been put

12:40into place since, you know, the days of the triplets. Well, Greg Ellis, we truly appreciate the time. You have a new film, my dear, which explores the effects of how undiagnosed and untreated mental illness can have on individuals and families. That's going to be screened September 19th at the Look Movie Theater in Arlington, also the Getting My Help app, Wellness app that's available and all of the app stores, man, we're really proud of what you've done not only on the field, but being an advocate for mental health and trying to get that out there and in the forefront. We truly appreciate the time and any any time you want to jump on, man, just let us know. Okay, appreciate you guys as well, man. Thank you. That's Greg Ellis from a first round pick here of the Dallas Cowboys and we'll continue to put that information out about this new film and the wellness app as we try and tackle the mental health issues that goes on in professional sports. Never notice how the second you lock in your picks, you completely changes a person before kick off your chilling, relaxed, maybe even a little bit bored, then you lock your picks in.

13:44Now you're staying in three feet from the TV because somehow that's helping. You're googling weather reports from a stadium, eight states away, and your screaming just throw it to them, like you've got a direct line to the corner bag. Oh, I love that. I honestly think that's the best part of sports, not the outcome, the sweat. That stretch between making your pick and finding out if you're a genius. That is why I play. And for those of us who watch to sit up and not sit back, it's gotta be underdog. So this season, don't just watch, lock in with underdog and give every game a pulse. Download underdog to play Keep Your Million. Start with $1 million, make it through all 20 picks, and walk away with whatever's left in bonus funds. Underdog. Unleash your dog. Trading involves risk, including total loss of positions, content is promotional and not a recommendation to trade, terms apply, promotion issued by affiliate. Whether you're new to the trucking industry or looking for a change from your current driving job, Schneider has an opportunity for you. Need a CVL? Take advantage of our company paid training

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15:49Download Underdog to play Keep Your Million. Start with $1 million, make it through all 20 picks, and walk away with whatever's left in bonus funds. Underdog. Unleash your dog. Trading involves risk, including total loss of positions, content is promotional, and not a recommendation to trade. Terms apply. Promotion issued by affiliate.