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Dexter Manley, former Defensive End for the Washington Redskins, was nicknamed football's \u201cSecretary of Defense\u201d in 1986 by a top government official. Listen in to Dexter tell Andy O the story about how he received the nickname and from whom.\n\n\n\nAndy says of Dexter Manley, \u201cfor many years a legend in the city of Washington. Manley "did so much as a player and so much as a human being\u201d.\n\nDexter recalls that he and Andy met for the first time at training camp in Carlisle Pennsylvania, and how Andy won him over with a deal at the station, \u201cI did a show . . .maybe for about a year and they paid me not one dime but they furnished my bedroom suit for free. I'd never heard of that before. I said where\u2019s my money. Jack Kent Cook said get money don\u2019t go for those deals.\u201d Lots of laughter ensues and we see why Andy refers to Dexter Manley as a \u201ccharacter\u201d.\n\nGrowing Up in Houston, TX and Oklahoma State University Football\n\nAndy O and Dexter talk about Dexter\u2019s childhood years in Houston, Texas. He describes the environment he grew up in as poverty and crime stricken and lots of divorce. He also describes his hard-working parents who made sure he went to church and grew up with good Christian values. Dexter talks about the guys in his neighborhood stealing bicycles, smoking marijuana, and drinking \u201cmd2020\u201d, and how he chose to stay away from that. One of the most devastating times in his young life was when, while sitting on his porch, he looked down the street and saw his brother put into the backseat of a police car. His brother landed in a juvenile home from that encounter with the police. Dexter's brother played football at the local high school, and was his hero. He also saw young talented high school football players leave town to play in college only to get in trouble and return home. He knew he didn\u2019t want this for himself. He went to school, sat is the front row, but despite his efforts he graduated functionally illiterate. He also tells Andy \u201cI had such tunnel vision I wanted to play football trying to get out of that environment. I had 37 scholarship offers.\u201d\n\nManley goes on to recall how in his junior year at Jack Yates High School he was recruited to play in college. This process brought him closer to his Dad. Growing up, Dex received little attention from his Dad. Despite how good he was at football \u2013 he was a high school all American - his Dad watched him play only once in high school. His Dad saw him in a different light once the coaches started to come around. So did the whole community. \u201cThey couldn\u2019t believe it, Bum Phillips and Jim Stanley they are getting out of these limos coming to my gun shack house sitting up on blocks in the ghetto.\u201d At a big breakfast in Houston, Bum Phillips, head coach of the Houston Oilers, said that Dex should play at Oklahoma State University. That\u2019s all it took for Dexter to attend OSU for the next four years. He tells Andy that neither he nor his Dad knew then what all that meant, all they knew that these big names were telling him he had a future in football.\n\nDexter\u2019s four years at Oklahoma State University were tumultuous. They fired head coach Jim Stanley and brought on Pittsburgh\u2019s defensive coordinator Jimmie Johnson to replace him. Jimmie Johnson came on in Dex\u2019s junior year, and was his coach for remaining two years. He had them winning games. Dexter goes on to talk about the OSU\u2019s probation \u201cfor passing out benefits\u201d to players. He recalls receiving the keys to a brand-new car. He tells Andy \u201cI was coming off the practice field, Charlie Alexander said sit in the car that was a brand-new car, and I never forget. I never had hardly nothing brand-new so we turn the radio on, and we heard the news Elvis died, he said Manley, he gave me the keys, this is yours. And so, I'll never forget that as long as I live.\u201d \n\n1981 NFL Scouting Combine, Tampa Bay, FL\n\nAndy asks Manley how the Washington Redskins found him.