Chargers LB Drue Tranquill Describes the Motivation for Launching Podcast

Drue Tranquill opens up about what went into starting a podcast.

Nicholas Cothrel | May 5, 2022

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Los Angeles Chargers

COSTA MESA – In today's era of sports, players are given a platform to share their experiences, opinions and interesting insight to fans of their respective teams. While some players are more involved on a variation of social media platforms, others have taken to starting a YouTube channel or podcast.

Chargers linebacker Drue Tranquill launched The Drue Tranquill Show, a podcast in which he brings on athletes to tell stories and create dialogue with other members of his community that is professional sports.

“I’m a podcaster, man," Tranquill said earlier this week at the beginning of the Chargers' phase two portion of the team's voluntary offseason workouts. "I have the show and it’s been super fun. I’ve just been having conversations with guys and telling their stories. I think the goal is to have fans be able to interact with the person and not the athlete. We’ve had some fun tapes so far and, hopefully, we’ll continue to have some more.”

Among the many things that motivated Tranquill to get into podcasting was improving his communication skills and being able to have a platform for story telling. Nobody has the same path in life so having a space to deliver the avenues that each individual has gone through while providing insight into the knowledge they've gained along the way, is an aspect that listeners of the show could learn a thing or two by tuning in.

"I think our stories are some of the most powerful things that we hold," Tranquill said. "To be able to have unique access to guys and gals in my space as a professional athlete and to be able to tell those stories is a pretty cool thing to do."

The space of media wasn't something that Tranquill always had the intrigue of doing. In college, he studied mechanical engineering at Notre Dame, digging into math and science. But over time, he found that having these distinctive discussions brought out another side in him.

"I’ve found that I come a little bit alive doing [that], so this is just another platform to be able to do that and spread positivity, good stories and entertaining content that fans can really engage in and get to know the person, and not just the athlete — the person in the jersey," Tranquill said.

His most recent guest list on the show inlcudes Derwin James and Trenten Merrill, a two-time paralympian for Team USA. Tranquill dropped a teaser about who's due up next, suggesting that Justin Herbert will appear on the podcast later this week.

"It’s just super cool. For me specifically, with my teammates, getting to sit down and have an hour to an hour-and-a-half to just really hear their story," Tranquill said. "Something that really stood out to me with Derwin — I’ve known it about him, but he’s always just so confident and believes in himself. For an hour, I got to sit there and really hear why that was. He was sharing stories from his childhood of competing against the best and they would play ball in the backyard or on the streets from sunup to sundown.

"One thing he learned was learning to lose. It kind of sat with me and I was like, ‘Man, where I’m from, I didn’t necessarily have that elite competition that I went against every day.’ I grew up with this expectation to win every single time. When you get to the league, it’s not necessarily that case. Everybody is equally as good and you’re striving each and every day to win every rep. I was like, ‘Man, how does he bounce back after missing a tackle or having a bad play? He seems to do it so seamlessly.’ To have those opportunities to really get to know my teammates on a deeper level has been so cool the past couple of months.”

Tranquill usually releases a new show each week. He hopes that listeners continue to enjoy the discussions being had on his program with the authenticity that they approach each recording with.

"It’s just raw, unedited, just candid," Tranquill said. "We literally hit [record] and hit stop and then post it. Hopefully, fans continue to like it. I love doing it. I’m going to keep doing it.”

To listen to The Drue Tranquill Show, click here.

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Nick Cothrel is the publisher of Charger Report. Follow Nick on Twitter @NickCothrel for more Chargers coverage.

Published May 5, 2022

NICHOLAS COTHREL

Nick Cothrel is the publisher for Charger Report, covering the Los Angeles Chargers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow Nick on Twitter @NickCothrel.