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Uncut with Jay Cutler: Former Athlete Turned ‘The Bachelor’ Star Clayton Echard Talks SEC Football, Shares How He Got Involved with the Reality TV Show

We’re back again with another episode of Uncut with Jay Cutler, and we’ve got former Missouri tight end turned The Bachelor star Clayton Echard joining the show this week. Jay amusingly shared that he doesn’t know anything about the reality TV show where men and women attempt to find love. Therefore since the ladies in the Outsider offices are huge fans, they’ve given Jay notes and tons of questions for Clayton.

However, the host and his guest do have one thing in common – football. Before Cutler made it to the NFL, he played quarterback in the SEC at Vanderbilt University. Echard was born and raised in Missouri, and played his college ball in the SEC as well at the University of Missouri. So the guys talk college football and Clayton explains why he didn’t last long in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks.

Of course, the pair dived into Echard finding fame as a contestant on Season 18 of The Bachelorette in 2021. Following his unsuccessful attempt at finding love with bachelorette Michelle Young, ABC chose Echard to star in Season 26 of The Bachelor, which aired earlier this year.

He breaks down how he got involved with the show and jokes that he was terrible at being the bachelor. He opens up about Susie Evans who he chose on the show. Echard explains that he learned much more about her after they got done filming since Evans was wary of sharing too much on camera. He also chats about weeding out the women who were on the reality TV series for the wrong reasons. The Bachelor‘s Clayton Echard talks about that and so much more this week on Uncut with Jay Cutler.

Clayton Echard Talks SEC Football on ‘Uncut with Jay Cutler’

As mentioned, both the host of Uncut with Jay Cutler and his guest played college football in the Southeastern Conference. Jay played quarterback at Vandy, which has been part of the SEC for decades since they joined in 1932. Echard lucked out as Missouri joined the SEC from the BIG 12 when he was a freshman in 2012. At 6’5″, 275 pounds, Echard primarily played as a blocking tight end for the Mizzou Tigers.

The duo know the ins and outs of the best college football conference in the nation well. Missouri has had some up and down seasons in recent history. The quality of the SEC is unmatched, so it’s tough to win week in and week out in the conference. That’s something both Cutler and Echard understand better than most.

“Missouri’s had some pretty good coaches, and we had a good run at the time. They’ve had a couple down years now, but hopefully they’ll pick things back up. It’s hard to keep things rolling in the SEC,” Clayton Echard admitted on Uncut with Jay Cutler.

“Tell me about it. I went to Vandy, so you’re preaching to the choir over here,” Jay Cutler hilariously said.

“Yea, I hate to say it. But Vandy was a nice, secure win for us most times. So we would know we could at least chalk that one up,” Echard said as he engaged in some lighthearted ribbing of Cutler’s university.

“No, you’re spot on,” Cutler agreed. “We were just talking about it in the office. With teams moving into the SEC, they’re never going to kick Vandy out of the SEC. It’s a win for the big schools… it’s an automatic W.”

Clayton Echard Opens Up About How Get Involved with ‘The Bachelorette’ and ‘The Bachelor’

As Jay Cutler’s conversation continued with Clayton Echard, the former tight end spoke about life after football. He became an undrafted free agent after college. The Seahawks signed him, but eventually cut him before the season began. So he never played a snap in the NFL as his football career came to a screeching halt. It was tough for Echard as he transitioned away from the sport for the first time in his life and searched for his identity away from the gridiron.

He moved back to Missouri and started working as a salesman for a medical technologies company, which he stuck with for a few years. Yet a random message on Instagram from a recruiter working for The Bachelorette would change his life.

“They reached out to me and I was just like, well, this seems ridiculous. But I’ll just keep going through the interview process. And if it’s meant to be, then it’ll be. And if not, then it’ll fall off,” Echard explained on Uncut with Jay Cutler.

At the time, he had a “shaky relationship” with the company he was working for as a salesman. He was already thinking about moving on from the job, so he decided to take a chance on the reality TV show once they offered him the gig.

“All of a sudden, I was like, if I’m gonna jump this would be the time to do it,” Echard said of his decision-making process. “So they’re like, ‘We want to bring you on the show.” And I thought, ‘Alright, like why not? I’ll give it a shot and if I hate it I’ll just leave.’”

Clayton Echard would go on to make it to Week 6 before Young eliminated him during their one-on-one date. However, the network loved him and brought him back as the star of the next season of The Bachelor.

Echard talks at length about his experiences on the two shows along with much more on the new Uncut with Jay Cutler. Make sure to watch the entire interview in the video above, or tune in and listen on Spotify, Apple, or wherever else you listen to your favorite podcasts.