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- My guest today on
Sports Files is Coby Cotton,
part of the Internet sensation
sports entertainment group,
Dude Perfect.
[theme music]
Six years ago
in College Station,
Texas, attending Texas A&M, twin
brothers Coby and Cory Cotton,
Garrett Hilbert, Cody
Jones and Tyler Toney,
all former high
school basketball players,
began filming trick shots and
started posting them on YouTube.
As Coby would tell me, they were
just college roommates having a
little fun.
Well that little fun has
turned into a phenomenon.
The group, Dude Perfect,
is now a huge
sports entertainment group.
They have appeared on shows
like Good Morning America,
they have worked with stars from
the sports world such as Russell
Wilson, and stage and screen,
and they have been viewed over a
billion times on YouTube.
A billion times!
Now the guys from Dude Perfect,
are about to embark on their own
television show on CMT.
27-year-old Coby
Cotton, one of the twins,
took some time out of a hectic
schedule to chat with me at a
recent appearance in Memphis
at the Bass Pro Shop Pyramid.
The crowds to see
Dude Perfect were huge,
with most of their fan
base being children.
Today Coby Cotton joins me to
talk about the rise of Dude
Perfect, their
allegiance of fans,
and how they develop those
jaw dropping trick shots.
And it's next on Sports Files.
[country music]
Coby, it's great to
have you on the show.
- Thank you very much.
Appreciate it.
Glad to be here.
- Thank you so much.
This is unbelievable.
First of all, you're here
in Memphis at Bass Pro Shop.
The kids and kids and
parents and parents,
they were waiting in line to get
autographs and to get selfies
and all that.
It's absolutely amazing.
You have to pinch
yourself sometimes?
- We are very honored.
It's really cool to show up at
this and obviously Dale Jr. was
here which is awesome.
But I mean, we had so many kids
and families and high school
students and college
students come out.
I mean, truly, truly humbling.
Really, really cool.
It was a blast for
us to meet them.
- Six years now, right,
since you've started.
How many views?
- We just crossed
a billion views.
- A billion views!
- Pretty insane.
- It really is.
Did it start on a whim?
You just wanted to
have a little fun.
How did y'all
start at Texas A&M?
- So, we were all
roommates at Texas A&M.
We all met through a
Bible Study there.
We had a grass
backyard, you know, typical.
And we had a
basketball goal back there.
So, we were just playing horse.
And one of the guys,
Tyler, told Garrett,
"Hey man, I bet you a Jimmy
Johns sandwich I can make a hook
shot from behind the tree."
And he nailed it.
And all of a sudden we're
trying to top each other.
We're videoing each other.
We put a little video together
and launched it and it took off.
(Greg)
Yeah, the video end
of it because first of all,
the trick shots are hard enough.
But to make sure
the video is right,
that you get the shot,
that you don't miss the shot.
How tough was that?
(Coby)
Yeah, it's an
important piece of it.
We tell people a lot
of times, you know,
we're videographers as much as
we are entertainers or athletes.
You know, it's definitely
important to make sure to video
it the right way or else it's
not that interesting for people.
(Greg)
Alright, so you
do the first one.
You post it.
Do you get immediate reaction?
(Coby)
So, we posted it
and shared it on Facebook.
Post it on YouTube and
share it on Facebook.
And all of our friends seemed
to really get a kick out of it.
I don't know what it was.
It grew from there.
And two mornings later, my
brother woke up to a call at
6:30 in the morning
from Good Morning America.
And they wanted to
show it that morning.
And we, of course, were just
running through the college
house freaking out.
You know, thinking, oh, it'll
never get better than this.
And that video
just kept growing.
And so, we made another one.
And low and behold,
people continue to enjoy them.
- Did you think it was a real
call from Good Morning America
or a prankster?
- We definitely thought it
was a prank call at first,
for sure.
- That is amazing.
And your brother,
by the way, a twin, right?
- Twin brother, Cory.
- There was originally six
of you and now there's five.
- Correct.
So, we had another friend.
Great guy, Sean.
He actually decided
to become a doctor.
So, highly
encourage what he did.
Great decision.
And he still lives in Dallas,
still a good buddy of ours.
Don't get to see him
as much as I'd like to.
- Alright, so it takes off.
People are starting
to view this thing.
You go on Good Morning America.
Now what happens?
- So, they aired it on
Good Morning America.
Then we made the ranch
video was our next video.
People really enjoyed that one.
[upbeat instrumental music]
And then the video
that really took
off was the world's
longest shot at Kyle Field,
which is Texas
A&M's football stadium.
And Tyler just went
up to the third deck.
Of course, we had to
ask them permission.
But A&M let us in,
which is awesome.
And Tyler went up there.
And after a few
tries, nailed the shot,
which became the world's
longest basketball shot.
- Coby, I've got to be honest
with you because I remember
seeing that video.
People here in Memphis..
I'm in the local media so people
were looking at this going,
"What are you thinking?"
I'm skeptical.
I said there's no
way this is real.
Trick photography.
I'm always skeptical
of things on YouTube.
I shouldn't be maybe.
Obviously this was real.
And it's amazing that you
did it in a few attempts.
It wasn't a thousand attempts.
- It took us about a half
hour to make that shot.
We had four basketballs.
So, it took a little bit of
time to get them back up
to the third deck.
- What's been the biggest
challenge that you guys have had
as far as doing
one of these tricks?
- We did one out of a slingshot.
So, we had a tree
that was at our ranch
or Tyler's family's ranch.
We cut down a tree.
We planted another one.
But we cut down a
tree and built it.
It had the natural Y shape.
And so we used elastic cords and
built a slingshot with a duct
tape pouch.
And it was so hard to get it all
right because the ball came out
of the pouch differently.
It was just crazy
how tough it was.
But we stuck with it.
Determination and
finally got it done.
So, it was neat.
Pays off!
- It really does in
more ways than one.
But how do you come up with
the ideas and is it all of you
coming up with the ideas?
- So, I've got to give Tyler
a lot of credit on the ideas.
So, he comes up with
quite a few of them.
His mind is a strange place.
I don't know how he
comes up with these ideas.
But he says he can play an idea
through his YouTube mind and see
if it'll be entertaining or not.
So, we have a whiteboard now
where we write them all down and
hang on to the good ones.
- How often do you try one out?
Do you try tape one
and then post it?
- I'd say we're filming
videos most days of the week.
Probably three
days out of the week,
we're filming right now.
And the other days,
you know, we're planning
for the next video.
- Or you're coming to Memphis.
- Or we're traveling to Memphis.
- So, you do the longest
shot, the world's longest shot,
Kyle Field.
Now it just completely blows up.
Is that the point that you
realized that you can make
something out of it not only
where people watch videos but
you can make a very
handsome living out of it?
- We had no idea that anybody
could get paid anything from
making a YouTube video.
And so, as soon as
people started watching,
we found out that you can make
a little bit of money doing it.
And so then, we just
kept making the videos.
And at some point, it took..
We've been doing it
for six years now.
It took four years to where we
were able to do it full time.
But now for the last two years
we've been able to do it full
time, which is
really, really cool.
And it was a lot of hard
work to get to that point.
- So, you never heard of
the Gangnam Style guy?
- In that nice one
video and there he is,
two billion views.
- So, now you go out
there and you perform
and talk to celebrities.
Give me some of the folks
that you've had a chance,
some of the athletes, maybe
other celebs from other walks of
life that you've had.
- As of here in Memphis, one of
the reasons that we're here is
because we've got a
relationship with Bass Pro.
And we got to work with
Nascar and Dale Jr. on a video.
So, we make a series
called Stereotypes.
We started with trick shots and
now one of our favorite series,
video series, is
called Stereotypes.
- Tell me about that.
- So, we did driving
stereotypes is what it's called.
So, it's just kind of poking fun
at all of the different type of
people that you see on the road.
So, you have the mom arm and she
sticks the arm out to keep the
son back.
Or the worthless co-pilot who's
always falling asleep at night
when he's supposed to be
helping you stay awake
as you're driving.
So, Dale Jr. was so
cool to work with.
We got to have him and he
did some hilarious ones.
You'll have to check it out.
- Alright, so what other celebs?
- So, we did with Dale
Jr., Russell Wilson,
Johnny Football.
Did some stuff with a
guy named Johnny Hekker,
who's a punter for the Rams.
Gosh, Tim McGraw,
did a video with him.
Yeah.
We got a lot of
fun stuff coming up.
We can't tell you
about those just yet.
But we got a few in the pipeline
that should be pretty fun.
- Are these celebs now
asking to do a video with you?
Are you going to their people?
How does that work?
- It's not always the case.
But because our videos
have become really popular,
we've been fortunate enough
for a few of them to reach out.
So, depending on what
they're involved in,
if they have a charity
that they're looking to,
you know, help promote or some
type of product that they're
working with, a lot of times
their agencies or people will
reach out to us,
which is super fun.
I mean, obviously we love that.
- Coby, we see a lot of
dirt unfortunately on YouTube,
on the internet.
And the kids, you want
them to stay away from that.
The parents have to
certainly watch over them.
What you guys are
doing is good, wholesome,
clean fun.
It's sports.
It's being active.
It's a benefit for these kids.
And that's why you have so
many of these parents wanting to
bring their kids by
to get an autograph.
- It's very interesting.
You know, when we first started,
I think the videos are just a
reflection of who we
are as a group of guys.
You know, I mentioned
earlier we met in a Bible study.
Jesus is the most important
part of all of our lives.
And so, we wanted our videos to
be a reflection of the type of
people that we were and the type
of people that we want to be.
And so, it's very important to
us that they're family friendly
and stuff the entire family can
enjoy from the toddlers up to
the grandparents to
watch it with them.
- Well said.
Craziest stunt that
you guys have tried?
- Oh, gosh.
I mean, the
slingshot one was nuts.
There was one that Tyler
ended up being successful at.
It's called the boom stick.
You can look that one up.
It's a baseball shot.
So, we used a baseball bat with
a basketball on a baseball tee
and hit it off really
fall into a basketball goal.
And that was popular.
It was so cool.
And Tyler is genuinely
excited at the end of that shot.
- Anything that you've done
that was deemed dangerous?
- We do some shots off the roof,
some out of moving vehicles.
So, definitely we say that our
stuff is family friendly but not
everybody should try what we do.
We have a lot of stunt people
who are with us and always under
professional supervision
when it's anything
that could be dangerous.
Oh, wow.
So, you lean on people that know
exactly that they're doing and
make sure of the safety.
- For sure.
- You just told me
a few moments ago,
there's things that you can't
really say that's coming out.
But what are some things maybe
down the road that you would
like to do?
- Well, one really exciting
project that we're working on
right now is we just recently
announced that we have a TV show
coming out.
- Isn't that amazing?
- So, we're starting
to film it next week.
It'll be launched
early next year.
It's going to be
on CMT, probably called
the Dude Perfect Show.
So, we're really excited about
that and about to be working
real hard on it here
for the next little bit.
- So you guys are gonna probably
go up another level because it's
going to be TV stardom.
And one thing is the
internet and YouTube.
Now you're going
to be on the tube.
Are you ready for this?
You're ready for
all this notoriety?
- I think one thing that's been
nice is it has been slow growth
over this time.
It's not an overnight success.
So, it's definitely been a
little bit of us being able to
get used to that.
And also, you know, we're just
grateful for the opportunities
that we've had so far and the
ones we continue to be handed.
So, it's been really neat.
- It's also neat to
watch it with your fans.
You give them time.
You appreciate them because if
they're not viewing your videos,
you guys aren't
where you are today.
And I see that.
The way you interact,
especially with the kids.
And it's very
important to you guys.
- Appreciate it.
Yeah, no doubt.
It's interesting on
YouTube because they have
that view counter.
You know, and as you put out
a video and it has 100,000 or
200,000 or three million
views, 30 million views,
it's easy to just see the
numbers and forget that there's
somebody behind in the TV or
the computer screen or the phone
watching it every time.
And when we get to come
to an event like this,
it's a great reminder.
- As we
mentioned, you're a twin.
Give me a crazy story from
having a brother who's a twin.
- When we were really
young -- I don't know how old,
you'd have to ask my parents --
but we crawled out of the crib
and we got in the fireplace
and we got all the soot and we
covered the entire room in
the soot from the fireplace.
And our parents..
I don't think they were able to
leave us alone in the room for
that much time after that again.
- What's the reaction you've
gotten from students that you
went to school with at
Texas A&M that knew you,
that went to class with
you, maybe in the same dorm?
And all of a sudden they're
like what's going on here.
And now you've ballooned.
- Well, I'm sure that the ones
that were telling us we should
have been studying more that
week that we made the video have
questioned that a little bit.
But the truth is we could
never have expected this.
And it's definitely God paying.
They're probably better off
doing their career than we are.
- What about family reaction and
how supportive the families are?
- Our families..
We've been very
blessed, very grateful.
We have incredible
families across the board.
The five of us, the four
families because of my brother.
But really awesome families
and they've been incredibly
supportive throughout.
- I do something at the end of
my show with my interviewees and
it's interesting
because it's not..
It's a little bit different
but it's not unlike
what you guys do.
Tell me about that concept
of what you do
with the deserted island.
(Coby)
Well, I've got
to give Tyler credit.
Tyler's a funny guy and he
really enjoys doing interviews.
So, when we get a chance
to work with athletes,
and so we'll sit down in some
funny place where we're filming.
And Tyler will just
ask them questions.
We have a goofy microphone and
a bunch of silly questions that
we'll ask.
And so Tyler interviews the
athletes or the celebrities or
really anybody that
we're working with.
And we typically get
some fun stuff out of that.
- And do you ask them the
three things you would bring?
- Yeah, one of the
questions he'll ask,
and I'll ask you, is the three
things that you would bring to a
desert island.
What are three things you
would bring to a desert island?
- Okay, we're
talking about an island.
So, there's water around it.
So, can I bring a boat?
- That's a great
answer to the question.
- I'm bringing a boat and I
don't really need the other two
things because I'm getting
out of there with the boat.
Alright, let me ask
you five for the road.
This is what we do
on Sports Files.
And these are sports questions
but we have a little bit
something different at the end.
Very simple.
Favorite
professional sports team.
- Oh, gosh.
I'm gonna say Dallas Mavericks.
- Dallas Mavs.
- We're hoping to do a
video with Dirk this year.
- Have you ever met Mark Cuban?
- No, I have not.
Huge fan of Shark Tank though.
Would love to meet Mark.
- Favorite pro
athlete of all time.
- Well, as of recently,
I'm gonna say Steph Curry.
We've had a chance to meet him
on a couple of occasions and
just a class act.
Really high on our list
of somebody we'd like
to do a video with.
So, we've been talking,
trying to figure out the timing.
That's something
we'd really love to do.
He's a great guy.
- This is not a part of the five
questions but what athlete who
you have not had
a chance to meet
with would you like to meet?
- Jordan Spieth is somebody
we would really like to do
something with.
- Texan like you.
- Yeah, he is.
Even though he went to
UT and we're A&M guys.
We'll forgive him for that.
But we'd love to do a
video with Jordan Spieth.
- Alright, Coby.
Your favorite
music, genre of music,
musician, band?
What do you like to listen to?
- Man, that's a great one.
You know, I got to be
honest, I'm a T Swift fan.
You know, I'm a big T Swift fan.
I love country.
So, as an Aggie, I think
we all like country music.
But we've always said we'd love
to be in a T Swift music video.
- It may happen the
way you guys are going.
And you mentioned you did
something with Tim McGraw,
right?
- We did.
He was great.
What a great guy.
- Who would you like to do
something with as far as videos
are concerned?
- That's tough.
- Put you on the spot.
- Yeah, no, it's good.
Um, I'm sure I'm forgetting
somebody really great that we've
all talked about.
Tyler loves Keith Urban.
Tyler is a big guitar guy.
He can play really, really well.
He's always wanted to do
something with Keith Urban and
have Keith do a shot with us
and Tyler play the guitar.
- There you go.
Favorite movie of all time?
- Probably Remember the Titans.
It's just tough to beat.
- Favorite
television show of all time?
- You know, I got hooked on
Parks and Rec and watched the
entire season -- I mean,
the entire set of seasons
this last year.
So, that or The Office.
- Is Parks and Rec off
now or is it still going?
- I think they finally finished.
They had their last
season this last year I think.
- Alright, so what takes
over for Parks and Rec?
You've got to find
a new favorite now.
- I'm watching Blacklist right
now and I really like it a lot.
It's a great show.
It's got me hooked.
- You got a great smile.
It's always there.
I love that.
Keep that going.
I know you guys are
sensations on YouTube.
You're going to be on
television as well.
It's an absolute pleasure.
- I really appreciate it.
- Thank you so much.
We'll take a break.
Overtime is coming up next.
[country music]
I have to admit seeing
Dude Perfect at the Bass
Pro Shop Pyramid was a
bit of a surprise to me,
but watching the Big
Cypress Open National
Duck Calling
Championships?
Well, not so much.
That's right in
their sweet spot.
And so, competitors from
as far away as Colorado,
Louisiana and Minnesota
converged on Memphis to show off
their goods in an
event open to everyone.
And for all you duck
hunters out there,
this will be
something up your alley.
For the rest of you, this will
be an educational experience.
So hold on to your ducks, some
calling is about to go down.
[quacks]
(off screen male)
So for those of us
that have never
experienced duck calling either
professionally or just out
hunting ducks, what are
these guys doing here today?
- Well, this is a duck
call blowing contest.
Not so much a duck
calling of wild ducks contest.
This is about more playing the
tune than it is actually calling
the ducks.
However it's rooted
in calling ducks.
These guys are
required to blow a hail call,
feed call, come back
call, lonesome hen.
And the fifth thing
they're judged on is
the overall routine.
How well they paint the picture
to the judges' eyes of calling a
flock of ducks from
way in the distance.
Calling to them, lose
them, call them back.
(off screen male)
How does this compare?
You know, you mentioned the five
different types of calls they're
going to do.
For somebody that's
actually out there,
you know, with a gun in his
hand trying to hunt ducks,
what's the difference?
- Well, you kind of..
What we're doing is we're
condensing calling a flock of
ducks into a minute
and thirty seconds.
You've got a time limit of a
minute and thirty seconds here.
You'll notice there's a
red clock that comes on.
That red light comes on
at a minute and twenty.
That gives you ten
seconds to shut down.
But to get back to
your original question,
the idea here is if you see a
bunch of ducks on a distance,
you're going to blow a hail
or a long distance call
to get your attention.
It's like high ducks coming
across the woods or ducks out
over the river.
You're blowing loud and long
trying to get their attention.
So, that's kind of..
That's the Hail Call part of it.
Now that takes sometimes longer
than a minute and thirty seconds
to get them started.
So, the next part might be a
feed call or the stuff that you
do in between there that is
more duck like or sounding like
several different ducks.
You know, instead of the
loud hail call it's like the
baa-baa-baa.
Now we're going to
start sounding like this.
[various quacking imitations]
And then the feed call.
So, that's what you're
doing to try to entice them.
You're really trying to tell
them that them decoys are alive
and there's cold beer and
hot pecans for everybody.
You know, that's kind
of what the whole deal is
all about there.
And then kind of
with the comeback call.
So, the hunting situation,
you've got this bunch
of ducks started.
And now they're
starting to leave.
They seen something
they didn't like.
They might have
decided to go on.
So now we've got
to call 'em back.
So, you have a comeback sequence
to try to call these ducks into
coming back.
So, you get them called back.
Okay, this is going to
be the done deal here.
You get them with the decoys.
So, that's kind of how it is.
We're just shortening it into a
minute thirty second routine.
[quacks]
(off screen male)
How does a guy
go around selecting
the duck call?
Because there's
lots of manufacturers.
Are they breed specific?
- To some degree
they're breed specific.
You know, pretty much when
you talk about a duck calling
contest or duck hunters,
you're talking about calling the
mallard ducks.
They're the most vocal ducks.
They're the most popular
duck we hunt in North America.
And that's what most people as
far as blowing duck calls is all
about, is calling mallard ducks.
However there are
calls made for wood ducks,
pin tails, for all the
different species of ducks.
The good Lord gave them
a voice for a reason,
to communicate.
So, they make sounds and
communicate back and forth.
Fortunately most of them
will somewhat respond
to a mallard call.
- Now I looked at a map online
here and Memphis sits right in
the middle of the
migratory patterns.
- We're right dead
center in the middle
of the Lower
Mississippi flyaway.
This is where
everything comes together.
If you look at a migration map
and think of the Mississippi
River as a main funnel
tha's all coming right here.
East Arkansas, West
Tennessee, this is..
Winter is more continental
mallards in this part of the
world than anywhere
in North America.
- Good duck hunting area.
- Most of the time.
- Now this
competition, is it a big deal?
I thought it was just
maybe like an exhibition.
- No, this is a real deal.
Although it's run cooperatively
between Bass Pro Shops
supporting it and it's being
administrated by the World's
Championship Duck
Calling Contest Committee.
The World's Championship,
you have to qualify to blow
in the World's.
However, this contest in some
ways is going to be bigger and
overshadow the World's
Championship as the first place
trophy, first place prize
package is going to be $20,000.
They're paying the top ten.
I don't remember the exact
prizes but I think if you make
tenth place, you get
like a $500 gift card.
So, if you just blow pretty
good and make the final round,
it's been worth your time.
The winner's going to walk away
with a check for $10,000 and a
new four-wheeler.
So, it is unprecedented in what
Bass Pro Shop has done here in
supporting the calling sport.
- So, can any of these guys
sitting out here just jump up on
stage and take this thing?
- That's the cool
thing about it.
Whereas the World's Championship
you'd have to qualify to blow in
the World's Championship, in
this contest anybody who wants
to pay their entry fee
and sign up and blow in it.
(off-screen male)
How long does
it take to get good at it?
- Some folks are lucky and
get good at it in six months.
But typically it takes
about ten or twelve years.
At least that's
what they told me.
And they were right.
- So, it's not like you
said you're from Arkansas.
It's not
[pig calling sound].
- No, that don't work.
That don't get it done.
But sometimes if you're
out of corn in a bucket,
that'll help you out.
[quacks]
- So, tell us how
you got started calling ducks.
- My daddy took me
when I was six years old.
And like I said, I've still got
the same duck call in the drawer
in my office that I
got that Christmas.
- So, what tips do you have for
guys out llthere calling today?
- It's just like it always was.
It's call control.
You'll hear the guys that are
blowing today but you can tell
they control their call, every
note from the very top top and
the loudest to the very lowest
and softest things they do.
And they make it
all fit together.
[quacks]
- The winner of this
open championship was a guy
named David St. John,
who walked away
with a cool ten
thousand dollars.
Yeah, it's hip to
do some duck calls,
isn't it?
And that will do it for now.
We certainly hope you had a
great Thanksgiving and will
enjoy the rest of your
Thanksgiving weekend.
Remember, as we
did this weekend,
we will not air Sports Files
next Saturday in it's usual 4:30
time slot because of Special
Programming in association with
our pledge drive.
The other scheduled airings
will take place as usual.
Have yourselves a great week,
and we'll see you next time.
[theme music]
(female announcer)
Production funding
for Sports Files
is made possible in part by...
(male narrator)
Infiniti of Memphis has
moved to Germantown
road just half mile north of
Wolfchase Galleria and is proud
to support WKNO for its quality
broadcasting and service
to our community.
Quality and service --
No wonder Infiniti of Memphis
feels at home on WKNO.