Steve Wright played ten seasons as an offensive lineman in the NFL, a career that spanned four teams and two decades.  He is, by all accounts, a tough guy.  Though faced with the physical hardships and bizarre personalities that have marked this season of Survivor, even he had his moments of self-doubt.  Here he chats about the punishing conditions, his run-in with Phillip, and offers the most scathing description of Russell yet.

How tough was it out there?  Were you surprised when you arrived at how challenging it all was?

It was a real cold slap in the face, the reality of what I'd gotten myself into.  Once the sun was going down and it was starting to rain, and I was hungry, I wasn't going to eat again, wasn't going to grab that late night snack.  Just lying on those hard bamboo poles, I was like, 'oh my lord.'

And what was it like coming home after all that time out there?

You get a new appreciation for these guys coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq, being in a different, weird environment.  We were only gone for a month and a half, but it was really hard to get reacclimated.  It's such a simple life (on the show), and a total connection to who you're hanging out with.  There's no phones or TV or politics, it was just simple.  And then you get back to all the craziness of life, it was a bit of a shock.  I just called the doctor that was out there with us and said, 'I want to go back!'

What has the response been like to your dustup with Phillip?

I've got the greatest reception.  I've gotten more than a dozen emails and texts from black brothers, you know, my teammates (from the NFL), just calling or leaving me a text saying 'prejudiced my a**, ha ha ha'.  I was kind of sad for Phillip that he took it so ugly so quick.  It's just his MO - he thought the girls were out to get him, and he thought Boston Rob and Grant were plotting against him, he's just got a big chip on his shoulder.  That's why I said when I was signing off, 'I hope you find some peace in your heart.'  It's a tough way to go through life.

Things were presented pretty clearly on the show, showing you being totally reasonable about it, but it can't be fun to be called a racist on TV.

Probst did a great job at tribal council kind of playing the therapist between us.  That's why I reached out when we got back to the fire, I said 'let's just bury this thing.'  I was hoping he would apologize, but someone had to.

In chatting with your tribemates, a surprising number of them have said they were considering aligning with Russell at one point or another.  You seemed to be completely against it from day one though…

I'm always open to any possibility but just being older I can read someone's character within 10 seconds.  Your eyes are the window to your soul, and (with Russell) I just never saw a soul in there.  From the first time I met eyes with him, it was just like black holes.  Not to sound corny, but it's a creepy, weird feeling.  I come from a team background, and we landed there at Zapatera and he was saying he had changed and within 10 minutes he asked me, 'hey man, we gotta start putting our heads together.  I like your style, you're a big guy, I think you and I can go a long way.  Ralph, he's a goofball, I can just tell already.'  I said, 'slow down, I'll take this conversation in 2 or 3 weeks, but let's win some challenges.'  Then he was off working on Julie and Ralph and Mike, it was just non-stop.  Instead of working, he was working us.  We were making fires and cooking and cutting wood and he was just hanging out and plotting.  It just really wore itself out.

Rob has obviously played things wildly differently, and seems in total control of the game.  You seemed to be the only one willing to speak out on his dominance, warning his tribemates that he was a lock to win it at this point.  How aware were they of what's going on?

It was like talking to a wall.  Julie and I worked it really hard for about 3 or 4 days up to Julie's demise, we tried over and over.  I just realized watching the show how they would run back to Rob.  I can't wait to see them in New York and give them a hard time, cause it would be pretty embarrassing to watch I would think.  Just riding along with blinders on.  But if I had to do it over again I would go over to where they were lying with Boston Rob and just given them my speech right there. 

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Survivor: Redemption Island airs Wednesday at 8.00 et/pt. Don't miss the finale Sunday at 8.00 et/pt!