WEBVTT - Austin Ekeler's Comeback Story 0:00:09.320 --> 0:00:12.440 Welcome back everyone to another episode of Comeback Stories. Here 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:14.680 with my man, Donnie has always blessed to be here 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:17.799 with you, Bro. I'm really excited about the guests we 0:00:17.800 --> 0:00:19.360 have today. It's a man I've been able to see 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:21.880 up close and personal two times a year, being the 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:24.800 same division, him being with the Chargers, me being with 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:28.160 the Raiders at the time, someone who's really submitting himself 0:00:28.200 --> 0:00:30.840 as one of the most diverse running backs in the game. 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:33.600 You know, I grew up seeing Marshall Falk guys like 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:37.360 that really being great two way players, and he's becoming 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:40.879 historically one of the best. Quietly and excited to get 0:00:40.920 --> 0:00:43.120 to know him in his story A little deeper for you, guys, 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:46.760 please welcome Austin Eckler to the show. Austin, what's going on? Man? Hey, 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:49.440 what's going on? Man? I appreciate you having me brother. 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:53.199 Oh yeah, yes, sir, Man. Grateful to get people to 0:00:53.200 --> 0:00:55.400 see a different side of you today. We love to 0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:57.160 dive right in and we want to know what was 0:00:57.240 --> 0:01:00.920 life like growing up for you as a kid. Oh 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:03.680 all right, We're straight to it, man, straight to it. Um. 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:05.920 I love it life growing up as a kid. Um. 0:01:06.800 --> 0:01:08.800 I like to say I learned how to work hard 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:12.440 and I learned what hard work was. And that came 0:01:12.480 --> 0:01:14.959 to me in multiple different you know facets where it 0:01:15.040 --> 0:01:18.440 was my mother she was a single teacher. Um, she 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:21.360 was a single single mother with two kids. Um. And 0:01:21.400 --> 0:01:25.200 then married and so I had a step dad. Uh, 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:27.399 and this guy had his own fencing company. And this 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:30.280 is when I was really young, and and so between 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:33.480 sports watching her kind of grind to keep food on 0:01:33.480 --> 0:01:37.000 our table. And then also you know, being with my 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:39.640 with my stepdad at the time, who I despised. I 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:43.000 did not like this guy being with him and building 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:45.039 fence when there was no excuses and you get it 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:47.520 done at a high level, um and fast and efficient, 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:49.400 you don't run, and you don't say anything about it 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:52.360 or else. Um. That was kind of what was ingrained 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:55.280 in my head. Um. Just going through that growing up 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:58.360 pretty much instilled this mindset that I have today that 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:01.400 has continued to push me and just continue to help 0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:04.000 me overcome any obstacle in front of me. That's a 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:05.600 great insight that the fact that you were able to 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:08.560 learn some of those lessons and those principles early on 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:10.520 on comeback stories. We love to dive in deep and 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:14.760 seem like, were there instances of pain growing up when 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:17.960 we were younger? Like for me, mine was I was 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:20.120 never black enough. Like that was like the narrative from 0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:22.720 kids and people around me, like things that really just 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:25.440 ate at me, and that I believe that's truth. That 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:29.080 were negative thoughts towards myself. Was there anything about, you know, 0:02:29.160 --> 0:02:31.720 growing up in that environment with your stepdad working so hard, 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:34.840 or just anything in your childhood that you could look 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:36.880 back on and see as like a painful experience that 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:39.600 may have affected you in a way. Yeah, I mean 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:41.320 I can even relate to that one, you know, just 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:43.919 a short story with that. Like I grew up in Colorado. 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:46.680 There was like three black kids. I'm light skinned, right, 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:49.320 but I was to them. I was black like dark 0:02:49.360 --> 0:02:51.600 as night up there, because it was three of us 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:54.359 in the entire school, right, probably in the entire damn town. 0:02:55.080 --> 0:02:57.200 And so I grew up around, you know, not as 0:02:57.200 --> 0:03:00.440 a diverse of a culture that you get actually out 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:02.960 in la Um. You're right. And even then I went 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:05.400 to college in a in a mountain town and so 0:03:05.560 --> 0:03:07.240 you know a lot of white people in the mountain town. 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:10.840 Um shows just what it was. And so you know, 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:13.760 I had that same that same connection there was like 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:17.280 you know, you're never wide enough, right, never black enough 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:19.519 when it comes to how your you know, your mannerisms 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:22.280 are your culture. You know how you speak, talk, you 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:25.720 know things you'd like, and so you're stuck in this limbo. Um. 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:28.720 So I definitely can relate to that one. But as 0:03:28.720 --> 0:03:32.079 far as just difficult things overcoming, um, definitely just being 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:35.360 in the household. Um. Yeah, with with my stepdad was 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:38.160 was tough. Um. And it was tough because you're right, 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:39.920 we I grew up out in the out in the country, 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:42.280 Like we had animals, and guess who was taking care 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:44.360 of those? It was me. He was gone building the fence. 0:03:44.640 --> 0:03:46.440 I'm taking care of his animals. I didn't want to 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:48.640 nothing to do with these. And we're in Colorado talking 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:51.720 breaking ice in the winters, um and right, pitching pitching 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:53.720 hay in the mornings every day before going to school, 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:57.320 coming home, doing the same, um, keeping these these things alive. 0:03:57.360 --> 0:03:59.920 And then also you know, just during the summers, man 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:05.320 is when you really felt the manual labor, where like 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:08.080 this man he had a good, good company, like they 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:11.040 were reputable. They would get like twenty six miles of 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:15.080 barbed wire fence along highways along railroads to keep cattle 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:17.719 off of them. And so these aren't small jobs. And 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:20.440 so during the summer it's football camps. And when we're 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:22.640 done with football camps, right, might hit up the lake 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:24.960 for a weekend. But then guess what we're going to 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:27.839 We're going to build fence. And like I said, me 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:30.120 and this guy who didn't have the closest relationship, and 0:04:30.160 --> 0:04:32.200 so for me, I think for him it was like 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:34.080 I was just there to help work, right, I was 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:38.200 just part of the work, right, just work, And I 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:40.960 hated it, but I found I found value in it 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:43.520 as I've gotten older, because now I see and I 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:45.600 look at my mindset, and I look at how far 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:48.599 I've been able to come, and really I've just always 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:50.719 put my head down and kept grinding. Like I'm a 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:54.760 five eight guy right from Colorado, one stoplight town. Who's 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:57.280 you know, leading that the NFL and all these categories 0:04:57.279 --> 0:05:00.000 touchdowns for the past two years, breaking record for the Chargers, 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:02.479 And it's like, why is it that? Why is that? 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:05.280 Why is that? Because it's not like I'm this huge powerhouse, 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:07.520 went to this huge college, but it's because I tapped 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:11.120 in mentally, and how I am wired mentally is guess what, 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:12.800 it doesn't matter what's in front of me. You're gonna 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:14.279 work all the way through it. You're not gonna complain. 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:16.480 You're gonna see what the results are at the end. Right. 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:18.080 And so that's kind of been my mindset and what 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:20.760 I've taken from that as far as value from going 0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:23.080 through those tough times and actually having a positive out 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:26.240 of it. That's such a powerful perspective because I feel 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:28.320 like a lot of people were, like you talked about you, 0:05:28.320 --> 0:05:32.479 you hate you hated your stepdad, you hated the environment, 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:34.160 all things that you had to do. But being able 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:39.920 to take positivity and meaning and purpose from those experiences 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:41.960 that didn't really feel great. I feel like a lot 0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:45.040 of people struggle with being able to allow those two 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:48.720 to coexist, to not really particularly love the environment, love 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:50.960 what was happening at the moment, but you're able to 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:52.760 look back on it and be grateful for it. I 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:55.680 feel like it's so powerful for people to hear UM. 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:57.920 Something I thought was interesting when I was researching you 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:01.760 was your mom put you in sports and UM and 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:04.680 you said. One thing you said was you didn't necessarily 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:07.440 like love or passion about football, the way other kids were, 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:09.560 but you saw it as an opportunity to leave. Could 0:06:09.600 --> 0:06:12.560 you explain like more into that and then like what 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:15.200 it was like to leave and go to where you 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:19.720 went to college? Yeah, man, Like for me, growing up, 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:22.800 like sports wasn't like a huge part of our just 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:26.159 our living. Like we weren't watching professional sports. We watched 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:28.320 a little bit of Nebraska play because I had like 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:30.080 a cousin that coached on their football team, so we 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:32.760 watched them every once in a while, but never really 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:35.719 watched anything in the professional realm and so never like 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:38.520 looked for up to like the Broncos and in Colorado, 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:40.360 Like never had any of that. So never had any 0:06:40.360 --> 0:06:43.039 aspirations to go play professional or anything. But what I 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:45.159 did have aspirations to do would just kind of be 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:47.599 the best um in the environment that I was in. 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:49.640 And that was just kind of you know ingrained in 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:51.760 meat from you know, just being that in that type 0:06:51.760 --> 0:06:54.000 of household. Um. You just you just go and you 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:55.719 go as hard as you can. You don't you don't complain, 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:59.279 you just do it. And so that gave me this perspective. Okay, 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:02.240 well I don't like this, but guess what I can 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:05.760 try to use the skills that I've been building on 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:08.760 and my education to give me my next opportunity. Right. 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:10.960 I didn't know what that was going to be, but 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:13.080 I was like, Okay, you know what seems to be 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:16.400 something that's out there is use football to pay for school, right, 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:18.120 And so I'm thinking, I got to get a good 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:20.840 education somewhere so I can start right getting more opportunities 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:22.720 to make some money to get a career going. And 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:25.600 so that was my mindset. And so I didn't have 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:28.559 any big schools come to me. No one really wanted 0:07:28.560 --> 0:07:31.680 to touch me. It was just people around the around 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:34.480 Colorado Division two schools that were like, hey, come on 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:36.400 and be an athlete, Come on and play corner. They 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:38.280 wanted to switch my position. And I was like, I 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:40.160 want to play running back. That's what I know, That's 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:41.560 what I've done, That's what I went to all these 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:43.160 camps for. That is what I want to do. I 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:44.960 want to bet on myself to just go play running back. 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:47.680 So I had won school Western Colorado that came to 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:49.880 me and they were like, hey, we got a spot 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:51.440 for you. Want to come play running back? And so 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:55.360 use that opportunity right to get into what was coming 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:56.920 next for me up in the college level and get 0:07:56.920 --> 0:08:02.800 my education started. So that's kind of my story of transitioning. Still, 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:05.840 NFL was never ever in the picture. So coming from 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:08.200 a small town, being a small player, I mean, were 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:11.400 these the objections you were getting as you were looking 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:13.720 like looking to play at the next level? What were 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:16.760 the critics? What was everybody saying about you as to 0:08:16.880 --> 0:08:20.800 maybe why you couldn't play at that level? Yeah? Man, 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:22.800 it was. It was kind of wild because for me, 0:08:23.560 --> 0:08:26.120 you know, my senior year, I had like forty three touchdowns, 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:28.440 ran for like two thousand and three hundred yards, like 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:33.320 ten yards to carry, just absolutely destroyed everybody in the conference. 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:35.760 And so it's like, look, we went to a small school. 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:36.920 So what do you gotta do if you go to 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:39.480 a small school, you gotta absolutely dominate right to get noticed. 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:42.480 Well that's exactly what I did. And so for me, 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:45.800 I was so confused. Might it might have been because 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:47.680 you know, we were just at a small school, a 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:50.080 small town, one stop like town out in Colorado, one 0:08:50.120 --> 0:08:51.719 of those towns you just kind of drive right through 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:54.240 and you're like, who live here? That's where Austin Eckler was. 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:57.840 And so for me, I was like, okay, well, I 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:01.120 guess I'm limited to my surroundings, and so I was. 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:02.800 I mean, I was only the thing was I was 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:05.160 only one hundred and eighty six pounds five eight, and 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:07.560 so you know, as far as running backs go, the 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:10.520 typical running back, that's that's pretty small. It was funny, 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:13.280 actually a quick story. I asked my running back coach 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:15.760 now for the Chargers because he coached to Iowa. I 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:19.040 was like, okay, look, I ran like an eleven eleven 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:23.520 point three hundred yard dash was five eight and one 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:25.720 hundred eighty six pounds. Would you have recruited me even 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:30.480 with my stats? He's like, probably not. I was like, see, see, 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:33.200 everyone was a doubt with me. But guess what put 0:09:33.240 --> 0:09:36.319 me aside from all these other guys. It was the intangibles, 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:38.600 the thing you couldn't measure. You couldn't measure my heart 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:41.760 and my desire to go and build upon whatever my 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:44.240 opportunity was next. And you still can't measure that. And 0:09:44.240 --> 0:09:46.880 that's why I still get overlooked because you can't measure that. 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:49.679 But that's so much of what Austin Ekeler is right. 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:51.720 I'm still that that five eight guy. I'm a little 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:53.920 bit heavier, a little bit you know, stronger now. But 0:09:54.000 --> 0:09:57.400 guess what, I'm still that tiny guy with an undesirable 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:00.320 or this undeniable desire to continue to grow. That's how 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:03.160 it continue to have success. And so that's what has 0:10:03.160 --> 0:10:06.760 set me apart and got me into Colorado. But it's 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:09.079 there was. I don't blame them when you're when you're 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:11.199 looking at all the things that you can compare, Like 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:13.800 you compare me on paper to someone else, You're probably 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:15.440 gonna go with someone else because I don't have all 0:10:15.480 --> 0:10:20.000 the paper attributes that you're looking for. Darren and I 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:22.679 talk a lot about the Four Agreements. I don't know 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:24.880 if you've ever read the book, but in the beginning 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:28.400 of the book he talks about domestication where we agree 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:31.680 upon certain things like people, people tell us certain things. 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:34.720 It starts with our parents, and then it becomes teachers 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:38.440 and our coaches, and it might be scouts or you know, 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:41.160 prospective coaches that are looking at you and they're telling 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:44.280 you certain things, and we just agree because we think 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:47.160 those people that are in a position of power, whether 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:49.440 it's our parents or somebody else, they know what they're 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:52.040 talking about. So what would you say, because I feel 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:55.199 like a lot of people get this. Maybe it's the 0:10:55.280 --> 0:10:58.360 kid coming up who is getting that same thing told 0:10:58.360 --> 0:11:01.160 to them, that you're too small, you're not fast enough. 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:04.720 I mean, what would you say to that person, To 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:06.960 the people that are that are talking down on people, 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:09.600 or the people that are getting talked about the people 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:14.720 that are getting talked down too. Wow, shoot, I see. 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:17.520 For me, I had this huge mental toughness that I 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:19.160 had to build up just to be in my household. 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:20.840 So I was able to kind of take that criticism 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:23.319 push it to the side, and so that helped me. 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:25.880 And so if if if you don't have the mental 0:11:25.880 --> 0:11:29.680 capacity to understand that, okay, what everyone tells you, you 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:31.800 might not have to listen to them, or it might 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:34.319 not actually be the truth what is seen as a 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:37.520 truth or the right way. Really, it comes down to 0:11:37.800 --> 0:11:42.120 practicing mental toughness and practicing understanding knowing what you as 0:11:42.160 --> 0:11:47.280 an individual want to achieve. Because for me, you know, 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:49.720 the real value in life that you can add to 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:53.680 yourself comes down to your experiences, to your network, to 0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:57.000 your education, like those three things, right, and you can 0:11:57.040 --> 0:11:59.640 continue to build those yourself. It doesn't matter who anyone's 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:01.360 talking to you can't do that as long as you 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:03.880 can continue to build those and stay focused on what 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:06.200 those mean to you. Whether you know you want to become, 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:08.760 you know, an educator, whether you want to become a 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:11.720 professional or an expert at X YC, it doesn't matter. 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:14.200 If you can give yourself a lane and continue to 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:16.640 push down a path of this lane, then for me, 0:12:16.840 --> 0:12:19.520 that helps you stay mentally strong because if someone's talking 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:22.760 down to it doesn't matter because their aspirations, what they 0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:25.080 think about what you're trying to do, doesn't matter because 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:26.920 you're staying in your lane. You have your own vision, 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:29.400 You're living your own life, not theirs. And it's tough, 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:32.040 especially when you have the youth, because you're so influenced 0:12:32.200 --> 0:12:35.920 when you're young. And so I think that's that's definitely 0:12:36.120 --> 0:12:38.040 I think shown across the entire if you look at 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:41.119 the US right as far as people that can are 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:44.760 able to actually continue to stay mentally tough, right, continue 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:47.480 to push forward, continue to innovate and grow themselves. It's 0:12:47.559 --> 0:12:50.600 limited because we have this this system of school where 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:52.199 it kind of just put you in this cookie cutter 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:55.160 do this, go work your nine to five, have a 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:58.760 little family, teach your kids to go to school, work 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:00.840 a nine to five. You're a little fit like and 0:13:00.840 --> 0:13:03.080 it's just it's locked. People are so locked in and 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:05.440 it's it's right here, right, Like, you got to break out? 0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:07.920 How do you break out? Will you continue to gain 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:10.760 value for yourself if you do this cookie cutter job forever? 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:14.400 Guess what, You're not adding new experiences, new education, new 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:16.400 value to yourself. So you have to stay in the lane. 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:19.400 You get stuck in one lane. And sorry, I'm kind 0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:22.959 of going on a tangent here going as far as 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:25.880 people getting out and getting motivated and finding some type 0:13:25.880 --> 0:13:27.880 of fulfillment. You got to break out of that cookie 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:29.559 cutter and how do you How do you do that? Well? 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:31.559 You got to make sure that you're always continuing to 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:34.200 add value and it's not all at once. It's like 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:36.520 I said, those things your experiences, What are you doing 0:13:36.559 --> 0:13:39.360 to give you, you know, skills, your education? What are 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:41.680 you learning about? How you growing yourself? How you grow 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:44.560 in your mind? How are you practicing mental toughness? Right? 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:46.680 And then your network? Who do you know? Who do 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:48.040 you know? Because who you know is going to give 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:50.400 you a lot more opportunities than any type of money will, right, 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:52.920 because who you know, different people have different access to 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:55.520 different resources, different networks, like all these different things that 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:57.720 are not even money. It just comes down to effort 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:00.600 and putting your effort into growing yourself that can get 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:03.719 you through these negative talks and all this bs. Right, 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:06.800 I'm going through right now with the chargers, right, and 0:14:06.960 --> 0:14:08.480 I'll end it with this one. Right, I'm going through 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:11.520 with the chargers. They're like, hey, I want to get extended. 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:13.800 Let's go. I've been peeking. I'm going I'm going in 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:16.839 this direction. And they're they're they're like the first people 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:18.880 that have given me all this doubt, like they don't 0:14:18.880 --> 0:14:21.120 want to extend me. All all of extensions have talked, 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:22.680 they stopped. They're like, now we don't want to do 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:25.400 this anymore. Like what do you mean? What do you mean? 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:27.880 It's like you're doubting me, Like after all this I've 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:30.440 done for you for the past two to six years 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:33.400 of growth, Like look at my trajectory, Look what I've done, 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:35.800 look at my leadership in the locker room. Everything is 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:38.080 continuing to get better, and you don't want me around 0:14:38.120 --> 0:14:39.920 the locker room for the next three years, Like what 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:43.720 are you talking about? And so guess what staying in 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:45.920 the vision. Got to stay the path, right, stay the path. 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:47.400 Maybe they don't want me, but guess what, I know, 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:49.960 I'm bringing so much value to myself someone else is 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:51.480 gonna want me for the next few years, even if 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:53.000 I had to play this last year right and be 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:55.480 a free agent. And so you know, there's gonna be 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:58.000 those aspects in your life all over the place, right, 0:14:58.000 --> 0:14:59.200 And it's how do you stay how do you stay 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:01.800 the course? It's those three things you keep adding that 0:15:01.840 --> 0:15:04.960 self value, right, your experience you're at, your education, and 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:07.440 your networking. You keep doing that. You build yourself up. 0:15:07.440 --> 0:15:09.240 You start building up your floor and guess what, when 0:15:09.280 --> 0:15:10.760 you fall down, your floor is already up here. So 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:12.400 you have already all these opportunities that you can go 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:15.440 and take advantage of. And so I'll digress there. But 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:18.480 uh yeah, sorry, that's hot topping for me. Yes, no, 0:15:18.680 --> 0:15:21.280 that's that's that's powerful, man, And I feel like it's 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:24.760 serving you right now because throughout your whole life, I 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:26.480 feel like you've had to find a way to become 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:29.520 your biggest fan and your biggest supporter. With all the 0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:33.160 people that have questions, your ability, questions, your size questioned, 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:36.560 your durability, whatever it may have been. You've had to 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:39.600 show up and believe in yourself when maybe very few 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:41.800 people have. And I feel like that's a lesson that 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:44.480 everyone needs to have because things aren't always gonna go 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:47.600 your way. The results aren't always gonna be the way 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:49.560 that you'd want them to. Look, you know what I'm saying. 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:52.800 I was. I was. I was six string on the 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:56.920 depth chart. Man, Like, coming into the charger, I'm six six, 0:15:56.960 --> 0:15:59.120 There's five people in front of me. I got I 0:15:59.160 --> 0:16:01.760 got no names school, I'm coming in and guess what 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:03.560 did I care about any of that? No? What did 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:05.720 I care about? Let me try to make the best 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:07.520 out of this opportunity that I have. Let me just 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:09.800 try to do the best. I'm putting in so much 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:13.520 extra time, learning, talking to my coaches, like, I'm so stressed. 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:15.680 But I was. I was so dedicated to what I 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:18.040 had in front of me that it allowed me to 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:20.520 take advantage of it. I didn't crush it coming out, 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:22.800 but I did enough to get noticed to show that 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:24.480 I was going to be consistent. I could be relied 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:27.200 on right. And those three things right there are huge 0:16:27.240 --> 0:16:30.120 and anything that you were, anything you're doing right that 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:32.560 you're consistent, right, you could be relied on and you 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:34.560 know what you're doing. Right, those three things are gonna 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:36.120 get you an opportunity, gonna get you in the door. 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:37.840 And then guess what, Then you do this, Then you 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:39.400 do it again, right, then you take advantage of what 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:41.760 you have. Now do those three things again. All right, 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:44.880 Hey Austin, now you know you do well on special teams. 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:46.560 Right now, we're gonna put you on an offense. Let's 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:48.080 see if you can do something there. Oh, I started 0:16:48.120 --> 0:16:50.720 scoreing touchdown right, and then there's this build up and 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:53.480 so bro like it comes down like I said, stay 0:16:53.480 --> 0:16:55.320 in your lane and guess what if you hit a wall, 0:16:55.400 --> 0:16:57.560 guess what, you can use that same energy, those same 0:16:57.640 --> 0:17:00.520 the lessons like I did right going through you know, 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:03.320 growing up, you know in my environment. Okay, what did 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:05.080 I learn from that? How can I turn that into 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:07.560 something that I can use to learn from and put 0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:09.639 myself on it on the next path? Right, But it 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:11.200 comes down to effort to doing it, because if you 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:12.720 don't have effort to do it, you're gonna be stuck. 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:16.400 And most of America, I'm gonna say, is definitely stuck. Yeah, 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:18.800 I know you didn't know much about our podcast coming in, 0:17:18.840 --> 0:17:20.760 but I'm telling you, man, you are. You are right 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:23.080 where you're supposed to be. You're speaking our language, and 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:26.159 you keep saying and whether you're not, if you're not 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:29.320 watching this and you're just listening, I see you keep saying, 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:32.920 like staying your lane and making this kind of hand gesture. 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:36.639 And I love this quote. Race horses where blinders for 0:17:36.680 --> 0:17:40.560 a reason, and that's really what it is. It's perspective 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:43.480 and controlling the controllables. And as you're explaining all this 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:46.520 and saying it all with such fire, I go back 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:48.960 to the four agreements, which if you're not familiar with them, 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:51.560 first of all, you're like embodying all four of them, 0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:55.720 which one is don't take things personally, which you could 0:17:55.720 --> 0:17:59.160 have done that many times throughout your career, and maybe 0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:02.080 you are in a way where you're turning into a 0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:06.520 healthy chip. Be impeccable with your word, don't make assumptions, 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:10.320