Speaker 1: Comeback Stories is a production I've Inflectioned Network and iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2: Welcome back, everyone to another episode of Comeback Stories. I'm
Speaker 2: one of your co hosts, Darren Waller, here for another
Speaker 2: episode with my guy, my brother, Donnie Starkins.
Speaker 3: Donnie, how we doing today? Man?
Speaker 4: Doing great?
Speaker 5: Man, I'm always excited on we record, typically on Tuesdays,
Speaker 5: I get hyped up for this because one I get
Speaker 5: to see you and two we get to drop into
Speaker 5: some some meaningful conversations.
Speaker 4: And I'm hyped for today.
Speaker 3: No doubt.
Speaker 2: Man, I'm super excited about today's guest. You may have
Speaker 2: seen him, know him from being under center down there
Speaker 2: in the swamp, but we're excited to dive into this
Speaker 2: man's story as a human being, things that he's faced
Speaker 2: and overcame in his life. Please welcome my man, Graham
Speaker 2: merch the show.
Speaker 3: Graham.
Speaker 2: How we doing?
Speaker 6: And I'm doing great. I'm blessed so looking forward to
Speaker 6: this man. I've seen some clips, so I'm fired up
Speaker 6: to dive into it a little bit.
Speaker 2: Yes, sir, man, blessed to have you. We love to
Speaker 2: start from the very beginning. People see where you're at
Speaker 2: now and see you're on TV playing in big games.
Speaker 2: But what was life like growing up for you just
Speaker 2: as a kid.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, so I I got the hat on
Speaker 6: right now, kind of fitting. But I'm from a city
Speaker 6: right outside of Kansas City called Overland Park. But yeah,
Speaker 6: I grew up with a really close family. Two older
Speaker 6: sisters both were both were hoopers. I wanted to be
Speaker 6: a hooper, but didn't really work out for me. Wasn't
Speaker 6: that athletic, so I stuck with playing quarterback. But really
Speaker 6: close family. They're all my best friends, talk to them
Speaker 6: every day. So I mean, great upbringing in two amazing parents.
Speaker 3: No doubt.
Speaker 2: Man, how you said I talked about football. How early
Speaker 2: did playing football come into the picture for you?
Speaker 6: Man, I'd say my earliest memory obviously grew up to
Speaker 6: play flag football and all this stuff. But for me,
Speaker 6: it was the moment where I found out I really
Speaker 6: loved it. Was when I was going to my sister's
Speaker 6: basketball tournaments and I was actually like throwing the ball
Speaker 6: around at halftime instead of shooting. So I was like,
Speaker 6: probably means something, I probably really liked this, and then
Speaker 6: I mean just got obsessed with it. I still played basketball,
Speaker 6: still played baseball a little bit, so but man, I
Speaker 6: always loved football, So that was that was deep down
Speaker 6: something that I always leaned into any chance I had,
Speaker 6: whether it was in the neighborhood or watching TV, watching
Speaker 6: guys play, that was all about ball.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 3: I feel you.
Speaker 6: Man.
Speaker 2: My mom always tells a story about when I was young,
Speaker 2: like I'd be playing football, or it'd be basketball season,
Speaker 2: baseball season. I tried tennis for a little bit, but
Speaker 2: no matter what it was, what uniform I was wearing,
Speaker 2: I'd be running around the house with a football or
Speaker 2: like sleeping with sleeping with the football.
Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6: So, uh, nerfball, a little squishy nerfball, run around everywhere
Speaker 6: with that thing exactly.
Speaker 2: Never could get enough. But I want to ask you
Speaker 2: a question that we always ask like was there anything
Speaker 2: from your childhood that was maybe painful or confusing or
Speaker 2: affected the way you.
Speaker 3: Looked at life?
Speaker 2: And I asked that because for me, growing up, I
Speaker 2: felt very confused as far as maybe like finding my identity.
Speaker 2: I always felt like a strange kid. I was very sensitive,
Speaker 2: just felt like nothing that I did really fit in
Speaker 2: and I kind of got rejected for it, kind of
Speaker 2: made fun of for it, and I kind of dove
Speaker 2: into football. I was like, this is my way to
Speaker 2: prove myself, for me to be accepted in society. Was
Speaker 2: there anything growing up for you that may have impacted
Speaker 2: your perspective in that kind of way.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, I'm gonna go a different same topic,
Speaker 6: but a different way of twisting it. I'd say growing up,
Speaker 6: I didn't really have any hardships. I mean, my parents
Speaker 6: did a great job of providing for me and working
Speaker 6: hard for our family, which I thoroughly appreciate. So for me,
Speaker 6: it was it was actually going through not a ton
Speaker 6: of hardships and then getting into the older years of
Speaker 6: my life where I started hitting those and then then
Speaker 6: you run into what you just talked about about finding
Speaker 6: your true identity, your values, what makes you go, makes
Speaker 6: you pick. So for me, it was it was growing
Speaker 6: up and like I was, I was blessed to have
Speaker 6: a great family, great foundation, a great household, and I
Speaker 6: think that down the road that was one thing that
Speaker 6: I mean, you don't wish hardship on yourself, but I
Speaker 6: think it's one thing to realize that that's in order
Speaker 6: to get to where you want to go, that's necessary,
Speaker 6: and you got it. You got to dive into that
Speaker 6: when you get when you get opportunities like that. So
Speaker 6: for me, i'd say that kind of came later down
Speaker 6: the road after not really having a lot in my childhood.
Speaker 6: You're always you're loved, everybody's always surrounding you and and
Speaker 6: supporting you, and then when you get on your own,
Speaker 6: that really tests that that foundation and your values. So
Speaker 6: for me, it was later down the road.
Speaker 2: It's a very wise thing for you to say. I mean,
Speaker 2: I know when I was, I mean, how old are you?
Speaker 6: Just turned twenty three? Man? So I'm getting old in
Speaker 6: my in my college years.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean looking back to when I was twenty three,
Speaker 2: you would never hear the words come out of my
Speaker 2: mouth like adversity is something that I need. Adversity is
Speaker 2: something that I welcome or I see as necessary for
Speaker 2: my growth. And I think that's powerful because there's a
Speaker 2: lot of young guys in your position that may be
Speaker 2: going through things that you're going through, asking why is
Speaker 2: this happening? Like how did I get here? Why are
Speaker 2: things not going my way? And just because it may
Speaker 2: be a season of things not going their way, they
Speaker 2: may see it as just life totally not going their way.
Speaker 2: So I think that's that's really dope.
Speaker 3: And Donnie and I know you got something for that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm chomping at the bid always, but I mean
Speaker 5: it's graam. So I think I know like one city
Speaker 5: and it's Overland Park. Would be Kansas, Right, there's like
Speaker 5: one city I know in Kansas and it's Overland Park.
Speaker 5: Because one of my friends and clients, Tyron Matthew, live
Speaker 5: in Overland Park, and I would go out and travel
Speaker 5: and do one on one stuff with them all the time,
Speaker 5: and I'd fly in and fly out the same day.
Speaker 5: But it was Overland Park was the city I was in. Yeah,
Speaker 5: that's cool.
Speaker 6: Best barbecue in the country. Man, Oh, it is no debate.
Speaker 4: I'm curious for you.
Speaker 5: Okay, So not a lot of childhood shit, like, not
Speaker 5: a lot of hardship, but obviously it came in college
Speaker 5: and maybe you can take us through. Yeah, I just
Speaker 5: walk us through college or maybe walk us through like
Speaker 5: senior year and the hype and we also want to
Speaker 5: know a lot about like, yeah, there's all the good stuff, right,
Speaker 5: but then the pressures that come with the hype of
Speaker 5: you know, maybe after your All American game, like everything
Speaker 5: that came after that. So maybe walk us through senior
Speaker 5: year and then college.
Speaker 6: Yeah, so I actually we'll go back to junior year
Speaker 6: because that's when kind of everything started. So started off.
Speaker 6: I went to a private high school and then transferred
Speaker 6: after my sophomore year. So it was kind of that
Speaker 6: stage where sophomore year guys are starting to get on
Speaker 6: the scene, starting to get recruited, and I'm over here,
Speaker 6: like I need to play. Because I had an older
Speaker 6: guy ahead of me that was Gatorade Player of the Year,
Speaker 6: greatly on the team, and I was like, and he
Speaker 6: was coming back for senior year, so I figured I
Speaker 6: wanted to transfer closer to home. So I actually did
Speaker 6: that in high school and went to the public school
Speaker 6: right down the road. And then going into that year,
Speaker 6: the first year really starting, I actually I got offered
Speaker 6: by Kansas and then Wisconsin right away after. It was
Speaker 6: Kansas before the season, Wisconsin was after like week two,
Speaker 6: and then I went on a visit and I fell
Speaker 6: in love with Wisconsin. I fell in love with the people,
Speaker 6: the atmosphere, the city, everything that went along with it,
Speaker 6: the history. So I actually committed there and then play
Speaker 6: the rest of the year, and that was when kind
Speaker 6: of the offers started. Rolling in and I think, gosh,
Speaker 6: I don't even remember how many it was, but it
Speaker 6: was it was pretty much at anybody not to toot
Speaker 6: my own horn. But that's kind of the that's what
Speaker 6: the spot we got to. And you get to that
Speaker 6: that high rank status and as a young kid like that,
Speaker 6: can that can do things subconsciously, do you mind where
Speaker 6: you're like, oh, like I got some bag, like I'm
Speaker 6: gonna go in as a freshman, I'm gonna start I'm
Speaker 6: gonna be three and out like that mindset, so that
Speaker 6: that kind of subconsciously probably creeped in. Like obviously with
Speaker 6: my family being being so awesome and so supportive, I mean,
Speaker 6: they kept it real with me and they were like, look,
Speaker 6: you still got to work. So I always kind of
Speaker 6: had that reminder through my family and uh, like I said,
Speaker 6: two older sisters that were Hoopers played in college, so
Speaker 6: they kind of went through the whole recruiting process. So
Speaker 6: for me, junior was good, it was great, committed, and
Speaker 6: then senior year came and I was just so ready
Speaker 6: to get started at Wisconsin, so graduated early and ended
Speaker 6: up going in there. There was the first time in
Speaker 6: my life being on my own and I think that's
Speaker 6: one thing that as soon as you have that initial switch,
Speaker 6: like you might be ready for it, you might not,
Speaker 6: and you won't know until you're directly in it. And me,
Speaker 6: it was I was there and I was doing it,
Speaker 6: but I wasn't mentally all in on what I was doing,
Speaker 6: like I was. I was just kind of checking the boxes,
Speaker 6: like did I watch film today? Yeah, I don't know
Speaker 6: what I watched, but I watched it like subconsciously telling
Speaker 6: myself like, I'm doing all the right stuff, when in reality, like,
Speaker 6: the only way you truly grow is to see where
Speaker 6: you're falling short, where your weaknesses are, and attacking them.
Speaker 6: So for me, it was it was being on my
Speaker 6: own and that tested me. I mean, and the second
Speaker 6: you get to college, there's so many extra distractions. This
Speaker 6: was before all the nil and all that stuff. So
Speaker 6: I'm an old head now in college. Everybody's like, where
Speaker 6: were days like that where there's no nil souh. But yeah,
Speaker 6: for me, I mean, I mean that was rough. That
Speaker 6: was the first time in my life where, like I was,
Speaker 6: you're going through weeks and you just feel like you're
Speaker 6: just passing by, And for me, it was like I
Speaker 6: wanted to play. I didn't know. I didn't know what
Speaker 6: I had to do to get on the field other
Speaker 6: than what I was doing. So it was like there
Speaker 6: was so much room to improve to get on the
Speaker 6: field and be ready that I I was just going through.
Speaker 6: I was going through the motions and trying to find
Speaker 6: myself at the same time. So I'd say that was
Speaker 6: probably that freshman year was rough. I mean it was
Speaker 6: it was a fun season to be a part of,
Speaker 6: but I mean, you're a freshman not playing, and you
Speaker 6: had all these expectations and you think you should be
Speaker 6: doing something like you shoul think you should be playing,
Speaker 6: but in reality, you're not ready. So I'd say for
Speaker 6: me that was that was the first challenge that kind
Speaker 6: of kind of presented itself.
Speaker 5: And then I had a question for you regarding I
Speaker 5: heard your story about how you created a spreadsheet with
Speaker 5: your dad when you were choosing colleges, and it brought
Speaker 5: me back to my I played college baseball and I
Speaker 5: had three surgeries before I graduated high school. So the
Speaker 5: book was out on me. It's like, no one's going
Speaker 5: to invest in a lemon, right. I knew I wasn't
Speaker 5: going to go like get drafted, but I wanted to
Speaker 5: play college ball, and I ran with a noticeable limb,
Speaker 5: and so nobody was like really, So I went to
Speaker 5: junior college and then you know, had this really good
Speaker 5: game and hit two home runs and one was a
Speaker 5: walk off on like a showcase game they were doing
Speaker 5: for sophomores. And then everything change that day and then
Speaker 5: al a sudden, everybody wanted me in one one game.
Speaker 5: And my dad always used to say, always play hard
Speaker 5: because you never know who's watching, and it's like life right,
Speaker 5: And that day everything changed. But then I had to
Speaker 5: squeeze in like four recruiting trips in two weeks before
Speaker 5: the signing deadline, and so I had like Nebraska, Texas Tech, Utah,
Speaker 5: and Arizona State. And I remember when I signed everything
Speaker 5: I wanted, the letters and like college coaches blowing you
Speaker 5: up turned into a nightmare because when it came time
Speaker 5: to sign.
Speaker 4: I didn't know what I wanted to do.
Speaker 5: And ultimately I feel like I made a choice that
Speaker 5: wasn't my I don't know what I did, but it wasn't.
Speaker 5: It was Nebraska, and it didn't. It didn't work out
Speaker 5: like it was. I lived in Arizona and I didn't
Speaker 5: realize like Arizona's Arizona and Nebraska's Nebraska, but you don't
Speaker 5: realize until you go right. So I'm just curious for you,
Speaker 5: what was that process?
Speaker 4: Did you know for sure? Was Wisconsin the fuck?
Speaker 6: Yeah?
Speaker 4: And how did you choose Wisconsin.
Speaker 5: Over like Alabama, Georgia and all the big dogs?
Speaker 6: Yeah, So I've skipped right past that part, so I'm
Speaker 6: glad you brought that back. So, I mean, for me,
Speaker 6: I committed so early, and one thing my parents are
Speaker 6: always like, if you put your word into something, you
Speaker 6: put your trust, you put everything into it. You got
Speaker 6: to stand by that. So that was one thing that
Speaker 6: just going through that process. I mean, obviously, you got
Speaker 6: Nick Saban rolling up to your high school, Urban Meyer
Speaker 6: at the time it was Ohio State rolling in and
Speaker 6: You're like, I want to go see these places, but
Speaker 6: I already made a commitment to this place. So for me,
Speaker 6: I feel like that was kind of tugging at me
Speaker 6: the whole time. And and the hard part it was
Speaker 6: I was like one of the first commits in my class,
Speaker 6: So I'm out there recruiting all these guys and you
Speaker 6: build those relationships and you're like, wait, we're in this together,
Speaker 6: like this is bigger than just me and for me
Speaker 6: in the end, like I had a few schools that
Speaker 6: were coming in late and really trying to flip me,
Speaker 6: and I did actually take a few officials. I went
Speaker 6: down to Georgia, I went to Ohio State, and I
Speaker 6: mean it was it was tempting, but in the end,
Speaker 6: I mean I thought long and hard about it, and
Speaker 6: my heart was in Wisconsin and I wanted to I
Speaker 6: wanted to do something there that hadn't been done, and
Speaker 6: that was kind of everything that was our class was
Speaker 6: talking about, and that's what was pushing me to stick
Speaker 6: to my work. So I think, I think in the end,
Speaker 6: I'm even right now, I'm so thankful I went there
Speaker 6: because it taught me again on the field, it didn't
Speaker 6: work out the way I wanted or how it pictured it,
Speaker 6: but it showed me who I am as a man
Speaker 6: and who I want to be going forward. And it
Speaker 6: taught me all that stuff that all the all those
Speaker 6: hardships you go through, it it teaches you about yourself.
Speaker 6: So yeah, I'm forever thankful.
Speaker 2: For going there, no doubt. Man, I'm I'm interested in wondering.
Speaker 2: You know, you see how today how like hectic and crazy.
Speaker 2: The whole transfer portal thing seems and it's kind of
Speaker 2: like a business decision guy just you know, for their
Speaker 2: own brand. Maybe you guys have a lot of different
Speaker 2: reasons in they're entitled to that. But as you as
Speaker 2: somebody that was like, Okay, I'm going into this thing,
Speaker 2: I'm committed to this school, I'm committed to this program.
Speaker 2: What was it like was it a little bit of
Speaker 2: like just like a lot of different thoughts of like, man,
Speaker 2: am I not a man of my word when it
Speaker 2: came time to like transfer and make a decision to
Speaker 2: go somewhere else, Like what led you to that process?
Speaker 3: And what was it like making that decision.
Speaker 6: Yeah, that's a great question. I think for me, it
Speaker 6: was a tough choice. It was a really tough choice.
Speaker 6: And I just felt like after that freshman year, after
Speaker 6: I started playing for a while, I figured out, I
Speaker 6: figured out my process how I approach everything, and I
Speaker 6: just I needed something fresh and our coach got fired
Speaker 6: and I was getting to the end of my career.
Speaker 6: So for me, it was like, you get to that
Speaker 6: point of your career, we only have one or two
Speaker 6: years and you don't know who the coaches are coming
Speaker 6: in the offense you're going to be running. So for me,
Speaker 6: it was it was all about scheme in which scheme
Speaker 6: fits me best? Is it something I don't know or
Speaker 6: should I go look for something and weigh all my
Speaker 6: options before I make a decision. So, I mean I
Speaker 6: had I had great relationships out there. I mean I
Speaker 6: have so many friends to this day that are up there.
Speaker 6: So it was an easy decision and it was a
Speaker 6: rough one. But I mean, in the end, there's points
Speaker 6: and seasons of your life where I feel like you
Speaker 6: have to be selfish and you have to you have
Speaker 6: to think about what's best for you. I don't think
Speaker 6: that's true all the time, but I think that there
Speaker 6: are definitely points where you have to be true with
Speaker 6: yourself on Okay, do I need to be selfish in
Speaker 6: this or not? And I think when you get in
Speaker 6: those personal settings, not really team settings, I think that's appropriate.
Speaker 6: But in the end, I mean, I made the decision,
Speaker 6: and it wasn't fun at the time, and you're sitting
Speaker 6: home when your buddies aren't bull prep playing in a
Speaker 6: bowl game, and you're you got eighteen days to figure
Speaker 6: out where to go. So that was also another that
Speaker 6: was also stressful time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, man, I think I think you said it so well.
Speaker 2: Being able to have the balance and knowing like when
Speaker 2: it's right to choose yourself investing yourself and not maybe
Speaker 2: be over extending yourself and saying, oh, well, it may
Speaker 2: look bad.
Speaker 3: If I leave. People's opinions of me.
Speaker 2: Might take a hit at Wisconsin, but it's like, Okay,
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, I have wants and
Speaker 2: nees and I have the right to fulfill those and
Speaker 2: set myself up for the future. And you know what
Speaker 2: I want to see and the way things that I
Speaker 2: want to experience in my career. So I think the
Speaker 2: way that you put that is is dope, man.
Speaker 6: Appreciate that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it's I want I wanted to ask you,
Speaker 5: Graham about the lowest point at Wisconsin. Darren and I
Speaker 5: work and talk a lot on this podcast and have
Speaker 5: been working together about quieting the noise and you know,
Speaker 5: finding your center and not taking things personally and all
Speaker 5: these things that that are really you know, we weren't
Speaker 5: taught this stuff in school. And it also brings me
Speaker 5: back to real quick. I'll come back to that point.
Speaker 5: I had someone kind of talking about the nil process
Speaker 5: and I and you know, I started to explain to
Speaker 5: this person that they are learning so much more about life,
Speaker 5: like applicable life in this little stint that they had
Speaker 5: with Nil than anything they're going to learn in college.
Speaker 5: And sorry if that's a knock on college, but that's
Speaker 5: just facts, like they're going to learn a lot about
Speaker 5: business and marketing and all of those things and who
Speaker 5: to trust. So yeah, I just wanted to circle back
Speaker 5: to that before I forgot and then yeah, maybe take
Speaker 5: us through the lowest point and like how personal it
Speaker 5: got for you and how you allowed the noise to
Speaker 5: get to you.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think that's that brought me to a point
Speaker 6: that I completely didn't bring up, and that's that's COVID.
Speaker 6: So for me, my first start was it was so
Speaker 6: COVID hit right after the Rose Bowl and then we
Speaker 6: off for what was it three four months of all
Speaker 6: the COVID stuff. But anyway, we come back and there's
Speaker 6: so much uncertainty, and that that uncertainty kind of got
Speaker 6: to me a little bit of like I don't know
Speaker 6: if we're playing, I need to be ready. I got
Speaker 6: I'm gonna get my first start. So I mean, you
Speaker 6: get especially in a situation like that in today's world
Speaker 6: where everything's all it's all social media. That's how you
Speaker 6: get your news, that's how you get everything. So you're
Speaker 6: always on it. You're locked in, you're locked in your house,
Speaker 6: just scrolling all day. So for me, it was that
Speaker 6: was the first time where I felt like I was
Speaker 6: letting social media dictate some of my thoughts and all that.
Speaker 6: So play the first game and it was probably, I
Speaker 6: mean my career Wisconsin, that was probably my best game.
Speaker 6: So it's like twenty twenty for twenty one five touchdowns
Speaker 6: and like you start your you start your career off
Speaker 6: like that. So it's like bang, starting off hot. And
Speaker 6: for that night, I mean, you're you're the man, and
Speaker 6: everybody's talking about you. You're getting posted everywhere, and for me,
Speaker 6: it was like, oh, like this is sweet, Like this
Speaker 6: is everything I envisioned it, being like, oh, this is
Speaker 6: this is the dream. And then go to sleep that night,
Speaker 6: wake up the next day, test positive for COVID. So
Speaker 6: at the time that was where it was. It was
Speaker 6: like ten to fourteen days isolation. So I got pulled
Speaker 6: out of my apartment, put in like a little dorm
Speaker 6: off campus in the woods for fourteen days by myself.
Speaker 6: So for me, that was that was the time where
Speaker 6: after like the highest of highs, I feel like, just mentally,
Speaker 6: I was at the lowest to lowest because I realized
Speaker 6: that I was I was not I wasn't satisfied or
Speaker 6: fulfilled with external things, and I thought that that was
Speaker 6: what I wanted. And after going through that, I mean,
Speaker 6: I feel like that was a turning point mentally for
Speaker 6: me where I was like, look, I gotta I gotta
Speaker 6: invest in myself, in my mental well being before I
Speaker 6: can even like worry about that stuff. I gotta make
Speaker 6: sure I'm good before I start doing all this. So
Speaker 6: I'd say that COVID year was really it was probably
Speaker 6: the biggest area of growth for me just mentally and
Speaker 6: understanding the world I was in and how it was
Speaker 6: different than high school. So I think that was that
Speaker 6: was one thing of going from the highest to highs
Speaker 6: to the lowest to lows that quick and in one day.
Speaker 6: So for me, that was that was one of the
Speaker 6: things that kind of shaped me into just thinking like, look,
Speaker 6: I need to develop my mindset and develop my approach.
Speaker 6: So that's such a yeah.
Speaker 5: Sorry, I was going to say, there's such a beautiful
Speaker 5: lesson there, of the lesson of impermanence, like that moment
Speaker 5: that you're describing. I feel like you're going to be
Speaker 5: able to help so many people with that story of
Speaker 5: writing the waves of life and like nothing's permanent and
Speaker 5: sometimes it lasts one game. Sometimes it can last a
Speaker 5: ridiculous career like Tom Brady, you know, and so you
Speaker 5: never know, right, And so what a gift that you
Speaker 5: got that. I know it didn't feel like it at
Speaker 5: the time, but clearly it's like you're using it as
Speaker 5: strength and you found a lot of growth through it.
Speaker 6: Oh yeah, yeah, I think it was big. And I mean,
Speaker 6: I don't know how much you guys talk about faith
Speaker 6: on here, but for me, the biggest thing was growing up.
Speaker 6: We went to church, but I wasn't always going to
Speaker 6: summer camp and the learning about that, so I didn't
Speaker 6: really have a We had a foundation, but nothing that
Speaker 6: I built on in my time. So for me, it
Speaker 6: was going to college and not having that and trying
Speaker 6: to figure out what it was to me. And i'd
Speaker 6: say it up until shoot, probably after my sophomore year,
Speaker 6: sophomore retro sophomore year at Wisconsin was when I really
Speaker 6: dove into it, and I realized that there were so
Speaker 6: many points in my life where I felt like I
Speaker 6: felt like I needed I needed it, And looking back
Speaker 6: at it, I mean, I feel like those were all
Speaker 6: points where you get those little hidden messages where we're like,
Speaker 6: all right, like this is a great time to relax faith,
Speaker 6: and looking back at it, I mean, I wish I
Speaker 6: would had that because I felt like that transition would
Speaker 6: have happened. Quicker.
Speaker 3: I love to hear you talk about faith.
Speaker 5: Man.
Speaker 2: We ain't on here trying to hit people over the
Speaker 2: head with it. But when somebody brings it up, man,
Speaker 2: it it brightens me up. Because that's what when I
Speaker 2: try to explain to people, like why I believe in God,
Speaker 2: it's like, there are a lot of moments where it's like, man,
Speaker 2: these things things are not going my way. I'd love
Speaker 2: for it to be different. I don't know when it's
Speaker 2: going to change. I don't know how it's going to change.
Speaker 2: But when you're at that point, it's like, would you
Speaker 2: rather believe that these things are going to change and
Speaker 2: have faith and have a trust that they are, or
Speaker 2: just sit here and continue to find the reasons as
Speaker 2: to why it won't work or sit here and wallow
Speaker 2: in why I'm here, how I got here, And it's like, nah,
Speaker 2: Like that's like it took me getting brought to my
Speaker 2: knees to really truly make that decision because I grew
Speaker 2: up going to church, Baptist church in the South, and
Speaker 2: church was a chore, you know, and having a relationship
Speaker 2: with God was more of a transactional thing, like if
Speaker 2: I did things, if I read the Bible, if I showed
Speaker 2: up to yeah, churched on Wednesday night and Sunday night,
Speaker 2: like that would give me a relationship a spiritual life.
Speaker 2: It's like, no, it's really just my own walk through prayer, meditation.
Speaker 2: How I feel connected is how I developed that. But
Speaker 2: that was never really there for me until I got
Speaker 2: brought to my knees from fdiction, being banned from the league,
Speaker 2: like all these things, man, And it's like now I
Speaker 2: look back and I'm like, I don't know how I
Speaker 2: did it without faith. I don't know how I made
Speaker 2: it without faith. And I was just waiting to crash,
Speaker 2: ruminating on the negative, ruminating on why my life wasn't
Speaker 2: anything even though I had a lot of those external things.
Speaker 6: Man.
Speaker 2: So I really appreciate you bringing faith up man and
Speaker 2: speaking of faith, like, I'm sure choosing Florida, stepping into
Speaker 2: a new environment and having an expectancy of that to
Speaker 2: work out and be what you wanted it to be
Speaker 2: took a level of faith taught to us about that transition.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean I kind of made a deal with myself,
Speaker 6: And it was before once I made the decision to
Speaker 6: come down here. I mean, just coming down and visiting,
Speaker 6: I felt a presence of just the amount of people
Speaker 6: that cared about the program better in it. Like that
Speaker 6: was one thing where I was like, all right, the
Speaker 6: second I get down there, like I'm investing in everybody
Speaker 6: else and that will lead to me getting better as
Speaker 6: a player person. So before I got down here, I mean,
Speaker 6: that was one thing that I was like, that's a
Speaker 6: non negotiable. Every day it's what I'm doing this for
Speaker 6: somebody else, and I'm trying to trying to brighten somebody
Speaker 6: else's day, like at least one or two people every day.
Speaker 6: And for me, that was where you get down and
Speaker 6: you're so used to a that's where the transport was weird,
Speaker 6: because when you go to a school for what three
Speaker 6: four years, I mean you learn, like you learn how
Speaker 6: everything goes, you learn the off season, but for me,
Speaker 6: it was all new, and my approach was, look, I'm
Speaker 6: I'm investing in the people. I'm investing in in trying
Speaker 6: to get a little bit better every day, and I'm
Speaker 6: just gonna have fun doing it. So for me, that
Speaker 6: brought me so much joy in the process, and like,
Speaker 6: the relationships I've made in the past shoot eleven months
Speaker 6: now have been just amazing. Like I feel like I've
Speaker 6: known these people my whole life, and I feel like
Speaker 6: that's one thing where if I were to talk to
Speaker 6: anybody going to the portal, I'd say one piece of
Speaker 6: advice would be that, like, invest in the people around you,
Speaker 6: because it will be the most fun years of your life.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 6: Big.
Speaker 5: I feel like I want to make sure that anybody
Speaker 5: listening that is a parent, a high school athlete, aspiring athlete,
Speaker 5: a college athlete, to like go grab your kids or
Speaker 5: grab your parents and listen to this together because it's
Speaker 5: so important. And I'm sitting here going this dude is
Speaker 5: talking about service and like he found the hack at
Speaker 5: twenty three and you know, Darren and I found it
Speaker 5: through a very reckless, scary addiction. Found the hack to
Speaker 5: lie life, which is service, but you found it, and
Speaker 5: so I think it's important. I think some of these
Speaker 5: questions that I want to continue to get into you
Speaker 5: with is a way that you can help others and
Speaker 5: help parents and understand the pressures.
Speaker 4: I don't know if there's anybody on the.
Speaker 5: College campus that would have met any more distractions than
Speaker 5: the starting quarterback for the university. So like, can you
Speaker 5: talk to me about what are like the priorities, your
Speaker 5: non negotiables that keep you, like your mind right, your
Speaker 5: mental health, your focus, meditation, whatever it is.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, I think there's a lot of things,
Speaker 6: and I think the biggest thing really for anybody is
Speaker 6: being able to have a routine and a process and
Speaker 6: be able to grow and adjust things and add things,
Speaker 6: track things, but at least have a foundation of a process.
Speaker 6: And for me, that starts my day off with a
Speaker 6: morning routine. And I mean I've done the same thing
Speaker 6: for the past eleven months, and I might have added
Speaker 6: a few things to it, but I think the biggest
Speaker 6: thing is having a foundation of a process and being
Speaker 6: able to always have an open mind about adding new things,
Speaker 6: whether that's daily devotional or prayer or reading the Bible,
Speaker 6: or I got this little daily stoic book I'll open up.
Speaker 6: But it's not always reading, Like for me, it's making
Speaker 6: sure I'm drinking my water, eating the right things. Like
Speaker 6: there's so many different things that add to just the
Speaker 6: overall human experience that got you. Gotta dive into and
Speaker 6: find that for you. But I think having a foundation
Speaker 6: of process and just a few things every day doesn't
Speaker 6: have to be one hundred things. But if it's three
Speaker 6: things to do every day, like you gotta do them
Speaker 6: every day because because that sets you up for success.
Speaker 6: And like if it's making your bet, that's my that's
Speaker 6: my first thing I do every morning. But it gives
Speaker 6: you that mental mind frame like, look, I already started
Speaker 6: the day doing one thing, so that's a win. So
Speaker 6: that you just got to keep building on it. But
Speaker 6: I think the biggest thing is having that no doubt.
Speaker 2: Man, I mean, the routine is so important and I
Speaker 2: don't want to let it pass by, Like how important,
Speaker 2: how powerful it is your perspective coming into Florida, because
Speaker 2: you could have easily had a mindset of all right,
Speaker 2: I'm coming into this new opportunity, like I gotta get mine,
Speaker 2: like I gotta eat. Like I was slided before. I
Speaker 2: didn't get what I wanted, but now it's time to
Speaker 2: get mine. And I've been in that place before. I
Speaker 2: vividly remember I was in the practice squad in Baltimore
Speaker 2: and I came back, got reinstated from being suspended, and
Speaker 2: they drafted Mark Andrews, and Mark from like as a
Speaker 2: rookie was like showing like he was going to be
Speaker 2: what he is today and seeing him do that, get
Speaker 2: those opportunities and take off, and I'm on the practice
Speaker 2: squad and a lot of times my belief was like
Speaker 2: if somebody else is eating, there's not enough, there's not
Speaker 2: enough out there for me, Like and you know, not
Speaker 2: wishing anything bad on somebody else, but it's like man
Speaker 2: like being envious and like being like, well, why is
Speaker 2: he this? And at that time, like God convicted in
Speaker 2: my heart is like you got to you gotta support
Speaker 2: this man, Like wanting to see other people succeed is
Speaker 2: you know, an accelerator for you know, the abundance in
Speaker 2: your life. Because it's really just a reflection of damn
Speaker 2: if I don't if I'm critical of this other person,
Speaker 2: I'm really just critical of myself at the end of
Speaker 2: the day. So I think it is powerful that, you know,
Speaker 2: especially you being a leader and like commanding the huddle
Speaker 2: and having that mindset. That's that stuff is going to
Speaker 2: bleed onto the guys on your team and they're going
Speaker 2: to start thinking that same way. And that's how you know,
Speaker 2: programs come together and start doing great things. And like
Speaker 2: I said, it starts with those with those routines. Man,
Speaker 2: then I want to know how you feel. How did
Speaker 2: you feel as far as like the scheme fit and
Speaker 2: everything like stepping in, Like how smooth of a process
Speaker 2: was that for you to step in and really feel
Speaker 2: like all right, like I'm I'm here, I can just
Speaker 2: play football like the kid you splay football.
Speaker 6: Yeah, oh yeah, I think I think that was after
Speaker 6: putting in the work. I mean for me, it was
Speaker 6: the winner and I went in there and I was like,
Speaker 6: all right, I got to learn this offense. And it
Speaker 6: wasn't like as fast as possible. I was more like,
Speaker 6: I'm going to give this everything. I got to learn
Speaker 6: it because I need when springball hits, I need to
Speaker 6: be ready to work with these guys on timing all
Speaker 6: these different things that go into the preparation for the season.
Speaker 6: I wanted to make sure I was ready to do that,
Speaker 6: not just be like, all right, I got the offense
Speaker 6: down and throw a hitch, can throw a seam Like No,
Speaker 6: I want to know the ins and outs of everything.
Speaker 6: So for me, I mean it was the winner was
Speaker 6: a lot of work, like a lot of long days,
Speaker 6: a lot of early mornings, but I knew in the
Speaker 6: end that it would only benefit us as a team
Speaker 6: if I could sacrifice that on the front end. So
Speaker 6: for me, it was it was the work ahead of
Speaker 6: that first spring where I mean, anytime you get a
Speaker 6: new install it's like it's all just football in the end,
Speaker 6: but there's so many ins and outs of it where
Speaker 6: you got to know the intricate details of each play.
Speaker 6: So for me it was I mean, I played a
Speaker 6: lot of ball Wisconsin. I understood offensive scheme. But for me,
Speaker 6: it was coming down here and learning kind of the
Speaker 6: mind of coach and how he wants to call it.
Speaker 6: And I mean, honestly, I love the offense and I
Speaker 6: love how it gives me the freedom to It feels
Speaker 6: like every play you get to make it right, whether
Speaker 6: it's an RPO or a run check or a pass
Speaker 6: check all these different things. So I've loved it.
Speaker 5: What do you think your mental strengths are that make
Speaker 5: you the quarterback that you are. What's the mind stuff
Speaker 5: that you feel like you're blessed with or have worked
Speaker 5: on to get to this place.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think I think the biggest thing is there's
Speaker 6: I finally not finally, I mean i'd say last year,
Speaker 6: my last year Wisconsin, I've finally just made the decision, like, look,
Speaker 6: the only person that's gonna stop me is me. And
Speaker 6: I had so much in early in my career. I
Speaker 6: was listening to so much stuff on social media. I
Speaker 6: like you said earlier, I mean I was. I was
Speaker 6: all thinking I need to get mine and and that
Speaker 6: wasn't the best thing for the team. So for me,
Speaker 6: I made the decision that looked like I will not
Speaker 6: be broken by somebody else. I will be broken if
Speaker 6: I if I break myself if I get in my
Speaker 6: own way, like but other than that, like I'm not
Speaker 6: getting my own way. And I think that's that's one
Speaker 6: thing that throughout the season, like you get you take
Speaker 6: a big hit, like you're like, dang, I just want
Speaker 6: to sit down a little bit. But like I always
Speaker 6: had a reminder like no, you're not gonna break me,
Speaker 6: like I'm gonna I might break a collar bone and
Speaker 6: I'll be down, but that's me breaking myself, Like I
Speaker 6: will not let people like break me, whether that's my
Speaker 6: my mindset, like the competitor, I am, my confidence, all
Speaker 6: these different things, like's my joy, Like I'll never let
Speaker 6: somebody else ruined my day, Like I'm gonna do everything
Speaker 6: I can to make sure they're having a good day
Speaker 6: and then they have joy in their day. But I
Speaker 6: will never let somebody take that away from me because
Speaker 6: I feel like that's the only way to go about
Speaker 6: life is to have joy and happiness and every day
Speaker 6: that should be should be your approach every day.
Speaker 2: Yeah, man, it's a powerful perspective to take with you. You know,
Speaker 2: looks like you said, like hurting your collar bone in
Speaker 2: this this past season, it could be very easy for
Speaker 2: you to shift back into maybe a similar state of
Speaker 2: like when things weren't working out at Wisconsin and all,
Speaker 2: and being so quick to find the doubt in things,
Speaker 2: or like we always say why things aren't working but
Speaker 2: I can tell by the way just speaking the way
Speaker 2: that you know, joke about hurting your collar bone that
Speaker 2: it's like, this is just a bump in the road,
Speaker 2: and like you said before, this is a necessary thing
Speaker 2: for me because there's something to take from it. And
Speaker 2: plus being in football, man, this is the NFL p
Speaker 2: A also comes around said this is one hundred percent
Speaker 2: injury rate, Like there's no way you're gonna escape it
Speaker 2: sometimes and uh, I don't know if you're like me anyway,
Speaker 2: but there are plenty of times where I've taken injury
Speaker 2: as me being a failure, not necessarily like it just
Speaker 2: being a natural part.
Speaker 3: Of the game.
Speaker 2: And because it's very easy for guys to drift into
Speaker 2: that mindset because if I'm not in there, somebody's gonna
Speaker 2: be coming from taking my spot. And if I'm not
Speaker 2: in there, who am I at the end of the day.
Speaker 2: And it's like, the way that you're going about it, man,
Speaker 2: is what's going to keep the abundance flowing into your life,
Speaker 2: no matter what you got to go through, no matter
Speaker 2: what you got to experience. Man. Is it's a beautiful
Speaker 2: thing to hear how calm and just how centered your
Speaker 2: faith has you.
Speaker 6: You know, I will say something you just said that
Speaker 6: I think is so big in our society today. Is doubt,
Speaker 6: and whether that's external doubt, internal doubt. I think that's
Speaker 6: one thing where being an older guy in the locker
Speaker 6: room throughout my career, I mean, you see how that
Speaker 6: affects people. And I feel like that's one thing that
Speaker 6: if whenever I see somebody that's a young person, young
Speaker 6: player that might not know the playbook, but they have
Speaker 6: that little second of doubt, I'll go up to them
Speaker 6: be like, look, man, like the only way to get
Speaker 6: rid of that football doubt is to put in the work.
Speaker 6: And if you can remove that doubt, that frees you
Speaker 6: up to be the best version of yourself. And I
Speaker 6: know that's one thing. It's a hard thing to do.
Speaker 6: Like I'm not saying that's an easy thing to do
Speaker 6: in football, and when you're in a team sense, it's
Speaker 6: all about just football, Like, yeah, that's not easy, but
Speaker 6: you can do it. But on a personal level, like
Speaker 6: that takes a lot of mental reflection, and I think
Speaker 6: that's one thing that that's big. That's big.
Speaker 5: I think doubt arises when you know, we break promises
Speaker 5: that we make to ourselves. And Darren and I talk
Speaker 5: about this all the time that the most self confident
Speaker 5: people are the ones that keep the promises they make
Speaker 5: to themselves.
Speaker 4: So it's you know, it's really just follow through.
Speaker 5: And I hear you saying the work, and someone might
Speaker 5: be like, well, what's he talking.
Speaker 4: About the work? And it's it is that it's your commitments.
Speaker 5: It's the things and the goals and the practices and
Speaker 5: the process and the morning routine. And you know, you're
Speaker 5: you're the embodiment of somebody that is just like you've
Speaker 5: got so much self confidence, you're embodying it, right, And
Speaker 5: if you go back and we talk about your practices
Speaker 5: and your routines and how structured you are, it's a
Speaker 5: direct reflection on your consistency and your follow through. So
Speaker 5: if you're a kid, if you're out there and you know,
Speaker 5: you say you're going to spend ten more minutes throwing
Speaker 5: the ball, hitting the ball, and you go you don't
Speaker 5: go do it, you know that's only fucking with your confidence.
Speaker 5: It because you said you were going to do something
Speaker 5: and you didn't do it. If you're a parent and
Speaker 5: you said you were going to do something and you
Speaker 5: didn't and your kids involved, you're now modeling that same
Speaker 5: thing to your children. So it's like, do the things
Speaker 5: you say you're going to do, be impeccable with your word,
Speaker 5: Read the four Agreements, memorize that whole book.
Speaker 6: Like it.
Speaker 4: It will set you free, you know.
Speaker 6: Oh, yeah, have you read the Four Agreements? I'm going
Speaker 6: to a Yeah, I got to read that.
Speaker 4: It's Tom brad It's Tom Brady's Bible.
Speaker 5: So I'm sure if what I said didn't.
Speaker 4: Get you to read it, now you'll probably read it.
Speaker 4: So yeah, dude, Well and we'll talk more.
Speaker 5: Darren and I talk a lot about it, and it's
Speaker 5: gold Man and it's to me, Well, the four agreements
Speaker 5: are be impeccable with your word, don't make assumptions, don't
Speaker 5: take things personally, and always do your best. And those
Speaker 5: sound simple, but they he it is a simple book,
Speaker 5: but it'll blow your mind.
Speaker 3: Dude.
Speaker 4: It's going to help you, like arm you with some
Speaker 4: more tools.
Speaker 6: I need to read that, and I'm going to add
Speaker 6: something something you something you said, and I'm going to
Speaker 6: take it back to what we talked about a little
Speaker 6: bit earlier. But when I also feel like doubt and
Speaker 6: and all that creeps in when you're focused on self production,
Speaker 6: and like I think anybody that's listening to this, I
Speaker 6: think the biggest thing. We already talked about it. But
Speaker 6: when you have the mindset that I'm doing this for
Speaker 6: somebody else, in that servant mindset, I think that's that's
Speaker 6: what's giving me the most confident in the world because
Speaker 6: I'm like, look, I'm doing everything I am for other people.
Speaker 6: And yes, down the line, it will, it will, it
Speaker 6: will come back to you. But that's that should not
Speaker 6: be your focus. It should not be maximizing what I
Speaker 6: got for me. I'm maximizing everything I got for my family,
Speaker 6: for my team, for my close group around me, for
Speaker 6: my buddies, like I'm doing and that makes those decisions
Speaker 6: that much easier because it because it's bigger than you.
Speaker 6: I think that's the that's the key to this whole thing,
Speaker 6: the whole thing we call life. I think that's the key.
Speaker 6: And when you said earlier, that's that's the thing that
Speaker 6: gets me up every morning, gets me out of bed,
Speaker 6: make my bed, get into my process because I'm like, look,
Speaker 6: I got people depending on me, and.
Speaker 4: You have that right, that's too too much.
Speaker 5: That's given comes great responsibility, and I think you can
Speaker 5: handle that.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I read a quote the other day is uh, in
Speaker 2: this little devotional I have called in God's Care to
Speaker 2: like a twelve step devotional.
Speaker 3: And there's this quote.
Speaker 2: It was talking about, you know, some of us take
Speaker 2: our work seriously, and some of us take ourselves seriously
Speaker 2: and said one is imperative and one is dangerous. And
Speaker 2: just speaking to what you were talking about about service,
Speaker 2: It's like getting outside of ourselves is so important because
Speaker 2: if it's all about us, that's when you know, our
Speaker 2: world gets smaller. That's when it's about It's about me,
Speaker 2: It's about my outcomes, it's about how I feel. It's
Speaker 2: about what I can get out of situations, as opposed
Speaker 2: to it being you know, the work I'm doing, the
Speaker 2: service I'm doing, Like, I take that seriously. I'm leaving.
Speaker 2: I'm really truly making a legacy at that point. I'm
Speaker 2: making lives better. I came, I'm coming into this world,
Speaker 2: and I'm making it better by the way that I
Speaker 2: carry myself, by the way that I you know, put
Speaker 2: myself out into the world. And that's really the ultimate
Speaker 2: legacy you could leave. I mean, I feel like when
Speaker 2: we go, when we're done, like it's not going to
Speaker 2: be like, man, I had twenty eight million dollars in
Speaker 2: the old investment portfolio or all these cribs or these cars.
Speaker 2: It's going to be like, nah, like how did how
Speaker 2: did people? How did I make people feel?
Speaker 3: Like? How good on my relationships? You know?
Speaker 2: And it's like it's so easy to lose track of
Speaker 2: those things during the day when that doubt creeps in
Speaker 2: and you feel like you gotta get to the bag
Speaker 2: or you gotta get that promotion, or when I get
Speaker 2: these things, I'm going to be happy. And it's like, man,
Speaker 2: we got the game backwards out here. So conversations like this, Man,
Speaker 2: it's how we change that.
Speaker 6: Bro.
Speaker 2: It's how we bounce back. It's how we come back
Speaker 2: to the lives that we want in the lives that
Speaker 2: we deserve.
Speaker 3: Bro.
Speaker 6: Truth drop the mic on that one.
Speaker 5: You know, as you're saying that, I'm thinking about how
Speaker 5: your whole life and as you're walking us through it,
Speaker 5: you've created a system. And that's like when I tell
Speaker 5: as a coach, I tell people like, when you set
Speaker 5: a goal and don't you don't achieve that goal, it's
Speaker 5: not because you're broken.
Speaker 4: It's because your system's broken.
Speaker 5: And I love hearing how dialed in your system is,
Speaker 5: and it just has me thinking like, this is the
Speaker 5: life if you want kind of that the hack to
Speaker 5: life or the path.
Speaker 4: You need to.
Speaker 5: Figure out your system to be free, to be comfortable
Speaker 5: in your own skin, figure out what your natural gifts
Speaker 5: and talents are through that system, and then go serve
Speaker 5: Like there's nothing else you need to do in life.
Speaker 5: Like you can try to complicate it with external things
Speaker 5: and all the stuff, but you know, it's fleeting.
Speaker 4: As a human. We've talked a lot about football.
Speaker 5: I'm just curious, like on a human level to get
Speaker 5: to know you, Like, what do you love to do?
Speaker 5: Do you have like interests and hobbies outside of outside
Speaker 5: of football?
Speaker 6: Man, I love the golf in the off season. I'm
Speaker 6: a big golfer. And I think it's like subconsciously it
Speaker 6: trains you for a lot of different things. And as
Speaker 6: a quarterback, I mean, every plays a new play in
Speaker 6: football and in golf, every shots a new shot by
Speaker 6: shank one into the water. You might throw an interception,
Speaker 6: but it's all about it's all about the next step
Speaker 6: and what you're going to do to respond. And I mean,
Speaker 6: and it's just fun to play. I mean, let's just
Speaker 6: throw it out there. But for me, it's it's like
Speaker 6: the subconscious training of that where it's just so much fun.
Speaker 6: So for me, that's not a big hobby guy, but
Speaker 6: that that's a big hobby for me. It's pretty much
Speaker 6: like my main thing in the off season.
Speaker 5: I got another book for you. It's called Zen Golf.
Speaker 5: You'll love it, dude. It's like, I don't know if
Speaker 5: you've heard of that one, but it's it's everything you're
Speaker 5: talking about, like the lessons of life and how it's
Speaker 5: tied to golf.
Speaker 4: On a personal level. Like what out there in the world.
Speaker 4: I love this question.
Speaker 5: I ask it often of like what breaks your heart
Speaker 5: more than anything in the world. What's like that one
Speaker 5: thing when you see it where it's just like m
Speaker 5: gets you.
Speaker 6: That's a wow, that's a good question, I'd say, Oh gosh,
Speaker 6: I'd say when when someone's presented with an opportunity and
Speaker 6: they're so like just in their own head where they
Speaker 6: just can't grasp it because like I've I've been there before.
Speaker 6: And that's one thing where, especially a young guy on
Speaker 6: a team like down here, if I see somebody that's
Speaker 6: that's got everything right in front of them, but they're
Speaker 6: just trying, they're trying to figure it out like that.
Speaker 6: That breaks my heart, you know, because I'm like, I
Speaker 6: want to help you, because I've been there and I've
Speaker 6: experienced that feeling where like I want to do this,
Speaker 6: I'm putting everything I got into it, but like I'm
Speaker 6: not doing the right thing for it. So i'd say,
Speaker 6: when you, when you, when there's an opportunity that's presented
Speaker 6: right there that someone's not taking full advantage of because
Speaker 6: they're they're struggling with with trying to figure out how
Speaker 6: to do it.
Speaker 2: I agree with that deeply, man Like, because I was
Speaker 2: one of those people right through, you know, my addiction
Speaker 2: and just my mental health being in shambles. I wasn't
Speaker 2: able to show the world who I truly was and
Speaker 2: what I was capable of. Like if you just look
Speaker 2: at from football perspective, like before I got reinstated and
Speaker 2: before my career kind of took off, I was just
Speaker 2: kind of like a flash in the pan type of guy.
Speaker 2: I would show like crazy flashes that practice when I
Speaker 2: was in Baltimore, but it would never translate to the game.
Speaker 2: It would be a lot of drops. It'd be like
Speaker 2: or I would be suspended and things like that. So
Speaker 2: I was one of those people and that breaks my
Speaker 2: heart too. And to see, you know, other guys get
Speaker 2: suspended or other guys have issues with substances, and it's
Speaker 2: just like, I'm not somebody that's gonna come down on
Speaker 2: I just want to know, like why, like how do
Speaker 2: we get to this point, like and what's the solution
Speaker 2: to get up out of it? Because every single one
Speaker 2: of these guys have something good to offer their world,
Speaker 2: good to offer their team, their community, their families, And
Speaker 2: I'm with you there, bro, it's just like it's heartbreaking
Speaker 2: to see somebody be you know, their mental health not
Speaker 2: be an asset to them to step into the world
Speaker 2: and really you know, take off with their purpose. Man,
Speaker 2: Like I'm right there, wish.
Speaker 6: You Yeah, that's I think that's it.
Speaker 4: It's interesting.
Speaker 5: I've asked that question so many times and I've never
Speaker 5: heard that answer. And as you're answering it, what I
Speaker 5: heard you say is like what breaks your heart is
Speaker 5: seeing people that aren't aware, like they're they're they're they're
Speaker 5: in a trance, they're blind to like what's in front
Speaker 5: of them, and so they're they're not aware. And I've
Speaker 5: never heard that, but then it made me realize that's
Speaker 5: what I do for a living is help make people
Speaker 5: more aware. Actually that's what we're doing right now, Like
Speaker 5: this is why we started the podcast, so that you know,
Speaker 5: somebody listening right now that might be struggling an athlete
Speaker 5: or a parent that can't understand what you know their
Speaker 5: kids going through, Like this.
Speaker 4: Is why we're doing this.
Speaker 5: So yeah, man, it's it's your answers have blown my mind.
Speaker 5: I'm like so inspired, and I think wisdom and knowledge
Speaker 5: it's not measured in length and years, it's clearly measured
Speaker 5: in depth. And you know, for somebody so young, I mean, dude,
Speaker 5: I was.
Speaker 4: Such a mess at your age. So it's it's it's so.
Speaker 5: Cool to see and like regardless, you know, detaching from
Speaker 5: the outcome of what you do, whatever you're gonna do,
Speaker 5: you're gonna crush because you have the natural gifts. You
Speaker 5: have the the mirror, the modeling as as as a kid,
Speaker 5: your parents, the hard work. Like that's why you're doing
Speaker 5: what you're doing, because you saw it. It was instilled
Speaker 5: in you. And that loyalty like loyal to a fault
Speaker 5: and writing it out at Wisconsin right, Like these are
Speaker 5: beautiful qualities that are going to take you take you
Speaker 5: far in life, man, and it's been an honor to
Speaker 5: have you on.
Speaker 6: I appreciate that this has been This has been dope.
Speaker 6: I don't get a lot of a lot of time
Speaker 6: to talk about this like on a on a normal basis,
Speaker 6: So I think this is a is a dope idea.
Speaker 6: I think, you guys, this seems gonna take off. It's
Speaker 6: unique because like everybody's got a story and it's just
Speaker 6: a matter of getting it out there. That's big, no doubt.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 2: Like you said, we just want to change the quality
Speaker 2: of conversations that people have with each other, man, because
Speaker 2: you know, I feel like there's nothing wrong with talking
Speaker 2: about what happened in the game, and you know, the
Speaker 2: dude being off side for Kansas City and like stuff
Speaker 2: like that. Like you know that that stuff that we enjoy.
Speaker 2: But at the same time, like as men, as women,
Speaker 2: as just brothers and sisters in this world. You know,
Speaker 2: like we got to have these conversations where we can
Speaker 2: get things off our chest if we're struggling or just
Speaker 2: you know, so we can get these things out of
Speaker 2: us so we can go back into our world and
Speaker 2: you know, do what we do and just be ourselves.
Speaker 6: Man.
Speaker 3: So I appreciate you wanting.
Speaker 2: To come on here, sharing your story, being real, being vulnerable,
Speaker 2: man like this is dope stuff.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 2: We wish you nothing but peace in your mind and
Speaker 2: your heart and success and everything that you touch. Man,
Speaker 2: as you go forward, bro be we'll be tuned in
Speaker 2: and uh, we'll just be locked in root for you.
Speaker 6: Bro right back at you, guys. Everything you just said,
Speaker 6: it's gonna I'm gonna keep looking. I'm gonna keep listening
Speaker 6: to these things.
Speaker 5: Yes, sir, well man, thank you so much for coming.
Speaker 4: And we're out of here, all right.
Speaker 6: Appreciate y'all.
Speaker 3: Peace, boy, that was so good.
Speaker 1: Comeback Stories is a production of Inflection Network and iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.