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Speaker 1: Welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast, an NFL podcast for

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Speaker 1: the players, by the players. Here is your host, four

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Speaker 1: teen year NFL veteran and Hall of Famer A. Nius Williams.

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Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast. My name

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Speaker 1: is Dr Sheila Peters and I am blessed to be

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Speaker 1: a twelve year clinician with the Tennessee Titans. I am

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Speaker 1: sitting in today for A. Nius Williams. We will sit

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Speaker 1: down with an NFL legend, David Thornton, to discuss the

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Speaker 1: importance of men taking a proactive approach toward the physical, mental,

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Speaker 1: and emotional health. David played nine seasons in the NFL

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Speaker 1: as an outside lie backer for the Indianapolis Coats and

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Speaker 1: the Tennessee Titans. He is currently the director of player

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Speaker 1: Engagement for the Coats and an integral part of their organization. David,

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Speaker 1: we welcome you today. It is good to be with you.

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Speaker 1: Dr Sheila is so good to hear your voice. Um,

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Speaker 1: you were definitely special to me during my time in

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Speaker 1: Nashville with the Titans, so I'm looking forward to him

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Speaker 1: having some great dialogue with you today. Absolutely, and I

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Speaker 1: would just say, David, upon my first meeting you, Uh,

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Speaker 1: certainly as a veteran, I could see all of the

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Speaker 1: hard work that you were putting into your craft, and

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Speaker 1: I could see how you were growing into your manhood

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Speaker 1: and your leadership role within the organization was vital. Today,

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Speaker 1: we really want you to focus in part on your

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Speaker 1: professional experience as a player, but also the tremendous role

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Speaker 1: that you have now in really lifting future players up

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Speaker 1: to a higher height so they can do well in

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Speaker 1: their endeavors. So we are going to talk about men's

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Speaker 1: health and men's health. You know it's a challenge, David,

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Speaker 1: and that so many little boys, so many grown men

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Speaker 1: were told to bucket, buckle up to handle whatever they're feeling.

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Speaker 1: If they had pain, ignore the pain, if they felt

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Speaker 1: a certain way, keep your feelings in. And we now

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Speaker 1: know in men's health that men are much more likely

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Speaker 1: to wait until a pain progresses to something maybe more serious.

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Speaker 1: And we want to use this opportunity to lift up

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Speaker 1: the importance of men taking care of themselves in your

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Speaker 1: role both as an NFL legend and your role now

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Speaker 1: over player development. Let's talk just a moment about the

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Speaker 1: three pillars of health and wellness, physical, mental, and emotional.

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Speaker 1: And why do you think that's so important for players

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Speaker 1: to focus on well? Thank you, Dr Sheila UM. During

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Speaker 1: my time in Nashville, let me first say you were fantastic.

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Speaker 1: You are a an amazing resource for me during my

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Speaker 1: playing days. UM, you helped several guys deal with deal

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Speaker 1: with life and UM, and it's awesome to see that

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Speaker 1: you're still in their role serving with passion. And I

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Speaker 1: know you're doing a phenomenal job there. So yes, just

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Speaker 1: from my experience as a player and especially now on

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Speaker 1: my current role, you do understand the importance of total wellness,

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Speaker 1: just being strong um, physically, mentally and emotionally and UM,

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Speaker 1: it can be a challenge UM. Several times, you know,

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Speaker 1: guys struggle in this space because they are taught to

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Speaker 1: just suck it up, to be tough, UM, to not

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Speaker 1: show pain. And and men, quite frankly, we're prideful. You

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Speaker 1: know a lot of times our egos and our pride

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Speaker 1: gets in the way of us really reaching out to

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Speaker 1: get the help we may need. UM. We're very secretive.

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Speaker 1: Men keep secrets and we don't like the show vulnerability.

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Speaker 1: We like to just keep things under the radar as

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Speaker 1: if we can fix it ourselves. And so that's why

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Speaker 1: I'm really so thankful and and grateful to have the

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Speaker 1: opportunity that I have each and every day to just

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Speaker 1: really help men improve and grow as men, UM, to

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Speaker 1: help them deal with those private issues that they may

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Speaker 1: struggle with, UM, To help them find the resources they

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Speaker 1: may need, whether it's something in their family, maybe it's

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Speaker 1: something out with depression, anxiety, maybe something with their significant other. UM.

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Speaker 1: The DPE role is really just to help elevate the

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Speaker 1: men in the locker room, help them to be their

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Speaker 1: very best each and every day. And that's something that

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Speaker 1: I really do love doing. And it's a chance for

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Speaker 1: me to really just pull from my experiences and UM

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Speaker 1: and just help guys deal with life on and off

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Speaker 1: the field. So, David Ford, players that are coming into

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Speaker 1: the league, players that have a year or two under

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Speaker 1: their belt, from what you've experienced and how you help

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Speaker 1: players today, how can they take that same discipline that

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Speaker 1: they apply to their craft and use that same discipline

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Speaker 1: to take care of their overall health. Well, UM, I

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Speaker 1: think there are several ways they can do that. It's

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Speaker 1: good if you have guys who are self aware of

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Speaker 1: things going on in their personal life where there's something mentally,

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Speaker 1: emotionally and physically, and they will reach out. You know,

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Speaker 1: if they have a sense of self awareness, they're paying

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Speaker 1: attention to things going on around them in their life. UM,

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Speaker 1: they can tipically. If they are self aware, they can

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Speaker 1: typically reach out and get the help they may need.

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Speaker 1: But when they're not self aware, you know a lot

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Speaker 1: of guys have blind spots, things that may not see.

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Speaker 1: That's why it's good to have people such as yourself,

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Speaker 1: Dr Sheila, you're around UM the directive player engagement UM

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Speaker 1: just people in the players ecosystems sort of speak that

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Speaker 1: can help support them. Those individuals can help them see

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Speaker 1: maybe areas that they can improve on and help them

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Speaker 1: be the very best. And and if they're receptive to that,

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Speaker 1: to that resource and that support, that could really help

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Speaker 1: them be mentally, physically and emotionally strong. And I may

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Speaker 1: just help them become a better man. So it's really

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Speaker 1: just if you have that self awareness, that's great. But

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Speaker 1: if you have blind spots like me, I have blind spots,

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Speaker 1: you know, I still have people who who help me

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Speaker 1: see what I what I may not see in my

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Speaker 1: life to help me just kind of sharpen and fine tunes.

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Speaker 1: Those areas of space and um and really just be

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Speaker 1: my ultimately, my very best and David, I know you

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Speaker 1: do a fantastic job. And part of that is creating

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Speaker 1: a safe space where players and individuals can be vulnerable,

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Speaker 1: as you've already said, and how they can express things

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Speaker 1: that are concerning them. And that's vitally important because they

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Speaker 1: are so focused on achieving their goal as an elite athlete,

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Speaker 1: and yet life does not stop while you're on that

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Speaker 1: big stage. That you have family issues, you have relationship issues,

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Speaker 1: and men are learning how to compartmentalize and focus on

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Speaker 1: the game. But that doesn't mean that they don't struggle

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Speaker 1: with depression. They don't struggle with other challenges and maybe

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Speaker 1: some challenges even from their childhood. One of the things

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Speaker 1: that we also look at is certainly considering our legends

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Speaker 1: what life is like after that big stage in the NFL.

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Speaker 1: And one of the things that I think is a plus,

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Speaker 1: but it also is something that we have to work

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Speaker 1: on a better transition, is that so many resources are

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Speaker 1: available for players. They don't take advantage of all of them,

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Speaker 1: but they have a host of resources that are easily accessible.

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Speaker 1: But what about that retired legend that has to go

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Speaker 1: sit in a doctor's office to deal with a physical

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Speaker 1: pain or to deal with an emotional pain. What have

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Speaker 1: you learned about with your peers that you know are

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Speaker 1: in their post career. Yes, and that when guys transition

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Speaker 1: from the game, UM, it's almost inevitable they're going to

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Speaker 1: have some level of emotional UM stress, some type of

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Speaker 1: mental They're gonna go through some distress in some capacity.

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Speaker 1: It's the nature. Um. Football consumed so much of your time,

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Speaker 1: so much of your identity, and when you transition from

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Speaker 1: the game, that structure that you had at support that

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Speaker 1: was always in place each and every day, um, it

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Speaker 1: can become a challenge. UM. I just think about you know,

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Speaker 1: when you're in that locker room and in that building,

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Speaker 1: you know the accessibility that you have, the accessibility that

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Speaker 1: you have to like doctors and medical staff, it's right

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Speaker 1: around the corner. But transitioning out can be a little different.

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Speaker 1: You know, so you're at home a lot more. UM,

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Speaker 1: you with your family, with your significant other a lot more.

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Speaker 1: That time is different. So just understanding how to balance

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Speaker 1: all those different bearables, UM got sometimes strolling that space

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Speaker 1: and even with just the routine checkups. UM. What you

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Speaker 1: just talked about whether it's going to a doctor, schedule

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Speaker 1: an appointment. Um, it's different when you're a formal player

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Speaker 1: because you have to actually be a little more responsible

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Speaker 1: and take those next US two. I'm actually getting those

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Speaker 1: things done. But but they can be done. You know,

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Speaker 1: the resources, the resources that are available to support former

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Speaker 1: players are a tremendous and valuable. It's just a matter

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Speaker 1: of if you once you become a former player, being informed,

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Speaker 1: kind of knowing what those resources are and being intentional

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Speaker 1: about making appointments, making your you know, making your help

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Speaker 1: still a top priority. Um, so you're available for your

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Speaker 1: family and be able to have a successful life beyond

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Speaker 1: the game. So it's just important to keep those things

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Speaker 1: as a priority, keep them at the top of your

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Speaker 1: day to day agenda. Hey, I gotta make sure I'm

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Speaker 1: still doing those things to keep myself mentally, physically, and

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Speaker 1: emotionally strong and all of that is is critically important

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Speaker 1: as we lift up Men's Health Month, and also this

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Speaker 1: is also the same month that we celebrate Father's Day,

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Speaker 1: and so one of the things I want us to

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Speaker 1: look at as we look at this total wellness for

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Speaker 1: players and for legends. I believe David It was back

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Speaker 1: in a Coach Forever segment that you shared the following,

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Speaker 1: no one fails. We want our guys to be successful

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Speaker 1: not only on the field, but off the field, even

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Speaker 1: in their personal lives and all the things they strive

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Speaker 1: to do. And so that speaks to your understanding and

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Speaker 1: the work that you do. And I just noticed something, David.

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Speaker 1: And it is not to suggest that particularly some of

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Speaker 1: our young players rush into relationships and into fatherhood, but

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Speaker 1: I've seen some really tough veterans who are so focused

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Speaker 1: on their craft that once they become a father, and

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Speaker 1: there are all kinds of things would become a new parent,

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Speaker 1: their child brings out an emotional response that they have

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Speaker 1: neatly tucked away, and so they are learning how to

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Speaker 1: express themselves like a gentle giant. When they're looking at

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Speaker 1: that young person, I know that you're a proud father.

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Speaker 1: What has fatherhood done for you even as you were

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Speaker 1: playing and even now in your professional role. Let me,

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Speaker 1: I mean, let me tell you. Just just being a

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Speaker 1: dad to me, that's being selected to be a dad.

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Speaker 1: There's no greater joy for me than to tend to

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Speaker 1: be a father. Um. I was fortunate enough I had

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Speaker 1: a great father in my life. I became a dad

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Speaker 1: very young in life. I became a dad at seventeen

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Speaker 1: years old, so at that age, still having to learn

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Speaker 1: a lot about life, I needed someone to help me

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Speaker 1: put together a blueprint on how to be hum a

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Speaker 1: great father. So I'm thankful I had a supporting cast

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Speaker 1: that kind of help guiding me and um, and even

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Speaker 1: as I got into professional sports, Um, you're so, You're

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Speaker 1: so right, doctor Sheila. When you have a kid in

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Speaker 1: your life, there is something they do to your heart.

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Speaker 1: They melt your heart in a way that you really

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Speaker 1: can't describe. And there's so much you learn about yourself

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Speaker 1: when you have kids. Um, I learned a lot about patience.

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Speaker 1: I learned a lot about love while from being a father,

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Speaker 1: because love is being selfless, and when you have a kid,

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Speaker 1: a child in your life, they become the priority. So

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Speaker 1: you have to remove yourself and kind of take a

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Speaker 1: back seat and make sure you're doing the things to

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Speaker 1: be there for them. But so but now, But like

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Speaker 1: in my current role, I share a lot of my experiences, um,

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Speaker 1: the good and the bad. Some of the challenges I

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Speaker 1: had as being a father while playing a professional career

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Speaker 1: and just giving my players goddess on Hey, even though

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Speaker 1: you're playing ball, even though your time may be limited,

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Speaker 1: in certain ways, I help them develop, you know, good strategies,

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Speaker 1: good game plans, to stay connected, to stay in bold

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Speaker 1: with their kid's life, making sure that the child knows that, hey,

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Speaker 1: they're important. I'm helping shape that child's confidence, their self esteem.

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Speaker 1: There's so many there's so many important things that a father.

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Speaker 1: There's so many different ways the father plays an important

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Speaker 1: role and helping shape a child's life in his future.

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Speaker 1: So I make sure I'm intentional about not letting my

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Speaker 1: guys take that those things for granted and really being

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Speaker 1: intentional about developing and nurturing that father child relationships. So

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Speaker 1: but no, you're you're exactly right being a being a father.

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Speaker 1: It definitely does soften us a sweet spot in your heart.

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Speaker 1: And just me reflecting back over my playing career, I'm

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Speaker 1: so thankful that I have my daughter and my life

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Speaker 1: to be able to enjoy that experience with me. And

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Speaker 1: I would just add to that, um in some of

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Speaker 1: the work that I've done with players, and I know

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Speaker 1: that you have seen it to um they're so focused,

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Speaker 1: so driven, and so motivated. But to have a little

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Speaker 1: child that you are responsible for. It's a different kind

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Speaker 1: of motivation and taking care of their bodies. Their health

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Speaker 1: is not just about being able to play the game.

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Speaker 1: It's about wanting to have longevity so that you can

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Speaker 1: see your son or your daughter, your children grow up

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Speaker 1: and experience all of the different kind of milestones, and

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Speaker 1: that becomes so important. One of the things, David, that

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Speaker 1: I have tried and in my role, and I'm so

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Speaker 1: grateful that the NFL we now have clinicians at every

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Speaker 1: team and we are helping to uplift mental wellness and

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Speaker 1: total wellness. But one of the things I've I've tried

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Speaker 1: to do is in the time that particularly that I'm

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Speaker 1: in front of rookies, you don't have a lot of time,

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Speaker 1: but you want to make the best use And I've

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Speaker 1: learned with their help to to underscore that their body

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Speaker 1: is their corporation and they have got to take care

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Speaker 1: of it. Their mind is their CEO, but their body

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Speaker 1: is their corporation. And so they may have all the

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Speaker 1: best food and all of the best health professionals around them,

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Speaker 1: but if they don't take care of their body, their

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Speaker 1: business is going to have a limited time. I've seen

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Speaker 1: young players come in and they have existed off of

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Speaker 1: their youth, and they may eat the right foods while

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Speaker 1: they're in the building, but then they go out and

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Speaker 1: do whatever they want to do. And so I'm grateful

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Speaker 1: to see veterans and to see professionals guide them to

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Speaker 1: learn that they are a precious commodity and their health

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Speaker 1: is not just to be able to play this game,

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Speaker 1: but it is for the life after this game, as

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Speaker 1: a father, as a husband, as an entrepreneur, whatever their

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Speaker 1: professional aspirations are. And so I'm so grateful that you're

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Speaker 1: in that kind of role, and there are many of

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Speaker 1: us that are working to lift up health for the

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Speaker 1: tremendous men that we work with. Absolutely, you're totally right.

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Speaker 1: Just there's such a focus on the physical strength of athletes,

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Speaker 1: being physically trained, making sure they're fast, making sure they're lane,

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Speaker 1: making sure that properly their diet is is appropriate, eating

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Speaker 1: the right fuels, fueling the right way, um, making sure

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Speaker 1: that the body fat. You know, every detail matters physically,

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Speaker 1: and that's important and there's a lot of resources in

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Speaker 1: that space. But we've come to learn and understand even

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Speaker 1: more than the value and the importance of having you know,

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Speaker 1: someone like yourself. The mental health professionalists supports staff on

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Speaker 1: on site and available to help provide that guidance for players,

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Speaker 1: because we need guys to be not just physically strong,

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Speaker 1: but mentally and emotionally strong as well. So you know,

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Speaker 1: that role and that support is equally as important to

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Speaker 1: helping guys really reach their optimal performance on game day

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Speaker 1: and and in life. You know, So it is. It's

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Speaker 1: so awesome now that every team has that resource available,

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Speaker 1: you know, for players in the building to be able

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Speaker 1: to utilize UM during their journey, during and beyond the

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Speaker 1: NFL experience. Absolutely, David, and we have a tremendous role.

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Speaker 1: You know. Even in the midst of COVID nineteen UM,

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Speaker 1: the mortality rate for men appears to be higher. Of course,

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Speaker 1: this is so new to all of us. We don't

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Speaker 1: know what all the studies mean, but that might suggest

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Speaker 1: that sometimes men are harboring in certain pains, certain physical

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Speaker 1: challenges that they just want to overlook. UM. Kind of

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Speaker 1: going and back to where we started in this discussion.

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Speaker 1: Little boys are taught to be the man of the

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Speaker 1: house there, taught to be in control of the situation.

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Speaker 1: And one of the things I hope that you and

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Speaker 1: I and others are able to uplift is that strength

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Speaker 1: is not just in brute force, but it is taking

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Speaker 1: your knowledge, your heart, and your emotions and using them

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Speaker 1: to grow into the great man that you are, the husband,

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Speaker 1: the father, the entrepreneur, maybe even to become a coach.

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Speaker 1: And so we have such a blessing to work with

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Speaker 1: these young men as well as to help legends who

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Speaker 1: are dealing with post life in the NFL, to give

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Speaker 1: them an opportunity. They've given so much to the game,

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Speaker 1: but we want them to give to themselves and to

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Speaker 1: their families. And I'm so grateful that the Coats have

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Speaker 1: you in that role, just as every team has a

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Speaker 1: role that you have also, David. So as as we

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Speaker 1: kind of wrap up, this is only the beginning as

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Speaker 1: we talk about men's health, but I just want us

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Speaker 1: to reflect as we end, what would you like to

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Speaker 1: see or maybe even you've begun doing this some some

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Speaker 1: steps to help uh, certainly current players really embrace their

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Speaker 1: role in their own health. Well, um, Dr Sheila, like

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Speaker 1: you said earlier, and you know my vision, you know,

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Speaker 1: for our player engagement department, we we want to make

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Speaker 1: sure that no one fails, you know, we want to

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Speaker 1: see all our guys be successful, UM during their playing

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Speaker 1: career and beyond their playing career. So when it comes

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Speaker 1: to your health, you know, I think it's just so

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Speaker 1: important for guys to keep that as a priority. UM.

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Speaker 1: As as much as it was a priority when you

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Speaker 1: were playing ball, it has to be just as an

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Speaker 1: as important, you know, your post career when you're not

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Speaker 1: playing ball anymore. And so there's several things you can

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Speaker 1: keep in mind, UM, when it comes to just keeping

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Speaker 1: your health as a priority. For me personally, I like

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Speaker 1: to keep in mind just each and every day, make

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Speaker 1: sure I start my day well. Just building good routines,

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Speaker 1: good habits. And it's different for each person, but just

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Speaker 1: making sure what does your daily routine look like? UM?

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Speaker 1: Are you dieting? Are you eating the right foods? Um?

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Speaker 1: Are you spending time exercise? You know, when we get

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Speaker 1: away from playing ball, UM, a lot of times I

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Speaker 1: exercise decline. But you gotta make sure you stay fit,

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Speaker 1: keep exercising, whether it's walking, going to the gym, um,

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Speaker 1: exercise and bike rising. So many different things you can

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Speaker 1: do to take care of your physical man. But that

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Speaker 1: has to stay as a top premium priority UM in

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Speaker 1: order to keep yourself physically, mentally, emotionally strong, um. All

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Speaker 1: other things you can do. Just making sure you're surrounding

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Speaker 1: yourself with the right type of people UM as much

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Speaker 1: as it was important when you're playing ball, but former

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Speaker 1: players the same thing. You want to make sure you're

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Speaker 1: around people who are positive, people who care about their health.

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Speaker 1: People can help hold you accountable, encourage you, support you

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Speaker 1: to to live well and to do well. So all

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Speaker 1: those things are critical um post career to have in place,

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Speaker 1: and once you do transition from the game, Legends is

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Speaker 1: so critical that you continue to make help a top

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Speaker 1: priority for you, UM. Being intentional about your habits, your routines, UM,

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Speaker 1: your lifestyle, and knowing that the NFL Legends community has

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Speaker 1: a ton of resources available um just to support you

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Speaker 1: during your transition away from the game. Specifically just the

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Speaker 1: NFL Lifeline, which is available to you and your family

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Speaker 1: at any time UM three sixty five days a year.

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Speaker 1: It's a great resource to reach out if you have

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Speaker 1: any private issue or anything you want to talk about

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Speaker 1: that's available for you. Along with the Legend community, the

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Speaker 1: transition coaches, mental health professionals, all these resources are readily

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Speaker 1: available for you to utilize. If you have all this

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Speaker 1: information and you're not using it, then it's to no avail,

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Speaker 1: you know, So you've gotta apply to information, reach out,

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Speaker 1: use it. That's the way it can can make a

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Speaker 1: true difference and have impact on your life. David, thank

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Speaker 1: you so much for sharing that, and I would just

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Speaker 1: humbly add that, um, not only utilizing those resources. To

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Speaker 1: be strong is to be able to to know where

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Speaker 1: your challenges are and to utilize help. To use help

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Speaker 1: is not a sign of weakness, and we want to

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Speaker 1: encourage players to invest in themselves. We want to encourage

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Speaker 1: former players in the Legends community to know that there

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Speaker 1: are whole and host of professionals that are there to

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Speaker 1: embrace you and to help you. You've given so much

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Speaker 1: to the game that there are lots of people that

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Speaker 1: want to give back to you. So David, this has

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Speaker 1: been absolutely amazing. It is always amazing to be in

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Speaker 1: your presence and to be talking about such critical issues

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Speaker 1: as men's health. Thanks so much for joining us and

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Speaker 1: thanks for listening in for the best is yet to come.

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Speaker 1: This has been the NFL Legends Podcast. To provide feedback

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Speaker 1: or request a topic for discussion, email us at NFL

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Speaker 1: Legends at nfl dot com. Yeah,