Speaker 1: That vulnerability, that real, that authentic like that's that's what
Speaker 1: allows everyone to play for one another. And it's those
Speaker 1: little things, it's the details, the little things become the
Speaker 1: big thing. All of a sudden, you see the vulnerability,
Speaker 1: You see the real emotion. Now I can relate to that.
Speaker 1: Now I can buy and I have a similar problem.
Speaker 1: I have, you know, different family, different situation, but I
Speaker 1: have that same emotion. So when people get vulnerable like
Speaker 1: that and lead that way, man, that's where that's where
Speaker 1: people can relate. And that's that's empathy. That's not just sympathy.
Speaker 1: I don't feel bad for you, No, I feel that
Speaker 1: with you. And it's like, now we're gonna go, We're
Speaker 1: gonna grow together. You are listening to the Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: podcast Network. This is Drive time with Travis Wingfield. Back
Speaker 1: the throne too all looking man, unlivable by it for
Speaker 1: a second time doing no worry, was going right away.
Speaker 1: I want to help you soon. Watt Wattle to a shotgun,
Speaker 1: back to the throll looking up fires, touchdop, It's waddle,
Speaker 1: It's six touchdown PA. Drive done with Travis Wingfield begins.
Speaker 1: Now what is up Dolphins and welcome to the Drivetime Podcast,
Speaker 1: part of the Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering your team,
Speaker 1: your Miami Dolphins. How's it going, everybody? I am your host,
Speaker 1: Travis Wingfield, fresh back from the scouting combine in Indianapolis,
Speaker 1: and today on the pod with a very special guest
Speaker 1: for you. Alec Ingle joins me to talk everything leadership, character,
Speaker 1: overcoming adversity, his new book, The Seven Crucibles, and we
Speaker 1: wound that, or I should say weaved that in to
Speaker 1: football and this Miami Dolphins team and what he sees
Speaker 1: with Mike McDaniel, Tatunga Valoa and so much more. Probably
Speaker 1: the best interview I've done, and I don't say that lightly.
Speaker 1: Let's move the chains and get to my interview with
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins fullback Aleck what's up, Dolphans. We are here
Speaker 1: inside the Baptist Hell Studios, inside the Baptist Hell Training Complex.
Speaker 1: I am Travis Wingfield, the host of the Drivetime Podcast,
Speaker 1: and I'm joined today by a very special guest today,
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins fullback Alec Ingold. Aleck. What's up man? He
Speaker 1: feels good to be back. We're rolling, man. Super cool
Speaker 1: to sit down here. Anytime I get to be able
Speaker 1: to be up here, so appreciate you having me. You
Speaker 1: might be the first fish tank and drivetime guest in
Speaker 1: the history of a Dolphins, So you're kind of breaking
Speaker 1: some barriers here a little bit. Well hopefully you know
Speaker 1: that just leads for like other people to you know,
Speaker 1: file footsteps. We're going drivetime. Yeah, fish tank was fun,
Speaker 1: same studio, a little different look, though a little bit
Speaker 1: different look. I love it. Seth always calls it the
Speaker 1: wingfield living room. Makes me a little bit uncomfortable, but
Speaker 1: we'll go ahead and call it that here once again today.
Speaker 1: But it is the off season. How's your off season
Speaker 1: been so far? What are you been up to? Man?
Speaker 1: Offseason has been good, being able to get refreshed, spent
Speaker 1: some family time together, being back in Wisconsin, doing some
Speaker 1: stuff with this book, which is really fun. Um, just
Speaker 1: getting away, get refreshed, you kind of get aligned with
Speaker 1: with goals and purpose for this upcoming season. We're kind
Speaker 1: of getting I'm getting Nancy. I can't wait to get
Speaker 1: this cast off and get ready to throw it down
Speaker 1: again for this next year. You mentioned the cast. I
Speaker 1: hadn't my notes here that. I'm sure you're pumped to
Speaker 1: get back out to training. Camp without the red jersey
Speaker 1: this year. I remember you talked about it a little
Speaker 1: bit last year. How excited are you for that? It's
Speaker 1: gonna be great. I think a full offseason being healthy
Speaker 1: is always gonna like like the football answer is like,
Speaker 1: you're going to develop and it's gonna be great. You're
Speaker 1: gonna be with the guys. I'm gonna be on the
Speaker 1: field this time because last year and no one knew,
Speaker 1: you know, anything that I was doing on the field.
Speaker 1: Off the field, you're just focused on rehabbing, get back
Speaker 1: to one hundred percent. Now you're with the guys one
Speaker 1: hundred percent of the time, working out this whole time,
Speaker 1: progressing with everyone else. It's gonna be really exciting and
Speaker 1: I'm fun. I'm excited to have a full South Florida
Speaker 1: training camp, no red jersey. It's gonna be hot. I
Speaker 1: know it is, but I'm looking forward to all of it.
Speaker 1: I just loved how fresh read you would get. Sometimes
Speaker 1: last year it's like, how about I play full back
Speaker 1: with the red jersey. Just those two things don't end up.
Speaker 1: They make no sense together. Film was tough to watch
Speaker 1: because it's like, Okay, I'm not We're going half speed
Speaker 1: three quarter speed and it's like, how are we supposed
Speaker 1: to do this? So eventually we just started going full
Speaker 1: speed and everyone just figured it out. Yeah, we're watching like,
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure Alex pretty good, but we're not really
Speaker 1: sure exactly what the end results of these plays are.
Speaker 1: Just yet. I do want to talk more football for you,
Speaker 1: but I want to go back to your offseason here
Speaker 1: real quick. I saw you went back to your former
Speaker 1: elementary school. How much fun was that? Man? Yeah, it
Speaker 1: was fun. It was a crazy day. So the school
Speaker 1: district reached out and we put up like you know,
Speaker 1: we have elementary school, middle school, high school. We made
Speaker 1: like a little tour so hit all the schools. Obviously
Speaker 1: got to go back to Swamico Elementary where everything started,
Speaker 1: and no, man, it was really cool to see teachers,
Speaker 1: to see faculty, to see these kids and be able
Speaker 1: to speak some inspiration in their lives. It's it's one
Speaker 1: of those full circle moments that you'll never forget. And
Speaker 1: it was definitely a lot of fun. So Swamico, I'm
Speaker 1: glad you said it because I hadn't written down it
Speaker 1: wasn't for the pronunciation. Yeah, but I don't want to
Speaker 1: take this the wrong way because I'm a huge fan
Speaker 1: of your spike after touchdowns. But I did see those
Speaker 1: dance moves you broke out any possibility that's a touchdown celebration.
Speaker 1: I was oping, I was hoping those dance moves stayed
Speaker 1: in Swama oh Man. But no, it was It was fun.
Speaker 1: It was great to see those teachers that we did
Speaker 1: the little TITSI role um and no, it's I mean,
Speaker 1: that's what that's what football is all about and roots
Speaker 1: you and it remembers that it's a game. At the
Speaker 1: same time, it gives you purpose anytime you strap up.
Speaker 1: We have that dolphin logo on the side your head,
Speaker 1: and that unifies everybody, right, Like that's the sacrifice to
Speaker 1: get to Sundays. That's what is the same of everybody.
Speaker 1: The name on the front of the shirt and then
Speaker 1: the name on the back of the shirt. You know,
Speaker 1: a lot of people will think, um, oh, you're being
Speaker 1: selfish whatever, that's that's where you come from, all those
Speaker 1: all those people from Swamiko to Bayport to Wisconsin all
Speaker 1: the way through. Like that's who you're representing when you're
Speaker 1: on the field. So it's really cool to kind of
Speaker 1: play for something bigger than yourself and then go back
Speaker 1: home and give back. Um, you know it's it's a
Speaker 1: two fold deal. Yeah, we love hearing then, and this
Speaker 1: kind of fall up to the fish tank question. They
Speaker 1: talked to you about a little bit. I think you
Speaker 1: came in on the bye week and you were heading
Speaker 1: up to to DCD and accepted award right the Adoption
Speaker 1: Excellence Award by adopt Us Kids. Tell us a little
Speaker 1: bit about that, give us an update on that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So the foundation that we found last about last year
Speaker 1: at this time, we did a number of events. Man,
Speaker 1: we're running all over the country probably you know, ten, fifteen,
Speaker 1: twenty events where we're helping bring awareness to adoption and
Speaker 1: foster care, but also being able to reach out to
Speaker 1: those kids, relate to them, give them some hope, some inspiration,
Speaker 1: some some lessons from my family, from my parents, how
Speaker 1: we related to be able to communicate well, so to
Speaker 1: be able to go through all that for a full year.
Speaker 1: Now we're up for year two, improving all the events
Speaker 1: that we have planned for this next year. And it's fun.
Speaker 1: It's cool to see those kids smile, be able to
Speaker 1: just be a kid. That little light bulb goes off
Speaker 1: when you're talking about writing down goals or whatever that is.
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's it's it's really inspiring for sure. Well, man,
Speaker 1: you have a future and in public speaking and in
Speaker 1: some type of inspirational speaking, because man, watching the way
Speaker 1: you interact those kids. I went through and watched a
Speaker 1: lot of the credit or the videos and whatnot. By
Speaker 1: the way, in twenty twenty three, anything you was going
Speaker 1: to be put online just so you know, so any
Speaker 1: dancing is going to be out there. But so I
Speaker 1: had a chance to go through and watch a lot
Speaker 1: of that. It was really cool. And I saw you
Speaker 1: had an interview talking about the book and in the
Speaker 1: book the Seven Crucibles by alec Ingold, inspirational game plan
Speaker 1: for overcoming adversity in your life, you describe the injury
Speaker 1: and the kickoff chapter in the book and kind of
Speaker 1: you know that was that was sort of what kicked
Speaker 1: off the idea of the book, right was was coming
Speaker 1: getting back from the acl and essentially temporarily losing your
Speaker 1: ability to earn a livelihood. I can't imagine what that's like.
Speaker 1: And you talked about the emotional pain outweighing the physical
Speaker 1: pain in the book. Can you take us through what
Speaker 1: that means yeah. I think in that moment, you can't
Speaker 1: control what happens to you, but you can control how
Speaker 1: you respond. And that's something that I had to go
Speaker 1: through and that's that was what was put on my plate,
Speaker 1: and it was my choice on how I was going
Speaker 1: to deal with it, how I was going to respond
Speaker 1: to that situation. So when you're covering a punt, your
Speaker 1: special team's captain, you're out there giving you're all you're
Speaker 1: you're ready for this big statement win that you're going
Speaker 1: to make, and you get off, you get pulled off
Speaker 1: on a stretcher. You know, that's that's not how it
Speaker 1: was planned, but that's how it went. And that's where
Speaker 1: you find a lot of grit determination. That adversity is opportunity.
Speaker 1: I know Coach McDaniel talks about that all the time.
Speaker 1: That was the opportunity for myself to prove to other
Speaker 1: people how much they mean to me, what I was
Speaker 1: willing to go through, what I was willing to sacrifice
Speaker 1: to get back out on the field. And in that moment,
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people relate to that pain
Speaker 1: of not knowing what's on the other side, or being
Speaker 1: told you're not getting that promotion and whether that's life, business, athletics, academics,
Speaker 1: like we all are afraid of those situations. And what
Speaker 1: I wanted to write down that book is like I
Speaker 1: was at the highest of highs you talk about NFL football,
Speaker 1: like I was at one of the peaks of my
Speaker 1: career that I was thinking it was going to happen.
Speaker 1: And in a stamp of a fingers, you're in a
Speaker 1: valley and to be able to say, Okay, I know
Speaker 1: how to climb a mountain, I've been there, Let's not
Speaker 1: worry about let's improve. Let's have this growth mindset, and
Speaker 1: let's use this as an opportunity to get better. That
Speaker 1: was everything. To be able to land on your feet
Speaker 1: here with an organization that supports you, and coaching staff
Speaker 1: that believes in you and coach you to your potential,
Speaker 1: and a bunch of guys in the locker room that
Speaker 1: are willing to fight for one another every single sunday,
Speaker 1: Like that gives you the courage to keep stepping and
Speaker 1: keep climbing and keep going. And that's what a lot
Speaker 1: of this book is about, is that journey of the
Speaker 1: top of the mountain to the bottom real quick, and
Speaker 1: then let's find a way to get back up there.
Speaker 1: Let's let's find a way to love this process, love
Speaker 1: this journey, appreciate every opportunity to then pay it forward
Speaker 1: to the next person. You mentioned mindset. I have to
Speaker 1: imagine that's one of the most important things, because like
Speaker 1: the minute you're on that cart, your mindset has to
Speaker 1: be completely different than it was prior to that play.
Speaker 1: Or you talk about going into you know, week ten
Speaker 1: of rehab, whatever it might be, when you guys are
Speaker 1: out there playing and you're sitting there, you know, do
Speaker 1: whatever you have to do to get back to playing.
Speaker 1: I just can't imagine what that's like as an athlete.
Speaker 1: I think that your message in here will really go
Speaker 1: a long way towards, you know, future athletes that have
Speaker 1: to endure that or in any walk of life, because
Speaker 1: in the book you talk about embracing you know, change,
Speaker 1: which for a lot of us is difficult. My wife
Speaker 1: would tell you that I'm the most resistant person to
Speaker 1: change on the planet. So maybe some personal mantrasn't here
Speaker 1: for me. But that's life in the NFL, right, That's
Speaker 1: that's what it's all about. The ability to be able
Speaker 1: to adapt and change on the flying. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's your choice. It's your choice to accept reality for
Speaker 1: what it is. You know, you don't have to make
Speaker 1: things more than what they are or less than what
Speaker 1: they are. It can just be what it is. And
Speaker 1: for that mindset to go through, it's hard. It's hard
Speaker 1: on a daily basis to find silver linings. That is
Speaker 1: hard for everyone. And when you have a helmet on,
Speaker 1: when you're out in the NFL and you're on this
Speaker 1: playing field, sometimes it might you might think that, man,
Speaker 1: it's just these are superheroes out there. They're just untouchable,
Speaker 1: and it's like, no, these mindsets, these this is the blueprint.
Speaker 1: This is how we got there. And it's by that
Speaker 1: positive self talk. It's by having people that believe in
Speaker 1: you and having two way communication. It's by finding those
Speaker 1: silver linings over and over and over again. And it's
Speaker 1: just like a muscle. It's just like a skill. You
Speaker 1: have to work it out, you have to improve on it,
Speaker 1: you have to want to do it. And that mindset, yeah,
Speaker 1: it was. It was one of the worst mindsets I
Speaker 1: probably ever been in. But I have a million people
Speaker 1: around you that have the answers, whether it's a coach,
Speaker 1: a teacher, a parent, sister, a brother, All of these
Speaker 1: people are so inspirational. It's just you just have to
Speaker 1: go look for it. You have to find the spots
Speaker 1: to go look for it. So having a mindset is
Speaker 1: it's not one in a million. There's there's people with
Speaker 1: amazing mindsets on all walks of life. It's just about
Speaker 1: willing to go through that hard of finding those silver
Speaker 1: linings over and over again. That's the hardest part of
Speaker 1: it all. The grindsets one of the seven crucibles one
Speaker 1: of them. Also your support system. You've talked a lot
Speaker 1: about that already here in this interview Coach McDaniel. You know,
Speaker 1: the coaching staff, the support staff, all the things that
Speaker 1: go into your rehab and getting back on the field.
Speaker 1: And you know you also reference to McDaniel in the
Speaker 1: locker room this year. He spoke a lot about how
Speaker 1: special he thought this group was a chance to religi
Speaker 1: something special this year. I just love with the majority
Speaker 1: of that core coming back to get a firsthand account
Speaker 1: from you, someone that's been in that locker room, to
Speaker 1: kind of give us more about what coaches talking about.
Speaker 1: What makes that Dolphins locker room so special. I think
Speaker 1: it's the standard that we were willing to hold each
Speaker 1: other accountable too. So the standard is the standard, right.
Speaker 1: So standard is it's a little bit more than a
Speaker 1: commitment to one another. Right. A standard is something you're
Speaker 1: not going to waiver from. Standard has been set and
Speaker 1: everyone is going to meet that standard. And that was
Speaker 1: set in training camp. That's after a few months with
Speaker 1: coach McDaniel. That's that's after a few months of just
Speaker 1: working hard and being with one another. So that standard
Speaker 1: is set, right, and it's easy to do that in
Speaker 1: training camp when you're developing, it's easy to do that.
Speaker 1: No tas when the pads aren't on. How is that
Speaker 1: standard going through when you're five and three all of
Speaker 1: a sudden you're five five like you're you're sliding, You're slipping, Like,
Speaker 1: does that standard waiver? No, we didn't. We worked hard,
Speaker 1: We had the formula and we worked through it together
Speaker 1: and we were able to win a million different ways,
Speaker 1: whether it's a defensive win, an offensive win, a lot
Speaker 1: of points, no points. You know, someone had to show
Speaker 1: up and close a game multiple times in different ways.
Speaker 1: And that standard that was set months before to be
Speaker 1: able to maintain that, to be consistent, to be sustainably
Speaker 1: motivated like that was all really specialized, Like that's where
Speaker 1: we're going on this roller coaster. It might look like
Speaker 1: that on the outside, but in here there's a bunch
Speaker 1: of guys trying to grow, develop, work from one another,
Speaker 1: serve one another on that field. And that's what I
Speaker 1: think was special about it. Is that something that came
Speaker 1: up when you visited here originally for free agency, talking
Speaker 1: about getting the right kind of people in here because
Speaker 1: this free agent class super productive on the field. But
Speaker 1: also we heard a lot about that from the way
Speaker 1: Tyree practices, from obviously Ron's leadership, yourself included. Do you
Speaker 1: take a lot of pride in being a part of
Speaker 1: this free agent class that was the first under Mike McDaniel.
Speaker 1: That kind of sets that tone for the right kind
Speaker 1: of guys to get in here. Yeah. And I don't
Speaker 1: think you have to wear it as like a badge
Speaker 1: vonn or anything, but there is responsibility to work hard first.
Speaker 1: And when you talk about a red jersey and training
Speaker 1: camp or whatever, like a lot of those guys were
Speaker 1: able to show up in different ways. Tyree can show
Speaker 1: up and immediately it's like, man, this guy is going
Speaker 1: to change something. But the way he sustainably worked right.
Speaker 1: It wasn't just I'm gonna show up when I want to.
Speaker 1: It was I'm gonna raise Jalen off the ball every
Speaker 1: single day in practice, and Tron battling through every single
Speaker 1: injury like it was. It was the sustained, It was
Speaker 1: the consistency about it, which I think was really cool.
Speaker 1: So there's a lot of responsibility, a lot of accountability
Speaker 1: with that. But those character traits, those little you know
Speaker 1: I talk about like living in the margins a little bit,
Speaker 1: bringing those things to life, Those coaches ums, those coaching
Speaker 1: points to life. Those guys did it, and I wanted
Speaker 1: to follow suit. I want to be one of those
Speaker 1: leaders too. And you see it all across the locker room,
Speaker 1: whether it's a free agent class, whether it's a draftee,
Speaker 1: whether they've been in the league eight years or two.
Speaker 1: It's all over the place in this locker room, which
Speaker 1: I think is really cool. Are you talking about two
Speaker 1: a little bit? During super Bowl Week? I got to
Speaker 1: ask about the quarterback talking about Confess, the way he
Speaker 1: carries off the locker room. You touch on that a
Speaker 1: little bit during super Bowl Week as well. Can you
Speaker 1: tell our Dolphins fans about him a little bit. My
Speaker 1: favorite part about two is he's himself and he's not
Speaker 1: trying to be anybody else, and that like number one.
Speaker 1: When he's on the field is number one. It's awesome,
Speaker 1: and off the field is a better human being than
Speaker 1: a quarterback throwing the ball. And it's like, it's really
Speaker 1: cool to be around a guy who's comfortable in his
Speaker 1: own skin, who's developing into whatever he's going to become,
Speaker 1: which is gonna be fun to watch, Like I'm excited,
Speaker 1: I got a front, see, I got my popcorn ready,
Speaker 1: Like it's gonna be fun. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: it's cool to just man, sit back and watch a
Speaker 1: guy just just be himself. There's a lot of people
Speaker 1: in the industry moving around they have to put on
Speaker 1: a front or have to do the right things all
Speaker 1: the time. And for to have the confidence the conviction
Speaker 1: in himself to be who he is around the guys,
Speaker 1: that's one of the coolest things. I love that about
Speaker 1: people when they're just comfortable being themselves. And whether it's
Speaker 1: on a golf course, in the weight room, on the
Speaker 1: football field, practice field at hard Rock, man that dude
Speaker 1: is he's too ah and it's just that's really cool.
Speaker 1: It's only in February. You got me a fight up
Speaker 1: for August. On all this, We're going to have to
Speaker 1: slow the role on a little bit because I can't
Speaker 1: wait for training camp. Man. I'm excited for this year's team,
Speaker 1: and a big part of that is, you know, you
Speaker 1: talk about continuity in the offense that we talked about
Speaker 1: there with Tyreek and torn yourself to a lot of
Speaker 1: those guys coming back for year two and coach McDaniel's offense.
Speaker 1: And I've been on a big kick about this on
Speaker 1: my podcast and otherwise about how you can grow and
Speaker 1: learning your number two. I'm curious to get someone that's
Speaker 1: been a part of it from year one on this offense.
Speaker 1: How can a second year where thinks maybe you're a
Speaker 1: little more second nature really help improve this Dolphin's offense. Well,
Speaker 1: I think everything that we learned last year had a
Speaker 1: little like a little pinch of a different location. Right
Speaker 1: We're watching tape from different teams, whether it was our
Speaker 1: own teams back in the day, whether it was San Francisco,
Speaker 1: whether it was Miami. So you're watching all this different
Speaker 1: it's like a pot it's like a stew of all
Speaker 1: of this film all offseason and that's how we're learning.
Speaker 1: And this offseason we get to watch our own stuff
Speaker 1: and then I get I get to remember, Oh, that's
Speaker 1: how I was getting coached. This is what the coaching
Speaker 1: point was. Now we're going to develop and add this
Speaker 1: little wrinkle, right, and you get to see yourself do it.
Speaker 1: You get to see yourself succeed, you get to see
Speaker 1: yourself fail, you get to improve from that. Like, that's
Speaker 1: where the continuity and that consistency. It's a lot easier
Speaker 1: visually for me to put myself in these coaching points
Speaker 1: in these meeting rooms and say, Okay, I'm going to
Speaker 1: take this out to the field at practice and then
Speaker 1: it's going to transition into the game. So being able
Speaker 1: to be with your boots on the ground and be
Speaker 1: able to see that, I think that's going to be
Speaker 1: massive for a lot of development early on in training
Speaker 1: camp and this offseason. And then it's just being around guy.
Speaker 1: It's being comfortable being a human being, being able to
Speaker 1: have you know, habits, routines, being able to go on
Speaker 1: a golf course with guys, to be able to do
Speaker 1: things off the field, to be able that continuity, to
Speaker 1: know somebody a little bit more than just their their
Speaker 1: jersey number. So those two things, you know, that's where
Speaker 1: I think a lot of growth and development happens. You
Speaker 1: mentioned golf a few times. You pretty go on the
Speaker 1: golf course. I will be eventually, no, but it's some
Speaker 1: it's self Florida, man, you got you gotta get out there.
Speaker 1: And we play a lot down here too. So we
Speaker 1: talked about football here and speaking of the cast and
Speaker 1: being able to write again hopefully soon. Assume you right
Speaker 1: handed with with the pending your handed. I just typing,
Speaker 1: but I want to go back to the book. That's
Speaker 1: Haven Crucibles here. And you had mentioned in an interview
Speaker 1: during your trip back home that you did a lot
Speaker 1: of journaling and that kind of was the process behind
Speaker 1: writing the book. I'm just curious in what ways did
Speaker 1: journaling help you get through those times before the book
Speaker 1: was even an idea. Yeah, so journaling was where I
Speaker 1: was just able to get emotions out on a piece
Speaker 1: of page and stay consistent into my development. We've talked
Speaker 1: about it a couple of times, but you know, I
Speaker 1: don't think you know, emotions are crazy and when the
Speaker 1: stakes are high, when the stakes are raised, when you're
Speaker 1: playing high stakes poker, like emotions can can mirror muddy
Speaker 1: your judgment, right, And for me to be able to
Speaker 1: find a release that was healthy and just journaling, to
Speaker 1: be able to get thoughts out on paper and not
Speaker 1: worry about it and then go in and be great
Speaker 1: teammate and help the team win at whatever cost. It
Speaker 1: was like that was able to be a healthy release
Speaker 1: for those emotions, so that the standard could remain the
Speaker 1: standard and we could use it for positivity. Right. You'd
Speaker 1: be able to see your fears, what you're afraid of,
Speaker 1: and be like, Okay, it's not a big deal. You
Speaker 1: can see what is motivating you your goals and be like, okay,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna think about that. More So, being able to
Speaker 1: journal that way on a consistent basis just helped bridge
Speaker 1: the whole gap on stand consistent with that mindset that
Speaker 1: we talked about, and then just just figuring out what
Speaker 1: you want to accomplish those goals. Once it's on a
Speaker 1: piece of paper, Okay, now we can go chase it.
Speaker 1: It's a little different than if you're just if it's
Speaker 1: sitting in your head. I'll have to imagine you're still
Speaker 1: journaling then after the fact, right, no doubt. Yeah, all
Speaker 1: the time. Potential second book maybe in the future, Well,
Speaker 1: we'll have to see. I think we got to win
Speaker 1: some games and maybe have some entertaining stuff to talk about.
Speaker 1: I'm sure we will. So it's it's it's exciting. It
Speaker 1: was a great process writing the book. I'm glad to
Speaker 1: be able to serve other people with it. Athletes, business people, teachers, coaches, parents,
Speaker 1: it's been it's been really cool to build a community
Speaker 1: off of this book and just another way to reach
Speaker 1: back into the fans and to everyone that watches and
Speaker 1: supports the Dolphins every single Sunday, Like this is peeling
Speaker 1: the curtain back a little bit. This is who we are,
Speaker 1: this is how we do our how we relate, and
Speaker 1: it's just another way to once again connect to that
Speaker 1: bridge that gap and be a part of this community
Speaker 1: more and more. Yeah, it's really cool to see that.
Speaker 1: Man like talking about seeing you back with your hometown
Speaker 1: and your schools and the kids obviously see the impact.
Speaker 1: Now you've mentioned mindset a few times. It's one of
Speaker 1: the seven crucibles. Well, it's grindset. A little bit of
Speaker 1: a shift there. I want to just touch on all
Speaker 1: those purpose competition, grindset, support, leadership, discipline, perspective. Why are
Speaker 1: those seven so important to you? I think all those
Speaker 1: seven things bring your goals, your ambition, your dreams to life.
Speaker 1: And a lot of people think, Okay, so if I'm
Speaker 1: an athlete, if I'm a youth athlete, now I'm gonna
Speaker 1: spend all this time worrying about how skilled I can get,
Speaker 1: how much time I can dribble the ball, how much
Speaker 1: time I can catch the pass, how much time I
Speaker 1: can throw football. I think these seven things really help
Speaker 1: bring the person and work on the person and not
Speaker 1: just the employee number. Like we're talking about employee number thirty,
Speaker 1: employe number one, Like who are you right? And I
Speaker 1: feel like character is really what sets your ceiling your potential,
Speaker 1: not talent. I feel like talent is a floor that
Speaker 1: will get you into building places in the athletic world.
Speaker 1: But that character, who you are, the type of man, woman,
Speaker 1: human being that you are, I think that sets a
Speaker 1: standard for who you can become. And I feel like
Speaker 1: that really allows you to grow up into your potential.
Speaker 1: So being able to work on those seven things, I
Speaker 1: think that's what's developing your character, raising your ceiling and
Speaker 1: what you can accomplish because man, everyone wants to win now,
Speaker 1: everyone wants to develop. Now, we want to see the
Speaker 1: results now, all right, but what if we work on
Speaker 1: all of these things every single day, daily deposits until
Speaker 1: you know, one year from now, two years from now,
Speaker 1: three years from now, if you're consistent with it, everything's
Speaker 1: gonna come along. That's why football is the best game,
Speaker 1: because it's so easily translates over to life and it's
Speaker 1: the exact same thing in football and in life. Another
Speaker 1: message in your book, kind of going back to, you know,
Speaker 1: coach in the support system, is you talk about how
Speaker 1: everybody's going through something. Everybody has their own trials and tribulations,
Speaker 1: and your approach is that if you can own that,
Speaker 1: if you can be authentic and vulnerable with people that
Speaker 1: care about you, then you're gonna get through it. And
Speaker 1: that word was really it really struck out to me, Alex,
Speaker 1: the word vulnerable, because like twenty years ago, maybe even
Speaker 1: a decade ago, that was kind of a bad word
Speaker 1: or football like something that you just didn't do. At
Speaker 1: least you know, for men especially, you don't don't be vulnerable.
Speaker 1: But now we see a lot more players talk about
Speaker 1: those struggles and bringing vulnerability to light. I'm curious where
Speaker 1: along the way you learned that in a sport that
Speaker 1: maybe it wasn't always embraced. I think it was from
Speaker 1: watching veterans be vulnerable, watching coaches be vulnerable, just be real,
Speaker 1: be themselves, be genuine. And I talked about, you know,
Speaker 1: two of being himself and like, that's something that I
Speaker 1: look up to, and everyone I'm around like, I love
Speaker 1: that about people. So when you're vulnerable, I think that
Speaker 1: just means that you're willing to share your feel fears
Speaker 1: with other people. You're you're willing to show flaws, to
Speaker 1: not be perfect for other people for the betterment of
Speaker 1: the team. And I think that's where your real strength relies.
Speaker 1: It lies in because man, you're sitting around a group
Speaker 1: of guys and everyone's trying to be perfect. Everyone's worried
Speaker 1: about making a mistake. It's like, no, let's just be great.
Speaker 1: Let's let's do our best. Let's do our best for
Speaker 1: one another, let's serve one another. All of a sudden,
Speaker 1: you get that team mindset, you get an identity, you
Speaker 1: have a culture. People can get brought into it, people
Speaker 1: can see that all of a sudden, it just starts
Speaker 1: rolling and starts dominant, it starts piling on, and it
Speaker 1: all starts from from that vulnerable style of leadership and
Speaker 1: just being real and authentic. So, you know, I think
Speaker 1: a lot of people, especially kids you talk. You know,
Speaker 1: I was at an elementary school and middle school all that. Man,
Speaker 1: kids are the best BS meters in the world. They
Speaker 1: will tell you like, no, that's not real. Like I
Speaker 1: looked at out it's not Google. No, and they'll raise
Speaker 1: your hand, they'll tell you to your face. But like,
Speaker 1: as you develop, I do think that that shouldn't change.
Speaker 1: I think that people that are sitting in the room
Speaker 1: should be able to be like, yeah, that's real. I
Speaker 1: can tell it's real. I can feel that, I can
Speaker 1: feel the emotion, I can feel everything that's getting put
Speaker 1: into this team. All right, I'm gonna match that. That's
Speaker 1: the standard. Now we're going to go. And if you
Speaker 1: can set the town that way, I think that's where
Speaker 1: that's where everyone can buy in and go all in
Speaker 1: and give yourselves the best chance to succeed. There's no
Speaker 1: place required for thicker skin than elementary schools. Many they
Speaker 1: are ruthless. You talk about that vulnerability in the leadership,
Speaker 1: you know, I saw a coach McDaniel a couple of
Speaker 1: times talk about things that are important him at press
Speaker 1: conferences and get a little bit choked up, and it
Speaker 1: gets me choked up. Especially he talks about his daughter,
Speaker 1: his family. That really gets me going. I have to
Speaker 1: imagine that that's a big part of where the team's
Speaker 1: ability to kind of be vulnerable comes from. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think that's where it starts. And you know, it starts
Speaker 1: top down. But at the same time, that vulnerability, that real,
Speaker 1: that authentic, like, that's that's what allows everyone to play
Speaker 1: for one another. And it's those little things, it's the details,
Speaker 1: the little things become the big things, right. So I
Speaker 1: think that's where, oh, all of a sudden, you see
Speaker 1: the vulnerability, you see the real emotion. Now I can
Speaker 1: relate to that. Now I can. I have a similar problem.
Speaker 1: I have, you know, different family, a different situation, but
Speaker 1: I have that same emotion. So when people get vulnerable
Speaker 1: like that and lead that way, man, that's where that's
Speaker 1: where people can relate. And that's that's empathy. That's not
Speaker 1: just sympathy. I don't feel bad for you know, I
Speaker 1: feel that with you, and it's like, now we're gonna go,
Speaker 1: We're gonna grow together, so U leadership style, people buying
Speaker 1: in that way, a culture and identity. All of that
Speaker 1: related around just authentically being yourself. Man's that's some powerful stuff.
Speaker 1: That's really it is powerful, is the best way to
Speaker 1: describe it. And earlier I allude to how I love
Speaker 1: how football just relates to life in so many ways.
Speaker 1: And you know you talked about it earlier. The winning
Speaker 1: streaks and losing streaks this year, the ups and downs, expectations, disappointment,
Speaker 1: ultimately getting into the playoffs, coming so close to winning
Speaker 1: the playoff game. You really get every emotion in one
Speaker 1: football season. How do you think those teams helped you
Speaker 1: individually the season? I think it makes it all worth it,
Speaker 1: feeling those emotions being bought in, like trying your hardest
Speaker 1: and failing like that hurts, that sucks. But if you
Speaker 1: never go all in in the first place, if you
Speaker 1: never give yourself that chance to bounce back, if you
Speaker 1: never give yourself a chance, you're not even playing the
Speaker 1: hand that you're dealt, right, Like, man, that's you're just
Speaker 1: you're on the sidelines. And let's let's put some let's
Speaker 1: put it into the game. Let's go play. And I
Speaker 1: feel like that going all in and feeling those emotions
Speaker 1: and having those highs and lows like they're there, and
Speaker 1: we have that growth mindset where we have that standard
Speaker 1: we talked about, that's the identity, that's the culture, that's
Speaker 1: what we're working towards, that's the preparation that we all
Speaker 1: put in for one another. But we're not holding anything back.
Speaker 1: And if you fall short, it hurts that much more.
Speaker 1: But you're giving yourself that much more of a chance
Speaker 1: to succeed. You're giving yourself that much more of a
Speaker 1: chance to break through. You're giving yourself that much more
Speaker 1: of a chance to do something you've never done before.
Speaker 1: And you know, I think there's a point in this
Speaker 1: book I talk about like having to make a choice
Speaker 1: to go through and sacrifice something I've never sacrificed before,
Speaker 1: to accomplish something I've never accomplished before. And it's like
Speaker 1: that that I set as a team. If everyone buys
Speaker 1: it on that, that's going to give your shot to
Speaker 1: be where you want at the end of the season.
Speaker 1: Uncomfortable situations, right, that's where growth, the courage you talk
Speaker 1: about in the book. And so I'll finish with this
Speaker 1: for your kind of that same idea, how do you
Speaker 1: think that helps the team? Again, a lot of the
Speaker 1: core kind of you know in place here with a
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three team, as far as guys that were
Speaker 1: here from last year, how do you think those lessons
Speaker 1: and what you guys went through last year can help
Speaker 1: the team in twenty twenty three. Yeah, there were uncomfortable moments,
Speaker 1: and that came from the experience that came from our
Speaker 1: whole team coming together. But being comfortable, being uncomfortable, finding
Speaker 1: that that limit where you're going to push yourself in
Speaker 1: a practice field, right in OTAs, in your nutrition, in
Speaker 1: all these little things, all these daily deposits, all those
Speaker 1: little details, those margins we talk about if you're uncomfortable
Speaker 1: because you are pushing yourself to the absolute limit and
Speaker 1: all of those spaces and we can all do that.
Speaker 1: I feel like that's where you're going to be able
Speaker 1: to see that when the lights are on, you're comfortable. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I mean that's a that's a it's a scary
Speaker 1: word or scary concept, but like if you're always unco
Speaker 1: if you're always pushing it, you're always at the edge,
Speaker 1: you're always trying to chase more. You're always trying to
Speaker 1: serve one another and give that extra ounce of effort.
Speaker 1: That's a habit. Now, that's a routine. You're used to that, right,
Speaker 1: So now that's what you're going to do on Sundays.
Speaker 1: And So that's what I mean by being comfortable. It's
Speaker 1: like you're doing things you have been doing already. And
Speaker 1: that comes from the preparation that comes from a second
Speaker 1: year being together, That comes from guys buying in with
Speaker 1: one another. And I feel like those those margins, those details,
Speaker 1: that's that's what separates, especially in this game and a
Speaker 1: game of inches. So, man, we're gonna be we're in
Speaker 1: pushing the selves and this whole offseason we're gonna be
Speaker 1: finding that limit. We're gonna step past it, we're gonna
Speaker 1: push all the way through, and we're gonna keep ourselves
Speaker 1: accountable to that standard. So really excited to see these
Speaker 1: guys and get back to it. The smile says it all.
Speaker 1: You've got me fired up. I'm very excited for We're
Speaker 1: excited to have you here. Man, We're lucky to have
Speaker 1: you here. The youth is lucky to have you as
Speaker 1: a role model. Again. The seven crucibles and inspirational game
Speaker 1: plan for overcoming adverse in your life. Fullback alec Ingold,
Speaker 1: really enjoy your time today, man, that was a lot
Speaker 1: of fun. Thank you. I appreciate the time. Let's go wow. Yeah,
Speaker 1: try and to scour that interview for a clip to
Speaker 1: put in the beginning of the episode, which you're going
Speaker 1: to see me do that. Most podcasts do that where
Speaker 1: you take probably the best part of that interview, put
Speaker 1: it in the intro part of the podcast, kind of
Speaker 1: build that interest and then roll the interview from there.
Speaker 1: It was tough to do this time because Alex said
Speaker 1: so many poignant things. As you heard, they're very profound,
Speaker 1: very very good leader, not just on the football team
Speaker 1: and in the community. Here alec Ingold rooting for that guy.
Speaker 1: I don't know how you couldn't. He also is one
Speaker 1: of the most unique players in the NFL in terms
Speaker 1: of how he's used, how he can expand this offense
Speaker 1: to do multiple things that really not many other offenses
Speaker 1: have the ability to do that because of the two
Speaker 1: back personnel, Miami can run when he's on the field.
Speaker 1: So great stuff there. I hope you guys enjoyed it.
Speaker 1: We have a YouTube version of that. It's also going
Speaker 1: to be up on our Dolphins Today show, which is
Speaker 1: on Ballet Sports as well as the YouTube channel. We'll
Speaker 1: probably ask some social clips as well. So go ahead
Speaker 1: and really help us elevate that content. Go out there
Speaker 1: and retweet, like and comment on all the stuff, and
Speaker 1: like I always tell you, please go and subscribe to
Speaker 1: the podcast on Apple Podcast, Leave us a rating, leave
Speaker 1: us a review. You can follow me on Twitter at
Speaker 1: Wingfold NFL. Follow the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out
Speaker 1: the fish Tank podcast they had Alec last year. Go
Speaker 1: back and check out that episode as well. You can
Speaker 1: check out the international podcast on the network Portuguese English
Speaker 1: as well as Spanish, and also the YouTube channel for
Speaker 1: Dolphins Today, Media Availabilities, and last but not least, Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins dot com. Until next time, finds up Caroline and
Speaker 1: Camera and Daddy. He's coming home.