Speaker 1: There's a man who's going to take the stage to
Speaker 1: lead our next panel that needs no introduction, as the
Speaker 1: m C. Cliche goes, but it is kind of true. Uh.
Speaker 1: He is one of the best of all time on
Speaker 1: the field and off the field. The old cliche was
Speaker 1: he only caught touchdowns, but that was far from true.
Speaker 1: He had over eleven hundred regular receptions to his Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame career, and he was also a man who
Speaker 1: has inspired change for decades through his platform as an
Speaker 1: all time NFL great. He was the nine recipient of
Speaker 1: the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award presented
Speaker 1: by Nationwide. And he will introduce the rest of the
Speaker 1: panelists as he moderates this one on social justice and
Speaker 1: inspiring change. I leave you in the absolutely capable hands,
Speaker 1: all time great hands, Chris Carter, Chris, good to see you, buddy.
Speaker 1: Get a man, Thank you many, thank you, thank you
Speaker 1: very much. Now joining me on the stage, a star
Speaker 1: in his own right, and a guy that single handedly
Speaker 1: has helped lead NFL players and their voices. Welcome to
Speaker 1: the stage. Ramon Jones, CMO of Nationwide. Nice little track there,
Speaker 1: I like that. Always impeccably dressed welcome, welcome, welcome. Next
Speaker 1: to the stage, a very very dear friend of mine.
Speaker 1: I have to apologize for that. Two thousand and two
Speaker 1: Award winner, Executive Vice President NFL Football Operations, And I
Speaker 1: scored a couple of TVs on this guy. You don't
Speaker 1: want to admit it. Troy Vincent. When they came to Philly,
Speaker 1: we beat their Backsage Next, two thousand fourteen Award winner,
Speaker 1: fifteen year NFL veteran, mostly with Carolina six Todd. I
Speaker 1: know my Mike was going out polize. Check out the shoes.
Speaker 1: He's dressed like a wide receiver. Former linebacker Thomas Davis. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess now true. You played fifteen right, Thomas? You
Speaker 1: played six team with You played six team? Come on down,
Speaker 1: big fellows, Mr Good Looking, Mr Clean, two thousand award winner,
Speaker 1: Captain of the defending Super Bowl champ, The Ultimate walk Off.
Speaker 1: He's been working on his tan Is golf game. His
Speaker 1: wife told him find something else to do. That's right.
Speaker 1: These are the finest of the finest that we have
Speaker 1: and players. First of all, um, starting with TV, kind
Speaker 1: of explain some of the programs that you're currently doing
Speaker 1: in the communities, because you've got a couple of different programs,
Speaker 1: sometimes in Virginia, sometimes in New York Jersey. Yep, so
Speaker 1: just real briefly, just my wife, Tommy and I. We
Speaker 1: began our community work back in our hometown, Trent, New Jersey.
Speaker 1: We started off which we still do, which is the
Speaker 1: bedrock of our our foundation is supporting domestic violence shelters
Speaker 1: and families and women that have been impacted by sexual
Speaker 1: assault UM in the city of Trent, New Jersey. And
Speaker 1: then as we moved to northern Virginia, we began to frankly,
Speaker 1: just make sure that we are we're impacting every city,
Speaker 1: every state because violent against women is rampant. And then
Speaker 1: most recently in the in the last ten years, our
Speaker 1: efforts have been around elementary education and really focusing in
Speaker 1: on bridging the gap between UM young men and women
Speaker 1: again K through five as our concentration UM, just building
Speaker 1: that educational divide. Are some of the things that you're
Speaker 1: doing currently, Yeah, so we're currently. I started my foundation
Speaker 1: in two thousand and eight, and you know, as the
Speaker 1: years go on, my goal with my foundation has always
Speaker 1: to make it bigger and better than the previous year.
Speaker 1: And that's something that we've been able to do. And this, ironically,
Speaker 1: you're working with K through five. I started the Leadership
Speaker 1: Academy that works with six seventh and eighth grade kids. UM.
Speaker 1: And the reason why we chose six seventh and eighth
Speaker 1: grade kids we know and we started to learn that
Speaker 1: kids at that age they make a decision what direction
Speaker 1: they're gonna go in. So we wanted to start working
Speaker 1: with them or being productive leaders and not being followers,
Speaker 1: because if you can catch them early before they reached
Speaker 1: those high school years, UM, we understood that we can
Speaker 1: have a huge impact on their future. And UM we've
Speaker 1: been able to be a part of some kids becoming
Speaker 1: first generation in college grass UM through our programs. So
Speaker 1: that's one of the things that I'm most proud of
Speaker 1: what we do with I know you're still doing some
Speaker 1: amazing things, but I want you to tell the story
Speaker 1: about the team you previously played for and one game
Speaker 1: being surprised because someone came across the field and you
Speaker 1: were a little apprehensive about that situation. Yeah, it was unbelievable.
Speaker 1: It was one of those things when you're playing in
Speaker 1: the game, you have TV time out, so you've played
Speaker 1: against guys throughout your career and you know you might
Speaker 1: dab him up, you might get him little head nod.
Speaker 1: It might be somebody you don't like that much, and
Speaker 1: you make a little eye contact. All these things happen, right,
Speaker 1: but you know how many smiles and every now and
Speaker 1: then this guy as you really know and there's a
Speaker 1: little bit of talk. But in this game, I kept
Speaker 1: seeing this young kid just staring at me every TV
Speaker 1: time out and just like made me think of my
Speaker 1: own kids, Like just the excitement in his face. I
Speaker 1: was like, he has something to say and he won't
Speaker 1: say it, and so I just kept like, you know,
Speaker 1: give him a little way, a little nod. And the
Speaker 1: game ends and I see him running for me after
Speaker 1: the final whistle, and I'm like, oh, man, all right,
Speaker 1: how do I know this guy? Like I'm trying to
Speaker 1: think through l s U buddies, Like did somebody text
Speaker 1: me this week and say, you know, look out for
Speaker 1: my boy, like an agent or something, you know, somebody
Speaker 1: tell me to look out for this guy. And he
Speaker 1: walks up and it was so cool. It's like he
Speaker 1: could see it in my face, like man, he is
Speaker 1: not know who I am. And he's like, hey, calm down,
Speaker 1: like you're not gonna know me. He's like, but I
Speaker 1: just I wanted two things, one to tell you thank you,
Speaker 1: and to to tell you I made it. And he
Speaker 1: ended up telling me he's like, my name's Derek Barnes.
Speaker 1: He's like, you used to throw the football, hang out
Speaker 1: me on the steps, and just chill with me on
Speaker 1: NFL Tuesdays in the NFL when you were a rookie
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati. I was one of those kids at the
Speaker 1: Boys and Girls Club, whether you realized it or not,
Speaker 1: that you were spending your time with and hanging out with,
Speaker 1: and it meant the world to me and I have
Speaker 1: waited for this moment when I saw the schedule come out,
Speaker 1: to be able to come tell you I made it,
Speaker 1: and it was it was honestly, it was like I
Speaker 1: blocked out after that, I really I went back. I
Speaker 1: texted me next week like, I don't know what I
Speaker 1: said to you after you told me that, but thank you, man,
Speaker 1: appreciate your sharing it with Now we're moan for you.
Speaker 1: You've had a very very special relationship with the National
Speaker 1: Football League. You've grown the partnership that was starting. Tell
Speaker 1: us how that partnership has helped you nationwide as a
Speaker 1: company and then on a personal standpoint, hearing these stories
Speaker 1: and getting to know the men that win this award,
Speaker 1: type of effect that's had on you. Sure thing, Chris,
Speaker 1: so first and foremost as an honor to be up
Speaker 1: here with these gentlemen. It is an honor. One of
Speaker 1: these people don't belong here. It's the insurance guy, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. I'm just kidding, Uh, it's it
Speaker 1: is an honor to be here and to listen to
Speaker 1: these stories. It becomes really really obvious why this is
Speaker 1: important to nationwide. We describe our company as being more
Speaker 1: than a business. And yes we're fortune. Yes, you know,
Speaker 1: we look to drive sales and and grow revenue as
Speaker 1: all of the partners do. But this is more than
Speaker 1: a business to us. Uh. It's important that we give
Speaker 1: back to the communities in which our associates and our
Speaker 1: our members are policy holders, live in, work. Uh In
Speaker 1: The partnership with the NFL actually helps us do that. Uh.
Speaker 1: There's lots of ways that you can partner with the NFL.
Speaker 1: We leaned into and couldn't be more proud to be
Speaker 1: associated with the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award
Speaker 1: because again a substantial part of our effort goes into
Speaker 1: giving back. I mean, there's a hospital in Columbus called
Speaker 1: the Nationwide Children's Hospital. That's just an example of how
Speaker 1: it's important that we give back. To be able to
Speaker 1: shine a light on a work that these gentlemen do
Speaker 1: U and the other nominees every year, the work that
Speaker 1: they do, the nonprofits that they support, to be able
Speaker 1: to support that financially, to be able to put our
Speaker 1: brand behind that, it just it means the world to us.
Speaker 1: But it's really important to our partners, to the people
Speaker 1: that sell our products. It is important to the people
Speaker 1: that purchase our products, you know, consumers today and in
Speaker 1: the future. They want to make sure that they're doing
Speaker 1: business with a company that cares. And we'd like to
Speaker 1: describe ourselves that way. Lastly, personally, UH, it is an
Speaker 1: honor to be able to play a role in shining
Speaker 1: a light on role models for the next generation. And
Speaker 1: so there's plenty of opportunities to see UH men and
Speaker 1: black men showing up poorly in the media. There's plenty
Speaker 1: of opportunities to do that. There's plenty of opportunities to
Speaker 1: bash sports in the bash the NFL, as I heard
Speaker 1: in one of the videos it's important for us to
Speaker 1: show the good work that you guys are doing when
Speaker 1: your helmets are off, when you're not there, and so
Speaker 1: to be able to use my position and have the
Speaker 1: support of my company to shine a light on that,
Speaker 1: there's no higher honor, and so that might be a
Speaker 1: little bit more than what you were looking for, Crystal,
Speaker 1: this is a big deal for us. It is, and
Speaker 1: we're proud to be part of it. You guys have
Speaker 1: made it a big deal. You made it very very
Speaker 1: important from a corporate standpoint. You're talking points are very
Speaker 1: very consistent, and you empowered our players to do even
Speaker 1: greater things. This is such a prestigious award, Thomas. Let's
Speaker 1: talk about the prestige of the award inside the NFL
Speaker 1: circles amongst our six players, and then give me maybe
Speaker 1: one or two players that might have been a good
Speaker 1: example or even a coach as far as you're getting
Speaker 1: out and being involved in the community. Yeah, so this
Speaker 1: is definitely, without a doubt, the most prestigious award that
Speaker 1: you can win because if you look at wars that
Speaker 1: are being given, like if you look at the Defensive
Speaker 1: Player of the Year, that's an award that you win
Speaker 1: as an individual player, but you win it because you
Speaker 1: have other great teammates that are around you that are
Speaker 1: doing great things. Same thing with the m v P Award,
Speaker 1: the Most Valuable Offensive Player award. Those are all awards
Speaker 1: that you can win because you have people that are
Speaker 1: around you that are supporting you, that are helping you.
Speaker 1: When I look at the watching Paton Man that a
Speaker 1: year award, the same thing though. We have a lot
Speaker 1: of great people that are around us that are doing
Speaker 1: a lot of great work, whether it be board members,
Speaker 1: whether it be people within the community just coming to
Speaker 1: help out. So that's why this award to me is
Speaker 1: the most prestigious award that you can ever win as
Speaker 1: a player. UM's only given to one player yearly, and
Speaker 1: there are so many people that are so deserving for it,
Speaker 1: so we're all competing, we're all doing great things. But
Speaker 1: I think for me, it's always been about just going
Speaker 1: out and doing the work, doing the work, not looking
Speaker 1: for in the war, not looking for the attention UM
Speaker 1: or trying to gain notoriety. And I know I'm getting
Speaker 1: a little bit off topic, but I'm extremely passionate about
Speaker 1: making the space that I'm in better. I learned that
Speaker 1: at a young age, and I knew at a very
Speaker 1: young age that I wanted to dive deep into this
Speaker 1: community because I watched my mom struggle day in and
Speaker 1: day out. I watched her struggle to raise me and
Speaker 1: my sister, and I knew that there are a ton
Speaker 1: of parents, a ton of mothers that were dealing with
Speaker 1: some of the same things. And for me, I would
Speaker 1: be remissed if I sat there as an NFL player
Speaker 1: making millions of dollars and not using it for good.
Speaker 1: So literally, nationwide, I'm gonna talk about you all a
Speaker 1: little bit too ramon the the award and the money
Speaker 1: that they gave the players went up astronomically after I
Speaker 1: won for whateverse but but listen, but literally literally um
Speaker 1: And I said that to say this, like literally, probably
Speaker 1: eight of the money that has been donated over the
Speaker 1: from two thousand and eight to two thousand and twenty
Speaker 1: two to my foundation and the work that we do
Speaker 1: has come for me. And I'm fine with that. Like
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that to to sound like I'm complaining
Speaker 1: about it. But for me, it's all about it's all
Speaker 1: about giving back and having that that feeling of knowing
Speaker 1: that you just made a difference in somebody's line, somebody
Speaker 1: who on an uneven playing field. When you look at
Speaker 1: certain kids that go to school and they don't have
Speaker 1: school supplies, like something that's simple as just having a
Speaker 1: backpack that has school supplies. We started doing that and
Speaker 1: giving it to him, and then we learned that, Okay,
Speaker 1: in two weeks those supplies were done. How can we
Speaker 1: do this so these kids can sustain this throughout the
Speaker 1: whole year, So we started picking up particular school and
Speaker 1: doing the entire school for the entire school year. I
Speaker 1: think that has a greater impact on a parent who's wondering,
Speaker 1: you know how am I gonna do this for my
Speaker 1: kid or a kid that's wondering, you know how am
Speaker 1: I gonna have, you know, just a pencil or paper
Speaker 1: or just the basic things that we take for granted
Speaker 1: day in the day out. That's what my foundation is
Speaker 1: therefore in the Carolina's and um and also in Georgia
Speaker 1: as well, and that's what UM continues to drive me
Speaker 1: to do those things. Andrew, You've always given back UM,
Speaker 1: you and your wife from from Louisiana, You've always had
Speaker 1: that part of what you wanted to do. UM went
Speaker 1: to Cincinnati, carried that on to Los Angeles, And what
Speaker 1: was in your heart to make you want to give back?
Speaker 1: Because we all have a story of the catalyst, So
Speaker 1: what was yours to giving back? And explain to the
Speaker 1: fans out there after you've been through this long, long career,
Speaker 1: you had one of the best moments all time, a
Speaker 1: mic drop walk off home team, home game, my team
Speaker 1: wins and I quit. Wait, so not only that, don't
Speaker 1: leave out the fact that it was against your former team.
Speaker 1: So I wasn't gonna throw that in there, Thomas, He
Speaker 1: was trying to Um, you know, it's one of those
Speaker 1: things to me, I think growing up, Um, I think
Speaker 1: it's hard to pinpoint exactly the moment that I realized it,
Speaker 1: But I think as I grew up as a kid,
Speaker 1: I had big guys and and and big ears, Like
Speaker 1: I saw and I listened and I observed, like and
Speaker 1: I think the word to me that always comes to
Speaker 1: mind is you can think of things like you know, sympathy,
Speaker 1: Like you can think of somebody went through something You're
Speaker 1: gonna comfort them in a tough time and say, hey man,
Speaker 1: you're gonna be okay, You're gonna make it through this.
Speaker 1: But that's not the word. To me that that really
Speaker 1: I realized I had a special empathy to where I
Speaker 1: see somebody going through something. I'd walk through a grocery
Speaker 1: store and just see like their life looks different than
Speaker 1: mine does, or my life looks different than their's. They're
Speaker 1: getting their their baskets all the way full, they look
Speaker 1: like they're getting everything they want, and just in general
Speaker 1: in life. And so it gave me this ability that
Speaker 1: I started just pay attention, like I'm listening to conversations
Speaker 1: and listening to people's struggle and seeing it and it's like,
Speaker 1: oh man, I don't want them to feel that way.
Speaker 1: So I don't want to just tell them they're gonna
Speaker 1: be okay. I want to find a way to make
Speaker 1: it better for him. And so to me, it became
Speaker 1: that's what drove me, and that was my driving force.
Speaker 1: Every time I signed a contract the NFL, I thought of,
Speaker 1: all right, if I can get to this number, I
Speaker 1: bet we can donate this during the season, or we
Speaker 1: can make this difference. Like these steps, I'm gonna they're
Speaker 1: gonna grow as I grow, We're gonna grow in the
Speaker 1: community together. And so I think, to me, it was
Speaker 1: all about finding out. And I would say this to
Speaker 1: the sponsors and to companies in the businesses when when
Speaker 1: you want to make a difference, don't tell people what
Speaker 1: you're gonna give them, find out what they need, create
Speaker 1: a relationship in a conversation and an interaction where you
Speaker 1: meet people where they are. And I always say this
Speaker 1: the greatest attribute to the greatest thing that I try
Speaker 1: to always keep myself humbled to. I'm gonna meet people
Speaker 1: where they are all the way in life and every instance,
Speaker 1: in every room and every conversation, I'm gonna find where
Speaker 1: they are, and I'm gonna try and help be with
Speaker 1: them right there in that moment. And if there's a
Speaker 1: way I can help them get to the next moment,
Speaker 1: whether that's all the things I listened in that speech, smiles, investments,
Speaker 1: all those things, I'm gonna help them get there. And
Speaker 1: I think if you're a company sitting out there to
Speaker 1: exactly what Nationwide's doing and it's continued to do, is
Speaker 1: say what is it that people need, not what I
Speaker 1: want to give them, and find a way to meet
Speaker 1: him in that space. And that moment of sharing that
Speaker 1: I had at the Super Bowl, to me is really
Speaker 1: accumulation of success on the football field and success off
Speaker 1: the football field. In this awesome moment that I think
Speaker 1: of all the times I might would have quit, I
Speaker 1: might would have given up, and I think of the guys,
Speaker 1: the communities, the kids, the soldiers, to all the people
Speaker 1: that were a part of all of those years. And
Speaker 1: really the greatest thing I walked away with it from
Speaker 1: is super Bowl trophy is awesome, Walter pay Man. Your
Speaker 1: trophy is amazing, it really is. But those relationships that
Speaker 1: will last forever and those impacts that change people for
Speaker 1: the better, those will be what will leave with me
Speaker 1: and be in my heart forever and nobody will ever
Speaker 1: change that. And not only that, but the moments like this,
Speaker 1: sitting on the stage with people that I know how
Speaker 1: special they are as human beings and their hearts for people.
Speaker 1: And to give one quick thing, I'm gonna share an
Speaker 1: example of that. We talked about Derek Barnes and me.
Speaker 1: There's a guy on this stage that made a comment
Speaker 1: to me when I was a rookie that literally led
Speaker 1: to a lot of my career, and as Troy Vincent,
Speaker 1: I met him at my rookie symposium and he probably
Speaker 1: doesn't even remember this, I was telling him. At that time,
Speaker 1: I took it for granted playing the league. I was
Speaker 1: like I had drafted in second round. Cincinnati has Willie
Speaker 1: Anderson and all these great players, like I'm never gonna play,
Speaker 1: but I'll figure it out. He pulled me the side.
Speaker 1: He said, hey, man, let me tell you something. You're
Speaker 1: a moment is right around the corner. It takes one
Speaker 1: play and all of a sudden, you're got me on
Speaker 1: the football field. So you've got to drop that attitude
Speaker 1: and attack it like it's yours. He told me that
Speaker 1: in my rookie symposium. I've never forgot it, and I've
Speaker 1: shared it with guys every year in my career. And
Speaker 1: I don't even know if he remembers that moment, but
Speaker 1: it changed a lot for me in my attack to
Speaker 1: going to Chase to be in the NFL and be successful.
Speaker 1: He listened, Thomas didn't. I just had to say that,
Speaker 1: Thomas Awesome tv UM TV is a dear friend of mine,
Speaker 1: and I want you to give us a thirty thousand
Speaker 1: square foot look because executive vice president of the NFL,
Speaker 1: tell me what you've seen from the modern day athlete.
Speaker 1: That's kind of surprised you. And from a corporate standpoint,
Speaker 1: can you talk to corporations and let them know the
Speaker 1: power that they give the league and the players for
Speaker 1: the things that they're involved. Well, I'll start with the
Speaker 1: current athlete, and it really extends to our partners. I'm
Speaker 1: never amazed just young people who they're so encouraging. Um.
Speaker 1: Young people guide us through the most tumunctuous time. And
Speaker 1: at least in my time on this earth, the last
Speaker 1: say five say, the last decade, it was young people
Speaker 1: that carry this this country through tough times. And then, frankly, partners,
Speaker 1: I saw all the best and the worst in people.
Speaker 1: I think we all did over the last few years.
Speaker 1: But I was reminded there are so many good people.
Speaker 1: They're more good than bad, more good than evil. And
Speaker 1: frankly I saw that with the players, um, and we
Speaker 1: just look at I use an example of my cause,
Speaker 1: my cleats, and just thousands of players just given. And
Speaker 1: also are the partners who, frankly you only see them
Speaker 1: the commercial side, but the partners are right there, standing
Speaker 1: right next to the player. And if we as players
Speaker 1: have that opportunity to share what our visions are or
Speaker 1: the things that we would like to get done. What
Speaker 1: I found out was that the partners have those same
Speaker 1: visions and those same values to want to extend to
Speaker 1: the broader community, to want to make a difference. My
Speaker 1: view is that we're uh. We got the power of
Speaker 1: our sport, the power of our partners, that we can
Speaker 1: just do so much human good, and we can do
Speaker 1: human good together. I know you didn't ask me this question,
Speaker 1: but you know what my objective. My aim is to
Speaker 1: die empty. I think about that every day. I want
Speaker 1: to die completely empty. I want to give more than Thomas.
Speaker 1: I want to give more than Andrew. I want to
Speaker 1: give more than you. I also want to partner with
Speaker 1: these individuals. And one thing as as recipients of the
Speaker 1: of this great honor, is that these men continue to
Speaker 1: keep doing good with you all as partners. You know,
Speaker 1: I e War done in the houses two hundred homes,
Speaker 1: and he's doing that with you all his partners. It's
Speaker 1: two hundred home this past Super Bowl. I look at
Speaker 1: what Derrick Brooks is doing in Tampa with the school.
Speaker 1: But this is what these men have committed to, and
Speaker 1: they've committed to it with frankly, with your assistance, your help,
Speaker 1: and I think I'll be remiss if I again I
Speaker 1: through this time, I've I've I've come into contact with
Speaker 1: some remarkable people in our organization, individuals like Greeny and
Speaker 1: and isis In and the people that are on the
Speaker 1: grounds that are trying to bridge these gaps introduce us
Speaker 1: to partners. There has not been a partner that I
Speaker 1: have not been introduced to, we have been introduced to
Speaker 1: that has not said Hamma. You know, if Team Sitting
Speaker 1: is here with Mike tripling his team, we're not doing
Speaker 1: what we're doing in the community without that partnership. If
Speaker 1: the Zebra team here, Bill Burns and his team, we're
Speaker 1: impacting thousands and thousands of families and and kids across
Speaker 1: the country. That's because of the power that's in this
Speaker 1: room and the influence in this room. But the players
Speaker 1: never amazed me to keep us honest, and one of
Speaker 1: the things that we talked about at the executive level.
Speaker 1: I didn't mean to leave anybody out, but those individuals
Speaker 1: like Rob Berg, those people on the partnership side, and
Speaker 1: and and Claire, you make us individuals like us, we blossom.
Speaker 1: We get all of the credit. But there's someone behind
Speaker 1: the scenes introducing me to Ramon, they're saying, I think
Speaker 1: you all have something in common. So I will just
Speaker 1: encourage you all to continue to speak with our office
Speaker 1: about what the good that the players are doing and
Speaker 1: what we're trying to do to to impact the communities
Speaker 1: and where we are. So that's sure. You mentioned the
Speaker 1: most trying times of our lifetime. Ramon, give me your
Speaker 1: opinion of what you saw from the National Football League.
Speaker 1: We had a few panel discussions social unrest and everything
Speaker 1: both of us took part in. But what you saw
Speaker 1: from the National Football League and how it inspired you
Speaker 1: and your company and what you guys do on the
Speaker 1: daily basis to kind of help follow that lead. Sure,
Speaker 1: the last twenty four months have been a challenge for
Speaker 1: all of us, every company, every brand. We all had
Speaker 1: to manage through talk about unrest, not just social unrest,
Speaker 1: but just unrest in general, a pandemic. And I'm going
Speaker 1: to add something to that too for it as a minority.
Speaker 1: I know, Troy and I man, we have plenty of
Speaker 1: heartfelt conversations crying like what are we gonna do? There's
Speaker 1: extra pressure burden on us as African American men. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: Troy tells a story about the pandemic. And the long
Speaker 1: insured of it is that it forced us to stay still.
Speaker 1: It made everyone go home, you were stuck in front
Speaker 1: of your computer or whatever the case may be. But
Speaker 1: it forced us to stay still and think and observe,
Speaker 1: and then the social unrest movement really started to happen. Uh.
Speaker 1: And I think I heard someone else talk about how
Speaker 1: the next generation, the kids, the teenagers, are forcing us
Speaker 1: to start thinking about the future. What kind of country
Speaker 1: do we want, What is it that we're building. I'm
Speaker 1: going somewhere with this, What is it that we're building
Speaker 1: going towards the future? And how did we find it acceptable, uh,
Speaker 1: to deal with some of the images that we're being
Speaker 1: bombarded with, the examples of racism and mistreatment and unfairness,
Speaker 1: and what can we do going forward? And so as
Speaker 1: you listen to these stories, and as you hear the
Speaker 1: work that these gentlemen and others are doing in our communities,
Speaker 1: it makes it really easy for a company like Nationwide
Speaker 1: and many others that are in the room to say,
Speaker 1: I want to be a part of that. What could
Speaker 1: I do to help? Now, we've been partnered with the
Speaker 1: NFL since so we've been at this for some time.
Speaker 1: But this, these last two years have really given us
Speaker 1: the opportunity as a company to not just turn up
Speaker 1: the volume on some of the good work that's happening
Speaker 1: out in the community, but to also think about how
Speaker 1: we want to position not just our company, but the
Speaker 1: NFL and the people who care, the people who are
Speaker 1: out there giving their day off working in the communities.
Speaker 1: How can we help them be more successful. There isn't
Speaker 1: a child that isn't impacted by the work that you
Speaker 1: guys do. That's these kids are never going to forget that.
Speaker 1: They're never going to forget it. And even I think
Speaker 1: back to my upbringing in North Philly a long time ago,
Speaker 1: we talked about that. Uh. I haven't forgotten about the
Speaker 1: people who have made an impression on me. And so
Speaker 1: to think about NFL stars who are actually taking the
Speaker 1: helmets off and giving their time to that next generation
Speaker 1: or two communities that needed this is an easy partnership
Speaker 1: for us to support. And so it means a lot
Speaker 1: for us to be here. Uh, And I mean it.
Speaker 1: I can't do enough to turn up the volume to
Speaker 1: shine a bright light on a good work that's happening,
Speaker 1: not just by the gentlemen that are here on the stage,
Speaker 1: but across the league. One of the hardest things that
Speaker 1: we have to do is to choose one. Oh, there's
Speaker 1: no doubt, and and we once or twice we've done
Speaker 1: more than one. But it's the hardest thing we have
Speaker 1: to do because all of them are deserving of the award.
Speaker 1: And so I couldn't be more proud of how Nationwide
Speaker 1: has leaned into helping to shine a light on such
Speaker 1: a prestigious award. Andrew, I want you to take us
Speaker 1: inside the locker room these last couple of years, um
Speaker 1: the response of our players and the economic fallout in
Speaker 1: communities like Los Angeles. What was the perception from the
Speaker 1: players about everything that they were going through. I think
Speaker 1: when you really look at you know, things that happened
Speaker 1: when you talk just specifically with COVID and a lot
Speaker 1: of the shutdowns and those kind of things over the
Speaker 1: last couple of years in the locker room, even though
Speaker 1: guys weren't significantly impacted, the communities, the families that all
Speaker 1: of our friends, just like everyone in this room, you
Speaker 1: had some way you were connected to that. Maybe maybe
Speaker 1: our situation didn't change as much, but people we care about,
Speaker 1: people we know about our communities we serve um you
Speaker 1: could see the things that were going on and the
Speaker 1: trouble that was ahead, not just in the moment, but
Speaker 1: what the next couple of years we're gonna look like
Speaker 1: after some of the things that these youth had to
Speaker 1: go through in this time. And I can remember all
Speaker 1: the conversations that creates in the locker room of what
Speaker 1: do we do next? How can we do something right?
Speaker 1: And you really and that to me is exactly to
Speaker 1: my point earlier about meeting people where they are. And
Speaker 1: you look in Los Angeles, your two biggest things, I
Speaker 1: mean food insecurity and homes home and security, homelessness. I
Speaker 1: mean those two things are something that all of us wanted,
Speaker 1: like hey, we get all like, man, this is clear,
Speaker 1: this is one of the biggest needs in this city.
Speaker 1: What can we do? And that's one of the immediate
Speaker 1: things we did is try to find a way to
Speaker 1: get involved with the food bank there and why it's
Speaker 1: so important because of really that issue in l A.
Speaker 1: But then when I look at really all the social
Speaker 1: justice things that went on and the initiatives the panel
Speaker 1: talks the zooms as the teams we're gonna even get
Speaker 1: togethered in the middle of all this and just hug
Speaker 1: each other. And we're sitting on zoom look at each
Speaker 1: other on screens and tears crying, telling our stories and
Speaker 1: everybody's sharing, and you think of that, Honest to God,
Speaker 1: one of the coolest moments that's ever happening in my
Speaker 1: life is two years ago, we started as a group
Speaker 1: of players our own fund. So we had a meeting
Speaker 1: after practice and we said, you know what we're gonna do.
Speaker 1: We're gonna get with Molly Higgins and the Rams and
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get Molly to get us give us the
Speaker 1: top thirty forty programs you think could attack social justice
Speaker 1: in l A. We're gonna get together as players. We're
Speaker 1: gonna all donate money of our game checks. We're gonna
Speaker 1: create a fund that's just driven by the players and
Speaker 1: coaches in the building. You can all donate and we're
Speaker 1: gonna go sit on zooms with these people and we're
Speaker 1: gonna choose the best ones we can that we can
Speaker 1: go make an impact. We ended up doing that every Tuesday,
Speaker 1: so we couldn't go in the communities because of COVID,
Speaker 1: but we'd sit there on Tuesday on zooms as groups,
Speaker 1: and we listen to these people, tell the stories, tell
Speaker 1: us what they're doing, what they're trying to do to
Speaker 1: make a difference in l A and we end up
Speaker 1: by getting by the end of it, we get to
Speaker 1: a situation where it's like, well, all thirty of them
Speaker 1: are amazing, Like how do we choose right? And so
Speaker 1: we started figeta, all right, well, if you give a
Speaker 1: little more here, I'll match this player's donation or whatever.
Speaker 1: So we end up saying, let's choose them all. So
Speaker 1: we end up being able to create a player only
Speaker 1: coach only fun that we in the building, in that
Speaker 1: heart of that locker room we all put into, we
Speaker 1: put our money in our donation into and made a
Speaker 1: direct impact that we were involved with. And I thought
Speaker 1: it was one of the like most powerful locker room.
Speaker 1: Just feelings of feeling like we all did this together
Speaker 1: and no one initiated it, force and one started it.
Speaker 1: Forces as brothers in that locker room that come from
Speaker 1: all different walks of life, and why the NFL is
Speaker 1: the greatest example of that. We had one objective and
Speaker 1: that is people shouldn't live like this. This shouldn't should
Speaker 1: be how it should be how can we be a
Speaker 1: part of lean into invest into making it different. And
Speaker 1: I thought that was one of the most powerful things
Speaker 1: I've ever gotten to be a part of. Thomas. You've
Speaker 1: you've been a leader any locker room, you've been in,
Speaker 1: any room you come into. You're one of the people
Speaker 1: that's going to have a speaking voice. Over the last
Speaker 1: two years. You transitioning to the Legends community. What type
Speaker 1: of leadership was needed amongst the Legends because we're still
Speaker 1: fighting the same thing, but we were outside of that
Speaker 1: locker room and the role you played in our community. No,
Speaker 1: I just really think that it's about being intentional when
Speaker 1: you're working with Legends, when you're working with guys that
Speaker 1: have gone through the process. Right, all of us in
Speaker 1: the Legends community, we've we've played the game at some point,
Speaker 1: we've transitioned out. Some of us played longer than others,
Speaker 1: some of us at a short extent. But I think
Speaker 1: one of the things that I wanted to do in
Speaker 1: this space was be more intentional, you know, just reaching
Speaker 1: out talking to guys, like we said, just finding out
Speaker 1: where they are in their lives at the moment, and
Speaker 1: how can we as a league help impact their lives?
Speaker 1: And how can we make a difference in their lives
Speaker 1: with whatever they have going on, you know. And one
Speaker 1: of the things that were so cool was, and Tracy
Speaker 1: can attested this, she gave me a long list of
Speaker 1: guys because before I ever came into this role, I
Speaker 1: told Tracy like, listen, I do not answer emails. I
Speaker 1: hate it. I literally got like eighty thousand emails and
Speaker 1: I hate answering emails. And we were just trying to
Speaker 1: figure out why guys were not taking advantage of some
Speaker 1: of the things that they earned. Right, So guys were
Speaker 1: like me, they wasn't really checking their emails. So I
Speaker 1: got on the phone, called about maybe four hundred guys
Speaker 1: I think, and just had conversations and just talking to
Speaker 1: him and man, it was so cool to just catch
Speaker 1: up with guys that I hadn't talked to in three
Speaker 1: or four or five years, UM and just like get
Speaker 1: to see, you know, some of the things that we
Speaker 1: can help them with, some of the things that they
Speaker 1: can even help me with. As I was getting ready
Speaker 1: because I had just made the transition um out of
Speaker 1: the NFL and became a retired player into the legend space.
Speaker 1: So man, I always tell people all the time that
Speaker 1: this is the biggest fraternity that you can never become
Speaker 1: a part of. And knowing that no matter what, we
Speaker 1: always have each other's back. That's what the NFL is
Speaker 1: when somebody talked to me about it, That's what the
Speaker 1: NFL is about. We go out and we compete against
Speaker 1: each other weekend and week out, but when it's all
Speaker 1: said and done, we are on the same team. We
Speaker 1: all know as players, players move, games, plans change, You
Speaker 1: have to adapt ramon inside of nationwide and the relationship
Speaker 1: with the NFL. Tell me it started off as something
Speaker 1: in two thousand and fourteen, but through all the social
Speaker 1: unrest and everything. Tell me how you as a company adapted. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's uh. We we've all had to adapt over the
Speaker 1: last couple of years, especially UH. And what we found
Speaker 1: was that the work that we do in the community,
Speaker 1: UH and the work that we were doing to support
Speaker 1: social justice was not enough. And so what more could
Speaker 1: we do? What additional partners can we align with? How
Speaker 1: can we support um organizations such as the Bail Project
Speaker 1: for instance, which many may not have ever heard of.
Speaker 1: But how could a company, a fortune financial services company
Speaker 1: get behind some resources and opportunities and organizations that ordinarily
Speaker 1: don't get the light of day. How can we partner
Speaker 1: more with the nominee for the Walter Peyton Manner of
Speaker 1: the Year UH and put more resources behind and put
Speaker 1: more social than digital weight behind it to shine a
Speaker 1: light again on the work that you guys are doing.
Speaker 1: What more can we do to proof that we're more
Speaker 1: than just a business? And so it was a unique
Speaker 1: opportunity to have that conversation that prior to you know,
Speaker 1: the last couple of years, we might not have been
Speaker 1: open to partnering with the Bail Project or a variety
Speaker 1: of others that again many may not have heard of.
Speaker 1: And so it just forced us to kind of look
Speaker 1: in the mirror to say we can do more. And
Speaker 1: so we've done so and it's it's been an honor
Speaker 1: being able to do that. We're going to close out
Speaker 1: on a couple of questions Troy and ramon speaking to
Speaker 1: future partners and partners. Let's talk about the mindset between
Speaker 1: the league, the players, the clubs and sponsors and community.
Speaker 1: How does all this work together so that we all win? Troy,
Speaker 1: I would just start with reminding ourselves that we're all
Speaker 1: a community of care. We can create a community of
Speaker 1: care amongst each other. So I would I would challenge
Speaker 1: this grouping in particularly rainy when we leave from here.
Speaker 1: There's so much power and influence in this room. How
Speaker 1: about at some of these tentpole events where you have
Speaker 1: this network, this partner's summit, maybe we should create a
Speaker 1: community event that we can do together, take five or
Speaker 1: six hours that we as partners, that we can go out.
Speaker 1: You know. The one thing that still bothers me and
Speaker 1: I'm maybe getting a little bit off of, but I
Speaker 1: think it goes back to this community of care that
Speaker 1: that's driven by by the partners is sometimes often the
Speaker 1: times when we have these tentpole events, they are in
Speaker 1: places of extreme poverty mm hmm. And to walk past
Speaker 1: people that are homeless, um that are sick. I go
Speaker 1: to this beautiful stadium in Inglewood, California. Yeah, and just
Speaker 1: one block from that stadium it looks like a war zone.
Speaker 1: We can do better. We can do better in this room.
Speaker 1: We just can't walk past these things, young women and
Speaker 1: children that don't have homes. Maybe we just spend five
Speaker 1: or six hours during the community build so maybe we
Speaker 1: can organize our thoughts again, what can we do together
Speaker 1: as a group. We're getting together, we're coming down in
Speaker 1: these big cities, and guess what, one mile from where
Speaker 1: we're meeting, less than one mile there is extreme poverty,
Speaker 1: there's extreme distress. That we can just put on our
Speaker 1: T shirts, our T shirts and shorts and whatever that
Speaker 1: may be, and let's just spend six hours just loving
Speaker 1: on someone and they can't give us back anything in return.
Speaker 1: That's what I would say to that. Let me kind
Speaker 1: of jump in on that too, And I mean, I
Speaker 1: love that idea. I'll be one of the first to
Speaker 1: volunteer to be a part of anything that comes from
Speaker 1: what you just said, Troy, because I understand, like I said,
Speaker 1: that there's a need and there's a lot that we
Speaker 1: can all do. Right we were sitting in this space
Speaker 1: with sitting in this room right now, and there's so
Speaker 1: many people that wish not only that they had the
Speaker 1: seeks that we're sitting in, but they had to seeks
Speaker 1: that you guys are sitting in as well. So I
Speaker 1: want to issue another challenge. Find out what it is,
Speaker 1: find out what that need is, find out what you
Speaker 1: can do. It doesn't have to be in the l A,
Speaker 1: it can be in any community. It can be in
Speaker 1: your community. I'll volunteer for your community. I'll come in. Um,
Speaker 1: whatever you guys decide that you want to do, I'll
Speaker 1: come in and I'll and I'll help out with that
Speaker 1: as well. Um, because I'm all about I'm all about
Speaker 1: being impactful and doing things and putting action behind words.
Speaker 1: So if you have things that you think that you
Speaker 1: want to do, that you know you want to do
Speaker 1: to make your communities better, I'll be one of the
Speaker 1: first former players players to volunteer to come help you out.
Speaker 1: We're gonna finish with that. And what I encourage you
Speaker 1: to do is I encourage you to partner with the
Speaker 1: National Football League. This is the only job that I've
Speaker 1: ever done. I don't have a college degree, and I
Speaker 1: don't have any regrets. In the last two years when
Speaker 1: the world was that it's absolute worst our players and
Speaker 1: because the partners like Ramana nationwide, we're at their absolute best.
Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed the draft, Hope you enjoy the
Speaker 1: rest of the week, enjoy the rest of the festivities.
Speaker 1: Scott Chris, well done, Thank you, Panne, Andrew Thomas, Troy Ramon, Chris,
Speaker 1: thank you for that. The old cliche what happens in
Speaker 1: Vegas stays in Vegas. Let's turn it on its head here,
Speaker 1: what what just happened in Vegas? Whatever spark of inspiration
Speaker 1: you and I just received from these gentlemen, may it
Speaker 1: extend well beyond Vegas in the days ahead. Thanks for
Speaker 1: joining us on the NFL Players Podcast. Don't forget to
Speaker 1: subscribe and follow at NFL Players Podcast on Instagram for
Speaker 1: the latest player stories and to connect with the NFL
Speaker 1: Players community.