WEBVTT - How Athletes Think 0:00:00.920 --> 0:00:04.520 This is How Men Think with Brooks and Gavin to 0:00:04.600 --> 0:00:08.760 Grab and I heard radio podcasts. Welcome to another episode 0:00:08.760 --> 0:00:11.160 of How Men Think. My name is Brooks like and 0:00:11.200 --> 0:00:13.200 this is the show where we dive into the mind 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:16.079 of a man and really trying to uncover and discover 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:18.840 what's going on inside the brains of the men in 0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:21.200 your life. And so today we're gonna have a really 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:23.720 interesting discussion. Is something I'm super passionate about and I'm 0:00:23.760 --> 0:00:26.800 currently going through. We're gonna have a discussion about elevating 0:00:26.840 --> 0:00:30.800 to success and in a pivot in life, changing a 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:35.320 transitionary trajectory of your life into something new, which a 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:37.000 lot of people are thinking about right now in the 0:00:37.000 --> 0:00:39.320 time of COVID. Should I change my career paths? Should 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:41.920 I change my relationship? Should I make a big pivot 0:00:41.920 --> 0:00:44.560 in life? And so I have a special guest coming 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:47.440 on to co host the next hour with me. I 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:49.559 love it, love it, love it when I bring on 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:53.080 a professional athlete because he's a brother, we can speak 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:55.080 the same language. He was a running back in the 0:00:55.240 --> 0:00:58.360 NFL for the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Oakland Raiders, and the 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:02.400 New York Giants. Recently tired, he is an author on 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:04.720 a couple accounts will get into that. He's an entrepreneur, 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:07.840 he's a philanthropist, he's on TV. He's a man of 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:11.119 many hats. Welcome to the show, Mr Rasha Jennings. How 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:14.240 are you, buddy? I appreciate it, man, I'm you know, 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:16.880 I was listening to your role things off. Also, I 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:20.440 sound like a cool dude, right, Hey, I know, I know, dude, 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:23.039 I love I say this every episode of We Bring On, 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:27.080 we bring on some amazing guests that are multitalented, like 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:30.440 super multitalented and so, um, I love that you're a 0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:33.000 professional athlete. But then I love what you've done since 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:36.000 that in your You've become an author, You've written your 0:01:36.000 --> 0:01:38.759 own book, and now you've written a children's book. Um, 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:43.000 you're very involved philanthropically with service, with your time. You 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:46.280 are also, I forgot to mention this a mirror ball champion, 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:50.360 a mirrorble like you want dancing with the stars. So 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:52.560 I love that. Just the hats that you wear, brother, 0:01:52.600 --> 0:01:56.480 it's inspiring to me. I appreciate that. Man. Yeah, that's uh, 0:01:56.720 --> 0:02:00.080 the mirror ball one, all of the all of all 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:04.920 of the fortunate, humble accomplishment thus far, definitely. Uh, I've 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:08.160 been kind of all out of left field for me. Man, 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:09.800 I've just kind of had my head down with a 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:12.359 smile on my face, working for dreams and goals. And 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:14.799 it's cool to see it wasn't started passed so far. 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:17.919 So I love that. I want to really dive into 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:19.240 the mirror ball thing because I we want to get 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:21.040 back to that because Dancing the Stars is back on 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:23.720 and Emma is a great friend of mine. Um, But 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:26.240 I want to start right there with what you said. 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:29.400 You've always had your head down chasing your dreams and 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:32.919 your goals. And I love your story about even about 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:35.160 your your first football game. I think it was where 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:38.120 four other running backs were hurt and you've got a 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:40.600 chance to play and there happened to be a scout there. 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:43.920 Can you can you take us back to the start 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:47.240 of what what became an amazing football career. But how 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:50.160 you you when I look at you and read your 0:02:50.160 --> 0:02:54.840 story with shot, Um, you have overcome obstacle your entire life. 0:02:55.840 --> 0:03:00.280 You are an extraordinary, extraordinarily resilient person who is become 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:02.920 obstacle your entire life. Um, can you tell us that 0:03:03.000 --> 0:03:05.080 story about the first football game and sort of a 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:09.000 lucky break for you. Yeah. Man, So that's funny. Every 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:12.720 time I tell the story, I chuckle throughout it all. Um, 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:16.480 because it's a true story. I got none fabricated about 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:18.240 it at all. But I was a fifth string running 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:23.399 back in high school football. Um, it's overweight, chubbing kid glasses. 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:25.480 Asma had a point six g p A at one 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:28.400 point in time. And Um, when I say I was 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:31.160 fifth string, I mean literally I was the fifth string 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:34.280 running back so much to the point I never played either. Um. 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:36.600 I used to come out, you know when we break 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:38.560 the white tape, go on the sideline and you know, 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:41.320 kick off. I would go on and I would take 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:43.560 the I would take my pads out of my thigh pads. 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:46.640 No thought pass, remove the thought pass, remove the knee pass, 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:49.240 removed the hit pass, remove the butt pass. And inside 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:51.960 of those little soccers, those little holes, stuff in like 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:55.800 eminem candy. You know, I would stuff in sprites and 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:58.760 all kinds of stuff. But I know I didn't play, 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:00.400 and I know I had front Road take us to 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:03.600 a great game. But the last game we're playing against, 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:05.400 last game of the season, we're playing against a high 0:04:05.400 --> 0:04:08.720 school rival where the Jepson Force Cavaliers were playing against 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:11.960 the Brookville Bees and it is sold out because it's 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:14.160 one of high school rivals last game of the season, 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:17.919 and also Brookville they beat us, they go to the playoffs. 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:21.520 We're done. So it's like our super Bowl is a 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:24.160 big game. We want to knock them out. And um, 0:04:24.720 --> 0:04:26.520 you know, there was a Tennessee Scott there to watch. 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:28.760 Our started running back. His name is Quincy Freeman, is 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:31.960 really good and uh a long story short. Started game off, 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:35.120 We get the ball, go out first play. I started 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:38.000 running back, gets hurt, and I got a buddy of mine. 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:40.920 His name is Brandon what we call him speedy, Right, 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:45.279 he didn't earn his name at all. Okay, he didn't play, 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:48.960 so I me and him. He's like the friend that 0:04:49.080 --> 0:04:52.280 just is always overly excited for people, and so when 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:55.240 he saw the start of getting hurt, he was shaking. 0:04:55.240 --> 0:04:57.080 He's like, hey, man, they're gonna play you today. They're 0:04:57.080 --> 0:04:59.200 gonna play you. And I'm sitting over here. I'm like, man, 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:02.279 get off, me go back to eat my eminem's watching 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:05.000 the game. Second string goes out a couple of players, 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:07.880 he gets hurt, you know, so speak again like, yeah, 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:10.440 they might actually play you like making it off. You 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:12.120 know they ain't gonna play me go back to eat 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:15.600 my candy. Third string goes out, he gets hurt, right, 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:17.880 So then they put back in the starter because then 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:20.360 he taped up his ankle. He got ankle injury. He 0:05:20.400 --> 0:05:23.000 go back out, he gets hurt again. So then now 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:27.400 they're down to the fourth running back, and you know, 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:31.960 four plays later he gets hurt, right, So you know 0:05:32.040 --> 0:05:35.400 it's down to me. Right, Speedy's lost his mind. You know, 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:37.719 he's over here doing back flips and stuff and and 0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:40.600 the and the coach Kansas sideline. He catches eye contact 0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:44.799 with me, he looks away, he grabs a wide receiver 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:48.120 and puts him in at running back instead of me. Right, So, 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:50.080 like part of me is mad because I'm like, this 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:53.240 is my opportunity. The other part it's like I ain't 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:54.960 going out there getting hurt, Like I don't know why 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:58.120 everybody's getting hurt. Sure enough, he gets hurt, have no 0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:01.000 choice but to put me in, right, and I go 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:04.120 out there, red hands from Eminem's and like I picked 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:06.479 up the wrong helmet and it was just all bad. 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:11.720 But first play for the yard touchdown? Come on, yeah, man, 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:14.240 he couldn't tell me nothing. I came back from the sideline, 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:20.720 I chest bumped speedy. You know, he falls and after afterwards, Um, 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:22.840 they put me back in on offense. Later I scored 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:25.880 another touchdown. Similar situation on defense. Guys are getting hurt 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:28.800 left and right. They put me in on defense. First play, 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:31.039 I sacked the quarterback he fund bolt. I picked it 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:33.880 up and scored another thirty yard touchdown. And I sealed 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:38.320 the game with a pick six for the win. And 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:41.520 so I'll scored four touchdowns, all right. I played fourteen 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:46.800 total plays. And that Tennessee scout that came to watch 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:49.719 the starting running back came up to me after the 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:52.760 game and he said, you know, ra Shoe, Um, I 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:55.960 came to watch the starting running back, but I couldn't 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:58.720 help but to notice you. I didn't even see your 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:01.400 name on the roster. And I was like, yeah, that 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:04.360 sound about right. And he said, well, how are your grades? 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:07.800 And I looked up at him and I said, we're sir. 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:10.440 I have a point six and he was like, how 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:12.000 the hell you got a point six? You gotta try 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:15.360 to do that, but that like he he looked at me, 0:07:15.400 --> 0:07:19.400 he said, Rasha, you have potential. Get your grades right. 0:07:19.440 --> 0:07:21.800 You might play at the collegiate level. For the first 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:25.480 time in my life, somebody saw something in me outside 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:30.000 of family. Yeah, they're gonna encourage me no matter what. 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:33.680 Long story short man, I transferred high schools, I repeated 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:36.840 my junior year. I took nine homeschool classes, nine summer 0:07:36.840 --> 0:07:41.480 school classes. Um, and I rededicated myself. I never looked back. 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:44.720 I stopped making excuses, I stopped blaming people. I started 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:48.440 taking the ownership of responsibility over everything I did and 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:50.960 the rest of the history from there, dude, And then 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:54.240 you're drafted twenty three overall to the Jacksonville Jaguar's first 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:57.400 round pick, and then you play in the NFL for 0:07:57.440 --> 0:08:02.960 how many seasons? Nine seasons? Eight eight seasons? Eight seasons? 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:05.360 Is amazing, dude. Do you ever just look at that 0:08:05.480 --> 0:08:09.640 day and just there's something greater going on there? Like 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:13.200 that's if that isn't divine intervention, I have no idea 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:15.760 what it was like. Five guys get a hurt ahead 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:18.480 of you, guys on defense get hurt, and you happen 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:21.080 to just step into this role. Do you ever think 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:23.600 about what your life might have been like if it 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:26.760 didn't if that day didn't occur, and so much that 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:29.560 I wrote a book that became a New York Time 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:33.000 bestseller about it. Um, side of the if in life 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:36.240 and uh to play on words spell out the world 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:39.480 life if it's in the middle, And you know, I 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:42.439 kind of just talked about all my major moments. But yeah, 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:48.360 for myself, that never happened. Um, there's no telling. You know, 0:08:48.440 --> 0:08:51.760 I know I would have. You know, from the opportunity 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:54.839 I did have in place, I would have graduated high school. Um, 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:58.800 I would have probably have ventured to be a marriage 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:01.240 counselor with us desired to doing a lot of years 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:04.600 in my life. I'm actually got my master's UM in 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:08.600 it now and getting licensed soon. Good for you, buddy. Yeah, 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:11.040 but I know I wouldn't be on this platform that 0:09:11.080 --> 0:09:15.960 I have currently today. Not a chance you most likely 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:17.480 would you say you most likely wouldn't have made the 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:20.760 NFL if that day didn't happen. Not a chance, No way. 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:22.880 I don't think that would have happened. I don't think 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:26.720 I would have been for to suit an opportunity of 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:31.120 a fresh start. Um. You know, I wouldn't have had 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:34.000 a clean slate. I would have I would have been 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:39.200 and I would have had the willow and the demeanor 0:09:39.280 --> 0:09:41.800 that I've built about my name in a school and 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:44.760 coaches and teachers that I couldn't start over with. So 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:48.880 I had a fresh start and I took advantage of it. Um. 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:53.200 I've always said that you can never underestimate the power 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:57.040 of one person believing in you. When I when I 0:09:57.040 --> 0:09:59.320 think of you, you mentioned your parents and people before, 0:09:59.559 --> 0:10:01.720 I think my mom, I think of my dad, my brother, 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:05.560 and my sister. Their belief in me just drove me 0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:07.800 so far and was so important to me. But what 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:12.040 about the belief that this gentleman the scout had in you. 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:15.560 How did that single interaction with him just saying I 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:19.120 see you, you could play collegiate ball. Um? What did 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:22.880 that just do to you individually? As far as changing 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:25.880 your habits, your behaviors, your character. It made me look 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:31.800 at future. Um, you know, because my desires were all 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:36.280 to accomplish things and years to come. I didn't really 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:40.200 have a lot of desires or dream accomplished in the moment. 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:45.400 They were always in the future. So when I was encouraged, 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:49.480 I saw future differently. And um, you know that's why 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:51.280 I tried. I tried to inspire kids to see you 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:55.440 down the road. Um seeing today it's kind of tough 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:59.920 sometimes not just into death, any any any normal to 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:02.720 um So for me, man, when the scout saw and 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:08.360 he's coming from a validated position, it's not somebody and 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:11.280 that's working at sevent eleven, Sandy, you can do it 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:14.520 one day. It's somebody validated position that does it for 0:11:14.640 --> 0:11:17.840 a living that saw something in me, and um, it 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:20.040 encouraged me and let me know that it's a possibility. 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:23.040 I love that. I also, I was having a discussion 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:26.800 with a friend the other day about positive affirmation and how, 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:29.520 especially in sports, we would get told so much about 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:32.000 what we did wrong. Right. You'd get told what you 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:34.199 did wrong, you messed up this play, blah blah blah. 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:37.720 In in life, in career, people get told what they 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:40.200 do wrong, but very rarely do people get told what 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:44.920 they do right. And that positive affirmation is so powerful 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:48.840 and people then because they received that positive feedback, it 0:11:48.960 --> 0:11:51.760 encourages them to do that thing more. And so whether 0:11:51.840 --> 0:11:54.199 you're a business owner, whether you're a coach, whether you're 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:57.240 a parent, any sort of positive affirmation that you could 0:11:57.240 --> 0:12:01.160 give somebody, um in like just in your case, you're 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:04.959 right here, rashot is. It can be absolutely life changing. 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:08.120 You know, a short little conversation would be absolutely life changing. 0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:11.800 So I love that you then took that grabbed the reins, 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:14.600 and it turned yourself into an eight year NFL pro 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:18.120 um What do you think was your biggest key to 0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:25.240 success in that journey? Man? The biggest? Uh so many, 0:12:25.280 --> 0:12:27.720 But I would say for my my eight year tender 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:31.080 in the league, um I truly learned. And I tell 0:12:31.120 --> 0:12:34.920 people there's a difference between an NFL player in a 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:40.720 pro athlete. Um I learned how to become a pro. Ah. 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:44.880 Your NFL athlete is a guy that has bookoo amounts 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:53.560 of talent that where was above their um class, beyond 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:58.640 their time, and could get away with uh lack of 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:01.880 daisical because as it just talent, they're just gonna show up, 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:05.520 get an A A on the test, don't study. And but 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:10.720 once you get to the big leagues, everybody was the 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:14.360 man before they got there, right like in high school. 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:17.160 Everybody that's the man goes to college and then all 0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:20.199 of those men are there and then who whoever is 0:13:20.240 --> 0:13:22.400 the man of college goes to the NFL and all 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:26.079 of those like so it's no more hiding man, everybody 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:28.440 is really good. Yeah, we we know all those stories 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:31.880 to get over it. So it's um. Then if you 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:34.560 get hurt, having to take care of your body, you know, 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:39.520 understanding the playbook, handling media off the field, you know, 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:43.880 finances are there. It's like becoming an adult very quickly. Um. 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:47.000 Was something that I was fortunate enough to have family 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:50.800 around me, UM and some loving brothers that that kind 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:54.400 of put me in my place. Um in in college 0:13:54.600 --> 0:13:57.600 so I could be prepared for it. But also I 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:02.199 learned how to stay um tunnel vision, you know. Um. 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:08.280 I my my Plan B was to accomplish Plan A, right, 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:10.679 like I'm super focused individual. I gotta plan and c 0:14:11.400 --> 0:14:15.640 but I'm a very focused individual. UM, and I was 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:18.320 able to stay out of trouble like just the little things. Man. 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:21.400 I'm I've never drink alcohol day in my life. UM. 0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:23.720 You know, I never smoked. You know, I didn't get 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:27.000 arrested and get caught up with some crazy stuff. Um. 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:29.080 You know I got my fair share of speeding tickets. 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:30.800 I'm no saint. I'm not you know what I mean 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:34.720 saying I'm perfect by any amazing, but I do recognize 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:38.400 when I go I have nine nephews that I have 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:43.080 these conversations with Uncle Shot, what did you do? Because often, 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:45.400 because they're younger than me, they see the red carpet 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:49.320 side of Uncle Shot. They didn't see what I had 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:53.000 to do to get to the red car Sharing that 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:55.640 with him is important. By the way, you're a you're 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:58.000 running back. You like to go fast man, So the 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:04.040 ticket again, but heavy foot, babe, I get it. I 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:06.120 love what you talked about there about learning to become 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:09.360 a pro, because I believe I think in the NFL, 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:14.320 the the uh average careers fan, I think is three 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:17.240 years somewhere around three years in the NHL, and you 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:19.800 played eight, so he played almost three times. The average 0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:22.200 to the length of the average career the NHL is 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:25.520 five years, and I was thirteen years in the NHL. 0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:28.080 Um And one of the things I learned too was 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:32.800 to become what we phrased was a consummate professional. And 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:35.200 when you see, you know, like when I say that word, 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:38.200 that term consummate professional, you probably think of guys that 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:41.040 you played with. You're like, yeah, this guy he ate right, 0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:44.160 he slept right, he thought right, he connected with teammates, 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:47.440 He was an integral human being. He showed up. He 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:51.040 had passion, he had dedication, he had resilience injuries he 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:53.400 would rebound from. He was a team guy. You think 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:56.320 of the consummate professional, and that was one of the 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:59.040 things that I learned to the same thing in hockey. 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:01.880 There's guys that were just better, they were just graced 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:04.120 with amazing talent. But then when you get to that 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:07.880 level to repeat year after year after year, it takes 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:10.480 more than just amazing talent. And it's what you do. 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:12.920 It's your behaviors of the character of who you are 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:16.480 as a human being that keep you there. It's your resilience. 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:20.040 It's your willingness to study the playbook or to pre study, 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:24.000 to pre video the upcoming games, to video watch video 0:16:24.040 --> 0:16:27.840 from previous games, to rest, to recovery. Like you said, 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:31.240 you didn't have bad habits of drinking or smoking. Diet 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:33.560 is on point. So many things keep you there to 0:16:33.680 --> 0:16:36.360 performance um And then I want to touch on one 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:40.360 other thing that I think professional athletes are able to 0:16:40.440 --> 0:16:43.280 do that maybe separates them from the masses a little bit. 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:46.600 You said it yourself, you were able to be tunnel 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:51.120 vision and singular focused. How does that how if you 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:55.680 can make that understandable and digestible for our How men 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:58.160 think community that a lot of people are pulled in 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:02.680 multidirections and not stay laser focused in one way to 0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:07.320 elevate to extreme success. How were you able to do that? Well, 0:17:08.000 --> 0:17:11.639 there's many ways to do it. I I mean, I 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:14.600 could tuck your head off about this particular topic, but 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:19.800 I mean I throw one out there that's uncommonly said. 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:30.960 Um there, anger, right, Anger is a strong, strong emotion 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:39.439 and it creates a lot of blood flow. M hm um. 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:41.680 Now what you do with that anger is up to you, 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:48.240 all right. But you know anger is a nice pre workout. Yeah, yeah, 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:52.639 I get you after that workout. That's so what I 0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:55.680 was I've been able to do throughout my life is 0:17:56.320 --> 0:18:00.639 channel anger. M you. Anger towards an individu truel, anger 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:03.120 towards something that happened you earlier in life. What's what's 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:05.879 the anger towards? Yeah? Any and everything. Man. I've taken 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:09.359 anger out on a relationship with my father before, uh, 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:14.080 with with relationships with teachers before. And you're talking you're 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:16.360 taking knees onto the field or into the weight room 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:20.480 and performance. Yeah, absolutely absolutely. I take some of the 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:22.640 anger I have in generated to stay up at night 0:18:22.680 --> 0:18:25.239 and write you know what I mean, that's fuel for 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:29.160 me because it's I've recognized for me that is strong, 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:32.800 right and and but if you need to learn how 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:36.560 to channel it the right way. Right and so channeling 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:40.919 anger is a great motivation, um, because we all have 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:43.080 it and and a lot of times we try to 0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:45.080 run from our angers, right, I don't want to deal 0:18:45.119 --> 0:18:48.320 with it. But for me, I've recognized no, no, no, no, 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:52.240 I want that fuel that use it, right. I think 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:54.840 that's yeah, And I think that can that if you 0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:57.400 can control that, because I think that can be very 0:18:57.440 --> 0:18:59.760 destructive too if you if you just let that run 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:03.640 all over you. Um. But I also believe that if 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:05.720 you can control that and harness it, which you said 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:07.760 you were able to, You were able to have a 0:19:07.800 --> 0:19:11.320 strong enough mind to control it, harness it and direct 0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:14.679 it in a positive way that I think it can create. 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:16.439 Like you said, it's a great pre workout. It can 0:19:16.480 --> 0:19:20.480 create enough emotion within you to drive you to suit 0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:24.359 two levels and depths that maybe you weren't able to 0:19:24.400 --> 0:19:27.720 achieve just on your own, when you actually use that 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:30.639 as a source of motivation, source it. I tried to 0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:32.880 do it yesterday in my workout since I've been out 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:35.320 of since I've been retired from hockey. I don't have 0:19:35.359 --> 0:19:37.960 a lot of anger. Somebody didn't just kick my ass 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:40.159 last night, you know, So I don't have a lot 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:41.760 of anger in my life. Life is pretty good. But 0:19:41.800 --> 0:19:44.720 I tried to like go back is snap back into 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:49.080 that competitive, intense athlete mindset of trying to beat somebody, 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:51.480 and it just made me a little more gritty, little 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:54.760 more uh fired up in my workout, and I felt 0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:57.120 good doing that again. Now I don't want to live there. 0:19:57.160 --> 0:20:00.280 I don't want that to be my only source of 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:05.080 of motivation, but it is like it is a powerful 0:20:05.119 --> 0:20:09.159 tool to access from time to time right now, absolutely absolutely, 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:11.879 And then I mean for me, like like there's levels 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:14.119 to it. Right Um, anger is one way which I 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:18.280 used the channel. Um some some some fuel, that's the gas. 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:20.240 But you know when we started talking about the oil 0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:22.879 of the car, you know, now that's different. You know 0:20:23.080 --> 0:20:25.200 what else did you use as motivation? What were other 0:20:25.240 --> 0:20:28.199 ways that you stayed highly motivated during eight years in 0:20:28.240 --> 0:20:31.600 the NFL. I'm my future man. I would always think 0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:36.439 about my kids that I don't have today, and I 0:20:36.480 --> 0:20:38.720 live with death on my mind a lot, not in 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:42.040 at and it's very happy to talk about death right 0:20:42.119 --> 0:20:44.879 it's it's and not a not a morbid way. But 0:20:44.960 --> 0:20:47.800 I really do keep it on mind a lot that 0:20:47.960 --> 0:20:51.760 because I want to be a leader for into my 0:20:51.840 --> 0:20:54.080 family from the grade, and the only way for me 0:20:54.119 --> 0:20:57.800 to do that is to be cognitive and very present, intentional, 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:00.240 um with what I do while I'm on this side 0:21:00.280 --> 0:21:02.879 of the earth, From generational wealth, from writing a will, 0:21:03.000 --> 0:21:07.840 a proper way, uh, you know, all the things that 0:21:07.960 --> 0:21:09.920 encompass of what it looks like to be a leader 0:21:09.960 --> 0:21:13.320 from the grade. I think about that, and you know 0:21:13.359 --> 0:21:15.840 that kind of keeps me humble and and and and 0:21:15.880 --> 0:21:19.160 I think about again, I don't have children, and so 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:22.560 I think about the fact that I'm thirty five right now, 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:24.879 and I want to be able to tell my kids, Hey, 0:21:25.160 --> 0:21:27.560 you know, I remember this moment when I was twenty five. 0:21:27.640 --> 0:21:30.359 I was thinking about you when I did X one 0:21:30.359 --> 0:21:33.520 and Z. I'm thirty five. I'm having this. I'm having 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:35.680 a zoom call right now and I actually brought you 0:21:35.680 --> 0:21:38.960 guys up of reason why I'm still motivated today. I 0:21:39.000 --> 0:21:41.879 want to show this like these are the things that 0:21:42.000 --> 0:21:47.119 keeps me going of waking up, excited to grasp like 0:21:47.280 --> 0:21:50.639 in the twelve odd whatever hours that I'm up. Um, 0:21:50.720 --> 0:21:53.520 who can I motivate? How can I be motivated? You know? 0:21:53.600 --> 0:21:57.080