Transcript of Fearless Leadership: Gridiron to Greatness with Jared Allen New

NFL, everybody's fast, everybody's strong, everybody or some form of an All-American, bro. What makes all these people in college the 1% of 1% when you get to those levels where everybody's good, everybody's great? It is a mindset and it's your work ethic. Guys that work hard, that are hustlers, like that motors, all that, you hear the high motor, and I'm like, you're actually using those in a negative connotation. At that point, everybody's talented. So the fact that I'm willing to outwork you just shows that mentally you're weak. And that's how I equate it. I wasn't willing to work out to meet the standard that I thought was acceptable. I could have hung on for paychecks and racked up 5 sacks a year and done the minimum, but that's just not who I was. And so it's— I take that same philosophy of what we're doing. So if that passion for something burns, or if I'm not willing to put that effort in, then we get out of it. We don't do it in the first place. What greater mission or greater purpose to be all in on than your kids and your wife and in your faith?

All this goes away. When we go in front of our maker, whoever you believe your maker is, when you go in front of them, dollar signs and zeros in your bank account mean absolutely nothing.

You are listening to Mick Unplugged, hosted by the one and only Mick Hunt. This is where purpose meets power and stories spark transformation. Mick takes you beyond the motivation and into meaning, helping you discover your because and becoming unstoppable. I'm Rudy Rush, and trust me, you're in the right place. Let's get unplugged. Ladies and gentlemen, today's guest is a phenom. If you look up the word or the term man's man in the dictionary, you find this guest. NFL Hall of Famer, legendary at everything that he does, man of faith, and a man who is an owner of the best bourbon I've ever had in my life. I am talking to none other than the GOAT himself, Mr. Jared Allen. Jared, how you doing today, brother?

Oh, I'm doing great. I mean, I need you to just be around my house 24/7 every morning with that intro. I think you gotta have a great day after that intro. Hey, apologize for dogs barking over here. Uh, my golden doodle thinks she's a Rottweiler.

Oh, all good, brother. All good.

I'm doing great. How about yourself?

I am great now that I am with you. I'm honored to have you on. There's, there's so much I want to talk to you about because you're someone who on and off the field I've admired for a long time. You're someone who, when you played sports, even the things you do off the field, you don't hide your faith. You never hid your faith. And that's something I truly admired about you, man, because, you know, when you have the spotlight on you like you did and all the things that you were doing, you still gave honor where honor was due. And I've always respected you for that.

Well, I appreciate that. Yeah. You know, like a lot of people, I grew up in the church. I had my ebbs and flows, right? I always laugh and say growing up, you know, had that heart rate monitor relationship, right? You know? Yeah. Yeah. Sunday morning was always an apology for Saturday night at some point, right? And as I got older and as I grew, you know, going through challenges in my life, you know, I had great people around me. I have a great family. You know, for all their flaws, my mom and dad are fantastic people. You know, even though, you know, they weren't— they weren't married, uh, my whole— my— there's not— they're not married. I mean, got divorced when I was young. But, you know, uh, my stepdad's an amazing person. So, you know, I got great influences. That's what I'm just trying to say. And, you know, as you go through life like that, you tend to always come back around to your foundations, right? And so as I got older and made mistakes, and, you know, I had my grandfather as a big part of my life. A lot of people heard me talk about him.

Um, and then my best friend's dad growing up was our pastor. And, um, You know, I'll never forget what he said, you know, I'll never forget that. I was 20, roughly good in the grass. I was 24 years old, 25 years old, maybe I guess 26 years old, somewhere there. And that's what he said. He said, the world needs more moral heroes. You know, there's enough assholes in the world. And when your pastor cusses at you, you're kind of like, okay, yeah, you know what? I need to, I need to, I need this relationship. Yeah.

Right.

This, right? Anybody who's been married, I'm going on 16 years of marriage. I gotta tell my friends too. I said, you know, you don't want peaks and valleys, right? This is— flatlining in marriage is a great thing. Yes, sir. Consistency. And so that's kind of where I was at, you know, and I'm always— so I think, you know, again, this is my long-winded version of getting back to kind of why I always wanted to live the way I lived and be so transparent with people is that, you know, I understood that feeling of, you know, when people would ask you, what's the one thing people don't know about you? Oh, I'm a Christian. Like, that's not what you want to say, right? That's not— Being a role model. So through that process of growing up and learning that you are a role model, whether you want to be one or not, right? So what is it? And that's kind of going back to how I was raised is like, who are you? What is that authentic person that you look like, right? If you're praying and you're reading your Bible and you're doing certain things, why are you hiding it, right?

And if you stand, if this is how you were raised, this is what you stand on, then you need to live by those factors too that you stand on, right? And so those are, kind of that maturation process of maturing and stuff like that. And I realized that, again, I'm just going to be me. I don't know how to be anybody else but me, right? It's too hard to try to be a different version of yourself for different people. It's that I tell my kids, just be authentically you. And so I tried to pass that along. And then I think I also had a greater understanding of— I genuinely loved what I did for a living, right? And I had a lot of respect because I came from— I didn't have a lot of money growing up. We had prosperous times and we had really, really poor times, you know. So, right, you know, I understood and would read fan mail when people would talk about, you know, uh, you know, football was their escape, right? Or this guy was making a couple hundred bucks a week and he's spending a couple hundred bucks a week on his season tickets, you know.

Yeah, you know, making me— so you understand the importance of what football was bringing to people, whether it was a distraction, whatever that fan— whatever, whatever the fandom was for. And so for me, I'm like, if some people are going to pay their hard-earned money to come watch me play Man, I'm just, I'm going to give it all. I'm going to be me. And part of that me was my faith. And I think people saw me grow in that. You look at me as a rookie running around to where I was, you know, at the end of my career, you'd be like, man, there's a maturation process of a human being right there. Right. And I think that was important for me to show people that, you know, and I didn't know it at the time. It wasn't like my goal was to show this, you know, this process of change. But when you look back at it, you say, you know what? I think I did a good job of being me and setting an example of, listen, young, fun, dumb, immature, growing into responsibility, you know, you getting married, having kids, that whole life change that you could be an example for people that are out there running and gunning that don't think they're ever going to slow down.

Or those people that, you know, hey, I can stand on my faith and it doesn't have to be this legalistic view of what people think your faith is, right? Of this list of dos and don'ts. You know, Christ calls us to be a light to the world, not, not to hide in the darkness and not to judge others, you know. So, um, I just tried to— that's what I just tried to do. I just tried to live it out authentically and be who I was. And, um, because again, like I said, it's too hard to try to be multiple people.

That is the truth, bro. That is the truth. And, and this is a great, you know, conversation. I, I had my kids who are older— they're in their 20s now— but my, my, my middle child, my oldest son is a football coach now. And we watched your Hall of Fame induction, rewound it probably 100 times, no exaggeration, because I'm like, that's freaking Jared Allen right there. Right. And you talk about authentically being yourself and that is you. And I like to call it your because or your purpose, right? Like you do so much that people the ordinary person doesn't know about, right? Like, I know how connected you are to veterans. I know the things that you do for kids that you don't ever gloat about or talk about because it's about those individuals, man. Like, if I were to say Jared Allen in 2026, what is your because? What is that thing that's deeper than your why? I like to call it like your true purpose, that foundation. What's your because, brother?

You know what, I think, I think it's my kids right now, honestly. It's, and I know that's kind of generic and cheesy, uh, because we're still, we're still doing stuff with the foundation. I got a great team that, that handles most of that. Um, but you know, right now, like, my kids' sports, my kids are in volleyball, and you know, they're at that pivotal point in life. They're teenagers. I have one teenager and one, you know, preteen, right? And so they're at that pivotal point in life where, where decisions matter. And I'm not talking about football decisions, like life decisions, right? So, you know, and they're deep into sports, and, and I think mom and dad being present. You know, my kids are in two different clubs, so we're constantly here. Like, we're Alabama one weekend, Atlanta, Lexi. We're all over the place, right? But it's that being present, you know? And I think if you look and if you go really deep into it, you look at society today, there's, I think, a lot of the issues we have in society today because there's a gap in parents being present, you know? And I'm not just talking about, you know, people from poor communities and that.

I mean, you look at a lot of the affluent, I mean, my kids go to affluent school and there's a lot of unpresent parents. There's a lot of, and no disrespect to people that have nannies and that are working in their career. And I fully understand that. But for me, and we've been blessed, my wife and I decided when we decided to have children that we were going to be ever present in our kids' lives, right? And I think that's one of the greatest gifts you can give your kids. My biggest purpose right now is making sure through these transformable years that the dad is present, you know, and, you know, and that I'm continuing to show them what hard work looks like, right? You know, continuing to show them what humility looks like, continuing to show them, and hopefully being a man, the man, the type of man that they want around them, you know, not in much later in life, right? But it's crazy, you think about it, man. I got You know, I mean, I have a 14-year-old. I mean, 10 years she could be getting married, right? I mean, you think about that, you're like, wow, 10 years can go by so quick.

So that's really my main purpose right now is that, and obviously we dabble in a lot of stuff, but I think again, just teaching them to find that passion and to be passion-driven, right? And so, you know, that's kind of been what our family centers around right now is really making sure that that we can be ever present. And, you know, they don't know, they don't realize it now. One day they'll look back and be like, holy crap, Mom and Dad were pretty awesome.

And I'm gonna continue to give you praise and applaud you for that, because here's the truth, and I just got off stage 2 weeks ago and told this story of— I grew up in a two-parent household but really was raised by a single mom. My dad was physically there, right?

Yep.

But he wasn't present. And I'm tying everything to what you're saying because you're right, your kids are gonna remember that and look back. And you're not just present physically, you're present emotionally, right? You're present mentally, you're active. When we talk about Jared Allen, everybody talks about his motor, right? And you talk about action there. Like what you just said was, You're present, yes, but you're being active, right?

100%.

I would love for you to talk to the folks that are listening and watching about why and how that is so important in the day-to-day, not just with your kids.

Yeah.

But also in the businesses that you have, the communities that you're with. You can be present, but you really better be active.

Active, absolutely. I love that. I love that phrasing right there. I'm gonna steal it. I tell people I have no original thought. Everything I regurgitate, I take from somebody. But, you know, so I'm one of these weird people. When I, when I hear something or read something that sticks, like, I can't forget it, right? It's, it's part of the reason why, you know, we eat the way we do, you know, as far as we like to grow our own food, eat very organically, you know, we eat everything. But, you know, we try to, but, you know, try to have certain education process. But point being is that when I know something, I have a hard time making a conscious decision against it if I believe in it, right? If it comes down to my, my core belief system, I can't, I can't consciously make that decision to go against it. And so I say that to say when I was young, I mean, I would— I didn't even have kids at this time. I was in Kansas City. I was early 20s. I read an article that said 70%— your child, your children will have a 70% less chance of poverty for just two parents being present, being there.

You could be crappy parents, but if two parents are there, right, you have it. Your child will have a 70% less chance of growing up in poverty. And I don't know why that struck me in that moment. I didn't have kids. I was reading, I was like, "Oh my gosh." And then the article continues to talk about now, if both parents are active, right? If you're present, you're active, now you're a good parent, right? Now, you know, all parents are going to have struggles, but— and that stuck with me. And so, you know, when we decided to have kids and, you know, Aim decided to stay home and be a stay-at-home mom, which is the greatest job gift you can give your children, right? And then when I retired, I knew it was like, everybody's, "Oh, what are you going to do? You're going to do media?" I'm like, "No." My kids were at that age. They were like kindergarten. My oldest was starting kindergarten when I retired. So, again, fully blessed to be able to do that. And I just knew, I'm like, "This is my time now to dive in and share the load with Amy." And I could have easily taken a job in media.

I could have taken run and done whatever. But again, I think there's that level of being active in your kid's life is huge. And so for me, that's just what it is. And then when I do something, I go all in, right? And so, I mean, what greater mission or greater purpose to be all in on than your kids and your wife and in your faith, right? So those things that actually matter, I mean, let's be honest, all this goes away, right? When we go in front of our maker, whoever you believe your maker is, when you go in front of them, your dollar signs and zeros in your bank account mean absolutely nothing, you know? Yes, sir. And so, you know, so for me, I think I've had a great understanding of that even when I was young. And so I just tried, I just, I try to be active. And like I said, and then, and then you go into the business world of things, right? I literally was on a call with a distributor the other day. You know, again, my buddy called me one day years ago, back in 20, I guess in 2021, was, hey, you want to buy a couple barrels of bourbon?

I was like, cool, he's a bourbon aficionado. He's— I, I like to say I know a lot about bourbon. I enjoy a great glass of bourbon. My buddy's a bourbon geek. He's just— he's all in. And so, uh, I was like, yeah, sure. I had some connections over at MGP, so we bought some barrels. The next thing you know, we bought some more barrels. Next thing you know, we're going to age it till it's 10 years old. Next thing, we're sitting on these things for 4 or 5 years. And, and then Fred Minnick, somebody of mine, he's like, man, this is pretty good. You should probably— you should probably sell this. Like, oh, okay. And then I just get down this rabbit hole and now have a bourbon company, right? And we could talk about that as well. But this, this really said, he goes, the ones that make it, the brands that make it are the people that show up, right? The people that are active. You have to be active in your own company. You have to be active in what you're doing. You have to be active in your future, right? So if I expect my kids to have a good future or if I want to set a good example for them, I have to show them what it looks like to be active.

Now, anybody who's raising teenagers know half the time I don't think they see what we're doing.

No, but they will.

They will at some point, I hope. So that, you know, we always tell them like, where are you so lazy? My goodness, your mom and I work our butts off around here. Yeah. So I think that's just, that's just the way I've been. You know, it's like, it's that, it's that mentality. It's that all-in mentality. It's that, you know, if you're, you know, there's the old adage, right? If anything's worth doing, it's worth doing well. And so that's kind of what I get. And then when I don't have the time, that's one of the reasons I retired from football. I wasn't willing to put the 6 hours in the gym anymore, right? I wasn't willing to work out in the offseason to meet the standard that I thought was acceptable, right? I could have hung on for paychecks and racked up 5 sacks a year and done the minimum, but that's just not who I was. And so I take that same philosophy of what we're doing. So if that passion for something burns or if I'm not willing to put that effort in, then we get out of it, all right? Or we don't do it in the first place.

And so that's just kind of what was ingrained in me, the hard work growing up, very blue-collar family. My dad was a reigning cutting horse trainer. My grandfather was 23 years in the United States Marine Corps, which meant we were all in the Marine Corps.

Right.

We were raised boot camp style. And so again, that just kind of translates into, again, I try to put that kind of work into my marriage, my faith, my kids. Any business we're doing. So yeah, it's just that it's a mentality and it's, you know, again, you joke about it, I always joke about it with the mullet, it's a lifestyle. It really is. It's a choice. It's a choice to be this way.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. So Jared, I'm going to give you an unplugged truth right here. And I've said this to anybody that will listen to me. I think I've said this on film too. I hate the saying hard work beats talent when talent doesn't show up. And here's why, because I've said this before, when hard work and talent shows up, you got a monster. And that monster is Jared Allen. Like, I believe that you were the epitome of hard work, motor, but then talent too, right? Because yeah, hard work does beat talent when talent doesn't show up. But a lot of times though, when you mix that talent in, you get 136 sacks.

That's the differentiator, right? Yep. That's the differentiator. I tell that to kids these days. I'm like, you get to the NFL, everybody's fast, everybody's strong, right? Everybody, everybody was born— if they weren't first-team All-American, they were some form of an All-American, probably. Like, so, so all the accolades are there, right? Everybody. So what's that? What makes What makes all these people in college that are the 1% of 1%, right? I think, I love math, right? And I had a high school coach tell me one time, and this is when he was basically trying to tell me like I shouldn't get my hopes up for college scholarships when I was like a freshman, right? He was like, "There's like 20,000 colleges in the country, right? And hundreds of thousands of high school students and high school athletes and this, that, and only about 20,000 of them get to go to college on a scholarship. And then out of that, another only 5,000 get this level, this level." And it was this whole like 1% of 1% kind of keeps keep coming down. Uh, and I think when you get to those levels where everybody's good, everybody's great, it is a mindset and is your work ethic, right?

And I used to laugh about it because guys in the league that, that, that, that work hard, that are hustlers, like that motors, all that— you hear the high motor, you know, uh, try-hard hustle guy. And I'm like, right, you're actually— you're, you're using those in a, in a, um, in a negative connotation, right? You're trying to say like hold up, I only have 136 acts because I worked hard? No, I only have 136 acts because I tried hard, you know? And again, why is working hard and trying hard and hustling ever— what has that ever been a bad thing? Those are qualities I'm trying to teach my kids, right?

Right.

You have to put the work in. And that's why I love sports, right? Like you said, because at that point everybody's talented. So the fact that I'm willing to outwork you just shows that mentally you're weak, right? Right. And that's how I equate it. And, and so I'm with you. I don't, you know Yes, I would, I would take someone that has a great work ethic that might not be as naturally gifted. I don't like to say talent, I like to say, you know, there's— everybody's got different gifts. Um, and I remember having that conversation with Everson Griffin when he was a young kid, or, you know, young player. I said, dude, you, you have more natural athletic ability than I ever had. I mean, this dude was, this dude was running a sub-4:5:40 after practice with pads on, you know what I mean? Like 270. I mean, this dude's just a absolute physical specimen.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, I told him, I said, but when you get this right, when you, when you know, when you, when you can use your mind, when you, when you, you know, when you, when you, when you know your playbook, when you know, uh, what that offensive tackle's gonna set, when you, when you know the game so well, now you're actually using those physical attributes as a, as a, as a tool in your toolbox, right? Because you're just, you're just surviving on those, you know. But when that, when that work ethic— and that's what I say, the hard work isn't just in the weight room. You know, it isn't just, you know, practicing hard. It's all— it's fine-tuning the details, being willing to pick yourself apart. And, you know, I tell everybody, the 136 are great. I probably remember all the ones I missed more.

Yeah, it is.

And it's those missed opportunities of what could have been, you know? Dang, that could have been even better. And every season I would just go back and I would just rip myself apart. Okay, you got— you're only as good as your last season. How can we get better? Where can we get better? Where are we— where are we lacking? Writing down goals and giving those to my coach to hold me accountable and stuff like that. So yeah, man, I think I'm with you. I think talent, a lot of people get by on talent in all aspects of the world, right? It's like you got a person that's naturally really smart. So then I don't have to try very hard at school, but imagine if they did. Imagine where you could go. And so I couldn't agree more with you. I think You look at, you look at anybody that's successful, um, you know, it takes grit and determination. The talent is a given. Now what do you do with that talent is that's on you, and that comes down to your work ethic. And that's why you see guys wash out, right? It's not because they weren't talented.

Yeah, you know, it's not, it's not because, you know, and then you got, you got guys that overachieve, you got guys that underachieve, and it comes down to that work ethic like you said.

Yep, yep, absolutely. All right, Jared, I'm gonna get in trouble. In a good way. This is my hot take of the day. But I need some help with this hot take. Okay. So sitting right here to my right, I have this bourbon. Bull Rye Bourbon. And not only is this take hot, this bourbon is hot. On fire. We're talking 122 proof, 61% alcohol content. But it's the presentation, bro. Like, got some signatures right here on the side, right? We got some limited edition stuff that I love. So I wanted to do this live. We're going to open this.

Oh, I like it.

Okay. We're going to open this. And I need everybody to see this right here. This is amazing. This is amazing. And This blend is number 1 of 25. It's how special Jared Allen is to me. This has become my favorite bourbon, and that's why I'm gonna get in trouble.

I love it. And I'll tell you what, that is fantastic.

And it's 9 o'clock. I don't know if I should have a sip live. I didn't say if it was 9 o'clock AM or PM. It's just 9 o'clock, right?

Ain't no judgment here. No one knows if you even swallowed it. So that— so that— so what's special about this one too is, you know, this one is our, is our higher price because— so this was actually— I— when we, when we made this blend, this was only for my Hall of Fame party, right? So we made this blend especially for my Hall of Fame party. So that was batch 1 that we bottled in 2025. That's where the 125. So you, you should have a number on your canister that'll tell you which. Yes. Bottle of 228. So after the Hall of Fame party, I was never going to release this into the public. Right. And then we had, we had some issues with our, with our, we had some delays in our glass because our batch 2 was our 115, which is cool. It is, is primo. We softened the front end up a little bit. And so we had 228 bottles sitting in a tote over at our bottling company in the Midwest. So we said, you know what, let's, let's, let's make a custom canister for it. Right. I'll sign all of them individually because, you know, our brand isn't built around me as an athlete, right?

It's built around the bourbon. Like, that's the other thing too. It's like, You know, when you do something, you got to think like there's a ton of celebrity brands, athlete brands. Like that's why we put all of our focus into our juice. And that's why we have— we sat on our MGP until it was 8 years old, right? I went out, we bought 13-year-old barrels of Kentucky bourbon that are fantastic. And we literally created this blend while we were there to figure out how we were going to blend out our MGP with our Middle West. And we— and this got— we ended up with this, which was totally— so we shifted in the 9th hour, right? I mean, we just were like, yeah, the juice is going to lead the way, we're going to do what it takes. So anyways, we did this, we signed this, we got this out, and that is why it's at the elevated price of $295. Our, our batch 2 retails at $99.99. Um, but this is, this is one of my favorite, just because this is— this was like, this was that completion of an idea again, right? We just had me and my buddy sitting around, called me up one day like, Yeah, let's do it.

Uh, and then knowing nothing of the spirits world, just, just worked the process and took our lumps and just worked, worked, worked, worked, worked, worked. And, and this is what we got, you know, in time for the Hall of Fame party, to be able to give that as gifts for everybody. Um, and then like I said, to have that leftover and be able to release a very, very small limited run to the public, which, which you are lucky to get one. It, it is cool. And, um, I will say it is, it is fantastic, neat. But I'm a cube guy too. And that 122 on a cube is bellissimo. I don't even know what bellissimo means.

Probably good. It sounds amazing. No, but I'm a cube guy too. But like, this is so great neat.

Yeah.

And by the way, that canister was 122 of 228.

Okay. Okay.

Perfect. And here's what I like about you.

Release the video. I sat here in this office and I signed every single one of those canisters.

I freaking love it. I freaking love it. Here's what I'm gonna do, because I, I need to do this right now before, uh, the rest of them get sold. Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and buy another 2 bottles. Okay, if they're available, I'm gonna check.

Yeah, literally, they should be. I don't speak easy. They should be.

Yep, yep. So here's what I want. I want people that live here near me, so my friends, so John Moreau, my cousin Randy, my cousin Torrence. We're gonna do a special, we're gonna film it, we're gonna do some cool things for social to really push this brand out here.

I love it.

Well, we'll get you set. Next weekend when I'm home.

I'm sorry, I keep interrupting.

No, no, no, no. We might call or FaceTime Jared Allen and get him on with us too. But we're gonna go celebrate this right here. We're gonna celebrate Jared Allen, but we're gonna celebrate Full Rite Bourbon.

Ah, I love it.

'Cause if you're watching, if you're listening, it is the best bourbon you're gonna have. And this is where I'm gonna get in trouble 'cause everybody that knows me knows that, you know, I love the difference. Chris Voss, one of my very good friends. Chris, we're now number 2, Nick. We're number 2. Full Rite is my number 1. They know I love a vintage Yellowstone. Oh yeah, my vintage Yellowstone is now number 3. I love a Jefferson's. Jefferson has now moved to number 4.

Yeah, which—

because Full Ride is that truth.

I appreciate you. And, and so I do, do this too, or— and we can send you a bottle, um, of our, uh, of our batch 2, right?

Yeah.

And taste them against each other, because that's, that's the coolest part about when— if you have both of them is, you know, everybody's kind of trying to figure out what— always the difference. And so We have about 10% more wheat in our batch 2. Okay. Right. So again, one of the reasons, one of the reasons that we got to the 122, this is, this is the reason everything's a high-proof bourbon. Like the reason I love high-proof bourbon is the complexity of the blending process and the making process, right? The, the, the ability, A, because we're not drinking like we're going to the clubs anymore, you know, like in our 20s, right? I'm out. Give me, give me a glass. I'm ready for sleep.

A glass that I'm going to sip for 30, 45 and just enjoy it.

Yep, exactly. And as Fred would say, you graduated from a drinker to a taster. And, and so high-proof bourbon is— some people get so scared of it. And I'm like, but it's like, it's like heating up your spices or, you know, toasting your nuts before you make, make a meal, right? It just, it adds a complexity of flavors to it that you can't get any other way. And then the challenge is making it drink like a low-proof. And that's, and that is why I love it. And that is why, you know, we have the partners we have over at Middle West and and our blenders, you know, they just acquired Old Elk, which is a great brand as well. And so we get, we get, we get the ability of just being able to source. And that's why we like to source too, because I'm not going to sit here and pretend I'm going to be a distiller and make and redo the world of bourbon. There's so many great barrels of bourbon out there. The key is finding those, putting them together, and then creating the blend that again is authentic. I think it's great.

You think it's great. Some people might not, but that's what I love about the challenge of it. And then with our batch 2, you know, we wouldn't say, okay, how can we— how can we make, you know, the batch different, right? Uh, I like— I love Orphan Barrel for that reason. Like, they go out, it's, it's all— it's always different, it's always floating, right? Yeah. Um, and they said they have some staples like Barner Houses, which is fantastic. But that's kind of the premise behind Full Ride, is like, we'll always let the juice lead. You know, we have what we have, you know, we have our barrels that we'll base it. But if someone comes up to me, it's like, hey, I just found something insane and we can get it, like, yep, we're gonna— and if it works with our premise of what we're trying to put out, then we'll do it. But this is why— so our batch 2, we just, we softened it up just a little bit. It came— the proof came down to 115 based on the extra wheat. So the 122 was hard to hit because the wheat— our wheated bourbon was only coming in at like 100, I think 113 out of the barrel, right?

It was a little lower out of the barrel. And our Kentucky was like 130. So we were trying to balance like how we were trying to get these— this to meet a standard. And I really want— I really wanted to kind of be in that 120, above 120 for that first, uh, for that first one, something really special. Um, and we think we nailed it. And then the 115, uh, is our batch 2. I would— I always call them by their proofs because I think right now we're doing proofs. Our batch 2, um, I would love for you to taste them together and give me your thoughts on them because it— that has— it has a little— it's going to be a little, a little softer on the front end, uh, not as grain-forward. Now it depends on what you like. I, I love the taste of the grains of bourbon, right? Like, I'm just— I want to taste what I'm drinking.

Yeah.

And, uh, so again, I, I— it's such a fun process, and you get kind of, you know, the science behind it, and you just try to get into this, like, this play of trying to, you know, how can we soften the mouthfeel? How can we do this? How can we do this? And hopefully we continue to throw out good products. So, um, I'm glad you love it, and I look forward to hearing what you think about the other one too.

Yeah. So that's what I'm gonna do then. I'll get another bottle of this one because this one's mine. I'm not sharing that one. Um, but I'll get another bottle of that one. And then I will get batch 2. And then next weekend, I'll have some of my guys over. And we're just going to sip and talk and share.

How about that?

I love it.

I love it. Yep. And shoot me a text or FaceTime me, and I'll pop in and give my 2 cents if you want it.

There it is.

I'll share a toast with you.

I love it. I love it. So I'm going to get you out of here in a moment. But I always like to ask this question. I call it the room. And you've done so much on the field, off the field. Was there ever a room, a meeting, a dinner that you can look back to and say, that meeting, that room, that moment changed my life?

Man. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I can't— and not from a football standpoint, right? It was a— it's again, it's well documented that in 2003, 6, I got in a little trouble and made some bad decisions. And you know what? I was on a phone call with my grandpa. I was literally— I was in the car. So the room was my car. And my grandpa told me, he said, I didn't drag this last name through multiple wars and conflicts for you to fuck it up. Right. And in that same year, I was in the locker room talking with my pastor, right? With my best friend's dad. And that was in the locker room. I was sitting at my locker in with the Chiefs. And that's when he said, the world needs more moral heroes. We got enough assholes. And so those two moments right there changed my life. It refocused me. It took me from a child, a child's mindset, to understanding what responsibility really was on and off the field. It took me to a place of you worked so hard. I worked so hard at my football career, right? That, you know, again, I had this idea that to play on the edge, I had to live on the edge.

Yeah.

And so in that moment, in that year, 2006, those two phone calls really showed me how you can separate, right? You can live a conservative, responsible life over here and you can play with your hair on fire, borderline illegal on the field, you know? And so, yeah, so those were the room, right? Those would be my my room, but the most impactful one is in the car with my grandfather because he is my hero. And, you know, so again, I think sometimes you need those moments of truth. And I was blessed to have people around me that would give them to me when I needed them.

I love it. I love it. All right, brother, I'm going to get you out of here with my rapid-fire top 5.

Okay, let's do it.

Unplug 5, as I like to call it. All right. You can't have a favorite child, but you can have a favorite teammate. Who is your favorite teammate of all time?

Uh, Kevin Williams.

Kevin Williams, I like it. Big sexy. The sack you remember the most?

My one and only on Peyton Manning. It was my first favorite because it was my first one for Minnesota as well.

There it is, there it is. What's one thing that you do every day without fail? What's one thing you have to do every day?

Drink coffee.

Okay. Okay. I like that. I like that. If you had one moment, one sit down, I think I know the answer. Who would that be with?

Oh, that's rapid fire. I mean, the obvious is Jesus, and I'm going to meet him one day. But if I went away from that, oh my goodness. Honestly, You know what, this is, this is going to sound weird. So I've, I've, I've been reading the Ethiopian Bible now, right? And learning more about, you know, the original, where that originated from. Yeah. I would love to have a conversation to sit down with the Ethiopian, um, Enoch, I think it was, that was on the road who became a Christian. I think when he ran into Paul, uh, Peter, I think Peter or Paul, I can't, I already lose that, on the road because there was such that dude's life was changed right there. And then now knowing what I know about what has transpired in Ethiopia for thousands of years, I would love to sit down with that dude and see what that transition looked like. That would be super cool for me.

I love it. I love it. I love it. Last one, and this is personal. I want you to finish this sentence.

I refuse to leave this earth until Oh man, I refuse to leave this earth until— oh my goodness, that's a heavy one. I'll be honest, I don't feel like I have anything that's unaccomplished. I don't live a life with regret looking backward. Yeah. So, I mean, If I have to say, I mean, I don't want to leave this earth until, you know, I have seen my grandkids at the minimum. Great-grandkids would be cool.

There it is. I love it. Ladies and gentlemen, this has been Jared Allen. Hall of Famer on the field, Hall of Famer off the field. Someone who I've looked up to for a very long time just because of the person that he is. Jared, brother, I mean this when I say it. If there's ever anything I can personally do for you, I'm there. You don't have to ask. I'm here. I love you with everything I got, bro.

I appreciate that. And right back at you. Um, this is— this has been— this has been fantastic. You do fantastic show. Great, great conversation. Like, it's like talking to someone I've known my whole life.

There it is. I love it. I love it. There it is. All right, ladies and gentlemen, always remember, your because is your superpower. Go unleash it. That's another powerful conversation on Mick Unplugged. If this episode moved you, and I'm sure it did, follow the show wherever you listen, share it with someone who needs that spark, and leave a review so more people can find their because. I'm Rudy Rush, and until next time, stay driven, stay focused, and stay unplugged.