Transcript of FROM SUPERBOWL WINNER IN ROOKIE YEAR: TO NFL AGENT || ROY LEWIS || EPISODE 066

I guess my life is like most young people, right? You play sports when you're younger, right? Your parents want to get you involved. It wasn't until seventh grade that I actually started playing the sport of football. So I learned the game of football before. In high school, where I really set in at, you know what I mean? Maybe I have an opportunity at this thing. You know what I mean? As I started playing better and better, and I guess my play on the field would match what was being said. You know what I mean? It's like the perception versus reality type deal. And so it wasn't until my perception of myself and how well I was playing, I was like, You know what, damn, actually, I'm really good. And then it went... So then I started to dominate the games in high school. I would say, KG, I think what happened was my mentality shifted, and it was like all my decisions started to align with what I needed to do in order to become not only a Division One football player, but ultimately an NFL football player in the grand scheme of things, even though it was so far away.

I was only in high school, but all my decisions, I was just like, just firing on all cylinders.

You've experienced something that most people can only dream of, your first year in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers. I've always just wondered the mentality behind and the atmosphere when people are pursuing this prestigious achievement of winning a Super Bowl. What was it like on a day-to-day basis on the training ground, whether you locked in and stuff like that?

To go in the depth, man, to be honest, I had never experienced anything like what I experienced my rookie year in Pittsburgh with the Pittsburgh Steelers. That defense, just the team, just the energy. Coming from the University of Washington, my senior year, We weren't that successful. I remember we lost the last couple of games, and I was just like, All right, that's it. Getting to Pittsburgh, the coach Tomlin, he revitalized me instantly. It was like a family, from the owners, Mr. Rooney, all the way down to the maintenance man on the fabric. That's where they are.

Did the coach say something different when you guys went into halftime, knowing that there was two quarters left to try and instill a lot of less nerves, less pressure? Do you remember any of the words the coach said at that point in time? Very curious and also transitioning and finding out about this new chapter in your lives, from NFL player to NFL or football agent as well. Can you walk us through that transition? What made you decide that?

You know, KJ, I think everybody wants to still be connected. I want to still be connected to the game. It was such a big part of my life. It still is a big part of my life. My son played football. I also try to mentor and advocate for youth sports. And so this was my way of directly having an impact back on the game.

The code to winning insights you need today to seize the world tomorrow. If you are curious and interested in learning a bit more about what happens behind the scenes of sports, I have the man in the studio today, NFL champion, literally Super Bowl champion as well, played for both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the team from Seattle. I'm joking.

The Seahawks.

All right. So yes, the modern day Spencer Stressmo, if you've ever watched Ballers. So literally, NFL player turned into football agent. So the man, the myth, the very legend himself, we got Roy Lewis in the studio. How are you doing, brother?

I feel good. Thank you for the intro. It makes me feel like I'm on the Ballers show.

I enjoyed that. I watched it back then. That's why when I was on the phone with you yesterday, I'm like, Oh, my gosh, hang on. Nfl player turned into agent. I've seen this thing before. That was a very good series. Yes, I want to just touch base about just your experience. I often love people that have played sports at a professional level because it just takes a literal certain level of mentality, physical attribute. But can you walk us through your journey, please?

Yeah, absolutely. I guess my life is like most young people, you play sports when you were younger. Your parents want to get you involved. It wasn't until seventh grade that I actually started playing a sport of football. I learned the game of football. Prior to football in seventh grade, I was T-ball third when I was three, youth sports at the Park at St. Andrews Park in LA. Shout out to St. Andrews. That's where the ball has come from. And then it became a black belt. Yeah, it became a black belt by the time I was 10 years old. So I learned how to dissect the body. My mom put us in there for discipline, but more so it just taught me how to really understand spatial awareness and have discipline. And so in seventh grade, there was a group of young men in my middle school, and they played Pop Warner. And you know, Pop Warner at that time was clicky. It was like, Hey, man, you played Pop Warner. And so I wanted to play. They said I couldn't, so I told them, I had my mom sign me up, and I'd take all your spots.

I literally played to every last one of those people, and my Pop Warner watched me play professionally.

That's crazy. But the journey between then, before you went to college and stuff, when did you realize, Hey, listen, you actually had the talent and you wanted to take it at a different level as well. Was that always the motive and the reason behind it, too?

I think in high school, where I really set in at, You know what I'm saying? Maybe I have an opportunity at this thing. You know what I mean? As I started playing better and better, and I guess my play on the field would match what was being said. You know what I mean? It's like the perception versus reality type deal. It wasn't until my perception of myself and how well I was playing, I was like, You know what, damn, actually, I'm really good. Then it went... Then I started to dominate the games in high school. Me and my teammates, we would just dominate. And it was a football school at Narban and Serra and SoCal, South Central LA. But that's when I knew I was like, Oh, yeah, I got a shot at this thing. And not only that, scholarship, right? Division One scholarship. I'm trying to get as high as I can, as fast as I can to the top. And so I started to mimic and watch gentlemen who were already there. I found like old VHS tapes, and I would just watch players from Ohio State back in the day, Chris Gamble, Keywan Ratliff from Florida.

All those guys would watch the actual VHS tape with the tracking button, watch their stances. And I was like, if I can mimic this, then I got a chance. And so that just took me every step of the way as I got more and more athletic, became easier and easier. You know what I mean? And then when I got to college, I was like, oh, yeah, it's time. It's time. And when you know, you know. You have the coaches, you have the mentors. I would say, KG, I think what happened was my mentality shifted, and it was like all my decisions started to align with what I needed to do in order to become not only a division one football player, but ultimately an NFL football player in the grand scheme of things, even though it was so far away. I was only in high school, but all my decisions, I was just like, I'm just firing on all cylinders, all my workouts, I'm going about things with people I'm meeting, the guys that are recruiting me. So it just worked out. Timing, sometimes the universe just don't miss.

I love that so much. Whether you believe in a God or not, I always feel like higher power, the universe, a higher energy, some things just always align. You're like, Listen, this thing had to happen in order for me to actually experience this thing as well. Because I'm very religious, and I I believe, obviously, God. I think sometimes when I hear stories like that, when you're like, I just knew, I know what you mean. You know what I'm saying? Exactly. I feel like we have a calling sometimes as well. Sometimes we end up finding out at a later stage, Hey, listen, This is what I'm called to do. This is my purpose and my glory to actually inspire, uplift, and add purpose and value people's lives as well. So I couldn't agree more.

I agree, man. Added value, I think, is probably the biggest deal. Everybody can add value. We all can take something and give something to one another on our daily journey. I look forward to that. When you start to receive that from multiple streams, we have multiple streams of income, but you can receive multiple streams of positivity, multiple streams of excellence, multiple extremes of whatever it is. You absorb that good energy. The sky's truly the limit, man.

I love that. I mean, you've experienced something that most people can only dream of. Obviously, I think it could have been your first year in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers. I've always just wondered the mentality behind and the atmosphere when people are pursuing this prestigious achievement of winning a Super Bowl. What was it like on a day-to-day basis on a training ground, whether you lock it and stuff like that?

To go into depth, man, to be honest, I had never experienced anything like what I experienced my rookie year in Pittsburgh with the Pittsburgh Sears. That defense, just the team, just the energy. Coming from the University of Washington, my senior year, we weren't that successful. I remember we lost the last couple of games, and I was just like, All right, sit. Getting to Pittsburgh with Coach Tomlin, he revitalized me instantly. It was like a family, from the owners, Mr. Rooney, all the way down to the maintenance man, the fabric. That's who they are. And he meant every bit of it. Mr. Rooney knows every single individual who's ever worn a Pittsburgh uniform. That's how important you are to their organization. I didn't know that as a young man. I'm just thinking it's just football. No, they brought me into a culture. They brought me into a family. They forged me into a professional. So they would have us around the likes of all the Hall of Famers or greats. Mel Blunt, Mean Joe Green, Lambert, Ham, J. T. Thomas, Frank O'Harris. These gentlemen were at our Welcome to Pittsburgh Entry Party. Just cool Little nuances, little touches that that organization does that keeps them here.

That's the Pittsburgh Stealers organization, right? They created the Rooney Rule. There's a reason why men and women of color get an opportunity to interview for head coaching positions in the NFL. Prior to the Rooney Rule, that was nonexistent. So they are truly an advocate for trying to bolster a community. So getting to Pittsburgh, being around that family, they taught me how to be a family man, a professional. It was a warriors mentality. Everyone looked out for me. I mean, Troy looked out for me. Ike, Ryan Clark, that you see daily on ESPN. I mean, these are all like older brothers that just took me underneath my wing and showed me this is how you survive in NFL. This is how you play ball in NFL. This is what you do in NFL. Here's the etiquette. Here's the unknowns, the unwrittens in NFL. And I'm going to teach you at a high level from a winning franchise. So you don't have any bad habits, Roy. You're going to come into the league with a clean slate and learn how to do it the right way. And it was so cool. I was so fortunate. The preparation, attention to detail.

How we went about our business, it was surreal. It was cool. And I'm sitting there and I'm experiencing this, and I'm like, This is happening to me? I'm just a kid from South Central LA, from 60th Street, Figaroa in 60th, from 453 West 60th Street. So it was cool, man. Just being able to Share that back with my family as I'm going through it. And then as the season progresses, we keep getting better and better, and we keep winning and winning and winning. And next thing you know, it's in December, and it's in late December, and we're still winning. And you start to hear the talks about playoffs. And here I am. I've never had a payoff. In college, you either play well enough to get into a bowl game and you play it, and then you go home, or you don't, you go home. And so now the season is extending. They talk about the rookie wall. And so how do you push through the rookie wall? It was because of veterans who taught me how to condition my body, how to take care of my body, how to put the right things in my body, how to treat my body right, mind, body, and sound, total wellness to help you sustain and survive because this is your first year.

You're used to playing what? 10, 12 games, max. Welcome to the NFL. This is 17. Let's go. 16, 17 right now, whether you're ready for it or not. And so they did a great job of just grooming me, man. The whole year was just one big journey. And it makes sense now because in hindsight, Coach Tom would always say, It's never about the destination, kid. It's about the journey. It's about the journey. It's about the journey. And I vividly remember him saying quotes like that to us. I vividly remember him speaking to the team before my third preseason game. I think we were playing against the Buffalo Bills in Toronto. And he said, Tonight, there's two types of people in life, those that feel pressure and those that apply it. Tonight, we're going to figure out which person you are. And that resonated with me. I'm just like, you get the bug going. You know what I mean, KG? This was back in the day in the first, well, the CBI originally came on there. Back in 2008, we still had the four-man wedge. So it was a true kickoff. You can run down the field and you can get blasted.

That was football back then. And thank God the rules have changed now, right? For safety purposes, to keep health, right? Because health is wealth and all the information we find out about CTE. But it was a different time when I came in. You know what I mean? If you're a gunner, if you're a wedge Buster, you run down there, you got to bust a wedge, make something happen. I need a splash plate, Louis. Get in there. You know what I mean? It was just a cool experience, man. So to ride that wave and then to get to the playoffs. And then you watch it happen. Teams start falling off. It's a whole different vibe in the playoffs.

Were you guys a wild card team at that time, or did you get the playoff position?

Yeah, we had the playoff position. We had the playoff position, so we had a buy. Perfect. Great. Then the next week, we play. Oh, yeah.

What number were you in terms of ranking?

At that time, I believe we were the top seed because we played the Baltimore Ravens three times, and we played the AFC Championship in Pittsburgh. Okay. We beat them in Pittsburgh. We went back to Baltimore to beat them when Santonio caught the ball on the goal line with his tiptoes facing outward towards the back towards the field. We caught that on another tiptoe catch by Santonio for the win. And then we played them again in the AFC Championship. And that's when Ryan Clark had that nice killer hit on Willis McGee here, which was just a great play, man. He read his keys. Ryan is such a cerebral player, and he made the play. And Brett Kiesel picked the ball up and secured the win. And so that's what catapulted us into the Super Bowl. And then after that, it was Media Week. And that was the whole dealing it of itself, man. And sometimes I don't give it enough credit. You know what I mean? Being able to talk to a gentleman like you, KG, or when people ask me about it, I'll bring it back up. But life moves on and you keep going and you just keep progressing.

You keep evolving, you keep elevating. And it's good to reminisce and go down that because it shaped so much of me. It really has. So I think about that game. I think about the night before the game. I think about the meeting room. I think about the music that we listened to when we turned off the We turned off the lights and we closed our eyes and just start vibing to Phil Collins. And it was just, you hear that? I can feel it coming in here tonight. In a silent room. Just visualize that. You could feel the electricity right now. And I mean, that was the conversation. It's time to go. You know what tomorrow means. We're here now. That was Coach Tomlin in that show. That is Coach Tomlin. That's why he is the longest, winning-est as far as having successful season coaches in NFL. Unbelievable. 17, 18 years of never having a losing season. That's the philosophy. You just win by attrition. Every day you put the work in. You put the work in, you just chip away. I don't care who we're looking. It don't matter who we're looking. We're just chipping.

It's to steal away. You're just going to keep chipping.

But the reason why I like what you're saying is that football is one of those unique sports that every single person has to play their role. Of course, you do get me. So it's every so on. Because you see in soccer, you have eleven people on and off. But like football, you have your offensive, it'll come in. You have your defensive and you have to have your kicker that has to have a good day. You're caught up. So it's like, oh, my God. It's one of those things where you can't really say, Idrag the team. Yes, you can have an exceptional thing, but every single piece of the puzzle or the piece is playing their significant role. So I often feel like it's one of the most team sports out there or team games that you can play in sports. So that's why I want to... When you say that, it remind me, like I said, I never knew the sport. My dad's favorite movie is, Remember the Titans? Oh, yeah.

So you spoke about the team atmosphere, left side, strong side, left side, strong side.

It just gives you chill. It does. Gosh, they're going to win now. Now you're rooting for them. If you just remember that moment, the Super Bowl day and halftime. I don't know what the score was. Were you guys losing or were you winning at that moment in time?

At halftime, we He went in to halftime ahead because James Serson caught the interception right before halftime. 106 short, I believe, interception on the goal line. Yeah, we're getting ready to blitz and Debo.

106-yard.

As a linebacker, it was the most insane play once in a lifetime player. He catches the ball in the end zone from Kurt Warner. Larry Fisjero, I don't know the other receiver. Preston was on the backside, but switch release. James Harrison picks the ball right in his bear basket, and he's down the sideline like the Incredible Hawk, just all brute strength. And then there's like, Elephant's on parade. Everybody's just cleaning house. Larry jumps out of bounds. He comes back in. It's the coolest thing you ever seen. Sometimes they'll replay it on NFL films. It's one of the great plays. But it was cool to witness that play. I'm like, What is going on? Yes, it was just everything all in the same manner. So, yeah, it was cool. It was cool. It was just the experience alone.

Did the coach say something different when you guys were in the half-time, knowing that there was two quarters left to try and instill a lot of less nerves, less pressure? Do you remember any of the words the coach said at that point in time?

No, I don't. But Coach Tomlin is not a man of many, many words in that regard. Coach Tomlin is a professional. He teaches you how to be. He teaches men how to be men, period. Grown men. We handle our job. We do our job. We perform at a high level. Right, wrong, or different, I do my job. That's the way it is. And so I don't know what the conversation was, but all I know we were excited about James. James is out of breath. We came back out, second half, and ultimately, Big Ben. Oh, Big Ben. Yeah, Big Ben. That's his team. He had just came off of the 2005 Super Bowl versus the Seattle Seahawks in Detroit at the Motor City Classic. Remember that? So they played the Seahawks three years prior. So now this is Ben's second run, and he's like, oh, yeah. New coach. He won that one under Bill Cower. This time it's with Tomlyn. And so Ben had a lot to do with you had Heinz. We had a lot of veterans. Casey Hampton. I can't even do a credit. Aaron Smith, Brett Kiesel, Larry Foote, James Farrier, Max Starks, S Antonio Holmes, Keith Miller was our kicker.

Jeff Reid. I love you, Jeff. Jeff was awesome. We just had a good group of guys. And as we all know, at least what I came to realize is that the good teams, the winning teams, they're super close outside of football. They take care of one another. They look out for one another. And so I was immediately baptized into this brotherhood, to this fraternity. Like, oh, this is the way that the NFL is. Every team is like this. I love that. Every team is like this in my mind. You know what I mean? And if it's not, then it's my goal to get there and try to create that type of culture because this is how it was forged. I come from the Pittsburgh Steelers.

I mean, it's a good thing because it sets the bar so high, but then you don't know any other better. So you're just assuming that every single team has got that level of standard. That's where everything is as well.

100 %. And you would see that no matter where you went, it was like, it didn't care. In Pittsburgh, the mentality was, it doesn't matter what happens. We've already decided we've won the It's just a matter of us physically going out there to articulate it. But in our mind, we've played the game. We've won the game. It's a matter of us going out there and doing it. And that was our approach. And it would be funny because the game would be happening, and then the ball will bounce another way, and somehow a guy would get it. The hottest thing ever. That's why the ball is, I guess. But the ball bounce is weird in football, but it becomes cyclic. And like I said, it wasn't not only in Pittsburgh, that was also in Seattle. When I I got to Seattle, I got to Seattle only to be surrounded by another group of great individuals. T. J. Hussma Zata, Deion Branch, Deion Grant, Matt Houselback, Julius Jones, Lo for the Two-Poo. So my entire football career, I've been around nothing but legends.

That's amazing.

And they've all mentored me. I've always been the youngest guy, so they just take me along. Lawyer Malloy, Marcus Dufont, Jordan Babino. They would just grab me, pull me along, and groom me. Hey, man, this is how we go about our business here NFL. So I've been really, really fortunate to have those relationships because it makes me who I am today.

Powerful. And then what's something in the life in the NFL that fans don't get to see or fully understand?

You know what? It's funny you say that because we talk about this all the time. I think the audience, the fans, they don't really understand it. They're human. We're human. We have the same issues as normal families would have. But sometimes Sometimes we're scrutinized a little bit more. You know what I mean? The case in point or an example I would like to use is just think about on the holidays. I tell families, I say, When you get around your family on holidays, you guys get around family. You get to eat, have a great time, maybe watch a sporting event. Guess what? That gentleman who's performing is not with his family. You get the benefit from him performing on the holiday. It's not for him. He's performing. That's his job. Thanksgiving, Christmas.

Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, New Year Day.

These them, and they're performing for their family, but you get the benefit. So when guys get crucified by the media, it hurts. I would say as athletes, we know we're bred to have thicker skin, tougher skin, and not be swayed by the media and just stay in our own realm. But they're humans. We have feelings. We have to deal with the same issues that you have to. You know what I mean as well. And so I think there'll be a little bit more empathy, more consideration, more compassion in that regard. It couldn't hurt. Why not?

But wouldn't you say then back then, obviously, with the transformation of social media, especially over the last 10 years, has been super crazy, where everyone's got access, people can hide behind the keyboard and start bullying. Whereas back then, it wasn't as accessible. You know what I'm saying? It was around the... I mean, MySpace was just about dead.

I remember MySpace.

Myspace was something special. Oh, jeez, I remember MySpace. I remember that. You could put the status with the... I think you could put a song and people could You look at that, write your little code in the background.

It was a good time. Myspace was good.

The twins were born then, back then. I wasn't children then.

You don't know about the MySpace, bro. Myspace, Facebook. But you know what? You're right. I think The evolution of social media, how we're moving in general in society. Everyone is moving towards this. I mean, of course, it's been opinionated news for years, but people now have a platform to say whatever they want without any checks and balances. So what you get is the Wild Wild West. Everybody's just firing shots. Whatever can stick can stick. You know what I'm saying? We have a President who likes to say, All press is good press. It don't matter what it is. So people are saying anything nowadays just to get some attention. Sometimes, some of the bad stuff is going to stick, too. So it's just unfortunate in that capacity that we're there. But when it's used in the right manner, social media can be good.

And speaking of presidents, I think I saw a picture with you in number 44.

Oh, you know it. The great Barack. Oh, it's a beautiful guy.

That's my uncle, by the way. Yeah, he's my uncle.

Give me some of that.

Yeah, I did my family genealogy. I think it's about 200 cousins, something like that.

It doesn't matter.

We all family. Kenya, Africa, We all found me.

I'm your brother, too, brother. There we go. Oh, we all connected.

How was that experience? Because I think he was just inaugurated. I think, 2009, he took office January, 2009. At that time, I think he went to the White House. So you could have been the first team that he had met after the one Super Bowl, if I'm not mistaken.

Yes. We were the first team after he was inaugurated. He got there in what, November? And then the election was November that year.

January, 20th. January.

And thenYou guys won February. We went February. So I to the subo. What a great experience. South Lawn, we did a community service project. I think we made over the like 85,000 care packages alongside wounded warriors. So men and women, former veterans, are veterans out there on the South on preparing packages for current and active military men. And we just did it like an assembly line style. And Obama President, Barack Obama, walked around and shook every single hand, took every single picture, answered every single question, and was not too cool for school, not too busy, took the time to hang out with us.

He still had black hair then as well.

Oh, yeah. He was smooth like butter, man, back then. I got to show you some of the pictures. He wasn't stressed. He had waves. He was C6. So it was a cool experience. And that was my second time ever going to the White House. I went back when I was in middle school to lay the wreath at the Arlington National Cemetery at the tomb of an Unkown Soulja. So that was a cool experience. And who would have thought, years, years later, I would be back there? At the champion. Yeah, right? Shaking hands with the president. So I've been fortunate in life. As I look back over things, the creator has been good. No issues.

Love that so much. Now, the exciting part I want to talk about. As much as, yes, you've gained so much experience and life lessons from playing from the NFL, I'm very curious in also transitioning and finding out about this new chapter in your life from NFL player to NFL or football agent as well. Can you walk us through that transition? What made you decide that?

You know, Kajia, I think everybody wants to still be connected, right? Who doesn't want to still be connected? That, for me, was the ultimate deal. I wanted to still be connected to the game. It was such a big part of my life. It still is a big part of my life. My son played football. I constantly try to mentor and advocate for youth sports. And so this was my way of directly having an impact back on the game. I can just give the players all the information that I wish I knew I had when I was playing, but before it was given to me. You know what I mean? So now I can just literally say, Hey, here's Let's do what may happen. Let's be proactive. Hey, that's what they can't do. Let's be proactive. Hey, here's your leverage in this position. Hey, let's work this, or Here's your rights. Let's exercise this option. And so for me, becoming an NFL agent was like, I'm finally in a position to give enough of myself and to give back enough knowledge where it can actually benefit the next person. It's time to go forward with this.

Someone can use this, and someone can be great with this, and they can be And they could be even greater, even faster, because this is knowledge that I've acquired over a long period of time. I'm giving it to my players in a condensed version right now. Hey, let's go do it. And so that's the difference. That's the key. It's like, wow.

Which deal was that when you did that, when you transitioned to that?

I became an agent two seasons ago. Okay. And it's been great. I just said, You know what? Hey, this is my time. This is what I want to do. And I set out to do it. My personal My own former agent, excuse me, a gentleman by the name of Cameron Foster, out of Seattle area. Rainsports Foster, former Foster, Kenny Eastley Sports. But he was the one who prompted me. Hey, man, I think you'd be good at this profession. A former player. You have a wealth of knowledge. Why not impart that on a young man? And I took into consideration, pursued my passion as a fireman. That's what I wanted to do post-college and just be a family man. And then it dawned on me. Just kept scratching it. Go back. And I went back and aged it with flying colors. And the rest has been great, KG. I've had nothing but pure bliss being able to talk to young men about playing a game of football.

And I think it also makes such a massive difference knowing that somebody actually played because sometimes the transition when people are trying to jump in the field, it's like those mentors are like, Listen, go buy this amount of real estate. But the guy is bloody well renting a home. You know what I'm saying? And so obviously, that's an extreme example I made. But somebody I think that's actually played the game and it's been in the locker rooms as a witness. The coaches understands that. It makes it way easier because you can relate and you understand the steps from start to finish as well. I think it's easier because you're not only a mentor, but you can help somebody try and avoid something that you never got the chance to avoid by being that path to help them get the right trajectory. I think just getting people that experience that thing makes a big difference. Would you agree?

Oh, when 100 %. I think immediately off the top, it's instant credibility. This gentleman has done exactly what I'm doing or trying to do. I should listen to them. And I give that same advice to the kids that I coach. Hey, stop taking advice from people who've done none of the things that you want to do. Go find someone who's done what you want to do. Pick their brain. They will gladly and gracefully tell you everything. And so my job as an agent is to help my clients and educate them and their parents as well, whoever the wife significantly is, but on potential pitfalls that they may or may not encounter along this journey. Why allow you to step on a landmine when I know it's coming? Hey, you don't want to go there, kid. So I can help navigate them. I can help say, Hey, we want to go this way. Or you might want to do this. You might want to train here. And so it works. And again, having that credibility of being out on the field, it's a brother bond. You know what it is. Anytime you bleed, sweat, cry, go through some stuff with some guys or in the same arena, it's It's all love.

It rubs off the second you see, you're like, okay, he's a player. He's not just an agent. I'm not an attorney. I'm not a guy who just went to school to get the books. No, I'm a football player. I walk the walk, I talk the talk. We talk X and O's first. Then we talk about business. Boom. Because at the end of the day, my job is to keep you on the field. So you got to know your X and O's. You got to make sure you're a student of the game. You got to be making sure you're professional. Those are the small things. The other things on the back end, I can help you with as well. Hey, you need this. For us, compliance. Hey, you got these tests come up, yada, yada. We can talk about that. But my goal is to make sure that you're ready mentally, whereas there's times my agent couldn't talk to me about football at all. He just didn't play football. Exactly. I love Cameron Foster to death. He didn't physically play football. So what can he really offer me besides reactiveness? Hey, Roy, what happened? Or, Hey, okay, that happened?

Okay, we should do this now. But I can offer it. Hey, man, this week is big. Hey, man, you don't want to make the same mistake twice, right? That means you don't have that much retention. You can make a new mistake, thousand miles an hour, but not the same mistake. Coach is seated is not having retention, right? And so these are little nuances. Hey, you might want to do this. Hey, no seams, no posts. Play it like this or when you're getting this. So we can have those little intimate talks that only player to player know that an agent to player relationship, a true agent player relationship, they wouldn't have. It's nonexistent because there's a divide, there's a disconnect. You didn't actually physically experience what I'm going through.

Exactly.

You didn't. So you can't empathize truly with me. You don't know how dramatic it is. You can't really truly put yourselves in my shoe as a player if you've never really played. And players hold on to that value. That is added value.

I think that's where the conflict ends up occurring with a bunch of these sports analysts that have never touched a ball in their life. And then they're out there telling the players that, You should do that, you should do that. And when the players end up reacting, they're like, Well, it's my job to become a sports analyst. I think that's where the divide comes in. It's like, Listen, it's not the fact that you're calling us out. It's the fact that you have never, ever stepped foot in the field and for you to try and just be so... Have such a massive voice and influence. That's the problem. It's not just the fact that they sing. It's the fact that their voice is valued and validated so much at a higher rate where it's like, you've never played this sport.

Absolutely. And that's what you see now in society. Unfortunately, we've come to that point where, again, it's become opinionated. And so the more we can rid that space of the subjectivity, so to speak, hey, man, just go get an expert. I've yet to see a woman play professional football.

I've yet to see it.

I mean, and there's no disrespect to the women analysts out there. They do a great job. But a woman would be pretty hard-pressed to try to tell an NFL player what to do. The NFL players are going to look at her and be like, That's cool. What are we talking about here, man? It's not even a question. I'm not even entertaining that. So we're at that point now where you're seeing a lot of online gurus, A lot of technicians, a lot of specialists, a lot of people who are trying to impart knowledge on things that they may or may not have value or a wealth of knowledge behind, but you can sell it. And so I think having that true authenticity, having that core that I can lean back on. Hey, man, I'm a player's player. I'm an NFL lifetime PA member. I'm a player's player. I stay connected. I work well within the NFLPA community out here in Phoenix. We have a great chapter. We have men and women alongside of me, even in my current... I'm in the fire department as well. So my life is all centered around the brotherhood. I'm the eldest brother of all my brothers.

Well, six of us. I'm the eldest of six. So I've always been a team player. So for me, it's just from one team to the next. I just keep going. You know what I mean? So it's cool. I enjoy it. I thoroughly do.

I want to know, obviously, one of the best parts of when we spoke about the agents and everything we spoke about, how do you end up balancing, obviously being a fierce negotiator for your clients and also trying to balance that with being a mentor and an older brother and a final figure as well?

Well, I I think we wear many hats, right? I mean, so not only am I technically the contract advisor or the agent, but I'm also a friend. I'm a confidante. I'm a brother. I may have been a teammate, right? If we're on the same team, working on a teammate, right? They may come to me for guidance, counseling, or sound counsel, maybe on a personal situation. So my job is to almost be like a risk management. I want my players to know, and I want my players' families to know, you know what? They're in good hands. And I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that they stay in good hands. They're important to me. I want to know about your family. I want to know the things that you guys are into. That's important to me. That's a value to me. You're more than just a client. You're my brother. You're doing exactly what I used to do. And I hope that that lineage continues to pass on. I hope I can pass on to my son. He can pass on to his son because then you really, truly see the impact you can have by trying to get it done the right way.

I love that so much. In your opinion, then, what's one story that you could say perfectly captures the grind of being an agent right now? One story?

Because it is a grind. Oh, my gosh, it's a grind. Phone calls, traveling, just a story, I would say, without-Without your names. Without these names. But you'll run into some crazy scenarios. You get some crazy requests sometimes. And then some players will just do some silly stuff, too. So I think some of the silly stuff is a lot more funnier. You're like, Wait, you did what? Why? How did you get yourself in the way? What? Show me. See me the picture, bro. Whoa, you did. That's crazy. So that stuff is the... I think that's what makes me do it. I'm like, Why you got to do it? To play football. What are you doing right now? Because it's a learning curve, right? These young men are learning to assimilate into the real world. This is a real job. It's no longer just football running around. And now with the NIL deal, the NIL space, which we can allude to and talk about later. These kids are now coming into the professional range. Some of them are already millionaires. For sure, 100,000 there is without a doubt. Kids are walking into the NFL with more than a half million dollars in their bank accounts right now, and maybe not the financial literacy to manage it.

You see what I mean? I get pleasure heckling them when they do silly stuff, just like poking them, teasing them. That's a rookie mistake. You know what I mean? Because you have rookie games within any rank. Me being a rookie agent, there's a learning curve that I got to learn certain things, how we go about certain business. When I was a rookie in the field, there was a certain way we went about things. You know what I mean? When I was a rookie in the fire department or a booter, we went about things a certain way. So I think in general, life is about being a rookie over and over again. You want to put yourself into something new? You got to be a rookie all over again and learn. And you want to pivot and change and do something else? Got to become a rookie again.

I love that. It reminded me of a story when you said, Those are the things that make the job so amazing as well. I don't know how much you follow European soccer. I like European soccer. Do you know Jose Mourinho?

I don't know him, but I love soccer. I'm fascinated with it because I can't do it.

No, he was one of the most profound managers in Europe. He's from Portugal. He's coached Chelsea. He's broken almost all the records as well. And they asked him, What's one of the craziest stories that you've ever experienced? The crazy ones that make the best experiences. Because just to summarize the story, there was a striker he had, Mario Balotelli.

That's my guy with the gold mohawk from Italy. Balotelli.

That's the guy.

I like him.

Yes, he's saying this. I tell you right now, if you hear the story about Balotelli, you're going to think it's crazy. So he starts talking and said, Listen, Balotelli has got a very big personality, but he's very hard working. So they go to this one team in Italy, and right now, he's got no other strikers. Balotelli received a yellow card. Obviously, in soccer, the rules are there's one yellow card. If you receive another yellow card, you get a red card, then you're out. So he said, Balotelli got a yellow card, and then it's half-time. You only get 15 minutes. He spends 14 minutes not talking to the team, putting Balotelli aside. Listen, Balotelli, I have no striker. Balotelli, this player is injured. I need you. Balotelli, if anything happens, just move your leg, don't kick him. Don't do Anything. All right? Do you understand the assignment? Balateli is like, Yes, coach. All right? So then he spends one minute. Like, everyone, Hey, listen, we're going to play blah, blah, blah. He goes outside. First minute, Balateli, red card.

Waste the whole time. Thankthank you, Mario.

And you said after them, he's never laughed so hard at the thing because sometimes people just do what they're going to do. So I had to share that with you.

That's funny to me, dude, because I can see Balotelli in his personality like this. The whole time. Coach is looking at him. He's like, Yes, coach. Yes, Coach. Yes, Coach. He's just going over his head. And as soon as the whistle blows, he runs out there and just kicks the dude. He kicks the guy. The Coach is like, Really, bro? I just talked to you for 15 minutes.

And he laughed so hard because you don't ever see Josie. Sometimes he's very chilled, but he's at that point, nothing you can do. You got to laugh it off. You got to, man.

That's a good story. See, I like stories like that because you see the personality. Like, dude, that's actually funny. I could see him doing it. So I'm happy you named his name because that was the only reason I would play FIFA because I wanted to play Balotelli. He's a good striker.

You just press that O button, you can just shoot all laces.

Rockets, bro.

Yeah.

Been like Beckham.

Now, he's killed my team a few times because I'm a man, United. He was Man City, so they beat us 6-1 with the whole Why me? Kind of thing.

Oh, yeah, I do remember that. That is on my bucket list to go to a Premier League game or to go to a European side game. I like Byron Munich. I like Lewandowski. You know what I mean? I like some of the older players when I was growing up watching. But I grew up watching, of course, the LA Galaxy, just Kobe Jones.

I mean, Zlatan was there. Landon Donovan.

Landon Donovan in Seattle was good. I got a chance to watch him. We got a chance to check those guys out. Eddie Johnson got a chance to watch him. He was younger.

And then next year is the World Cup as well. So Yeah, we'll see what happens. But right now, the team USA needs to get a little better because they've been losing every damn game. Every time I watch them, I'm like, Let's watch these guys.

Yeah, it looks bad, bro.

Got to put LeBron in that team or something.

I'm sure it's a LeBron during the soccer somewhere. What happened to Freddie? What do you do, man? What Where did Freddy go? It's one of us out there. It's a LeBron of soccer out there.

There is, yeah.

He's somewhere that he's yet to be found, but he's there.

Probably Kristen Pulis, just one guy that plays in Europe, AC Milan. Okay. Yeah.

Okay.

I liked him. I was Very curious. I'm always fascinating, especially with your role right now being an agent. What are some of the things that you prepare the younger people that are jumping in the NFL? Because those are the ones sometimes that lack a lot of mentorship. What are some of the stuff that you can teach them that nobody wants them about?

Oh, very good question. Of course, the financial pitfalls. I think that is the first thing that needs to be addressed. Understand, you're getting ready to come into your financial prime kid in your 20s. Most adults don't come to their financial prime until their late 40s, 50s, right? So you're going to get ready to make more money than your parents and your family has ever accounted for right now, instantly. That can be overwhelming. What do you do? How do you go about it? How do you manage it? Do you splurge? Do you save? You still want to enjoy the fruits of your labor. But understanding how to have that balance, how to navigate that space, I think that's of grave importance. There wasn't many, I guess, I want to say programs or resources. I mean, they would talk to you, right, back then, during that CBA and in the 2012 CBA, and now we're in the 2020, 2030 CBA. But we've done a better job. The NFL Trust has come in as a liaison between the NFL Players Union and the NFL to basically orchestrate and help players not only transition, but understand what resources they have available at all times, from a financial standpoint to an emotional standpoint, spiritual standpoint, all the way down to a family health and wellness standpoint.

So there's tons and tons of resources. We're at a time now where for NFL players to be doing bad, as people say, quote, unquote, That's the choice because we have the resources now. We have the trust. We have the player benefits. We have NFLPA. We have the former players. We have the professional athletes outreach. We have FCA. We have every single thing under the sun that is dedicated to helping men either transition in or transition out or sustain and maintain throughout their entire NFL career. So the days of we don't have the help, it's long gone. Now it's a matter of we need to start using it We need to make it more available, more known. We need to blast it more. And I think they do a good job of getting it out there. But there's always that small portion of the individual that may not know about the information.

But are they let known? When they join in the thing, was it the agent's responsibility to let them know?

It's not the agent's responsibility. I do that just naturally, but the players are now starting to understand. This is what I'm talking about, the resources. The resources reach out. They come physically to the team's locker rooms, physically to the team's multi-purpose rooms, meeting rooms, and have seminars and say, Hey, here's what we have available. Here's a resource not available to you and your family, to your wife, the healthy baby program, prenatal care, any and everything. Here's what we offer. So there's things that I like to offer them as a former player, but we're so resource-rich now that there isn't an excuse anymore on why our players should be making bad decisions. We have every resource possible now. And again, there's a human component. We get that. But the NFL is doing a great job as far as taking care of young men, posts, and like I said, transitioning. But again, the financial literacy portion of it is probably the most paramount because that is the kicker. You've seen The show is what broke, the NFL, the 30 for 30. Back in the day, you know what I mean? I think that is the scary factor, and especially now with the NIO.

The NIO is just the Wild Wild West. There's not much regulation with the NIO. I mean, they're starting to be more, but they just had a new settlement. Of course, you probably heard about that with the $2. 8 billion settlement with the NCAA versus the house, meaning now all former college players beginning a Yesterday, July 1, that they could... Today, July 1? Today. Today. Actually, today, former players from 2016 to 2024 can be paid. They can be backpaid for their time and their service. And moving forward, the 22 million that could be a lot of for each team. They could take a part of, not an addition to whatever collectives that universities have that lay on the outside that want to contribute. So there's a lot of big money to be made. So again, the financial literacy component is huge. It's huge. Tell a kid who's going from eating top ramen to, Hey, he can eat at the top of the building. Now, how do they handle that? You're eating top tier now. Everything. That is what I think really weighs on my mind most of the time when it comes to these players. Hey, manage your money.

Because we've all seen it happen before. The same way you have a lot, the same way it can be gone.

Yeah, it's true. Because when you get a cut to swiping, right now, I swipe so much. I just swipe with the spirit. I'll just close my eyes hoping it will decline. You know what I'm saying?

Some people don't even swipe. I use my watch. I don't even take my wallet at all. I just tap my watch and just...

I named my car Jesus, take the wheel. Just go by the spirit.

Look at that bank statement from Jesus, take the wheel. Jesus, take the wheel. He's active today. Oh, my God.

If it declines, it declines. I love it.

Jesus, take the will if it declines, you know what you do. When you see my man Jesus got me.

Oh, man. That's funny.

That's awesome, man. Look at the Skittles. Is that a tribute to Marshawn? Hey, yo, B-Smoke. No, I saw them. You see these right here, man? Hey, man, put the camera on them right there. You see the B-Smoke? Put your leg out of it. Show me your leg. I know you're athletic. Look at that. Look at that. That man got on some Skittles.

No, I saw them, and I was like, I didn't even hesitate when I ended up seeing them. I got to get those Skittle socks. That, too. They just stood out. I want to know. I've always been so curious. Also, one of the things I did love so much about you, I could tell that you always had a student mentality. You always look for mentors when you're playing in football, when you were jumping there, you were surrounding your sofa the Hall of Famous, just the great people as well. My question with that, was there a mentor in this NFL agent route that you've had that has done it before?

Oh, yeah. It's my agent. My actual former agent. Both of my agents. Actually, I just spoke to my first agent yesterday, and then my former agent, my most recent one.

Why is mentorship important? Just a follow-up after you ask that.

Well, I'll name him first. It's Jason Dillard or JD. And then he's out of Sacramento. I was my very first agent. It's my agent I took to the Super Bowl with me. Him and my dad were in the end zone hanging out. Snoop-a-loupe hanging out, having a good time. And then my other agent, Cameron Foster. Those two gentlemen were a wealth of knowledge. Cameron, even more so. This past draft was Cameron Foster's 35th draft. It's 35th draft. He's been doing it for a long time. Another gentleman that I have that's a mentor of mine, Steve Weinberg. This was his 40th or 41st draft. I think he was the first certified NFLPA agent when they started certifying agents, I think, back in 1984 or something like that. It's crazy. It's good to have a gentleman like that that you can pick their brain. They can give you little nuances about the business. They can tell you who you need to call, right? If you're a new agent, okay, cool. I like to represent KG. All right. Well, call somebody. Well, who do I call? What do I look in a roller deck? In the directory, who am I looking for?

Is it the player of personnel? Is it the director? Is it the scout? Is it the yada, yada, right? So having mentors, they can help you skip steps. No, here's the contact for this guy. Let me talk to this guy. Hey, I got a great relationship with so and so. Maybe you should have a... Right on. So the mentors that I've always surrounded myself with in life have always been gentlemen who've done exactly what I'm trying to do. And it's not that I'm seeking them. It's just somehow, somewhere, they always seem to fall right into my lap because the universe don't miss. I'll just happen to rub shoulders with them. And next thing you know, it's a conversation. And cool. I'm into a whole another trajectory, a whole another litany of opportunities open up. That's powerful. I take advantage of them.

Where do you also identify the talent? Because I've watched All-American, and I love the series and stuff. But then I always realize there's always some of these underprivileged schools or high schools before they go to college, whatever it may be, where you could get this potential talent that nobody can discover. What are the tools you use? Or how do you discover this talent?

I think there's talent everywhere. You know what I mean? Nowadays, with the Internet, you can have access and accessibility to talent any and everywhere across the globe. Kids are uploading their highlight tapes, their plays, I mean, in rapid time, literally. It happens, it's out on the Internet. Sometimes live. And so I use every tool possible. Social media. You can tap into warm referrals, family members, clients. Hey, man, my buddy like what you do for me. Hey, man, I think you should. Okay, cool, man. But this business is built off of relationships. I'm a bridge builder. My entire life I've been a bridge builder. I build bridges with intent to keep the bridge because you never know who behind you may need to cross that bridge. You never know. You might need to go back across that bridge. Somebody who came before you may want to, Hey, remember that bridge? It's right there. You may transition them into another direction. So I'm a bridge builder, and that's all you're doing. So all my mentors are the same way. We build bridges with one another. We build bridges throughout our community. What the goal is to each one reach one, each one teach one.

And we lift as we climb. One come up, we pull the next one up. Hey, young man, this is how I did it. This is how we go about the business. And so that holds dear to me. So I love my mentors. Unfortunately, it's funny. I won't say unfortunately. I had to learn that I was a natural mentor. Sometimes you don't want to accept what you really are. You know what I mean? You want to do what everybody else do.

It goes back to calling again, what we're talking about earlier.

It's your calling, right? Sometimes I had to I was like, I can't just do everything. I got to be a mentor. People keep coming to me for advice. I'm like, why you keep asking me? You know what I mean? But once I accepted that and understood that and grew into that, it just catapulted me because it's like, I don't know. My mentors that I speak with, they impart knowledge on me. And then by the time I talk to someone who wants to speak to me, it's like their words just flow right through, too. You know what I mean? Each one is reaching one. It's a cool dichotomy. It's the craziest thing ever, man. I'm like, right on. So I enjoy being a mentor, a father figure, a teammate, an agent. I can wear any cap you need me to wear. That's exactly what I'm here for. No, that's awesome. You know what I mean?

What goes on? I know you've done it for two seasons, and you still have so much experience in it, but what goes on in contract negotiations?

It's really boring. Just so you know, it's boring. It's not as exciting as people think. But Joe-Russell is one of those, the manager, picks up the thing.

I said I want to give him that amount. No, I give him that amount. It's like, throw something in the air up. Is it that intense?

Or is it just like-No, I mean, there can be some heated moments, I would assume, for some contracts and certain players. But yes, it's business. It's reality. It's legal Police. It's contractual jargon that you're well-versed on knowing in the trick condition to look for. And then you go forth and you set together a plan. You understand, you make sure that your client understands what that game plan is, that the team is on board as well. And then the offer is made and vice versa. But there are certain things that... Certain times there's things that don't need to be explained. We already know, okay, this must be included. These are certain incentives that may or may not need to be included based off the player, the team, the situation. You learn those things along the way.

And who has most of the say? Is it the player or is it the agent? Because sometimes I feel like agents have got so much influence that we don't fully understand. Or is it both parties that come to an agreement before then?

So ultimately, I would say this. Ultimately, the player has the leverage. The agent is just a liaison between the player and the team. Have you noticed in recent years, if a player has enough status, he can represent himself. Look at Richard Sherman. I love Sherman. It's my dog. Wait, where am Sherman? Love you, boy. Yeah, he represents himself. Why not? He has the wherewithal. He has the knowledge, too. He's a Stanford grad. He understands the business. Yes, I can represent myself because I'm not going to get myself into anything crazy. And if I do, guess what? I can easily always call the NFLPA and say, Hey, would you mind looking over this contract for me? They will call him through the contract with a fine tooth comb to make sure there's no inconsistencies, any discrepancies, make sure there's no any misrepresentations, and then send it back. And so that's the business side of it. You know what I mean? I don't think that people really understand business is business, and it will be conducted like business. You don't see big business people arguing, and yelling, and screaming, We're going to sit down, we're going to pass an envelope across the table.

You open it up and you look at it. Whispers, and You know what I mean? But sometimes it's how it is. Then sometimes it's you come in there, it's there. It's time.

The reason I ask that, because I love sports so much. I think I've shared so many different stuff, but I always follow. It's crazy. I do so much of travel, but what brings a lot of a bit more calming down, because as much as I do my podcasting stuff, I research the guests that I do. Make it very personal questions. Whenever I finish here, I listen to just sports stuff. I listen to a soccer thing, and it's like, Oh, the agent should have negotiated that and that. The reason I'm bringing that up, the Dennis Schroeder situation. I don't know if you remember what happened between that.

The hooper, yeah, the gold patch. I like that.

Yeah, same thing from Germany. But what happened in this scenario, I think the Lakers, I'm just paraphrasing here. They had a contract on the table for him, but they were trying to be a little bit more greedy where they said they could get more, they could get more, they could get more. I can't remember what the figure was. Could have been 60 million or something like that, four-year extension. And then it just went off the table. I think he ended up settling for the Celtics for a six million dollar.

I remember that for one season.

Yes. And so it was blamed at the time on the agent. I think there was a conflict of interest or there was a misunderstanding between player and agent. But from someone that was almost guaranteed. It could have been '67 or '80. I can't remember what it was, but it was a four, five-year conflict. That's why I asked that because I've always been curious. I'm like, Wow, if he's blaming the agent, the agent's like, No, it's like there's a bit of disparity or misunderstanding or some conflict there. So I'm like, Gosh, that's when I realized agents, yes, as much as the liaiser, they still play a big role.

Oh, absolutely. And I think there are some cases where agents will mismanage clients. They will mismanage situations. That comes with the territory, right? There's not a right or wrong answer. It's just if the situation works, we can make it work. If it can't, then both parties have to agree to disagree until a deal gets done. That's why you see so many players Just hold out so often during training camp. You see players say, well, I'm not going to do this because it's just a matter of, hey, you're not willing to work with me and get this compromised. We're trying to be made whole. The whole goal is to be made whole, to get a contract so guys can go out there and play football. Sometimes the number game, and by number game, I mean this game, will hold up and tie up things. You know what I mean? And so you'll see players almost advocate for themselves. And it's not that the agent can't, but ultimately the player holds the weight because if the player is not happy, then the team is not going to be happy. If he's an integral part of the team, then that means the fan is not going to be happy.

And as an owner, if the fan is not happy, like during the lockout when fans started to retract their season tickets because, Oh, you guys going to lock our players out of their locker rooms, and we ain't coming to the games.

Again, this goes back to the fact that you've been a player and you understand the game.

I understand the game. So I understand that. You keep the masses Happy. Keep the masses happy. I was always telling my players, the fans are here to see you. They're not here to see you. The agent, they're not here to see me anymore. They're not here to see the owners. They're here to see you. You guys make this ship go. Understand the buying power of the players. You have power. You have leverage. You can make this thing going. Now we're at a point where we're more than 50 % of the revenue share. Players are getting compensated well. Nio is great. Benefits are great. We've reduced so many, I would say, statute limitations as far as getting guys fested and what the benefits that they do accrue. So, yeah, we're moving in the right direction. Pretty soon, it should be the NFL So, Lord willing, we want to get to how the NBA and MLB, fully guaranteed. You know what I mean? Where you're protected. That's the goal, is to have guys protected. We want guys protected all the time, not just some of the time. We want him. He signs a dollar line. He's protected.

Him and his family is protected right now, not backloaded. And I hope that he make it to the year five so we can give him a big lump some. Take care of them now. You know what I mean? Because you see, baseball players, they play for a long time. They're happy. They're just doing their thing because the money's good. Football players, we're scrapping. Sometimes it's a dog fight. You know what I mean? It's a dog fight amongst teams just to be able to fit All the good players on a roster and to financially accommodate them properly. It's like, man, I don't know. I got a superstar here, superstar here. I can't pay all of them. I don't want to let someone sell go, but I have to because I got to pay KG. I have to pay. He's my guy. He's my guy, too. So it becomes that, you know what I mean? And then sometimes you'll get players who will take that sacrifice as well. That's on a player. Hey, man, you know what? I'm willing to Sacrifice a little bit of money to win. I'm willing to sacrifice. I got money. I don't need the accolades.

I want to win. The winning is why we play the game. There's not one player who ever say, I'm just playing for the money. Okay, you won't be playing for long. You won't be playing for long because it'll seep through. It'll be like blood in the water. They'll be like, Man, you don't care. You don't care about it. He's just out here. We don't like that. I don't know how to say we don't like that. But we don't get down. You know what I mean? We're here for the game, for the love of the game. Most players will play the game for free if we could.

Because people just love it.

Same way you'll probably play soccer. You play football on the pitch.

Thank you for saying football.

I got you. I got some mates.

I got some blokes. Now, we'll go to England. I was talking to them about it. We're going to try and go catch a game, Premier League, one of these times. I want to go. Let's do it.

Invite me. Let's do it. I want to see some I'm Forever Blowed, When you're Bubs. I want to see one of You can start sending you reels of all these chants as well. Send me some of that.

The green free hooligan stuff. We can prepare you. There are hooligans out there, but they love it so much.

Ocho Cinco, he loves. Ocho Cinco loves soccer.

Yeah, no. Ocho is likeIt's a religion down there.

He's a soccer God. Yeah, it's a cool thing.

No. Sports just unifies people. Whenever I'm depressed, I watch sports. That's my therapy right there. But sometimes they bloody lose. I'm like, Luca, shoot the damn ball.

Come on, Luca, shoot the jet. No, I agree. It's It's an outlet. It's therapeutic. For me, it's just always been like my sanctuary, man. I keep cleats in my car. My friends know I don't want to give it up. I keep cleats in my car. I keep two pairs, too, just in case somebody's feeling froggy, they still want to race and get down. But, yeah, it's just a part of me. It's a part of my fabric, man. I love that. I enjoy it. I really do. I enjoy talking about it. I enjoy what it's given me, the lifestyle it's given me. I enjoy what it's allowed me to see, the people it's allowed me to touch. I've used football as a vehicle to literally put my feet on different continents that I only read about when I was in elementary, middle school, high school, and college. Wow.

So I always ask this question. This is my concluding question. He's like, We haven't even started the question. We haven't even starting now. We're in three-star, man.

Let's keep going. We can talk all day about this. I can come back and chill out and maybe bring some people, too, man.

I appreciate that. Thank you so much.

You're cool. Got a nice little Honey Hole. I like it.

Because of the podcast, I've always loved the term winning. I think every time I've interviewed people, they always have a different perspective to what the actual term means. For Roy Lewis, what does the term winning mean for you?

Hound. To hound your adversary, that means anything. It could be a life problem, it could be a stress problem, it could be a competitor. But you hound your adversary They were your opponent unmercifully until they know and understand that you're physically, mentally, emotionally stronger. You just hound. You just kept poking. You keep poking. I said it's an undying will To be successful. That's what winning is. It's habitual. It's what you think. It's how you act. It's how you carry yourself. It's everything. It's winning. That's it. It's not that I even hate losing. I just love winning because winners love to win. Winning is a way of life. You install that, you download that code, and then you polish it by success. Every little success you get, you're polishing it, you're polishing it. Just shine it up, shine it up. And you look at it like, nice. And then now you protect it. You protect that energy. You protect that mindset. Give it away to the ones that you need. You sprinkle it on them so that they can It can come in, but you protect it because that is your fire. That's my aura, winning.

Everything I touch, I win. Period. No matter what it is. I don't even have to know about it. But my mindset is so open to winning that I'm willing to learn whatever it is I have to learn in order to be successful at it. That's winning. Winners do what losers refuse to. That's being open to learning a new skill, reading a new book, hearing from a new author, whatever it is. You're open. The moment you cut yourself off from learning, start dying. Learning is winning. The more you learn, the more you earn, the more you win. I'm winning at life. It don't matter how small, how minute, how micro it is, how macro it is. If it's something new that you learn, that's winning. You won today. I fact it to it. Keep stacking the wins.

Said, If I could, I just drop the mic down, man, just hit the podcast right there and there. That was absolute poetic. You're the modern day Shakespeare as well.

My teacher would be very impressed. Yes, you hear that, Mrs. Bernstein, she said I was going to be a renaissance man back in eighth grade. I didn't know what that meant, but yes, I know what it means now. But no, seriously, man, it's just like This is what you're doing. The code to winning. This is winning. I don't think you understand this is winning. This is powerful. This is added value, right? To want to be able to delve deep into other people's career paths and say, Hey, man, teach me about what you do. Here's what I like to do. I like to figure out what you like to do. Cool. And it serves a purpose because every time you interview someone, tap more nuggets into your aura. Exactly. Your code to win is you got to roll it off. Nfl player, you got all this.

I'm going to get you a tumor for all the memory.

You can just tap into that winning. So when you come across somebody who may need a little bit of that information in your part, just sprinkle a little bit on them, a little winning on them. There you go. Let me take you with this jewel, bro, that I learned from this. Bingo. That's the code to winning.

I love that. Roy, if you could let our viewers know over there, if the way they could get a hold of you, maybe follow you.

Just call me on my phone, my number starts.

3059.

What's the new song that Dre got? I don't know. Baby, Girl. That's the song.

I just saw him running yesterday. It's called Nokia. It's called Nokea.

Pop up in the Nokia phone. I think that's what it's called.

Oh, it is Nokea. Yeah.

I don't know the word, girl. I like it. For the whole world. But no, I'm just normal social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, even though I'm not really that active. I will use my Instagram, but I'm really old school. But I am going to tap back into my platforms, just so you know. Me and my IG, get it going. The code to winning. Perfect. Kg is going to teach me how to rock it, right?

Let's go. The code to winning insights you need today to seize the world tomorrow. Your man, my man, your guy, Roy Lewis. Thank you very much, boss.

I appreciate your brother. One love, my friend. You know it. Excellent.