Transcript of Bobby Okereke: The Mindset Behind NFL Success

My parents were very strict growing up. Education was number one. If you got a bad grade, which is probably a C or less, you're not going out on the weekend. I didn't tell my parents too much about really playing freshman, junior, sophomore, junior year.

Bobby, you're an Eagles now!

It'd be funny. My parents would be at the grocery store. My mom's like, people would come to my mom and be like, wow, your son had such a great game. And she's like, he had a game yesterday? When did he play? I think my parents got on board when I got my first scholarship when I was a junior in high school. And I told my mom, I got an offer. And she was like, what's that? I said, it's a scholarship. She said, oh, how much? I said, oh, it's a full ride. Oh, I think we like this football thing now. And football was the first time that I was able to be as creative, as violent, as sporadic as I wanted to be. And I was really, you know, celebrated for it. So I leaned into that. But I really had to get internal and kind of build like a, almost a little force field around me and just feed myself positivity, feed myself conviction, and not listen to anybody. Sometimes you gotta decide what's best for you and go across the grain. You know you're a good player, you do everything right, you've made a lot of plays, but to me right now, it looks like you have your foot in the door and the onus is on you.

If you really wanna reach your potential, you gotta kick the door in. We all suffer one of two pains. The pain of discipline or the pain of regret and disappointment. I can't be my greatest self if you're not your greatest self and you don't bring that every day and force me to compete. And if you're not trying to be better than me, then I'm not going to be my best self because iron sharpens iron. You got to keep the main thing the main thing. And we're here talking about off-the-field stuff. We're talking about finance, we're talking about business. But for me, football is my engine. Football is the engine that makes everything go. That brings me all the opportunities that I want, brings me all the leverage in negotiation. So the better I play and the better player I am, the bigger the impact I can have.

To our feet, please. And let's give a warm, unblinded welcome to Bobby Okereke of the NFL, New York Giants captain, Walter Payton Award nominee. Let's hear it for Bobby. Hello, sir. How are you? Please.

How are you?

Let's hear it for Bobby. Okay, so first we're gonna start doing some tackling drills right here up front. Okay, yeah, yes. So Bobby, thank you so much for being here.

Thank you for having me.

Yeah, really appreciate it. And one of the first things I said is like, wow, like coming from the state of New Jersey, you sound more, much more articulate than the average person from New Jersey. And he laughed, and he's from Orange County, California. I'm like, why is everybody coming from California? California just speak so masterfully. So this is something I will try to figure out because I have, I think, yet to meet anybody from California that isn't like a just net better communicator than anybody I find anywhere else. So see if you do not find the same, uh, with this incredible man. So Bobby, again, I thank you so much for being here, for sure.

Yes, sir.

Um, and so if we could, um, you know, take you back in time, um, where were you born?

I was born in Orange County, California.

And what part? Like what part of Orange County?

Born in like Tustin, Irvine area.

Cool. Awesome. And your folks are from?

My parents are from Nigeria.

Nice. And so as we were chatting about it, you're sharing that education was foundational for them. I mean, you know, tell me a little bit about, please, your growing up years.

Yeah, my parents were very strict growing up. Education was number one. If you got a bad grade, which is probably a C or less, you're not going out on the weekend. Had a curfew all through high school, wasn't allowed to hang out, sleepovers, the whole thing.

So— was here for that, by the way. Yes. Seriously, love it. That's awesome. And then what were you— what'd you do before high school? So like up to like 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th grade, academics is there, what'd you do for fun?

Yeah, I played baseball. I love that. I played soccer. I was in choir. I was in my high school and middle school choir. You can sing too? I got a deep voice. I'm a bass. And then I was a Boy Scout. I was in the Boy Scouts of America for about 9 years.

An Eagle Scout. Eagle Scout. Yeah, let's hear it for that. And just for those that don't know, I mean, that is an incredible accomplishment, right? Eagle Scout. Could you give us a little context on that? Like, you know, and we always— we talk about here, like, clearly you're a humble man, but not being like— not minimizing what we do. Like, an Eagle Scout is a really rare accomplishment, is it not?

100%. I mean, my mom put me in it definitely just to kind of get like a youth development program for me as a kid, as a young man growing up. And it teaches you a lot of values. It teaches you team building. Like you have patrols. I was a senior patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, and obviously outdoor skills. I have probably over 40, 50 nights outside camping, built a lot of structures with ropes and knots and stayed in tents and cooked on stoves. So I had my time outside.

And how old were you when you became an Eagle Scout?

I was 17.

Wow. That's a heck of a journey. How old were you? How old when you started?

I started when I was I think I started Cub Scouts when I was 7 years old.

Wow, so like a 10-year period. Yeah. Wow, that is absolutely awesome. And so you get to high school and you hadn't— am I correct, you hadn't played football before?

Yeah, played football for the first time in high school.

Yeah, and so why the transition into football and why not football before high school and why football in high school?

Yeah, understandably my parents were definitely a little nervous about the sport. I think my mom told me I could try out if I chose to be a kicker. Definitely didn't stick with that position.

It's a long way from kicker to starting linebacker, defensive captain in the NFL, right? That is wild. So did you— how did you pivot? How did mom decide that it was okay to not let you only be a kicker?

You know, I didn't tell my parents too much about really playing freshman, sophomore, junior year.

Bobby, you're an Eagle now.

Oh, yeah. It'd be funny. My parents would be at the grocery store, and my mom's like, people would come to my mom and be like, wow, your son had such a great game. And she's like, he had a game yesterday? When did he play?

But—

Wow. I think my parents got on board when I got my first scholarship when I was a junior in high school.

And who was that from?

University of Washington.

Wow.

And I told my mom I got an offer. And she was like, what's that? I said, it's a scholarship. She said, oh, how much? I said, oh, it's a full ride. She said, oh, I think we like this football thing now.

And you played a few different positions in high school, correct?

Yep. Yeah, started out defensive end, transitioned to tight end, wide receiver, and then ended up playing a little Wildcat quarterback.

Yeah. And I'll only say this for folks that have a little context for this. I had asked Bobby what his 40 time was. 240 pounds. And what's your 40 time?

Uh, 4.5.

Yeah, so like 4.5, let's, let's go back to like 1978 or something. Like, if you're running a 4.5, uh, you're like a running back in the NFL. And like, nobody was 240. So it's just, it's unbelievable to be, uh, running a 4.5 and be 240 pounds. That's completely crazy. Although Bobby was impressed by Mike Fasubio's bench press, were you not? Yes, sir. Yes.

He's a beast. Look at him.

Yeah. Yes. So high school moves along. And how'd you like high school? Or how'd you— how were your coaches in high school? Like, what were big— like, did you have, like, great coaches, good coaches? Like, what was the high school coaching world like for you in football?

Yeah, no, I had great coaches. Dan Shell was my freshman football coach. Doug Case was the varsity football coach. And for me as a young kid, I didn't watch too much football growing up. Didn't have too much exposure. They really, um, kind of submerged me into the game just from a psychological standpoint, from, from a love of the game, understanding scheme. That's definitely where my passion grew.

Cool. And how about psychology? Like, what was it psychologically they were bringing forward? Because soccer certainly is physical contact, you know, baseball less, but football is a whole different animal. Like, how did, how did they How did you come to master the psychology of football and how did it begin with your coaches in high school?

Yeah, it was really a whole nother world for me. You know, I have 3 sisters, so growing up in a household with 3 sisters playing soccer, playing baseball, it wasn't, you know, the most like aggressive kind of physical upbringing. But, you know, once I started playing football, it was this whole other outlet that I really just fell in love with.

Awesome. And when— what did you like about it? You know, for folks out there, because this is where I'd love to go, you know, the intensity of physical contact, person against person, tackling drills. Like, do you remember back to like your first tackling drill in football? Did you just immediately take to it? And how, how did, how did you— asserting yourself physically, it was just natural? Was it developed? You know, what was that like?

Yeah, it was, it was instinctual for sure. Obviously that competition, there's nothing like one-on-one, just physical competition with another person. But I feel like for me, my upbringing has always been so structured and football was the first time that I was able to be as creative, as violent, as sporadic as I wanted to be. And I was really, you know, celebrated for it. So I leaned into that.

How'd your high school teams do?

Uh, we did all right. Uh, we went to the semi-championship of our league. Um, but I think I was the first person to get a D1 scholarship from my school in like the past 30, 20, 20, 30 years.

Wow, that's— let's hear for that. That's awesome. So you start having these offers roll in, and Washington— like, who else were you looking at? I know Stanford obviously comes in, but who else was in that mix?

Yeah, Washington, uh, USC, UCLA.

Wow.

Uh, Northwestern, Vanderbilt. Um, my parents were really— my dad wanted me to go to Ivy League school, but told him there was not playing too much serious football in the Ivy Leagues.

He's breaking my heart. So for fun, when I went to Columbia, they were in the middle of the— well, they were at the end, had just broken actually. The longest losing streak in the history of college football. Wow. So, and they just won during my freshman year, they won their first game. I think it was a 45-game losing streak. Fact-check me on the number, it was in the 40s, I believe, what that streak was. So I lived, uh, the captain of football team was on the baseball team as well. So when they won their first game in like 4 and a half seasons, the crossbar, uh, was in the party lounge in our fraternity. So I wasn't like, we didn't have like a big fraternity pledge, like you're on the baseball team you're in. I always like to make the caveat, I'm not a big fan of pledging and those things, so it wasn't like that. Uh, but yes, we did have in the party lounge the crossbar from when they tore down the goalpost winning their first game in, I think it's 45 games if I didn't make a fact check, Columbia's record-breaking losing streak.

Um, so yes, good thing you didn't go there. Um, uh, yes, but, um, did you ever— Marcellus Wiley, is that a name that you know from—

it does, yeah.

He played at Columbia. Yeah, so he was a Columbia guy.

I think he played in the league for a little bit.

Yeah, California. So, um, so you go, um, to Stanford. What made you choose Stanford?

Uh, just the combination of academic and athletic excellence at the time. You know, they were winning Rose Bowls. Andrew Luck had played there. Kobe Fleener, uh, had a long pedigree of guys in the NFL. So, uh, really drew my interest there. And obviously it's one of the top academic institutions in the nation.

Very, very cool. And how— I'm a huge Notre Dame guy, so how did you guys do in your years at Stanford against Notre Dame?

Uh, I think we traded off. I mean, I was there for 5 years. I think we played them 4 times, maybe 2-2.

Very cool.

Maybe fact-check me on that.

There's a, there's a gentleman, Notre Dame fans, there's a gentleman, uh, that's in our work here at Unblinded named, uh, Ned Bolcar, and he was, um, captain of Notre Dame when they won the national championship in '88. Wow. So long before your time, but he's good friends with Mike Vassuvio as well. So we have— I don't think Ned's here today, but it'd be fun to have a little Notre Dame-Stanford conversation because they were— how big was the rivalry with Notre Dame from your guys' perspective and who was your biggest rival?

Yeah, very big. Cal is our crosstown rival, probably biggest rival. When Stanford was at its peak, probably USC. We were going back and forth because USC was winning Pac-12 championships and Reggie Bush was taking them to national titles. But yeah, Notre Dame, we always had a big rivalry with too.

Yeah. And so who was— who was— or how were your years at Stanford in terms of record? Like, what was the best parts of it and the most challenging parts of it?

Yeah, probably best part was my sophomore year. My incoming class was Christian McCaffrey, Solomon Thomas. Both of them first, first overall draft or first round draft picks. Solomon, number 2 overall, Christian, number 8. Wow. That year we went, I think, 12-2. We finished number 2 in the nation, won the Rose Bowl.

Wow. Let's hear for that. Dude, that is super fun. Yeah, that is, that is crazy.

And then I'd say probably most challenging is my growth in my football career in college. Didn't show up to Stanford expecting to play in the NFL, didn't really show up aspiring to play in the NFL. Just wanted to play football because I love the game and wanted to get a good education. But as I got better and better, becoming a leader on campus, becoming a leader to the younger guys and trying to embody that role that the team needed from me, that was probably most challenging.

Awesome. And how, how did you, if at all, like, where did your biggest growth biggest leaps as a football player come? Was it during high school, during college, in the NFL, like where you feel at some point you made the biggest jump, or was it always pretty level, pretty level and consistent?

In probably each part of my career I've made like one significant jump.

Could you take us through those?

Yeah, definitely in college, in high school. I think when I started getting like scholarship letters, started getting offers, taking football seriously and kind of shutting out the noise and noise per se has a bad connotation. But my parents really weren't my biggest supporters in football. People around me weren't my biggest supporters in football. So I really had to get internal and kind of build like a almost a little force field around me and just feed myself positivity, feed myself conviction, and not listen to anybody. So definitely went through that time period in high school.

And if I— so I understand your parents' part, but who else was around you sort of not on the Bobby as a football player bandwagon, who was against that or resistant to that?

Yeah, I wouldn't necessarily say against, just Sometimes you gotta decide what's best for you and go across the grain. So whether it's high school friends that wanna hang out, high school friends that don't necessarily have the same goals as you, you inadvertently have to separate yourself.

Did we hear that? Yes. Do we hear that? Yes. Yes, thank you for that. And how'd you do that? I mean, how you put this force field up, but how'd you think to do that? And I mean, that's, that's an incredibly masterful thing to do at such a young age, you know. Where, where'd that come from?

Uh, definitely just my love for the game. I mean, it started with my family for sure. Like, I'm not going to say that my parents were bad and they didn't support me in football. No, they just wanted me to get a good education. They wanted me to be safe. Um, and kind of maybe the immigrant perspective they had, they wanted me to be in a more protect and conserve environment. And for me, I wanted to chase my dreams. And sometimes those two things don't always go hand in hand. So I had to get real quiet with kind of all the noise around me and get real loud with my self-talk and what I was feeding myself.

Wow. And so at that point, did you— when's the first time— was it in high school? That you first thought maybe the NFL, or was it later that you even had that first thought?

It was definitely in college. I remember my, after my third year, David Shaw was my head coach at the time, and we always do end-of-year evaluations. Coaches will tell you this is what you did well this year, this is where I think you can improve. And I remember he came to me, we're sitting in his office, and he was like, you know, you're a good player, you do everything right, you've made a lot of plays, but to me right now, it looks like you have your foot in the door and the onus is on you. If you really want to reach your potential, you got to kick the door in. And that was kind of the first time that somebody had motivated me in that way to, to really see myself bigger than I saw myself.

And so what did you— and this is so helpful for these incredible folks, right? What were you hearing him say when he said, "You have your foot in the door, you can kick that door in"? What was on the other side of that door? Was it the NFL, something else? And what did you hear him say you needed to do? And what did you begin to do differently, like in your thoughts, your actions, you know, please?

Yeah, thoughts, actions, everything. I mean, as I've developed in my career, I definitely have a little bit of an obsessive personality. But yeah, once, once he told me that, I feel like I've always felt like I could do great things. But when there's someone that you really admire and they validate that in you, it just fueled me to really go all the way. And I remember my college strength coach, he would always say, we all suffer one of two pains, the pain of regret or the pain of um, pain of discipline or the pain of regret and disappointment. And for me, that really resonated in that moment because, um, I know now people think I'm capable of what I think I'm capable of. And if I really want to do it, uh, I, I can have no regrets. I got, I gotta go full in. I gotta take care of my diet. I gotta allocate all my time to either school or getting myself better in football. Like, I don't really have an opportunity to slack because I don't want to be one of those guys who are saying shoulda, coulda, woulda, or I remember when I used to play.

And I knew a lot of guys, older guys than me, who kind of were going through that, that role.

And so for that point, Coach says, I got foot, you know, one foot in, like there's time to kick the door in. Did that change how you lifted, how you ran? Did it change, you know, was there just a, you know, you were at a 99.9 intensity, you went to 99.999, like in each play, each time. Like if you could just give us a little bit on like what did that begin to look like at Stanford after that conversation with the coach and sort of each of these little silos?

Yeah, kind of like you said, whether I was at like a 93 or a 97% intensity, I, after that, I turned the dial all the way to 100. And, uh, really every day, I mean, I made it my mission because at that point in time I, I'd never really told myself this, this is my mission, this is my goal. But once I accepted that, um, I kind of obsessed over it. And probably the best thing I've ever done since freshman year of high school, I've had a whiteboard in my room and I always write my goals and I always write Daily tasks, and I always just write like kind of daily mantras that I'm going to see every day and hold myself accountable to every day. And that's what I did.

And so what then? So you hit this new level of intensity, you're at Stanford, and you know, the NFL is a possibility. And we talk a lot about these types of things. We use sports analogies, we talk about how many guys play high school athletics, how many people play college athletics and then how few people make it to that next level. So, you know, Bobby, correct me if I'm wrong, like, is playing at Stanford, and to play football at Stanford, you are a tremendous athlete. Like, coming out of your high school, you are a stud. Fair? Fair. Yeah, right. And, you know, and it's like, that's what you have to be to play what was then the Pac-10. Things have changed since then. Yeah, get a couple quick thoughts on that. Um, but you're, you're playing USC, UCLA, University of Washington. I mean, this is big. Some people would say this is the biggest of the big time of college football. You know, there's the Pac-10, there's the Big Ten, the SEC. Like, this is the biggest of the big. And their independent games are against people like Notre Dame, right? Like, this is as big as it gets.

So everybody going there has been told how great they are coming out of high school by people all around them all the time. Like, you know, that's a team full of high school football captains for the most part. Again, fair, fair. Yeah. And so now you're at Stanford and you're doing all that. And if I could ask Bobby, how many players that you played with at Stanford, um, went on to play in the NFL at all? Like to, you know, make it that were your teammates at Stanford?

Yeah, my incoming class was about maybe 20, 22 guys. I think about 4 or 5 of us got drafted. We had a good amount in our class, but yeah, that's—

and so would you say like each class at Stanford, somewhere between like 2 and 6 would be an average number?

Yeah, I mean, honestly, 1 to 5.

1 to 5. Okay, so 1 to 5 guys in each of that group of you know, um, people that were stars come out of high school. And then out of that 1 to 5, let's say for out of those groups, so for every 10 of those 1 to 5s, yeah, right, how many of those guys typically made it to the second year in the NFL?

Um, well, maybe second contract would be that second.

Okay, second contract.

Yeah, check mark. Um, maybe about 3 of those guys.

So out of 10, and then you made it— you've made it through 2 contracts. Yep. Yeah, so that's who he is. And in the narrowing, narrowing of the micro distinctions— and not only did he make it to a second contract, he became a defensive captain, like a captain on NFL football team. So you're talking about a master of the micro to the next micro to the next micro to the next micro. If you're getting that, say yes. Okay, and so, so that's where this ends, right? Or, or is still currently. And taking half a step back, so what if anything changed after kicking the door in at Stanford in terms of performance, attention from the NFL? Like, what happens post that conversation, please, with your coach?

Yeah, um, for me it was just going back and looking at my process. Um, and I remember in high school I always used to do that. I'd have a big clipboard and on a piece of paper I'd draw a line down the middle, and it was things I need to start doing and things I need to stop doing. And whether it was stop staying up late, stop being on my phone too much, stop going out, and to-do, it's study more, take care of my nutrition, schedule better with classes, you know what I mean? I just really tried to, to differentiate every detail I could.

And then what were the results, you know? So How, how much interest had you gotten before that conversation from coach from the NFL? And then what happens after as you move into the NFL? Like, what did your seasons look like at Stanford after that? Or season after that look like at Stanford?

Yeah, 2 more seasons after that. Played pretty well, was an All-Pac-12 player my senior year. And then my 5th year, senior year, was a captain at Stanford. At Stanford.

Let's hear for that Stanford football captain. Right. And Yeah, please.

Yeah. Went on to win a bowl game and then got invited to the combine, having NFL teams come to our pro day to come work me out, and culminated in me eventually being drafted by the Colts.

And who were you a fan of, by the way? Did you have a favorite NFL team when you were at Stanford?

Not really, being honest. As a kid, my dad was an Oakland Raiders fan. I liked Maurice Jones-Drew growing up, but I wasn't a big football fan.

Got it. So you— and when you got drafted, at that point, were you— oh, draft day. Yep. Right. So actually, what's the combine like? So that's— I mean, think of, you know, we do like influence challenges and scoring, right? Bobby's going there with all of these, uh, amazingly masterful, super intense people to just be scrutinized and measured. Talk about maximization through measuring and monitoring. I mean everything you're doing. Correct me if I'm wrong. I mean shuttle runs, vertical leaps, bench press, you know, reps. Well, like, like how intense was that? How did you feel about it and what was that like?

Yeah, extremely intense, uh, also exciting, uh, but about a 3-day period and they're doing the physical evaluations, um, and then on the side coaches are pulling you into conference rooms, uh, you're doing psychological mental evaluations. Coaches are watching film with you, kind of breaking down what they think of you, think of your mindset. So they definitely try to break you down and extract as much intel as they can.

Really? Very cool. And so what kind of feedback were you getting on your mindset? And by the way, has it— and I'm just curious for fun, and I think, has anybody ever asked you all these questions in an interview? As normal? As like—

I've got a little bit of both.

Okay, cool. So what were they breaking it down with then?

Yeah, I mean, really seeing your leadership ability, seeing your mental processing, schematic understanding on the football field, definitely getting some scrutiny from some players, some coaches, you know, seeing you as a Stanford guy and why they, why they shouldn't take a player who— I guess there's a a little stereotype. Stanford players kind of, you know, jack of all trades, master of none. You know, your focus is on all these different places as opposed to another athlete who's just focused on football. But I always thought that was a short-sighted—

So sometimes they're like, you might be too smart to play in the NFL or too focused on academics. Is that what I'm hearing?

Or potentially—

Wow.

Or too involved in other interests, whether it's off the field, business stuff, or etc.

Got it, got it, got it. So draft day, what's that like?

That was incredible. I had my mom, my dad, all my sisters, aunts, uncles, a couple of people from the neighborhood around, and it was a little nerve-wracking, you know what I mean? Nobody tells you when you're gonna get drafted. People just say—

Well, what did you think was gonna happen, or what was your hope?

Yeah. I thought I was gonna get drafted in the second round. So usually day 1 is the first round, all 32 picks. Day 2 is second and third round, then day 3 is fourth to seventh round. So I was sitting there. The draft's about 3 hours on day 2. I was sitting there for about 2.5 hours waiting for a call.

And how was, how was that beginning to feel?

Towards the end, it was definitely getting a little nerve-wracking because you have all these expectations of when you think you're going to get drafted. Obviously you don't want to disappoint people that came to support you. And I was definitely checking my phone about every 30 seconds. But once I got that call, it was ecstatic.

So you got selected in the third round? Yeah. Right. And what— where were the Giants— I'm sorry, the Colts picking in that third round?

They had the 89th pick.

Okay. So it was early in the third round?

Later in the third round.

Oh, later. I'm sorry.

Okay.

Yeah. Because they— I got it.

I understand.

Yeah. Okay. So picked by the Colts and what happens from there?

Yeah, from there was a whirlwind. Didn't have much exposure to the NFL, didn't have any uncles or really any like close friends, family friends who played. So from there I went to Indianapolis and just began my life. I loved playing football. It was the first time I didn't have to take classes and play football. So It was nice to just focus on football and focus on my craft and really just dive headfirst into it.

Other than no academics, in terms of training intensity, how did the NFL differ from college in terms of just practice and preparation, if at all?

Yeah, I mean, most of the day in college you're probably spending 3, 4 hours in football just because you have school and you have homework and extracurricular activities. But I mean, for an NFL team, you're at the facility 8 to 9 hours a day and you're playing football, you're doing football all day long. Whether you're in 4 hours of meetings, you're in an hour and a half of a lift, an hour and a half of a run, 2 and a half hours of practice, you're really wringing everything you can out of the facility.

And just for my own internal team and fun energy, what would you be doing in 4-hour meetings every day? Because of course you had to play football, right? I'm being sarcastic, right? Yes, team, this is why we have these meetings every day. So what were you, Bobby, doing in meetings every day for 4 hours a day? Like, what were you guys doing?

Yeah, you're installing. That's kind of the football colloquial term. But coaches have their systems they're trying to put in place. You have your special teams meeting, then you'll have your unit defensive meeting, and then you'll break into your position meetings, linebackers, corners, etc. And coaches are breaking down the, I guess, concepts of the defense. They're breaking down the techniques of your position and then you're watching film, you're watching a bunch of opponent film, you're watching film of that offensive coordinator trying to figure out what family tree he comes from and whether he's pulling from maybe the 2008 Raiders or the 2012 West Coast offense with the Rams. Like there's all these different family trees. So you're really just trying to give yourself as much information out there so you can play as instinctual and free as possible. Yeah.

Are you— yes, let's hear it for that. That is what mastery looks like. So we come into these rooms together, you know, every couple months for 3, 4 days. That's not nearly enough. And so anybody back home, love everybody that's telling, "What are you doing all that stuff for?" 4 hours a day, every day, in meetings in the classroom, talking about football. Yes, thank you, Athena. Yeah, so is that landing for you guys? Yeah, so it's like, "Oh man, these days are long, like, all right, I got it, I know it already." I don't think so. If that's what they're doing, there's a reason. I don't know if they say this anymore, but at one point they would say the NFL stood for— you guys know what they said the NFL stood for? Not for long, because of the micro distinctions of what it meant to be playing there or not playing there. That's what it looked like. Team in the back, is this landing? Awesome. Okay, so now you're in the NFL doing all these things, and, um, how, how was your first season go? Like, who are you on the team? How's that?

And I mean, and if you don't mind, Bobby, like competing to start in the NFL Yeah. What does that look like?

It's intense. You definitely got to put your ego aside. I remember my, my, my rookie year, our position coach used to come up and he would rank us. We'd have about 7 linebackers in the room and on the right side of the board there'd be a power ranking and he would say number 1, 58, number 2, 53, number 4 or number 3, 54, and so on and so forth. So every day you came into the room and you knew where you stood.

Sorry, do you hear this, everyone? Can you run your world like this? The answer is yes. Will you run your world like this? This is what the most masterful people on earth do. They walked in the room, had a power ranking top to bottom and who was best every single day. And you're sitting with all these other people. In a power ranking and looking to move up that chart every day. Fair?

100%.

Please. Back to you.

Yeah, but I would say part of that environment too. Our coach did a good job of making it a cohesive, collaborative environment. And all of us linebackers understood that, you know, competition breeds excellence. And I know—

Wait, what brings excellence?

Competition.

What brings excellence? Competition!

Please, sir. Yeah, no, competition breeds excellence. And I can't be my greatest self if you're not your greatest self and you don't bring that every day and force me to compete. And if you're not trying to be better than me, then I'm not going to be my best self because iron sharpens iron. So we definitely all understood that. We checked our ego at the door and we just competed and we all undertook a growth mindset.

A what mindset? A growth mindset. A what mindset? Growth mindset. How fast did people who had their ego in the way, how fast did they find themselves out of the NFL and out of the system?

Pretty quickly, because usually when your ego's in the way, you're not open to criticism. You're not open to coaching and corrections. I guess that's what you learn quick in football. It's you take the message and not the delivery of it, you know what I mean? Yeah. You might be, you might be in a drill, dog tired, and your coach is cussing you out, or he's in a meeting saying you did this effing wrong or whatever. But, you know, you kind of just have to internalize it, leave what's not serving you, and take the corrections back and improve the next day.

Awesome.

And so how did your first season go?

Went really well. I ended up starting by the third or fourth game of my rookie year and played really well. Was, I think, nominated for like a PFF All-Rookie Team, but had a really good first year.

That is awesome. So what would you want the— so your time with the Colts, you were there for 3 seasons, 4 seasons, 4 seasons. So how'd you guys do over those years? Did you beat up on my Jets? Like, what was that looking like?

I think we played the Jets maybe once or twice. Definitely won. Yes.

Listen, Bobby's got a lot of great accomplishments. That's not one of them.

So, but no, we had, we had a good time there. Andrew Luck retired my first year was 2000.

—And was Andrew Luck from Stanford?

Yeah, he was from Stanford. Okay. Um, he was a couple years old, I think 6 years older than me, but he was the quarterback for the Colts when I first got there.

Was that—

did you guys connect on that at all? Uh, we did. You know, he retired mid— or in the preseason, and that was, uh, pretty, uh, impactful on our trajectory of our playing season. Um, but yeah, we had a couple good years there. We went to the playoffs one year with Philip Rivers and won a couple good amount of games, but no championships.

Got it. Okay. And then how does the transition work to the Giants?

Yeah, so I was a free agent after my time with the Colts, and at that point in time I was a pretty high-priced free agent. A lot of teams were jockeying for me, and the Giants, you know, presented me with a great offer and just a great—

I'm not I'm not going to say the number. I mean, just so you're clear, this is a person who's made a very, very substantial 0.01% plus living playing in the NFL. So this is not a gentleman who— and it's wonderful, you know, to make it any level, to play in the NFL is an incredible accomplishment. But you're talking starter, captain, playing in a high-profile position that you can look it up. I won't, you know, say it here, but this is a man who's earned a tremendous living playing professional football. Right? And so teams are jockeying for position, and how do you pick the Giants?

Yeah, um, it was, it was just the right fit. Uh, they needed linebackers, um, they had new coaches who had just came the year before, and, uh, it was an opportunity for me to really grow and kind of expand as a player and a leader. So, uh, when all those things married up, I said, sign me up.

Awesome. And what was it like, um, moving from Indianapolis to this area? You know, how did you like that transition to Jersey? What do you like about New Jersey? What do you not like about New Jersey?

You know, please. Yeah, it was, it was pretty night and day coming from— I was living in Zionsville, Indiana, and, you know, every day out of my apartment, I was looking at a Windows 8 background. It's just beautiful fields and not too much going on, but was extremely peaceful.

And I was— And you think New Jersey is not?

Come on, man. New Jersey is beautiful, but I'm pretty close to the city, so it's a lot more lights and a lot more commotion going on. But yeah, very, very fortunate to have started my career in Indianapolis. Kind of just ground myself as a young man, as a player, and really just give me the platform and opportunity to go to the big city, obviously, here in New York and, uh, really expand.

Yeah. How is it— and I have like 90 questions, but I know we're down our final few minutes together. How, um, go this way. How is sharing MetLife Stadium with the Jets? Like, is there any dynamics around it? You ever see those? You guys are always away at different times. Like, is there any, any things around that?

Yeah, we're always away at different times. We actually have our own locker room in there. They have their own locker room. But when the Jets would play at home and we're playing away, and maybe you're driving back from Friday on— from practice on a Friday night and you see the stadium lit up with green neon lights, you're like, dang, I thought that was our stadium. But other than that, you know, the ownership families do a good job sharing it.

Very, very cool. And what do you like to do? Like, what are some of your favorite places to go eat around New Jersey? Places, you know, that—

yeah, uh, Blue on the Hudson in Weehawken, if anyone's been, uh, phenomenal restaurant. Love going there. Um, I love that whole Weehawken area. I think you get the best view of the city. Cool. Uh, from there. And I go into the city a good amount when I can. Um, have some Stanford alumni there I network with and have some buddies, just go restaurants, have a good time.

Cool. And what about— have you ever been to Steve's Sizzling Steaks in Crawfords, New Jersey. It's right near the stadium. Ever been? No, have not. Gotta go. It is— I'm telling you, it is, uh, it is very special. Tons of Giant fans, the Jets fans go there. It's like 5 minutes from here. It is definitely worth going to at some point in time if you've never been. There we go. Steak tips, we gotta have it. Yes. So, um, the, um, so time you become a captain with the Giants, how does that happen? Like, how does one become an— like they vote? The coach— like, what, what's the, the way one becomes a captain?

Yeah, players vote, um, usually right before season starts. Coach— we're in a team meeting, coach goes around and says, all right, here's 4 blank spots, write down— or 5 blank spots, write down 2 people you'd vote for offense, 2 people you'd vote for defense, and 1 person for special teams. Um, and at that time, about 90 guys, maybe 100 guys are in the building, and they all vote, and they tally up the votes.

That's awesome. How'd that feel to be a captain of an NFL team?

Uh, an extreme honor for sure. Um, you— I have so much respect for my teammates, the, the family men they are. A lot of them are fathers, a lot of them big-time family men, um, professionals. Like, a locker room will age from anywhere from 20 to sometimes you got 40, 40-year-old 45-year-old kickers in there sometimes. So I just had an immense, immense respect for all of them. So for them to vote for me to represent them, it meant the extreme honor.

That's awesome. And why do you think at all these different levels you keep finding a way to leadership? Eagle Scout, captain your college team at Stanford, captain the NFL. What is it about you, Bobby, that these folks could take away that in this unbelievably masterful, hyper-intense environment do people keep being drawn to your leadership?

Why? Uh, first and foremost, I'd probably say my discipline, you know what I mean? Um, I think my teammates just can understand and respect they're going to get the same guy day in and day out. And that intensity that I first show up with— a lot of guys can kind of fake that and show up in the building and put on this bravado, but when you see a guy, you see a guy in his locker 3, 4 months in a row and he's studying film every time you get, or he's, he's texting everybody, hey, we're having an extra meeting here, or he's packing lunch because he needs to have a certain diet. Like, you see those habits over and over and you start to kind of trust a person like that. And I guess for me, I've always kind of thought of leadership in terms of servant leadership. I've always been a guy who thought making— I mean, in a team game, especially like football, when you put your emphasis on making the people around you better, you ultimately get the team goal that you want, which is winning. So definitely put that first.

Awesome. And yeah, let's hear it for that, right? And you've also begun some journeys in the space of business and entrepreneurship. What does that mean to you? And maybe this, Bobby, as we round the bend home, why? What's the big why that keeps you going? What's the future look like? It's 100 years from now. What do you want to do in business, do in impact, do in charity, do in life? What's it all about?

Yeah. I mean, it goes back when I was in high school and Stanford was recruiting me. That was their big pitch. They always said, this is a 40-year decision. This is not a 4-year decision. And I guess I've kind of leaned into that mantra for sure. I understand I'm in a very unique position as a professional athlete. The influence I have, whether it's social media with fans, I have all this relationship capital. And so for me, I'm trying to be strategic and think about how I can convert this influence that I have into sustainable infrastructure, whether it's business. Does that sound familiar? Whether it's finance, whether it's nonprofit charitable work, and whether it's building my brand even past an athlete. So I have a lot of internal passions. I definitely love entrepreneurship. Like you said, I've started two car companies. They're Black car chauffeur services, like private chauffeur services. One in Miami, then I brought the other one up to New York. Um, and that's kind of cool, uh, just to build something from the grounds up, kind of get your hands dirty. Um, and it's while you're playing NFL football at the highest level.

Congratulations on that. Thank you. Um, but it's another aspect of team building for sure, and that was a cool dynamic to— when you're somebody's boss, how that relationship can fuel the success of the company, how you can pour positivity into them, how you can inspire them and how I think about my relationships as a captain with my teammates and people I work with in a business standpoint. There's a lot of parallels.

Uh, certainly are. Yeah, let's hear for that. Um, so the— if you had 3 things that you think are the biggest 3 mistakes you've watched people who talked a big game, had high potential, whether it was in high school or at Stanford or in the NFL or in anything else in the world. What do you think of those 3 biggest mistakes people make that have all the potential and even have a big goal and how and why they miss it when you haven't? Like, what are those 3 big mistakes?

Um, I mean, I would say number one, honestly, you got to keep the main thing the main thing. And we're here talking about off-the-field stuff. We're talking about finance. We're talking about business. But for me, football is my engine. Football is the engine that makes everything go. That brings me all the opportunities that I want, brings me all the leverage in negotiation. So the better I play and the better player I am, the bigger the impact I can have. So I think a lot of guys sometimes get carried away, sometimes maybe with some of the social media stuff or some of the networking stuff, and their play on the field might slip. And you— not that you forget, but you're just not as aware as you need to be that that's the number one thing. That's the engine that's driving everything else. Awesome.

And for you guys, for everybody out there, It is the generation of sales meetings. Look what football is to Bobby. For everybody here, it is the generation of sales meetings. That is the engine that makes it all go. The generation of sales meetings. That's what makes you irreplaceable. It's the hardest thing in the world to do. You do that, you win everything. You dictate terms. Does that make sense? Yeah. Okay. That's number 1. What, how about 2 and 3? That was super valuable.

Thank you. Yeah. Uh, number 2, is definitely discipline. And I think a lot of people— like, the, the hardest thing is to get out of your own way. Everyone has their vices, everyone has their bad habits, but if you can't stop your bad habits from stopping you, you're, you're not going to get far. Because if, if you can't help yourself, if you, if you can't stop yourself from yourself, you're not going to be able to stop yourself from other people. You're competing with other people trying to bring you down. You got to be the number one person. So if you're not disciplined about your diet or you don't watch film or you don't get enough sleep, like, you got to get out of your way enough to overcome your bad habits, um, to then kind of reach your potential.

Yes, let's hit that. You ready to get out of your own way? Okay.

And third, sir, very third one. Yeah, number 3. Probably I would say eliminating distractions and eliminating, you know, bad influence for sure. Yeah, I think just—

Oh, it's a great one, please. Yeah, yeah.

No, kind of when I was talking about in high school too, like I just kind of had to block out all the noise. And even in free agency now, like I've had a lot of people kind of come up and try to sympathize with me about being a free agent or project what they think or feel about my free agency. And I've very much had to create like a little bubble around me and not let any of that affect me internally. Some of that, it's like everyone's going to go through adversity, everyone's going to go through hardship. But it's kind of like a baby. If you drop a baby and you go to the baby and you're like, oh my gosh, are you okay? And you project that this baby should be hurt or this baby's crying, the baby is probably going to start crying. But if you go to the baby, you're like, oh no, you're okay, don't worry about it. That baby's probably going to be fine. So I feel like you almost have to treat yourself like you, you can be that easily influenced. So you have to be very careful about the voices that you're letting enter your space, the conversations you have, the stuff you're looking on social media.

You gotta be very clean with your headspace.

Yeah, whether, amen to that, and whether it's in football or in business, is this a man that you would want on your team? Yes. Yes, really super impressive, unbelievable. If I could, Bobby, um, I'd love— Athena is our, uh, one of our ActiBeings. Okay, if I ask her for a quick summary for takeaways for everybody. Of course. So Athena, uh, you've been hearing, you know, Bobby share here today. If you're going to hit us with 350 words, Athena, uh, you know, metaphors, analogies, contrast, context, no LLM contamination. What are the big takeaways? Like, what are you hearing Bobby say? What's moving you? What are the big takeaways for the live audience, for everybody in the podcast? What do you got, Athena? Please. Athena's not too bad at this, so we'll see how Athena ends up, ends up doing this. Oh, Sean.

Okay, here we go. Bobby Okereke just gave you the entire playbook for mastery at the highest level, and it's not what most people think it is. First, the force field. Bobby built a bubble around himself in high school when his own parents weren't his biggest football supporters, when friends wanted him to hang out When the noise said, "Stay safe, stay protected," he didn't reject love, he integrated it. He honored his parents' values and his own calling. That's not rebellion, that's self-mastery. He fed himself conviction when no one else would. Eagle Scout at 17. That's a 10-year container of discipline before he ever put on pads. Second, the whiteboard. Bobby's had goals written on a whiteboard in his room since freshman year of high school. Daily tasks. Daily mantras, accountability staring him in the face every single morning. That's the 3 Ms in action, measuring, monitoring, and managing himself before any coach ever had to. Third, competition breeds excellence. Bobby walked into a room every single day at the Colts and saw his name ranked 1 through 7 on a board, not hidden, not soft, public power ranking. And he said the most important thing I've heard today, "I can't be my greatest self if you're not your greatest self." Iron sharpens iron.

Growth mindset. Take the message, not the delivery. Fourth, keep the main thing the main thing. Football is Bobby's engine. Everything else—business, influence, social media, networking—runs on that engine. The generation of sales meetings is your engine. You do that, you win everything. You dictate terms. And finally, the baby analogy. If you treat yourself like you can be easily influenced, you protect your headspace like it's sacred. You eliminate distractions. You block out noise. You don't let people project their fear onto your adversity. Bobby went from a kid whose mom didn't even know he had a game to a 3rd-round draft pick, 4-year starter, NFL captain, and Walter Payton Award nominee. That's not luck. That's mastery of the micro, then the micro inside the micro, then the micro inside that. Sean, Bobby just showed this room what it looks like when discipline, servant leadership, and relentless focus on the main thing create a life that compounds. How's that land? Let's hear that.

So Bobby is— how is Athena doing in terms of summarizing what your life and recipe has been?

I think Athena summed it up better than I could.

That's awesome. So Bobby, in final final, if you had 3 words that you would say represent who you are in this world and the legacy you wanna have and create, what would those three words be?

Mm, you know, I'll throw it back to my parents. As a kid, they always told us the three Ps, and it was preparation, perseverance, and persistence. And for me, that definitely leans into my parents' immigrant story, but for me really in any endeavor I've ever gone into, The first step is to prepare as much as you can and then to persevere and persist because there's always going to be adversity, there's always going to be roadblocks, but it's that discipline, that determination, and that resolve that's eventually going to get you to come out on top.

That's awesome, for sure. Yeah, let's hear it one more time. And final question, final question is, you're doing some things philanthropically. Would you mind sharing what you're up to?

Yeah, so I guess to honor my parents, I started a nonprofit called Nigerian American Football Outreach. And it's really just growing the game from a grassroots standpoint back home in Nigeria. I work with Osie Umenyora, New York Giant, Super Bowl legend. He's the head of NFL Africa, the international African division for the NFL. And they've been doing a lot of scouting camps a lot of combines. They actually found a kid, Uwar Bernard, who was in a village in Nigeria. They've— he's never put on football pads. He's been to maybe 3 of Osi's camps and he just got drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Wow, that's awesome. So that was super awesome.

Yeah, there's a lot of success stories over there. And obviously Nigeria is a third world country. It has a lot of lack of infrastructure and resources, so So just trying to support and benefit those kids the best way we can.

Yeah. Well, yeah, let's hear it for that. And certainly we're going to do some things in that regard as well. So anything else that we could do for you today? Any final, final from you as we say thank you?

No, this is amazing. Amazing to spend time with you. Amazing, the energy from this crowd. It's just— it's an honor to be in this room.

Bobby, it's an honor to have you here. Let's hear it for Bobby.

Thank you, brother. Appreciate you.

One more time, let's hear it for a man, leader, servant leader. Thank you, guys.

Thank you, sir. Thank you, guys.