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Yeah, the other thing I said to tell you is I want to know how to do some of the things you've done in their own way. But the other thing, Michael, is just, you know, we have not so many mutual friends and you've been kind to me as well. But just no one has a bad word to say about you. You know, everybody that I mean, they just have wonderful things to say, face change.
But it's true. I've just literally never heard anything but kind and great things about you and you've been that way to me too. So let me ask you, when you're growing up, you're kind of, you're in Germany most of the time. And I know you came back, you're in Houston for a while.
But did any of this, any of this a plan? No, absolutely not. My biggest plan when I left Germany to move in with my uncle, I stayed with my uncle for like five months or so to get a football scholarship. Because my dad sent me back to me with my uncle and he said, y'all, you're going to get a football scholarship.
He just said, you're going to, you're going to do it. My dad never said if, it was always like when, when, when. So when he said, you're going to do it, I've never doubted it. I was so naive about failure that, okay, I'm going to get a football scholarship.
I'll get one. I come back and get a scholarship. And then everything was like just the next step. What was the next step from getting a scholarship was, okay, finally going to college.
And then once I'm in college, not just being a football player or being a part of a team, but like trying to be the best at it. Because anyone can do something, but if you're going to do it, why not put all your effort into it. And that's kind of been how I've been about everything. I never really had a plan.
My biggest plan was just never having to move back in with my parents. That would end it. But that almost happened, right? Like it's funny in life.
We get really close. There's like moments that determine our destiny in our life. It's very, you know, one decision, one relationship, one meeting away from really changing your life. And was I was prepping for this.
I'm like, man, after your freshman year of college, didn't you kind of go back to Germany? Am I getting this right? And you literally almost quit. If that happens, this is probably most of what I just introduced.
Probably all of it never happens if you follow through with that decision. So even that one decision away, tell us about that. What happened? Your conversations with your dad?
Well, I think that I followed through none of it. None of it happens. I was like a lot of kids. I was homesick and I was just ready to go back to Germany.
I had my girlfriend and you know, you're missing your girlfriend, you're missing your friends, you're missing your mom and dad and everyone else. So for me, I just wanted, I want to go home. College at that point to me saying like, okay, I got the football scholarship. That didn't mean I needed to complete it.
So I go home and my I was literally at I'm there at home. School has started like two weeks and gone by already. Oh my gosh. And then my dad comes in one day and he goes, hasn't school started?
And I'm like, yeah, he said, what are you doing? Shouldn't you be back? And I'm going, yeah, but you know, I decided I'm not going back. And he looked at me and he goes, what are you going to do?
So well, I'm going to stay here. I'll get a job. He looked at me again, his voice got deeper in mind. He said, what are you going to do?
And say I'm like, well, we're not first of all, I can't stay here. And second, secondly, you have to at some point grow up and take care of yourself. Your parents give you all the tools. And I've been fantastic parents who gave me everything that I needed to be on my own.
Now there's time for me to apply those things. So it just like I would offer my head that, okay, you can't say home, you're going back to school. When you get to school, since you got to be there, work hard at it. Just don't be another student.
Just don't be another athlete. If you're going to do it, be your best that you can be at it. When you got there, I wasn't college, but maybe surprised by this in the NFL too. You get this opportunity to play college football.
And by the way, the other thing too is he's historically black college is Texas Southern, right? Because we are. This is not like pathway to the NFL, right? Like this is not, you know, I think you're the only NFL Hall of Famer from Texas Southern, I think.
Am I right? I love that. Yeah. You're far away.
But surprise me, even when I got into business, or I got into college baseball, and you had this in the NFL, aren't you surprised by somehow the lack of work ethic, even if people have these great opportunities? And was that what separated you do you think? I think, you know, I'm amazed by the guy that has so much talent. Yeah.
Just refused to expand it, refused to like perfect it. And you're never going to be perfect, but at least strive to perfect the talent that you were given. And I found that guys who weren't as talented seem to go further because they worked hard. And I mean, and I'm an HBCU, not a football factory at Texas Southern University.
I didn't know, you know, what the way out of there, where the path of lead for me once school was over. I didn't know it was going to lead to the NFL. I just knew that this is where I was, and I was going to work hard at it. And once I was a senior, and started seeing the scouts and hearing from the scouts, I started going, well, maybe I have a shot, but I never thought that I was legit until I got that call on draft day.
But I saw so many guys who were more talented to me, who weren't just didn't push themselves, didn't work hard. But once our senior year rolled around, and they realized that after this year, I'm no longer on scholarship, then they wanted to work out. That's exactly what I saw too. Scouts are coming here now, you see these to see, they're going to be honest with you, they're going to be honest with me.
You're asking me to let you do it on my workouts. You didn't earn a right to be honest with you. And so to see guys scramble because they didn't prepare ahead of time, get with a great lesson for me, and everything that I do, do not ever be in a situation where you regret not putting in the work when it comes time for that final product to present itself. It's interesting to me.
I think for people listening to this, this guy's an historically Black college. He goes back to Germany, he's this guy coming back. It's got to be the all-time NFL sack leader, arguably one of the great, not arguably, legitimately one of the greatest NFL football players of all time. But all-time season sack leader, 22 and a half, I'm going to ask you about Fart of later, I got to know about that play.
But it's just mind blowing to me, because I think a lot of people that listen to my show are watching, I just feel so far away from where I need to get it. And I think there's these steps, those I got to prepare you when you get into certain spaces of your outwork, everybody, with the answers, with the right stuff. And I'm just curious for you, you show up in New York, the New York football giants, and LT's there, arguably another guy, maybe the go of all time, at least on the defensive side of the football. Now you're comparing those skill sets.
But then also in your media life, you walk into a studio, you're not like an NYU, media major person. Have you struggled with self-doubt? Because you seem so confident on the outside. Have you struggled with self-doubt playing football in your broadcasting career as an entrepreneur?
And if you have, what do you do to overcome it? I struggle with every bit of it, from football, especially, even I've had some of my greatest years, I was struggling with doubt. I'm in a game thinking to myself, can I do this? Am I really that good?
Maybe this is a guy who will just throw me around and take advantage of me, and I won't be effective against this guy in this game. Like, I struggle with that most of the time. Wow, quite a bit. And even TV, I absolutely struggle with it.
But I always say, you will doubt yourself more than anyone else will ever die. Self-doubt trumps any doubt that any outside person will ever have in use. For me, I've learned to just try my best to push through it, understand that everything is not going to be successful. And if it isn't, don't get down about it, you learn from it, you push through it, you move on to the next thing, the next opportunity.
And I struggle with self-doubt all the time. I still do. I'm on TV half the time, and I'm thinking, am I really good at this? Are people just blowing smoke up my, you know what, do I, am I really cut out for this?
Because I watch other people come into this business on a different path, from bigger schools, from opportunities, and the way they got there, see more traditional. And I'm so untraditional with being there that I struggle with feeling if I do belong. And, but I look at it, and I think it's natural. It's natural.
And I'm just happy that the world of different types of work, especially now, like news, for instance. No one coming from my background would ever be on a good morning in America, any other morning program, because it seemed as if you had to look a certain way, have a certain background, and deliver it in a certain way. But I think the world has changed, but people want to have their new delivery from a different type of person. You know, do you have that traditional person, then you have to want to maybe a little non-traditional, but maybe who makes a better connection with you to make you feel as if it's more real.
And- That's a lot of the things I need to interrupt you, but I'm blown away at yourself now, to this make it look a bit weird way. Because I do too, and I think sometimes if I'm walking under 25,000 people and I'm speaking to like, are you nervous? Are you scared? Yeah, I have like major imposter syndrome.
Like, why do these people want to listen to me? And I'm like, why would they listen to me? They have no idea what a door guy I have, right? I'm about to- Now at the time I'm like, I can't get my kids to listen to me.
I have other- I relate to that too. That's a big thought. But I'm curious, like, do you have imposter syndrome? Like, you walk into interview Barack Obama, which you've done.
What did that feel like? Are you walking- I've had these moments and I've met President Obama too. You've met a couple of these guys, but you- I'm like, what am I doing here? Or is it now that you're so far down the road, Emmys, entrepreneurship, Fox, you've dominated there, you know, good more.
Are you now like, all right, now I know I belong here. Even then, are you like, oh my gosh. You still are? Oh my gosh.
You still are. No matter how much stuff you've done, sometime, you know, when I- when I saw President Obama, I'd met him before. So it wasn't like the first time, but it's still- I mean, this is the former president. This is like Obama.
So you still walk in a little- a little nervous, a little on the side or side trying to fill out the situation, but he's always been great. You know, Michelle has always been great, but you still are a little bit nervous. I think that makes me more nervous than doing more hard, harder news stories when it comes to like interviewing Jonathan Manley, one of the officers in Brianna Taylor case and things like that. I'm so locked in and focused on it.
That is a totally different thing. Whereas with, you know, President Obama's like, okay, there's politics involved, there's his ideas involved, but there's also a certain coolness factor that you have to be aware of. So, but I love it. That's what I love about doing that.
So diverse. It's no, not one thing. I know my personality and if I had to do the same thing over and over again, I would get bored if it never changed. And that was a great thing about football that every day I feel like I was learning 15 years in the pro that I feel like I learned every day until I stop playing and I watch now and I'm still learning stuff as a spectator.
And that's what I love about what I do now. Everything's different. Everything's different. Every new challenge every day, there's issues and problems you got to work through.
It's fun. You talked to you about this morning. Five. You got me five.
Okay. So, I just want everyone to see people become successful. They have to manage time really, really well. And I was thinking, I'm pretty busy person, but I got a lot of stuff going on.
I was like, this man's like, I watched you last week. I think were you in LA for the football game on Thursday? Where were you last Thursday? Yeah.
You're in LA on Thursday. You have GMA, then you have the Sunday football program. Then you're going to go back and do GMA. I know Constance and Smack, she's wearing you out in the agency with no attention to it.
I know Const doing that. And you got all the other stuff you're doing. You got your production company. You got the deal going on.
You got this stupid interview with me of all these things. How do you manage your time? Do you have an actual strategy? Is it the people around you?
How do you manage your time and your energy? I will give I will have to say to the people around me. I have a great team of people. You name Constance and Jasmine and Jose and Nisha and we just have a great team of people who we work with who allow me to be able to focus on what I do for my core, core side of my personal business and then also be involved in our collective business.
But also they don't I will tell them or they will tell me you're doing too much and we're going to cut back. Especially now when we have GMA in the morning, then I have to go Thursday night football, Sunday football, fly back on a flight every Sunday. So back and forth to LA 20 something weeks in a row. You can wear yourself out if you're not careful with all the extra things.
And my assistant Jasmine, she and I just have a conversation yesterday. And if I feel it or if she feels that she'll say, okay, it's pullback. I feel like it's just too much stuff. And sometimes you need people to save you from yourself.
You know, it's like athletes who's injured, but you're like, I can do it. One foot again, and that's the same way that I do stuff away off the field now and in my life now, it's like kind of with that football player athlete mentality that you can do at all. And sometimes you need people to say, you know what you can, but why? Pullback, relax, it's going to be here tomorrow and just pace yourself.
So pacing myself is really saving. What about your workouts? You're fit. I watch you on the show.
I'm not having to feel like I'm bragging on you too much. But I watch it on the show. I'm like, this dude just looks so good in the suit. He's obviously still extremely fit.
You and I both know most of our former athlete friends that don't have your schedule that don't have your time to pan together. We both know this, right? Mostly the news that you played with. What do you do for your fitness?
Because you're up at five, right? I'm curious, when do you train? Are you conscious of what you're putting in your body? Or you just like a genetic freak that you're very blessed that your age don't look as good?
I wish I was a genetic freak, man. I really do. I get envious to guys who have the six packs and all that they don't do anything. They run out of bed to both cereal.
But I have to be conscious of everything I eat. I have to work out. I try to at least one hour a day. I feel like if I can work out an hour a day at 23 hours and do anything else I want to do, and but you have to find the time and you have to prioritize the time and you can't be lazy.
The hour that I'm sitting on the couch thinking about working out and watching some TV program to work, I could have been over it. That's how I rationalize it. But it's about scheduling my time. Like today, a GMA this morning, the second I leave the studio, I brought to New Jersey so my barber can cut my hair, then I drive back.
I'm gonna do this podcast with you. Then I have a one o'clock doctor appointment. Then I'm going to work out right after the doctor because at five thirty, I got to go straight and then I'll come. It's like you have to find the little pockets of time that you have and get it in.
Then there are days where I'll do that workout. I have a pocket of time, that pocket of time, maybe a nap, that pocket of time, maybe reading a magazine or reading a book, that pocket of time, maybe just watching mindless TV. But I just try to do things at some point. You've got to let it work it out for me.
It's like a release. It's like that moment where everything else outside of the music that's in my ears when I work out. That's the only thing I'm hearing at that point. Yeah, same with me.
That's really good to hear that you watch a little line of seeing me. They see a lot of other people feel good. Just that you unplug your brain for a while. I'm curious about your ability to be present.
If you struggle with this or things you do, as a busy person too, sometimes I have struggled in the past even with my kids with when I'm at home thinking about a business deal I've got. Or you're in a smack meeting for your production of management company, but you've got to prep for an interview tomorrow on GMA. This presents thing because one thing everyone says about you to me is, he's charismatic. I do believe you're one of the more charismatic people on the planet.
I think part of charisma is being present with people and giving them all of your energy when you're in that moment with them. Like they're the only person in the world that matters. You're incredible about it. Do you do anything specific to be present?
Are you conscious of it? Or do you struggle with that too? No, I'm kind of where I am is where I am. But you're right about that.
It takes a lot of energy and I didn't realize that I'm not consciously, I don't consciously have to think let me be in the moment. I do think that I'm just built to be in a moment and I also think that I'm able to compartmentalize things because on the football field, something bad happens. I got to move on to the next. If we could have this conversation on the sidelines and they say, defense, I grab my helmet.
Hold on, I'll be right back. Hold on my helmet. I run out there. Completely switch to a totally different dude.
Finish, come back, put my helmet down and pick up the conversation like I never stopped. Like to be able to stop and start and compartmentalize my thoughts and wherever I'm at and what actions are needed in that moment, I just I have to learn that and I learned that from football. And that has really helped me and everything else that I do. But you're right, whenever I am into something, I'm into it and I'm focused on it.
But it takes a lot of energy. I've realized that as I've gotten older that in order to, that's why it's certain things, I just know, no, I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to go to that event. I just can't go to dinner because I know it's going to take a lot of energy out of me.
And the problem is I can't help myself. It's not like I can go there and say, I'm just going to sit in the coin, quad and let everyone else, let everyone else talk to him. I can't. I've got to be in the mix and I've got to be involved.
And that's my fault. But also it's also my responsibility to know, okay, this is going to take too much out of me and I need time to recharge my battery because I know that when I'm in that room, that room is going to get everything that I got. So good. I brag for a minute, Michael, for me.
This is so good, brother. Why are you successful? I mean, I mean, like don't do the humble, gee golly, like you've been so successful at many things. If I were your son, I met your daughter, by the way, one of them.
What would you say to me, like, I'm successful because you had an amazing job as a father too. So I am successful more than most people because what would the answer be? Because I am successful, more successful than most people because I am able to be myself. And I, God, that's that's such a good question, man.
I kind of have an answer, but I kind of don't. I think a lot of you being incredibly lucky in a lot of ways. You're going to the humble card. Don't do that.
Right place right time. Okay. I do think because I work my like I work. I don't.
I work. I'm not afraid to work. I don't take myself too seriously. I think that has helped me because if I did, I would have I would have a gap in my teeth.
I had this like a picture long time ago. Like what you see is what you get. I'm confident in what I know I know. So I'm always nervous with a new job, so nervous with TV and so nervous playing football when I was younger.
But once I had experience of something and I know I can do it, then I'm confident in it. And I know I'm good at it. But still, that doesn't mean I don't have doubts every once in a while about it. But when you first start out, of course, you have doubts.
But I always tell myself, I'm so nervous my first time and I say, well, think about the person who was in your position that you look at, you admire, who do what you want to do. They had a first day too. Everybody had a beginning of a career and people completely forget that. So I've learned to tell myself that at things that are new to me.
But I just figured things out. I think I was successful. I figured things out. There's no excuse.
There's nothing I want it. I'll figure it out and get it. I've never once seen anybody or been jealous of anybody's success or been mad. Does this person have this and I don't have it?
If I want it, I work to figure out a way to go get it legally. You know, right? You know what I observed about you that there's people that I admire and people that I actually like to be around is they tell a really unique line. It's such a nuance.
We're having tremendous self confidence, combined with a big dose of humility. And it's such a unique line because most people struggle with self confidence, their humble, their humility, they struggle with the confidence piece. These guys that didn't work when they got to the NFL, for example, right? People that you and I kind of seek bird out, we go, what do they have, they got all the self confidence, not enough humility.
They don't want to be coached. They don't really got to outwork everybody. And I noticed that in you in droves. I also feel like, Michael, one thing I've observed about you is that people are always feeling something from us.
You're always making someone feel something. And the happiest and most successful people are conscious sometimes of how they're making other people feel. And me, you're outstanding at that on camera, off camera. I watched you last year.
I won't say who, but it's someone we both know with another NFL football player who was on Fox with you now. It just wasn't coming quite as naturally to him as it did. The other guy's in there. And I watched you kind of giving him the energy.
You even pulled him along like as a teammate, almost like you were still on the line, working as a unit as a group. Are you conscious of that energy thing? Or is this just a natural thing if I met you when you're freshman at college, you had it then, you had it when you were rookie, you had it when you're playing the Patriots in Super Bowl, you had it with Kelly, you had it on GMA, or is it something you're kind of intentional about the energy piece? I recognize energy because I've never wanted to be the guy that walked into room and people go, Oh, no, no, you want to be the guy who walks in the room and people are excited to be there.
When I see other people who may, I think I'm sympathetic, and empathy and sympathy. So when I see someone who's struggling and someone I feel can do something better, and if I can do something to bring that out, I'll go out of my way to bring it out. I'll do it at my expense sometimes. I don't really have the ego to say everything about me.
And my name's got to be there. I don't care. I don't care who speaks first. I don't care who names on the title.
I don't care about that stuff. I just want to do great work because I'm a true believer that if the work is good, everybody in the work is winning. Everybody gets enough. There's enough credit for everybody.
So for me, when it comes to work and energy and people and trying to help, that's just more from a mentality of the teamwork mentality. And I just really sincerely want people to do well. And I've never been a guy who isn't happy to be in whatever room that I'm in. And I just want people to enjoy that I'm in that room.
And I also want to enjoy the people in that room. And when you had success, I think the more success I've had, the more I've been into making not caring about my success. I've cared more about other people's success. I've cared more about other people feeling good about where they are and where we are and the things that we're doing together.
And I think that that's important because at some point, football, I've had every trophy that I ever thought about. I remember college didn't know how to play football when I first went to TSU out of high school. One year high school coming from Germany. And by the time I left college, HBCU, defensive player of the year and a few times, I won everything.
Then I get the stroke for you, then where do they go? To my parents. That right? It was like, oh, I thought I was doing it for myself.
And I wasn't. Get to the pros. You think you're going to be, you know, I want to make the pro bowl. You make the pro bowl.
And you're like, oh, this is going to be great. Well, by the time we get to the pro bowl, you think I feel like playing another football game that means nothing? No. But the only reason I went to everyone is first of all, you were voted in with it and honored.
And two, my family loved to go. It was like something I could see the pride in them that we were all there together. And I think that I've just learned that success is just meant to be shared. And the more successful you are, the more you should share it and try to bring more people with you.
It's a lot of room at the top of the hill, man. It's not like the top of the hill, the point. Top of the hill is flat and everybody can stand up there. Well, that's really good.
And I think most people don't know that. I think they think it's this. And so there is that hater jealousy cut-footway. And when you get there, it's exactly what you realize, what you just described by the way, no one's ever said that on my show, it's one of the most powerful things anybody's ever said.
It is like that. By the way, it's doing his hands where there's room and it's flat. And that's absolutely true. Someone else's success does not prevent you from being there also.
That's so big. And that's what people think, oh, this person's successful. They're blocking me. That person may not be, you know, you exist.
I remember, they're going to do what I know you are, don't think about you. They're not blocking you. They're just doing what they're doing. They're going through their life.
And I remember back when I was playing a guy's, we're getting endorsement deals and guys reduced commercials and autograph signing, the guys are complaining, well, what are you getting that? And what are you doing this? And what are you doing? I'm getting mad at the guy.
And I would say, if you were him, and these opportunities came your way, you would take them too. So how do you be mad at him for taking advantage of what opportunities came his way? And that completely took a lot of the, you know, I've never had that kind of jealousy. And I've always realized when I went to Kelly or when Eli Manning came to the Giants or something like that, the new kid always gets attention.
He's a new kid. Everybody wants to figure him out and give him attention and show him love. So you can never get so caught up to think that, oh, this, it doesn't last for everybody. When you go to McDonald's.
And what the main sandwich there, Big Mac, right? Every once in a while, they'll bring out a McRib. Everybody gets really excited for the McRib. But if it were on a menu all the time, eventually it just becomes, you know, another sandwich in a big Mac, it's still a big Mac.
So don't be mad or jealous of the young cat who comes in and gets attention. You're still a big Mac. Play for you there. You'll be fine.
It's very good. And you know, it's interesting about that too, is that I'm listening to you. Success is pretty simple. And it's all the things that people waste energy and focus on that takes from just being laser focused on the task and it's worrying about other people.
They got there before they, why are they getting this? What are they going to think about me? All these things we can clean our energy on to me like the waiting for you has been simple. This is a really hard question.
I already asked you another one. I watched you and sometimes I wonder this for me. I'm kind of a busy dude too. And I, you know, I think externally people would probably think, wow, what a really cool life and you get to do this or that or the other thing.
So this is just me and you want one, no one's listening. Okay. Is it worth it? Like really?
Is it all what's cracked up to be to be you to do the things you're doing? And do you ever sit there some days, maybe it's Sunday flying back on the plane, you're going to get up Monday to do the show? You ever sit there and go, I thought I'd enjoy this more or I thought there'd be more to it or is it this is even better than I thought and I would really love to know. I think I know the answer and I don't think it's pretty for most people when we're in the moment, but I'm really curious.
Look at you really thinking deep. What is the real answer to that? Is it what it's cracked up to be? Apps are freaking lutely.
It's better than I ever could have imagined. I think it's probably more glamorous from the outside looking in that it is sometimes when inside looking out. I think the day to day work may be more glamorous from the outside looking in, but the day to day work is worth it because sometimes when the mirror their tinted, no one could see in and I'm on vacation or I'm doing cool things with my family that if I didn't do this, I'm not able to do or if I'm at a fight and I'm at the front row watching the biggest fight fighters in the world and I show up at a restaurant and it's like, come on in. We don't have a line.
I mean, I hate to cut the line on people, but it's like the stuff that comes your way absolutely makes it worth it. And everything I do now, this is gravy. I think that's why I look at that's why to me it's always going to be worth it because football, if that was worth it, what I do now is more than worth it because playing, practicing, hitting, training camp twice a day, laying on a wet ground to stretch a seven in the morning to putting on pads that are still soaked with your sweat from the day before it is seven thirty eight in the morning and got to run into another grown man for the next two hours and do that over again in the afternoon and that was work. That was work and that led to where I am now and I would go through it again to get back to where I am now, but it was the hardest thing I've ever done, which now makes talking on TV for a freaking living.
Are you kidding me? I didn't know this was an option. Talking? You know, you are, you're grateful.
I'm just listening to an abundance of gratitude that's an abnormal for somebody at your level who sometimes might think they're entitled to it or whatever. You just have an unusual amount of gratitude and I bet that if I met you when you were younger and playing that that was true then too. Yeah, you know, now I was kind of a, I always tell people I'm an extroverted introvert. Envaminants walking down the street and people say, Hey, Michael, Michael, it makes me uncomfortable.
I don't like that attention. But what if I'm doing my job and that's fine. When the camera's right there and I'm just in the street, I feel no different than anyone else. I don't think I have special privileges over anyone else.
And not like when I walk down the street, it lights up like in Michael Jackson video, you know, I walk down the street. I think that there's this perception that, you know, everything that you do is always so cool and that's just not the case. And I realized, and I'm, I mean, it's a fear, a fear of losing humility would mean that I would lose everything that being humble has gotten me. So it makes me always, they very aware, very conscious of the opportunity or the thing that I've been afforded from the opportunity from in my life.
So that I'm very conscious of trying to be good to people because I feel like if I were losing humility, then everything else goes out the window with it. Oh my gosh, you say things that I feel better than I feel them. I got what you just said is exactly how I feel. I'm almost making emotional that you said it because I feel that like if I lose my sense of humility, I think everything's going to go away.
And I it's I'm going to lose it. I'm going to, I will have spoiled all the blessings of my life. If I lose my humility, I also consider myself an I think he's extroverted introverts or the reverse. Like I'm very introverted privately, publicly, I could be an extrovert.
I just got asked what you said and I just want to reiterate it. It's a 10 million times better than you think it is. It's not as pretty or as glamorous to win to make your dreams come true, but it's 10 million times better than you think it is. And it's not the cool stuff.
It's actually how you feel about yourself that you're growing and expanding as a person. You have a new experience as a different contribution. It's just a super cool feeling. But that's why I think I've done and I do so many different things.
It's that feeling of figuring something out, committing to something, coming up with an idea and actually seeing it through. And then you've been, you know, like the clothing business, it's like, oh, this was just an idea we had. Now it's a real legit business. $100,000 pyramid.
You know, yeah, maybe we can host this game show now is a legit big time game show. It's like, and then to learn every step of the way of thinking about how I felt when I film season one, to how I feel filming season six now, whatever it's going to be, like the confidence and like, man, I started and I kind of was looking at Dick Clark, page one, maybe I can do this. And now I'm actually feeling so comfortable that I can do it in my sleep. Like I like that feeling of progression in life and progression in projects and progression and work.
And yeah, man, I do too. I feel like I died if I did it. I mean, they're literally growing or dying. And I feel like the minute I saw growing, I'm going to go in reverse.
I don't know how fast I'll go in reverse, but I'll just start to regress as a spirit, almost like a spirit. No, I mean, it's amazing because people that are not in this stuff, it's different doing GMA that is 100,000. There's a different energy, it's different studio, different setting, it's a different communication box on a panel. We've got to interact with other people.
What have they done talking? When does he jump in? What's his hand on the guy? Let's all these little things that you only learn when you do them.
He did not know when he was back in Germany after his freshman year going out of college. This is group everybody that we do expand as people if we continue to work, if we continue to try new things, if we step into spaces, we are not prepared for people are afraid to fail. People afraid to fail. They feel like they if they fell in their life, if they were people afraid to be judged.
And you can't you can't expand you can't get better if you're afraid of what other people to pay in their going to be if you want it on your life. So you want to get better at something you want to try something new that's on you. A lot of people and I know you've heard this before a lot of people tell you can't do anything because they have their restrictions on their life. So they take their restrictions, their fear, they put them on you a lot of people put them on their own kids.
I'm fortunate to have a father with fearless. I mean this guy was in the military with five kids straight out of high school for 12, 13 years and said I want to be an officer. I'm getting out of the military and I'm going to go to the ROTC program at Prairie View then I'm going to go back in as an officer and then I'm out of my mouth pregnant with me. So he gets out of the military five kids six on the way and go to the ROTC program at Prairie View University which they didn't want to let him into the officers program but they said he was too old.
And a chance meeting is the only reason he got in and I didn't realize this until my dad wrote this whole big, he wrote this whole little testimony letter and he was staying in a testimony letter and I'm reading it going this is an amazing story that he went out of the military went to Prairie View, wanted to get to the officer program and told him no you're too old. Well he's got you know a mom and five kids me on the way, a lot of them out of the feed and a general in a colonel came to the base and they were looking for more minorities to put into these to the officer program. He's talking to the colonel. Colonel's telling him about it you know what they're trying to do with my dad go yeah I tried to get in the program and they said you know my age and blah blah blah blah blah and he said well so do wherever you station.
He was in France and all these other things he goes you know I was in when I was in France man I saw this boxing match it was the best boxing match I'd ever seen and he described this whole boxing match and my dad goes serve that was me. Oh my gosh my dad was an all army boxer go to go and go to the military and then the military and that colonel was talking about the boxing match he saw my dad fight in France and did not know that that was my father. Come on and once he heard that you're in the program. That's bananas and then my dad graduated magna cum laude from the ROTC program as what he comes to take about him and he know old man and he goes back into the army as an officer becomes a master jumper in the 82nd Airborne Division.
You know when we moved to Germany he was running the first CEC combat equipment company so here's somebody realized it was fearless to think that my life is going in a direction I want to do better. I can only do better if I'm an officer so I'll take the chance and be fearless and get out and hopefully get into a program that is going to get me where I want to go and he did it and he you know for me it was when Michael win this when you're in the Provo when you win a Super Bowl when you're in the Hall of Fame when when when it's never with if because I think if you tell your kids or you tell yourself if there's doubt in this there's no doubt in when it just may not happen right at that moment and sometimes it does but when you always think it's going to happen to me actually. Oh my gosh Michael that's one of the best stories I've ever heard by the way that's the long winded but I'm sorry. No way that was not long when you were one meeting away your dad had one was one meeting away from you.
You made that one decision that's the deal speaking of the the when and the if by the way that was not long we did that's profound by the way it was really crazy is the story of your life is so impressive literally I know that on my show my favorite story would not be about you be about your dad and it kind of explains you though but I want to go to football we have a few moments left but I've enjoyed this so much like it's like a masterclass almost but you said the when and not if so you guys want the Super Bowl I want to make sure I understand it because maybe I have it wrong and I'd like to just understand it but you guys played the Patriots they're undefeated and you lose but it's a really good game I remember watching the game I think it was in New York they came in to beat you guys right you got by the end of the game came in the beat it's the end of the game and but my recollection is so they're undefeated they've got Brady they've got Moss this is a juggernaut of a team they've got they're loaded on defense too they're really all their studs are still under defense that and but after that game is it right that you basically said when we beat them in the Super Bowl not if like did you know in that game that if you played them again you could beat them because the reason I asked this question why I think it's so important yes you won the Super Bowl yes you beat an undefeated team yes Eli should have been ruled in the grass but it's a whole other story oh you know what I Patriot have you're gonna say that but go ahead right it's all right it's not in the grass but my point is that my point is that that this is from a loss so this is a big lesson I think if I'm right about the story if you had this feeling if it was even in the locker room afterwards it's from a defeat that you make the decision when we win this is important because as a human being we're suffering losses and defeats and setbacks regularly that didn't define you to undefeated team they just beat you at your place right at home is it right that after that you went when we played them again we're gonna be you got this feeling they were beatable or not I think that was a team feeling but the person who verbalized it literally walking off the field after that game we're walking off the field in defeat and also yum and yora if our other defensive man I write in and look at me and say when we meet them again we when we see him again we're gonna beat him I'm thinking to myself that's fantastic but only way we see them is the Super Bowl you realize that AFC NFC buddy and he just he just we had this confidence because we realized one into that game we knew we were in the playoffs already we're going into we're going to Tampa to play the bucks we didn't want to put anything into our our game plan that was showed a bucket here is what we could do so with a very vanilla defense and a very vanilla offense that we ran against the Patriots the last game we didn't have anything to play for it was pretty much our Giants gonna rest their guys the Patriots aren't resting their guys because for them they wanted a perfect season and I think that inspired us because they're not resting their guys we're not resting our guys either and the fact that we were just very vanilla and we went ahead to head with a team who wiped everybody off the map made was so dynamic I think the most points in the regulars in the average the most points of any team in the regular season history and you know they had Harrison say Al Bruce G you name it they were so loaded but I don't know what it was we just felt like if that was the best that they had to give we're better than we showed and pro-post-game one of the press conference flaxico bird said you know yeah score is gonna be like 21 17 21 it's something we're gonna win and tom who's my business partner related to sports in my book my boy when he was like oh oh yo okay it's going to be like 17 points oh okay like a little you know dismissive that fired us up offensively we just had guys who collectively or individually were looking go oh you know collectively we were a team it was a team it was no one individual bigger than the other there was no one individual who wanted to let another guy down it was never a selfish thing about selfish on our team everything was about togetherness and before the game I did go when you guys win the game on sunday and by the day you know it's a big game he goes well you know I and I said yeah I know but you've already won the game this guy got to go through the formalities of it now and I'm like geez okay I'm right I guess you haven't been watching the film I've been watching it and beating snot out of everybody but we're in that game and I give this speech right before the offense went out there when he like got out of that that that grasp and the speech was you know what guys the score was 14 10 at that point 17 14 will be the final score one more 17 14 one more touchdown we are world champions but leave it and it will happen 17 14 will be the final score and that was my way of kind of channeling my dad to say this is how it's going to end it's not ending how you you controlled it I couldn't I wasn't on beat offense I can't do anything about it and to see if people make the most extraordinary plays in their life and Eli did David Tyree Plexigal catching that ball in the end zone for touchdown David Tyree couldn't catch a cold but naked in the winter time I mean he was not our wide receiver of choice he was a special teams guy dude true Eli is so clumsy that he would fall in practice like trying to go roll out make it bootleg and he's farmed down so to see those guys do extraordinary things let me know it was more than just them they weren't out there playing for themselves they were out there playing for all of us and we all played for each other and so the win at Super Bowl the biggest achievement better than any MVPs and player of the years and anything ever earned in football that was the one thing that you could share with everybody the most excited I've ever been about anything in my life and every day I'm on email chain with the entire defensive line I see Eli a few times a month I see Shano here a few times a month I see Amani Tuma a few times a month I see these guys all the times like a brotherhood and no matter where we are in our life everything stops because once we see each other it's like this feeling that you can't capture with anybody else who wasn't there wasn't a part of it and yeah most special time and it was I couldn't have asked for better ending my career to be honest with you you could have played a couple more years and you chose not to but I just got to tell your whole physiology your energy your face definitely is different when you talk about that there's there's something just life-changing life all during just special above everything hunt for that probably that not kids are best up but beyond that it's it's that important yeah I mean professionally it was the greatest moment ever it is quite far the greatest moment ever professionally and even post football if nothing that compares to that one day nothing you can never recreate that stage and I'll never forget every moment of running out at the beginning of the game to hearing I can feel here to sound the audience when you're out of the crowd when you're there you're so focused that I can hear the guy across from me breathing I can only I can hear Tom check this I can hear the line backwards you can only hear the people you need to hear you do not hear 80 000 people whatever it may be you're yelling until the play is over so you make a tackle you make a sack and all of a sudden it's like you turn up the radio so you can now hear the crowd are you kidding I've never heard this report your focus is so incredible and that's actually the lesson to me that if you really want to focus you can block everything out because I've had to do it without even realizing it for football purposes well it's really an incredible thing because you do not hear anybody all I hear is the quarterback I can hit a lineman talking I can hear my guys talking I can hear breathing I can hear you know yeah you turn your helmet you click your helmet on your shoulder pad I can hear all that but I do not hear did not hear the people that's the thing in your brain call a reticular activating system my audience knows I talk about this it's the filter that allows you to focus on what's important to you but that's the best example I'm stealing that for you every talk I ever give the fact that an athlete can be in an arena full of 80 000 people stadium and not hear that noise but can hear his helmet clicking on shoulder pads and the breathing of the linebacker coming up on some package behind him his blows mind-am-mind that is mind-blowing the focus and value and that much even you're saying that that's mind-blowing right that's incredible the mind works that way but I absolutely that's but you know and I don't I could have played a few more years but I realized after that Super Bowl that I just everything I had man you know I OC and Tuck you always have this joke we're gonna kick you out the league oh man and it's in the meeting to tell me that and I used to say you know what Tuck you will always be my backup until I decide to retire just in that give him back you couldn't say anything back to me on that one because I was a starter but what they didn't realize is when I admired everything that they did they inspired me because I realized he's got a younger stronger faster so I slimmed down they will go home they didn't see that I'm back in that weight room they didn't see me sitting in an ice tub like just trying to take care of myself not to stay ahead of them literally just to keep up with them unbelievable so when I retired I realized how much it took just to maintain and stay close that he does and that in my heart after one of Super Bowl I was like you know what I just don't want to do you by the way you are from a lot of money Michael yeah they offered for me to come back with a lot of money and I decided that I had never cheated the game or anything and I was not going to start now I was not going to get out there and just do something for the money and not have my heart into it and just think okay mentally I'll just get through it your heart's got to be in it's too hard of a business that just show up and say I'm just gonna do it for the money at least it was for me because it's one thing to be on a football team and be a starter right there loving I'm down there I could have been a lot of guys I could be a starter to be that one of the eleven who not only do you have expectations for yourself they're high but everyone has expectations of you that every time you show up you have to be at a certain level you don't have the liberty or the ability or the freedom to drop below a certain expectation and I realized without my heart I could not reset expectations if I had the heart to do it I absolutely would have gone back absolutely but I felt going back just for the money would have been a disservice to the Giants to the NFL to the fans and to myself try to do it it worked out okay you know what I mean is think about it tiny man I thought about this how did I gone back um Regis would have retired someone else would have got that job because I would have basically been playing football and they would have opportunity to do I guess hosting and all these other things like it's just a timing everything worked out perfectly that we won a Super Bowl was the whole reason I was invited to go on that show as a guest in the first place for them that's crazy why it was it's crazy so timing of it timing was incredible for all of that so when I said a little bit lucky I made some humble but it's true luck is where opportunity and preparation meet each other and you obviously crush it I want to keep going but tell us about it time so I enjoyed this so much exceeded my expectations and I'm I'm grateful that you did this today I'm so impressed with you and even as a distant from I'm just proud of you the difference you're making in the world you really inspire me I know you inspire a lot of people I know you know millions of people end up feeling or watching or hearing this today so I just want to say thank you Michael for being here and I hope we do it again very very soon well thank you and thank you I appreciate you having me I've been I really wanted to do this because you're you're inspiring me and so many people out there so it's good to be a part of the mission and what you're doing out there to help so many other people man I really really appreciate the only one issue I have is we need to get to a new helmet at the background then over there I'll put it somewhere I'll put it somewhere I got a bless everybody share the show today this is epic conversation I'm so glad we got some detail and again thank you Michael spray and all right everybody God bless you Max out this is the end mileage show