You are a self-proclaimed nerd. What are your nerd credentials?
I love to learn. I like the challenge of learning. I read history, non-fiction. I just picked up a book at the airport called Steal Like an Artist. It talks about how nothing in the world is original. In life, the only thing we truly do is we find out what we like and steal it. The difference between plagiarizing and stealing is that plagiarizing is when you take someone else’s work and claim it to be yours. Stealing it is taking what you like and making it your own. I like reading about people that have done amazing things, like Steve Jobs.
Are you into technology?
Something I did when I was on the West Coast with the Oakland Raiders, I went to Silicon Valley. I went to the offices of Facebook, Twitter, Pandora, Pixar, WellnessFX, Instagram, and I got a chance to see the digital world that we play in every day. I got a chance to sit down with the executives and to get to know them, to pick their brains. What motivated them? How did they envision what they created before they actually did it? I was like a kid in a toy store. I was learning from the inventors of today’s digital world. Sometimes instead of reading, I will pick up the phone and try to visit someone that I’m interested in meeting.
Do you find that those people were curious about your NFL world?
They were! You can’t be a professional at everything. But it’s so cool to see how their philosophies are cohesive with yours, but you are doing it in a different genre. They’re like, “You play in the NFL. How hard is it? What do you go through?” Over lunch, I’m asking them, “The things that you do are hard. How did you do that?” We’re sharing digital ideas and getting educated. You get to see the true hearts of people, not just what the media portrays. It’s been an amazing experience to get to know the creators of the world.
If you weren’t a pro football player, what would you be doing?
My Plan B was to accomplish Plan A (laughs). My Plan C was to be a counselor. I started off at the University of Pittsburgh in psychology and sociology. I’ve seen too many failed marriages. I really wanted to get into marriage counseling. I transferred from Pitt to Liberty because my dad was sick. He had diabetes and had to have his leg amputated. I needed to be closer to home and take care of the house. They were there for me for 19 years; it was my turn to be there for them. When I started at Liberty, none of my credits transferred, so I had to pick something to stay eligible. I went with sports management and business with a minor in biblical education. When I look at it all, I get to use all of that diverse education through my foundation. I’m thankful for the road I’ve gone down. I’m grateful for how God works and everything is coming back.
Tell us about your foundation.
Started a foundation two years ago on April 1. It was fitting for me and my sense of humor. People didn’t know if they should show up for the kickoff of the foundation or not! The three components are mentoring, health, and education. Most of the guys in the league want to give back. When you ask them why they don’t do as much, it’s because they don’t have time, which is true. My job is to make innovative programs that make mentoring, health and education convenient for my peers to go back to their home cities and help.
What are you looking forward to the most about New York?
Obviously, first and foremost, I want to lock down my business on the field. Off the field, I’m looking forward to seeing the world. All the people you can meet. CEOs. I used to write a blog so that the people from back home could keep up with what I was doing. They knew me as this overweight, dorky kid that grew up into a man. Now, I think what I want to try this year is to interview other people and use my platform so that others can hear what people did to get to where they are. When I sat down with the guys in Silicon Valley, they were your average guys. But somewhere along the line, they made great decisions.
Is there a common thread in all of the successful people that you’ve met?
They were motivated. And something in their lives made them really angry. They were able to channel all of that angry energy productively, whether it was to fix that issue, to prove a point, whatever it is. They found something they didn’t like, and instead of sitting back and throwing darts, they decided to make a change.
