Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] And welcome back to the Transition podcast. This is your boy, ig, and welcome to my home. Now, if you can hear me through the audio recording and you can't see me, you gotta tune into the YouTube channel to be able to check it out visually.
[00:00:16] I'm excited to have you all back for another episode on the Transition podcast where we are talking how are we supporting athletes during their transition through life after sports?
[00:00:27] I've been getting a lot of great feedback because a lot of the content that we've been creating here is supporting individuals who may not play the sport, who has encountered some sort of transition along their journey. So the tools, the gems, the outlooks, the perspectives have been a blessing for individuals. And I want to say thank you to our guests who have come on before and shine their light on their transition journeys and supported everybody who's listened. It's been beneficial, it's been helpful, and I appreciate you all for tuning in and tapping in. We had a really good weekend, a really big weekend this, these past couple days.
[00:01:11] Does anybody know what I'm referring to? Absolutely. Draft day. You got it. This weekend was the NFL draft day 2024, where 259 young men were drafted into the NFL. Now what does that even mean? Let's backtrack a little bit. Let's backtrack a little bit. There's a million high school players that play football in the country in USA, about a million players. And out of those million players, out of those 1 million players, about 80,000 go on to play NCAA Division one football. It's a huge gap. Out of that, 1,080,000 go on to play NCAA Division one college football. And after that four years, there's about 16,000 individuals who are draft eligible each year. And the draft is when 32 NFL teams come together and say, I want the best of the best. And it's a. It's a big deal. It is literally a big deal.
[00:02:19] And so this year's first draft picked, first round draft picked, first pick overall, Caleb Williams from the University of Southern California. Go Trojans. I thought it was a great pick, especially someone growing up in Los Angeles, California, who's a Trojan fan through and through. I mean, respectfully, shout out to my Fresno state bulldogs who always have a place in my heart.
[00:02:43] But of course, growing up in Los Angeles, California, the children's are just close to my heart. And so shout out to Caleb Williams, quarterback for now, the Chicago Bears being drafted number one pick overall.
[00:02:58] Way to go. Salute you for all the work that you've put in. Great job. And speaking of Southern California, it sounds like our guy, Reggie Bush got his heisman back.
[00:03:09] It's about time. It's about time. The greatest college football player all time, of all time, Reggie Bush, has finally received his Heisman trophy back.
[00:03:24] Shout out. Salute. Salute. We can, we can, we can. We can honor that. We can respect that. We love that. We love that for Reggie.
[00:03:31] But again, 259 individuals go through the draft and all got selected one through seven rounds. And I mean, that's a beautiful feeling. That is a great accomplishment. I think when everybody, especially a lot of the young men, embark on this journey at a young age, even if we might not at that age, say, I want to get drafted. I want to go up on stage and be the number one pick overall, even if that is not the goal at the age of eight, the goal is to get to the NFL and to be able to stand up on that stage and say that I am the best, one of the best, or some of the best of the best in the nation.
[00:04:18] Not even just in the nation, across the world, man, that's a huge honor. That's a huge honor. So we want to salute all of those young men who were drafted this weekend. That's a big deal. That's a big deal. And so, you know, I look back at my draft day experience coming out in 2012. Fresno State, Bulldog, cornerback. 510, 180 pounds, four three, 4240. Try me. I was really like that. But I remember coming out of college during that draft day. I remember being in Pasadena, California at my auntie's house watching the draft, the excitement leading up to the draft.
[00:05:03] Didn't know what was going to happen.
[00:05:06] I can recall it so vividly.
[00:05:09] First round, I can't even tell you who got drafted the first round. I have to go back and google it. Who got drafted the first pick in first round of 2012? I'd have to go back and google that. I mean, trivia. Does anybody know? That's a trivia question, like, send me a note.
[00:05:24] But I remember so vividly being in my auntie's house thinking, I'm excited for the opportunity for my name to get called. Now, I didn't believe that I was going to get drafted. I believe, you know, because of my caliber of work, because of my body of work as a collegiate athlete, I didn't have the numbers to be drafted 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th round. But I did believe that I had the opportunity to get picked up in the 6th or the 7th round, those late rounds, and I was hopeful for that. I remember sitting around looking at people's names get called, some of my peers names getting called, individuals who I played against. Again, I played cornerback, so I remember there being a few guys who played wide receiver in our conference. And I got drafted during the 6th and the 7th round. And these are later rounds. These are later rounds. There's only seven rounds. And I remember thinking, how the hell did this dude get drafted? Like, I remember locking this dude up on the football field, and this dude got drafted, and I haven't got a phone call yet.
[00:06:29] And there was a lot of. There was some. There was some. There was some anxiety in that space. I mean, I was a little more baffled than anything, right. Um, but the draft ended seven rounds, 250 names getting called. And there's about, you know, 15,000 more individuals who are out there, draft eligible, waiting for their names to get called and. Or a phone call from an NFL team saying, hey, we'd like you to come participate and be a part of our team.
[00:06:59] And I remember being in Pasadena, California, 2012, and I didn't get a call.
[00:07:06] I did not get a call.
[00:07:09] I didn't get a call from my agent. I didn't get a call from a team. It was a very interesting experience, especially for someone who has put all of their eggs in one basket over the course of 15 years. And coming out of the. Coming out of the collegiate realm in 2012, thinking, you know, this is it. This is what I. This is. This is what I did it for.
[00:07:31] This is. This is why I. This is why I chose what I chose. This is why I didn't choose to go run track at LSU.
[00:07:40] This is why I chose to play football here at Fresno State for this day. And no call came.
[00:07:47] And it was an interesting experience, one of those experiences where you had to sort of self reflect, take some time with yourself. I remember going back to Fresno, maybe like the day after heading back to Fresno, still haven't got a call from any NFL team. We're talking one of the biggest days of our lives, transitioning from NCAA football to a potential role in the National Football League, and I didn't get a phone call.
[00:08:21] That's like someone in the working world putting in a resume to one of the biggest job opportunities they can ever fathom or think of some Fortune 500, some Fortune 100 company, and you put your resume in because you're an eligible candidate for this position, and you don't get a call back.
[00:08:43] Not an email, not a call, not a thanks for trying ADP, anything, right? And I remember going back to Fresno and thinking to myself, I have to be honest with where I am in my journey.
[00:09:02] Fresno State had a beautiful stadium. Has a beautiful stadium. And I remember still having to be dedicated to this grind because there's no time limit on when I could or could not get a phone call. So I remember going to the stadium one day, just running bleachers, just trying to clear my mind, trying to figure out, you know, why I didn't get this phone call, or will I ever get this phone call. 15 years of work, commitment, dedication, all for this moment. And, man, what if it doesn't happen?
[00:09:32] And I remember just training by myself that day and doing some self reflecting and some praying, and I had to be really, really honest with myself. And this came up to the surface for me in the words, I'm not ready, came to the surface.
[00:09:48] I'm not ready. I'm not ready for the NFL.
[00:09:52] And it wasn't in a demoralizing way. It was an honest evaluation of self. I'm not ready for the NFL.
[00:10:04] There's a lot that comes along with being 21, 22 years old, making millions, if millions of dollars, because everybody doesn't make millions of dollars. That goes and plays in the NFL. But there's a lot of responsibility to be able to manage your emotions, to be able to manage your, your mindset, your perspective, your finances, being away from your family, being away from your friends. You actually step into an adult role very early at a job, a corporation, that there's millions and millions and millions of eyes on you every day.
[00:10:50] And there's another, another level of responsibility that comes with that. And I remember saying to myself, I'm not ready for that.
[00:10:58] And so with that, I had to prepare myself because there was no doubt in my mind that the NFL was part of my journey.
[00:11:08] And so I remember. I remember taking a step back. I got a job on the weekends just so I could pay my rent. Again, this is right after NFL draft. I graduated from college. Now I have to pay my rent. I'm no longer on a scholarship check. I'm tossed out into the real world, per se. And I remember just working on the weekends just so I can pay my rent. Grinding every day, day in and day out. But I remember going back to what I learned in college, a schedule.
[00:11:39] I put myself on a very, very strict schedule. We created a master schedule for myself. From the day I, from the time I woke up and to the time I went to sleep Monday through Sunday, I was on a routine.
[00:11:57] And I dedicated myself to this routine. I dedicated myself to this, to this structure, to this schedule, because I did believe with all my heart that this opportunity was going to come. And when it came, I wanted to be prepared. I remember reading a scripture during some of my prayer time, and the scripture was in psalms, and I'll put this scripture up in one of our posts. But the Holy Spirit just brought something out to me, illuminated this verse that said, pretty much paraphrasing, wait on my counsel. And I didn't know what that meant at the time, but it illuminated. It just popped out on the pages. And I went and did some, some studying on the word, you know, counsel. What does that mean? You know, just kind of did some digging in that scripture, and ultimately it was the Lord saying, wait on my timing.
[00:12:53] Wait on my timing. And that was comforting to me. Like, I felt like that was specifically for me. Right? Wait on my timing. And so that's what I did. I released the. The time it would potentially take or the thought of the time it would take for this phone call, this opportunity to go to the NFL will come around. And I just stayed dedicated. I just stayed dedicated and locked in on my routine, on my schedule.
[00:13:22] And I remember, you know, waking up going, you know, routine by routine, and I got that phone call. I remember being in my mom's house, you know, eating some oatmeal, getting ready for my day, getting ready for my grind, my training, my training day. And the Buffalo Bills call. Hey, is this Isaiah green?
[00:13:42] Okay, this is the Buffalo Bills. We want you to come out and we want you to be a part of the team. And as soon as that phone call came, I was ready. I knew I was ready. I knew I was ready, and I jumped on the flight that day.
[00:13:55] And I say that to say that for those who are going through this draft period, who may not have had the opportunity for their names to get called, it was a month, a month after the draft. The draft just happened two, three days ago. It was a month after the draft when my name got called. When the Buffalo Bills called my phone number and said, hey, we want you to come.
[00:14:20] A lot of individuals don't know the realities of what takes place. Out of those 259 individuals who got drafted the other day, they said about 30% of those individuals will actually make a roster.
[00:14:36] About 30% will actually make a roster.
[00:14:40] An NFL roster. That means 53 players on that roster, out of all of the NFL, every NFL team carries 53 people. So out of that 259 who got drafted, salute. Great accomplishment, like you deserve it.
[00:14:56] But then there's a 15,000 other individuals out here that may be waiting to get a call.
[00:15:04] My recommendation and my sort of advice to anybody who is a free agent at this time, and I have a heart for free agents because I was a free agent. I didn't come in and get a signing bonus. I didn't come in and get a million dollar contract. They gave me a pin and was like, here, bro, sign right here and good luck.
[00:15:27] Good luck. And, I mean, we made it work. We made it work. We made it work. A friend of mine asked me a really good question today.
[00:15:38] He said, knowing what I know about the NFL, knowing what I know about the machine that the NFL is, it's a revolving door. Knowing what I know, based on my experience, how did I feel watching the draft? And what advice would I give to any free agent that is embarking on this journey? And I had to take some time to think about it, but I think it's amazing.
[00:16:08] I really do. I really think it's a huge accomplishment for anyone who can stand on that stage and say with gratitude, we made it this far because the journey's not over. This, it's so much more. But we made it this far. And to be honored and to be recognized as one of the best and some of the best of the best.
[00:16:36] After all the work that you put in for 1012 years, all of their family investments, the investments that your family has put in over time, spiritual investment, the financial investment, the emotional investment, those long days at the track, those long days on the football field from a youth to a teenager, now as a, as an adult, and to be able to stand on that stage and be honored as some of the best man, that's a dream come true.
[00:17:10] That is a dream come true. That is a dream come true. And I think we, I think we recognize that. I think we honor that. Right? I think we salute that. I think we applaud that. Amazing accomplishments.
[00:17:24] Now, understanding what I know, it doesn't stop here.
[00:17:29] It does not stop here. There is a. I had the opportunity to look behind the veil and see what the business is really like. And so for all of my free agents out there who are going through this process, my first piece of advice really is, you have to know who you are before you go into this place. You have to know who you are before you go into.
[00:17:55] Before you dive into this jungle. Right. And if you don't know who you are, the game will teach you really, really quick. The game would teach you really quick.
[00:18:05] You know, there was a, there was a story written on me when I was with the Pittsburgh Steelers. I started off with Buffalo, got cut, went over to Indy, got cut, ended up in Buffalo. I mean, ended up in Pittsburgh. And I was on a roster.
[00:18:19] You know, I made the 53 man roster, and then I got cut a couple days later. Like, there is this. It's really. It's cutthroat. It's a business. It is literally a business.
[00:18:31] When I got brought into Buffalo a month after the draft, an individual who played linebacker, I can't even remember this young brother's name, but they let him go in order to bring me onto the roster. And who knows if he got a job after that. They may, he may have been there for a month and never seen the football field after that. I don't know. But these are the possibilities of the business that we enter called the NFL. This story, I remember the reporter asked me, you know, how I felt being cut and how I felt being able to make a 53 man roster, make a roster and then being cut a few days later. And one of the things that I've learned was, in this business, you have to be strong minded. I mean, you can't let the NFL dictate who you are as a person.
[00:19:21] You have to know who you are, and you have to be that person. Regardless of your situation.
[00:19:29] You cannot allow the NFL to dictate your value.
[00:19:35] NFL is based off of performance.
[00:19:39] And absolutely, you have to perform in order to reap the benefits of being within the NFL.
[00:19:50] Again, the average, the average timeframe for anyone to be in the NFL is three years. And so, yes, you do have to perform, but your value as an individual is not based off your performance.
[00:20:05] And I think we have to continue to hone in on that for individuals who are going into this process, individuals who are going into the NFL or going into any major, major shift and or business this size, especially young athletes. Right. You have to know, you have to have this rooted knowledge and belief that your performance does not dictate your value as a human being. And so having to understand that is first and foremost. That's my first piece of advice.
[00:20:38] My second piece of advice is, again, you have to be a constant learner.
[00:20:46] You have to be a constant learner. This game moves quickly. Things are thrown at you quickly. People are coming and going. The roster starts at 90, then breaks down to 53 over the course of weeks and months, and you want to be the last one standing. But within it all, you have to be a student, not only just of the game, but of life.
[00:21:10] You have to be a student of life. How can I continue to evolve how can I continue to uncover some of the things that I did not know was there within me? Whether it be fear, whether it be doubt, whether it be, you know, triggers or traumas or leveraging the NFL to teach you about you so that you can become the best you, you can possibly be, be.
[00:21:34] And I think that starts with understanding that your value is not dictated off of the NFL. Your value is not placed based off of your performance with the NFL. If you can know that you're valuable, if you believe and know that you are valuable and you have value because of who you are as a human being, I think when you go into that space, you go into a business like the NFL knowing that, you know, I can't fail.
[00:22:03] I can't fail.
[00:22:05] I mean, this is an experience of a lifetime. This is an opportunity of a lifetime. Take advantage. I can't fail. I can only win. I've gotten this far. It's only up from here.
[00:22:15] Now, there may be some trials along the way, there may be some challenges along the way, but we've made it this far. And so how do we continue to grow fearlessly and courageously grow. And so that's my, those are my two pieces of advice as we go through this process of transitioning from the collegiate realm to now the big boy stage of the NFL.
[00:22:37] Know who you are. Leverage the NFL to find out, but you are valuable outside of your performance.
[00:22:45] Next week, I want to talk a little bit about identity foreclosure because again, when we talking about identity and value and knowing who you are, that's, that's based off of your identity. And for so long, we have identified ourselves as athletes, and we have foreclosed on a lot of different identities because we've tunneled in and focused in on the athletic perspective of who we are. And so when you think about identity foreclosure, we'll get into that a little bit next week. But what do you think about when you think about identity? How are you identifying yourself?
[00:23:26] What's your identity? What do you identify yourself with? Have you foreclosed on any other identities? Because you solely focused on one or two things.
[00:23:36] We're going to get into that a little bit next week, but for now, I want to say thank you for tuning in. Salute to every man who went through that NFL draft. Congratulations. Congratulations to your families, congratulations to your loved ones, your communities, you know, the teams who picked you up. But it doesn't stop. This is just one benchmark we were able to check off the list. Be gratitude, be grateful for, and the grind doesn't stop. And for all of my free agents out there, tighten the shoes up, stay humble, stay hungry, and go get it. And go get it. And go get it. Until next time, here on the transition podcast, peace.
