- 7 weeks ago
Ndamukong Suh spoke to Business Insider about the physical and emotional toll of life in professional football.
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00:00My name is Ndamukong Su.
00:01I played in the NFL for 13 years with five different teams.
00:05I was known as one of the toughest,
00:07hardest hitting players in the game.
00:09This is everything I'm authorized to tell you.
00:13You're playing a sport in the NFL
00:15that is 100% guaranteed you are going to be injured.
00:20I've had total reconstruction of my right shoulder
00:24and ACL reconstruction on my right knee.
00:27I was fortunate enough to not miss any games
00:29due to injury.
00:30I played through them because it's a pride thing,
00:33but it's also, I don't like missing games.
00:36I'm not a person to feel sorry for myself.
00:43My repetition as an NFL player was, in my opinion,
00:48hard-nosed, aggressive, and misunderstood.
00:52I say the latter of misunderstood because
00:55I don't think people gave me an unbiased view,
00:59and it wasn't until later on in my career where I really understood in the NFL,
01:05there's a pretty boy in the league, you'd probably say Tom.
01:08There's a golden boy in the league, which you'd probably say Peyton Manning.
01:11Then there's like the angel of the league, you'd probably say Tim Tebow.
01:16And then there's the villain, and I was the villain.
01:19Just from a marketing perspective, I've learned a lot in being able to embrace that.
01:23I don't know what guy that's out there that has been considered an elite defensive lineman that is considered a
01:30nice guy.
01:30Aaron Donald's not the nice guy. Myles Garrett's not the nice guy.
01:34Micah Parsons ain't no nice guy. There's no defensive guy that's a nice guy.
01:39I mean, even Luke Keekly, he's probably one of the most praised linebackers. He was no nice guy.
01:43I remember I hit Jay Cutler when he was playing for Chicago, and before we became teammates in Miami,
01:50I hit him in his back as hard as I could. And it looked awful. But they said I hit
01:56him in his neck
01:57and had an area, which is illegal. But if you go back and slow down the tape, I hit him
02:01right on his name plate.
02:02It was a legal play. But because it was me, and it was because of past history, I got fined
02:09for that,
02:09and I got in trouble for that. I think from an amount perspective, I was probably throughout the
02:14years probably in a half a million type range. Did I care for them? No. Were some of them egregious
02:22without question? Was there times where I was upset and felt unfair and unjust? A thousand percent.
02:29But great players and great people were held to different standards. Media played a massive part
02:35of my reputation. And I think that was why I took as much as possible a big hiatus from them.
02:42There were some things that I did that were seen as very aggressive and that I think ultimately some
02:49of the mistakes that I've had in my career that have kept that and painted that picture. But that's
02:54not who I was. And you don't see that every single time. But it just stuck with me. And it
02:58is what it is.
02:58People enjoyed being teammates with me and always wished that I played with them or was happy that
03:06I was on their team. And I mean, even fans. I ran into a fan the other day. I was
03:11like, man,
03:12why won't you come play for us? I was like, we would have loved for you to be on our
03:16team. We hated
03:17playing against you. I think I was doing my job being hated on the defensive side of the ball
03:23by the other teams. And I think it's more of a sign of respect versus being something other than
03:31that. I am not who I am on the football field as compared to off the football field. I am
03:37very much so
03:38mild-mannered, introvert, key to myself and family and friends. And not saying I'm two different people
03:44because I have a very competitive edge. We go play pool right now. I'll try and take your head off
03:49and pull and embarrass you from that standpoint. But ultimately, when you get between those white
03:55lines, I don't have any friends unless we're wearing the same color jersey.
04:03Football as a sport is a very violent sport and physically demanding sport. There's 11 guys on
04:10each side of the ball. And then the combination of those 11 guys, as well as
04:16a full roster of the game time roster is 46 guys that are active and able to play in the
04:24game.
04:24And so they come together. And again, 11 on each side, starting 22. I think the best way I would
04:32explain the game of football, it's a game of many different chess moves. There's a lot of different
04:39nuances from offensive side of the ball, the defense side of the ball to special teams. And they all have
04:44to
04:44fundamentally work together in some form or fashion to win the game. My position in the NFL was defensive
04:52tackle. But I primarily played every single position on defensive line, which was in the simplest way,
04:59I was a guy hitting the quarterback and hitting the running back and trying to destroy your offense
05:04on the front line. My peak performance weight in my prime, I would say I was, I never changed height,
05:14I was 6'4". I was about 305 to 306 pounds. The guys that I would go against, which on
05:22average was at
05:22minimum two offensive linemen, were weighing anywhere between 315 pounds to 350 pounds. And most of those
05:30guys are typically anywhere between 6'4", and 6'6", to 6'8". If I were to put my power
05:38into numbers in the
05:40weight room, I'd probably best say my peak was benching 525 pounds on a max rep, squatting probably in
05:51that 600, 700 range on a max. I wasn't getting hit most of the time. I was delivering most of
05:59the hits.
06:00But I mean, there are bone chilling hits where guys have been paralyzed. There are hits where,
06:10again, if an everyday person was hit like that, they probably would not get up.
06:15And a guy just bounces up and he's like, let's go. Let's go have some more fun. And so,
06:21to me, it's a special game, but it's a special game for the right person, the right mentality,
06:28and the right person that can endure that and really enjoys being able to be gifted to have that craft.
06:42I was in the NFL for 13 years. My first five years with the Detroit Lions. My next three years
06:49were
06:49in Miami with the Dolphins. And then I played one year with LA Rams. And then three more years in
06:57Tampa Bay, Florida with the Buccaneers. And then my last year was with the Philadelphia Eagles.
07:02I've had six different contracts. And that first contract didn't really understand how it all worked.
07:09Players typically are not privy because most front offices don't like to talk directly to players.
07:16And I learned that the hard way later on in my career, once I was representing myself
07:21in some of my deals. I didn't understand why they were taking so long to sign my deal. And
07:27uh, really just kind of quote unquote, put the offer on the table. I was drafted second overall.
07:33Lo and behold, I found out I was supposed to make more money than Matthew Stafford.
07:39The ownership was like, we can't see you making more money than our star quarterback.
07:45Um, and I was like, I don't make the rules. This is just what it's been. And I was like,
07:51okay,
07:51and that's good for him. Like I'm a defensive life. Like I'm the first round pick for you guys.
07:57And he went one. I went to, there's not much of a difference. I should have went one. And I
08:02said,
08:03all right, I will accept that. I will not make more than your star quarterback. Just remember
08:11in five years from now, when we come back to negotiate, I'm going to not take a hometown discount.
08:16Yeah. I signed my deal. It's guaranteed $60 million, uh, with the potential to earn up to $64
08:24million. Um, at the end of my five years, really the only thing they could negotiate was signing
08:30bonus. Um, so that's when you look at the overall contract number and a lot of people say, Oh,
08:35two years for a hundred million bucks. But the real key number is how much of that guarantee
08:41was given to you of that a hundred million dollars. Was it 5 million or was it a hundred
08:47million guaranteed? The average NFL career, which is why this guaranteed money is very, very important
08:52is 2.8 years. And I think it's maybe gotten a little bit longer, maybe got rounded up to three,
08:59but it's very interesting. And the key caveat is you're not invested veteran until three and a half
09:06years, AKA your fourth season guaranteed money is very, very important. That guarantee means that
09:13you're for the most part, you're going to get those dollars regardless of you being injured or stepping
09:18foot on the football field or not stepping foot on the football field. If you have a career under
09:23injury and, uh, you don't have any guarantee that team owes you nothing. Not one red cent. I fortunately
09:30never had to experience that. Um, I was typically in a position of somebody wanting me or team
09:37organization wanting me to where I had guaranteed money. CBA is a collective bargaining agreement
09:43between the NFL and NFL players association, which is our union. And so there's so many different
09:50things that are negotiated from pensions to rules and regulations for in game and all the different
09:58particular pieces that are, that go on. Probably the simplest way for people to understand is like,
10:02there's a big pot of money that is made up of the NFL. How is it equally split for lack
10:08of better
10:08words between NFL and the PA, which is a player's association. I mean, I think the safe way to say
10:14it is the percentage of true dollars. So if it's a easy math, a hundred million dollar deal, uh, you're
10:20going to probably take home after agent fees, taxes, all the above, probably about 50 million. It was
10:25surreal. It was one of those things that, uh, I definitely opened up my, uh, online account
10:31at Wells Fargo multiple times and like, it's actually really there. Like you used to seeing like
10:38two, 300 bucks, maybe if I'm really, really like a thousand bucks in college, but yeah, to see, uh,
10:45multiple zeros in, in, in seven digits was, was, was rewarding.
10:56A contract covers a mandatory mini camp, which is usually in the beginning or middle of June.
11:04Then camp starts at the end of July. Like most guys will start third or fourth week of July,
11:11if not the last couple of days of July. And that'll go all the way through to your last game
11:16of the
11:16season. And if you're lucky enough and good enough, you'll, you'll make it into the playoffs.
11:21Superbowl now has moved back to the second weekend of February. Dallas Cowboys was my probably true
11:28welcome to the NFL, um, moment. I was a rookie bright lights in Dallas, Texas, uh, in the big old
11:36Jerry's world stadium. The crowds were smaller in the NFL to me. I'm used to university of Nebraska
11:44game day at home. We've got 90 plus thousand screaming fans cheering, um, where a lot of
11:51stadiums in the NFL, I think are typically anywhere between what 65,000 to 75, 85,000. I'd experienced
11:59Jerry's world. So it wasn't that eyeopening, but it was still the NFL. Leonard Dave was probably 6,
12:04eight, three 80. Doug free was probably another six, seven, six, eight, and probably 350. These
12:12guys knew I was a rookie. I was a first round draft pick. That was them salivating at the mouth.
12:17Like,
12:18we're veterans. We're going to teach you, uh, welcome to the league. And you got some stuff to,
12:23to learn young pup. My coach earlier on that week was like, I won't look down upon you as, as,
12:29as a player. If you get a double team by both these guys and you're taught to kind of take
12:35a knee,
12:36uh, and drop your hip, uh, to like dissipate the full weight. And, uh, the first time I didn't do
12:43that and I, I was fighting for my life and it was, it was, it was a good lesson. Uh,
12:49I still didn't drop
12:50to a knee, but I found some different creative ways to, to make sure I, I kept them on two
12:55different
12:55levels. The psychology game was, was huge, uh, for me as an individual. I, one, worked with a sports
13:01psychologist. Two, uh, I did meditation prior to the games, whether it was in a locker room,
13:07and on the field, uh, visualizing the different things that I was going to have great successes in.
13:13Practice day, uh, for an everyday NFL player is tons of meetings, uh, usually in the gym or in the
13:20facility no later than 7 30, 8 o'clock. Meetings, practices, rehab, prehab, workout, and obviously
13:29practice and whatnot, and then more meetings, and then you're out of the office usually four or five
13:36o'clock. Game day, uh, let's just say 1 p.m. game, you're probably up no later than eight, nine
13:45o'clock,
13:45uh, at the facility or at the stadium, no later than 90 minutes before the game where you're not
13:52playing, but most guys are smart and are getting there between two and a half and three hours before
13:58the game, get prepared, and then, um, play the game, have some fun, win it. I started my rehab right
14:05after
14:05the game, uh, before I went and saw a family, but most guys just shower change and go home. Home
14:10games,
14:10I would get, uh, on a bike for 30 minutes at a bike ride, uh, trying to get the lactic
14:16acid out of my
14:17legs, and then I got into the cold tub, typically depending on, again, one o'clock game, get home,
14:23eat dinner with the family or whoever's in town, then do some more treatment through the rest of
14:27the night, just depending on what little boo-boo I was dealing with. Away games, uh, as soon as we
14:33flew
14:33home, because every single team I played for, we left right after the game, got home no matter where
14:40east coast, west coast, or a 30 minute flight, like if I was in Tampa coming from New Orleans or
14:44Atlanta, uh, I'd land, go right to the gym, get, get on, get that 30, 40, 45 minute bike ride
14:52on, um,
14:53get in the cold tub, and then go home and sleep majority of the, the next day. I think what
15:00gives
15:00people confidence, and especially for somebody like me, is seeing a consistent routine that you're
15:06able to live and abide by, and when you have that base layer and that solid foundation, uh, in your
15:12preparation, it allows you to twist and turn with the things, the curve balls were thrown at you.
15:22I always wanted to be engineer. My dad was a mechanical engineer. As a young kid, I always loved
15:28working with my hands and building stuff and tearing stuff down. The construction industry within school
15:33was, uh, seen as a very difficult, uh, major. It wasn't until I got into the thick of it, I
15:40was like,
15:40okay, I, I can see why, uh, they see this as, like, most athletes, football players aren't going through
15:48engineering school and whatnot, but I, I loved it, and, and I take great pride in that degree, and it's
15:52something that nobody can ever take away from me. My freshman year, I got into Nebraska, uh, bright-eyed,
15:58bushy-tailed guy running around. Um, there's two guys that were projected, uh, to be a first round and
16:06a second or third round, uh, pick in an NFL draft. I was forced to work out with him every
16:13single day.
16:14Okay, um, no problem. I remember our strength coach was like, man, this kid is special, and he was like,
16:22he started to kind of wrap his arm around me a little bit more. Fast forward, two, three years later,
16:30the 2008 crash happens in the finances, in the, in the world. So the world's upside down. My dad
16:37owns his own company. Obviously, uh, I'm, I could usually call home and ask for a hundred bucks, and
16:45yeah, I'll send it to you, no problem. Wasn't that simple anymore. I made a determination that, um,
16:51off-season, uh, I'm just gonna do whatever I can to make it pro. Uh, I hate to see my
16:58dad struggling
16:58from that standpoint, and, uh, I want to change the trajectory of our family from a generational
17:04perspective, and I can see the NFL as an opportunity. My mom, who is the best, is like,
17:12that's great and all. Like, I don't, I still don't understand football. Like,
17:15it was amazing that you got a free scholarship to go to school. You're getting your degree,
17:19all these different things, and you're gonna come home and, uh, help your dad's business grow and
17:24take it to another level. And I'm like, mom, you realize, like, I can go play this game longer and
17:30make tons and tons of money. She was like, okay, that's cool. Uh, but you're gonna finish your degree.
17:34So it sounds like to me that you're not gonna leave, and you're gonna finish your degree,
17:39and then you can go off and do whatever you want to do from that standpoint. So I was like,
17:42okay, understood. So, uh, the decision was, I stayed in school, another great year, and then
17:49I won every defensive award but one. Uh, I was drafted in 2010. The NFL draft is, uh, is a
17:56special
17:56moment, uh, in a lot of guys' life. Uh, it's the start to hopefully an amazing career, uh, but to
18:02be
18:03drafted in the first day, let alone in the first round, is life-changing not only from a money
18:09perspective but also from, uh, an awareness perspective. The, the weight on your shoulders
18:15of being a top pick, uh, you're supposed to be one of those guys that are gonna come into a
18:20team
18:20and help them get to the promised land, which is to win the Super Bowl. You're typically going to the
18:24worst team, especially if you're a top five, top ten pick. Um, there's 32 teams. Usually the 32nd team,
18:30which is, has won the Super Bowl. So that's where they get their first pick in the first round.
18:35So the worst team with the worst record gets the number one pick for that upcoming draft. Roger Goodell
18:41says, uh, Dominic and Sue is selected by the Detroit Lions. And I was kind of upset and also thankful
18:52at
18:52the same time of saying, hey, I was second overall pick, but this was not what I expected. And a
18:58friend
18:58of mine, Moby Okoye, uh, who was basically a big brother to mine, but we're same age. He'd been in
19:03the league, played for the Texans a couple years prior to me. He's like, man, what are you, he's
19:07asking me, like, why are you upset? I was supposed to be in Tampa, all these different things, uh,
19:12transpired, uh, and this was the case and I wasn't expecting to go to Detroit. And, like, Detroit is
19:17a city that's down in the dumps. Like, I can't imagine myself being down there, like, sunshine, Florida.
19:22I'm coming from the Pacific Northwest and Portland, Oregon, and been in Nebraska, middle of the country. He's like,
19:27man, just be thankful, like, your second overall pick and, and move forward. And I was like, I am,
19:31but it's like, my, this team is awful. And he was like, all right, this is a great opportunity for
19:36you
19:37to take this team to the next level. I took that with me and I went to Detroit and it
19:41was one of
19:42the best things for me, uh, to go to that city and play for that city. I got to kind
19:46of create my own
19:47quote unquote legacy of, uh, of playing blue collar football in a blue collar city.
19:57I'm wired differently. Um, and this is something why I tell my people all the time, my kids will not
20:05play football. They don't have the concept or understanding of what it's like to play hurt.
20:11There's a difference between being injured and being hurt. And from playing the game of football,
20:17which I love, I've had total reconstruction of my right shoulder, 13 anchors and, uh, both labral
20:27front and back repaired, ACL reconstruction on my right knee with at least two scopes post that
20:36reconstruction. I've had three, maybe four scopes on my left knee and look at my hands. I was fortunate
20:49enough to not miss any games due to injury. I played through them because it's a pride thing,
20:55but it's also, I don't like missing games and I don't, I'm not a person to feel sorry for myself.
21:00So if I physically couldn't go, that's one thing. But if I did everything possible and I wasn't able
21:07to go, I get it. Playing hurt for a pro athlete versus playing hurt for an average person. That's
21:12an interesting question. I don't, I don't even know how I would answer that because I don't think
21:19the average person understands what, uh, playing hurt is actually all about. It depends on the team
21:26that you're playing for. Um, because I think there's great teams. Uh, I'll just be very transparent.
21:33Detroit was very average at supporting their players and these things to keep them highly
21:39recovered and prepared to go for every single game, especially maybe it wasn't a focus early
21:45on in the 2010s when I was there to where, when I got to Miami in 2015, they definitely went
21:51above and
21:51beyond and Steven Ross and his organization. We're all about whatever the players need to be successful.
21:58I will provide that for them. And there's other teams where, uh, they've had some great elite,
22:05uh, folks that worked within the organization. I'll say Tampa Bay was one of those, but they didn't also
22:11have all of the best tools and resources. So it was like a combination of you got stuff on your
22:16own,
22:16um, and stuff that, um, that the team can provide. Uh, I still work out every single day. Uh, I
22:24think
22:24it's one of the things that keep me, uh, fresh for the most part. Um, but yeah, there's plenty of
22:29things
22:29I still deal with. Like I said, my, my hands and, and wrists and knees and all this stuff, uh,
22:35still stuff to deal with.
22:42As a professional athlete, entertainer or a person of notoriety and is recognizable, uh, in a community
22:49or across the world, be who you are, but also make sure you're guarded and, and trust the people that
22:57are, that are within and around you. Like you can tell pretty easily when somebody recognizes you or
23:03something of that nature. There's definitely been times where I've come across a fan where I would
23:08like to say they have little man syndrome. It's not physically being a little man, but the concept of
23:14them, uh, feeling like they want to show their toughness. Uh, you just got to be the bigger person
23:19and walk away, uh, and not engage for lack of a better word. People, uh, are excited to see you,
23:27but also need to respect your time and space. My no person now is my wife,
23:32even though I'm more than capable of telling people no, but there's certain situations where
23:36it's better for her to say no versus me saying no. Being out to dinner, uh, with our kids and
23:44in a public setting and she sees somebody approaching and she'll be like, Hey,
23:49unfortunately with the family right now, he'll, he'll, he'll consider giving you a picture or whatever
23:54it may be, uh, once we're done. But I never understood why people wanted to touch me. And it's a
23:59big
24:00irritant even to this day. And I was, it was actually with my uncle yesterday and he was like,
24:05you have to somewhat desensitize yourself to this. They want to touch you and talk to you because
24:11they want to make sure that you're real because they're looking at you from a screen or seeing
24:16you from the stands and they can't believe that's you in front of them to this day. I still cringe
24:22a
24:22little bit when people touch me and I don't know them. Uh, I have a little better of understanding
24:27about it. You notice guys that have an understanding of money, uh, and guys who don't have an
24:39understanding of money and how they kind of treat it. You have the maturity aspect, you have the
24:45athletic guy given athletic abilities, but then also you have this coddling and this enabling. And
24:52also there's a nature of saying, Hey, I only want you to have this tunnel vision on being successful
24:57in this sport and only man in focusing on that versus having a breadth of knowledge and then being
25:02exposed to other things. People like to stay up with the Joneses and have nice cars and have nice
25:09jewelry and bags and stuff like that. I just wasn't wired like that. So, uh, I also saved my money
25:14and
25:15my parents were, were very on top of me to say the least. My first actual paycheck was, I want
25:22to say
25:22$3.6 million and I signed my deal. I got a signing bonus in our, our tradition in our family
25:30in Cameroon
25:31history. Um, you give your, your dad, your first real paycheck. So I gave it to my dad and then
25:36he
25:36obviously gave it right back to me and I deposited it. Young athletes coming out and they say, Hey,
25:40I want to buy my mom a house. I'm going to get her 6,000 square foot house, three car
25:46garage.
25:47Can your mom maintain that? Or does that have to sit on you to maintain that? And that's where you
25:52enable and potentially hurt people with finances and things of that nature. You have to be careful
25:57how you support others with that money because you can enable people and put them in a downward spiral
26:05of a negative consequence of them in their finances. And you may not understand what you're doing
26:14because you think you're helping somebody. I've always had a close-knit group and I have an amazing
26:18family, uh, especially my immediate family, my mom, my sister, um, my father. They didn't ask for
26:25anything from me. My money was my money. If I wanted to support them, I supported them. I did have
26:30to learn
26:30say no, but I have an amazing older sister who was my no person and she did 99% of
26:37it for me. Um,
26:38just so I was able to focus and not deal with drama and things of that nature. And she took
26:43the bad
26:44rap, which was a great thing. Um, but as you got older and more mature, being able to say no
26:50to people
26:50became easier and easier. And I think that's, um, something that comes with growth. And I was fortunate
26:58enough, I had great mentors as well. Um, Joe Mowgli is one of those guys, uh, which is a former,
27:04uh,
27:04chairman of TD Ameritrade that showed me his budget, uh, before I even left college. And, uh,
27:11I learned very quickly how to manage money or manage a large sum of money because of his experience and
27:17his lessons. When I sat down with Joe, uh, he was like, I mean, you could be spending 10, 15,
27:24$20,000 a month. I was like, absolutely not. There's no way expenses, uh, to maintain,
27:30to be an NFL player, uh, can be exorbitant. There's so many different things, whether it's from
27:36hyperbaric chamber, $20,000. I've got two of those hyper ice equipment, um, cold tubs. Like there's,
27:45there's a gamut of things, physical therapists, uh, naturopath coming to see me every single week,
27:51depending on who you are, uh, and how detail oriented you want to be with your recovery
27:57and your performance and making sure you're prepared to, to not miss any games. Easily spending
28:02a year, half a million to a million bucks plus. I feel like some people, uh, especially being sports,
28:09uh, figures, athletes, entertainers, they feel like they can't understand and they should just
28:14hand it off to somebody else. Uh, I think it's, it's a little bit of laziness, but also, uh,
28:21entitlement that they should just be taken care of. Warren Buffett. I seeked him out right as I was
28:26leaving college. It was a challenge for my friend, actually. You should ask Warren to be your mentor.
28:32And I was like, there's no way he will do it. Uh, I had met him my senior year in
28:36college. He was an
28:37honorary captain. So I went up to coach Osborne, who was our AD at the time and said, Hey,
28:42would you connect us? Um, I'd love to meet with him, see if he would have a conversation with me.
28:48And then coach Osborne said, yeah, I'd be happy to. I can't promise you he'll meet with you or not.
28:52I got to the meeting like two or three hours ahead of time. Cause I was not going to be
28:56late.
28:57Uh, so I just sat there and, uh, miss Debbie, who's his assistant was like,
29:02you know, you got here way too early. And I was like, yeah, I didn't want to be late. And
29:05there
29:05was no risk, uh, of being late and whatnot. Uh, I think we talked for like two or three hours
29:11and he said, I'd be happy for you to, to mentor you. Uh, you're kind of probably be bored because
29:17I do a lot of reading. I would always in the off season, go spend time with him. Uh, get
29:22on the
29:22phone with him. He's just one of those people that, uh, are very easy to talk to, uh, try and
29:29catch up
29:29on a quarterly basis and, uh, was able to see his retirement live. Uh, the most surprising lesson
29:37was, uh, him very adamantly about being patient. Um, great things come to you with patience. And
29:47if you can learn to have patience and stick to quality people and identifying that, like that,
29:55that those two things will, will serve you right. When it comes to finances, I've had plenty of
30:00mistakes. Uh, I am not afraid to admit that, uh, I've made some terrible investments because I wasn't
30:07patient. Um, I was looking for immediate success. Uh, I've had lessons because, uh, it was before it's
30:16time. Uh, I think probably, uh, if you look at LeBron's uninterrupted concept and, and, and creating
30:23that, uh, I had something very, very similar that I invested a good amount of money into, but it was
30:30the timing wasn't right. The infrastructure wasn't right and the people weren't right. And so, uh,
30:35it failed, uh, but it was directly the same exact concept.
30:45Endorsements are, are huge and I've had deals with Verizon, Sprint, all the above. It was considered
30:51illegal to do that when I was playing football, uh, at Nebraska. It's pretty asinine, to say the
30:59police, um, that the university, uh, and everybody except for the person that is being leveraged
31:12can make money off of their name, image, and likeness and off their back. People are buying
31:17that jersey number because they want to support that person that's wearing that jersey number.
31:22There is a massive difference, uh, between when I was in college, playing college football,
31:28and what college football athletes get this day and age. Um, so there's this thing called
31:33name, image, and likeness. They call it short for NIL and athletes are now able to get paid for their
31:43name, image, and likeness while they're playing at their universities. When I left college and I did
31:48that autograph circuit and some stuff in between Lincoln and Omaha for speaking engagements and
31:55autographs probably made, let's say a quarter of a million bucks. Um, to whereas the average D lineman
32:03or defensive player, uh, that's a star is probably making a half a million to
32:12750 to a million bucks, um, right now for their NIL deals. Nike, I was fortunate enough to be signed
32:19and immediately out of college, um, before I even signed my NFL deal, um, and was even drafted. It's
32:27confidential, uh, as all, all those deals are. Um, but I, I, I definitely had a good six-figure deal
32:33with
32:33them and, uh, I got a very large allotment of, um, product that I, that I get, um, for friends
32:45and family. I had,
32:46uh, a great situation at Nike, uh, headquarters where I'm originally from in Portland, Oregon. Full
32:53access to multiple gyms and fields and turf and grass, all the above. Uh, and then I had a great
33:00trainer and performance director that I worked with. It was something that Nike wasn't really, um,
33:06originally open to. Like, usually athletes come on campus for two, three days consecutively and then
33:12they go off to wherever they're going. But I was there two, three, four months consecutively. And
33:18so like the access and all these different things, it's, it's, it's, it wasn't, it wasn't a common
33:23practice or a common request from that standpoint. It was a little clunky at first, but after the first
33:29year or two, it was smooth saying, oh, Sue's just here. I'm still, uh, a Nike Inc. athlete. I'm on
33:36the Jordan
33:36side and it is one of those things that I very much so cherish, uh, the relationships.
33:49I've had fortunately a very, very successful individual career playing football, but also
33:56as a, in a team oriented perspective as well, having won three NFC championships and a Super Bowl.
34:04Team loyalty, uh, to a player, I mean, I think there's no loyalty in business at the end of the
34:11day.
34:11And it's, it's unfortunate, especially in the sports world. For me, like, there can be loyalty
34:17if there wants to be on both sides. Leaving Detroit was, I mean, probably one of the most difficult
34:22decisions I ever had to make, make in my life. At the end of the day, what gave me comfort
34:26when I was
34:27doing what was best for me and my family. Detroit was given the opportunity to match the deal that
34:32Miami gave me. And I also left money on the table. The Oakland Raiders offered me more money
34:40than Miami did. And so I left money on the table. I gave the team that I wanted to stay
34:47with the
34:47opportunity to match, and they chose not to match it. Having multiple short-term contracts,
34:52especially later on in my career, uh, it's as simple as this, betting on myself. All right, cool.
34:56Just give me a one-year deal, have my number, and we'll go from there. You knew what you could
35:01expect
35:02every single year from me, whether I was hurt or not hurt, playing on a tour in PCL,
35:08uh, playing with a hurt shoulder, with my, my shoulder coming in and out of my socket. So, like,
35:13there were things that teams knew. He's durable. He's going to show up. He's going to play at a high
35:19level. There was a time I signed a contract. They didn't want to meet me at my number. It's not
35:24very
35:25public, but I'll share it with you. And I said, okay, no problem. Uh, but give me every incentive
35:32to, to, to do it. And they were like, you'll just hit those incentives and it's not going to be
35:36team
35:36oriented. I said, all right, no problem. I'm going to bet on myself, but I will bet on myself that
35:40me being a part of this team will be the success of us reaching a Super Bowl. I took a
35:46little bit of a
35:46pay cut. Uh, it was a down year because of COVID. So our revenues and all these different things
35:53were, were, were down. It was just a $2 million difference. And I don't just say only because
35:57it's a lot of money, but it was, they were projecting in this for the budgets. And then
36:03also the understanding like, Hey man, like COVID and all these different things, constricted budgets.
36:08And I understood it to some extent, but also like, uh, I, I felt like I knew what my worth
36:15was,
36:15but I tied it to every team incentive. So win wild car, win, uh, divisional, win NFC championship.
36:25And then after those three, I basically, uh, reached all my bonuses, um, to reach the number
36:31that I ultimately wanted to leave the season with, did it, and also won a Super Bowl. That was with
36:37Tampa. So that was one of the, the years that I negotiated my own deal, uh, with, uh, with the
36:43GM at the
36:44Tampa. There were so many other things outside of, uh, the game of football that I did to support
36:53the game of football and create certain cultures, whether it's from defensive line perspective,
36:58defensive side of the ball and mentoring guys. Granted, are there times when I was in Miami,
37:04didn't make the best decision, didn't make the, the, the best, uh, way of communicating and, and
37:10delivering it to my teammates? Oh, without question. The biggest fan base that left the biggest impression
37:15on me was it's going to be a tie between Detroit and Philly. Detroit, man, just loyal, good hearted
37:25people. Like I walk in that city and town, like I always want to represent for them. Uh, they're just
37:31really, really good people. And it was a city that truthfully embraced me, uh, and helped me through my,
37:38my youth years. And then Philly, I mean, granted, uh, they are, they're definitely hard-nosed and all
37:45they want to do is win, but they treated my family and especially having my two young boys at the
37:52time,
37:52uh, their first experience, like, like gold. Although it was only, what, six months in Philly,
38:00it was a special six months and I wish we could have capped off with the Super Bowl because
38:04that city was, was, was beautiful and I loved going back there all the time. And like, I mean,
38:09I still get people again the other day, like, go birds. It was sickening to, to lose that game,
38:15uh, because I had such a, uh, a perfect plan to ride off into the sunset, uh, with my last
38:21game ever
38:22being played, which still was my last game ever being played in the Super Bowl.
38:32I'll, I'll try not to be emotional, but, uh, the main reason why I ended up retiring was because
38:37of my dad. My dad was dying of cancer. And so I, uh, I stepped away from the game. I
38:45wasn't ready,
38:46but I needed to. I mean, I won't say I wasn't ready. I was, I was, I, I accomplished a
38:52lot
38:52from a perspective of, uh, individual and team, especially winning a Super Bowl. And I was happy my
39:00father and parents and sister and everybody was be able to experience that. But, um,
39:06I didn't really understand because I thought my dad was in remission and, uh, it was, it wasn't until
39:15a late night in Philly, uh, during that season. Um, I got some terrible news.
39:24It was just a tough conversation. I, there was, um, a couple of doctors I was super close with, um,
39:32that took a look at, um, my dad's most recent scans of what he was dealing with. And, um, he's
39:44like,
39:44your dad is unfortunately in terminal. And I compartmentalized it, understood it. Um,
39:53but I think that's one thing that's interesting about sports. It allows you to
39:57not forget about things, but put things to the side. Uh, that's why I was going to make the
40:01decision, obviously, after hopefully winning the Super Bowl, which we were on our way to doing,
40:09uh, especially after demolishing the San Francisco 49ers NFC Championship to then retire and then be
40:14able to just be like nothing but focused on that. And so, um, that's really where my head went to.
40:22It wasn't a, a sulking. It wasn't a feeling bad for myself or feeling bad for my dad or anything
40:28of
40:28that nature or feeling bad for the family was like, how do we prolong your life outside of the
40:34expectation? Because that terminal conversation was just maybe got six months to a year at most.
40:45And that was in December of
40:4922. And my dad didn't pass until
40:54summer of 24. I didn't go back, uh, even though I knew I had plenty of left in the tank,
41:02for lack of better words, to keep playing if I wanted to. I officially retired, uh, would have been
41:08summer of 2025. Uh, but my last down was Super Bowl in 23 with the Philadelphia Eagles.
41:24I think my legacy, uh, will, will determine itself in due time. I mean, I could still play today if
41:30I
41:30wanted to and, and get prepared if, if I really wanted to from that standpoint. But I knew I needed
41:35to go spend time, uh, and cherish, uh, as much as I can in time with my dad. Monetary, I,
41:41I don't need
41:43to need money. Didn't need anything from that perspective. Family's always first at the end of
42:03tough times. My big focus right now is of being able to provide knowledge on financial literacy,
42:09but more importantly, being able to learn how to implement it into your life as you as an individual.
42:14So my foundation has evolved and changed over the years. We've gone from health and wellness,
42:19which has always been a factor. Eating good quality food, things of that nature, fitness, moving,
42:25education, um, has always been something, uh, that's been important. Uh, my mom being a school teacher,
42:32uh, No Free Lunch is my podcast that I started a year ago, actually, uh, this past July. It's centered
42:40around,
42:41um, the ethos of teaching people, again, financial literacy, financial empowerment,
42:48the successes and failures, uh, of reaching your, uh, your goals and how you're going to get there.
42:54And telling these different stories and having these unfiltered conversations and being able to
43:01make it a common conversation versus it being a hard conversation or a difficult conversation,
43:06which is in a lot of different communities are very difficult, difficult conversations to be had.
43:12Um, it's super important to me.
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