June 14, 2023 • 29 mins
Welcome to Unbreakable! A mental health podcast hosted by Fox NFL Insider Jay Glazer. On today’s episode, former Steelers star linebacker Ryan Shazier shares the heartbreaking details about his spinal cord injury during a Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Find out how he stayed so positive after being told he may never walk again and how he's using his injury to help others.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is Unbreakable with Jay Glacier, a mental health podcast
helping you out of the gray and into the blue.
Now here's Jay Glacier.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Welcome into Unbreakable, a mental health podcast with Jay Glazier.
I am Jay Glazier, and our guest today is somebody
who inspires me, will inspire you. But before we get
to them real quick, I feel like many people. You
may be surprised to learn that one in five adults
in this country experienced mental illness last year. You have
far too many failed to receive the support they need. Carolin,
behavioral health is doing something about it. They understand that
(00:36):
behavioral health is a key part of whole health, delivering
compassionate care that treats physical, mental, emotional, and social needs
in tandem.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Carolin, behavioral health raising the quality of life through empathy
and action.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
With that, I want to welcome in somebody I've brought
a called friend, somebody I've really bonded with in the
last couple of years, somebody who again, it's inspirational when
you see people over come thins and not just take
the cards that life hands us. We shuffle that deck
on it and deal our own hand after that. But
that Ryan Shays, your former first round pick fifteen pick
(01:10):
of the draft, I believe for the Pittsburgh Steelers from
correct there a couple of time pro bowler as well.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Right, how you doing, man.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
I'm doing good. Yay, we're doing good. Thank you for
having me.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Absolutely, man, I'm so grateful to have you on here.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
In the last time I saw you, you and I
played golf together.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Yeah we did okay, well, kind of kind of kind of.
You played the whole round I think I had.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Also, we both finished a little bit everybody else.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
For people who don't know you, I want you to
explain why you and I playing golf at all.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
It is amazing.
Speaker 5 (01:44):
The reason that is amazing is just because of what
we've both been through. But I went no, not me,
you what I went through.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
Man, it was you know, it was crazy.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
I got to play the game that I love, which is,
you know, like you said, football, But unfortunately, while playing,
I end up suffering a spina cor injury. And with
that happening, I had to learn how to walk again.
I had to learn how to you know, jog again.
I had to I literally had to learn how to
you know, peel on my own again. So it was
just to learn how to do all the things that
(02:15):
everybody take for granted. That's why it's a blessing to
be able to go out there and hit some golf
balls and be out there with you.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
So I stopped not because I'm not.
Speaker 5 (02:24):
Not because I'm sorry my son, It's okay. I stopped,
not because my body couldn't take it out.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
And for people who are listening and aren't watching, this
reason why we're laughing.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
We're not laughing at what happened to Ryan. His son
is kind of making his way into the.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Frame here juice cup, So we're certainly not laughing it
what happened to Ryant.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
But hey man, Bore, we can't laugh the better it is, right.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
Yeah, you're right about that, right, take every blessing for sure.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
So you get paralyzed in the game against the Bengals.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
The Cincinnati Bengals, and you're four correct. Yeah, it was
my fourth year going into my fifth year. It was
probably I tell people tell me all the time, and
I have a conversation with people all the time. I
was probably like four games away from you know, me
actually reaching that contract, you know, so really yeah, so
it was reaching your incentives no, not even my insentive.
(03:21):
So I was I was a first rounder, so you know,
have the fiftye option. So they put up my fifth
year option. I was here Pro Bowl twice. So the
next thing was meeting in a contract. But we all
start talking about it. Yeah, but it was just you know,
I had a contract extensions.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
We're talking about about four reaching that wow.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
Yeah, yeah, so you know, you just you kind of
figured it was just it was definitely a tough moment
for me to just because I've been playing for twenty years.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
Then you feel like you're, hey, you can work.
Speaker 5 (03:49):
Your whole life for a moment and then you're that
close and then it doesn't happen. So but it's but
I'm gonna be completely honest with you. You know, God that's
names for a reason, and he had a purpose for everything,
and that's that's what I believe.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
And I wouldn't be able to talk about the adversity.
Speaker 5 (04:06):
That I've overcome and to help people overcome what they've
overcome if I didn't go through what I did.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Did they tell you would never walk again? You did
you didn't take no for an answer, or did they
say there's a chance if you go through something.
Speaker 5 (04:18):
So my doctor, the daughter told my wife, which later
on later told me they didn't tell me the right way,
but they.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
Said I had less than a twenty percent chance of walking.
Speaker 5 (04:27):
And another doctor who's a really good friend of mine,
who who spoke to a really good friend of mine,
heels like, hey, Ryan, uh he told he told him.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
He was like, hey, I think you need to be
prepared that Ryan will never walk again. So I had
multiple people tell me what the doctors. I told them.
The doctors don't really tell you, hey, you'll never walk
again or you'll.
Speaker 5 (04:48):
Have less chance of walking, because you know if somebody
hears that, that can kind of derail them. But also
you know, if you do learn how to walk again,
doctors don't want people calling back and said I told
you so.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
All right, So you made that choice no matter what.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
Yeah, I made that choice.
Speaker 5 (05:05):
When they told me I wasn't gonna walk, I was like, hey,
you said twenty percent chance. Say I'm making it to
the NFL. You got less than a one percent chance
to make it, you know. So I've done some things
in my life that allowed me to know I can
defeat the odd.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
I want to go back to when it happened.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
So were you conscious and what's going through your mind
when you're down there and you can't move?
Speaker 4 (05:28):
Yeah, So I was conscious in the moment, so I
just made it. I made a regular tackle.
Speaker 5 (05:31):
It was attackle I probably made thousands of times in
my life. And when I hit, when I hit the receiver,
my legs just dropped in amaw me. It kind of
felt weird, and I just rode over. But I just
couldn't feel anything for my weight down. So they kept
trying to touch me and if I hate you for LinkedIn,
and I told them unfortunately, I think I couldn't feel anything.
(05:52):
But I was still pretty positive minded. I kind of
I tell myself all the time.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
I was probably into denial a little bit because when
I was to the doctor, I kept asking, like, how
how soon do you think I'll be back? How soon
do you think I'll be back?
Speaker 5 (06:04):
Because it was more of a I thought it was
going to be something very similar to a stinger, you know,
like you and your stinger. If you hear somebody, your
on goes men for a bit and then it comes back.
And that's kind of the idea that I had when
I was going through what I was going.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Through when did you realize, Okay, it's not a stinger,
and how'd you cope with it?
Speaker 5 (06:22):
So it to me about a week and some change,
because then I like, as I was in the hospital,
I was still I had a surgery, and I was like,
all right, yeah, man, this is you know, it's pretty bad.
And then I knew things aren't going to turn around fast.
When one moment I was in the hospital and my
god brother was at the hospital with me, and he
was just sitting almost as close to my screen to
(06:46):
like your screen is to you. And I was in
the hospital bed and you know how they have their
rails on the bed so you don't fall out of
the bed. And I wasn't feeling good that day. I
don't know if I had some type of infection, but
I wasn't feeling well. And I end up throwing up,
but it hit the rail of the bed, but I
was so close to the bed real that it hit
the rail and it hit me.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Back in my face.
Speaker 5 (07:08):
And when that happened, like, because if you're throwing up,
you're trying to at least move out of the way.
I wasn't able to move myself out of way, and
I was like, yeah, Ryan, You're like you're like, you're
not taking this as serious as you probably think. It is,
like this is your hurt way worse than you're assuming
you're hurt. And after that moment, I kind of like
a light switch flipped on and I was like, Okay, Ryan,
(07:33):
it's not like you need to really get to work.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
You need to really.
Speaker 5 (07:35):
Change your mindset and get ready to get get out
there because if you don't attack this right.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
Now, you're probably never gonna walk again.
Speaker 5 (07:42):
So I that was the last time I've been told myself, hey,
you probably never walked again, Because from that moment on,
I was like, I don't care when nobody else is
telling me I'm gonna walk, I'm gonna play football, I'm
gonna be back on my feet.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
How are you able to process that in your own
mind say hey, I'm just gonna make the decision go
for it instead of falling in to a deep dark
depression or did you do both?
Speaker 4 (08:03):
So?
Speaker 5 (08:03):
I don't think I really fell into a deep art
depressure because I was just so laser focused on getting better.
So every every day I would just get better, get better,
and then I would do things to help me cope
so like I ended up having like my Xbox in
the hospital, Like I had books in the hospital. My
wife actually slept in the room with me, and which
was crazy. They actually allowed her to stay there with
me and she was my fiance at the time. And
(08:25):
then I will always have people visiting me. So when
like my teammates would visit me, my like they would
have meetings that the linebackers would have meetings sometime after
the day in the in the hospital with me and
keep me in a loop. So it's like I always
had people around me that I was always really comfortable with,
that I was always really close with. So it made
(08:46):
me want to be able. It made it really easy
for me to try to release stress and be able to.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
Talk to people.
Speaker 5 (08:53):
So I was just so focused and they always want
They always motivated me. So like I would do rehab
and rehab I can barely walk, but they was like here,
come on, Ryan, come on, Ryan, come on, you got it,
you got it. So it was just like having people
that did that for me. It made me feel really good.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
But I would do that for a while, then every
day I would just start to get better and better.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
And then the days when I did feel a little
down or a little sad. Because I'm a very uplifted person.
I'm a very positive person. My family would just do
a really good job of just giving me that positivity
for that day I need it. So if I was down,
like today, if I'm having a bad day to day,
my wife would come in and you know, like play
around or do something that would like lift me up.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
A little bit.
Speaker 5 (09:33):
They then just to kind of get me back on
my feet. But then every other day I'm back the same.
Like my wife hates it because like me and her
can yell at each other and like five minutes later,
I'm like, hey, you very you want to like like
trying to jump around with her, and You're like, no,
I'm still managing. That's so like that's how I am
every single day. So when I have bad days, they
knew how to lift me back up. It just helped
(09:56):
me push on and like, hey, right, keep going because
this is the goals that you want to set, this
is where you want to be, And it really helped
me kind of not get into that dark place in
the first few years.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
I think the most amazing thing, man is that I
guess it wasn't that much longer. A year and a
half later, you told me the timeline, but you actually
danced at your own wedding with it.
Speaker 5 (10:15):
Yeah, so theyeh a year and a half later, so well,
so it was crazy.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
What was crazy was I got hurt at twenty seventeen.
Me and Michelle was going to get married at twenty
eighteen in Miami. But then, obviously I was going through
so much stuff at that time, I was like, hey,
let's push the wedding back the year.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
So we pushed it back the year. And because I.
Speaker 5 (10:33):
Told myself, I don't want to be I don't want
to have a wheelchair and my wedding pictures.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
I don't want to be walking around in the cane
and my wedding pictures. So I just made sure. I
told myself, I'm going to get better.
Speaker 5 (10:44):
I'm going to walk again, I'm going to be able
to play with my kids outside. I'm going to be
able to help my kids. That's the that's the things
that I wanted to do.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
You know.
Speaker 5 (10:52):
I also was trying to come back and play football again.
So those are the things that I wanted to do.
So I just I pushed all the things that I
felt were important but not as important as the goal
that I set for myself at that moment, and I
was able to achieve them and able to be them.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
What can you teach the rest of us and how
you're able to stay positive throughout all this besides your look,
I love you have your teammate Yah, but it's it
still comes down to what's.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Between your ears, behind your rip caage. What did you
learn through that process?
Speaker 4 (11:22):
I think the biggest thing about what I learned through
that process is that you know the the mind is,
you know, the strongest muscle.
Speaker 5 (11:29):
You know, your brain is the strongest muscle and whatever
you feed into it, and that's what's going to happen.
So to me, I always felt if I'm thinking positive,
I think that a.
Speaker 4 (11:38):
Certain way is going to happen. I've never heard anybody
that say, like Jay, imagine the whole time you're trying
to get into the media, the whole time you're telling yourself, oh, man,
I suck. I can't do this, I can't do this.
I'm never gonna make it. I can't do this. It's
not going to happen.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
I don't know anybody that kept telling themselves that they
can't do something and end up being good at it,
you know.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
So that's kind of my mind set.
Speaker 5 (12:00):
It was like, hey, if I feed myself and tell myself, hey, Ryan,
you're going to get better, You're going to walk again,
but actually put that work into doing it, actually set
up a plan and a process to doing it, it's possible.
And I think that's what That's what a lot of
people they allow their minds to speak, that they allow
themselves to speak to negative talks to themselves, which will
make it really difficult for you actually to get to
(12:22):
where you want to go.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
So I just always really positive to my team.
Speaker 5 (12:26):
And then when I had days when I was down,
I'm sad or upset, and I was like, man, I
can't do this today. My wife was like, yep, that's
not Ryan today. I don't like that energy. And she
was like, hey, you got this. You said you want
to walk again. You said you want to make it
to the NFL again. Because everybody's gonna have bad days,
you want to have down days. But I just felt
like when I had those down days that I immediately
(12:46):
told somebody and they helped me reset it to get
back on track.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
And that's what a lot of us don't do we
find ourselves where we think I don't want to be
burdened to anybody or something like that. But the more
we can open up to our teammates or family help
us just want a way step away.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
It's one inch away, it's one yard away, go away.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
Right about that.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
And I think a lot of people fail to realize
that so many people are just so scared to, you know,
call somebody, so scared to be a burden to somebody
at the end of the day. I remember I actually
went to a friend of my house and his son
ended up messing his leg up playing basketball. But he
was in college, and his dad was like, hey, like
call call some of your friends to take you to
(13:28):
the hospital.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
He was like, man, I don't want to bother them
there at dinner. And the dad said, if they're your friends,
they're gonna be happy that you called because they want
to make sure you are right. He was like, they'll
stop what they're doing to take you out to you.
Speaker 5 (13:39):
I was like, man, you're right, Like, if somebody really
cares about you, if it's important enough, you're not a burden.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
The first time I opened up to my friends, it
was a couple of years ago. At the super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
I call Rendez Barber and two of her other friends,
our little crew down Tampa. We go down the Tampa
Super Bowl and I said, hey, man, let's let's have
dinner down and the ceyes tonight.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
They're all said, now, we're busy. I said, no, no,
I need to see you guys tonight. I'm struggling.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
And they said, oh, okay, well all right, we're there.
Every one of them. They were there. And then when
I told them, two of them said, oh man, I'm
struggling too. I just I didn't know how to talk
about it. That's one of the things I'm trying to
do with this podcast and with my book and Brinkles,
trying to give it words so we can have this
conversation to get people to understand your people will be
there for you, same exact message that you just had.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
Right.
Speaker 5 (14:22):
That's what a lot of people fail to realize. They
feel like they're a burden, they feel like they're a
house on somebody. But if you tell somebody, hey, like
I really need you right now, like this was really
important to me, Like I need somebody I can lean
on one hundred If somebody's your friend, they're going to
stop what they're doing, and they're going to be there
for me.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
I try and tell people all the time, don't try
and figure your life out. They'll drive you crazy.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
I don't know why good things happen to bad people,
and there are people who are doing bad things.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
I don't know why bad things happen to good people.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
No idea why, And let's not try and figure it out.
How much would you have to wrestle with yourself?
Speaker 4 (14:56):
Oh? Why be so?
Speaker 5 (14:58):
I'd actually didn't wrestle on myself with as much because
I had read a book recently and it was I
think it was called like Seven Things Successful People Do,
but it was it's more of a story, and it
just told me the things that happened throughout the success.
And one of the things that was in the book,
and I read this when I was injured, it said
(15:18):
a lot of people asked why me. That means you're
basically saying why why me? So you're basically saying why not?
Speaker 4 (15:25):
Jay? You know what I'm saying. So it's you know,
and most people don't.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
Think about it like that. So then but in the
book it said why not me? Why not be the
person that makes a difference? Why not be the person
that makes a change. And that's kind of how I
started actually leaned into that. So instead of actually, oh,
why me, I was more it was more why not me?
Like God fit me here for a purpose. A lot
of people say if it was in my position, they
(15:50):
would have gave up. I didn't give up. Now I'm
showing people that they can overcome. So actually, when I
was going through this whole process, I actually had a
call from me to talk with my dad in the
car one day and I was actually I cried a
little bit about it because everybody's like, man, Ryan, you're
so you're such an inspiration. Man, you inspired me so much.
And I asked my dad was like, man, what's the inspiration? Like,
what's the obviously I know what the definition of inspiration there,
(16:10):
but that what's the inspiration? Because people always tell me, Ryan,
your inspiration to me that I was like, I'm just
out here trying to like get better every single day.
I'm just trying to live my best life.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
I'm just trying to every day, I'm just trying to
get back to where I want to be.
Speaker 5 (16:23):
And he was just like, Ryan, the fact that you're
doing that and not giving up on yourself. That's what
inspires people.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
And then I was like, oh man, you know, so
it's just to be out. Yeah, it gives people hope.
Speaker 5 (16:33):
And uh but I just felt like this having you know,
my family and people around me, like people like you
j and just my friends. When I feel like I
have somebody I trust, I open up to him and
let them know what's going on.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
Because if you don't have people around that you can't
open up to. Man. I feel it's a really tough
life all here to live, right.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
We don't have to have the Pittsburgh Steelers be your team,
like your team right, part of your teammates, but the
teammates everywhere for us, and we got to lean into
them nuts.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
That's one of the ways we can we can fight back.
We got to walk this walk together in your journey back.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
What's been the one thing that you've done where you're like, damn, Ron,
I can't believe you did that, Like it inspired you.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
Oh man.
Speaker 5 (17:15):
So some of the things that I've done was like
when I was able to box jump the game, you know,
I think at the height of my recovery, when I
was like rehabbing every single day in the midst of
trying to become you know, play in an nfl A game,
I had box jump and it was like thirty thirty
eight or thirty six or something like that. Really, so yeah,
and I wasn't even all the way one hundred percent
(17:37):
healthy yet. And my therapist was like, he's like, man, Ryan,
just even the fact that you can do this and
you're not even one hundred percent. He's like, this is
crazy to me because this thing that's so funny is
like my wife tried.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
To do the same thing and she couldn't even do it,
you know.
Speaker 5 (17:51):
So like just some of the things that when it
came to working out and just showing what type of
athlete I was before I got injured, and how I
was very close to the back to that same time,
just some of the like workout things I would be
being able to get back to looking in some heavy weight,
being able to do some boxy jumps, you know. And
and to me, it's just the fact that I remember
(18:12):
to this day when I couldn't even.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
Move my leg.
Speaker 5 (18:15):
I remember I had I have a video on my
phone on the first day I moved my leg and
like now I just walked up and down and ran
up and down my stairs really fast so I could
get something out.
Speaker 4 (18:26):
Of the kitchen.
Speaker 5 (18:27):
It's crazy to me, like just getting back to the
simple thing that a lot of people failed to realize.
That's that's the thing that I'm just really appreciative of it.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
But it also goes to show and I want every
athlete out there listening.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
I want everybody you know who's gone through professional sports,
because I helped a lot of guys in transition after
they retired from NFL obviously from from mixed martial arts.
Olympians would hold different different sports, uh, Baseball, basketball, hockey, everything.
I always tell people like you, playing in the NFL
is not who you are. What's behind your ribcage. I
got you beat out millions and millions and millions to
(19:02):
be on that level.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
That's where you are that suddenly doesn't just leave when
the uniform comes off. You have shown that right, you.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Still have that same thing behind your ribcakes to get
you to do incredible, incredible things. And that's what's so
important to have a team around you to remind you
of what your greatness is.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
It's not that uniform and it's you. It's what's behind
your roop Gakes. It's special.
Speaker 5 (19:22):
Now, You're one hundred percent right. It's so crazy when
guys leave the game, they forget what it all took
to get there. Yeah, you know, and if we just
pour it back into that when it comes to rehabbing,
when it comes to you know, a business, when it
comes to just living life outside of the game, we just.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Have to pour into it, like we port into trying.
Speaker 5 (19:43):
To big into the NFL agame and those things are
happening for us.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
And that's what I did.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
I just poured into everything that I had in me
to you know, play in the NFL. And I just
poured all that and to try to play again and try.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
To walk again. And I was able to do something.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
You know, we just had the NFL draft recently, or drafts,
super Bowls, training camps, things like that.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Are they hard for you to see?
Speaker 5 (20:06):
Like the hardest moment for me, honestly, it's probably like
a year and a half, two years after I got hurt,
when everybody that I got drafted with was starting to
get paid. And I love and I love football to death,
Like I wasn't playing for money, but it was just
kind of seeing like, oh, guys that I was very
similar to better or worse. Then they were like, you know,
(20:27):
starting to like, hey, I fulfill the dream of making
the NFL, then now I can take it to my
family forever type.
Speaker 4 (20:34):
Of thing, so like that, I'm gonna be honest.
Speaker 5 (20:37):
I was probably one of the toughest things for me
because like, oh, man, like I was four games away,
you know, but at the end of the day, life
isn't about money, you know. So that's the one thing
that it made it like as I.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
Continue to get older and allowed me to mentally get
in the right space and understand that, hey, Ryan, your
family's good. Ryan, you have what two wonderful kids, a wonderful.
Speaker 5 (20:59):
Wife, and how to transition into what I'm doing now.
But that was probably one of the toughest things for me,
Like just because the draft not as much. Sometimes I
will watch a game here and there and I would
just watch somebody play, Like I remember this was initially
right when I got hurt, But I remember watching k
Rokwan Smith when he was at Georgia before, and the
(21:22):
way he was playing it kind of made me cry
because I was like, man, I was, you know, just
watching him play. It was very similar to how I
felt like I played, but to this day not not anymore.
But those were it was a lot closer to the
moment than it is.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
Now.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
What you're doing is way more.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
And I know what people go, Oh easy for you
to say to Jay. You know, money is money in
certain ways. You can pay your bills, but man, our
wilds are not antidepressants.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
But what you're doing, like the people that you're helping,
that's your equity forever. That makes your wealthy, Matt, Yeah, right,
and that's where you got to remind yourself of all
the time.
Speaker 5 (21:56):
Yeah, And that's and that's the one thing that I
actually I'm happy that I have the fun and the
laws that were changing with my foundation and just to
be able to just support to people, to understand and
help them overcome. So like you were saying, like to
be able to pour into people and the legacy that
you lead to me is there, Like you said, is
the equity that I'm growing compared to this, you know,
(22:17):
having dollars in my pocket.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
And I understand you Also you're starting a business something
that helped you to get through a lot of the
mental hurdles and struggles. Fill me in on that.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
Yeah, So I actually have a strand of medical marijuana
here in Pennsylvania that we have. So Pennsylvania is a
medical state. State is not a recreational state. So we
have a medical strand here. When it's called Shalin, when
it's called walking Miracles, when it's called speed, and want
to just called branches fifty.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
And I wanted to be able to partner with a
company here named organ and Remedies because it's just the
quality of medical grade and I want them they have.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
But also they also helped me when I was going
through my injury. So when I was going through my injury,
sometimes I would be depressed. Sometimes I would have some
pain that I deal with. And just through my family history,
I have people that have been addicted to alcohols and
you know, different types of drugs and things like that.
So I never wanted to be someone that got really
(23:21):
that used opioids a like. I never wanted to be
something I didn't. I never wanted to use them a lot.
So I leaned more into medical marijuana and they helped.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
Me out a lot.
Speaker 5 (23:29):
It helped me in my back pain, They helped me
when it came to sometimes when I was depressed or sad.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
It just allowed me to just get a little bit
of relief. So I recently partnered with the.
Speaker 5 (23:41):
Company here or Gaining Remedies and throughout the whole state
of Pennsylvania we're helping it.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
How do you originally who did the doctors originally give
you or or front originally give you?
Speaker 4 (23:52):
No?
Speaker 5 (23:52):
So the way it worked is I have a really
good friend of mine. He's a pharmacist and he's kind
of in the medical space. And I had a friend,
he was my friend before I even got hurt, and
I just talked to him.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
I was like, man, I don't have a medical.
Speaker 5 (24:05):
Card because you can't just have a medical card planning
in the NFL, So I don't have a medical card.
I kind of want to, you know, try you know,
medical marijuana instead of just you know, using some opioids
while I'm getting on my view.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
So he connected me with again remedies.
Speaker 5 (24:20):
I end up getting a medical card while I was injured,
and then it kind of went on from now. I
was using the product for a while and then we
just you know, talked together and it was like, Hey,
I think it might be a good idea, but we
can release a strand here in Pennsylvania that can help
out people and then hopefully, you know, we can kind.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
Of grow it across the country. But the one thing
I really like about it is like we even had to.
Speaker 5 (24:42):
Pop up in four twenty and you know, people actually
came to me like, Heyline, you don't understand how much
your strands or.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
Changing my life, how much I'm benefit from coming tom.
Speaker 5 (24:51):
So it's been it's been greaty and I'm happy that
I was able to release boy I.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
Let you go. Two more questions.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Give me the one moment that someone's come to you
and said, man, you said me, you changed me by
something I heard you say or something I've seen you
do that it's really stuck with you.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
Man.
Speaker 5 (25:09):
It's so crazy because like sometimes people would come to
me and you know, like I was in Dallas yesterday
and somebody would come to me and like, hey, man,
are you Ryan, And I'm like yeah, and it's like, man,
you're such a great player. So like I'll get that sometimes.
And then sometimes people are just come to me randomly,
like Ryan, you don't understand how much you are inspirational
(25:30):
to me about family, Like it was one day I
was actually committed, like thinking about committing suicide, and just
the way that you fought back and the way that
you just kept pushing. I read your book and it
made me want to keep pushing. I just want to
say thank you. And so when people come to me
with information like that, sometimes to me, I'm like, oh
(25:51):
my gosh, I can't believe that.
Speaker 4 (25:52):
I was able to change this personal life. And I
don't even know who that person is.
Speaker 5 (25:56):
So it's to me, it's just so crazy how God
works and mysterious ways. And that's probably one of the
one of the times when somebody's came to be and said,
what I've done is really help changing the line and.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
That person that you say and the people you say,
you don't know what they've done. They may have helped others,
they may have saved others, they make cure disease one day,
like you have no idea the ripple effect of the
good that you're doing.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
Right, Yes, sir, So last question.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
Here, and I ask all my guest this, and you
may have already said it, but give me your unbreakable moment.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
Am I have been during that process?
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Give me your unbreakable moment something that really should have
broken you during the process or another part in your life,
and as a result, you came through the other side
of that tunnel stronger, and you've been able to use
that for your rest of your life.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
I would just say, going through this spinal cord injury,
I always say that would be my unbreakable moment because
I actually I have something every week day.
Speaker 5 (26:50):
It's called Ryan Toime. So Ryan Tom, I'll go on
to zoom like we're on right now, and I was
spending about it depends on how long the person want
to tall. You could be I've had five minutes talk
and I've had an hour and thirty minute talks. And
the reason I'm gonna say that is because it's based off.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
Talking to the person. And I was, who were the
people people that have spina corp injuries?
Speaker 3 (27:10):
Oh wait really?
Speaker 4 (27:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (27:12):
How did they get in touch with you? You get in
touch with them.
Speaker 4 (27:14):
So my fund has we have something called Ryan Time.
Speaker 5 (27:17):
People can get set up through my website on the
Ryan Shazeer fund dot org and set up for Ryan Time.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
It's the coolest thing I ever heard.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
Yeah, why do I not know this?
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Good?
Speaker 4 (27:27):
And we'll do it. We'll do it every Thursday.
Speaker 5 (27:30):
And the one thing and the reason I said it
appears on the person because I've talked to somebody before
and they were just so shut down and I was
trying to talk to them, but it was just like
I'm not I'm not having a good day. And for
some reason they didn't know, they didn't believe that I
was Ryan Shavier.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
So it was like five minutes. It was like five minutes.
I was like, all right, cool, But but I've also
been on other ones.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
You're Ai Ryan a Sun.
Speaker 4 (27:54):
I don't. I don't literally like this, I don't know what.
I don't know what happened. I had to just in
the background. I don't know what happened.
Speaker 5 (28:03):
But uh, but then I'll talk to other people and
some people you can see how mentally having a spinna
core injury is breaking them and and I try to
talk to them to try to motivate a lot of
people to overcome our individuals that are very positive, people
that are doing well, just to keep them going. And
to me, I think just having a spinna cor injury
(28:26):
and be able to talk to people or how to
overcome it, that's that's my unbreakable moment. Because I talked
to a lot of people and Jay I remember talking
to this one lady and it's so sad. It makes
me really sad. But I went to her hospital. Normally
I would just do a zooms call, but I went
to a hospital. I was like, hey, man, you know
you have a family left or man, you got to
keep pushing. I know it's tough, like just trying to
(28:47):
motivate her, and she was like, I just don't want
to be here. I don't want to be here, Jay,
I promise you. She was around your age. She ended
up killing herself because because but she killed herself by
just like self doubt, Like she didn't like commit suicide.
She just like it was just like her her mental
was so bad that it was like I don't want
to be here no more.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
And that's when it ended up happening. And to me,
it's just a really sad moment.
Speaker 5 (29:12):
And I just think that, you know, people need to
understand that, hey, your mind can, hey do really good
for you and allow you to reach these really hot places,
but it also can can tear you down. And I
just want people to understand, like we all have unbreakable moments.
We just have to keep pushing and just find a
way through. That's what I think. I think having aspinable
interview with Mom for sure.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Man, Brother, there's anybody who is unbreakable, it is you.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
I am proud to walk this walk with you, man,
proud to call your brother, proud to call your friend.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
Man. I'm really proud of you. Man.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
No, thank you so much. Jay. I feel the same
way about.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
You, absolutely, brother, Love you, dude. He is as unbreakable
as they come.
This is Unbreakable with Jay Glacier, a mental health podcast
helping you out of the gray and into the blue.
Now here's Jay Glacier.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Welcome into Unbreakable, a mental health podcast with Jay Glazier.
I am Jay Glazier, and our guest today is somebody
who inspires me, will inspire you. But before we get
to them real quick, I feel like many people. You
may be surprised to learn that one in five adults
in this country experienced mental illness last year. You have
far too many failed to receive the support they need. Carolin,
behavioral health is doing something about it. They understand that
(00:36):
behavioral health is a key part of whole health, delivering
compassionate care that treats physical, mental, emotional, and social needs
in tandem.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Carolin, behavioral health raising the quality of life through empathy
and action.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
With that, I want to welcome in somebody I've brought
a called friend, somebody I've really bonded with in the
last couple of years, somebody who again, it's inspirational when
you see people over come thins and not just take
the cards that life hands us. We shuffle that deck
on it and deal our own hand after that. But
that Ryan Shays, your former first round pick fifteen pick
(01:10):
of the draft, I believe for the Pittsburgh Steelers from
correct there a couple of time pro bowler as well.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Right, how you doing, man.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
I'm doing good. Yay, we're doing good. Thank you for
having me.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Absolutely, man, I'm so grateful to have you on here.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
In the last time I saw you, you and I
played golf together.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Yeah we did okay, well, kind of kind of kind of.
You played the whole round I think I had.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Also, we both finished a little bit everybody else.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
For people who don't know you, I want you to
explain why you and I playing golf at all.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
It is amazing.
Speaker 5 (01:44):
The reason that is amazing is just because of what
we've both been through. But I went no, not me,
you what I went through.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
Man, it was you know, it was crazy.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
I got to play the game that I love, which is,
you know, like you said, football, But unfortunately, while playing,
I end up suffering a spina cor injury. And with
that happening, I had to learn how to walk again.
I had to learn how to you know, jog again.
I had to I literally had to learn how to
you know, peel on my own again. So it was
just to learn how to do all the things that
(02:15):
everybody take for granted. That's why it's a blessing to
be able to go out there and hit some golf
balls and be out there with you.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
So I stopped not because I'm not.
Speaker 5 (02:24):
Not because I'm sorry my son, It's okay. I stopped,
not because my body couldn't take it out.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
And for people who are listening and aren't watching, this
reason why we're laughing.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
We're not laughing at what happened to Ryan. His son
is kind of making his way into the.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Frame here juice cup, So we're certainly not laughing it
what happened to Ryant.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
But hey man, Bore, we can't laugh the better it is, right.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
Yeah, you're right about that, right, take every blessing for sure.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
So you get paralyzed in the game against the Bengals.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
The Cincinnati Bengals, and you're four correct. Yeah, it was
my fourth year going into my fifth year. It was
probably I tell people tell me all the time, and
I have a conversation with people all the time. I
was probably like four games away from you know, me
actually reaching that contract, you know, so really yeah, so
it was reaching your incentives no, not even my insentive.
(03:21):
So I was I was a first rounder, so you know,
have the fiftye option. So they put up my fifth
year option. I was here Pro Bowl twice. So the
next thing was meeting in a contract. But we all
start talking about it. Yeah, but it was just you know,
I had a contract extensions.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
We're talking about about four reaching that wow.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
Yeah, yeah, so you know, you just you kind of
figured it was just it was definitely a tough moment
for me to just because I've been playing for twenty years.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
Then you feel like you're, hey, you can work.
Speaker 5 (03:49):
Your whole life for a moment and then you're that
close and then it doesn't happen. So but it's but
I'm gonna be completely honest with you. You know, God that's
names for a reason, and he had a purpose for everything,
and that's that's what I believe.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
And I wouldn't be able to talk about the adversity.
Speaker 5 (04:06):
That I've overcome and to help people overcome what they've
overcome if I didn't go through what I did.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Did they tell you would never walk again? You did
you didn't take no for an answer, or did they
say there's a chance if you go through something.
Speaker 5 (04:18):
So my doctor, the daughter told my wife, which later
on later told me they didn't tell me the right way,
but they.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
Said I had less than a twenty percent chance of walking.
Speaker 5 (04:27):
And another doctor who's a really good friend of mine,
who who spoke to a really good friend of mine,
heels like, hey, Ryan, uh he told he told him.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
He was like, hey, I think you need to be
prepared that Ryan will never walk again. So I had
multiple people tell me what the doctors. I told them.
The doctors don't really tell you, hey, you'll never walk
again or you'll.
Speaker 5 (04:48):
Have less chance of walking, because you know if somebody
hears that, that can kind of derail them. But also
you know, if you do learn how to walk again,
doctors don't want people calling back and said I told
you so.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
All right, So you made that choice no matter what.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
Yeah, I made that choice.
Speaker 5 (05:05):
When they told me I wasn't gonna walk, I was like, hey,
you said twenty percent chance. Say I'm making it to
the NFL. You got less than a one percent chance
to make it, you know. So I've done some things
in my life that allowed me to know I can
defeat the odd.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
I want to go back to when it happened.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
So were you conscious and what's going through your mind
when you're down there and you can't move?
Speaker 4 (05:28):
Yeah, So I was conscious in the moment, so I
just made it. I made a regular tackle.
Speaker 5 (05:31):
It was attackle I probably made thousands of times in
my life. And when I hit, when I hit the receiver,
my legs just dropped in amaw me. It kind of
felt weird, and I just rode over. But I just
couldn't feel anything for my weight down. So they kept
trying to touch me and if I hate you for LinkedIn,
and I told them unfortunately, I think I couldn't feel anything.
(05:52):
But I was still pretty positive minded. I kind of
I tell myself all the time.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
I was probably into denial a little bit because when
I was to the doctor, I kept asking, like, how
how soon do you think I'll be back? How soon
do you think I'll be back?
Speaker 5 (06:04):
Because it was more of a I thought it was
going to be something very similar to a stinger, you know,
like you and your stinger. If you hear somebody, your
on goes men for a bit and then it comes back.
And that's kind of the idea that I had when
I was going through what I was going.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Through when did you realize, Okay, it's not a stinger,
and how'd you cope with it?
Speaker 5 (06:22):
So it to me about a week and some change,
because then I like, as I was in the hospital,
I was still I had a surgery, and I was like,
all right, yeah, man, this is you know, it's pretty bad.
And then I knew things aren't going to turn around fast.
When one moment I was in the hospital and my
god brother was at the hospital with me, and he
was just sitting almost as close to my screen to
(06:46):
like your screen is to you. And I was in
the hospital bed and you know how they have their
rails on the bed so you don't fall out of
the bed. And I wasn't feeling good that day. I
don't know if I had some type of infection, but
I wasn't feeling well. And I end up throwing up,
but it hit the rail of the bed, but I
was so close to the bed real that it hit
the rail and it hit me.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Back in my face.
Speaker 5 (07:08):
And when that happened, like, because if you're throwing up,
you're trying to at least move out of the way.
I wasn't able to move myself out of way, and
I was like, yeah, Ryan, You're like you're like, you're
not taking this as serious as you probably think. It is,
like this is your hurt way worse than you're assuming
you're hurt. And after that moment, I kind of like
a light switch flipped on and I was like, Okay, Ryan,
(07:33):
it's not like you need to really get to work.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
You need to really.
Speaker 5 (07:35):
Change your mindset and get ready to get get out
there because if you don't attack this right.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
Now, you're probably never gonna walk again.
Speaker 5 (07:42):
So I that was the last time I've been told myself, hey,
you probably never walked again, Because from that moment on,
I was like, I don't care when nobody else is
telling me I'm gonna walk, I'm gonna play football, I'm
gonna be back on my feet.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
How are you able to process that in your own
mind say hey, I'm just gonna make the decision go
for it instead of falling in to a deep dark
depression or did you do both?
Speaker 4 (08:03):
So?
Speaker 5 (08:03):
I don't think I really fell into a deep art
depressure because I was just so laser focused on getting better.
So every every day I would just get better, get better,
and then I would do things to help me cope
so like I ended up having like my Xbox in
the hospital, Like I had books in the hospital. My
wife actually slept in the room with me, and which
was crazy. They actually allowed her to stay there with
me and she was my fiance at the time. And
(08:25):
then I will always have people visiting me. So when
like my teammates would visit me, my like they would
have meetings that the linebackers would have meetings sometime after
the day in the in the hospital with me and
keep me in a loop. So it's like I always
had people around me that I was always really comfortable with,
that I was always really close with. So it made
(08:46):
me want to be able. It made it really easy
for me to try to release stress and be able to.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
Talk to people.
Speaker 5 (08:53):
So I was just so focused and they always want
They always motivated me. So like I would do rehab
and rehab I can barely walk, but they was like here,
come on, Ryan, come on, Ryan, come on, you got it,
you got it. So it was just like having people
that did that for me. It made me feel really good.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
But I would do that for a while, then every
day I would just start to get better and better.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
And then the days when I did feel a little
down or a little sad. Because I'm a very uplifted person.
I'm a very positive person. My family would just do
a really good job of just giving me that positivity
for that day I need it. So if I was down,
like today, if I'm having a bad day to day,
my wife would come in and you know, like play
around or do something that would like lift me up.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
A little bit.
Speaker 5 (09:33):
They then just to kind of get me back on
my feet. But then every other day I'm back the same.
Like my wife hates it because like me and her
can yell at each other and like five minutes later,
I'm like, hey, you very you want to like like
trying to jump around with her, and You're like, no,
I'm still managing. That's so like that's how I am
every single day. So when I have bad days, they
knew how to lift me back up. It just helped
(09:56):
me push on and like, hey, right, keep going because
this is the goals that you want to set, this
is where you want to be, And it really helped
me kind of not get into that dark place in
the first few years.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
I think the most amazing thing, man is that I
guess it wasn't that much longer. A year and a
half later, you told me the timeline, but you actually
danced at your own wedding with it.
Speaker 5 (10:15):
Yeah, so theyeh a year and a half later, so well,
so it was crazy.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
What was crazy was I got hurt at twenty seventeen.
Me and Michelle was going to get married at twenty
eighteen in Miami. But then, obviously I was going through
so much stuff at that time, I was like, hey,
let's push the wedding back the year.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
So we pushed it back the year. And because I.
Speaker 5 (10:33):
Told myself, I don't want to be I don't want
to have a wheelchair and my wedding pictures.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
I don't want to be walking around in the cane
and my wedding pictures. So I just made sure. I
told myself, I'm going to get better.
Speaker 5 (10:44):
I'm going to walk again, I'm going to be able
to play with my kids outside. I'm going to be
able to help my kids. That's the that's the things
that I wanted to do.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
You know.
Speaker 5 (10:52):
I also was trying to come back and play football again.
So those are the things that I wanted to do.
So I just I pushed all the things that I
felt were important but not as important as the goal
that I set for myself at that moment, and I
was able to achieve them and able to be them.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
What can you teach the rest of us and how
you're able to stay positive throughout all this besides your look,
I love you have your teammate Yah, but it's it
still comes down to what's.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Between your ears, behind your rip caage. What did you
learn through that process?
Speaker 4 (11:22):
I think the biggest thing about what I learned through
that process is that you know the the mind is,
you know, the strongest muscle.
Speaker 5 (11:29):
You know, your brain is the strongest muscle and whatever
you feed into it, and that's what's going to happen.
So to me, I always felt if I'm thinking positive,
I think that a.
Speaker 4 (11:38):
Certain way is going to happen. I've never heard anybody
that say, like Jay, imagine the whole time you're trying
to get into the media, the whole time you're telling yourself, oh, man,
I suck. I can't do this, I can't do this.
I'm never gonna make it. I can't do this. It's
not going to happen.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
I don't know anybody that kept telling themselves that they
can't do something and end up being good at it,
you know.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
So that's kind of my mind set.
Speaker 5 (12:00):
It was like, hey, if I feed myself and tell myself, hey, Ryan,
you're going to get better, You're going to walk again,
but actually put that work into doing it, actually set
up a plan and a process to doing it, it's possible.
And I think that's what That's what a lot of
people they allow their minds to speak, that they allow
themselves to speak to negative talks to themselves, which will
make it really difficult for you actually to get to
(12:22):
where you want to go.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
So I just always really positive to my team.
Speaker 5 (12:26):
And then when I had days when I was down,
I'm sad or upset, and I was like, man, I
can't do this today. My wife was like, yep, that's
not Ryan today. I don't like that energy. And she
was like, hey, you got this. You said you want
to walk again. You said you want to make it
to the NFL again. Because everybody's gonna have bad days,
you want to have down days. But I just felt
like when I had those down days that I immediately
(12:46):
told somebody and they helped me reset it to get
back on track.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
And that's what a lot of us don't do we
find ourselves where we think I don't want to be
burdened to anybody or something like that. But the more
we can open up to our teammates or family help
us just want a way step away.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
It's one inch away, it's one yard away, go away.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
Right about that.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
And I think a lot of people fail to realize
that so many people are just so scared to, you know,
call somebody, so scared to be a burden to somebody
at the end of the day. I remember I actually
went to a friend of my house and his son
ended up messing his leg up playing basketball. But he
was in college, and his dad was like, hey, like
call call some of your friends to take you to
(13:28):
the hospital.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
He was like, man, I don't want to bother them
there at dinner. And the dad said, if they're your friends,
they're gonna be happy that you called because they want
to make sure you are right. He was like, they'll
stop what they're doing to take you out to you.
Speaker 5 (13:39):
I was like, man, you're right, Like, if somebody really
cares about you, if it's important enough, you're not a burden.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
The first time I opened up to my friends, it
was a couple of years ago. At the super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
I call Rendez Barber and two of her other friends,
our little crew down Tampa. We go down the Tampa
Super Bowl and I said, hey, man, let's let's have
dinner down and the ceyes tonight.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
They're all said, now, we're busy. I said, no, no,
I need to see you guys tonight. I'm struggling.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
And they said, oh, okay, well all right, we're there.
Every one of them. They were there. And then when
I told them, two of them said, oh man, I'm
struggling too. I just I didn't know how to talk
about it. That's one of the things I'm trying to
do with this podcast and with my book and Brinkles,
trying to give it words so we can have this
conversation to get people to understand your people will be
there for you, same exact message that you just had.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
Right.
Speaker 5 (14:22):
That's what a lot of people fail to realize. They
feel like they're a burden, they feel like they're a
house on somebody. But if you tell somebody, hey, like
I really need you right now, like this was really
important to me, Like I need somebody I can lean
on one hundred If somebody's your friend, they're going to
stop what they're doing, and they're going to be there
for me.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
I try and tell people all the time, don't try
and figure your life out. They'll drive you crazy.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
I don't know why good things happen to bad people,
and there are people who are doing bad things.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
I don't know why bad things happen to good people.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
No idea why, And let's not try and figure it out.
How much would you have to wrestle with yourself?
Speaker 4 (14:56):
Oh? Why be so?
Speaker 5 (14:58):
I'd actually didn't wrestle on myself with as much because
I had read a book recently and it was I
think it was called like Seven Things Successful People Do,
but it was it's more of a story, and it
just told me the things that happened throughout the success.
And one of the things that was in the book,
and I read this when I was injured, it said
(15:18):
a lot of people asked why me. That means you're
basically saying why why me? So you're basically saying why not?
Speaker 4 (15:25):
Jay? You know what I'm saying. So it's you know,
and most people don't.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
Think about it like that. So then but in the
book it said why not me? Why not be the
person that makes a difference? Why not be the person
that makes a change. And that's kind of how I
started actually leaned into that. So instead of actually, oh,
why me, I was more it was more why not me?
Like God fit me here for a purpose. A lot
of people say if it was in my position, they
(15:50):
would have gave up. I didn't give up. Now I'm
showing people that they can overcome. So actually, when I
was going through this whole process, I actually had a
call from me to talk with my dad in the
car one day and I was actually I cried a
little bit about it because everybody's like, man, Ryan, you're
so you're such an inspiration. Man, you inspired me so much.
And I asked my dad was like, man, what's the inspiration? Like,
what's the obviously I know what the definition of inspiration there,
(16:10):
but that what's the inspiration? Because people always tell me, Ryan,
your inspiration to me that I was like, I'm just
out here trying to like get better every single day.
I'm just trying to live my best life.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
I'm just trying to every day, I'm just trying to
get back to where I want to be.
Speaker 5 (16:23):
And he was just like, Ryan, the fact that you're
doing that and not giving up on yourself. That's what
inspires people.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
And then I was like, oh man, you know, so
it's just to be out. Yeah, it gives people hope.
Speaker 5 (16:33):
And uh but I just felt like this having you know,
my family and people around me, like people like you
j and just my friends. When I feel like I
have somebody I trust, I open up to him and
let them know what's going on.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
Because if you don't have people around that you can't
open up to. Man. I feel it's a really tough
life all here to live, right.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
We don't have to have the Pittsburgh Steelers be your team,
like your team right, part of your teammates, but the
teammates everywhere for us, and we got to lean into
them nuts.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
That's one of the ways we can we can fight back.
We got to walk this walk together in your journey back.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
What's been the one thing that you've done where you're like, damn, Ron,
I can't believe you did that, Like it inspired you.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
Oh man.
Speaker 5 (17:15):
So some of the things that I've done was like
when I was able to box jump the game, you know,
I think at the height of my recovery, when I
was like rehabbing every single day in the midst of
trying to become you know, play in an nfl A game,
I had box jump and it was like thirty thirty
eight or thirty six or something like that. Really, so yeah,
and I wasn't even all the way one hundred percent
(17:37):
healthy yet. And my therapist was like, he's like, man, Ryan,
just even the fact that you can do this and
you're not even one hundred percent. He's like, this is
crazy to me because this thing that's so funny is
like my wife tried.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
To do the same thing and she couldn't even do it,
you know.
Speaker 5 (17:51):
So like just some of the things that when it
came to working out and just showing what type of
athlete I was before I got injured, and how I
was very close to the back to that same time,
just some of the like workout things I would be
being able to get back to looking in some heavy weight,
being able to do some boxy jumps, you know. And
and to me, it's just the fact that I remember
(18:12):
to this day when I couldn't even.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
Move my leg.
Speaker 5 (18:15):
I remember I had I have a video on my
phone on the first day I moved my leg and
like now I just walked up and down and ran
up and down my stairs really fast so I could
get something out.
Speaker 4 (18:26):
Of the kitchen.
Speaker 5 (18:27):
It's crazy to me, like just getting back to the
simple thing that a lot of people failed to realize.
That's that's the thing that I'm just really appreciative of it.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
But it also goes to show and I want every
athlete out there listening.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
I want everybody you know who's gone through professional sports,
because I helped a lot of guys in transition after
they retired from NFL obviously from from mixed martial arts.
Olympians would hold different different sports, uh, Baseball, basketball, hockey, everything.
I always tell people like you, playing in the NFL
is not who you are. What's behind your ribcage. I
got you beat out millions and millions and millions to
(19:02):
be on that level.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
That's where you are that suddenly doesn't just leave when
the uniform comes off. You have shown that right, you.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Still have that same thing behind your ribcakes to get
you to do incredible, incredible things. And that's what's so
important to have a team around you to remind you
of what your greatness is.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
It's not that uniform and it's you. It's what's behind
your roop Gakes. It's special.
Speaker 5 (19:22):
Now, You're one hundred percent right. It's so crazy when
guys leave the game, they forget what it all took
to get there. Yeah, you know, and if we just
pour it back into that when it comes to rehabbing,
when it comes to you know, a business, when it
comes to just living life outside of the game, we just.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Have to pour into it, like we port into trying.
Speaker 5 (19:43):
To big into the NFL agame and those things are
happening for us.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
And that's what I did.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
I just poured into everything that I had in me
to you know, play in the NFL. And I just
poured all that and to try to play again and try.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
To walk again. And I was able to do something.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
You know, we just had the NFL draft recently, or drafts,
super Bowls, training camps, things like that.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Are they hard for you to see?
Speaker 5 (20:06):
Like the hardest moment for me, honestly, it's probably like
a year and a half, two years after I got hurt,
when everybody that I got drafted with was starting to
get paid. And I love and I love football to death,
Like I wasn't playing for money, but it was just
kind of seeing like, oh, guys that I was very
similar to better or worse. Then they were like, you know,
(20:27):
starting to like, hey, I fulfill the dream of making
the NFL, then now I can take it to my
family forever type.
Speaker 4 (20:34):
Of thing, so like that, I'm gonna be honest.
Speaker 5 (20:37):
I was probably one of the toughest things for me
because like, oh, man, like I was four games away,
you know, but at the end of the day, life
isn't about money, you know. So that's the one thing
that it made it like as I.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
Continue to get older and allowed me to mentally get
in the right space and understand that, hey, Ryan, your
family's good. Ryan, you have what two wonderful kids, a wonderful.
Speaker 5 (20:59):
Wife, and how to transition into what I'm doing now.
But that was probably one of the toughest things for me,
Like just because the draft not as much. Sometimes I
will watch a game here and there and I would
just watch somebody play, Like I remember this was initially
right when I got hurt, But I remember watching k
Rokwan Smith when he was at Georgia before, and the
(21:22):
way he was playing it kind of made me cry
because I was like, man, I was, you know, just
watching him play. It was very similar to how I
felt like I played, but to this day not not anymore.
But those were it was a lot closer to the
moment than it is.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
Now.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
What you're doing is way more.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
And I know what people go, Oh easy for you
to say to Jay. You know, money is money in
certain ways. You can pay your bills, but man, our
wilds are not antidepressants.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
But what you're doing, like the people that you're helping,
that's your equity forever. That makes your wealthy, Matt, Yeah, right,
and that's where you got to remind yourself of all
the time.
Speaker 5 (21:56):
Yeah, And that's and that's the one thing that I
actually I'm happy that I have the fun and the
laws that were changing with my foundation and just to
be able to just support to people, to understand and
help them overcome. So like you were saying, like to
be able to pour into people and the legacy that
you lead to me is there, Like you said, is
the equity that I'm growing compared to this, you know,
(22:17):
having dollars in my pocket.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
And I understand you Also you're starting a business something
that helped you to get through a lot of the
mental hurdles and struggles. Fill me in on that.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
Yeah, So I actually have a strand of medical marijuana
here in Pennsylvania that we have. So Pennsylvania is a
medical state. State is not a recreational state. So we
have a medical strand here. When it's called Shalin, when
it's called walking Miracles, when it's called speed, and want
to just called branches fifty.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
And I wanted to be able to partner with a
company here named organ and Remedies because it's just the
quality of medical grade and I want them they have.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
But also they also helped me when I was going
through my injury. So when I was going through my injury,
sometimes I would be depressed. Sometimes I would have some
pain that I deal with. And just through my family history,
I have people that have been addicted to alcohols and
you know, different types of drugs and things like that.
So I never wanted to be someone that got really
(23:21):
that used opioids a like. I never wanted to be
something I didn't. I never wanted to use them a lot.
So I leaned more into medical marijuana and they helped.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
Me out a lot.
Speaker 5 (23:29):
It helped me in my back pain, They helped me
when it came to sometimes when I was depressed or sad.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
It just allowed me to just get a little bit
of relief. So I recently partnered with the.
Speaker 5 (23:41):
Company here or Gaining Remedies and throughout the whole state
of Pennsylvania we're helping it.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
How do you originally who did the doctors originally give
you or or front originally give you?
Speaker 4 (23:52):
No?
Speaker 5 (23:52):
So the way it worked is I have a really
good friend of mine. He's a pharmacist and he's kind
of in the medical space. And I had a friend,
he was my friend before I even got hurt, and
I just talked to him.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
I was like, man, I don't have a medical.
Speaker 5 (24:05):
Card because you can't just have a medical card planning
in the NFL, So I don't have a medical card.
I kind of want to, you know, try you know,
medical marijuana instead of just you know, using some opioids
while I'm getting on my view.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
So he connected me with again remedies.
Speaker 5 (24:20):
I end up getting a medical card while I was injured,
and then it kind of went on from now. I
was using the product for a while and then we
just you know, talked together and it was like, Hey,
I think it might be a good idea, but we
can release a strand here in Pennsylvania that can help
out people and then hopefully, you know, we can kind.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
Of grow it across the country. But the one thing
I really like about it is like we even had to.
Speaker 5 (24:42):
Pop up in four twenty and you know, people actually
came to me like, Heyline, you don't understand how much
your strands or.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
Changing my life, how much I'm benefit from coming tom.
Speaker 5 (24:51):
So it's been it's been greaty and I'm happy that
I was able to release boy I.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
Let you go. Two more questions.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Give me the one moment that someone's come to you
and said, man, you said me, you changed me by
something I heard you say or something I've seen you
do that it's really stuck with you.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
Man.
Speaker 5 (25:09):
It's so crazy because like sometimes people would come to
me and you know, like I was in Dallas yesterday
and somebody would come to me and like, hey, man,
are you Ryan, And I'm like yeah, and it's like, man,
you're such a great player. So like I'll get that sometimes.
And then sometimes people are just come to me randomly,
like Ryan, you don't understand how much you are inspirational
(25:30):
to me about family, Like it was one day I
was actually committed, like thinking about committing suicide, and just
the way that you fought back and the way that
you just kept pushing. I read your book and it
made me want to keep pushing. I just want to
say thank you. And so when people come to me
with information like that, sometimes to me, I'm like, oh
(25:51):
my gosh, I can't believe that.
Speaker 4 (25:52):
I was able to change this personal life. And I
don't even know who that person is.
Speaker 5 (25:56):
So it's to me, it's just so crazy how God
works and mysterious ways. And that's probably one of the
one of the times when somebody's came to be and said,
what I've done is really help changing the line and.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
That person that you say and the people you say,
you don't know what they've done. They may have helped others,
they may have saved others, they make cure disease one day,
like you have no idea the ripple effect of the
good that you're doing.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
Right, Yes, sir, So last question.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
Here, and I ask all my guest this, and you
may have already said it, but give me your unbreakable moment.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
Am I have been during that process?
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Give me your unbreakable moment something that really should have
broken you during the process or another part in your life,
and as a result, you came through the other side
of that tunnel stronger, and you've been able to use
that for your rest of your life.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
I would just say, going through this spinal cord injury,
I always say that would be my unbreakable moment because
I actually I have something every week day.
Speaker 5 (26:50):
It's called Ryan Toime. So Ryan Tom, I'll go on
to zoom like we're on right now, and I was
spending about it depends on how long the person want
to tall. You could be I've had five minutes talk
and I've had an hour and thirty minute talks. And
the reason I'm gonna say that is because it's based off.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
Talking to the person. And I was, who were the
people people that have spina corp injuries?
Speaker 3 (27:10):
Oh wait really?
Speaker 4 (27:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (27:12):
How did they get in touch with you? You get in
touch with them.
Speaker 4 (27:14):
So my fund has we have something called Ryan Time.
Speaker 5 (27:17):
People can get set up through my website on the
Ryan Shazeer fund dot org and set up for Ryan Time.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
It's the coolest thing I ever heard.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
Yeah, why do I not know this?
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Good?
Speaker 4 (27:27):
And we'll do it. We'll do it every Thursday.
Speaker 5 (27:30):
And the one thing and the reason I said it
appears on the person because I've talked to somebody before
and they were just so shut down and I was
trying to talk to them, but it was just like
I'm not I'm not having a good day. And for
some reason they didn't know, they didn't believe that I
was Ryan Shavier.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
So it was like five minutes. It was like five minutes.
I was like, all right, cool, But but I've also
been on other ones.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
You're Ai Ryan a Sun.
Speaker 4 (27:54):
I don't. I don't literally like this, I don't know what.
I don't know what happened. I had to just in
the background. I don't know what happened.
Speaker 5 (28:03):
But uh, but then I'll talk to other people and
some people you can see how mentally having a spinna
core injury is breaking them and and I try to
talk to them to try to motivate a lot of
people to overcome our individuals that are very positive, people
that are doing well, just to keep them going. And
to me, I think just having a spinna cor injury
(28:26):
and be able to talk to people or how to
overcome it, that's that's my unbreakable moment. Because I talked
to a lot of people and Jay I remember talking
to this one lady and it's so sad. It makes
me really sad. But I went to her hospital. Normally
I would just do a zooms call, but I went
to a hospital. I was like, hey, man, you know
you have a family left or man, you got to
keep pushing. I know it's tough, like just trying to
(28:47):
motivate her, and she was like, I just don't want
to be here. I don't want to be here, Jay,
I promise you. She was around your age. She ended
up killing herself because because but she killed herself by
just like self doubt, Like she didn't like commit suicide.
She just like it was just like her her mental
was so bad that it was like I don't want
to be here no more.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
And that's when it ended up happening. And to me,
it's just a really sad moment.
Speaker 5 (29:12):
And I just think that, you know, people need to
understand that, hey, your mind can, hey do really good
for you and allow you to reach these really hot places,
but it also can can tear you down. And I
just want people to understand, like we all have unbreakable moments.
We just have to keep pushing and just find a
way through. That's what I think. I think having aspinable
interview with Mom for sure.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Man, Brother, there's anybody who is unbreakable, it is you.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
I am proud to walk this walk with you, man,
proud to call your brother, proud to call your friend.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
Man. I'm really proud of you. Man.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
No, thank you so much. Jay. I feel the same
way about.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
You, absolutely, brother, Love you, dude. He is as unbreakable
as they come.
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Brady Quinn
LaVar Arrington
Jonas Knox
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