April 14, 2022 • 57 mins
Notre Dame's all-time leader in sacks and 2x Super Bowl winner Justin Tuck joins the podcast (sans Kyle) to talk about how his time at Notre Dame and in the NFL with the New York Giants prepared him for his current job at Goldman Sachs, his accidental recruitment that landed him in South Bend, how Jerome Bettis indirectly influenced that decision to commit to ND, and the ways he wants to help the next generation of Notre Dame athletes as they step out into the real world.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. All right, welcome back to Inside the Garage.
I'm KEJ Wallace along with Connor Adigan and Cam Hart.
Right now, Kyle won't be on this episode. He's a
little m I A. He's doing his things. I got
(00:24):
a few things going on, his run around for the
draft and things like that. But that's okay. We got
u Mr Renaissance Man himself justin sucking the building, justin.
How you doing. I'm good, I'm good. I'm good. Good.
Where you at currently? Yeah, I mean I mean New
York City? Okay, New York City. I live in Jersey,
(00:47):
So okay, I was getting warm. Um what was it
like seventy day? I was wearing shorts today? Yeah, I
was getting warm with last week it was like like
thirty degrees. This snowed on Saturday and seventy to day.
So let's tell you how it is. That's that's crazy, man,
because I think so I've been um gotten, there's more
(01:08):
past word two because I was my son's soccer game
on Sundays, snowing and healing and tomorrow is gonna say
if I agree. So yeah, I don't know. I don't
know what to do in my woodrobe, right now, so
how is that? How was that in college? Like coming
from n to you obviously from Alabama, and coming from
Alabama playing play in this weather, how was that? You know?
(01:30):
I mean, I mean, honestly, I've never really as long
as I'm playing, I've never, um, well, it really hasn't
effected me. So I mean, obviously it was an adjustment,
you know, for the first season into being like a
kid from Alabama and seeing like snow and playing in like,
you know, snowy games on. So after that, man, I mean,
(01:51):
once I got comes from to it, I actually appreciate
playing cold games. I thought there was a strength of
mine because everyone else's like the cold me. It was
just a more mental thing around. Yeah it's cold, other man,
as long as I'm running around and I don't get
cold when you weren't sleeing. Though I know it's the
d line thing. It's kind of it depended, right. It's
some games that were like sleep and like and rolling
(02:13):
up so to be the half sleeves so look like
it looked good on family, that kind of stuff. But honestly, man,
when when I wore sleep and I did it in
couscause I thought it would keep you warm. But man,
I think I think it worked negatively because when you
sweat and like you know, technology something better now. But
when I when cause we didn't have like the sweat beaking,
(02:36):
just like we got wet. It was wet. So then
like we were playing, like says the offenses out there, man,
you just you have there a wet T shirt. Basic. Man,
I stopped. I stopped wearing sleeve at all. I mean
people ask me about people dream big games. We played.
I think it's NEGD twenty six min ship and I
went to sleep on and everybody was like, yo, you've
been cold. I was like honestly telling Eli, you know,
(02:59):
doing interceptional thron of ballack the field, you don't even
think about so justin you know, collejiss Man obviously for
a reason is looking at some of the things you've done.
Something a lot of things you've accomplished in your life.
Two super Bowls, two time All Pro New York Giants,
(03:20):
Ring of Honor, graduated with NBA, from the Warden Business School,
you pinned, and now you work for Goldman sax Um.
Where do we start? I don't know what did you?
One thing I really wanted to know is when'd you
when you know you want to um? When'd you like?
Because I read that basketball was your your sport growing up,
(03:43):
So when you know what you wanted to play football
and when you know that nord Amerson school for you, Well,
first of all, you know, I went to a high
school that football. It's funny everyone things like you grew
up with Alabama, so your team had to be like
this powerhouse football team, power basketball team. Like like two
my teammates at the time frame when I was at
in school played in the NBA. And I'm coming from
(04:06):
a county high school that gradually not want people right
by the way, so it's not like I'm coming to
this big school. Yeah, I grew up in the town
called kill Us in Alabama. In the last sensance had
us at two home and two old people. Uh so,
so very small town, but like we have anything else
to do, right, So we all played we all played sports.
We need to each other. So we grew up in
the chemistry or knowing everybody that I was playing with
(04:28):
some night into l grade. But I don't renew those cats.
You know, probably from the first grade on, so we
have been playing ball with each other every you know,
every sport with each other since we were kids. So
we got the high school, it was just like real,
this is like us in the backyard for four more years.
So the chemistry in which we played was tremendous. So
(04:50):
I want you know, I played in three state championship games.
I won two of them. Tomorrow Moon Gerald Wallace. Yeah.
Are everyone I'm from like you think about it to
grew up ten minutes from me, Dahlias Thomas. You know,
I can say Ja Mario, Jill Wallace. So in this
(05:10):
small town we could produce like you know, if I
count guys who actually played time at the big leagues,
are talking about my league. So we produced six dudes
who had a career in in in professional sports and
clu everybody used to conclude cats and played triple A
ball or you know sports like that. And he could
(05:31):
probably go to like the hot twoinies for like this
small town. It's like your town exactly right. So something
that respected. Everyone asked me like you know what what?
Maybe she was football, And honestly, I think, and this
is like this is gonna sound like the cruchee football
player answer, But to be very honest with you, I
really love the violence of football, of contact, hiding people,
(05:53):
and I just felt like, you know, that gave me
the best position of the best sport to one used
the platform ver to get great education. And then you know,
I said, I didn't look at sports as a way out.
I looked at it as a way out to go
off to school and get a great education. I didn't
look at it a way out to go off to
school and make it a professional career. Um, So that
(06:16):
was kind of like the cherry on top of me.
But like I had accomplished everything I would wanted to
accomplish in sports, just by getting to a place like
another day to get a grad, to get it. The
group always yeah, because I always talked to cats. I
had relationship like Dailis Thomas his kid folks. So I
talked to him all the time about his experiences in
(06:36):
the NFL before I got there. And the first thing
he told me was the NFL stands for not for long.
So for me, it was like, all right, even if
I make it to the NFL, right, what's the odds
of me having this prolonged career, this successful career I
never had to work again? Very small? Right? So I
was gonna. I was gonna make sure that I did
everything in my power to use the platform and football
to set me up for what was going to be
(06:58):
long term and for me, I thought in terms what
I'm doing now honestly, But like I didn't. I didn't
put the eleven years of a great football career in
between Notre Dame and Golden SAX. So when, like when
did you decide? I guess you had already decided on going,
like getting your m b a UM, but what what
(07:19):
was like the found decision like now like when you're
in the league, Like when what what made you? Like
when you retired you were like, this is what I
want to do because obviously that you did have a
very prolonged career, very successful career, so you didn't necessarily
have to make this jump to a very successful business career.
That's funny you say that, like I didn't. I didn't
make a decision until it was like the deadline was
(07:39):
like two weeks out. So like my wife had went
toward and got her masters and non profit policy. She
ran in our foundation, so I'd seen her kind of
do the journey of second picture, you know, degrees and
soft So both you know, I've seen my wife, uh
do a great job of raising my kids to why
(08:00):
I was just assingt dead playing the film and look,
you know, really you know it or not, you know,
a professional like professional sports to make you're assing to dead.
You're always on the road. You're already your time from
you know, for me personally, because I got I got
in office pretty early every day, six thirty two, six
pm on good days, typically you're away from your family, right,
(08:22):
So and that's how I really dead right it is
my wife should help the sport down for years doing that.
So honestly, I went into retirement thinking that it was
my time to kind of be to stay at home dad.
It's all so like in two weeks, man, I really
realized that, like that's not my call, and that's not
what I want to do. Yeah. There, um, but even
(08:46):
if even else, even if I didn't necessarily have to
go to work, I want to go to work. I
want to kind of allow my kids to see, you know,
my legacy to my kids. Think, you know, when I retired,
I owe to something. Six He wasn't gonna remember anything
that I didn't not even one year or not really right,
So what was gonna be my kind of calling card
to him when he's eighteen, like whatever, the age of reconciliation,
(09:09):
as far as he has to figure out what he
wants to do. What was gonna be my legacy to him? Right?
If I went on the road that I looked like
I was gonna go play golf, drinking a couple of
you know, beauty uh but likes every day and sitting
up a couch and watching the Sports center with him.
Then when he became eighteen years old, his legacy to
me would like what dad does that? Can you not
do it? He wouldn't remember hard work out for them
(09:30):
until age thirty through. So you know, for me, going
to Warden was like, all right, I wanted to figure
out what I want to do. And while I was there,
the conversation I had while Gordon led me to go
up the sides and I mean, I don't want to
prolong his answer. I can go deeper into some of
those conversations and what led me in the finance, but
honestly it it had a lot to do with representation
(09:55):
for to athletes, for entertainers and athletes. Because I have
to be very honest with you, there's not a lot
of people that look like me, that has the experiences
that I have that I work on day basically, and
I don't We needed more of that. We needed more
people to have our back and have our understanding of
what it takes to to pick up blind zones an athlete,
(10:18):
but also have someone who's gonna say, Okay, I've been there,
but now I'm actually in these boardrooms and these board
seas and these offices with you know, typically white males
who's making decision on Wall Street, and you have representation
there because I'm there. That's why. That's that's the main
reason why I witness ianswer that answer this as you
(10:39):
will because we can talk about it. Um So, we
all playing the team, and I think we all fall
into the trap of not even in the trap. I
think we all football so so big in our lives
that school it becomes harder than it would be for
a Yeah. So I feel like, so explain to me
(11:02):
what type of student Justin Tuck was at Nordein because
I want to know how you go from being the
start player at Nordain to start playing in that field.
Two have enough. I don't even know what it was, energy, energy,
war and like, I want to know, kudos. That's a
(11:23):
great question. I didn't think I was gonna have to
go listen to depth only to be honest, I'm gonna
open you guys realizing about me growing up where I
grew up. My mom used to have the same and
like people coming in and say something my mom like,
you know, Justin got a couple of girlfriends, And my
(11:43):
mom was like, oh, I know, And they look at
it like what she's you okay with him have a
couple around, But she's like, oh, you can't have a girl. Yeah,
you know, I know one girlfriend is all social studies
and history, and I think he got one called physical education.
The other one justin you tell me about it. So,
(12:04):
like sports has always been very very important in my
life with my mom and my dad, and my dad
was a great athlete too. They didn't care about any
of that, Like I didn't get to play sports unless
I brought the suggested grades. And then by saying suggestion,
it was like, listen. My dad was the type of dude.
It was like what's offering on the test? I was
we're talking about he goes, what's the grade that's the
(12:26):
highest gradest offering on the test and I'm like, hey,
a hundreds, Like, well that's what you should get. Like there,
my dad, like nine nine is is you missing one?
Why would you missing one? It's like like I was
really the basketball player and I'll never forget because I
had one of the best games of my life and
I ain't gonna no no, no, no, no no no
(12:47):
no no, no, no no no listen. So Jerald always
grew up in my time, didn't he transferred out. Jerald
was the number one graded player and in the state
Alabama and like number six or maybe five in the country.
He was a mcgon's All America. He was a senior.
(13:07):
I was a sophomore. And uh, then we had this
another dude, another dude named Jamario. Jamario Moon was a
senior at that time. To Jamarto went on to play,
you know, twelve thirteen years in league as well. But
him the start the Star shows Jamario versus Journal, right,
so Birmingham News and all these TV proadcasts and in
uh in the state Alabama was coming to our gym
(13:28):
to watch these two kind of do get out that night?
I think I had, but I know I had forty
one points in like nine team abound. So I'm like,
so I kind of stole show that night. So I
say that, I say that to say this, I got
in the car because I'm sixteen. You know, my small
town people go are like, you know, the local Walmart
(13:49):
to hang out to celebrate. H Yeah, that's true. Start.
But I got in the car with my dad to
go home and the first thing he said to me,
and he goes, why you can still too three days
m So that's the kind of do what my dad was.
To go back to answering your question, my first couple
of years of Notre Dame was I was a pretty
decent student. Once I kind of started writing the wall
(14:11):
and I was going to the NFL, that that part
of my life kind of took a snack seat to
preparing for the next chapter there. That's understandable. School never
was hard for me. It was it was more about
me finding the motivation to pick forth the effort, and
when I had that in, everything was kind of feeling
(14:31):
place with me. The difference in being a regular student
at a place like Notre Dame and and being a
student after that place like No Dame. Like, I truly
don't understand still how we you know how we do
it considering that Notre Dame is not one of these
cupcake schools, whether profession is gonna be like, oh you
play sports, let me, let me help you get this
this great that it's almost a detriment because probably it's
(14:55):
just like looking at you like, oh, well, so and
so and so you know that football fan. So I
know he's giving you a better grade in these class
just because your football fans. So I'm gonna make it
double bart of you and mean, wow, so and so
and so. It's looking at the exactly you just didn't
you just getting your face meeting in the class because
this professional things like you're getting free bees and no
(15:18):
freebies are being had anywhere around campus. So I mean,
I listen, man, I used to get so mad walking
from from the football office to like South Dining Hall
right at seven o'clock, trying to make you know South
Dining Hall. And I don't know if that's the same anymore.
I assume you guys got so much more exactly like
(15:39):
having like you was fortune back when I was in
schools like the ship right now, you guys got like y'allall.
I used to hate that walk, especially in the fall
time where it was just getting cold. When you see
people on campus like barbecue and going freezebees, like, man,
that's not my that's not my college experience. Buddies, they're
(16:01):
they're loving life after two o'clock because classes out, you
got to whatever time you want to kind of be
out and about before you even have to be back
in taxe. We got practice at seven o'clock, your runs
and two makes out dining hall. After that you got
study hall or some level of like something that we
have to do some school. Then you gotta be under
six am because you got you know, six of your workouts,
(16:22):
especially like in all the season, like it's tough, like
it's what you're built for. So for me it was like,
ain't nobody want to hear my excuses? Right? Nobody wants
to hear my you know, see, micro, I'm serious. You
know what I could do is you realize this this
pain now, So the partying and the celebration I'm gonna
do later because I put forth this this effort. The
(16:45):
same thing like anything in football, right, the pain you
guys go through, the struggle you go through in this
offseason workouts when nobody sees it well you get to
go out there on Sartain and shine and season right
and all that has paid for all the work you
did behind closed doors. That's interesting. You say like you
were built for this. And I kind of want to
ask you, do you think a lot of people come
(17:07):
to Notre Dame and Notre Dame shapes him that way?
Or do you think people that come here already shaped
that way they just don't know it and it takes
Notre Dame to bring it out of him. You see
what I'm saying. Yeah, Man, Listen, in finance, you realize
that one of the best answers you can get a
client when you don't have that you and rafted is
it depends? Listen, man, I've seen, I've seen. I honestly
(17:32):
think from a football perspectives, most people come to Notre
Dame because recruiting, recruiting at a place like nerd Dame
is so high, right, if they're taking the three stars
because they see so such a crazy upside. Maybe he
played in a you know, a smaller you know, school
like Central Couza Conti, and maybe he's six five, he's
(17:53):
only a hunting ninety eight pounds, but his frame, he
could definitely toe to sixty. Maybe he's six five hunting
eight pounds, and we see him being able to put
on you know, not only sixty pounds, but even more
explosion because you ran out four or five and maybe
by the time he gets hit bout a four for
eight for the record. Everyone listening like like, that's the
(18:18):
only reason why even got my recruit story is crazy.
I on accident. They went to the wrong high school. Wow, Yeah,
that's insane. I mean like so like from that perspective, right, Uh,
was I built for it? No more? Mentally I was
then I was football. But then there's other people who
come in and they're like man childs where they come
(18:39):
in and they're you know, the five star recruit, their
you know, getting player here and then the third football Right,
they're probably built for and mentally because guess what, you're
that good in the high school. You've had so many
people telling you to ship for all these years that
like you're not even had this adversity. So their name
is a great place for adversity because it's such a
(18:59):
small unit that you guys worked with on a day
to day basis, right, you know, the football team is
your is your friend. So It's a great place to
go through adversity because it's just a small union and
typically are closer. So that's why I think about it
from the perspective of there it depends. Some cats come
in looking like me and we're, you know, my strength coach.
(19:22):
When I got there, was a guy named Mickey m Ride.
He's at Ohio State now, and Micky told me, man
walking into off, he put up all a clay on
the desk and started playing with it and he literally said,
like I'm a sculptor, you're the clay. Get out my office.
And that's what met And like I was his project
for three and a half years, and I think you
(19:43):
asked me, You'll tell you, Like, you know, my transition
from a physicality standpoint was off the charts, but I
was already there mentally, Like me walking to Notre Dame
State in the first day, I never get a line.
A senior guy named Kurt Bollins, and he was like, YO,
been kicking off, but in practic let's see what you're doing,
a real real thing. But for me, the real thing
(20:04):
was like this is this is plankful back, It's just happening.
We got eighty times from people watching us, who cares
as far as Nordon itself though, because you said your dad,
he had obviously a high standard for you, so as
far as nordin in itself, like you think you were
prepared for that, like this school the social aspect, being
(20:25):
able to uh, theater relationships and friendships and things of that.
So nah no um. I mean I had a lot
of success academically growing up, but the access that I
had to the tougher courses, the AP courses from high
(20:46):
schools limited, right, So when I got when I got
to school, I remember having discussions with my wife, Lauren,
who was my girlfriend, just comparing like our high school
experiences her taking She took eight AP courses, tested out
of like her almost her entire freshman year curriculum because
of her high school of course. Though, whereas me, man,
(21:08):
I'm like, man, I ain't seen art of stuff, so
it's like for me, it's just a tough time to
like get up to speed. It was like, you know,
I was already behind the eight ball to think about
comparing myself to the stupid body, stupid body population. Now
my junior year, I feel like, Okay, I've seen everything
(21:30):
you guys have seen, I'm going to put in the party,
so let's go from here. But like my first year
that was I got I got decent Graves just because
I killed myself trying to, you know, go to study halls,
get a tutor, and do all these different things that
typically athletes don't want to do it because we already egoes.
But I had no ego about it. For on the
(21:51):
field play obviously had a lot of success. And you
currently in only three seasons you hold the Total SACT
for career Sactually under the name there's that. Yeah, he's
a teammate of ours, Fosky. He'll have you do you
know Flosky? Do you guys have relationship? I text with him.
So one of my actually one of my clients is
(22:12):
a huge Notre Dame guy, and I think he was
connected with Cosy and he connected us, but he hasn't
followed up my waye. So make sure you tell him
like I tell all all the guys I come in
contact with. I'm an open door man. My cell phone
number has not changed since I was eighteen years old,
and I still have the same person email. I made
(22:32):
it as a Saltimore in college. I still used this day.
So yeah, I just I probably should let I should
probably let those go and get rid of some of
these old contacts that I think. It's amazing how he says, um,
he's an open book, because he really is. That's that's
a guy on his But I say the obviously because so,
(22:55):
um my official visit my junior high school, I'm in
the book story in my family in a bookstore. We're
trying to go by some shirts I think from our
brother and sister because we wanted the games so kind
of like we wanted everybody were like notre damn stuff.
I forgot who was giving the tour. But you know
what I'm saying, guess who's in the bookstory? Yeah, just
in the bookstore. He actually was walking around my family talking,
(23:18):
talking to me and my dad, my mom, you know,
saying introduced a little family is very nice, very you
know what I'm saying, No, no offense justin but obviously
a guy of your status, a guy if you're a
man of your your your status in life, you wouldn't expect,
you know what I'm saying, for you to be as
humble as you know. I'm saying. Opening it is down
to I'll come back. To that stage. But he was
(23:41):
very nice, very very nice to my family. Um introduced himself,
and you know, me, being seventeen years old, I'm like,
this is justin Tuck. Like I've seen him play like
he played could be one of the greatest game's, greatest
Super Bowls ever I've ever watched. Really just really like
limited me as a football fan, like in general, watched
him grew up trying to trying to recreate the face
(24:02):
mask and stuff I'm mattering and stuff like that, just
you know, stuff like that, and I'm like, wow, like,
so this is what a notre dame man is, Like,
you know what I'm saying, this is something, this is
what I could be if I come here. And he
really just made a good impression. And I'm not gonna
lie to you that right there was a big part
of reason I committed that day. So you need to
tell you need to tell all the people. And he
(24:23):
gave me his never and he told me, he said, um,
he said, you know what I'm saying, if you ever
need anything, reach out in loum Behold. Three years later,
I reached out four years later, four years later, four years,
four years But I'll say two things of that one.
I get frustrated a lot, man, I really do. I'll
(24:43):
tell you why you guys don't understand. Yeah, you will.
It's like it's like when I was in school, I
didn't appreciate what nor day meant until I was no
longer there, right when I graduated and started to see
like the doubt man, the alumni iron and people come
out of wood works around the fact that okay, you
don't want to bless now, how can we help you?
(25:06):
And with I l and some other things are going
on in college athletics. Now, I would assume that that's
going to start to take told earlier in the process
share um. But for me personally, I didn't appreciate all
of it until after I got off off NuRD and campus,
which is a you know that's a tragedy honestly. But
(25:26):
like I get frustrated guys, man, because I think they think,
and go back to your statement, they think like, Okay,
they see me on Sunday, they see me in Pro Bowls,
they see in the Super Bowls, they whatever it is.
At the end of the the day, man, I put my
parents on one one day and pick time like you
and if I can't even realize that like somebody when
I was your age, somebody did something to help me
(25:49):
along the way, regardless if I knew it or not. Right,
my dad used always tell them, manage. You don't even
understand how many people praying to you right to get
to where you're going or ever. Maybe so for me,
I always I lived by the same man. I truly
believe that I'll never I'll die in my bradies thinking this.
There's no way that I can pay it back for
(26:10):
all the people that have done whatever for me. I
don't know, I know something of it right to some
people make it very obvious that they're helping you out.
But for the most part, there's a lot of people
out there is that are said a kind word or
you know your name, came up with conversations with somebody
that mag make a difference in a life later on
they had something with safety with you or about for
(26:30):
you that that that tough hole and you know that
was a ruple in the pollen right of your life.
But like, I can never pay it back, so I
gotta pay it forward. So whatever it is that justin
tux platform has or can lend value to, I don't
get satisfaction out of like saying, oh, Justin tuch platform,
let me keep it here, I can satisfactor. You gonna say, oh,
(26:52):
Justin touch platform. How could I help the next possible
Justine Tough or the next whoever? Is right? Because that's
what the legacy is about. Legacy ain't about accumulation. Legacy
is about gifts. Right, what can I do with what
God has given me? The platform? The NFFL provide the platform,
and golden side of provides what can I do with
(27:13):
that to bring somebody else along? Because that's exactly what
people did for me. The Tim Browns of the world,
the you know, the the wrong Bedicist of the world,
the you know, the tom and Dozes of the world.
Jimmy done to the world. All these guys that are
connected with I mean with with with Notre Dame looked
out for me. And when I went to Pittsburgh and
played against the Steelers, guess what took me out to dinner?
(27:35):
It was wrong and I just so happened that he
made me paid so so for the same thing, like
I tried my best to do the same thing. And
the sprustrating part is guys do not because again they
hold you that this pedal stools thinking like, oh man,
this guy ain't gonna respond again where they don't reach out.
(27:58):
I tell about the time, I'm just a country boy
from Chelton out Abound, and it's very suself because a
lot of people have paid the way for me, and
at least I was smart enough to try following their
systems that can't. I went off my own path for
some regards, But like, there's really nothing that I've done
that somebody else before me hasn't done or hasn't given
(28:19):
me some levels of the insight into the blueprint to do.
I see that on a on an everyday basis. I
see like, um, like talking with the freshmen, they feel
like they come in and they obviously are coming from
these like four or five star status is and they
have a hard time understanding that nerd Dame is what
nerd Dame is. So they they have a hard time
(28:40):
making friends outside of football. They have a hard time
and humbling themselves and saying, oh, yes, I played football. Yeah,
but I can also talk to whoever you know what
I mean. And that's something that I feel like I've
benefited a lot from the last three years here because
I even fell into a trap. I'm thinking, I'm from
l and start playing high school whatever it is, and
(29:01):
I come there, Dame and I'm this and that, and
it took for me to step back, and I'm like, Okay,
what I really want to get out of this college?
I could be at any other I could be at Maryland.
What I want to get out of college. I don't
want to be this football And then that's it. I
want to meet people. I want to get new experiences.
I want to see what I haven't seen in a
small town of Baltimore in one of the East coaches,
(29:23):
you know. I mean, that's that's a big thing. I
think a lot of people need to really listen to
that because egos can get in a way because I mean,
like a lot a lot of times, like you just
you never really know like where a conversation can take you,
you know what I'm saying, Like just any one conversation
you can really change your whole mindset change. I was like,
I never real looked at it like that. Or they're saying, wow,
(29:45):
this person really is doing something that you who knows
you made meet something. It's like somebody's like, wow, this
person doing something that I've been wanting to do for
so long, but I never really had an opportunity to
I didn't know how to get into it. And now
I just met this person, and now now there would
be the whole me or vice versa. You're able to
help somebody else. And I kind of talking about the
ego thing to like especially you know what I'm saying,
(30:06):
People are gonna happen. Just like you said, Justin. People
are gonna have their own assumptions about you because of
who you are, your football player or athlete, So people
are gonna think whatever about you. But I think what
I've noticed a lot of times since being here is like, um,
I think you've talked about this one or two times
in the podcast, but just like when you open your
mouth and it's not coming from a place of the
(30:27):
ego is not coming from a place of oh I'm this,
Oh I'm not or blah blah blah, like people are like, oh,
you're nice than I expect that your way and I
expect It's like I didn't even I didn't even I
expected you to be on some other on on something else.
You know what I'm saying that it's just like so
(30:48):
justin it's kind of funny. So I always say him
on the team as well. But I'm from like Granger
and they like from around here. So have some buddies
that came from my school here, and we used to
hang out with them a lot, like summers and all this,
and and the funny part about hanging out with them
is that they they're kind of like because gam kJ
and Kyle is not here, but you know, the big
time recruits and these guys love Notre Dame and so
(31:10):
they're all they keep track of, like this stuff, and
so they know these guys, but they don't know them, right,
So we meet them and then they're kind of like
nudge me like without them looking at like like these
guys are really nice, like like they're super nice. And
I'm like the same as you, like like every everyone here,
like you, like you said you put your parts on
(31:30):
one leg at a time, like you tie your shoes
like it's I'm like, I know, I know you're not,
like you just don't know him yet. And and it's
a very interesting dynamic that happens, especially at the Other Dame,
just because how good the athletics are here, you know, right, Yeah,
I was gonna say, Man, I've had some conversations with
Coach Freeman a lot of different things about I personally
(31:50):
want to do to kind of deil community regard. He's
just you know, and like, obviously recruiting is it's so
vital and keeping this program where it is and obviously
taking to the next level. Right, So as in course
of problem, like how can we helping recruiting obviously not
doing anything it's gonna get us any trouble anything, definitive
again whatever, justin to the platform is all I can
(32:11):
be helpful. Blah blah blah. That goes. And you were
just to talk about what is the Nerding kid, right,
and he's like, listen, then you see it, you know,
And from that perspective, you know, I think one of
the reasons why we we're sitting there have a conversation
around it. Man, You're you're granger, your Grainger. Butters are saying,
oh man, these guys are nice. But I'm not talking
(32:32):
bad about any other place. Because there is an Alabama
player there is it comes in player. There is a
usc quote unquote player, right, but the Nerding player typically
is more well around, right, just because of it is
what it is. And again I'm not saying anything bad
about in your place. I'm just speaking positively about what
nerding looks like. Nerding players are gonna be good at
(32:54):
one or two things. They're gonna be good at football
and go on too a great football career and then
going to a a secondary transition career. Well that's business
whatever it may be. Or they didn't work out football guys,
but because they're nerd dain man and they did what
they did a classroom, so on soco, we're gonna go
into like be successful into the sector in which they
want to do it right. So, if you never respected right,
(33:15):
Nerdain is not a place I tell you, I tell
I used to tell recruits when I was there. I
still tell any the guy and I talked to you now,
nor Dame is not a place if you want to
just just go to them, like if that's your goal
only nor They probably isn't the best place for you. Now.
We obviously put a lot of guys into the NFL
(33:36):
rapidly high pick so on and so forth. But like,
in order for you to truly have the Nerding experience
and it be a a a wonderful one for you,
there has to be something just more right. So I
wouldn't I mean if I was, if I just said
to myself, for kid in Alabama, if I said to myself, man,
I just won't go to the NFL. Wh why the
(33:57):
hell when I go to Alabama? Harvard there right in
my back door. Yeah, sec school, I've gotta be seen
by blaha. Lah, I'm not gonna be quote unquote pressure
in in being the best student. I can be the
cast that I know that with the Alabama from my
time in football with Cats who literally said man, I
wouldn't go to the NFL, and obviously you know album
(34:18):
clist them out. But like from the NDAME perspectives, we
typically have guys that say, man, I want to play.
I won't play in the the NFL, but if it doesn't
work out, I want to have something that's in my
resume that just goes wild. And trust me, from a
perspective of a person who's in the in the in
the business of hiring people now right, the first thing
(34:41):
I look at is like, Okay, he's a student athlete
the Nurre Dame. I'm using that as a proxy. The
first thing I said is like, I already know it.
That's about, I know we're getting something that this resume
can't cold right to the NFL and threat three guys
on the rocks. As the captain of those teams, I
had to find a way to take fifty three alpha
males and their egos and get them all pulling the
(35:03):
rope in the same direction. I can't put that on
a res but I know when I'm in a boarding
with twelve people and level of Holy ins idoleague schools
and Valbatori of their class and bla blah blah blah
and boo bla, and trying to figure out what is
the the answer for the client and how to take
all right, this ego, that ego, this ego, that ego,
(35:24):
this answer to that answer, this answer, and pull all
that the dealer in a way that like we can
go out and say this is the best suited, you know,
solution for the client that doesn't have my ego on it,
that doesn't have these other eleven people's egos on but
it's the best thing. That's what I think about when
I think about resumes that say athlete plus uh predominantly
(35:47):
toughs that that I wouldn't think about the same way
if I said, athlete from predominantly you know, athlete factory
types too. I always had a fear with the resume
thing because obviously we allocate them the amount of time
to football on school and I don't. I haven't had
an internship or anything like that. So but I want
(36:08):
to get into law. I want to be an agent.
I want to do I want to do essentially what
you're doing on the law side. And um, I always
scared because I'm like, Okay, well, hopefully they can see that. Okay,
I go to nor Dame and I play football here
and they can see that my time was allgated there.
But obviously what is that? How much did that way?
And I always ask my question myself, that question, like
(36:29):
she's how what am I gonna do after football? You
know what I mean? And I always scared to me.
But from what you just said, but you know, I mean,
people I can to in the Baltimore area, did yourself.
I would really appreciate that. I appreciate that, like that's
not even more like the fact of them. I was
like two names just popping my head. I was it
was teammates, right and rose Wood wouldn't. I don't know
(36:55):
if water with those two guys that she called them
right now and like, yo, man from Baltimore, basically what
I'm gonna do, hope do? And they go if they go, well,
what just say? You know, just stuff told me to
call you because I guarantee you this there is There
is never a time in your life when you can
(37:15):
make relationships better than when you're hot. And guess what,
you guys are coming off a phenomenal season. You went
to the two If yousta blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah bla bla bla bla bla blah blah blah,
everybody wants to talk to you. Every every donor, every alumni,
every student, whatever, everybody wants to have a conversation and
(37:37):
relationship with you. Now, fast forward. Let's just say football
doesn't work out and fast forward teen years. Now, fast
forward teen years. If you stay down, I wouldn't make
this relationship happy. Guess how hard that's gonna be hard
because no one cares about it, you know what I mean?
Guys like you know what I'm guys that I played with,
(37:58):
they were all pros or whatever they be, and they
they smelled their own ship and didn't want to go
out to meet you know, people who own this box
or meet this privacy could own in the city or
meet this catch. But I'm manager in the city. And
then they called me was like eight and they called
me teen years later. But hey, man, can you introduce
this also or something? Whereas what I did in the
(38:19):
offseason was and we want a Super Bowl. I'm not
going out a party. I'm going on and saying, all right,
New York giants, who are the big downs or the
investors or this tweet owners that I should be making
contacts with you, And I would take him off to
have lunch or recast or dinner or a coffee or
(38:40):
a walking apart. I don't care. But like me, I
knew like I did it, I knew interfil stood and
not along. So how do I transition? How do I
make my transition scenes make relationships? But when I when
I figure out what it is that I want to do,
I can go and say, okay, how many people I
know on Wall Street because I want go working Wall Street?
(39:01):
Or if I said, how many guys do I know
that has a franchise in business because I want to franchise.
You know, dunking donas or how many guys and I
know they're in real estate because I want to get
into the real estate, but installed and so forth. And
I had a role in dex of whatever number you know,
fifty guys on Wall Street, fifty guys in real estate,
(39:22):
fifty guys and franchise fet the guys that that that
had some level of like extratise in sports. And what
I figured out, what is that I want to do?
Guess what, I already had relationship with the people. So
it wasn't me going in like after I wasn't hot
and saying, hey, guys, can you help me out? No, no no, no,
I've already had years of dialog, years of conversation, years
(39:45):
of saying you know what it is you understanding what
their businesses look like, and trying to add value in
the role as an NFL player. Well, that looked like
coming into the offices and giving their their their their
selves team helped off or being present on their keys
talk birthday because I was his favorite player. Whatever that
(40:06):
looked like. So now I'm not going were hot in football,
But guess what, I'm already good. The relationships that I
needed to make my transition how it just opens your
mind to the possibility of what's next. Like I obviously
like and y'all get this, while guys don't think this
because you can imagine in the NFL locker, they used
(40:26):
to like put our lives chicks on our in our locker,
and some of the rookies would go around and look
at some of the bits chicks right now, look at
how much you make it whatever, and like I'll nefinitely
get this man which came to me and he had
my chick in his hand. I'm like, dude, what are
you doing? He goes, man and he had had my
check like this. He goes and I want to be
(40:47):
like the one And I was like, let me, let
me let me people to some game real quick. And
all young guys have seen a sign check. There's a
difference between the signature on the front and the signature
on the back. The signature on the front is the owners.
The signature on the back is the employee. So I
(41:08):
tell p wrong time, don't be like that dude on
the back. We did like to do a little bit
so like saying that I want to be like Justin Tup.
I don't even want to be like the next Justin Tuck. Yeah,
I want to be the next John Merrie Kiss you
know those dudes. I wanted to be the guy who's
paying you, not getting because that's a that's a different
level of wealth when it comes to ownership. Right in
(41:30):
the world that we live in. Guess what athletes make
a time? You know, nothing to be ashamed of. Trust me,
I lived that life and great, But there's a different
level when it's like I own this and I can
think about it right all right? Everyone talks about how
much money lebron makes. Somebody's paying him, and not only
(41:51):
they're paying him, they're paying fifteen others. Yeah, well I'll
take that back, they're paying that was the other on
the payroll. So just a man and how many day makes.
So if you if if you want to, if you
want to be like just man, just I want you
guys to use me as like your foundation. You're like
what someone's kind of a ladder like. I won't be
(42:11):
one of those steps that you step on, go way above.
Just have we even got to NFL. I don't think.
I don't even think we need kind of I kind
of want to talk a little bit about gold sack
stuff we kind of want to really hit on what
Goldman Sacks is like for you, Um, like, what does
the day to day look like? What's what's the mindset difference?
(42:33):
As far as I mean, obviously you're professional in the
league and now your professional Golden Sacks, Like, is there
is there a similarities? Obviously there's differences like what's the
mindset like and what's the day to day like? And
it's a harder easier, definitely hard but yeah, to be
honest with you again when I told you about the
(42:53):
best answer in five minutes, it depends. Um, So my
days some days are out. You know. I equated to
like me as the as the leader of our team.
I'm the hunter and I got guys that guys and
gals that me and they're the farmers. And what I
mean by that is every day I'm looking at ways
to grow our business right, ways to bring in new assets,
(43:16):
ways to connect with you know, new clients. So I'm
going out of the hunt for those opportunities and the
ecosystems that I did. And I got a great team
of people who kind of sit back and like as
I conquered more land, they farmed at land for me.
I'm trying not to imagine you like a wolf Wolf
of Wall Street type of Uh, it's not very true,
(43:42):
but like it's intense, man, And like I usually I say,
it's harder then football. We played football. That's why. That's
why I was gonna ask that's something that that's something
I grew up doing, where like, honestly, like football was easy.
It is. It's just it's the only hard think about
football is on the society with somebody that's just as
(44:05):
talented and won't suggest that that's the hard thing about football. Like,
you guys are smart. There's not a scheme that you
can't pick up you guys in athletic there's not anything
that coach go to ask you to do that honestly,
what body want to you to do it just a
little intangibles that make football for this world. Here man,
it's like my biggest competition system right next And like
(44:29):
I got people don't understand that the literally the biggest
competition and growth of my business is someone another team
within Golding Sacks and doing the exact same and they're
they're they're they're frequently in the same markets that I'm in,
so I gotta beat them. To the punch, so they're
gonna to the pun. We are on the same page.
We're all on the same team, but like you are
independent contractors that they gotta gotta build our own. It's
(44:52):
like be playing because of the like every year they
brought they got Yeah, they brought in a new first
round to take my job. He's on my team, but
he's the a competition. Would you play it behind Michael Strahan? Yeah, yeah,
Michael in the same room. There's Michael straighthand Justin touch
year in Europe. Then Michael retires and we got justin
to New York. I'm like, I'm not I'm not even
(45:19):
telling you about the guys who rode back up, like
David Thompson, who had five sacks in a year playing
probably plays. He was the beast to the way he
just couldn't get on the field that could right. We
had Chris Canton, he had Rocky Nord, We had Livill
Joseph who still plays. We had eight guys who could
(45:39):
go to start anywhere else in the country. The hard
part really about anything that you gotta do next after
football is that when I left football, I was the
cream and cream, right, you know, won Super Bowls. My
name was very high in football when you try position.
(46:01):
The hard parts to athletes in general is when we
transition to something brand new. We feel like we should
transition like this, Right, I was here in football in
the NFL. When I come to go to SACK and
should here, right. You know, I'm gonna give myself that flexibility,
that time to build out my craft like I did
(46:21):
in football. So when I come to go to SACK,
I'm going through the analyst program. I'm going to train.
I'm partnering with a team and be a junior asset
to that team to understand how the senior people do it,
just like I did in football when I came to
Even when I came to the NFL, I looked at
micro Streen and I said, you know what, I don't
know everything. I will follow him around in practice, I
don't make it very annoying to him because I don't
(46:43):
be that little puffy that just followed him around and
like picks up all the chromes that he leaves behind. Right.
And I did that for two years. So when he retired,
I still right in and and had the best year
up until that point in my career because I was
ready for them, not because I walked in day one
and said I'm just as good in the NFL as
I was in college. Nobody comes in anyway. I don't
(47:06):
care if you know Michael Parsons came in, trust me,
he was he was. He was more of a B,
said Penn State. And he was a B said Dallas.
Just because now he obviously made the transition. That's the most.
But you get my phone right, So like I think
the hard part in the transition for athletes just saying,
like all, give myself embrace because this is new to me.
(47:27):
I'm new to this and how do I how did
I make success in football is because I took it
as a kid. One player at the time. I think
we're gonna move. One time, I was had to the
garage this question because from Danny Gully and the access
um who is your all time favorite Irish player? And
it needed that impact that you choosing Notre Dame. And
I think kJ already answered his question. You know Notre
(47:52):
Dame was on NBC every day, but like typically you
only got a Nore Dame in our games, So check
the story out. I'm in a bit of sports. I
just got a fresh hat, and I wanted I wanted
a baseball hat and uh him a sports for some reason.
Other It's like a whole section of hats Alabama, all
different color ways, a whole section of Auburn hats all
(48:13):
different color ways, and then like a small section of
like hats are like from different you know, popular teams
to Chicago Bulls, so you new York Yankees, And all
of a sudden, I see this white and gold at
white god brim and I was like, Dad, I want
to hat, so Farry Moore and I said, didn't want
to hat. And the reason why I wanted that hat
because Notre Dame was on one of the TVs and
(48:35):
number six was running the ball. Don't know if I
told Jerome that, so, like without me knowing that Jerome
had a huge factors, was like mental imprint on my account,
like first name moment. And when I was going through
the process of getting through it, I remember that. So
I bought and I had my dad bought me a
Nerd Dame hat. When I was like, I don't know
(48:57):
how well, I feel like like some around that's crazy, Okay,
there's so much fate around me choosing the name. I
assume it's the same way everyone goes there. That's something
outside of just you know, they were the best recruiters,
or there's some person's story or connection of some regard
that kind of puts you on that. So my answer
(49:19):
is a little bit different. I didn't grow up watching
her that much. This does sound weird, but I would
probably say favorite player. How And here's why, I don't
even know nothing. I thought about this, and I thought
about this as what about to choose college your favorite?
(49:42):
I probably say so, and here we've been through it,
We've been through it together, and he's he's obviously got
the instagratification before I did. So I was able to
learn so much from him in his process and the
way that he approached, the way that he approached games,
the way he approached how he's going to guard this receiver,
(50:03):
the way you approach everything. And for me, I didn't.
I didn't. I don't think watch the league, nice nice guy.
I didn't get to watch those guys. So I feel like,
you know, you got text him after this. I reacted
like that because I was thinking about like impacting your
(50:25):
choosing ther name, and I was like, how did you
impacted me choosing their Dame part of the second part
of it. Oh, he like, yeah, mine is a little
different obviously. Yes, no, I'm ana walk on, so recruiting
is a little different. But um, like I said earlier,
(50:46):
I'm from around here. So I did watch a lot
of the Nerd Dame games growing up. It's gonna sound
very cliche, but Chris Fink I went to the Michigan game.
I believe you kJ was there. You probably have this kJ,
but the one of the first like in the first
quarter of CHRISTIANNK I'd like the touchdown catch. I already
jumped over like two machine defenders and I was like,
(51:07):
you know, I want to do that some day. Obviously,
because he came Notre Dame as a walk on, and
I was like that that'd be really cool. And at
that point I already got the opportunity to be for
a walk on. It was like, now that that's pretty cool,
and that definitely influenced my decision to come here for sure. Yeah,
isn't that crazy? He was in the same game together,
how I did, Like I walked past him, don't even
(51:27):
know he was justin You're obviously impacted me coming here. Um,
I would say my favorite Notre Dame player because somebody
you I didn't really watch Notre Dame too much, but
I definitely did a little probably a little bit more
than you. You're saying that you did. I probably to
say my favorite Notre Dame player was um, every girls.
(51:48):
I was like kind of not like wave of like
I really like Denard Robinson's and like I like I
like growing up Atlanta, like Mike Vick was like, you know,
so I love seeing like black quarterbacks like kind of
like using athletes as a toy, just really kind of
take over the position, to take over the field. You
know what I'm saying kind of reminds me like a
point guarded basketball, like just something crazy. And yeah, I
(52:08):
probably say ever goes in. All right, So we're gonna
go ahead and jump into the should we just start
calling the rapid fire questions? Now, that's what we've been
doing last week. We call it. We try to call
it like something not a certain amount of questions under
a minute, but no one ever makes it under the minute.
So but they are rapid questions and you can go
in depth as much as you want or as little
as you want. So and go ahead and get into it.
(52:31):
You're ready all right. So the first one is favorite
city in the US besides the one you currently live in.
What's the time frame of the year? Um? Like the
every first person to ever asked a question to the
question of the question, Yeah, you are the first person
to do I think. I think sometimes probably Chicago? What time?
(52:57):
I love San Diego? I still away from Miami and
man because my line is just a little nuts. Uh.
The second question nickname, your parents used to call you
a man man? Uh. Would you rather be able to
speak every language in the world or be able to
(53:19):
talk to animals? Yeah? I'm probably gonna go with the
talk of animals. You can learn to speak multiple languages,
all right, but if I allocated time, I'm not I'm
not gonna be able to speak every language without bay
to speak the water I want to speak. There's no
way to learn how to speak to them. Yeah. What's
your favorite holiday? Probably Christmas? It's a board and that's
(53:39):
a board answer. Yeah, I like like I like getting
presents and giving them and also I love, you know,
whenever the family gets together. So Christmas is reality Big
dogs and small Dogs. I'm a big dog friend. Favorite
TV show currently Let's Do Currently to be honest with you.
My wife's has me watching so many of these weird
(54:00):
show Netflix. I don't watch a lot of TV because,
like I worked a little. It used to be big
bank dude, honest with you now like that. Honestly, I
don't have an answer for I don't. I don't watch
a lot of TV. Would you prefer a golf trip
in Arizona or Georgia? Well, there's a golf club in Georgia.
(54:20):
Then everyone everyone wants to play, so I'm just gonna
do it. Yeah, makes sense. Favorite condiment? I mean, I
probably care to come on all the kind of a
from from Alabama? What's your favorite com honey Western ranch? Listen?
(54:47):
I was. I was answering the question from the perspective
of which one did I use the most? Okay, so
we gotta start rephrasing. Would you rather take the lad cat?
I've taken the inter So yeah, I would say breakfast, lunch,
or dinner. I likes the best of all the threal
(55:07):
but I really eat breakfast, which is weird. So I
had to answer your question. I love dinner. Do you
Cali or Florida? Not just call Florida, don't think Florida.
I mean, I gotta go to CALLI then, because I
just told you say diego Yeah, what's your favorite song?
Right now? I listened to a lot of music is
(55:31):
people and songs song from three? What's your favorite dinners
part in New York? And we believe you do live
in New York correct vicinity? And they, yeah, ask me questions.
Don't give me in trouble, right because I have so
many relationships with people who own restaurants that I can't
really say. I can't really say his favorite Let's take
(55:53):
it to Alabama. Let's take it to Alabama Springhill. It's
a restaurant off of Lake martin in In in Callapoosa
County Hillasanna c outgrown, Wow, wows biggest? What's your biggest fear? Snakes?
A good one? That's just like a good one. What's
(56:15):
your biggest pet? Peeve? People who drive in the fast
one going speeding every day in New York too, That's
what's up. So they're gonna wrap it up there, And
(56:36):
I appreciate your doc. Thanks the anytime. Again, I feel
like this is like a dead force that I have
to be. It's a pleasure to be helpful, right, So
trying can never be assistance man. Give me up a lot.
Thank you to everyone listening to this podcast. Uh, we
just wanna get a special shout to Paul never talked about. Yeah,
(56:58):
I get that. Hey go. Thank you Paul, most of
the most suspecially most importantly, thank you Justin for coming on.
We really appreciate it. You know, you're a busy man
taking the time out to come and come and chat
with us. That I appreciate it. Ill pleasure for sure.
Thank you all.
The volume. All right, welcome back to Inside the Garage.
I'm KEJ Wallace along with Connor Adigan and Cam Hart.
Right now, Kyle won't be on this episode. He's a
little m I A. He's doing his things. I got
(00:24):
a few things going on, his run around for the
draft and things like that. But that's okay. We got
u Mr Renaissance Man himself justin sucking the building, justin.
How you doing. I'm good, I'm good. I'm good. Good.
Where you at currently? Yeah, I mean I mean New
York City? Okay, New York City. I live in Jersey,
(00:47):
So okay, I was getting warm. Um what was it
like seventy day? I was wearing shorts today? Yeah, I
was getting warm with last week it was like like
thirty degrees. This snowed on Saturday and seventy to day.
So let's tell you how it is. That's that's crazy, man,
because I think so I've been um gotten, there's more
(01:08):
past word two because I was my son's soccer game
on Sundays, snowing and healing and tomorrow is gonna say
if I agree. So yeah, I don't know. I don't
know what to do in my woodrobe, right now, so
how is that? How was that in college? Like coming
from n to you obviously from Alabama, and coming from
Alabama playing play in this weather, how was that? You know?
(01:30):
I mean, I mean, honestly, I've never really as long
as I'm playing, I've never, um, well, it really hasn't
effected me. So I mean, obviously it was an adjustment,
you know, for the first season into being like a
kid from Alabama and seeing like snow and playing in like,
you know, snowy games on. So after that, man, I mean,
(01:51):
once I got comes from to it, I actually appreciate
playing cold games. I thought there was a strength of
mine because everyone else's like the cold me. It was
just a more mental thing around. Yeah it's cold, other man,
as long as I'm running around and I don't get
cold when you weren't sleeing. Though I know it's the
d line thing. It's kind of it depended, right. It's
some games that were like sleep and like and rolling
(02:13):
up so to be the half sleeves so look like
it looked good on family, that kind of stuff. But honestly, man,
when when I wore sleep and I did it in
couscause I thought it would keep you warm. But man,
I think I think it worked negatively because when you
sweat and like you know, technology something better now. But
when I when cause we didn't have like the sweat beaking,
(02:36):
just like we got wet. It was wet. So then
like we were playing, like says the offenses out there, man,
you just you have there a wet T shirt. Basic. Man,
I stopped. I stopped wearing sleeve at all. I mean
people ask me about people dream big games. We played.
I think it's NEGD twenty six min ship and I
went to sleep on and everybody was like, yo, you've
been cold. I was like honestly telling Eli, you know,
(02:59):
doing interceptional thron of ballack the field, you don't even
think about so justin you know, collejiss Man obviously for
a reason is looking at some of the things you've done.
Something a lot of things you've accomplished in your life.
Two super Bowls, two time All Pro New York Giants,
(03:20):
Ring of Honor, graduated with NBA, from the Warden Business School,
you pinned, and now you work for Goldman sax Um.
Where do we start? I don't know what did you?
One thing I really wanted to know is when'd you
when you know you want to um? When'd you like?
Because I read that basketball was your your sport growing up,
(03:43):
So when you know what you wanted to play football
and when you know that nord Amerson school for you, Well,
first of all, you know, I went to a high
school that football. It's funny everyone things like you grew
up with Alabama, so your team had to be like
this powerhouse football team, power basketball team. Like like two
my teammates at the time frame when I was at
in school played in the NBA. And I'm coming from
(04:06):
a county high school that gradually not want people right
by the way, so it's not like I'm coming to
this big school. Yeah, I grew up in the town
called kill Us in Alabama. In the last sensance had
us at two home and two old people. Uh so,
so very small town, but like we have anything else
to do, right, So we all played we all played sports.
We need to each other. So we grew up in
the chemistry or knowing everybody that I was playing with
(04:28):
some night into l grade. But I don't renew those cats.
You know, probably from the first grade on, so we
have been playing ball with each other every you know,
every sport with each other since we were kids. So
we got the high school, it was just like real,
this is like us in the backyard for four more years.
So the chemistry in which we played was tremendous. So
(04:50):
I want you know, I played in three state championship games.
I won two of them. Tomorrow Moon Gerald Wallace. Yeah.
Are everyone I'm from like you think about it to
grew up ten minutes from me, Dahlias Thomas. You know,
I can say Ja Mario, Jill Wallace. So in this
(05:10):
small town we could produce like you know, if I
count guys who actually played time at the big leagues,
are talking about my league. So we produced six dudes
who had a career in in in professional sports and
clu everybody used to conclude cats and played triple A
ball or you know sports like that. And he could
(05:31):
probably go to like the hot twoinies for like this
small town. It's like your town exactly right. So something
that respected. Everyone asked me like you know what what?
Maybe she was football, And honestly, I think, and this
is like this is gonna sound like the cruchee football
player answer, But to be very honest with you, I
really love the violence of football, of contact, hiding people,
(05:53):
and I just felt like, you know, that gave me
the best position of the best sport to one used
the platform ver to get great education. And then you know,
I said, I didn't look at sports as a way out.
I looked at it as a way out to go
off to school and get a great education. I didn't
look at it a way out to go off to
school and make it a professional career. Um, So that
(06:16):
was kind of like the cherry on top of me.
But like I had accomplished everything I would wanted to
accomplish in sports, just by getting to a place like
another day to get a grad, to get it. The
group always yeah, because I always talked to cats. I
had relationship like Dailis Thomas his kid folks. So I
talked to him all the time about his experiences in
(06:36):
the NFL before I got there. And the first thing
he told me was the NFL stands for not for long.
So for me, it was like, all right, even if
I make it to the NFL, right, what's the odds
of me having this prolonged career, this successful career I
never had to work again? Very small? Right? So I
was gonna. I was gonna make sure that I did
everything in my power to use the platform and football
to set me up for what was going to be
(06:58):
long term and for me, I thought in terms what
I'm doing now honestly, But like I didn't. I didn't
put the eleven years of a great football career in
between Notre Dame and Golden SAX. So when, like when
did you decide? I guess you had already decided on going,
like getting your m b a UM, but what what
(07:19):
was like the found decision like now like when you're
in the league, Like when what what made you? Like
when you retired you were like, this is what I
want to do because obviously that you did have a
very prolonged career, very successful career, so you didn't necessarily
have to make this jump to a very successful business career.
That's funny you say that, like I didn't. I didn't
make a decision until it was like the deadline was
(07:39):
like two weeks out. So like my wife had went
toward and got her masters and non profit policy. She
ran in our foundation, so I'd seen her kind of
do the journey of second picture, you know, degrees and
soft So both you know, I've seen my wife, uh
do a great job of raising my kids to why
(08:00):
I was just assingt dead playing the film and look,
you know, really you know it or not, you know,
a professional like professional sports to make you're assing to dead.
You're always on the road. You're already your time from
you know, for me personally, because I got I got
in office pretty early every day, six thirty two, six
pm on good days, typically you're away from your family, right,
(08:22):
So and that's how I really dead right it is
my wife should help the sport down for years doing that.
So honestly, I went into retirement thinking that it was
my time to kind of be to stay at home dad.
It's all so like in two weeks, man, I really
realized that, like that's not my call, and that's not
what I want to do. Yeah. There, um, but even
(08:46):
if even else, even if I didn't necessarily have to
go to work, I want to go to work. I
want to kind of allow my kids to see, you know,
my legacy to my kids. Think, you know, when I retired,
I owe to something. Six He wasn't gonna remember anything
that I didn't not even one year or not really right,
So what was gonna be my kind of calling card
to him when he's eighteen, like whatever, the age of reconciliation,
(09:09):
as far as he has to figure out what he
wants to do. What was gonna be my legacy to him? Right?
If I went on the road that I looked like
I was gonna go play golf, drinking a couple of
you know, beauty uh but likes every day and sitting
up a couch and watching the Sports center with him.
Then when he became eighteen years old, his legacy to
me would like what dad does that? Can you not
do it? He wouldn't remember hard work out for them
(09:30):
until age thirty through. So you know, for me, going
to Warden was like, all right, I wanted to figure
out what I want to do. And while I was there,
the conversation I had while Gordon led me to go
up the sides and I mean, I don't want to
prolong his answer. I can go deeper into some of
those conversations and what led me in the finance, but
honestly it it had a lot to do with representation
(09:55):
for to athletes, for entertainers and athletes. Because I have
to be very honest with you, there's not a lot
of people that look like me, that has the experiences
that I have that I work on day basically, and
I don't We needed more of that. We needed more
people to have our back and have our understanding of
what it takes to to pick up blind zones an athlete,
(10:18):
but also have someone who's gonna say, Okay, I've been there,
but now I'm actually in these boardrooms and these board
seas and these offices with you know, typically white males
who's making decision on Wall Street, and you have representation
there because I'm there. That's why. That's that's the main
reason why I witness ianswer that answer this as you
(10:39):
will because we can talk about it. Um So, we
all playing the team, and I think we all fall
into the trap of not even in the trap. I
think we all football so so big in our lives
that school it becomes harder than it would be for
a Yeah. So I feel like, so explain to me
(11:02):
what type of student Justin Tuck was at Nordein because
I want to know how you go from being the
start player at Nordain to start playing in that field.
Two have enough. I don't even know what it was, energy, energy,
war and like, I want to know, kudos. That's a
(11:23):
great question. I didn't think I was gonna have to
go listen to depth only to be honest, I'm gonna
open you guys realizing about me growing up where I
grew up. My mom used to have the same and
like people coming in and say something my mom like,
you know, Justin got a couple of girlfriends, And my
(11:43):
mom was like, oh, I know, And they look at
it like what she's you okay with him have a
couple around, But she's like, oh, you can't have a girl. Yeah,
you know, I know one girlfriend is all social studies
and history, and I think he got one called physical education.
The other one justin you tell me about it. So,
(12:04):
like sports has always been very very important in my
life with my mom and my dad, and my dad
was a great athlete too. They didn't care about any
of that, Like I didn't get to play sports unless
I brought the suggested grades. And then by saying suggestion,
it was like, listen. My dad was the type of dude.
It was like what's offering on the test? I was
we're talking about he goes, what's the grade that's the
(12:26):
highest gradest offering on the test and I'm like, hey,
a hundreds, Like, well that's what you should get. Like there,
my dad, like nine nine is is you missing one?
Why would you missing one? It's like like I was
really the basketball player and I'll never forget because I
had one of the best games of my life and
I ain't gonna no no, no, no, no no no
(12:47):
no no, no, no no no listen. So Jerald always
grew up in my time, didn't he transferred out. Jerald
was the number one graded player and in the state
Alabama and like number six or maybe five in the country.
He was a mcgon's All America. He was a senior.
(13:07):
I was a sophomore. And uh, then we had this
another dude, another dude named Jamario. Jamario Moon was a
senior at that time. To Jamarto went on to play,
you know, twelve thirteen years in league as well. But
him the start the Star shows Jamario versus Journal, right,
so Birmingham News and all these TV proadcasts and in
uh in the state Alabama was coming to our gym
(13:28):
to watch these two kind of do get out that night?
I think I had, but I know I had forty
one points in like nine team abound. So I'm like,
so I kind of stole show that night. So I
say that, I say that to say this, I got
in the car because I'm sixteen. You know, my small
town people go are like, you know, the local Walmart
(13:49):
to hang out to celebrate. H Yeah, that's true. Start.
But I got in the car with my dad to
go home and the first thing he said to me,
and he goes, why you can still too three days
m So that's the kind of do what my dad was.
To go back to answering your question, my first couple
of years of Notre Dame was I was a pretty
decent student. Once I kind of started writing the wall
(14:11):
and I was going to the NFL, that that part
of my life kind of took a snack seat to
preparing for the next chapter there. That's understandable. School never
was hard for me. It was it was more about
me finding the motivation to pick forth the effort, and
when I had that in, everything was kind of feeling
(14:31):
place with me. The difference in being a regular student
at a place like Notre Dame and and being a
student after that place like No Dame. Like, I truly
don't understand still how we you know how we do
it considering that Notre Dame is not one of these
cupcake schools, whether profession is gonna be like, oh you
play sports, let me, let me help you get this
this great that it's almost a detriment because probably it's
(14:55):
just like looking at you like, oh, well, so and
so and so you know that football fan. So I
know he's giving you a better grade in these class
just because your football fans. So I'm gonna make it
double bart of you and mean, wow, so and so
and so. It's looking at the exactly you just didn't
you just getting your face meeting in the class because
this professional things like you're getting free bees and no
(15:18):
freebies are being had anywhere around campus. So I mean,
I listen, man, I used to get so mad walking
from from the football office to like South Dining Hall
right at seven o'clock, trying to make you know South
Dining Hall. And I don't know if that's the same anymore.
I assume you guys got so much more exactly like
(15:39):
having like you was fortune back when I was in
schools like the ship right now, you guys got like y'allall.
I used to hate that walk, especially in the fall
time where it was just getting cold. When you see
people on campus like barbecue and going freezebees, like, man,
that's not my that's not my college experience. Buddies, they're
(16:01):
they're loving life after two o'clock because classes out, you
got to whatever time you want to kind of be
out and about before you even have to be back
in taxe. We got practice at seven o'clock, your runs
and two makes out dining hall. After that you got
study hall or some level of like something that we
have to do some school. Then you gotta be under
six am because you got you know, six of your workouts,
(16:22):
especially like in all the season, like it's tough, like
it's what you're built for. So for me it was like,
ain't nobody want to hear my excuses? Right? Nobody wants
to hear my you know, see, micro, I'm serious. You
know what I could do is you realize this this
pain now, So the partying and the celebration I'm gonna
do later because I put forth this this effort. The
(16:45):
same thing like anything in football, right, the pain you
guys go through, the struggle you go through in this
offseason workouts when nobody sees it well you get to
go out there on Sartain and shine and season right
and all that has paid for all the work you
did behind closed doors. That's interesting. You say like you
were built for this. And I kind of want to
ask you, do you think a lot of people come
(17:07):
to Notre Dame and Notre Dame shapes him that way?
Or do you think people that come here already shaped
that way they just don't know it and it takes
Notre Dame to bring it out of him. You see
what I'm saying. Yeah, Man, Listen, in finance, you realize
that one of the best answers you can get a
client when you don't have that you and rafted is
it depends? Listen, man, I've seen, I've seen. I honestly
(17:32):
think from a football perspectives, most people come to Notre
Dame because recruiting, recruiting at a place like nerd Dame
is so high, right, if they're taking the three stars
because they see so such a crazy upside. Maybe he
played in a you know, a smaller you know, school
like Central Couza Conti, and maybe he's six five, he's
(17:53):
only a hunting ninety eight pounds, but his frame, he
could definitely toe to sixty. Maybe he's six five hunting
eight pounds, and we see him being able to put
on you know, not only sixty pounds, but even more
explosion because you ran out four or five and maybe
by the time he gets hit bout a four for
eight for the record. Everyone listening like like, that's the
(18:18):
only reason why even got my recruit story is crazy.
I on accident. They went to the wrong high school. Wow, Yeah,
that's insane. I mean like so like from that perspective, right, Uh,
was I built for it? No more? Mentally I was
then I was football. But then there's other people who
come in and they're like man childs where they come
(18:39):
in and they're you know, the five star recruit, their
you know, getting player here and then the third football Right,
they're probably built for and mentally because guess what, you're
that good in the high school. You've had so many
people telling you to ship for all these years that
like you're not even had this adversity. So their name
is a great place for adversity because it's such a
(18:59):
small unit that you guys worked with on a day
to day basis, right, you know, the football team is
your is your friend. So It's a great place to
go through adversity because it's just a small union and
typically are closer. So that's why I think about it
from the perspective of there it depends. Some cats come
in looking like me and we're, you know, my strength coach.
(19:22):
When I got there, was a guy named Mickey m Ride.
He's at Ohio State now, and Micky told me, man
walking into off, he put up all a clay on
the desk and started playing with it and he literally said,
like I'm a sculptor, you're the clay. Get out my office.
And that's what met And like I was his project
for three and a half years, and I think you
(19:43):
asked me, You'll tell you, Like, you know, my transition
from a physicality standpoint was off the charts, but I
was already there mentally, Like me walking to Notre Dame
State in the first day, I never get a line.
A senior guy named Kurt Bollins, and he was like, YO,
been kicking off, but in practic let's see what you're doing,
a real real thing. But for me, the real thing
(20:04):
was like this is this is plankful back, It's just happening.
We got eighty times from people watching us, who cares
as far as Nordon itself though, because you said your dad,
he had obviously a high standard for you, so as
far as nordin in itself, like you think you were
prepared for that, like this school the social aspect, being
(20:25):
able to uh, theater relationships and friendships and things of that.
So nah no um. I mean I had a lot
of success academically growing up, but the access that I
had to the tougher courses, the AP courses from high
(20:46):
schools limited, right, So when I got when I got
to school, I remember having discussions with my wife, Lauren,
who was my girlfriend, just comparing like our high school
experiences her taking She took eight AP courses, tested out
of like her almost her entire freshman year curriculum because
of her high school of course. Though, whereas me, man,
(21:08):
I'm like, man, I ain't seen art of stuff, so
it's like for me, it's just a tough time to
like get up to speed. It was like, you know,
I was already behind the eight ball to think about
comparing myself to the stupid body, stupid body population. Now
my junior year, I feel like, Okay, I've seen everything
(21:30):
you guys have seen, I'm going to put in the party,
so let's go from here. But like my first year
that was I got I got decent Graves just because
I killed myself trying to, you know, go to study halls,
get a tutor, and do all these different things that
typically athletes don't want to do it because we already egoes.
But I had no ego about it. For on the
(21:51):
field play obviously had a lot of success. And you
currently in only three seasons you hold the Total SACT
for career Sactually under the name there's that. Yeah, he's
a teammate of ours, Fosky. He'll have you do you
know Flosky? Do you guys have relationship? I text with him.
So one of my actually one of my clients is
(22:12):
a huge Notre Dame guy, and I think he was
connected with Cosy and he connected us, but he hasn't
followed up my waye. So make sure you tell him
like I tell all all the guys I come in
contact with. I'm an open door man. My cell phone
number has not changed since I was eighteen years old,
and I still have the same person email. I made
(22:32):
it as a Saltimore in college. I still used this day.
So yeah, I just I probably should let I should
probably let those go and get rid of some of
these old contacts that I think. It's amazing how he says, um,
he's an open book, because he really is. That's that's
a guy on his But I say the obviously because so,
(22:55):
um my official visit my junior high school, I'm in
the book story in my family in a bookstore. We're
trying to go by some shirts I think from our
brother and sister because we wanted the games so kind
of like we wanted everybody were like notre damn stuff.
I forgot who was giving the tour. But you know
what I'm saying, guess who's in the bookstory? Yeah, just
in the bookstore. He actually was walking around my family talking,
(23:18):
talking to me and my dad, my mom, you know,
saying introduced a little family is very nice, very you
know what I'm saying, No, no offense justin but obviously
a guy of your status, a guy if you're a
man of your your your status in life, you wouldn't expect,
you know what I'm saying, for you to be as
humble as you know. I'm saying. Opening it is down
to I'll come back. To that stage. But he was
(23:41):
very nice, very very nice to my family. Um introduced himself,
and you know, me, being seventeen years old, I'm like,
this is justin Tuck. Like I've seen him play like
he played could be one of the greatest game's, greatest
Super Bowls ever I've ever watched. Really just really like
limited me as a football fan, like in general, watched
him grew up trying to trying to recreate the face
(24:02):
mask and stuff I'm mattering and stuff like that, just
you know, stuff like that, and I'm like, wow, like,
so this is what a notre dame man is, Like,
you know what I'm saying, this is something, this is
what I could be if I come here. And he
really just made a good impression. And I'm not gonna
lie to you that right there was a big part
of reason I committed that day. So you need to
tell you need to tell all the people. And he
(24:23):
gave me his never and he told me, he said, um,
he said, you know what I'm saying, if you ever
need anything, reach out in loum Behold. Three years later,
I reached out four years later, four years later, four years,
four years But I'll say two things of that one.
I get frustrated a lot, man, I really do. I'll
(24:43):
tell you why you guys don't understand. Yeah, you will.
It's like it's like when I was in school, I
didn't appreciate what nor day meant until I was no
longer there, right when I graduated and started to see
like the doubt man, the alumni iron and people come
out of wood works around the fact that okay, you
don't want to bless now, how can we help you?
(25:06):
And with I l and some other things are going
on in college athletics. Now, I would assume that that's
going to start to take told earlier in the process
share um. But for me personally, I didn't appreciate all
of it until after I got off off NuRD and campus,
which is a you know that's a tragedy honestly. But
(25:26):
like I get frustrated guys, man, because I think they think,
and go back to your statement, they think like, Okay,
they see me on Sunday, they see me in Pro Bowls,
they see in the Super Bowls, they whatever it is.
At the end of the the day, man, I put my
parents on one one day and pick time like you
and if I can't even realize that like somebody when
I was your age, somebody did something to help me
(25:49):
along the way, regardless if I knew it or not. Right,
my dad used always tell them, manage. You don't even
understand how many people praying to you right to get
to where you're going or ever. Maybe so for me,
I always I lived by the same man. I truly
believe that I'll never I'll die in my bradies thinking this.
There's no way that I can pay it back for
(26:10):
all the people that have done whatever for me. I
don't know, I know something of it right to some
people make it very obvious that they're helping you out.
But for the most part, there's a lot of people
out there is that are said a kind word or
you know your name, came up with conversations with somebody
that mag make a difference in a life later on
they had something with safety with you or about for
(26:30):
you that that that tough hole and you know that
was a ruple in the pollen right of your life.
But like, I can never pay it back, so I
gotta pay it forward. So whatever it is that justin
tux platform has or can lend value to, I don't
get satisfaction out of like saying, oh, Justin tuch platform,
let me keep it here, I can satisfactor. You gonna say, oh,
(26:52):
Justin touch platform. How could I help the next possible
Justine Tough or the next whoever? Is right? Because that's
what the legacy is about. Legacy ain't about accumulation. Legacy
is about gifts. Right, what can I do with what
God has given me? The platform? The NFFL provide the platform,
and golden side of provides what can I do with
(27:13):
that to bring somebody else along? Because that's exactly what
people did for me. The Tim Browns of the world,
the you know, the the wrong Bedicist of the world,
the you know, the tom and Dozes of the world.
Jimmy done to the world. All these guys that are
connected with I mean with with with Notre Dame looked
out for me. And when I went to Pittsburgh and
played against the Steelers, guess what took me out to dinner?
(27:35):
It was wrong and I just so happened that he
made me paid so so for the same thing, like
I tried my best to do the same thing. And
the sprustrating part is guys do not because again they
hold you that this pedal stools thinking like, oh man,
this guy ain't gonna respond again where they don't reach out.
(27:58):
I tell about the time, I'm just a country boy
from Chelton out Abound, and it's very suself because a
lot of people have paid the way for me, and
at least I was smart enough to try following their
systems that can't. I went off my own path for
some regards, But like, there's really nothing that I've done
that somebody else before me hasn't done or hasn't given
(28:19):
me some levels of the insight into the blueprint to do.
I see that on a on an everyday basis. I
see like, um, like talking with the freshmen, they feel
like they come in and they obviously are coming from
these like four or five star status is and they
have a hard time understanding that nerd Dame is what
nerd Dame is. So they they have a hard time
(28:40):
making friends outside of football. They have a hard time
and humbling themselves and saying, oh, yes, I played football. Yeah,
but I can also talk to whoever you know what
I mean. And that's something that I feel like I've
benefited a lot from the last three years here because
I even fell into a trap. I'm thinking, I'm from
l and start playing high school whatever it is, and
(29:01):
I come there, Dame and I'm this and that, and
it took for me to step back, and I'm like, Okay,
what I really want to get out of this college?
I could be at any other I could be at Maryland.
What I want to get out of college. I don't
want to be this football And then that's it. I
want to meet people. I want to get new experiences.
I want to see what I haven't seen in a
small town of Baltimore in one of the East coaches,
(29:23):
you know. I mean, that's that's a big thing. I
think a lot of people need to really listen to
that because egos can get in a way because I mean,
like a lot a lot of times, like you just
you never really know like where a conversation can take you,
you know what I'm saying, Like just any one conversation
you can really change your whole mindset change. I was like,
I never real looked at it like that. Or they're saying, wow,
(29:45):
this person really is doing something that you who knows
you made meet something. It's like somebody's like, wow, this
person doing something that I've been wanting to do for
so long, but I never really had an opportunity to
I didn't know how to get into it. And now
I just met this person, and now now there would
be the whole me or vice versa. You're able to
help somebody else. And I kind of talking about the
ego thing to like especially you know what I'm saying,
(30:06):
People are gonna happen. Just like you said, Justin. People
are gonna have their own assumptions about you because of
who you are, your football player or athlete, So people
are gonna think whatever about you. But I think what
I've noticed a lot of times since being here is like, um,
I think you've talked about this one or two times
in the podcast, but just like when you open your
mouth and it's not coming from a place of the
(30:27):
ego is not coming from a place of oh I'm this,
Oh I'm not or blah blah blah, like people are like, oh,
you're nice than I expect that your way and I
expect It's like I didn't even I didn't even I
expected you to be on some other on on something else.
You know what I'm saying that it's just like so
(30:48):
justin it's kind of funny. So I always say him
on the team as well. But I'm from like Granger
and they like from around here. So have some buddies
that came from my school here, and we used to
hang out with them a lot, like summers and all this,
and and the funny part about hanging out with them
is that they they're kind of like because gam kJ
and Kyle is not here, but you know, the big
time recruits and these guys love Notre Dame and so
(31:10):
they're all they keep track of, like this stuff, and
so they know these guys, but they don't know them, right,
So we meet them and then they're kind of like
nudge me like without them looking at like like these
guys are really nice, like like they're super nice. And
I'm like the same as you, like like every everyone here,
like you, like you said you put your parts on
(31:30):
one leg at a time, like you tie your shoes
like it's I'm like, I know, I know you're not,
like you just don't know him yet. And and it's
a very interesting dynamic that happens, especially at the Other Dame,
just because how good the athletics are here, you know, right, Yeah,
I was gonna say, Man, I've had some conversations with
Coach Freeman a lot of different things about I personally
(31:50):
want to do to kind of deil community regard. He's
just you know, and like, obviously recruiting is it's so
vital and keeping this program where it is and obviously
taking to the next level. Right, So as in course
of problem, like how can we helping recruiting obviously not
doing anything it's gonna get us any trouble anything, definitive
again whatever, justin to the platform is all I can
(32:11):
be helpful. Blah blah blah. That goes. And you were
just to talk about what is the Nerding kid, right,
and he's like, listen, then you see it, you know,
And from that perspective, you know, I think one of
the reasons why we we're sitting there have a conversation
around it. Man, You're you're granger, your Grainger. Butters are saying,
oh man, these guys are nice. But I'm not talking
(32:32):
bad about any other place. Because there is an Alabama
player there is it comes in player. There is a
usc quote unquote player, right, but the Nerding player typically
is more well around, right, just because of it is
what it is. And again I'm not saying anything bad
about in your place. I'm just speaking positively about what
nerding looks like. Nerding players are gonna be good at
(32:54):
one or two things. They're gonna be good at football
and go on too a great football career and then
going to a a secondary transition career. Well that's business
whatever it may be. Or they didn't work out football guys,
but because they're nerd dain man and they did what
they did a classroom, so on soco, we're gonna go
into like be successful into the sector in which they
want to do it right. So, if you never respected right,
(33:15):
Nerdain is not a place I tell you, I tell
I used to tell recruits when I was there. I
still tell any the guy and I talked to you now,
nor Dame is not a place if you want to
just just go to them, like if that's your goal
only nor They probably isn't the best place for you. Now.
We obviously put a lot of guys into the NFL
(33:36):
rapidly high pick so on and so forth. But like,
in order for you to truly have the Nerding experience
and it be a a a wonderful one for you,
there has to be something just more right. So I
wouldn't I mean if I was, if I just said
to myself, for kid in Alabama, if I said to myself, man,
I just won't go to the NFL. Wh why the
(33:57):
hell when I go to Alabama? Harvard there right in
my back door. Yeah, sec school, I've gotta be seen
by blaha. Lah, I'm not gonna be quote unquote pressure
in in being the best student. I can be the
cast that I know that with the Alabama from my
time in football with Cats who literally said man, I
wouldn't go to the NFL, and obviously you know album
(34:18):
clist them out. But like from the NDAME perspectives, we
typically have guys that say, man, I want to play.
I won't play in the the NFL, but if it doesn't
work out, I want to have something that's in my
resume that just goes wild. And trust me, from a
perspective of a person who's in the in the in
the business of hiring people now right, the first thing
(34:41):
I look at is like, Okay, he's a student athlete
the Nurre Dame. I'm using that as a proxy. The
first thing I said is like, I already know it.
That's about, I know we're getting something that this resume
can't cold right to the NFL and threat three guys
on the rocks. As the captain of those teams, I
had to find a way to take fifty three alpha
males and their egos and get them all pulling the
(35:03):
rope in the same direction. I can't put that on
a res but I know when I'm in a boarding
with twelve people and level of Holy ins idoleague schools
and Valbatori of their class and bla blah blah blah
and boo bla, and trying to figure out what is
the the answer for the client and how to take
all right, this ego, that ego, this ego, that ego,
(35:24):
this answer to that answer, this answer, and pull all
that the dealer in a way that like we can
go out and say this is the best suited, you know,
solution for the client that doesn't have my ego on it,
that doesn't have these other eleven people's egos on but
it's the best thing. That's what I think about when
I think about resumes that say athlete plus uh predominantly
(35:47):
toughs that that I wouldn't think about the same way
if I said, athlete from predominantly you know, athlete factory
types too. I always had a fear with the resume
thing because obviously we allocate them the amount of time
to football on school and I don't. I haven't had
an internship or anything like that. So but I want
(36:08):
to get into law. I want to be an agent.
I want to do I want to do essentially what
you're doing on the law side. And um, I always
scared because I'm like, Okay, well, hopefully they can see that. Okay,
I go to nor Dame and I play football here
and they can see that my time was allgated there.
But obviously what is that? How much did that way?
And I always ask my question myself, that question, like
(36:29):
she's how what am I gonna do after football? You
know what I mean? And I always scared to me.
But from what you just said, but you know, I mean,
people I can to in the Baltimore area, did yourself.
I would really appreciate that. I appreciate that, like that's
not even more like the fact of them. I was
like two names just popping my head. I was it
was teammates, right and rose Wood wouldn't. I don't know
(36:55):
if water with those two guys that she called them
right now and like, yo, man from Baltimore, basically what
I'm gonna do, hope do? And they go if they go, well,
what just say? You know, just stuff told me to
call you because I guarantee you this there is There
is never a time in your life when you can
(37:15):
make relationships better than when you're hot. And guess what,
you guys are coming off a phenomenal season. You went
to the two If yousta blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah bla bla bla bla bla blah blah blah,
everybody wants to talk to you. Every every donor, every alumni,
every student, whatever, everybody wants to have a conversation and
(37:37):
relationship with you. Now, fast forward. Let's just say football
doesn't work out and fast forward teen years. Now, fast
forward teen years. If you stay down, I wouldn't make
this relationship happy. Guess how hard that's gonna be hard
because no one cares about it, you know what I mean?
Guys like you know what I'm guys that I played with,
(37:58):
they were all pros or whatever they be, and they
they smelled their own ship and didn't want to go
out to meet you know, people who own this box
or meet this privacy could own in the city or
meet this catch. But I'm manager in the city. And
then they called me was like eight and they called
me teen years later. But hey, man, can you introduce
this also or something? Whereas what I did in the
(38:19):
offseason was and we want a Super Bowl. I'm not
going out a party. I'm going on and saying, all right,
New York giants, who are the big downs or the
investors or this tweet owners that I should be making
contacts with you, And I would take him off to
have lunch or recast or dinner or a coffee or
(38:40):
a walking apart. I don't care. But like me, I
knew like I did it, I knew interfil stood and
not along. So how do I transition? How do I
make my transition scenes make relationships? But when I when
I figure out what it is that I want to do,
I can go and say, okay, how many people I
know on Wall Street because I want go working Wall Street?
(39:01):
Or if I said, how many guys do I know
that has a franchise in business because I want to franchise.
You know, dunking donas or how many guys and I
know they're in real estate because I want to get
into the real estate, but installed and so forth. And
I had a role in dex of whatever number you know,
fifty guys on Wall Street, fifty guys in real estate,
(39:22):
fifty guys and franchise fet the guys that that that
had some level of like extratise in sports. And what
I figured out, what is that I want to do?
Guess what, I already had relationship with the people. So
it wasn't me going in like after I wasn't hot
and saying, hey, guys, can you help me out? No, no no, no,
I've already had years of dialog, years of conversation, years
(39:45):
of saying you know what it is you understanding what
their businesses look like, and trying to add value in
the role as an NFL player. Well, that looked like
coming into the offices and giving their their their their
selves team helped off or being present on their keys
talk birthday because I was his favorite player. Whatever that
(40:06):
looked like. So now I'm not going were hot in football,
But guess what, I'm already good. The relationships that I
needed to make my transition how it just opens your
mind to the possibility of what's next. Like I obviously
like and y'all get this, while guys don't think this
because you can imagine in the NFL locker, they used
(40:26):
to like put our lives chicks on our in our locker,
and some of the rookies would go around and look
at some of the bits chicks right now, look at
how much you make it whatever, and like I'll nefinitely
get this man which came to me and he had
my chick in his hand. I'm like, dude, what are
you doing? He goes, man and he had had my
check like this. He goes and I want to be
(40:47):
like the one And I was like, let me, let
me let me people to some game real quick. And
all young guys have seen a sign check. There's a
difference between the signature on the front and the signature
on the back. The signature on the front is the owners.
The signature on the back is the employee. So I
(41:08):
tell p wrong time, don't be like that dude on
the back. We did like to do a little bit
so like saying that I want to be like Justin Tup.
I don't even want to be like the next Justin Tuck. Yeah,
I want to be the next John Merrie Kiss you
know those dudes. I wanted to be the guy who's
paying you, not getting because that's a that's a different
level of wealth when it comes to ownership. Right in
(41:30):
the world that we live in. Guess what athletes make
a time? You know, nothing to be ashamed of. Trust me,
I lived that life and great, But there's a different
level when it's like I own this and I can
think about it right all right? Everyone talks about how
much money lebron makes. Somebody's paying him, and not only
(41:51):
they're paying him, they're paying fifteen others. Yeah, well I'll
take that back, they're paying that was the other on
the payroll. So just a man and how many day makes.
So if you if if you want to, if you
want to be like just man, just I want you
guys to use me as like your foundation. You're like
what someone's kind of a ladder like. I won't be
(42:11):
one of those steps that you step on, go way above.
Just have we even got to NFL. I don't think.
I don't even think we need kind of I kind
of want to talk a little bit about gold sack
stuff we kind of want to really hit on what
Goldman Sacks is like for you, Um, like, what does
the day to day look like? What's what's the mindset difference?
(42:33):
As far as I mean, obviously you're professional in the
league and now your professional Golden Sacks, Like, is there
is there a similarities? Obviously there's differences like what's the
mindset like and what's the day to day like? And
it's a harder easier, definitely hard but yeah, to be
honest with you again when I told you about the
(42:53):
best answer in five minutes, it depends. Um, So my
days some days are out. You know. I equated to
like me as the as the leader of our team.
I'm the hunter and I got guys that guys and
gals that me and they're the farmers. And what I
mean by that is every day I'm looking at ways
to grow our business right, ways to bring in new assets,
(43:16):
ways to connect with you know, new clients. So I'm
going out of the hunt for those opportunities and the
ecosystems that I did. And I got a great team
of people who kind of sit back and like as
I conquered more land, they farmed at land for me.
I'm trying not to imagine you like a wolf Wolf
of Wall Street type of Uh, it's not very true,
(43:42):
but like it's intense, man, And like I usually I say,
it's harder then football. We played football. That's why. That's
why I was gonna ask that's something that that's something
I grew up doing, where like, honestly, like football was easy.
It is. It's just it's the only hard think about
football is on the society with somebody that's just as
(44:05):
talented and won't suggest that that's the hard thing about football. Like,
you guys are smart. There's not a scheme that you
can't pick up you guys in athletic there's not anything
that coach go to ask you to do that honestly,
what body want to you to do it just a
little intangibles that make football for this world. Here man,
it's like my biggest competition system right next And like
(44:29):
I got people don't understand that the literally the biggest
competition and growth of my business is someone another team
within Golding Sacks and doing the exact same and they're
they're they're they're frequently in the same markets that I'm in,
so I gotta beat them. To the punch, so they're
gonna to the pun. We are on the same page.
We're all on the same team, but like you are
independent contractors that they gotta gotta build our own. It's
(44:52):
like be playing because of the like every year they
brought they got Yeah, they brought in a new first
round to take my job. He's on my team, but
he's the a competition. Would you play it behind Michael Strahan? Yeah, yeah,
Michael in the same room. There's Michael straighthand Justin touch
year in Europe. Then Michael retires and we got justin
to New York. I'm like, I'm not I'm not even
(45:19):
telling you about the guys who rode back up, like
David Thompson, who had five sacks in a year playing
probably plays. He was the beast to the way he
just couldn't get on the field that could right. We
had Chris Canton, he had Rocky Nord, We had Livill
Joseph who still plays. We had eight guys who could
(45:39):
go to start anywhere else in the country. The hard
part really about anything that you gotta do next after
football is that when I left football, I was the
cream and cream, right, you know, won Super Bowls. My
name was very high in football when you try position.
(46:01):
The hard parts to athletes in general is when we
transition to something brand new. We feel like we should
transition like this, Right, I was here in football in
the NFL. When I come to go to SACK and
should here, right. You know, I'm gonna give myself that flexibility,
that time to build out my craft like I did
(46:21):
in football. So when I come to go to SACK,
I'm going through the analyst program. I'm going to train.
I'm partnering with a team and be a junior asset
to that team to understand how the senior people do it,
just like I did in football when I came to
Even when I came to the NFL, I looked at
micro Streen and I said, you know what, I don't
know everything. I will follow him around in practice, I
don't make it very annoying to him because I don't
(46:43):
be that little puffy that just followed him around and
like picks up all the chromes that he leaves behind. Right.
And I did that for two years. So when he retired,
I still right in and and had the best year
up until that point in my career because I was
ready for them, not because I walked in day one
and said I'm just as good in the NFL as
I was in college. Nobody comes in anyway. I don't
(47:06):
care if you know Michael Parsons came in, trust me,
he was he was. He was more of a B,
said Penn State. And he was a B said Dallas.
Just because now he obviously made the transition. That's the most.
But you get my phone right, So like I think
the hard part in the transition for athletes just saying,
like all, give myself embrace because this is new to me.
(47:27):
I'm new to this and how do I how did
I make success in football is because I took it
as a kid. One player at the time. I think
we're gonna move. One time, I was had to the
garage this question because from Danny Gully and the access
um who is your all time favorite Irish player? And
it needed that impact that you choosing Notre Dame. And
I think kJ already answered his question. You know Notre
(47:52):
Dame was on NBC every day, but like typically you
only got a Nore Dame in our games, So check
the story out. I'm in a bit of sports. I
just got a fresh hat, and I wanted I wanted
a baseball hat and uh him a sports for some reason.
Other It's like a whole section of hats Alabama, all
different color ways, a whole section of Auburn hats all
(48:13):
different color ways, and then like a small section of
like hats are like from different you know, popular teams
to Chicago Bulls, so you new York Yankees, And all
of a sudden, I see this white and gold at
white god brim and I was like, Dad, I want
to hat, so Farry Moore and I said, didn't want
to hat. And the reason why I wanted that hat
because Notre Dame was on one of the TVs and
(48:35):
number six was running the ball. Don't know if I
told Jerome that, so, like without me knowing that Jerome
had a huge factors, was like mental imprint on my account,
like first name moment. And when I was going through
the process of getting through it, I remember that. So
I bought and I had my dad bought me a
Nerd Dame hat. When I was like, I don't know
(48:57):
how well, I feel like like some around that's crazy, Okay,
there's so much fate around me choosing the name. I
assume it's the same way everyone goes there. That's something
outside of just you know, they were the best recruiters,
or there's some person's story or connection of some regard
that kind of puts you on that. So my answer
(49:19):
is a little bit different. I didn't grow up watching
her that much. This does sound weird, but I would
probably say favorite player. How And here's why, I don't
even know nothing. I thought about this, and I thought
about this as what about to choose college your favorite?
(49:42):
I probably say so, and here we've been through it,
We've been through it together, and he's he's obviously got
the instagratification before I did. So I was able to
learn so much from him in his process and the
way that he approached, the way that he approached games,
the way he approached how he's going to guard this receiver,
(50:03):
the way you approach everything. And for me, I didn't.
I didn't. I don't think watch the league, nice nice guy.
I didn't get to watch those guys. So I feel like,
you know, you got text him after this. I reacted
like that because I was thinking about like impacting your
(50:25):
choosing ther name, and I was like, how did you
impacted me choosing their Dame part of the second part
of it. Oh, he like, yeah, mine is a little
different obviously. Yes, no, I'm ana walk on, so recruiting
is a little different. But um, like I said earlier,
(50:46):
I'm from around here. So I did watch a lot
of the Nerd Dame games growing up. It's gonna sound
very cliche, but Chris Fink I went to the Michigan game.
I believe you kJ was there. You probably have this kJ,
but the one of the first like in the first
quarter of CHRISTIANNK I'd like the touchdown catch. I already
jumped over like two machine defenders and I was like,
(51:07):
you know, I want to do that some day. Obviously,
because he came Notre Dame as a walk on, and
I was like that that'd be really cool. And at
that point I already got the opportunity to be for
a walk on. It was like, now that that's pretty cool,
and that definitely influenced my decision to come here for sure. Yeah,
isn't that crazy? He was in the same game together,
how I did, Like I walked past him, don't even
(51:27):
know he was justin You're obviously impacted me coming here. Um,
I would say my favorite Notre Dame player because somebody
you I didn't really watch Notre Dame too much, but
I definitely did a little probably a little bit more
than you. You're saying that you did. I probably to
say my favorite Notre Dame player was um, every girls.
(51:48):
I was like kind of not like wave of like
I really like Denard Robinson's and like I like I
like growing up Atlanta, like Mike Vick was like, you know,
so I love seeing like black quarterbacks like kind of
like using athletes as a toy, just really kind of
take over the position, to take over the field. You
know what I'm saying kind of reminds me like a
point guarded basketball, like just something crazy. And yeah, I
(52:08):
probably say ever goes in. All right, So we're gonna
go ahead and jump into the should we just start
calling the rapid fire questions? Now, that's what we've been
doing last week. We call it. We try to call
it like something not a certain amount of questions under
a minute, but no one ever makes it under the minute.
So but they are rapid questions and you can go
in depth as much as you want or as little
as you want. So and go ahead and get into it.
(52:31):
You're ready all right. So the first one is favorite
city in the US besides the one you currently live in.
What's the time frame of the year? Um? Like the
every first person to ever asked a question to the
question of the question, Yeah, you are the first person
to do I think. I think sometimes probably Chicago? What time?
(52:57):
I love San Diego? I still away from Miami and
man because my line is just a little nuts. Uh.
The second question nickname, your parents used to call you
a man man? Uh. Would you rather be able to
speak every language in the world or be able to
(53:19):
talk to animals? Yeah? I'm probably gonna go with the
talk of animals. You can learn to speak multiple languages,
all right, but if I allocated time, I'm not I'm
not gonna be able to speak every language without bay
to speak the water I want to speak. There's no
way to learn how to speak to them. Yeah. What's
your favorite holiday? Probably Christmas? It's a board and that's
(53:39):
a board answer. Yeah, I like like I like getting
presents and giving them and also I love, you know,
whenever the family gets together. So Christmas is reality Big
dogs and small Dogs. I'm a big dog friend. Favorite
TV show currently Let's Do Currently to be honest with you.
My wife's has me watching so many of these weird
(54:00):
show Netflix. I don't watch a lot of TV because,
like I worked a little. It used to be big
bank dude, honest with you now like that. Honestly, I
don't have an answer for I don't. I don't watch
a lot of TV. Would you prefer a golf trip
in Arizona or Georgia? Well, there's a golf club in Georgia.
(54:20):
Then everyone everyone wants to play, so I'm just gonna
do it. Yeah, makes sense. Favorite condiment? I mean, I
probably care to come on all the kind of a
from from Alabama? What's your favorite com honey Western ranch? Listen?
(54:47):
I was. I was answering the question from the perspective
of which one did I use the most? Okay, so
we gotta start rephrasing. Would you rather take the lad cat?
I've taken the inter So yeah, I would say breakfast, lunch,
or dinner. I likes the best of all the threal
(55:07):
but I really eat breakfast, which is weird. So I
had to answer your question. I love dinner. Do you
Cali or Florida? Not just call Florida, don't think Florida.
I mean, I gotta go to CALLI then, because I
just told you say diego Yeah, what's your favorite song?
Right now? I listened to a lot of music is
(55:31):
people and songs song from three? What's your favorite dinners
part in New York? And we believe you do live
in New York correct vicinity? And they, yeah, ask me questions.
Don't give me in trouble, right because I have so
many relationships with people who own restaurants that I can't
really say. I can't really say his favorite Let's take
(55:53):
it to Alabama. Let's take it to Alabama Springhill. It's
a restaurant off of Lake martin in In in Callapoosa
County Hillasanna c outgrown, Wow, wows biggest? What's your biggest fear? Snakes?
A good one? That's just like a good one. What's
(56:15):
your biggest pet? Peeve? People who drive in the fast
one going speeding every day in New York too, That's
what's up. So they're gonna wrap it up there, And
(56:36):
I appreciate your doc. Thanks the anytime. Again, I feel
like this is like a dead force that I have
to be. It's a pleasure to be helpful, right, So
trying can never be assistance man. Give me up a lot.
Thank you to everyone listening to this podcast. Uh, we
just wanna get a special shout to Paul never talked about. Yeah,
(56:58):
I get that. Hey go. Thank you Paul, most of
the most suspecially most importantly, thank you Justin for coming on.
We really appreciate it. You know, you're a busy man
taking the time out to come and come and chat
with us. That I appreciate it. Ill pleasure for sure.
Thank you all.
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