October 22, 2021 • 20 mins
Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens (aka T.O) sits down with Tanya and shares his experiences with shady financial agents, his entrepreneur endeavors with wine and exploring Non-fungible token (NFTS).
Host IG:@itstanyatime
Guest IG: @terrellowens
Check out his wine at 81vino.com
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, money Movers, Welcome back to the Money Moves Podcast
powered by Greenwood. We are here once again to give
you the keys to the financial kingdom of wealth, abundance
and success. They say great players make great plays and
(00:22):
big moves in big games. Well that is exactly what
our special guest did for sixteen seasons in the NFL.
His resume is beyond impressive. A five time All Pro,
a six time Pro bowler, he ranks third in the
all time receiving yards and third in total touchdowns with
one hundred and fifty three. But it gets better. In
(00:42):
two thousand eighteen, he was inducted into the Pro Football
Hall of Fame. We're going to talk to the one,
the only, the Indomitable Terrell Owens, also known as t O,
about his journey to the top and the ups and
downs along the way. We'll also get his advice on
what it takes to be successful in doing whatever in
devor you choose. Welcome t O Ali. How are you
(01:03):
guys doing? Thanks for having me. I'm so excited to
have you here. Thank you so much for your time.
How are you today? I'm good? I'm good. Uh. Enlightened
to to be a part of this, uh, this segment
the show. I'm no stranger to uh to obviously the media,
especially these social media platforms, and really just for me
just understanding how blessed that I've been, my path, my
(01:24):
journey to become successful. It hasn't always been the best situation.
There's been some some peaks and valleys, uh, some ebbs
and flow of life, and so I've I've tried to
navigate through all of that the best that I could,
that I could. I love that, I love that, and
I love thank you so much for being just so
forthright and open about saying, you know what what you
see on Instagram, what you see on social media. Like
(01:46):
you know, we've all gone through peaks and valleys, you know,
the highs and the loads of success, especially being in
the public eye for so long. UM. Let's talk about
the financial mindset that you grew up with. Did you
grow up with the idea of, like how the importance
of saving money, um and putting aside money for the future. UM. Honestly,
I had had no idea. UM. I come from a
(02:07):
low income family on small town in Alexander City, Alabama. UM,
all I knew was food stands. We were on welfare,
so understanding as I grew older. Um, that was something
that again I got teased. You know, certain kids got
teased for for being on welfare. I remember standing, um,
you know, in in lines to get you know, cheese
(02:28):
and things of that nature. The WIG program my mom
was a part of. And so um, when you talk
about financials or literacy, something that I honestly had no
idea about. So as an athlete, when you become obviously successful,
becoming a professional athlete, uh, you know for that matter, Um,
you have to hire people to obviously manage manage your
(02:51):
financial situation. And so that's pretty much what I did.
They promised to take care of you, and it's like
these pipe dreams were don't worry, I've got your best
interested hurt and you want to believe that, right. Yeah.
And I think the agent that I had, and Drew
Rosenhouse and when I signed on with him, didn't really
think too much about it, as I felt like at
that time that's the type of representation that I needed, um,
(03:12):
considering some of the things that I was doing on
the football field. Upon me signing with them, that was
one of the things that I inquired about, was you know,
I needed a financial a new financial advisor, financial advisor
right exactly. And so the idea of you know, now
we have we have these digital platforms. Now, well we
(03:33):
can really be on top of everything. Prior to technology,
we had the power of attorney. That's what we had
to do. We had to sign a power of returning
because it just allowed somebody else to like move your
money for you. Right exactly before we were you know,
had such the technology that that we have now to
have you know, immediate access and we can control pretty
(03:55):
much everything. So back then two years ago, um, we
had these final of the advisor that kind of did
the work force and so, um, long story short, that advisor.
I had a company called Pro Sports Financial. Obviously, you
know when I was getting away from Rosenhaus Sports, getting
away from I was at the end of my career
(04:15):
and getting away from from them because I started to
see some some uncharacteristic type of things happening my last year.
And that's when I got a forensics, uh financial forensics accountant.
I had some people to put those people in place
to kind of you know, scrub through everything. That's when
I found out like, yeah, you know, there was there
was money missing, they opened up frog under the accounts. Uh,
(04:37):
force my signature again. But this are like overwhelming, right,
But a lot of that was due because again I
was living Uh they were located in Florida, and I
had bought a place in Forlord to live in the
all season. But I was playing in I was playing
in Buffalo, I was playing in Cincinnati. So when you
(04:57):
need quick transactions, I can't just fly or whatever. So
that's where the power of attorney basically kind of you know,
screwed me over. But now, um but now, like I said,
you know, you have a lot of these new apps
that have come out, docusigned things of that nature, well
getting similar to facts and all that stuff. Um, but
now I wouldn't encourage any kid, um you know, to
(05:18):
to to sign a power of attorney for them to
do anything. The agent that I had and drew Rosenhouse
and Rosenhouse Sports, they screwed me over. So I got
to I got taken advantage of, um, you know, along
the way. If if there was one piece of advice
that I could give anybody, especially when you've worked so hard,
and especially there's a lot of kids, girls and little
(05:40):
boys and and and everybody that has dreams and they
have aspirations, um and for to prevent things you know,
from happening to them that has happened to me and
other guys that have been taking advantage of I would
say this, don't give them. Don't give them trust that
they haven't earned. You the person have worked all your
life to obtain your dreams. They can assist in the
(06:03):
in the in the in the in the in the in,
the capturing in the process of that the path of
journey that you're working upon, But don't give them the
trust that they haven't earned. That makes so much sense,
and it seems like a really simple piece of advice,
but it's heavy and it's meaningful, and it's incredibly powerful,
especially to so many, so many of our audience who
(06:25):
are out there trying to figure out their next stages
in life. And I think it applies not just to sports,
but you know, other businesses that people are launching. I
think of, you know, in my own family, for example,
my sister was a doctor and physician, and she went
through the exact same thing. You hire somebody to manage
your financials for you so that you can do what
your love. She was passionate about medicine. You were passionate
about football, and you get taken advantage. So it happens
(06:48):
across all spectrums of industry. And I think that being
candid about sharing these conversations can potentially help so many
more people. So we appreciate you for just being open
and honest about it. And you know, that's how people learn.
We learned through our mistakes and we pick ourselves up
and keep on moving right. Absolutely, and so again, at
the end of the day, like I said, I'm very
(07:09):
I'm very blessed with the pitfalls that I've gone through,
with the money that I've that I've lost, the money
that I you know, I had kind of mismanaged, UM
stolen from me. UM. If if I didn't become the
Hall of Famer that I did, and obviously having a
name that goes a long way UM that h O
F associated with it, then it would, like said, it
would be it would be a struggle, honestly, probably would
(07:32):
be one of those guys probably you know, suffering from depression,
you know, trying to figure out, Okay, what to do next,
what's my name move? How can I survive? UM? And
so I'm very fortunate, and again to be in the
situation uh that I am because I know and I
put myself and I try to put myself in and
guys choose that didn't have a fifteen year career, or
(07:52):
didn't have a Hall of Fame career, or don't have
anything to fall back on, is such a you know,
with an education in which they've gone to school for
uh to to to really uh you know, obviously support
themselves or their families for that matter. So my stories
for me, you know, being on a platform a show
like this, to to share my stories. And I'm hoping
(08:13):
a lot of these moms and dads and much for
a lot of these single moms, UM that are raising
these these these these black boys um to be athletes
or what have you. Um. That's why I feel like
my my my voice, UM, what I'm saying is valuable
because a lot of these parents they don't know UM
and a lot of these agents, UM, they promised to
(08:36):
take care of you. And it's like these pipe dreams
where don't worry, I've got your best interested hurt and
you want to believe that because this is a stepping
stone for you know, like you say, single moms and
young black boys in our youth. But we really have to,
as they say, like pull ourselves up to the table
and make sure that you know this is a different
new world. Like we can have a seat, we can
have to say, and there are so many tools out
(08:57):
there where we can educate ourselves more are so that
we have you know, power and control. I'm like no
other athlete. I'm sure that has come before me, and
there will be something that comes after me. That these
these these uh, these these people are in positions to
to manage your money. They're gonna probably try to find
ways to kind of funnel some money or get some
money from you, use you some kind of way to
(09:19):
put money in their pockets. And so um, like I said,
this is not a victim story. This is just a real, true,
real story, UM at its best. And so I'm one
of those guys that went through it. Um. I heard
about it, these things happening before it happened to me.
And I was one of those guys you know sitting
in you know some of these uh, these these locker
rooms or these meeting rooms when you know, the NFL
(09:42):
brought people in to share their stories. I was one
of those kids, and like, oh man, this is not
gonna happen to me. I have the best, I have
the best agent, I have the best you know, financial
um representation. It's not gonna happen. But it did because
I wasn't on the top yet, because I wasn't on
top of my finances, uh as I should have. And
we talk about financial literacy. You know, a lot of
(10:04):
these kids, you know, um, you know, teenage kids, you know,
early in the early twenties. If they don't, if they
didn't grow up in that environment where they're being taught
you know, by mom and dad or what have you,
or how to manage money, then you don't ultimately know.
This is why I think conversations like this are so important,
you know, and tuning into podcasts like this, because you know,
there's a lot of folks across this country who didn't
(10:25):
have the benefit of learning these lessons of financial literacy early.
When you look back at this, you can think about, like, man,
I could have been depressed, I could have been this
And I think, like one of the things that resonates
with you is this mindset, you know, and it probably
started as a young child with this work ethic that
even got you to the NFL. But let's talk about
the importance of like this positive mindset, meaning like maintaining
(10:47):
proper care for our mental health and bodies, and how
that's helped you to kind of like, I mean, you're
kind of like a phoenix. You have risen up from
all this adversity. Man. I think just again, just just
my upbringing. My grandmother was a very Christian lady. Um.
We were raised in the Church, and you know she
just taught me. I mean, at the end of thing good, well,
(11:08):
you know, the truth will set your free. Good is
better than evil. A lot of times I speak on
desired dedication and discipline, defied dedication and discipline. Yeah, that's
how I became a Hall of Famer. That makes so
much sense. Um, So question for you now, I know
you've kind of branched off into entrepreneurship. You're still running
drills daily daily, but you've also launched a wine brand
(11:31):
and you're getting into the tech s base. Um with
n f T S. Do you want to talk a
little bit about you know, let's talk about this wine brand.
A one is uh my wine is a Cabernet. Um.
I partnered with Tommy dissorda who just recently passed a
few months back, and so they were experimenting on trying
to I guess uh collaborate with some athletes, and I
(11:54):
was one of the guys that were on their list.
And so just through a mutual family friend, I have
a guy that's uh that does a lot of my
marketing and branding represent me, and so just do a
mutual family friend. They reached out to him and asked
him if I if I liked wine, if I was
into wine and particularly My response was, I'm not a
big wine drinker. Um, I'm more into the more the
(12:16):
dessert wines like your raislings, your negattos. Me growing up
in the South, and you know, a lot of black
people in the black community, that's not what we do.
We don't know. That is very very true, right, So
part of me wanted to be more so involved. It's
really to educate more the black community about wine. Because
again I tell them, I said, my wine is a
(12:37):
cabernet and it's a cabernat blind. So it's Cabernain is
five percent sarras. So if you have a palette for
plump preserves, dark chocolate or in a spicy toasted oak
I know you probably thinking I'm talking about myself, but no,
that's that's that's that's the ingredients of the wine. So again,
like I said, I'm still in the infancy stage of
(13:00):
learning about wine. Um. I've gone to the Lavigner Winery
which is where my my wine is made up in Passeroblis.
And so again like I said, I mean I was
very instrumental in just even the design of the bottle.
So all your listeners out there, if your wine drinkers,
definitely check it out. Go to eighty one vino dot com.
That's eight one eight one v I n o dot com.
(13:21):
Um is classy, it looks elegant um. And even just
from the website of your light one vino UM. Kobe
Bryant was a good friend of mine, UM and and
that was sort of a nod towards Kobe. Kobe was
into wine. He had a really I think a selection
of shoes was called the Vino Collection. So me just
(13:42):
trying to you know, obviously give tribute, to pay homage
to to to Gradess and so hopefully I can do
the same in this in this wine space. I have
to admit I love a glass of wine. UM. So
I will definitely be checking it out. But talk about
like the learning process here, because I think this can
inspire so many people, Like you said, You're like, I'm
from the South, Like you know, I love good, great
business opportunities. I like a good glass of wine. But
(14:04):
I didn't know a lot. But now here you are,
you've learned so much about this business and you have
your own wine. Like we can feel your passionate about it,
all right, So, and then you know you're definitely multilayered here. Um,
n f T so technology is taking off even within
the football space. You know, we've talked earlier about cryptocurrencies
and how oftentimes football players now are deciding to take
(14:27):
their payment and salaries in the form of cryptocurrencies. And
here you are, you've just launched an n f T
Can you tell us how you sort of got involved
in that? And um, a little bit more about that.
Fairly new to the to to that space as well,
I wouldn't say that I'm well first again, each and
every day there's no things coming out about you know,
n f t s and absolutely ether room block chains
(14:50):
and of the crypto bitcoin, um, and so with n
f T s again, it's a none bungible token. It's
basically n f t s can be any thing digital
but using technology to sell it. So I mean anything
from like drawings, um, even type of art music, and
it's a way to really for for that individual to
(15:10):
really take control of their name. And um, I think
a lot of people can liken it to again the
music business when some of these guys are really owning
their masters, owning the rights and there's no copyright infringements
and days of that nature, uh improper, I guess the
reproduction rights and stuff like that. So that's what n
f t s are. And so, like I said, I'm
in the I guess the beginning stages of it. And
(15:31):
so I learned about it obviously through some of the
you know, two top players in the league. You think
of Patrick man Home, you think about Robin Mankowski, I
think he made then and then again basically kind of
just burst onto the scene. And so um, those guys
they took full advantage of it right right at the
beginning of it. And so for me, I know that
there's some value to some of the things that throughout
(15:54):
the course of Mike where you go to please give
us the drop, so that people can know where to
find it. Yeah, go to eighty one gallery. Okay, you
can also like grow down through a little bit on
my Instagram. But yes, there's a virtual a little uh
post of some of the art that I introduced through
the n f T program. I mean, I love this
(16:16):
because I commend you. You talk openly about, you know,
the struggles and pitfalls and how hard it is oftentimes
to trust people because you've been taking advantage of in
the past. What is different about entering into these new
business spaces for you today than it was in the past.
How are you approaching it? Well, I mean I think
just the word trust. I mean that can go a
(16:37):
long ways and personal and in your personal life and business.
And so for me, somebody, you tell somebody that you
can't trust them, and they're gonna look at your probably
sideways or what have you. Um. So for me, I
just tried in the back of my mind, I just
try to proceed with caution. Um And you know, I said,
you at some point to it a certain degree until
that trust is earned and you have to trust someone
(16:58):
to to to to a degree. So for me, I
just tried to perceive the caution and take a step
by step, and I'm just not just gonna jump, you know,
jump all in. I'm just gonna kind of put my
toe in there and trying to fill it out a
little bit. Um. But that's I mean again, when you've
been scarred a number of times that I'm sure it's
no different Like in relationships, it's gonna be hard to
just jump into something, uh something else so openly, and
(17:22):
especially when you've been vulnerable uh. And tried to, like
for myself, like I said, I'm an open boat. Um,
I tried to kind of you know, with the time,
you have to evolve, you have to try to change.
And so that's how it was, like earlier on in
my career, and my grandmother told me a lot of
what is that I've experienced throughout my life. She warned
me about get the heads up, and so I didn't
want to be stuck in those old ways of how
(17:43):
she lived, um, And so I wanted to try to
do a little bit of something different. And then, like
I said, I knew with business people when I don't
know everything, and when you hire people, you kind of
rely on them to kind of you know, guide you
what have you. And so I basically gave them. I
just basically jumped out of the driving driving seat instead
of being copilot. I got in the backbeat and they
(18:05):
just took over. Well, I love that you got. You
gotta keep an eye on people because they said, you know,
people have ulterior motives that will have your different agendas
and that's just how life is. You just can't trust
any and everybody. Yeah, yeah, yeah, well that's true. And
so when you think about this, is there any other
advice that you'd give for people entering into new businesses
(18:26):
on how to vet these folks? Um do you? Is
it word of mouth or what has been working for
you now? I mean, of course you gotta do your homework,
do your due diligence. Again, I mean everybody comes with
the resume. I mean somebody knows somebody, so you have
word and mouth. I mean you just try to find
out the most the most information you can about an individual,
(18:47):
a company or would have you who they work with, um, this,
that and the other, and then you proceed. But obviously
it comes with a gut feeling. Yeah. At the end
of the day, Um, you go with people that, like
I said, you trust most and they referring them if
they've used them, then ideally you feel like you you
should be more comfortable, um, you know, proceeding or moving
(19:07):
forward within your type of business. Detention, Well, we are
so excited to have you here. What a story, what
a trajectory. And you know this all started with the
three d's, desire, dedication, and discipline that I get them right, yeah, yeah, yeah,
in that order, lived by those of those three pillars
of success, desire, dedication, and discipline. Because at the end
(19:28):
of the day, we all have a desire to be
able do something in life. But to ultimately reach your letlook, success,
you've got to dedicate yourself, which is dedication, and you've
got to have that discipline. And it's really that that
bridge between you, know, your your set goals and your
ultimate level of success, whatever it is that you want
to achieve. Absolutely and t o thank you so much.
(19:48):
And again those three DS desire, dedication, and discipline. I
think you're gonna have to add diversify because you're clearly
making all sorts of money moves through diverse transactions and
products that you're building. Congratulations to you and thank you
so much for sharing your time and dropping your story
and some gens here money Movers. Thank you for joining
us today for another episode of the Money Moves Podcast
(20:11):
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(20:32):
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Hey, money Movers, Welcome back to the Money Moves Podcast
powered by Greenwood. We are here once again to give
you the keys to the financial kingdom of wealth, abundance
and success. They say great players make great plays and
(00:22):
big moves in big games. Well that is exactly what
our special guest did for sixteen seasons in the NFL.
His resume is beyond impressive. A five time All Pro,
a six time Pro bowler, he ranks third in the
all time receiving yards and third in total touchdowns with
one hundred and fifty three. But it gets better. In
(00:42):
two thousand eighteen, he was inducted into the Pro Football
Hall of Fame. We're going to talk to the one,
the only, the Indomitable Terrell Owens, also known as t O,
about his journey to the top and the ups and
downs along the way. We'll also get his advice on
what it takes to be successful in doing whatever in
devor you choose. Welcome t O Ali. How are you
(01:03):
guys doing? Thanks for having me. I'm so excited to
have you here. Thank you so much for your time.
How are you today? I'm good? I'm good. Uh. Enlightened
to to be a part of this, uh, this segment
the show. I'm no stranger to uh to obviously the media,
especially these social media platforms, and really just for me
just understanding how blessed that I've been, my path, my
(01:24):
journey to become successful. It hasn't always been the best situation.
There's been some some peaks and valleys, uh, some ebbs
and flow of life, and so I've I've tried to
navigate through all of that the best that I could,
that I could. I love that, I love that, and
I love thank you so much for being just so
forthright and open about saying, you know what what you
see on Instagram, what you see on social media. Like
(01:46):
you know, we've all gone through peaks and valleys, you know,
the highs and the loads of success, especially being in
the public eye for so long. UM. Let's talk about
the financial mindset that you grew up with. Did you
grow up with the idea of, like how the importance
of saving money, um and putting aside money for the future. UM. Honestly,
I had had no idea. UM. I come from a
(02:07):
low income family on small town in Alexander City, Alabama. UM,
all I knew was food stands. We were on welfare,
so understanding as I grew older. Um, that was something
that again I got teased. You know, certain kids got
teased for for being on welfare. I remember standing, um,
you know, in in lines to get you know, cheese
(02:28):
and things of that nature. The WIG program my mom
was a part of. And so um, when you talk
about financials or literacy, something that I honestly had no
idea about. So as an athlete, when you become obviously successful,
becoming a professional athlete, uh, you know for that matter, Um,
you have to hire people to obviously manage manage your
(02:51):
financial situation. And so that's pretty much what I did.
They promised to take care of you, and it's like
these pipe dreams were don't worry, I've got your best
interested hurt and you want to believe that, right. Yeah.
And I think the agent that I had, and Drew
Rosenhouse and when I signed on with him, didn't really
think too much about it, as I felt like at
that time that's the type of representation that I needed, um,
(03:12):
considering some of the things that I was doing on
the football field. Upon me signing with them, that was
one of the things that I inquired about, was you know,
I needed a financial a new financial advisor, financial advisor
right exactly. And so the idea of you know, now
we have we have these digital platforms. Now, well we
(03:33):
can really be on top of everything. Prior to technology,
we had the power of attorney. That's what we had
to do. We had to sign a power of returning
because it just allowed somebody else to like move your
money for you. Right exactly before we were you know,
had such the technology that that we have now to
have you know, immediate access and we can control pretty
(03:55):
much everything. So back then two years ago, um, we
had these final of the advisor that kind of did
the work force and so, um, long story short, that advisor.
I had a company called Pro Sports Financial. Obviously, you
know when I was getting away from Rosenhaus Sports, getting
away from I was at the end of my career
(04:15):
and getting away from from them because I started to
see some some uncharacteristic type of things happening my last year.
And that's when I got a forensics, uh financial forensics accountant.
I had some people to put those people in place
to kind of you know, scrub through everything. That's when
I found out like, yeah, you know, there was there
was money missing, they opened up frog under the accounts. Uh,
(04:37):
force my signature again. But this are like overwhelming, right,
But a lot of that was due because again I
was living Uh they were located in Florida, and I
had bought a place in Forlord to live in the
all season. But I was playing in I was playing
in Buffalo, I was playing in Cincinnati. So when you
(04:57):
need quick transactions, I can't just fly or whatever. So
that's where the power of attorney basically kind of you know,
screwed me over. But now, um but now, like I said,
you know, you have a lot of these new apps
that have come out, docusigned things of that nature, well
getting similar to facts and all that stuff. Um, but
now I wouldn't encourage any kid, um you know, to
(05:18):
to to sign a power of attorney for them to
do anything. The agent that I had and drew Rosenhouse
and Rosenhouse Sports, they screwed me over. So I got
to I got taken advantage of, um, you know, along
the way. If if there was one piece of advice
that I could give anybody, especially when you've worked so hard,
and especially there's a lot of kids, girls and little
(05:40):
boys and and and everybody that has dreams and they
have aspirations, um and for to prevent things you know,
from happening to them that has happened to me and
other guys that have been taking advantage of I would
say this, don't give them. Don't give them trust that
they haven't earned. You the person have worked all your
life to obtain your dreams. They can assist in the
(06:03):
in the in the in the in the in the in,
the capturing in the process of that the path of
journey that you're working upon, But don't give them the
trust that they haven't earned. That makes so much sense,
and it seems like a really simple piece of advice,
but it's heavy and it's meaningful, and it's incredibly powerful,
especially to so many, so many of our audience who
(06:25):
are out there trying to figure out their next stages
in life. And I think it applies not just to sports,
but you know, other businesses that people are launching. I
think of, you know, in my own family, for example,
my sister was a doctor and physician, and she went
through the exact same thing. You hire somebody to manage
your financials for you so that you can do what
your love. She was passionate about medicine. You were passionate
about football, and you get taken advantage. So it happens
(06:48):
across all spectrums of industry. And I think that being
candid about sharing these conversations can potentially help so many
more people. So we appreciate you for just being open
and honest about it. And you know, that's how people learn.
We learned through our mistakes and we pick ourselves up
and keep on moving right. Absolutely, and so again, at
the end of the day, like I said, I'm very
(07:09):
I'm very blessed with the pitfalls that I've gone through,
with the money that I've that I've lost, the money
that I you know, I had kind of mismanaged, UM
stolen from me. UM. If if I didn't become the
Hall of Famer that I did, and obviously having a
name that goes a long way UM that h O
F associated with it, then it would, like said, it
would be it would be a struggle, honestly, probably would
(07:32):
be one of those guys probably you know, suffering from depression,
you know, trying to figure out, Okay, what to do next,
what's my name move? How can I survive? UM? And
so I'm very fortunate, and again to be in the
situation uh that I am because I know and I
put myself and I try to put myself in and
guys choose that didn't have a fifteen year career, or
(07:52):
didn't have a Hall of Fame career, or don't have
anything to fall back on, is such a you know,
with an education in which they've gone to school for
uh to to to really uh you know, obviously support
themselves or their families for that matter. So my stories
for me, you know, being on a platform a show
like this, to to share my stories. And I'm hoping
(08:13):
a lot of these moms and dads and much for
a lot of these single moms, UM that are raising
these these these these black boys um to be athletes
or what have you. Um. That's why I feel like
my my my voice, UM, what I'm saying is valuable
because a lot of these parents they don't know UM
and a lot of these agents, UM, they promised to
(08:36):
take care of you. And it's like these pipe dreams
where don't worry, I've got your best interested hurt and
you want to believe that because this is a stepping
stone for you know, like you say, single moms and
young black boys in our youth. But we really have to,
as they say, like pull ourselves up to the table
and make sure that you know this is a different
new world. Like we can have a seat, we can
have to say, and there are so many tools out
(08:57):
there where we can educate ourselves more are so that
we have you know, power and control. I'm like no
other athlete. I'm sure that has come before me, and
there will be something that comes after me. That these
these these uh, these these people are in positions to
to manage your money. They're gonna probably try to find
ways to kind of funnel some money or get some
money from you, use you some kind of way to
(09:19):
put money in their pockets. And so um, like I said,
this is not a victim story. This is just a real, true,
real story, UM at its best. And so I'm one
of those guys that went through it. Um. I heard
about it, these things happening before it happened to me.
And I was one of those guys you know sitting
in you know some of these uh, these these locker
rooms or these meeting rooms when you know, the NFL
(09:42):
brought people in to share their stories. I was one
of those kids, and like, oh man, this is not
gonna happen to me. I have the best, I have
the best agent, I have the best you know, financial
um representation. It's not gonna happen. But it did because
I wasn't on the top yet, because I wasn't on
top of my finances, uh as I should have. And
we talk about financial literacy. You know, a lot of
(10:04):
these kids, you know, um, you know, teenage kids, you know,
early in the early twenties. If they don't, if they
didn't grow up in that environment where they're being taught
you know, by mom and dad or what have you,
or how to manage money, then you don't ultimately know.
This is why I think conversations like this are so important,
you know, and tuning into podcasts like this, because you know,
there's a lot of folks across this country who didn't
(10:25):
have the benefit of learning these lessons of financial literacy early.
When you look back at this, you can think about, like, man,
I could have been depressed, I could have been this
And I think, like one of the things that resonates
with you is this mindset, you know, and it probably
started as a young child with this work ethic that
even got you to the NFL. But let's talk about
the importance of like this positive mindset, meaning like maintaining
(10:47):
proper care for our mental health and bodies, and how
that's helped you to kind of like, I mean, you're
kind of like a phoenix. You have risen up from
all this adversity. Man. I think just again, just just
my upbringing. My grandmother was a very Christian lady. Um.
We were raised in the Church, and you know she
just taught me. I mean, at the end of thing good, well,
(11:08):
you know, the truth will set your free. Good is
better than evil. A lot of times I speak on
desired dedication and discipline, defied dedication and discipline. Yeah, that's
how I became a Hall of Famer. That makes so
much sense. Um, So question for you now, I know
you've kind of branched off into entrepreneurship. You're still running
drills daily daily, but you've also launched a wine brand
(11:31):
and you're getting into the tech s base. Um with
n f T S. Do you want to talk a
little bit about you know, let's talk about this wine brand.
A one is uh my wine is a Cabernet. Um.
I partnered with Tommy dissorda who just recently passed a
few months back, and so they were experimenting on trying
to I guess uh collaborate with some athletes, and I
(11:54):
was one of the guys that were on their list.
And so just through a mutual family friend, I have
a guy that's uh that does a lot of my
marketing and branding represent me, and so just do a
mutual family friend. They reached out to him and asked
him if I if I liked wine, if I was
into wine and particularly My response was, I'm not a
big wine drinker. Um, I'm more into the more the
(12:16):
dessert wines like your raislings, your negattos. Me growing up
in the South, and you know, a lot of black
people in the black community, that's not what we do.
We don't know. That is very very true, right, So
part of me wanted to be more so involved. It's
really to educate more the black community about wine. Because
again I tell them, I said, my wine is a
(12:37):
cabernet and it's a cabernat blind. So it's Cabernain is
five percent sarras. So if you have a palette for
plump preserves, dark chocolate or in a spicy toasted oak
I know you probably thinking I'm talking about myself, but no,
that's that's that's that's the ingredients of the wine. So again,
like I said, I'm still in the infancy stage of
(13:00):
learning about wine. Um. I've gone to the Lavigner Winery
which is where my my wine is made up in Passeroblis.
And so again like I said, I mean I was
very instrumental in just even the design of the bottle.
So all your listeners out there, if your wine drinkers,
definitely check it out. Go to eighty one vino dot com.
That's eight one eight one v I n o dot com.
(13:21):
Um is classy, it looks elegant um. And even just
from the website of your light one vino UM. Kobe
Bryant was a good friend of mine, UM and and
that was sort of a nod towards Kobe. Kobe was
into wine. He had a really I think a selection
of shoes was called the Vino Collection. So me just
(13:42):
trying to you know, obviously give tribute, to pay homage
to to to Gradess and so hopefully I can do
the same in this in this wine space. I have
to admit I love a glass of wine. UM. So
I will definitely be checking it out. But talk about
like the learning process here, because I think this can
inspire so many people, Like you said, You're like, I'm
from the South, Like you know, I love good, great
business opportunities. I like a good glass of wine. But
(14:04):
I didn't know a lot. But now here you are,
you've learned so much about this business and you have
your own wine. Like we can feel your passionate about it,
all right, So, and then you know you're definitely multilayered here. Um,
n f T so technology is taking off even within
the football space. You know, we've talked earlier about cryptocurrencies
and how oftentimes football players now are deciding to take
(14:27):
their payment and salaries in the form of cryptocurrencies. And
here you are, you've just launched an n f T
Can you tell us how you sort of got involved
in that? And um, a little bit more about that.
Fairly new to the to to that space as well,
I wouldn't say that I'm well first again, each and
every day there's no things coming out about you know,
n f t s and absolutely ether room block chains
(14:50):
and of the crypto bitcoin, um, and so with n
f T s again, it's a none bungible token. It's
basically n f t s can be any thing digital
but using technology to sell it. So I mean anything
from like drawings, um, even type of art music, and
it's a way to really for for that individual to
(15:10):
really take control of their name. And um, I think
a lot of people can liken it to again the
music business when some of these guys are really owning
their masters, owning the rights and there's no copyright infringements
and days of that nature, uh improper, I guess the
reproduction rights and stuff like that. So that's what n
f t s are. And so, like I said, I'm
in the I guess the beginning stages of it. And
(15:31):
so I learned about it obviously through some of the
you know, two top players in the league. You think
of Patrick man Home, you think about Robin Mankowski, I
think he made then and then again basically kind of
just burst onto the scene. And so um, those guys
they took full advantage of it right right at the
beginning of it. And so for me, I know that
there's some value to some of the things that throughout
(15:54):
the course of Mike where you go to please give
us the drop, so that people can know where to
find it. Yeah, go to eighty one gallery. Okay, you
can also like grow down through a little bit on
my Instagram. But yes, there's a virtual a little uh
post of some of the art that I introduced through
the n f T program. I mean, I love this
(16:16):
because I commend you. You talk openly about, you know,
the struggles and pitfalls and how hard it is oftentimes
to trust people because you've been taking advantage of in
the past. What is different about entering into these new
business spaces for you today than it was in the past.
How are you approaching it? Well, I mean I think
just the word trust. I mean that can go a
(16:37):
long ways and personal and in your personal life and business.
And so for me, somebody, you tell somebody that you
can't trust them, and they're gonna look at your probably
sideways or what have you. Um. So for me, I
just tried in the back of my mind, I just
try to proceed with caution. Um And you know, I said,
you at some point to it a certain degree until
that trust is earned and you have to trust someone
(16:58):
to to to to a degree. So for me, I
just tried to perceive the caution and take a step
by step, and I'm just not just gonna jump, you know,
jump all in. I'm just gonna kind of put my
toe in there and trying to fill it out a
little bit. Um. But that's I mean again, when you've
been scarred a number of times that I'm sure it's
no different Like in relationships, it's gonna be hard to
just jump into something, uh something else so openly, and
(17:22):
especially when you've been vulnerable uh. And tried to, like
for myself, like I said, I'm an open boat. Um,
I tried to kind of you know, with the time,
you have to evolve, you have to try to change.
And so that's how it was, like earlier on in
my career, and my grandmother told me a lot of
what is that I've experienced throughout my life. She warned
me about get the heads up, and so I didn't
want to be stuck in those old ways of how
(17:43):
she lived, um, And so I wanted to try to
do a little bit of something different. And then, like
I said, I knew with business people when I don't
know everything, and when you hire people, you kind of
rely on them to kind of you know, guide you
what have you. And so I basically gave them. I
just basically jumped out of the driving driving seat instead
of being copilot. I got in the backbeat and they
(18:05):
just took over. Well, I love that you got. You
gotta keep an eye on people because they said, you know,
people have ulterior motives that will have your different agendas
and that's just how life is. You just can't trust
any and everybody. Yeah, yeah, yeah, well that's true. And
so when you think about this, is there any other
advice that you'd give for people entering into new businesses
(18:26):
on how to vet these folks? Um do you? Is
it word of mouth or what has been working for
you now? I mean, of course you gotta do your homework,
do your due diligence. Again, I mean everybody comes with
the resume. I mean somebody knows somebody, so you have
word and mouth. I mean you just try to find
out the most the most information you can about an individual,
(18:47):
a company or would have you who they work with, um, this,
that and the other, and then you proceed. But obviously
it comes with a gut feeling. Yeah. At the end
of the day, Um, you go with people that, like
I said, you trust most and they referring them if
they've used them, then ideally you feel like you you
should be more comfortable, um, you know, proceeding or moving
(19:07):
forward within your type of business. Detention, Well, we are
so excited to have you here. What a story, what
a trajectory. And you know this all started with the
three d's, desire, dedication, and discipline that I get them right, yeah, yeah, yeah,
in that order, lived by those of those three pillars
of success, desire, dedication, and discipline. Because at the end
(19:28):
of the day, we all have a desire to be
able do something in life. But to ultimately reach your letlook, success,
you've got to dedicate yourself, which is dedication, and you've
got to have that discipline. And it's really that that
bridge between you, know, your your set goals and your
ultimate level of success, whatever it is that you want
to achieve. Absolutely and t o thank you so much.
(19:48):
And again those three DS desire, dedication, and discipline. I
think you're gonna have to add diversify because you're clearly
making all sorts of money moves through diverse transactions and
products that you're building. Congratulations to you and thank you
so much for sharing your time and dropping your story
and some gens here money Movers. Thank you for joining
us today for another episode of the Money Moves Podcast
(20:11):
powered by Greenwood. Be sure to join us for our
next episode as we continue to explore the ways we
can help you make Money Moves audience. If you want
more or a recap of this episode, please visit the
Bank Greenwood dot com website and check out our blog there.
Money Moves is an i heeart radio podcast powered by
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