December 20, 2022 • 30 mins
In this episode of The Bag, Lindsay & Rashad are joined by the 14-year-old phenom quarterback Julian Lewis & his father TC Lewis. Julian is being touted as possibly the most talented high school freshman QB of all time, with the potential to be a generational talent, but as of now living in Georgia means that the Lewis family has not experienced the new reality of the NIL era. Plus, Rashad gives his hot take on celebrities coaching college teams. Deion Sanders in Colorado - could The Rock be next? Tune in for all that and hear what’s up with the Cheez-It Bowl!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Never, Never Big. Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of
Sports Illustrated. My Heart Radio is The Bag with me,
(00:21):
Linda McCormick and my co host Rashan Jennings. The Bag
sits at the intersection of sports and business, delving into
the headlines and behind the scenes of athletes, entrepreneurship, and enterprise.
Later in this episode, we have an incredible interview that
Rashan and I've both been excited about for a very
long time with high school superstar quarterback Julian Juju Lewis
(00:43):
and his dad TC Lewis, with the n I L
heating out the sports world. We talked to them about
how a parent learns the ins and outs of the
new high school and college football world. But before we
get to the interview, we wanted to dive into some
of the current sports business topics that are making headlines.
And the first one that comes to mind with bowl
(01:04):
season right around the corner, it's the holidays were shod.
Have you seen? We're in year two of college and
il deals and the cheese At Bowl has really taken
it up a notch, hiring four players in this Bowl
to stay in these four hotel rooms that are decked
out with cheese at s Gere and cheese at Scalore.
(01:29):
I mean, is that is that a deal you would
have wanted in college? I think it's kind of cheesy,
I really do. Yeah, it's it's I Um, you know,
brands and companies are going to start to have to
thank very creative ways to make waves like this is
(01:52):
something that will become trendy or players sleeping on cheese bays,
got cheese chairs, got cheese to brushes. It could be
a great marketing, could be terrible. I don't know. I
don't like cheese. I don't like dairy. Um, so for me,
I wouldn't have done it. You know, I'm gonna live
a long, healthy life, so I'm standing away from dairy.
But however, um, I think what it says more so
(02:12):
than not that brands are willing and are able to
open their pocketbooks now to pay collegiate athletes and depending
on the state, high school athletes to promote their brand.
So this is to me, I'm sticking with this cheesy.
So would you have taken a h if you were
in college? Would you have taken a deal like this
(02:34):
even though it wasn't an alignment with your beliefs or
something that you could relate to, not that it's like
it's not immoral. Yes, yes, that's exactly what I was
trying to say. But would you take a deal like this,
Like I don't need dairy either, but if the bunny's right,
I'll be honest, I would take a deal with cheese.
(02:55):
It's the brand is respectable. I mean, I don't have
to eat the cheese it's but I can hang out
in the hotel room. Okay, yeah, I'm not gonna lie
at that level. It probably I would entertain it regardless
of my um diet. Yeah. Um, because they didn't exist
as much then. Um. But but boy, when I found
(03:18):
out the truth, I haven't stared away from it. I
got offered by Gatorade and just because of the fructose
corn syrup by as might say, can we can we
work a deal where I have my own drink that
I could promote that doesn't have the fructose. That said no,
I said no, We kept on going. I lost fifty.
This is what it is. But um, but yeah, you
think about it being a high school student, and you know,
(03:39):
think about your family and opportunities and college student and
think about your family and opportunities. You'll entertain just about
anything that's gonna bring some money to the table, as
long as it's not immoral. So shout out to Cheeseing
for trying to persuade some people to sleep on their
cheesy beds. I mean, it really is interesting. It's the
second year of the second bull season of the n
(04:02):
I l Era, and you've got brands trying to get creative.
They're trying to think further down the road about how
they're going to incorporate sponsors throughout the game and on
these social media platforms of so many athletes. So good
(04:23):
for cheese It for kind of providing a blueprint for
what other games can do in the future when presenting
sponsors of Bulls or their partnerships can participate with athletes.
I think, I think it's creative and I I applaud
them for that. Another another thing I applaud is Colorado
(04:45):
recently brought in Dion Sanders as their head coach, looking
at the bigger picture in terms of Packtweld media rights
broadcast negotiations, which the current contracts up in two thousand
twenty four. This could have a massive impact on that
if we saw when he was at Jackson State. His
influence contributed to in I L deals for athletes and
(05:07):
better broadcast slots, including a week hosting ESPN College Game Day.
I mean, we're seeing the impact already on recruiting for Colorado. Rashod,
what are your what are your thoughts on bringing Dian
Sanders as head coach Coach prime Time? I love it,
I love it. I'm a fan. I'm a fan of
(05:27):
coach prime Time and what he's been doing in the
coaching industry. UM, and also love his his mentorship two
young kids and truly um being a an advocate for
after football, Like he isn't just there to help kids
get to the NFL if they have the talent, UM,
but he's also there I personally believe, from a distance
(05:49):
from what I've seen him to change the trajectory and
mindsets of some of these kids on how to transition
into becoming men, fathers, UM and so forth, so on.
And I think that's what's more important than I applaud
because I've heard him stand for that. It's and wherever
he goes, it's dean baby, So everybody's gonna follow. You
(06:10):
can see that Colorado's Instagram handle for example, it went
from uh sixty thousand to two hundred and thirty thousand
less than a month, just because everybody's watching and their
numbers of skyrocketed, averaging somewhere close to like six hundred
thousand views every single video that's posted. So what does
that tell you is that no matter where Prime Time goes,
(06:32):
so are the eyeballs. Whether you're there the cheer form
or whether you're there for the boo for him, you're
helping ratings go up. And what does this say to
me ultimately is that, um, I know prim is a
different being. He stands alone, but it raises the eyebrows
that can celebrities coach college football, especially why the n
(06:53):
i l s work are working and about to start
working on a mega level in the next five years
when we more celebrity head coaches a monitor woodworks that
have a little bit of ground, a background of football,
but at a smart enough, savvy enough in business and
entrepreneurship and understand their position as a head coach to
hire a better staff than themselves while they use their name,
(07:16):
image and likeness to bring in kids to make money
off of their name, image and likeness. I think we
seeing the new era of how coaching will be done,
how recruiting will be done, and no longer the powerhouses
will be able to monopolize it. If you look at
the numbers, solely think out, that's a lot of money
(07:37):
to give prime Time for how little he's been coaching
college football. But the numbers really do makes sense when
you look at how much Colorado lost last year only
winning one game. Uh So, for Dean Sanders Colorado deal,
it runs for five years for twenty nine point five
(07:59):
million dollars with an average payout a five point nine
million per year. To put into context, he was previously
making three hundred thousand a year at Jacksonville's at Jackson State,
and then last year the Colorado Athletic Department lost eighteen
million dollars in one So if you think about the
(08:23):
eighteen million hit, paying prime Time twenty nine point five
million for five years doesn't seem like that crazy of
a number. Yeah, when you think about it at that,
you're really only paying your coach, what ten eleven million
dollars at that point if you're already losing eighteen So
it's truly an investment for them that they're gonna get
tenfold um, just purely. I mean, listen, worst case I'm
(08:46):
talking about legit, worst case scenario. They're gonna make money
just because so many on balls, sponsorship dollars are going
to be looking at prime time. And again, whether or
not you're there at the cheer for him, whether you uh,
whether you're there to commentate on how that he's doing,
how terrible he's doing, You're gonna be looking. Everybody's gonna
be tuning in, everybody, every network, We're gonna be talking
about it, um across the globe. Man, what is Dion
(09:09):
doing at Colorado? We want to know? And he comes.
He's polarizing. But again, to me, I'm not moving away
from the narrative that the ability for at the collegiate level,
especially celebrities, can coach at the collegiate level. I truly
believe that, UM, and I think he's opened up the
(09:30):
door for a lot of people that know how to
speak to that coach of college football and come out
and start coaching. And you're gonna find you watch, you're
gonna start seeing, you're gonna start calling for the Rock.
They're gonna call for ray Lewis and called from Mars
Shawn Lynch they're gonna call from Michael Irving. They're gonna
start calling for everybody come on out here and help
us coach. I tell Kevin Hard come out coach. Why
(09:52):
because he can he can put a better he can
put a coach of staff around him, of relatives and
people that that network with him. They're gonna try to
bring Jay. They're gonna tr to bring everybody that's that's
culturally moving in football to come out to head coach.
I kid, you not watching the next five to ten
years the way the n I L are moving. I'll
hold you to that prediction and we'll see how that
(10:13):
pans out. But speaking of college football, our interview that
we're about to get to is one of my favorites
on this show so far. It's with high school quarterbacks
superstar Julian Juji Lewis and his dad TC Lewis. Last
time I looked, he had almost twenty five offers. I'm
(10:34):
sure that number has even. Yes, at fourteen years old,
he has colleges left and right. You're not gonna want
to miss this as a fourteen year old kid on
what he's doing to prepare himself for the next level.
Today's guest I'm extremely excited about I've been watching you
over the years. As someone who graduated from Auburn and
(10:57):
spent a lot of time in the Alabama Georgia area.
I'm very familiar with Carrolton High School and you have
just been lighting it up lately. Our guest today is
Julian Juju Lewis, the quarterback of Carrolson High School and
his dad TC Lewis, which Rashaan and I have been
so excited about this conversation because you now have all
(11:18):
these n I L deals and certain states that are
allowing a certain states that aren't allowing it, and we
just are so excited to finally pick the brain of
the two experts at the field. You guys are having
to to manage and navigate this new world. And my
first question is to you TC, as a dad, how
(11:39):
do you navigate and decide what high school program you
want your son to attend and what trainers to work with.
This is a whole new world to so many people.
I think ideally, I think first, it's so it's kind
of understanding what you want to accomplish. I had a
friend the other day call me and uh, He's like, man,
I'm really thinking about changing schools and his son senior year.
(12:01):
In my question was what do you want out of
his senior year? What's your goal? What are you trying
to accomplish right now with one year left? And I think, um,
you know, coming out of middle school and really trying
to position Julian, you know, to be successful long term.
I was trying to you know, like understand, you know,
what type of player he wanted to be, like being coached,
being developed. That that was the most important thing for me.
(12:22):
I was making sure that he was prepared when he
gets to the next level. And then in terms of trainers,
it's really, uh, kind of an annual process for us
addressing deficiencies. So um, you know, I could be as
big as fan, but instead, you know, I kind of
I wear the biggest critic hat, and within that that
UM kind of pulls, you know, the on me, you know,
(12:43):
to make sure that he has the trainers that can
support him and help him meet those needs. Yeah, g TC,
I love to know. Obviously it's your son, and he
didn't get his gift just on his own merit. So
I'm curious, did you have a background of playing sports,
playing ball, and if so, honestly, who got the better arm.
(13:05):
He's definitely got the better arm. Um. So I grew up.
My dad was a high school football coach in the
Jersey Shore area. I was born and raised New Jersey.
Um My grandfather kind of started and ran the Pop
Warner program in Red Bank, New Jersey. Um so you
know my family's backgrounds in football. Um My dad was
actually a baseball player. My uncle was a left handed quarterback. Um,
(13:26):
I was not a quarterback. I was alignming. Uh. He
always laughs about that. He thinks that's hilarious, but the
reality is I just I mean I identified it early.
You know. It was one of those things where um
he was literally was probably pre k age third three
years old at the time. And uh teacher came to me,
you know, one day after school and said, Mr. Lewis
is the sweetest baby ever. She's like, the only problem
(13:49):
is he throws everything in my class. I said, okay,
you know, she said, you know, she's like, we'll say
put stuff away in the cuvey and he tries to
throw it across the room into the cuby instead. And
uh so, I mean he had his first football that
kind of thing when he was little started throwing the
ball and I was like, wait a second, you know,
he's got something. But my mom, being a coach's wife,
she you know, she really understood, you know, at the
(14:09):
same time, like what we had and she was like,
you know at the time, I remember he was young,
and she's like, oh, he doesn't have to play a
quarterback because he started out playing linebacker and tight end
like everything, but like he didn't touch the ball at all.
And uh, you know, my mom was like, oh, I
don't have to play a quarterback earlier, that kind of thing.
But it was one of those things that we started
working on, like really started developing to get around five
(14:30):
years old. And by the time he was I guess
old eight, I had your first trainer. Yeah, probably eight
he had trained, had his first trainer. So yeah, it's
been that way ever since. Rashod. How old were you
when you first heard your first trainer? Yeah, my first trainer? Wow, Um,
you know, one on one training. Not until probably my
(14:55):
senior year of college, I would say, is when I
got my one on one training. Uh. It does make
a big difference, it really does. Uh. That far as
movement accupunction, like all these little things that can develop
a football player. It can start early. These days. I
wish we would have noticed as much as the uh
as much education that's out there right now. And you know,
(15:16):
with that that kind of being said, I started playing
football when I was six. I had two older brothers
that I looked up to. They were one was a
parade All American, another one was an offensive lineman turned
to a fullback. I was more of a grinder than anything.
But my middle brother was just ridiculously talented, and um,
I just wanted to chase and be as good as them.
And I fell in love with the game of football
(15:37):
because it was the first thing I could do physically
hitting somebody without getting in trouble. And uh so I said,
this's gotta be the sport for me. Um and I
had fun and enjoyed it. So I love to know, juju,
what what's something about football that you just love doing? What?
What is it about the sport that you really appreciate
playing this beautiful game? Man? It used to be like
(16:01):
when I was younger and every I was bigger than everybody.
Used to be like the hitting, physical part and hitting stuff.
But now everybody's big, so it's not it's not as
fun as it used to be. But I mean, I
don't know. I think the coolest part of like my
high school football experience is just going up with my
guys on Friday night. It's like, I don't know, it's
just like the community, like the school, everything like that
(16:21):
goes with the football thing. That's probably been my favorite
part of football so far, Julian, As these offers roll
in left and right, do you find that the kids
at school treat you any differently? Or what I mean?
I was such a nerd in high school. I can't
even fathom what it would be like to be the
star quarterback with all these offers. Do you find that
(16:42):
people treat you differently? I mean not really. Most people
like if they say anything about it, they're making jokes.
Like I feel pretty normal walking throughout the school. Of course,
I know who I am and like what I do
on Fridays, but I don't act any differently or feeling
differently when I move around. I love to know what
kind of athlete you know. It doesn't even have to
be specifically football, but what are some of the popular
(17:05):
athletes that you look up to or kind of watch
their tape or admire the way they carry themselves. Um,
as you're growing up and then as well as you pops,
I love to know what athletes you'll watched together. I
mean from a mindset standpoint, like you know, early on,
like I really tried to make sure he understood who
(17:25):
Kobe was and how Kobe approached you know, competition. UM,
I mean, man, like even after KG retired, you know,
like some of the things that you hear KG talking about,
I think that was something that helped, you know, he
and I even um and making a decision to go
to Carrollton because at the time, you know, it was
(17:46):
there was a decision that we knew would change other
people's situations and just kind of like you know, like
it was one of those things where you know, every
school has a quarterback. So it's like when you show up,
like somebody's gotta move. You know, somebody's gonna have to.
You know, you're gonna put somebody in a situation where, hey,
you know what, like we've been here our whole lives,
but this guy showed up. Now he's got to compete,
(18:08):
and you know, whoever takes it, you know, some something's
gonna happen, you know, and uh, you know I mean
he grew up watching Aaron Rodgers, obviously Tom Brady, those
guys on Russell Wilson when he was little. I think
Russell Wilson was like the guy. He really looked a
big Seahawks fan. Before that one yard line thing did
(18:33):
he made He made it known before the one yard
line situation. You've shared a speaking of NFL quarterbacks, You've
shared a few training sessions with Justin Fields well before
he was in the NFL, and you continue to keep
in touch. I read in an article, what have you
(18:54):
learned from watching his career? UM, and Justin has been
my guy? Like you said, I knew Justin before were
all like the he was big and stuff like that.
But I mean Justin's kind of been like a mentor.
Just he's giving me like a little little tips to
advice like that. Like we had like a training session
like five months ago, and he just he told me
to go hard, to regrip, like just little tips and
(19:16):
just like things on my fundamentals that I need to do,
and I I gotta listen. I have no choice because
I mean he's made it. So that's kind of yeah.
Another another friend of mine, Um he played at Liberty University.
Malik Willis. He he was another guy that I kind
of was just talking to in the whole transition from
college to the NFL, and um it just an amazing kid,
(19:39):
really is. And he was somebody else has seeing you
get a chance to kind of like rub shoulders with, um,
it's it. Have you ever watched this game and kind
of ever learned anything from watching him play? Man? Moli
can run, that's you know, Malie gonna run. That He's
a little different from me, and that and that standpoint.
But I guess if anything I get out of his
game is running the ball. He could take off, that's
(20:02):
for sure. And in parts I know, um, you know
this is a new time. This is a real new
era in which n i L has exploded and allowed
young collegiate and high school athletes, some some high school
athletes to earn income. Being in the state of Georgia,
who you know as understood that that's not allowed us
(20:24):
against code And so does that ever as a parent,
does that ever kind of gnawing the back of your
head whether you want to consider changing states, moving or
is it something you want to just continue to play out.
So that's a deep question for us um, obviously, you know,
(20:48):
I think problem so number one, even when you was younger,
we worked. I mean at the time, we didn't even
know what we were doing, Like when we were again
growing in social media, you know platforms, I mean Twitter, eyes,
he's he's doing really well on Twitter, Instagram. He's gotta
think a hundred and eleven thousand followers something like that
right now. So, I mean it's grown. And then you know,
(21:10):
over the past couple of years, people started contacting us,
you know, with opportunities, and we you know, had to
say no to everything, and then it was kind of like,
you know, n I L becomes a thing and then
we're like, wait a second, maybe we'll be able to
take advantage of these opportunities. And needless to say, Georgia
passes it, but only for college. So, you know, as
(21:33):
a dad who's trying to position to him and prepare
him to be successful at the highest level. You know,
football always for us has to be the main thing,
and so analyzing and looking at the landscape, it's like, man,
he's got opportunities out West Tennessee just changed the law
the other day, you know, and we're like, man, that's
(21:53):
right up the road. Right, So it's like it's one
of those things. But then having the opportunity to be
coached by Joe King, being the community that he just
mentioned Carrollton and the accountability that it brings about, and
to me how it almost exemplifies a mini you know,
Auburn or Alabama type community or Georgia type community where
(22:14):
you know, like everybody knows who you are and how
you play on Friday night matters and um, you know,
like I just I couldn't let an I l outweigh
his development. And so right now we're being patient. Um,
you know, we're We've got an attorney and some other
people who you know, even his school, who you know,
want to support hopefully you know, moving things forward and
(22:36):
kind of pushing things ahead so that Georgia will you know,
hopefully you know, bring things forward and allow these kids
to capitalize on their name, image and likeness. That leads
me to my next question. What professionals, if any, have
you brought onto your team so far in terms of
trainers on the field, specialists off the field with business
managers or contract attorneys, or are you guys just keeping
(22:59):
it in the family for an out so trainers wise
he's got I mean he's got a cadreact trainers. I
mean it's he's got quarterback speed strength, uh, chiropractor massus. Uh.
It's pretty much got everything he needs on that side.
And then uh, I mean literally you know, UM has
(23:22):
quarterback trainers who kind of specialize in different things. UM.
And then like in terms of like business wise, so
again legally in Georgia, we can't hire or contract with anyone. UM.
I've got friends and relationships who you know, people you
know who kind of let me know what's going on
in other places, and UM, let me know what it
would look like if we were other places. But then
(23:45):
like in regards to like just kind of moves that
we make, Like that's all me right now. UM, it's
just kind of like me, you know, understanding, you know, hey,
this is what we can and can't do. UM. Like
I said, we do have an attorney that I'm a
friend who did business with years ago, who just happened
at one point in time work for the n C
Double A and the USA Track and Field. So he's
(24:07):
got you know, a ton of insight. He was up
in Indianapolis years ago. And then he also works with
some of the most you know, entertainers and that kind
of thing. So I mean, like prime example, like we
just turned down, you know, a huge opportunity that came
about for ju Um. And then like there was a
product that I you know, had to consult him on
(24:29):
because I was like, man, like this is like basically
was a product that wanted to place him on their packaging,
and I was like, man, this would be such a
huge opportunity for him. Just his face right like I'm like,
I'm like, look I told the people. I was like,
I literally no money, like say, we'll do it for
zero compensation whatever. And when we ran about the attorney,
we couldn't do it because under old n I L rules,
(24:50):
it's still marketing him on a product even though we
wouldn't be compensated. And so I was like, man, that
was brutal, but it's real, you know. I first t C,
I just want to commend you Um. You know one
of the things you had said not too long ago
was you didn't want to pick. You didn't want to
pick an opportunity of making money over his development, Like
(25:12):
that's just the most paramount and important thing for your son.
What's your shoes? I just want to commend you for that.
Want to also commend you, uh for for being a
father and know and and and that's majorly important, UM
is to have a father you can lean on. Uh.
It's tremendous of what it does. I have a I
(25:34):
focus on reading, education, literacy, being a mentor through the
shot in this foundation. And one of the stats that
just are astronomical to me is of men that are
incarcerated UM have a reading level of third grade or below,
and seventy percent of them are fatherless. So one, I
just want to commend you for that too. With that
(25:55):
being said, I'd be remiss if I did not ask
a question that viewer she could listen and possibly inspire
them to continue parenting and and and how you go
about right, I'm looking at you as a mentor myself.
I'm not a parent yet, so through through all of
(26:16):
the way that the world is shifts, the way that
the world has shift today and moving with gadgets, just
maintaining so much attention two kids and hard work is
something that is remote. How do you parents your amazing
son to stay focused? Balance? So I mean in the car,
(26:43):
he's got time to do this. Once he gets out
of the car's time to lock in. I mean, I
think really when he was younger, there were times where
we would set goals and he would have to own
those goals. I'd say, hey, these are things that you
said you want to pumplished. Now it's my job to
help you execute on it. And you know, I remember
(27:05):
he was nine years old and he won like Born
to Compete, which is like a huge sports organization here
in Georgia and they host the state championship, and uh
he won Quarterback of the Year at nine years old.
And we got in the car and I said, hey, man,
I said, this is from last year's accomplishments. I said,
so you can be the guy who wins this once
(27:28):
or be the guy who wins this every year. And so,
you know, we just kind of I think, small rewards,
you know, and then obviously getting big results on the field.
And then I think it came a point in time
where you know, making sure that he owned you know,
who he wanted to be, and then me driving and
making sure that you know, every sacrifice was made to
(27:50):
make sure that he could help accomplish the goals that
he and I kind of agreed upon, you know, for
him what's the best advice you've been given so far?
So funny? Uh dad of an NFL player, UM number one,
he said, don't let anybody between you and your son.
(28:11):
He said, don't let anybody in between you and your son.
He said, No matter what goes on, he's like, you
stay right there. He's like, you know, he's like, if
you hire people, they work for you, both of you,
he said, because the advice that you give him and
your intent, in your integrity and who you are in
(28:32):
his life, that's not going to change with those people
who insert themselves in his life. You know. There. You know,
while they can be trusted some of them, many of
them are there for you know, obviously game. And then
I guess the next piece of advice was, and I'll
say this for like especially recruiting, was don't let your
(28:53):
kids spend too much time on the phone with forty
plus year old man. Um. You know, at the end
of the day, it still goes through you. And it
makes too much sense because at the end of the day,
like they have businesses to run, they're trying to sell
him on things. People are trying to you know, it's
like we just talked to somebody really high profile. A
(29:14):
little while ago I did and the person was like, man,
I could talk to you, or I could talk to
you at the end of the day. You know, he's like,
I want to respect your family. And he's like, so
he spoke to me. You know, he's like other people.
They reach out to kids directly and try to do
business with a kid. You know, So listen, man, I
really appreciate we definitely appreciate both of y'all making time. Um.
(29:35):
You know, hopefully and prayfully we'll be able to look
back at this tape years from now and laugh and
remember when this conversation happened. And I wish you all
both the most success anyway we can help in any
shape or form. Don't hesitate and uh, definitely good luck.
Thank you guys so much for taking the time and
for doing this. It means thank you. Thank you guys
(29:56):
for listening to Sports Illustrated and I Heeart Radios the Bag.
For more podcasts from My Heart Radio, visit the I
Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Got
Never, Never Big. Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of
Sports Illustrated. My Heart Radio is The Bag with me,
(00:21):
Linda McCormick and my co host Rashan Jennings. The Bag
sits at the intersection of sports and business, delving into
the headlines and behind the scenes of athletes, entrepreneurship, and enterprise.
Later in this episode, we have an incredible interview that
Rashan and I've both been excited about for a very
long time with high school superstar quarterback Julian Juju Lewis
(00:43):
and his dad TC Lewis, with the n I L
heating out the sports world. We talked to them about
how a parent learns the ins and outs of the
new high school and college football world. But before we
get to the interview, we wanted to dive into some
of the current sports business topics that are making headlines.
And the first one that comes to mind with bowl
(01:04):
season right around the corner, it's the holidays were shod.
Have you seen? We're in year two of college and
il deals and the cheese At Bowl has really taken
it up a notch, hiring four players in this Bowl
to stay in these four hotel rooms that are decked
out with cheese at s Gere and cheese at Scalore.
(01:29):
I mean, is that is that a deal you would
have wanted in college? I think it's kind of cheesy,
I really do. Yeah, it's it's I Um, you know,
brands and companies are going to start to have to
thank very creative ways to make waves like this is
(01:52):
something that will become trendy or players sleeping on cheese bays,
got cheese chairs, got cheese to brushes. It could be
a great marketing, could be terrible. I don't know. I
don't like cheese. I don't like dairy. Um, so for me,
I wouldn't have done it. You know, I'm gonna live
a long, healthy life, so I'm standing away from dairy.
But however, um, I think what it says more so
(02:12):
than not that brands are willing and are able to
open their pocketbooks now to pay collegiate athletes and depending
on the state, high school athletes to promote their brand.
So this is to me, I'm sticking with this cheesy.
So would you have taken a h if you were
in college? Would you have taken a deal like this
(02:34):
even though it wasn't an alignment with your beliefs or
something that you could relate to, not that it's like
it's not immoral. Yes, yes, that's exactly what I was
trying to say. But would you take a deal like this,
Like I don't need dairy either, but if the bunny's right,
I'll be honest, I would take a deal with cheese.
(02:55):
It's the brand is respectable. I mean, I don't have
to eat the cheese it's but I can hang out
in the hotel room. Okay, yeah, I'm not gonna lie
at that level. It probably I would entertain it regardless
of my um diet. Yeah. Um, because they didn't exist
as much then. Um. But but boy, when I found
(03:18):
out the truth, I haven't stared away from it. I
got offered by Gatorade and just because of the fructose
corn syrup by as might say, can we can we
work a deal where I have my own drink that
I could promote that doesn't have the fructose. That said no,
I said no, We kept on going. I lost fifty.
This is what it is. But um, but yeah, you
think about it being a high school student, and you know,
(03:39):
think about your family and opportunities and college student and
think about your family and opportunities. You'll entertain just about
anything that's gonna bring some money to the table, as
long as it's not immoral. So shout out to Cheeseing
for trying to persuade some people to sleep on their
cheesy beds. I mean, it really is interesting. It's the
second year of the second bull season of the n
(04:02):
I l Era, and you've got brands trying to get creative.
They're trying to think further down the road about how
they're going to incorporate sponsors throughout the game and on
these social media platforms of so many athletes. So good
(04:23):
for cheese It for kind of providing a blueprint for
what other games can do in the future when presenting
sponsors of Bulls or their partnerships can participate with athletes.
I think, I think it's creative and I I applaud
them for that. Another another thing I applaud is Colorado
(04:45):
recently brought in Dion Sanders as their head coach, looking
at the bigger picture in terms of Packtweld media rights
broadcast negotiations, which the current contracts up in two thousand
twenty four. This could have a massive impact on that
if we saw when he was at Jackson State. His
influence contributed to in I L deals for athletes and
(05:07):
better broadcast slots, including a week hosting ESPN College Game Day.
I mean, we're seeing the impact already on recruiting for Colorado. Rashod,
what are your what are your thoughts on bringing Dian
Sanders as head coach Coach prime Time? I love it,
I love it. I'm a fan. I'm a fan of
(05:27):
coach prime Time and what he's been doing in the
coaching industry. UM, and also love his his mentorship two
young kids and truly um being a an advocate for
after football, Like he isn't just there to help kids
get to the NFL if they have the talent, UM,
but he's also there I personally believe, from a distance
(05:49):
from what I've seen him to change the trajectory and
mindsets of some of these kids on how to transition
into becoming men, fathers, UM and so forth, so on.
And I think that's what's more important than I applaud
because I've heard him stand for that. It's and wherever
he goes, it's dean baby, So everybody's gonna follow. You
(06:10):
can see that Colorado's Instagram handle for example, it went
from uh sixty thousand to two hundred and thirty thousand
less than a month, just because everybody's watching and their
numbers of skyrocketed, averaging somewhere close to like six hundred
thousand views every single video that's posted. So what does
that tell you is that no matter where Prime Time goes,
(06:32):
so are the eyeballs. Whether you're there the cheer form
or whether you're there for the boo for him, you're
helping ratings go up. And what does this say to
me ultimately is that, um, I know prim is a
different being. He stands alone, but it raises the eyebrows
that can celebrities coach college football, especially why the n
(06:53):
i l s work are working and about to start
working on a mega level in the next five years
when we more celebrity head coaches a monitor woodworks that
have a little bit of ground, a background of football,
but at a smart enough, savvy enough in business and
entrepreneurship and understand their position as a head coach to
hire a better staff than themselves while they use their name,
(07:16):
image and likeness to bring in kids to make money
off of their name, image and likeness. I think we
seeing the new era of how coaching will be done,
how recruiting will be done, and no longer the powerhouses
will be able to monopolize it. If you look at
the numbers, solely think out, that's a lot of money
(07:37):
to give prime Time for how little he's been coaching
college football. But the numbers really do makes sense when
you look at how much Colorado lost last year only
winning one game. Uh So, for Dean Sanders Colorado deal,
it runs for five years for twenty nine point five
(07:59):
million dollars with an average payout a five point nine
million per year. To put into context, he was previously
making three hundred thousand a year at Jacksonville's at Jackson State,
and then last year the Colorado Athletic Department lost eighteen
million dollars in one So if you think about the
(08:23):
eighteen million hit, paying prime Time twenty nine point five
million for five years doesn't seem like that crazy of
a number. Yeah, when you think about it at that,
you're really only paying your coach, what ten eleven million
dollars at that point if you're already losing eighteen So
it's truly an investment for them that they're gonna get
tenfold um, just purely. I mean, listen, worst case I'm
(08:46):
talking about legit, worst case scenario. They're gonna make money
just because so many on balls, sponsorship dollars are going
to be looking at prime time. And again, whether or
not you're there at the cheer for him, whether you uh,
whether you're there to commentate on how that he's doing,
how terrible he's doing, You're gonna be looking. Everybody's gonna
be tuning in, everybody, every network, We're gonna be talking
about it, um across the globe. Man, what is Dion
(09:09):
doing at Colorado? We want to know? And he comes.
He's polarizing. But again, to me, I'm not moving away
from the narrative that the ability for at the collegiate level,
especially celebrities, can coach at the collegiate level. I truly
believe that, UM, and I think he's opened up the
(09:30):
door for a lot of people that know how to
speak to that coach of college football and come out
and start coaching. And you're gonna find you watch, you're
gonna start seeing, you're gonna start calling for the Rock.
They're gonna call for ray Lewis and called from Mars
Shawn Lynch they're gonna call from Michael Irving. They're gonna
start calling for everybody come on out here and help
us coach. I tell Kevin Hard come out coach. Why
(09:52):
because he can he can put a better he can
put a coach of staff around him, of relatives and
people that that network with him. They're gonna try to
bring Jay. They're gonna tr to bring everybody that's that's
culturally moving in football to come out to head coach.
I kid, you not watching the next five to ten
years the way the n I L are moving. I'll
hold you to that prediction and we'll see how that
(10:13):
pans out. But speaking of college football, our interview that
we're about to get to is one of my favorites
on this show so far. It's with high school quarterbacks
superstar Julian Juji Lewis and his dad TC Lewis. Last
time I looked, he had almost twenty five offers. I'm
(10:34):
sure that number has even. Yes, at fourteen years old,
he has colleges left and right. You're not gonna want
to miss this as a fourteen year old kid on
what he's doing to prepare himself for the next level.
Today's guest I'm extremely excited about I've been watching you
over the years. As someone who graduated from Auburn and
(10:57):
spent a lot of time in the Alabama Georgia area.
I'm very familiar with Carrolton High School and you have
just been lighting it up lately. Our guest today is
Julian Juju Lewis, the quarterback of Carrolson High School and
his dad TC Lewis, which Rashaan and I have been
so excited about this conversation because you now have all
(11:18):
these n I L deals and certain states that are
allowing a certain states that aren't allowing it, and we
just are so excited to finally pick the brain of
the two experts at the field. You guys are having
to to manage and navigate this new world. And my
first question is to you TC, as a dad, how
(11:39):
do you navigate and decide what high school program you
want your son to attend and what trainers to work with.
This is a whole new world to so many people.
I think ideally, I think first, it's so it's kind
of understanding what you want to accomplish. I had a
friend the other day call me and uh, He's like, man,
I'm really thinking about changing schools and his son senior year.
(12:01):
In my question was what do you want out of
his senior year? What's your goal? What are you trying
to accomplish right now with one year left? And I think, um,
you know, coming out of middle school and really trying
to position Julian, you know, to be successful long term.
I was trying to you know, like understand, you know,
what type of player he wanted to be, like being coached,
being developed. That that was the most important thing for me.
(12:22):
I was making sure that he was prepared when he
gets to the next level. And then in terms of trainers,
it's really, uh, kind of an annual process for us
addressing deficiencies. So um, you know, I could be as
big as fan, but instead, you know, I kind of
I wear the biggest critic hat, and within that that
UM kind of pulls, you know, the on me, you know,
(12:43):
to make sure that he has the trainers that can
support him and help him meet those needs. Yeah, g TC,
I love to know. Obviously it's your son, and he
didn't get his gift just on his own merit. So
I'm curious, did you have a background of playing sports,
playing ball, and if so, honestly, who got the better arm.
(13:05):
He's definitely got the better arm. Um. So I grew up.
My dad was a high school football coach in the
Jersey Shore area. I was born and raised New Jersey.
Um My grandfather kind of started and ran the Pop
Warner program in Red Bank, New Jersey. Um so you
know my family's backgrounds in football. Um My dad was
actually a baseball player. My uncle was a left handed quarterback. Um,
(13:26):
I was not a quarterback. I was alignming. Uh. He
always laughs about that. He thinks that's hilarious, but the
reality is I just I mean I identified it early.
You know. It was one of those things where um
he was literally was probably pre k age third three
years old at the time. And uh teacher came to me,
you know, one day after school and said, Mr. Lewis
is the sweetest baby ever. She's like, the only problem
(13:49):
is he throws everything in my class. I said, okay,
you know, she said, you know, she's like, we'll say
put stuff away in the cuvey and he tries to
throw it across the room into the cuby instead. And
uh so, I mean he had his first football that
kind of thing when he was little started throwing the
ball and I was like, wait a second, you know,
he's got something. But my mom, being a coach's wife,
she you know, she really understood, you know, at the
(14:09):
same time, like what we had and she was like,
you know at the time, I remember he was young,
and she's like, oh, he doesn't have to play a
quarterback because he started out playing linebacker and tight end
like everything, but like he didn't touch the ball at all.
And uh, you know, my mom was like, oh, I
don't have to play a quarterback earlier, that kind of thing.
But it was one of those things that we started
working on, like really started developing to get around five
(14:30):
years old. And by the time he was I guess
old eight, I had your first trainer. Yeah, probably eight
he had trained, had his first trainer. So yeah, it's
been that way ever since. Rashod. How old were you
when you first heard your first trainer? Yeah, my first trainer? Wow, Um,
you know, one on one training. Not until probably my
(14:55):
senior year of college, I would say, is when I
got my one on one training. Uh. It does make
a big difference, it really does. Uh. That far as
movement accupunction, like all these little things that can develop
a football player. It can start early. These days. I
wish we would have noticed as much as the uh
as much education that's out there right now. And you know,
(15:16):
with that that kind of being said, I started playing
football when I was six. I had two older brothers
that I looked up to. They were one was a
parade All American, another one was an offensive lineman turned
to a fullback. I was more of a grinder than anything.
But my middle brother was just ridiculously talented, and um,
I just wanted to chase and be as good as them.
And I fell in love with the game of football
(15:37):
because it was the first thing I could do physically
hitting somebody without getting in trouble. And uh so I said,
this's gotta be the sport for me. Um and I
had fun and enjoyed it. So I love to know, juju,
what what's something about football that you just love doing? What?
What is it about the sport that you really appreciate
playing this beautiful game? Man? It used to be like
(16:01):
when I was younger and every I was bigger than everybody.
Used to be like the hitting, physical part and hitting stuff.
But now everybody's big, so it's not it's not as
fun as it used to be. But I mean, I
don't know. I think the coolest part of like my
high school football experience is just going up with my
guys on Friday night. It's like, I don't know, it's
just like the community, like the school, everything like that
(16:21):
goes with the football thing. That's probably been my favorite
part of football so far, Julian, As these offers roll
in left and right, do you find that the kids
at school treat you any differently? Or what I mean?
I was such a nerd in high school. I can't
even fathom what it would be like to be the
star quarterback with all these offers. Do you find that
(16:42):
people treat you differently? I mean not really. Most people
like if they say anything about it, they're making jokes.
Like I feel pretty normal walking throughout the school. Of course,
I know who I am and like what I do
on Fridays, but I don't act any differently or feeling
differently when I move around. I love to know what
kind of athlete you know. It doesn't even have to
be specifically football, but what are some of the popular
(17:05):
athletes that you look up to or kind of watch
their tape or admire the way they carry themselves. Um,
as you're growing up and then as well as you pops,
I love to know what athletes you'll watched together. I
mean from a mindset standpoint, like you know, early on,
like I really tried to make sure he understood who
(17:25):
Kobe was and how Kobe approached you know, competition. UM,
I mean, man, like even after KG retired, you know,
like some of the things that you hear KG talking about,
I think that was something that helped, you know, he
and I even um and making a decision to go
to Carrollton because at the time, you know, it was
(17:46):
there was a decision that we knew would change other
people's situations and just kind of like you know, like
it was one of those things where you know, every
school has a quarterback. So it's like when you show up,
like somebody's gotta move. You know, somebody's gonna have to.
You know, you're gonna put somebody in a situation where, hey,
you know what, like we've been here our whole lives,
but this guy showed up. Now he's got to compete,
(18:08):
and you know, whoever takes it, you know, some something's
gonna happen, you know, and uh, you know I mean
he grew up watching Aaron Rodgers, obviously Tom Brady, those
guys on Russell Wilson when he was little. I think
Russell Wilson was like the guy. He really looked a
big Seahawks fan. Before that one yard line thing did
(18:33):
he made He made it known before the one yard
line situation. You've shared a speaking of NFL quarterbacks, You've
shared a few training sessions with Justin Fields well before
he was in the NFL, and you continue to keep
in touch. I read in an article, what have you
(18:54):
learned from watching his career? UM, and Justin has been
my guy? Like you said, I knew Justin before were
all like the he was big and stuff like that.
But I mean Justin's kind of been like a mentor.
Just he's giving me like a little little tips to
advice like that. Like we had like a training session
like five months ago, and he just he told me
to go hard, to regrip, like just little tips and
(19:16):
just like things on my fundamentals that I need to do,
and I I gotta listen. I have no choice because
I mean he's made it. So that's kind of yeah.
Another another friend of mine, Um he played at Liberty University.
Malik Willis. He he was another guy that I kind
of was just talking to in the whole transition from
college to the NFL, and um it just an amazing kid,
(19:39):
really is. And he was somebody else has seeing you
get a chance to kind of like rub shoulders with, um,
it's it. Have you ever watched this game and kind
of ever learned anything from watching him play? Man? Moli
can run, that's you know, Malie gonna run. That He's
a little different from me, and that and that standpoint.
But I guess if anything I get out of his
game is running the ball. He could take off, that's
(20:02):
for sure. And in parts I know, um, you know
this is a new time. This is a real new
era in which n i L has exploded and allowed
young collegiate and high school athletes, some some high school
athletes to earn income. Being in the state of Georgia,
who you know as understood that that's not allowed us
(20:24):
against code And so does that ever as a parent,
does that ever kind of gnawing the back of your
head whether you want to consider changing states, moving or
is it something you want to just continue to play out.
So that's a deep question for us um, obviously, you know,
(20:48):
I think problem so number one, even when you was younger,
we worked. I mean at the time, we didn't even
know what we were doing, Like when we were again
growing in social media, you know platforms, I mean Twitter, eyes,
he's he's doing really well on Twitter, Instagram. He's gotta
think a hundred and eleven thousand followers something like that
right now. So, I mean it's grown. And then you know,
(21:10):
over the past couple of years, people started contacting us,
you know, with opportunities, and we you know, had to
say no to everything, and then it was kind of like,
you know, n I L becomes a thing and then
we're like, wait a second, maybe we'll be able to
take advantage of these opportunities. And needless to say, Georgia
passes it, but only for college. So, you know, as
(21:33):
a dad who's trying to position to him and prepare
him to be successful at the highest level. You know,
football always for us has to be the main thing,
and so analyzing and looking at the landscape, it's like, man,
he's got opportunities out West Tennessee just changed the law
the other day, you know, and we're like, man, that's
(21:53):
right up the road. Right, So it's like it's one
of those things. But then having the opportunity to be
coached by Joe King, being the community that he just
mentioned Carrollton and the accountability that it brings about, and
to me how it almost exemplifies a mini you know,
Auburn or Alabama type community or Georgia type community where
(22:14):
you know, like everybody knows who you are and how
you play on Friday night matters and um, you know,
like I just I couldn't let an I l outweigh
his development. And so right now we're being patient. Um,
you know, we're We've got an attorney and some other
people who you know, even his school, who you know,
want to support hopefully you know, moving things forward and
(22:36):
kind of pushing things ahead so that Georgia will you know,
hopefully you know, bring things forward and allow these kids
to capitalize on their name, image and likeness. That leads
me to my next question. What professionals, if any, have
you brought onto your team so far in terms of
trainers on the field, specialists off the field with business
managers or contract attorneys, or are you guys just keeping
(22:59):
it in the family for an out so trainers wise
he's got I mean he's got a cadreact trainers. I
mean it's he's got quarterback speed strength, uh, chiropractor massus. Uh.
It's pretty much got everything he needs on that side.
And then uh, I mean literally you know, UM has
(23:22):
quarterback trainers who kind of specialize in different things. UM.
And then like in terms of like business wise, so
again legally in Georgia, we can't hire or contract with anyone. UM.
I've got friends and relationships who you know, people you
know who kind of let me know what's going on
in other places, and UM, let me know what it
would look like if we were other places. But then
(23:45):
like in regards to like just kind of moves that
we make, Like that's all me right now. UM, it's
just kind of like me, you know, understanding, you know, hey,
this is what we can and can't do. UM. Like
I said, we do have an attorney that I'm a
friend who did business with years ago, who just happened
at one point in time work for the n C
Double A and the USA Track and Field. So he's
(24:07):
got you know, a ton of insight. He was up
in Indianapolis years ago. And then he also works with
some of the most you know, entertainers and that kind
of thing. So I mean, like prime example, like we
just turned down, you know, a huge opportunity that came
about for ju Um. And then like there was a
product that I you know, had to consult him on
(24:29):
because I was like, man, like this is like basically
was a product that wanted to place him on their packaging,
and I was like, man, this would be such a
huge opportunity for him. Just his face right like I'm like,
I'm like, look I told the people. I was like,
I literally no money, like say, we'll do it for
zero compensation whatever. And when we ran about the attorney,
we couldn't do it because under old n I L rules,
(24:50):
it's still marketing him on a product even though we
wouldn't be compensated. And so I was like, man, that
was brutal, but it's real, you know. I first t C,
I just want to commend you Um. You know one
of the things you had said not too long ago
was you didn't want to pick. You didn't want to
pick an opportunity of making money over his development, Like
(25:12):
that's just the most paramount and important thing for your son.
What's your shoes? I just want to commend you for that.
Want to also commend you, uh for for being a
father and know and and and that's majorly important, UM
is to have a father you can lean on. Uh.
It's tremendous of what it does. I have a I
(25:34):
focus on reading, education, literacy, being a mentor through the
shot in this foundation. And one of the stats that
just are astronomical to me is of men that are
incarcerated UM have a reading level of third grade or below,
and seventy percent of them are fatherless. So one, I
just want to commend you for that too. With that
(25:55):
being said, I'd be remiss if I did not ask
a question that viewer she could listen and possibly inspire
them to continue parenting and and and how you go
about right, I'm looking at you as a mentor myself.
I'm not a parent yet, so through through all of
(26:16):
the way that the world is shifts, the way that
the world has shift today and moving with gadgets, just
maintaining so much attention two kids and hard work is
something that is remote. How do you parents your amazing
son to stay focused? Balance? So I mean in the car,
(26:43):
he's got time to do this. Once he gets out
of the car's time to lock in. I mean, I
think really when he was younger, there were times where
we would set goals and he would have to own
those goals. I'd say, hey, these are things that you
said you want to pumplished. Now it's my job to
help you execute on it. And you know, I remember
(27:05):
he was nine years old and he won like Born
to Compete, which is like a huge sports organization here
in Georgia and they host the state championship, and uh
he won Quarterback of the Year at nine years old.
And we got in the car and I said, hey, man,
I said, this is from last year's accomplishments. I said,
so you can be the guy who wins this once
(27:28):
or be the guy who wins this every year. And so,
you know, we just kind of I think, small rewards,
you know, and then obviously getting big results on the field.
And then I think it came a point in time
where you know, making sure that he owned you know,
who he wanted to be, and then me driving and
making sure that you know, every sacrifice was made to
(27:50):
make sure that he could help accomplish the goals that
he and I kind of agreed upon, you know, for
him what's the best advice you've been given so far?
So funny? Uh dad of an NFL player, UM number one,
he said, don't let anybody between you and your son.
(28:11):
He said, don't let anybody in between you and your son.
He said, No matter what goes on, he's like, you
stay right there. He's like, you know, he's like, if
you hire people, they work for you, both of you,
he said, because the advice that you give him and
your intent, in your integrity and who you are in
(28:32):
his life, that's not going to change with those people
who insert themselves in his life. You know. There. You know,
while they can be trusted some of them, many of
them are there for you know, obviously game. And then
I guess the next piece of advice was, and I'll
say this for like especially recruiting, was don't let your
(28:53):
kids spend too much time on the phone with forty
plus year old man. Um. You know, at the end
of the day, it still goes through you. And it
makes too much sense because at the end of the day,
like they have businesses to run, they're trying to sell
him on things. People are trying to you know, it's
like we just talked to somebody really high profile. A
(29:14):
little while ago I did and the person was like, man,
I could talk to you, or I could talk to
you at the end of the day. You know, he's like,
I want to respect your family. And he's like, so
he spoke to me. You know, he's like other people.
They reach out to kids directly and try to do
business with a kid. You know, So listen, man, I
really appreciate we definitely appreciate both of y'all making time. Um.
(29:35):
You know, hopefully and prayfully we'll be able to look
back at this tape years from now and laugh and
remember when this conversation happened. And I wish you all
both the most success anyway we can help in any
shape or form. Don't hesitate and uh, definitely good luck.
Thank you guys so much for taking the time and
for doing this. It means thank you. Thank you guys
(29:56):
for listening to Sports Illustrated and I Heeart Radios the Bag.
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