June 10, 2025 • 41 mins
Perseverance isn't just about hanging on; it's about showing up day after day when there's no guarantee your dream will materialize. On this powerful episode, former NFL player and Super Bowl champion Bryan Hall reveals how he kept pushing forward as a janitor at his former high school during the 2011 NFL lockout – working without pay for months while training alone, all while family and friends questioned his path.
"Right when you're ready to quit is right when your breakthrough's there," shares Hall, whose determination was rewarded when the Baltimore Ravens called just days after his lowest moment. His story illuminates how opportunity favors the prepared, even when preparation means scraping walls by day and working out alone by evening.
Beyond the glory of his Super Bowl victory, Hall candidly discusses his challenging transition from defensive tackle to linebacker (losing 70 pounds in just months), career setbacks, and his evolution into a financial representative helping families build generational wealth. Now with Northwestern Mutual, he's passionate about expanding financial literacy and creating pathways to economic empowerment.
What separates this conversation from typical sports success stories is Hall's nuanced perspective on mentorship, growth and criticism. Rather than focusing exclusively on youth development, he challenges us to consider how adults model growth: "The youth is actually looking back at you... I know a lot of 40-year-old men that act like they're 19 because at 19, they stopped growing." This wisdom reflects his philosophy of empowering others through awareness rather than prescriptions – showing people their options instead of dictating their paths.
Ready to reshape how you view perseverance, pressure and purpose? Listen now and discover why Hall considers pressure "a privilege" and how transparency about where you truly are creates the foundation for authentic growth. Your breakthrough might be closer than you think.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
hello, welcome to another segment of b3u and I am
very honored to have mr brianhall on today's show.
Brian, yes, I've been waitingpatiently to have this interview
with you, my friend.
Thank you for taking the timeout to interview with me here on
(00:35):
B3U.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
I'm just glad we started on time.
You know what I'm saying.
You know, that's all I careabout.
We started this thing on timeOn God's time, not my time.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
You know what I'm saying, God's timing, god's
timing, so let's jump right intoit.
Brian, you are a former NFLplayer for the Baltimore Ravens.
Tell us a little bit about thatexperience.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, so 2011,.
I was signed as an undraftedfree agent for an opportunity to
play for the Baltimore Ravens,spent some really great years up
there 11, 12, 13, and the2012-13 season won a Super Bowl,
had an opportunity to win thatwith the Baltimore Ravens, got
friendships and memories for alifetime.
(01:19):
Forever grateful for that timein my life.
Playing professional sports fora total of seven years was
definitely a blessing in itself,so I'm excited and grateful for
those moments and lookingforward to building on top of
those.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
OK, so what is Brian doing today?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah.
So now I am a officialfinancial representative for
Northwestern Mutual and so Istarted that journey about a
year ago.
So a year later, fullycommitted to it, loving what I
do, loving the impact that I'mable to have for a lot of
families and a lot of people outhere in the world now, just
doing financial planning forthem, understanding the value of
(02:02):
generational wealth and how weget there, planning for them
understanding the value ofgenerational wealth and how we
get there, and so continuing tobuild on the things that I've
known obviously, you know, beinga professional athlete taking
some of the tools that I'velearned and the experiences, the
lessons I've been taught overthe last few years and applying
those now and giving them backto the youth through, you know,
athletic sports, but then alsojust families, communities,
(02:26):
making sure that they understandfinancial literacy and have a
chance to raise their awarenessof the value of what it can
bring.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Awesome.
I love it.
I love it with the kids.
So, brian, we all you know BeatFree U is about burning,
breaking and becomingunstoppable.
Everyone has a story.
Everyone has experiencedsomething in their life.
We all you know beat for you isabout burning, breaking and
becoming unstoppable.
Everyone has story.
Everyone has experiencedsomething in their life that was
traumatic, that either they'regoing through or have been
through.
(02:55):
So I want to ask you was therea moment in your life where you
were carrying trauma?
Maybe you didn't know what whatit was at the time.
What is your story?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
I mean, yeah, man, I guess every, every part of the
journey is a story, right?
Yeah, yeah, you know, uh,obviously, I knew I was going to
this call at some point and, um, I just thought you know,
whatever would pop up in my headas far as overcoming some
things.
Um, obviously, football playeda major part of my life.
(03:26):
I think that there are someglorious things about.
Obviously, some of the reasonswhy we're on the phone today is
because of some of the things Ihave accomplished.
There are always stories of howI even got to that spot in the
first place.
There's millions of guys whotrain every year for an
opportunity to play collegiately, professionally every year.
For opportunity to play, youknow, collegiately, right,
(03:47):
professionally, and for me to beable to achieve the highest of
those levels and receive thehighest of the honors, as far as
when the Super Bowl was thehighest that you get in
professional football, right,you know stories way before that
too, that played a part in evenme having that opportunity, and
so you know, I guess one of theones I always think about when
(04:09):
people talk about my footballcareer, especially playing a
professional, is that you know,I came out in a very unique year
, which was 2011.
2011, we had the NFL, thePlayers Association and the
teams, right, they were goingthrough a collective bargaining
agreement and then they ended uphaving a lockout, and so having
(04:31):
that lockout meant that therewas no football.
And so, in 2011, after the NFLdraft, there was no football
activities going on at all whilethey worked out a contract.
And so, you know, I had a, Ihad a pretty successful, uh,
collegiate career.
I was, you know, definitelyproud of it.
I felt that I was uh worthyenough to get my name called,
(04:54):
and I did not get my name calledright, and so, uh, after the
draft, at that point, you don'tknow, uh, what you're going to
end up doing, because there's nofootball, no team's going to
communicate with you, and so alot of guys that came up by year
never even had an opportunityat all because, you know, from
(05:15):
April to July, there was no wordof having football at all.
You know, close to a canceledseason, close to a lot of
different things, and so what doyou do from April to July?
And so a lot of guys lost thaton their opportunity by year
because of those things, thosemoving parts that were out of
our control.
And so, um, like I said, I feltthat I had opportunity didn't
(05:37):
know if it was going to beopportunity or not and so I
ended up, uh, moving back hometo my hometown I'm actually in,
right now, paducah, kentucky andso, uh, what ended up?
Moving back home to my hometown,I'm actually in, right now,
paducah, kentucky and so whatended up happening was I kept
working out, I kept working out.
I thought that I did enough.
You know, I had an agent.
I had other guys I was talkingto.
I had opportunities to go to,like Canada, the CFL, other,
(06:00):
like arena football, werereaching out to me trying to see
if they can get me to come outand play.
But I was dedicated to knowingthat.
You know my love for this gamealways been hitting the highest
levels, right, I would.
You know, that's what I alwayswanted to get done.
And so I moved back home.
You know this is.
You know, I got my degree, Igot everything I need.
You know it's hard to tell myparents that I need a place to
(06:22):
stay while I'm trying to work ona dream that had no guarantee
would happen, right?
And so I started working at myold high school, paducah-tibbitt
High School I was a janitor,right, which meant I would be up
there at like 5 am andessentially like moving on the
desk around scraping the wall,repainting the walls, all the
(06:42):
projects and things that I guessyou never realized were going
on during the summer, that theschool does to make sure the
school year is, you know, readyfor the next year, and so I
would go from 5 am to 3 o'clockin the afternoon and work this
job, and then from 3 to 5, Iwould work out, and I work out
by myself, very humble at times,because it's even crazier that
(07:06):
in school system here inKentucky they hold your first
month's check, right, so you getpaid once a month and they hold
your first check.
So now I'm working a job that Idon't even realize.
I'm not receiving any money inJune, right, so it's like
there's no money coming in and Iwon't get paid until the end of
July, my first check, and soessentially, I'm working for
(07:27):
free for two months.
And so, uh, that waschallenging to the point where,
you know, my parents were like,look man, you gotta get you a
job.
You know, I know you got thisdream of this NFL thing, but
it's not happening.
They ain't going on today andyou ain't gonna be on the route
not making no money, even thoughI had a job, right.
And so one of the craziestthings was I went and
(07:49):
interviewed at Pepsi out here,right, and he was like go get a
job.
So I go interview with the guyand I'm telling him like you
know I'm here, you know I have adegree, I I'm fully capable of
working this job, I'm fullycapable of doing all these
things.
But I have to let you know thatI'm fully expecting to go to
the NFL once they lift thelockout right.
(08:10):
And so I was like I don't knowhow long I'll be here.
I may be here for a month, Imay be here for two months.
I can't tell you how long, butas soon as that opportunity
comes, I'm going to take thisjob.
And so Pepsi did not hire me,right.
They were like, no, we're notgoing to take a chance on you.
Hey, good luck with that, bro,bring it for Paducah, talking
about you want to go to the NFL.
And so, yeah, I mean there was alot of hard times, even
(08:32):
fighting for that dream.
It wasn't something that waseasy, in a lot of dark days,
because you know you're doingthings, I'm training, I'm
working my tail off just to bein that position that I didn't
even know for sure that I had achance.
I just had a feeling that if anopportunity came I would have
it.
And I'll never forget man, oneof my good friends.
He ended up.
(08:54):
We were out at a bar one nightand I was just depressed Like
man.
I've been working my tail offand you know it's getting crazy
in the middle of July.
I haven't heard anything.
You know I don't know if I havea chance of that.
And so you know he let medecompress and unwind.
You know we just talked alittle bit and then that next
(09:15):
week I get a call from theBaltimore Ravens, amongst 13 to
14 other teams what's the NFLlockout lifted, right, and they
said they were interested inbringing me in.
And so, you know, I took thatopportunity and ran with it,
understanding how hard I had tofight for it, understanding that
it wasn't conventional Nothingabout my life's been
conventional.
And so, yeah, I took thatopportunity and proceeded to
(09:37):
have a seven-year career infootball.
So a lot of people see the SuperBowls and accolades and playing
with Hall of Famers and allthose things, but they don't
understand what I had to do andhow I had to fight just to be in
that opportunity.
So I think that that'ssomething that's hopefully
beneficial to people out thereto understand that you may have
something that's been placed inyour heart that you have no idea
(09:59):
how you're going to get there,but you know it's the right
thing to do and it's the rightthing to work for idea how
you're going to get there, butyou know it's the right thing to
do and it's the right thing towork for.
And so you know, like I said, Ihave a parent doubt me and you
know it's not like doubt, likethey didn't believe in me.
They even just looking at thereality of everything right, and
so it's not necessarily hate oranything like that.
They're just like we're justbeing real.
Like you know, you haven'theard from these people in three
(10:20):
months.
Why do you still believe in itthe way you do?
Speaker 1 (10:22):
and like I said I didn't have an answer at any
moment, did you?
Did you say, did you give up?
Did you say it's not?
Speaker 2 (10:30):
gonna happen.
Shit.
I almost did the week before,yeah, the weekend before that,
because I was like man, it was,you know, frustrating and you
know, right, when you're readyto quit, man is right when your
breakthrough's there.
And so, uh, you know, because Iworked out, because I was, you
know, staying diligent with whenI got my opportunity, a lot of
guys weren't doing that right,so a lot of guys got sent home
and cut and all those thingsjust not being prepared for that
(10:51):
opportunity in the same fashionthat I was.
And so I was able to reallyascend based on the work that
I'd already put in, right.
And so, yeah, there are hardtimes and, like I said, the
hardest thing is even explainingwhy you believe you have an
opportunity right, why thisthing is even on your heart when
there's nothing.
Sure that's possible, right?
You know you haven't talked toany NFL teams, you haven't
(11:14):
talked to anybody in monthsabout this.
So how do you even know there'san opportunity still waiting?
But something told me that youknow that's what you want to do
and you got to give it your all.
And you know, just so happenedthat, you know, the phone rang
and I had an opportunity to playfor the Baltimore Ravens.
The rest is history.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Wow.
So I heard you say that youthere was some dark, depressing
times, you know.
You said about a week beforeyou was just about to give up,
and I also noticed you said youknow you were working out and
going to work that did not payyou.
So what was some of thosecoping mechanisms besides just,
(11:54):
you know, going to work andworking out?
You know what?
Yeah, I mean wrong.
Where was your mind at duringthis time?
Speaker 2 (12:03):
I mean, my mind was just focused on the opportunity.
You know that that I couldn'texplain right.
You know that that's what keptme going, that's what kept me
excited.
I mean, obviously as a cat, youknow as a kid, as a child, you
understand that.
You know the NFL is the dreamjob, right.
And you know I put in, I put inwork in college.
You know I really worked in, Iput in work in college.
You know I really worked.
I thought I had a really greatsenior season.
(12:25):
I thought that I had earnedthat right and so I wanted to
see it through.
And so and there was nothingelse about it, you know there
was no only thing I did was putthe work in right.
You know I went to work, Ibuckled down.
You know I had a job that youknow bought up a lot of my time
and in the meantime I would justbe training and then the rest
of the time was just beingaround my family, right, and
(12:46):
working and staying out oftrouble and, like I said, just
locked in, you know from a youknow humbling place where you
can't get in too much troubleand if you are getting in
trouble because you're too damnbored and you need to be doing
something else.
And so, just, so, just stayingat it and staying focused at it
and understanding that you knowthe NFL will be back one day and
when it is, will you be ready?
(13:07):
And you know, if you're calledupon, if that call does come,
what are you going to do aboutit?
And I was able to have that.
You know I got a greatsupportive family, a loving
family.
But you know, like I said, theyhad realistic expectations,
right, which there's nothingwrong with it.
They just weren't realistic forme, and so I had to understand
that, yeah, it was justsomething.
That was something that'splaced on your heart as much as
(13:29):
it was for me.
There was no turning back, itwas just only pressing forward,
just to see, right.
I mean, I failed a milliontimes in my life and I've always
survived it right.
So could I survive holding outfor a dream of mine?
The answer is always going tobe yes, right, it's just will it
be worth it?
And thank God, you knowbelieving and having faith in
(13:50):
myself, and God it revealed tome that you know it all was so
you know, I'm grateful for it.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Awesome.
So now you finally make it.
You get to the NFL and you werea defensive tackle who also
transitioned to a linebacker.
What was the biggest challenge?
Switching positions.
Were there any?
Speaker 2 (14:12):
challenges Everything , absolutely.
I mean, I'm a guy that's neverbacked down from a challenge.
You know, good or bad, somethings have worked out very well
, just like holding out theopportunity to play in the NFL.
That was something that endedup working out very well for me,
and I ended up having thechallenge of moving to the Super
Bowl.
So after the Super Bowl weended up, I got a call from the
(14:36):
head coach and he wanted me todrop down to a linebacker.
He thought I was athletic enough.
He thought I had the solid buildand was able to you know, be a
football player to do it, and Iloved the game, I loved my team,
I loved everything about it somuch that I decided to do it,
and so I ended up losing like 70pounds in like three or four
months, got myself in a positionto play middle linebacker, and
(14:59):
I played middle linebacker forthe Baltimore Ravens, for you
know a time, you know a periodof time, and so it didn't work
out to the way I wanted it to,but the fact that I was bold
enough to even try it set thestandard of who I am as a person
today not being afraid toreally push myself and fail
forward.
(15:19):
You know, it's not about failingbackwards, it's about just
failing forward, and so I canlook at that today.
I struggled a lot with thatbecause I ended up getting cut
out the league and ended upgoing to Canada and doing other
different things because of thatsituation.
But because of that situation Iwas able to get more experience
, more opportunities in life,meet really great people along
(15:40):
the way and still be able tomove forward in my life.
And so you know, the toughtimes, the hard times really
defined who I was and who I amtoday, and so I just continue to
learn those lessons along myjourney, as I continue to grow.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
What was your most memorable time in the NFL with
the Baltimore Ravens?
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Yeah, I mean I had to be winning the Super Bowl.
You know.
Rest in peace to my big bro,jacoby Jones, my frat brother.
You know we lost him last yearand you know he had.
You know he's a hometown kidfrom New Orleans, grew up there.
You know Ed Reed is my big bro.
Shout out to him.
You know a lot of these guys.
(16:22):
Man, we worked extremely hardand we grew together and forged
a brotherhood through fire,right.
And so you know to work thathard and for it to end up with
the biggest prize of it all asfar as being a kid, right, you
know everyone watching the SuperBowl, to be a part of that and
to win it is unbelievable andthat's forever etched in stone.
(16:44):
This is nothing that can betaken away from me and that
brotherhood that was founded ineverything that we did still
lives on to this day.
So definitely grateful for thatexperience and how it's
launched me and my life forward.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Wow, who were some of the veterans, maybe who helped
you through who had a majorinfluence.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Who were those major veterans?
Yeah, I mean, there's too manyto count.
You know I got so manydifferent guys.
You know one of my like I said,one of some of my guys, jacoby
Jones, big Bro, vontae, leach.
A lot of my frat brothers, youknow being in a fraternity
allows you to, you know, have,you know, common interests with
guys really quickly and build on.
Am Reid is a big bro of mine tothis day Still think the world
(17:30):
of him Really showed me the way.
You know, I guess one of thefunniest stories is I'm a kid
from Kentucky, right, so I'm ahumble, beginner type of guy and
I'll never forget going towhat's the steakhouse Morton's.
We went to Morton's and it wasa guy named Corey Redding, right
(17:51):
, decided to take all the guysout, you know, night on the town
, while we were, you know, incamp or right out the camp, I
think we made it to the team andI'll never forget sitting there
with like five forks, fivespoons and napkins and all of
these things.
I ordered a well-done steak,right.
Most of the most embarrassingtimes they really let me know
(18:12):
just how bad it was to eat a goto a board.
That's a really nice steak.
I have to order a well-donesteak.
You know what I'm saying.
Like it doesn't even happen.
Like yo, you're not evengetting the good.
You're good cuts of meat andyou're just burning it up, so
you're not even appreciating it.
And so you know, guys, helpingyou not only become a
professional athlete, buthelping you, uh, to build the
makings and the dna of whatmanhood looks like, uh, like I
(18:35):
said, I still carry those, those, those lessons, uh and
experiences with me today.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
So so, after transitioning life, after
football, did you have a planfor what came next after return,
or was it a process ofdiscovery?
Speaker 2 (18:55):
A little bit of both.
You know it's never really anand or or, it's usually both.
I had a plan.
I knew I wanted to be anentrepreneur.
I knew I went to school forbusiness.
That's another thing about, youknow, the opportunity that I
had, like, I earned it.
But I also earned my degree.
You know, after football I wentback, got my MBA from Arkansas
State, where I played footballat it originally, because I had
(19:18):
already started it.
It only had a few classes left,so I got my mba.
I knew that I wanted to uh ownbusinesses.
When I got out of the league Iwas uh in car sales.
I was a salesperson and thentransferred it to a financial
manager.
Uh, then I got out of that, Iowned a gym.
I was training athletes andsupport them and build a
(19:39):
non-profit and then, uh, youknow.
But I knew that I wanted towork for myself.
I knew that I wanted to have animpact on as many lives as
possible.
I knew I didn't want to coachjust because of so many
different things in life.
I wanted to coach people inlife and business, but not set,
not necessarily only beingrelegated to what football can
(20:00):
bring, because that's only acertain amount of people, right?
Uh, you know, they say onepercent of these people will
become professional athletes.
And which one is more important, that one percent or the 99
percent?
Right, there's a lot morepeople than the 99, than the one
percent, right?
So you want to be able to learnhow to support that, and so what
I've always done was staying ontrack to how can I support as
(20:21):
many people as possible with thegifts and the tools that I, the
God, blessed me with.
And then what does thatactually look like?
And yeah, I mean, I've beenthrough, you know, lots of
different careers andexperiences to understand now
what I do as far as being afinancial advisor or a financial
rep for um, northwestern Mutual, um, now, understanding the
(20:43):
things that I'm doing as far aswith my foundation Life for Up
Academy kind of put me into thatgroove where I'm able to
maximize what my skill set isand then also maximize the
amount of support that I cangive the people that I care
about and my community that Ilove.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
That is awesome, brian.
You are, I must tell you I'vetold you this before but a man
at your age, so young, you arevery empowering with the things
that you do, the young peoplethat you touch.
You rather touch the 99% thanthe 1%, and I love that.
How do you take criticism?
(21:22):
How do you handle pressure andcriticism?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
uh, criticism.
You gotta have a certain levelof caliber, of even experience
in life, to be able to properlycriticize me.
There's a lot of people thatcriticize you that have no merit
at all in your life to eventalk about you.
So you know, if you're gonnacome to me and talk to me, you
know, uh, you know I'm afootball player, right.
So if it's a football player,uh, there's a guy that knows
(21:48):
football that wants to criticizeme on football, great.
But the guy that wants tocriticize me and my business,
business, he doesn't have anyidea how to run a business or be
a part of it.
Your criticism doesn't meanmuch at all to me at all.
Right, I don't look atcriticism.
Look at, uh, you know you'reeither building me or you're in
the way, right.
So, uh, you got to be qualifiedto have a criticism.
(22:09):
Right, work something right.
If you can do that, then that'scool.
Uh, pressure, uh, is a privilege.
You know.
That's one thing that I'velearned in in life and sports
and understanding that you knowwhat opportunity you have,
especially when you're inalignment with yourself, where
you're supposed to be at, inyour purpose, and if you believe
in a higher god.
If you believe in a higherthing being besides you,
(22:32):
something being bigger than you,then you know that anything
bestowed on you like this is anhonor.
That way you can show andreveal everything you've worked
so hard to be your entire life.
So I look at pressure as just aprivilege and opportunity to
really go do some really greatthings.
So I don't run away frompressure.
(22:52):
I kind of, you know, indulge init.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
And that's good.
You know that's good.
That's what I want to talkabout, because if you look in
the arena of entertainmentfootball music we see what's
going on right now.
You know we see what's going onand I think that a lot of
people who go in there thereason why I asked about the
(23:17):
criticism or pressure is becauseI believe a lot of people who
go into these entertainmentrealms they're coming from their
little states, the little townthat they may be in, and then
they come, bam, here go thelights, the glitter, the action,
and it takes a strong man suchas yourself not to get wrapped
up.
Now I'm not going to go intothe ditty parties, I'm not going
(23:39):
to go.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
I'm not going to go.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
You know, but I really feel sorry for a lot of
things that I see in theentertainment realm, some even
in the football.
You know.
We've seen things Michael Vickwith the dog, I mean you know
what I'm saying.
It's like the stupid thingsthat the media will blow up
(24:02):
really big and you know thepressure, the criticism that you
guys get and it seems like youstay really grounded with
knowing who you are number one,knowing what you wanted to do,
and so that's.
You know the reason why I asked, like, how do you handle it?
Because there is young peopleout here right now who has the
same vision to or the same goal.
(24:24):
You know that they want to bethe singer, they want to be the
football player, you know.
So you know you're showingpeople how hard you had to work
to get where you wanted to beand you stayed grounded during
that time, even before, duringand after.
And I know your passion isyoung people and you said you do
(24:49):
coaching too right Somethinglike that oh crash out, oh bam,
we're back.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Yeah, I can see you, You're good, yeah, yeah, so I do
training, I do positiontraining for kids, I do.
You know things like that.
And I think the number onething that what you're talking
about also is just how to builda foundation, right, and what do
you found it in?
Where are your feet actually at?
Because, with entertainment andall those things too, man, a
lot of stuff, a lot of thepressure and the things that
you're talking about is allstarting up here, right, it's
like, is it actually real?
(25:23):
And those real things thatyou're pressure, like what do
you use it for all of thosethings?
And so, you know, I've come along way in life.
Like this is the Brian you'retalking to today, right, brian,
20 years ago or 15 or even fiveyears ago, you probably get
different answers, right, andyou know, one of my biggest
lessons that I always, you know,talk about is just being
(25:45):
maturity, being a lesson learned, right, it's just.
Are you learning these lessonsso that when these you know
opportunities pop up or youstill got to go through them
every time where they'redictating you versus what you're
dictating for yourself, right,and so it's just like I said, me
just understanding I got to beable to control what I can
control.
I still battle those things,right.
I still got to work throughthose things as well.
(26:06):
I'm not a finished product withthat, but I do have experiences
that I can lean back on.
I do have wins in my life rightwhere it's put me in a position
to know that I can up what I'mcapable of.
So I've been able to.
I've overcome every dark timeof my life, right, and that's
something I can lean back to.
Right, to know that if I'vebeen able to do it before, I can
(26:28):
do it again Right.
And the thing is, you may notbe the way you thought it was
going to be, but the fact thatyou did it in itself is already
a blessing If you can see thatfor yourself, right.
Some people don't see that.
Some people constantly, youknow, beat themselves up and dig
themselves deeper, that theydon't realize all they're doing
is just burying themselves moreinstead of the opportunity to
stop, breathe, consider rightand give yourself a chance to
(26:52):
grow.
So I think that you know we'retalking about the kids and you
know what I'm able to do withthe kids.
I'm just trying to raiseawareness because, you know, the
more awareness you have, themore opportunities you have to
choose.
A lot of people in their livesright now aren't able to choose
because they're allowingcircumstances to choose for them
.
Right, you know my job is, youknow, when guys are going
(27:17):
through hard times, I'm a bigmale advocate in mental health.
Uh, I'm being a mental healthgeneral, right, and you know,
one of the things is that a lotof guys kids, youth, adults,
everybody you'll hear them saywell, I had no other choice, I
had no other chance, I had noother, whatever it is, and you
know, that's a sad reality tohave to live in, to think that
everything that you're doing isdictated by everybody else and
you don't have an opportunity tochange your life.
And so when you start puttingeverybody else to blame, then
(27:41):
you give them the opportunity tochange you, and the thing about
it is no one's going to do that.
Right, that's the inside job,that's something you got to take
, you know, advantage of foryourself.
And so I think that you knowunderstanding that, uh, the
pressures, the criticism, allthose things like that is just
things that we're putting intoour heads, and what healthy
things are you putting in yourhead that when things are going
(28:01):
against you, you have a way torise and conquer them?
Speaker 1 (28:05):
and it's I.
I so a thousand percent believein everything you just said and
that's the impact of leadership.
So you've been through a lot,you've experienced and you shape
the way you led and support andyou mentor others now, which is
a big, a big need in ouryounger generation.
(28:27):
You know, uh, they need to knowhow to you know it.
You know, once they get to thatpoint, how do you stay grounded
, how do you stay focused?
And you know, because I'm surethat when you enter a realm like
that, it could be a wildexperience, am I correct?
Speaker 2 (28:47):
yeah, yeah, it's always funny though, like I said
, let me talk it.
It's always funny though, likeI said, me talking.
It's always funny when peopletalk about, like our youth, of,
uh, of people and why they're soimportant.
And you know, like I know yousaid I'm younger, but I got a
lot of people that's youngerthan me, right?
So it makes me older than a lotof people, and so I never
really understand, like, wherethe line is drawn between being
(29:08):
in your youth and then being anadult, and why, once you
transfer into the adult, theonus isn't just as important as
it is for the youth, because, atthe end of the day, the youth
is still looking somewhere,right?
And I think that we put a lotof onus on going backwards, that
we forget about the people whoare in front of them, right?
So I think that you know, youknow, having the adults, having
(29:29):
having these conversations,right, changing those dynamics
people think that you know, likeaction is the way you learn
from people, right?
Not about what they say, butwhat they're doing, and so
there's only so much you can dowith the youth.
But the youth is actuallylooking back at you, right?
So they say, yeah, I know,you're telling me what to do,
but you're not living in yourown life.
So then how can you possiblymean anything you're saying when
(29:51):
you're not doing?
You're not even acknowledgingit in your own life, right?
So you know, I think it's onething to say to youth, and I
100% believe in that, but atsome point we got to go back and
make sure the adults are stillfighting for a chance to grow
too, cause I know a lot of youknow 40 yearold men that act
(30:15):
like they're 19,.
Right, because at 19, theystopped growing.
At 19, they thought theyfigured everything out.
They didn't have a reason togrow.
I know 30-year-old women, right, that act like 15-year-olds.
You know, I know, you knowthere's so many different cases
that show you that age andmaturity aren't on the same
level at all, and so I thinkthat you know us having a more
totality, look at it, of sayinglike OK, cool, you want to talk
to this 13 year old kid.
A 13 year old kid got to gohome to somebody that's older
(30:37):
than them, that hasresponsibilities for them, so we
can't disregard that piece ofit and act like.
You know we we're like oh,we'll go save the kids.
Those kids have adult parentsaround them that are the biggest
influencers of everythingthey're doing.
So our message can only go sofar, but it has to include as
many people as possible, becausewe don't know what that wants
(30:58):
to get to do for the nextgeneration, for the next people,
for the example that they'resetting out there, because those
are those kids become adults,right, and we can't disregard
them at that point, becausethose kids, they become the
adult leaders and examples ofour next future.
Uh, people coming up, and so youknow, like I said, I love the
youth, right, but I try to findways, uh, as an adult, as a man,
(31:19):
as the people that I'm around,as the influencers, and you know
the people who are being theexample for us to make sure that
they're, they're giving out thebest example, and then that's
how we help the youth the mostbecause, like I said, we can
feed them to the blue of theface, but at the end of the day,
they're going to watch yourexample, they're going to watch
the adults and they're notcriticizing them, because if you
do better, you do better, andif you're older, you have way
(31:41):
more opportunities to knowbetter and do better, right?
So I think there's a groupeffort that we all can be better
from.
I've learned a lot from peopleyounger than me.
I've learned a lot from peopleolder than me, right?
But it's just the fact that I'mwilling to learn that separates
me from a lot of people,because I know I don't know
everything, so I'm alwayslooking to build and grow.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
That's awesome.
So when you talk to otherpeople, especially men or young
people, what are your truthsthat you tell them about trauma,
or do you share that with themas well?
Speaker 2 (32:16):
Yeah, I mean, I don't necessarily believe in like my
truths being more important thanwhat the truth you need to know
, right?
And so you know, my job at theend of the day is just to try to
raise awareness.
I don't really do anything pastthat point because at the end
of the day, it's up to you tochoose your life, right?
So I think we get too caught upin telling somebody what to do,
but you don't know the rightcircumstances.
(32:37):
You don't know if theyarticulate exactly what's going
on with them, right, it can beso many different things, and so
I just want to show them thatthere are other options out
there other than the onesthey're thinking.
Right, you know somebody couldbe, you know, beating themselves
up because of college and forsome reason, they don't really
feel like they need to go tocollege.
Right, they want to go, dosomething with their hands, they
want to do these otherdifferent things, and so it
(32:59):
could be pointing them to theopportunity of a trade school,
right.
Or understanding that you knowthey got unions out here that
pay.
There are people once you'reinvolved in them, and so there's
so many different outside thebox things that maybe I did or
maybe I didn't do right that wewant to be able to show those
people because not everythingthat's been in your life was
meant for the next person, andso I don't necessarily give my
(33:21):
truth on things more thanshowing them awareness, right of
other opportunities and optionsout there for them and allow
them them to decide forthemselves.
I don't really believe intelling people what to do.
I just want to give them moreeducation, more awareness, more
information right, so they canmake a proper choice in their
life, instead of having somebodyelse choose for them.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
That is good, so let me ask you about your you know
what is your peace and yourfreedom, and how do you protect
your freedom and your peace fromthings that you have been?
Speaker 2 (34:00):
through man.
Living in it, you know, livingin it definitely helps out.
Not trying to separate my lifein it, you know, living in it
definitely helps out.
Uh, not trying to separate mylife.
Uh, I think that's when thingsget weird when you try to do
these like all cabinets ofemotions and whatever's going on
.
Uh, you know, my peace of mindand my freedom of peace of mind,
uh, I think, are very importantto me.
(34:22):
And when I'm thinking clearly,when my my spirit's okay, when
I'm okay with myself, man, lifeis looking like a glorious place
to be right.
When I'm down on myself, whenI'm not, when I'm allowing other
situations and circumstances todictate me, right, that's when
I don't have that freedomanymore.
That freedom belongs tosomebody else who's able to
(34:42):
control it.
And then that's where thingsstart to really take a turn for
myself.
Right, and those are the thingsI work on to this day.
I'm not perfect by any stretchof the imagination.
I'm just a human, just likeeverybody else.
We all have our internal battlesthat we're all going to
continue to fight, because oneit's worth fighting, because on
the other side of it could besomething that's not only
beneficial for you but the nextperson as well, and so, you know
(35:05):
, I protect mine by being a partof it and recognizing uh, all
sides right, and giving myselfthe best opportunity to choose
my life and choose the way Iwant to be, and having the
support around me that allowsthe same thing.
And so having the right peoplearound you, um, but you gotta be
able to reveal who you reallyare too right.
I think that's half the problemis, you know, being honest and
(35:27):
transparent about where you arein this very moment right, it
may be ahead of somebody, it maybe behind somebody, but at
least you know exactly whereyou're at so you can actually
build from that.
A lot of people try to buildfrom a place they're not even at
and wonder why they haven'tmade it there.
Right, and so you know, I'mable to be transparent with the
people I love, and then thatgives them the best opportunity
(35:47):
to support who I really am, andso I try to be as truthful and
transparent about who I reallyam gives them a chance to
support me, and then that's howI continue to cultivate myself
and also cultivate the peoplearound me.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Brian, you, how many times have I said you're amazing
?
Are you counting?
No, I'm not amazing, are youcounting?
I am so glad to have had thisopportunity to partner with you,
because b3u is a place where wecan be transparent, and I love
that you came on here and youwould just your truest self, and
(36:23):
that's what we try to getpeople to do Show their
transparency, because it's allabout the 99% Right.
It's all about the 99%.
It's all about the 100%.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
The 100%, because you also got to look at it as that
1% People don't look at theworld man.
1% of the world controls theentire world Right, and so the
oldest of those people in that1% percent role, they have to
understand how their voiceamplifies and exemplifies a lot
of people out here who don'teven have their own right, and
(36:56):
so you know that's why someonelike you know professional
athlete, you know people thatpeople don't recognize and build
off of right like it's a partof the 100.
I'm just saying that the 99 areusually forgot about because
the one percent usually controlsthe 99 and so the 99 is just
trying to keep up and they'retrying to fit into the whole of
the one percent, not knowingthat they'll never make it
(37:19):
through that right.
And so my job is to let the 99know there are other options
that you can do and you canstill be yourself and you don't
have to chase what you think theone percent of people are doing
, because, quite honestly, youdon't know what the one percent
of people are doing.
They're just telling you what todo, right, and they're not even
living those same experiences,and that's where a lot of
clashes are going on, even tothis day.
(37:40):
That's why the social mediastuff is blowing up.
You got influencers that areinfluencing people to do things
they never done.
Oh, my goodness right.
So it's just there's a lot ofdifferent.
You know sides of it, and soit's not about just the 99
percent, about the 100, but Ijust think that 99 are usually
forgotten about because the onepercent is too big.
They're trying to control wherethey're going instead of giving
(38:02):
people the freedom to freedomof choice.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
You know yeah, I agree with that.
I agree with that, and you knowI like that too, because you
know, being um in this, thisrealm of podcast, and being a
motivational, inspirationalspeaker um, you look at people
who are video content creatorsand there is a thousand
(38:25):
different ways to do somethingand I just realized that you
know, you know I take my bitsand pieces and then I just kind
of be genuine and just do whatit is Brie wants to do, how she
(38:47):
wants, have been introduced andknown each other.
I'm 54 and you have taught meyou are right.
Very Again, I thank you forcoming on the show, for being
transparent, and I pray for you,my brother, in every step of
(39:09):
any, all of your endeavors,anything that you touch.
I pray for peace and blessingmultitude on you.
Multitude, you are amazing and Ilook forward to continue to
work with you.
I'm really looking forward topartnering together so we can
help those that need the help,that need the guidance, that
(39:29):
need the direction.
This is what B3U is all about,because we truthfully truthfully
, it is time.
The time is now to save oursociety.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
I'm about to be self-abrand this whole time.
That's the only reason why Idid it.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
I guess we learned something new every day.
I thought the beef was the onlyreason I did it.
I was saying like you start tobe so bright.
Speaker 2 (39:50):
I guess we learn something new every day.
I thought the B was for Brian.
I thought it was a dedicationto me.
I was like I ain't cool B3,.
I was like I ain't cool Brian.
Three times that makes a lot ofsense.
Speaker 1 (40:00):
Well, you know what?
No, it stands for burn breakand becoming unstoppable.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
Well breaking and becoming unstoppable.
Well, this should be a Brian atsome point.
Brian, Brian, Brian.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
That makes a lot of sense.
Look, my goodness, look, Iappreciate you, brian.
I'll look at working it inthere somewhere.
I'll work it out for you.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
Put me at the back door.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
Okay, I'll put you a little icon in there somewhere.
My brother, I thank you.
I thank you for your time, Ithank you for your knowledge and
I look forward to seeing youagain.
Will you come back?
Speaker 2 (40:42):
Absolutely.
Yeah, for sure, great,absolutely.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
All my viewers out there.
I thank you.
I thank you for joining me memyself, and Mr Brian Hall Thank
him so much for coming on, andwe will see you again on another
(41:06):
big reuse that you guys takecare of yourself.
hello, welcome to another segment of b3u and I am
very honored to have mr brianhall on today's show.
Brian, yes, I've been waitingpatiently to have this interview
with you, my friend.
Thank you for taking the timeout to interview with me here on
(00:35):
B3U.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
I'm just glad we started on time.
You know what I'm saying.
You know, that's all I careabout.
We started this thing on timeOn God's time, not my time.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
You know what I'm saying, God's timing, god's
timing, so let's jump right intoit.
Brian, you are a former NFLplayer for the Baltimore Ravens.
Tell us a little bit about thatexperience.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, so 2011,.
I was signed as an undraftedfree agent for an opportunity to
play for the Baltimore Ravens,spent some really great years up
there 11, 12, 13, and the2012-13 season won a Super Bowl,
had an opportunity to win thatwith the Baltimore Ravens, got
friendships and memories for alifetime.
(01:19):
Forever grateful for that timein my life.
Playing professional sports fora total of seven years was
definitely a blessing in itself,so I'm excited and grateful for
those moments and lookingforward to building on top of
those.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
OK, so what is Brian doing today?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah.
So now I am a officialfinancial representative for
Northwestern Mutual and so Istarted that journey about a
year ago.
So a year later, fullycommitted to it, loving what I
do, loving the impact that I'mable to have for a lot of
families and a lot of people outhere in the world now, just
doing financial planning forthem, understanding the value of
(02:02):
generational wealth and how weget there, planning for them
understanding the value ofgenerational wealth and how we
get there, and so continuing tobuild on the things that I've
known obviously, you know, beinga professional athlete taking
some of the tools that I'velearned and the experiences, the
lessons I've been taught overthe last few years and applying
those now and giving them backto the youth through, you know,
athletic sports, but then alsojust families, communities,
(02:26):
making sure that they understandfinancial literacy and have a
chance to raise their awarenessof the value of what it can
bring.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Awesome.
I love it.
I love it with the kids.
So, brian, we all you know BeatFree U is about burning,
breaking and becomingunstoppable.
Everyone has a story.
Everyone has experiencedsomething in their life.
We all you know beat for you isabout burning, breaking and
becoming unstoppable.
Everyone has story.
Everyone has experiencedsomething in their life that was
traumatic, that either they'regoing through or have been
through.
(02:55):
So I want to ask you was therea moment in your life where you
were carrying trauma?
Maybe you didn't know what whatit was at the time.
What is your story?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
I mean, yeah, man, I guess every, every part of the
journey is a story, right?
Yeah, yeah, you know, uh,obviously, I knew I was going to
this call at some point and, um, I just thought you know,
whatever would pop up in my headas far as overcoming some
things.
Um, obviously, football playeda major part of my life.
(03:26):
I think that there are someglorious things about.
Obviously, some of the reasonswhy we're on the phone today is
because of some of the things Ihave accomplished.
There are always stories of howI even got to that spot in the
first place.
There's millions of guys whotrain every year for an
opportunity to play collegiately, professionally every year.
For opportunity to play, youknow, collegiately, right,
(03:47):
professionally, and for me to beable to achieve the highest of
those levels and receive thehighest of the honors, as far as
when the Super Bowl was thehighest that you get in
professional football, right,you know stories way before that
too, that played a part in evenme having that opportunity, and
so you know, I guess one of theones I always think about when
(04:09):
people talk about my footballcareer, especially playing a
professional, is that you know,I came out in a very unique year
, which was 2011.
2011, we had the NFL, thePlayers Association and the
teams, right, they were goingthrough a collective bargaining
agreement and then they ended uphaving a lockout, and so having
(04:31):
that lockout meant that therewas no football.
And so, in 2011, after the NFLdraft, there was no football
activities going on at all whilethey worked out a contract.
And so, you know, I had a, Ihad a pretty successful, uh,
collegiate career.
I was, you know, definitelyproud of it.
I felt that I was uh worthyenough to get my name called,
(04:54):
and I did not get my name calledright, and so, uh, after the
draft, at that point, you don'tknow, uh, what you're going to
end up doing, because there's nofootball, no team's going to
communicate with you, and so alot of guys that came up by year
never even had an opportunityat all because, you know, from
(05:15):
April to July, there was no wordof having football at all.
You know, close to a canceledseason, close to a lot of
different things, and so what doyou do from April to July?
And so a lot of guys lost thaton their opportunity by year
because of those things, thosemoving parts that were out of
our control.
And so, um, like I said, I feltthat I had opportunity didn't
(05:37):
know if it was going to beopportunity or not and so I
ended up, uh, moving back hometo my hometown I'm actually in,
right now, paducah, kentucky andso, uh, what ended up?
Moving back home to my hometown,I'm actually in, right now,
paducah, kentucky and so whatended up happening was I kept
working out, I kept working out.
I thought that I did enough.
You know, I had an agent.
I had other guys I was talkingto.
I had opportunities to go to,like Canada, the CFL, other,
(06:00):
like arena football, werereaching out to me trying to see
if they can get me to come outand play.
But I was dedicated to knowingthat.
You know my love for this gamealways been hitting the highest
levels, right, I would.
You know, that's what I alwayswanted to get done.
And so I moved back home.
You know this is.
You know, I got my degree, Igot everything I need.
You know it's hard to tell myparents that I need a place to
(06:22):
stay while I'm trying to work ona dream that had no guarantee
would happen, right?
And so I started working at myold high school, paducah-tibbitt
High School I was a janitor,right, which meant I would be up
there at like 5 am andessentially like moving on the
desk around scraping the wall,repainting the walls, all the
(06:42):
projects and things that I guessyou never realized were going
on during the summer, that theschool does to make sure the
school year is, you know, readyfor the next year, and so I
would go from 5 am to 3 o'clockin the afternoon and work this
job, and then from 3 to 5, Iwould work out, and I work out
by myself, very humble at times,because it's even crazier that
(07:06):
in school system here inKentucky they hold your first
month's check, right, so you getpaid once a month and they hold
your first check.
So now I'm working a job that Idon't even realize.
I'm not receiving any money inJune, right, so it's like
there's no money coming in and Iwon't get paid until the end of
July, my first check, and soessentially, I'm working for
(07:27):
free for two months.
And so, uh, that waschallenging to the point where,
you know, my parents were like,look man, you gotta get you a
job.
You know, I know you got thisdream of this NFL thing, but
it's not happening.
They ain't going on today andyou ain't gonna be on the route
not making no money, even thoughI had a job, right.
And so one of the craziestthings was I went and
(07:49):
interviewed at Pepsi out here,right, and he was like go get a
job.
So I go interview with the guyand I'm telling him like you
know I'm here, you know I have adegree, I I'm fully capable of
working this job, I'm fullycapable of doing all these
things.
But I have to let you know thatI'm fully expecting to go to
the NFL once they lift thelockout right.
(08:10):
And so I was like I don't knowhow long I'll be here.
I may be here for a month, Imay be here for two months.
I can't tell you how long, butas soon as that opportunity
comes, I'm going to take thisjob.
And so Pepsi did not hire me,right.
They were like, no, we're notgoing to take a chance on you.
Hey, good luck with that, bro,bring it for Paducah, talking
about you want to go to the NFL.
And so, yeah, I mean there was alot of hard times, even
(08:32):
fighting for that dream.
It wasn't something that waseasy, in a lot of dark days,
because you know you're doingthings, I'm training, I'm
working my tail off just to bein that position that I didn't
even know for sure that I had achance.
I just had a feeling that if anopportunity came I would have
it.
And I'll never forget man, oneof my good friends.
He ended up.
(08:54):
We were out at a bar one nightand I was just depressed Like
man.
I've been working my tail offand you know it's getting crazy
in the middle of July.
I haven't heard anything.
You know I don't know if I havea chance of that.
And so you know he let medecompress and unwind.
You know we just talked alittle bit and then that next
(09:15):
week I get a call from theBaltimore Ravens, amongst 13 to
14 other teams what's the NFLlockout lifted, right, and they
said they were interested inbringing me in.
And so, you know, I took thatopportunity and ran with it,
understanding how hard I had tofight for it, understanding that
it wasn't conventional Nothingabout my life's been
conventional.
And so, yeah, I took thatopportunity and proceeded to
(09:37):
have a seven-year career infootball.
So a lot of people see the SuperBowls and accolades and playing
with Hall of Famers and allthose things, but they don't
understand what I had to do andhow I had to fight just to be in
that opportunity.
So I think that that'ssomething that's hopefully
beneficial to people out thereto understand that you may have
something that's been placed inyour heart that you have no idea
(09:59):
how you're going to get there,but you know it's the right
thing to do and it's the rightthing to work for idea how
you're going to get there, butyou know it's the right thing to
do and it's the right thing towork for.
And so you know, like I said, Ihave a parent doubt me and you
know it's not like doubt, likethey didn't believe in me.
They even just looking at thereality of everything right, and
so it's not necessarily hate oranything like that.
They're just like we're justbeing real.
Like you know, you haven'theard from these people in three
(10:20):
months.
Why do you still believe in itthe way you do?
Speaker 1 (10:22):
and like I said I didn't have an answer at any
moment, did you?
Did you say, did you give up?
Did you say it's not?
Speaker 2 (10:30):
gonna happen.
Shit.
I almost did the week before,yeah, the weekend before that,
because I was like man, it was,you know, frustrating and you
know, right, when you're readyto quit, man is right when your
breakthrough's there.
And so, uh, you know, because Iworked out, because I was, you
know, staying diligent with whenI got my opportunity, a lot of
guys weren't doing that right,so a lot of guys got sent home
and cut and all those thingsjust not being prepared for that
(10:51):
opportunity in the same fashionthat I was.
And so I was able to reallyascend based on the work that
I'd already put in, right.
And so, yeah, there are hardtimes and, like I said, the
hardest thing is even explainingwhy you believe you have an
opportunity right, why thisthing is even on your heart when
there's nothing.
Sure that's possible, right?
You know you haven't talked toany NFL teams, you haven't
(11:14):
talked to anybody in monthsabout this.
So how do you even know there'san opportunity still waiting?
But something told me that youknow that's what you want to do
and you got to give it your all.
And you know, just so happenedthat, you know, the phone rang
and I had an opportunity to playfor the Baltimore Ravens.
The rest is history.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Wow.
So I heard you say that youthere was some dark, depressing
times, you know.
You said about a week beforeyou was just about to give up,
and I also noticed you said youknow you were working out and
going to work that did not payyou.
So what was some of thosecoping mechanisms besides just,
(11:54):
you know, going to work andworking out?
You know what?
Yeah, I mean wrong.
Where was your mind at duringthis time?
Speaker 2 (12:03):
I mean, my mind was just focused on the opportunity.
You know that that I couldn'texplain right.
You know that that's what keptme going, that's what kept me
excited.
I mean, obviously as a cat, youknow as a kid, as a child, you
understand that.
You know the NFL is the dreamjob, right.
And you know I put in, I put inwork in college.
You know I really worked in, Iput in work in college.
You know I really worked.
I thought I had a really greatsenior season.
(12:25):
I thought that I had earnedthat right and so I wanted to
see it through.
And so and there was nothingelse about it, you know there
was no only thing I did was putthe work in right.
You know I went to work, Ibuckled down.
You know I had a job that youknow bought up a lot of my time
and in the meantime I would justbe training and then the rest
of the time was just beingaround my family, right, and
(12:46):
working and staying out oftrouble and, like I said, just
locked in, you know from a youknow humbling place where you
can't get in too much troubleand if you are getting in
trouble because you're too damnbored and you need to be doing
something else.
And so, just, so, just stayingat it and staying focused at it
and understanding that you knowthe NFL will be back one day and
when it is, will you be ready?
(13:07):
And you know, if you're calledupon, if that call does come,
what are you going to do aboutit?
And I was able to have that.
You know I got a greatsupportive family, a loving
family.
But you know, like I said, theyhad realistic expectations,
right, which there's nothingwrong with it.
They just weren't realistic forme, and so I had to understand
that, yeah, it was justsomething.
That was something that'splaced on your heart as much as
(13:29):
it was for me.
There was no turning back, itwas just only pressing forward,
just to see, right.
I mean, I failed a milliontimes in my life and I've always
survived it right.
So could I survive holding outfor a dream of mine?
The answer is always going tobe yes, right, it's just will it
be worth it?
And thank God, you knowbelieving and having faith in
(13:50):
myself, and God it revealed tome that you know it all was so
you know, I'm grateful for it.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Awesome.
So now you finally make it.
You get to the NFL and you werea defensive tackle who also
transitioned to a linebacker.
What was the biggest challenge?
Switching positions.
Were there any?
Speaker 2 (14:12):
challenges Everything , absolutely.
I mean, I'm a guy that's neverbacked down from a challenge.
You know, good or bad, somethings have worked out very well
, just like holding out theopportunity to play in the NFL.
That was something that endedup working out very well for me,
and I ended up having thechallenge of moving to the Super
Bowl.
So after the Super Bowl weended up, I got a call from the
(14:36):
head coach and he wanted me todrop down to a linebacker.
He thought I was athletic enough.
He thought I had the solid buildand was able to you know, be a
football player to do it, and Iloved the game, I loved my team,
I loved everything about it somuch that I decided to do it,
and so I ended up losing like 70pounds in like three or four
months, got myself in a positionto play middle linebacker, and
(14:59):
I played middle linebacker forthe Baltimore Ravens, for you
know a time, you know a periodof time, and so it didn't work
out to the way I wanted it to,but the fact that I was bold
enough to even try it set thestandard of who I am as a person
today not being afraid toreally push myself and fail
forward.
(15:19):
You know, it's not about failingbackwards, it's about just
failing forward, and so I canlook at that today.
I struggled a lot with thatbecause I ended up getting cut
out the league and ended upgoing to Canada and doing other
different things because of thatsituation.
But because of that situation Iwas able to get more experience
, more opportunities in life,meet really great people along
(15:40):
the way and still be able tomove forward in my life.
And so you know, the toughtimes, the hard times really
defined who I was and who I amtoday, and so I just continue to
learn those lessons along myjourney, as I continue to grow.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
What was your most memorable time in the NFL with
the Baltimore Ravens?
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Yeah, I mean I had to be winning the Super Bowl.
You know.
Rest in peace to my big bro,jacoby Jones, my frat brother.
You know we lost him last yearand you know he had.
You know he's a hometown kidfrom New Orleans, grew up there.
You know Ed Reed is my big bro.
Shout out to him.
You know a lot of these guys.
(16:22):
Man, we worked extremely hardand we grew together and forged
a brotherhood through fire,right.
And so you know to work thathard and for it to end up with
the biggest prize of it all asfar as being a kid, right, you
know everyone watching the SuperBowl, to be a part of that and
to win it is unbelievable andthat's forever etched in stone.
(16:44):
This is nothing that can betaken away from me and that
brotherhood that was founded ineverything that we did still
lives on to this day.
So definitely grateful for thatexperience and how it's
launched me and my life forward.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Wow, who were some of the veterans, maybe who helped
you through who had a majorinfluence.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Who were those major veterans?
Yeah, I mean, there's too manyto count.
You know I got so manydifferent guys.
You know one of my like I said,one of some of my guys, jacoby
Jones, big Bro, vontae, leach.
A lot of my frat brothers, youknow being in a fraternity
allows you to, you know, have,you know, common interests with
guys really quickly and build on.
Am Reid is a big bro of mine tothis day Still think the world
(17:30):
of him Really showed me the way.
You know, I guess one of thefunniest stories is I'm a kid
from Kentucky, right, so I'm ahumble, beginner type of guy and
I'll never forget going towhat's the steakhouse Morton's.
We went to Morton's and it wasa guy named Corey Redding, right
(17:51):
, decided to take all the guysout, you know, night on the town
, while we were, you know, incamp or right out the camp, I
think we made it to the team andI'll never forget sitting there
with like five forks, fivespoons and napkins and all of
these things.
I ordered a well-done steak,right.
Most of the most embarrassingtimes they really let me know
(18:12):
just how bad it was to eat a goto a board.
That's a really nice steak.
I have to order a well-donesteak.
You know what I'm saying.
Like it doesn't even happen.
Like yo, you're not evengetting the good.
You're good cuts of meat andyou're just burning it up, so
you're not even appreciating it.
And so you know, guys, helpingyou not only become a
professional athlete, buthelping you, uh, to build the
makings and the dna of whatmanhood looks like, uh, like I
(18:35):
said, I still carry those, those, those lessons, uh and
experiences with me today.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
So so, after transitioning life, after
football, did you have a planfor what came next after return,
or was it a process ofdiscovery?
Speaker 2 (18:55):
A little bit of both.
You know it's never really anand or or, it's usually both.
I had a plan.
I knew I wanted to be anentrepreneur.
I knew I went to school forbusiness.
That's another thing about, youknow, the opportunity that I
had, like, I earned it.
But I also earned my degree.
You know, after football I wentback, got my MBA from Arkansas
State, where I played footballat it originally, because I had
(19:18):
already started it.
It only had a few classes left,so I got my mba.
I knew that I wanted to uh ownbusinesses.
When I got out of the league Iwas uh in car sales.
I was a salesperson and thentransferred it to a financial
manager.
Uh, then I got out of that, Iowned a gym.
I was training athletes andsupport them and build a
(19:39):
non-profit and then, uh, youknow.
But I knew that I wanted towork for myself.
I knew that I wanted to have animpact on as many lives as
possible.
I knew I didn't want to coachjust because of so many
different things in life.
I wanted to coach people inlife and business, but not set,
not necessarily only beingrelegated to what football can
(20:00):
bring, because that's only acertain amount of people, right?
Uh, you know, they say onepercent of these people will
become professional athletes.
And which one is more important, that one percent or the 99
percent?
Right, there's a lot morepeople than the 99, than the one
percent, right?
So you want to be able to learnhow to support that, and so what
I've always done was staying ontrack to how can I support as
(20:21):
many people as possible with thegifts and the tools that I, the
God, blessed me with.
And then what does thatactually look like?
And yeah, I mean, I've beenthrough, you know, lots of
different careers andexperiences to understand now
what I do as far as being afinancial advisor or a financial
rep for um, northwestern Mutual, um, now, understanding the
(20:43):
things that I'm doing as far aswith my foundation Life for Up
Academy kind of put me into thatgroove where I'm able to
maximize what my skill set isand then also maximize the
amount of support that I cangive the people that I care
about and my community that Ilove.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
That is awesome, brian.
You are, I must tell you I'vetold you this before but a man
at your age, so young, you arevery empowering with the things
that you do, the young peoplethat you touch.
You rather touch the 99% thanthe 1%, and I love that.
How do you take criticism?
(21:22):
How do you handle pressure andcriticism?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
uh, criticism.
You gotta have a certain levelof caliber, of even experience
in life, to be able to properlycriticize me.
There's a lot of people thatcriticize you that have no merit
at all in your life to eventalk about you.
So you know, if you're gonnacome to me and talk to me, you
know, uh, you know I'm afootball player, right.
So if it's a football player,uh, there's a guy that knows
(21:48):
football that wants to criticizeme on football, great.
But the guy that wants tocriticize me and my business,
business, he doesn't have anyidea how to run a business or be
a part of it.
Your criticism doesn't meanmuch at all to me at all.
Right, I don't look atcriticism.
Look at, uh, you know you'reeither building me or you're in
the way, right.
So, uh, you got to be qualifiedto have a criticism.
(22:09):
Right, work something right.
If you can do that, then that'scool.
Uh, pressure, uh, is a privilege.
You know.
That's one thing that I'velearned in in life and sports
and understanding that you knowwhat opportunity you have,
especially when you're inalignment with yourself, where
you're supposed to be at, inyour purpose, and if you believe
in a higher god.
If you believe in a higherthing being besides you,
(22:32):
something being bigger than you,then you know that anything
bestowed on you like this is anhonor.
That way you can show andreveal everything you've worked
so hard to be your entire life.
So I look at pressure as just aprivilege and opportunity to
really go do some really greatthings.
So I don't run away frompressure.
(22:52):
I kind of, you know, indulge init.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
And that's good.
You know that's good.
That's what I want to talkabout, because if you look in
the arena of entertainmentfootball music we see what's
going on right now.
You know we see what's going onand I think that a lot of
people who go in there thereason why I asked about the
(23:17):
criticism or pressure is becauseI believe a lot of people who
go into these entertainmentrealms they're coming from their
little states, the little townthat they may be in, and then
they come, bam, here go thelights, the glitter, the action,
and it takes a strong man suchas yourself not to get wrapped
up.
Now I'm not going to go intothe ditty parties, I'm not going
(23:39):
to go.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
I'm not going to go.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
You know, but I really feel sorry for a lot of
things that I see in theentertainment realm, some even
in the football.
You know.
We've seen things Michael Vickwith the dog, I mean you know
what I'm saying.
It's like the stupid thingsthat the media will blow up
(24:02):
really big and you know thepressure, the criticism that you
guys get and it seems like youstay really grounded with
knowing who you are number one,knowing what you wanted to do,
and so that's.
You know the reason why I asked, like, how do you handle it?
Because there is young peopleout here right now who has the
same vision to or the same goal.
(24:24):
You know that they want to bethe singer, they want to be the
football player, you know.
So you know you're showingpeople how hard you had to work
to get where you wanted to beand you stayed grounded during
that time, even before, duringand after.
And I know your passion isyoung people and you said you do
(24:49):
coaching too right Somethinglike that oh crash out, oh bam,
we're back.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Yeah, I can see you, You're good, yeah, yeah, so I do
training, I do positiontraining for kids, I do.
You know things like that.
And I think the number onething that what you're talking
about also is just how to builda foundation, right, and what do
you found it in?
Where are your feet actually at?
Because, with entertainment andall those things too, man, a
lot of stuff, a lot of thepressure and the things that
you're talking about is allstarting up here, right, it's
like, is it actually real?
(25:23):
And those real things thatyou're pressure, like what do
you use it for all of thosethings?
And so, you know, I've come along way in life.
Like this is the Brian you'retalking to today, right, brian,
20 years ago or 15 or even fiveyears ago, you probably get
different answers, right, andyou know, one of my biggest
lessons that I always, you know,talk about is just being
(25:45):
maturity, being a lesson learned, right, it's just.
Are you learning these lessonsso that when these you know
opportunities pop up or youstill got to go through them
every time where they'redictating you versus what you're
dictating for yourself, right,and so it's just like I said, me
just understanding I got to beable to control what I can
control.
I still battle those things,right.
I still got to work throughthose things as well.
(26:06):
I'm not a finished product withthat, but I do have experiences
that I can lean back on.
I do have wins in my life rightwhere it's put me in a position
to know that I can up what I'mcapable of.
So I've been able to.
I've overcome every dark timeof my life, right, and that's
something I can lean back to.
Right, to know that if I'vebeen able to do it before, I can
(26:28):
do it again Right.
And the thing is, you may notbe the way you thought it was
going to be, but the fact thatyou did it in itself is already
a blessing If you can see thatfor yourself, right.
Some people don't see that.
Some people constantly, youknow, beat themselves up and dig
themselves deeper, that theydon't realize all they're doing
is just burying themselves moreinstead of the opportunity to
stop, breathe, consider rightand give yourself a chance to
(26:52):
grow.
So I think that you know we'retalking about the kids and you
know what I'm able to do withthe kids.
I'm just trying to raiseawareness because, you know, the
more awareness you have, themore opportunities you have to
choose.
A lot of people in their livesright now aren't able to choose
because they're allowingcircumstances to choose for them
.
Right, you know my job is, youknow, when guys are going
(27:17):
through hard times, I'm a bigmale advocate in mental health.
Uh, I'm being a mental healthgeneral, right, and you know,
one of the things is that a lotof guys kids, youth, adults,
everybody you'll hear them saywell, I had no other choice, I
had no other chance, I had noother, whatever it is, and you
know, that's a sad reality tohave to live in, to think that
everything that you're doing isdictated by everybody else and
you don't have an opportunity tochange your life.
And so when you start puttingeverybody else to blame, then
(27:41):
you give them the opportunity tochange you, and the thing about
it is no one's going to do that.
Right, that's the inside job,that's something you got to take
, you know, advantage of foryourself.
And so I think that you knowunderstanding that, uh, the
pressures, the criticism, allthose things like that is just
things that we're putting intoour heads, and what healthy
things are you putting in yourhead that when things are going
(28:01):
against you, you have a way torise and conquer them?
Speaker 1 (28:05):
and it's I.
I so a thousand percent believein everything you just said and
that's the impact of leadership.
So you've been through a lot,you've experienced and you shape
the way you led and support andyou mentor others now, which is
a big, a big need in ouryounger generation.
(28:27):
You know, uh, they need to knowhow to you know it.
You know, once they get to thatpoint, how do you stay grounded
, how do you stay focused?
And you know, because I'm surethat when you enter a realm like
that, it could be a wildexperience, am I correct?
Speaker 2 (28:47):
yeah, yeah, it's always funny though, like I said
, let me talk it.
It's always funny though, likeI said, me talking.
It's always funny when peopletalk about, like our youth, of,
uh, of people and why they're soimportant.
And you know, like I know yousaid I'm younger, but I got a
lot of people that's youngerthan me, right?
So it makes me older than a lotof people, and so I never
really understand, like, wherethe line is drawn between being
(29:08):
in your youth and then being anadult, and why, once you
transfer into the adult, theonus isn't just as important as
it is for the youth, because, atthe end of the day, the youth
is still looking somewhere,right?
And I think that we put a lotof onus on going backwards, that
we forget about the people whoare in front of them, right?
So I think that you know, youknow, having the adults, having
(29:29):
having these conversations,right, changing those dynamics
people think that you know, likeaction is the way you learn
from people, right?
Not about what they say, butwhat they're doing, and so
there's only so much you can dowith the youth.
But the youth is actuallylooking back at you, right?
So they say, yeah, I know,you're telling me what to do,
but you're not living in yourown life.
So then how can you possiblymean anything you're saying when
(29:51):
you're not doing?
You're not even acknowledgingit in your own life, right?
So you know, I think it's onething to say to youth, and I
100% believe in that, but atsome point we got to go back and
make sure the adults are stillfighting for a chance to grow
too, cause I know a lot of youknow 40 yearold men that act
(30:15):
like they're 19,.
Right, because at 19, theystopped growing.
At 19, they thought theyfigured everything out.
They didn't have a reason togrow.
I know 30-year-old women, right, that act like 15-year-olds.
You know, I know, you knowthere's so many different cases
that show you that age andmaturity aren't on the same
level at all, and so I thinkthat you know us having a more
totality, look at it, of sayinglike OK, cool, you want to talk
to this 13 year old kid.
A 13 year old kid got to gohome to somebody that's older
(30:37):
than them, that hasresponsibilities for them, so we
can't disregard that piece ofit and act like.
You know we we're like oh,we'll go save the kids.
Those kids have adult parentsaround them that are the biggest
influencers of everythingthey're doing.
So our message can only go sofar, but it has to include as
many people as possible, becausewe don't know what that wants
(30:58):
to get to do for the nextgeneration, for the next people,
for the example that they'resetting out there, because those
are those kids become adults,right, and we can't disregard
them at that point, becausethose kids, they become the
adult leaders and examples ofour next future.
Uh, people coming up, and so youknow, like I said, I love the
youth, right, but I try to findways, uh, as an adult, as a man,
(31:19):
as the people that I'm around,as the influencers, and you know
the people who are being theexample for us to make sure that
they're, they're giving out thebest example, and then that's
how we help the youth the mostbecause, like I said, we can
feed them to the blue of theface, but at the end of the day,
they're going to watch yourexample, they're going to watch
the adults and they're notcriticizing them, because if you
do better, you do better, andif you're older, you have way
(31:41):
more opportunities to knowbetter and do better, right?
So I think there's a groupeffort that we all can be better
from.
I've learned a lot from peopleyounger than me.
I've learned a lot from peopleolder than me, right?
But it's just the fact that I'mwilling to learn that separates
me from a lot of people,because I know I don't know
everything, so I'm alwayslooking to build and grow.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
That's awesome.
So when you talk to otherpeople, especially men or young
people, what are your truthsthat you tell them about trauma,
or do you share that with themas well?
Speaker 2 (32:16):
Yeah, I mean, I don't necessarily believe in like my
truths being more important thanwhat the truth you need to know
, right?
And so you know, my job at theend of the day is just to try to
raise awareness.
I don't really do anything pastthat point because at the end
of the day, it's up to you tochoose your life, right?
So I think we get too caught upin telling somebody what to do,
but you don't know the rightcircumstances.
(32:37):
You don't know if theyarticulate exactly what's going
on with them, right, it can beso many different things, and so
I just want to show them thatthere are other options out
there other than the onesthey're thinking.
Right, you know somebody couldbe, you know, beating themselves
up because of college and forsome reason, they don't really
feel like they need to go tocollege.
Right, they want to go, dosomething with their hands, they
want to do these otherdifferent things, and so it
(32:59):
could be pointing them to theopportunity of a trade school,
right.
Or understanding that you knowthey got unions out here that
pay.
There are people once you'reinvolved in them, and so there's
so many different outside thebox things that maybe I did or
maybe I didn't do right that wewant to be able to show those
people because not everythingthat's been in your life was
meant for the next person, andso I don't necessarily give my
(33:21):
truth on things more thanshowing them awareness, right of
other opportunities and optionsout there for them and allow
them them to decide forthemselves.
I don't really believe intelling people what to do.
I just want to give them moreeducation, more awareness, more
information right, so they canmake a proper choice in their
life, instead of having somebodyelse choose for them.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
That is good, so let me ask you about your you know
what is your peace and yourfreedom, and how do you protect
your freedom and your peace fromthings that you have been?
Speaker 2 (34:00):
through man.
Living in it, you know, livingin it definitely helps out.
Not trying to separate my lifein it, you know, living in it
definitely helps out.
Uh, not trying to separate mylife.
Uh, I think that's when thingsget weird when you try to do
these like all cabinets ofemotions and whatever's going on
.
Uh, you know, my peace of mindand my freedom of peace of mind,
uh, I think, are very importantto me.
(34:22):
And when I'm thinking clearly,when my my spirit's okay, when
I'm okay with myself, man, lifeis looking like a glorious place
to be right.
When I'm down on myself, whenI'm not, when I'm allowing other
situations and circumstances todictate me, right, that's when
I don't have that freedomanymore.
That freedom belongs tosomebody else who's able to
(34:42):
control it.
And then that's where thingsstart to really take a turn for
myself.
Right, and those are the thingsI work on to this day.
I'm not perfect by any stretchof the imagination.
I'm just a human, just likeeverybody else.
We all have our internal battlesthat we're all going to
continue to fight, because oneit's worth fighting, because on
the other side of it could besomething that's not only
beneficial for you but the nextperson as well, and so, you know
(35:05):
, I protect mine by being a partof it and recognizing uh, all
sides right, and giving myselfthe best opportunity to choose
my life and choose the way Iwant to be, and having the
support around me that allowsthe same thing.
And so having the right peoplearound you, um, but you gotta be
able to reveal who you reallyare too right.
I think that's half the problemis, you know, being honest and
(35:27):
transparent about where you arein this very moment right, it
may be ahead of somebody, it maybe behind somebody, but at
least you know exactly whereyou're at so you can actually
build from that.
A lot of people try to buildfrom a place they're not even at
and wonder why they haven'tmade it there.
Right, and so you know, I'mable to be transparent with the
people I love, and then thatgives them the best opportunity
(35:47):
to support who I really am, andso I try to be as truthful and
transparent about who I reallyam gives them a chance to
support me, and then that's howI continue to cultivate myself
and also cultivate the peoplearound me.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Brian, you, how many times have I said you're amazing
?
Are you counting?
No, I'm not amazing, are youcounting?
I am so glad to have had thisopportunity to partner with you,
because b3u is a place where wecan be transparent, and I love
that you came on here and youwould just your truest self, and
(36:23):
that's what we try to getpeople to do Show their
transparency, because it's allabout the 99% Right.
It's all about the 99%.
It's all about the 100%.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
The 100%, because you also got to look at it as that
1% People don't look at theworld man.
1% of the world controls theentire world Right, and so the
oldest of those people in that1% percent role, they have to
understand how their voiceamplifies and exemplifies a lot
of people out here who don'teven have their own right, and
(36:56):
so you know that's why someonelike you know professional
athlete, you know people thatpeople don't recognize and build
off of right like it's a partof the 100.
I'm just saying that the 99 areusually forgot about because
the one percent usually controlsthe 99 and so the 99 is just
trying to keep up and they'retrying to fit into the whole of
the one percent, not knowingthat they'll never make it
(37:19):
through that right.
And so my job is to let the 99know there are other options
that you can do and you canstill be yourself and you don't
have to chase what you think theone percent of people are doing
, because, quite honestly, youdon't know what the one percent
of people are doing.
They're just telling you what todo, right, and they're not even
living those same experiences,and that's where a lot of
clashes are going on, even tothis day.
(37:40):
That's why the social mediastuff is blowing up.
You got influencers that areinfluencing people to do things
they never done.
Oh, my goodness right.
So it's just there's a lot ofdifferent.
You know sides of it, and soit's not about just the 99
percent, about the 100, but Ijust think that 99 are usually
forgotten about because the onepercent is too big.
They're trying to control wherethey're going instead of giving
(38:02):
people the freedom to freedomof choice.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
You know yeah, I agree with that.
I agree with that, and you knowI like that too, because you
know, being um in this, thisrealm of podcast, and being a
motivational, inspirationalspeaker um, you look at people
who are video content creatorsand there is a thousand
(38:25):
different ways to do somethingand I just realized that you
know, you know I take my bitsand pieces and then I just kind
of be genuine and just do whatit is Brie wants to do, how she
(38:47):
wants, have been introduced andknown each other.
I'm 54 and you have taught meyou are right.
Very Again, I thank you forcoming on the show, for being
transparent, and I pray for you,my brother, in every step of
(39:09):
any, all of your endeavors,anything that you touch.
I pray for peace and blessingmultitude on you.
Multitude, you are amazing and Ilook forward to continue to
work with you.
I'm really looking forward topartnering together so we can
help those that need the help,that need the guidance, that
(39:29):
need the direction.
This is what B3U is all about,because we truthfully truthfully
, it is time.
The time is now to save oursociety.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
I'm about to be self-abrand this whole time.
That's the only reason why Idid it.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
I guess we learned something new every day.
I thought the beef was the onlyreason I did it.
I was saying like you start tobe so bright.
Speaker 2 (39:50):
I guess we learn something new every day.
I thought the B was for Brian.
I thought it was a dedicationto me.
I was like I ain't cool B3,.
I was like I ain't cool Brian.
Three times that makes a lot ofsense.
Speaker 1 (40:00):
Well, you know what?
No, it stands for burn breakand becoming unstoppable.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
Well breaking and becoming unstoppable.
Well, this should be a Brian atsome point.
Brian, Brian, Brian.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
That makes a lot of sense.
Look, my goodness, look, Iappreciate you, brian.
I'll look at working it inthere somewhere.
I'll work it out for you.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
Put me at the back door.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
Okay, I'll put you a little icon in there somewhere.
My brother, I thank you.
I thank you for your time, Ithank you for your knowledge and
I look forward to seeing youagain.
Will you come back?
Speaker 2 (40:42):
Absolutely.
Yeah, for sure, great,absolutely.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
All my viewers out there.
I thank you.
I thank you for joining me memyself, and Mr Brian Hall Thank
him so much for coming on, andwe will see you again on another
(41:06):
big reuse that you guys takecare of yourself.
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