Redefining Success: Tony Branch on Mentorship, Emotional Vulnerability, and Inspiring Change

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Discover the transformative insights of Tony Branch, a distinguished author and motivational speaker from New York City, who joins us to illuminate the challenges and triumphs of his journey. Tony's narrative explores the shifting landscape of motivational speaking, particularly for young Black men, and the pressing societal expectations they navigate. Through his anecdotes, Tony inspires us to rethink success, urging everyone to pursue excellence in their unique paths and set positive examples for the next generation while redefining what success means beyond wealth.

Tony and I engage in a heartfelt conversation about the importance of emotional vulnerability, especially for men who have been taught to perceive it as a weakness. We stress the necessity of owning one's story and embracing genuine emotional expression as a powerful tool for connection and prevention. Drawing on personal experiences, Tony highlights the life-changing impact of mentorship and emotional openness, advocating for a cultural shift that values men's emotional lives and fosters a legacy of inspiration and mentorship.

Our dialogue also takes a reflective turn as we explore Tony's journey from the streets of New York City to a successful career in the military and beyond. His commitment to service—whether through helping orphanages in the Philippines or mentoring young athletes—demonstrates the profound impact of giving back to the community. As we wrap up, Tony shares lessons learned from influential mentors, the power of gratitude, and the importance of leaving a lasting legacy. This episode promises to challenge your perceptions and motivate you to recognize your potential to inspire change within your community.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Only one Michael Jordan.
You know you can try to be likeMike, but it's only one.
Be the best that you can andbecome a trendsetter and
hopefully you inspire youngerpeople to.
I always tell my young people,even tell my daughters.
I was just in Virginia Beach afew days ago.
Virginia Beach, virginia, inNorfolk, at the SEAL team base

(00:22):
and seeing some old militaryfriends of mine, I would just
say, yo man, I'm just trying todo the best I can.
I said I don't know what I'mgoing to be when I grow up and I
just turned 64, so I used thatas a metaphor and a joke.
I just tell them that you know,be the best that you can and do
something positive, becausekarma will come back around.
You will reap what you sow.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Welcome to the Mic'd Up and Motivated Podcast, where
we interview passionateprofessionals who empower young
people, impact lives and createpositive change in schools,
organizations and communities.

Speaker 3 (00:56):
Everybody in here has a talent and you have a gift
and you were given that gift sothat you can go change the world
.
Giving that gift so that youcan go change the world.
Welcome to the Mic'd Up andMotivated podcast.
I'm your host, jason A Dixon,and I'm excited for today's
episode.
We have a special guest, mrTony Branch, who is an author

(01:23):
and motivational speaker whohails from Manhattan, new York,
and was born or raised in theBronx, new York City.
Coach, tony, it's a pleasure tohave you.
How are you doing today, sir?

Speaker 1 (01:33):
I'm doing great, brother Jason, it's great to be
a part of your podcast, man.
Trust me, I'm a fan from adistance, man, and I really like
anyone who do what you do, man.
So thank you for having me,thank you, thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:45):
I know we as the case with a lot of people.
I bring on a podcast.
I've been a fan and an admirerof yours through social media,
just following you and watchingyou do certain things, and I
don't know if a lot of peopleknow, but when you're in the
public speaking space or you'redoing any type of coaching or
mentorship, it's a small circle.

(02:06):
I know it kind of seemssaturated, but it really is a
small circle when you grab holdto certain people and you see
what they're doing and you'refollowing them and I just want
to commend you on all the workthat you've been doing and all
the things that you.
I really have learned a lotfrom you in passing, so I just
want to appreciate and say thankyou for all you're doing right

(02:26):
now.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
Oh, thank you man.
That's very humbling man.
I'm kind of glad that peoplesee me and I have a voice,
because when we was younger andjust being not to make it a
racial type thing being youngblack men in America, sometimes
people don't want to hear whatwe got to say.

Speaker 3 (02:45):
That's the reality of it.
I love that.
You said that let's start rightthere, right now.
So you've been in the game fora while, you know and talk a
little bit about what you'redoing now and how you've seen
the landscape change over theyears that you've been in the
game.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
Well, brother Jason, of course I'm glad you said that
, because things change.
I notice things change everyfive to ten years.
Just like clothes, somethingthat's in fashion then goes out
of fashion.
But just like a greatrenaissance, a lot of things
come back.
A great renaissance A lot ofthings come back.
I just think our young men havelost their way because they got

(03:30):
caught up into the status quoof what they think society
expects of them.
Everybody think us as men again, since we're both Black men.
I'm going to focus on thatbecause it's easy to speak what
I know and I live.
If you're a certain size, theyexpect you to play sports, to

(03:50):
get out the hood or to take careof your family, but it's very
rarely.
Everybody want to go to theleague, whatever that league is
NBA, nfl, major League, baseballbut how many times you see
anybody like you?
Know what?
I want to be the best doctor.
I want to be the best gymteacher.
I want to be the best.
I just tell young people, orpeople in general be the best

(04:11):
that you can.
It's only one Michael Jordan.
You know you can try to be likeMike, but it's only one.
Be the best that you can andbecome a trendsetter and
hopefully you inspire youngerpeople to.
I always tell my young peopleand even tell my daughters.
I was just in Virginia beach afew days ago Virginia beach,

(04:32):
virginia and Norfolk at the SEALteam base and seeing some old
military friends of mine, Iwould just say young man, I'm
just trying to do the best I can.
I said I don't know what I'mgoing to be when I grow up and I
just turned 64.
So I use that as a metaphor anda joke.
I just tell them that you know,be the best that you can and do
something positive, becausekarma will come back around.
You will reap what you sow.

(04:53):
If you sow negativity,negativity will come back to you
and vice versa with positivity.

Speaker 3 (04:58):
Right yeah.
I love that.
I love that People say this tome and again I see it in you.
When the moment people are inmy presence and they feel my
energy, they're like man.
You are so inspiring and somotivational and I I says the
same thing from you.
That's the inspiration and themotivation is just dropping
jewels and I love it.

(05:20):
And I love what you said abouthow it's almost this
predetermined path that in ourcommunity, in our Black
community, where it feels likeespecially our young men, they
can only make it if they canbounce a ball, throw a ball,

(05:41):
sing a song, rap a lyric.
So that resonated with me.
Where do you think that comesfrom?

Speaker 1 (05:48):
I just think we get.
Now.
This is my own.
Like I said, I always tellpeople when they say, well,
you're an expert.
No, I talk to a lot of kids andremember we used to be kids and
because I came from a singlemother, no man in the house so I
have a different perspective.
I wish I had a father.

(06:10):
I wish my mother didn't evenever see me play high school
football, even though I was allin the papers in New York City
and the Bronx.
But I just see that society andsometimes we put it on
ourselves.
Everybody wanted to besomething and everybody assumes
something.
Being me meaning rich and richdoes not always have to be

(06:34):
monetarily.
I'm rich with health.
I'm rich with friends.
You make me rich.
Me being on the show makes merich because it gives me another
platform and it gives meanother.
It's just like an octopus.
I can my tentacles, I canspread them right.
I tell people stop thinking thatyou have to be wealthy and have

(06:56):
to have a name to be rich.
Now watch this when people meetyou and when I first saw you
before, we became parents ofeach other on these social
websites.
When I first saw you before, webecame a parent to each other
on these social websites.
When I watched you on one ofyour videos, I think, on
LinkedIn, I'm like man, thisguy's powerful, and I was
watching how you interact withthe kids and I always tell

(07:17):
people in the first minute youmake an impression, right,
whether it's positive ornegative.
They're going to say, oh my god,that dude, jason is something
else positive or he called anegative one.
God damn, here come jason again.
I don't want him to talk to meabout that positive stuff, right
?
So what I tried to do or hopethat we we tried to do, because

(07:42):
we both doing the same thing,for lack of a better term is we
grabbed them, we touched theirsouls, we made them think
Because, like you said, I ain'tnever met a drug dealer who had
a retirement plan.
Only two things are going tohappen to a drug dealer You're
going to get killed or you'regoing to do 25 to life in prison

(08:03):
.
So I get why they look atMichael Jordan stuff because
they see the glitz and theglamour, the fancy cars, the
sneaker deals, the GiorgioArmani $10,000, $5,000 suits.

Speaker 3 (08:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (08:17):
But you know what, If I put on a $300 suit and I
coordinate it right, I look justas good as them.
Now I may not have the fame orfortune, but you got to
understand I can affect mycommunity because my community
sees me.
Michael Jordan unless you wentback in the day you went to a
ball games or, like me, I wasblessed to hang out with him in

(08:38):
Vegas for like two days at anevent that only people can go to
if they paid $50,000.
At an event that only peoplecan go to if they paid $50,000.
I was blessed with that eventby the secret millionaire that
the show was on, Mr JamesMalachick.
But again, that's like a pipedream.
A lot of people is not going tomeet Michael Jordan.

(08:59):
A lot of people are not goingto meet Michael Jordan.
But guess what?
They could be Jason A Dixon.
They could be Coach Tony Branch, Because what primetime say at
the University of Colorado, weain't hard to find.

Speaker 3 (09:12):
All right, yeah, I love that.
I love that, and that's so truebecause I tell a lot of people
like you don't ever take forgranted the power and presence
that you have in somebody else'slife.
You may be their Michael Jordanor their LeBron James or that
superstar that they aspire to beor look up to.

(09:34):
You may be that person for them, and so I always encourage
people, especially our young men, to be that person that you
know, the person that you'rementoring is looking up to or
aspiring to be, because you havethe same power and presence and
, like you said, you may nothave the platform, you may not
be on TV, you may not be amillionaire, but you still have

(09:57):
influence, and I think whatyou're saying speaks to that.

Speaker 1 (10:01):
Yeah, we all have influence.
We all have influence.
Someone looks up to us.
Like I say, if you was ateacher and you're my favorite
teacher, oh my God man, I lovedoing my recess, going to hang
out with Teacher Dixon in hisclass you know he served lunch
and then when you meet him inthe community, like I said once,
I was blessed to have thisplatform.
I guess I got the gift of gab.

(10:22):
People say I don't know, butthey always say it's people from
New York City.
We kind of talk it in and stufflike that.
But I just like engaging people.
They make me better because Ican't engage them unless I find
out something about them.
And how can I do that?
In the simplest form, it'scalled communication.

(10:42):
We've got to talk.
We've got to go back and forth?
Yeah, Cause I can assume.
But you know what they sayabout assuming you make it out
of you and me.
My thing is this, cause I've meta lot of people that I didn't
think I was going to vibe with.
Man, we text, we call eachother at least three, four times
a month, or three, 12 times ayear, like you, or be tough
times.
Yeah, like you.
Now that I'm connecting withyou and I'm vibing with you.

(11:04):
Like you said, I'm getting thatpositive vibe from you.
Yo, you are my Rolodex brother.

Speaker 3 (11:09):
Yeah, and that's how it's supposed to work, man.
It's building healthyrelationships.
You know I love that.
I got something for you, coachTony.
I love to take phrases or words, acronyms, and flip it around.
So right, you said you have thegift of gab.
Right?
I've been told the same thing,and sometimes that has a
negative connotation, right?
So when we take that, the giftof gab G-A-A-B right, the gift

(11:33):
of going above and beyond, thegift of gab is the gift of going
above and beyond, right.
So no longer is it just ushaving the ability to just blow
hot air or just speak and talkand talk and talk, it's really a
gift, it's an inherent giftthat we have an ability to go
above and beyond.
Right, and we do that, we dothat.

(11:54):
It's, it's exemplified in allthe work that we do.
I'm sure I can go to placeswhere you've spoken and you've
impacted thousands of kids, ofyoung people, teachers, adults,
and in that situation I'm sureyou had to go above and beyond
to make that impact.
To that, what do you say?

Speaker 1 (12:16):
I kind of agree with you because I see you like me.
You're humble.
I don't like when people talkabout me because I'm like, oh,
I'm not all that, but I guess Iam all that.
But for us to reach the peoplethat we want to reach, we have
to stay grounded, right?
I think when I was on a showand when I was at a

(12:37):
million-dollar party that ABCthrew in Hollywood at the
Hollywood Hilton, I got askedthey said if you had a million
dollars, what would you do?
I said probably give it away.
I'd probably buy me a newer car, stuff like that, because money
don't make me or money don'tdefine me.
Money is just a means of gettingmore stuff.

(12:58):
Okay, and like I say, you knowI can play with the acronym or
the spelling of stuff, but mything is this I've known, or I
know a lot of people is doingwell financially, but they're
not happy.
They're not happy, brother, butlike what Biggie Smalls say

(13:18):
more money, more problems.
Yeah, we love to have thematerial, the fancy cars, the
yachts and private G20 jets andstuff like that Golf streams but
do we really want theirproblems?
Right?
I tell people, no.
I've been around people andI've seen people who got five
lawyers.
They're being sued becauseeverybody think when you got a

(13:41):
name or money, your money grab.
Like, oh, if you bump me in thecar I'll set my neck hurt.
I ain't got no one on my neck,I just know Jason got some money
and he's going to settle thisout of court.
So I always tell people you gotto watch and you got to look at
fame and fortune as relative.
It's relative to your lifestyle.
If you're all about money, thenthat's what it's about.

(14:04):
I just think me and you aredeeper than that and people that
do what we do are serious aboutit.
Because there's some speakersout there I hate to say they're
money grabbers, they're intohaving a picture everywhere.
Yes, we all use these socialwebsites to get our platform out
there and I was advised to doit because I used to hate it a

(14:25):
couple of years ago.
Now I find myself excuse meposting at least one or two
times a day, but there's alwayssomething positive or something
I want to make you think.
Yeah, I always send stuff outthere to make people think, but
I just think that our giftshould be shared.
Anything, it ain't a giftunless you share it with someone
.
And I've got one motivationalspeaker I listen to and one I

(14:50):
met said the same thing.
He said anyone who has a gift,we must give it away.
Right, we have to give it away,brother, because before you
know it, where did you learnthat from?
Well, you know what?
I was sitting in middle schoolone day and they brought in a

(15:11):
speaker, mr Jason A Dixon, and Ilearned this from him.
Just like I don't remembertheir name, but they'll remember
you whether they remember yourname.
They can close their eyes likethis.
I can remember Ms Banks tellingme when I was at DeWitt Clinton
High School as a freshman I wasa freshman in 1975.
So I don't even know if he wasborn yet.
So certain things people tellyou that's going to touch your

(15:32):
heart or touch your soul.
You're going to remember andI'm a big reader of Shakespeare
Baldwin, james Baldwin and Iwent to the same high school.
I love that that.
I'm an alumni with him, ernestHigh School in the Bronx.
But I just think that we justhave to.
There's more than life justworking, making money and then

(15:53):
dying, right, who can we affector effect, or affect in a
positive way, and then that way,when me and you are long gone
see our little disciples goingout there teaching what we
taught them years ago.
Because even when we're gone,if we touch 100 kids out of

(16:15):
every thousand that we talk tois when they touch 100 kids out
of every thousand they talk to.

Speaker 3 (16:20):
Even though me and you long gone, see how our
spirit, our journey kind ofcontinue on because we sowed the
seed, yeah, yeah, and left alegacy, yes, sir, and that's
what it's all about, and I lovethat and I love how you and I
just want to say this to anyonewho's listening this is our

(16:45):
first time actually speakingright, our first time actually
talking.
What I love about this, thiswork that we get to do, it's
like you get to meet people andit's like it's the kindred
spirit.
You realize off the bat that,man, there's people out here who
are doing the same thing thatI'm doing and it rejuvenates you

(17:08):
, it restores your hope.
You know what I'm saying andthis is something I see when it
comes to our young people,especially our young boys, our
boys and our young men.
It's this hard, rough exterior,it's this anger, it's this
bitterness, resentment towardthe world that really stops them

(17:30):
from being vulnerable andopening up like we are, and
developing those relationshipsand embracing their fellow
brother, their fellow man.
How can we change thatnarrative?
How can we break through that?

Speaker 1 (17:44):
Well, for one, we got to stop letting someone write
our narrative.
We have to write our ownnarrative Because in society,
especially in America or, youknow, in the hoods, whether it's
in a good neighborhood or badneighborhood being sensitive or
conscious of self they think isweak.
Conscious of self, they thinkis weak.
So if they think is weak andremember especially a black man

(18:09):
or man in general no one wantsto be assumed to be weak,
because weak means you would tryto take advantage of me.
So then you have that hardenedexterior.
Hardened exterior.
But watch this Even the hardestcriminal that's locked up
somewhere, that's got life orpossibly sitting on death row,

(18:32):
they care about their mother.
We all care about something,even though society try to say
hardened criminals aresociopaths.
But you know, the sociopathsgot a mother and a grandmother
that he loves.
Now he may not like none of us,but he does have something.
So we have to touch, we have toget them here in their chest.
We got to get that heart.
And it's okay to be vulnerable.

(18:54):
I tell people I read this bookone time.
It's okay for men to cry in thedark or something.
I may have messed up the titleor something like that man
remember?
Uh, I used to be one of them.
Guys, nobody gonna see me cry,man, when I see stuff, man, tear
my eyes and stuff like that,because I've learned over the
years that it's okay to not beokay yeah, okay emotionally or

(19:19):
physically, but once we dry oureyes and then dust stuff off,
how can I now because we're allgoing to give ourselves a pity
party for at least five or tenminutes hopefully no more than a
day but how do I get up anddust my stuff off and keep going
forward?
How do I keep marching?

(19:39):
How do I just keep marchingforward, and sometimes I ain't
going to lie, I've been blessedto do it.
I fell forward a lot of times.
When people fail back and whenpeople fall back and fail back,
they don't know how to get upand then they get into that pity
party phase and they just can'tget themselves out of it.
They start drinking, they startsmoking, they start doing

(20:00):
illegal drugs or they just giveup on give up on life.
I, just us guys, we got to letour young men know it's kind of
hard to talk to someone in their40s and 50s now, but even
though we try, it's going to behard to change them.
We have to get them before theyget 60 years old.
Just because you cry in frontof your friends, that don't make
you a punk, that don't make yousoft, that just make you human.

(20:22):
You got emotions, it just makesus human, man.
Yeah, we just got to let themknow it's okay, it's okay and
come from a sincere place withit.

Speaker 3 (20:30):
Yeah, because they can tell.
They can tell if it's real orfake.
Oh, absolutely, they can tellif you're fake.
Yeah, absolutely, I call it.
I call it.
I coined this term too late.

Speaker 1 (20:41):
tears For us men as men, too late tears for us men
as men, too late tears and youknow what I'm talking about.

Speaker 3 (20:48):
That, and I'll just share a personal example.
The first time I ever saw mydad cry was at my grandmother's
funeral his, his mom's funeralright.
And so in our society,especially when it comes to us
as men, like you said, we're notencouraged to encourage,
encouraged to share emotion, tobe vulnerable, right, but, like

(21:08):
you said, we're all human andwe're going to break down at
some point.
And too often we're encouragedto cry the too late tears, after
the person has already died,after the judge has already
sentenced the brother to 25years in prison, after, after
you're already in the handcuffs,in the backseat of the car.

(21:30):
Right now, it's okay to crythose two late tears, right?
We?
We got to encourage our, ourboys and our young men to cry
before the, the trauma, beforethe drama happens, before before
the tragedyvesty has takenplace.
Like, don't cry after the fact,cry before, because and I tell
parents this all the time iftheir kids are out there

(21:51):
gangbanging, doing drugs, notfollowing instructions, coming
home too late, I tell theparents, like, let them see you
cry, because when they're layingthere in that casket and you're
crying over their dead body,they're not going to be able to
see the impact Right.
Those are too late tears.
I tell parents all the time letyour kids see you cry, because
those tears can save their lives.

Speaker 1 (22:11):
Yeah, I'm going to quote you on that, if you don't
mind.
On my next post, which is goingto be sometime tonight.
My thing is this brother, you,man, you got me thinking up here
, bro, you're right.
Wow, that's deep, too latetears, man.
But you're right, man, they'rehard and this, that, but, like

(22:32):
you said, when they're gettingsentenced and they get thrown in
the back of the police car,you're right.

Speaker 3 (22:39):
That's when the emotions come to us, yeah.

Speaker 1 (22:44):
We kind of man, desensitized to, yeah, to stuff.
But again society got usthinking any man who's like me
and you, we can sit there, shit,I can cry in front of you.
I have no problem if somethingtouches me that deeply, but
that's the key thing.
It has to touch them again,like I said, we got to, got to

(23:05):
get that little organism, thatlittle thing that's in the
middle of their chest.
We've got to touch their heartbecause if we feed into that
misnomer or that fake, falsesense of security, then they're
going down that negative path.
And you're right, they're goingto probably be in somebody's
cemetery or they're going to bein somebody's jail cell,

(23:27):
probably doing 25 to life.
So I totally agree.
So I applaud you on that one.

Speaker 3 (23:32):
And too late tears my brother yeah.
You're welcome.
And, again, this is acollaborative effort, right,
because you're going to haveaccess to people that I'll never
be able to reach in my life,you know.
That's why I'm a big believerin teamwork and building others
up and developing those, thoseconnections, that network, you

(23:54):
know, because, again, coach Tonyis going to want to be able to
reach people that I'll neverever have access to in my life,
you know.
And so when we, when we connect, when we're in each other's
presence, how can we edify eachother, how can we build each
other up, how can we learn fromeach other?
Right, so we can take thatinformation and and pass it on

(24:14):
to to our, like you said, ourdisciples are our crowd, our,
our, uh, our people, you knowyeah, I.

Speaker 1 (24:24):
I just like you said, we all have a.
I'm going to put this likepitchers we two pitchers.
You may throw a split-fingerfastball and I swing at it and
miss it all day, but my thing istrying to throw you off with
curves and stuff like that Rightright.

(24:45):
The message, what is the missionor what is the message?
To strike out the batter Right,you just use your form or
expertise or what you do best,and I do this, but the message
is still the same Right, we justuse different.
You throw the split finger.

Speaker 3 (25:01):
I throw the curve ball.
Yeah, no, I love that.

Speaker 1 (25:03):
Yeah, but our job is to get them out at the plate and
don't give up no runs To try tohopefully secure a win for our
team.
I love it, yeah.
So again, I love what you do,man.
The next time I do somethingout here with some young people,
man, like I said, when we gofor a break we're going to talk.

(25:25):
I may have you come out thisway, man, and show you some love
, bro, and let you bring thatO-H-I-O here to the state of
Indiana.
Don't say that too loud, we bigten foes.

Speaker 3 (25:39):
Right, right, big ten foes.

Speaker 1 (25:41):
But yeah, let you bring your love, bring that
brother Dixon, love out this way.

Speaker 3 (25:48):
I love that and you know, like I said I've been
saying, this is a collaborativeeffort and the feeling is mutual
and I love that.
And, again, this has been agreat first half and we're going
to take a break and you'relistening to the Mic'd Up and
Motivated podcast and we'll beright back.

Speaker 2 (26:08):
You are listening to the Mic'd Up and Motivated
podcast presented by Inspire toReach Higher.

Speaker 3 (26:23):
Welcome back to the Mic'd Up and Motivated podcast.
I'm your host, jason A Dixon,and we have been talking to a
very special guest, coach TonyBranch, author and motivational
speaker, for many, many years.
And we have been talking to avery special guest, coach Tony
Branch, author and motivationalspeaker, for many, many years,
and we've been having a greatconversation.
Coach Tony, again, like I saidbefore, I love our conversation
and I really appreciate you justtaking the time to be on this

(26:45):
episode.
Now I want to talk a little bitabout your humble beginnings
and how you overcame what youovercame to get where you are
right now.
So take us back, coach, andtalk a little bit about, uh,
your humble beginnings and howyou overcame what you overcame
to get where you are right now.
So take us back, coach, andtalk a little bit about that
well, you know, growing up innew york city.

Speaker 1 (27:00):
You know I'm a child of the 60s and 70s.
You know where um, thingswasn't always as nice.
You know, because of civilrights, and you know being
called the n-word and uh, youknow, because of civil rights,
and you know being called theN-word, and you know I come from
poverty, not dirt poor, butpoor.
You know, like I said, we wastalking off camera during the

(27:23):
break.
You know I was a child of foodstamps what you call EBT cards
now and I just knew certainthings and I'm watching my
mother struggle EBT cards nowand I just knew certain things
and I watched my mother struggle.
My mother was from the Southand she actually dropped out of
high school a couple of weeksinto her freshman year and moved

(27:45):
to New York City and lived atthe YWCA and worked at the
Garment District at basically 14, 14, 15 years old, so basically
, uh, almost slave labor.
They got paid not by the hourbut by the parts that passed, so
she did some sewing.
My mother and uh and my familyare excellent sowers and stuff

(28:05):
like that.
So I've grown up, watched,watching her struggle and I just
knew certain things I was goingto do and, like I said, when I
finished playing high schoolfootball, I did with Clinton
High School.
Actually, when I was a senior,I think Tracy Morgan was a
freshman the comedian so we wentto the same school at the same

(28:26):
time.
I just knew that, getting outthe city, I used to work with
young people and I knew, becauseI didn't have a higher
education, meaning a collegeeducation, I was going to go so
far.
So I ended up quitting my joband, believe it or not, I was on
125th Street near the ApolloTheater and I walked past the

(28:48):
recruiting station.
And I walked past the recruitstation and I was talking to an
Air Force guy because he kind ofgot my attention, because I
wanted to talk to a Navy guy.
But then again, you know, he'strying to recruit me, he's
trying to do his job.
And then when he had me comeback to see him, he wasn't there
and the Navy guy just swoopedin and took me and I said you
know what?
I really wanted to talk to youin the first place?

(29:10):
Yeah, the air force guy, but mymath ass math scores wasn't
that great to do what I wantedto do.
I really wanted to be a sonartech.
I'm going to track some stuff,subs and stuff like that which,
lo and behold, years ago I wasin a p3 squadron, uh, for a year
, uh, with stanley kurt burrelly'all know him as mc hammer we
used to be the same squadrontogether, wow andron together.

(29:32):
But over the years prior to that, before getting to that
squadron, I'm a structuralmechanic and started F4Js and
stuff like that.
But again, I just knew that Ihad to get out the city to grow,
because living in a city andyou got and it's sad that you
got generations of people whonever really had a job and I

(29:56):
just think my mom let societybeat her up and she stopped
trying to get better.
My mom got blind in one eye.
I kind of knew later in lifewhen my sister said you know,
when mom talked to you shealways got it.
You know, mom is blind in oneeye and I just, as a young kid,
your mom is, your mom Right, andI just.
But as I got older I noticedone of her eyes would drift and
I'm like, oh my God, my sisterKim was right, but that just

(30:21):
propelled me to just want moreout of life.
I didn't know how I was goingto do it, brother Jason, I just
knew, if I just keep chuggingand chugging forward and just
try to be a good person, I ain'tgoing to lie.
I was underage, drinking and,you know, doing stuff that
people in the city do Neverreally was into drugs.
You know I smoked a joint onceor twice in my life but I was

(30:45):
like, ah, you know, that wasn'tmy vice, I was an athlete.
So I was always playing ball,football and stuff like that,
and I did that in the militaryand the middle squad and also
was able to also play by our airwing and our ship.
And then, of course, I signedup playing in a league with the
French pros over in France.

(31:07):
Yeah, then you know, my careerin the military just kind of
took off a little bit and Idecided you know what I got 9-10
years in.
If I make it to 12, make it to15, I might as well stay to 20
and that's how it went.
But along the way, you know, Ihelped at orphanages.

(31:29):
I was, you know, especially inthe Philippines.
The boat or the chaplain wouldalways grab some of us and say,
hey, man, let's go to theseorphanages and do something to
help build stuff.
And you know they lovedAmerican candy, mr Goodboss.
Our candies to them are sweetcompared to today's stuff.

(31:51):
Until I got to french yeah,french, and uh, you know it was
kind of uh different.
They sweetness, uh, uh, howthey eat and stuff like that, uh
, it's a little bit different.
They palette is different,right.
And then when I you know, whenI got out, I just I just kept
doing it, donating time andmoney, and and then, like you're
saying, uh, abc was doing ashow secret me, and then and uh,

(32:15):
they got a hold of what I wasdoing by whatever channels and,
um, and it was prompted veryunique that I was kind of like,
um, coach carter with girlsremember the movie with yeah
yeah, samuel jackson classicyeah and um, they decided to
feature me on the show uh, againwith mr james malachick.

(32:35):
I owe him everything you knowand he had me come out to vegas
and meet some people, had memeet michael jordan and a couple
other people and abc, did youknow had me go to a meet.
I never went to a millionaireparty.
I was tipping people.
They said, no, don't, don't tipme, this is all.
I was wondering why the guykeep bringing beers.
I had two or three beers infront of me, but again coming

(32:58):
from the hood and not being atmillionaire type parties with
Hollywood stars and athletes.
That's why I first met Shaq aswell, yeah, and stuff like that.
But just calm again.
I've been put around goodpeople and they see the goodness

(33:19):
in me and, like I said, Iremember the first time a
millionaire I ain't gonna sayhis name, but you probably ate
at one of his restaurants hesaid hey, man, let's be Facebook
friends.
Can I get your number?
I'm like what?
Why you?
want my number.

Speaker 3 (33:31):
I ain't nobody yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:34):
But, like you said, we all are somebody.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
Yeah, yeah, and he just found.

Speaker 1 (33:40):
He found value in me and I found value in him.
And we still Facebook friendstoday, stuff like that, and it's
just that.
And I've helped some kids go tocollege and help them get
scholarships.
You know I don't come out mypocket a good chunk of money,
but it was all worth it.
You know I used to be a managerat US Steel, one of the leading

(34:00):
steel companies.
Here Gary works.
Yeah, they recruited me out toNavy, more or less because I
didn't want to go to theairlines.
I got tired of working onplanes man.
I didn't want to go to theairlines, I got tired of working
on planes man.
And you know I'm one of thesepeople, when I get tired of
something or get bored ofsomething, I'm able to move on.

Speaker 3 (34:18):
Right right.

Speaker 1 (34:20):
I tucked a little money away, sold some stock and
I just moved on and now I live alife of.
You know, I kind of be tiredearly because I had some health
issues issues, but, man, I stilllove engaging people.
Yeah, I still love trying tomentor to young people, because
that was something I didn't get.

(34:41):
Yeah, so, of course, since Ididn't get it and once I got a
taste of it kind of like you,because something got you to get
that bug as well and then now,just like you said, or I said
before, once you have a gift,you can't share it with other

(35:02):
people until you give it away.
Right, yeah, and that's thelife I live, man, a lot of
people think I'm crazy, but thenagain these same people that
thought I was crazy now want meto speak Because we're different
, because I guarantee you, whenyou first start talking

(35:22):
professionally or just doing it,because everything I do is not
about money I give up a lot ofmy time and I know you do the
same A lot of people think wewas crazy, but now, when they
feel us, like I said, once youtouch someone's soul and their
heart, then it kind of you knowhe ain't so crazy now.
I didn't want my advice.
Hey, man, I got some kids atmiddle school, can you come talk

(35:44):
to them?
Well, we don't have a budget?
Hey, no problem, I'll be therenext Friday, because I'm not a
money grabber.
Yeah, again, I'm not beating nospeaker up or people who do
what we do.
I just think it's got to bemore than just money.
Right, and having my face onthe front of someone's cover or

(36:08):
on a marquee in front of aschool, yeah, life is more than
that.

Speaker 3 (36:12):
Yeah, on a marquee in front of a school.
Life is more than that, yeah,and you can't put a price on a
life.
You can't put a price onimpacting somebody's life or
changing their mindset.
You know, and I love, as Ilisten to your story and I hear
about all the things that you'veaccomplished.
I just think about.
You used the word humble in thefirst half of our show and I

(36:33):
can see the humility, but I canalso see the gratitude and it
just it pours out of you ineverything that you do and it's
really a beautiful thing to see,brother.
It really is.

Speaker 1 (36:45):
Well, I appreciate it , man.
I just again I love it, I loveit, I love it.
And even when I retired fromcoaching, like I said, I had
nothing to give.
After almost 31 years, like Isaid, my knees and my back was
going bad with me, sorry, goingbad on me I just said, man, how
can I?
Because for us to touch people,brother Dixon, we have to again

(37:11):
stay relevant.
To touch people, brother Dixon,we have to again stay relevant.
And being relevant is havingour nose to the grindstone and
having our feet on the pavement.
So again I can talk tocorporate America, or I can talk
to the kids about Drake and KenMcMahon having a beef, because,
don't get me wrong, I'm fromthe city where rap started.

Speaker 3 (37:33):
Right.

Speaker 1 (37:36):
Yeah, so I can say Kool, moe D and the fantastic.
Like I said, my sister was afreshman when Luther Vandross
was an outgoing freshman at TaftHigh School in the Bronx and
did some stuff joint uh chic andhe uh, I'm sorry, um, did

(37:57):
another group, uh change.
But then again she went toclass school with uh edwards of
chic, uh okay, back in the day,uh, you know, doing a disco
crazy.
So, being in the bronx, if yougot out, you knew somebody who
did something.
I repped my city, even thoughNew York City for a long time
got a bad rap.

(38:18):
Even though I haven't livedthere since I joined the
military, I go back, but I stillrep my city and I just think we
all should rep where we comefrom good, bad and different
because it made us, it molded usand it made us the people we
are today.

Speaker 3 (38:35):
Right, right.
So I want to go back a littlebit.
So when you made that decisionto go into the military, that
was around the 70s, right or 80sthe 70s.

Speaker 1 (38:43):
Yeah, I graduated high school in 79.
I took delayed entry and myfirst day of boot camp was, uh,
april 21st 1980, yeah, 1980,okay.

Speaker 3 (38:57):
So.
So when you made that decision,you know, because it's still
around that time, still a rockytime for us and and you know,
and and the, the, the, theperception of, of the military
and everything like so when youmade the decision to do that, uh
, what were people in your innercircle saying family, friends,
what were they saying about yourdecision?

Speaker 1 (39:18):
well, for one, they didn't like the navy because
navy, uh, had some racial stuffgoing on on aircraft carriers.
If you notice, the army is moreblack, the navy actually, um,
have gotten more AfricanAmerican to be politically
correct and Latinos.
But normally, if you reallylook at pictures and look, the

(39:41):
Army and the Marines were mostof the people that looked like
you and I went.
The Navy was kind of like,unless you was a steward or a
cook.
You know what I'm saying.
Now I'm working on $100 millionaircrafts and they send me to
school.
Even though I was a C student,because I was, I clowned around
a lot.
I just passed classes just tocontinue to play high school
football.

(40:01):
I always tell people don't belike me.
And you know trying to party.
You know because when you startsmelling yourself and start
getting your name on the back ofthe New York Times, for you
know making interception, makingblocks, right Running in
touchdowns.
So you know we all, you know weall ego driven, we all go
through that phase of.

(40:21):
You know my sugar, honey, icedtea or shit don't stink.
But I just again, I just knewthere was more for me out there,
right, but I had to get outthere to find it.
Yeah, I don't know if I wouldhave been or be Coach Tony if I
stayed in the city.

(40:42):
Yeah, I had a chance to workfor FedEx Not FedEx, the guys in
the brown uniforms United StatePosters.
Yeah, yeah, ups, yeah, ups,yeah, ups.

Speaker 3 (40:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (40:55):
Because I actually had to take an interview, but I
was already in the military.
I was home for a vacation andit was cold.
I went with a buddy of mine and, believe it or not, I had to
take the test and interview.
They gave me the job and theydidn't give him the job, but I
said I'm already in the military, so I'm already in the military
, so they said why did you comedown here?

Speaker 3 (41:10):
Right right.

Speaker 1 (41:11):
I said well because that's the only way I could get
out the cold.
So long story short.
I'm pretty sure life would havefound a niche for me, but that
wasn't my niche.
I would have loved it because Ifound out that them guys got
paid versus what I was gettingpaid in the military my first
year or two.

Speaker 3 (41:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (41:28):
But I've kind of.
I never regretted joining themilitary man.
I had some situations where Ihad to go to Captain's Mass my
first time in Africa.
I got restricted to the shipbecause I was running my mouth
and almost got in a fight.
But I ain't gonna lie.
The military turned me into aman, took that New York City
street out of me and told methat there's going to be

(41:48):
accountability to my actions andmy words, because I can catch
you deep with my words.
You don't necessarily have tobe physically.
You can verbally beat someoneup versus physically beat
someone up, but at the end ofthe day it's still assault.
You know what I'm saying.
So I had to learn that things Isay I'm going to be accountable

(42:10):
for, and how you get youngpeople's attention, you restrict
their movements.
Like I said, the first time wewent to Africa Mombasa, africa I
couldn't get off the ship andstart playing with their
paycheck.
I had to give up half a month'spay for like two months, right.
And at that point in time Isaid you know what?
Okay, I know how the game isplayed now.

(42:31):
Yeah, because life, right.
And at that point in time I sayyou know what?
Okay, I know how the game isplayed now?
Yeah, because life ain'tnothing but a game.
Yeah, you know, just like weplay spades, sometime you got to
try to get bored.
When you don't get that, youplay spades, right.
Yeah, okay.
Yeah, sometime you got to playthe best hand.
You dealt like you say man, Iain't got nothing, man, but
we're gonna struggle, make thisboard right, mess around and say
you know what?
we're gonna take these boys toboston yeah you're right, you

(42:53):
just gotta play the hand youplay yeah, yeah, play the hand
that you dealt.

Speaker 3 (42:56):
Yeah, you're right, yeah, so, oh, you go ahead, go
ahead, no, no, well, what's,what's one thing that you you
learned while you were in themilitary that you still carry
with you today?

Speaker 1 (43:09):
oh, wow, man, that's a good question.
I used to still.
You know, when I first got tomelt after 20 years, you know I
was working as a manager.
You're still here at gary works.
You know, for cindyanna I usedto get up and run every day.
That's not feasible now, yeah,I gained so much weight.
You know I'm still in decentshape, but I'm heavy and I need
to be, and I got arthritic knees.

(43:30):
But, um, accountability,accountability, um, uh, keeping
a sharp haircut.
I started thinning so I justtook it all off yeah, you know,
keep the head.
You know, look sharp.
Uh, if you say you're gonna dosomething, do it.
Um, um, yeah, um, beingaccountable for your actions,

(43:59):
being a person of character,because at the end of the day, I
can screw up and I can blame iton jason all day long, but at
the end of the day, that's justdeflecting.
Tony branch, you was theproblem.
So how?
So how are we going to?
How, what they say?
How I'm gonna get my militarybearing back, uh, so, uh, you
know what they say.
How am I going to get mymilitary bearing back?
So you know.
But they say you got to sit upstraight and fly, right, you

(44:22):
know.
So that's what we have to do.
And I just think, in today'ssociety, a lot of people, well,
I want to blame the system, Iwant to blame the cops, I want
to blame the boss that fired me.
You know, the boss fired youbecause you're stealing from
your job or you wasn't coming towork on time.
He told you that two or threetimes, you know so.
And I and I, I tell people no,it's accountability.

(44:44):
You lost your job because youwasn't doing what the guy paid
you to do and you just don't.
You can come in 30 minutes, 40minutes, 15 minutes late,
anytime you want to.
Yeah, that's not how successfulbusinesses are run, so I always
tell people accountability.
So, yeah, I would sayaccountability.

Speaker 3 (45:02):
Yeah, I love that and that's a big word for me as
well in the stuff that I do.
So I love that, I love that.
So, coach Tony, you'veaccomplished some great things
in your life and you touched ona few of the things.
You've met some great things inyour life and you touched on a
few of the things.
You've met some amazing people.
So talk a little bit about youraccomplishments and what you're

(45:24):
most proud of.
You've received an honorarydegree.
You've traveled all over.
You've met amazing people.
Talk a little bit about thoseaccolades and what they mean to
you and what they mean to you.

Speaker 1 (45:40):
Man, when I got my honorary doctorate degree in
humanitarian studies from theambassador of Burundi, who is
now King, he got elevated toKing.
Hrh Dr Clyde Rivers, my amazingguy, believe it or not, met him
on a humbug and invited him outto eat.
And I didn't know he wasambassador of berundi, wow.

(46:01):
So when I'm with him, you knowI fall under his uh, his, uh,
his wrongness.
Yeah, for some reason I'm I'mlacking the word right now yeah,
but I fall under his, so hisentourage, so that's the word I
was looking for.
So I remember we was doingsomething and I'm walking in

(46:24):
with him and he come back toNorthwest Indiana.
He used to do stuff here inGary.
That was a.
That was a mind shaker.
You know, here a young man Icall myself a kid, you know, in
a joking term I got an honorarydoctorate degree and I struggled
to get out of high school.
I said man, ain't this worldcrazy?
You know, I've written for acouple of magazines and news

(46:47):
articles here and I wrote for afriend of mine who's a war
officer out the army.
He had a black magazine outthere in Scottsdale.
I did articles for him and, ofcourse, like I said, I'm
finishing up my seventh book now.
A good friend of mine she'shelped me.
Dr Leslie Grace Okay, yeah,that's the person I just think

(47:13):
you need to reach out to.
She's doing amazing stuff inPhilly with financial literacy,
because a lot of times our kidsdon't understand money and they
think us parents, money grows ontrees.
They don't understand justbecause you have a million
dollars, you're not amillionaire because taxes off
the top is only going to makeyou $650,000.

(47:34):
And after that you know she doesa great job with that.
That's good.
I got some other accoladesthroughout the community and
stuff like that, but that oneand just being an ambassador in
the community do I changenations, you know, because he
used to go to the UN and stufflike that we fall under.

(47:55):
They're like in 120 countriesright now.
Like I said, I'll get you somestuff and maybe we can get him
on here one day.
Yeah, so he can talk to you.
When he's getting escortedaround in certain parts of
Africa and other countries withbodyguards and stuff like that,
I'm like man, this is crazy.

Speaker 3 (48:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (48:16):
Wow.
So yeah, but I don't take myaccolades like my military stuff
.
I got them in boxes and storageI you know, cause this is a
part of my life that I lived andI enjoyed it.
But now it's behind me, becauseif I keep looking behind me
then I can't see what's out infront of me.
So I'm not one of these, even alot of these guys.
I don't hold it against them.
They got an I love me room wall.

(48:37):
But you know, the flag I gotfrom President Clinton, which is
his office, I think, flew overthe Capitol a week or so before
I retired.
It's still in the envelope.
They gave it to me, theenvelope they sent it to me in,
and my medals and stuff again inboxes somewhere.
But don't get me wrong.
I love this country.

(48:59):
We got some things we need tofix though, but again, I'm an
American, I'm an AfricanAmerican, true and blue, and I
wouldn't trade my position or myplace in this society for
nobody, because I can't be you,I can only be me, and sometimes
being me was tough, and some ofmy friends I will tell you,

(49:22):
being a friend of Coach Tony iskind of rough, but at the end of
the day, they see what I'mtrying to do and they'd be the
first ones to partner up with me.
Hey, I want to donate $400.
We'll let us match it.
And hey, man, you got a bookcoming out.
I want to donate $400, we'lllet us match it.
And hey, man, you got a bookcoming out.
I want to buy two or three.
So these same people, peoplewho really love you, will give
you the truth Right.

(49:42):
People who want something fromyou will lie to you Always
remember that.
Yeah, I've had some people lieto me, but you know, at the end
they expose themselves.
You know you just say hi from adistance and just keep it
moving.
You can't have snakes andnegative.
Some motivations we could Iused to listen to before I
started doing it say you shouldalways cut your grass.

(50:03):
Yeah, this is why If you cutyour grass, you can see the
snakes coming.
If you don't cut your grass,only thing you hear is a hiss.
If you hear that before theybite you, right, yeah, yeah, I
love that.

Speaker 3 (50:15):
I love that.
I love that.

Speaker 1 (50:16):
I try to keep my grass cut and keep positive
people around me.

Speaker 3 (50:19):
Yeah, I love that.
So, coach, tony, I'm your, you,you, you will appreciate this.
I love sports metaphors and andas I listened to you talk, this
is how I would describe you.
And a lot of people talk aboutthe, the difference between the
old school ball players and thenew school ball players, right?
So here about the differencebetween the old school
ballplayers and the new schoolballplayers, right?
So here's the difference that Isee.

(50:40):
You're the ballplayer that whenyou win the championship, you
celebrate for a day or two, youput the trophy up and you get
back to work because you want torepeat.
Right, the new schools, likethey win the championship, they
get the trophy.
It's like they go on a bingeand they're just living it up
and they forget about the factthat they got to do it again.

(51:01):
Right, I look at you like thatold school person, like, yeah, I
did this stuff, I accomplishedthis, but I still got that drive
and that determination to keepdoing it over and over again.
I'm not satisfied.

Speaker 1 (51:20):
Yeah, because once you get to a plateau and today's
athletes get more money thanthe older athletes used to get
the people who paved the way forthem.
But one thing about the olderathletes they always wanted to
reach that plateau.
Yeah, not once, not twice, withthe commodore say three times a
lady right yeah, they alwayswanted to get there.
You get an athlete today.
They want it one time and theythink they made it.

Speaker 3 (51:42):
They're good, I understand.

Speaker 1 (51:43):
Even as coaches, when I knew when I got my girls to
the national championship game,even though I lost to Team
Canada in Orlando at DisneyWorld was okay.
I can live off this being anumber two team in a nation,
even though I ended up losing toa team out of Canada.
But Canada drops down to NewYork and Detroit and playing our

(52:06):
AAU tournaments, so theyallowed to play in our national
tournament, so right.
But I knew I can live off thatfor four or five months and
after that I got to do it again.
Got to do it again or I'm ahas-been before I was a was, if
that makes sense to you.
Yeah, so I've been fortunateenough to have some undefeated
seasons.
Some of these kids they thoughtI was hard but I just had to

(52:34):
push them because they thoughtwinning was easy and it's not
winning at the level we waswinning.
And I echo a lot.
Um aj downs, one of my uhfavorite young people.
I start coaching her off and onas a sixth and then she started
playing for me as a seventhgrader.
Uh, you know, she helped put up123 wins on my 601 ring.
I got enough of respect forthat little point guard, uh.

(52:56):
And, like I said, even though Istarted out with boys, never
thought I was going to get intogirls basketball, but girls
basketball really put me on themap.
So sometimes it's not what youthink is going to get you to the
next level.
God had a plan.
He had it with AJ Downs, meanyHarris I'm used to talking to

(53:17):
Anthony Curry and people likethat, right, you know, but them
girls really took me over thetop and, like I said, I don't
know how ABC found me to put meon that show, secret Me and
after that my life changed.
I couldn't even go outside.
So a lot of times people thinkthey want that publicity man.
I didn't want it at all.
I just I actually wanted to beleft alone.

(53:44):
Yeah, you know, because ifbefore you saw me on tv, you saw
me in the neighborhood, younever said nothing.
You saw me on an hour tv showwhich is basically 43 minutes or
17 minutes worth of commercials.
I mean after being in thenewspaper, all that stuff with
michael jackson, mom and themall came afterwards.
But you guys really didn't helpme.
So I took my.
You know, we washed cars, wesold cookies, I gave up my bonus
, I used to get a US Steel, Ifunded my basketball team before

(54:06):
people jumped on board andwanted to sponsor me.
All that money came.
90% of that money came out ofmy pocket.
Yeah, yeah, the kids, it wasn'teven mine.
The people just said that'scrazy.
The kids, it wasn't even mine.
The people just said that'scrazy.
I said what's crazy about it?
How many pairs of sneakers, howmany cars can I own?
How many suits can I own?
I live, okay.
I want to make sure these girlsget a fair chance and I want to

(54:28):
make sure I don't see theseboys in the back of police cars.

Speaker 3 (54:33):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
The true life of a coach, right, nobody really knows behind the
scenes the the level ofinvestment and sacrifice that
you gave up a lot of time, yeah,a lot of time, a lot of money,
just like teachers, man,teachers, yeah, always going in
their pocketbooks, can theynever have enough crayons, uh
stuff in a classroom?

Speaker 1 (54:54):
and teachers don't get paid enough.
But even einstein had a teacher, even, uh, elon mus, einstein
had a teacher, even, uh, elonMusk had a teacher.
I just think our teachers, wegot to do a better job and
taking care of teachers because,uh, yes, you may be gifted, but
until you find your gift or youmaster that gift, you were
sitting in Miss Jones class,miss Dixon's class, miss's class

(55:16):
, but we don't take care of MissJohnson, miss Jones or Miss
Dixon.
See what?
I'm saying Even though I'm, gladto see more males are getting
into teaching now, especiallymales, men of color, because
back in the day when we went toschool watch this, I don't even
know who your teachers was, butI'm going to take a guess
Anglo-Saxon, white, female.

(55:41):
That was 90%.
See what I'm saying.
So it was hard for us as men orblack young men to relate to
them because we didn't see noone who looked like us.
But now we do.
So that's as far as society hassomewhat pushed forward, even
though we still need to see moreteachers, male teachers, white,
black or whatever because howcan you reach a young?

(56:02):
I can teach a man how to be aman.
I can't teach a woman how to bea woman, just like a woman
can't teach a man how to be aman right, right, yeah.

Speaker 3 (56:10):
And and the importance of of you being out
there, myself being out there,and whatever capacity it is,
whether it's an educator, acoach, as long as you're giving
back and you're mentoring andyou're reaching people, it's
important for them to have thatvisual, to see us doing those
things, because, again, youcan't be something or aspire to

(56:30):
be something that you haven'tseen for yourself, you haven't
seen it modeled for you.

Speaker 1 (56:37):
Model.
You have to envision it or seeit.
Yeah, to be it.
Yeah, you know what I'm saying.
Yeah, other than that, until Iwatch this, you gotta even
though people don't realizewe're seeing each other, but
when they hear it, they're gonnahear audio.
I don't know that you got on ared, uh, fleece or polo shirt

(56:57):
until I understood what red was.
Other than that, how did I knowwhat red was?
Well, some art teacher told methis is blue, this is fuchsia,
this is lavender.
Someone taught us and once wedigested it here in our minds.
Now, every time I see somethingthat look like that, oh, that's

(57:17):
red or crimson, or differentversions of red or burgundy.
But still, we have to be taughtand I just think our job,
parents', job, society we shouldalways be teaching people.
That's behind us.
You understand and I did dosome studying on this and some

(57:39):
research you understand thatsixth grader that you are
because I know you do a lot inmiddle school and high schools
you're actually affecting.
You won't see the fruits ofyour labor for the next five
years, because what you'reteaching them, as long as their
parents are also reinforcing itat home, right, they won't feel

(58:01):
the effects of the things you'retelling them or you're teaching
them until they probably get tothe 10th, 11th grade.
So that's probably four or fiveyears from now.
But again, brother Dixon, youhad to plant the seed, you are
the teacher.
I think everybody should have amentor.
I wish I had one coming upbecause I would have not had to.

(58:22):
I had to navigate somelandmines because, remember, I
didn't have a male in my life,my great uncle Richard, bless
his soul.
But you know I'm 14 years old.
He was 79 years old, eyesightgoing bad, but he did what he
could.
Yeah, he did what he could,yeah, yeah he did what he could,
he did what he could yeah.
I agree with that.

(58:42):
Yeah, we also have mentors andI'm okay, even if it ain't a
male there, a female mentor.
But I would like to see.
At one point in time I wantedto be a big brother Because I
wanted again another way to giveback, because when people start
pointing to me, once my cup gotfilled and started running over

(59:04):
, I got to go and fill someoneelse's cup, and that's what we
need to do as a society, juststraight across the board.
And then guess what?
We have less people in jail.
We can close up some of theseprisons Because they're out
there taking care of theirfamily instead of trying to rob
from me and you to take care oftheir baby mamas.

(59:25):
See what I'm saying.
You notice how I play a metaphorwith family and baby mamas.
You can have a baby by a younggirlfriend, but you're not a
family because he's stillrunning the streets.
Until you take the street andthe things that glorify the
streets the fancy watches, thefancy cars and make sure that
man is home with his family atnight, he will grow

(59:49):
exponentially when he has awoman in his life that's going
to help him grow.
Instead of taking from him.
What are you going to do for meof taking from him.
You know what are you going todo for me?
How come you ain't paying myrent?
It's like I I hate when I hearthat with these young girls.
Yeah, some guy take you out ona date and you mad because he
ain't spent five hundred dollars.
Yeah, girlfriend, you should beglad he spent fifty dollars on

(01:00:12):
you, right, right, yeah, you maynot be wife for two.
See what I'm saying.
Like I said, everything isrelative and it comes from
whatever perspective of how youwas raised.
Because if you used to seeingyour mother get beat on, you
don't respect women.
You're probably beating onwomen too, because that's what

(01:00:34):
you're used to.
Yeah, but you saw.
Yeah, but you better not putyour hand on my daughters or my
sister or my wife, or we'regonna have a problem.
Yeah, because I was alwaysbrung up.
Respect the weaker or theweaker of the two, which is
normally the female now don'tget me wrong.
There's some tough females outthere.
Yeah, uh, but uh, but againit's society and the bible say

(01:00:57):
you know, we, we, we supposed totake care.
Yeah, take care.
Yeah, our wives, the women, ourchildren, you know yeah, a man
that don't work.
Don't eat.
You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 3 (01:01:06):
so right, right, no, you're right, I love, I love
that and and I do a lot of workalso engaging, uh, boys and and
men on ending cycles of domesticviolence, so I love that you
talked about that and whathealthy masculinity looks like,
you know, and shifting thenarrative yeah.

(01:01:27):
So I love that you said that.
So, Coach Tony, let's wrap upon this.
I want to talk a little bitabout, you know, all the things
that you've accomplished.
Like you're working on yourseventh book and you've done all
these things right.
So, in this chapter of yourlife, what's next?
What are you hoping to do,accomplish?
What legacy are you trying toleave?

(01:01:48):
What's next for Coach Tony?

Speaker 1 (01:01:51):
Well, I don't look at my life as trying to leave a
legacy.
I just think if you do enoughthings, like I said probably 15
minutes ago, our disciples willmake sure our legacy lives on.
Because where did you learnthat from?
I learned that from Jason, Ilearned that from Coach Tony and
stuff like that and stuff likethat, so they will speak for us.

(01:02:13):
I think a lot of times peopleget in trouble when they try to
become famous.
Fame is going to come to you ifyou do the right thing, and
legacies will come to you thesame way.
I just think, again, being asports guy, I'm in the fourth
quarter of my life.
I'm 64 years old.
November 25th I turn 64.

(01:02:35):
So I'm in the fourth quarter ofmy life.
I just hope every time theypass me the ball, I can make the
layup, hit my free throw.
I don't turn it over, and Ijust hope I can make a couple of
backdoor assists.
If I can Throw an alley-oop toLeBron James or somebody, you
know what I'm saying.
I just think that sometimes youcan plan out stuff and it

(01:02:57):
doesn't work that way.
Sometimes, just like we weretalking about the game of spades
, you got to just play the besthand you was dealt, or shoot
from the hip.
I just hope that I can continueto be a positive person and
continue to meet young men likeyourself.
And I'll point to you, like,believe it or not, I wrote some

(01:03:17):
things down, you asked me andyou will see them on Facebook
and I'm going to send it to yourphone, cause that's too late.
Too late for tears, man.
That that that's deep.
That few little words are sopowerful.
Yeah, but again, I just justjust keep living, man, because

(01:03:38):
you know we, we all going tohave an expiration date and,
like I said, I'm trying to belate to my own funeral.
But that's being funny.
But I understand that when it'smy time to go, it's my time to
go.
I just hope that I made somekind of a difference, whether it
was here or where I used tolive, or just someone reading my

(01:04:01):
book and saying man, I neverreally thought about that
because I don't know how yougrew up, even though you listen
to how I grew up.
Like I said, I'm notembarrassed from the way I grew
up, it is what it is.
I just had, again, do the bestI can with what I had, with what

(01:04:22):
life had given me but, like Isaid, god blessed me to where
sometimes I even fell forward.
There was times, like I said, Icried.
I remember I never wished that Iwasn't here.
I'm like one time I forsakenGod and I'm like man, why you,
god can't be real, why youputting me through this stuff?
And then, like I said, I was ina situation that he got me out

(01:04:42):
of that I didn't know how I wasgoing to get out of and I'm like
, wow, and I knee hustle everynight, brother, I knee hustle
every day.
Like I said, I'm going to hitmy pillow bed tonight.
I'm going to thank him forallowing me to be on your
podcast and meeting you andstuff like that.
I just try to be me.

(01:05:04):
I know that day is going tocome where me is not going to be
here, no more.
But, like I said, as long as weleave a legacy through the
people we touched and we wasable to mentor brother, we will
never die.
We may be gone in physical form,but our spirit will live on.

Speaker 3 (01:05:21):
Right, right, and yours will.
And again, brother, I love thework you're doing, I love just
the inspiration you provided,the motivation, and I know that
this fourth quarter is going tobe the best quarter, and so I'm
excited to see what lies aheadfor you and I appreciate that,

(01:05:42):
man.
And let people stay connected.
Yeah, I look forward to it.

Speaker 1 (01:05:44):
Hey, you're in my inner circle.
Hey, I told you you're myRolodex.

Speaker 3 (01:05:48):
You're my Rolodex now I appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (01:05:51):
We done messed around and even though we've been kind
of fans of each other for twoor three months and I've watched
your stuff probably even longerthan that, but now I've seen
you, we vibe, yeah, hey, youbetter tell your mother you got
a brother, you got an olderbrother.

Speaker 3 (01:06:05):
We family now?
Yeah, that's what I'm talkingabout.
I love it.
I love it.
Yes, sir, coach Tony, yes, Iappreciate your brother.

Speaker 2 (01:06:23):
Brother, you have people waiting on you to cross
over to the other side so youcan reach back and grab them.
Thank you for listening to theMic'd Up and Motivated podcast
brought to you by Inspired toReach Higher, the youth
development company dedicated toempowering young people,
engaging parents and equippingeducators.