What happens when your life is tied to the outcome of a single kick?
In this episode of The Rev Rx Podcast, Chad sits down with Julianne 'Jay' Folk—wife of longtime NFL kicker Nick Folk and host of A League of Her Own—to talk about life behind the scenes of professional football. Jay opens up about the pressure, the loneliness, the faith it takes to keep showing up, and the grit required to raise a family while her husband chased excellence in the NFL.
From being cut on her birthday, to receiving death threats after missed kicks, Jay has lived through the highs and lows—and shares what kept her grounded through it all: faith, identity beyond titles, and relentless intentionality.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
How Jay leaned on faith when the world turned against her family
Why NFL wives need more than football to stand strong
- The power of prayer and stubborn belief in a comeback
- And what it takes to be intentional in marriage when life gets crazy
If you're struggling in the chaos of trying to hold it all together - or just interested in hearing the behind-the-scenes from a NFL family - this episode is for you!
👉 You can follow Jay on Instagram @juliannefolk622
🎧 And check out her podcast A League of Her Own wherever you listen to podcasts.
Let’s dive into the conversation.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:11):
Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Rev RX
Podcast where we show you how tothrive in fate, family, and
health. My name is Chad Potts and I'm
your host. Today's episode is a powerful
one. I sit down with Jay Folk, wife
of long time NFL kicker Nick Folk, and we're going to talk
about today some behind the scenes from the NFL.
(00:32):
You've probably seen the the footage of a game-winning field
goal. You've probably seen the footage
of the game losing misses. But what you probably haven't
seen before is footage of what that looks like behind the
scenes, a perspective that we don't often hear from the one
holding it all together at home.And so we're going to talk about
(00:53):
that. We're going to talk about what
happens when it seems like everyone turns against you in
life. We're going to talk about the
reality of solo parenting duringthis season when her husband is
pursuing his dream in NFL. Here's the thing, whether you're
in business or you're just trying to keep up with the chaos
of life, this episode is going to remind you what really
matters. And so I can't wait to delve
(01:14):
into this conversation. So without further ado, I
introduced you, my new friend Jay Folk.
Julianne Jay, you go by a lot ofnames you can.
Go pick one and go with that. Mom, whoever, but but man, I'm
so excited to have you here on the show.
I was just telling you beforehand that you know, I've
(01:35):
I've had several athletes on theshow that I've never had the
wife of an athlete. And so I can't wait to hear what
we're going to discuss today. Thanks for joining us.
Oh no problem, I feel very honored to be on here.
I am one of those wives that hasa strong opinion on many things,
so it'll definitely not be a dull conversation, I can promise
you that. I love it and I've been
listening to your podcast as well.
(01:56):
League of Her Own really kind ofgiven a platform to athletes,
wives, giving us a peek of a little bit what happens behind
the scenes because let's face it, you're the one that holds
things together in the family. I guess, you know, during the
hectic season. And I said, we'll get into a
little bit more of that. But before we do, I just love to
hear a little bit about you and kind of what got you to this
journey that you're on today as no, it's kind of a loaded
(02:16):
question, but as much or little as you want to share.
So we've been in the league for about 18 years now.
We started in Dallas. That's where I'm from, that's
where our home base is. We've got 4 kids, twin boys that
are 11 year old, a 10 year old girl and a 7 year old boy.
So this is home base. My family's here.
Family's super important to us. And so with Nick's career being
(02:38):
as transient as it is, we've decided that we would rather be
here and just have a support system around us because the NFL
is super fickle. You just never know the journey
you're going to go on, where it's going to take you, one new
adventure you're going to be on.So this is home based, but we've
been all around the country, been very fortunate to
experience so many different teams, organizations, meet so
(03:00):
many people. When we were babies, we were in
Dallas, then New York and then Tampa Bay and then Boston.
And so we're kind of coming fullcircle back to Dallas right now,
but it's definitely been a journey with many UPS, many
downs. And like I was telling you
earlier, this is the first time I think in those eighteen years
where I feel such peace that whatever is meant to happen, we
(03:23):
are good with whether it's playing another year, which he
definitely wants to play and he definitely should play.
Definitely can for. Some reason just the
circumstances didn't come together.
We're at peace with that too. So I can just sit back kind of
now and enjoy the ride and see where God's going to take us
next. That's a good place to be where
you're content regardless of theoutcome.
(03:43):
And you know, so many times we allow the circumstances to kind
of dictate our joy and to dictate our happiness and really
finding that joy regardless of what goes on around you.
That's that's key. Well, and I think it's evolved.
It wasn't always that way. Like I said, this has been a
long journey in the beginning when you first got into the NFL.
And I, and I talk about this with other wives, with all the
new wives that come in, the rookie wives.
(04:05):
I'm like, look, this could be a short journey, it could be a
long journey, you've got to takeeach year like it's your last
and just enjoy it and embrace it.
But however it is not, it cannotbe your whole world because if
you focus only on football, thenother areas of your life will
crumble. Or like things that aren't big,
you turn into big and they consume you to the point where
(04:25):
you can't enjoy the moment. So in the beginning of his
career, one miss felt like the end of the world.
Like the rest of the week I would have a knot in my stomach.
As the years went on and we started having kids and I became
more busy and then I, I started out being able to focus on those
things because I had little kids.
And now I'm at a place to where I'm like, you know, you've paid
this amazing career. I'm so proud of you.
(04:45):
But at the end of the day, thereare so many other things in life
that are important. So I value those milestones that
you hit. But we still have 4 kids to take
care of. They've got their own
milestones. So now being the grandmother of
the NFLI can really appreciate the journey we've been on and
now really enjoy the seasons because I know there is life
(05:06):
after football and it and it will be OK.
Those misses will be OK. At the end of the day, it's very
refreshing right now. Yeah, and you mentioned the
fickle kind of the fickle naturethe NFL.
You know, I, I see it from the standpoint of the fan base and
you know, you talked about the knot you have in your stomach
with misses and, you know, especially the life of a kicker,
(05:26):
you know, and maybe you can speak to that a little bit, but
you know, it's one of those things you're brought on and
you're when you're expected to be almost 100.
Percent right, Yeah. And, and if you miss, and
especially if you start missing,you know, you'd mentioned that
the time in Tampa, especially ifyou miss a couple in a row or
three, you know, they turn on you fast.
What's that like with, you know,just the fickle fan base and the
(05:47):
fickle nature of, you know, you're expected to perform and,
and it's kind of like you have one job and, you know, no one's
100%. Right.
No, the life of a kicker is really hard.
I I do not watch games with anyone but my family because I,
I look a little crazy. I don't want people to think
differently of me. And so we pretty much have a
rule like my kids and myself, even though my parents and I are
(06:11):
extremely close to one another. I have just a limited, it's just
the kids because I'll be pacing.I'll be like all I have this
cross at where for every game and I'll sit there and I'll be
like in a little ball praying. I just it's not something I
really want other people to see on a weekly basis because I
still get nervous to this day. However, you know, life of a
kicker's heart because it's either black or white.
(06:33):
You either make or you miss it. All right.
And a lot of times games come down to those kicks.
And what I don't think people realize is that it's not just my
husband going out there kicking a ball.
There's a whole operation in order for his job to be done the
right way. So you've got a snapper who
hasn't snapped the ball properly.
You have to have the holder who holds it properly and you have
(06:55):
to have the online that is blocking so that someone doesn't
jump up a block his kick. And so this complete operation
that all has to come together and perfect Symphony in order
for my husband to do his job. So there's a lot on the line and
you mentioned Tampa. I mean, when you make that
game-winning field goal, there'snothing better.
There's nothing better. The rest of the week you're on
(07:16):
this high. However, there have been games
in my husband's career where he's been hurt and no one knew
it and he tried to push through because he's so mentally tough.
He's such a team player that tried to push through when he
was hurt. And he would miss field goals
and I would wake up to death threats the next day.
I mean, literally on my family photos on the computer, people
(07:37):
would start sending me the most horrendous messages as you can
ever imagine. And I'm like, guys, it is a
football game. Maybe you've got money on it,
but but at the end of the day, it's a kick.
Like if you're really dwelling this much on what my husband's
doing, we have bigger issues that you need to work on.
But but it's the reality. I'm not the only one.
It happens throughout the leagueand just have to hope you have a
(07:58):
strong head on your shoulders and a great support system at
home. Otherwise, I could see how it
could totally get in your head and bring you down. 100% One of
the things I've been wanting to ask you about is this balancing
act, you know, family life with the demands of a hectic NFL
schedule. What does that look like on your
side? Because, you know, we don't see
that side. You live a very public life.
(08:20):
But you know, we see the, you know, we see your husband's
side, the very public side of that.
But tell us about how you, you know, what's your experience in
balancing those priorities? Yeah.
Well, now that my kids are older, so when earlier in his
career we always moved wherever he played, but then he went
through a series of one year deals and so you just never know
where you're going to be. And so now that my kids are
(08:42):
older, they're all in select sports and they're all in
school. I actually stay in Dallas during
the season. Why he goes and plays.
So I'm six months solo. Why he plays, which is really,
which is really tough, not only for myself but for Nick as well,
because my husband is extremely hands on.
He's at every sporting event, he's driving to all the
practices, every shows, he's in the backyard with the kids.
(09:04):
So for him, he has to go six months to where he maybe gets to
see the kids once a month. We FaceTime probably 10 times a
day, but that's just the realitybecause of football season.
They're working seven days a week and we're in travel sports
right now. And so it's hard.
Families are #1 priority. And so I am lucky I have my
parents here to help. I don't have a nanny, so that's
(09:25):
a huge misconception. I don't have any help.
I do all by myself, which is probably why I have a ton of
greys these days, because six months home with four kids is a
lot of work. But you get a routine down, you
get a system down. I've got great kids even though
he's not here. A great support system, but it's
(09:46):
definitely a battling actor. There are so many times where
like, are we doing the right thing?
I want you to go pursue your dreams and you're doing amazing,
but at the same time, like you're not at home.
But I think Nick does a really great job and he's so present
even though he's not here. He's calling the kids before
they go to school, he's calling them right when they get home,
he's calling them before a game.He's calling them before baby,
(10:08):
do prayer together on FaceTime before they go to bed at night.
Yeah, well. You're the last thing he talks
to before he goes onto the field.
So even though he's not there, he's aware of everything going
on. But you know, there's a lot of
give and take and it's, it's really hard.
And so you got to have a good foundation, a good marriage in
(10:29):
order for it to really work, I think.
Yeah, yeah. The word that comes to mind as
you're describing all that is intentionality.
Yeah. You know, and I've always, you
know, knowing what I've known about about Nick and, you know,
I followed his career for a while.
I've always been drawn to kickers for some reason.
Like, there's that just seems like it's all, you know,
there's, there's very little glory there.
There's just the, you know, there seems to be a lot of lot
(10:51):
of blame. And so I've always kind of
sympathized with kickers. I'm not sure why that is, but.
Well, thank you. You'll probably want a few, but
thank. You but you know, yeah, there's
there's all this that has to go,right?
But then you're the one that takes all the blame if if it's a
miss. So anyway, but you know, it
always seemed like Nick was a Family Guy.
And so it's, it's refreshing to kind of hear that and hear the
intentionality that that he's able to put into.
(11:11):
OK, I'm not there physically, but I'm going to make it seem
like I am and I'm going to do myvery best to not just say I'm on
the road. Sorry, guys, see you see you in
a month. But I love that.
That's really, really cool. Yeah, I think people are always
like Julian, it's got to be so hard on you.
And I sit back and I'm like, I have my family around me all the
time. It's physically taxing because
(11:32):
we're dry. There's a lot of moving pieces.
But at the same time it is so much harder on him because he's
away from his family. And I know he wants to be here,
but you know, life is expensive.We have 4 kids and so you just
never know when it's going to beyour last year.
So why he has the opportunity toplay.
We're like got to go play. We have 4 kids.
We want to set them up for, you know, being able to succeed down
(11:53):
the road and giving them every opportunity to do so.
And so it's a huge sacrifice. But like we talk about, you
know, faith is big in our household.
We rely heavily on God in his direction.
And when something happens, we have faith that it's his plan.
And I think that helps us both to keeping things in
perspective, like if there's ever a time when he shouldn't
(12:13):
play, we both feel like we'll get that feeling.
God will let us know this is notthe time.
And so we kind of let him navigate this.
And if something ever feels weird, then we step back and we
evaluate. Yeah, yeah.
Love it. And you'd mentioned to me
earlier about faith, and faith keeps coming up again and again.
So, you know, I'll just ask you what role has faith played in
kind of guiding you through a lot of these challenges you
(12:36):
mentioned, particularly down in Tampa that seemed to be a tough
time for, you know, for him and probably you guys as well.
Tell us a little bit about the role of faith in in your life.
Well, I was raised in a Catholicfamily.
We went to mass every week. It was just faith was always a
part of our day-to-day. And so I always feel fortunate
that I, you know, I think about to people who maybe weren't born
(12:58):
in a house that had faith and how hard it might be to actually
come across and, and develop that if you weren't guided from
the very beginning. And both him and myself were.
He was also Catholic. And so we knew when we got
married, that was one of our main conversations.
Like, what do you see your household in your household?
And faith was always a, a deal breaker if we didn't have that.
(13:20):
But it's really evolved over theyears because, like I said, the
NFL, there's a lot of highs and lows, and the lows can be really
low. And so I think my faith has
grown over the years. I think that NFL has actually
helped it grow. Because there's been.
Times when I have been like so worked up over certain things to
where I was like, I've got nowhere else to ask but to God.
(13:44):
And I've got to tell you this one story.
And I think this sums up everything and kind of sums up
Nick's career. We briefly talked about my
husband played for Tampa. It was split second.
You probably don't even rememberit.
We were in Tampa six months. I had a kid or youngest baby was
born there. And that was the take away that
we took from there. Pretty much that's it.
So my husband doesn't tell anybody, plays a game, misses 3
(14:06):
field goals the next day, goes on IRR and death threats.
We leave. All right?
We're like, OK, sorry, Tampa, we're not.
We're not going to stay here. So we go back and for the next
year, year and a half, no one will look at my husband.
He couldn't get a workout. He couldn't get a phone call.
His agents were calling everywhere.
People did not want to give him the time of day.
And so my kids go to a Catholic school and so I would bike them
(14:30):
to school in the morning and then I would go in for every day
for yard, go in to church and I would pray right after drop off
and I would say the exact same prayer.
I would add a few things, but itwas almost the exact same prayer
everyday go in. And I'd be like, Lord, maybe
this is just me, but in my gut it is telling me that Nick is
not dead. Oh Lord, if Nick is meant to be
(14:51):
an NFL, all I want is an opportunity.
And I said I said this exact same thing, so now we have to
look back. I said I don't care if he makes
the Pro Bowl. I don't care if he's the highest
paid kicker. I don't care if he sets records.
I don't care about any of that. All I care about is he gets
another opportunity to show people the type of kicker I know
he is. And I said that same for over
and over again for you. One day I got a little
(15:16):
discouraged and so worst thing you can do in your discourage is
get on your phone and want to text message someone.
So I end up getting on my phone,I'm going to text message my
mother-in-law who I'm extremely close to and my mom and I put
him on a group message. And let me preface this, I love
my husband's agents. We are extremely close.
I've known them for a very long time.
But on that one day I sent out this text message saying I don't
(15:37):
think they're doing a good job. I don't think I think Nick
should be picked up by now. You know, I don't know what's
going on. And I ended up sending it to his
agents instead of my parents accident.
And I was like, Oh my gosh. And it goes, oh, Jay, what'd you
do? Like one of those like, oh, this
is what you do. And I told him he's like, well,
you have to call him. So I call and I apologize.
We talked through this. Well, no joke.
(15:58):
Not even a week later, the Patriots call and they say we
want to bring Nick in for a workout.
And so the rest is history. However, I have to go back to my
faith is, you know, there's beentimes over the years everyone's
like, well, Nick's not with the team right now.
You know, Nick should have gone to the Pro Bowl the last three
years. You know, Nick this.
And I said, you know what, you can blame that on me because I
(16:18):
was very specific and intentional in my prayer.
I said, I don't care if he goes to the Pro Bowl, even though he
deserved. I don't care if he's the highest
paid kicker. So when we're taking different
deals when he should be top fiveand he's not, I was like, God
answered every single one of my prayers, so I can't complain
about anything. Yeah.
Yeah. So we go back to that.
You know, it's his timing. And I think that's how you know
(16:40):
why we feel like we're in a goodsituation today, because we know
God's. God's got this in his.
Hands. Yeah.
God's in it. God's.
God's taken care of you. That's really cool.
Thanks for sharing that too. You know that those are faith
builders. When we pray and we kind of give
it to God and then we feel like he answers us.
He hears us, you know, that thatbuilds our faith.
And then next time that tells us, you know, I can trust him.
(17:01):
And and that's not that's perfect.
Thinking about your face and thinking about where all you've
come from. So you mentioned you had the
full experience in the NFL, right?
You've you said you were the girlfriend, the fiance, the the
wife then. Now you're kind of the
grandmother. See the grandma because I'm like
the oldest now. Yeah, yeah.
What has been some of your biggest pieces of advice to
(17:22):
other wives, girlfriends, etcetera in the league?
Because you're using, you know, you've got the platform now for
the podcast and you're, you know, you're using that for, you
know, for kind of some of that. But you know what's been some of
the biggest things you've learned, and then what's been
some of the biggest pieces of advice you've passed along?
You know, I think everyone has to kind of go through their own
(17:43):
experience, but my, you know, being in every stage, I think it
evolves. Like what I would tell it to a
rookie would be like the NFL, the average lifespan of an NFL
player is 3 years. So enjoy every game like it's
your last because there could bea freak injury tomorrow.
And so just enjoy look around taking all these opportunities
(18:04):
because they are just a blimp inthis long road you have ahead of
you. I would also say, you know, find
your own interests because if you consume everything around
the game of football, it is so easy to lose track about what's
important because you're only honed in on one thing.
And I've been guilty of that before where everything is just
football all the time. And you just live in this sense
(18:27):
of I'm not anxious person at all, but like anxiety, like
what's next? What's going to happen?
Is he going to have a good game?Is he not?
And then I just find that if youhave your own interests,
something to rely on outside of that, that when you have those
bad times, you have something else to embrace to kind of get
your mind off of it. So I think it's really
important. A lot of the women I brought on
(18:47):
to A League of Her Own, we're all very successful women in
their own right. When I say successful women, I
don't mean they have these amazing jobs, yes, and do.
But they all have found a way tonavigate their own journey
outside of their husband. Yeah.
And a lot of these women are in really great marriages.
They have been in the league fora long time, and they've
navigated it with grace. So that's why I tell women, you
(19:09):
know, find what makes you tick. Find, find something that you
enjoy, find something to where you can accomplish on your own.
So at the end of the day, all your eggs are not in one basket.
So I think that's super important that earlier in your
husband or your boyfriend or your partner's career, you can
do that. Then it just sets the foundation
for later on in his career so that when the time is over, you
(19:32):
know, I also go back to all these numbers, but like the
divorce rate is super high in the NFL.
It's like in the 80% between divorce and bankruptcy.
And that is because you only know your spouse in one way, and
that is as a football player. So when it comes to an end, your
lifestyle, your life changes overnight.
And so it's really hard for a lot of women to transition in
(19:52):
these players. But if you have something else
going on and you both have your interests, it's easier to
navigate. So I just, I just think, you
know, make sure you probably oritize the right things, keep
your friends and family close, make sure you get advice from
the right people and just. Know that it will end at some
point and that's OK. Life will go on.
(20:15):
Enjoy the ride. Enjoy the ride.
Yeah, on memories for sure. But you're so right.
And see, that's the stories thatI've really been getting from
the athletes I've had on the show.
Yeah, I've had Andre Williams. He was the Heisman finalist,
running back for the Giants. Should have had a fantastic
career but injuries derailed it and and he shared with me on on
(20:37):
my show about how he had a near death experience that led him to
Lord, which is kind of cool. Wow, Yeah, we don't hear why we
don't all have that epiphany moment right there, but that's.
Right, right, right. You know, and I've had Sterling
Harris from the Browns lineman and you know, he his career got
cut short by going to prison, which was a whole nother story.
Yeah, I'm sure. Yeah, yeah.
(20:58):
And so you just, you never know what's going to happen next.
I love this steadiness. It may not feel that well on
your side. I love the steadiness that
Nick's experienced. I'm the same age as Nick.
I'm 40. I just turned 41.
And. And so, you know, I, I get that
sense of like, man, he's been ina legal while.
And that's. Rare, you know, that that's
really, really rare. And that's, that's something to
be able to say, you know, hey, he's really taking care of
(21:19):
himself. And, you know, I think that's
fantastic. But, you know, along the way,
yeah, there there comes a point where there's an end.
And one of the things you said that I really, really liked and
appreciate it was you said if you see your husband as only a
football player, then what happens when they're no longer a
football player? Right.
And being able to have that foundation in your marriage that
(21:41):
goes beyond that, I love that you brought that up.
And you know, that goes beyond, you know, I'd probably don't
have a whole lot of listeners that are NFL spouses, but it
goes with really any kind of high demand career, right?
Sure. Any, any time that we're on the
other end of, you know, our spouse has a high demand career
and at some point that may come to an end and you're being able
(22:02):
to see them as more than just one-dimensional is, is so
important. What were you going to say?
I'm sorry. Well, I was also going to say,
and this is not the toot the horn of all these wives, but
like a lot of the men that last in the NFL have such a great
support system and and if they didn't have that, I don't know
if they would last as long as they have.
(22:25):
I mean, because it is extremely taxing, not just physically, but
emotionally, the ups and downs. And there's Nick.
Nick is very open with me and, and I know sometimes he's got
like he needs someone to like hash it out with and just and,
and talk. And I think that, umm, you see
all these older players, most ofthem have long time spouses and
(22:46):
their spouses get it and know what makes them tick and knows
how to let them unwind so that they can go do their job and be
a dad and then pick up the pieces and go about it for
another week. Because season's a long time.
They're just trying to make it longer and longer and longer
and. Let's play 18 games and 20 games
and yeah, that's a lot. You mentioned the highs and lows
(23:08):
and kind of want to dig into that just a little bit.
If you if you don't mind, what'sbeen one of the what's, what's
been the greatest, greatest moment that you can maybe point
to as part of this journey? And then maybe what's been the
hardest part for you? Sure.
So the high, even though I said I don't care about records, I
don't, but he does have records.So it's pretty for me.
(23:30):
I just think that since the Patriots, like I've seen how he
went from not getting phone calls from anyone to really
solidifying the type of kicker he is.
He he did break a bunch of records and he will not talk
about them. He will not let me post about
them. He is anti records.
He does not want to know them. But as his wife and I've seen
(23:53):
this journey he's been on, it's been a hard journey.
And I will give my husband credit.
He's the most mentally tough person I think I've ever met.
Steadfast he he has this routine, he's diligent like we
have two kids and he's the best example of what like if you want
to be a successful athlete, justjust mimic what he does.
But also my husband, if you go back to any team he's ever been
(24:16):
on, he is so well respected and like that he has he probably
doesn't want me to say this, buthe has coaches coming to him
before they what what do I need to do?
What should I do? Because he is just so loyal,
steadfast team player. He's so smart.
And so I just think the highs for me would just see that you
know, I asked God, please help him get back in and he totally
(24:38):
surpassed anything I could have possibly imagined.
He holds the record most kicks under 50 in the NFL history.
He holds the record at Titans and the Patriots.
And even though records will just be in a book one day,
they're just numbers. Just for me, I'm like, you know,
it just proves that hard work and you've been knocked down
like it is rewarded down the road.
(24:59):
So that would be a high. It's just like how he's overcome
and how he's at the top of his game even when so many people
said, hey, you're not good enough.
Hey, he's done. Old, you're 40, you're weak.
We're going to go with these guys that could kick 63 yards.
They can't make a 40, but they can kick this because that's
just my fast. So a long miss is just as bad as
a short miss. I it blows my mind.
(25:21):
I don't get me started because Iprobably get myself in trouble
for talking about, but like justeveryone's into the show these
days and it's like there's something about being just being
steady and being consistent and we're looking past those things
and we'll come back to bite you in the butt.
And it does more times than not.And so I tend to sit back and
just laugh and watch and be like, I see decisions people are
(25:41):
making and I'm like, OK, you're going to learn the hard way, but
that's right. And.
It's tough when you can see it and they can't.
Nick and I are constantly like, what are they doing?
Like. What are they thinking?
How, how, what? We can see this from a mile
away. What are you doing?
And then it comes back and we'relike.
Told you we. Can told you that we can save
(26:02):
you a lot of time and a lot of money right there but.
That's right. Yeah.
And I guess for when it comes tolow, the lowest would have been
with, well, I guess there's two.My, my first year with Nick was,
was very hard. He was misdiagnosed by the
Cowboys. They told him he had a muscle
(26:22):
strain, but he tore his labrum. So he went to a specialist in
Vail who did Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn surgery.
He's hip specialist and he went up there and they're like, no,
you need hip surgery and it's like an 8 month recovery.
But we're going to do this May 5th, and you're going to go to
training camp because we just drafted another kicker, so you
have to go compete. So you're going to kick in two
(26:43):
months. And so my husband's like, OK, if
that's what you need me to do. And that was his last year with
the Cowboys. So if anyone's a Cowboy fan,
they're probably like, oh, I remember that year.
It was brutal. He was not ready.
He was not ready and it just didn't make sense.
He went from Pro Bowl to have like a really high percentage to
Missy kicks. Like something would tell me
(27:05):
something's going on. So my birthday is right before
Christmas. He plans me the surprise party.
And then right before the party,he gets his phone call from
Jerry Jones saying, hey, we needyou to come into the facility.
He's like, OK. And they cut him on my birthday
right before we have a surprise party for me.
Grace. And then it ended up being a
blessing in disguise. We went to The Jets and had
(27:26):
seven years there, had babies there, everything's great.
And then probably the lowest of a low was when we went to Tampa
and he was hurt and missed 3 field goals in one day.
And I just saw him just battlingmentally and it like to kick
through the pain when he probably knew in the back of the
head he probably shouldn't do this, but he's such a team
(27:46):
player. He's not going to quit on
anyone. But it was really good for him
to go through that because now he knows if I'm injured I'm
going to tell somebody. And I think we've appreciated
the journey way more now that we've seen how low it can be,
the death threats that, you know, going a year with no one
wanting to look at you. So I think it's made these last
couple years that much better because we've seen how bad it
(28:09):
can be. And now we appreciate every
moment going forward. And I love that there's kind of
a Part 1 and Part 2 there. For sure.
In his career. And you know, kind of kind of a
lot of people would have been done.
A lot of people would have said nobody wants me, I'm done, I'm
going to go do my thing. But not Nick.
He kept on at it. He had the faith.
(28:30):
He had his faithful wife and hadher faith with the prayers and
everything. Very stubborn wife.
There is actually many conversations where he's like, I
think I need to hang up my cleats.
And his agents were like, it might be time we have that
conversation. And I'm very loud as you can
tell. I like talk.
And I was like, no, no, I don't believe that.
And I was very, I was very adamant like, Nope, I do not
(28:51):
believe that. And they kept on saying no one's
calling me. It's time.
I'm like, I do not believe that.I do not, I'm not, I am not
giving up on the hope. And I think I was pretty much
the only the only one. So I like to read that in his
face all the time. Like if it wasn't for me, who
knows? Because I was the one that's A
and I was right. Yeah, well, and there's
(29:13):
something to be said about you being his best and probably
loudest cheerleader. Yeah, yeah.
You know, and, and you know him better than anybody and I, I
love that you were so faithful to say.
You know, Nick, I don't think so.
I see something in you. Maybe nobody else sees it, but I
see something in you. You're not done.
And then here he goes on. In the last two years, he set
(29:34):
records for completion percentage of field goals.
And you know, he's not just kicking a little short, short
things either. I mean, he's.
No, no, he had some big he's in a bunch from over I.
Feel like he's my age and in hisprime but I don't understand
that. And I don't think teams do
either. That's why we're without a team
right now, because I don't thinkeventually they can think.
How is a 40 year old still kicking 50 plus consistently?
(29:57):
Like they're waiting for something to drop and it's.
Just, and it hasn't. So any NFL execs out there
listening, you need to get on the ball.
You need to give Dick a call. Strong and ready to go, and then
a good headspace and. And just a great family too.
For for. The organization, Yeah.
Let me ask you about your kids just a minute.
What is it like? I just want to, this is for
(30:19):
personal reasons. What's it like growing up to be
the son and daughter of an NFL player?
Like, do they realize kind of who their dad is and, and how
public his life is or, you know,kind of what's their take on it?
I know they're, they're a littlebit older than my kids.
I have 3 and they're they're 35 and 8.
So they're a little under yours.But you know, I I can kind of
(30:40):
get the sense of what they not be realizing.
And you know what, it's really cool because when you start in
the NFL, you never think that you're going to have kids old
enough to actually appreciate and know what you're doing.
And it's a joke now. It's like, oh, the kids are
going to be playing when you're playing.
But you know, we're big. Like it is a priority of ours
not to let our kids get big heads about anything.
(31:00):
So we we bring things down really quickly in our household.
But they all love they live for watching Nick play.
They think it's the coolest thing ever.
But Nick is very present. So everyone is so used to him
around all the time to where it's not a big deal anymore.
So for them, they'll go and talkabout like, oh, I'm going to see
my dad watch this game. And then their their best
(31:21):
friends are like, what is that apicture of Derrick Henry?
Or wait, why did you sit in MarkSanchez's box when he was
playing? Like they that there's that
aspect, but it's because he's like the kicker and they've been
around it so long. Now.
Now it's kind of like, oh, that's just what dad does.
And, and we're, and they live for those games and they love
it, but I don't, I, I think they're pretty realistic about
(31:44):
you knowing like, you know, likehe's paved his way.
I've got to pave my own way. So just because he's a famous
football player doesn't mean I have bragging rights because I
haven't done anything yet. But I will say this.
So my kids are really good athletes.
My twin boys play on the MLS Next team for FC Dallas and they
(32:04):
practice five days a week. Some days they're gone 5 hours a
day. So I think they the biggest take
away they've gotten is seeing Nick's work ethic and seeing
that in order to be an elite athlete, you have to put in the
time, you have to take care of your body.
There are sacrifices you're going to have to give up.
And so I think that's probably the greatest gift that they've
(32:25):
gotten is they now know if I want to be elite at something,
whether it be anything sports, you know, acting, whatever, you
have to put in the time. And so I think that's the
greatest advantage my kids have gotten is nothing is out of
reach for them because they've seen their dad plays in the NFL.
But at the same time, in order to get that, I have to put in
(32:46):
the time. So when they're saying no, I
can't go to a sleepover because I have an 8:00 AM game to them,
they're like, that's normal. Like I'm OK with that.
Whereas a lot of kids these daysare like, well, I want to go see
the sleepover. I want to go out five bags of
candy. And I'm never going to be a
professional athlete where my kids are like, well, I could be
like I. And so I'm really, I'm really
(33:06):
proud of all them for what they're doing right now and
super curious to see how far this goes.
But Nick has been a great example.
And I'm a runner for Nike. So like, we're very athletic in
our family and I was. Going to say you're you're an
athlete yourself aren't? You.
Yeah, Yeah. So I'm like, yeah, so that's
yeah. So yeah, it's really cool.
(33:27):
But it's not the end all anymore.
Yeah, yeah, I love it. Well, thanks for your
transparency and your honesty with this.
I'd just love to give you an opportunity to give us a pitch
on your show. Tell us about A League of Our
Own, kind of, you know, where tofind that and all that.
Yes, so this is our first seasonof a league of our own and it
follows high profile athletes around different leagues.
(33:49):
MLBNFL actually going to do somewith with the rodeo.
So like any Ave., it's these amazing women who have their own
stories, their own accomplishments, kind of defined
and paved their own way while navigating the sports and
parenthood and just how they do it with such grace.
It's pretty much the anti housewife show.
(34:09):
So when we started the show was because I was so tired of the
narrative that was out there, what it was actually like to be
married to professional athlete and because you see their shows
and that's probably like 1% of what it's actually like.
So I wanted people to get the inside, the real inside truth
about what it's like to be married to a professional
(34:29):
athlete. And so we have coaches wives.
I Mike Tomlin's wife, who was amazing.
We've got quarterbacks wives, we've got MLB players and so
Clayton Kershaw's wives, Ellen was phenomenal.
So it's really, I think the biggest message I want to get
across to is that just because you're married to an athlete
(34:50):
doesn't mean you only wear one hat.
You can be a mother, you can have a career, you can be a wife
entrepreneur, you can do it all.And you don't have to do just
one thing or be defined one way.So these women are debunking all
those myths, and they're all so unique, and they're also
accomplished in their own way, so.
Yeah, love it. No, they're all amazing.
(35:12):
We all have an amazing, incredible story, so.
Yeah, when it's awesome you givethem that platform and just
appreciate the work you're doing.
Appreciate you sharing with us today.
This has been fantastic. I just absolutely love picking
your brain about what's it like.And so, you know, there's so
many lessons I think we can learn from this.
But above and beyond all, I think it's how to prioritize
family, you know, regardless of whatever you're facing, you
(35:34):
know, the the high profile jobs or whatever family because you
know, family can kind of get lost in the shuffle.
But you guys have found a way toprioritize it despite the
difficulties. And I'm going to say if you guys
can do it, we can do it too. So.
You can and it I just, it's just, I do, it is a lot of work.
So it is a conscious effort. But I just feel like if you go
(35:57):
in and you do it right from the very beginning, your life down
the road, all, all the wonderfulmemories you're going to make,
all the opportunities your kids are going to get.
It's, it's going to be worth it.So that's the way I approach it
is got to give your time now. So the rewards on the road are
even greater for not just you, but for for your kids and your
family and everyone around you. Love it.
Thanks Jay. Really appreciate you being
(36:18):
here. Thank you Chad, that this was so
fun anytime you were. I love your platform as well and
you were so easy to talk to Sir.I really appreciate it.
Thank you for listening to the Rev RX Podcast.
We hope you enjoyed what you heard today and if so, we'd love
it if you would hit that subscribe button so that you'll
never miss a new episode from us.
Also, feel free to leave us reviews and comments as we'd
(36:38):
love to hear from you. Be blessed and be the very best
you. Yeah.
Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Rev RX
Podcast where we show you how tothrive in fate, family, and
health. My name is Chad Potts and I'm
your host. Today's episode is a powerful
one. I sit down with Jay Folk, wife
of long time NFL kicker Nick Folk, and we're going to talk
about today some behind the scenes from the NFL.
(00:32):
You've probably seen the the footage of a game-winning field
goal. You've probably seen the footage
of the game losing misses. But what you probably haven't
seen before is footage of what that looks like behind the
scenes, a perspective that we don't often hear from the one
holding it all together at home.And so we're going to talk about
(00:53):
that. We're going to talk about what
happens when it seems like everyone turns against you in
life. We're going to talk about the
reality of solo parenting duringthis season when her husband is
pursuing his dream in NFL. Here's the thing, whether you're
in business or you're just trying to keep up with the chaos
of life, this episode is going to remind you what really
matters. And so I can't wait to delve
(01:14):
into this conversation. So without further ado, I
introduced you, my new friend Jay Folk.
Julianne Jay, you go by a lot ofnames you can.
Go pick one and go with that. Mom, whoever, but but man, I'm
so excited to have you here on the show.
I was just telling you beforehand that you know, I've
(01:35):
I've had several athletes on theshow that I've never had the
wife of an athlete. And so I can't wait to hear what
we're going to discuss today. Thanks for joining us.
Oh no problem, I feel very honored to be on here.
I am one of those wives that hasa strong opinion on many things,
so it'll definitely not be a dull conversation, I can promise
you that. I love it and I've been
listening to your podcast as well.
(01:56):
League of Her Own really kind ofgiven a platform to athletes,
wives, giving us a peek of a little bit what happens behind
the scenes because let's face it, you're the one that holds
things together in the family. I guess, you know, during the
hectic season. And I said, we'll get into a
little bit more of that. But before we do, I just love to
hear a little bit about you and kind of what got you to this
journey that you're on today as no, it's kind of a loaded
(02:16):
question, but as much or little as you want to share.
So we've been in the league for about 18 years now.
We started in Dallas. That's where I'm from, that's
where our home base is. We've got 4 kids, twin boys that
are 11 year old, a 10 year old girl and a 7 year old boy.
So this is home base. My family's here.
Family's super important to us. And so with Nick's career being
(02:38):
as transient as it is, we've decided that we would rather be
here and just have a support system around us because the NFL
is super fickle. You just never know the journey
you're going to go on, where it's going to take you, one new
adventure you're going to be on.So this is home based, but we've
been all around the country, been very fortunate to
experience so many different teams, organizations, meet so
(03:00):
many people. When we were babies, we were in
Dallas, then New York and then Tampa Bay and then Boston.
And so we're kind of coming fullcircle back to Dallas right now,
but it's definitely been a journey with many UPS, many
downs. And like I was telling you
earlier, this is the first time I think in those eighteen years
where I feel such peace that whatever is meant to happen, we
(03:23):
are good with whether it's playing another year, which he
definitely wants to play and he definitely should play.
Definitely can for. Some reason just the
circumstances didn't come together.
We're at peace with that too. So I can just sit back kind of
now and enjoy the ride and see where God's going to take us
next. That's a good place to be where
you're content regardless of theoutcome.
(03:43):
And you know, so many times we allow the circumstances to kind
of dictate our joy and to dictate our happiness and really
finding that joy regardless of what goes on around you.
That's that's key. Well, and I think it's evolved.
It wasn't always that way. Like I said, this has been a
long journey in the beginning when you first got into the NFL.
And I, and I talk about this with other wives, with all the
new wives that come in, the rookie wives.
(04:05):
I'm like, look, this could be a short journey, it could be a
long journey, you've got to takeeach year like it's your last
and just enjoy it and embrace it.
But however it is not, it cannotbe your whole world because if
you focus only on football, thenother areas of your life will
crumble. Or like things that aren't big,
you turn into big and they consume you to the point where
(04:25):
you can't enjoy the moment. So in the beginning of his
career, one miss felt like the end of the world.
Like the rest of the week I would have a knot in my stomach.
As the years went on and we started having kids and I became
more busy and then I, I started out being able to focus on those
things because I had little kids.
And now I'm at a place to where I'm like, you know, you've paid
this amazing career. I'm so proud of you.
(04:45):
But at the end of the day, thereare so many other things in life
that are important. So I value those milestones that
you hit. But we still have 4 kids to take
care of. They've got their own
milestones. So now being the grandmother of
the NFLI can really appreciate the journey we've been on and
now really enjoy the seasons because I know there is life
(05:06):
after football and it and it will be OK.
Those misses will be OK. At the end of the day, it's very
refreshing right now. Yeah, and you mentioned the
fickle kind of the fickle naturethe NFL.
You know, I, I see it from the standpoint of the fan base and
you know, you talked about the knot you have in your stomach
with misses and, you know, especially the life of a kicker,
(05:26):
you know, and maybe you can speak to that a little bit, but
you know, it's one of those things you're brought on and
you're when you're expected to be almost 100.
Percent right, Yeah. And, and if you miss, and
especially if you start missing,you know, you'd mentioned that
the time in Tampa, especially ifyou miss a couple in a row or
three, you know, they turn on you fast.
What's that like with, you know,just the fickle fan base and the
(05:47):
fickle nature of, you know, you're expected to perform and,
and it's kind of like you have one job and, you know, no one's
100%. Right.
No, the life of a kicker is really hard.
I I do not watch games with anyone but my family because I,
I look a little crazy. I don't want people to think
differently of me. And so we pretty much have a
rule like my kids and myself, even though my parents and I are
(06:11):
extremely close to one another. I have just a limited, it's just
the kids because I'll be pacing.I'll be like all I have this
cross at where for every game and I'll sit there and I'll be
like in a little ball praying. I just it's not something I
really want other people to see on a weekly basis because I
still get nervous to this day. However, you know, life of a
kicker's heart because it's either black or white.
(06:33):
You either make or you miss it. All right.
And a lot of times games come down to those kicks.
And what I don't think people realize is that it's not just my
husband going out there kicking a ball.
There's a whole operation in order for his job to be done the
right way. So you've got a snapper who
hasn't snapped the ball properly.
You have to have the holder who holds it properly and you have
(06:55):
to have the online that is blocking so that someone doesn't
jump up a block his kick. And so this complete operation
that all has to come together and perfect Symphony in order
for my husband to do his job. So there's a lot on the line and
you mentioned Tampa. I mean, when you make that
game-winning field goal, there'snothing better.
There's nothing better. The rest of the week you're on
(07:16):
this high. However, there have been games
in my husband's career where he's been hurt and no one knew
it and he tried to push through because he's so mentally tough.
He's such a team player that tried to push through when he
was hurt. And he would miss field goals
and I would wake up to death threats the next day.
I mean, literally on my family photos on the computer, people
(07:37):
would start sending me the most horrendous messages as you can
ever imagine. And I'm like, guys, it is a
football game. Maybe you've got money on it,
but but at the end of the day, it's a kick.
Like if you're really dwelling this much on what my husband's
doing, we have bigger issues that you need to work on.
But but it's the reality. I'm not the only one.
It happens throughout the leagueand just have to hope you have a
(07:58):
strong head on your shoulders and a great support system at
home. Otherwise, I could see how it
could totally get in your head and bring you down. 100% One of
the things I've been wanting to ask you about is this balancing
act, you know, family life with the demands of a hectic NFL
schedule. What does that look like on your
side? Because, you know, we don't see
that side. You live a very public life.
(08:20):
But you know, we see the, you know, we see your husband's
side, the very public side of that.
But tell us about how you, you know, what's your experience in
balancing those priorities? Yeah.
Well, now that my kids are older, so when earlier in his
career we always moved wherever he played, but then he went
through a series of one year deals and so you just never know
where you're going to be. And so now that my kids are
(08:42):
older, they're all in select sports and they're all in
school. I actually stay in Dallas during
the season. Why he goes and plays.
So I'm six months solo. Why he plays, which is really,
which is really tough, not only for myself but for Nick as well,
because my husband is extremely hands on.
He's at every sporting event, he's driving to all the
practices, every shows, he's in the backyard with the kids.
(09:04):
So for him, he has to go six months to where he maybe gets to
see the kids once a month. We FaceTime probably 10 times a
day, but that's just the realitybecause of football season.
They're working seven days a week and we're in travel sports
right now. And so it's hard.
Families are #1 priority. And so I am lucky I have my
parents here to help. I don't have a nanny, so that's
(09:25):
a huge misconception. I don't have any help.
I do all by myself, which is probably why I have a ton of
greys these days, because six months home with four kids is a
lot of work. But you get a routine down, you
get a system down. I've got great kids even though
he's not here. A great support system, but it's
(09:46):
definitely a battling actor. There are so many times where
like, are we doing the right thing?
I want you to go pursue your dreams and you're doing amazing,
but at the same time, like you're not at home.
But I think Nick does a really great job and he's so present
even though he's not here. He's calling the kids before
they go to school, he's calling them right when they get home,
he's calling them before a game.He's calling them before baby,
(10:08):
do prayer together on FaceTime before they go to bed at night.
Yeah, well. You're the last thing he talks
to before he goes onto the field.
So even though he's not there, he's aware of everything going
on. But you know, there's a lot of
give and take and it's, it's really hard.
And so you got to have a good foundation, a good marriage in
(10:29):
order for it to really work, I think.
Yeah, yeah. The word that comes to mind as
you're describing all that is intentionality.
Yeah. You know, and I've always, you
know, knowing what I've known about about Nick and, you know,
I followed his career for a while.
I've always been drawn to kickers for some reason.
Like, there's that just seems like it's all, you know,
there's, there's very little glory there.
There's just the, you know, there seems to be a lot of lot
(10:51):
of blame. And so I've always kind of
sympathized with kickers. I'm not sure why that is, but.
Well, thank you. You'll probably want a few, but
thank. You but you know, yeah, there's
there's all this that has to go,right?
But then you're the one that takes all the blame if if it's a
miss. So anyway, but you know, it
always seemed like Nick was a Family Guy.
And so it's, it's refreshing to kind of hear that and hear the
intentionality that that he's able to put into.
(11:11):
OK, I'm not there physically, but I'm going to make it seem
like I am and I'm going to do myvery best to not just say I'm on
the road. Sorry, guys, see you see you in
a month. But I love that.
That's really, really cool. Yeah, I think people are always
like Julian, it's got to be so hard on you.
And I sit back and I'm like, I have my family around me all the
time. It's physically taxing because
(11:32):
we're dry. There's a lot of moving pieces.
But at the same time it is so much harder on him because he's
away from his family. And I know he wants to be here,
but you know, life is expensive.We have 4 kids and so you just
never know when it's going to beyour last year.
So why he has the opportunity toplay.
We're like got to go play. We have 4 kids.
We want to set them up for, you know, being able to succeed down
(11:53):
the road and giving them every opportunity to do so.
And so it's a huge sacrifice. But like we talk about, you
know, faith is big in our household.
We rely heavily on God in his direction.
And when something happens, we have faith that it's his plan.
And I think that helps us both to keeping things in
perspective, like if there's ever a time when he shouldn't
(12:13):
play, we both feel like we'll get that feeling.
God will let us know this is notthe time.
And so we kind of let him navigate this.
And if something ever feels weird, then we step back and we
evaluate. Yeah, yeah.
Love it. And you'd mentioned to me
earlier about faith, and faith keeps coming up again and again.
So, you know, I'll just ask you what role has faith played in
kind of guiding you through a lot of these challenges you
(12:36):
mentioned, particularly down in Tampa that seemed to be a tough
time for, you know, for him and probably you guys as well.
Tell us a little bit about the role of faith in in your life.
Well, I was raised in a Catholicfamily.
We went to mass every week. It was just faith was always a
part of our day-to-day. And so I always feel fortunate
that I, you know, I think about to people who maybe weren't born
(12:58):
in a house that had faith and how hard it might be to actually
come across and, and develop that if you weren't guided from
the very beginning. And both him and myself were.
He was also Catholic. And so we knew when we got
married, that was one of our main conversations.
Like, what do you see your household in your household?
And faith was always a, a deal breaker if we didn't have that.
(13:20):
But it's really evolved over theyears because, like I said, the
NFL, there's a lot of highs and lows, and the lows can be really
low. And so I think my faith has
grown over the years. I think that NFL has actually
helped it grow. Because there's been.
Times when I have been like so worked up over certain things to
where I was like, I've got nowhere else to ask but to God.
(13:44):
And I've got to tell you this one story.
And I think this sums up everything and kind of sums up
Nick's career. We briefly talked about my
husband played for Tampa. It was split second.
You probably don't even rememberit.
We were in Tampa six months. I had a kid or youngest baby was
born there. And that was the take away that
we took from there. Pretty much that's it.
So my husband doesn't tell anybody, plays a game, misses 3
(14:06):
field goals the next day, goes on IRR and death threats.
We leave. All right?
We're like, OK, sorry, Tampa, we're not.
We're not going to stay here. So we go back and for the next
year, year and a half, no one will look at my husband.
He couldn't get a workout. He couldn't get a phone call.
His agents were calling everywhere.
People did not want to give him the time of day.
And so my kids go to a Catholic school and so I would bike them
(14:30):
to school in the morning and then I would go in for every day
for yard, go in to church and I would pray right after drop off
and I would say the exact same prayer.
I would add a few things, but itwas almost the exact same prayer
everyday go in. And I'd be like, Lord, maybe
this is just me, but in my gut it is telling me that Nick is
not dead. Oh Lord, if Nick is meant to be
(14:51):
an NFL, all I want is an opportunity.
And I said I said this exact same thing, so now we have to
look back. I said I don't care if he makes
the Pro Bowl. I don't care if he's the highest
paid kicker. I don't care if he sets records.
I don't care about any of that. All I care about is he gets
another opportunity to show people the type of kicker I know
he is. And I said that same for over
and over again for you. One day I got a little
(15:16):
discouraged and so worst thing you can do in your discourage is
get on your phone and want to text message someone.
So I end up getting on my phone,I'm going to text message my
mother-in-law who I'm extremely close to and my mom and I put
him on a group message. And let me preface this, I love
my husband's agents. We are extremely close.
I've known them for a very long time.
But on that one day I sent out this text message saying I don't
(15:37):
think they're doing a good job. I don't think I think Nick
should be picked up by now. You know, I don't know what's
going on. And I ended up sending it to his
agents instead of my parents accident.
And I was like, Oh my gosh. And it goes, oh, Jay, what'd you
do? Like one of those like, oh, this
is what you do. And I told him he's like, well,
you have to call him. So I call and I apologize.
We talked through this. Well, no joke.
(15:58):
Not even a week later, the Patriots call and they say we
want to bring Nick in for a workout.
And so the rest is history. However, I have to go back to my
faith is, you know, there's beentimes over the years everyone's
like, well, Nick's not with the team right now.
You know, Nick should have gone to the Pro Bowl the last three
years. You know, Nick this.
And I said, you know what, you can blame that on me because I
(16:18):
was very specific and intentional in my prayer.
I said, I don't care if he goes to the Pro Bowl, even though he
deserved. I don't care if he's the highest
paid kicker. So when we're taking different
deals when he should be top fiveand he's not, I was like, God
answered every single one of my prayers, so I can't complain
about anything. Yeah.
Yeah. So we go back to that.
You know, it's his timing. And I think that's how you know
(16:40):
why we feel like we're in a goodsituation today, because we know
God's. God's got this in his.
Hands. Yeah.
God's in it. God's.
God's taken care of you. That's really cool.
Thanks for sharing that too. You know that those are faith
builders. When we pray and we kind of give
it to God and then we feel like he answers us.
He hears us, you know, that thatbuilds our faith.
And then next time that tells us, you know, I can trust him.
(17:01):
And and that's not that's perfect.
Thinking about your face and thinking about where all you've
come from. So you mentioned you had the
full experience in the NFL, right?
You've you said you were the girlfriend, the fiance, the the
wife then. Now you're kind of the
grandmother. See the grandma because I'm like
the oldest now. Yeah, yeah.
What has been some of your biggest pieces of advice to
(17:22):
other wives, girlfriends, etcetera in the league?
Because you're using, you know, you've got the platform now for
the podcast and you're, you know, you're using that for, you
know, for kind of some of that. But you know what's been some of
the biggest things you've learned, and then what's been
some of the biggest pieces of advice you've passed along?
You know, I think everyone has to kind of go through their own
(17:43):
experience, but my, you know, being in every stage, I think it
evolves. Like what I would tell it to a
rookie would be like the NFL, the average lifespan of an NFL
player is 3 years. So enjoy every game like it's
your last because there could bea freak injury tomorrow.
And so just enjoy look around taking all these opportunities
(18:04):
because they are just a blimp inthis long road you have ahead of
you. I would also say, you know, find
your own interests because if you consume everything around
the game of football, it is so easy to lose track about what's
important because you're only honed in on one thing.
And I've been guilty of that before where everything is just
football all the time. And you just live in this sense
(18:27):
of I'm not anxious person at all, but like anxiety, like
what's next? What's going to happen?
Is he going to have a good game?Is he not?
And then I just find that if youhave your own interests,
something to rely on outside of that, that when you have those
bad times, you have something else to embrace to kind of get
your mind off of it. So I think it's really
important. A lot of the women I brought on
(18:47):
to A League of Her Own, we're all very successful women in
their own right. When I say successful women, I
don't mean they have these amazing jobs, yes, and do.
But they all have found a way tonavigate their own journey
outside of their husband. Yeah.
And a lot of these women are in really great marriages.
They have been in the league fora long time, and they've
navigated it with grace. So that's why I tell women, you
(19:09):
know, find what makes you tick. Find, find something that you
enjoy, find something to where you can accomplish on your own.
So at the end of the day, all your eggs are not in one basket.
So I think that's super important that earlier in your
husband or your boyfriend or your partner's career, you can
do that. Then it just sets the foundation
for later on in his career so that when the time is over, you
(19:32):
know, I also go back to all these numbers, but like the
divorce rate is super high in the NFL.
It's like in the 80% between divorce and bankruptcy.
And that is because you only know your spouse in one way, and
that is as a football player. So when it comes to an end, your
lifestyle, your life changes overnight.
And so it's really hard for a lot of women to transition in
(19:52):
these players. But if you have something else
going on and you both have your interests, it's easier to
navigate. So I just, I just think, you
know, make sure you probably oritize the right things, keep
your friends and family close, make sure you get advice from
the right people and just. Know that it will end at some
point and that's OK. Life will go on.
(20:15):
Enjoy the ride. Enjoy the ride.
Yeah, on memories for sure. But you're so right.
And see, that's the stories thatI've really been getting from
the athletes I've had on the show.
Yeah, I've had Andre Williams. He was the Heisman finalist,
running back for the Giants. Should have had a fantastic
career but injuries derailed it and and he shared with me on on
(20:37):
my show about how he had a near death experience that led him to
Lord, which is kind of cool. Wow, Yeah, we don't hear why we
don't all have that epiphany moment right there, but that's.
Right, right, right. You know, and I've had Sterling
Harris from the Browns lineman and you know, he his career got
cut short by going to prison, which was a whole nother story.
Yeah, I'm sure. Yeah, yeah.
(20:58):
And so you just, you never know what's going to happen next.
I love this steadiness. It may not feel that well on
your side. I love the steadiness that
Nick's experienced. I'm the same age as Nick.
I'm 40. I just turned 41.
And. And so, you know, I, I get that
sense of like, man, he's been ina legal while.
And that's. Rare, you know, that that's
really, really rare. And that's, that's something to
be able to say, you know, hey, he's really taking care of
(21:19):
himself. And, you know, I think that's
fantastic. But, you know, along the way,
yeah, there there comes a point where there's an end.
And one of the things you said that I really, really liked and
appreciate it was you said if you see your husband as only a
football player, then what happens when they're no longer a
football player? Right.
And being able to have that foundation in your marriage that
(21:41):
goes beyond that, I love that you brought that up.
And you know, that goes beyond, you know, I'd probably don't
have a whole lot of listeners that are NFL spouses, but it
goes with really any kind of high demand career, right?
Sure. Any, any time that we're on the
other end of, you know, our spouse has a high demand career
and at some point that may come to an end and you're being able
(22:02):
to see them as more than just one-dimensional is, is so
important. What were you going to say?
I'm sorry. Well, I was also going to say,
and this is not the toot the horn of all these wives, but
like a lot of the men that last in the NFL have such a great
support system and and if they didn't have that, I don't know
if they would last as long as they have.
(22:25):
I mean, because it is extremely taxing, not just physically, but
emotionally, the ups and downs. And there's Nick.
Nick is very open with me and, and I know sometimes he's got
like he needs someone to like hash it out with and just and,
and talk. And I think that, umm, you see
all these older players, most ofthem have long time spouses and
(22:46):
their spouses get it and know what makes them tick and knows
how to let them unwind so that they can go do their job and be
a dad and then pick up the pieces and go about it for
another week. Because season's a long time.
They're just trying to make it longer and longer and longer
and. Let's play 18 games and 20 games
and yeah, that's a lot. You mentioned the highs and lows
(23:08):
and kind of want to dig into that just a little bit.
If you if you don't mind, what'sbeen one of the what's, what's
been the greatest, greatest moment that you can maybe point
to as part of this journey? And then maybe what's been the
hardest part for you? Sure.
So the high, even though I said I don't care about records, I
don't, but he does have records.So it's pretty for me.
(23:30):
I just think that since the Patriots, like I've seen how he
went from not getting phone calls from anyone to really
solidifying the type of kicker he is.
He he did break a bunch of records and he will not talk
about them. He will not let me post about
them. He is anti records.
He does not want to know them. But as his wife and I've seen
(23:53):
this journey he's been on, it's been a hard journey.
And I will give my husband credit.
He's the most mentally tough person I think I've ever met.
Steadfast he he has this routine, he's diligent like we
have two kids and he's the best example of what like if you want
to be a successful athlete, justjust mimic what he does.
But also my husband, if you go back to any team he's ever been
(24:16):
on, he is so well respected and like that he has he probably
doesn't want me to say this, buthe has coaches coming to him
before they what what do I need to do?
What should I do? Because he is just so loyal,
steadfast team player. He's so smart.
And so I just think the highs for me would just see that you
know, I asked God, please help him get back in and he totally
(24:38):
surpassed anything I could have possibly imagined.
He holds the record most kicks under 50 in the NFL history.
He holds the record at Titans and the Patriots.
And even though records will just be in a book one day,
they're just numbers. Just for me, I'm like, you know,
it just proves that hard work and you've been knocked down
like it is rewarded down the road.
(24:59):
So that would be a high. It's just like how he's overcome
and how he's at the top of his game even when so many people
said, hey, you're not good enough.
Hey, he's done. Old, you're 40, you're weak.
We're going to go with these guys that could kick 63 yards.
They can't make a 40, but they can kick this because that's
just my fast. So a long miss is just as bad as
a short miss. I it blows my mind.
(25:21):
I don't get me started because Iprobably get myself in trouble
for talking about, but like justeveryone's into the show these
days and it's like there's something about being just being
steady and being consistent and we're looking past those things
and we'll come back to bite you in the butt.
And it does more times than not.And so I tend to sit back and
just laugh and watch and be like, I see decisions people are
(25:41):
making and I'm like, OK, you're going to learn the hard way, but
that's right. And.
It's tough when you can see it and they can't.
Nick and I are constantly like, what are they doing?
Like. What are they thinking?
How, how, what? We can see this from a mile
away. What are you doing?
And then it comes back and we'relike.
Told you we. Can told you that we can save
(26:02):
you a lot of time and a lot of money right there but.
That's right. Yeah.
And I guess for when it comes tolow, the lowest would have been
with, well, I guess there's two.My, my first year with Nick was,
was very hard. He was misdiagnosed by the
Cowboys. They told him he had a muscle
(26:22):
strain, but he tore his labrum. So he went to a specialist in
Vail who did Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn surgery.
He's hip specialist and he went up there and they're like, no,
you need hip surgery and it's like an 8 month recovery.
But we're going to do this May 5th, and you're going to go to
training camp because we just drafted another kicker, so you
have to go compete. So you're going to kick in two
(26:43):
months. And so my husband's like, OK, if
that's what you need me to do. And that was his last year with
the Cowboys. So if anyone's a Cowboy fan,
they're probably like, oh, I remember that year.
It was brutal. He was not ready.
He was not ready and it just didn't make sense.
He went from Pro Bowl to have like a really high percentage to
Missy kicks. Like something would tell me
(27:05):
something's going on. So my birthday is right before
Christmas. He plans me the surprise party.
And then right before the party,he gets his phone call from
Jerry Jones saying, hey, we needyou to come into the facility.
He's like, OK. And they cut him on my birthday
right before we have a surprise party for me.
Grace. And then it ended up being a
blessing in disguise. We went to The Jets and had
(27:26):
seven years there, had babies there, everything's great.
And then probably the lowest of a low was when we went to Tampa
and he was hurt and missed 3 field goals in one day.
And I just saw him just battlingmentally and it like to kick
through the pain when he probably knew in the back of the
head he probably shouldn't do this, but he's such a team
(27:46):
player. He's not going to quit on
anyone. But it was really good for him
to go through that because now he knows if I'm injured I'm
going to tell somebody. And I think we've appreciated
the journey way more now that we've seen how low it can be,
the death threats that, you know, going a year with no one
wanting to look at you. So I think it's made these last
couple years that much better because we've seen how bad it
(28:09):
can be. And now we appreciate every
moment going forward. And I love that there's kind of
a Part 1 and Part 2 there. For sure.
In his career. And you know, kind of kind of a
lot of people would have been done.
A lot of people would have said nobody wants me, I'm done, I'm
going to go do my thing. But not Nick.
He kept on at it. He had the faith.
(28:30):
He had his faithful wife and hadher faith with the prayers and
everything. Very stubborn wife.
There is actually many conversations where he's like, I
think I need to hang up my cleats.
And his agents were like, it might be time we have that
conversation. And I'm very loud as you can
tell. I like talk.
And I was like, no, no, I don't believe that.
And I was very, I was very adamant like, Nope, I do not
(28:51):
believe that. And they kept on saying no one's
calling me. It's time.
I'm like, I do not believe that.I do not, I'm not, I am not
giving up on the hope. And I think I was pretty much
the only the only one. So I like to read that in his
face all the time. Like if it wasn't for me, who
knows? Because I was the one that's A
and I was right. Yeah, well, and there's
(29:13):
something to be said about you being his best and probably
loudest cheerleader. Yeah, yeah.
You know, and, and you know him better than anybody and I, I
love that you were so faithful to say.
You know, Nick, I don't think so.
I see something in you. Maybe nobody else sees it, but I
see something in you. You're not done.
And then here he goes on. In the last two years, he set
(29:34):
records for completion percentage of field goals.
And you know, he's not just kicking a little short, short
things either. I mean, he's.
No, no, he had some big he's in a bunch from over I.
Feel like he's my age and in hisprime but I don't understand
that. And I don't think teams do
either. That's why we're without a team
right now, because I don't thinkeventually they can think.
How is a 40 year old still kicking 50 plus consistently?
(29:57):
Like they're waiting for something to drop and it's.
Just, and it hasn't. So any NFL execs out there
listening, you need to get on the ball.
You need to give Dick a call. Strong and ready to go, and then
a good headspace and. And just a great family too.
For for. The organization, Yeah.
Let me ask you about your kids just a minute.
What is it like? I just want to, this is for
(30:19):
personal reasons. What's it like growing up to be
the son and daughter of an NFL player?
Like, do they realize kind of who their dad is and, and how
public his life is or, you know,kind of what's their take on it?
I know they're, they're a littlebit older than my kids.
I have 3 and they're they're 35 and 8.
So they're a little under yours.But you know, I I can kind of
(30:40):
get the sense of what they not be realizing.
And you know what, it's really cool because when you start in
the NFL, you never think that you're going to have kids old
enough to actually appreciate and know what you're doing.
And it's a joke now. It's like, oh, the kids are
going to be playing when you're playing.
But you know, we're big. Like it is a priority of ours
not to let our kids get big heads about anything.
(31:00):
So we we bring things down really quickly in our household.
But they all love they live for watching Nick play.
They think it's the coolest thing ever.
But Nick is very present. So everyone is so used to him
around all the time to where it's not a big deal anymore.
So for them, they'll go and talkabout like, oh, I'm going to see
my dad watch this game. And then their their best
(31:21):
friends are like, what is that apicture of Derrick Henry?
Or wait, why did you sit in MarkSanchez's box when he was
playing? Like they that there's that
aspect, but it's because he's like the kicker and they've been
around it so long. Now.
Now it's kind of like, oh, that's just what dad does.
And, and we're, and they live for those games and they love
it, but I don't, I, I think they're pretty realistic about
(31:44):
you knowing like, you know, likehe's paved his way.
I've got to pave my own way. So just because he's a famous
football player doesn't mean I have bragging rights because I
haven't done anything yet. But I will say this.
So my kids are really good athletes.
My twin boys play on the MLS Next team for FC Dallas and they
(32:04):
practice five days a week. Some days they're gone 5 hours a
day. So I think they the biggest take
away they've gotten is seeing Nick's work ethic and seeing
that in order to be an elite athlete, you have to put in the
time, you have to take care of your body.
There are sacrifices you're going to have to give up.
And so I think that's probably the greatest gift that they've
(32:25):
gotten is they now know if I want to be elite at something,
whether it be anything sports, you know, acting, whatever, you
have to put in the time. And so I think that's the
greatest advantage my kids have gotten is nothing is out of
reach for them because they've seen their dad plays in the NFL.
But at the same time, in order to get that, I have to put in
(32:46):
the time. So when they're saying no, I
can't go to a sleepover because I have an 8:00 AM game to them,
they're like, that's normal. Like I'm OK with that.
Whereas a lot of kids these daysare like, well, I want to go see
the sleepover. I want to go out five bags of
candy. And I'm never going to be a
professional athlete where my kids are like, well, I could be
like I. And so I'm really, I'm really
(33:06):
proud of all them for what they're doing right now and
super curious to see how far this goes.
But Nick has been a great example.
And I'm a runner for Nike. So like, we're very athletic in
our family and I was. Going to say you're you're an
athlete yourself aren't? You.
Yeah, Yeah. So I'm like, yeah, so that's
yeah. So yeah, it's really cool.
(33:27):
But it's not the end all anymore.
Yeah, yeah, I love it. Well, thanks for your
transparency and your honesty with this.
I'd just love to give you an opportunity to give us a pitch
on your show. Tell us about A League of Our
Own, kind of, you know, where tofind that and all that.
Yes, so this is our first seasonof a league of our own and it
follows high profile athletes around different leagues.
(33:49):
MLBNFL actually going to do somewith with the rodeo.
So like any Ave., it's these amazing women who have their own
stories, their own accomplishments, kind of defined
and paved their own way while navigating the sports and
parenthood and just how they do it with such grace.
It's pretty much the anti housewife show.
(34:09):
So when we started the show was because I was so tired of the
narrative that was out there, what it was actually like to be
married to professional athlete and because you see their shows
and that's probably like 1% of what it's actually like.
So I wanted people to get the inside, the real inside truth
about what it's like to be married to a professional
(34:29):
athlete. And so we have coaches wives.
I Mike Tomlin's wife, who was amazing.
We've got quarterbacks wives, we've got MLB players and so
Clayton Kershaw's wives, Ellen was phenomenal.
So it's really, I think the biggest message I want to get
across to is that just because you're married to an athlete
(34:50):
doesn't mean you only wear one hat.
You can be a mother, you can have a career, you can be a wife
entrepreneur, you can do it all.And you don't have to do just
one thing or be defined one way.So these women are debunking all
those myths, and they're all so unique, and they're also
accomplished in their own way, so.
Yeah, love it. No, they're all amazing.
(35:12):
We all have an amazing, incredible story, so.
Yeah, when it's awesome you givethem that platform and just
appreciate the work you're doing.
Appreciate you sharing with us today.
This has been fantastic. I just absolutely love picking
your brain about what's it like.And so, you know, there's so
many lessons I think we can learn from this.
But above and beyond all, I think it's how to prioritize
family, you know, regardless of whatever you're facing, you
(35:34):
know, the the high profile jobs or whatever family because you
know, family can kind of get lost in the shuffle.
But you guys have found a way toprioritize it despite the
difficulties. And I'm going to say if you guys
can do it, we can do it too. So.
You can and it I just, it's just, I do, it is a lot of work.
So it is a conscious effort. But I just feel like if you go
(35:57):
in and you do it right from the very beginning, your life down
the road, all, all the wonderfulmemories you're going to make,
all the opportunities your kids are going to get.
It's, it's going to be worth it.So that's the way I approach it
is got to give your time now. So the rewards on the road are
even greater for not just you, but for for your kids and your
family and everyone around you. Love it.
Thanks Jay. Really appreciate you being
(36:18):
here. Thank you Chad, that this was so
fun anytime you were. I love your platform as well and
you were so easy to talk to Sir.I really appreciate it.
Thank you for listening to the Rev RX Podcast.
We hope you enjoyed what you heard today and if so, we'd love
it if you would hit that subscribe button so that you'll
never miss a new episode from us.
Also, feel free to leave us reviews and comments as we'd
(36:38):
love to hear from you. Be blessed and be the very best
you. Yeah.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.