Marcellus Wiley On Maximizing Talent and Developing Internal Drive

In this episode Greg is joined by Marcellus Wiley, former NFL football player and veteran NFL broadcaster. The pair discuss the pressure of maximizing talent (11:06), the importance of internal drive (23:42) and his journey to Columbia (35:44).

Greg also answers listener questions (51:44).

Rate, review, subscribe and submit your questions on social @YouthInc.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
All the time because I'm really proud of this Arrow of my life.

(00:03):
Like it was my best football ever.
Like age 8 to 13? I'm no doubt.
I was simple favor. Yeah.
What's up everybody welcome backto another episode here on.
You think presented by Audio Rama and our friends at body
armor. Well I promised you guys a big

(00:23):
update the Charlotte City. I don't know what our league is
called, I'll be honest, the shot.
We just called the city Championship Memorial Stadium
last Tuesday night Under The Lights.
First the PA l-little Panthers, they're like the Carolina
Panthers Affiliated youth program.
The South Charlotte It's 21. And the Little Panthers zero.

(00:50):
So, it was a great week. We were pumped, we won the city
Championship. The kids, we didn't play perfect
but we for the most part. We played pretty well.
They were talented, they were good.
They were well coached and we were able to pull it off.
We had an unbelievable pick six in the second quarter which put
it 14-nothing. And after that, it was pretty

(01:10):
much over. But what a great night for the
kids, it was a beautiful night here in Charlotte played Under
The Lights game. It little after 7:00 the
Panthers, they filmed it and they put it on like a local TV
station that weekend as like youknow they produced it and then
packaged it and then they aired it on one of our local Charlotte

(01:31):
station to the kids. Got to watch themselves on TV.
So just all in all, it was an awesome night after a bunch of
the families we went for pizza and hung out the kids, all
enjoyed it. So that it was that was probably
as they probably had more fun doing that than actually playing
in the game. But it was a really cool week.
So that sets Up the Mid-South Regional Championship November,
19. So that is our next game.

(01:52):
We have this weekend off and fora bye week and then we play A
team out of Raleigh. Who's really good really.
Well coached has been in the championship the last couple
years. So the South Charlotte Patriots,
we have our work cut out for us but the fact that we are playing
still is is a win. We're playing with houses money
now for a bunch of kids who had for the most part, never really

(02:13):
played before and where we started back in July to where we
are now. Is why we do it.
It's been really cool to see thekids grow to see them, get
better to see the families like really Embrace what we're doing.
It's been it's been really cool.So it will be two weeks before I
have another South Charlotte Patriots, Pop Warner football
update for you guys. If we win this next game, which
again is a tall task, we would qualify to go to the national

(02:36):
tournament in Florida, which blows my mind because if you
would have told me, we'd be playing football into December
this summer. I would have drug tested you.
So We will see how it goes, but I'm proud of the kids.
The coach has been awesome. The families have been great,
and we are just continue to keeppounding, man.

(02:57):
We're just just keep grinding and see what happens.
My other, my daughter starting to her soccer playoffs to her,
season is winding down her team's doing really good.
They haven't lost the game yet, my boat and then the two boys
baseball, as you know, is over. So Sports is settling down right
now. It's really just football with
my oldest son and my daughter finishing up her soccer season.
Off. So, I will keep you guys posted

(03:19):
on the craziness of the Olson. Family Sports Experience.
Today, we have a really cool guests.
I'd look, this conversation was awesome.
We have Marcellus Wiley, former NFL football player.
You see them on Fox, he's an NFLbroadcaster, he hosts the
podcast, more to it on, I heart and Dan Patrick Network.
So we're super psyched for you guys to hear.

(03:40):
Marcellus, thank you so much to our sponsor body armor, as you
guys know, body armor, not only fuels this show but if Fuels all
of our youth sports teams aroundtown.
There's a lot of choices for Sidelines, Sports drinks.
My favorite is the orange. Mango.
We crush it. It's in our house at like 10:00
last night. It's like 85 degrees here in
Charlotte. I came home from practice last

(04:01):
night and like crushed like 10 of them.
It's what my kids want. It's what we drink is what we
drink in our house. It's what our team's use were
super thankful for body armor for continuing to be a part of
this journey here on. You think body armor is made
with coconut water B vitamins. No, artificial sweeteners.
And for more information, you can go to drink body armor.com.
So now please enjoy this conversation with Marcellus

(04:23):
Wiley Marcellus, what's up, man?Thanks for joining us.
Oh man, this is gonna be fun. Greg, Olson Geo.
Let's go, baby. Let's talk it.
All right, so I before I get into to your current you know as
a dad and as a parent your viewson unused Sports scene I want
you to take us back like take usback to a young Marcellus

(04:46):
growing up playing the game. How you were exposed to it like
what are your early childhood memories playing Youth Sports?
Yeah my first experience with youth sports wasn't In a
structured setting. I play golf and this is 1979 and
I'm a golf course. Yeah, my dad's are Avid golfer

(05:07):
to this day every day. He's out there, swinging them
and he took me to the Rancho Golf Course, right across the
street from Fox Studio, Lot in 1979, and I'm out there.
My father Calvin Peete, who was a great golfer back in the days
and Smokey Robinson. Yes, the sing.
Wow, was out there and I remember this because my dad was

(05:28):
So damn hype, talking about bothof them and we're out there
golfing. Now at that time, 1979 me in
these three out there golfing. This is say we might stick out
got it. I think we all got the wood.
Yeah, we got it. I think we do tiger wasn't on
the scene yet, so it was a little different.
And I remember I hit a 40-footerand I lost my mind.

(05:50):
Now, remind you, I'm watching all these old geezers out there,
struggling with 5-footers and here I go across the street,
damn near hit But from 40 feet and I lose it and my father
looked at me and every other person looked at me like wrong
sport, wrong personality, wrong culture from then, I was like
golf. No, sir.

(06:12):
So I took it from golf and I wasa fast kid like I could roll, I
can run run and I was on the track team and then I played
football. My football memory, simple fast
kid in front of the house, goinglight, polar light, pole, diving
On cars catching it diving in the bushes, catching it out
running everybody and then one day my friend Dominique Walker

(06:35):
came to me and said, hey bruh, you too damn fast and too damn
crazy not to play football. And at that time, I didn't know
that football was a structured thing for seven, eight year
olds. So I Side Up, got the
registration money and then I start baller.
So how old are you? So like you're organized Youth
Sports Experience started. When Let's say 88 years old.

(06:57):
Yes, you were still young. Yeah, yeah and I were young.
Yeah, I was on a team tackle football, you know 1983.
Hello. And I'm out there and I'm a Fool
back. Now this heart already I'm
having issues in organized Sports because I'm like I'm the
fastest dude, I've seen in the neighborhood and I'm a full

(07:18):
back. Now I didn't know that my tail
back whose States Bozeman who became I'm number one in the
nation, in football and number two in the nation in basketball,
or senior year fast-forward. That was our tailback so it made
sense that I couldn't get the rock as much as stage Bozeman.
But outside of that dog, I was out to eat and this was before

(07:39):
like modern-day not to make you sound old, but this was before
like modern-day football spread,both will tie back then.
Even when I was growing up playing like say that I was
young like saying the early 90s,the fullback Elite was the lead
blocker and the tailback got theball, Hell yeah.
Kids nowadays don't really even know what like a true fullback
is. You were a guard.

(08:02):
You are a guard wispy. Yeah.
This girl's a guard. We worried a fast guard.
It was the worst, bro. I mean I still scored.
I remember Stacy scored, 36 touchdowns we didn't lose a
game, we won a championship. I scored 12 touchdowns because
okay, was a fast fullback. Yeah, but I didn't get there.
I mean I missed her neck. Roll out their manly like Tommy.

(08:24):
Open this up. So is that it?
I wore a neck. Roll all through high school.
I only stopped wearing a neck roll, when I got to college, all
right. Marcel, as you mentioned that,
you know, your early experience with sports was golf with your
father. What was your parents approach
towards Youth Sports with you like, did they push it on you?
Is it something they really encourage?
Was it? Something that was more driven
by you that they then supported like tell us just a little bit

(08:45):
about. I think every household has a
different, you know, approach. My dad was the local high school
football coach. So we played football because we
didn't really have a choice and then we, Up all loving it.
Like what was it like in your family?
What was the approach towards Athletics?
Yeah, my family Dynamic was looking back, man.
Very interesting because my father, never pushed me into any

(09:07):
sport and he was never boisterous or overly supportive.
He wasn't the type to put that pressure on me.
My father just was always there.He was more of a stability and
he was a stable enforce and he made sure I stayed committed,
but he never pushed me. He never tried to to push me
into extra curriculars and extracredit or extra reps at the

(09:29):
practice here just like give 100% when you're out there.
Never quit and I see you when it's over, my mother was a
little different. She was a little more colorful
with it. She didn't necessarily want me
to go pro or ball out of control.
But she was like if you're gonnago out there bring it.
If you're gonna do it, do it hard you know, go hard or go

(09:50):
home. So my mother was the exclamation
point where my Other was just like that stabling Force, but my
neighborhood, my Dynamics being from La being from Compton,
being from South Central, all ofthat rhetoric, was the noise
that I heard like you got a ball.
You got to be a baller or Entertainer to get out the

(10:11):
neighborhood. All those kind of stereotypes
and simplicity. So I heard it.
I just didn't hear from my parents and I'm thinking that
was a great Balancing Act to know that that pressure exists.
But not to always feel the Burn from that pressure.
That's super interesting. Talk a little bit more about
that, like talk a little bit more about like the cultural
pressures of growing up, where you did the neighborhood, you

(10:33):
grew up in, you know, what was expected out of guys, like, you
like, talk a little bit more about what that was.
Like, the good the bad. Maybe the pressure is at a young
age. When you really first, like, how
old were you when you really started?
First noticing, I think that's super interesting to just
understand, everybody's background, everybody's
upbringing everybody's, you know, neighborhood.
They grew up in presents' a different landscape.

(10:54):
Different unique set of challenges.
I'd be super interesting to hearhow your shaped you.
Yeah. For me it was interesting
because I had talents and I knewit like I knew I was super fast.
Like you just couldn't deny it and track and field.
Being the original sport. The pure sport is pretty easy to
say, oh, he's fast. He's not, it's just a race like

(11:16):
nothing else, so there's no coaching involved, there's no.
Oh, I got bad teammates. It's like, no.
Let's go now. I'll beat you.
So I'm seven years old. I'm beat Eating 10 year, olds
eleven-year-old, sometimes. Even someone's Uncle your daddy.
If he's too old, I was smoking here, too.
So like it was a problem. Greg like yummy.
I said, National records. We won national championships.

(11:37):
I was fast fast, were you big? I was taller than the average.
Joe tall, skinny. Yeah, more tall skinny than
tall. Oh defense.
Civilian in a few. Yeah, so that let me know that I
had something. That broadcast to the hood that
Omar cells, got something special and when you're young,

(12:00):
especially playing football, if you're fast, you're already in
the 99th percentile. Like all it is sweep left,
sweep, bright. When I was growing up.
Yeah, if you could get the corners, the rap.
Yeah. And so I would score every time
I touch the ball feel like just cause I was faster than kids my
age. Then the neighborhood caught
wind of that. And I think the pressures come

(12:21):
from those who have, unfortunately, fulfilled
fantasies in sports. So your uncle's, your older
cousins their friends, the guys who went to maybe a junior
college and didn't make it or went to a four-year and didn't
go pro and now he's coaching. So it becomes this vicious
cycle. When you're talking about people

(12:42):
who didn't fully realize their potential, and now they're going
to map it on you because they see something in you, they see
in you what they saw in themselves, but they didn't
finish the deal. So that's part of the pressure
but also Some of it is just socio-economic man.
It just like we grew up on welfare, food stamps County
checks got paid twice from the government, every month.

(13:04):
Then you get the colored money was with food stamps.
Funny money. You're like what do I do with
this? And those adults who felt the
shame that came from, that looked at you in some form or
fashion as a lottery ticket. And I knew it like, I was a
young kid and I used to tell cats, I will be soon.

(13:24):
You when you not to interrupt you but how old are you?
When you know it? For me.
Yeah, I noticed I knew it as soon as I was fast. 78 years
old. I knew that young that young.
Yeah, yeah. Day one bro.
Like I'm out there. I'm out there with a
responsibility. I don't even call it a pressure
because to me, pressure means you have options.

(13:46):
You have choices, like you got abig game you can win, or you can
lose but responsibility is no, you got to do it right.
Like, I felt everyone looking atmy little fast self, like, oh,
you gotta do it and I wanted to do it.
I think that's where the fire met the gas.
It wasn't a kid who. Nah, I don't care.

(14:08):
Oh, I'm Good and fast. But where the ladies at all?
I want to go. Hang with my boys.
I wasn't caught up in that. I said, if I have a talent, I
must maximize it to help my family out of our circumstance
to get us off of welfare to get us out the hood.
So I'm just a young responsible kid, looking back.
That's a heavy load to carry butI carried his so long I never

(14:32):
knew it was a load. I just built in to myself.
I'm going to be good and this isgoing to be my way.
Way out on top of my academics. So, just being a young kid, been
a neighborhood, just Whispers toyou.
And they whisper before they yell and they whisper.
Hey, he going man! Hey, I got you.
Hey, you're going to make some money or you gonna make it to

(14:52):
the league? Oh, do this.
And that. And then, as you get closer to
realizing that goal, that whisper turns to a Yale.
I just think it's really just. So, fascinating that here, you
are as a 78 year old kid, and you, and you're able to kind of
not only feel that that pressureof Of what it takes and the
responsibilities as you classifylike to get your family out to

(15:13):
get a better life, to get betteropportunities.
But to be so young, like I just find that to be so fascinating.
So now take us a little further down the road.
Like, if you felt it when you were eight, all of a sudden, now
you're in high school and you have the opportunity.
Now, we'll talk about your time at Columbia, ivy league,
education from Compton, which isa can't wait to hear that part

(15:33):
of the story. But talk to me about your high
school experience now. So now you've gotten out of the
youth circles. Now, you're in high school where
there's probably a ton of eyes on you.
Write every all your friends andeveryone in the neighborhood,
they really know who you are. Now you're 16 years old, 17
years old. Was it harder?
Was it easier? Oh, it was definitely harder in

(15:54):
high school because I came in which huge expectations.
Okay. So I'm getting recruited to go
to high school. Now this is 1987 1988 where that
happened but it didn't happen. Like it does not.
Like it wasn't even like commonplace, goodbye.
Who private and public schools? Yes.
Okay yes. So, I'm the kid all those Pop

(16:16):
Warner years, I'm destroying cats.
Like people laugh. All the time because I really
proud of this error of my life, like it was my best football
ever, like aged 8 to 13? I no doubt.
It was about Hall of Famer. Yeah, I'm a dummy.
I'm killing cats, but I used to be the kid five touchdowns every
game. Go to the snack.
Stand order me, some chili cheese Fritos a tiki punch, and

(16:40):
that was my routine and then youtake off the shoulder pads and a
helmet. Then you play throw up, tackle
with your friends, the same guys, you just played against
and we're playing another football game on the side field
to see who can Really ball because now we all on the same
team going against each other. And every time I would do that,
some adult males, some coach somebody would come up to me.

(17:02):
Hey, Wiley, where you going to school?
I'm like 'man over right Junior High.
What you mean? He's like, where you going to
school in high school? I was like, I don't know.
Probably Westchester, I don't know.
Well, alright, I need to find your Mom and Dad.
We need to talk about that. It would happen every game.
I'm like damn. So and of going to high school
with these huge expectations andI'm just Top running back.

(17:22):
And at that time, being a running back, especially like,
that's the quarterback. Yep, of today, being a running
back yesterday. And so I get to high school and
first day of practice, like I'm the starter, they like,
Marcellus is a guy, we've seen them already and I didn't know
what was happening to my body atthe time, but I was going

(17:44):
through a huge growth spurt. And I had Oscar Slaughters.
So my knees were hurting. But it felt weird to tell people
at 13, 14. Oh, by the way, my knees hurt.
I was like, either. They gonna think I'm a soft or
they're gonna think I'm lying because who has bad knees at 13.
So I will come home and Ice my knees.

(18:04):
Sometimes in secrecy, I would just like go away in a corner,
just try to ice my knees and finally, obviously my family
caught on and they were just like, all right, just keep icing
them not knowing. I had Oscars Slaughters not
knowing that this was really going to Cripple me.
So you fast forward I didn't getslower, I just didn't keep
growing at the same pace and then all of a sudden all those

(18:26):
kids who were slower were still growing going through.
Puberty voice is getting deeper getting faster and they're close
to me, like, I'm still faster than all of them, but I don't
have that Gap anymore. I gotta be more calculated with
these runs instead of just careless, I don't care.
I'm, I'll run the whole team andthat was devastating to me, not

(18:49):
only as a player, but as a person, Sin because I'm
responsible for my family to getout the neighborhood.
And now I'm not that Tier 1 Prospect blue chipper that I was
just yesterday. So in high school man.
It was a struggle. It was a rollercoaster brother
and I had to ride that wave intoeverything started to settle.

(19:10):
That's really, I mean I just think it's so fascinating and I
think our listeners are going toget such a kick like to just
understand the amount of pressure and the amount in the
end face of a Expectations at such a young age.
I think we're a little more accustomed to it today, right.
Kids, kids at the early age, they're on social media.
We've seen highlight tapes, we've known that we know the

(19:32):
next Blue Chip, basketball Prospect, because we've been
watching them on YouTube for last, but did for people to
realize like back when you were growing up like which, you know,
similar to when I was growing up, like you didn't know who the
young athletes were, unless you're in your own neighborhood.
You knew but this was very uncommon in those days to have
Side of your own neighborhood tohave guys that had these level

(19:53):
of expectations to deal with. I think that's, I mean, can you
imagine going through what you went through and the
expectations locally in your with your friends and your
neighborhood in your high schoolin today's world?
Oh man, I so crazy. Your ten-year-old highlight Pop.
Warner tape would have been viral on Tick Tock every
weekend. Yeah, it's crazy man to Dynamics

(20:13):
how they shifted and um, you know, in a relative sense I did
have to experience that because I lived in a bubble Bubble.
We would travel for our track team, we would leave the state
for running our track meets and our national meats and
International Meat. So I did get that exposure
athletically and that was amazing.
Because when you leave your neighborhood, you leave your

(20:35):
state, you realize, oh there's afast kid everywhere.
I mean, you know, you sit at home in l.a.
Compton, you're like there. We the fastest in the world,
maybe New York, maybe Texas, maybe Miami.
Then you get somewhere from Des Moines Iowa and you like Oh,
come on, it's so true. He fast fast.

(20:56):
And then you like Races by from Tulsa you like he asked me like,
what's going on. And it just lets, you know,
there's so many different paths up the mountain but for me that
pressure and I see it today because frankly, I want my son
to embrace wherever he is in hiselevation.
In sports, academics etcetera. I never want him to shy away

(21:19):
from whatever. Potential greatness, he has and
at the same time, know that thatis different than you actually
going out there and making it happen.
I tell him all the time. I say look, I don't care how
good you are football, doesn't care how good you are.
It's how well you play. So when all this noise comes and
tells you you're too man, all this noise comes and tells you.

(21:40):
You're not the man, that doesn'tmatter that, that favorite that
team, that's undefeated. And he's seven that little dude
right there. He's 7 and Greg.
He He's already at it. He's already better than me and
my Glory Days. Love it for five, seven
touchdowns a game, he's like that and sometimes he gets
caught up in those mental traps.We all did, of course, he'll

(22:01):
play a team that's undefeated. And he'll be like, Oh, Daddy
they're really good. They can beat us, and then,
he'll play a sorry team. And I could see his effort start
to wane, or he's like, I'm goingto play around with them and
then he realizes those lessons, we all learn.
It's not how good you are. It's how well you play.
Yeah. And you get knocked out, you get
knocked down real fast and they Earn it at a young age.

(22:22):
You brought up your children. You're a father.
I'm a father of three young ones.
The reality is my kids. Don't need to make it in sports
to get out right there, not get out of anything.
My parent, my kids are gonna be able to go to college.
They go to a great school, thereis no economic composed
component. Knossos, you know, social
component to them having to makeit in sports.

(22:43):
You told your story, the realityis your children.
Also, they don't need to improveyour family's lives.
They're not responsible. So like how are you taking your
experience? What you had growing up.
Now being in a very Three different position with what
you've been able to accomplish and everything you've been able
to do in your life now, but still keep your kids to have

(23:03):
that drive. Like, I want my kids to have the
drive, like, their lives depend on being good at something.
I don't care if it's Sports, whatever it is.
Even though the reality is theirlives, don't depend on it,
right? Like that's a hard balance for
kids, growing up in a family, similar to ours where like you
don't have to burden that expectations and
responsibilities, right? You are I made, I'm glad we got

(23:27):
here. We may stay here for a second.
I fell. I fell victim to a narrative for
a long time. Had thousands of conversations
about it. How if you're from despair or
from adversity that you're hungrier than a person from

(23:47):
affluence and that was kind of anarrative that just floated
around to everybody Rich, poor everybody, I mean I'm coming
from l.a. Compton.
Did not go. The Columbia, I heard the
narrative academically, I heard it in terms of Athletics, being
on the field. All the inner city are all the
broke kids are the hungry or kids than that.
She is sober. I saw down in Miami.

(24:09):
No doubt. I get it right.
Totally no doubt. And then you know hi sighs 2020.
I finally woke up from that comathat they were trying to keep me
under. In terms of the spell of that
hunger comes from circumstances.I remind you we started off this
conversation. That my father never pressured

(24:31):
me. My mother never pressure me, but
I felt it in my surroundings butit was my internal drive that
was ignited and that's what gaveme the Devotion to discipline
the determination to do it. When I got to the league and I
start looking around and I'm a sociology major.

(24:51):
So I'm in the locker room, not just looking at Ballers, but
looking at personality, Looking at different characters and I
start realizing that. Not everybody in this locker
room is from the hood. Not everyone in this locker,
room is from Bad circumstances. And matter of fact, some of the
best players came with a silver spoon, and I was like, oh, some

(25:11):
of them are second-generation Ballers.
Some may even be almost third-generation balls as we're
starting to see now. Yeah.
And I was like, wait a minute. That hunger is not just from the
neighborhood that hunger is frominternal.
No resources that have been built up by Family Dynamics,
their own character, their own mental makeup.

(25:33):
Etc. So now, I'm no guy who looks at
my kids and I'm not going to putthem under that spell of like,
oh, since y'all got it, good, you're born on third base.
You can't be as hungry as I was.You can't be as hungry as maybe
some family members are that still in the neighborhood.
Like, that is nothing to do withthis because you could, Born on

(25:56):
third base and still don't scorehome plate or you could be at
the plate and get all around those bases.
It's based on what you want to do, what they want to do.
Yeah, it's not, you know, the old saying right?
It's cliche, it's not where you start, it's where you finish.
But so much of that journey and I think it's so important
because me and you have had conversations before but maybe
not at this level. What I see out of you is from

(26:20):
hearing your story and now your approach as a father, like the
internal motivation, the in Internal drive of young,
children sets the sets, the stage for the rest of their
life. And we as adults we as their
immediate adult as their parentsand then as a community around
them, like we have to continue to encourage these kids that
they are in control of their lives, right?

(26:41):
We're going to help them. We're going to navigate them but
they're going to fall flat on their face on their own accord.
They're going to succeed on their own accord.
They're going to be able to do things as long as they're the
ones, we can grab them by the ass and drag them across the
field because we want them to begreat or we I want them to Excel
and what I see, I'd be curious, your take, what I see where we

(27:01):
live and what not is, it is a lot of parent driven model, the
parents want the kids to achieve, it could be the piano.
It could be football, it doesn'tmatter what it is, but the
parents are having their kids live, their dreams, as opposed
to supporting whatever it is. He, or she is super passionate
about and really wants to go outand attack and Achieve is.

(27:22):
What do you see? Yeah, see that man.
It's The meeting of those two worlds, I think why the
narrative, why does stereotype wider reality?
Is a lot of athletes come from the hood.
Is frankly, because you just said it, the parent model, those
parents are looking at their kids.
Like, I need you to get there and the quickest way to clean

(27:44):
this way, is entertainment Athletics.
So, the kids who aren't inclinedtalented to that, they get lost
and then also, you have all the other issues that come from
being in the hood. If you're That baller if you're
not the Entertainer. Oh, you gonna start gang
banging? Oh, you'll start.
Slinging you gonna start doing other stuff, you know, being a
mishap Etc. So that's how that goes for kids

(28:07):
today. My kids, I tell them if it's to
be, it's up to me and you had torepeat that for yourself.
If this to be, it's up to me, like Daddy can't clean the path.
Clear. The path for you personally,
forever. It's not going to be that way.
It's just not Not my name is my name.

(28:27):
My life is my life. I'm here to help you.
I'm here to support you. I'm here to be a trampoline but
you got to take the jump, you got to take the leap, you got to
do it. And they are understanding that
frankly, my 23 year old who's atgrad school at Columbia right
now is doing amazing because shewent through that roller coaster

(28:49):
ride of identity and diversity. She was a track runner.
She was really good track. Runner, didn't make it to the
Olympic level, professional level.
So had to make that pivot and she made the pivot, she's making
that pivot as we speak right nowand she knows it's not because
Dad, he is going to do it for me.

(29:09):
It's going to be on Maraca. It's going to be a her, we'll
see how the other youngsters play it through.
But I am not going to be the onewho maps on what I want for them
and then make them have to live it out.
It got to go the other way. It has to be them first.
It's so true and it here. And everything you described as
far as expectations and different backgrounds setting,

(29:29):
you know, the culture of where you grow up and your family and
everything being. So unique to each individual, I
didn't really experience that until I went to college, and I
grew up in a suburb in New Jersey.
It was predominantly a white suburb and we had, we were
fairly diverse, but nothing, notlike, when I went down to Miami.
So I didn't really understand. Like to me, we played football

(29:51):
because we played football, like, it was not a means to an
end. My parents were School teachers
Weren't rich, but we weren't poor.
We had house. So wasn't dependent upon us.
Putting food on the table like it.
We would just our life. All boys, and we played ball.
We played Sports, it wasn't until I went to Miami, that I
really shared a locker room withtruly different backgrounds,

(30:12):
right? Kids from the inner city of
Miami and some of those inner cities of Miami Marcello's, I
know you've been down, like, it is as tough as it gets yes.
Inner City Miami, and over town,and Liberty City, and these
kids. And to just learn Earn and here
and get to know them. But you know, they're my
roommates. Were living in the dorms
together. We become like to just hear
their background and compare it,but yet, here we are.

(30:34):
We're all in the same path, different reasons, different
motivations different backgrounds, but here we are
like, it wasn't until you know. So I'm at 18 years old that like
my eyes really open. And to me, that's the beauty of
the Sports Experience, like whatother area of culture of
society, can you give young kids?

(30:55):
In female like that sort of exposure like to me if nothing
else at a sports. And I guess, my question is, is
there a better way to teach our young kids to train our young
kids to just operate in society than asking them at a young age
to operate in the world of Athletics?
No, I haven't seen it yet and tobe specific.

(31:16):
Not just Athletics team sports and not just team sports to
greatest of all team sports football and look even as a
young lady. Like we play against girls in
our flag football and I even seesome girls on my high school
football, team tackle football team, but there's something
special about football in part is just a structure.

(31:37):
There's eleven against eleven, so that's 22.
Moving Parts, 22, moving pieces that you have to calculate and
figure out on the fly to have success.
That is amazing exposure to reallife experiences.
When everything is coming your way.
You have to calculate on the flyon your feet. but for me, I got

(31:59):
into football and felt the greatest love for football.
Is when I put my hand in that huddle and I grew up without
Brothers, I had uncles and cousins, but two sisters, no
brothers, and I've never put my hand in a huddle.
I'm 89 years old. And I'm like, wow!
Look at all these different color hands.

(32:20):
And look at all these different hands from different parts of
the neighborhood. Like, two days ago, I noticed
dude and now we over here not only And don't hand, but are
really making a pact making a promise.
We gonna do something, and we gonna do it together, and then
we going to go our separate ways.
And the craziest thing, Greg wasn't just that moment is when

(32:42):
we went our separate ways, we always felt United no matter
what happened the year later, will different teams still dog.
You remember that? All you remember that shared
balls man. Shared goals shared ideas that
you can take. Replicate a locker room with
you. Can't let you know whether it's
at eight years old. But the symbol, the symbolic

(33:03):
nature of a locker room. There's just nothing like it
and, and craziest thing for me. Greg was I lived in
neighborhoods because this is LaGangsta times, like, you know,
all the movies, all to all the songs, this before that.
So this lets, you know, this thereal material they going to talk
about later rap about later. We going through it and the
craziest thing was, I had teammates who were my boys like

(33:27):
my brother's butt. Their uncle's their brothers had
beef with somebody on our team and it was crazy to watch, and
this is a World experience. This is a life lesson to watch.
Two Brothers, have to get pittedapart, pitted against each other
because of other Dynamics aroundthem.

(33:49):
And what do you do? When you're the one caught in
the middle and football was opportunity to be a safe place,
our safe haven, even when Your family doesn't like their family
or your neighborhood doesn't like their neighborhood.
We dropped all of that when we put those hands in the middle
and if we can find that huddle somewhere in the real world

(34:10):
where everybody could be like mydifferences are over here.
But right now I'm going to respectfully disagree with you
for something greater than all of us will be somewhere.
Yeah. I mean and how and how fitting
is that situation? You just described but as you
said like in the times we live in today, right?
What we've been Through over thelast handful of years, like, how

(34:32):
is there a better time to use a locker room and to use sport as
like a symbol of what we all hope?
And see the whole country, the whole world being like, and
again, it sounds trivial. It sounds like we're dumbing
down the argument but at its core.
That's really what it is. Yes, I think that is so fair, I
want to change gears for one, you know, just for a second here

(34:54):
because you've accomplished a lot, right?
Mean, you're playing career, what you've accomplished, For
your family, you know, your timeon TV shows podcasts.
I mean, you are well accomplished to me what sticks
out the most about you and I want to dive into this is, you
weren't just a great kid growingup in the Inner City playing
sports. You went from the inner city of

(35:14):
Los Angeles, you went to Ivy, you went to Columbia ivy league,
graduated played ball there of course went on to the NFL but
you're like an accomplished academic, very intelligent, very
smart, it comes across in everything. you do, like, Tell
us a little bit about what that you're a high school kid, you're
the football star. Was it hard to also say hey do

(35:37):
you know what? I'm gonna go, I'm going to I'm
capable of going to the ivy league, like in growing up in
l.a. like, was that crazy to me?Like the people know where
Columbia? Like, I don't know if I grew up
in the Northeast, I don't even know if we growing up in the
Northeast, if we know where halfthe Ivy League schools are
because none of us were smart enough to go to the Ivy League

(35:59):
school. Right.
You're like, what, what are you talking?
We're all let me take Brown. I don't, I don't think it's
somewhere. It's somewhere up in here,
right? Like Gale Brown Columbia, we
knew Princeton because it was inNew Jersey, so that was an easy
one. But like, coming from the West
Coast, I want to hear about thatJourney.
Yeah, that is funny. You sound just like my boys man,

(36:21):
I ain't gonna lie to you Greg. Whoo I got my letter from
Colombia. This is hilarious.
I get a letter from Columbia. I told my boys I said Man, I got
a letter from Columbia. I made may take a trip there,
you know. See what's up over there.
He said Columbia, you go on a school in South America.
Damn, hey, we gotta get out the hood, man.

(36:42):
We gotta move. We gotta.
Let's see if I didn't know either.
I can't hide. I can't tell you.
I can't lie. High School me.
I couldn't tell you where it was.
No. Not at all.
I knew I heard of Harvard, you've called and Princeton, and
it was because Bill Cosby used to wear on the couch, To be show
the sweaters. And that was the only reason I

(37:03):
knew I was like, interesting. He kept wearing these sweaters
from these schools and I was like, oh, those are Ivy League
schools? I never knew there.
There were eight, Ivy League schools.
I thought it was only those three.
And so this is how it happened. It kind of came together from a
lot of different places. I had a coach that went to
Columbia and one day I'm in practice and I'm, you know,

(37:24):
doing my reps and I look at his shorts and it says Columbia but
it's it's a powder blue like Bia, blue is actually the color
but I called it powder, blue, Carolina, blue.
I never heard a grand. Be honest.
Like mr. House, like I said, we get them
shorts from. He's like, oh, that's why I went
to school. I said Colombia is a Yaz to
school in New York, Ivy League school.
I said, those are the colors. Here's like, yeah.

(37:46):
And they're here. And the next thing he said,
because he saw my curiosity in the wheels.
Start spinning said, oh, don't go there to play football
Marcel's. It's the worst football program
in the country and I thought he was exaggerating hyperbolic.
Turns out they had a 44 game losing streak at the time, he
was saying that and he was dead on like, Prairie View A&M,

(38:07):
finally beat their streak. But to that point, it was the
worst college football program in the country and that piqued
my interest only because of the ivy league academic reputation,
right? So I take my recruiting trips,
I'll say I was a four-star like my senior year, I was a low for
Star because my senior year we only have 17 players.

(38:29):
I transferred schools. Schools to go to a better
school. I get there.
We play our Junior Year. Everyone on our team leaves to
go to another school except me. I stay, we're 17 players, deep.
We don't even have enough to go a scrimmage in practice.
It's just horrible. So that hurt my recruiting to a
degree. We didn't win one game.
We go Owen, 10, and then they retroactively give us one win

(38:54):
because they had an ineligible player.
So basically we are all when 10 team was 17 players, but you got
this. They're on the team name me.
So I'm still getting recruited by big schools and I remember
taking my recruiting trip to allthe big schools but Columbia and
growing up in l.a., there's onlyone other city that Rivals La in

(39:16):
our imagination. That's New York.
Like you grow up. I'm sorry, Miami.
I'm sorry, it's real. Yeah, yeah.
Everywhere else. It was like not La New York,
that was the only thing. So I'm a big rap fan.
Big break dancing, fan, Beach Street and just go Going way
back in the days, the culture ofNew York exported to La.
So I'm like on a recruiting trip, two days in New York City.

(39:40):
First time I ever seen snowfall,I remember our coach taking us
on the trip, you know, you know,I goes 48 Hours of fun parties.
It's New York City. You can spend all the money, you
want, whatever, he Pete's a bigger than me.
I'm loving life. And none of those moments got
because that kind of happened every school, you went to just a
different version. This is what got me.

(40:01):
Our coach took us to the Top of the World Trade Center, and
we're in this big banquet room. And the backdrop is New York
City. Skyline, 107 floor, some crazy.
And it's only a few of us in there and Coach looks around.
And he says, his same old speech, trying to get us to
commit and he says, this is how he closed, and this is what got

(40:25):
me. He said, do you want to go
somewhere? And carry the torch or go
somewhere like Colombia and light the torch and once he said
that, I swear internally. I was like that's it.
I could play football anywhere but can I get this education
anywhere? So basically it became this High

(40:46):
safety net, I'ma walk, the high wire of try and make it to the
NFL with the highest safety net.I could have possible and Ivy
League education where did you learn with?
Where did you develop that? Appreciation for academics.
I think just thinking of myself growing up like once I started
getting recruited I think we said like the academics were big

(41:09):
but like at the end of the day we were really took.
I took my visits to what were perceived to be the best
football schools that were recruiting me.
So like who well I guess my who else did you visit who did it
come down to but like where did that innate sense of academics
thinking long-term like as againyou're talking to 17 18 year old
kid. That's pretty Advanced long-term

(41:29):
thinking for that age. Yeah, I have my trips cows.
UCLA st. Mary's Columbia.
I actually had another one to Colorado Colorado State.
I didn't go on all my trips. Like, I'm, I grew up.
I was a nerd, but I was a a nerd.
Who was proud of being a nerd. I embrace being a nerd for a

(41:53):
couple reasons. Like, I was the guy who wanted
to sit in the front of the class.
I wanted to ask her everything. Question from Hello.
Like that was like one of my first Alex.
It felt like I was eager to learn and immediately you get
beat up by your peers or your friends, because they're not
getting the same grades or they don't know the answers.
So, you know, I had to deal withthat peer pressure.

(42:13):
But I was like, what's wrong with like wanting to learn?
Then someone told me, they're like, how long are you in school
now? It's like 8:00 to 3:00.
They're like, alright, that's 7 hours.
How long is practice? I was like, too.
Bauer's. They're like so you're in school
almost four times. As long as you are a practice,

(42:34):
don't you think you should take a little more serious than you
do, even playing sports? So I was like, damn, they're
like stop wasting your time. So I used to spread that
message, I used to be that nerd.Who's to tell cash, like, dog.
We going to be here way. Longer than practice.
Practice is a breeze compared tothis.
Let's give us our time. Let's invest and frankly, I knew

(42:55):
my family. I knew no one in my family was
going to have the opportunity that I had.
At that time. I knew that everyone in my
family had a job. No careers.
I knew that everyone in my family and my whole neighborhood
felt like people who lived on the edge in part because they

(43:17):
lived a lot of empty empty promises.
They lived through a lot of unfulfilled It's they didn't do
exactly what they desire to do and they settled.
So I used to look around and look, life gets in the way of
living, man. My mom and my dad, same thing.

(43:38):
My mom had two kids by the age of 19.
Life's going to look different. If you got two kids, you're not
20 years old yet. So she made a lot of sacrifices,
but she also had to deal with the consequences of having two
kids at 19. So she never lived up to her
full. So, I knew that she knew that
and you see that everywhere. And everyone from the outside,

(44:00):
always say, all men The Gangs, the drugs to Poverty, that's the
worst part about being in the hood.
I'm Marcellus all, they know, you know what, the worst part
was the low ambition Hyatt, how they beat it out of you to start
and finish. What you really want out of
life, how they beat it out of you to start aiming lower than

(44:21):
you desire just because you got to survive.
So I didn't want to be in survive mode.
I wanted to be in survive and thrive.
Mold. So I had to recalculate it man.
And not, you know, I use everyone around me to give me
something to feel this engine, so I can go out there and try
and make it. That was my goal, man.
I'll tell you, just hear, it's really impressive.

(44:43):
I mean, I've always obviously, I've known you, I've known of
you. I've known but just like hearing
how you think and how you've approached, and what marbles me
like, hearing you say this now is an adult.
Makes sense. To me, you're an accomplished
guy, you've done a lot, but to here, you have all this ability
to reflect and think big long-term.
Term, as a young kid is the takeaway that I get and I just I

(45:04):
applaud you because I don't knowhow, I don't know, it's really
impressive because I think back to myself at 18 and I was I
don't know if I thought that long term so I think it's
oppressive the the last thing I want to ask you and it's kind of
a long the theme what you're talking about.
Like do you see when you when you go out and you visit you
know your old neighborhoods or you go around the country and

(45:24):
you speak and you deal with, youknow, coaching young kids team.
So why not like do you see Similar experiences that you
remember, growing up, do you seebetter?
Do you still see the same kind of mindset the same ideology in
those neighborhoods saying hey Sports is our only way out.
And as a result I need to put that pressure to like have you
seen it change or do you think 30, 40 years later?

(45:48):
Is it similar? Yeah, great question, man.
I've really torn on this phone because I will say.
I've seen a greater commitment from family from neighborhood

(46:08):
and from the athlete then I saw growing up, growing up, you
could be good and just be like, all right, I'm good growing up.
You weren't thinking of a specialty coach has a training
session or weren't offered that if you didn't have the
resources. So those were resources back
then they didn't compete necessarily as well as those

(46:29):
from the in. City.
And he used to be always game like this was The Stereotype but
real to the talent meets, the discipline, the talent meets the
chemistry to telling me you likethe teams from the suburbs.
Yeah, they were slower. No dad's really talented, no
doubt, guess what they played like a fist.
Like damn, like they are in the right position on attending The

(46:52):
Stereotype. The generalization was here.
Come these dudes? I can run circles around you.
What are they gonna do it together?
And he used to be always there. That battle I saw growing up but
now everybody got the memo. Even that kid from the inner
city or from a lack of resourcesgets recruited or get supported
where now he's getting that specialty training on top of the

(47:15):
kid, who's a late bloomer or not, going to make it to the
level of the league. But, hey, he's still into it,
he's invested, he has a coach to, and they're all doing this
year round and all day long. And I'm not going to lie, that's
different. That feels a lot different than
investment and commitment. Other than that.

(47:39):
I think that I think people are still looking at it the same
way, it's the fastest way to getto the top and I made the same
calculation as well frankly. Greg, I wanted to be a
schoolteacher, a guidance, counselor or school dean or a
football player. Like in terms of fulfillment in

(48:01):
terms of energy in terms of passion, being exuded, all four
of those things would have givenme the same in For film, the
difference would have been the reality of football is gonna
dress me up a lot different withthe money, the opportunities,
the wealth, than those other three.
So when I kept getting bigger faster stronger and playing,

(48:24):
well, obviously, I took the football experience, but if I
had graduated Columbia and are like dog, you didn't make it,
you can't make it. You're not going to make it a
leak. I wasn't going to die at some
YMCA 24 Hour Fitness, working out till I was 30.

(48:45):
High School history class. And I'm like, who the hell is
this guy? Okay.
Yes sir. Yes, sir.
That is going to seen. That would have been an
unbelievable scene. Watching you.
Oh my God. You had those kids would have
set up very straight there straight.
That's right. Well, merciless man.
A, this is one of my favorite Converse.
We've had some awesome conversations, I think just your

(49:07):
Insight your on. See, your ability to reflect and
kind of take us into a time intoan area that frankly.
Obviously a lot of us, I know myself don't have a lot of
experience in but to hear you kind of describe it.
Allow everybody to learn understand, the cultural
ramifications of background, andupbringing and and where you
grow up. I just think, is a super timely
conversation. Obviously, you're incredibly

(49:29):
well, complexed unbelievable. And I just can't thank you
enough for coming on, you think,and sharing a little bit of your
story, man. It's been amazing man.
You know how much I respect you?The The man and the baller you
were brother, man. Continued success.
Keep killing it brother and we'll talk soon, man.
I appreciate thanks so much, buddy.
We'll talk to you soon. All right, Geo, hope you guys

(49:53):
really enjoyed that conversationwith Marcellus Wiley.
I just think really here in him reflect on his childhood and
what it was like growing up where he did and Los Angeles and
ending up all the way on the other side of the country at an
Ivy League school at Columbia, just in the journey within that.
II. Just he's a really interesting
guy. I've gotten to know him have
been on his show a bunch. So for him to take that time to

(50:14):
come on you think and share a little bit of his story, a
little bit of his perch perspective and insight was
super appreciated. So, thanks again, to Marcellus
Wiley for joining us at this time, the favored the favorite
segments of all from our listeners, the questions, Tasha
big day, today Tosh.0 we and we interviewed Tasha's Dad.

(50:35):
We just have to say it. We interviewed Tasha's dad
today, he will be one of our next couple episodes.
Absolute rock star for those of you don't know.
Dino babers head football coach at Syracuse also better known as
Tasha's dad. What a gem.
I mean, what? An absolute dream of a dude.
Yeah, it was fun. It was fun.
Great. I know you rolled your eyes a
couple times because you are thedog.

(50:56):
You are his daughter and that's just kind of part of it but he
was awesome. Yeah it'll come out in a couple
weeks so I'm excited to show himthat and release it.
It's going to be great what you have from our listeners, a
couple of audience questions. Again, keep sending a melon.
The first one is from Davis fromInstagram.
He says I'm a 13 year-old pitcher in California.
You always heard of colleges checking your social media out

(51:19):
to see what kind of person you are.
But now they want to know how many followers you have.
How many jerseys you will sell? How many people will come to
watch you? It's pretty confusing right now.
Do you have any advice for me? To be honest with you, I didn't
really know that that was even happening.

(51:39):
I don't really have much perspective to share.
I don't know if that's unique tobaseball, I don't know if that's
unique to maybe some of the sportswear attendance and
audience is a little bit more ofa challenge, you know, football,
yes. One player is going to have an
impact or whatnot, but if the team is good and the team's
winning the stadium is going to be full.
It's not so dependent on one recruit or one person, maybe as

(52:01):
much as basketball. For example, that's obviously
heavily Reliant upon, Landing top recruits, but I guess my
answer would just be be who you are you know, beat, don't try to
be something, you're not, don't try to manufacture an image or
a, you know, some sort of you know, the perception of who you
are just to try to impress a coach or you know if you're more

(52:23):
comfortable being out there in public and sharing on social
media and whatnot, then be you do your thing and if that comes
natural, if it doesn't, which for a lot of people it's not
natural to share their entire life on social media.
It's something that I'm not likeoverly comfortable with.
I do it for certain things but it's not Something I do daily be
true to who you are because at the end of the day that's going
to take you further than just trying to play up to, you know,

(52:46):
with a college coach about how many followers or and trying to
sell some like False Image. So I know in today's world so
much of people's perception of themselves and outside
perceptions of then is so dependent on social media
activity and and how your life is seen from others.
But I just, I'm not a big fan ofthat, and I may be in, call me

(53:06):
old-school, maybe a little bit of a different generation but I
think people need to be who theyare and if it works, it works
and if it's doesn't, it wasn't meant to be at that school.
They'll be somebody else. So focus on being the best
player, you can be focus on being the best person.
You can be the best student athlete.
You can be everything else will take care of itself.
You don't need to try to impresspeople by living a life that

(53:26):
might not be authentic to who you are.
That's so odd. A college I've ever heard
anything like that. I've never heard of something so
silly. That's strange, our second one
is from Mark. Also from Instagram.
He says You talk about your dad being a hard-nosed coach when
you were growing up now that he's helping you coach, your
kids, have you seen a softer side of him?

(53:48):
Yeah, a little bit. It's still he still is who he is
and it comes out. He is a passionate fiery guy.
He wants the kids to succeed, hebelieves in hard work, he
believes in discipline and a lotof those qualities are qualities
that I still carry with me, not only my parenting style that I
definitely carried him forward in my playing career, but I have

(54:09):
a lot of those qualities and howI coach.
I'm a very intense coach. I demand a lot of the kids
because we tell them all the time.
We ask a lot of you because you guys are capable of doing You
guys have heard me say on this show, oftentimes the ones who
limit, what kids can do, are theadults.
If we would just stop putting ceilings on kids and enforce
them and push them to do more. There are so much more upside to

(54:30):
a lot of them. So he's he's more probably more
patient with the young kids thanhe was with his high school.
Kids just based on their age little bit different, being a
grandfather than a father. But when it comes down to it,
especially this year, with Pop Pop Warner, he takes it very
serious. He wants the kids to see.
Exceed he wants to teach them real football.
He Demands a lot of them. And as a result, the entire team

(54:54):
has made such drastic improvements.
They've come such a far away anda lot of ways because of his
approach, and because of his time and his commitment, how how
much he loves Love's Love's, working with these kids and
pushing them to see how good they can get.
So he's definitely of an older School approach, but it works.
It's worked for him for a long time.

(55:16):
And the results are Are very positive.
That's fine. That's fine.
You get a coach with him becausehe was your coach.
It's mostly fun until we argue because we don't always see
things the same exact way and but you're allowed to fight with
your dad and argue and then we go for pizza after, so it's
fine, it's great, good time the way it goes, the last fan.

(55:37):
Question says, my son is 12, arethere any good online training
programs that you recommend to be a better football player?
Um, you know what, and as silly as it sounds, I don't know about
like, any online programs. I'll be honest.
But there are some really good follows like on Instagram, where
you can follow like young, whether its Speed and Agility

(55:57):
coaches or positional coaches or, you know, former athletes
that now have gotten into like personal training personal
coaching type stuff. There's a lot of garbage out
there, there's a lot of people that are just make things, I
always call them, they're like Instagram coaches or Instagram
workouts, where you you only do exercises or drills that look
cool on camera. But Not really getting anything
accomplished if you can manage to filter through that.

(56:19):
And we're going to do a better job on our social channels
sharing, who these Outlets are and who these channels are.
Because there are a lot of people that are putting up
really good information. Great content, not only drills
and exercises, but recovery nutrition.
How young kids bodies heal, how young kids bodies develop and
there's it, you know, the educational component aside from

(56:41):
the training component that I think is super useful.
I follow a lot of these myself. Cough.
And some of the other sports where yeah I'll pay attention to
someone maybe who I think reallydoes a nice job teaching.
Kids how to hit your field whatnot and then I'll kind of
bank that and utilize some of those drills or utilize some of
those messaging at some of our next practices.
So social media for as crazy as it can be if done right.

(57:03):
It's a really good source of education and we will do a
better job here on you think sharing some of those channels
because I personally follow a lot of them as does.
Our you think, are you think page?
Yeah. A really good question and a
great question. Yeah.
Keep submitting them in at you think, or at Greg, Olson on
Tick, Tock, Instagram or Twitter?

(57:23):
Appreciate You Tasha. Thank you for hooking it up and
getting your dad. That was a special treat for us
and thank you again to all of you.
As Tasha said, please continue to rate review, subscribe
wherever you guys, get your podcast and we look forward to
seeing you guys next week here on you think.