Blaze Your Own Trail - S2:E24- From Sandy to Chicago with Ryan Nall

Episode Date: August 20, 2020

Ryan Nall is an American football running back for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He played college football at Oregon State, and was signed by the Bears as an un-drafted free agent in 2018. In this episode we discuss: Where Ryan grew up What sports he played as a kid When Football "Clicked" His collegiate career 3 Coaches in 3 years Going to the NFL Combine How his career has been so far And more! Connect with Ryan: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryannall_34/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-nall-087b1a13b/ Connect with Jordan: Follow on Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanjmendoza Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanjmendoza/ Join our Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/blazeyourowntrailmastermind/ This episode is sponsored by: www.carlottadavis.com Connect with Carlotta to learn more about Weight Wellness, energy, performance, healthy aging and building a business: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlotta-marzol-davis-4b091723/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healthyfit_and_free/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carlotta.m.davis Installing strategic sales systems & processes will stop the constant revenue rollercoaster you might be facing which is attainable through our 6 Week Blazing Business Revenue Coaching ProgramBook a discovery call with Jordan now to learn more! Are you an entrepreneur?Join my FREE Group Coaching Community where we have live calls, Q&A and more! Our Trailblazer Ecosystem also enables you to network with other entrepreneurs and creator hub eliminates multiple subscriptions and logins creating a one stop shop to take action!Use code: FOUNDING100 for 12 months access FREE and Founding pricing for life! (While Supplies Last)Join now! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode is sponsored by Carlotta Davis.com. Carlotta is dedicated to helping people unlock their full potential and their optimal and personal health goals. Make sure to go to the website, C-A-R-L-O-T-A-D-A-V-I-S dot com. Hey, everybody, I hope you all are doing well. Super excited about this episode with Ryan Nall. you'll really get to learn all about his journey from, you know, when he initially started playing sports, where he went to high school, where he went to college, what his experience has been, you know, as a current NFL athlete, and what his aspirations are in the future. So I hope you enjoy this, and I will chat with you right after the episode.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Blaze Your Own Trail podcast. I'm your host, Jordan Mendoza. And I've got a very special guest with me today. His name is Ron. Nal, and I'm going to give him just a second to tell us a little bit about who he is and what he does. Thanks, Jordan, for having me on. So, yeah, man, so I currently playing for the Chicago Bears, you know, grew up in, grew up in Oregon and played at Oregon State. Yeah, so, I mean, holding our kid, you know, is there, you want to me to kind of start, start there where I kind of grew up and then kind of progress from there. Yeah, yeah.

So, yeah, we'll definitely get into it, man. So, yeah, let's give the audience a little context on, you know, where you grew up. I know you grew up in Oregon. Maybe we can let him know exactly where you grew up. And then, you know, what kind of kid were you always into sports or, you know, were you into academics as well? Yeah, so I grew up. It's kind of funny.

You know, I say I grew up in Portland, but really I lived in Sandy, Oregon, which is, about 45 to 50 minutes east of Portland. And so like I said, you know, my parents lived out there. You know, I've obviously grown up, I lived out there with them. And my dad had a small construction company and my mom actually worked for Honda in Portland. So we would every day going to school, went to a small private Catholic school, called St. Teresa and, you know, me and my mom. my brother and really my sister too. We all went there. And yeah, so I kind of claimed the Portland

area because I spent majority of my days there. So yeah, so grew up in Sandy in Portland area. And I was definitely always a sports kid. I mean, there was nobody in my family that made it beyond the college level. You know, my uncle played out Idaho and my grandpa played at, you know, in Portland back when they had a football team. way back when. And, you know, so I'm first generation to actually make it to the NFL. And growing up, I never was too into the academics, unfortunately. Looking back, I definitely wish I would have read more.

Still do. But, you know, sports has always just kind of been a thing for me. Like, it's like, okay, so we got this, you know, this part. I didn't start playing football until fourth, yeah, fourth grade. So it was like during that time I didn't really know much about sports. I was just going to kind of, you know, playing to play. And then, you know, growing up it kind of became a, I wouldn't call it homework or a chore or anything like that. But it was just like my second identity almost.

So it was, you know, it was, but it wasn't like homework or a job for me. It was fun. And I enjoyed it and I loved it. And there was competition. And me and my brother would compete and all this kind of stuff. So yeah, man, I mean, like I said, you know, Portland area and it really was just in love with playing sports. You know, I played mainly basketball and football. I played baseball up until about fifth grade.

And then, you know, you got a hyper kid, ADD, kind of, you're getting bored in the outfield because no one's hitting dingers at that time. So I kind of. I was that kid, man. I was that same kid. That's why I quit baseball, too. Yeah, yeah. So I kind of taves out of baseball and just kind of stuck with football and basketball. And played basketball almost year-round up until football season.

And, you know, I went to high school in Portland. I went to Central Catholic. And same thing, basketball and football. And I play AAU through track season. So I never ran track really like that. And then really like my junior year, kind of the light bulb kind of hit. like, okay, I'm not going to be six with six, so I might as well start focusing on the football career.

And, you know, I still played basketball through my senior year, but just on the high school team. I didn't really, didn't really play AAU anymore. And I kind of focused my office and training and getting lifting weights and conditioning, all that kind of stuff. And then fortunately, I received a scholarship to Oregon State. And, I mean, you're an Oregon guy. So you probably would have loved to see me at Oregon.

But unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to go there. And, you know, so I mean, and I was in love with Oregon State as well. So I chose there. And, you know, being a hometown kid, it was a lot of fun. A great experience knowing that the state and the city of Portland and the state of Oregon are behind your back. So, yeah, that's just kind of, yeah, just kind of a brief summary. Yeah, yeah, no, that's definitely cool and definitely gives the audience some context for sure. So when did it click, right?

Because I know there's always this pivotal moment, you know, with athletes, right? Especially athletes that actually make it to the next level. There's usually some time that were things just really clicked together. So what year was that for you in high school when you knew was it when you got the offer? Was it was that validation? or was there even a time before that where you just knew someone was going to give you an offer? Honestly, I would say it came after my offer. I'd say in my senior year, my high school, we ended up going undefeated in one state.

And in terms for me personally, as a running back, where I thought I could make it at the next level and even aspire to be great at the running back. the next level was really my senior year when I kind of had a breakout breakout season and like I said we went undefeated in one state championship so I was like I was like I was like dang like I feel like I can I belong in this role like I feel like I'm faster I'm stronger you know all this kind of stuff so mentally going in that was going to be my mindset you know getting to college and showing that I'm capable of playing the sport at the highest level and then you know you get to college and you know there's you're playing against some grown men and and and but the mindset doesn't change of of oh these guys are bigger stronger faster all this kind of stuff like

my mindset was I'm going to go in there take somebody's spot so um you know my it kind of started going that that confidence building and and the realization where I feel like I'm good enough to actually play at that level definitely started when I started when I said started to get the momentum going into my senior year. I mean, I knew when I got the offer, I felt like when I got the offer, it was based off off my athletic ability for sure because they didn't know where to put me. They were telling me straight up like, hey, we don't know to use the at linebacker. We don't know if you defensive end.

We don't know to use it a tight end or a running back or what. So, but I guess that's a good problem to have, you know? So, yeah. But yeah, so like once I got my senior year, I really kind of. felt like that confidence building up. And then going into college, I started to get some playing time. And then I started to break out a little bit. And that's when it really, really started hit me like, if I keep doing what I'm doing, like, I have a chance to make it to that next level. Absolutely. And so, you know, after your senior year, right, you're on a big high, right?

You've won the state championship. And actually, one of my younger brothers, he just turned 35. this month, he actually graduated from Central Catholic as well. So he graduated from there in 04. So definitely a small world, my friend. Yeah. But so you're on this high. So what was that summer like? Right? Because, you know, here you are, you know, you won this championship. You're on the high. You know you're going to Oregon State, right? You're committed at this point, right? You got this offer. So what is that summer like, right? Leading up to enrolling. or were you so focused on getting there that you just wanted to get there as soon as you can just to start grinding and putting in the work?

Yeah, yeah. Kind of a mixture of things. So my older brother, Jacob, he's two years older than me. So he actually played football at Portland State. So I kind of understood the college, like what it's going to look like when you get to college, the routine, the training styles, the organization of skills you have to have to balance sports and in academics so things like that so I kind of had a good idea so I got a little bit of insight from him but really like I remember

after that that last year my senior year I mean I played basketball my senior year so I was kind of focused on that you know and that's just stay in the shape having fun my last time playing basketball my buddies all that kind of stuff and then after that's kind of that springtime I kind of shifted into, I'm like, I got to get stronger. I want to get stronger, you know. So I spent a lot of time in the weight room and, you know, focusing on, on my body and making sure that I was physically, in my mind, physically ready to play at that next level.

So going forward into the off, like into that summer when the, when the freshmen come in, I felt like I was able to compete with the seniors and the juniors, all that kind of stuff. So that was kind of a big point for me going in. And obviously, my brother telling me, you know, kind of what to expect a little bit was helpful as well. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, it's definitely awesome when you have somebody that's already gone through it, right? They have the inside scoop.

Yeah. So they can give you that. Yeah, because there's a lot of people that don't, that don't actually have that. insider look and then they may have this expectation they come in it's completely different so that is awesome that you had that uh that insiders look there um all right so so you come in your goal was to be in shape right you wanted to show up show up as a freshman and look like a junior or senior right yeah and so so let's talk about you know you played three years at oregon state right uh and i know that you you uh handed the ducks and

one of those years in 2016, the same year that Washington just dominated us. That was not a good year for the ducks, for duck fans. So how was it, you know, going from your freshman year and then when you finished up and decided to declare, you know, to go to the draft? Yeah. So when I got there, the head coach at the time was Mike Riley. and he you know he had been there for what 15 years already I think that's that was a staple at Oregon State

yeah he's there he's there been there forever so I go so I enter and they kind of had that same mindset of like okay we got an athlete here let's put them on offense because I had such a good season at running back my senior year and in high school there for thinking they could you know get some of that production there so I play a little bit a little bit of hybrid type I got to learn some tight-end I got to learn some running back, but I was primarily in the running back room. And I actually, I redshirted, but it wasn't officially redshirting until about, you know, the first couple games, preseason games. So I like we, I traveled with the team for the first few games.

And then I came back and then basically they just told me I was going to redshirt. And I was fine with that. So at first year on scout team, you know, kind of learning offense, learning what cause is going to be like and all that kind of stuff. And then the season's over with, and then Coach Riley tells us that he's leaving. So it's kind of like, okay, well, what's going to happen now? So we get a new coach, Coach Anderson, and they come in and they tell me that they're going to move me to tight end. So I'm like, at this point I'm thinking like, okay, I got to do whatever I can do to get on the field. So I agree to that.

I'm like, yeah, sure, I'm down 100%. So that offseason of 2015, yeah, 2015, that offseason 2015 going into 2015. season. I, you know, fully transitioned to tight end. I got it to like 255. I was, you know, learning the playbook of the tight end. And we get to camp and I'm in there, you know, getting some reps at tight end, stuff like that, not starting or anything. I'm like with the threes, it's fours or whatever. And there's a few injuries at running back. So they obviously seen my film. They've seen the practice squad film, all the kind of stuff. And they're like, oh, well, this guy can play, let's bring him over when you bodies.

So they asked me to come and play running back. And I, you know, camp had a few good practices in camp and basically they just kept me in that room. And then throughout the season, I had like a few packages where I go in. And then once again, once our starters got healthy, they came back at beginning of the season. And then throughout the season, they got, you know, started to get dinged up again. And it was my turn. It was my turn. my time to shine, my opportunity came.

I think my first start, I think it was against Colorado, but my first touchdown was against Stanford. And I rushed for like 100 yards and, you know, never looked back ever since. So I became the starter for the next two years after that. And, you know, I had like the 2016 season would be the Ducks. You know, it had been like 10 years. And I just kept feeding off the last.

that momentum of being a start of getting my groove and rush for like 150 and like four touchdowns, something like that. And, you know, try to bring that into the following year. And coach Anderson halfway through decides to step down. And that was hard because we're already in a losing season. You know, guys are their attitudes are starting to change. And it's just trying to figure out whatever we need to do to at least get some wins. And, you know, at that point, at the end of that season, when he left, I was like, okay, I'm going to my third head coach.

I think I'm going to take my chance at the NFL. You know, I got, at the time, my girlfriend, I was like, you know, we've been dating serious. I'm more likely going to end up marrying her. I mean, I'm going to start a family pretty soon. You know, I want to be able to provide and be able to start the next chapter of my life. So I decided that it was best for me and my family to take. to take my chance to go to the NFL. That is awesome, man.

And, you know, it had to have been tough because there's plenty of collegiate players that go through all four years and they have the same coach, right? They've got the same coach for that whole time. And here you are, you know, you're coming in. You're coming in at one position. You're getting transitioned into another. And then the next coach, and then your coach leaves. And then, you know, the other coach comes in.

then he leaves early, right? So you're three coaches in three years. I'm sure that, that, you know, had to have messed with your psyche a little bit, you know. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of like, what the hell's wrong with us? Like, why don't they want to do with, you know, why don't they want to stick around with us? Yeah.

But, yeah, in the team and, yeah, especially the guys that were, you know, that we had played together for a while, you know, I'm sure there was a lot of those emotions that were happening, you know? Definitely. Definitely. All right. So you finish up, you're going strong. Your goal is you know, you want to get to the league, you know, at all costs. It doesn't matter which role that you want to be in. So can you tell the audience, give the audience a little context of, you know, your final year there, everything's wrapping up. And, you know, when do you know? And also, you know, what happened with the draft? What happened with the whole process? Did you get drafted? Yeah. After, you know, I would really love some context on that. Yeah, so like I said, you know, that last year it was kind of a losing season and I figured I was like, okay, you know, best for me and my family to leave Oregon State and move on to the next level.

So I had one term left until graduation. And most guys, when they go to train, they go to these big, you know, exos facilities that they go to Florida, they go to Cali, Texas, wherever, Arizona. And they go to these big facilities. There's 30 guys there. training for the combine or for pro day or whatever it is. But my mom wanted to make sure that I got my degree. So my agent and found trainers here up here in Portland. You know, I had two.

One was Alex Molden. He was the trainer at Nike. And the other was Sam Johnson, who owned his own gym, Strength Farm. And Alex Mulden played eight years in the league, so he kind of had that football insight. and speed training because he was a DB and ran track all the kind of stuff. And Sam Johnson, he was a local kid. His brother played Ethan Johnson, played at Notre Dame and he had a football fan.

But he unfortunately had injuries when he was younger, so he enlisted in the military, came back and decided to open up his own gym. And so I would basically I had classes Monday, or I had classes Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and then Thursday or Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, I would train. So I'll drive back to forth every week and train and go to school. And the hope was, you know, they generally say when you leave early, you're and you're at, you know, a big Division I school, Power 5 school, you're generally going to get an invite to the combine. And, you know, I was nervous because I didn't know if I was going to be.

true because we were such a you know we had such a bad record you know we were I wasn't a big name or anything that you know locally I was but across the nation opening who know who I was so so um you know I'm just training going to school and then I fortunately I did I get I get an invite to the combine and a lot of people don't realize is that you're there for a week before all the testing they show on TV. So you're mentally drained because those days are so long and there's a lot of doctor appointment. They're getting poked or prodded. And if you have previous injuries, you get x-rays, you get MRIs on those previous injuries, all that kind of stuff. And so at the end, at the end, they expect you to perform at a high level. That's why you see some guys saying, oh, man, I know

I can run faster and all that kind of stuff. And yeah, so I got invited to the combine. They met with a lot of teams and, you know, had had good times and had good numbers that I trained for. And going into the draft, I heard a mixed, mixed things. Generally, I was going to be day three guy, if anything, which is rounds four through seven. And I knew that I felt like I had a good opportunity to get drafted. And, you know, I had the, I didn't even watch the first two days because I just, I knew it wasn't going to happen. If it did, awesome, I was going to be ecstatic. I was going to be there.

I was going to be on the phone and all that kind of stuff. So I had family come over on day three and we're sitting there and we're waiting, we're waiting, we're waiting. And we finally get a phone call. It's like the middle of the sixth round. And it's, I can't remember which team it was now, but they're calling to say, hey, if you don't get drafted, why don't you come be with us as a priority for your age? and at that point we're all hyped up because it's like oh it just happened it's happening and then it was

just like oh why don't you just come up you know basically an invite to come play so next we um i keep you at more calls and it's kind of like the hype and then the letdown because it's the same thing like oh why don't you come you know be a free agent for us excuse me so at that point i kind of get the idea of what's happening like okay so teams are kind of wanted me for free agency but we don't know until at the end of the draft. And throughout the draft process, I did take a 30, one of the teams, 30 visits to Chicago.

And at that point, your boy, Mark Helfridge was there. And he, I obviously, we know each other through the past couple of years. And we've talked a few times prior to him even be in Chicago. So, you know, I got there and it was good visit and everything. So I was familiar with the facility. I was familiar with the area a little bit. And the head coach, Coach Nagy, he was coming from Kansas City.

And they run the spread. And that's kind of the offense that I had in high school and college. So I was like, okay, I think I can see myself in this offense. And it was between a few teams. And at the end of the day, I chose Chicago. And they wanted me to come and be a free agent for them. And so, yeah, so I told them I'd come. and and you know I had like another month before I had a head out there for OTAs so

so that's kind of the journey leading up to my rookie year you want me to yeah yeah yeah so a couple questions so you know you pick Chicago right and so now once a draft is over you're you are now I'm sure you're getting blown up right you're you're getting calls while the draft's going on so I'm sure after you're still getting calls right people people want to assign you at least want to give you the opportunity and so when you made that decision did a lot of did a lot of it go back um you know to that trip and then also the commonality with health rich right since you already were familiar with him um yeah i mean yeah a lot of that had to do with the fact that coach helfridge knows me he knows my game and he could vouch for me as well so that was definitely a big factor in

me choosing Chicago, as well as, you know, Chicago is one of the best cities in the world, like the history they have there. And, you know, the Bears, it's the oldest franchise in the NFL. It has so much history and such great players. It's the most, the most Hall of Fame, retired jerseys, all that kind of stuff. So it was just a great organization. I heard so many good things about it. So that definitely influenced me wanted to go there. And, you know, Coach Helfer, kind of having that connection, kind of just put it over the top. Awesome. So you show up at OTAs, right?

Your first time walking into the facility. What was that feeling like? And was there, whether is there anyone that you thought about, whether it was maybe a former coach or maybe your parents or, you know, people that have been with you along this journey and to get to that place and to step on that practice facility for the first time? I'd love for you to share that. Yeah, man. It was pretty crazy. So, you know, we get there for OTAs and, you know, all the rookies are all hyped up, ready to go. But the vets are kind of just like, like, you have to chill out because there's no pads. There's no contact.

It's literally just basically like a glorified walkthrough. Like you're just, you're going through practice, but it's full speed, but there's no contact. So it's like you can't really showcase your skills to the best of your ability, as if you were. would in camp or in a preseason game or whatever. So I get there and, you know, I'm just, at that point, I'm just trying to learn the playbook. And, you know, get in and we're rolling and we're going through the plays. And then we go out to practice and practice plays.

You know, I do everything that I can to try to make sure I don't mess up. And, you know, O'S-T's was good. And, you know, I didn't have any big mistakes or nothing like that. And, you know, met with the players and got to the guys and the vets and all that kind of stuff. And then, so we go back, we go back home for another break in the summer for like five weeks. And then that's when we come to camp is in July. So I'm just training and training with my trainers here during that period. And then I come back in camp and I'm ready to roll.

I already have a sense of the playbook. And we're out in freaking the middle of nowhere, Illinois, down at this. this small college, and it's go time. So, you know, I feel like I had a pretty good, my rookie year, my pretty good preseason. You know, I, I had a touchdown. I had a big, like, 70-yard run. You know, I really felt like I was going to, you know, make the team. And, you know, unfortunately, I got the call in the very last day of cuts.

And I got the call saying that they want to put me on practice squad. and at that point my mind I was a little disappointed but at the same time the optimistic in me the optimism in me was saying to myself there's a lot of guys that are not going to get this chance so I got to take this opportunity and and take advantage of it so that first year we go like 12 and four make playoffs got the first got bumped first round so I was on practice squad the whole year And, you know, I learned a lot. I learned what it takes to win. I learned, you know, what it looks like during the NFL season, the grind, what it takes, all that kind of stuff.

And, you know, so my offseason, that mentality was, I'm going to make this team next year. I'm going to deserve a spot. And so basically just all last, you know, all last year, I'm training with my trainer for the, you know, for, I took a little bit of time off, you know, hang out with the, you know, with the family, with the, the fiance at the time. and then I got back into training for like two and a half months. So I come back for my second year of OTAs and my mindset is the same. Like, okay, I'm going to take somebody's job. You know, I got to try to perfect the playbook now and try to just keep rolling. And, you know, OTAs was good.

You know, had a few good, you know, highlights and stuff during practice and stuff. And, you know, continue to make friends and learn about the vets and make, you know, learn more about my teammates and coaches, all that kind of stuff, and get situated with the area of Chicago and the city of Chicago, all that kind of stuff. So summer break, come back around to my second fall camp, same thing. Felt like I had a good camp, didn't mess up or anything, had a touchdown, got called back due to a penalty,

and had another big run, played well on special teams. and we get, you know, same thing. Second day, or the last day of cuts, I get a phone call, say they want to put me on practice squad again. And I was definitely disappointed because I felt like I deserved to be on the team. But after that split second of disappointment,

my mind set switched again and went back to, okay, I got to take what I can learn from this, and I'm going to stay focused, I'm going to stay hungry, and when my opportunity comes, I'll be ready. and halfway through the season we had a running back that they that they if they cut them they get a fourth round pick

and he had they had really been playing them for some reason and they the rumors were around that we were going to cut them and sure enough it's literally two days or the night before the game the day before we're on Saturday walkthrough they call me and my fiance is there she's there it's like her she's there visiting me from from from from Oregon and we had playing like oh yeah we'll drive down game together

I'll put you in the family section it'll be okay we'll go home all this kind of stuff and they're like hey we just cut our that running back so you're you're you're up you're you're you're gonna be active on on Sunday I'm just like a whole bunch of emotions went through my mind so excited. I was so happy. I was freaking out because I didn't know what I was going to do with my fiance. I didn't know how I was going to get her to the game if I had to leave early. And and I was I was just thinking to myself like it's go time. So fortunately, we got it all figured out and you know I was able to play the rest of the season on the active roster. And now going into my third, my third year, third OTAs, which now is first.

you know, I'm looking to continue to just build off that. That's awesome, man. And, you know, there's a lot, right, that went into that journey. But I think the message that was very clear that, you know, the audience could clearly hear as well is you just don't give up. Right. Like, you know, something happens. And then you just say, all right, well, got to keep going, right? Got to keep going.

And there's something powerful in what you said. you said that you know you started to be upset about it and then all of a sudden your mindset just shifted right like you had the self-awareness to catch yourself and say nope no no what am i going to dwell on this right let me just keep working and grinding you there yeah i'm here can you hear me yep okay okay yeah we cut out after uh you said something something powerful you said oh no i was saying uh what you said was said was powerful is that you know you would let the emotion drag you down for for a little bit but then you just flip to switch and say yep no I just got to keep working hard I just got to keep plowing through and I'm going to get there right you just kept the optimism up and I think that's a

powerful message for people to hear because you know a lot of a lot of times you know if you have to go from one to 10 a lot of people give up at seven or eight right and you're you just kept putting your head down and kept saying my turn's going to come i just got to keep grinding yeah definitely and that's that's kind of always been my mindset and uh you know if if one if people can can take one thing away from that is is to not give up and to to stay persistent and persevere through the to the adversity and eventually your time will come so absolutely and so you had mentioned your your your fiance at the time so you're married now and and how long you guys are married? We're actually coming up on a year. We got married last summer. We got married last summer

in June. I was it. What's the third? We got married to 28th, so 25 days and it'll be one year. Congratulations. That's awesome. Thanks, man. Thanks. Very good. And so you had mentioned starting a family earlier in the episode. Is that something that you guys have on your mind? Have you thought about? Yeah. Yep. We're, uh, not nothing yet. Um, maybe in the next year or so, um, start getting going. But like I said, you know, we want to, I, uh, you know, we got a house that we're, that we're, uh, waiting to move into out here. And, uh, you know, kind of once we get our, our feet in the ground and get something, get something going and then we start on the family. That's awesome. Yeah, my wife and I, we have

four kids, two boys, two girls. And we have one on the way. So we're about to have a starting five here at the end of the month. Yeah, I know. Most people think we're crazy, but, you know, once you have, once you get up to three, it's like, oh, what's another one? What's another one? You know, it gets, it gets easier. But I think, you know, it keeps you young, right? It keeps you, it teaches you a lot because, like, everything that, that my kids are doing, like, like, for school, like they just literally spent 90 days of school at home online, you know, like, I'd never had to do that. I never had to experience anything. like that. So, you know, you kind of learn from them and, you know, I feel like they teach me more than I teach them sometimes, you know, so. So, so what else are you into, man? Just let's give the audience some, some more insights than to you. So outside of football, I mean, are you into gaming? Do you like fishing? What types of activities do you and your wife like you? Yeah, well, for being my wife, uh, together, we, we're, we like to golf. Um, we're, we're, we're golfers.

Her dad is a, not a pro or anything like that. He sells, he sells, like, fertilizer and seed and material and stuff to a lot of golf courses. So he's able to have a lot of golf connections. And we, you know, we tag along with them sometimes when he goes and plays. And that's kind of been a passion of ours in the last few years. So I would say the things together. Me personally, I definitely love playing basketball. And I'm also, you know, I'm a gamer.

I'm not a serious gamer, but I like to play casually. Okay, that's awesome. Yeah, I play a lot of basketball. That's unfortunately the gyms, a lot of the gyms have been closed, man. So, like, you can't even go hoot. And even at the parks are closed. So you can't even go hoop at the parks, you know. Yeah, man, it's crazy.

It's crazy. You know, it's funny because, like, a lot of the games, and, you know, I'm a little older than you, but this will probably still resonate. Like, I was a gamer when, like, the Nintendo 64. came out, you know, like, that was like my era, like Madden 64 and Donkey Kong and Mario Cart and stuff like that. But, you know, the games, I mean, it's changed. Like, everything about it has changed and it takes me forever to try to get used to the controls and then the orientation and all of that. Did you experience that when you moved, when you shifted

from the PS2 to the PS4? Yeah, for sure. I grew up. Honestly, growing up, I didn't really play many video games. We did have a, we had an Xbox one when Xbox 360 came out. So, so we were, we were on the original halos. And then, and then we got the Xbox 360. When the newer Xbox 360 came out, we got the old one. And then vice versa, when the Xbox one came out, we got the, we finally got the Xbox one, but, so we were kind of, we're kind of behind the gaming curve a little bit,

but we still we still had fun growing up playing me and my brother are you know the biggest thing we always we love halo and especially halo too that was our shit and that was awesome yeah our friends came over we played the um multiplayer and just try to kill each other and then we play the the the um the campaign all that kind of stuff so um it wasn't huge was it huge growing up but i mean i i bought a uh actually i didn't buy my brother got it from a friend you've got a Xbox for me uh two years ago. And I've been, I've been on a Fortnite grind. I've been on the Tall Duty grind now. But it's definitely, it's definitely changed the graphics and just the layout and freaking how much space it takes up on a on a PlayStation or Xbox or whatever it is. It's crazy. Yeah,

absolutely. So have you thought about, you know, just from a personal branding standpoint, have you thought about like creating a Twitch account and like doing lives of you playing and and stuff like that and, you know, just kind of adding that near to your brand. Yeah, definitely thought about it. It's kind of hard right now since I don't really have a home base to kind of get that set up. So maybe once I moved into my house, I can get a little gaming room or get something set up to where I can be on Twitch. Or there's new platforms now where you can play with celebrities or local celebrities or for athletes or whatever it is. I forget the name of it, but get something like that going and kind of just have fun with it.

You know, I'm not here to win tournaments or anything like that, but, you know, if I get on Twitch or something like that, I'd be able to just have a fun stream, have an open conversation with the chat, all that kind of stuff. Absolutely. And so how are you when it comes to, you know, fans, right? Because like, let's face it, like, in Sandy, like everybody knows your name, right? Everybody knows that you're the guy that made it made it to the Chicago Bear. So like, what is that like and do you do to interact with fans that want to connect with you?

Like, are you on social media? Do you post content? I'm very curious about that. Yeah. I mean, I'm on social media. I'm on all platforms, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. But, you know, I'm not a huge social media. I'm more of a viewer than a poster.

But I do, I do try to post what I can in that aspect. You know, try to get some good game shots or videos or whatever it is. And, you know, in terms of like, like the fans, like if I'm, I feel like every time I go into Fred Meyer or like Walmart or whatever it's that, if I'm wearing a vever gear or if I'm wearing bears gear, people kind of put two and two together. And they're like, oh, I'm trying to all. And then they come up and say something, I'll talk to them. say hi. But if not, I'm just going to, you know, obviously just get my groceries and go.

That's good, man. Yeah, I think it's important, right? That, you know, people, when people look up to you, that you're cordial, that you're, you know, you're just, you're nice. You know, you hear a lot about people that are the opposite. And it's like, you know, at the end of the day, I think we're all human. We all go through things, right? I have trials and errors and ups and downs, you know. So that's awesome that that.

that's the type of guy that you are. And so what are some aspirations for you, you know, when when you're done like playing football in the NFL, right? Because I think that that's, you know, that's a super important topic, I think, for any professional athlete is to really think about, you know, life afterwards and what you're going to do, whether you're going to go into entrepreneurship or, you know,

whether you want to actually get a different job, you know. So what are some of those goals that you have for yourself? Yeah, I mean, I've always, I've always kind of thought about that after football. Maybe like going to work at Nike, you know, it's right in my backyard. It's still in the sports world. Hopefully I can be able to take what I've learned from the game and apparel aspect of that and maybe help help them be able to use it in their world. So I've always thought about maybe potentially working at Nike afterwards.

but if not, you know, maybe try to still work at Nike, but then also on top of that is try to come back and coach maybe not at the collegiate level, but definitely at the high school level. You know, maybe going back to my old high school or the central and coaching or wherever my kids end up going to high school coaching there and just kind of give back and help share the knowledge that I had and the experiences that I've been through and kind of share them with the kids coming up so that way they can get an idea of what of what you know it looks like with the what the NFL looks like and you know have hopefully make an impact on them that's awesome those are definitely some some great aspirations for sure and you know I have no doubt with the tenacity that

that I've learned about right I knew how you were on the field because you would run people over so yeah I'm curious so like who was it that you wanted to emulate your game after? Was there a particular, you know, hard nose running back that you looked at and you just said, you know what, I want to do that? Like, that's how I want to run. Yeah. I mean, um, growing up, uh, you know, obviously in the Pacific Northwest, you're either a 49ers fan or you're a Seahawks fan. And, uh, I was, I was a Seahawks fan. So growing up, yeah, yeah, for sure. Um, I loved watching Sean Alexander. You know, he was a bigger back, and he was tough, and he was big, fast, strong, and he could also run.

So, you know, I love to watch him growing up. And obviously, Adrian Peterson, you know, he's still in the league. If I ever get a chance to meet him, you know, I'm definitely going to introduce myself. And, you know, he was definitely one of the impacts of my game, for sure. Yeah, the audience can't see this, but can you see what I'm holding up, Ryan? Yeah. That's awesome. Sean Alexander Bobbler. Yeah. Sean Alexander McFarland Action Figure. I've had that.

Yeah, the action figure. Had that one forever. And of course, behind me, I've got, you know, I've got the Oregon helmet, but this is, this one's really important, the Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl helmet. So, hey, at least we have that, that synergy, right? We, we hit together on the collegiate end, but we're brothers. when it comes to the hawks. That's true, unless the bears are playing the hawks. That's true. Yeah, that is true. You can definitely pull for the actual team you're playing for.

Yeah, yeah. Well, listen, man, it's been great having you on the show and learning about your journey. And so if people listen to this, especially Nike, hey, Nike, if you're listening to this, he wants to work for you guys after the league. So hit up Ryan home. But so where can everybody, where can everybody find you?

What platform if, you know, people listen and they want to go give you a shout out or connect with you? Where's the best place to do that? Probably Instagram. You can, you can at me and all underscore 34. And I'll probably get back to that or on Twitter. Any one, anyone doesn't really matter. But I'd say the top one is Instagram for sure. So you guys want to reach out, tag me in a post.

post or DM me or something like that, that's the way to go. Awesome. Well, hey, I appreciate you coming on the Blaz Your Own Trail podcast, and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day. I appreciate it. Thanks, Jordan. Hey, everybody. I hope you enjoyed that episode with Ryan Knaw. Make sure to reach out and connect with him. He's super down to earth, a super cool guy, and follow his journey this year in the very interesting NFL season that is about to get. kicking off here in the next month or so. If you haven't subscribed to the show,

please subscribe and make sure you tell at least one new person about it. You know, that'll definitely help us move up in the rankings with iTunes so we can reach and impact more people. If you've been listening for a little while, but you haven't written a review, if you think it's worth five stars, go give us five stars, go write us a review again.

This is also going to help us move up so we can impact as many people, as possible. Thank you so much for listening and I will chat with you on the next episode. Hey, one last thing. Do not forget to go to carlotta Davis.com. She can help you elevate your fitness. She can help you with your wellness and she can also help you learn how to run a business. She's a million dollar earner with her current company. Got a lot of insight. So definitely go to the website, www. www.carlotta Davis.com.