Digital Social Hour - From Super Bowl to Startup: TJ Ward's Journey | TJ Ward DSH #814

Episode Date: October 20, 2024

Join the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly as we dive into the incredible journey of TJ Ward, from Super Bowl champion to successful entrepreneur. 🏈✨ Discover how TJ navigated the transition from the NFL to launching his own business ventures, and learn about the valuable lessons he's carried from the locker room to the boardroom. Packed with valuable insights, this episode reveals the potential challenges athletes face post-retirement and how TJ is paving new paths with his sports agency and youth foundation. Don't miss out on this inspiring conversation! Tune in now and watch as TJ shares his unique experiences and insider secrets. 📺 Hit that subscribe button and stay tuned for more eye-opening stories on the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly! 🚀 Join the conversation, and be part of an exclusive community that brings you closer to the stories behind the headlines. #denverbroncos #informationalseries #clevelandbrowns #businesstakeaways #businesstakeaways CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:25 - How TJ Contacted Damon John 01:04 - Transitioning from NFL to Business 02:09 - NFL Career Longevity Issues 06:01 - Super Bowl Journey 09:07 - Challenges of Playing Safety 10:28 - Experience with Peyton Manning 12:56 - Undefeated High School Career 14:05 - College Football Journey 16:31 - NFL Draft Experience 18:39 - Starting a Sports Agency 22:11 - Your Philanthropic Foundation 23:18 - Will You Participate in Boxing? 24:26 - Experiences with Fights 25:28 - Where to Find TJ Ward 25:51 - Thanks for Joining Us APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [e-mail] GUEST: TJ Ward https://www.instagram.com/bossward43/ LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kick off an exciting football season with BetMGM, an official sportsbook partner of the National Football League. Yard after yard, down after down, the sportsbook, born in Vegas, gives you the chance to take action to the end zone and celebrate every highlight reel play. And as an official sportsbook partner of the NFL, BetMGM is the best place to fuel your football fandom on every game day. With a variety of exciting features, BetMGM offers you plenty of seamless ways to jump straight onto the gridiron and to embrace peak sports action. Ready for another season of gridiron glory? What are you waiting for? Get off the bench, into the huddle, and head for the end zone all season long.

Visit BetMGM.com for terms and conditions. Must be 19 years of age or older. Ontario only. Please gamble responsibly. Gambling problem? For free assistance, call the Connex Ontario helpline at 1-866-531-2600. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. A bunch of guys that were older, so I feel like I was able to learn a lot.

Right. Whereas they're coming in now when there's few guys over the age of 30 in the locker room. That's crazy. Yeah, it is crazy. It's a bunch of kids, basically. Yeah. It's like the kids teaching. I wouldn't say the blind leading the blind, but it's definitely kids learning from other kids. Yeah, they're lacking that experience because when I was growing up, it was common to have people in their 30s playing.

Guys, we got a former NFL player here today, TJ Ward. Thanks for coming on, man. No problem. Yeah, we met at Damon's event. It was a cool event. Yeah, very cool, man. Pleasure being there. Yeah, I got a lot of value from where you were at the event last night, too.

Yes, sir. Yeah, I met some good people there, man. Damon was super connected. Man, super connected, great networking, a lot of great spirits in there, man. So it was good to meet a lot of new people. Yeah, how did you get in touch with Damon? My PR, Ms. Lila Chrisan, she told me about the event. She has some friends that's within his team and told me to come on out.

And, you know, I'm glad I did. Nice. It was a great night. Yeah, it's cool to see you transition into the business space from being an NFL athlete for eight years, right? Yeah, absolutely. It's not an easy transition, but it's definitely challenging, and it's something I always wanted to do, even from a younger age,

is to be involved in business, own my own business, after I retired and hoped for a long career and i played eight years so i'm very blessed to to have done that and won a super bowl so um transitioning to a new goals and um achievements nice did you have a dream business you wanted to start growing up no i didn't know exactly but always wanted to be involved in real estate. Somehow my mom was a real estate agent growing up, so I seen the work she put in in that lane. And my dad also was an entrepreneur. He owned his own custodial company.

Oh, nice. So I've always saw that entrepreneur spirit from my parents, what it takes to be an entrepreneur from them. And I want to put it in place myself. That's sick, man. Yeah. Eight years in the league. The average career I looked up is three and a third years. Yep. Why do you think it's so short? You know, there's so much turnover every year. There's so many guys in the league and they're coming in younger, stronger, faster. So, you know, that the older guys got to kind of make a way. But at the same time, I think it's kind of doing a disconcern to the younger players

because they really don't have as many veterans in the league when they come in, opposed to when I was playing, I had a bunch of guys that were older, so I feel like I was able to learn a lot. Whereas they're coming in now when there's few guys over the age of 30 in the locker room. That's crazy. Yeah, it is crazy. It's a bunch of kids, basically. Yeah, it's like the kids teaching.

I wouldn't say the blind leading the blind, but it's definitely kids learning from other kids. Yeah, they're lacking that experience because when I was growing up, it was common to have people in their 30s playing. Yeah, for sure like when i came in the league we probably had maybe i thought some guys were older than they were but that was you know the energy you know that we had it felt like 10 to 15 guys over the age of 30 yeah at least you know at least it felt like that yeah i remember on sports center they, they would always say when people hit 30, that was like a big deal in the NFL. Yeah, and I think as the years go by, that number may be even getting lower. Damn.

Especially for certain positions like running back, it's almost like 26. Holy crap, that's so young. Yeah, because they're coming in at 29. I came in at 23. I think 22 may have been the average age back in 2010 damn for running back now no just in general oh in general like coming in i think now the age is probably closer to um 21 holy crap yeah so as a safety if you're in your 30s you can't really keep up right because you you're not as quick as your 20s no i mean no you can it's just the um taboo of it you know of being 30 it's kind of just

you know a unsaid you know negative um thing that goes with being that you know you I mean some players may lose something at that age but not everyone wow you know some guys get better yeah so when you felt like in your last year or two did you feel like you were still honestly i felt towards the end i was in some of the best shape of my life wow you know my last year in tampa i was in great shape coming out of camp with denver because i got released right after camp i had pulled my hamstring but um that was something that was chronic every year i started yeah i pulled my hamstring, but that was something that was chronic every year. Pulling your hamstring?

Yeah, I pulled my hamstring. Kick off an exciting football season with BetMGM, an official sportsbook partner of the National Football League. Yard after yard, down after down, the sportsbook, Born in Vegas, gives you the chance to take action to the end zone and celebrate every highlight reel play. And as an official sports book partner of the NFL,

BetMGM is the best place to fuel your football fandom on every game day. With a variety of exciting features, BetMGM offers you plenty of seamless ways to jump straight onto the gridiron and to embrace peak sports action. Ready for another season of gridiron glory? What are you waiting for? Get off the bench, into the huddle, and head for the end zone all season long. Visit BetMGM.com for terms and conditions.

Must be 19 years of age or older. Ontario only. Please gamble responsibly. Gambling problem? For free assistance, call the Connex Ontario helpline at 1-866-531-2600. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. In Cleveland one year, I was, I think I was 20, maybe 25, 26. And every year after that, I pulled it during camp just because of the stress of camp.

Damn. But it never, you know, hindered me during the season. And that camp, it got pulled again. But, you know, during the season when I went to Tampa, I was in great shape wow so just politics got involved i guess and pretty much damn i wonder how many athletes that happens to more than not that's scary man because it should be just skill right shouldn't be that you know what i mean that's why i quit basketball dude because the coach's son was on the team he was trash yeah most yeah you know how it is most sports aren't what they should be like yeah those instances when you're like you know when things seem obvious

and they aren't yeah yeah then it's for a good reason that must be so annoying in sports though because you literally know you're better than the guy starting and you're not playing yeah they had me alternating with um a couple guys that year in Tampa. That was really when I felt the full grunt of football politics. Yeah. In the NFL, at least. Yeah, because you're coming off a Super Bowl win. You were the starting safety, and now you're second, third. Well, yeah, about a year removed or so.

That's pretty crazy. I want to talk about that Super Bowl run. Yeah, for sure. Did you have a good idea when the playoffs started started that that was going to happen or was it yeah man when the playoffs started we we we knew we were going to be hard to stop yeah or you know um hard to get by because defensively you know that was our mindset like we could stop anybody and you know for one game four quarters we could beat anybody with you know, with the guys we had. And that was our mindset for all, you know, every game of the playoffs.

Were you guys number one in defense that year? Yep. Nice. Yep. What was the team you played in the finals? We played Pittsburgh the first conference game or conference. And then we played – oh, yeah, we only played two because we had home field.

We played Pittsburgh and New England. So Big Ben and then Brady? Yep. Wow. Going against Brady, that must have been – that's an iconic matchup, right? Yeah, we had them in the regular season. And that game almost went to OT, I believe. It was snowing.

I got injured that game, actually. I got, like, the first series. I mean, if you're playing in the snow, I'd imagine you'd get injured. I got a high ankle sprain. Jeez. Under the pile doing dirty work. And, yeah, somebody landed on it. I don't know what happened, but me and another guy on my team

got hurt the same play we both got carted to the locker jeez what are they doing in that dog pile man i don't know man probably some chief shots you know knowing the patriots so i missed most of all that game and then it was a high angle sprint so i was out you know a few weeks and i came back right around the time we like the end of the season, going into the playoffs. I got healthy and Edelman comes down later in the game and cracks me. And the ball was like away and it re-injured my ankle. So I missed the back end of that game too. Damn. like away and it re-injured my angle so i missed the back end of that game too damn so we went in

man we went to overtime got a last minute stop and um pulled it out pulled it on that's dope were the patriots the toughest matchup you've ever had to go against no i mean is it because we beat them both times, it was tough. But, like, we lost to a lot of teams that were not a lot of teams, certain teams that I think were a little bit more challenging. But in the grand scheme of things, there was more on the line with the Patriots. But do you still think about any games or plays that haunt you? Yeah, the play I got injured on. I wish I wouldn't have dove in that pile or certain things like that.

Nah, man. You've accepted it? Yeah, I've accepted it. It is what it is. Always look at it as certain things. If you change them, it doesn't mean they're going to have a positive outcome. I feel that way. So you might as well just take it how it is.

Yeah, because you can't hear it. It's right here right now. Yeah. There's always that debate about what the hardest position is to play. Do you think safety is? It's definitely one of them. I wouldn't say the, but it's definitely one of them. I think it's top three.

You have quarterback, corner, and I think safety is right up there just because of the cerebralness you have to have along with the ability to play the run game and the pass you're guarding receivers and tight ends and tackling running backs you know at any moment you know on any play you're doing so many things so yeah I think that's why it's one of the hardest positions and you got to read the offense right yeah for sure man you're playing mind games with the quarterback you know you're disguising you're trying to you know hold the integrity of the defense but still holding your responsibilities as well right so you know communicating with the entire back end linebackers d-line corners you know if iitzing, I got to be talking to the D-line.

If I'm doing a certain other thing, I'm talking to the linebackers, corners. So you're really communicating with everybody. You're the quarterback of the defense. Wow. That's interesting. And are you memorizing the plays of the offense so you know what's going to happen? Yeah, we all are. You know, we all are.

But like you say, safety, you're relaying things in the pass game and in the run game. Wow. You've played on quite a few teams. Do you have a favorite? My favorite team was Denver for sure. Win the championship there, the best experience. That was with Peyton? Yep.

What were your conversations like with him in the locker room? I like to pick Peyton's brain you know because he's seen it all yeah and but um more feedback on what i'm doing and what i could do better what he sees what are you know some tendencies that i'm giving away am i disguising a certain way can he tell what i'm doing you know things like that um ways to get better you know help the rest of the team that's actually interesting because he's talking to you. You're a defensive player on the team. Yeah, for sure. And he comes vice versa.

You know, Peyton asked me, you know, TJ, what did you see? Did I give this away? Was my check too early? You know, certain things like that. So having him to bounce those questions off of and to have him even ask me those same questions was cool. Yeah, that's dope because in my head i'm just watching the game and i don't even think the offense talks to the defense you know what i mean

i feel like they're just separate units oh nah man we got we're super cool you gotta be it's a whole team so you know just because you guys have different responsibilities different um tasks you still have to come together and make it one. Yeah, that makes sense. You know, the knowledge is to be shared and make everyone better. Yeah. Were you always a safety growing up? I played corner, actually. I played corner in safety.

So I played corner in high school. Actually, no, I played safety in high school. I played corner when I first got to college. Had some injuries in my knee, tore my meniscus a couple times and um that's really what made me move back to safety was um it was less stress on my knee yeah meniscus tears nasty ones yeah man that was you know what I broke my knee in high school my senior year and that's why I didn't get a scholarship and i ended up walking on that organ but the meniscus tears were the most like um the lingering injuries that i had like they just i just felt like they took so long to get better and for the atrophy of my leg to recover um it was just it was more of a nuisance injury oh for sure so long it was just irritating

yeah my mom tore hers playing tennis and she still feels it 10 years later man yeah i still feel it too crazy yeah that's a nasty one because you don't ever grow it back right yeah that cartilage it's gone gone damn on your wikipedia it said you never lost a game in high school is that true that's true that's nuts man yeah it was um 151 games of course i didn't play all 151 but yeah you know until the end of my senior year was the last team to keep the streak alive that's what it was called the streak delisar high school that's nuts and they lost the next year when you left yeah first game first game you must have given them the group chat first game we were like yeah they had so much pressure right man you know what they had so much pressure i'm not gonna

lie that team they had so much pressure on them just because they weren't as talented as we were in the past and it was kind of like a foreseen thing that this team would lose. Yeah, it was going to happen. It was first game. Did they get smacked? Like, was it close? Oh, man, they got beat up. Oh, they got beat.

I think the other team scored on the first play. Jeez. Yeah, like the opening kickoff. Like he ran it back there? Oh, that's a tough way to come back. Opening kickoff, I think it was a touchdown, but yeah. Damn. From there, you went to Oregon.

Did you play all four years? I was on the team all four years. Okay, so you didn't start the first? I didn't start the first. Well, actually, it's a pretty up-and-down story. I came in, walked on, like I said, and I was playing a little bit entering camp as a walk-on freshman so it was kind of like um a teeter of if I was going to play as a true like get some time maybe on special teams back up at you know corner then I had a minor knee injury that set me down a few weeks

so it was like now now that he's injured he's too far behind the curve red shirt so came in red shirt still um trying to get my scholarship and I figured if I'm starting there's no way I could not have scholarship right I'm starting so that was my goal that camp camp was to earn that starting position. So I was battling another guy, another two guys for that position, ended up kind of winning, leaving spring ball. It was kind of one I wouldn't say was my position yet. But going into camp, that fall camp, it was pretty much my position. Then that's when I tore my meniscus. Damn.

So that set me down pretty much my redshirt freshman year, going into my redshirt sophomore year. And I was dealing with that injury for two years. Fast forward to my junior year, safety position is open. I win the position. Have a great junior season. You know, have an outstanding junior season, if you ask me. Yeah.

And I was going to leave that year, but I didn't feel the NFL was going to give me credit for just one year. You know, I was going to say, oh, he was hurt two years. He played one year. Yeah. You know, so I figured I'd come back and take the chance of going first round. That was my goal was to go first round win the pack 10 win the rose bowl possibly natty you know i had goals for my senior year and you know i came back and i'm glad i came

back you know even though i got hurt first first game of my senior year high ankle spring yeah um i finished the year strong had a great you, pre-draft period. Did well at the combine. Did well at my pro day. And I got drafted 38 overall. Nice. You know, missing half my senior year. That's impressive. Yeah.

Did you know you were going to – how does the draft – because I know NBA, they invite you to train and stuff. Is it like that with football? Same thing. Yeah, I did a few workouts. I did a workout with the Browns, the Chiefs, the Rams. Took a visit to Baltimore to see the Ravens, the Chiefs as well, and the Browns. And, you know, the Browns were pretty much the favorite the whole time

and showed the most interest in me. And, you know, at the end of the day, we're a team of draft men. Nice. So do they tell you they're going to do it, or you just kind of – Yeah, I mean, if you're there, the Browns tell you, like, well, they told me, like, we're going do it or you just kind of yeah i mean if you're there the browns tell you like well they told me they like we're gonna come get you because i had rob ryan man shout out to rob ryan d coordinator he was cool as hell he's a real one man real one he's like man i'm gonna come get you in the second round i love it i will come get you in the first but they won't let me so you know and to the to his word man they came and got me in the second round um even

Kansas City they were like took the visit you know if we don't take Eric Berry with our first pick if he's gone we're gonna take you in a second and they took Eric Berry so wow what a story dude so you got to pay your own tuition in college the first few years? For the first year. That shit ain't cheap. No, it's not cheap. Damn, man. So, you know, I had to hurry up and get this scholarship. Yeah. No time to waste.

Wow. I did not know that. But, yeah, that was the first thing, actually, I paid off was my student loans. That's probably smart because if you still at it right now, it'd be like, dude, the interest on that shit. I always hear, like, you know, what is the first thing you bought with your check? Some old houses, cars, whatever. Yeah. It's like, man, I don't never hear nobody say loan.

Yeah. A lot of players blow their money, right? I heard that. I mean, most of them, they come in on scholarships, so. No, I mean. Oh, after? Yeah. Oh, I wouldn't say most players.

I think there's a handful of players that blow their money, but I think the statistics are pretty much on the size of guys handling their money pretty decent. That first big contract you had, what's going through your head? Did your life change? You know what? No, the money is not even really that hit me first. It's the achievement of reaching my lifelong goal of being drafted. That's the first thing that hits you. Honestly, I didn't even think about the money initially until later, much later. That's impressive, man, because I feel like most people would see that dollar on paper and be like, holy crap.

Yeah, I mean mean that definitely comes later but the initial response is you know i've been drafted um i guess you are thinking i'm in a better place i'm in a position where you know we aren't struggling we don't have to struggle you know depending on your situation um there's gonna be very very less struggle with the situation I'm in. So, but no, it's definitely achieving that goal. I love that. I want to dive into your sports agency and why you started that and what the mission is with that company.

Yeah, I started that because coming off, you know, being a player, I felt that player, you know, representation is very important from the standpoint of an ex-player and being in those seats, those shoes, and trying to maximize guys' potential, making sure that they're doing every and all the things that they need to do to become the best pros during their careers and post-retirement. Yeah, a lot of people need guidance because they don't know anyone. Yeah, man, there's a lot of people coming in from you from a lot of different angles.

Even retiring is a lot to deal with. Like, I'm dealing with things that, you know, I could use coaching on, you know, dealing with this. So no matter where you are in your career, there's going to be things that you're going to need help with, guidance with, and you're just going to be inexperienced. Yeah, I bet retiring is, people don't really talk about it, but your whole life was dedicated to football. So when you retired, you must have felt kind of lost for a bit, right? Yeah, it was, you know, I had a child right in the middle of retirement.

So I was dealing with two, you know two pretty drastically new things in my life. So that was something that put me in a space kind of just wanting to be isolated for a little bit. Wow. Yeah, because your whole life, like I said, you're committed to football, and that's what brought in the money and everything. So then you retire and you want to provide for the family, but you don't know how, right? Yeah, yeah. It's just a lot of thinking. No, I was well off. I was good, you know, but I'm not a stagnant person. So sitting around something I knew I wasn't going to be able to do.

So what do I want to do? Do I want to get into coaching? You know, do I want to sit down for a while and just kick back and be retired? Don't do nothing. Raise my son. You know, do I want to get in front office? Do I want to be on TV? You know, do I want to get away from the sport entirely and get in a whole nother field and do that? You know, so there's a lot of things that cross your mind and thinking about what you want to do in your future but I'm always being a person of you know giving back to those coming behind me in in all aspects whether it's professionally um monetarily you know with my foundation time so I think just helping those that come you know, without the knowledge and experience that you already, you know, have had or have gone through is very important. Absolutely.

I want to talk about the foundation. What exactly do you provide with that? Our foundation, the Warboy Project, I say ours, me and my brother, Teron. It's really a family organization. Everyone's involved, my mom, my dad, sister, but it's all about youth empowerment, youth development, just making sure that the youth is guided in a direction and, you know, allowed access to things that they wouldn't otherwise. So, you know, we have programs, mentorship program.

We have a scholarship for private schools and high school in the name of Terrence Kelly, which was my close friend from high school that got killed our senior year and who was supposed to go to Oregon as well. So this scholarship is in his name camps you know football camps barbecues symposiums things like that just to educate them on different you know life goals and you know challenges yeah so cool man having pursued the path of a professional athlete with your kids is that something you want them to pursue? Yeah, definitely.

And definitely get them involved in other things that aren't the typical sports from where they come from. It's not football, basketball. I'm involved in golf. It's a big hobby of mine right now. Nice. Educating them on different areas that they can be successful in than the typical

things that are you know put in front of them nice what about boxing you ever get a get an offer there uh nah i haven't got into boxing i got hands though yeah my boy runs those uh boxing is definitely something as far as training and exercise, nutrition, I'm interested in. I've done it training-wise, but never competitive. Dude, we'll get you a fight, man. Just don't end up like Nate Robinson. Oh, man. Man.

I promise I won't end up like that. Dude, I looked up to him so much, man. He was such an athletic person in the NBA and then knocked out. You know, sometimes it happens to the best of us. You get in a lot of fights growing up? I got in my fair share. Damn. For sure.

So you had like some temper stuff? Nah, not necessarily. I'm more of a in defense fighter. Oh. Yeah. So you would protect your boys, step in there? Yeah, protect either my loved ones or myself. Yeah, I'm not really

the starting a fight type of person yeah but i'll definitely finish it i feel that i've never been in one man no to be honest yeah yeah man you don't need to you look like a nice guy i don't i don't think anybody come up bothering you yeah just a podcaster man doing my thing it's the um the guys that be talking trash on the podcast that usually seem to get themselves in trouble so oh yeah yeah i had one on the one the one yesterday man that was an interesting one he tried to get you in his drama yeah i'm like keep me out of this brought you in this beef man i don't do that drama now nah dude i don't do the drama i know people love that social media drama but i just stay out of it yeah man, man. I'm cool with the drama.

Drama free. Yeah. Go the other way. I'm cool. Love that, man. Well, anything you want to close off with or promote? No, man. Just the player above sports group is the name of the agency.

Just check us out. Warboyproject.org. You can find us there on Instagram as well twitter you know all the social platforms um yeah that's it i'll link it in the video thanks for coming on man yeah appreciate you having me yeah thanks for watching guys see you tomorrow