In Search Of Excellence - Arik Armstead: Jacksonville Jaguars & How to Spend Your First NFL Check | E106

Episode Date: March 26, 2024

You're listening to part two of my awesome conversation with Arik Armstead. Arik is a star defensive lineman NFL football player for the San Francisco 49ers and a dedicated philanthropist. He has been nominated for the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year Award for four consecutive seasons, recognizing his on-field excellence and impactful community work. Time stamps:00:58 The first contractGot a 3-million-dollar checkBought a house for his parents 05:08 Managing money and votingManaging big money and choosing the right advisersInvesting money to create wealth and secure the futureLearning form Randall’s filling out a voting ballot 14:29 Advice to kids that want to be like himNFL and NBA statisticsFight for your dream and be realistic about your situationUse opportunities to better your life, don’t focus only on sports 19:24 The story of Brock PurdyThe underdog who made it to the topArik doesn’t understand the hate towards himBrock is a very good team player and great at improvising 22:24 Ass-kicked by the Detroit LionsThe atmosphere in the locker roomThe moments of failure that built their team 25:18 Playing in the Super BowlMost watched Super Bowl in historyReally prepared and focused on the game 27:36 Extreme preparation and top 3 ingredients of successOwes his success to preparation3 ingredients of successOwnership over what success truly means for youSacrificeDetermination 30:28 The work-life balanceIn season, it’s toughHis wife is a physician and has her own careerThey have 3 childrenNever feels like he’s doing enough 34:38 Randall’s funny storiesRandal’s being mixed up with Jimmy Garoppolo’s dadPlaying with Tom Brady in the BahamasTwo best moments with Kliff Kingsbury 40:50 Fill in the blanks for excellenceThe biggest lesson I've learned in my life isAnything worth having is worth working forMy number one professional goal isReach my full potentialMy number one personal goal isTo create a happy, healthy, loving home for my familyAnd more 46:58 Philanthropic workOne of the most philanthropic people in professional sportsNominated for Walter Payton Man of the Year 4 timesHis organization is AAP, the Arms Academic ProjectBelieves that education equity would solve many societal issuesThey partner with other organizationsFocusing on literacy with elementary school studentsOffering STEM education to middle school studentsCollege exploration with the high school studentsSponsors:Sandee | Bliss: BeachesWant to Connect? Reach out to us online!Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

A lot of my best plays I've made in my career were just from like me watching film and preparing. I knew what they were doing, even in the Super Bowl. So I think it's all preparation for me and how I play. Like I said earlier, I wish I would have got out, did more non-football things. I still made it, but I still feel like I should have done those things because even where I'm at right now, it's like it's not going to be forever. I would say work hard, but be realistic, like realize the opportunity that you do have and take advantage of it. Don't miss out on that opportunity to, you know, better your life. you're listening to part two of my awesome conversation with eric armstead the star defensive lineman of the san francisco 49ers if you haven't yet listened to part one be sure to

check that one out first without further ado here's part two with the amazing eric armstead so you get your first contract four years 9.8 million, $5.4 million signing bonus, average contract, $2,460,000 a year. You ever motivated by money? And did you buy yourself something really sweet and nice and say, man, I've made it now. This is incredible. I wasn't motivated by money. Money, I think money is definitely a motivating factor for everyone in the world.

It's bullshit when people tell me. I'm not motivated by money. By the way, those are the people you don't trust. Yeah, I mean, money definitely isn't everything, but a certain level basic of like food, water, and shelter. And you need money to do that. So definitely was a huge blessing. Getting that first contract, I remember my first check was my signing bonus. It was two installments.

So the first one was $3 million. So I got a check for $3 million, I thought, but it was really 1.5 so it was 3 million and then they did the tax lines and then on the bottom it said 1.5 well did you buy yourself anything nice I really didn't know no watch no I didn't get nothing you just said I'm putting this in the bank saving saving it for a rainy day. I really didn't know what to do with it. Yeah, I helped my parents get a house, but I didn't really, and then I, you know,

got some like some clothes, got some clothes for like the season, just cause like, you know, know this just to look you know more presentable uh but I really didn't um splurge on anything my rookie year was it a dream come true to buy your parents a house that would be an incredible feeling yeah definitely definitely was you know did they cry um I don't remember did you cry no I didn't remember. Did you cry? No, I didn't cry. I didn't cry.

But definitely, you know, crazy moment, crazy experience, and just realizing how blessed you are to be in that position to be able to do something like that. Right. So then you became incredibly blessed. 2020 rolls around. Five five year contract extension, $90 million, 48.5 million guaranteed, 17 and a half million dollar signing bonus. Did your life change?

You fly in private now, you know, you driving a Bugatti? Nah, no Bugattis. Did life change? You driving a Bugatti? No, no Bugattis. Their life changed. Definitely a lot more comfortable. I'd say. Definitely a lot more comfortable. And the sense of like decision making as well, too. Just like, you know, I'm not by any means the wealthiest

person but you're pretty fucking wealthy I'm doing I'm doing I'm doing solid man I'm blessed but uh yeah it's definitely life-changing that's what you that's what I have worked for that's what all the sacrifice and, you know, injuries and having to deal with so many different things to get to that point throughout my career and being rewarded for that and the type of player that I've become, being rewarded for that was definitely, was definitely special. And, you know, I always wanted to, even as a kid, I always wanted to be a provider for my future wife and kids. And so, you know, creating wealth for my kids and my family that I started and making a better life for them was, greatest thing, the greatest part about that. And that's something I dreamed of and have worked hard to do.

I remember right after you got your signing bonus, we had a lot of conversations about what I think you should do with the money. And it was basically find the best managers to manage your money. So many bad apples around professional athletes who are unsophisticated. What was that process like? I mean, you got a ton of people now. Oh, you know, Eric. I mean, they were watching you anyway, right?

Because they knew that you're up for a big deal. You had 10 sacks the previous season, right? So your stock had gone way up and people were talking about big money. So at what point did all these managers come to you and start kind of flocking to you? And then I know we talked, I know you got a lot of advice from different people, but what was that process like? Yeah, I think, you know, getting that amount of money comes with a lot. You know, it's not the same. Can't have the, I think your attention to detail

and you know, your kind of system and process got to even increase a little more. So just vetted, you know, a lot of different people. To be honest, like I didn't really like the, I didn't really like the people who just work with athletes. I didn't, you know, wanted to work with someone who works with people where I'm really trying to get to, you know, later in life.

And so yeah, vetted a lot of people. I know, I mean, you talked about, you know, just a Vanguard or, you know, just, you know, having a solid, you know, stock portfolio. And that's all that's the main thing of what everyone does. And it's not a whole lot more. You know, that's the bulk of what you do. But yeah, I found some good people that I've been working with. Yeah. I mean, we talked about investing in the index fund, S&P 500. And, you know, the thing that most people don't realize is over a 30 year period,

no one beats the S&P 500. I think there's two or three people alive. We had that conversation, Warren Buffett, but you would have had to be randomly meeting him in Nebraska in 1963, right? And it's not going to, lightning is not going to strike you. It's not going to strike me. And we talked about the value of compounding, which is really the real way to create wealth, put aside a lot of money, and here you are.

You're blessed. You got, I think, after tax, and I'm only going to mention this because you've been very forthright about giving your checks online and explaining how it works. Everyone knows, Google how much I make. It's public, which sucks probably, but you get $10 million when you're 26 years old, you just put it away and put it in uh index fund you know that's going to grow to two or three hundred million dollars if you don't touch it by the time you're you know 60 years old and that doesn't even include the you know the salary that that uh you're making so um i think it's really important to educate people about money, athletes, non-athletes, because you're really talking about your financial future.

And like you said, very important to think about future family. I made a bunch of money when I was 30 years old and I was planning for my future. Actually, I was 33 years old when our company went public, 31 years old when our company went public. 31 years old when our company went public. When our stock closed on the first day of trading, our company was worth $14.4 billion. I said, holy shit, I'm looking on a bunch of money, paper money by the way.

It's not real. I had planned for people to help me with my money, even though I was already financially sophisticated. I still wanted some help. But thankfully, I got a bunch of help. And I just think it's important. I was thinking about kids that I didn't have. You can do things from a financial planning point of view that we've talked about before

as well. And I'm glad I had smart people around me who are more experienced than me. I think that's really important. Yeah, I would say for sure, like having a liquidity event like that, that's real similar to being a professional athlete. It's like you get a lot of money when you're young. It's like, all right, what do I do with it now?

It's scary. Yeah, it's definitely scary. And I would say at that time, I wasn't, you you know why I feel like I need advisors for me I'm not I don't have that you know that level of sophistication yet you know I might be able to get to that point that's to that point at some time but make sure that you're you know with the right people and one thing I learned is like you know know, the more money you have, it opens up to

another level of, you know, services and people that you can even work with too. Like a lot of, you know, the top advisors and stuff wouldn't have necessarily been like they got minimums and stuff like that. And so it's like seeing what it takes and why that is, is because seeing what it takes to truly serve that amount of wealth at like a high level. You know, it takes it takes time. It takes you know, you can't be spread too thin working with too many people. And so having the access to,

you know, more knowledge that I've been able to like pass down to people who may not even have that that like access about how that process should really work or how that should really go and I've learned you know a lot more things um throughout the years but interesting story I don't I didn't even tell you this but I love this story by the way I didn't tell you I haven't even tell you this, but I love this story, by the way. I didn't tell you. I haven't even told you this. But when I stayed at your house, I saw you filling out your voting ballot. And this this this, you know, could be a great discussion, but it's like I had never seen someone do that. Like you actually were taking the time to but you know I've been to like the um like registration like I've been to like a poll or whatever you call them before but

I had never seen someone in their home like taking the time to like really like and that opened up my eyes too and like I started getting like the ballots to my house and like reading over them. So I never told you that before, but I had never, I had never seen anybody do that before. What was the lesson there that I wanted to research and understand what I was doing, if I was going to vote for something or not, vote for something?

That and just how different communities decide to, you know, for whatever reason, importance, the time, of like, you know, my vote, like really, like it really matters versus like, oh, I'm just one of, you know, millions of votes. Like it's not going to matter really if I do it or not. And you took you took the time to do it. So I did that to the time. Like, it's hard, bro. I actually came with an idea from going through that process. But it's hard, bro. So that's the time like it's hard bro actually came with an idea from going through that process but it's hard bro so like that's the idea we gotta talk offline okay we'll talk offline yeah you know i i think i'm very proud to be an american citizen i i'm grateful every day that

i'm here we live in the greatest country on earth. It's a democracy. You can do whatever you want here and it doesn't matter where you're born, where you come from, what neighborhood. This is unlimited what you can do. And I think about on a regular basis, think about all these people who are born into terrible conditions, dictatorships. I'm just very grateful so I do take my vote seriously I don't vote on all of the the bills that come forward some of them are just not interesting to me but I vote on most of them and it's very complicated by the way how they present it sometimes so I actually will go online if I don't get something and I do it on a regular basis you know what what the hell does it say it's way too complicated and if I don't understand it I'm guessing that a lot of other people don't get something and I do it on a regular basis, you know, what what the hell does it say? It's way too complicated

And if I don't understand it, I'm guessing that a lot of other people don't understand as well And that's the same way I felt when I was going through the process. I was like if I don't understand this Ain't no way like the people I know Where they come from they know it and understand it, right? So they're making decisions based on negative advertisements on TV negative biased advertising. All right. Let's talk about when we're kids. There are millions of young kids out there who idolize professional athletes like you. And somebody asks them what they want to do when they're older.

They say they want to play football in the NFL or NBA or some other sport. These are amazing dreams. I want to go over some numbers and start with the NBA. There are 30 teams, and each team can have 15 players on their active roster, which equates to 450 players. There are roughly 500,000 high school boys basketball players in the United States at any one given time. Of these, roughly 16,000 will go on to play at a college level, a number that includes D1, D2, and D3. Of these 16,000, only 110 will ever play in at least one NBA game. That's a 1 in 3,333% chance, or 0.03% of getting there.

Now let's look at professional football. There are 32 teams in the NFL. Each team has 53 players on its roster for a total of 1,696 players. There are 1,093, 234 high school football players in the United States, and 6.5% of these, or 71,060 will play in college. Of these, only 1.2% or 853 people are drafted into the NFL, 0.07%. The sum of all this is that tens of millions of people want and try to become professional athletes, but only a few thousand actually make it. We're going to talk about Brock Purdy next in a minute, but before we do, what's your best advice to the tens of millions of kids or even college athletes

who want to play professional sports but aren't predestined to do so like you, who still want to beat the odds and be part of the 1% of 1% who make it? What is my advice to them? Yeah. Don't let anybody tell you what you can't do. So if you have a dream,

I would fight for it, work hard, protect it, try to obtain that dream. But also, be realistic about your situation. Sometimes your blessing is just college.

But, like you were blessed to get to that point. It might not be that you're going to be a pro, but your blessing was college. And if you are so consumed and not being realistic with your situation of being a pro, being a pro, being a pro, and not being realistic about what is the actual prospects for you, then you're going to waste your blessing of being in college, and you're going to let that go past. Like I said earlier, like I wish I would have got out, did more non-football things. And I, you know, quote unquote, made it like I still made it, but I still feel like I should have done those things because even where I'm at right now, it's like it's not going to be forever.

I should have took advantage of those opportunities more so I would say work hard but be realistic like realize the opportunity that you do have and take advantage of it and don't try to don't miss out on that opportunity the the environment you're in, the situation you're in, opportunity to, you know, better your life for, don't let that go past for trying to get a blessing that might not, you know, be for you. So, I mean, it's very, it's very like situational, like it's tough because it's like i feel like that is a lot on the people around the ecosystem the coaches the universities these people who are around these kids to not allow them

to be so sports just sports sports sports sports because it does benefit the people that they're around, but most oftentimes it doesn't benefit the player because, like you said, statistics show that that's not going to be a reality for most. And kids get in this limbo of like, dang, what do I do now? Like, you told me to be all in. You told me that I needed to do all these things to be the best player I could be. When in the end, that just served the people around you. It didn't necessarily serve you.

We got to talk about Brock Purdy. For people watching the show who are not pro football fans, there's seven rounds of the draft. Last guy chosen, Mr. Irrelevant. That's the title. I mean, they sort of have a party for that guy every year, never going to make it in the league. You got Brock Purdy, who's, I think, three or four on the depth chart.

So what that means is you got your starter, you've got your backup player, and there's usually a player or two before. They all get hurt, and here's this guy unheralded and wasn't supposed to make it. I mean, none of these guys make it in the league ever. And here he is, one of the best players in the NFL. He's stuck on a contract that pays him $800K a year, can't re-up until the end of next year because of collective bargaining rules. Is this the greatest story in professional football for the last five or ten years?

I mean, I love this guy. I root for him every week. The underdog. I was an underdog. And I root for the underdog. Great story, and tell us something about him that we don't know. I think it is definitely a great story. You know, I don't understand the hate that he gets.

You know, he was the last pick of the draft, so anything he does over, I mean, like making the team was a success. So anything he does over that, it's like, you know, amazing. And so I don't understand like why people, um, have been hating on him, but you know, Brock is, Brock is one of a kind. Uh feel like how he carries himself, his presence, his calmness, but also at the same time, he's reserved, but he knows when to be assertive and also be in command as well too and um you know i think what makes him special is is uh you know being able to you know take what kyle wants him to do kyle shannon is a coach for the people watching listening who don't know take what kyle wants for him to do or take Kyle's scheme and being able to execute

that at a high level, but also being able to improvise and make plays that weren't necessarily like schemed up. And that's what all the receivers have said is like, you know, in the past, it was like, all right, if I was running a route, I knew I wasn't gonna get the ball. But with Brock, it's like, you can be running a route and then next thing you look up, like, dang, I'm not even in the progression. Like, I'm not going to get the ball thrown at me. But with Brock, it's like you could be looking up, and the ball's just right there because he improvises and plays on how he feels,

and I think that's what has allowed him to be successful. Detroit Lions fan, as you know, allowed him to be, like, successful. Detroiter. Detroit Lions fan, as you know. Huge fan. The season we went 0-16, I watched every play. So I root for the Lions every week. I root for you each week, except when you play the Lions. So we're in the championship game before the Super Bowl.

You guys are getting your ass kicked by the Lions. What's the mood in the locker room during halftime? We went in. We bought very good tickets, so we're in that lower-level bowl. In fact, I saw you coming out by yourself, saying that text. And everyone in there, there's a lot of Lions fans in there, and everyone's saying, oh, my God, we're kicking their ass. This is so great. We're going to the Super Bowl. I said, man, just chill,

you know, don't jinx our team, what was the mood, and you had a great game, by the way, so big turnaround. The mood was, we got to get back to being ourselves, and I mean, season's on the line, like, what you gonna do, cry about it, be mad about it? No, you gotta go out there and play and do something. Like, and everybody has that mindset to go out there and make a game-changing play or do something for the team to win. You know, we were able to get it turned around, but I think winning a game like that, I think about like moments in games

that people don't even think about. Like, I think about like 2017 when we're getting killed we lost nine games in a row and we're still playing hard like we're still fighting scratching like and like a lot of not a lot but like those bad years and your team is still like, I think we had lost like nine games in a row by like three, like three points or one possession or something like that. Like going through those moments, it like makes like moments like these, like, man,

like we've got an opportunity to go to Super Bowl, our season on the line like we've been through adversity before let's find a way to get it done really so I think but I think those those uh like those moments and those you know those years you know not even just that year but following years and you know then having some success and dealing with that you know not even just that year but following years and you know then having some success and dealing with that you know um being a good team and fighting through adversity and finding ways to win you know um 2021 barely getting to the playoffs and you know those last five six games of the season we had to win all of them to get in the playoffs.

Like, we've been in adverse situations, and we're, like, made of the right stuff. So, yeah, you just get it turned around. And what are the... So you make it to the Super Bowl, most watched Super Bowl in history. What was it like playing in the game? Describe in one or two sentences what it was like and what that week was like. Was it one of the, except for the fact you lost,

was it one of thenacle of our sport. Um, but at the end of the day for us playing, it's just football. Like how I was looking at it was like, yeah, all this stuff is cool. It's my second time being in the Super Bowl, so it obviously wasn't as like, oh, this is amazing as the first one. Or like, oh, like, we could, like, I understood it more. I understood, like, that it's a taxing week. I understood that they have you busy all the time. I understood that, like, I need to do a lot of my preparation the week before

because I'm not going to have a lot of time that week. I knew, like, the thing. So I was just really locked in and focused on like the game because I had been through the process. And that was their that was their fourth. So imagine how they were feeling like that was their fourth in five years. So imagine they're like, that's another game, another Super Bowl. We've been through this before. Like, we know what to expect. So that's kind of how I was feeling was like, this is cool. It's dope.

This is a dope moment. You know, media day was cool. Awesome. All right. When's the game coming? Like, yeah, that's how I was feeling. Dope experience is pinnacle, like I said, of our game. But I was really just trying to be locked in and focused on what really matters the most. Because there's hundreds of millions of people watching, right? All these media, all this hoopla and events in Las Vegas.

But really what it boiled down to was when we get between those white lines, blocking, running, tackling, catching, throwing, getting off blocks, making tackles. It's pretty simple. You talk about preparation that week for the Super Bowl. One of the topics that I've been teaching that I'm most known for is something I call, it's a different level of preparation called extreme preparation. And that means when I prepare, when someone prepares one hour for something, I'm preparing for 10 or 20 hours.

What are the ways extreme preparation have affected your life? Can you give us some specific examples where you've out-prepared anybody and it's led to tremendous success for you? Yeah, football all the time. examples where you've out-prepared anybody and it's led to tremendous success for you? Yeah, football all the, you know, football all the time, like, a lot of my best plays I've made in my career were just from, like, me watching film and preparing and, like, I knew what they were doing, like, like, a majority of my best plays were, like, just from, like, preparation, really. Like, yeah, even in the Super Bowl, you know, different stuff that I had studied or learned. Like, I feel good in a game. I feel good in the game. There's like games majority of my games. It's like 75% of the offense. I know I know if it's run. I

know if it's a pass and I would say like 75% I know like how the guys gonna try to like block me. So, some games a little lower. Some games like it's like dang near like 100 i know like dang near every play they're running or not the actual play majority a lot of the plays but i know exactly like all right that guard is coming to me. All right, that guard's going that way. That guard is going to pass that. That guard is going to do this. So I think it's all preparation for me and how I play. I can't play like not knowing nothing,

just go out there and be like, I'm going to just wing it. What are the top three ingredients of success? Top three ingredients of success? Success means something different to everybody. So I think first is identifying what success means to you and having that very clear. And not basing your success on what other people might think is successful. So you take an ownership of what success truly means for you. And sacrifice and determination, I feel like.

You've got a wonderful wife, Mindy, two young kids, one and a half and three. How important, what's the right work-life balance? I mean, in the off-season, you're not really working, you're training, but during the season, what's it like when you're training? Do you see your family that often? In season?

Yeah. In season's tougher. I mean, I'll be at the facility till, you know, 6 a.m. sometimes, 6 to 6 sometimes. So, like that bath time before bedtime at 7 is like big for me. It's heaven, right? I mean, I love bath time with my kids. Bath time at 6 before bedtime at 7 is like a big thing for me.

But work-life balance, I mean, my wife Mindy, she's amazing. She's a physician. She's a child and adolescent psychiatrist as well, too. So she has her own career. I have my career. And we have these beautiful children. It's really tough. I don't think things ever truly do balance out though. I think it's like certain seasons of 80%,

you know, is here. And then, I'm not talking about like football season, I'm talking about like seasons of life. I feel like the, what is it, a Venn diagram? Yeah. The Venn diagram is just always like moving and changing it's never perfect really like I always feel like I'm not doing enough for my family then at the same

time I feel like I'm not doing enough for my career then at the same time I'm not doing enough for things I have to do outside of my career. So I never feel like I'm doing enough in anything, really. I don't know. Do you feel like you ever do enough? I mean, I've got my companies that I'm running. I've got Sandy, the beaches company. We're building Yelp for beaches.

I have a real estate company. I'm an investment firm working on a book called Extreme Preparation. I'm doing some paid training to do some paid corporate speaking on extreme preparation. I've got my pod, which I love. And this has been great. And I have my philanthropy. So all in, that's 75 hours a week. And then I got to find some time for myself. And most importantly, I got to find some time for my family. So it's hard to balance things. It's been a struggle for me, but as I get older, I mean, I'm home for dinner every night with my kids no matter what, and if I have to stay up in my office till midnight or 1

o'clock in the morning, that's what I'm doing. And I work seven days a week. I mean, I'll get up on Saturday and Sunday. I'll be in my office at six. I'll finish at 10, 10 30, and then I'll go the day. And my team will be getting emails from me all weekend long. It just is what it is. But yeah, sometimes I feel like I wish I could be

in five places at the same time, especially when my kids have different conflicts, right? You got two things happening at the same time. Yeah, where do you go? Yeah, I struggle with that. I never feel like I'm doing enough in any front. Like I always have that pressure. I always have that internal pressure.

Like I'm not training and I'm not training like enough. I'm not preparing enough. I'm not training like enough. I'm not preparing enough. I'm not doing this enough. And then it's like, dang, now I got to be at football all day. It's like, dang, I'm not being there for my wife enough. I'm not being there for my kids enough. But I'm trying to provide a great life for them but but what i would have summed up it's never going to be enough in anything because yeah it's just it's just impossible right so i'll share

with you a story that i never shared with you. And I went to one of your games. DeForest was your teammate at the time, and we got the passes to go. It's not backstage, but you hang out with the players. There's a special section. You go down, and all the players are there. You go through security. I'm going through security. There's a gate there that we all walk through.

And the guy at the gate said, Oh, uh, your son had a really good game today. Who do you think you were? Jimmy Garoppolo's dad. That's crazy. My wife, Madison said to me, she's like,

that's the funniest fucking thing I've ever heard. So what was he saying? You're good looking. I mean, I don't know what he was saying. He just said that we look alike. And when I, when I brought up his face afterward, I mean, I guessed a little bit, but he's got dark hair, I've got gray hair, and I guess there's some resemblance.

But I'm like, man, I really think I'd be old enough to be that guy's dad. And then, you know, I actually could be old enough to be the guy's dad. Technically, I could be. So that was fun. And then, you know, I could be. So that was fun. That's funny. I never played football growing up. I never put pads on, but I could always throw the ball. So I'm not sure.

So I didn't play varsity baseball in high school. I was on the JV team, wasn't a great athlete, but the highlight of my athletic career, we were going to this wedding in the Bahamas, and Tom Brady was the best man at the wedding. I knew he was going to be there. And so this guy who was also going to be a stocky guy, a lot of jawn before, and, oh yeah, I'll throw the football. Oh yeah, I can play football. I'm like, yeah, I can can throw pretty good myself so we warm up on the beach and you know i'm just warming up my armor just throwing you know like arcing the ball over and he's throwing bullets like oh shit you know okay mr tough guy and so i i kept saying you know back up so he'd back up he's like okay okay whatever now we're like

30 yards deep and throw on him back and suddenly his balls don't have quite as much zip. He's like, you know, definitely trying really hard to get it there. So now we're like 40 yards and Giselle was, the water's here, I'm here, the guy's down there, Giselle's over there and and I can see Tom walking by. And I can see he was going to pass me right behind me. And my wife, Madison, is sitting right behind me. So I tell this guy, JJ, back up, back up.

It's like, whatever. So I waited for Tom. He's literally right here. I just let that fucking thing fly. I put it 15 yards way over the guy's head. And Tom said to me, holy shit, what a cannon. And I said to my wife, and she said,

I heard it, I heard it, I'm never going to hear the end of it for the rest of my life. And that's the best it's ever going to get. It made you feel good? Yeah, it made me feel good. So I can throw a ball 55 yards, a real ball 55 yards.

That's what's up. That's pretty impressive. I mean, you got the stamp from the GOAT. Yeah, it made me feel good. So I can throw a ball 55 yards, a real ball 55 yards. That's what's up. It's pretty impressive. I mean, you got the stint from the GOAT. Yeah, I mean, the second best was Cliff Kingsbury was at the wedding as well. He's also a very good friend. He's been on my show. He's actually my second guest on the show.

And so we go on this boat, and there are pigs in the Bahamas on beaches. So we rented this boat to go as my wife and two of her girlfriends. And I said, hey, there's a really cute guy. Can we bring him? And I said, yeah, please. Like, I don't want to be, they're going to all be talking together, yapping together. I'm just be sitting there by myself. So the guy comes on the boat, super nice guy, super chill, humble. I said, oh, you asked me what I did. Oh, what do you do? So I'm a coach. I said, oh, high school.

He said, no, I'm a college coach. And I said, oh, you know, like I'm offensive, defensive. No, I'm a head coach. I'm like, oh, you know, I mean, he's just so chill. I said, oh, you know, D3, what school? He said, no, Texas Tech. And I said, oh, shit, you know, I mean, he's just so chill. I said, oh, you know, D3, what school? He said, no, Texas Tech. And I said, oh shit, you know, that's pretty good. And that was Cliff.

And the story that I told on my show is we went snorkeling. So the guy, he and I went one way, the girls went another way. And Cliff and I, I mean, we're both in good physical shape and we're sucking down water. I mean, the snorkel is off, you mean, we're both in good physical shape, and we're sucking down water. I mean, the snorkel is off. You know, we're looking. We're probably 500 feet from the boat, and the captain on the boat is this little, like, 5'4 guy.

And we're just looking at each other. You know, this is ridiculous. And we start yelling at this guy, help, help, help. And this dude who's 5'4 swims out with the orange buoy, whatever. And he's basically towing us back in. And we get to the boat. And the wife's come back. My wife and her friends come back maybe 20 minutes later.

They're like, oh, my God, that was the most refreshing thing ever. And we're sitting there like, man, this is. Oh, we're tired. We look like shit. And we explained and and uh cliff said the most emasculating moment of his life but that's how he became super tight friends but that led us to the second best my second best moment which was uh hey you know you want to go toss the ball around when you want to get off the boat so we tossed the ball around and I mean he was

a Heisman favorite at Texas Tech going into his senior year so he's going to win he threw four picks his last game and he finished tenth in the voting but he said a bunch of Division one records some of which are still good today and he can wing it right and yeah that ball fucking hurts when it comes in at you, right? I mean, and so he's winging it, and I'm winging it, you know, pretty good. My arm is, by the way, it's like killing me after a while because I'm trying to keep up with him. And the second best compliment was, where did you play your college ball?

I'm like, damn, that's pretty good. I got two in two days, man. I'm styling right now. You got the goat and you got the quarterback whisperer. Yeah, I got the quarterback whisperer. So that's as good as it gets. Before we end today, I want to go ahead and ask some more open-ended questions. I call this part of my podcast, Fill in the Blank to Excellence. You ready to play?

Yeah. The biggest lesson I've learned in my life is? Anything worth having is worth working for. fill in the blank to excellence. You ready to play? Yeah. The biggest lesson I've learned in my life is? Anything worth having is worth working for. My number one professional goal is? Reach my full potential in not just football, but anything I have, I've been blessed and I want to get everything out of my blessings to reach my full potential. Anything I have, I've been blessed.

And I want to get everything out of my blessings to reach my full potential. My number one personal goal is? To create a happy, healthy, loving home for my family. My biggest regret is? No regrets. My biggest regret is? No regrets. My biggest fear is? Seeing my loved ones pass away. Craziest thing that's ever happened to me is?

I don't know. Next one. I really don't know what's the craziest thing that happened to me. I haven't had nothing too crazy. Craziest thing I've ever done is? Craziest thing I've ever done? There's a filter right there. No, there is.

There's a filter. I see that one. It's just not that crazy. It's just not that crazy. I'm trying to think if I've just gone anywhere on a whim. I jumped off a rock on vacation. That's all you got? A rock on vacation? Like 10 feet high?

20 feet high? Nah, it wasn't that crazy. I don't be doing wild stuff, bro. I really don't. One thing I've dreamed of doing for a long time, but I haven't is? One thing I dreamed of doing for a long time, but I haven't.

Starting a company. Starting, um... I dreamed of doing for a long time, but I haven't. Starting a company, starting a tech company, I guess. If you go back in time and give your 21-year-old self one piece of advice, what would it be? Trust your gut more. If you could be one person in the world, who would it be? If I could what? Be one? If you could meet one person in the world, who would it be? I'd say Barack.

You ever think about reaching out to him? No, I did think about reaching out to his foundation, though. Because they do a lot in education, like mine. But no, I haven't thought about reaching out to him. The one question you wish I'd asked you but didn't is? Oh, being a girl dad. Being a what? Being a girl dad.

What's a girl dad? A girl dad, like having daughters. Oh, being a girl dad. Yeah, tell me about being a girl dad. Okay, so what's that? I'm a four-girl dad. I know. I'm a girl dad, too.

I've never thought of it. I've never heard that term before. You've never heard of girl dads? I've never heard of girl dads. That's a thing. I've never heard of a boy dad. I've never heard of a girl dad.'ve never heard of girl dads? I've never heard of girl dads. That's a thing. I've never heard of a boy dad. I've never heard of a girl dad. It's a thing.

It's a thing? I guess I've been living under a rock. I guess I don't know the lingo. It's a thing. All right. This is a whole girl dad brand, like hats and stuff, too. T-shirts. I think I'll have to pick some up.

It's different being a girl dad. So what? Tell me about being a girl dad. It's different being a girl dad. So what? Tell me about being a girl dad. Tell me about being a girl dad. I feel like I love it. It's amazing. Having daughters has shaped me even more. and like in the sense of just having to think, you know, from a female perspective

and like thinking about looking at our society and world and like wanting to create, you know, a healthy, safe, inspiring environment where, you know, empower them to feel that they can, you know, do whatever they set out to do or put their mind to. And I don't know, I love it. It brings out a different side of me. I feel like I can just be just, you know, even more lovey-dovey. Yeah, I just love it.

What about you? Love it. I mean, I live for my kids. I mean, you know my kids. I'm grateful, first, you wish for their health, obviously. And then people say, you've had a lot of success in your life. What's the most important? And most important by a landslide are my five five kids it was nothing i wouldn't do for

them i live for them you know um l now is three i read to her in bed every night you know we snuggle um it it's it's fun l's in first grade i mean they still call me daddy you know my my girls in college you know that ended when I was around 14. So I'll enjoy that as long as I can because that will end at some point. And my son, Charlie, who you know well, you know, you're very good to my son. You took him shopping one day on Melrose

and got him some good garb so he loves you and you know you're nice enough to take him to dinner one night you know he goes to school up near where you live you know where you uh where you work so I'm grateful of that I mean I think one of the greatest ways to a parent's heart is doing something nice for their kids. And you'll see this as you get older, people are gonna do some extraordinary things for your kids and these are people who you'll just never forget it and they won't forget it either. Mm-hmm.

That's awesome. You're one of the most philanthropic people, not only in football, but in professional sports. You've been nominated for Walter Payton Man of the Year four times. There's a video of you online, a coach telling you that you've been nominated for a team. Each team nominates one person. So you're sitting in the back of the room.

You're the last guy. It's a tiered room. It's probably where you watch film, right, or you meet together, team meetings. And you're sitting there and he's making an intro and you know it's you at this point. And you're sitting there just totally nonplussed, just cool.

And you were just so humble about the whole thing. Tell us about some of the work that you've done, how we can get involved, and what motivated you to be so dedicated to giving back to your community? So our organization is AAP, the Armstead Academic Project. And I got into the education space because I feel that education equity would really

solve a multitude of societal issues when we look at the achievement gap and the poverty gap and even down to policing in our communities, social injustice situations and I felt that if I didn't feel like it was fair that a kid's education was determined on where they grow up or their zip code. And I didn't fight that that was fair. And I truly don't believe we'll function at the highest level in society until education is truly equitable. And every student, no matter their socioeconomic status, has access to the same quality education that others do. And I wanted to make a difference in this.

And so I started our organization and we serve in a multitude of ways. I also don't believe in reinventing the wheel. So we are a hybrid organization where we have a lot of our own programming, but also we partner with organizations who are doing the work currently. my resources to make what they're doing even better and serve more students. And so we focus on literacy with our elementary school students because we know that if students aren't reading at grade level by fifth grade, that the percentages of them dropping out of high school increased dramatically and if they're not reading by grade level by fifth grade the percentages of them being successful decrease dramatically so we focus on literacy there because it's the foundation of your education if you

can't read you can't do anything. You got to read your math problems. You got to read in every foundation. So we start there. And then we focus on, we focus on, with our middle school students, we focus with our STEM education. So we have had a multitude of partnerships throughout the years, offering STEM education to our middle school students. And that has been a lot of fun working with students who have never really been exposed to that. And then we focus on career and college exploration with our high school students, which is all about also feel that education school is a means to an end that

in our society, obviously, if you want to get, you need your education to get a good job. So whether that is going to college or getting a job out of high school, kids need to know what's out there and understand how to get there. So we do college tours, we do career camps, I partner with organizations to bring students to businesses to learn how they operate, to learn the different career paths that they could get in certain businesses and also to we follow that up with how do you get there so um if you want to work in this sector of this business or in this sector in general like what would you need to do in high school in college um to get there um because we feel that that's very important and yeah focus

on college you know as well too and college tours making sure that kids are um you know, as well, too, and college tours, making sure that kids are, you know, have a plan and goals to get to college and assisting in that as well, too. So it's been a lot of fun. We do, you know, a whole host of multitude of different things throughout the years and I've been focused on some advocacy as well too in our state with politicians and government and making sure that kids who the kids are equitably funded as well too and that the students who need it the most are getting the funding to you know raise raise the the the floor students are performing at all-time low rates and so doesn't make sense to me why the kids who do are doing better are the kids who get the funding as well too so we. What you're doing is awesome.

I congratulate you on all the amazing things you've done. You're a role model for so many people, by the way. I love your posts online and love what you're doing. So congratulations on all of that. Appreciate you. So I've never had a helmet on, never had pads on, never been on a field before. Is it really that hard?

Like, can I get a shotgun pass and I got good protection up front? Like, could I hit Debo for a deep ball just on a timing route? And, you know, can I do that? Maybe once you think I could hit a touchdown pass, even though I've never had the pads on or the helmet on? Um, no. I don't think so. How come?

Come on, you're blowing my fantasy. I mean, when I'm out playing catch in my backyard, I'm like, oh, fuck, I can do this? Nah, yeah, it's not even about that actual one play. You wouldn't even be able to get to that one play. No, no, no, let's just assume, okay? So we're just talking about you don't have to do it. I don't have to do shit.

You don't have to do anything. They just throw you in the game. Yeah, I'm in the game. It's like it's first and ten, so I mean, you kind of got to free down, you know, do whatever you want. And I'm back there. I've got a helmet on which I've never had on before. I'm sure it's very restricted. I'm a little claustrophobic as well. You know, and I

like free range of my arms. I've never had the pads on, but I just kind of shotgun hike. Throw a goal? Yeah, just a goal ball. Yeah, I'm sure you could. Possible I could hit a touchdown pass in the NFL. I don't see why.

I mean, you could throw, right? I can throw. Tom and Cliff confirmed that? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, call Tom up. I guess in theory, I wouldn't, like, goal balls aren't high percentage regardless in general with, like, the best quarterbacks in the, you know, world throwing them. Yeah.

So percentages of you throwing a touchdown, pretty low, but I don't see, like, as long as you, I don't see why you couldn't do that. Yeah, I mean, corner route to the end zone, we just call it and... Yeah, I don't see why you couldn't try to do that. You might, you never know. Well, thank you for fueling the fantasy. I mean, I hope you hit your fantasy of playing the NBA

so we could be sure. This has been awesome. I appreciate you being here. You're a great guy. Super glad we're super tight. Thank you for being so good to my kids, my family,

and me. Appreciate you. No, I appreciate you. Thanks for having me. Got an amazing show here. Glad I was able to get on it. Keep going, man.

I love what you're doing. I appreciate it.