Mick Unplugged - Quincy Avery Breaks Down True Leadership On and Off the Field

Episode Date: May 1, 2025

Quincy Avery is known as the “QB Whisperer,” shaping the next generation of NFL stars and redefining the quarterback position both on and off the field. Starting his journey with nothing b...ut a dream, a car, and an unshakeable belief in building greatness from scratch, Quincy’s story is one of relentless perseverance through adversity, including nights of homelessness and countless setbacks. As the founder of QB Takeover and subject of the new documentary The Quincy Avery Effect (streaming on Hulu), Quincy is dedicated not just to developing elite athletes, but to building better men through authentic mentorship, leadership, and community impact. His influence reaches far beyond the gridiron, empowering young men at every level to overcome obstacles, embrace leadership, and live life “like a quarterback.” Takeaways: Leadership is a Mindset, Not Just a Role: Quincy believes the attributes of a great quarterback—resilience, adaptability, and uplifting those around you—are essential to leadership in business, life, and beyond. Adversity Builds Strength: True greatness comes not from talent alone, but from persevering through setbacks, learning from failure, and refusing to give up when faced with challenges. Create Your Own Impact: Quincy’s mission extends past football; he seeks to transform lives by instilling character, providing opportunity, and building ecosystems where everyone can grow and win.  Sound Bites: “I want people to live their life like a quarterback, because the way quarterbacks move and operate—they bring people along, they galvanize a team—and those are things we all can do every single day.” “The journey that I went on was crazy. I’ve had a thousand nights of homelessness... but my ability to work hard despite the initial outcome is what separated me.” “The first things I want to do is have a conversation with the parents. The biggest determining factor in the kids who I see are successful and the kids who I see aren’t—is their parents.” Quote by Mick: "You’ve got to take yourself serious because most people aren’t going to.” Connect & Discover Quincy: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quincyavery/?hl=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quincy-avery-293ab036/ QB Takeover: https://www.qbtakeover.com/ The Avery Effect Foundation: https://www.qbtakeover.com/the-avery-effect-foundation Documentary: The Quincy Avery Effect (Hulu) FOLLOW MICK ON:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mickunplugged/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mickunplugged/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mickunplugged  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickhunt/Website: https://www.mickhuntofficial.com                                                              Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mick-unplugged/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The same way that I've run the business side of our stuff, I'm a quarterback there, right? I'm playing quarterback. I got to put people in the positions to win. I got to help them be successful. I got to give them encouragement when they need it. I got to press buttons. Those are things that we all can do every single day, right?
Starting point is 00:00:15 And it's that ability to like work through difficult situations is what allows these top two quarterbacks to be the best quarterbacks in the world. allows these top two quarterbacks to be the best quarter that separate the best from the rest. Ready to break limits? Let's go. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of MEC Unplugged. And today we've got a game changer right here.
Starting point is 00:01:04 Some people coach the game, some people change the game. My guy coming up did both. And he did it with nothing but a dream, a car, and a belief that greatness could be built from the ground up. Today he's shaping the next generation of NFL stars. The world calls him the QB Whisperer. I call him unstoppable. Ladies and gentlemen, join me in welcoming the guy
Starting point is 00:01:27 I call the GOAT, Mr. Quincy Avery. Quincy, how you doing today, brother? I'm amazing. I really appreciate you having me on. I'm excited to get to have a conversation. Brother, I'm the excited one, man. You know, I know the new documentary, the Quincy Avery Effect from Anscape and Religion of Sports
Starting point is 00:01:47 is streaming on Hulu right now. I got a sneak peek of it. I learned some things that I didn't know and I thought I knew you very well, man. I learned some things, man. Like, I'd love to just start with this question right here, Q. You know, I like to ask people about their because, that thing that's deeper than your why, right?
Starting point is 00:02:08 Like that real purpose. And I know for you and the journey that you've had, man, you've had an amazing because. So for the world, what's Quincy Avery's because, man? I've never even heard that question phrased that way, the because instead of the why. So that's interesting. You know, I've been in some really difficult situations
Starting point is 00:02:33 throughout my life, whether it be a home, family situations, sports, or trying to figure out how to get started in a profession and then trying to forge a career in essentially a new industry. But I've always done it with a few things in mind, and really it is taking care of those around me because that has been so important, right?
Starting point is 00:02:59 And being able to be there in moments when I feel like they need me. Because oftentimes I feel like there's many opportunities for other people to be there in moments when I feel like they need me. Because oftentimes, I feel like there's many opportunities for other people to be there for me that they just weren't. And I knew that not only can I have an impact in training young men and helping them achieve their goals, which is amazing, but there's so many young men who we won't see in this documentary,
Starting point is 00:03:23 or people won't talk about who aren't in the NFL. Maybe not even college, maybe just played in high school. But those are young men that I still have relationships with to this day. I can help out and they can call on me when they need anything. I'm here to support them and care about them in a way that I truly feel is unique and authentic. in a way that I truly feel is unique and authentic. And you do it amazingly, brother. You do it amazingly.
Starting point is 00:03:50 And talking about that journey, man, so for people that don't know and not to give away everything in the documentary, but talk about a little bit of that journey, right? Because everybody looks at today and they see success today. And I tell people, a lot of times the people that you see that are crushing it right now, the people that are really doing it right now,
Starting point is 00:04:11 they're doing it because they appreciate the journey that they had to go through. And that fruit tastes so much sweeter because they've had to go through it, man. So talk to us a little bit about that journey that you're referencing. Yeah, I think I agree with you so much. We live in like an instant gratification society
Starting point is 00:04:28 where people expect to have the fruits of their labor immediately. But the journey that I went on was crazy. In order to get here, I've had a thousand nights of homelessness, right? Where I was unhoused, whether I was sleeping in a locker room or my car, just trying to figure out where I was gonna lay my head.
Starting point is 00:04:48 And it was just a grind because the thing that I think separates me more than, separates me from a lot of people is the ability to work hard despite the initial outcome. I heard no when I was trying to start training people so many times. It is crazy. And I just look back, I could go look at my Facebook and just see like, no, un-respond, no.
Starting point is 00:05:12 And those are some young men that I probably could have helped out, like do some things if their parents would have responded. Like I knew that I had a purpose and I knew that there was something that I thought that I could do at a very high level. And when I say that I'm committed to something, I want my actions and my words to be congruent. I want people, I want not to only be able to say these things, but I want people to be able to look at the actions that I have and it say it for me, right?
Starting point is 00:05:40 So I don't need to verbalize everything that I wanna do. I want people to see in my actions, who I say I am and the goals that I say that I have. I love that, dude. I love that. So when did you realize that you had, I'm going to say the gift, right? Like when did you realize you had that gift brother? Because again, the way that you communicate with the, I'm going to call them the students, the way that you communicate with The I'm gonna call them the students the students that you're coaching the way that you're able to get people that are making
Starting point is 00:06:14 millions of dollars to say Alright, I'm gonna hire Quincy right like when did you know you had that gift? You know, I think that I probably suffered, even though I said that I wanted to be the best, I knew I was working hard towards those things. I probably suffered from imposter syndrome, largely for a while. And it took until there was Trent Duffer,
Starting point is 00:06:42 is someone who like, I really value their opinion. He was really big in the quarterback space and When he saw the things that I was doing and he really was like man You're doing a great job like I love the way that you're teaching these things that meant a lot to me But after that I still Wasn't sure I got like I think that I'm really good at this. I think they don't have these young guys out and Then the next like real moment for me was, I got the opportunity to train Tyra Taylor, but Tyra Taylor had been in the NFL for nine years. He'd basically seen every
Starting point is 00:07:11 quarterback coach who was in the space that I was in, right? He'd got to work with all these guys. And I got there with him for like one or two days. And he's like, no, I want to hire you. Right. And that meant a lot to me because he was making a decision, unlike a lot of the other people that I'd worked with, a lot of the people that I'd worked with, it'd only been me. This is just what they grew up doing, but Tyrod, that to me was like, all right, I'm doing a great job. Because if this guy believes in the things that I'm saying, despite me meeting him at
Starting point is 00:07:43 this age and I'm able to help him out that much, that quickly, then I things that I'm saying despite me meeting him at this age and I'm able to help him out that much that quickly, then I think that I'm probably better at this than I even thought I was. You definitely are the GOAT, brother. You definitely are the GOAT. And one of the things that I truly appreciate about what you do is, yes, you're the coach, you're the guru, you're the whisperer, but you also run a business, right? You have other people that you have coaches that are with you, right?
Starting point is 00:08:12 You have other people that you're developing. It takes a team to do what you do. So now I'm going to ask that entrepreneur question, right? So you knew you had the gift from the coaching standpoint, right? Like that little thing that most people don't have. But then when, when did you know you could turn it into a business as well? I didn't. I think that people, I first thought I was just going to be like self-employed.
Starting point is 00:08:40 I just worked for myself, be able to do this for a really long time and that would be cool. And then I just thought about how can I impact more people? I think that I'm able to help both coaches that I work with, the staff that I work with, and the players. Everybody gets the benefit from the ecosystem. The only way that I could do that was be able to truly build a business that had procedures. And we were able to run, we have real systems to operate. And I also had to remove myself a bit from the first layer of that business and not just be in the weeds all the time.
Starting point is 00:09:19 Be 30,000 feet view. I see what we're doing, but I also see where we're trying to go. And I've been blessed and fortunate to have some great people who work alongside me, who run our operations, who run our day-to-day, who run our finances. A lot of wonderful young women who actually, as cool as that, I love this part about our business. Everybody that you see who's not on the football field, who works with our organization is a woman, primarily women of color, who have been able to transform this from really an idea into a business where we are able to help so many kids. But that was the hard part. The coaching is easy. Running a business, oh my gosh. It's always something
Starting point is 00:10:05 you run into. You run into a new challenge every single day and navigating that and understanding people and how you communicate with them and how people need to be loved the right way. They need these words of affirmation because I think people think about those things just in personal intimate relationships, but everybody has a language they wanna be loved in, in terms of the business side too. Some people want you to tell them like, man, you're doing a great job. Somebody wants an Instagram post with their face on it,
Starting point is 00:10:35 right? There's all these different things and some people just want creditor to be able to go through the steps with the ideas that you have and you champion them and push them forward. So I'm always thinking about those things. And it's been difficult, but it's been fun.
Starting point is 00:10:49 I believe it, man. Shout out to QB Takeover. Right. That's the plug for QB Takeover. I'm going to have links for all of that in the show notes in the descriptions, too, man. But now let's tell the people because I know you're not going to name drop, so I'm going to do it for you. Jalen Hurts, Justin Fields, Jordan Love.
Starting point is 00:11:12 I was going to say your name pretty much had to start with a J for Quincy to work with. But these are all the next-gen quarterbacks that are under your tutelage, man. Like, from the words of the guru, from the words of you, you know, a lot of people think that it's talent and that's what they see on Sundays. But I want to know from you, man,
Starting point is 00:11:35 what do you believe separates a good quarterback from what most people want that franchise quarterback? Yeah, it's definitely not talent. I think that everybody who see you plays football at a professional level is talented. That is, that's not the easy part, but that's something that everybody has in common. But it's a mindset, the ability to work through adversity, the ability to persevere when things are not going exactly as you wish or you'd hope for. when things are not going exactly as you wish or you'd hoped for. Right.
Starting point is 00:12:04 And I think that that's more, that's just life though. Like quarterback is life. And that's what I want people to understand. I want people, like when they watch this documentary, they see the things about me. I want them to live their life like a quarterback, right? Because the way that quarterbacks move and the way that they operate,
Starting point is 00:12:23 the way that they bring people along, the way that they galvanize a team. The same way that I've run the business side of our stuff, I'm a quarterback there, right? I'm playing quarterback. I gotta put people in the positions to win. I gotta help them be successful. I gotta give them encouragement when they need it. I gotta press buttons.
Starting point is 00:12:39 Those are things that we all can do every single day, right? And it's that ability to like work through difficult situations is what allows these top tier quarterbacks to be the best quarterbacks in the world. Because you're gonna go through something difficult. You're gonna throw an interception. You're going to cost your team a game. But it's not just that moment is how do you respond? Because that interception you throw in week two,
Starting point is 00:13:02 you could learn a lesson then, and you come back and win the Superbowl because saw that same defense, now I knew how to respond. So was that interception in week one or week two? Was that really a loss or did we win because of that? And that's what I want people to understand. There's so many lessons that life is going to provide us. And it's how we respond each and every time that is going to shape us and define who we are as people.
Starting point is 00:13:25 I totally believe that and agree with that, man. I do leadership consulting and one of the things that I tell all leaders, and this is going to be for leaders, period, whether you're the leader in your household, the leader in your community, the leader of your business, the leader of a team, right? Learning lessons, being a motivator, being an inspiration, right? And then I'm gonna say this too, a lot of people say don't take yourself too serious. I'm gonna say the complete opposite.
Starting point is 00:13:58 You've gotta take yourself serious because most people aren't going to. And I see that from you in the coaching that you're doing with quarterbacks, right? And you were just articulating that very well. Like you've got to be able as a leader to know that all eyes are on you, right? How do you respond to situations, good or bad? Because situations can be good and you can respond negatively to a good situation too. What's that body language like when you're walking to the sideline or when you're having a team meeting or you're showing up first to the team meetings?
Starting point is 00:14:34 Are you leading some of those meetings? Talk about that because it's a great parallel to leadership. When you are all eyes on me, when you are the franchise, right? What's that responsibility that you're helping quarterbacks also understand? Because you're not just teaching fundamentals, right? You're also teaching life too. 100%.
Starting point is 00:14:56 I think that the folks on my team would talk about how I respond to adversity in a very positive way. Because as a business owner, it's always going to be something. But I never shake, I never get sad, I never get flustered. It's simply, how are we going to find a solution to the issue that we have at hand? And that's the only thing that matters. Because everybody's going to go through these things. It's just, what is the next step that is going to allow us to be successful? It's not about the actual situation you're in. It's about how do we move forward from this difficulty?
Starting point is 00:15:34 How do we get better and move the needle so that when people look at us, they're like, hey, that happened, but they fixed it. There's so many times that there's things that I can't control. I have a coach miss a session. I have somebody who drove two hours, right? And they came for a session with one of my coaches and somebody might have missed or was miscommunicated. And those are situations where I think a lot of people would like not communicate or go on the show and be like, oh, let me figure it out. No, I'm going to, hey, I'm going to get on the phone with that person. I'm going to hear where they're at and I'm going to, hey, I'm going to get on the phone with that person. I'm going to hear where they're at and I'm going to make sure everything's right.
Starting point is 00:16:08 Whether that means I got to fly out there and lose thousands of dollars and go give this person a one-on-one session, because that's the standard that we want to hold ourselves to. But when I do those things, then everybody in my organization sees what it means to me when we make a mistake. And they know that, hey, when we make a mistake, somebody's got to pay for it. Right. And oftentimes it's going to fall on me. But they know that we can't continue to do those things because eventually I'm
Starting point is 00:16:33 going to have to come in and make it right. And same thing with the quarterback, right? That's what we do. We make things right. When, when everything is awry, we come through and fix the situation. I love it, dude. So in the documentary, man, you've got all your students, right? You've got Tony Dungey, you've got a lot of people that are singing your praise, which is well deserved. But I want to know from you, man, like the Quincy Avery effect, what made you want to do the documentary? What made you want to tell this story now
Starting point is 00:17:07 because it's so powerful, brother? Yeah, and it wasn't even, I don't think that, well, we had started actually shooting this documentary maybe four years ago. And you'll see some clips from some of the things in there, but just didn't get picked up. A lot of things were going on at the time, didn't go the way that we wanted it to.
Starting point is 00:17:29 They circled back two and a half years ago, like, hey, I think that we can do it now. And I thought that it was important. It's cool to see so many of the young black quarterbacks I've had an opportunity to work with really thriving and be able to show that. But the things that I also want to show is how we've been able to change a culture
Starting point is 00:17:48 because these quarterbacks, yes, they're the quarterback of the football teams, but they're shaping their high schools, they're shaping their colleges, right? And then the professional quarterbacks, they shape their cities. There's no one more influential to me in a city than their star quarterback, right?
Starting point is 00:18:01 These people have the opportunity to give back to the community, put back in the organization and change. They can really change the world. And I hope that people see that the work we're doing isn't just about on the football field. It's about building better young men who respond when life gets tough because that's what they see.
Starting point is 00:18:20 That's what they see me doing on a day-to-day basis. Not only do I respond to adversity, but I feel like I'm a good person, I'm a good father, and they get to see these things each and every day. I love it. What are some of the traits that you're looking for before you and your team say yes? Right?
Starting point is 00:18:39 Because I'm sure now it's a little bit different than it was for you several years ago, right? When it's like, all right, I got Tyron. Now I'm sure you're getting hit up all the time, right? And I've seen your camps and I see how packed they are and in the lessons that you all are doing out there. What are some traits you're looking for before you say yes now? You know, it's crazy.
Starting point is 00:19:02 It's gonna sound wild. More so than who the person is a football player, more so than how talented they are. Those things don't matter. First things I want to do is have a conversation with the parents because the parents have been, that's been the biggest determining factor. And the kids who I see are successful and the kids who I see aren't. And it's not really what we think. A lot of times people think it's the parents who are like there all the time, they do everything for their kids.
Starting point is 00:19:35 Those are the people who become the best sports parents. Those are actually the worst because those are the people who remove all adversity from the kid's life. They don't let them go through things. They don't let them struggle. They don't let them build that muscle. Right? And it's a muscle, right? You got to work it. You got to flex it. You got to be able to see yourself in a difficult situation and see you make it out on the other side. Then you got to see how you can learn from these situations. And then you get to control them
Starting point is 00:20:03 a little bit better and act, you get to act in a way that you're more proud of the next time you go through a difficult situation. But they don't get these opportunities. They don't get the time to work on these things when they're in seventh, eighth grade. They don't have a difficult conversation with their high school coach. They don't have a difficult conversation with the teacher when they're failing a class. They miss out on all these pivotal life opportunities because our parents think that they need to be the ones to step in our place and fix it for us. Those are the people who I really don't want my program. That sounds crazy to say, but that is who I try to keep out and that's who I try to keep away because I can win with anybody else. way because I can win with anybody else.
Starting point is 00:20:45 I agree a thousand percent brother. Like I was that dad that during, you know, little league and JV in high school, I was literally a fan because I know as a business owner, as a business leader, the last thing I could do, whether it's the head coach, a position coach, you know, a hired coach like you that's working. The last thing I can do or should do is give my insight or try to correct. Because now I'm not helping the child. I'm not helping my sons become men, like you're saying, because it's those things where I know Quincy's going to push my son. I shouldn't be a buffer. My son's not going gonna like this workout today. Quincy's gonna give it to him.
Starting point is 00:21:26 Quincy's gonna tell him the 15 things you're doing wrong. He's gonna tell you what you're doing good too. But Quincy wants to see, are you gonna come back tomorrow to work on the things that we just talked about today? And I think there are a lot of parents, I shouldn't say a lot. I've just seen those parents that, oh, well, you don't know what you're talking about.
Starting point is 00:21:44 Let me go hire someone else or I'm gonna move to this other school, right?, you don't know what you're talking about. Let me go hire someone else, or I'm going to move to this other school, right? And you're just making it easier on your kid. And then one day, life is going to slap that child, or I shouldn't say slap. Life is going to be right in front of that child's face. And what's the child going to do? And that's why I appreciate everything you said, man,
Starting point is 00:22:02 because that's what life is about, brother. Yeah, it is, it's crazy to see. And I've seen a lot of different families come through our system. And I've seen some of the most talented kids not make it because their parents, honestly, like that's just the root of it. Their parents made things so easy all throughout life that college got a little bit hard and they couldn't handle it.
Starting point is 00:22:27 Yeah, totally agree. So when you are looking at film and you're looking at your students, right? What are some of the things that you're looking at from them when you're reviewing film, when you're reviewing tape? It all depends on where they are, where they are in their career, what they have going on. What I mean by that, if they're in high school, I'll be a lot more in depth in terms of their reads, their fundamentals, the way that they're throwing the football, all those things. When they're in the NFL, I briefly touch on reads because the things that they're doing are so intricate and so much is communicated to them
Starting point is 00:23:08 in the board sessions with their coaching staff. But the thing that I'm talking about with them is a much higher level of detail in their fundamentals. The smallest things matter the most to guys at that level because the margin for error is so small. You don't, there's a lot of areas of football, high school, college, middle school, that you can make a mistake once, but come back to it,
Starting point is 00:23:28 because we'll be able to get it again. When you're playing at the highest level, when you're playing against professionals, you don't get a second chance. It's either we made it work when it came up, or we didn't, and we don't get to go back and do it again. So, making sure that they're prepared in that moment
Starting point is 00:23:45 for that play that could allow them to change the game because it's not going to happen again. No sir, it's not, it's not. You know, going back to college, you're the person that I could not wait to ask this question to. I want Q's truth and opinion on NIL and college football. You know, I'm such a big fan of these young men getting paid and being able to provide for their
Starting point is 00:24:17 families. Now it makes me nervous in terms of what, of being able to manage this amount of money at 18, 19, 20 years old. Because I see so many of these guys and I see them making poor financial decisions, right? The things that they're using their money for is alarming, concerning, and it'll be fleeting. It'll be really cool to have this amount of money for a few years, but I know it's not going to be there in the future.
Starting point is 00:24:45 So we're giving these guys a whole bunch of money and they're just gonna waste it. Like this should be a trampoline in having a successful life. And it's now it's just becoming a money pit to expensive things. And I just hope that there's some way that we can figure out how to help these young men so that they can make better financial decisions.
Starting point is 00:25:14 I love that they can help out their families, but I hate that we just become the biggest consumers in the world with money that's only here very short term. Yeah, I agree, man. Like, I love the fact that athletes can be rewarded financially. I hate that sometimes it's public because a lot of times, like, they're looking at it like the kid, and I can say kid because I'm older now, they're looking at it like the kid is being selfish.
Starting point is 00:25:44 Like, no, if that's the going rate for a quarterback, that's the going rate for a quarterback. Can't be upset about that. Business is business. Right. I wanna get what I'm worth. Right. And that's what we're paying everybody else.
Starting point is 00:25:56 That's what I should get. Right, right. No, totally agree. I wish there could be a fix to the transfer portal. I actually have no issues with NIL or the Collectives. My issue was just the transfer portals and the timing. Like I get it from the academic side, right? Like you've got December for the winter and then the spring.
Starting point is 00:26:19 So I understand why they're doing it. I just think there's too many options in football that don't really align with the football schedule and academics. I wish they could just fix that and maybe have a rule of like a one-time transfer because it does kind of bug me that, hey, I either did compete and didn't win or I didn't compete like I should and I didn't win a position. So I'm going to go somewhere else. I don't like that either. That's just it. Yeah, I think, you know, I, I, I hate, I think guys don't want to compete and that's frustrating
Starting point is 00:26:53 to me because that's where we learn about. I think that, but there's also a lot of times where college coaches are pushing kids out that we don't talk about a lot, but it's really simple to fix and it's just contracts, right? If we create real contracts with real buyouts, then a lot of these things become very easy to fix. The problem is the NCAA doesn't want to consider these young men as employees, which they are. They're employees of the institution who happen to go to school. And that's where, until we get a collective bargaining agreement, we are going to have issues. Because guys are gonna continue to leave for more money.
Starting point is 00:27:32 They're gonna ask for more money after they've already agreed to a certain amount, because they find out somebody else is getting more. But when the school doesn't have to honor the contract, and you don't have to honor the contract, that is the game that we all play. If schools were always honest with the young men, I would feel a lot, a lot worse about like the things
Starting point is 00:27:51 that they're doing, but I know schools lie in the same way that these kids are manipulating in order to get more money. So it's a bad situation altogether. There really needs to be real change that can allow it to be a better situation. Not only for the young men, but for the schools too, right? It's so difficult to operate not knowing who's gonna be on your team each and every year.
Starting point is 00:28:13 Yeah, yeah. You know, Quincy, this is something I've been wanting to tell you for a long time. So this is why I'm glad that we've got this podcast and we're able to do this. Because I definitely wanted to look Quincy Avery in his eye and just say, bro, I know you know now like how much influence you've had on the good for the quarterback position. And just seeing how I'm going to say the quarterback position is being respected as an athlete, right? I wanted to thank you just for giving visibility into what black quarterbacks can do in the NFL, because a lot of folks are going to go back and name, oh, well, you know, there was Mike Vick,
Starting point is 00:29:05 there was Doug Williams, there was Randall Cunningham. Yeah, but that was like one or two per team or like for the whole league, right? Like there was one or two for the whole league. Now we've gotten to a point where some of the stigmatism of black athletes, in particular, black quarterbacks are going away. And I just wanted to let you know, man, like how much impact you had on that,
Starting point is 00:29:32 because you're giving the tutelage, you're showing that, you know, we are accurate, we can read defenses, we're not all run first quarterbacks, man. Like, I just wanted to thank you for, from thank you for me just for making that impact, bro. No, that means a lot. I truly appreciate it. That's a goal that I always had. And it's fun to see all these young men just getting opportunities, right? And it's never that we weren't talented enough.
Starting point is 00:30:03 It was that at each step of the way, there'd be somebody who'd be like a little roadblock who'd get in our way and, hey, how about you switch positions or how about you do this or do that? And they finally allowed us to be ourselves, to be authentically ourselves at the quarterback position in terms of the way that we play the game. And I hope that they continue not only to let us do that, but be ourselves authentically off the field and be who we are and express ourselves in the way we want to express and we can live a life that we hope to live and like of the culture that we grew up in.
Starting point is 00:30:35 But it feels I'm truly thankful that I get an opportunity with so many quarterbacks who look like me. Because I wish that there was a me for me growing up. And I hope that I can be that not only for these, I was never talented enough to play in the NFL like these guys. But I hope that I can be there for not only the guys of the NFL, but a bunch of college guys growing up underneath them. So that they know that there's going to be somewhere in there for them to take to the next level. I used to do a black quarterback club where I brought together a bunch of black NFL quarterbacks,
Starting point is 00:31:16 college and high school quarterbacks. That's something I haven't been able to do the last few years because life's been life-hacking, but it's something I hope to be able to do again because I think that it's important. I think that people need to be able to be in a room with other black quarterbacks because there's experiences that we're all going through, right, that are difficult.
Starting point is 00:31:37 But you need to know that you're supported. And there's a bunch of other guys out there who are going through a lot of the things that you're going through, but we're gonna push through it together. And that's what I hope that I can do. I hope I can instill a whole bunch of confidence in a whole bunch of young men. And even if they're not professional quarterbacks,
Starting point is 00:31:54 they're gonna be professional at something and they're gonna know they're gonna be built for it. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. So again, the Quincy Avery effect from Anscape and the religion of sports streaming exclusively on Hulu, man. Like, what do you want people to get from this documentary? There's one or two things that it's like,
Starting point is 00:32:14 yeah, but make sure you get this. What's that yeah, but? What are those things, man? The things that I really want people to get from this is to know that no matter what situation or what it may look like, your destination is your destination. And as long as you continue on your road, you might have to switch lanes, you might got to catch a detour, you might got to make a left even though it looks like the road
Starting point is 00:32:40 is straight, but you have to continue on to your destination. And understand that the map is not the terrain. It is easy to look at a map and know exactly where you want to go. It is much difficult when you're actually on the road to getting those things. And be okay with that. Understand it's not always going to look pretty. There's elevation changes. There's a whole bunch of things that you may not have expected, but you are going to get there or you are going to get there,
Starting point is 00:33:05 or you're going to get something positive out of the situation if you put all, you're all into doing the thing that you said you're going to do. And that's really what I want people to get, because it might change. Like the thing that I thought I wanted down there might be different when I get there, but as long as you worked as hard as you could to get it,
Starting point is 00:33:22 you are going to be thankful for yourself forever. And that's what I want people to understand. You look at yourself differently in the morning when you did everything you could to get something. Like you really genuinely did that. I think a lot of times people are saying like, I worked really hard. And I was talking to my nephew about this today.
Starting point is 00:33:40 I'm like, you keep telling me you wanna go division one in basketball. When I call you and ask you, did you put in the work today? The answer is no. keep telling me you want to go division one in basketball. When I call you and ask you, did you put in the work today? The answer is no. Stop telling me that. Right? You can't tell me that no more because the proof is in the pudding.
Starting point is 00:33:53 I want your actions to tell me you want to be a division one basketball player. Stop telling me you want to do that. So I just want to challenge people in that way. I love it, brother. For the viewers and listeners, again, whether they're an athlete, business leader, they're a person that's looking for self-improvement or personal growth, what's one trait
Starting point is 00:34:16 that you know all great people have? It's the ability to respond to adversity. That is it. You can't be great without that. Love it, man. I love it. I love it. Let's do a hot three with Quincy.
Starting point is 00:34:35 You ready? All right, let's do it. All right. Who was your favorite athlete growing up? Warmo. And he just gave his number to Cam too, I like it. Yeah, I thought that was really cool. I like it.
Starting point is 00:34:49 All right, all right. I don't wanna put you on the spot, but I'm gonna ask you anyway. You complete the fifth. You complete the fifth. Who's been your most rewarding student? I'm gonna say a name that no one's gonna ever ever heard of. Okay.
Starting point is 00:35:12 His name is Austin Smith. He's at Austin P right now. And the reason I say that is because I'm always very honest with parents and players. And I told his dad in seventh grade, so I don't know if this is for him. Right, he's struggling to pick up these concepts. Like I don't know if this is for him.
Starting point is 00:35:31 I don't know if he's going to be able to do it. His dad said, okay, let's just figure it out. And he must've told his son. And his ability to respond, a lot of times people could hear that and they would just fold. Oh, this person doesn't believe in me.
Starting point is 00:35:48 But I saw him turn it up a notch and he went on to get a college scholarship. He's been a starter. He's going to have an opportunity to go to the NFL next year. Like he just, he just worked and he worked. He heard bad news and he didn't get like soft and no, he said, I'm gonna work harder. Oh, he doesn't know if I can do it, but watch me show him that, like that.
Starting point is 00:36:14 That is, that's not just someone who's gonna be a good quarterback. That's gonna be somebody who's gonna be a good father, who's gonna be a good husband, who's gonna be good for the community. He just does things the right way. And that to me is why he's one of my most rewarding players at Coach. Ironically, my oldest son coaches football,
Starting point is 00:36:35 and he was a GA at Austin Peay. So cool stuff. Small world. Small world. All right, last question. If it were not football, cause I know Quincy Avery was an athlete. I want the world to know.
Starting point is 00:36:50 If it wasn't football, what sport would you have dominated in? You know, I would want to say basketball because that's my favorite sport. But I was probably better at baseball than I was at any other sport. I just got too bored. So I would have just been a baseball player.
Starting point is 00:37:08 Good stuff. Good stuff. Q, I know you're busy. Honored you took some time for the listeners and viewers to make unplug, man. Any last words you want to leave for the listeners and viewers? I mean, I hope that I was able to impart a little bit of wisdom, but a little bit of faith that you can push through and persevere,
Starting point is 00:37:32 far more than you think you can. And oftentimes it is your mind telling you that you can't. All you gotta do is put your head down and get to work. But I would ask the friends of yours, just take a peek at the Avery Effect Foundation. It's for a lot of young men who are trying to reach goals and do more with their life. And we are trying to put resources into them so that they can do it, whether it's in football, basketball, whatever the situation is.
Starting point is 00:37:57 But we're trying to do as much as we can to help these young men out. So take a peek at that if you have the opportunity. That would be helpful, not only to me, but I think that you would be responsible for helping change some young man's life. I love it. Is there a website for the foundation? Yeah, you can go to Avery Effect
Starting point is 00:38:16 or you can go to qbtakeover.com and just hit the link for the Avery Effect Foundation. You'd be able to jump right on it. All right, so I'll tell you what I'm going to do. We'll have the link in our show notes and descriptions. I'm also going to have it on our website. So mcconofficial.com. I'm going to have it there.
Starting point is 00:38:35 And then I'm also, you know, if, if you message me and tell me that you've donated and I'll confirm with Quincy and the foundation. I'm going to match. I'm going to match all donations up to $10,000. How about that? Man, you the man. I really appreciate that. I believe in supporting, man.
Starting point is 00:38:56 Like I'm always, I'm a believer that there's never a bad time to do good things. And anytime that you're impacting young people in the world that we're in today, I'm always gonna be there for you. So another salute for you, Brad. Another salute. Thank you. Well, ladies and gentlemen, this has been Quincy Avery, the quarterback whisperer,
Starting point is 00:39:20 the guy that I call the goat and the guru. Again, I'm gonna say it again, the Quincy Avery effect is out exclusively on Hulu. Make sure you check it out. It is groundbreaking. It is game changing. It is actually life changing too. I think everyone is going to get something out of that.
Starting point is 00:39:38 So again, Quincey Avery effect exclusively on Hulu. For all the listeners and viewers, remember, your because is your superpower. Go win, Leesha. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Mick Unplugged. If today hits you hard, then imagine what's next. Be sure to subscribe, rate, and share this with someone who needs it.
Starting point is 00:40:04 And most of all, make a plan and take action. Because the next level is already waiting for you. Have a question or insight to share? Send us an email to hello at mcunplugged.com. Until next time, ask yourself how you can step up.

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