Start With A Win - Leadership Training in the NFL Part 2 with Heath Evans

Episode Date: December 28, 2022

Having played for one of the greatest coaches in NFL history as a New England Patriot, Heath Evans knows a little something about strong leadership. Witnessing Bill Belichick’s unwavering humility despite monumental success, Heath learned to apply lessons of selflessness and service in all areas of his life, not just football. But when a scandal destroyed everything Heath had built, he turned to his faith to give him the courage to rebuild.Resiliency in the face of suffering is imperative for success in leadership, whether on the field, at the office, or at home. Through these challenging experiences, Heath now uses decades of leadership training and fitness expertise to coach groups of men seeking optimum performance in every facet of their lives. His program Built Ready is a supportive community for men who want to push themselves physically and spiritually. Together they examine how the Bible defines manhood. Embodying integrity is the foundation on which Heath lives his life and builds his programs, helping others achieve peace, power and purpose.  Main TopicsKey leadership lessons from Heath’s time in the NFL (01:00)Heath’s overwhelm before one of his first games as a Patriot and how his team supported him through it (05:15)Lessons implemented from Heath’s career as an NFL analyst (07:00)Building resilience in leadership after a great fall  (11:40)Development of Built Ready, a community focused on faith and fitness for men (16:09)  Episode Linkshttps://www.builtready.com Connect with Heath Evans:https://twitter.com/heathevans44https://www.facebook.com/HeathEvans44/https://www.instagram.com/heathevans44/?hl=enConnect with Adam:https://www.startwithawin.com/https://www.facebook.com/AdamContosCEOhttps://twitter.com/AdamContosCEOhttps://www.instagram.com/adamcontosceo/Listen, rate, and subscribe!Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle Podcasts

Hey, welcome back to Start With A Win. This is a two-part episode, and this is part two of that two-part episode. So if you haven't listened to part one, make sure you go back and listen or watch part one on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts, and come back here and listen or watch part two. I hope you enjoy. Welcome to Start With A Win, where we give you the tools and lessons you need to create business and personal

success. Are you ready? Let's do this. Heath, I have a question for you about working for Bill and the Patriots. You learned a lot of leadership and focus lessons from the coaching staff there and really the rest of the team. There's so many people behind the scenes in professional football around a professional sports team. What were a few of the key leadership lessons that you found most impactful to you? I think it's really what you just talked about. This mindset disposition that everyone was forced to have. If you're going to be a part of a Bill Belichick team, you will be selfless. You will be humble. You will be a team first guide. This all for one, one for all mentality is a must.

The beautiful part of how Bill so ingrained this into this team is that if you were selfish, if you were that, what we call a cancer on an NFL team, you will stick out like a sore thumb. So if you're not going to die to self and live to play for the team mentality, within weeks, you will be miserable in that locker room. Not because of the pressure that Bill and ownership is putting on you, because of the great leaders that Bill had created and breathed life into to truly believe what you were just

talking about that, hey, listen, when everyone is focused on the team, when everyone is dying to sell and thinking team first, everyone rises to the top. I tell people all the time, even from the stages that you've heard me on, extraordinary teams make ordinary players appear extraordinary. So when everyone realizes that whether you're Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, you have ordinary talents. There's things that I'm just ordinary, right? But there's also places where I'm extraordinary. And so if everyone's willing to say, hey, I need help in certain areas, but I can help you in a lot of areas. I'm going to have these extraordinary teammates pull me up out of my ordinary spots. The Miami Dolphins cut me. I wasn't good enough for the Miami Dolphins. The Miami Dolphins

had won two games when they cut me. The three-time reigning Super Bowl champs picked me up. So there's a deficiency already. So Bill Belichick says, hey, you're good enough to play for me. They had just won their third Super Bowl in four years, taking even two weeks ahead. I go back down to Miami as a part of the New England Patriots. I ended up being the MVP of the game against the team that just cut me a full back. I have a hundred plus all purpose yards. Now did my football talent in two weeks change at all? Not a chance.

I was placed with an extraordinary team. And so I took my ordinary talents and I bought in hook, line, and sinker. Let me humble myself. Let me find a way to be a part of this extraordinary team. And then I'll watch my ordinary talent rise to the top. And that's all that took place. And I did that for four years. Bill taught me so many leadership principles, all having to do with this foundational truth of, will you humble yourself? Will you be a part of the answer instead of part of the problem? And so we had so many great talents there, but every single one of those great talents was willing to put their butt on a bench for 60 minutes on a Sunday for that team to win a game.

And then because we had 53 men that truly believe that was the best way to do it, everyone looked better. Every other team in the NFL was coming to try to pluck players from Bill's team. I've made more money in New Orleans than I ever would have made in New England because I bought into the Belichick way. And so this system of serve the team, serve the team, serve the team ultimately benefits the individual player. That's incredible. First of all, that had to be an interesting feeling, stepping back onto the field in Miami. It was awesome. You're probably walking out of the tunnel going, do these people hate

me? Did you get booed when you were coming out? Yes. And I was a fullback. They barely even knew my name. You ran out with a group of people. Yeah. And I was a Florida boy though.

So playing for the Miami Dolphins, kind of being on Palm Beach, Florida. So an hour South in Miami, that's like the home team. But talk about fears and insecurities. Adam, I remember I'm 25 years old at the time. And I remember being in the Westin in Fort Lauderdale, Florida as a part of the New England Patriots. I barely knew the playbook. And I remember crying before that game because I was so fearful. I was still so embarrassed. I've never been cut from anything. I had always kind of been this player that just made it happen. And so there were so many different insecurities flowing in and through me. And now I'm a part of this team. I don't even know the playbook I'm in over my head. And yet then I go in there and the

beauty of that day, literally the first play Adam Corey Dillon, who's this beast tailback 10 years in the NFL, probably 12, 13,000 yards rushing. We didn't even run a play at him. And he taps his head like this, meaning he's hurt and he needs a break. We had a false start on the first play of the game. Corey's like, I'm backup. There's nobody else. Everyone else is hurt.

So I'm going in. I don't even know the playbook. Tommy looks at me. Tom Brady's like, hey, I got you. You ask. If you don't know something, ask. I'll get you in the right position we got you let's go first first run was like 15 yards first down and the rest was history but i got thrusted into a position where a great team and great leaders and great teammates lifted me up and made me look way better than I ever was. Standing on the shoulders of giants.

Yeah. So it's truly an amazing concept. When you surround yourself with amazing people, you become more amazing. It's the old Jim Rohn quote, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with, so choose wisely. And you got an opportunity to stand

with some amazing people, and you became an amazing human being and player and everything. And that's so cool to see. So let's get a little bit further into your career here. We've talked about some of these successes, some of these failures. You moved on into broadcasting. You did eight years as an analyst. Tell me, how was that i mean it's it's it's fascinating to to listen to the analysts talk about the game because you've been there done that but what was it like in that space i loved it i listen there's nothing like playing

in super bowls or nothing like being in that kind of that war with your boys. But there was a real joy to kind of sit in that Fox booth or that booth with NFL Network and getting to kind of bring the fans at home into a world that I'd been caught by Mike Holmgren and Nick Saban and Bill Belichick and Sean Payton, because so many people love the game of football, but their experience ended at high school, right? And so the joy of kind of bringing the game to life for people that so loved it or just passionate about the game, it was such a great joy. And then for a fullback who don't really get those jobs to just start building a brand, it was a special run and I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it. Awesome. What have you implemented in life from these two major experiences that you've had? I mean, you're on career number three now. So you played, I mean, basically you grew up playing ball,

and you played your career there longer than the you know, longer than the average and a way longer than the average NFL star. Um, and then eight years as a, as an analyst, what are some of the major lessons that you have brought into this stage of life and, and that you could help our audience understand? Yeah. Um, man, that's a loaded question, brother.

Talent doesn't mean crap. You know, bill Belichick is super talented, but he's a great leader because he practices everything he preaches. No one will outwork him. No one will out sacrifice him. No one will out study him. And there might be more gifted play callers and gifted minds in the sense of the game of football, but because he prepares in such a way, he studies people. He's always asking questions.

Even high school coaches, college coaches, people that would, they'd key their pants to be on the phone with Bill Belichick. He's asking for help and resources. Humility marker again. 18 years, he was the most consistent, faithful leader I was around. And so the stages that I get to speak on with you, those truths are birthed out of his leadership. But great talent doesn't mean crap because some of the most talented people, players and coaches were, I hate to say it and it sounds almost too harsh, but they were a waste of space.

My eight years in the NFL, that network, that leadership at the NFL level, men that lack character, men that lack integrity, men that lie to get ahead. I mean, the way my career ended in the NFL Network was myself and Marshall Falk and Ike Taylor and Donovan McNabb and Warren Sapp had, we had one woman accuse us of sexual harassment. I don't know about anyone else's case, but the NFL for nine months paid me massive amounts of money to use my text and to use my video and to use my testimony against this woman because they knew she was lying against me. And yet then they try to force me out and go away quietly trying to get me to resign because they don't want to do the right thing. And so as talented as the roster was in NFL Network, NFL Network was never as good as Fox Sports because of leadership, because of things not done the right way. And so I'm thankful for that challenging season because now it makes me lead from the front, like do the right thing, no matter

what it costs you. It might cost you your job. It might cost you financially. It might, who knows what it will cost you, but leadership cost. But at the end of the day, if you're willing to pay the cost to be a true leader, true, fully honest, full of integrity, full of selflessness, you will rise to the top in marriage, in parenting, at REMAX, you name it, you will rise to the top. Few people are willing to pay the cost of true honesty, true integrity, true leadership. And so that's what I try to impart to my men is pay the price because we're either going to pay the price up front to be a real leader, or we're going to pay the price in the back end and we'll be exposed as the cowards we are and the poor leaders that we really are if we're not willing to pay the price up front. Awesome. And you mentioned something

in there when you were forced out of that, the analyst career. As leaders, we all get punched in the face at some point. I mean, it's going to happen. You're going to have, if you're an athlete, you're going to have an injury. You're going to have to recover from. You're going to have that one play that either makes or breaks a career, or the reality is in business, you're going to have somebody accuse you of something. You're going to, you know, something just, you know, you might get laid off, you get fired, whatever. I mean, a lot of people are going through different punches in the face right now. It happens a lot. And I think we're a little more,

I hate to use the word, but I think we're a little more sensitive to it now. Personally, people are like, I'm being attacked. This is, woe is me. This sucks, things like that. We all get punched in the face. I've been punched in the face many times in business, both publicly and privately. But the reality is I'm still alive. It didn't kill me. The last thing didn't kill me either. I mean, my previous career, I ran a SWAT team, made it through that too. I've lost friends in the business, in military, all of those things. But the reality is I'm still sitting here and I'm going to do my best to show that I'm my best. And I mean, how do you instill that after you've been punched in the gut, you're in the gutter, life is tough because you're like, I got to start over again. I got to hit

reset. And you're a resilient man. I mean, a very resilient man. And it's amazing to watch you stand up and go, try and get me again because I'm still here. So tell me, brother, how do you build that resilience and that tolerance for being punched in the face in life and know that in here and up here, you're doing your best? How do you build that? Well, again, a lot of these things I can't take credit for. Our friendship was afforded to me through John Czeplak. Well, my relationship with John Czeplak was afforded to me through John Cheplak. Well, my relationship with John Cheplak was afforded to me through Michael Hearn. Well, my relationship

with Michael Hearn was afforded to me X, Y, Z. And so there's so many things in life that I love to take credit for. When I'm honest with myself, I've had great people love and serve me. I've had great people come alongside me when I was down in the dumps. For me, listen, my gifts are football. I was really good at playing it. I'm really good at speaking it and teaching it. And so when I get fired from NFL Network, I had Fox and ESPN all call me, Keith. We know this isn't true, but you know this political climate. We can't touch you. We love you. Hope you land on your feet. I couldn't get a radio high school gig because of the Me Too climate and culture at the time. Everyone knew me. I had polygraph tests. I had papers from the NFL, Heath Evans, an employee in good standing,

resigning because they were trying to do everything they possibly could not to have to talk about that publicly. I had everything defending me, but I couldn't get a job anywhere. And so I'd love to say, I just sit back and I just never had a bad day and I just kept grinding, but I literally was forced in a position where I had nothing and nowhere to provide for my family. Everything had been tripped away. I had great friends. I had great men that encouraged me. I had great men that provided opportunities for me to rebuild. Ultimately, I just praised the good Lord above. He kept me focused on truth. And ultimately, brother Adam, day in and day out through that season of life, I was not living like a God-fearing man. I don't even think I was a Christian at that point in time. I grew up in a godly home and I knew how to act godly. But in that desperate season of life, God saved my soul

and he just kind of set my soul on fire to love him and love others. And that passion is really what's gotten me through is that, you know what? God's got a plan for my life and his word says that no one and no thing will thwart that. And so I've rested in his truth. My truth goes with the wind a lot of times. I had a lot of people that loved me and served me. But ultimately, what I cling to is that no man can thwart what God's got for me. And my life just continues to prove that. I love your spirit, your conviction, your dedication to your faith.

You're laser focused on being the best person that you can be, and it's phenomenal. You started a group, online fitness community called Built Ready. Can you give us a little bit of a flyover about Built Ready, please? It's such a cool thing. It's a combination of faith and fitness and being your best self. Am I directionally correct here? Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, listen, God's word in 1 Corinthians 16 tells us to act like men. All right. Well, what does that mean? We got to know what is a godly man. Adam, you know, you've been to these masterminds for years and how often this message of what true masculinity is, it ebbs and flows.

Well, we've had a message for thousands of years of what does a real man act like? And so we have a free thing that any man is welcome to join. I'll give you workouts that will matter-of-factly kick your butt. We've got free Bible reading plans, free Thursday night Bible studies. I challenge men all the time. Not a lot of guys do our workouts. They're like, Keith, this is too hard. I'm like, why only give you workouts that work? I'm not giving you muscle and fitness, three steps or three sets of six, whatever else. We're going to give you the

stuff that helped build my career and that I've learned from some of the great like Michael Hearn and Stan Efferding and Mark Bell and a lot of other guys I've had a privilege to be around. And so there's a whole free resource there for any man just to come along. You want workouts, if you want encouragement, if you want to just get to know more about this God of the Bible, well, we have free things there. And then recently what we've started doing is I love training men. I love training men to know God and to discipline their bodies. These two things will transform marriages. They'll transform businesses. They'll transform businesses.

They'll transform our relationships with our children. And so we have these, you know, I have a 94-day challenge coming up that starts January 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th. That intensive weekend will then go into 90 days of spiritual and physical discipleship. And I love training men. I love encouraging men. I love watching God do stuff in men's life that no other man can take credit for. And so that's what we do. And I have a lot of fun doing it. Where can we find information on Built Ready?

Yeah. Um, Instagram at Heath Evans 44, uh, Facebook at Heath Evans 44, um, and then builtready.com, uh, is, is a good place to find all the free resources that built ready offers. So, um, if men are interested in some of our leadership coaching, um, just message me on one of the social media platforms, um, and we'll be in touch. Awesome. And what we're all hearing about here is getting yourself right to get the rest of your life

right. So Heath is, is very disciplined, very segmented in his life, in his fitness, in his faith, in his family. And I've talked to you about your business and finances and all sorts of other stuff as well. You are holistically being the best human being that you can be, and great gratitude and appreciation to you, my brother, for that. Heath, I have a question that I ask all of the amazing people on our show. And that is, how do you start your day with a win? I love the question. I am naturally selfish.

I naturally always put myself first. I'm not naturally understanding of the best wife in the world, Christine Evans. I don't naturally understand the heart and the mind of my two teenage daughters. I don't naturally wake up and think of, hey, how can I serve Adam today? I don't wake up and be like, hey, how can I pray for Mark today? What can I do to love other people? Well, this word right here, it's been around for thousands of years, and it just continues to show itself true and true

and true and true. And it makes me think nothing of myself and everything of other people. And so there is a message of masculinity in the word of God that every single morning, I'm going to be up at 4.30. Most every single morning. Sometimes I sleep in. Most every morning, I'm going to be up at 4.30. The house is quiet. No one's bothered me. And for about two plus hours, I'm going to bury my heart and mind in the word of God.

And he has transformed my life. He has made me a loving and servant leader. And this is how I start every day with a win. I need to be less like me naturally and more like Christ. Christ was the man's man. And how can I be the man if I don't know the man? And so I spend my mornings getting to know the man. Awesome. Heath Evans, amazing football star, commentator on, I mean, there's a lot you've done, my friend. Fitness, teacher, instructor, mentor, guru, and really a great human being, great man, great friend. Thank you so much for being on Start With A Win.

Brother, flattered to be here with you, man. Thank you. And thank you for listening to being on start with a win brother flattered to be here with you man thank you and thank you for listening to start with a win all right if you want to get the secrets to manage your time like a ceo of a multi-million dollar company head over to adam contos.com slash foolproof time system uh there you will get all the secrets the tips and tricks to help you manage your time like a pro. And until next time, remember, start with a win. Wow. All right. We're on YouTube now. We are on youtube now hello youtube people hey guys

thanks for sticking around hey i got a question for you what's that uh sign behind you oh my gosh well i have many around the house but this one just says others can you you can't. Now, is that, is that the idea of like, no one don't tell me what I can't do? No, it's, it's really the opposite. And so, um, even in the Christian faith, but even in the business community, Adam is a far gifted, more gifted leader. He, you know, I am i am adhd i listen when when riddlin first came out they invented that thing for me right um and so in life we want fair well there's nothing's fair and so just even if you take my my christian faith out of it there's other people that can

do things that i can't i've got to sacrifice. I might have to work harder than everyone else in certain areas. And I do. In the Christian faith, we have these Christian freedoms. And people often use these freedoms in a way that hurt other people. I want to be the best man I can be because I believe the God of the universe has saved my soul. I believe he has made me right with him. He has given me this great privilege. Why wouldn't I sacrifice my life the way I believe Jesus sacrificed his life?

And so other people want to be lukewarm and they just want to dabble in all their freedoms. Not me. So I remind myself every day that, you know what, if I'm going to be the man God's called me to be, it's going to cost me my life. And by God's grace, I'm willing to lay down my life for him, for my wife, for my girls. And I just love people. And I love, because God first loved me, I love sacrificing for other people. So I remind myself daily.

I like that. That's really good. Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. Amen. Amen. There you go. Paul preaching the glorious good news of the Lord. Yeah.

What about the Super Bowl? So you were with the Saints when they won the Super Bowl. Is that correct? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Was there any sense of relief of like, oh, okay, cool. Now I got a trophy or a ring to show all the hard work I did my entire life. I just feel so bad for these football guys, right?

They dedicate their whole lives and then they never make it. They never win a Super Bowl or get the ring or whatnot. What was that like and how did that make you feel? Oh, Mark. I blew my knee out week seven of our Super Bowl year. So 2007 in New England, we go 18-0. We go to the Super Bowl. We lose to the Giants.

Oh, great game. I remember that vividly i play in that game but like man we're like this close to being like no one else right so the the 72 dolphins were 16 and 0 but they only played 13 regular season games so being 19 and i was far greater right well so i fall short there i'm in the middle of the best year of my career in New Orleans. And I literally just got voted, you know, mid-season all pro, meaning I'm the best fullback in the game and I blow my knee out. So I get to celebrate my team go on and win without me simultaneously mourning not being to be a part of that, watching the city of New Orleans just relish that opportunity to

be champions after Katrina and everything else. And so talk about like this heart tug of war of, I mean, I remember weeping and crying and celebrating and rejoicing. And it was like, you're a part of the team, but you're not a part of the team. And as a champion, like you want to be out there banging heads with your boys. And it never really felt like i was part of that even though i know i was and the team made me a part of it but uh brutal awesome season yeah

that's the best way to sum it up i mean you know you said week seven i mean you that's a lot of games that you worked with on the front end of that season i mean it's you know you look at it and you go i'm injured but i i gotta give you some credit man you got the i mean you were part of the team that got to week eight so i mean you look at that week eight is like quite a ways down the road in the season amen i always tell sean payton i'm like listen you're a great coach but when i was your fullback we were the number one rushing theme and the number one passing team. You know, when you lost me, you were only the number one passing team. That running game fell way off. Awesome. Awesome. Well, huge gratitude for having you on the show, brother. It's great to see you. My best to you and your family. Enjoy the holidays, you know, and thank you for your leadership and God bless. God bless you. Thanks for loving on me. Thanks for leading me, brother. holidays, you know, and, and thank you for your leadership. Uh, and, and God bless.

God bless you. Thanks for loving on me. Thanks for leading me, brother. Thanks brother.