Stay Tranquilo - Terron Armstead & Aaron Brewer on Wealth and Wisdom in the NFL

Episode Date: April 7, 2026

Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes in the NFL locker room? We sat down with NFL stars Terron Armstead and Aaron Brewer for an unfiltered conversation about life, business, and the mindset it takes to succeed beyond the gridiron.  From learning the 'reps' of business to navigating the changing culture of financial talk among teammates, Armstead and Brewer pull back the curtain on the challenges and triumphs of professional athletes today. They dive deep into the importance of vulnerability, the search for identity outside of football, and the power of mentorship.  Whether you're a sports fan, an aspiring entrepreneur, or just looking for some powerful life advice, this episode of Stay Tranquilo is packed with insights you won't want to miss!  Don't forget to LIKE, COMMENT, and SUBSCRIBE for more inspiring stories like this one!  #NFL #BusinessMindset #TerronArmstead #AaronBrewer #StayTranquilo #AthleteLife #WealthManagement Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Education and reps. It's the same in football. You learn how to do a technique, then you rep it over and over. So it's the same thing. Like, you get educated in these spaces. You want to get into real estate. Let's learn real estate. And then go get reps.

Sitting in a meeting, sit in an investment meeting, or whatever the case may be, you get reps. That's how you get familiar. You get comfortable the same way in your playing career. Education, reps. We are here at Pack Accelerate. I'm Cam Wolf. This is Dre Dunon, and I'm here with two of the best dudes. I've got the privilege of knowing in the NFL, Aaron Brewer, Dolphin Center,

and former pro bowler, Teran Armstead, and now host of the set. I want to start you guys with this. So much of what you guys have done football-wise is about on the field. A lot of this is off and what's after life. I'm curious throughout your time in the NFL how you've evolved the baby business aspect and how you think about life after football. and what that vision looks like for each of y'all. You want to start?

No matter. I popped off. Me personally, it really all started when I first came into league. I'm like, you hear all these stories of all the grace that come before you. You hear all the stories of pro athletes having all this money and going bankrupt or losing all their money when they come down the line. So just hearing those stories in itself, me coming into the league, my mindset is I'm just going to hold them to my money.

I'm going to save my money. Yeah. And so as time went on, you're talking to the wealthiest other people, like, period, pack. Like, you got so many CEOs, millionaires, billionaires companies. And they're telling you, like, it's not just about savings. It's about investing. And so I say over the time from just being a young dude, getting the money, I didn't come from much. So when I got that first check, I'm just getting training camps.

For sure. For sure. I'm feeling like, oh, yeah, this is it right here. Yeah. What am I just spending? What? I'm like, yeah, I'm not spending nothing. That's my mind.

I'm going to hold on to it. And so just from that time from just rookie year and moving forward, just having them conversation with older players, CEOs, like just the mindset that they have of investing their money and put it in different places. Like, it grew on me over time. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

What about UT State? For me, it was a bit of a different process starting off in the league 15 years ago now. We didn't talk about anything off the field. Yep. So no business conversations, no investment dealings, none, no finance, nothing. That wasn't the climate in the league in the locker room. It was more so just shut up and play. And me going to New Orleans, Drew Breaz was like the only person doing any business.

And he never talked about it. Really? Never talked about it at all. But he was everywhere as far as business, commercials, billboards, everything. But it's been interesting and it's been great to watch the evolution of the conversation. conversation, change in the locker room, the topics of discussion, me and Brew and our last years playing together in Miami, having these type conversations, talking investment, talking pro-athlete community, which was a huge intramed part to changing those conversations.

It's been amazing to see. I think we're trending in the right direction as far as that, because that conversation could help certain people, avoid failures, avoid bad investment, avoid certain people, avoid certain people, scammers out there in the world. I love the direction we're going. So, go ahead, Jay. Yeah, I got to kind of add to that, right? What would kind of be the advice to these young guys, right? Because obviously you guys, high profile athletes, high demand, right? Everyone wants to kind of be in business with you guys, right? But you talk about those bad deals. What's that

advice that you would give to some of these younger guys saying, hey, although they might be giving you good advice, it may not be the best advice. So how do you kind of protect yourself in that process, making sure that, one, you're taking care of you and you're kind of avoiding some of that bad business that you could get into. Me, president, I say educate yourself and get uncomfortable. Go to these different events, meet these different people, be in relationships with different people from different backgrounds, and you get the knowledge of it's so much more than what you've seen in your life. And so when you just expose yourself to much more, you're able to gain much knowledge. You get to gain different perspectives of the possibilities it is out there.

And so once you do that, and you have your core values on what you built on, you can kind of weave through the people and be able to just maneuver through different deals and talk to different people and understand what you care about in life or which direction you want to go with. Absolutely. It'll be the exact same for me. Yeah. Education and reps. Yeah. Education and reps. It's the same in football.

You learn how to do a technique, then you rep it over and over. So it's the same thing. Like you get educated in these spaces. You want to get into real estate. Let's learn real estate. And then go get reps. Sitting in a meeting, sit in an investment meeting, or whatever the case may be, you get reps.

That's how you get familiar, you get comfortable, same way in your playing career. Education, reps. So the education and reps is so interesting to me. And I want to start with you brew and bring your real world because you're in the middle of the game, right? And I'll just call it what it is. you're coming off a great year,

you're in a situation where you're underpaid compared to what your value is on the field, but you're still under contract. How do you, does your education, maybe the reps you learn in this space, help you navigate this space of how do I go into these rooms? Where do I tell my agent and how we handle these spaces?

Like how do you keep yourself business savvy while still trying to do what they always tell you to do, focus just on the ball. I say it's a pretty like easy balance for me. You know, like I've been playing football more than I've known about business. I've been playing football since I was six years old. Right. And so just from the technique, the work ethic, like I got the recipe for the success in football.

I know how to stay disbanding, go to sleep, wake up, eat right, work right, spam study, like I got those qualities already. Yep. And so having to understand. that what I'm doing right now, I'm gonna continue to do that. I can do that in my sleep all most, you know what I'm saying? It's very intentional, but I can do it in my sleep. Right.

And so understanding that my career, it doesn't last that long. I might finish my real weight, 32, 33. Right. And I have so much life after that. Yeah. I live at 60, 70, 80, like, that's another 30, 40, 50 years of life I have to figure out. Yeah. And so I feel like it's always better to start early.

And so right now it's the time. It's never too late or too early to get into the, game of business and wealth. For sure. So I guess in your current situation, how do you handle the business? I try to dive into everything I can. I see what you doing, Cam.

I see what you doing. It's just like in this off season. Like I'm here right now. Yeah. The time I do have, I dedicated to both. I can go get to work in the morning and go train in the morning. And I have to know I got nothing but time.

Right. So I apply it in both directions. Let me ask you this in the locker room. Y'all have both been in locker rooms. Yeah. How much do y'all? talk money, the process and what you're dealing with individually, whether it's with your contract or whether there's business or whether it's like, do you guys share? Because like you said,

you guys might be from places, you know, I'm from Mississippi. You're from Texas. You got Texas folks here. People who might not have came from anything who might not have been educated on these faces. Do you feel like y'all share enough or do you feel like the league is maybe protective of your own individual money, your own individual experiences? I feel now a lot of players, like how St.Ele was saying early, like he said, what, 15 years ago, like, people wouldn't have no conversations. But that's a common conversation out there. There's a lot of dudes off the field, like having different sponsorship,

having different business that invest in this business and that business. And so when dudes come in young and they just hungry for their information, you got to go out and seek it, like, nothing's really going to come to you. Right. So once you ask them certain questions or having them certain conversations, that's when them topics are brought up. And you can dive deep into those conversations with all the veterans who've been through what you've been through. Right.

Started out where you started out. So I feel like it's a open, open floor for them conversations in the life of the room. That's good. Because I think for me, I know when I share with people in my field in journalism, I often feel like the best way that they can grow is through me telling mistakes that I've made, right? And so, like, I think all of us of going through places where we may have made mistakes and we're like, hey, I don't, I wish I could. could have done that differently or I don't want the next group to do it differently. For each of you guys, is there something that maybe you've learned from in your own journey off the field that you feel like you could give advice to another player or you can give

if you could do it differently, you know now. What do you know now, you would do it. Yeah. For me, I mean, I sit in an advisory position. Yep. Being retired, playing for 12 years, being a captain seven, eight times. You know what I mean? Like I sit in a position other than that.

advisory, even here at PAC, I'm on an advisory board. And it comes from my failures. That's why you should listen to me. That's why my advice, I'm confident when I share and give advice on next steps because I've been there. And to see you avoid the same, there's no reason for you to make the same mistakes that I made. And now if you're going to make a new mistake, cool, and come tell me about it, so I'll

make it. You know what I mean? So I've taken ales in investment. I've lost money. in investment. I lost money in taxes. Just not having that business in order to. So that's why I'm able to advise through experience.

Absolutely. You got any dinner? Nah, he's a nail on the head, to be honest. Well, we've talked, obviously, ball, we've talked, you know, finances, business, but one thing that we haven't talked about is the human, right? Like who you guys are? Who is

Tehran Armstead off the field? Who is Aaron Brewer off the field, right? Because people see you, they see you as a football player, right? But we want to highlight the human at the end of the day. Like that's what this is all about. That's what, that's why we're here. We're all connected because we're in the same space

with same mindset, same type of goals. But tell us who you guys are off the field. Just to break in now, I just say I'm a God-fearing man. I'm a family man and I'm a hardworking man. You know, I just love to show love. I'm a man of service. And so that's really

where I try to live my everyday life on, like point into one of these buckets, you know what I'm saying? Whether it's my fate, my family, my fitness, or my career. I'm going into one of those buckets in one way or another. And so that's who Aaron Brew is. I have to feel I'm trying to just get back to my community. Like, just recently, I'm hopping on the board of donors for a program back home.

So it's called Future Leaders Program. So it's a program I was in as a child, like, probably six, seven grade. But they took us from a school in South Dallas, like not the best. area. So they'll take us to a charter school and I feel like I'm going to Disneyland. You know what I'm saying? I'm going to his charter school and it's like super nice. Yeah. Got all these like nice computers, classrooms. There's a bunch of nice resources for us. And so just going through that, like I'm reflecting on it not too long. I'm like, that is what opened my mind to see like there's more possibilities in the world. Right. And so now I'm trying to get into

a position where I can give that to kids, get them at an exposure to see anything as possible. We all start with a vision. If you got a vision, it ain't nothing you can accomplish. Amen. So that's Aaron Brewer right now. I love that. I love that. I love it.

I love it. I love it. No, for sure, that it makes me smile. It makes me happy to see young brew, have his security and who he is off the field and the passion to help others and all that. And I feel like watching him do that, it goes into who I am as somebody that was a mentor to brew, you know what I mean, and like got into the community with brew, and we spent time together and learned each other. So me, I'm a father first, God-fearing man, but I'm a servant

leader. I lead in different spaces that I need to, and I serve in different spaces that I need to. So in short, that's, I think it summarizes me perfectly. I'm a servant leader. I could, I could be front-line, I can make the, make the call, we go left and right, but I can also grab a, I'm up in the bucket and get busy. So that describes me. So as I hear each of you guys talk about yourself individually, I'm happy about it because sometimes you see players whose identities are so much trapped only into what they do in those 60 minutes.

And I just want to keep it real on this question because we see a lot of brothers that look like us that have had troubling situations in the last year. You see Rondell Moore fell into a period of mental struggle. you know, and Marshawn Neeland, the mental health element has been something that I feel like we've been trying to catch up to as a lead, especially for us, for black men. I'm curious how much you guys have learned about that space and maybe how you've been able to help or see teammates who have gone through their struggles and particularly with injuries. And I know T. Stay, you're going through that journey of like feeling alone when you're going through that type of rehab. maybe take us through what that looks like inside the locker room, the mental aspect? I think everyone's journey is unique. No two stories the same. Even if you have similarities,

no two stories the same. So I think that vulnerability is a big, is a big word when it comes to mental health because you've got to be vulnerable in order to seek help. Seek help. You know what I mean? you got to be vulnerable in order to tell brood I'm going through what I'm going through because we see each other as strong alpha men who go to battle and you know what I mean so can't be affected by nothing can't show a weak moment but it takes a moment of weakness quote unquote in order to gain the strength that I need from him to get back to my strength right and I don't think it's weak at all I think it is a strength to be vulnerable so changing that narrative of us seeing people having these conversations

or being open about what their struggles or challenges are, changing the climate around that is a huge component into changing how much people are able to seek help and seek growth mentally. Sure. You got anything you want to have, Bruce? I know we got to wrap it up here, but yeah, any final thoughts?

But I say it's a duty on both ends. So I say like just, people as a people we gotta really start actually checking in with people like yeah hey what's how you doing oh good good no they're like reset debt bro how you doing 100 like what's going on that's real and like even with that like people like it's still like they closed off a little bit yeah but you you got to make yourself uncomfortable it still it's there like you have to be vulnerable in those states to get through them tough times the tough times them last forever like every great story that's where the greatness comes is through the tough time you like you're

I was going to see the daylight on the other end. Right. And so I think that's what people just got to go through and they got to lean on faith to understand, like, the word not over. And as you were saying, like, people get tied up in identity. Football is my identity. But it's the qualities that make you successful in football

that make you who you are. Right. So if you plug in your qualities, whatever, like you dissing you can see it hardworking. You plug those same qualities into a different role. You have the same success you had in football. Yep. And so that's just, I feel like people got to understand that separation

and us as a people like to do our service intentionally check up with each other. Yeah. Just like one quick thing on that. You don't realize also how many people sometimes need it, right? And I think that's just living by example, right? Leading by example, just doing the things of positivity and putting that positive message out there

because somebody might see it and be like, shit, I needed that really bad, right? And sometimes they don't even know it, right? Because it's that lack of awareness, but it's being that guiding light for people that may not even know that they need it. And then that's a trigger for them to get out of that darkness. And you guys obviously have amazing platforms, right? Podcasting is a form of a platform, right? But if we can use it for good, even if you help that one person,

you've already done enough to change the dynamic of that person's life. So I think all in all, the priority is like you guys mentioned, right, service. Like that lead with service and the world will become a better place. I love it. I love it. I will end with this because. we've got one of the Dolphins best players and leaders, one of the Dolphins great players of a long time and a big Dolphins fan fan fan fan. This is a really interesting point of Dolphins, the Dolphins franchise, right? No Tua, new head coach, new general manager, Jalen Waddle traded. I'll start with you, Bru as a current player,

and I'll ask you T. Stead as an analyst, a former player, how do you go into this season mentally knowing where you guys were 23, 24, to where you guys are now and maybe what's ahead with starting up in a rebuild with the new quarterback that you know really well. Right. So I've had this conversation a couple of times now, and I try to dive in it with the metallics I have for myself.

Like, I'm a glass-haired-four type of guy. And so what I see what we're going into it with, that's how I see it. Like, I don't see it as a rebuild. Yes, we call it a rebuild, but it's the NFL. You don't know which team or who is going to be that year when it comes around. Yep.

And so I feel like the approach going to the outseason is to treat it as such. I don't care if you're on a one-year deal, two-year-year-old-year-deal. You put your eye into it. You're not here for no reason. You take every day with passion and come in here with attention to be great to go win. And so that's my goal as a captain and leader for this team to point to the team. And so people don't have that mindset because you know the media and everybody, oh, it's a rebuild, rebuild.

I feel like people get into, they hear that, again to like, chill. For sure. We're just rebuilding it. Yeah. We're going after every year. That's how you build a foundation and the course of for the rebuild. Yep. And so that's my outlook on it right now.

And you could be one of those guys that set the tone, you know, that I've heard the coach, the GM single you guys say, you're one of the foundation blocks. You feel comfortable doing that vocally for a young team? Absolutely. That's what it takes. Just take a couple words, words of encouragement. But I can say these words, but I got to leave. by example too. My actions every day,

how I show up, how coming to me, how we have practice, workouts. Like, how I'm working, y'all going to see it and I'm going to tell you. So you're going to know

exactly what to do. There's no room for confusion. Sure. Yep. Instead, you're on the outside now. You were in that locker room. How do you view it, you know,

where the roster is and where they're going? Yeah, I just think it goes down to the individuals you got in the locker room. The individuals you got it on the roster. All of those

guys taking that step back and really just understand you're living a dream. You're playing in the NFL. Yep. For not one moment could it ever be sacrificed or taken for granted? No matter what the team outlook is or how for y'all are going, individually, that film going to turn on. And your film is your resume. Right.

So it don't come with the context. Jeff Hathley first year, Tua is gone. Trade of Jalen Wado. That film not going to show none of that. It's going to have Play 12, number 72 for the Miami Dolphins, and it's going to roll. Yep. So what you're putting out there, that's your resume. That's going to live forever.

Yep. So understand that. And the window to play is so small, you can't take any year or time for granted. It'll be over. Absolutely. You have any thoughts to close this, Jeff? I got one thought. 30 years, Finch fans, it's always fends up.

That's all it matters. Let's go. Fins up. Fins up. Pends up, baby. Let's go. Well, thank you all again for joining us here at Pack Accelerate. Great time to be able to pour into y'all selves individually and invest in yourselves as you go forward. And thank you for sharing a little time with us here on the couch.

Absolutely. Appreciate you. Appreciate it, boys. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.