The Daily Stoic - Ryan Shazier on Struggling in Public and Overcoming Obstacles

Episode Date: December 4, 2021

On today’s episode of the podcast, Ryan talks to former NFL linebacker Ryan Shazier about his new book Walking Miracle, his journey after being diagnosed with Alopecia as a child, how he managed to overcome incredible adversity after a career ending spinal cord injury, and more.Ryan Dean Shazier is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at Ohio State and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Shazier had a successful first few seasons in the league, including a Pro Bowl appearance in 2016. During the 2017 season against the Cinncinati Bengals, Shazier attempted to make a head first tackle that left him unable to move his legs, and he had to have spinal stabilization surgery and learn to walk again. After spending two seasons on the Steelers' physically unable to perform list, Shazier announced his retirement from football in 2020. He started a foundation called The Ryan Shazier Fund to ensure all spinal cord injury patients have the same support and fighting chance as Ryan to live independent and meaningful lives, no matter their socioeconomic status.His new book Walking Miracle: How Faith, Positive Thinking, and Passion for Football Brought Me Back from Paralysis...and Helped Me Find Purpose is out everywhere now.Read Paul Kix’s article on sports and Stoicism: The ancient credo that fueled the Patriot Way, inspired Nick Saban and helped Ryan Shazier healThe Jordan Harbinger Show is one of the most interesting podcasts on the web, with guests like Kobe Bryant, Mark Manson, Eric Schmidt, and more. Listen to one of Ryan's episodes right now (1, 2), and subscribe to the Jordan Harbinger Show today.Talkspace is an online and mobile therapy company. Talkspace lets you send and receive unlimited messages with your dedicated therapist in the Talkspace platform 24/7. To match with a licensed therapist today, go to Talkspace.com or download the app. Make sure to use the code STOIC to get $100 off of your first month and show your support for the show.Trade Coffee will match you to coffees you’ll love from 400+ craft coffees, and will send you a freshly roasted bag as often as you’d like. Trade is offering your first bag free and $5 off your bundle at checkout. To get yours, go to drinktrade.com/DAILYSTOIC and use promo code DAILYSTOIC. Take the quiz to start your journey to the perfect cup.LinkedIn Jobs is the best platform for finding the right candidate to join your business this fall. It’s the largest marketplace for job seekers in the world, and it has great search features so that you can find candidates with any hard or soft skills that you need. And now, you can post a job for free. Just visit linkedin.com/STOIC to post a job for free. We've joined Team Feed Corporate to help end hunger in America. No one should go without a meal, yet more than 38 million people in America still face hunger. We created this fundraiser to help provide these much needed meals to our neighbors through the Feeding America network of food banks and we're asking you to join us in our cause. Go to https://dailystoic.com/feeding to donate and let's end hunger together!Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: https://DailyStoic.com/dailyemailCheck out the Daily Stoic Store for Stoic inspired products, signed books, and more.Follow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, FacebookFollow Ryan Shazier: Instagram, Twitter, HomepageSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoic podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the weekend edition of the Daily Stoic. Each weekday we bring you a meditation inspired by the ancient Stoics, something to help you live up to those four Stoic virtues of courage, justice, temperance, and wisdom. And then here on the weekend, we take a deeper dive into those same topics. We interview stoic philosophers, we explore at length how these stoic ideas can be applied to our actual lives and the challenging issues of our time. Here on the weekend when you have a little bit more space when things have slowed down, be sure to take some time to think, to go for a walk, to sit with your journal and most importantly to prepare for what the week

ahead may bring. Hi I'm David Brown, the host of Wunder's podcast business wars. And in our new season, Walmart must fight off target, the new discounter that's both savvy and fashion forward. Listen to business wars on Amazon music or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Ryan Holiday. Welcome to another special episode of the Daily Stoke podcast. another special episode of the Daily Stoke Podcast. Now, it would have been four or so years ago, I got this email out of the blue from a guy named Thomas Tull. Now, Thomas is the founder of Legendary Pictures,

which has done all sorts of amazing movies that you've certainly seen. But he wasn't talking about, you know, the film rights to one of my books or anything like that. He said, hey, could you do me a favor? He says, I'm a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. And you may have heard about this guy, Ryan Schaezer, who took a real bad hit in 2017 against the bangles, and he's paralyzed. And what Thomas said was that he had given Ryan a copy of the obstacle as a way because it looked like Ryan would never walk again.

And that Ryan had read the book there in the hospital and he wanted to connect us. He wanted to know if I'd take a few minutes to talk to him. And I said, of course, I'd seen the hit on TV. I'd read articles about it. Actually, my friend, Michelle Tafoya, had done a report on it. And so I'd been following Ryan's journey. I had zero idea that he had read any of my work. And Ryan and I became friends.

We texted back and forth many times. We've talked a bunch. I gave him recommendations. He asked me for advice. I took a whole lot of inspiration from it. And we kicked off a friendship. And I told Ryan that I thought he should do a book at some point. And he has

done one now and that's what we're talking about today. But I thought I'd read this quick passage first from an article that Paul Kicks had done about stoicism in sports because he talked to Ryan, Shazier about it and there was this beautiful passage that I think gives you a sense of this connection that Ryan and I share. This is, this is Kix's article. Here is Ryan Schaezer one day during those hazy months of his hospitalization after a hit against the Cincinnati Bengals that left him motionless on the field. After doctors told him he had a 20% chance of walking again. After he told

his fiance, I understand if you don't want to care for me. And after she stayed by him, after spine stabilization surgery and even after rehab sessions began at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. On one of those days when he still can't feel anything beneath his waist, here is Ryan Shayze, you're sharing at the unadorned hospital walls and turning now to a knock at the door. In steps, Thomas Toll, part owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Toll thinks of Shazier not just as a Pittsburgh's all pro linebacker but a friend, and he carries a book with him, especially with what you're going through right now, Toll says, pulling up a chair next to Shazier.

I thought this would be a good book to read. The obstacle is the way. Shea's ear is never heard of it, but as he reads, he finds that Stoicism reminds him of the life he led before the pain and depression of those months in the hospital. If he is to live again and live well, he has a choice to make. Like the book's author before him, be the man he is or the man he should be. Live by his doctors, pity prognosis, or by a life of his own making. To be a professional athlete is to believe that nothing is impossible, to know that

an obstacle in your path can give you the strength to remove it. And then the article goes on, thinking about how far he's come, Shazir, and there's no other way to say it, philosophical. Hey, this obstacle, he says, it's not what you expected, but one of my ultimate goals is to bring more joy, help more people be their better selves. These days, he and holiday talk about a book he might write. I didn't have anything to do with this book, so I'm not biased at all when I say that I think you should read it. It's called Walking Miracle, How Faith Positive Thinking thinking and a passion for football brought me back from paralysis and helped me find purpose. It's out everywhere now. Ryan has also started the Ryan Shazier Fund to ensure that all spinal cord injury patients

have the same support and fighting chance that he did to live independent and meaningful lives, no matter their socioeconomic status. The dude is a fighter, he is a great human being who I am so glad to have gotten to know. And to bring to you in this episode, we recorded a couple of months ago, and I've been sitting on it, waiting for the book to come out. And here it is, the one and only Ryan Schaezer, in Shazier, all pro linebacker and a hell of an athlete who life dealt in incredible obstacle. And he has managed to come through it to fight his way back from paralysis. He danced at his wedding.

He's probably never going to play football again, but he's found a way, as he said, to live a purposeful, meaningful life and to help others through that. Please check out his new book, Walking Miracle, How Faith Positive Thinking and a Passion for Football brought me back from paralysis and helped me find purpose by Ryan Schaezer. And enjoy this interview. You can follow him on social media. At Schaezer on Instagram, at Ryan Schaezer, fund on Twitter, and Ryan Shazierfund.org, check

it out and enjoy this interview. And do read the Paul Kicks article about Ryan and me and professional sports, which we'll link below, and of a weird way. But instead of starting there, I want to start with the sort of first bit of adversity, unexpected adversity that hits you in your life, which is, which is alopecia. So talk to me about where you were in your life when suddenly this thing just starts happening to you. Yeah, when I was, when I was younger, about five years old, I was diagnosed with alopecia. Me and my family at first, we didn't know what it was. They kind of threw us off guard.

Me and my family at first we didn't know what it was. It kind of threw us off guard and a lot of us were pretty scared. But after a while we went to a few different doctors and they were able to figure it out and they just told me I had alopecia, which is an autoimmune disease, which causes people to lose all their hair. But some people it is all over their bodies. Some people is just their armpits. Some people is just spicing their hair. But some people, it is all over their body. Some people is just their armpits, some people is just spicing their hair. So it started off with me with just spots.

But then it started to grow even more than I'll go to different doctors. And as it continued to grow, may not grow, but as it continued, my hair continued to fall out. It just came to a point where I just talked to my mom and dad and just like, hey, I'm cool, man. I'll just go without my hair.

And then, and my parents did a really good job of, you know, helping me define who I was because when I was younger, they told me, hey, you have alopecia and you can't hide from it. So it's easy, you're gonna wear it all the time or you're not gonna wear it at all. And when it kinda made me do that, it really just made me become more comfortable

with who I was. And after that moment, I was, you know, completely fine with, you know, just rocking it, rocking with no hair. I imagine that was a difficult thing for a kid that aged to come to terms with because it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't your fault. There was sort of no hope, no solution. You just had to accept this thing that probably made you feel uncomfortable and certainly

sort of, you know, probably made other people treat you differently. Yeah, at first it was definitely difficult. I would say a little bit more for my family members than myself because my parents, none of them had any hair loss. My president haven't any hair loss and all my cousins and everybody was completely fine. So it was a bit more difficult for my parents at first because just their child being a little bit different is difficult for any parent. So I think that's scared them more than anything. But after a while, you know, we just just said, hey, no matter what,

like we love you, no matter what. Ryan's the same person, no matter what. And I was completely fine with it after that. And my parents always put affirmation into my spirit and always had gave me positive affirmation. So I always felt great about what was when somebody would try to knock me, you know, I always knew it was not the wrong. I just didn't have hair. And my parents always gave me a heads up or always told me like, Ryan, just because you don't have

hair doesn't mean that you're only person with problems. Everybody has problems. People can just see what you're going through. And when they told me when that one was younger, that really helped me out a lot because then when kids were trying to pick on me or things would be going on, I'll be, I'll tell kids, man, you know, you can crack jokes all you want, but you know, you can just see what I'm going through. What are you going through or like if a kid would crack a crack a joke, you know, you can just see what I'm going through. What are you going through? Or like if a kid would crack a joke, I'll just laugh at the joke. And after a while, when somebody's trying to bully you

or pick on you, and the joke's not funny, or you're laughing at their joke, then it's not the same type of energy or the same type of excitement for a kid or when they're trying to bring you down. So after a while, I just, you know, laughed at the jokes or, you know, competitive with that. And then once I started to get older, you know, I was starting to be a lot bigger than most kids. And the kids, the kids are really bully kids or pick on kids that's bigger than them.

That's such a beautiful way of expressing it though. What a profound lesson they gave you that everyone is going through something. It just happens that because yours involves what sits on top of your head, it's public, but other people might be going through things much worse. I mean, the fact that you had two parents who loved you, cared about you,

there were plenty of kids I'm sure who are picking on you who did not have those things. Yeah, I was always really blessed to have both of my parents. Both Karen, my mom or dad was at every single game I had in high school, itself, one game. My dad was really sick at the time. The first time my parents actually missed a game besides that moment was when I was in college. And they didn't plan on missing any of those games either. It was just so far away. So I was just really blessed to have

us with a really strong, supporting cast. And I know a lot of kids weren't able to have that same type of situation. So I didn't really try to knock them for that. But I always used to tell people, you know, you know, you can just see what I'm going through. You might be going through something and this is why you're expressing your way

to express in it, but at the while, I was just like, hey man, I'm good with who I am and then that kind of, after a while, I just was like, man, you could crack jokes all you want. If it's funny, I'm a laugh, you know, in a majority of the time when somebody would crack a joke, I would have heard it before. So, I mean, really, they bothered me too much. Was there at least some, I mean, I imagine you just sort of turn that into

your look as well, right? Having, having basically a shave, Ted? Yeah. I just really just turned into my look and then, my parents always try to tell me like, or show me like athletes that were ball head and just like, man, you see my major artist ball or Jason Taylor's ball, or I remember,

there's a lot of guys for the University of Miami. I was in the University of Miami family. A lot of guys were balled at the time. And my dad was like, see, like, these guys are balled and they're great athletes, you know, like just because your bald doesn't make you any different, you can still be great at something just because you have no hair. You know, so they kind of had me look up to other people that were bald, you know, most of those guys lost their hair just because of old age

aren't they? You know, their family, their their families. You know, they just have bad history or something like that. But when I was younger, it kind of made you feel, you know, something like them are like, like, hey, he's bald and he's a hall of famer. Like, why cannot be greater? Why cannot be good at something I'm bald? You know, any little thing like that can help a five, six, seven year old.

Did you, do you feel like you channeled some of that energy or maybe pain or, uh, you know, whatever towards being great at football, like what draws you to excel on the field? I've been playing football ever since I was five years on. So around the same time I was losing my hair was when I really started to play the game of football. And my dad used to be a coach for a high school team. He was a defensive coordinator. So I used to be with them all the time. And after a while, I just started to grow more and more love for the game. I probably used to know the hell out of the coaches because I used to always try to draw a place, I tend to do this, or come to do that.

I'm a little kid, so they're like, we're not about to do that play. But I used to always let a game of football. And just after a while, I became better and better and better at it. And I was already kind of an aggressive kid, but that was one way too. Like if some day bothered me, I'm not a really combative person. If something caused me to, I will be that.

But I used to just say, if I'm mad, I can use all this anchor on the field. And I even did that until I was in a field. Sometimes I'll have situations where I'll be frustrated or mad or upset. And I'll just let it board all the way down until the game. And then I'll just, you know, using it in practice or using it in the game. When I got to the NFL, I ain't trying to be as mad during games because, you know, you have to focus a little bit more.

But when I was in high school and little league in college, if I was first doing it, sometimes I could definitely use those during practice or a game to kind of let out my, you know, emotions. And you also, I mean, you picked a sport that you get to wear a helmet. So the hair thing's not not not visible. Yeah, it's not visible, but it's really easy to find out who's bought it. Who's not, especially when they take the helmet off, it's not most people but it's really easy to find out who's balled and who's not, especially when they take the helmet off. It's not most people that keep them on the whole game, so.

But yeah, but you are right now. So you start to be a stand up football player, you play in college, you get drafted, you do everything right, you make it to a pro bowl, it looks like you're going to be, I mean, you're on a super bowl contender, you're a standout player. How long have you been in the league? Three years, four? Yeah, I got heard in my fourth year in NFL. So you're going into your your your four season, it looks like, you know, most it's really like sort of after that. Of course, yeah.

Yeah, after that third season, that's really where the contracts start to kick in and stuff right. Like you're you've made it longer than most people do. You got over the hump. It looks like everything's going your way and then life has other plans Yeah, it was crazy because that you always I was playing really well. I was at a really hard level and Some of my teammates will say hey Ryan you you was in the you know competition for D-Face a player year or you could have been this or you could have been that or Or Ryan man like you haven't won hell over a year. I feel like I was having a

really good year then unfortunately you know guy had other plans for me and I ended up getting injured on December 4th 2017 and that's where my life went to complete you you know, turn around because I went from being a world class athlete, feeling like I was one of the best in my position in my job and possibly could have been one of the better guys in history at that job. And I went from being that to being completely paralyzed. So that's kind of the plea into the spectrum, you know, being able to feel like you are a superman, then being in a position where you just had to use somebody else's support and be dependent on somebody else so much. It's definitely a, it's definitely a situation where I don't wish on my worst enemy, but I also thank the

Lord for allowing me to go through something like that because it's humbling, but also it helped me engage with so many other people that I don't feel like I would ever engage with. Do you remember what the last thought going through your mind was? Like you're sort of like old, old Ryan, the Ryan that comes out of the other side when you wake up in the hospital or you wake up on the field. Do you kind of remember what was going through your mind, what you were thinking about as you lined up on that play? I was just thinking it was a regular routine play and as the play was going on, I knew

it's actually what was happening. I was well prepared for the regular routine play and as the play was going on, I knew exactly what was happening. I was well prepared for the play. One thing that was crazy is with all the NFL rules and rule changes, I was actually trying my best to make a solid tackle, try to get my head out of the way and really focus in on trying to make it tackle the way that, you know, the league is trying to adjust everybody to make an attack. But in that situation, me trying to change up the way I actually tackle, I think you actually put me in a worst position

and, you know, I, you know, didn't anticipate that my head will end up wearing any of the not hit them in the hip, you know, so It was actually more about just hey, this is a routine play. Let me just try to make a routine tackle, but you know, let me try to do it. The way that they're trying to adjust the lead to And that was really my thoughts during that play like I can remember the whole lineup of the play I've seen the receiver coming I was like, oh yeah, this is a this is not a hard tackle. This is a regular play that I'm that I made, you know, thousands of times in hundreds of games. Do you and when you when you come out when you wake up, is it pain that you feel? Is it surprised that you feel? Is it? is it surprised that you feel is it? Do you know? I would have been getting knocked out.

So I got knocked out, but it was for like a split second. It was just more of a pain. It was kind of just a real moment because being able to run it for three, get to wherever you wanted to at any moment to then now trying to get up and you can't move. It's definitely, it was definitely a real moment. And being a Monday night football game, you know, you have millions of people watching

you and the whole stadium was quiet. It was just kind of a crazy moment because everybody when they're doing any type of situation, they never feel like it's going to be them. The one that goes through a really bad injury, the one that gets shot, the one that gets struck by lightning, the one that gets in the car accident, the one that gets cancer, nobody feels it's going to be me. And I felt that way in the NFL. I felt, man, I went the best guys in NFL at this moment. If anybody get hurt, I might get a stinger. I might hurt my ankle. I might, you know, dislocate something or tear MCL or

ACL or something, but you never feel like, hey, at this moment on this play, this is going to be my last play that I'm everyone play or This moment I'm gonna get paralyzed like people don't everything about that people always feel like it's not gonna be be like what's the odds like The odds of that happening in a NFL or less than 1% and I was that 1% You know, so it's like You people don't think about that stuff. So that's. So that's the type of thing that I was really thinking. It's not going to be me. Like, this is no way.

So when I got hurt, I was like, man, it's no way that I got hurt like this. And, you know, I just think it was as bad as it was until actually going through the whole process of trying to get better. How quickly did you realize that everything had changed? Was it on the field? Did you send something like this? No, it was, it was, I didn't say, oh, this is bad into probably two or three weeks into it because I was like, oh, man, you know, this is something like a stinger. I have a bruise on my spinal cord. I'm gonna get better I'm gonna get better, you know, just like any other bruise your heels and that's kind of what I was thinking then, you know about

Going into week two I'm like man. This is way worse than I thought, you know, this is not This is not what I was thinking and And you know, I just started trust God and I was like, hey, this is what I was thinking and I just started trust God and I was like, hey, this is what I was thinking. But one thing I've done before in my life is overcoming adversity and be able to get back to where I want to be or even get it to the NFL. The odds are getting to NFL are less than 1%.

So I was like, the odds of getting better are greater than 1% but less than 20. So I was like, hey, I got a good chance. So that's what I did. I just focused in and my wife, my friends, my family. We all just said anything that was positive. And we didn't really allow any negativity into the room, into the space, into my mind.

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today. Yeah, I read it. It sounded like people sort of encouraged you as particularly early on that you could come back that you would play again. And and maybe that was possible. Maybe it wasn't. Do you feel like it was good that you believed that you would come back from it or did that set, you feel like that set you up to be disappointed later or do you feel like you needed

that hope, whether it was false hope or not? Do you feel like you needed to believe that you could play again to get through those dark days? I feel no matter what you do, always need hope it doesn't matter if you feel like that hope is is 100% certain or that hope is as fake as a Marvel movie. At any day you have to you have to go out there and believe that you can do something. If I was five years old 10 years old 20 years old and didn't think I would make it to the NFL I I would have never made it.

If I didn't, and most people were like, man, you would never made the NFL. For astronauts, some people would say, man, you would never test the stars, but they do. And at any day, my goal was always to reach for the sun. And maybe I might not make the sun, but at least I made it to Mercury. At least I hit a star. You know, at least I got to work. I reach for the stars and hopefully,

I reach for the sun and hopefully get the moon. To me, that's how I am when I'm achieving and reaching for something. I just don't aim for, hey, let me just try to get better. Because even if I don't get to play again, I got better, I got to be able to chance to play with my kids again. I'm able to walk around and enjoy life.

I'm able to still do the things that I enjoy when I was playing before. So I definitely wanted to play football again. I definitely wanted to be a pro-bola, be a pro-bola, be a pro-bola, be a Hall of Famer. But that end day, God has bigger plans for you. And you can want something really bad at one moment.

But four years later, you can think back and like, huh? I really wanted that, but that really helped me get to where I'm at now. But so it wasn't really a disappointment. It was just more of a setup for another path. I remember one thing you told me, you may have still been in the hospital when you told me this, but it's interesting. So you're talking about you have these huge goals. I'm gonna come back.

I'm gonna shoot for the stars, whatever. But I also remember you telling me something like football is a game of inches. And that this recovery is also like a game of inches. Can you just make a little bit of progress? And I remember I passed that on to my mentor, Robert Green, who was recovering from a stroke at the same time. So walk me through how on the one hand, you're like, I'm going to do the thing that they

say can't be done, which is I'm going to play again. But then also you're taking it inch by inch day by day. Yeah, so one thing, especially with this injury like I like you were saying. Football is a game of inches and the reason people say football is a game of inches. If you ever see a fourth down play or a third down play and sometimes you'll see a guy reaching foot at first down or reaching foot at touchdown and sometimes you'll see 14 inches or they'll go for the fourth down and then they'll bring out the measuring stick and they they miss it by you know a feather or a pin you know like our marble they miss it by that much and That let you know like football is a game of inches and it takes It is it might be a hundred yards in it in the field of football

but Sometimes in that 10 yards you're trying to get in the first down You might get nine yards in 11 inches, but you don't get 12 and you know You don't hit and not a ball is turned over. And it's kind of the same thing with this, when it came to my injury, I wanted to just constantly get better, little by little, because at any day,

everybody wants to hit the home run. Everybody wants to win the Super Bowl. Everybody wants to be an NFL player, but at any day, some people don't want to pin in all the work. They just want to get there. And one of the things that me and my dad kind of came up with was every little thing is a first down. And so you have to get a bunch of first downs to get a

touchdown. And then sometimes you have a big play, and you might go 80 yards, you might go 90 yards and score a touchdown. But that's a lot less often than it is regular. You know, so one thing that we kept saying, hey, that's another first down. If I can stand up, that was a first down.

If I can lift my leg up, that was a first down. If I can pick my toe up, that was the first down. If I can pick my toe up, that's the first down. Then I built all that stuff up. Then now, once I was able to take up my first step, that's a touchdown because I had to do all these little things to be able to do that. Now I was able to take 10 steps. Man, that's another touchdown.

Now I was able to do all steps. Man, that's another touchdown. You know, now I was able to, you know, able to do all that stuff without a walker. You know, that's a first down. And then now I had a cane, that's a first down. Now I don't have to use anything, that's a touchdown. You know, you're, you're, you're be doing all those little things. And I'm not saying that those specific were my, my touchdowns and my first down, but walking at the

draft, that's that's the first down, you know, that is the touch now, you know, because any day I was able to show everybody how blessed I was and how God allowed me to overcome adversity that people never thought I was able to do. And I was able to do that from

a million to people. That is a touch now because it didn't matter if you like me or not, I feel most people in that situation, just as like man, it's good to see this man be able to walk. It's good to be able to see this man overcome what he overcame because I never thought you were able to do it. That's a touchdown. I think about like the greatest comeback in the in the history

of the NFL, the the the Patriots, Falcons Super Bowl. And I had Martellis penning on like a year and a half ago, we were talking about it, but it was really, you know, just moving the chains, right? Like they didn't just miraculously come back in in one swoop. It was like, are we moving the football? Are we putting points on the board? Let's just keep racking up progress. And cumatively, that might put us in a position to be competitive at the end of the game. And it sounds like for you, you were just like,

am I racking up inches every day? Am I racking up first downs and am I in the chains, that you didn't quite know whether that would end up with you wearing a uniform again, or graduating from college, or dancing at your own wedding. But you knew that if you were just making progress moving the chains, that was at least better than laying in the bed, feeling sorry for yourself. That was at least better than laying in the bed feeling sorry for yourself.

And you're 100% right about that. When I knew just every day, just a little bit by little bit, you can get better. It'll be days I don't want to do anything. It'll be days my wife would say, hey, Ryan, get up. Come on. This is what you want. But you don't, you don't wake up and just be able to walk. Right. You don't wake up and just be able to walk. Right. You don't wake up and just know how to fly a plane. You know, you don't wake up and just end up in the NFL.

Or raise a lot of people are going to write a book. You write about that. You know, you just don't wake up and do that. You might have the skills to do it. And you might have the talent to do it. But once you started, it's a lot more difficult to do it than it is to just then it would be if you build up off a cumulative of reps and actually learn from your mistakes then like, hey, I wrote a book this time, but it was good, but I know what I can do better. I knew what I did in this coverage. It was good, but I know what I can do better. I knew what I did in this coverage. It was good, but I know what I can do better, because if I do that first time Brady,

if I do that verse Ben, or if I do that verse patch of my homes, that's not gonna work. It might work first a young quarterback, but hey, I gotta get better. Miles Gary, T.J. what? There are some of the best pastresses in the league. Aaron Downard, there are some of the best pastresses in the league. Aaron Donner, there's some of the best pastresses in the league,

but they practice hard every single day. They don't just wake up and like, hey, I'm Aaron Donner, I have three defensive player of the years. No, it comes from working and taking it step by step. Sometimes those steps are things that you don't even think will be things that can really help you in the long run. But those are the things that do. So a lot of times, people don't, a lot of people wanted now, but I'm willing to put the work in now.

So what, when was it exactly? Because I was thinking about this, when did someone pass you my book? I think it was Thomas Toll, right? One of the owners of the Steelers gave you the obstacles the way. Yes, sir. Thomas, me and Thomas are pretty good friends. One thing, me and Thomas talked a lot about was his reading in general because I told him

I wanted to start to read a little bit more. And- Because you had time, right? He's sitting in the hospital? Yeah, I definitely had a lot of time, but I just wanted to start reading read a little bit more. And. Because you had time, right? He's sitting in the hospital. Yeah, I definitely had a lot of time, but I just wanted to start reading more in general. And one thing Tom has done sometimes is he would say, hey, this is a good book you should read.

Or this is a book you should read. And this was even before I got hurt. But then when I got hurt, he was like, right, I think this would be a great book for you. It's definitely talks about what you've gone through, but also it can help you along the way. And he passed along your book and it really helped me out a lot because it made me

really think about, hey, just because I'm going through something, don't fight against it. Use that to help you find a way through it and that helped me out tremendously. Do you remember what you were thinking about like was playing starting to be less likely to you or you then starting to think about how you were gonna use this as you were deciding

what the next course of your life would be or were you still thinking like, I'm gonna claw my way back from this and play again. So I was still thinking about Chrome all the way back and playing from this again. I didn't really think about not playing anymore until pretty much right before I retired. Me and my wife were just talking and I talked to my family and I just, I knew how much I put into it. And I really do feel if I could have, if I could have rehabbing at the red, I would rehabbing. I think it would have been a possibility.

But one thing about me is that when I do things, I always want to try to get my best and try to be great at it. And I didn't want to come back and be somebody that I wasn't before. I didn't want to come back and be a different Ryan Shayzee here. And I felt I could have been good, but I don't feel like I would have been the same guy. And one thing about me is I always try to pick my best foot forward.

And I just didn't want to go through possibility of, hey man, we expect this out of Ryan, then Ryan can't do the same as he once did and I actually thought I can do better You know being a father better at possibly doing business Then I could have football at the time and that's why I decided to move on then and and I remember As we were we started talking there was all these sort of moments of like stunning progress, right?

You walk out on the field. I remember watching a video of you doing box jumps. There was footage you running on the beach. It really did see, like you had already blown apart all of the expectations. Like you had already disproven so many doctors wrong just by standing on two feet, right? Yeah, you're 100% correct about that. There's a lot of doctors that didn't think I'll be

where I'm at now. And I'm just, it was just a blessing. I put my working, but one of my favorite verses in the Bible is faith what our works is dead. And I don't know if that's exactly how it's written, but it's basically saying, you can have all the faith you want in something. But if you don't put the work into it, it's not going to come to come to, uh,

if you wish. And, and that's one thing that I want to do. I want to make sure that I put the effort in. And I was going to trust God and continue to push forward. And that's what I did. So as the progress is, I imagine giving you hope, you know, I remember the GM said something like, there's no ceiling on what this guy's capable of.

Everything was on the table. I mean, they didn't even cancel your contract. So you're like, still, you still have a locker with the team, right? But at some point, as you said, you start to realize, maybe you couldn't come back to where you were, you realize that it wasn't, it wasn't gonna happen.

After all the hope and the progress and the work that you put in, did that break your heart? Like how did you feel having to wrestle with like the death of a dream? That feels like it must have been crushing. I feel if I were to retire right after I got hurt, like immediately just made a decision, I feel like it would have

been more difficult for me. Then, then when I decided to do it, I was able to be around the team a lot. I was able to still enjoy the NFL. I was able to be a continue to be a father. But as I continue to grow and see the path that I was going and where I wanted to be at, I just felt it was more important to be a father than it was to be a football player. And at end of the day, sometimes dreams just help you find a path for somewhere else. And I think that's what football was for me in the first place.

I want to be in the Hall of Fame. I want to be one of the greatest ever. But football is a platform to allow you to achieve multiple things. Some people achieve greatness in other ways. Michael Strayer, he's a Hall of Famer in football and he might be a Hall of Famer when it comes to broadcasts. You know, it, you know, Bill Coward is the same way, Tony Ramos the same way. And to me, unfortunately, my career ended a lot earlier than I wanted to, but as I continue to grow, my

love for the game is still there, but it came from a different passion. And my passion to play wasn't the same as it was before. But honestly, it did hurt. Sometimes when I went to games, all job out of stadium, it would hurt because you, because N&D, right, I've been playing football since I was five years old. And my first time not playing football was when I got hurt.

I've been injured, but not actually like, deciding or not one or not deciding or something deciding I can't play anymore because when I got hurt. So when that happened, you know, it definitely hurt, but it also made me feel it also gave me a piece of mind as well because I just can move on from it a little bit as well because everything I've done always been around football surrounded by football and football created it and the fact that I was able to create something myself, other than my kids, and just to be around my family a little bit more and just starting thinking about things that I wanted to do after football before I got hurt. It really kind of gave me a peace of mind. So it hurt, I'm

not going to lie, it definitely hurt because that day I've been doing something since for 20 years and that's the only thing I've done in my life for 20 years. So I would definitely say it hurt, but it definitely gave me a piece of mind because it definitely allowed me to continue to grow and just find myself. Yeah, I think when people hear that phrase, the obstacle is the way, I think it's easy to misinterpret it, right? The idea that like, you can turn anything around, that everything can be salvage, everything can be saved. And I mean, a lot of

things can, but it's more complicated than that, right? To me, what Marcus really is saying, is he's saying that every situation is an opportunity to practice virtue. So for you, you know, you get hurt. It's this devastating injury. Obviously, at first, it looked like there was an opportunity simply to come back, right? This was an opportunity for endurance, perseverance, persistence, you know, strength of will. And perhaps it could have been, but what it ultimately turns out for you is it's an opportunity to discover who you're going to be, what you're going to do next, to deal with pain and loss and difficulty with grace. And then as you said, to figure out how you're going to use this platform you have now to write the next chapter of your life. Yeah, you're 100% right. Like you said, a lot of people feel that when you say the obstacles the way or,

Hey, man, you can save everything. And I'm going to be honest, everything's not sabreable. And not to me, I don't feel like I was getting saved from anything or salvage anything to me I was just looking at it in a different light. I knew before I heard football was a platform and then allow you to Open up a lot of doors that you weren't possibly able to open up before But so then I just started to say hey my obstacle is this injury. I So then I just decided to say hey my obstacle is this injury. I Got it from football, but football is still that platform that allowed me to open doors That wasn't able to open before so try to make it a way to get him back to the game that you always love But don't always don't forget that again that you always love it's still a platform and I Just continue to fight for what I love

and I continue to use the platform that it gave me. So walk me through what you've done since, right? You started this nonprofit, you've done some investing, some business stuff, and then you went back to college. I mean, that must have been really cool also. Yeah, I've been a very busy man since I decided to retire from the game football. So I went back to the University of Pitt and took some classes and then I finished off at the University of the University almost missed that one up.

I don't know. And that's where you played, right? Yes. I was missed out on it. I don't know. That's where you played, right? Yes, and then I played at the Ohio State University as well. I went back in, made sure I got my degree. Then after that, I started investing in a few different businesses. One is a real estate business. I'm also on a small e-sports game team,

but the things that are kind of my pride and joy right now, and I'm really excited about, is that I started a foundation called the Ryan Shade Zero Fund for spinal rehabilitation. And it's a fun to allow other family members and other to participants that have went through a spinal cord injury to be able to allow them to help them with a quality of life and be able to provide more support for them and their families.

Because when somebody goes through a spinal cord injury, it's a very difficult journey. A lot of them are unable to get the amount of rehab and some of the resources that I was provided with. So I wanted to be able to allow everybody to be, not everybody, but allow people to be more equipped with resources and rehab. But then also their family members are all,

all they forgot about because they're the ones who are going through the injuries. And their family members, they may not be the ones that can't walk, they may not be the ones in the hospital, but I promise you they're hurting just as much as the person that has a spinal cord injury. So I just wanted to provide a foundation to support those families.

So we have a few different programs that we recently started that I'm really excited about. Another thing that I just started is, well, that has come in out in November, November 30th is my book and it's called Walking Miracle. And it's about my story and a little bit about what we talked about today But a little bit more in depth and it's I'm really excited about it because it really shows people how I was able to overcome a lot of adversity in my life And I had a spinal cord injury I had alopecia, but I also had some other things in my life that Then I feel that built me for this moment and helped me be able to overcome a lot of obstacles that I was able to overcome. So I think that will be a great book that people are really enjoying. It comes out in November 30th. And lastly, I just started a business. And the business that I started

is a logistics business. It's a car transportation business. So when people are moving across the countries or buying across the countries, buying cars across the country, they can use my services to move their cars across the country and it's called Shay Trucking. So I'm really excited about all three of those things. Yeah, I remember talking to you and you're sort of talking you were interested in writing and I said you should do a book because, you know, you have this, you went through this thing that unfortunately, thousands of people go through every year all over the world.

They're not usually doing it on Monday night football in front of tens of millions of people, but people, my father broke his neck when he was like eight or nine years old and spent like a year in the hospital. So, you know what happens? And you had resources, but you also had, and you had advantages, but you also had, you know, other difficulties. And you were able to get through it. I think you had, when we go through something, one of the ways that the obstacle can be the way is that even though it was terribly hard for us by sharing our experiences,

by learning lessons from it, we can make it less hard for the people that come after us. And that takes a negative situation and makes it slightly less negative. Yeah, you're right about that. One thing my dad my dad says is quote a lot. He said borrow wisdom saves you a lot of time paying and money.

And one thing that I've done my whole life is borrow a lot of wisdom from other people and a lot of life experiences from other people. So I felt why can't I do the same thing and be able to help others overcome their obstacles and help them find their path through their obstacles and from from my past experience. So you know, I just shot it. give some ball wisdom in my book and just talk about the things that I'll went through to help others.

How do you feel like the organization treated you? I got to imagine that that was difficult for everyone involved, but it does seem like you guys have a good relationship going, you know, coming out of what was a tragic, unfortunate situation. I think the organization can actually me any better. Honestly, I can't complain at all that the Rooney family and the stillers, I think, done everything they possibly can to support me, support my family, support my foundation, just supported my whole life.

They've been really here, just supporting us through this whole journey. It could have went in a whole different direction. And one thing that everyone these days is to make sure that they knew, that I knew that they were there for me, that the students were there for me and the city of Pittsburgh was here for me. So I couldn't complain at all because they provided so much support for my family, my family and my friends and just I can't I have so many words to say, you know, I can't say them all because I really feel like I'm part of the family the way they treated me. Well, no, and the reason I bring that up is because, you know, I can't say them all because I really feel like I'm part of the family the way they treat me.

Well, no, and the reason I bring that up is because, you know, when we say the obstacles away or there's an opportunity inside every disaster, it's not just for you, the person who this thing happened to, but I think from, and again, I only know Thomas, we've gotten together a few times that we're not, friends, so I don't know the particulars of it, but it looks like the team, the organization, the owners. It seems like they also saw this as an opportunity to step up and show what support looks like, what grace looks like, what loyalty looks like, what sort of putting people before business looks like, right? I mean, I don't think they did have an obligation, but they probably didn't have,

they probably went well beyond whatever their legal obligation was to you contractually, and did what's obviously the right thing, and unfortunately that's like kind of rare. Yeah, especially in the NFL, it's a lot of owners, and I'm not gonna say just the NFL, but in just a lot of national sport leagues,

a lot of our ownership and a lot of the teams are owned by people that are more business minded and business savvy, so they're more focused on running it like a business. Sure. And obviously, when they win, it's enjoyable. It's their video game. If they're real like video game.

So to them, they might not get as emotionally tied to other people as some teams do. But depending on the stillers that I know from personal experience, I know everybody's experienced a little bit different than mine. But I feel that they treated more like a family business. And it is their family business. And I think that's why they have a closer attachment

to players. There are a lot of other sport teams in sport leagues due because of their family the way they run the business the way they treat people in the way they've done business in the last 80 years. So that's why I feel that they treat people so kind so respectfully and I'm just blessed to be so might I was drafted here and have the support of this great franchise. Yeah, because people will talk about, hey, this is a family, hey, we're all in this together.

And I think, you know, we saw this during the pandemic, businesses had said that for a long time. And then something happened and suddenly they were like, but by the way, you know, businesses, business. And I think there's this stoic idea of like, look, you don't talk about it, you do it, right? Don't talk about it, be about it. And it strikes me that what happened in your case

is again, unfortunately rare, but you know, you people talk about how we're a team, we sacrifice for each other, we're all in this together, but then something happens, and it costs you money or time or a spot on the roster to actually stick with that, then people don't do it. And I think to me, what I, what's at least inspiring about your story is that all the things that people said, they actually used this as an opportunity to prove. You guys were in it together

and you did sacrifice together. You were committed together and you got better together. And now you'll always be part of each other's story forever because of that. You're very right about that. A lot of people always say, hey, we're a family, we're doing things together.

But like you say, when things get ugly, you see how people true colors are. And to me, I feel like they're still in showroom that true colors are. And let everybody see, hey, this is how we run our organization. This guy has been with us and supported us and done everything. The way that we've always supported and I don't see where we will stop that right now. And like you said, a lot of businesses will say, hey, we're family will do this, we'll do that. But some people, you know, we'll cut a dollar to save a penny.

You know, so it's sad, but that's just the life we live in. The world we live in and I'm just blessed to be able to be by and stand by our organization that live by the principles that they talk about. be by and stand by organization that live by the principles that they talk about. And on that note, I think this is a good place to wrap up. I've got to imagine your girlfriend now, wife, you know, in the wedding vows, we say, you know, in sickness and in health, it must have been a surreal moment and a test of you guys and that like, you know, she shows up at that game, your pro bowl player in the NFL, making millions of dollars on your way to being a Hall of Famer in your profession. And that night, you know, she sees you in the hospital being

told you're never going to walk again. How did this experience, I mean, that could break a lot of couples apart. How did you guys use this experience to get where you now are? One thing with us, Michelle, I actually talked to her about this and I'm just truly thankful she didn't listen to me I was like Michelle man, you're a beautiful, you're a beautiful young lady

At the time we were in 25 and I said Michelle, you're a beautiful young lady. You don't you don't have to Be with me anymore. I don't want you to take care of somebody that's going to be paralyzed for the rest of the life. You can go find wherever you want. And she pretty much told me shut up. And she was like, Hey, I decided to be a fiance before you got injured. And I told you no matter what, I'm a beer for you. And that's exactly what she did every day in the hospital. She slept by me in the bed, in a stretcher that they brought in for her. In every single day, that I stayed in the hospital,

and I was in the hospital for two months straight. She was in the hospital every day with me, and she could have slept in our bed that's a lot more comfortable until you, you know, in a hospital stretcher. But she was like, like the stiller, she said what she would do and was the person that she said she would be before I injured she was the same person after I got injured

and it wasn't easy we definitely had a lot of hiccups and it was a dollar pain and struggle but we were able to overcome it and I think it was because how supportive my wife was, how strong she was, and I'm just truly blessed to have her in my life. Well, I think sometimes, especially ambitious people, they're like, you know, I don't have time for family. I don't have time for a relationship in my life, because I want to be best in the world at writing or football or being a movie director or an investor.

And I definitely get that because there is a cost to sort of having people in your life, right? I mean, it takes time. And the one thing you don't have when you're trying to master something is free time. But it strikes me that that is a very, that is a strategy that only works if everything goes your way. I've got to imagine that your story might have ended differently. Had you been single when this all happened, or if you'd had to do this alone, I wonder,

I wonder how it would have gone if there wasn't someone sleeping in the hospital bed next to you. Yeah, I definitely feel this would have been a little bit of a different situation for me. If I didn't have my wife with me at the time, and the reason I say that is because she just really been my rock. She's really been there for me this whole time.

I would have had my mom and dad and my mother and father and my brother and they were all very, very supportive. But they all had their own lives as well. And just to have somebody that's very supportive to be there with me, I don't know. I don't know how I would have done it any different. I know a lot of people, like you said, it's great when all I have time for family, I gotta do it my way, I gotta grind it out. But sometimes that works really well. But if you don't have somebody in those really hard times, when you need them, it gets very lonely and really tough when you're by yourself.

Yeah, and it sounds like she was, and some of the moments when you lost motivation, or you doubted yourself, or you didn't want to do it, or you felt like you couldn't do it, it sounds like she was not unlike the teammates and coaches you have, which is that she saw that there was that you did have what it took or that you you did actually want to do it and that you needed to be encouraged and you needed to be pushed and you needed also to be supported, but it sounds like she she was there when she was there pushing you to do what maybe sometimes you weren't even sure you could do.

Yeah, I wouldn't say that it was a bunch of times. I didn't feel like I could do something. It was more about she was just there and understood, hey, Ryan, you wanna achieve this goal and I'm not gonna allow you to not achieve it because of your lack of want to, or your lack of, I'm tired right now. So, at that moment.

At that moment. Yeah, so she definitely knows my good and my bad She definitely knows my good and my bad, and she knows how I am in certain situations. So she definitely was there for me no matter what. She held you accountable to the standards that you had yourself set. Yes, sir. That's the best way to put it. So last thing, because now you think about this with the with the nonprofit, and I'm sure I'm sure the steers bring you in when someone gets hurt, I'm sure, I'm sure your phone number gets passed around. As, as let's say

you're an athlete, let's say you're, you know, you're just someone who's walking down the street, you got clipped by a car, or let's say you just got some terrible diagnosis from the doctor, what would you say to someone whose life has just changed because of an injury, because of a setback, because of a, you know, a door that got closed? What's the sort of process you would walk them through having, you know, been, been through that darkness now yourself? What kind of light would you, would you help shine for them? So everybody's a little bit different because I can tell one person something

and it might work for them, but then I tell somebody else something that doesn't work for them. Sure. So based off of the person's experience, based off of their life and what they've told me, I just like to talk to them personally in just see what they're going through, how they feel about things. And I just build a conversation off of that. And I just try to help them grow off of, where they'd help them get to what they were at before they got hurt and talk to them about things that

they enjoyed before they got hurt and just let them know that those things were still there. You just have to still fight for it. You fought for it before you got hurt but it was just a different type of fight and everybody has the adversity. Everybody's been some through some type of adversity allowed them to get to where they are now. And I just try to make sure that they know that and use whatever they did to fight through the adversity that they overcame before to use that to overcome what they're going through now.

Yeah, and probably I guess you'd tell them that it's gonna take longer than they think, right? I'm sure. Yeah, that's definitely one of the key things I tell people that, hey, Rome wasn't building a day and most people didn't recover in a day. So I tell people one thing you have to understand is that it's not a, it's not a sprain some paradigm. So you're going to want all you want to just get up and run to the mailbox tomorrow. Hey, I'm not saying you can't do it,

but just know it's gonna take a lot of work if you're gonna try to do it. Well, and I guess this is another key to discipline, but like if you force it, if you push it earlier, too early, you might end up hurting yourself more or doing more damage that actually makes whatever you're trying to do less likely or further away.

Yeah, no, that happens to a lot more people than people actually think. A lot of people, they want it so bad sometimes that they push it way too much. And it's nothing wrong with working hard. But the one thing I tell people to, you have to also gauge when you are in the moment. And I tell a lot of guys this because a lot of guys will want it. And I'm already, I can do it, I can do it, I can do it.

And I'm like, you can do it, but you also got to understand when your body is tired, your body is telling you something. So you have to listen to your body and understand where your body wants you to be at. And don't try to overdo it because at end of the day, if your body is telling you to stop, that means to stop. If your body's telling you to go, go means to stop. If your body's selling you to go, go. And it might be sometimes when you can push

it a little bit extra, but you always got to listen to what your body's selling. I love that. Ryan, I'm so glad that we got to meet to me when I sat down and wrote this book about Angel Velocity. This isn't the kind of connection I thought would come of it, but I'm so sort of humbled and honored that it did, and your journey's like incredibly inspiring to me,

and I think the good you're doing coming out of it, even though it came at the expense of, you know, what you wanted to do most in life is just a profound sort of lesson and example for us all to follow in. And I'm really glad we got to meet. And I'm glad you did this book. And I think it's going to help a lot of people.

And I hope you keep using what happened to you as a way to make the world a better place. And to provide a great example for people. And I think that's what you're doing. Thank you so much, Ryan. Your book really helped me out a lot. And I know it's helped out millions of people. And I'm just grateful to be able to join your podcast and just to talk to you about how it was able to help me and help others. Well, I hope we can meet in person someday

and maybe we'll go for a run or something as you recover it would be a truly an honor. Thank you so much. Daily Stoke is raising money for feeding America. Last year, the Daily Stoke community came together and raised over $100,000 together together providing more than a million meals. And this year we're trying to go twice as big. We've donated the first twenty thousand dollars and we'd like your help getting to our goal two hundred thousand dollars which would provide more than two million meals for families across

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