THE ED MYLETT SHOW - Standing Your Ground: A Story of Perseverance with Sage Steele

Episode Date: March 3, 2026

What If Losing Everything Is the Very Thing That Leads You to Your Real Life? In this conversation with Sage Steele, I sit down with a woman who had her entire world flipped upside down in real time. Sixteen years at ESPN. A respected career. A single mom carrying the financial weight of her family. And then one moment on a podcast where she spoke her mind, and it all changed. What followed was suspension, public backlash, legal battles with The Walt Disney Company, and the kind of pressure most people only pray they never experience. But this episode is not about politics. It is about courage. It is about what happens when you are forced to choose between comfort and conviction. Sage opens up about the fear of losing everything, the weight of being the breadwinner for her kids, and the internal battle of standing up for herself after years of staying quiet. She shares what it felt like to be publicly attacked, to receive threats, to question herself in the darkest moments, and then to make a decision that changed the trajectory of her life. What moved me most was not just her resilience, but the legacy behind it. The story of her father, a West Point graduate who broke barriers and chose the “harder right” in the face of racism and rejection, will stay with you. That foundation shaped Sage more than she realized. And when she finally stood up for herself, her son looked at her and said, “Mom, it’s about time you stood up for yourself.” That moment alone is worth listening to this entire episode. And here is the part I want you to hear if you are going through your own blow up right now. Sage lost her job. She walked away from the only career she had known for decades. She had no clear next step. But she surrendered control. She leaned into faith. She built her own platform. And in the middle of the uncertainty, she met the man who is now her husband in a moment that only God could orchestrate. The same pain that felt like devastation became the doorway to a new life. If you are afraid to speak up, afraid to make the change, afraid to lose what feels secure, this conversation will challenge you. Sometimes the thing you are clinging to is the very thing holding you back from the life you were meant to live. Key Takeaways: Why standing on principle can cost you everything, and still be worth it How to function and perform at a high level while your world feels like it is collapsing The difference between controlling outcomes and surrendering them How your children learn more from what you model than what you preach Why the hardest seasons of your life often become the most defining This one is about faith. It is about courage. It is about choosing the harder right. And it might just be the reminder you need that your setback is not the end of your story. Max Out. Also don’t miss out on MAXOUT2026: Once a year, I open my home for an intimate one-day experience unlike anything else I do. This year, I’m making it even smaller, just 15 to 18 people. Together, we’ll dive deep into the exact strategies I use to plan, visualize, and design the best year of my life and yours. If you’re ready to Max Out your future, join me at Maxout2026.com (https://maxout2026.com/) for a life-changing day you’ll never forget. 👉 SUBSCRIBE TO ED'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL NOW 👈⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   → → → CONNECT WITH ED MYLETT ON SOCIAL MEDIA: ← ← ←  ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   ➡️⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠FACEBOOK⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LINKEDIN⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠WEBSITE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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and create content that you want. You know, we all know this. There's ads on our show, right? So we want to improve the experience. But in order to do that, we need to know a little bit more about you. So my friends in the audience, we want to improve that experience. So please help us. The survey's quick, easy.

And it's a free way to support the show. If you'll take two minutes, you'll be helping us out so much by doing this. So go to gum.fm slash mylet to fill out our audience survey. That's g-um.fm-fm-M-Y-L-L-E-T-T. This is the Edmireland Show. All right, you guys, welcome back to the show. I wanted to talk to this woman for about four years. What?

Well, you've had a little interesting run here the last four or five years. And I want to learn about the behind-the-scenes. a little bit. You guys all know her from probably ESPN, what, 16 years at ESPN. She's covered everything from the Masters to the NBA Finals, you name it, all the best sporting events in the world. She's a really interesting woman. I've had a chance to watch her speak a couple times now. We've been on the road together at different events, which is actually what we're doing here. But I want to pick her brain about what happens everybody when your whole life kind of gets flipped upside down. Because I know a lot of you that are driving in your car right now or you're on the

treadmill. Maybe you're at that point of your life where you're, I need to make a switch or life is switching on me. And that's what happened to this woman. And I want to pick her brain about what it felt like, what she did, and how she got through it with Sage Steel. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much. I didn't even know that you knew who I was before like two months ago when we met on the road. I remember. No, of course I did. Thank you. So your life kind of blew up. Yeah. Right? The first part, I guess, before we go through the blow up, tell everybody, sort of the genesis of what happened before the blow up. What happened? September of 2021. So if we think, I mean, how much has our country changed? Right. Since then. So we're in COVID at the time.

We are deep in COVID. And I am working for the Walt Disney company because those who don't know, ESPN is owned by Disney. So is ABC. And they had mandated that we all be fully vaccinated by September 30th, 2021 or I would, we would all lose our jobs, be fired. And we had plenty of notice about it. I remember in the the summertime, talking about it with my agent, thinking, this can't be real, right? Like, they're not forcing us to do this. I mean, this is all so new and we don't know enough about it to force it, do we? And I kind of ignored it. And then it got closer and closer in my agent's like, you, you got to make a decision. And of course, he assumed I was going to do it.

And I did a lot of homework, honestly. Like, it's not just for me, but I have three kids. At the time, they were high school and college. And I, like, I have to do my homework. That is my job as a parent. And I just realized that a simple Google search taught me a lot that the FDA, FDA on average, takes between six to nine years to prove a vaccine usually. And we're shoving this down our throats in a couple of months with a lot of,

and I think even at that time I felt political pressure that Donald Trump had originally been under in 2020 when it all hit. And they were like, get it out there fast. And he did it. Operation Warp Speed, I think it was called. And then when Biden came in and it was. a whole different vibe, but hey, we're going to force it. And it just didn't feel right.

I'm no doctor. I'm no scientist. I'm the opposite of that. I talk about football and basketball and baseball. Like that is not my lane. But it just didn't feel good. And so I said, I don't want to do it. And my agent said, well, you're going to have to get some sort of exemption.

And religious or medical. And I said, well, neither one of those really apply. It's just that I think it's wrong to force somebody to do something to their bodies, period. And at the end of the day, I took the shot. Okay. And still haven't fully forgiven myself for it, for caving. But I was afraid. You're afraid.

And I had, like I said, three kids. I was recently divorced, and 100% of the financial burden was on me for everybody. And so what do you do? You weigh it, right? And, okay, I'm going to stand on my principles, because I'm, I'm afraid. Maybe the shot's fine at that time. Maybe it's not. We don't know. Just doesn't feel right, but I have three mouths to feed and a lifestyle to keep up as I'm sending three kids to college. That's real. It is real. It's real for a lot of people, too. It's one way to ask you. I don't interrupt you,

but a lot of people, you know, are in situations where they might like to speak up about something. Yeah. But they've got this choice between, you know, staying in line in their life, even being on social media for some people. I'd like to speak up about what I think or what I believe, but I think lot of people. By the way, including myself, I don't. I just decided after a while, it's like, that's just not the lane I'm going to be in publicly. Well, I think it's smart. Yeah. I mean, what I've done is not exactly brilliant in many ways as far as speaking. I mean, once I got to a certain point, yes, but I always say to people, like, do what you're doing. You know, I mean, I am the poster child for what happens when you speak up. And I'm one of,

one of many. So I don't want to deter people from it, but the reason why I assume you decided that is because you see what happens. You see the ramifications. Yeah, I think also. probably in my case, I just feel like there's enough people filling that vacuum in my space, in the podcast space, that sometimes people want to come, kind of like sports, frankly. Sometimes people would just like to watch the game and not know all the time what every athlete thinks about every single issue. So I think sometimes on my show, but I really admire somebody says, no, you know, this is what I think.

And eventually you did that, right? You were on a podcast, I guess, is what happened, right? And made mention of this. Damn podcasts. See what happens? You just loosen up. And you just start talking. And so you kind of say something on a show and then tell them, tell them what happens.

Yeah, I had actually come from getting the shot. September 30th, 2021, that means you had to, pretty much. Yeah, it means I had to be fully vaccinated two weeks prior to make sure it all was in my system. And I, at I was to the point, literally, I didn't know as I was pulling into the parking lot at a grocery store where they're administering these shots to get it. And I sat in my car for 20 minutes crying. Like, what do I do? And when I walked in and, you know, the woman, she was wonderful, I'll never forget her. I wish I had gotten her name.

She looked at me and my eyes were red. And she said, are you okay? And I said, no. I'm being forced to take this shot. And I don't want to do it. And I'm crying like a baby with a stranger. And she looked at me and she said, that is so wrong and I'm so sorry.

And she held my hand for a second. And then when she put it in my arm, like it sounds dramatic, but I felt something change in me at that moment. I changed. I didn't know it at the time, but I'll never forget that feeling. What do you mean? Anger. And I'm not an angry person.

I'm a happy, go lucky person. But I had never. experienced what it felt like to be forced to do something. It's one thing when you're, you know, 12 years old and you're forced to clean your room if you want to go hang out with your friends at night. Like that's a different thing. This is my body, my body, my choice, right guys? So I hugged her afterwards and she was so upset. Like she was doing a job that she needed too. Like when you go dive deep into this stuff, it's heartbreaking for a lot of people. But I got in my car and I had committed to go on Jay Cutler's podcast, the former NFL quarterback, who was just starting a podcast,

and I was doing a favor for his publicist who said he needed a woman on the show. I was like, I crushed him in his bare highlights for years, so maybe I should go on and be nice. And so I said, that's why I said yes. And he no, I mean, I had a band-aid on my shoulder because I'd just got in the shot. It was still warm weather. And I forgot. I raced in, flipped up my laptop, and pushed the Zoom. And then he asked me. He said, what is that? And I just kind of, you know, again, I took a deep breath in your mind goes, careful, careful, careful, careful what you say. And I said, listen, I had to take the shot today that I was forced to take if I wanted to keep my job. And here's what got me, got me in trouble.

I said, listen, listen, we're owned by Disney. And Disney requires it. And I think it's sick and wrong for any company to require their employee to do anything. to their bodies. But I have a job that I need and a job that I love. And I took it. And that was it. And then just think about this, everybody. I mean, just for speaking up for what you believe. And by the way, this is nothing to do with whether you agree or disagree with one's opinion. It's whether or not somebody has the right to speak their mind. I guess to some extent, they could come back and say, well, you represent us as well, right? There's an element of that. While complying, though, and that's the key.

I complied with the rules. Yeah. And just that I disagree with it, but I'm going to do it. In hindsight, true answer, wish you didn't say anything. I'm so grateful I said it. I swear to you. I literally would not change a thing, including the moment that I got the call from my agent again, who said, hey, this isn't going over very well.

And executive in charge number two, it wants to talk to you. and the feeling, I remember where I was, I pulled over the car and I remember where I was parked. I remember every moment of it. I remember when he said they're going to pull me off the air and suspend me for an unlimited amount of time at that point. After 16 years somewhere, I mean, that's a big move. Yeah. And honestly, like, I'm not trying to, I was a model employee. I was easy as far as a teammate.

I'm a co-worker. I was proud of that. I mean, I'm an Army kid. That's how we're raised. You are part of a team. I've been around you now for a couple months on these speaking things that we do. I think you probably have a tendency to be somewhat conservative in your politics. I think it's safe to say. Yeah, I think I'd come out of the closet a little bit as a conservative through the years. But I always thought it was super important to not talk about it. In particular, on air. I never once did on air in 29 years. And local, regional and national. TV because as a sportscaster, that's not why you're tuning into ESPN. That's a fact. Period. And I used to say that to my bosses and I would beg them. And I would hear on the street every time I'm out at a game or at an airport wherever,

like, what, you guys just stop? I just want to get the highlights or the interviews with the coach. And I'm like, yes, that's why I got into the business. We all have opinions and our opinions are based on our experiences. Right. Like that's just very basic to me. So we might disagree on, you name it, whatever it might be politically or culturally. But I'm going to respect it because yours is based on maybe something that you experienced.

That was difficult that I'm not a part of. So who am I to judge? And I really feel so strongly about that. And yes, it had come out. But my, I think professionalism. And I just, I loved being friends with everybody. Everybody. The crew is better than half the people I worked with on TV.

I'm sure. And so that's important to me. And so I never would bring that stuff up because it doesn't affect how I think of you as a human being. So yes, people knew, but I still was respected in light because they're more important things for a while. What you said about my coworkers at the time

speaking up politically on TV, so that's where everything changed. Because I was suspended. I was pulled off the air. I was made to publicly apologize. And, of course, they distributed it to the L.A. Times in the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Post and New York Times and, you know, here, let's make her apologize and we're going to crush her and then we'll let her back someday and it was about two weeks later when they let me back. Then we were to take assignments from her. And that was the key. I'm like, wait, I apologize. We moved on, but you're still going to take hard-earned assignments from me. Which one is it? Are we allowed to talk about our personal beliefs or not? And oh, by the way, that was happening on ESPN airwaves. What I said about my opinion on being forced to take a COVID shot was on an off day, on a side podcast.

So all I ever asked for was consistency. And when they continued to allow that to happen on bigger and bigger levels and more consistently, I talked to an attorney and he said, you know what, if you just apologize to her for the double standard, she's good. And they left and laughed again. So that's when I had decisions to make about do I stand up here? here because of the hypocrisy. And I also, Ed, I knew, like, I was just, I was one of a handful of conservatives there who had been so fearful of speaking up and were silenced. So I thought,

this isn't actually just about me. I had probably the highest position or the biggest role, I guess, the biggest platform at that time. And it hit me, like, I am here for a reason for these other people who are whispering to me, thank you. And young women in the bathroom who would whisper and make sure all of our mics are off. Like, thank you for what you're doing. You're helping me. And that, like, that hit me hard where I felt I would be a failure to them if I didn't speak up. So that's why I sued the Walt Disney company, not for making me take the shot. It was the hypocrisy of what came after. I think that's fair. You know, I'm wondering, that's just stressful. So I want to kind to bring it to where someone listening is, how does this apply to me, right? One, evaluate

speaking up, speaking your mind. And by the way, supporting people who do, even that you disagree with. Yes. It's fascinating to me that I actually love hearing people's ideas. I don't try not to watch too much political TV anymore because it just stresses me out. But when I do, when a story comes out, I love to watch like Fox News and hear what they say. And then they go, I'm going to flip at MSNBC. Yeah. And I want to just hear how they both, you know, frame something, how they position. It's hysterical. It's fascinating. And so I'm actually, I'm actually. Actually, I like free speech.

I want to hear people's ideas. So I would support it whether I agreed with it or I disagreed with it. And that's the point of what I wanted to ask you about. But the other point of it is I know what it's like to be in the public eye. And I know what it's like to get a lot of hate and disagreement and push back. I don't know what it's like to be the breadwinner in my family and lose my career, though. And then lose my marriage around the same time. And so your world's crashing in.

There are people listening to this right now that their version of, of what you went through is happening. Something in their life just fell apart. Someone died that they love. There's a relationship that ended, a career that did, and a business that failed. How did you get through this? And what advice would you give to somebody?

They came out to you to Starbucks. They said, Sage, your story inspires me, and I'm going through my blow up of my life, my life Armageddon. What would you say to them? Yeah. Well, there isn't just one way. That's for sure.

It might be different for each person, but prayer that I was doing but not enough of and to really mean it. And to really give up control and ask for help and guidance and clarity. And it came awfully fast when I did that. Really? Yeah. But it started at the darkest, darkest moment. So when I was suspended, you know, and at the time Twitter, it was still Twitter, not Elon's X.

and just a different world. And my, I mean, I had colleagues I was working with who went on Twitter and said all the things about me. And it was allowed once again, like all the, and threats. I mean, threats to me, serious threats, threats to my children. And I remember just curling up in a ball, put the blackout shades down and curled up in a ball in my bed and was sobbing. Like, what have I done? I'm so stupid. Like, this is my fault.

And I was as sick as I've ever been in my mind. life from COVID. From COVID after I got the shot that was supposed to prevent all this. So all of this at once, it was the darkest moment. And I just was like, I'm sorry, God, I'm sorry. I'll do whatever it takes. Like, just do you want me to keep apologizing? Do you want me to, like, just fix it? So scared. So you've seen the buzz, but let me give you the inside scoop. Live shopping on whatnot is exploding right now. I've watched the show's firsthand, and I've seen what not climbed to the top of the app store. I've looked at the seller earnings from small, medium, multi-million dollar businesses, all of them are seeing growth. So if you're selling

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Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash my let. Go to Shopify.com slash my let. That's Shopify.com slash my let. And my mom and dad are my life besides my kids and my husband, obviously, but my mom and dad have picked me up at times when I didn't think I deserved it. And they, my dad still is, but at the time was undergoing chemotherapy. Oh my gosh. Wow. And he and my mom got in a car and drove up and picked my butt up off the ground because I was

broken and I was done. And I wasn't allowed to see other people because I was contagious. And so my kids were with their dad and I was alone for eight days. My mom and dad said no. And it came and picked me up. And, you know, my dad, who's a, Army, a retired Army officer, a West Point grad, tough guy, tough as nails. He has empathy. I'm his little girl still. But he's like, okay, you have a choice to make hair. Like, are they going to win this? Are you going to let them do this to you? Are you going to stand up? Like, get back to work. Put your head, you know, keep your head up high. And I was like, I mean, I walked in there, lost 10 pounds during that time. I was scared to death. And then what happens? You have to,

when that light goes on, ready or not? And so, yeah, everybody has issues in their lives and problems and relationship issues and kid issues and whatever it is. But with our job, when that light goes on, like if you aren't ready and don't perform two hours of live national TV every single day, you're out. So I had to compartmentalize. I became a much better actress than I thought. So I would pass that along too.

like you're going to go through it, but you still have to function. So figure out ways to put it in the back, like kick it to the back of your mind for whatever that time period is. And you go back and deal with it. It's not going to go away, unfortunately, as much as we might wish it away, right? But I learned a lot about myself during that time. Which you learned. That I'm a lot tougher than I ever dreamt.

And to walk in there every day knowing that half my coworkers, if not more, hated me just for my opinions and still having it go on and, you know, and sit next to them and make, but it was, once I got in there, I would feel this like calm, peace, power come over me. Yes. Because I loved my job so much. It still gets me to the, to, uh, to the very last day. Like, I loved it. So how could I let them take that joy from me to? When I knew I was good at that, I was good at telling stories and good at doing highlights and good at interviewing people, even if I only had four and a half minutes before break, to make them feel comfortable enough to give me something different that they hadn't given to another anchor.

So I kept feeling this strength that it would gain every day that I would walk in there. The last thing that I would share is this story with my son. Fast forward a couple of months. And when I decided to file the lawsuit, And the night before I filed it, I spoke to each of my kids separately. My oldest was a freshman in college. My son was a senior in high school. My youngest was a daughter was a sophomore in high school.

And the girls were pretty emotional about it because what happened is every time I had spoken up about something or gotten in trouble in this case, people come after them. And Mama Bear comes out and I want to hurt everybody that, you know, teachers, coaches, friends' parents would say things to my kids about me. Like, really, shut up. Come talk to me if you have a problem. But in particular, I went to my son, who I always say is, you know, in the middle of these two psycho-girls, psychosystems. And I said, listen, this is what's happening tomorrow. There's going to be some headlines. And I want to apologize now for what is going to come our way.

And you don't ever have to defend me. Just tell people who give you crap. My mom has a right to her opinion. I don't always agree with my mom, but she has a right and so do you. First Amendment, freedom of speech. And I said, but I'm sorry, buddy, for what's going to happen. I just have to stand up for this. This is wrong.

And my son put down what he was doing, and he looked at me. And he said, Mom, it's about time you stood up for yourself. Wow. Wow. One of the greatest moments of my life as a mother for sure. I'm so proud. And it also taught me that I had been living the wrong way. Meaning?

I'd been quiet. I'd bitten my tongue for so long, doing what I thought was the right thing to protect my kids, protect my livelihood and my job, but protect my kids, to protect people who love me from getting the shrapnel, right? And what was I teaching them? I'm preaching them to stand up and be tall and be strong and stand up for yourself, but then I'm practicing the opposite and I'm silent. What a cop out, what a sellout.

So at that moment, I knew, I'm sorry, like I knew at that moment that no matter what, how happened with this insane lawsuit of little old me, David versus Glythe against the Walt Disney company, that even if they crushed me, which they did a good job of financially within 0.5 seconds, right? It's Disney. How am I going to? But even if I lost, I would have won because my kids saw that their mom was like enough, no more. And then I know now that they're not going to wait till they're 50 to take a stand. And then I didn't lose. I settled out of court. It was a win. But for the sake of principle, not money or anything else. It's like, don't you dare. So that's why your original question about I wouldn't change a thing. Because most importantly,

my kids, they're going to live differently because of what they saw me. That's so beautiful. By the way, what the heck happened to us as a culture? I know. What the heck? heck happened? It's like I probably only cried five or six times on the show. You just got me. I'm sorry. I'm just picturing you at that time, Sage, just the, it's different just when you hear a story, but I can picture it, like the world's crumbling and this woman's going to stand up. And what happened to us? We're like, you know, I think one thing about taxes or whatever, and you think another, and now we hate each. What the heck happened? It feels like it's the last 10 years or so this has happened.

This wasn't, when I was a little boy, that was not how we treated one another. You're right. It's just crazy. It's so emotionally humans treat one another now. It breaks my heart too. And it started, I think, people didn't feel it, but probably 2008, 2009, 10.

That's when I felt it. And I guess we need to at some point, as a society dig into the Y, but the key is where are we today and what do we do with it? I will say, like, I'm mad at myself for taking so long to figure it out, but it takes what it takes. And the journey is the journey. But during that time, when I lived in fear long before that official cancellation, there were a couple along the way, but that was the big one.

But when I started to speak up on other things, I remember walking in airports. I lived in Phoenix at the time. I was hosting all of our NBA coverage in Los Angeles, but lived in the Scottsdale area. I didn't want to live in L.A., so I just did. And I was always at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, you know, twice a week. And I remembered after I said something that I thought was pretty innocuous that got me in trouble, walking through the airport, eyes down, eyes at the ground, so afraid of making eye contact because what I saw in social media and what my bosses and friends told me was that I was a pariah and I was

hated and I believed it. So that's where I, another moment where I get choked up if I think back to like trying to do the right thing and be true to myself. Everybody else is allowed to be true to themselves, right? If you think a certain way. And going to do the job that I love, but like walking in and fear everywhere. And I don't want anyone else to ever feel that way. It's, it, it can take over and I feel so blessed and fortunate that I got out of it, you know, again, by the grace of God. Yeah. I think everyone, your advice is incredible, by the way, and I think this is the other thing, lessons for those of you that are going through it. Just listen to what she said, because I'm around her now. I see her now. This will pass. This two will pass. And if you're faithful

and you surrender the things of God that are out of your control and you take control of the things that you can, my dad was in AA. He was sober for 35 years and always mess up the saying. But essentially, you know, discern between the difference of the things you can control and you can't and give up the things you can't control to God. It sounds like you really did that. Can I ask you a question? Yeah. Because one of the most beautiful things to come from the chaos and the fear and all that is I've finally gotten over that fear of being disliked. And some people also have to think about too. It is scary for those of us pleasers in the room, you know. But in general, it's a whole new world. It doesn't mean that I don't care and have empathy.

And I really do. But I cannot control what you think of me. Even if I treat you like the present United States, whatever, the king, I still can't change it. So if you don't like me, I got to let go of that. I assume you let go of that. You know what I learned to do it is in speaking. Like if you're walking out in front of 20,000 people, if you're worried about what every single person in their thinks, right? Like, yeah, I think I don't, well, let me be honest.

Let me, let me be honest. I think I've gotten better at that. Yeah. I think there are still occasions where I'm too concerned with what people think, even in my mid-50s, but far less than before, just because I know that I can't control it. I actually don't think it's really any of my business. But I also listen to it a little bit because at least in my youth, there were probably

reasons some people held opinions about me. So I like to look at it and go, is there any validity to what they're saying? If there isn't, then I'll let go of it. But I make enough mistakes from time to time that even yesterday, one of the speeches I gave here, I made an error on stage. There was a guy with a phone in the front row on his phone. And as a pro with thousands of people in there, you just keep talking. And I just couldn't take my eyes off this guy. So finally I called him out in front of the entire.

And I told him I loved him, et cetera, et cetera. But it was really my ego and my temper just for that flash second, getting a little bit. bit better of me. So if that guy didn't like me, he's probably justified not to. So I'll listen to it a little bit. But for the most part, I've let go of that. I really care what God thinks of me. And some close people that I know that'll tell me the truth, right? Like, hey, you've overstepped here or you've made a mistake. But for the most part, I think I've let go that my word for the year last year was surrender, meaning just because I'm a control freak. And I think successful people love to be in control. But you can take that to a point where it's so painful and excruciating, like what

you were going through. I also think, I heard this story I wanted to ask you about, and I want to hear you tell, because I haven't heard you tell it. I heard it through third party. But you might have been a little bit built for this a little bit in the sense that your parents are biracial, if I'm right. Your father's black, your mother's white, correct? And they chose to do that at a time where it's not quite as acceptable as it is today. And even today, for some people, it's for some fringe crazies. It's still not acceptable. But there's this story about, tell the story, if you would, about your dad writing a letter to your mom's dad. And this, this is built in the sense that this is somebody giving grace to somebody who doesn't like them also, right? I think for the

wrong reason. So it's not just not caring what people think, but actually the, maybe the elevated level where your dad was or where I'd like to get is where I can even give grace to people that do ill towards me. Yeah. I have some work to do with that category. So do I. I need to ask my dad. Sounds like your father did a lot of work on that, though.

This is an incredible story if I heard it, right? Yeah, thank you. It's something that I didn't know about with my parents until they were interviewed by NFL Films. My brother, one of my two brothers is the senior vice president of public relations and communications for the Baltimore Ravens. Okay. And he's been the NFL for 25 years in PR.

And so the NFL films was doing a story on his. him and in doing so, I wanted to talk to my parents and then discovered this story. I didn't know it until they told it on camera. Wow. And basically, 1971, October of 71, my parents got married, and my mom's parents were not there. They chose to not be there. They were against her marrying a black man.

And again, a very different time. I believe we do need to give some grace, especially when people change and evolve. and we're all capable of that. And my family's proof of that. But my dad, of course, was upset. This is his wife and he wants to protect her. And of all people, to not support her. It's her mom and dad.

So they got married. Anyway, they did not show up. My mom's brother came and walked her down the aisle. And by the way, I think about strength and my mom being 22 years old and having to make that decision. Are you kidding me? So there's so much.

There's a lot there. I'm so humbled with my little spat with Disney. Like, look at that. That's it. I mean, you're 22. And so then, you know, my dad's in the military, a young officer, and they moved to Panama, where I was born. And my mom called her parents to say, I'm pregnant, and she's the oldest of four. And I'm going to have your first grandchild.

And her mom hung up the phone. Oh, my gosh. And again, I think about myself in that situation. And I just, I've sobbed thinking about that. Because my mom was there the moment I gave birth all three times, you know. And so that upset my father, as you might imagine, as it should for any man. Simply because of the color of his skin. Yeah.

Wow. But he wasn't as concerned about their why. He was concerned about their decision to do that to their daughter. And so what he began doing is writing letters, pening letters, pen and paper. We weren't on computers then, right? once a month to my mom's parents and sent them from Panama, Canal Zone Panama, to West Springfield, Massachusetts, where they lived in their small town.

And my mom, as she says on this NFL films piece, which is still out, I'd love it, if people took a look at Gary Steele is my dad's name, and it's the most beautiful piece that I cry every time I watch it, and I watch it 10,000 times. And my mom says on the piece, like, I don't know why he did it. I kept telling him they're not going to read it, They're not going to answer, and you're wasting your time. Wow.

And my dad looked in the camera and said, they needed to know that I was taking care of their daughter, this black man, was taking care of their daughter. And then he said it was the harder right because he's ticked off. The harder right comes from West Point where he graduated. And that's part of the cadet prayer that I try to share whenever I'm given any platform. Help me to choose the harder right instead of the right. instead of the easier wrong and never to be content

with a half truth when the whole truth can be one. So in that moment, my dad chose the hard to write once a month to write that letter. Almost seven years later, there was a meeting. My mom's youngest sister

hosted Thanksgiving. Didn't tell my mom and dad that the parents were going to be there, didn't tell the parents that my mom and dad were going to be there. They walk in, assigned seats. My aunt sat, my dad, and my grandmother next to each other. And in this family, we hold hands when we say grace, a blessing over our meal. And her mother wouldn't do it. And she said,

the younger daughter said, mom, in our home, this is what we do. She did that to my dad, and he held her hand tightly. Oh my gosh. And later that day, on Thanksgiving Day, my grandfather, my mom's dad kind of apologized. We found out later it really wasn't his idea. This was more my grandmother who struggled so much. My grandfather went along with it. And he said, listen, Gary, I'd like to put all this behind us and, you know, start over. And my dad said, okay.

Wow, he did. But we will move forward. I will never forget what you did and didn't do. for your daughter, my wife. But I will forgive. And today is day one. And we go forward from here. Oh, my gosh.

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So my parents, and that's when it came full circle, right? Again, something that I believe what I went through is much less important than what my parents went through. But if they could do that alone, early 20s, they were babies, not a penny in their bank account. By the way, if you're trying to get rich, you're not joining the military, okay? You know? Like, who am I to live in fear? Who am I to choose the easier wrong? So the harder right was to say, wait a minute, Disney. This is what you're preaching. Yes. Yeah. So I don't know. Was I made for it?

Yeah. Well, that adage that God doesn't give you anything you're not capable of handling, clearly is because of the way that you are raised, though. I mean, that is one of the easily greatest stories I've ever heard in my life. And the way you tell it, by the way, I can, I guess, you don't know what you're doing to me today, sorry. I can picture your mom and your dad at that age and that time and then calling to be excited that you're going to have your first baby and have your mom hang up. Breaks my heart. And then be your dad to give him that grace, though.

But to say it like a man too, though. You know, hey, you know, don't forget. And my dad, if you ever meet him and hopefully he'll come to one of these. I'd love to meet your father. Oh, my gosh, he would love to meet you. And I wanted to see what all of this is about. He has since shrunk. He's 79.

but at his peak, when he played college football at Army, broke the color barrier, first black man to play varsity football ever at Army. Oh, my gosh. I know. He's amazing. But he was six, six and a half, 220 pounds. And you think about that in the mid-60s. Oh, it's a giant.

A giant. A giant, you know. Now he's about six-three, maybe six-four. A big man. Still 240 now and he looks great, even with all of his health issues. So I picture my dad as that, with that calm but firm voice looking down at my little six-foot-three-inch Irish grandfather saying, what he needed to say?

By the way, I have actually never told the story because it's always on the video clip that I play. Got it. I'm so glad he did. I thank you for asking me to. It brought me back to it to hearing. I'm like, that was my dad's voice that you just heard. Yeah. Because.

That's your face change too, by the way. Did I get tossed and strong and mean? You did? But he's not mean. He's the biggest teddy bear. Well, it's because I'm his favorite child, obviously. So he's nice to me. We should send this clip to your brother then, for sure.

Two brothers, yes. I'm going to ask you, by the way, I'm just taken aback by that story. And it is, you know, that adage that success leaves clues, strength leaves clues. There's footprints in your life that prepared you for this time. That's like. I just didn't know. Isn't it kind of obvious to you, though, like as you tell that story yourself, like, that's, come on. I mean, what you went through is unfair and wrong, regardless of the political part of it.

Who cares about that part of it, right? Like, the point is, should somebody be able to speak up or stand for what they believe in or not? Should it cost them their career? And why is it okay, no matter what side you're on, that one side can speak their mind the entire time. And the other side can't even give a peep, not even on the platform. Correct. That's just wrong. And that's what I do need to clarify.

by one thing, and that is what the lawsuit isn't about, you know, oh, you suspended me in unfairness. It was about that hypocrisy, but more so the suspension of me. We weren't on air. I wasn't on air. And there is a fascinating, it's First Amendment, but not in the constitutional governor, you know, like government way, obviously. There's a statute in the state of Connecticut, and it's employment related that I, I didn't know when I was saying any of this. I didn't care. I was just being me, but being respectful, saying, hey, this is my opinion, not my

companies, and I'm complying. But you are allowed to be critical of your employer if you are complying with their rules. So I was. In the state of Connecticut. Check your state. Of all states. Of all states, Connecticut, are you kidding me? And so I had no idea.

But that's what the lawsuit was based on because everyone says, you're an idiot. First Amendment doesn't apply. And it's a private employer. Yeah, absolutely. Where you live and where you are. employed matters, and that's how we did it. And it wasn't, again, I don't care about the legalese. The principle of this, and my hope was, my goal was at that time, to file it, was to just make employers think a little bit. And remember, you have human beings here. Yes, we all have numbers

and, you know, goals to reach, et cetera. But at the end of the day, every employer, you get more out of your employees when you treat them like actual human beings. I always say, just pretend like you care, even if you don't, right? It's so true. By the way, I just keep going back listening to you. And by the way, we all live through this so we know it, but like, what in the heck happened to us? Like, in your case, it's like a medical decision. I mean, it's not even that controversial, really. It's like, we hate each other over politics now. Like, what are we crazy? I remember a long time ago, Clinton said, Bill Clinton said, and I'll mess up the quote, but it's there. He's like, and I'm not even saying he was actually virtuous in doing this. But I remember him saying, I'm like,

I agree with that. I don't even know if you meant it, but along the lines of this shouldn't be about right, like, who's good or bad? But like, who's right and wrong about something? And even if you think someone's wrong, it doesn't make them bad or evil or sinister or your enemy. It's just, especially people of faith. What's wrong with us? Like, this is your brother or sister in the body of Christ and you're going to hate them because they've got a different opinion about a gun or a different opinion about taxes? What is wrong with you? Well, but there's, the problem is sometimes when the truth does come out. And in this case with COVID, there's no accountability.

Like, I was actually right. You're right. And I wasn't rocket science, by the way. It doesn't take much. But like sometimes with people come back with contrition and are accountable, then that helps. I mean, that's the human element of it. But it's much bigger than that. To me, in my humble opinion, this is an intentional, evil, deliberate attempt to take God

out of things. That's what's missing. Let me have some fun with you about something. I want to ask you about something funny since we've been so serious today. So when you're on camera enough, you're going to make a screw up. Oh, so many. No, watch this. I'm going to give you mine. So I've had a couple, but like zillions of hours on camera, right? So I'll start with mine and I want to ask you about yours. And the reason I'm going to ask you about this is I want people to know it's you're okay to make mistakes and just own it, but make mistakes and move on. And you, you're, You can survive through the things you're even the most afraid of. So here's my.

I had a book out called The Power of One More, It Did Great. But I'm doing a million hits for the book, podcast, TV shows, you know. And I told some stories about the book. Anyway, I'm on one of the shows. It's my eighth show that day. I'm tired. I don't remember which story I've told on which show. And a good friend of mine, it's Tom Bill You, he's a show called Impact Theory.

He sets this question up, but he says, hey, people are probably going to think you're crazy, but you have this way that you manage time. You almost manipulate time in your mind. the way that you do it. I'd like you to explain how you do it. And so there's this clip of me that went like hundreds of millions of views. I just like a complete moron. And I say, yeah, I manipulate time. And I go to tell this story and I misspeak. I say, and so you're like some guy living in a cave 300 years ago. I meant to say three million years ago, which I'd said on a 150 other podcasts, but I misspeak. So this viral clip goes out of me sounding like a complete idiot,

valid. I was an idiot. And it was pretty embarrassing. And so I had to get over the embarrassment of making this mistake. I'm watching a clip of you with my dude Dana White. I knew it. Okay. I just got to ask you about to know your opinion about it. This is real. And so you're about to interview Dana White and you call him Joe Rogan. You had to be embarrassed when you did this. What's the story behind that? And then the reason I ask you, I'm getting you right now. I love it. You didn't know I was going to ask you. So mine's worse than yours. Okay. And by the way, my clip was more viral. But we both sit here as two people who looked pretty damn funny on the internet. Oh, yeah. And so a lot of whatever each of you fear in your life right now, you'll be okay because we've both made this mistake.

What happened? I'm like, what advice would you give to somebody? Seriously, who's right? Because you and I, I said people live in caves 300 years ago and I can manipulate time and I'm not crazy. Like I've just looked like a complete wing nut in this clip. You don't look very favorable in that clip. So what would you say about that? Well, yeah, 10 years ago. You didn't know that was coming. I didn't, but as soon as you said the embarrassing moments, I'm like, okay, here we go, because that was, that's probably number one. Yeah, that was my number one. For, yeah, I mean, and that's okay. There might be more to come.

Who knows? Oh, maybe this is live. Hold on. Maybe it's in this. Okay. First of all, yeah, I've gotten crushed for, she didn't even know who she was interviewing. What an idiot, typical broad sports? I booked Dana.

I've been friends with Dana for years. As Dana sat down, we were chit-chatting and chit-chatting, and it's like, finally, okay, let's start the interview because we could talk all day. And he had a protein, can of protein, whatever, that drink was. And so I asked him, I was like, what is it? He's like, yeah, Joe Rogan made it. And I was like, oh, and I took a sip, and it was good,

and we kept going. And then the viral moment was 90 minutes in. So when people say she didn't know who she was interviewing, I'm like, guys, this happened at the end of the interview. However, apparently, I had said it earlier after he did the drink thing because he said Joe Rogan. And so Joe Rogan's in my mind. They work together. Dana hired Joe.

Like they look somewhat similar. Like stocky, muscular, bald white guys, right? Yeah. Dana said it. We all look alike. Yeah. Hey, trust me. I hear it all the whole time.

You know. And so I didn't know. And Dana didn't know that I said it earlier in the podcast. after he had said, yeah, this is Joe Rogan's drink. Fast forward 90 minutes later. And it was just a total brain fart from the beginning of the episode when he, I'm like, Dana, this is your fault. You put that name in my head.

But when I noticed, I didn't even notice it until he reacted. And it was just the most classic reaction. And I won't quote him for obvious reasons those of you have seen it. But he's like, she just call me Joe Rogan? And I hit me in the feeling in my chest. in my soul. I started sweating everywhere. I was like, and he's a friend of mine, but I knew, like, you can't get out of this one. And, um, but that's great context. It's 90 minutes in. It was at the end of the interview. Okay. Didn't know that until right now. You said,

you said the beginning of the interview, like, no, hold on. Let me clarify. There we go. Because the clips, there's never any context, right? And that's how it is, same with yours. And so at that moment, he goes, did you just call me? Did you just call me? And I go, I did. Because what are you do, like say, no, I didn't. Yeah, right. You know, get your hearing checked. No, like it, and he, and then he, it went on and on and on. And then I, but I tried to change it. Like, what is, you know, White? Yeah, yeah. Thinking, okay, I can edit that out. No one will know. He wouldn't have it.

And so we were, I mean, it was hysterical. We're cracking up. We get done with the interview. And we were high fiving and he's hugging me. Like, we've known each other. So it was literally fine. Got it. that was the first episode of the Sage Deal Show. No way. I had taped a couple other ones, but I wanted to do Dana first. It was the biggest name I'd gotten up to that point.

And it still kept my foot in the door with some sports stuff, but he's an entrepreneur and all those things. And it's the Sage Deal Show. It was my first episode. I have full editorial control. I could have taken it out. I could have taken that out. Ah.

If you can't laugh at yourself for public consumption, you're in the wrong business. I totally agree with you. Yeah. I totally agree. So when Dana, he told me later, he called me later right before. He's like, you're airing this first, right? I was like, yeah, yeah.

He goes, you're leaving that in. You know, you're effing leave that in. And I was like, of course. Like, I'm not going to, if I'm not going to let someone else come on my show and edit stuff out, which unless it was something personal, no, we're all, come on. Then why would I do that for myself? That's not fair. I feel better because I did the same thing.

When we were doing it, he's like, we can come. cut that guy. No, man, leave it. It's funny. I don't want to be that funny. No. No. No. Yes. That's the way to do things. Okay, good. Don't you think? I do. By the way, I do. You're a more of a pro that's than me. You've done a million more shows than I have. I'm just saying, like, leave it in. And when you show people that you're human. Like, I feel like people appreciate you more because they sometimes view us as like these robots and we never make mistakes and everything's perfect. It's like, I'm the opposite of perfect. And that's proof. Likewise. Likewise. That's why I asked it. I'm so glad you. See, I get. to clarify again that it was the end of the interview. You're such a good sport because the fact of the matter is, mine was editing too. All right. Last thing. By the way, this has been so good. I have it so much. I could talk to you all day. I don't cry all that often. You got me. Like, I cry, cried right there. Like, that was cry, cry, cry. It's good now for you. So let's look at the other side for a second.

You're now remarried, happy. Your career seems to be flourishing. I assume everything in your family is great. I know your dad's health, you said, wasn't great. But like, take us to the other side. Like, is it somewhat sweeter from the standpoint that, you know, your whole life, marriage, finances, career, all goes away. And now you've got it back. God's been so good to you. And you've worked your, you know what, off as well. What's it feel like? Because the same people watch this, I want to get to the other side. What's that like? My lawsuit settled. I was in a mediation in a court in Los Angeles, California on August 14th, 2023. And when it settled, I was in a mediation. I'm settled, I put my head on the table and I just sobbed. I sobbed. I won. And I was so heartbroken

that it took that. And I haven't thought about that moment often because it's hard to, even though it was like a good moment. But it was like, gosh, did it have to come to this? And now what the hell am I going to do with my life? I worked up to the very end with the with the pending lawsuit for 16 months every day. I was still on TV. So I couldn't afford mentally. I didn't have the energy or the ability mentally to focus on what's next because I was still on live TV every day until that day.

And I didn't know where to go. I didn't know what to do. I thought about another show at some point to try it on my own, but never to do it on my own. Like I thought I'd work for someone and they'd help me with the show. And I just remember getting back on that plane. and just to go back to the East Coast, I lived in Connecticut, where ESPN was, and like, what's next? So, you know, it's amazing how God works.

Two days later, I went on Megan Kelly's show. We had the same attorney. If you ever get canceled, I have an attorney for you guys. Megan Kelly, me, he's Tucker Carlson's. Chris Harrison, my dear friend who married us four months ago. who was canceled from The Bachelor, the host of The Bachelor, and what he went through. Brian Friedman is your attorney, trust me. Good to know.

And he had had conversations. I went on Bill Maher's show about a month after I settled. And when I was on his show, again, diversity of thought, right? He brought me on. And during the podcast, he's like, you know, you need to do a podcast under my network. I think you're great. And I was like, whatever. He sits there drinks and gets high his entire podcast.

He's not going to remember that he's saying this. And we get off the air and he says it again and he meant it. So somehow I go from fear that day, sobbing on the table after I settled with Disney, to an offer from Bill Maher to be the first podcast of his new startup network club random. And he brought me on and here we go. We have a man who thinks completely differently than me that's giving me a platform to do the Sage Deal show and he's going to run it for me and everything else. Ended up leaving a lot of changes with him and we're still friends.

is great. I really respect him. Left and went, okay, now what am I going to do? I'll just wait for the right person to come. And I had some potentials out there for some networks who were going to bring on my show and do all the advertising and all the stuff that overwhelms me with this space. And it took longer than I wanted. And then they came and I realized, wait a minute, I've had to keep myself alive financially to do these shoots, to travel, to find a crew and lighting and editing on my own.

Wow. Why am I now going to give it away to somebody? Let me just try to build. Because if nothing else, I know that it's not going to kill me. I'm going to fall in my face again probably, you know, a thousand more times. But what I learned through this process, even when the world says you're done, you still get back up. So I kept it going and now, yeah, I am on my own. And I just, I honestly, like, I could never, I never wanted this.

I never wanted to do it on my own because I was afraid, afraid of taking on this challenge of running your own business. And I suck at it. Like, I'm really bad. I'm like, I'm definitely the creative and I was a producer before I was ever on air. Like, let me do that. And now I have, you know, a nice, small team. People who are helping me. And when I say small, I mean my husband who is a former CEO in corporate America.

He knows how to run a business. Thank goodness. And then to other people who are like my family, my teammates. So I'm learning and letting go with that. Still so much fear every single day. And on January 1st, 2024, exactly two years ago, you know, I got all three of my kids off to college. I never thought I'd be 51, 52 years old, alone. And I met my first husband when I was 20 in college.

So from 20, first boyfriend, 20 to 40. It's all I ever knew. Clueless, clueless in that whole world. So, when on a couple days, it's awful. I'm like, I'm an idiot. This is terrible. And on January 1st, 2024,

I lived down to Fort Lauderdale, and I got in the water, in the ocean, and I said, Lord, please, take control. And I said, from a personal perspective, I hope I'm not alone, but it's up to you. And I said, please don't bring me anybody

until you bring me somebody and just make it really clear because I'm an idiot. And that was January 1st, 2024. When I say it was like the Sahara Desert from January 1st to November 12th, 2024, not a phone call, not a text, not anybody sliding into my DMs, not a nothing, not a date, not a nothing. Bad grammar. Until that night at a charity event for veterans in Nashville, Tennessee,

where I wasn't supposed to be. I just come off the campaign trail with Trump and I was tired and I canceled a speech. First time I've ever canceled anything was at my kid's college. I knew I could reschedule it. And I went with my girlfriend to this charity event for veterans

and this man walks up to me and says, hi, my name is Dave. You don't know me, but we have a lot in common. And I'm thinking, ugh, what line is he going to throw at me? I've heard them all.

His mother and my mother, 32 years ago in Leavenworth, Kansas, where our fathers were stationed in the military, volunteered at a convent for retired nuns, and stayed friends for 32 years, and we had never met. What? And when he walks up to me at this charity event on November 12, 2024, saying that not only did our mothers do something that involved God, nuns, nuns who were part of our families, like came to holiday dinners, watched my brother. play basketball. Dave and my brother, Chad, played basketball against each other in high school.

I was in college. I'm three years older. He was in high school. We had never met. And 32 years later at a charity event, he walks up to me. He'd been married for 17 years, two kids. I'd been married for 20 years, three kids. That night, I knew. You know. Yeah. God is so good. We were engaged five months later to the day and married less than 10 months total. So September 5th, 2025 after meeting November of 24. So I'm sorry, that's a long story. I needed you to know that because I knew you'd appreciate it. It's a great story. It's not too long. I gave up control of that aspect of my life too. And didn't know what I was doing anyway. I was so clueless. Like my 21-year-old daughter, the one guy dated between divorce and meeting Dave, I was,

we had just started dating and I was sending returning a text. And my daughter, who was 21 at the time, she looked at me and she's like, let me see that. She's like, are you going to send that? She's like, you don't know what you're doing. I've dated more people than you. Delete, delete, delete. I'm going to rewrite this and now wait two hours.

And I'm like, is that what this world is? I'm so clueless. And so, like, I literally had no idea. That's why I was like, Lord, Jesus take the wheel, you know? And so I look at that, Ed, and you know what? What if? What if I hadn't canceled that speech and rescheduled it that night? My kids understood.

What if I had never stood up to Disney? What if I had kept my mouth shut about that shot they made me take? I wouldn't be here talking to you because I'd still be sitting like this robotic in a chair and making a lot of money and doing great, right? And being happy because I got to tell sports stories. I would never have met Dave. And my kids right now, what they are gaining from having me around more, to be there to help them move into their dormant college

because I would have had to ask for vacation time before to be there for my parents dealing with their health journeys right now to have met him. Like I have no words and I hope and bright people, like listen to your gut because we usually know what the right thing is. And beautiful things come from the ashes. I'll never forget the head on the table crying

after I settled with Disney. I'll never forget being in that bed with a terrible case of COVID. after taking the shot that was going to prevent it and people sending death threats. Like all those things brought me to this beautiful new life. So take a chance on yourself. Believe you're going to get back up. And don't take so long to talk to God about it.

Like he's just waiting for us. I hate that it took me so long. But the good thing is that my kids saw. And now it's not taking them as long. It won't take them half a century. They're there. And I'm like, thank God for all the crap. Yeah.

Thank you for doing this. You just reminded me why I do the show. Thanks for making me cry. Yeah, you made me cry. You know what? Today reminded me why I do the show. Sometimes you just, you know what I mean? You're doing, this was extraordinary.

You're amazing. Thank you for having me on and allowing me to share and to clarify Dana White Joe Rogan. I mean it. He calls me, he literally sends me a clip once a month. And he's like, look, this one has 20 million views. And he always says to me, he's like, I'm so proud of you, because most people would have cut that out. It's the best business decision you could have made. You never know.

Maybe Joe Rogan and Dana White lived in a cave together 300 years ago. 300 years ago. It's possible. It is possible. If you manipulate time enough, they could live in that cave. He's good. You talk about full circle there. Yeah, that was pretty good.

You're awesome. This was so good today. I just pray everybody. stayed to the end and heard the entire beau put around the story. Where do you want them to go see a Sage Steel Show? Is that where they should go? The Sage Steel Show on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast. Okay.

Do you do Patreon? No. Do you? Well, I'm trying. It's where you generate the big bucks, wouldn't they tell me? That's what I, well, you already have the big box. I don't know about that. No, Patreon.

I have a very young Patreon channel. Okay. But Instagram, like I am super myself on Instagram too, which can be, I'm very much an idiot, a lot too. And Facebook, yeah, I'm learning all of these different platforms still. I'm such a rookie in this. I'll take all the advice I can get from me. I'm here to help you.

Thank you. You're awesome. This was an unbelievable conversation. You're welcome for this one, everybody. This was darn good. Make sure you follow her. Make sure you share the episode. And I want to tell you, God bless you.

Max out your life. This is the Edm Island Show.