The School of Greatness - 415 Ray Lewis on Success and The Mindset of True Greatness

Episode Date: December 5, 2016

"You will never touch a level of greatness until your comfort zone is disturbed." - Ray Lewis If you enjoyed this podcast, check out show notes, video, and more at http://lewishowes.com/415

Episode number 415 with two-time Super Bowl champion Ray Lewis. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. Welcome everyone to this special edition of the School of Greatness podcast.

I'm so glad that you're here. Why am I glad you're here? Because you have a unique gift, my friend. That's right. You were born for greatness. You were born for a reason. And I don't care if you're on the journey and you know exactly what you're supposed to do. Or if you're someone listening who feels a little bit off, who feels stuck, who feels uncertain,

who feels like maybe they haven't found out their purpose just yet. I'm telling you, you're here for a reason and you have an incredible, unique talent and gift inside of you. It's your responsibility to cultivate and learn what that is and bring it to this planet. We're waiting for you. We're waiting for you to show up and deliver your greatness to us. Now is the time. And we have an incredible interview today with someone who brings greatness out of everyone else. His name is Ray Lewis, and he's widely considered to be one of the most dominant defensive players in NFL history. He led the Baltimore Ravens to two Super Bowl titles.

He was named Super Bowl MVP in 2000. He's a 13-time Pro Bowler and was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year twice. He played with the Baltimore Ravens his entire 17-year career. He is the New York Times bestselling author of the book called Ray Lewis, I Feel Like Going On, Life, Game, and Glory. And he's got a new podcast out called Tackling Life. Make sure you guys check out both the book and the podcast to get more insights from Ray Lewis.

But guys, this is a huge interview. So powerful. I was captivated the entire time. Ray Lewis has a gift. He has an incredible gift that he shares with the world, just like you have a gift. And it's time you bring it out. I hope you get inspired by this interview today. What we talk about is where Ray's drive for dominance as a player comes from.

We talk about Ray's definition of what it means to be a man. Also the most influential lessons he learned growing up without his father around and why it made him so driven to dominate. We talk about the story behind how Ray got Michael Phelps, one of the greatest athletes of all time, to come out of retirement and do what he just did in the last Olympics. We talk about Ray's vision for his legacy and his vision for the world. It's extremely powerful.

And also what he hopes people will say about him after he's gone. Guys, we went to town today. I was captivated, like I said, by everything that Ray says here. So make sure to pay close attention. If you're working out, you may be working out a little bit harder with the things you hear. You may be working a little harder on your business with the motivation and inspiration you gained from this interview. So make sure to share this with your friends. lewishouse.com slash 415 will take you to the whole show notes

with the video interview, with all the links, how you can connect with Ray on social media, about his book, all that other stuff is at lewishouse.com slash 415. We are also on Stitcher and SoundCloud and on iTunes. So share it out from any of those platforms. Get this message out there and let Ray know what you think about this interview.

All right, guys. Welcome back to the School of Greatness podcast. We have a legend in the house, Ray Lewis, my man. So good to see you. Thank you for being here. We appreciate you coming on. Thank you for having me, man. Now, you are arguably the best defensive player in NFL history.

17 years in the NFL, is that correct? 17. 17. 13 Pro Bowls. 13. Two Super Bowls. Yeah. And one heck of a human being.

So we're super pumped you're on here. Thank you, man. I've only heard great things about you over the years. We met, I think, about a month and a half ago for the first time for lunch. And when I met you in person, I just said, this is a guy I want to hang out with. This is a guy who's a good human being, great heart. And, man, your level of focus and commitment is the top I've ever seen.

You know, just having a conversation with you over lunch, I was like, this guy is focused. He's got a clear vision of what he wants and he's going after it. And, you know, you did that in the NFL for 17 seasons and it's the reason why you're so successful. So congrats on all your success. Yeah, thank you, man. You have a book out called I Feel Like Going On.

Yes, sir. Ray Lewis. Make sure you guys go get the book. We'll link it up in the show notes. I've listened to half the audio book, which I wish it was your voice, but the guy sounds like you pretty much. He's tense.

It's funny. It's funny because when we got ready to do it, I was like, you know, there were parts in there that I was like, oh, I would get so emotional reading that. Oh, I can imagine. I can imagine. And so this guy, my guy was like, you know, we have a guy that really has your voice. He was good.

And so, and I said some of it, I probably, I may go back and redo it and do it, but I passed that along. The next one you can do. Yeah. The next book. Next two or three there'll be many more yes you've got a podcast out right now called tackling life just launched it it's you and a co-host and tell me a little bit about what this is yeah me and a co-host Dr. Christian Conte he's a psychologist we started working together about two years ago on this show called

coaching bat that we did on Spike Television. And it was essentially bringing coaches in to where we would find these like just real problems in the hoods and on these teams where coaches would just be little people and just talk to these kids all type of ways. So me and Doc would get together and then kind of counsel them and just say, wait a minute. So why? doc would get together and then kind of counsel them and just say wait a minute so why and then louis as you know there's always a deeper issue somewhere right and then one of them was abuse from their early father and you know my husband is abusive and all these different things so we found underlying things that was really triggering um the way they spoke to these kids but what me and him started to figure out was wow like we're really good together like we're I can bounce thoughts off you and

ironically he's right he's from Pittsburgh yeah I ain't on Baltimore and I'm like how do I get connected with freaking Pittsburgh still all right and uh and then we started talking and and after the show kind of ended and it didn't pick up the second year we was like look I think this is just the beginning for me and you and so we started to meet and our family started to get along and I love his daughter and everything and so it was like okay let's let's figure something out. And then we actually started to create this online platform called 52 Mindsets of Mindfulness. And so we create 52 thoughts and we give you actually structures around it. And we actually write another book right now together. And then that's how kind of the podcast started to come up because

people was like you know i get on my social sites like you should do a podcast do a podcast and i'm like uh okay let me find that with a podcast and all these different things and then so when i thought about really creating a podcast it was who would it be with and and um i don't know if i wanted to carry it alone. I applaud you for carrying yours alone, but I think me and him just made such a great match. Sure, sure. And that's how it ended up happening, man. Just a natural, organic fit.

That's great, man. That's great. Speaking of troubled experiences, you talk about it in your book about how your father wasn't around growing up. I love some of the stories you talked about, especially the wrestling stories early on in your high school. I didn't know you were this big-time state champion wrestler.

And the reason you became a wrestler was to essentially remove the legacy of your father's name, right? Yeah. You were committed to doing something just because he wasn't there for you in spite of him. Yeah, it was more of, you're right, but it was just more of how do i get rid of this pain that i can't overcome i just couldn't get past yeah your father was never there

right oh man i never there um almost an understatement you know i just it you never met him right not until you know and then i hear these stories right oh he was around you was younger i'm like really who remembers that it's all right but um you know when i was growing up all the way through i just never knew pops and i'm like you know like mom i never forget i'm like mom like why like where where's that like why don't he want to come see me like wow and so um ninth grade i quit basketball i thought basketball was a very soft sport i read i heard that story about you you like tackled someone almost yeah like it wasn't a hard foul it was aggressive foul yeah and he started screaming so loud oh my gosh and i'm like really yeah oh my gosh and then i'm like i can't do this

it's too soft yeah and then as i'm walking out this wrestling coach was standing he was like come do this and i was like i'm not gonna do all that cafeteria where sweaty and all this stuff and the next year um 10th grade um this guy walked up to me um and like, you should look at this. And I picked up this magazine. And it was a wrestling book from 1975, the year I was born. And the first picture I opened, it was my father's picture. And I was like, wow, okay. And then I said, really? I was like, I'm wrestling.

And he was like, you ain't never wrestled before. I said, no, I don't need to know about wrestling i just want to wrestle so i started wrestling man and then you know i just fell in love with the one-on-one competition that you couldn't put it on nobody else it was you and you on the mat and and and then i started to read further into this book and i saw my father had every record in this book at the school he was every record at the school and i'm saying to myself lewis i'm like wow like this man was dominant like he was really dominant and when i started i had a coach by the name of ridden bar he was he was good but he wasn't a technician type teacher and so i was just like

on straight brute and on straight pain and just frustration so i used to just grab people and just slam them to the mat no technique no technique no nothing and then and i always tell this my kids this now that in every fourth quarter and every final of anything fundamentals is gonna get you through absolutely and my first year wrestling fundamentals it got me it got i got caught oh my gosh i'm i'm in the match i'm in the semi-finals before i go to state my first year wrestling i'm like i'm about to be going to the state finals and i'm sitting there bear-hugging this guy, and they must have studied me, and he hit me with a head and arm.

And oh my gosh, and if you know what a head and arm is, it's when you're bear-hugging, and then when you're bear-hugging, he comes across and hooks your arm in. And when I looked up, I was like, no, no, don't let him pin me. And then he must have in the opinion I was devastated and then but I didn't know that I didn't know that the seriousness of what it meant to be a champion or state champion and and so after that year I came back and the next year was funny is that you saw this in the book

the next year I go back to wrestling and the guy who tried funny is that you saw this in the book the next year I go back to wrestling and the guy who tried to get me in the ninth grade which was Stephen pool was transferred over to Kathleen senior and then he was like I'm the new wrestling coach and I was like wow okay let's go and he was a pure technician he taught me everything took me home at the school every day and then he asked me one day i never forget we was riding home and he was like what drives you like what drives you and i was like um i just don't know why my father don't come see me and he was like so oh he was like and you don't know i said i don't me? And he was like, so, ooh. He was like, and you don't know?

I said, I don't know nothing. And he was like, wow. And I was like, you know, can you just take me home? He was like, well, let me take you. Do you got something to eat? I was like, nah, my mom. You know, I don't eat often. You know, I have four sisters and brothers,

and my mom had to take care of them a lot. And so a lot of times i had to skip meals um so he started to become a father figure to really see what my drive was and then every after every practice without overriding other kids he would say you want to get some extra work in and i'm like yeah i want to know it all and he just he he took me under his wing and as a as a man as a technician he taught me how to defeat a man physically by touch by give by take and once i learned that that skill you never lose it yeah you know it's what you see now in mma yeah all these different things once you have that skill of how to you know beat a man it leaves. And that's when I started to really say every time I got mad that my dad wasn't there,

I would go on the mat and I would just envision he was in the stands one time. Really? And I was like, I'm going to give you something that you've never seen. And that's when I was like my junior year, I was like 39 and 1. Wow. My junior year, I was like 39-1. Wow. My junior year, I didn't lose at all. And then I lost in the state finals by one point. Oh.

Yeah, got second. Oh. Hurt. That stinks. Hurt, yeah. And then my final year, I came back and I just, I just like, I looked at my coach. He was like, what you want to do? I said, tell me what he didn't do.

And I had snapped every one of his records before that. And he was like, there's never been a state champion here. And I was like, really? I said, guarantee I'm winning state this year. I said, take me through everything. So he took me through it all again. And, you know, me and my father now, we're real good friends. But, you know, my 11th grade year, as you read in the book, you know, me and my father now, we're real good friends. But, you know, my 11th grade year, as you read in the book, you know, he sent me that letter.

And I changed my name legally. And I was like, I don't know if I would ever walk in his name. I don't want to walk in his name. And so my senior year, this guy by the name of Tober Bain, who was a referee, he said, I coach your father. And he said, I don't know if you ever would know. You're the spin image of him. And I said, I don't know what that means. So he was like, oh, you are your father's son.

Yes, I am your son. And I was like, okay. I was like, okay. He was like, well, I'm refereeing your match. Well, I said, well, you get to watch something he never did and he was like what's that I said his fastest pin was eight seconds I said I'm gonna beat this guy in five no way he was like really the world the whistle blew I hit him with an ankle dial I hit him with an ankle and I climbed up on him so quick five seconds wow match over let over. Let's go.

That's great. It was things like that, man, that took, I think, took a missing piece that I tell even my kids to this day. You know, I have four kings and two queens, and I tell them to this day there are certain moments in a child's life that a father should never miss because when they replace it, they replace it with things. Most of the time they get them in trouble because of where I was, how I was raised and my mom was so strict. I replaced it with. I don't encourage nobody to live the way I live because I had hate for my father.

Yeah. And hate turned into fuel. So I never would take too many breaks at all. Still, to this day, it's hard for me to take a break, Lewis, because I always remember the emptiness of never being able to say hey dad what you think about oh never mind that voice ain't here and so you know when we became friends later in life you know one of the first things i told him when he started to come around i said just do me one favor don't ask me for nothing just be my dad just be around to be my father. That's it. And so times I can jump in and I can be a son. And then times I have to get away from it because I'm a father now. And I'm not a child anymore. And I don't need, per se, what I needed when I was a child.

And so now I balance it out. Not that it's a good thing, but I don't call him as much we don't see each other as much um then we first started to to make up for and so i just live man and you know i love i love him i forgave him um for every moment that he missed but it was it was my fuel that was that's what fueled me in wrestling that's what fueled me to break everyone in those records yeah yeah was there a time when you started to uh whether it be in the nfl or before then where you started to not be fueled by this anger this pain but you became fueled by something bigger than that yeah yeah and how'd you transition from the anger to whatever that was? Yeah. My 12th grade year, my my my junior year in college, my mom, I was going to University of Miami. My mom had moved us to Memphis because we went broke and she had to move the family.

And so she moved us to Memphis. And I said, Mom, you cannot do this. Like I'm I got two years left in high school and I'm going to Memphis. And I said, Mom, you cannot do this. Like, I got two years left in high school. And I'm going to college. Right. And she was like, you ain't going to college. You're going to raise you. You're going to help me raise these kids. And this is where we're going to do this.

We're going to live as a family. Wow. And I'm like, Mom, like, no, don't do this, Mom. You're going to. And so, man, she had me in Memphis. And I ran away a few times and paid heavy for the consequences. But when I got back, I never forget it. I was sitting on the floor and she walked up on my right on this side of my shoulder and she slid twenty dollars worth of food stamps down the side of my arm.

And she says, I'm making a big I think i'm making the biggest mistake of my life by letting you go back to lakeland and i was like okay okay she said he'll go 39 dollars he got greyhound bus ticket she said get on the bus wow and i was like all right and then it was the hardest thing ever because i had to leave my family for the first time you were how old and sisters this was me 17 going into senior year yeah going into my senior year and so when I left man my senior year comes up I call mom and if everything go through I call mom I was like ma I got a scholarship she was like what what do you mean I was like ma i got a scholarship like i'm going to college wow and then she was like um okay she was like well you know times are rough up here so you just let me know what i can do what you do for you i was like i'm good i'm good i'll survive

and so every day i used to eat like a bag of candy so that was my dinner that's why i don't eat candy now i just eat a bag of candy. And then the transition happened. My freshman year at University of Miami, my sophomore year, my mom got enough money to move back home. She left the guy that she was with. She moved back home to Lakeland. And then she called me my junior year and said, I'm broke.

The light's off. There's no food in the house said, I'm broke. I can't. The light's off. There's no food in the house. And I cannot feed your brothers and sisters. I was like, okay, pack up and everybody come live with me. Wow. She was like, you're in college. I was like, I will make it.

Wow. Just come on. And that's when it changed. Because you're getting housing too. You're getting, you know, a stipend. Well, I was living off campus then. I won't share everything that was going on. This was back before things were regulated.

This was back before they was watching closely. But you had your own place. Yeah. You had all the food you needed. I had a two-bedroom place. You were hooked up. Right there in the Grove, I was hooked up. Yeah.

And she came down down and that's when it shift for me that's when pain i started to forget pain and started to say if i can make my mom smile i will never stop ticking wow and so the moment she pulled up i never forget that she pulled up and she said baby ray what are you doing and i said mom i'm taking care of us she was like baby some baby because you know she pulled up i got a house i got cars i'm like we gonna be all right she was like i don't know what's going on and so man she pulled up and then that and that and that's what started to shift for me and then i started to to get weight off my shoulders like okay father ain't there it's cool now you're the dad and and and you got

to run things now and you have to be smart enough and this and that and you're a starter at at the you at the time right you're a starter you're doing well yeah i was doing i came in my freshman year and I shocked people because I knew. It's a rule I always tell people. I've never beat no one out, just flat beat anybody out. But I always tell people, don't ever lose your job to me because you may never get it back. You get injured, you mess up, you say the wrong thing. Listen, Lewis.

He put you in for one play. That's what happened. I'm telling you, Lewis. My senior high school guy by the name of William Campbell. I'm a sophomore. William Campbell, he gets in a fight, and he slams this guy, and he breaks his jaw the Wednesday before starting day on Friday. The next thing you know, Coach Grady Maddox stands up and says,

and this is my senior high school, and says, Ray Lewis is our starting rover, which is starting strong safely this week. Wayne Campbell's not here. And I'm looking around, and I'm like, what? It's Wednesday. Friday's the game. And we're playing against Clewiston. And I'm sitting there, and I'm like, oh, boy.

And I get in the game and I have like 24 tackles. Oh, my gosh. Some crazy game. Never got his job back. Went to the University of Miami, same thing. This guy, I'm not even a media guy. Remember, Miami gave me this scholarship, last scholarship they had because somebody got hurt once again there was

a guy they had the number one linebacker in the nation and he ended up blowing his knee out on a quad runner and they called me four days before signing day no way yes university of miami dennis erickson and art keogh saw me play my last game at high school against the number one recruiter the nation at the time, which was Jamie German. They were looking at him. They was looking at him. But they played us in my hometown, and I had this incredible game. 27 tackles.

Oh, my gosh. Almost 170 yards rushing. It was a crazy game. I had a crazy game. And when the game was over, I never forget falling on my knees, and I cried like a baby. And every Fort Myers guy walked by and said, man, can you suit up with us next week? Can you play with us next week?

And I realized that it was over for me. It was your last game. Last game. It's hard. And next thing you know, four days before Sunday, the University of Miami calls me and says, we're going to give you a full scholarship. Oh, my gosh. I jump in the car. My grandmother driving me down. And I get there and i'm like okay i gotta pack her i gotta pack a number two pencils

i got a pack of paper i got one pair of jeans and i got a three t-shirts three white t-shirts she was like you're gonna be all right i said i just need a little money she said i got i got 20 dollars worth of food stamps i I said, give me the $20. Wow. I survived. And they dropped me off. And I was like, survival is on. Wow.

And so I was like, here we go. And then I get to college, and then these guys are like, who is this guy who's just cracking on everybody? Like, I was a jokester, right? And so Martin Lawrence was my favorite character. And so Jerome and Otis and all these people, right? right and so martin lawrence was my favorite like character and so like jerome and oldest and all these people right every time um the older guys just always make me come in like you gotta do it you gotta do it before the meeting and so i became like really popular to the older guys

because i was just like one of the guys and i never forget we got on the field first day guys and I never forget we got on the field first day they was like wait a minute like what's that and I was like there's not a more dominant player on this field than me right now. Really? Your freshman year? My freshman year. Wow. And this

one Warren Sapp and you know a lot of people. Warren was there too? Yeah. Warren Sapp was in his sophomore year. He's a beast. He's a beast. Oh there was no greater privilege than to play behind Big Daddy. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my. When I tell you dominant, when he goes, I say, just go.

Just go. I'll play off you. Don't you worry about me. I'll play off you. He's taking like three players. Oh, my gosh. And you're just like running it. Oh, my gosh.

I'm talking about pure dominance, man. And then, you know, that's the same year, you know, me and The Rock, we played and he was there. He was there, huh? Yeah, absolutely. 93, 94. Same year as you. Same years, yeah.

Was he as dominant? He wasn't as dominant of a football player, was he? Nah, nah, nah. He was kind of like special teams or something, right? He was a huge weight room guy. Oh, he could lift, right? Yeah, he could do it. He was so strong.

He was throwing up like 40 reps in 25. See, everybody know him as The Rock. I say Dewey. See, because I know him personally. And then, man, it was like this thing. And Randy Shannon, who's at the University of Florida right now, was my linebacker's coach. And he just grew fond of me quickly.

And he was like, wait a minute, this kid. And I was like, and I'll never forget, he sat me down. He's like, what number you on? I was like, I said, I want a number nobody else has had. He was like, well, there's been some great ones coming through here. Darren Smith came through here wearing number 45. Jesse Armstead wearing number one. Michael Bear wearing number 56.

Rohan Marley, who's been my college roommate in 23 years, probably my best friend. And he says, so which number do you want to go after? I said, I don't want none of those numbers. He was like, what do you mean? I said, I'm starting my own thing. He was like, well, here are the numbers. Here are the options.

The numbers that's left. And he pointed, and he said, what about 52? He's like, nobody's never was 52 but a sinner said we had a sinner that was it i said 52 is my number he said well why 52 i said because i said that's god's number he said he said wait a minute he said you're a spiritual i said that's all i know i said god is all i know he was like so what do you mean that's God's number? I say five and two is seven. Seven is the number of completion. He said, that's your number.

He gave me 52 that day. Wow. And then I was like, it's on. I love that. It's on. Wow. And then, man, you know, there was a bunch of the guys that was, you know, highly recruited over me. And I was a little bit different, Louis, because I was the one that I couldn't take a break.

So every day I was in the house, Louis, I was doing, oh, my gosh, somewhere 25, 2,500 push-ups, 2,500 sit-ups every night. After practice. Yeah. Oh, man, before I went to bed. You were sheared, dude. It was like, I was like, because I was like, I'm not starting. I'm not nothing. I'm just trying to make a way, you know.

I got mom in there, and I'm really trying to figure this out. And mom's broke, and I'm like, okay. And I'll never forget it. Robert Bass, the senior, was playing in front of me. And there's this other backer who was the number one backer in the nation, which was James Burgess, who was real good friends of mine. We became so close. JB took care of me in so many ways, man.

I love what the University of Miami stands for because it's a brotherhood of people taking care of each other. And we're getting into the second game of the year, my freshman year, true freshman, and we're playing Virginia Tech. And it's like six minutes and 38 seconds on the clock. And Robert Bass gets hurt, blows out his knee. And Randy Shannon, out of all the linebackers he could have chose, he says, I want Ray Lewis.

And I said, huh? And you haven't played up to this point yet we we hadn't had a game i played in boston college which was the first game i played four plays right last four plays of the freaking game right um i did end up with three tackles on the pass but but uh and then that and then he got hurt and then randy was like i want ray and i was like, I want Ray. And I was like, huh? And I said, oh, boy. And he put me in the game, man, at middle back. And I was like, nobody's ever getting this job back. You're never coming out.

Like, they don't know. I'm never coming out, Lou. Wow. And so, man, that game, man, I ended up with like 16 tackles and a half. And then next week, Colorado, ABC. They had Rashard Salam, Cordell Stewart, Michael Westbrook, Charles Johnson, Christian Fourier. They had

a team like no other. And I never forget the person, honestly, who I still credit to this day, put me on the map. Keith Jackson. Keith Jackson said, I don't know if you know this young kid out of Lakeland, Florida, but if you've never watched football, this is a football player.

This is a broadcaster? This is a broadcaster, Keith Jackson. Yeah, Colorado. I was starting as a true freshman. Wow. That hadn't happened since Charles Farms. So when they brought me in, I was like, man, I went in Colorado and I had like 21 tackles, four pass breakups, a sack.

And they asked me after that game, and this is where it all changed for me. They asked me after that game. They said, how good do you think you could be? And I said, before I leave here, I'll be the greatest player to ever walk up on the University of Miami. And oh, my gosh. The waves and the papers and everybody was riding. And it was like, this kid says this and this and that.

And one of the first phone calls I got was from Michael Irvin. And he was like, I love it. He was like, that's hurricane football. And I was like, oh, wow, Michael Irvin just called me. I was like, wow, Micah Irvin just called me. I was like, this is freaking cool. And, man, that's what kind of set me up to tell people, you know, like I was always the prepared one, that there was nothing I didn't know about every position on the football field.

And that's why I think when the opportunity knocked, for me, it was like, I'm telling you, you will never beat me out. It's hard to beat me out. Unless you get injured. Unless I get injured. Yeah. That's it. That's it.

So that's kind of what the thing that kind of catapulted me to, remember I told you, which changed my passion, to then start to totally focus on making my mom smile. Wow. So everything that started burning inside of me, I'll never forget, man, when I was sitting out there one day and I came home and I told my mom, I said, Mom, I'm out. She was like, what do you mean?

I said, I'm leaving college. She was like, baby, you're not leaving college. I said, Mom, we're broke. We have no food in the house. I'm taking care of all of us. What do you want me to do? Stay here and keep going through this and come back another year? I just hurt both of my ankles.

I guarantee it I'm going first round if I leave this year. She's like, no, it's not promised. What about your degree? I said, I'll sign a paper with you right now. That I'll get it later. That I'll get it later. Yeah. She was like, that's the only way you leave.. That I'll get it later. That I'll get it later. Yeah. And she was like, that's the only way you leave.

Wow. So you're a junior. Junior. So you left. Left. First round. First round. Got that money.

After they told me, you know, I just heard so many things, Louis. You know, that's why I tell people, man, like, nobody dictates what you do in life. You know, you dictate it. Nobody controls how hard you push in life you know you dictate it nobody controls how hard you push in life people can talk about you people can say what they want to say about you but nobody knows what your heart says every second and that's what for me my heart told me don't ever believe people because if you listen to people you would never amount to anything and when i came out i heard people say so many things he's too small he can't play in this league he will only be a special teamers

and i said wow but you've never met me so how it so it kind of blew my mind to how people had already put me in this box and forget speaking the coach's name but the one coach when i told him i was leaving he was like i have a bunch of coaches around this nfl and i'm guaranteeing you will you will go no better than the fourth or fifth round wow i said really okay one of your coaches at miami yeah i said well i'm out i'm out of your way so let's see how this goes yeah and then um and then you know the story started to tell itself. Powerful. You wrote the story.

I wrote it. You wrote it, right? You were the author of that story. Oh, Lewis. That's what I tell people. You know, I tell people the challenge of real life is being able to take something that's supposed to count you out and say, won't win because i control the outcome and when people if you if you don't understand that understand it this way if it was not for the things i did not have i don't know if i would ever push the way i pushed i don't know love my father to death

but i don't know if i wanted my father around me with the life that he was living i don't know if i would have ever thought about why my brothers and sisters was more important than myself if my father was around because i would have saw a different example me not having growing up makes me appreciate giving now that's why i give to so many people and i don't do it with cameras i don't need cameras yeah i just i got a rule lewis to change one life a day physically change a life a day right and when you do it you realize that everything that i had lived was preparing me for now. And it's because I pushed through it. It's because that I had a, I had a system that it was not man dependent and it wasn't system dependent. It was heart dependent.

It was effort dependent. It was, if you get up and do it, there's only a certain thing that follows action and that's results. And so for me, I had the cycle of praying me i had this cycle of praying i had this cycle of faith and i had this cycle of seeing my mom smile and so at 41 i have the same cycle right right right praying faith and seeing my mom smile so my energy now in life

is greater now than even when I was playing. Because now every second is to make my mom smile. Like everything I do. Like that's why I tell people, if you hear me say something about you, don't get mad. It ain't personal. It's never personal because I don't have a personal vendetta towards nothing or no one. I just have my opinion. And I think as a people, we should all have an opinion you know and so

I think that's it started to mold me to the man that I now am that says no I remember you saying I couldn't do that I remember all the critics saying that my careers was over and I was losing this and losing that so I think the inspiration on why

I started podcasts why I started to get involved in a lot of things is simply because people are listening to too many other people. We're in an era now where social media is king now. So now you're reading what everybody posts and this and that. But I always say that it's funny that social media never gives the ability to judge yourself before you judge someone else. You see? And so that's the trick of people that they don't know how to get by social media. You get by social media, don't read that mess.

Freaking read what somebody says about me. It's irrelevant. Yeah. Right? And so I think that was my driving force all the way up. It's because of everything that i didn't have or heard that said and this and that and that so i used to post a lot of things i used to a lot of years ago i used to post articles where people used to say well he can't do this and he's too small he's i

was like really they don't know what it feels like to be in this weight room right now they don't know what it feels like working out seven times a day yeah yeah they don't know that i guarantee you i will play longer than any other linebacker has ever played in this game wow they don't know right they don't know that my one of my greatest heroes was junior seau rest in peace yeah they don't know how many times i sat down with him at the pro bowl and i said what was it like teach me like i'm like lewis i was so different because i was like a sponge yeah to every to every mentor i had one of my greatest mentors that nobody understands was benny thompson benny thompson was this oh my gosh he's probably one of the best special

team players off pure effort than i've ever been around in my life heart came from cleveland 1996 man and he grabbed me and i and and i'm like and he used to always call me he used to always call me special delivery because he used to always say i'm gonna come up with a plate somewhere i'm gonna come up with a play ups he he said UPS and it was guys like him that I started to sit up under there was guys like Eric Turner rest in peace that I started to sit up under Stephon Moore Antonio Langham I started to sit up under these guys Anthony Pleasant Rob Burnett but I can go down the line of guys that I sat with and just was like a sponge to just download this knowledge of what it is to be a professional or what it is to and then once I downloaded enough

of it I never said I was okay I kept going to somebody else yeah and then somebody else and then somebody else and so that's why I think my evolving into the person that I became athletic-wise was because of my historic background of going back and studying people, not just studying them on the field, but I studied more people off the field. That's how I learned how to speak. So I learned how to speak. I had a bad stuttering problem when I was a kid. My stepfather done something very bad to me one day.

I was looking out of a window after he had physically abused my mom. And I was crying because I tried to help her, but he used to beat both of us up. But anyway, and I was looking out the window one day and he took a snake and he threw it in my lap. And I was stuck. Like a real snake. Yeah. And I was stuck. Like a real snake. Yeah. And I was stuck and I was like, and I couldn't get it out. Wow.

And for years I was stuck with this slur. So if I would say, I would always, yeah. And so, you know, and then, you know, they, my family, you know, they wrote it because they started calling me bad nicknames like Whoa Whoa and all these different things. That doesn't help you. And I was like, oh, my gosh. Right. And then I started to watch people's mouth.

So I would get up close to television and I would watch people speak. And I was like, OK like okay okay got it and that's how i learned how to start wow to speak to really open up um wow so yeah so i i was a sponge um and that's why i tell people kids learn exactly what they live yeah just as so as people. Right. We dissect and download everything that we see, experience, witness, we'll have to endure. And so those things for me were my way of saying, do you, do you and don't do it to be liked, do it to be respected. Because being liked, you will have your fair weather fans fans i don't i don't live to be like man i do not live to be liked you know i do i will go home to the next life as being respected like you can like me you can hate me whatever but me as a person nobody controls my temperature

i control my temperature yeah wow so much i want to ask you i'm fascinated by where do you think you'd be right now if your dad was the most loving caring attentive i don't i don't think you know you know what i said it to this day lewis i don't know um you know and i said this with him you know you're talking about a person who's now a real close friend of mine um i don't know because i don't know if my passion would have been the same you know it was it was remember it was all the things i didn't have yeah man what excited me what excited me then now was you know going all the way back my mom at 10 years old i was crying and stepfather just really beat her up

real bad and she had black eyes everywhere and i just tugged on her dress and i said one day one day you'll never have to work another day in your life wow and i'm gonna make sure that happens she was like you 10 boy and i was like but i know know. And that's why I tell people, man, be careful what you show kids because kids remember it. Absolutely. Talking about it to this day. And I never forgot it. Yeah.

And one thing you can never get past is it will never leave you. It's just if you set it aside for a while, but if you want to be inspired, you can tap back into it at any given moment and so that's what i think really make start making me realize that my mom never spoke a ill word about my father not one time in my entire life i'm telling you i cannot remember a sentence where my mom said one thing bad about my father she only said to me one time she said you need to learn who your father is this was early in my 20s she said because you're following his same path right and i said okay wow i guess i need to find out who my father is and then i started asking around

and asking a bunch of people and then i started to realize they was like yeah your father got 10 kids and i was like my father got 10 kids well like really wow i only know two and that's my twin sisters so they was like and then by this time i don't move then i got a girl we got three kids together it's like i'm like because i'm craving to have my own family. Yeah. And this and that. And then I started to realize, I was like, wait a minute. We ain't going to make his mistake. And so at 24 years old, it was my last child. But that was after I found out who my father was and the life that he lived. And that's why I tell kids, men especially now, that I mentor a lot is,

even if you don't want to, go back and sit with your father. If you have that ability because whether you want to or not you're going to learn something and so i learned everything and what i learned the most lewis is i don't want to be like you not when it comes to being a father right as a man i laugh with you all day me and you cool but when it comes to being a father me and you are totally opposite because i don't know what missing one of my children's birthdays graduations feel like every birth i'm there cutting the biblical cord yeah like it's just certain things as a man i could not imagine me not being there

for my kids and so that's that was the the things that i think i learned over the years of not having a father is why I consider myself you know I think my kids are privileged to have me simply because of what I didn't have and I wanted to give them everything the pain you had you wanted to make sure you never enjoyed it who would you say is more influential in your life

your mom or your dad? My mom what's the biggest lesson she's taught you? don't you ever trust man. Don't trust man? She says, put your trust in no man. She's installed me with that. She says, put your faith and your trust in God and God only because man will fail you every time.

And when I started to hear that, I didn't know exactly what she was saying until i started to really live it and then research it then go back and live it again and then research it again then experience then you're like wait a minute and then when you think about all of the pain that's caused in this world trees don't hurt us ocean oceans don't hurt us people hurt people people embarrass people people belittle people and that's what she protected me from she protected me from ever letting my trust get so heavily into people which i did which i did man i i trusted people who crushed me who hurt my heart I mean they can take your

heart and throw it away yeah by the way they treat you and how they speak to you and certain things and but I've never forgotten that and I've never forgotten why every day I pick up if not my bible I'm reading something to to grow stronger with him. Because one day we all got to leave. And when those gates spread, I want him to know my voice by what I did here, by how much time I spent with him here. And that's what I kind of got from the mature side of spirituality is God ain't going to force a relationship with him. You got to go get a relationship with God.

And I would invest in a relationship with God any day before i invest in a relationship with a man because he ain't gonna it's just certain things he won't do or even attempt to do that man will do and so my mom became my hero young young because i saw mom endure pain that i was like mom like why are you freaking letting this guy keep putting his hands on you like let's go like we don't have to deal with this she was like i ain't got no money i can't move i'm like this is with black eyes i'm like mom we gotta go i can't anything for my kids wow i was like damn and then um and man it was um and then still to this day man i'm telling you like when i look at her like i grab her like i hold her like look i got you in this life until god brings you home i got you that's my duty and so even thanksgiving you know losing my aunt recently just holding her you know just

letting her know that look what i told you at 10 wow yeah i'm 41 now that's powerful yeah so mom is um you know they always ask me like who's my sports hero i always say my mom that's cool wow well even though your father wasn't giving you much uh positive lessons what would you say is the most important lesson or inspirational lesson that you learned from him oh man to be a man and own the things that you didn't do yeah what would you say is your definition of a man because i'm writing a book about masculinity right now. Yeah. And you're arguably one of the meanest, toughest,

NFL defensive players of all time who just wants to inflict pain on people. That's your mission to hurt people. Yeah. What would you say is, and has your definition evolved of what it means to be a man over the years? Yeah.

involved of what it means to be a man over the years yeah um we took a six-hour drive to to one part of north carolina charlotte to another small part of north carolina where my grandfather shady ray right here was living and i didn't know where we were going and we pulled up to this green trailer, and we get out, and I walk in, and my dad says, meet your grandfather. I'm 33. And I'm like, okay. Oof. Wow. And the floor, couch, I laid on the floor, and I heard my dad say to him,

Dad, why did you leave me? Wow. And I said, wait, wait, hold on this is generational like this is this is generational curses man like what are we doing right and lewis is something special about manhood 20 years to the day my son is 21 i'm 41 my father's 61 my grandfather's 81 his father is 101 wow five generations no way five generations 20 years 20 years and i rode with him for six hours and i never said a word and when i got done listening to him this is is to your point, I said, you know what a man is? A man accepts all of the wrongs, never complains, forgives, and then moves on.

That's what a man does. Because you can never replace him not being to a football game. Never replace him not being to a wrestling match. Track me. Never beat up by a group of kids. You can never replace him not being to a wrestling match track me never beat up by a group of kids you can never replace him not being there you can never replace that so what you can replace is you can replace it with going forward and going forward simply if you have kids if you even if you don't have kids you can then become a mentor to someone because that's what a man does.

A man takes it and then he expands it based off what he didn't have. But now he can use the platform to bless others. And so that's what I believe the expansion of real manhood really is. Right. The difference of wisdom and knowledge right knowledge is to definitely be gained and read as much as you need to read and download as much knowledge as you need to but wisdom is the actual application of knowledge and once you go through the knowledge of not having and the ups and downs then the wisdom of that is not to keep it to yourself it's to spread it absolutely yeah and

that's what i believe when you ultimately evolve into a man a man's man men recognize that and so it's funny because now i'm on this side of life and i'm 15 times more popular on this side of life than i was playing the game. Playing the game. Yeah. And why is that, you think? Well, you ask yourself why? Because the game, any way you want to cut it is still based on wins and losses. Right?

This side of life is based on life or death. Yeah. It's like there's no option with this one. Right. Remember, in the game, practice the next day. Yeah. We'll lose this week. Always know the game. Always next week. Yeah. lose this week always next week always next week yeah folks are next if not next if not next week next year and maybe i didn't go to a soup bowl i'd go to a pro bowl so all of that is one thing but what

happens when you come to life what happens when a father just walked up to you and told you that he can never see his kids again right an eight-year-old called me the other day and said my daddy's coming home for thanksgiving he's in the military and he calls me the next day and says my dad ain't coming he dead wow life gets real and so you have to be prepared to encourage people not to give up encouraging people in a football game it's so much easier than looking at the child and knowing that his father is fighting for our country and he ain't coming back. And so the fight is different. Yeah. The war is different now.

And so I'm in a unique place now because the streets are calling and there are not too many voices that will stand to be persecuted for the right things. And the right things and the right things is you know we we as a country need to love our neighbors as we love ourselves you know we we as a country have allowed morals to be lost and that's what manhood is that's what since as a child that's all we knew is the way you were raised the way your family raised you is what is that's the product you're raised, the way your family raised you, that's the product you're supposed to go put in the earth. But you pay attention to the music that we're listening to now.

Watch the movies. Watch even the video games. Lewis, we got cartoons now cursing and having sex. How do you raise kids? We have all these things that individually we're allowing to happen, but, and I keep saying this, there's no day and they can't do what they did. There's day.

There's no day. We are the day we're doing it. We're doing it. Like we're allowing these things. And I believe popularity comes from correction. People want to be corrected. That's why Joel's thing is so powerful because people want knowledge. They want to be corrected. They want to be corrected that's why joel steen is so powerful because people want knowledge they want to be corrected they want to be led the right way they want to at least have

the tool yeah to go do it but guess what happens distraction this that and so that's why i believe you know manhood is um it's figuring out that when you leave this earth and somebody researches your story what would they say like what really would you be how would you be looked at right and i'm not talking about from falsehoods and false accusations and you know media can say anything out their mouth and you find yourself going through certain things in life and people can hate you by something they don't have a clue about. People play judges all the time. They play lawyers all the time. Right.

Until you're really in it. And when you're really in it, you find out something very quickly. You find out how wishy-washy people really can be. And so that's why I think I stand firm as a man with who I am because I don't ever want my kids to see something that I know ain't right. My daughter, my youngest daughter, she just wrote, I was going to send it to you this morning, she just wrote this whole thing for a school, and it was a whole thing.

Oh, my gosh. She's one of the brilliant ones. Athletics is not her thing. She likes it, but she's one of she's one of the brilliant ones athletics is not her thing likes it but she's in like three languages and she's very smart and um she wrote this thing this morning well a couple days ago about where music has taken us and the things that we're allowing to be said in music but we're looking for our population to change yeah with we're allowing to be said in music, but we're looking for our population to change. We got all these rappers, and there are some great rappers. I think L Cool J is one of the cleanest people

I've ever been around in my life. Will Smith is. But when you think about some of the messages that we have now, we're promoting domestic violence. We're promoting drugging women. That's popular forging women that's popular for people yeah it's it's it's the new thing and so that's why i think you know at the end of the day um popularity is the same thing that really got the devil kicked out of heaven so you have

to be careful with who makes you popular right and and yeah and believing your money is your popularity. I would trade in any amount of money to save souls anything. Absolutely. And that's what I think true manhood is, is that you're a trailblazer for change, not a pathfinder. See, because a pathfinder, that means you're just following people, and that's what's wrong with social media, right? Followers or likes. That contradicts everything the good book says.

Because the good book says you must be a leader before a follower. But it's the opposite on social media. It says if you like me, then I become popular. But the good book says it's better to be respected than liked. See? So the contradiction preys on men's and weakness and women's weaknesses because the thing that we think makes us credible actually dilutes our brand well and so that's where the the way you have to really be careful with the world saying look how many

followers he has 70 million right and then you have to ask the next question and your message is what to those 70 million because if you're leading those 70 million down the wrong path no matter how much money you got your life won't end well no it's not fulfilling it can't be it can't be but so this is i think you know if you think about evolving over time as an athlete great athletes great superstar and then you you leave that world and you come into walking as a man every day i walk up to people every day and it's amazing the mothers and the fathers that are literally just pushing their kids towards me they need to listen to you they need to come live with you you know because i'm like well it ain't me it's that i've

never gotten rid of what my mom taught me yeah right yes ma'am is still yes ma'am absolutely yes sir still yes sir it'll never? Respecting elders is still the same. I don't get it. Right? You get guys to make all of this money in the league. And now because you make millions of dollars, you feel that you can just curse and say whatever you want to say in front of coaches? Disrespecting. It shows the level of what we're allowed to happen.

You know, we sit in meetings. Right? And you listen to all these conversations and and and i sit back and i'm like and then when people start to see me in music like don't don't don't sit in front of him yeah because you're not gonna you're not gonna sit there and do that and i'm sitting here right i stopped cursing at 24 years old yeah my last time touching brown liquor was 24 years old which is almost was was also my last child too so me and brown liquor don't get it wrong yeah but it's it's certain things that i put away to become a trailblazer. Because I wanted people to one day look back and say,

that's a man. I was craving to be that person that people talked about on Thanksgiving. That's the person I wanted to be. Yeah. And now people once was interested in how great a football player I was. But now, at my speakings and what I do online now, the people that I impact now, is you're giving them hope. You're giving them direction.

And you're giving young men an opportunity to say, you know what? Maybe my life isn't where I want it to be. Maybe I've been through some tough times. But you know what? I got an example that shows you you don't have to give up. Absolutely. You don't have to buy in. And you don't never have to accept the hand that you're dealt.

Change it. And so that's why I think this side of life for me is it's it's it's gratifying from the point that a win and loss sometimes got in the way of purpose right because you lose a game you lose it you come out of the game you lose a game but man I lost you know what could I do better whatever but then now you go to bed at night and you wake up with calls in the morning, you know, that I got yesterday morning that said, you prayed for me. You gave me all these affirmations to say. And I just came from the doctor and he says I don't have cancer.

Wow. That's my Super Bowl that's hard to beat. That's pretty good credibility right there. But saving someone's life is more valuable. Saving someone's life. Absolutely. It's more important than saving someone's fantasy team, right? Yeah.

Totally different conversation. Right. Yeah. Yeah, giving people hope with their fantasy team is different. Man, there's so many things I want to ask you, right? Anything. Gosh, I'm curious about your mind. Yeah. Man, there's so many things I want to ask you, right? Many things. Gosh, I'm curious about your mind and how you prepared for the big games and big moments in your career

and how that's translated into the big moments in life after your career. I feel like you are so focused coming out of that tunnel every time. You had a certain intensity and focus of certainty that just no one else really had. and intensity and focus of certainty that just no one else really had. What was the practice or the ritual or the two hours before thing that you did to get ready mentally and emotionally before you stepped down on the field? Was there a routine you had? Or were you just always wired that way? Yeah, there was a real routine I had.

After years, you know, when i used to come into my hotel room i had to have just like now i had to have candles everywhere really um my mom got me a bunch of uh the night before the game yeah. She got me a bunch of holy coverings of cloths and holy oil. And I used to, not to be graphic, but get completely nude. Wow. Get on the floor, wrap myself up, put holy oil all over me. And I used to just lay there and just meditate and just let go Wow and because the game will fade mm-hmm wins and losses come a dime a dozen but the

battle will never be different and And that is you versus me. And when a man physically feel you thrust into them, they know what intention you come with. Right. So every night, I had to get to a point of releasing worry. Wow. Releasing doubt releasing doubt, releasing fear. That's why I studied so much. I studied so much because when I go, I'm gone.

You can call it how you call it, but when I go, I'm gone. And that's what, you know, it started to become such a spiritual battle because when people used to, guys, I used to be playing with guys, they used to be like, come on, Ray, don't talk to me like that. I ain't got no other choice. Out here, this is pure battle. Wow. You know, this ain't no disrespect to war. War and battle is different, right?

But it is. It's battle. different, right? But it is. It's battle. Like, it's you taking your body. I've been through nine surgeries. So it's like you taking your body and you're saying, I'm going to go try this one more time and one more time and one more time. Play after play after play after play. 17 years.

Oh, bro. And so my, I used to go in hotel rooms and people will tell you i don't leave my hotel room for nothing walk downstairs to the meeting back upstairs in my room wow i don't need to see the city i don't want to go out in the city wow my head is down i don't need this is what's crazy that's that's what i'm telling you i i'm not no no disrespect to the game sure i cheated life so much because i was so serious about the game that i walked in i'll never forget it cincinnati pittsburgh all these places i walked in these places and i promise you while i was playing, I never knew what they looked like. The cities.

Yeah. Never. My head is down the whole time. I'm like. You got the headphones on. You're just. Everything. The hoodie.

Everybody out. I'm tuning everybody out. Wow. And only until I joined ESPN for a few years that I started to travel. Look at this city. That's cool. I'm like, wow. Cincinnati is beautiful.

This is why people live here. Right? And then I started to realize like, man, there is more to travel. I'm like, wow, Cincinnati is beautiful. This is why people live here. Right? And then I started to realize, man, there is more to life. Like, Ray, you got to come out of this shell. And my oldest daughter said something to me one time. She was like, Daddy, you finally let go. I was like, what do you mean? She says, you laugh all the time now.

Because when I was playing. You didn't smile much at all. Man, my kids, man. I took my kids through a lot. Because my kids was like, dad pissed off. Always. Dad pissed off. Dad is always pissed off.

Wow. And I played with them, you know. Yeah, yeah, of course. And I did my thing. But it wasn't a sense of like free joy. Right. And I played with them, you know, and I did my thing. But it wasn't a sense of, like, free joy. It was like, because I knew that every week I had raised them and trained them to never be outworked. Never be outworked.

Lewis, I didn't stay around because of my athletic ability. I stayed around purely because my effort was way higher than everybody else's. Do you feel like you could have, looking back now, you could have had more fun or you could have let go and enjoyed certain aspects of life and still been as dominant? Or did you need to be fully obsessed that whole time? Yeah. That's the only way. Yeah.

And when you talk to other people about it, like that has done things you've done. Like one of my closest friends to this day is Jim Brown. And Jim. Ohio legend. Yeah. From Ohio. So he mentions me on so many different levels.

But to listen to how similar we are. Yeah. And the way we think. And I'm like, wow, Jim Brown. But we think just alike. And that's why I think, you know, once you go, once you buy in, and that's why I say sometimes it's what you don't have that catapults you to never taking a break.

Yeah. And that was my thing like i'm telling you lewis like if you ever went down if you ever sat down and watched my career like closely enough i didn't i didn't i didn't play for plays after five six years i played for men's spirits. I wanted them to one day look back and say, you did not want to play against him. Like that's a whole nother animal. You want to run to the other side of the field? Run out of bounds.

Because it's personal. Wow. Every time it was personal. I'm almost glad I didn't make the league just so I didn't have to get hit by it. Just so I had to save my ribs. That's why I love the – you know, one thing I did is I love to lose in practice because it has showed me on what I can get away with in the game.

That's why I tell people, if you want to try anything, try it at practice. Try anything at practice. Anything you want and sometimes in office of coordinators I used to go again sometimes I just run in there and just shoot to that and the coordinator was like what are you doing? Coach I thought it was a screen. I mean correct me now but later you know and so that's funny. Yeah so when I got on the field, man, I don't know, because I studied so many people. So I studied Bruce Lee. I studied Muhammad Ali. I studied so many, like, minds on how to defeat distraction.

And so one of the quotes that stuck with me for a long time is from Ali when he says I hated every day of training but if it meant spending the rest of my life as champion then I'd do it all over again yeah and I grabbed that quote early and so when I used to block out six months to go stay at my beach house in Florida. Like, my kids would tell you, my dad ain't leaving his beach house. Like, if we want to see him, we got to go see him. Right. And so when they came down, I started taking them through what I was feeling. Training.

Yeah. Like, feel what this sand feels like. There's no, I mean, I got on sand 2001 and I never trained on anything else but sand. Right? And so it was what I made up in my mind because of the underdog story. Yeah. That's why I love underdogs. Me too.

Right? It's the best. Because nobody can take the temperature of a real underdog. The heart. the temperature of a real under the heart and so that's why i think you know me playing um i started playing against coordinators i wasn't playing against players on the line i thought coordinators started to realize how smart i was in the game so i started to go back and study film two three years prior what is your favorite? What is he like to run on second downs? And as if you go through a stretch of my career,

I used to think it was embarrassing if somebody was able to run a screen on me. Because you could see it so clearly now. Because it's a matrix. Now, I watch football now, and anybody who watches sports with me is like, how do you see all that? And I'm like, this is the slowest thing I will

ever see it's too slow I can see the lineman I can see the tight end I can see the receiver I can see it all and so I think it's what started to make me realize that you know what this game really about and this is why I love

wrestling so much somebody every week somebody or somebody's has been given an assignment to block you. That's it. So when I laid in my quilts at night, I'm sitting there saying I'm on fish and vegetables. Yeah. I'm on ginger tea. I'm on ginger tea I'm on things that I promise you

detoxes the brain and I'm gonna get 10 to 11 hours of sleep wow and when I wake up I promise you what I'm coming with you

you know these kids I'm watching these kids trying to play against me Lewis you know and they eating McDonald's and they eating

don't have a chance no you don't have a chance you know and maybe you mcdonald's right don't have a chance no you don't have a chance you know and maybe you beat me in the first quarter and maybe you beat me on the plays that's one thing about my career i've lost some battles that i look back and say god darn it like why did you look that way why did you go that way but then i wouldn't change nothing because it made me say okay it won't happen again and i think that's what my career was like. My career was if I made a mistake once, it's hard to beat me twice.

Yeah. You don't remember it. I'm curious. I don't want to take too much more time, but I have a few more questions. Please. Okay. I'm curious. You're one of the most influential leaders of today in my mind.

And for the fact that you got the greatest olympian of all time to come out of a retirement i watched a video of him talking about how he had a conversation with you for i don't know if it was a day or many days when he retired i think it was when you were going to super bowl last and he decided i think to come back and pursue the Olympics again. Now, why did you have a conversation with Michael? And what was your purpose behind having him come back after he had achieved more than any human had ever done in the Olympics? We had been friends over a decade way before that. He's a big way before that.

He's a big Ravens fan. Baltimore. Living in Baltimore. So our relationship was more of an older brother, younger brother to him. And a lot of people don't know, like a lot of my games, after I got through a lot of my games, I just go over his house. Really? Yeah. We just sit down his house. Really? Yeah. Wow.

We just sit down and chill. That's cool. And, and my 40th birthday, he comes through the door and he says, I need to talk to you. And I was like,

okay. Cause I know when he talks a certain way. Yeah. I was like, I was like, okay, what's up? He says,

I want to talk to you about coming back. I said, okay, let's go talk right now. He was like, okay. I said, I'm not listening to you unless you tell me why you're doing this. You said this to him?

Yeah. He was like, I just think I love someone from this business. I said, listen, answer this question for me. Is this for somebody else or is this for you? He was like, it's for me. I said, I'm 100% in. I said, now, now that you said that, I'm going to be a big brother to you. And I'm going to tell you the truth.

We had to give up everything. You got to change your whole thought process. He was like, I was like, I'm not playing. Like, I'm not going to go on this ride. Like, unless you're dead serious. And he was like, and it took a few days. Yeah. and he was like and it took a few days and he came over a few more days and

we really sat down and we really went over and I shared some stuff with him that I won't share with everybody right now but I shared some stuff with him that I think honed him in to like this ain't no game it's life

and we have plans like me like him we have real plans on what we want to do in the second half of life yeah and i said i'll delay those for you to go finish this i will you know and then he joked around he was like so why don't you come back for a few years right you're 40 i said i'm done yeah i had my fun but it was one conversation the last time we talked and i grabbed him by the back of his neck and i i made him answer something and i look at me. And he looked up and I said, let's go. You ready? And I knew it. And more people will be able to explain that to you if you ever look at somebody

deep enough in their eyes. Man can't hide too many things that's in their eyes because it's in their soul and spirit. And there was something that he wanted, and I wanted it for him. And so some of the messages that I was sending him before the meets and everything, they were personal. Yeah. But only me and him know exactly what I was talking about. Right.

And I'm like, ain't no tired. Ain't no nothing. It's finishing this. Because the only thing you're competing against, and that's one of the biggest things I told him, Lewis, this is not against nobody else. This is against yourself.

And that's the story of my tricep is what I ended our conversation with because I've never felt pain like that in my life. Yeah. I read that in your book. Yeah.

And to pin my arm up the night before the Super Bowl and have it dangling because it was burning so bad. But what are you going to say? You can't walk up to your team and say, I can't play today. No. You can't walk up. I didn't say that. No. You just got to say. Defl can't play today. You can't walk up. I didn't say that.

You just got to say. Deflate the whole team. You just got to say. I'm in. Let's go. Go with it. Wrap it up. Man, I'm walking through the Superdome. I'm walking through New Orleans when we got ready to come in, Lewis. And I'm like Lou, how you finna play a football game?

You cannot pick up your arm. Wow. And I'm saying, okay. I said, Lord, okay. The test bigger then. I'm on faith. I'm on straight faith. And it was kind of what I told him.

Is that until you reach this level of pure pain that nobody else can ease you'd never know what being a champion feels like yeah and that's why i think for him he needed to hear yeah that no it's not impossible it's just certain things you got to switch out on and give up before you go back and do it right and so that's why i was uh that's cool i was happy to see the way we finished it the way he finished it because he writes his own story yeah yeah i was i was there in rio and i got to watch him a couple of times i didn't see a final i saw a semi-final but it was really cool to just be up and close and and see because i'd never seen him swim in person so yeah for me i was like i gotta see his last one of his last races to make sure I witnessed history.

But it was really cool to see his energy switch also. He was able to be more relaxed, kind of have more fun. It's what the thing I was telling him. So, every text I was sending him, I was sending him smaller things. Practice on this. Think about this. Think about this. Don't do, don't do.

Because that's all it is. It's not about nobody you're swimming against. Yeah. Right? If athletes ever understand that, right, the game, the competition, it ain not about nobody you're swimming against yeah right if athletes ever understand that right the game the competition it ain't about nobody else it's about you versus you how can you inspire yourself yeah to to achieve a level of greatness that not too many people that will ever walk this earth can pull off. That's a different breed.

Yeah. That's a different conversation. That's amazing. And so that's why I wanted him to relax. And that's why you see he was really like – He was chill. Yeah. We were FaceTiming before the meets and stuff.

So it was really cool. That's cool. Okay, this is a question I ask at the end. It's called the three truths. The three cool. Okay, this is a question I ask at the end. It's called the three truths. The three truths. Okay, three truths. Yeah. If this is your last day many years from now,

you're going to live a long life. You achieve everything you ever wanted and dreamed of. Yeah. You achieve it. You impact as many people as you want. It all happens. Yeah. You write a million books, everything.

And it's the last day for you. Yeah. Everyone you care about is there. And it's about to be, lights are about to shut off. Yeah. You write a million books, everything. And it's the last day for you. Yeah. Everyone you care about is there. And it's about to be, lights are about to shut off. Yeah. New lights are about to turn on, right? And everything you've created is erased from time. Okay.

And your family and your friends are there. And your great, great grandson walks up and says, we don't have anything to remember you by, but here's a piece of paper and a pen. Will you write down the three things you know to be true about everything you've experienced in life? Those three lessons that you pass on to us. Yeah. So if you could boil it down to three

simple truths about life's lessons, what would you write down? Yeah, I would write down number one, I would write down master your relationship with God number one number two trust no one with your heart and number three never never be outworked ever yeah it's like you can go toillion things, but things that I think when the legacy is done,

when the shade one day will close, what will people look back one day and say, what did you give me? And that is, I tell my family this all the time. I know you will, but don't cry when I'm gone. Please. Because I've done it i ran my race right and now to one day for me personally to hear those words that i know i will hear well done my good and faithful servant then all I can leave is everything that I've endured, all of my pain that I don't remember, and all of the people that come behind me can one day look back and say,

he did it, so can I. It's kind of what I teach my kids that. I tell my kids all the time, as a baby, when they was babies, I used to say, that's why I chase sunsets. I say, look at the sunset, as a baby, when they was babies, I used to say, that's why I chase sunsets. I say, look at the sunset. I say, what is that? That's the sun.

I say, but what is it? It's heaven. It's heaven. It's just settling to prepare us for another day. Yeah, but it's, you know, I read this book about heaven being over 40,000 plus sunsets. Wow. Streets paved in gold and you're just at this place where you don't have no memory of pain or fear or doubt. And I said that if the last day of my life came and people were sitting around me, I would say smile because I made it to the other side.

That's cool. Yeah. And what would you want people to say about you honestly that I think he cared more about his relationship with God which ultimately impacted how he felt about people because that's I believe all of us

will be held accountable to how that we make people feel yeah like not god won't ask one question about the super bowl he won't ask how much your bank account has but he will ask a question to each and every person at the day of judgment. Who did you send towards me? Did you have a, did you, did you change? Did you alter heaven a little bit just by sending a person's life to me? Because if you change a life, then you alter heaven. And then if you altered heaven, then you will be remembered as doing God's will and not man's will. And that's what I want to be remembered as.

I want to be remembered as a man that did God's will. And when you're done with that side of things, I'll see you on the other side. Sit up on the oak tree with a glass of lemonade with God's sugar, not cane sugar. But, you know, we have a duty, Lewis, that we're supposed to make this world better, not make it bad, not make it worse.

And I think me leaving here, this earth one day, there will be something said about people in general that you will remember for a lifetime yeah because it just carries over to the next life right the test is here right so a bible b-i-b-l-e basic instructions before leaving earth. Simple. But once you read it to understand the life of Jesus and the life of all of the greats that spoke about in the Bible, David, Moses, Solomon, Peter, all of them,

no matter what their faults were, it was what they did for people. That's why David wrote Psalms. Book of praise to give us just direction. Yeah, for people. That's why David wrote Psalms. Book of praise. To give us just direction. Solomon. Book of Proverbs.

That's why he wrote a book of pure wisdom. He says, read these things. Because you will need these things to endure. So when you write your story, hopefully your story is remembered ages after you're gone and so i want to be remembered like david was remembered a man after god's own heart a man that truly was okay with persecution because i knew what the ultimate would end up. The ultimate for me is when the Lord come back he says many are called few are chosen and I'm going to make sure I carry out my life to make sure that I'm one of the chosen ones chosen ones.

And if I do that, shh. He said, you live forever. That's called living. That's called life. That's why I think, man, that's why I think people like you, right? That's why I think

we can't stop. I think the expansion of the mind is what we all should take time to do yeah absolutely even when you think you got your whole world figured out you can always evolve and go different places yeah and um that's why i applaud you know you being able to expand to open your mind to say man i just came from this place that just blew my mind yes because all it actually did and so i'll leave you with this see you going over there confirms what i've been telling people not to fall into the trick of listening to people when they say that you can only use 10 of your brain that's a lie yeah That's a lie. Yeah.

That's a lie. Because if you got a real relationship with God, you're using way more than 10%. Absolutely. Yeah. But when you go to experience the meditations that you went to experience. Yeah. And actually sat down to where you can recharge the mind. The good book says renew the mind every day but see i beg to

differ just a little bit because i say we should renew the mind every second of every day because that's the things that we let get by yeah 80 80 plus thousand let me go somewhere right quick because i just wrote this and i want you to remember this yeah because i did this thing about this i think it's 81 600 seconds in a day something like that have i always asked you nothing else how many seconds in a day do you think you waste with things that really matter that's why my investment is people a lot of people invest in people in a different way

and to really manipulate us and use us in bad ways but when you think about numbers and how harsh numbers are not to end on a bad note, the numbers that nobody's paying attention to now, the homicides, the suicides, the rapes, the sex trafficking, the drugs, this ain't it. This ain't it. and it's going to take someone bold enough, bold enough to fight this fight,

to give people just a little bit of hope, a breath that I can keep going in life. Because the world here does not tell you to keep going. Here tells you I'm going to trap you in something. I'm going to allow you to engage in something. I'm going to brainwash you with all this music. I'm going to let all of these TV shows tv shows i'm gonna let video games just shoot where you can be a sniper and just shoot people in their brains and they just fall dead i'm gonna give you all of those things but then they don't tell you that if i followed lewis house message and if i disappeared if i went on this mind retreat right we go on a lot of vacations yeah but we don't go on too many mind

vacations right there's only people like like yourself that i think can um have a real impact on the way our world should be yeah yeah yeah man so i think that's what you know to to leave a legacy a legacy this man watched destiny is god-given that's the difference you know that's powerful yeah is there anything missing for you in your life no i don't miss too much. Okay, I've got one final question. Before I ask the question, where can we make sure you guys get the book? This is the book you've got to read if you want to learn more about the mind behind the man, the legend. We'll have it all linked up on the show notes, but where else can we connect with you? You're big on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.

I'm getting caught in all those things. I see you posting more i like it you see that i like it you see that i'm finally starting to open up the social media a little bit get download his podcast tackling life you do it what once every other week yeah when i do it i do it once a week uh once a week right every monday every monday we record um we started doing, but I kind of listened to your advice. Just do one right now. Start off one for the first year. Start off one for the first year. It comes a lot.

Yeah. It comes a lot. But the podcast is really awesome, man. I think with a lot of relationships I think I have, you know, with everything that I'm starting to do at Under Armour now. Yeah. What's the partnership you have with them? Well, we signed a long, well, really a lifetime deal.

Wow. Yeah, basically. Because you're friends with Plank. Yeah. I mean, we've been living next to each other since 1996. We still do. And I think it's what we're trying to do and him understanding my vision and what i want to do for people and

and we just open up our first building used to be the old carmelo anthony center wow and now inside of this center man you give these kids hope again you know you have your arts and crafts you have your your your studios in there now you have places for them to go to to learn how to how to do solar and i have power 52 inside of there at the bottom of the building and it's just so many things that now these kids have a place to go and one of the one of the worst neighborhoods in baltimore it's like a school program yeah well it's it's not exactly school is all day all day wow all day. And, you know, the vision is to put up about 30 more in Baltimore. In Baltimore. Wow.

That's cool. Yeah, man. And, you know, Lewis, I'm telling you, man, like, you know, to people, to be in business with, you know, the people that I'm in business with now and to affect true change, you know, the way that we're affecting change now. You know, I just came from doing a big thing. Ferguson 1000. Baltimore 1000. Ferguson 1000. and change now. I just came from doing a big thing, Ferguson 1,000, Baltimore 1,000. Ferguson 1,000, we gave away almost 700 plus jobs. Amazing. In one day, Baltimore, we gave about 1,200 jobs.

L.A., we're coming here January 13th, 14th, and 15th. We'll probably do another true economic development here that gives away right at about 1,700 to 2,000 jobs. Amazing. How can people learn about that? Oh, you can go on Baltimore1000.com. You can look up that. Ferguson1000.com as well.

And a bunch of my sites, a bunch of my things, because I want to make it easy on social media, is you pull up my name and all of my things. What's your main website? What's your? Ray Lewis. Everything is Ray Lewis. Yeah. Because it's simple. Well, no, because you get into too much with that.

Yeah. So, you know, I wanted to get my name. Your name has everything on there. Everything on there. It's hard to find. It's hard to miss me. Of course. On anything that I'm doing online and stuff. Very cool. has everything on there everything on that it's hard to find it's hard to miss me of course on anything that i'm doing on uh online it's very cool but bro i really appreciate you man like um

seriously um this won't be the last time absolutely man and uh i'm gonna keep on you know taking stealing a lot of your advice i love take the ideas i like the wall of greatness i love the wall of greatness you'll be up there after but I love the wall of greatness though it's clean right and then just to see the word greatness yeah to see it every day before I ask before I ask the final question yeah to acknowledge you for a moment ray yeah one for having a great last name same Same as mine. I knew it was going to work. Honestly, I want to acknowledge you for your incredible heart, man. Your heart and your voice.

You have such a huge heart. You're a big guy, but your heart is even bigger. You share it with the world so openly in terms of your giving and your service and your dedication to transforming lives beyond sports so i want to first acknowledge you for your incredible heart and for all the pain

and suffering that you've been through to make it as big as it is today i'm so grateful for the lessons that you learned and everything you went through because you probably wouldn't be the guy you are today without it and then for your voice know, there's so many athletes who use their platform for, they waste it. They waste their voice where they say things that don't matter, where they say things that bring people down, where they say things just to get attention for their brand or something. And you use your voice in such a powerful way that I don't know if any other athlete does or former athlete does in the way

that you do with such intention to inspire and to lift people up not bring people down yeah I acknowledge you for the man you've become the man you are your voice your huge heart and for your commitment to service in the world yeah appreciate you of course man that's awesome final question is what's your definition of greatness honestly this is not hard because the definition of greatness is a lot of small things done well greatness is not this one thing that jumps out the sky and say he's great no greatness is falling getting up falling, falling, getting up, falling, getting up. Greatness is Michael Jordan being cut. He's a junior in high school. And saying he's not good enough.

Greatness is Muhammad Ali losing and then coming back and regaining his title. Greatness is a bunch of pain that forces you to come out of your comfort zone. Because if it's done no other way, you will never reach greatness. It's impossible. And that's why when you think about the mentality of greatness, there are no breaks. I hate to tell people that. Because today's time, everybody wants it fast.

You can be popular. But to be great? Monday on top of Tuesday. Tuesday on top of Wednesday. Wednesday on top of Thursday. Thursday on top of Friday. Friday on top of Saturday. Saturday on top of Sunday.

And start over. And start over. And start over. And start over. And true greatness is always evolving. True greatness is always evolving. It never stays the same your comfort zone will stay the same

unless sometimes you're forced to come out of it I truly believe this I said this I spoke at T.D. Jake's church not too long ago and I said you will never touch a level of greatness until your comfort zone is disturbed

and the moment your comfort zone is disturbed. And the moment your comfort zone is disturbed, research the story, if you don't do nothing else before you write this, of how many people comfort zone had to be disturbed before they touched it. It's the blueprint for it. It's the blueprint for it. That's what I studied the most.

And that's what I appreciate the most and that's what i appreciate the most that what nobody could never take away from me is what i've been through and how i endure it yeah yeah so that's what i believe greatness is it's this thing okay it's a swagger it's a swagger walk because it's like guess what everything you said about me it's still irrelevant because i pulled off everything you said i couldn't yeah that's what makes michael jordan michael jordan that's what made ali ali it was all the things that they said they couldn't do that's what made jim brown jim brown oh and that's what yeah Jim Brown Jim Brown and that's what you know I don't you'll never hear me I don't put myself

in a bunch of those categories cause those are true legends for me I'm humble enough to accept when people say it about me but I like speaking about other people that I've seen it

myself you know Larry Bird greatness but I like speaking about other people that I've seen it. Yeah. Myself, you know, Larry Bird greatness. Yeah. Just greatness. Just, it's a certain thing. Jerry Rice,

just greatness. It's just certain things, right? Usain Bolt, greatness. Michael Phelps, greatness. Right.

That's just bottled it up. Yeah. Bottle that up and then sell that. That's what people need to buy. Sell that. Well, I'll put you in that category. Ray Lewis, the legend. Thanks, man. Appreciate you coming out, man.

Absolutely. I hope you enjoyed this interview as much as I enjoyed being a part of it. For me, getting to sit across an individual like Ray Lewis is such a pleasure because of his incredible career and what he's created in his life. To learn from someone like this who has such wisdom, experience, commitment, dedication to his craft and to his life is so powerful for me.

And I hope you guys enjoy learning along with me because my intention and my vision is to bring out the best insights and inspiration from the greatest people in the world and share them with you as well as I'm learning along the entire journey. So if you guys enjoyed this one, then make sure to spread the message of greatness. Share this with one friend. Email them. Text them.

Tweet them. Post this on their Facebook page. Tag them on Instagram. Tag myself, at Lewis Howes, and at Ray Lewis, and let us know what you thought of this interview and share the link out with your friends. LewisHowes.com slash 415.

You have greatness inside of you. You were born with a unique gift that no one else has. It's time for you to step up and allow the world to see who you really are. Guys, I love you. Thank you so much for being a part of this movement of greatness. It means the world to me. And do yourself a favor and share this with one friend.

Make a difference in one person's life today by sending them this message. I know they will be inspired when they hear the words of Ray Lewis. I love you and you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great. When they hear the words of Ray Lewis, I love you. And you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great. Outro Music