The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka - 55. Maxx Crosby On Sobriety, Chasing Greatness, & Business Lessons from Dana White

Episode Date: April 23, 2024

Key takeaways you’ll learn in this episode: Why nutrition and recovery are staples in his life. Why Maxx is so open about his addictions and recovery. Biggest business lessons learned from Dana White. Get weekly tips from Gary Brecka on how to optimize your health and lifestyle routines - go to https://www.theultimatehuman.com/ For more info on Gary, please click here: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/thegarybrecka ECHO GO PLUS HYDROGEN WATER BOTTLE http://echowater.com BODY HEALTH - USE CODE ULTIMATE10 for 10% OFF YOUR ORDER https://bodyhealth.com/ultimate Connect with Maxx Crosby on Instagram: @maxxcrosby  https://www.instagram.com/maxxcrosby/ Check out the Maxx Crosby Foundation: https://www.maxxcrosbyfoundation.org/ Check out “The Rush with Maxx Crosby” Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@MaxxCrosby_98 Want to learn how an NFL player takes their health, nutrition, and recovery into their own hands to achieve peak performance on the field? Gary Brecka sat down with Las Vegas Raiders’ star defensive end, Maxx Crosby! Maxx shares how refining his daily routine with customized meals, cold therapy, and pushing his limits in the weight room has propelled his career to new heights. He also opens up about his path to sobriety, battling addiction, and how becoming a father has changed the way he treats every aspect of his life! 01:00 - Who is Maxx Crosby?  02:00 - What sets elite athletes apart from the rest? 06:30 - How has nutrition and recovery changed in professional sports? 13:30 - Why is Maxx open about his addictions? 18:30 - What has he replaced alcohol with in his life? 21:30 - The biggest business lessons he’s learned from Dana White. 28:30 - How has becoming a Girl Dad changed his life? 31:00 - Gary’s relationship with his daughters. 32:45 - How has Maxx’s wife supported him through his hardest moments? 34:45 - Are women better at listening to their intuition? 35:30 - What’s the main goal of The Maxx Crosby Foundation? 40:30 - Who has made the biggest impact on Maxx’s playing career? 43:00 - Can you speak your life into existence? 44:00 - What does it mean to be an Ultimate Human? Gary Brecka: @garybrecka The Ultimate Human: @ultimatehumanpod Subscribe on YouTube: @ultimatehumanpodcast The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka Podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user’s own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Let's go! Max Crosby. Y'all want to be the best. You know, the biggest shift for me was after my second year in the league. That was the COVID year. The entire NFL is pushing back against a coronavirus outbreak. And it was probably one of the craziest years I've ever had. Literally, I woke up one morning and I looked myself in the mirror and I didn't recognize who I was.

I reevaluated everything. This is not what I came into the NFL to do. Have an average career, like what do I need to do to be the best version of myself? So I said, I don't care what the food tastes like, I just want the best food possible. Just literally every box, I wanted to make sure it's checked, hands down.

I didn't understand how good I can feel until I started doing all this shit on a daily basis. Amen. And super consistent with it. I'm like, holy fuck, I can run for days. Crosby gets him again. Another shift. Max Crosby, he comes off and,

I mean, this guy is amazing. Like, I know there's another level and I know I'm gonna be there. And guys like you and Dana and real mentors that understand how real adversity is. Talk a little bit about that transition for you and what was the tipping point for you when you said, I either got to beat this addiction or battle this demon or it's going to take my career. Hey guys, welcome back to the Ultimate Human Podcast. I'm your host, human biologist Gary Brekka, where we go down the road, everything anti-aging,

longevity, biohacking, and everything in between. You know the guest we got on today. I'm actually super pumped for this podcast. He's slowly becoming a friend. I met him through Dana White, and I'm going to talk about our first meeting, how something that he did on the plane ride just really struck me. And I said, this guy is woke to wellness and deserves a voice on the Ultimate Human platform. So welcome to the Ultimate Human, Max Crosby.

What's up, brother? My guy. I appreciate you, brother. It's an honor to be on here yeah absolutely um so we actually i mean i i think we distantly knew each other but i mean we really first met and got to know each other on a flight um dana sent us on a plane from vegas to miami for the for for the fight and um and i remember when you got on the plane i was like the first thing that struck me was like dude this guy brought his own meals on board he knows what's up you know yeah they looked at me crazy when i did it too they're like are you sure what do you got i'm like i need this i need this i'm like i gotta stay on point so yeah you know it's it's

24 7 so i i was um i noticed that you brought your own own meals on board and then everybody found their spots on the plane. And we kind of sat down next to each other and we fucking locked arms on. And we just started talking about nutrition and recovery and training. And, you know, what's fascinating to me is, you know, I had a conversation with Tom Brady the other day, and he was talking to me about these billion-dollar franchises in this league and all the opportunity that these athletes have and that the real recovery and the nutrition is kind of left up to the athlete. Yeah. Right?

And so, I mean, clearly you're on that train now. Yeah. You're bringing your own meals on the plane. So, I mean, talk to me a little bit about your journey with the, you know, in the NFL and professional sports. And, like, what sort of things are you taking into your own hands in terms of your recovery and nutrition? Yeah. I think, you know, the biggest shift for me was after my second year in the league. That was the COVID year.

And it was probably one of the craziest years I've ever had yeah as far as just no fans you know i was getting clean myself i got you know i got sober had to go through that whole deal yeah we're gonna do that so yeah that was my first year sober so that year i was like trying to fill a hole that you know i was you know with food or whatever it was trying to just stay sober and stay afloat. So I had a down year, my second year in the NFL. And I didn't feel like myself. If I didn't feel right, I couldn't sleep right. And I reevaluated everything. After that year, I was like, listen, this is not, you know, this is not what I came into the NFL to do.

You know, just be a good story, have an average career. Like, I want to be the best at what I came into the NFL to do you know just be a good story have an average career like I want to be the best at what I do and um I sat down with my team a nutritionist strength staff coaches and like listen what do you what do I need to do to be the best version of myself so I said I don't care what the food tastes like I just want the best food possible for my body I want how do I need to sleep how do i need to recover cold plunge sauna everything just literally every box i wanted to make sure it's checked and some so that's when it started going into my third year um and i had injuries too after that second year i played through a torn labrum my handles broke um and i had i was going through all that so after that

year um after that second year, my whole career changed. And this is what, 20? This is going into the 2021 season. 2021 season. Yep. And then I just took off. I didn't know, you know, exactly what was going to happen. I felt incredible.

The best I've ever felt in my life. And I took off. I became an All-Pro my third year. And I got a big contract. And then now i was like okay very big contract on my head it was very very good yeah very good everybody knows about that contract yeah yeah it's done well but um you know at the end of the day it's okay we did that now what's the next step and for me that third year that was just my first year really diving into

you know my health and wellness and my recovery and i've ever ever since then i'm going on my fourth year doing it now and it's only getting better and it's just refining and fine-tuning and finding what works best for me yeah because my my personality i'm obsessive like i've i want to there's nothing more than i want to be than the greatest to do it yeah i do it every single day um everywhere i go and like you you said, you see me on the flight. If I'm traveling, I got my meals. I got my Normatex. It's every detail matters.

So it's just refining that every day. So I've been getting better and better every single season, and I know I'm not even close to my potential. So that's how it started for me because I became obsessed with that feeling of feeling the best version of myself. So, yeah, it's been incredible you know in the NFL you can do everything to be at you know closest to your absolute best and you still can get hurt yeah like last year I played you know we talked about it my knee I had the uh I had knee surgery

um and it was going through that whole deal and I had to drain it every single week and people were concerned you were keeping concerned yeah yeah I was what are you doing like what is going on but i'm like i can't like i the only way to make it stop you know filling up a fluid is not do anything you can drain it but it's still the more pounding it's just going to keep doing it so my point is even though i do everything every day from cold plunge every day i got the sauna and cold plunge at the house now so i could do it on the weekends in the off season like it's seven days 365 but you still can get hurt and that's why i want to stay ahead of the curve at all times because i know not everybody's doing that and willing to do that so um yeah you know that's kind of where it started for me and it's only you know getting better and better and that's why i feel like my career is just continuing to ascend because um i'm just

dialed in on the smallest details. Yeah. Just want to perfect my craft. I mean, I think it's the same way in business. And, you know, what was astounding to me was, you know, when Tom told me, he's like, take a guess at what, you know, they were feeding us before like a Super Bowl championship game. And I was like, got to be lean chicken, you know, steamed veggies, you know, spring water. And he was like, no, bread and mac and cheese, chicken wings, reheated pizza. And I mean, that just fascinated me because I think that, you know, so much of our time

looking at athletes is like, you know know thinking about how do they train you know how do they train for their position how do they train for speed agility timing hand-eye coordination strength all of those things and i think i think clearly that's dialed in yeah but science has moved so much further in the in the you know the art of recovery and you can't enhance performance quote-unquote but you can enhance recovery, and recovery is directly related to performance. You know, red light therapy, you know, lymphatic drainage, all of these things.

So where are you getting this nutrition advice from? Is the league actually providing somebody that's like, Max, here's the meals we're gonna put together, and you got a chef and they're- Yeah, so we have, our nutritionist's name, Max, here's the meals we're going to put together, and you've got a chef? Yeah, so our nutritionist's name is Ricky, and he's incredible at what he does. He's from Canada, and not every team is blessed to have a staff like that. Not a lot of good things come out of Canada, so that's good.

Exactly. Sorry, Ricky. Sorry, Ricky. I'm just messing with you. I'm sure you're a good dude. You're a diamond in the rough. But, yeah, he's, I mean, he's been incredible. He, I sat down with him. This dude's dialed in on a daily basis and he helped me go through and explain every single thing I need to do. All right. We're going to be, this is the amount of macros. This is what you need to take to the exact time of every day.

So it's like, I have six meals a day and i eat at the same exact time and i'm not breaking that for nothing and he's like like a robot yeah like a robot but that's what works for me and it's it's funny because you hear about tom brady talking about what they feed the guys and this is what they ate at the patriots and things like that like that's real that's all around the league but it's on the player once you're a professional it's on you at the end of the day you're responsible for your body and your body is your number one it's your meal ticket yeah it's your temple it's your whole business so um you think you feel good when you're young and you just eat pizza and do whatever

but that's your version of good i didn't understand how good i can feel until i started doing all this shit on a daily basis amen and super consistent with it i'm like holy fuck i can run for days. And people see it. I play more snaps than anybody in the league in my position by far. And I've had more tackles for a loss than anyone in the league. Yeah, DFL, all that stuff. But I'm able to do that because of my everyday regimen.

And it starts with nutrition. It's my guy Rick Slade in the weight room. He had 25 years in MLB. He's going on his seventh year in the NFL. This dude, he's a huge fan of you as well. He would be fired up. Get him on the podcast. Yeah, we got to get him.

But he's incredible. And he's another guy that's in that building. A lot of people can like kind of duck him when they walk into the weight room because he's going to make you do three extra warmup sets. So you get ready for the actual sets. And he's's so detail oriented and if we're doing eccentrics like three second lowers things like that it's like seven seconds but he pushes you and pushes you past the uncomfortable point and you know having guys like that and ricky and you know the

whole staff it's like you have those resources but it's up to the player to really go and utilize them so right for me like they have a meal room but i pay i pay for my meals so i get the extra meal prep and i could stay dialed in and i was doing that before i got paid yeah it's like it's not cheap it's not cheap but it's also not that expensive like it's not that bad and at the end of the day it's an investment it's like any other investment all right where am i gonna put my money i'm a professional football player like you said my body is a temple if i'm paying 2500 a month for meals for my career you'd be crazy to be like i don't know that's too much or i don't know if it's worth it yeah your body is everything if you can't run you can't go then what's the point and that's what before i even got paid like that i was like i don't care what it costs.

Like I'm trying to get right and get on point. I know it'll pay off in the long run. And it absolutely has. And it's only gotten bigger and better. So hey guys, I think the most important website you may ever go to is theultimatehuman.com. That's theultimatehuman.com. Because on this website,

we can directly interact with one another. You can give me suggestions for podcast guests and topics that you'd like to see me cover you can ask me any question that you'd like more importantly you can sign up for my entirely free newsletter it comes out every single week i write this so i can get the information to the masses on how to live a healthier happier longer chemical free life you can also sign up for a pre-order of my book and if you'd like to take the genetic test that i talk about all the time it's available there too and lastly you can even see all of the products that i use in my daily life for a chemical free

healthy living style a lot of people ask me you know what do you use in your daily life gary what do you brush your teeth with and clean your countertops with well it's all there if you'd like to see it and you can again ask me any question that you'd like and get my free newsletter, the ultimate human.com. I promise you that information will help change the trajectory of your life. And now back to the ultimate human podcast. Yeah. You know, the, the staff over there with the Raiders, I love them and they've helped me so much. And it's just really about putting yourself out there and being vulnerable. It'd be like be like listen it's discipline at the end of the day you can say you're gonna do this motivation yeah all day there's no motivation you don't get you

so far discipline is what get you to gets you to where you want to go and it's going to take you past to where you even think you can go and that's where I'm at in my career like I'm 26 years old and you know I get a lot of pats on the back max you're killing. Like I know there's another level and I know I'm going to be there. It's just a matter of time. And that's what pushes me every single day is just outdoing my own self. I look at myself in the mirror. There's nobody I'm worried about. The TJ Watts and Nick Bosa's respect the hell out of them, but I'm battling myself every day.

And if I'm the best version of me, that's all I can control. That is so awesome, man. I mean, I often talk about how we actually need to form this invisible fence around ourself. We need to filter our environment before it makes it to the temple. And so many times we just let the temple be the filter. We don't filter our water. Well, if you drink tap water, your body's going to filter out the fluoride, the chlorine, the microplastics, the pharmaceuticals. It'll do it for you at a cost, right? And the cost is inflammation. And when we know, when we talk about sports performance and recovery, I mean, a lot of people have realized that, you know, about seven,

8% of our circulatory system is arteries, about 14, 15% of it is veins. The rest of it is microvascular circulation. Our heart's not even capable of pumping blood in that area of our body. About 70% of our blood flow, the heart can't even reach. And it's, you know, it's called vasomotor activity and inflammation and pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, preservatives, all these little micro toxins that we put into our body, just start nibbling away at your performance. And, and I wish that more athletes would, would wake up to that. I think we'd see a lot less non-contact injuries. I mean, you're not supposed to be engaging in a normal explosive motion

and blow an ACL or blow a hamstring. That's usually because you haven't prepped right. And it's a shame to see so many rising careers either cut short or not see their full potential because they're not just doing that extra little bit personally to make that change. Um, you know, I, it's, it's, it's out there in the public domain, your, your struggle and your recovery from, you know, from alcoholism. But, um, I, I don't think that addiction gets, uh, enough of a stage of a platform because I think that very often the way that society looks

at addicts is that there's uh something wrong with them or that an addict woke up one day and said i just want to get really banged up yeah my my true belief after after being in this space for 22 years is that an addict didn't just wake up one day and say, I want to get really banged up. They woke up one day and said, I want to feel normal. And whatever it was that made them feel normal, alcohol, nicotine, permascuity, gambling, you know, work outaholic, workaholic, that addiction was the search for normalcy. And then eventually they started running from a low, not necessarily running towards a high. Would you agree with that? I mean, talk a little bit about that transition for you and what was the tipping point for you when you said,

I either got to beat this addiction or battle this demon or it's going to take my career. Yeah. You know, first off, the battle is every day. And it's still to this day. Um, every day I wake up, it's the first thing I do is pray, do my prayers before I go to bed or do the same thing. Um, and it's important. I think at the end of the day, there's millions of people that go through addiction. Um, when I was in it, um, I thought I was the only one on the planet. I thought I had the worst problems in the world and I thought I was the only one going through it.

Nobody understood. Yeah. Nobody understood me. me nobody everybody's against me everyone's trying to you know everybody that wanted to help me i pushed them as far as away as possible um but that's the you know insanity of addiction um but for me um yeah i literally i woke up one morning i looked myself in the mirror and i didn't recognize who i was i was like i do not i don't i didn't even know who i was looking at and that was a scary feeling and uh I was like yeah I'm done with this this is I can't do this anymore it's not gonna last long um and like you said you're running from the lows or chasing the highs that's what it was you know I start when I was young like I was an insecure kid I was a redhead didn't get all the girls like I was trying to find that thing you know to walk up to the girl yeah didn't have a

nice beard you know baby face jumpsuit none of that but yeah i was you know i was an insecure kid so like i was always i always wanted to fit in and be a part of something you know be a part of a friend group or be popular whatever it was um i had my first drink and i was like i got a personality i'm confident blah blah and i was like this is the greatest thing ever yeah you know what i mean so at first it was like you said, I wanted to be normal. I want to be like everybody else. But at the end of the day, I couldn't just have one drink. And it just one led to another.

You know what I mean? So they always say it's not the 15th drink. It's the first drink. You've got to stay away from the first drink. And that's what I've been over four years now. And I have the best circle around i could possibly have and guys like you and dana and met real mentors that you know understand how real adversity is and how to get through things and um my circle is very small a very tight-knit circle so funny you say that yeah i

got my guys here like i went to college with them they took me under the wing since day one my cousins here um there's not many people outside of that like i love these dudes to death i love my circle and they know what i i go through but at the end of the day um i'm still me um when you get clean you don't you know a lot of people are like you know i gotta change who i am as a person like no i'm still a big kid at the end of the day i still love what i do i'm still extremely passionate I might have a little bit of temper still. It's still in there. I might have a little bit of temper. Yeah, just a little bit.

But that's who I am. You know what I mean? I don't run from that. I know exactly who I am now. And every day I wake up, it's a blessing. So that's kind of my approach on life. It's just like I'm just trying to find ways to improve and fill that emptiness, that hole that I had. And the thing that I was always running from and trying to be something i wasn't or just be cool to be part of like i'm just

happy with me and i don't need everybody's approval i don't need any of that like at the end of the day all that matters is the ones that i'm with every day and people are gonna have opinions you know no matter what so the more you know fame and shit like that you know how it is yeah every the second you start having success or like he's fucking fake he's not a real the haters that's how it is i got a whole yeah and i love that like i used to really let it bother me but now it's like shit they're talking about me for a reason i'm doing something right at the end of the day not everyone's gonna love you right is what it is you know what i mean they're they're talking about you for a reason so yeah that's yeah it's really interesting one of the greatest pieces of advice I ever got was that if you want to shrink your problems, just grow your purpose.

Yeah. And so your purpose is to be the greatest of all time. And that makes every other problem so much smaller. I mean, you get some hate on social media. You get some hate on Instagram or on some sportscast. You just blow right past it because the purpose is so big. A hundred percent.

You know, interestingly, you know, I've dedicated the balance of my adult lifetime to the study of genetics and epigenetics. And one of the interesting things that's come from this field of medicine is that there's an emerging theory that, you know, addiction is a complicated issue, but one of the facets is a deficit in dopamine. And dopamine is the main driver of behavior, right? So when you get low on dopamine, you engage in dopamine-seeking behavior. And so when you replace alcohol, which was giving you back that dopamine, the addiction hasn't really gone away. It's just shifted.

Right. So it can shift into a healthy. Are you like workaholic, workoutaholic? You know, you're now so dedicated to your career. So where has that shift gone? Like, where is it pointed now? Yeah. Yeah.

You know, I'm still an addict. I'm a recovering addict. You know what I mean? That doesn't change. That's who I am. That's how'm a recovering addict you know what I mean that doesn't change that's who I am that's how I was born you know what I mean so at the end of the day that energy like you said I all my energy that I have that I you know used to have was going to the club at night and doing my thing and then trying to recover and come back to life and I was wasting so much time dude I can't imagine trying to perform after that. Yeah, and I'm playing in the NFL and doing all,

it was, my life was unmanageable. Now all my energy is shifted into making real change. Everything I do in my life, whether that's for others or whether it's myself, I'm trying to help everybody around me and inspire people. I don't, you know, I'm not sitting here, you know, here's a handout. I got money now.

Here's this, everybody. No, like i really want to put people in positions the guys like shack and um you know the guy like rick ross even like yeah they're really tapped into the business world but they're also putting other people on and put them in positions and like guy like dana white that's why i love dana so much like he he's the same way and i just see how he is when whenever he travels, he hands every bellman hundreds of dollars. He walks. He's like, I asked him, like, why do you do that to everybody? He's like, I truly believe like it always comes back in the end. And my coach Gus Bradley, a couple years ago, he always say that he's like, you give with no intent to receive, it's always going to come back twofold. And I live by that. You guys, you know, any restaurant I go to, I

beyond bless the waitresses my friends family i always that's how i am but i love doing that and that's where that energy you know is being shifted and it's also with my career there's nothing more important to me right now than being the best football player i could possibly be so that's my number one i've been tapping into the business world like we talked about getting equity in different businesses and things like that. The afterlife. That's like that new high for me. And I love it and enjoy it.

And it comes with real work. And it comes with ups and downs and failures, peaks and valleys. But I love that because it's just another. I'm a competitive human being. No matter what I'm doing, if I lose in a game of 2k like my night is ruined i will not go to sleep until i win and then i'll be good like that's how i am so i love that's what i love about business that's what i love about football like even being in the weight room or running gassers like i'm not running gassers with the d lineman i'm running with the skill

guys the receivers the dbs and i'm beating them you know what i mean because i love that's who i am you know what i mean i want to push myself to that brink and that's where my energy shifted to just becoming the best complete version of myself on and off the field. Yeah. I mean, so talk a little bit about that. Cause at some point, um, you know, the career is going to wind down at some point in your life and preparing for that afterlife, right? When you're talking about like your, your, some of the business decisions you're making now, I mean, the stats for professional athletes are not good, right? You know, um, and you know, they, they make a lot of money in a short period of time. And then the percentage of them that go bankrupt, I think it's even north of 80%. Um, so where are your business

interests now? I mean, how are you, how are you evaluating deals? What kind of brands are you associating with? You know, what's, what is that side of the Max Crosby look like off the field? Yeah. You know, again, it starts with Dana. Mine does too, by the way. Can I just give a huge shout out to Dana White? I mean, the most material change in my career and the impact that I was able to make on humanity, absolutely unequivocally Dana White. I mean, initially, you know, my unequivocally Dana White. I mean,

initially my, you know, my partner Grant Cardone for acquiring the business, but Dana, and the reason why is, is there's two things about Dana. Number one, he is the most loyal human being on the planet. If he is in your circle, you know, if he's not in your circle, you know, there's not a lot of gray area. And then secondly, if he's on your team, he is really on your team. 100%. I wish I could say in the public arena, some of the calls that we've had, some of the, he'll come to my house by himself

before these UFC fights. We'll sit and we'll just talk for hours. He's just so full of wisdom. He's so real, so visceral, so authentic. And I think it rubs a lot of people the wrong way. But the people that know him that on that inner circle are like man they're just so blessed to be associated with him because he when i did this thing for him he was like i am forever on your on your team i'm and he is not shaken dude yeah i'll tell you i wake up some mornings he's been hammering haters

on my social media all night. I look, I'm like 2 o'clock in the morning, 2.30 in the morning. He's like crushing them. So, I mean, what has he done for you? I mean, he's the one that introduced us. We rode on his plane from Vegas to Miami. And that wasn't even expected. You know, we sat there and talked for hours, and now we're pretending.

And he wasn't even on it. No, 100%. It's crazy. Crazy. But that's just the type of guy he is. You know, we sat there and talked for hours and now, you know, he put us on and he wasn't even on it. It's crazy, crazy, but that's just the type of guy he is. But hey guys, if you've been watching the ultimate human podcast for any length of time, you know, the one thing I do not do is push products. I do not just let any advertiser into this space because I believe that the products that appear on the ultimate human podcast should be things that I use every day in my life to improve my own physiology one of them is something called the echo go plus the echo go plus is a hydrogen water generator that you can take on the go you essentially take the top off of this bottle you pour bottled water in this and repeatedly it will make high part per million hydrogen water you press this little button you'll see these

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um he took me by the way i'm a huge fan of slate yeah i appreciate it he ran the ingredients by me i mean it's it. Yeah, legitimate product. I use it every single day. So it's not something I'm just go drink Slate milk. It's just sitting in the garage. It's something I love. And it started with Dana. He took me to Boston.

We flew out to Boston for a week and did a bunch of stuff. We had a blast. And he introduced me to these guys named Manny and Josh, the owners of Slate and Dana invested already. And he was convinced me, Dana's like, bro, I'm telling you, just do it. He's like, just do it. Get your guy on the phone.

He's like, we're gonna do numbers. We're gonna, you know, trust me. And so a hundred percent, I was like, it's no brainer. I trust Dana. I looked into the product and everything i was like yeah let's do it um so yeah started with slade and i got you know zen water um few other ones that you know under wraps yeah zen water um those guys are incredible um you know so jc he's he's the guy that got in with uh with me and he's you know i got james hard and a couple other

couple other big players you see i got the the hardened shoes on but yeah me and him i got the travis scott yeah yeah hell yeah so you know at the end of the day um i've been venturing you know going out and you know searching in that world and my podcast as well you know i started the rush podcast tune in subscribe if you haven't already but yeah um you know me and my buddies we've been talking about it for years now and um you know we're back and forth what are we gonna do um and we finally were like screw it like let's do some post-game reactions like not like the draymond controversial let's get the real like let's talk the game let's you know be straightforward be informational but also give you know guys a platform that usually don't get talked about enough so you know that's kind of what we did you know giving back to the game and showing the respect uh to the guys that you know guys a platform that usually don't get talked about enough so you know that's kind of what we did you know giving back to the game and showing the respect uh to the guys that

you know really don't get the love in the media like that so uh we started our podcast um we recently just signed with shaquille o'neal's um you know joint venture playmakers so we've been out here you know shooting episodes and things like that but you know that's kind of you know when you talk about post football um i've been planting seeds in all different type of you know, that's kind of, you know, when you talk about post football, um, I've been planting seeds in all different type of, you know, areas. So, um, whether it's business, getting private equity, a wellness center, I'm, I'm taking these guys over there. We're opening a wellness center with Marty Cordova and him and Dana's, you know, a good friend. We're, we're opening a place right down here in Summerlin. So, yeah, you gotta come. You already know we're going to talk after this, but yeah, you know, we're doing all types of stuff but for me it's like i want to guys like shack

and dana those dudes truly have uh what's the word i'm trying to find it's it's a cachet yeah cachet a real empire like they build an empire by creating real relationships being genuine helping people out with no intent to receive. And that stuff comes back. And that's truly what I've been building. I know I'm young, but guys usually wait till they're done. They're like, all right, what am I going to do? Right. Like when I'm done, I want to have 30 different franchises and whether that's, you know, restaurants or, you know, wellness centers, I want to, you know, I already got equity in a lot of businesses. Um, I got my podcast that I plan on doing for a long time. And just kind of planting those seeds.

So when I'm done, I can pick and choose what I want to do. And I'll have a lot more time where I can go out. And you know what I mean? I'm not going to be training the way I train because I'm in there eight hours every morning. And these dudes are like, get to the damn studio. Where the fuck you at? I'm like, my work comes first. None of this happens without that.

But yeah, I'm just planting seeds you know on a daily basis yeah you know before the podcast we actually were sitting here and we we had a we had to talk about the authenticity of the of the brands you know in my industry i think a lot of guys um you know get at the top of the biohacking pile and then um for lack of better words they become a prostitute for every just product or service and you kind of start to see it happen and it's it's just, here's a link for this and a link for that. And it becomes very inauthentic. And we talked about the fact that most of what you're associating with are things you use every day in your daily life, things that you really feel that you can stand behind. And I think that message resonates because people are very sensitive to whether or not you're just flipping something for money or actually is

this something that he actually believes in and uses every day in his daily life? You know, um, interesting. We, we, we share, uh, another love, maybe our first love. We're both, we've, we both got daughters. Um, so yours has more recently come into your life than, than mine. She's, she's my angel. She's my greatest gift from God. My, you know, my firstborn. Talk a little bit about what happened to you as a man when she came into your life. How did your priority shifts? You still got a lot of time that you got to commit to the league, especially during the season. I mean, you got to be gone 12, 14 hours a day. Yeah, at least.

So how's fatherhood changed Max Crosby? I mean, it's changed me in so many different ways. Everybody told me and gives you that advice. You probably heard the same. Your whole life's gonna change. I know, I heard it too. I thought it was a bunch. I actually was scared when my wife was like,

we're pregnant. I was like, I didn't know if I was that excited about it. I mean, I'm gonna get a lot of shit for this but i was like yikes yeah we're actually really gonna have a kid yeah no it's real like i i couldn't believe it rachel like set up a camera she did the same thing she walked in and got my reaction i'm like in shock i'm like are you fucking with me right now what's going on would she show you the line oh yeah she had she had a little box or whatever and then it was like it was hidden under she's like open it and it was the test and i was like no way um but it's changed me for all the better my girl is a little rock star like she's yeah she's a cartoon character

she walks around the house with black like pink black shades and has her little little drink she walks around hangs out she's running around the house wild demands everything and i there's nothing more pure than seeing your daughter smile and and just enjoy life because like you don't understand like you have a different appreciation for your parents and things like that once you become a parent like you don't really understand what that kind of love is and i remember you know being in high school you go out partying your parents bothering you where you at are you good blah blah and i was like shut up i'm good like but now i can't even imagine you know being a parent like seeing her grow like i'm so protective of her but at the same time like i look forward to it every single day like just teaching her and helping her

yeah grow like she's so smart and she picks up on everything and it's been one of the coolest things ever and like you said like i already have so much time dedicated every single day to my craft and to business. And I'm working literally 24-7. But I still, at the end of the day, I have to find time for it. And I always will. And to the day I'm gone, she's my number one priority. So, yeah, my girls are everything. I come home, I got my wife, my daughter, and I got three crazy-ass pit bulls.

But we have an incredible house, and, like, there's nothing more pure and beautiful than that. And I just don't ever give advice on fatherhood, but I will just tell you, man, it just gets better and better and better. My oldest girl is 25. My youngest is 16. Girls, and then my sons. I 25. My youngest is 16 girls. And then my, my sons, I've got two sons in the middle and just my, my, my, my oldest daughter, firstborn, like, you know, I've since the day that she was four years old, um, I've taken her on a date nights. And, um, so, you know, we used to go in Chicago, we would go to like the Ferris wheel or we would go to

movie nights or we would go to dinner or sometimes we would just stay home and chill and watch a movie. We went to the Grammys one time and she's 25 now. We still go on date nights. And since her fourth birthday, um, she knows this, she found this out. But since her fourth birthday, I, I, I, I saved every Ferris wheel, uh, Ferris wheel receipt, every dinner ticket, every, every, every movie ticket, every picture from every date night. I built this file. I called it the Sunshine File. She's 25 now, so it's pretty thick.

Like we even went to dinner like three nights ago at the Greek restaurant. I just grabbed the receipt and saved the receipt. So on her wedding day, I'm going to give her like 25 years of date nights. That's incredible. That's incredible. But, dude, that's the greatest gift that god will ever give you because i remember my mom telling me um you know you're gonna have this kid and there's a whole person inside of you that you've never met yet yeah and you've never loved anything more than you loved yourself and i was like okay

mom i mean that's that's a great advice you know that's what you're supposed to say grandma and um and dude it's just so true, it's just so true, man. It's just so true. But, um, you know, you've got a lot of, you know, other than your daughter, you've got another really strong woman in your life that was actually there, you know, before football and I mean, before the NFL and, um, and, and before you conquered the addiction. I mean, so talk a little bit about that, you know, that foundation that comes from your family, um, from Rachel, you know, like what kind of foundation is she for you in your life?

Yeah. I mean, she's my number one supporter at the end of the day, she was with me before I ever made a sack or TFL or any of that. Um, and she sees me, she sees me at my lowest. She sees me at my highest. She's seen everything and more than my family, more than anybody, because she was with me every day. Like, we've been living together since college. So me and her, I mean, she helped me. I mean, the first person to introduce the meal prep stuff to me was her. Really? She used to cook me meals and drop them off to me before.

She's on the wellness bandwagon. Oh, big time. I mean, she just did the test with the people. Yeah, yeah. I'm doing a review, I think, this week sometime. Yeah, this week. Yeah, so she's all for it. But at the end of the day, like, she's my ride or die.

She'll do anything. She'll go to the end of the world. It's not about the money. She wears the same black tights and black tank top every day. Yeah, so does my wife. Same thing. She doesn't need anything. She's just a great mother.

And she's there whenever I need her. And sometimes I don't want to hear it. Yeah. So she's always going to have the truth. She's always going great mother um and she's there whenever i need her and sometimes i don't want to hear it yeah so she's always going to have the truth she's always going to be blunt and honest um you know but it's perfect for me and it works for us because it's not easy um and in my circle in my life there's a lot of people that want to be a part of it that aren't there for the right reasons and she spots them out Like she's spot on every single time. She's like, watch out for them. Watch out, I'm telling you.

I'm like, what are you talking about? You're being a- And they're always right. Every single time. And it almost pisses me off. We don't see it, dude. It almost pisses me off. Yeah, I'm like, what the fuck?

I'm like, no way he's good. And then two months later, I'm like, oh yeah, he's talking shit. Taking the knife out of your back. Yeah, literally taking the knife. I'm like, these mother fuck. But I'm like, Rachel is right every time i was talking to angie angie works in the kitchen she always gives my meals every day and i'm like angie rachel is fucking always right

she's like i love rachel she's like she's gonna be straight up honest it's women in general you know i actually i actually studied this believe it or not there's something called the spain scale of emotion the scale of positive and negative emotion and um and it's and you know we say women are more intuitive they're actually not more intuitive they're more sensitive to frequency yeah and like when someone's being authentic they can sense it yeah when someone's being inauthentic they they they can sense it and then sometimes they sniff it out and they and and sometimes they'll say i can't put a finger on it sums up with that dude i'm like what baby he's got great shoes he rolled up in a ferrari he's nice he's so cool it's like watch out and then bang dude you get every time it's every time like 100 success right um you know you you

you you talk a lot about um getting to this place and and and and the humility and the gratitude that you have and that you know, the idea about giving back, especially about giving, you know, without the expectation of receipt. So talk to me a little bit about the Max Crosby Foundation. You know, what was the impetus for that? And I know you made a major donation to the Max Crosby Foundation. I mean, I think that says a lot about who you are. But what's the vision for that?

And what's the impact that's going to come out of that foundation? You know, it's my whole purpose. At the end of the day, like, and what's the impact that's going to come out of that foundation? It's my whole purpose. At the end of the day, like I talked about in the beginning, I want to create change, and it's not only for my life. I have to have my stuff in order to make change, and that's what my sobriety starts with, my routine, everything I do, being a father, being a husband. But at the end of the day, I want to help others. And that's what this is all about.

You know, teens going through substance abuse like I did. You know, animal rescue. I'm a huge dog person. I have two rescues myself, three pets. So I'm a big animal person, and I love giving back and helping people in need. So for me, you know, everybody doesn't have a white picket fence and grow up. Everything's cookie-cut cutter clean and whatever. Like I, I'm not saying I grew up in a terrible, you know, neighborhood or anything like that.

Or my, you know, my parents were together, um, you know, things like that, but I had some ups and downs in my childhood. I, you know, I went through a lot and at the end of the day, I want to help those kids in need. And, um, that's what it's about. That's what it's about. Inspiring the youth and inspiring the future of this country and people involved. Because not everybody has that platform.

A lot of these kids go home and don't have two parents in the house. And I know how that is. Both my parents worked when I was a kid. They're always working. Me and my brother were alone a lot of the time. And it's real. And kids were going through worse than I went through. And I still had a lot of the time yeah and um you know it's real and you know kids were going through worse than i went through and i still had you know a lot of issues so um at the end of the

day the the main purpose for this foundation is create real change and you know not only donating my own money but i'm getting guys like dana like dana made crazy donations at at our uh gala that we did recently that's so awesome and um you know they're just like, you know, people like that. That's why I want to evolve because Dana has a real heart. He does. He has the biggest heart that I've met. And, like, I'm like that too. Like, I'll go to the end of the world if I love you,

if I truly respect you and I'm loyal to you. I mean, you could ask anybody. Like, I'll go to the end of the world for you. So that's, you know, that's what it's about, you know, creating real change. So I'm excited. Most of us have a very difficult time meeting our protein needs of the world for you so um that's you know that's what it's about you know creating real change so i'm excited um most of us have a very difficult time meeting our protein needs and certain protein sources like whey protein and others can be as little as 20 absorbable this is 99 absorbable and it has all of the essential amino acids that the body needs to build lean muscle to recover to improve our exercise performance and most importantly to repair after we have intense exercise so this is called perfect amino

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You can go to bodyhealth.com forward slash ultimate. That's bodyhealth.com forward slash ultimate and look for the perfect aminos. They actually come in capsules if you're on the go or it becomes in several flavors that they make in a powder, which I love. It's flavored with natural means of flavoring so there's no artificial sweeteners in here so this is one of my absolute

favorite products give it a try if you're working out at all you need a full spectrum amino acid go to bodyhealth.com forward slash ultimate that's bodyhealth.com forward slash ultimate I love their lab tested products you can actually see the absorption rate for all of their products they've got great electrolyte protein combinations my favorite is the perfect aminos bodyhealth.com forward slash ultimate and now back to the ultimate human podcast so it hasn't it's not fully baked yet and we'll talk a little bit about it off camera but i'll i'll make the announcement here. I got approached by one of the largest social media platforms in the world, and they said, we're looking for an influencer, and we think you're the one to break a social media record, which is a million dollars in sales and social media in one day on this particular platform.

And so they were going back and forth about ideas of how we would do it. And I said, look, I'll do it on two, two, uh, conditions. Number one, um, uh, that every, every dollar that we, that we raised that day to break this record, we're going to donate to charity. And the number two, um, you guys are going to dollar match it. And, um, so they agreed, I'm going to make the announcement here very soon. We're going to actually use social media for a lot of good. But I wanted to let you know that you were one of the charities that we chose. I appreciate that. There's three other ones.

They're very, very, very big names. You're going to be excited to be alongside of them. That's incredible. Some of them were mentioned on this podcast. And the idea is in 24 hours, and we have major brand sponsors and product sponsors, that the audience is going to get two for one on every dollar they spend. If they buy a hydrogen bottle, they're going to get two. If they buy cold plungers, they get two. If they buy perfect aminos, they get two. Maybe if

they buy a slate, they get two. And they'll be able to double their money and that money is going to go into charities like yours. And then this social media platform is going to match it. And we're going to break the internet for good, meaning for a good cause. And we're going to show that, you know, athletes, entertainers, celebrities, A-listers, and average people can all come together and just make a massive difference. So I'm excited to have the Max Crosby Foundation as one of the ones that we chose. So I'm pumped to do that with you. I appreciate you, brother. It means a lot.

Yeah, we're going to blow this up, dude. No doubt. No, it's just the beginning. There's so much we can do and so much change out there. And, you know, people need to take it. It's about footwork at the end of the day. A lot of people talk about it. I want to make changes.

Yeah, a lot of people talk about it. You've got to be in the neighborhoods. You've got to go see the kids. You've got to be involved to make real change. And I love that. Yeah, I mean, we always talk about you know making an impact and what does it really mean to make an you know an impact and are you are you really leading a life of significance or are you leading the life of service and when you're in service like you know it comes back to you a hundredfold like I I say it all the time I feel like I live somebody else's life I mean just the fact that

I'm sitting down with you know Max Crosby and we're chopping it up and and this doesn't feel like work to me no you know and i mean sometimes you got to look at your life and be like wow i mean i i feel like i i live somebody else's life too i'm i'm blessed and you know just taking that time to give uh to give back and and and say thanks so um so what's what's next for max crosrosby? You talk about wanting to be the best in the league and be the best version of yourself. What's the next two, three years look like for you? I mean, what is your purpose, your passion? Like what's that light that you're focused on?

It's waking you up every day, inspiring you. Yeah. One of the greatest coaches I've ever been around is Rob Marinelli and Rich Passaccia. They were with me a few years ago. They helped me grow as a person, as a player, probably more than anybody I've ever been around in the NFL. And he always, they both always talk about this,

but the microscope and the telescope. The microscope is the day to day. That's the most important, over 90% of the time, you're focused on the microscope. The telescope is the future two the two to three years from now what's your ultimate goal what do you see yourself how am i going to get to that point you just peek at that from time to time you think about it at night a little bit you think about it in the morning think about it after a workout like that's why i did that you know what i mean that's why i push myself because i'm getting to that and one step closer yeah but majority of the time I'm in the microscope

and that's something that's another big thing I learned in sobriety you know it's cliche but at the end of the day it's how I live my life and it's one day at a time all that matters is being here and being where my feet are so you know it starts with you know 9 a.m me and you doing this and I'm gonna worry about whatever I got to do next when it when it's time for that but that's what's helped me gain so much ground because I'm not worried about the future I'm going to worry about whatever I got to do next when it's time for that. But that's what's helped me gain so much ground because I'm not worried about the future. I'm not worried about the past. I'm just worried about right now. And I've learned and realized that I can be so much more productive just by being present

instead of worrying about, oh, shit, where do I got to be next? It's like, no, just be where you're at. And then when you got to get there, you'll be fine. And at the end of the day, if you put all that unnecessary stress on yourself, you eventually you're just going to burn yourself out. I stay present at all times. And my energy, we always joke about it. We got to have elite energy today on the podcast.

We got to, it's like elite energy at all times. Like that's how we care. So it's like a competition. But that's the only way to do that is if you're present. You can't be sitting here worried about the next podcast. And if you're taking care of the temple. Yeah. If you're not taking care of your body, if you're not sleeping, if you're not, you know't be sitting here worried about the next podcast. And if you're taking care of the temple. Yeah, if you're not taking care of your body,

if you're not sleeping, if you're not, you know, feeding your body the right way, getting in the cold plunge, 365, you know what I mean? Dude, right before you came on the podcast, you sent me a picture of yourself in the cold plunge. Hell yeah, I'm in the cold plunge. I'll be there at 9, and here I am in the cold plunge. I'm like, I just got out, dude.

I had a cattle trough. I showed you my cattle trough. Yeah, in the shower. This dude's got a steel freaking i don't even know a tank it's to feed cattle but i don't know first of all we're at the red rock in las vegas i don't know where the hell they got a cattle trough but i have no idea that's insane alone but like you said it's all about it's all about taking care of yourself and just being present at all times. And that's how I carry myself. So I know where I want to go. I know my ultimate goals.

I want to be a Super Bowl champion. I want to be an MVP, a Super Bowl MVP. I want to be a defensive player of the year. I want to be a Hall of Famer. Those are my long-term. Those are my talents. Dude, you're hearing it right here, dude. It's all going to come to fruition.

He's speaking it into existence right now. I see it. And I've been talking like that since i was in college when i was on scout team i was 18 years old i was 220 pounds out there on scout team trying to destroy their offense every day he was the starting quarterback brogan dt was alignment and they hated yeah but like i i legitimately have been talking about this shit since day one. And the thing is, I don't like to say, you know, this is what I'm going to get. It's because I believe I'm limitless of what I can do if I stay present and do what I do. So, yeah, I'm just focused on the day-to-day. And, yeah, you know, I don't believe in a ceiling or any of that. That's so awesome, man.

Yeah, I'm excited. Max, dude, you're an OG, man. I can't even begin to thank you enough for coming on the podcast today. I know you've got a tight schedule, so I'm going to be respectful of that. Um, I'm going to have you back on as you start to reach these milestones so people can see that you speak it into existence and you put in the work every day, take care of the temple. You're going to get your, I'm zero doubt that you're going to accomplish all of those things, man. I appreciate it, man. So where can people find out more about the foundation? If they're interested in your foundation, where can they find out more about you?

How do they find Max Crosby? Yeah, you can go to my Instagram right now. There's a link in my bio, madmax.com, uh, dot com, uh, mad max organization. I don't want to say it wrong, but it's in my bio. Okay. We'll, we'll plug that on the show, but, um, yeah, I got my website. We have our own Instagram, uh, Instagram page and mad max foundation. And, um, yeah, you can find me on all social medias at Crosby max.

Um, if you want to donate to my foundation, you got any more questions, um, it's all right there. And, um, I got the rush podcast going on with my, with my my with my boys absolutely check that out we'll put a link to that in the show notes too yeah definitely got to check that out um a lot a lot of great guests like you said dana i think dana was the one with dana it was funny it's incredible dude yeah dude's the best you guys talked about the trip to miami too which was funny as shit because you guys this was right after our flight this is right after the flight and it was yeah it was all time you guys went to like anatomy or something and walked in as a bunch of naked dudes and yeah just walking around we're like what the fuck is going on then it's like we're

leaving backed it up then you came to my apartment yeah you came to my came to my condo and dana was pissed yeah dana was pissed he's like you didn't tell me it's your fucking house what the fuck you're like no just use the red light use the cold but you're he's like i feel like such a fucking asshole he's like i just gotta go i gotta go he was so pleasant and i because he called me he's like where can i get a cold plunge in a red light i'm like come over here dude i mean he goes okay text me the address i texted the address you guys get off the elevator i'm like every it's like nine you're like nine deep you rolled in yes and i'm like beautiful condo where he's like this is your fucking house what it was i'm like yeah you're my boy man it's my house dude go use the red light go use the you know go use the hypermax use the pmf you know yeah jump in the jump of the cold blanch he's like

no this is one we're not gonna have in mind you guys are over two that day yeah over two but you a real one that just shows who you are yeah guys like you and dana you open open doors your own house you know to of course to let people get better. And that's, you know, that's, what's all about being loyal to people. That was such a funny day. I was like, I was like, what's up, Max? We just got off the plane. You're like, what up? Yeah. We just left the room full of sausages and now we're in your condo. This is not working out for us.

This is, yeah, it was a tough afternoon. It was a tough afternoon. No doubt. So I, I wind down every podcast by every podcast by asking guests the same question. There's no right or wrong answer to this. But what does it mean to you to be an ultimate human? To me, like I said, it's being present, being the best version of myself. There's always room for improvement.

I always, every post you see, I always am saying more is required. Improve more. I put those words on everything. I have the back of my phone, my locker. That's what it's about to me is there's always room for improvement. And that doesn't mean I need to do 20 more things every single day. My schedule is already packed from 530 a.m. all the way to nine. But it's about refining those things and being adventurous in your thought process,

because there's always room for improvement at all times and you can't just be you can't be stubborn that's the biggest thing i've learned about being the ultimate human yeah you cannot be stubborn you always got to be learning um no matter if you're a football player you're in business uh whether you're in whatever it is it's you constantly have to be curious and learning at all times, because that's the only way you're going to improve. And you have to be humble enough and grateful enough for what you already have to continue to grow. And,

um, that's the way I live my life. And that's how I, you know, try to inspire the people around me and, and, you know, all the people following me and watching me during my career.

It's awesome, man. You got to be humble, man. I'm going to grab some popcorn and watch this next, next round from Max Crosby. I appreciate you so much man thank you for coming on the ultimate human podcast and as always guys that's just science