The Zac Clark Show - Minisode: NFL’s A.J. Brown's Viral Book Moment and What Critics Don’t Get About Mental Health

Episode Date: January 15, 2025

In this mini-episode of The Zac Clark Show, Zac and TZCS producer Jay Devore chat about A.J. Brown's viral moment reading a book on the Eagles' sidelines and what it says about mental health in sports. They break down why taking care of your mind is just as important as physical training, share stories about mindfulness, and discuss how self-care is changing the game for athletes. A.J. Brown’s simple act of reading to maintain a positive mental state sparked a viral reaction—drawing criticism, confusion, and conversation. But most importantly, it pushed the topic of mental health into new spaces with fresh perspectives. This is a conversation we need to keep having.  Connect with Zac https://www.instagram.com/zwclark/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/zac-c-746b96254/ https://www.tiktok.com/@zacwclark https://www.strava.com/athletes/55697553 https://twitter.com/zacwclark If you or anyone you know is struggling, please do not hesitate to contact Release: [phone] releaserecovery.com @releaserecovery

Welcome back to the Zach Clark Show. We are kind of calling this a mini, a mini episode, which we're going to do time to time so that we can be responsive to some of the things that are going on in the world, much like people cover the news, people cover pop culture, people cover athletics. You know, we take a great deal of pride and paying attention to what is going on in the world around mental health, around behavioral health care, around substance abuse, and this kind of emergency mini episode. is on the heels of I'm a diehard Philadelphia Eagles fan

and you know one of the things that I watch for and I pay attention to in sports having been around sports having been an athlete is is mental health the way that we support our athletes the way that we talk about mental health the way that the mind affects the body and vice versa and so you know being a diehard Philadelphia Eagles fan I have loved watching the team this year because they have two people in particular, Lane Johnson, who every Monday puts out a tweet around mental health.

He is a mental health advocate. It feels weird to have a favorite player as a grown man, but if I had a favorite player, that would be Lane Johnson. And he's just a guy that's out there that I know is going to make major impact well beyond what he's doing on the field. And then there is AJ Brown. And I have followed A.J. Brown. The Eagles traded for A.J. Brown a couple years ago.

He's in a all-pride, all-pro wide receiver. Went to the University of Mississippi. He had a great career there. And then got drafted by the Tennessee Titans where very early on in his career, he started to talk about mental health. And I remember watching that and becoming a fan of his. And then I remember when the Eagles actually traded for him,

I was super excited because he was a guy that I rooted for, right? Because he was out there publicly talking about mental health. And during his tenure here in Philadelphia or in Philadelphia, as a Philadelphia Eagle, I have always had his back. And I have Jay DeVore here with us, who is one of our producers and chimes in from time to time. But we want to have a conversation around something that took place yesterday in the Eagles game,

which I'm super fired up about. I didn't realize it happened until I go to every game. I'm a season ticket holder. Of course, the Eagles won 22 to 10. They'll advance to the next round. But I will let ESPN cover that. And we are here to talk about A.J. Brown. So, Jay, what happened with AJ yesterday?

I mean, you know, I think this clip went viral. AJ Brown, the middle of a, you know, NFL playoff game is sitting on the sidelines reading a book. And I think people sort of jumped on that, started speculating what that could mean. He's frustrated. He's checking out. You know, he's not getting the ball enough, whatever it may be. And it, you know, it turns out that he's just, he's an avid reader. He's reading a book that he's, you know, gone through hundreds of times, pulled out quotes.

And it's something that really helps him prepare and get in the right head space, you know, in the heat of the battle. And, you know, afterwards, that's exactly what he said. You know, and this, what's funny is that that book on Amazon's bestseller was like 500,000 and something yesterday. And today is like number one. Yeah. Which is incredible. AJ Brown's ahead of his time. He's ahead of his time.

And I'm going to tell you what. Last year we saw Wyndham Clark on the PGA tour. Wyndham Clark started playing lights out golf. and he attributed to that to one thing he got a sports psychologist he started working with someone not on his biceps not on his bench press

not his leg press not on his putting not on his short game on his brain on his mind on how he carries himself and I got to tell you man the responses I saw

around AJ Brown reading he's reading a book who gives a shit because if he's running up and down that sideline with his finger in the quarter back's face or, you know, then, then he's a distraction. Then he's a cancer.

Now he's doing, actually, he's using a tool in the year 2025 where all we hear about is mental health and the importance of it to calm his brain. Because at the time, I must say, one catch for 10 yards, so he wasn't getting the ball, had a huge block on a touchdown to Dallas Goddard. And his body language was fine. I was at the game. and he's trying to tell people that they're making up the story

they're making up the story that he's upset he's not upset well he's not upset I mean like that that was one of the takes but I think that's quickly been like dispelled because of what was what he said and then just you know every publication covering it but I think like what is interesting and unique about him in that situation number one is that people

if someone is like calm and like in their own space in the middle of like a like a major sporting event you know no one is is presumed that that person is locked in right like the locked in person is more likely to be to someone like you're jumping around they're yelling they're engaged and the fact that like he was going to like this zen place to sort of you know collect himself uh is really the place you need to be in to achieve at the highest level like in anything Secondly, like, you know, sports psychologists, I mean, we've interviewed people on this show. They've talked about how, you know, even in the college space, they're trying to, you know, advocate for mental health. Sports psychology is more accessible. But the way he's talking about this stuff, like it sounds like he really, like, lives it. You know, like that it's spiritual for him. And like that only comes, and that's unique from like really practicing and living by that. And I think that's like that's what separates, like someone like him.

versus someone who's like, yeah, I had a problem. I went to the sports therapist. AJ Brown's an evolved human being. Yeah. He's an evolved human being. And the reason that people don't know how to handle him reading a book about inner excellence during the third quarter, whenever it was, of an NFL football game, is because that's terrifying to them.

To most people, it's terrifying to actually take a look inward, look at our behaviors, and then change. Especially for a guy like AJ Brown, who is super passionate. And I love analogies. Here's the analogy I thought of. You're going to turn on the NFL this weekend, and you're going to see guys all over the league hopping on the stationary bike come out of halftime or to stay loose to take care of their bodies,

to take care of their legs, to keep loose. But AJ Brown cracks open a book, and there's all this talk about mental health in our world, to do what, take care of his mind, to stay focused, to stay centered, and it's going to go viral, people want to call him soft or people want to say he's detached or people saying he's a bad teammate it's the exact opposite it's the exact opposite here's a guy that is not only talking about

his mental health but he's practicing it yeah no he's super locked in and and and i also think like if you you know we pulled a couple quotes from the from the book yeah i'll just read one because i think it like it just sort of speaks to everything in our world right now whether it's in sports or not And like this quote is In the pursuit of extraordinary performance It's easy to succumb to anxiety and pressure Because so much is out of your control When you learn to live a life that is fully engaged

However then you can perform your best And love the challenge Our best moments always come from a clear mind And unburdened heart And for me like And I'll let you go on that Like fully engaged right like the reason why sports and and you know movement it feels so good is because it's like it shuts down the noise box like you can fully get out of yourself and just be in tune with what you're doing and like there's nothing that does it more than like you know sports you know even that's why these exercise classes you know you're going to room with a bunch of people and you just kill yourself but like you get to this place where you're like you're just sort of in flow and like I feel like that that someone like that who can

can maybe have a rough game, or maybe he did start having some frustrating thoughts. Maybe he was pissed off. He's like, no, I'm going to shut that down. I'm going to go to this space. I can take some actions, and I can change my thinking. That's, you know, revolutionary and amazing. And I feel like it's just very important in terms of being an athlete, but also just being a person. Because how many times do you walk around the world and you're like, oh, that person cut me off in the car?

Or like, it's taking too long at Starbucks line. And it's like the ability, it's a superpower. People are like, like talk to yourself into, you know, getting outside of that thought spiral and get back into the flow of life. It just feels better. You know, you're not walking around angry and it's just, it's just better for your mental health and physical state. Dude, I got to tell you, I had no idea this was going on. I had no idea it was going on. I'm at the game, you know, no one's talking about AJ Brown reading a book on the sidelines.

my home text chain starts to blow up bizarre behavior bad teammate and I got to tell you I'm like I feel like I'm on an island with this shit sometimes because it was so clear to me my favorite clip if you want to talk about this football team is Sakewan Barkley had an easy touchdown on the last play of the game he could have went and housed it and he decided to slide and they ran out the clock the next shot on the highlights is davanta smith saquan barclay and a j brown literally partying together after they

win the game people are trying to attack this guy and this is why i always say in conflict and in fights and when people come at you the best response is positivity and silence people are trying to get to a j brown and he's just

like nope you are not you are not going to create this narrative about me i've worked too damn hard on my mental health to let you and the media and the Twitterverse tell me who I am. Yeah. Yeah. What do you think about Seyquin Barclay's sliding there?

I mean, that's selfless, right? It's selfish. I mean, like, that's the kind of thing you want from one of your star players to understand that, you know, the whole, the old adage, like, there's no eye in team. There isn't. you know God forbid he keeps going and and someone catches him and they they fumble or he tears his knee like things could have happened I mean would he have housed it most likely but something twists is that you know who knows but well I mean that that guy too obviously has like a some sort of I mean Hertz said had a quote he's like yeah he I'd never I've never seen him read before but like we all have our process about sort of getting into that flow I mean I think you have to have that you know whether it's reading a book or not. I mean, I think that's what's so jarring. But all these guys, whether they're conscious of and not, know how to put themselves into that space. And even someone

like Draymond Green, you know, like that dude feeds off of acting like a maniac. But like he knows what he's doing. I mean, like two hours later, he'll be sitting in a hotel room on a podcast talking about it like with clarity. So it's like, you know, to be an athlete at that level, like you obviously have to understand like how you can put yourself in that position to perform and the question is like do i do we do we do we do enough of that in just like the normal day life because it's relevant there too you know like i have you know i've had periods where i'll meditate or i'll spend time in the morning being quiet like that ain't happening right now but like i do know that you know my day i can set i can you know start my day off on the right foot by just

taking a little bit of time to like calibrate yeah yeah dude i mean I'm with you. There's no doubt about it when I take three minutes in the morning I'm a better person. I just am. And I don't go right to the phone and start swiping or scrolling

or checking emails or thinking about the thing that I have to do next. It's a memory because maybe you get sped up during the day and because you took that extra time, you know,

just a couple minutes of consciousness put onto that, maybe that thought comes back into your mind of like, I remember I started this day this way and like I can, I can start it over right now, you know, or I can go a different way. Yeah, and I get, and like, dude, look, I, I might be fired up on this take.

I might be seeing a moment in time where we have an opportunity to shine a flashlight on someone who is taking care of their mental health and push it forward in a positive way so that we can continue to make change, right? But I look for people on this planet that are willing to take risks, willing to be ahead of their time. I'm willing to think outside the box. And that's why I started this episode by saying, A.J. Brown is that? Because guess what?

He doesn't, in that moment, care what people think about him. Do you think he's really pulling out a book if he's worried about the judgment? If he's worried about... Dude, I don't know how he could sit in a place with 80,000 people and sit quietly enough to be thinking about what you're reading.

I mean, like, that's a level of focus where it's like, this dude is like, I need this right now, you know? And maybe he's not... Like there were people said, like Jalen said, like maybe he's not even reading it. Maybe it's just because I saw his teammates kind of call it the recipe. Maybe it's just his tool man. Like we talk about the toolbox all the time on this show.

I get questions all the time. Zach, what do you do when you're feeling sad? What are you doing? So it's like you sleep, you drink water. You go to, you know, connect with friends. You take time for yourself. You don't go on social media. Like I can rant off all the things.

Maybe for AJ Brown, he wasn't actually reading. He could just crack it open and say like, I'm going to just look at these pages because these pages are safe to me and for me right now in this moment I need to feel safe Yeah

And you're and you know The body and mind remembers that I mean like that's like the old adage That we've talked about for many years It's like act your way into right thinking Don't think your way into right acting You know just go pick up the book And he remembers you know

I do think that I just this is I just found this kind of interesting That the dude who wrote that book Who was an athlete baseball player he got inspired to write this book I think in 2003

he sold all of his belongings and he went and lived in the desert in Arizona because he wanted to feel what it felt like to be really alive now I don't know how living by yourself in the middle of the desert how you find being

feeling alive but I just thought you know when he did that he came to this is just one other thing I'm sorry I'm sort of nerd out here with a piece of paper. But actually, I have it on my phone. I just thought this was an interesting question and it relates to all this stuff. You know, while in the desert, I began to research the answer to this question.

How can an Olympic athlete train for four years for an event that may last less than 60 seconds and perform with complete peace and confidence? I don't know, dude. But think about it, dude. Like these, especially, you know, at least in, in the NBA, the NFL, like, on paper, or, like, you know, there's the money, the fame, like the power that comes with that, like, you think they're getting that, you know,

most of them are not, but you think. And Olympian gets their shot once every four years, you know, they're tucked away somewhere else just training, their lives just revolve around that. And then the day comes, you get two weeks in a summer or the winter, whatever, and then it's over. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, like when we had Michael Carter-Williams on, man, like, I, you know, I remember talking to him and being floored at the lack of resources available to these athletes floored you know and and when you think about professional sports teams and

culture and all the shit that can go wrong on a sideline like some dude pulling out a book and reading it would we really think about that if we really think about it is on the bottom of the list about for things that is going to disrupt you know a team or a player Well, dude, it's like imagine if you, they have, you know, they have the blue tent. You have the blue tent. What if you had, I mean, this is crazy. I'll never happen. It's probably ridiculous.

But like a meditation room. Yeah. You know what I mean? You could just go sit for like two minutes and quiet and just and then come right back out. You know, like, I'm with it. I'm with it. I mean, like that pause, that reset that, hey, dude, like let me pull you out of the chaos of this moment right now and take a breather. Yeah.

Like there are, there are things that we can do that are not physical in nature that improve, optimize our performance. our performance. I think that's why some of these guys will go to the locker room. You know, like you just, you know, you get removed from the,

from the whole environment, the crowd, and then you just, you can remember like, oh yeah, I'm just a dude putting on pads. Let's go out and do this. I mean,

dude, Tom Brady. Yeah. I mean, we love Tom Brady. I don't really love him as an announcer. I mean,

I got to say. It's fine. We're not talking about as announcing. Fine. The dude used to take naps. Used to fall asleep. And he's the only one that knows if he really fell asleep or not.

But I would imagine there was some level of visualization taking place. I would imagine there was some level of meditation taking place. Again, like Tom Brady, when you look at him, is not the most physically imposing person. No. But he utilized his mind to beat other teams. For sure. And his belief in himself. For sure.

But the belief also came from. And like, I've heard a lot of people talk about. this especially professional sports you do the work like yeah i'm maybe one for 25 over my last 25 shots but i've put up thousands and thousands of shots and i just i trust the process but let me ask you a question if a j brown who's a great football player right and he's saying this is my tool like this and everyone this is the recipe why do you think then or maybe it will become more common that more players aren't talking about you know those kinds of kinds of ideas and philosophies around training and being being an athlete.

Because we're just starting to understand the importance of it. It's not cool yet. Yeah. You know, they're embarrassed. And he's a veteran in the league. Yeah, because I think it also, it's like, you know, hey, it takes time to really understand and learn that, like, this is valuable for you, you know, and how you perform. It's like with meditation, where everyone, you know, everyone, you know, meditate, like,

Meditate, like doing, just committing to meditation is what makes meditation powerful. Like, yeah, maybe there's a moment where you have some sort of enlightened thought. But overall, it's just like I'm going to sit still for 10, 15 minutes and I do this consistently. That's the power. I mean, there's nothing you're really going to find other than that, like, I didn't do this and now I do. You know, and it creates a space for me. Dude, the littlest, I mean, I remember talking to you on the phone 10 years ago and I was struggling with meditation. And I was like, Jay, I don't, I don't know, man.

Like, I don't know if this meditation thing is for me. I had had periods of really working. And you said something to me that stuck with me to this moment. And this is why influencing and the words we use and the way that we carry ourselves are so important. Because I still think about this thing that you told me 10 plus years ago. And you just said it's about self-discipline. And so when you're meditating and you have that itch where you want to quit, Or you want to scratch your eye.

Like the meditation is really about can you understand and believe that you don't actually need to do anything right now? Like you don't need to itch your eye. You don't need to scratch anything. You don't need to move. You don't need to check your watch. And I still think about that. Like when I am meditating now and that itch comes, like having the restraint or ability to kind of go deeper into the focus, deeper into the work, deeper into the meditative state. So they don't kind of break and come up and scratch the eye for what?

Just to get that immediate relief, right? That's really what we're talking about here is like operating on another level. And things like that that sound either silly or, you know, stupid or obvious are oftentimes a more most powerful thing. And just to give a little context, like what we were talking about is meditating and sitting absolutely still. do not move and I don't do this now but like when I was consistently it was helpful to the point

where I used to be able to like tell time without a watch like if I was like because I could feel in my body what 30 minutes was like you know and then completely lose myself but ultimately what was it yeah the itch you know

the impulse the thought that I'm going to react to and like I know that like that is so over talked about right now and all this stuff, that's why it is important the people who are talking about it, like an A.J. Brown, who really do it, you know, can provide clarity about, like, this is why, like, reading a book or this is why these ideas of being fully engaged are so important to me, you know, because going back to the thing about the athletes, why don't, dude, they could go get the resources.

You know, they could ask, whether it's inside the NBA or the sports team or outside, they could go get it. They don't think, and I'm just not everyone, but they don't think it's going to work. What's the point? You know, it's not helpful. You know, it's like a lot of the guys I hear, you know, when you read about I ate whatever the hell I wanted,

and then like year three, I realized that like that was hurting me, and I couldn't do it. And then they changed. I mean, that's why Tom Brady, I mean, the dude was surgical with what he put into his body, how he thought, how he trained. I mean, you know, might have cost him his marriage, but that's for another day. but you have to be like that

you know and on the flip side there's a line of over analyzing and being too thoughtful and too you know

in this stuff where you sort of defeat the purpose of why you're doing it in the first place which is like to be connected yeah but I mean like dude here's a deal

you got to fit you you mean you were the ones got people to talk like you got to fake it until you make it you know like there's there's an element of that and the thing that I think about in kind of wrapping this all up is when I think about the word influence, right,

and I think about the way that people choose to carry themselves in the world, the thing that I know to be absolutely sure and certain is that next fall when football teams and high school football teams go out there and take the field, there are going to be kids and high school age students who have been influenced by A.J. Brown's actions. And you're going to see, I guarantee it, clips of kids reading on the sidelines or kids doing things that calm them down during a game. And that is how real, meaningful, sustainable change occurs.

Right. And so him doing this at the highest level, and people might think I'm overboard with this take, I don't really give a shit because I know what I saw yesterday. And I know that we absolutely need to reward someone for that behavior. No one has ever questioned someone riding a stationary bike on the sideline. This is absolutely no different. And if anything, it's more important because chances are for a professional athlete,

it is not going to be his legs that are going to fail him during crunch time. it is going to be his mind. Yeah. Yeah. It's also a plug for reading. You know? I mean... Do you read?

I mean, I read all the time. But am I sitting there reading a book? You know? No, you're reading your phone. You're reading my phone or screen or, you know, an article or something that, you know, isn't necessarily just words on a page that can allow me to go to a book. another place um which it's great to see someone saying that he's an avid reader yeah dude mental health it's important this was one of those moments we're going to keep responding to him this was fun jes smart

i think you guys are going to like them and we're going to keep bringing them back from time to time to do these little responsive i'm always here but i'll be back when we let him out of the cage he comes out yeah i'm a patriot's fan so i really don't want to talk mike rable go bird We'll see. Go birds. Peace.