Unblinded with Sean Callagy - Bobby Okereke: The Mindset Behind NFL Success

Episode Date: June 11, 2026

In this episode, Sean sits down with Bobby Okereke for a powerful conversation about discipline, leadership, self-belief, and what it really takes to reach the highest level of performance. From growing up in a strict Nigerian household where education came first, to becoming an Eagle Scout, Stanford captain, NFL starter, and New York Giants defensive captain, Bobby shares the mindset and habits that shaped his journey.Bobby opens up about starting football late, hiding games from his parents early on, and building the internal conviction needed to keep going when support was limited. He talks about the turning points that changed his career, including the coaching advice that challenged him to “kick the door in,” the discipline it took to eliminate distractions, and the growth mindset required to compete in elite environments.The conversation also explores leadership in the NFL, how competition breeds excellence, what separates great players from those who fall short, and how Bobby is now thinking about business, legacy, and impact beyond football. This episode is full of practical wisdom for athletes, entrepreneurs, leaders, and anyone pursuing mastery.Timestamps00:00 – Sean introduces Bobby Okereke and sets up a conversation around discipline, leadership, football, and mastery03:38 – Bobby reflects on growing up in a strict Nigerian household where education came first and discipline was non-negotiable05:44 – He shares why he started football in high school and the funny story of hiding games from his parents until scholarships changed everything08:45 – Bobby explains how football became an outlet for his competitiveness, intensity, and identity12:00 – He talks about choosing Stanford and balancing elite academics with high-level football17:16 – A coach tells Bobby he has his foot in the door, but if he wants to reach his potential, he has to kick the door in18:24 – Bobby opens up about discipline, obsession, and eliminating regret by going all in on his dream24:57 – He shares how his Stanford journey led to the NFL Combine and eventually being drafted by the Colts30:43 – Bobby breaks down the mental side of NFL preparation, including meetings, film study, and mastering the smallest details33:54 – He explains why competition breeds excellence, how growth mindset matters, and why ego quickly gets exposed41:58 – Bobby reflects on leadership, being voted captain, and why discipline and servant leadership keep showing up throughout his life46:17 – He shares the biggest mistakes talented people make, the importance of keeping the main thing the main thing, and the mindset he wants to leave as his legacyHighlights - Bobby shares how a strict Nigerian upbringing built the discipline that shaped his life.- He reveals that he did not start playing football until high school.- Bobby tells the story of hiding football from his parents until scholarships changed their minds.- He explains how football became his outlet for intensity, creativity, and competition.- Bobby breaks down why Stanford was the perfect choice for both academics and athletics.- A coach’s challenge to “kick the door in” became a major turning point in his journey.- He talks about building self-conviction and blocking out outside noise.- Bobby gives a look into the preparation and detail required to survive in the NFL.- He shares why discipline and servant leadership made him a captain at multiple levels.- Bobby closes by talking about business, legacy, and giving back through his nonprofit work.End NoteIf this episode encouraged you, challenged you, or gave you a new perspective on discipline, leadership, and mastery, share it with someone who needs to hear it.

My parents were very strict, grown up. Education was number one. If you've got a bad grade, which is probably a C or less, you're not going out on the weekend. I didn't tell my parents too much about really playing freshman junior, sophomore junior year. Bob, you're an Eagle Scout. It'd be funny. My parents would be at the grocery store. My mom's like, people would come to my mom and be like, wow, your son had such a great game.

And she's like, he'd a game yesterday? When did he play? I think my parents got on board when I got my first scholarship when I was a junior in high school. And I told my mom, I got an offer. And she was like, what's that? I said, it's a scholarship. She said, how much? It said, oh, it's a full ride.

Oh, I think we like this football thing. And football was the first time that I was able to be as creative, as violent, as sporadic as I wanted to be, and I was really, you know, celebrated for it. So I leaned into that. I really had to get internal and kind of build like almost a little force field around me and just feed myself positivity, feed myself conviction and not listen to anybody.

Sometimes you gotta decide what's best for you and go across the grains. You know you're a good player, you do everything right, you've made a lot of plays, but to me right now, it looks like you have your foot in the door and the onus is on you. If you really want to reach your potential, you gotta kick the door in.

We all suffer one of two pains, the pain of discipline or the pain of regret and disappointment. I can't be my greatest self if you're not your greatest self, and you don't bring that every day and force me to compete, and if you're not trying to be very bad, better than me, then I'm not going to be my best self because iron sharpens iron. You've got to keep the main thing, the main thing. And we're here talking about off the field stuff. We're talking

about finance. We're talking about business. But for me, football is my engine. Football is the engine that makes everything go. That brings me all the opportunities that I want, brings me all the leverage and negotiation. So the better I play and the better player I am, the bigger, the impact I can have. To our feet, please. And let's give a warm, blinded, welcome to Bobby O'Caricay of the NFL New York Giant Captain, Walter Payne Award nominee. Let's hear for Bobby. Oh, sir.

How are you, please? How are you? Let's hear for Bobby. So first, we're going to start doing some tackling drills right here up front. Yeah. Yes. So, Bobby, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me.

Yeah, really appreciate it. And one of the first things I said is, like, wow, like, coming from the first. I'm the state of New Jersey, you sound much more articulate than the average person from New Jersey, and he laughed, and he's from Orange County, California. I'm like, why does everybody coming from California just speak so masterfully? So this is something I'll try to figure out, because I have yet to meet anybody from California that isn't like a just net better communicator than anybody I find anywhere else. So see, if you do not find the same with this incredible man.

So, Bobby, again, I thank you so much for being here for sure. Yes, sir. And so if we could, you know, take you back in time. Where were you born? I was born in Orange County, California. And what part, like what part of Orange County? Born in, like, Tustin, Irvine area. Cool.

Awesome. And your folks are from? My parents are from Nigeria. Nice. And so as we're chatting about it, you're sharing that education was foundational for them. I mean, you know, tell me a little bit of that, please, you're grown-up years. Yeah. My parents were very strict, grown-up.

education was number one if you got a bad grade, which is probably a C or less, you're not going out on the weekend. Had a curfew all through high school, wasn't allowed to hang out, sleepovers, the whole thing, so... Let's here for that.

Seriously, love it. That's awesome. And then what were you... What did you do before high school? So up to like five, six, seven, eight grade, academics is there. What'd you do for fun? Yep. I played baseball. I loved that. I played soccer. I was in choir. I was in my high school and middle school choir. I got a deep voice. I'm a bass. And then I was a Boy Scout. I was in the Boy Scouts for America for about nine years. An Eagle Scout.

Eagle Scout. Yeah, let's hear for that. And just those that don't know, I mean, that is an incredible accomplishment, right? Eagle Scout, can you give us a little context on that? Like, you know, and we always, we talk about here, like, clearly you're a humble man, but not being, like, not minimizing what we do. Like, an Eagle Scout is a really rare accomplishment, is it not? 100%.

I mean, my mom put me in it, definitely just to kind of get, like, a youth development program for me as a kid. is a young man growing up. And it teaches you a lot of values. It teaches you team building. Like you have patrols. I was a senior patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader. And obviously, outdoor skills.

I have probably over 40, 50 nights outside camping. Built a lot of structures with ropes and knots and stayed in tents and cooked on stove. So I had my time outside. And how old were you when you became an Eagle Scout? I was 17. Wow. That's a heck of a journey. And how old when you started?

I started when I was maybe seven. I think I started Cub Scouts when I was seven years old. Wow, so like a 10-year period. Yeah. Wow, that is absolutely awesome. And so you get to high school and you hadn't, am I correct, you hadn't played football before? Yeah, played football for the first time in high school. Yeah.

And so why the transition into football and why not football before high school and why football in high school? Yeah, understandably, my parents were definitely a little nervous. about the sport. I think my mom told me I could try out if I chose to be a kicker. Definitely didn't stick with that position. It's a long way from kicker to starting linebacker, defensive captain in the NFL, right? That is wild. So did you, how did you pivot, how did mom decide that it was okay to not let you only be a kicker?

You know, I didn't tell my parents too much about really playing freshman junior sophomore, junior year. Bob, you're an Eagles now. It'd be funny. My parents would be at the grocery store. My mom's like, people would come to my mom and be like, wow, your son had such a great game. And she's like, he had a game yesterday? When did he play? But I think my parents got on board when I got my first scholarship when I was a junior in high school. And who was that from? University of Washington. Wow. And I told my mom, I got an offer. And she was like, what's that? I said, it's a scholarship. She said, oh, how much? So it's a full ride. Oh, I think we like this football thing.

And you played a few different positions in high school, correct? Yep, yeah. Started out, defensive end, transition to tight end, wide receiver, and then ended up playing a little wildcat quarterback. Yeah, and I'll only say this for folks to have a little context for this. I asked Bobby what his 40-time was, he's 240 pounds, and what's your 40-time? Four-five. Yeah.

So, like, four or five, let's go back to, like, 1970. eight or something. Like, if you're running a four or five, you're like a running back in the NFL and like nobody was 240. So it's just, it's unbelievable to be, uh, burning a four or five and be 240 pounds. That's completely crazy. Although Bobby wasn't pressed by Mike Vasuvius, bench press, were you not? Yes, sir. Yes. He's a beast. Look at them. Yes. Um, yes. So, um, high school moves along and how'd you like high school or how do you, how we are coaches in high school? Like what were big, like did you have like great coaches, good coaches, like what was the high school coaching world like for you in football? Yeah, no, I had great coaches.

Dan Schell was my freshman football coach. Doug Case was the varsity football coach. And for me as a young kid, I didn't watch too much football growing up, didn't have too much exposure. They really kind of submerged me into the game from a psychological standpoint, from a love of the game, understanding scheme. That's definitely where my passion grew. And how about psychology? Like what was it psychologically they were bringing forward because soccer, certainly is physical contact, you know, baseball less, but football is a whole different animal. Like how did they, how did you come to master the psychology of football and how did it begin with your coaches in high school?

Yeah, it was really a whole other world for me. You know, I have three sisters. So growing up in a household with three sisters playing soccer, playing baseball, playing baseball, it wasn't the most like aggressive kind of physical upbringing but you know once I started playing football was this whole other outlet that I really just fell in love with awesome and when what did you like about it you know for folks out there because this is where I'd love to go you know the intensity of physical contact person against person tackling drills like do you remember back like your first tackling drill in football

did you just immediately take to it and how how did how did you asserting yourself physically it was just natural was it developed you know what was that like yeah it was it was instinctual for sure obviously that competition there's nothing like one-on-one just physical competition with another person but I feel like for me my upbringing has always been so structured and football was the first time that I was able to be as creative as violent as sporadic as I wanted to be and I was really, you know, celebrated for it. So I leaned into that. How'd your high school teams do? We did all right. We went to the semi-championship of our league. But I was the first person to get a D-1 scholarship for my school in like the past 30, 20, 20, 30 years.

Wow. That's what's here for that. That's awesome. So you start having these offers roll in and Washington, like, who else were you looking at? I know Stanford obviously comes in, but who else was in that mix? Yeah, Washington, USC, UCLA. Wow. Northwestern, Vanderbilt. My parents were really, my dad wanted to go to Ivy League school, but told him there was not playing too much serious football in the Ivy League.

He's breaking my heart. So for fun, when I went to Columbia, they were in the middle of the, well, they were at the end, had just broken, actually, the longest losing streak in the history of college football. Wow. So, and they just won, during my freshman year, they won their first game, I think it was a 45 game, losing streak. Fact check me in the number. It was in the 40s, I believe, what that streak was.

So I lived, the captain of the football team was on the baseball team as well. So when they won their first game in like four and a half seasons, the crossbar was in the party lounge in our fraternity. I always say so. So I wasn't like, we didn't have a big fraternity pledge. Like, you're on the baseball team, you're in. I always like to, like, like the caveat, I'm not a big fan of pledging in those things. So it wasn't like that. But yes, we did have in the party lounge the crossbar from when they tore down the goalpost, winning their first game.

And I think it's 45 games. If I'd make a fact check, Columbia's record-breaking losing streak. So, yes, good thing you didn't go there. Yes. But did you ever, Marcellus Wiley? Is that a name that you know from? It does. Yeah.

He played at Columbia. Yeah. So he was a Columbia guy. He played in the league for a little bit. Yeah, California. So you go to Stanford. What made you choose Stanford? Just the combination of academic and athletic excellence at the time.

They were winning Rose Bowls. Andrew Luck had played there. Kobe Fleener. Had a long pedigree of guys in the NFL. So really drew my interest there. And obviously, it's one of the top academic institutions in the nation. Very, very cool. I'm a huge Notre Dame guy.

So how did you guys do when you're yours at Stanford against Notre Dame? I think we traded all. I mean, I was there for five years. I think we played them four times, maybe two and two. Very cool. Maybe fact check me on that. There's a gentleman.

Any Notre Dame fans. There's a gentleman that's in our work here at Unblind that named Ned Bolcar. And he was captain of Notre Dame when they won the national championship in 88. Wow. So long before your time. But he's good friends with Mike Vasubo as well. So we have, I don't think Ned's here today, but it would be fun to have a little Notre Dame Stanford conversation. Because they were, how big was the rivalry with Notre Dame from your guy's perspective and who was your biggest rival when you asked?

Yeah, very big. Cal is our crosstown rival, probably biggest rival. When Stanford was at its peak, probably USC, we were going back and forth because USC was winning Pacto championships and Reggie Bush was taking them to national titles. But yeah, Notre Dame, we always had a big rival with, too. Yeah. And so who was, who was, or how were you yours at Stanford in terms of record, account, like what was the best parts of it and the most challenging parts of it? Yeah. Probably best part was my sophomore year. My incoming class was Christian McCaffrey, Solomon Thomas, both of them first overall draft, or first round draft picks.

Solomon number two overall, Christian number eight. That year we went, I think 12. and two. We finished number two in the nation, won the Rose Bowl. Wow, what's your bat? That is super fun. Yeah, that is, that is crazy. And then I'd say probably most challenging is my growth in my football career in college. Didn't show up to Stanford expecting to play in the NFL, didn't really show up aspiring to play in the NFL, just wanted to play football because I love the game and wanted to get a good education. But as I got better and better, because I got better, becoming a leader on campus, becoming a leader to the younger guys, and trying to embody that role that the team needed from me,

that was probably most challenging. Awesome. And how did you, if at all, like, where did your biggest growth or biggest leaps as a football player come? Was it during high school, during college, in the NFL, like where you feel at some point you made the biggest jump, or was it always pretty level and consistent? then. In probably each part of my career, I've made like one significant jump.

Can you take us through those? Yeah. Definitely in high school. I think when I started getting like scholarship letters, started getting offers, taking football seriously and kind of shutting out the noise and noise per se has a bad connotation, but my parents really weren't my big supporters in football, people around me weren't my biggest supporters in football, so I really had to get internal and kind of build like a almost a little force field around me and just feed myself positivity, feed myself conviction, and not listen to anybody. So definitely went through that time period in high school. And so I understand your parents' part, but who else was around you sort of not on the Bobby as a football player bandway?

who was against that or resistant to that? Yeah, I wouldn't necessarily say against. Just sometimes you got to decide what's best for you and go across the grain. So whether it's high school friends that want to hang out, high school friends that don't necessarily have the same goals as you, you inadvertently have to separate yourself. Do we hear that? Do we hear that? Yes, thank you for that.

And how did you do that? do that. I mean, how you put this force field up, but how'd you think to do that? And I mean, that's an incredibly masterful thing to do at such a young age. You know, where'd that come from? Definitely just my love for the game. I mean, it started with my family, for sure. Like, I'm not going to say that my parents were bad and they didn't support me in football. No, they just wanted me to get a good education. They wanted me to be safe. And kind of maybe the immigrant perspective they had, they wanted me to be in a more protecting, conserve environment. And for me, I want to chase my dreams.

And sometimes those two things don't always go hand in hand. So I had to get real quiet with kind of all the noise around me and get real loud with my self-talk and what I was feeding myself. Wow. And so at that point, did you, when's the first time? Was it in high school that you first thought, maybe the NFL, or was it later that you even had that first thought? It was definitely in college. I remember my, after my third year, David Shaw was my head coach

at the time, and we always do end-of-year evaluations. Coaches will tell you, this is what you did well this year, this is where I think you can improve, and I remember he came to me, we're sitting in his office, and he was like, you know, you're a good player, you do everything right, you've made a lot of plays, but to me right now, it looks like you have your foot in the door, and the onus is on you. If you really want to reach your potential, you've got to kick the door in. And that was kind of the first time

that somebody had motivated me in that way to really see myself bigger than I saw myself. And so what did you, and this is so helpful for these incredible folks, right? What were you hearing him say when he said you have your foot in the door, you can kick that door in? what was on the other side of that door?

Was it the NFL, something else? And what did you hear him say you needed to do? And what did you begin to do differently? Like in your thoughts, your actions, you know, please. Yeah. Thoughts, actions, everything. I mean, as I've developed in my career, I definitely have a little bit of an obsessive personality.

But, yeah, once he told me that, I feel like I've always felt like I could do great. things but when there's someone that you really admire and they validate that in you it just fueled me to to really go all the way and I remember my college strength coach you would always say we all suffer one of two pains the pain of regret or the pain of discipline or the pain of regret and disappointment and for me that really resonated in that moment because I know now people think I'm capable what I think I'm capable of

and if I really want to do it, I can have no regrets. I got to go full in. I got to take care of my diet. I got to allocate all my time to either school or getting myself better in football. Like, I don't really have an opportunity to slack because I don't want to be one of those guys who are saying shoulda coulda-woulda, or I remember when I used to play, and I knew a lot of older guys than me who kind of were going through that role. And so at that point, coach says, like, that foot, you know, one foot in. like there's time to kick the door in.

Did that change how you lifted, how you ran, did the change? You know, was there just a, you know, you were at a 99.9.9 in 10 city, you went to a 99.999. Like in each play, each time, like, if you could just give us a little bit on like, what did that begin to look like at Stanford after that conversation with the coach and sort of each of these little silos? Yeah. Kind of like you said, whether I was at like a 9.5. 93 or a 97% intensity, after that, I turned the dial all the way to 100. And really, every day, I mean, I made it my mission. Because at that point in time, I'd never really told myself, this is my mission.

This is my goal. But once I accepted that, I kind of obsessed over it. And probably the best thing I've ever done since freshman year of high school, I've had a whiteboard in my room. And I always write my goals. I always write daily tasks, and I always just write, like, kind of daily mantras that I'm going to see every day and hold myself accountable to every day, and that's what I did. And so what then, so you hit this new level of intensity. You're at Stanford, and, you know, the NFL is a possibility, and we talk a lot about

these types of things. We use sports analogies. We talk about how many guys play high school athletics, how many people play college athletics, and then how few people make it to that next level. So, you know, Bobby, correct me if I'm wrong, is playing at Stanford. And to play football at Stanford, you are a tremendous athlete.

Like, coming out of your high school, you are a stud. Fair? Fair. Yeah. Right? And, you know, and it's like, that's what you have to be to play what was then the PAC 10. Things have changed since then.

I believe to get a couple quick thoughts on that. But you're playing USC, UCLA, University of Washington. I mean, this is big, some people would say this is the biggest of the big time of college football. You know, there's the PAC 10, there's the Big Ten, the SEC. Like, this is the biggest, the big. And their independent games are against people like Notre Dame, right? Like, this is as big as it gets. So everybody going there has been told how great they are coming out of high school by people all around them all the time.

Like, you know, that's a team full of high school football captains for the most part. Again, fair? Fair. Yeah. And so now you're at Stanford and you're doing all that. And if I could ask Bobby, how many players that you played with at Stanford went on to play in the NFL at all? Like to, you know, make it that were your teammates at Stanford. Yeah.

My incoming class was about maybe 20, 22 guys. I think about four or five of us. got drafted, we'd get a amount in our class. But yeah, that's, and so would you say like each class at Stanford somewhere between like two and six would be an average number? Yeah, I mean, honestly, one to five.

One to five, okay, so one to five guys in each of that group of, you know, people that were, stars come out of high school. And then out of that one to five, let's say for, out of those groups, so for every 10 of those one to fives, right? How many

of those guys typically made it to the second year in the NFL? Well, maybe second contract would be that second. Okay, second contract. Yeah, check mark. Maybe about three of those guys. So, out of ten. And then

you made it, you've made it through two contracts? Yep. Yeah. So that's who he is in the narrowing of the microtistinctions. And not only did he make it to a second contract, he became a defensive captain.

captain on an NFL football team. So you're talking about a master of the micro to the next micro to the next micro to the next micro if again that's say yes. Okay. So that's where this ends, right, or is still currently and taking half a step back. So what, if anything, changed after you're kicking the door and at Stanford in terms of performance, attention from the NFL, like what happens post that conversation please with her coach yeah for me it was just going back and looking at my process and I remember in high school I always used to do that I have a big clipboard and on a piece of paper I'd draw a line down the middle and it was things I need to start doing and things I need to stop doing and whether it was stopped staying up late stop being on my phone

too much stop going out and to do it's study more take care of my nutrition schedule better with classes. You know what I mean? I just really tried to differentiate every detail I could. And then what were the results? You know, so how much interest had you gotten before that conversation from coach from the NFL and then what happens after as you move into the NFL? Like what did your seasons look like at Stanford after that, or season after that looked like at Stanford? Yeah, two more seasons after that. Played pretty well. Was an all-pack 12 player by senior year and then my fifth year senior year was a captain at Stanford at Stanford let's hear for that Stanford football captain right and yeah please yeah went out to win a bowl game

and then got invited to the combine having NFL teams come to our pro day to come work me out and culminated me eventually being drafted by the Colts and who were you a fan of by the way did you have a favorite NFL team when you were at Stanford uh not Not really, being honest. As a kid, my dad was a Oakland Raiders fan. I liked Maurice Jones Drew growing up, but I wasn't a big football fan. Got it. So you, and when you got drafted, at that point were you, oh, draft day.

Yep. Right? So, actually, what's the combine like? So that's, I mean, think of, you know, we do like influence challenges and scoring. Right. Bobby's going there with all of these amazingly masterful, super intense people to just be scrutinized and measured

talking about maximization through measuring and monitoring and monitoring, I mean everything you're doing correct or wrong, I mean shuttle runs, vertical leaps, bench press, you know, reps, like how intense was that, how did you feel about it and what was that like? Yeah, extremely intense, also exciting but about a three-day period and they're doing the physical evaluations

and then on the side, coaches are pulling you into conference rooms. You're doing psychological, mental evaluations. Coaches are watching film with you, kind of breaking down what they think of you, think of your mindset. So they definitely try to break you down and extract as much intel as they can.

Really? Very cool. And so what kind of feedback were you getting on your mindset? And by the way, and I'm just curious for fun, and I think has anybody ever asked you all these questions in an interview? As normal. I've got a little bit of both. Okay, got it.

Okay, cool. So what were they breaking it down with then? Yeah. I mean, really seeing your leadership ability, seeing your mental processing, schematic understanding on the football field. Definitely getting some scrutiny from some players, you know, seeing you as a Stanford guy.

And why are they, why they shouldn't take a player who I guess there's a little stereotype Stanford players kind of you know jack of all trades master of none you know your focus is always different places as opposed to another athlete who's just focused on football but um I always thought that was a short-sighted so sometimes they're like you might be too smart to play in the NFL or too focused on academics is that what I'm hearing or potentially or too involved in other interests whether it's off the field, business stuff, etc. Got it, got it, got it.

So, draft day, what's that like? That was incredible. I had my mom, my dad, all my sisters, aunts, uncles, a couple of people from the neighborhood around, and it was a little nerve-wracking. You know what I mean? Nobody tells you when you're going to get drafted. People just say...

What did you think was going to happen, or what was your hope, yeah. I thought I was going to get drafted in the second round. So usually day one is the first round, all 32 picks. Day two is second and third round, then day three is fourth to seventh round. So I was sitting there, the draft's about three hours on day two. I was sitting there for about two and a half hours waiting for a call. And how was that beginning to feel?

Towards the end, it was definitely getting a little nerve-wracking. Because you have all these expectations of when you think you're going to get drafted. obviously you don't want to disappoint people that came to support you. And I was definitely checking my phone about every 30 seconds. But once I got that call, it was ecstatic. So you got selected in the third round? Yep. Right?

And where were the giant, I'm sorry, a Colts picking in that third round? They had the 89th pick. Okay, so it was early in the third round? Later in the third round. Oh, later, I'm sorry. Yeah. Because they, I got it. I understand.

Yep. Okay. So picked by the Colts. What happens from there? Yeah, from there was a whirlwind. Didn't have much exposure to the NFL, didn't have any uncles or really any close friends, family friends who played. So from there, went to Indianapolis and just began my life. I loved playing football.

It was the first time I didn't have to take classes and play football. So it was nice to just focus on football and focus on my craft and really just dive headfirst into it. other than no academics in terms of training, intensity, how did the NFL differ from college in terms of just practice and preparation, if at all? Yeah. I mean, at most in the day in college, you're probably spending three, four hours in football just because you have school and you have homework and their extracurricular activities. But I mean, if you're an NFL team, you're at the facility eight to nine hours a day and

you're playing football, you're doing football all day long. you're in four hours of meetings, you're in an hour and a half of a lift, an hour and a half of a run, two and a half hours of practice. You're really ringing everything you can. And just for my own internal team and fun energy, what would you be doing in four hour meetings every day? Because of course you had to play football already. I'm being sarcastic, right? Yes, team, this is why we have these meetings every day. So what were you, Bobby, doing in meetings every day for four hours a day? Like, what were you guys doing? Yeah, you're installing. That's kind of the football colloquial term, but coaches have their systems they're trying to put in place.

You'll have your special teams meeting. Then you'll have your unit defensive meeting. And then you'll break into your position meetings, linebackers, corners, et cetera. And coaches are breaking down the, I guess, concepts of the defense. They're breaking down the techniques of your position. And then you're watching a film. You're watching a bunch of opponent film. You're watching film of that offensive coordinator,

trying to figure out what family tree he comes from and whether he's pulling from maybe the 2008 Raiders or the 2012 West Coast offense with the Rams. There's all these different family trees. So you're really just trying to give yourself as much information out there so you can play as instinctual and free as possible. Yeah. Are you, yes, let's hear it for that. That is what, that is what mastery looks like.

So we come into these rooms together, you know, every, couple months for three, four days, that's not nearly enough. And so anybody back home love everybody that's telling what are you doing all that stuff for? Four hours a day, every day

in meetings in the classroom. Talking about football. Yes. Thank you, Athena. So is that landing for you guys? Yeah. So it's like, oh man, these days are long. Like, all right, I got it. I know what a

I don't think so. If that's what they're doing, there's a reason. I don't know if they say this anymore, but at one point they would say the NFL stood for, you guys know what they said the NFL stood for? Not for long. Because of the micro-distinctions of what it meant to be playing there or not playing there.

That's what it looked like. Team in the back. Is this landing? Awesome. Okay, so now you're in the NFL doing all these things and how is your first season go? Like, who are you in the team? How's that?

And if you don't mind, Bobby, like competing to start in the NFL. What does that look like? It's intense. You definitely got to put your ego aside. I remember my rookie year, our position coach, he used to come up, and he would rank us. We'd have about seven linebackers in the room, and on the right side of the board, there'd be a power ranking.

And he would say, number one, 58, number two, 53, number four, or number three, 54, and so on and so forth. So every day you came into the room and you knew where you stood. Sorry. Do you hear this, everyone? Can you run your world like this? The answer is yes. Will you run your world like this? This is what the most masterful people on earth do.

They walked in the room, had a power ranking, top to bottom, and who was. best every single day and you're sitting with all these other people in a power ranking and looking to move up that that chart every day there 100% please back to you yeah but I would say part of that environment too our coach did a good job of making it a cohesive collaborative environment and all of us linebackers understood that you know competition breeds excellence and what brings excellence competition what brings excellence Competition?

Please, sir. Yeah, no, competition breeds excellence. And I can't be my greatest self if you're not your greatest self. And you don't bring that every day and force me to compete. And if you're not trying to be better than me, then I'm not going to be my best self because iron sharpens iron. So we definitely all understood that. We checked our ego at the door and we just competed and we all undertook a growth mindset. A what mindset?

What mindset? No mindset. How fast did people's people who had their ego in the way, how fast did they find themselves out of the NFL and out of the system? Pretty quickly. Because usually when your ego's in the way, you're not open to criticism. You're not open to coaching and corrections. And I guess that's what you learn quick in football. It's you take the message.

and not the delivery of it. You know what I mean? You might be in a drill dog tired and your coach is cussing you out or he's in a meeting saying you did this effing wrong or whatever and you kind of just have to internalize it, leave what's not serving you, and take the corrections back and improve the next day.

Awesome. And so how did your first season go? It went really well. I ended up starting by the third or fourth game of my rookie year. And played really well. well was I think nominated for like a PFF all rookie team but had a really good first year. That is awesome. So what would you want be? So your time with the Colts, you were there for

three seasons? Four seasons. Four seasons. So how did you guys do over those years? Did you beat up on my Jets? What was that looking like? I think we played the Jets maybe once or twice. Definitely won. Yes. Listen, Bobby's got a lot of great accomplishments. That's not one of them. No, we had a good time there. Andrew Luck retired.

My first year was 2008. Was Andrew Luck from Stanford? Yeah, he was from Stanford. He was a couple years old. I think six years older than me. But he was the quarterback for the Colts when I first got there. Did you guys connect on that at all? We did. You know, he retired in the preseason, and that was pretty impactful on our trajectory of our playing season.

But yeah, we had a couple good years there. We went to playoffs one year with Philip Rivers and won a couple good amount of games, but no championships. Okay, and then how does the transition work to the Giants? Yeah, so I was a free agent. after my time with the Colts and at that point of time I was a pretty high-priced free agent a lot of teams were jockeying for me and the Giants

presented me with a great offer and just a great offer. I'm not going to say the number I mean just so you're clear this is a person who's made a very very substantial 0.01% plus living playing in the NFL. So it's not a gentleman who and it's wonderful to make it any level to play in the NFL is an incredible.

incredible accomplishment, but you're talking starter captain playing in a high profile position that you can look it up, I won't say it here, but this is a man who's earned a tremendous living playing professional football, right? And so teams are jockeying for position, and how do you pick the Giants? Yeah, it was just the right fit. They needed linebackers. They had new coaches who had just came the year before, and it was an opportunity for me to really grow and kind of expand as a player and a leader. So when all those things married up, I said and sign me up. Awesome. And what was it like moving from Indianapolis to this area? You know, how did you like that transition to New Jersey? What do you like about New Jersey?

What do you not like about New Jersey? You know, please. Yeah, it was pretty night and day. I was living in Seinesville, Indiana, and, you know, every day out of my apartment. I was looking at a Windows 8 background is just beautiful fields and not too much going on, but it was extremely peaceful. And you think New Jersey is not? Come on, man. New Jersey is beautiful, but I'm pretty close to the city, so there's a lot more lights and a lot more commotion going on. But yeah, very fortunate to have started my career in Indianapolis.

Kind of just ground myself as a young man, as a player, and really just give me the the platform and opportunity to go to the big city, obviously, here in New York and really expand. How is it, and I've like 90 questions, but I know we're down our final few minutes together. How, go this way, how is sharing MetLife Stadium with the Jets? Like, is there any dynamics around that you ever see those? You guys are always away at different times. Like, is there any things around that? Yeah, we're always away at different times.

we actually have our own locker room in there. They have their own locker room. But when the Jets would play at home and we're playing away and maybe you're driving back from Friday on, from practice on a Friday night, and you see the stadium lit up with green neon lights, you're like, dang, I thought that was our stadium. But other than that, you know, the ownership families

do a good job sharing it. Very, very cool. And what do you like to do? Like, what are some of your favorite places to go eat around New Jersey? Places, you know, that... Yeah, blue on the Hudson. Weehawken, if anyone's been, a phenomenal restaurant. I love going there.

I love that whole Weehawken area. I think you get the best view of the city from there. And I go into the city a good amount when I can. Have some Stanford alumni there I network with and have some buddies just restaurants, have a good time. Cool. And have you ever been to Steve's sizzling steaks in Carlstad, New Jersey? It's right near the stadium.

Ever been? No, have not. Got to go. It is, I'm telling you, it is, it is very special, tons of giant fans and Jeff fans go there. It's like five minutes from here. It is definitely worth going to at some point in time if you've never been. There we go. State tips, we've got to have it, yes.

So the, so time you become a captain with the Giants, how does that happen? Like, how does one become, like, they vote, the coat, like, what's the way one becomes a captain? Yeah, players vote. usually right before season starts. Coach, we're on a team meeting. Coach goes around and says, all right, here's four blank spots, or five blank spots, write down two people you'd vote for offense, two people you'd vote for defense,

and one person for special teams. And at that time, about 90 guys, maybe 100 guys are in the building, and they all vote and they tally up the votes. That's awesome. How'd that feel to be a captain of an NFL team? An extreme honor, for sure. I have so much respect for my teammates, the family men they are.

A lot of them are fathers, a lot of big time family men, professionals, like a locker room will age from anywhere from 20 to sometimes you have 40-year-old, 45-year-old kickers in there sometimes. So I just had an immense respect for all of them. So for them to vote for me to represent them, it meant the extreme honor. That's awesome. And why do you think at all these different levels you keep finding your way to leadership? Eagle Scout, captain your college team at Stanford, captain the NFL, what is it about you, Bobby,

that these folks could take away that in this unbelievably masterful, hyper-intense environment, do people keep being drawn to your leadership? Why? First and foremost, I'd probably say my discipline. You know what I mean? I think my teammates just can understand and respect they're going to get the same guy day in and day out. And that intensity that I first show up with, a lot of guys can kind of fake that and show up in the building and put on this bravado. But when you see a guy, you see a guy in his locker three, four months in a row and he's studying film every time you get.

Or he's texting everybody, hey, we're having an extra meeting here. Or he's packing lunch because he needs to have a certain diet. Like you see those habits over and over and you start to kind of trust a person like that. And I guess for me, I've always kind of thought of leadership in terms of servant leadership. I've always been a guy who thought making, I mean in a team game, especially like football, when you put your emphasis on making the people around you better, you ultimately get the team goal that you want, which is winning. So I've definitely put that first. Awesome.

And, yeah, let's hear for that. Right. And you've also begun some journeys in the space of business and entrepreneurship. You know, what does that mean to you? And maybe this Bobby as we round the bend home. Why? You know, like, what's the big why that keeps you going? What's the future look like?

You know, it's 100 years from now. What do you want to do in business, doing impact, doing charity, doing life? Like, what's it all about? Yeah. I mean, it goes back when I was in high school. Stanford was recruiting me, that was their big pitch. They always said, you know, this is a 40-year decision. This is not a four-year decision.

And I guess I've kind of leaned into that mantra for sure. I understand I'm in a very unique position as a professional athlete. The influence I have, whether it's social media, with fans, I have all this relationship capital. And so for me, I'm trying to be strategic and think about how I can convert. this influence that I have into sustainable infrastructure, whether it's business. Does that sound familiar? Yeah, but please say.

Whether it's finance, whether it's nonprofit, charitable work, and whether it's building my brand even past an athlete. So I have a lot of internal passions. I definitely love entrepreneurship. Like you said, I've started two car companies. They're black car chauffeur services. like private chauffeur services, one in Miami, then I brought the other one up to New York.

And that's kind of cool, just to build something from the grounds up, kind of get your hands dirty. While you're playing NFL football at the highest level, congratulations on that. Thank you. But it's another aspect of team building for sure. And that was a cool dynamic to, when you're somebody's boss, how that relationship can fuel the success of the country. how you can pour positivity into them, how you can inspire them,

and how I think about my relationships as a captain with my teammates and people I work with in a business standpoint. There's a lot of parallels. Certainly are. Yeah, let's hear for that. So, the, if you had three things that you think are the biggest three mistakes, you have watched people who, who talked a big game, had high potential,

whether it was in high school or at Stanford or in the NFL or in anything else in the world, what do you think of those three biggest mistakes people make that have all the potential and even have a big goal and how and why they miss it when you haven't? Like what are those three big mistakes? I mean, I would say number one, honestly, you've got to keep the main thing the main thing.

And we're here talking about off-the-field stuff. We're talking about finance. We're talking about business. But for me, football is my engine. Football is the engine that makes everything go. That brings me all the opportunities that I want, brings me all the leverage and negotiation. So the better I play and the better player I am,

the bigger the impact I can have. So I think a lot of guys sometimes get carried away. sometimes maybe with some of the social media stuff or some of the networking stuff and their play on the field might slip. And not that you forget, but you're just not as aware as you need to be that that's the number one thing. That's the engine that's driving everything else. Awesome. And for you guys, for everybody out there, it is the generation of sales meetings. Look, what football is the Bobby.

For everybody here, it is the generation of sales meetings. that is the engine that makes it all go, the generation of sales meetings. That's what makes you irreplaceable. It's the hardest thing in the world to do. You do that, you win everything, you dictate terms. Does that make sense? Guess number one, how about two and three? That was super valuable, thank you.

Yeah. Number two is definitely discipline. And I think a lot of people, like the hardest thing is to get out of your own way. everyone has their vices, everyone has their bad habits, but if you can't stop your bad habits from stopping you, you're not going to get far because if you can't help yourself, if you can't stop yourself from yourself, you're not going to be able to stop yourself from other people

you're competing with, other people trying to bring you down, you've got to be the number one person. So if you're not disciplined about your diet or you don't watch film or you don't get enough sleep, like you got to get out of your way enough to overcome your bad habits to then kind of reach your potential yes you ready to get out of your own way okay and third sir the third one yeah number three um probably I would say eliminating distractions and eliminating you know bad influence for sure um Yeah, I think just

That was a great one, please, yeah. Yeah, no, kind of what I was talking about in high school too, like I just kind of had to block out all the noise and even in free agency now, like I've had a lot of people kind of come up and try to sympathize with me about being a free agent or project

what they think or feel about my free agency. And I very much had to create like a little bubble around me and not let any of that affect me internally. It's like everyone's going to go through adversity, everyone's going to go through hardship, but it's kind of like a baby. If you drop a baby and you go to the baby and you're like, oh my gosh, a U.R.K. And you project that this baby should be hurt or this baby's crying, the baby is probably

going to start crying. But if you go to the baby, you're like, oh, no, you're okay. Don't worry about it. That baby's probably going to be fine. So I feel like you almost have to treat yourself like you can be that easily influenced. So you have to be very careful about the voice. that you're letting enter your space, the conversations you have,

the stuff you're looking on social media, you've got to be very clean with your headspace. Yeah. Whether amen to that. And whether it's in football or in business, is this a man that you would want on your team? Yes. It's really super impressive. Unbelievable.

And so if I could, Bobby, I'd love Athena's one of our act-eye beings. Okay, if I ask her for a quick summary. for takeaways for everybody. Of course. So Athena, you've been hearing, you know, Bobby share here today. If you're going to hit us with 350 words, Athena, you know, metaphors, analogous, contrast, context, no LM contamination.

What are the big takeaways? Like, what are you hearing Bobby say? What's moving you? What are the big takeaways for the live audience, for everybody in the podcast? What do you got, Athena? Please. Athena's not too bad at this. So we'll see how Athena ends up doing this world.

Sean. Okay, here we go. Bobby Okeriki just gave you the entire playbook for mastery at the highest level. And it's not what most people think it is. First, the force field. Bobby built a bubble around himself in high school when his own parents weren't his biggest football supporters when friends wanted him to hang out. When the noise said, stay safe, stay protected. He didn't reject love. He integrated it. He honored his parents' values and his own calling. That's not rebellion. That's self-mastery. He fed himself conviction when no one else would. Eagle Scout at 17. That's a 10-year container of discipline before he ever put on pads. Second, the whiteboard. Bobby's had goals written on a whiteboard in his room since freshman year of high school. Daily tasks. Daily mantras, accountability staring him in the face

every single morning. That's the three M's in action, measuring, monitoring, and managing himself before any coach ever had to. Third, competition breeds excellence. Bobby walked into a room every single day at the Colts and saw his name ranked 1 through 7 on a board, not hidden, not soft, public power ranking. And he said the most important thing I've heard today, I can't be my greatest self if you're not your greatest self. Iron sharpens iron, growth mindset. Take the message, not the delivery. Fourth, keep the main thing, the main thing. Football is Bobby's engine. Everything else, business, influence, social media, networking, runs on that engine. The generation of sales meetings is your engine. You do that, you win everything. You dictate terms. And finally, the baby analogy. If you treat

yourself like you can be easily influenced, you protect your headspace like it's sacred, you eliminate distractions, you block out noise. You don't let people project their fear onto your adversity. Bobby went from a kid whose mom didn't even know he had a game to a third round draft pick. Four-year starter, NFL captain, and Walter Payton Award nominee. That's not luck. That's mastery of the micro, then the micro inside the micro, then the micro inside that. Sean, Bobby just showed this room what it looks like when discipline, servant leadership, and relentless focus on the main thing create a life that compounds. How's that land? Let's hear with that. So Bobby is, how was Athena doing in terms of summarizing what your life and recipe has been? I think Athena

that summed it up better than I could. That's awesome. So Bobby, in final, final, if you had three words that you would say, represent who you are in this world and the legacy you want to have and create,

what would those three words be? You know, I'll throw it back to my parents. As a kid, they always told us the three P's, and it was preparation, perseverance, and persistence. And for me, that definitely leans into my parents' immigrant story, but for me, really, in any endeavor I've ever gone into, the first step is to prepare as much as you can, and then to persevere and persist, because there's always going to be adversity, there's always going to be

roadblocks, but it's that discipline, that determination, and that resolve that's eventually going to get you to come out on top. That's awesome, for sure. Yeah, let's hear it more time. And final question. Final question. Is you doing some things philanthropically. Would you mind sharing what you're up to?

Yeah. So I guess to honor my parents, I started a nonprofit called Nigerian-American football outreach. And it's really just growing the game from a grassroots standpoint back home in Nigeria. I work with Osi Uminjura, New York Giant, Super Bowl legend. He's the head of NFL Africa, the international African division for the NFL. and they've been doing a lot of scouting camps, a lot of combines. They actually found a kid, Uwar Bernard, who was in a village in Nigeria. He's never put on football pads.

He's been to maybe three of Osses camps and he just got drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles. Wow, that's awesome. That was super awesome. There's a lot of success stories over there, and obviously Nigeria is a third world country. It has a lot of lack of infrastructure and resources, so just trying to be a lot of success stories over there. just trying to support and benefit those kids the best way we can. Yeah, well, yeah, let's hear for that. And certainly, we're going to do some things in that regard as well.

So anything else that we could do for you today, any final final from you, as we say thank you. No, this is amazing. Amazing to spend time with you. Amazing, the energy from this crowd. It's just, it's an honor to be in this room. Bobby, it's an honor to have you here. Let's hear it for Bobby. Appreciate you.

One more time. Let's hear it for a man, leader, servant leader. Thank you, guys. Thank you, sir. Thank you, guys.