Traveling was huge for me when I first began my football career. I wanted to hear different languages, meet different people, see new places. In the midst of my planning, a teammate asked me, “Why would you ever want to go anywhere other than America?...
During my NFL career, I received many requests to go to lunch or coffee—as if I didn’t have practice, or a job, or a life. In retirement I’ve noticed there are varying levels of meeting people, some more casual and some more serious. Meeting for...
It was minutes before Super Bowl 50 started, and I had become completely unfocused. Lady Gaga, in her red sequined dress, was epically singing the national anthem as the Blue Angels flew over the stadium. Wow, what a moment! How can you not be distracted? But...
When I was in the NFL, people asked me for money almost every day. Old friends, strangers, even family would pop out of the woodwork with their hands out. At first I wanted to help everyone, but after a while I smartened up and learned...
As an NFL player, your career will be short. Guaranteed. And the one place that I constantly see my peers fail to transition is in creating their new identity as a former athlete. Establishing your identity online can be a long road with many turns....
After 15 minutes of speaking to a group of youth for My Brother’s Keeper, talking about how to buy stocks and the wisdom of owning companies they use and like, one of the young men raised his hand. “So, can I buy stock?” he asks. Even...
It’s easy to give a gift to your boss or someone you’ve signed a business contract with, but what about the person who’s helping you through it all, regardless of your success or failure? What about your assistant, mail carrier, receptionist, yoga instructor, or the...
It was my day off, in the season when we eventually won the Super Bowl, and I was playing with my kids. Enjoying my life. In the middle of family time, I got a phone call from a friend who said, “Man I just heard...
“Knowledge is power.” I’ll never forget the movie Higher Learning (1995), where one of the first black professors I ever saw on television had two favorite phrases: “What’s your plan, Mr. Williams?” and “Knowledge is power.” After my first year in the NFL, when I was...
My first year in the NFL, I found myself $30,000 in debt before I played my first snap. Then boom: before getting my first NFL paycheck, I’d already had my first surgery. These two experiences drastically changed how I viewed money. I decided to make sure that...