So you say, you know, my uncle, he's crazy them, you are his uncle money don't you might know what I heard on the story you heard. Oh, my God. Fucks up making some money up out here. Hey, everybody, is Jeremy Piven.

We're back here at Hotbox, and of course, I'm with the Great my mycorrhiza Mike is amped up and ready to go and we are so honored to have Cequent, Barkley, Raekwon in The Hero.

Thank you, guys. Thanks for having me.

Before we get into into your world, do you have a favorite running back of all time? Yeah. Barry Sanders. Barry Sanders, Bernie Sanders. It's interesting because I'm from Chicago.

So mine's Walter Payton Sweetness. Yeah.

God, you can't go wrong with that one either. No. And I have to say, you know, you're one of the great running backs. And every time I run into a great running back, I asked him the same question. No disrespect to your boy, but usually they say Walter Payton.

I would say Walter is probably the greatest all around running back. You ask me my personal favor. I say, Barry, just because Barry's especially with the bonds, it looks good.

It is. It's emotion, poetry, motion. Walter Payton is among. Yeah. You know, I was like, indestructible. Monk's correct.

Like you guys, you all feel like you're cut from the same cloth. I was lucky enough to sit down with sweetness and I asked him what was who hit the hardest. And he told me that he doesn't know who hit the hardest. But he said one time he stiff arm the dude reached underneath his pads. And before he threw him off, he said he felt the dude's heart beating in his hands and threw him to the ground. And that scared the shit out of me.

I don't know.

That's what the that's the level stuff, right. At another level, I know personally, I personally never experienced that stiff arm and a guy in a heartbeat.

You're 23, right? Yeah, I'm the heaviest sit in a dark room and you visualize yourself being the greatest running backs since the creation of God.

I was I would say yes, especially I just heard my money this year to my knee, to Marnia, but I'm big visualizer. I'm a big person that believes and I'll have a conversation with yourself someday. My dad kind of taught me and no, no, this calls for affirmation. Affirmation. A guy named Miguel Kuei, he's the father of affirmations, talking to yourself, talking things into existence.

That's where it starts. I mean, if you want to like for me, that's the whole goal. Like, my whole goal is to be the greatest one that's ever play. And I feel like if that's not what you're doing, if you're doing for the wrong reason and it starts there, you have to build that confidence in yourself. And it's those moments when you're talking to yourself and you're alone or even if you're say you're working now, you're pushing yourself during that last prep.

It's that conversation with yourself even. I agree. Even lay in the room where you talk and it's going to be exactly so.

So have you ever been injured like that before? No, no, definitely humbling man. I mean, when something that you love and you're passionate about so much is taken away from you and you're just sitting there watching on a TV and you came and go that pride at the end.

Yeah. Just breathtaking sometimes because you're unable to do what you normally do every day.

Yeah. So it's been it's been tough. Safwan means gift from God. I think I've just seen it right now. Yeah. I told the Warriors.

So you you hinted on a little bit of perspective, which is almost a gift, you know, that gratitude of the journey you've been on because you're so young.

I'm very young and conscious. You know how long it took me and I was taught by, you know, math. So the average guy would never even went into that. You know, really, I would have never went into the consciousness. I mean, he was heavyweight champ at twenty. Yeah. The youngest ever. Right.

But I had to be it before I turned twenty. So I had to be the heavyweight champion subliminally, subconsciously, emotionally, if or every iota of my body had to be that before I was that you got to visualize it. If you don't visualize it would never come come to alive. You know me and I like obviously I'm not at the level where I'm at yet where I want to reach by any means, but that's something that I study the greats.

I'll look at your videos. I look at my recipes, Kobe Bryant, Michael Joynes and, you know, the mindset, the mental part of it. And I feel like especially doing this this injury, hopefully, God willing, that's going to be another thing that helps and take me and and catapult me into the direction I want to go.

It's also the good look at their weaknesses, too. Yeah, because you find that and some people, they're special, their weaknesses in their flaws, that the bigger they're fit because they have to have they have a tug of war with them. Sometimes the flaws when the name of the game, in fact allows you to overcome your flaws and not to get discouraged every now and then they win.

Yeah, that's a great that's a great point, because that's I think a lot of people get caught up in that. We always see like a success. Never get discouraged, Cornford. Breeds success and success breeds confidence, no confidence supplied properly, the superceding is there's nothing like confidence. It's like it's almost like magic. You can't even see confidence. Yeah, can you see it? You can't even see it in the person. It comes across as being braggadocios, but you can feel it.

Oh, you could feel someone's conscience. You could feel that you can't convey it so difficult to convey it even in those moments.

You can feel it like there's sometimes like going back to visualize things like maybe the night before, maybe the week of going into a game. You're sitting there and you're visualizing and making that play. And within the play, I don't know if it's the same thing, whether you're in a fight, but within that play safe as a special play, it looks so great to everyone. But in that moment, it like it's like that in your mind. It's like a blink of an eye.

You realize what you're doing and especially when your confidence. That's something that I had to go from my confidence level in high school especially. Obviously, I just growing up and maturing. But that's something that had to be on is getting instilled in from my dad. You know, I always had the talent, but my confidence level was so low and I almost gave up on a on a sport football. And and my dad told me, you quit one thing in life, you going to be a part of your life and probably got that from you, to be honest.

But and that's something that that right there from that moment on, it kind of just clicked for me and it is still clicking. And I'm still not where I need to be. I'm still not where I want to be. But, you know, I don't think it hurts to have conversations. Your birth dates, February 9th with the passing. Of course, you know, I was always told the things she said, but then it's also too late to be careful of the way you play your games, OK?

Because, by the way, you play a game, by the way you live your life in this true way. But the way you play football is the way you want to live life. So you be careful how you play football because those mistakes will be waiting for you in life.

Um, sort of things focus on a lot of things. The details. Yeah. Applause and life plans. And being a dad, the way you treat people, that's what you're saying. And passion.

What would you say the difference is? Because it's interesting, as an outsider looking in to an arena like football, you see these guys who are achieving so much in college, who even when the Heisman Trophy and they're unable to transition into the NFL, what's what? Because you've been able to do it. And ultimately, people don't realize your background because you had to be the best player on every field you stepped on to even get to the NFL. Yeah.

Now you're with all those dudes that are on the same level and you've been able to exceed people's expectations. What's what's the difference between someone like you and someone that maybe had a great college career but wasn't able to transition?

Well, there's so many factors that go into that talent. The talent level was always going to be there. Like you said, you know, even if you're talented college, the town level is not really too much different in the NFL because think about if you run a fourth year in college, like it doesn't matter, you're going on a fourth. The NFL, you go on four or five, four, three, four, four or whatever. But it just understanding the game and it's like you got to be passionate about it.

Like for me, like team success, individual team's success has not been where we would like it to be at all. And you can find yourself when you lose in a game, not saying being comfortable with it but understand like damn like we lost. But you got to move the next week within college, you lose one or two games, the national championship, the playoffs. Everything that you want is not is not there for you. So I would say the biggest thing is those guys that that do not come from college and succeed in NFL.

Like I said, a lot of factors could be injuries, could be stuff like that. But it's how passionate about the game if you could be as talented you want in college. But if you're not passionate about the game and you don't have that work ethic, there's going to be someone that's going to outwork you in the NFL. So it's the variables, your work ethic, everything you put off the field. But it's also your mindset. Yeah, it my everything and that and that's something that like I keep saying, I'm nowhere near where I need to be, but that's what I'm trying to continue to go to.

Like I said, I'm confident not to say that I want to be a great one about how we play. But I know if I want to do that, I have to have the right work. I think I have the right mindset, respect the players and running backs before me on a stand and watch to watch them and see what they did to put them in that position and, you know, not step on a book, try to take pieces and parts of their game and their lifestyle and their work ethic and mine and try to create my own monster.

I guess I have faith in him because he's already hit the payday, but he's still humble, still respectful, still waiting to learn and grow.

So that's something he wants. Yeah. When he gets humble, we don't want anything anymore. We still young. You know, he's probably a family name is going to be put into sports history, you know, for the legacy of. Yeah. The. So you say, you know, my uncle, he's crazy them, you owe his uncle money, don't you? Might. That's what I heard. Come on, Steve, you just heard the Mike Fox.

I mean, give me some money. They fucked up out here. So his uncle was a bad man.

Not a bad man, bad ass fighter. That's what a three time champ. That's a man I a when I was younger. But I never I was like I was in love football. But it's not like I love like the training. I boxing training is like extremely hard. And that stuff that I was doing last year and obviously was my nicotine. You helped me get back into it. What's wrong with me. And yeah, I did. I tore my ACL and sell my meniscus.

Oh you got it. Oh yeah. I'm the only one of them. Yeah. Yeah.

But imagine a guy like this who's training that now all you're putting all that energy and effort into that. So you're that much stronger now. Yeah, but I'm not I'm not to be honest. That's something that like I'm trying to like because obviously if AP had like probably the best comeback story, especially the running back at the turn, his knee injury coming back, rushed for 2000 yards. And I talked to his trainer. And the biggest thing that I took from it, he was saying that we didn't just rehab the knee.

We have the whole body we focus on from from the toes all the way up to the brain to the mind. How are you going challenge yourself? And I feel like everything happens for a reason. I'm a big believer in that. And adversity is going to come everyone's life. And, you know, you got to welcome it and you got to set the challenges. And that's something that I'm facing right now. And I'm trying to use that like I like I keep saying catapult me to be a better player than I was, not just as not just on the field, but leadership, just understanding the game, the mental part of it all, that kind.

And what do you feel even stronger because of this rehab? Just it holistically. Yeah. I mean, challenging man. It challenges you. It sucks.

Like I said, very few people can come back from shit. I know. I know. He got all three of them.

They normally don't come back from one of them, you know, and that's that's a that's a challenge. You hear people talk about that and, you know, people there's people that's going to be out there that's going to count me out. But you can't really listen to that, like you say, kind of going back to yourself. It's the expectations you set for yourself, the conversations that you have yourself. And I know what I'm capable of doing.

I know what I'm going to be able to do. But it goes and starts back with just taking it one day at a time and try to focus on getting one percent better. And I'm a big believer in better take care of. So but you can also take that the people that doubt you were the haters, however you want to classify them and use it as motivation. Yeah, I agree with that. But that's that's something that I mean, we just being open honest here.

That's something I'm not doing no more. I don't need other people's energy to feed me. I love it. It starts with myself. And I think like going with my birth, going into the week that I hurt my knee. There was a lot of talk about me. There's some legends. I said some negative things about me. Media was talking negative about me. And in a game I was it was short game, but I was so pressed, you know, I wanted to go out there and shut everyone up.

I wasn't doing it for the love of the game I was doing to shut everyone up. And that was kind of like the first time where I think I honestly could say and look back at myself and say, wow, I did that. I wasn't playing just as a little kid out there and loving the game and is trying to be great. I was going out there to make a statement and shut everyone up, and I guess that happened. So interesting.

You got outside yourself. Yep. That's heavy.

I like that happened to us all. That's called being human.

Yeah. You had some injuries back in the day. Oh man.

All the time. But I think for my injury I think here I went to get my hands on the guy. Right. You know, it's almost like a three five year industry for the guy to say, I'm not going to fight. You got stitches. Yeah, I guess the same thing.

Well, you think like it was the biggest challenge for you throughout your career. Like like where was that moment where you think that obviously that confidence is inside of you, but where you kind of redirect it from that I kind of lost myself in that aspect in many, many occasions, many occasions. Then it happened and then I had to learn from that and prevent it happening again. Because like you, you mentioned adversity and and adversity. Do it, make the weak, weak and the strong stronger.

And I decide to be on the stronger side of that. Sir, I'm never not accomplish what I want to accomplish. I'm I'm willing to die to accomplish what I want to accomplish. My life means nothing. I may leave my ego for fame and what it is, but that's all that matters to me, my freedom and its future with kids and families that for me personally, personally.

And it's interesting you get it, because pro football players have an even more of a finite amount of time to make, Mike, especially my position. Yeah, sorry. Go ahead. Say especially the position I play the runner up position. Yeah, but you got to like like like I said to aversely when I, when I hurt my knee like I think a lot that's probably the the weakest moment of my life, especially those first two days. Like I just kind of control myself crying as why me, why me, why me.

And then I just like that they just hit and I'm just like, so now what a saying. I'm my coach. Coach Burns always told me, so what now? And I watched it happen. So like you said, the adversity made the weak weaker and makes a strong stronger. And you got to pick and choose which side you want to be on. And I just I know no matter what, if I came back and say the things didn't go the way I don't envision it going, which I can't see that because that's the way I envision it.

But I know I would do everything necessary to put myself in the right position, the smart way in a right way to to come back better. And if it's not in the cards for me to do it, at least I know I can look myself in the mirror and know I put the work ethic and I did a lot of things, you know, all the all the things that matter to try to make myself become one of the best to do it.

And if it don't happen, I know I put the work in, at least it's going to happen.

Yeah, I will say.

Do you get the right perspective on the right path? For sure, man.

You know, I'm always you have to believe that you have you have to understand from God to do this. Yeah, this is true. I take advantage of it. And you're a good guy. Respectable young man. A lot of good things going to happen to you. I appreciate that.

I was actually watching. I think you're playing the Bears when you got injured. Yeah. Yes, right. I was watching that game being from Chicago that we get to go back to next year, though, so there's definitely a little motivation.

Is there anybody out there to feel that just scare them when they come in that you know? No, there you go. I hear that. I mean, it may sound cocky or whatever, but like, I have that mindset when I'm on the field that I'm the best on the field, that no one could touch me. And that's the things that I feel like has made me. Even if I'm having a bit like those days like this, you're going to have your back games.

There's going to be days that you don't the game don't go your way, especially football. Football is such a team sport. That's what's my favorite sport. I mean, I love sports all around, but I think it's the biggest team sport all the time. No matter how much talent that you have, special position I play, you can be blessed with all the talent you want in the world. But it's on a run play. It takes five balls and linemen are tight and NYR receivers to all be on the same page and you be on the same page for everyone to play, to work.

Because if you do that part of the game, good. A crappy quarterback running back go to.

Exactly. Exactly. So that's why my mindset is, I guess like a lot of people say, I'm a I'm a homerun hitter. I see it all and nothing for me, which is something that I can agree. And, you know, you can you got to learn and learn when to take the little things and take the reins. But I'm I'm a believer that no matter where we are, whether we're on the one yard line or the opposite way in line, when the ball is my hand, I'm a threat to take it to the house and score a touchdown.

So I know twenty two, you know. So what do you plan on what do you plan on doing after this is over stuff like this.

You know Michael. You know Michael Strahan. Yeah. I'll see Giants legend. Hell of a player. I think even Jackson, you know, he's probably more successful outside of football. And I love sports. I love conversations. I love talking to people like this conversation. I don't like I'm not trying to be a fan fan person. I but this conversation me a lot to me, people who could challenge a mind and just open up and have dialog about things.

And I love doing that. So especially when it comes to football, I can't play football forever, but I can talk about it for a very long time. So I would love to be on TV and talking about sports like analyst or a broadcaster. That's a career side of it.

But I is a little bit like Barry. Yeah. Before you. Before him.

Gale Sayers, he just passed away this year to actually I'm not going to go God rest his soul. It's funny because Strayhorn did I was on a show called Entourage and that's how I met Mike and that's how I met Strahan. And I remember meeting Mike and just thinking he's so charismatic. And I, you know, not to be the guy that's playing Monday morning quarterback saying that I called it, but I talked to him and I said, you've got a real future like like Mike in front of the camera.

These guys are so charismatic. Yeah, and it just, you know, their path is they're going to do their thing, but also having someone who's already in that arena saying, I see you and I recognize you and you're going to be great. It just helps and helps the whole journey.

It makes you feel I'm in the right place. Absolutely.

Absolutely. And you're really humble and you're so successful. And it's a great combination the way you know you're not. So I was I was born in New York. I was born in the Bronx, but my parents felt it be better for me and my family if we moved out. So like when I was like five or six years old, my parents move me and my siblings to Pennsylvania. And that's where I kind of, I guess, was home.

So I'm from New York. I got to New York.

I feel I'm from New York to move somewhere.

So that's why I says sacrifice. My parents made they gave up a lot, left a lot of family in New York and made a sacrifice for their kids. And, you know, so far as an issue of money. No, no, no, no.

Actually, I did I did a bad give away those last time I seen them in the summer, I think was the last year or this year, this summer. And that was last time I saw them. But, you know, he's he's he's been awesome to me. I'm lucky to have him my corner. I feel like obviously, you know, he has successful Boston career. But the things I learned the most is, you know, his his downfalls in life.

And that's something that growing up, I was always, you know, kind of Korshak. Yeah. Like conscious of like people mistakes. Like, you can learn a lot from the positive things that people do when you learn what not to do and you know what not to do. So that's something that I would say being grown up and knowing of my uncle and and knowing the mistakes that my father's made and so on and so on with my family, I'll be a fool to make the same damn mistakes.

So I try to learn from them and teach those on to my kids and so on. So it's great that you had that because as they say, there's no playbook for fame, you know, walking through it. I mean, I can't even imagine what it was like for you, Mike, back in the day because there was a streak Brooklyn.

Right. And I it was cool. But once it got like where I come one day, my my I put my head on the fan.

The fuck away from me, motherfucker. Got too much. Yeah. I don't know. My mother died. I don't know. I don't know if I broke up with my girlfriend and it's running in my face and that's crazy.

But that's what's great for you is you could talk to your uncle. Yeah. Yeah. Not just like I have a great a great family. You know, I'm blessed to have two parents are alive and still together. I was not blessed with that. And, you know, I've been very fortunate. So, you know, I'm blessed in that area to to learn from the positive things that my parents and my families have done and learn from negative things and try my best.

You know, I'm human. Everyone's gonna make mistakes, but try my best not to make those same mistakes. And, you know, like I said, I have a daughter and hopefully future kids, two years old.

Awesome to the terrible twos. The real thing. Yeah. To say the least would be, uh, like I said. So I'm very blessed. Very blessed. Do you meditate? Know, that's something that my dad, my dad does and you know, he's talked to me about it, but like, I don't know, like what do you what do you count as meditate. Like I don't sit in my room with my legs crossed and like meditate like sometimes like I think of you having a conversation with yourself and just bringing those positive thoughts to yourself.

It's same thing, right?

It's just subconsciously visualizing. Yeah. You know, I mean, you focus on the issue, Emiliana, and you get a molecule and everything. Yeah. You might say I'm assuming I pretty much die. I mean, the things that I'm like, I'm I'm I'm I'm on like a borderline and I use plant and animal medicine. I won't say I've been enlightened, but I've had divine, divine feeling. Yeah, well, I've never like experience, so I took it to a level.

But I mean, that's something that I know some place to do it to me. Like, I'm always trying to find any way to gain advantage on your opponents and to try to, like I said, to try to bring the best out of you. And I talked to my dad about that. And that's something that I would have say I'm not willing to try.

You know, it's interesting, your reference for meditation. You said, you know, sitting cross-legged and crystals and stuff like that because it's things that we don't really know about or intimidating, you know, and it's just you ask what meditation is. It's just, you know, it doesn't have to be intimidating. It's just taking 15 minutes every morning and quieting your thoughts and focusing on your breath. And you could do all those things because you were such I mean, the discipline you've had to had to get to the point that you're at just to sit and be present with yourself and then you're just working on a higher vibration.

I'm not you know, I'm not trying to pedal a meditation on anyone. I'm just saying it works.

You know, if I didn't do it, I'd probably be in trouble when I was told if I was total silence with God language. And that's why we meditate. Yeah, it's beautiful. That's deep and it's a little intimidating.

But once you do it and you don't beat yourself up because you're going to have those thoughts, you just let them pass and you're silent and then you just go to another level. And by the way, there has to be something to it. It's been around for thousands of years. We're still talking about it. There must be something to it. Maybe I believe it. Yeah, when they're aware of it. The meditation thing is something I got to.

The meditation did make you think. What do you think you're really doing here? Do you think you navigated your life by working hard, you navigated your life to become this guy? Do you think that think is more powerful, the beginning that directed you in this position? Let's say I like I don't meditate, but I kind of review that like I'm a big believer in a higher being and that's why I like I feel like guys put me in a position, bless me, with a talent that is blessed with a bloodline, with me having having very athletic people in your family before you.

I would say maybe. But like I think the move from New York to Pennsylvania kind of a am I got to say, besides my uncle, I would say we have a lot of athletes, a lot of bucks, but like football is not like really that well known in New York, which I would love to try to definitely expand on and make it well known. But I feel like, yes, I can confidently say I feel like I was blessed with a talent that put me in a position that had may have brought some spotlight and attention to me.

And I feel like it's what you do with that. What do you think you should do with its impact? I think that's what would you do with that, its impact? I know we're not in a perfect world, but that's what I'm trying to do. Like I said, I know I make mistakes, but especially like I think my fan base and a lot of people that follow me are kids. And a lot of kids look up to me and I've taken notice of that.

So that's why, you know, I try to do things in the right way. But I also say, like, I was out there all the time, I'm human. So the mistakes I make in life be open and honest about that, too, because kids can learn from that, too. So you may not have an impact on 100000 people. It may be only 15 and 20. But if I can honestly say that I've made an impact by just the way how I approach the game, I approach life or how I treat others, and I could say I changed a couple of people's life, then I could say when it's all said and done, I did something positive towards this world.

And I mean, yeah, because think about it the way it's impacting you right now.

Right now, it's a big deal to me. Well, I'm not trying to put cameras on so like this, but this is about being honest. I think you have that impact on on these kids that are following you. You know, I'm saying just what you're feeling right now. And that's heavy. That's beautiful. You know, that's what it's all about. Yeah. No, don't take that for granted. A leader and you be the leader.

No, no. Said Spider-Man quote, like at the end the first Spider-Man. Oh, great. With great power comes great responsibility act. Something like that. Exactly. So like like I said, like, you know, that is all eyes on me, especially being in New York. You know, I love New York, but being a well-known athlete in New York, you know that they're just waiting for you, for you to make that mistake.

And like I said, there's going to be something I'm human. There's going to be something. I don't think I've really made a crazy mistake yet, but there's going to be something. And when I do make that mistake, be open, honest about it. And when I'm asked about it, like those like I said, those lessons and the mistakes that you make in life can also have just as much, maybe even more, of an impact on the positive things that you do.

It could be a gift because of your rehab. Do you feel like you're training in a weird way more than ever and there are almost no downtime preparing now?

It's more like it's like start over. Like how to like how to train myself, how to walk again.

I'm still doing that, like I would see, like just getting the extension in the leg, like your foot extension while you're walking and just doing that. And then like I'm known for like having big ladies I guess you could say. And then like you like you lose a lot of muscle. So now I'm getting my muscle back and then you focus on stuff that you probably didn't focus on before. I'm a very powerful guy, especially when it comes to like the weight room.

Oh, that's something I don't know much about.

Baby Max bench. I think it's 455 of 435. I think I'm a strong motherfucker, too.

Yeah, but like in weight room, I've always been strong, but now I'm focusing on little things to tell me more about me.

You have friends. What are you doing in playtime.

I'm, I'm a passionate guy. I love. I'm a loving guy. I love family. I love my family, my friends. I'm like, if I'm about you and about you, I'm ready to die. And I have like people like people around me that are people that not only could trust, but also challenged me and got like, yes, men around me. And I know some some people might have that, believe me personally, I got people that if I'm in the wrong or I'm doing something wrong, whether it's for my family, to my close friends, to teammates who look in my eyes, they say to sister, give it to you straight.

Do you do you have people that weren't in your crew? Before you had money, no, I wouldn't really say so, I mean, because all like it kind of all came in, like whether through high school and in college, I would say the some I had it some like your teammates, whether it's like a Sterling Shepherd or Dow Jones. And those guys are everything from those guys. Like, I guess you could say what, I wasn't friends with them to have got money because I was an NFL, but not really.

I keep my keep my circle small.

And just like I said, to keep you around me that not only are like great people, but also challenge you, too. If you're wrong, they won't let you know you're wrong. I love it.

I love it because Mike is Mike has been through it.

He's seen it live like he won the F man, which you got. And that's not that's not it from that one guy. Say, man, yeah man do that man.

I mean, I have like I have people like I guess you could say my major company that I work with in my management company, but I'm like, what? They do stuff for me. Yes. But it's never like in a form of like a disrespect like of me, like trying to abuse that power. And it's all like mutual respect. Like I said, like there's some close friends that I knew since I was in high school and growing up.

So you don't want those people around you, man, you know, I mean, sometimes you have people working for you.

They take the position a little too serious and we can't have fun. You know, when they come in, we take ourselves serious. We can't have fun. But when we laugh at ourselves, we always have fun. There you go.

You know, it's I mean, it's easier said than done to not take things personally, but it's heavy once you embrace it. Oh, yes.

Life is a joke. It's a joke. It's one of the things that I've one of the many things I've learned from Mike is how, you know, there have been people in his past that have taken advantage of him and he doesn't hold a grudge, lives in forgiveness. Oh, I don't know about that. I mean, I'm not. Oh, yeah. Listen, I'm not like you're not ready, brother. I'm not like you. You do me wrong.

No, you cross the line like I cut ties like a devil and the devil when. So you're saying the devil wins because someone did me wrong and I cut ties with that person, I, I never met that person yet. So I got to be the bigger person because he changed you. Oh OK. So he's your math because he controls your emotions. He's not your enemy. He's your master because he's not who you used to be. Now he stole that away from you.

Yeah, well, you allowed them to handle it. Little amount. That's hard, though, man. Once you like, you think you're great. Now, what a great go when you learn compassion and empathy. Oh, yeah. Well, listen, I was you. I wanted to be if I was I was a savage, no doubt about. I want everybody to be afraid of me now when everybody loved me and you you know, you're not going to be twenty two for long love.

Go back I and you might be a minister you never know in my life changes us. We're born and then something happens and then me God. Life is just a flicker de. And I think because of his energy, because he has so much compassion and forgiveness, people are drawn to him and he still can't figure it out. But I think those are some of the variables. There's a guy that could be that tough in that ruthless. And we've watched he's been in our living rooms.

We've seen him do these things, and yet he doesn't hold grudges. I know that. I mean, that's like I got hats off. I mean, like I said, he keeps saying I'm 23, 23 years old, you see, and I got a ways to go. Me personally right now, like now like I'm I'm a person. I always try to take advice and listen and learn. I never looked at of that aspect that you doing at the double ones.

So that's that's a whole different, different outlook of what I've had on him before. But me person before, I think I'll probably think about it differently. I'm just I don't I feel like I'm a guy that a loving guy and like what? I give you that trust and like what I love you in my life like that. And for you to turn your back and do something I say to me like I can, I can comfortably say right now I'm not at that point as a man, I happened to all the profit, happened to all the guys when I did it.

And they believe there's nothing they can forgive me for passion. And we're supposedly following them. There are profits. We should have their compassion. But I mean, like some things in this world that, like some people can do to you and that like you just like and you can still forgive them.

There's nothing in the world someone can do to you that you can't forgive them. You got to fuck with them. You don't get to hang out with them. That would be cool, too. But you don't got to do that. But to clear your soul, you have to forgive them because you have all that energy towards to them. There's you're doing all that and you create creating it. So if you cut that down, you have a better long living standards of life than you would have focusing all that energy on this negative guy.

Do you believe that you wrong, which he did. And if you have compassion, I can't forgive the person, but still cut them off, you know? I mean. Yeah, like in my heart. So you're saying, like within your heart to give them we cut them off. Yeah. Yeah. So are you saying, like, within your heart you don't have to, like, feed into that negativity or you don't have to think, oh, I want to kill that motherfucker, nobody around I would leave him alone.

That's too much stress on you because if you hold on to that, that's like you taking poison and hoping they die. Yeah. And plus, he went because you had to take the energy since you never fuck with him, fuck with who you are closest to your woman, your boys, your kid can't give you that. Take that much power away from you. You let them use your own you.

Otherwise you're just acting out of revenge all the time. Absolutely. And when you're looking for revenge, you'll make a fool of yourself. You're not thinking with your brain.

Yeah, well, I haven't really so far in my life. I can confess. I can say I haven't been in that situation, but hopefully it doesn't happen. But like I said, my life is life. And when that does happen, I mean, that's that's the way I think that's the more man thing to do. The more like that man thinks that's the right thing to say, especially in today's today's world. But like the the the right way to do it, the don't keep that negativity in your heart.

It's like being Obermann. The OnDemand is this German guy named Friedrich Nietzsche and he talked about being Overman overmanned, takes everybody's garbage, he eats everybody crap and he doesn't do nothing. And that makes them better. And they want to do crap at home. They took it and he then do nothing. And that's why the old man became so synonymous with God. Right.

Nietzsche, you really didn't think we would be talking about Nietzsche here, did you know? We thought you thought we were talking about yards per carry.

No, I knew I knew I was not concerned. But I came back and I was like, I have no idea what we're going to go and talk about.

Like what kind of show? I was like, this is the only show. Yeah. At first I'm like, OK, it's hotbox the hardbacks. And so obviously it's an honor to be talking to you guys, but I had no idea where we were going to the direction where we're going to. But I mean, so far in this conversation, I feel like I learn a lot by myself and the people who are watching can see a different side of me.

I guess you think you ever lived before. You think you ever lived before another century or anything? Oh, yeah, it's possible. I don't think I've ever lived before. I know you think you will after you die. I believe in life after death. I do, I do. I mean, that's I think that's where faith comes in having faith and hard being now religiously, I'm not too really big into religion yet. There are some that feel like I can still get into.

But I think it starts with having faith in God right now. But do I believe in life after death? Yes, but I'm not like to like I'm not to. When you're angel, you're a demon. Like I mean, I'm I have my father. I should have I wish my father was here right now and this would be a whole a year or two like these. My father, him in a room together and a conversation would be literally like must watch TV, but you can't be an angel as we are.

So like I think like your like your energy, like your soul lives on after's but like there like the in my like ok you go to that, you go to the gates of heaven or you go to hell. I'm not too sure about that right now, but I do believe that there's a life and death. And I do believe that the way you live your life on this earth does have a plan to how you spend your afterlife. But like to say like they all that.

I don't I'm not too sure into that right to that right now.

Do you know who you were in another life, Mike? I have no idea. No idea. So it's I like deja vu. And would that be like something like this? Some stuff like you're like like you feel some stuff. You're like, why why do I felt before. So I guess but I've never thought about it like that. Like I mean my boys and people have like these conversations all the time and the dialogs about anything. But I would say like do I believe I was someone before this.

That's a ha. That's that's like I can't say yes, but like I know I just said no, but I can't say yes and I can't say no because I truly don't know. But I don't I don't think so. I don't think so. But I do believe in life after. I mean, think about it, when you're around certain people, you feel more comfortable than others. Yeah, you we all have gifts that we are we take to faster than others.

And that's unexplainable. Yeah, we only use 10 percent of our brain. So they say it's hard to. Yeah. So like you could like, make the argument that like like this like I said to my dad about the other day, like this is just like host I believe like your soul and like your energy like carries on and carries on and carries on. So that's like I guess you could say the same thing of like agreeing with. I say that I believe in life after death because that would be a different type of life after death.

They may not be like to heaven or hell, but like if your soul continue to carry on, carry on, like you're still living after this, this body. Absolutely. People that have near-death experience, they talk about their spirit and the spirit continues on. My little French bulldog died in my arms recently, and I hope his spirit carries on.

I always think they always think people that died and the animals as well as my dog is one of my friends. Absolutely. Without a doubt. I believe that's I think the way they look at you, they're my the out me.

You felt that you got kids.

I do have I have a daughter, Jake. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. How old is she too. So he also turns three in April. So she was, you know, February. I got drafted April 26 and she was born April 24th. Wow. And so, like, two days before I got drafted. So I got to, like, experience two of my dreams, like I got to become a father. And then two days later, I got to go into the NFL and start that start that path off to.

Let's have your family. Go ahead, baby. Go ahead. We go. Yeah, it was fun. It was fun.

I had my but that was probably that week. For me, getting drafted was amazing because like I said two days prior, I got to see that the birth of my daughter and then I was able to actually still travel to Dallas, Texas, and have my family have my loved ones there. And, you know, all the hard work that I put in just to get to that moment and have the people with me. Oh, man.

Okay, water, please contact you get the money they give you these white people.

Oh, oh, oh.

Not even focused on that right now, to be honest. It's so obviously I want to play for the Giants as long as I can hopefully be a job for the rest of my life. But right now I feel like the best thing I do for not only for myself but for my teammates is to focus on getting this knee right and preparing myself to get ready for season one whenever I'm able to come back.

But they offer you a lot of money, man. Barkley they offer you that. Grizz You know, they do this shit once. Now you fuck around, get your back fucked up. Can't get the Grizz. Yeah, but you can't you've had your back fucked up.

You played right through. You work through it. It's not. Yeah. That's not a career ender situation.

Get the gravy. Yeah. I agree with you. I feel like that.

I feel like I'm a big believer everything will take care of itself. So if I have the right work ethic, the right mindset and tried to do little things right, everything's gonna take care of you. And that's the best way I can answer that.

I want a difficult concept for you game. I care about my mother house. I did buy me some dope then. You, me, my contract. Mm hmm.

You're a good guy. Yeah.

How about my mouth? Yeah. That's before actually before I got drafted by my mom a house. I would say my mom like I don't know. I would say that my mom, my dad house. But like I said, my parents don't so much for me that and I know the sacrifices. And obviously we didn't grow up with a lot, but we always made what made right. What we had. And, you know, God permission to have a little money in my life.

So to be able to buy my mom a house and probably one of my biggest accomplishments, if not a nice kid, is Amy is this week.

You can feel it, right? I can see these things, too, because if we didn't believe it, he would tell you.

Yeah, believe me, I live in the current Karen Carpenter. I'm very sensitive, like is very sensitive. I appreciate that.

He's a mama's boy. Like Mom. I am too. I can feel your mama's boys. Yeah.

As we wind down anything that you wanted us to chant, name one. You hear me? Yeah. I don't know if he has a reference for me. Definitely has a reference for you.

Mike is on to a little young. I've actually never watched. There you go to Mike. I've got moisturizer on. That's older than he is, OK. 23 year old man. He's young. I would say for both of you guys, like wended like in your careers, like when did like a click for you guys? Not like like not like when you may have became the heavyweight champ at 20 or you may have reached a part of your career at a certain age, but when did it click?

And you're like, all right, I'm the greatest of all time. 15, 15, 15. What happened at 15 that let you know that I won the Nationals twice and knocked everybody out?

And then I for some, they called Club Mans where you fight anybody any age and knocked everybody out in that tournament. And so at the end, I beat the world junior champion, knocked him out. So I thought I was the man. You were about 190 pounds at 15.

Yeah, OK. And and you were even earlier lying about your age to fight older guys.

Yeah. Interesting. That's heavy. Well, I wish my story was that interesting.

Listen, here's the reality of my my story is I'm a little bit different on paper. I won the fresh face of the year, 37 years old. And when I accepted my award, I said there's nothing fresh about my face, but thank you. So on paper, I was a late bloomer. Mike was an early bloomer, youngest heavyweight champ. But for me, I just had to stick it out because I knew I was going to happen.

It was just a question of when. And we started seeing a movie and there were some and bad things, very bad things. And also that was twisted would be a very twisted it was an exploration of bad karma and it was very bad.

In the meantime, guys went out together, went to Vegas. Some really weird stuff happened. You know, they may they may got a stripper. They want to do more. And I think she's doing too many pills and she is part of our boom. We think she's that it was a very dark, twisted movie. Yeah. Yeah. Well, let's think, though, I mean, I, I come from an acting family and a theater family.

So, you know, Mike was asking, you know, what things that you're proud of, like with me being from Chicago, we had a program called Off the Street Club and we took kids from the south side of Chicago. Everyone's on scholarship. We bring them in and we teach them improv scene study. And so we're giving people all on scholarship a chance to see what it's like to be an actor. You know, when they never they thought, well, OK, I love Denzel, but I could never do that myself.

And so it's a chance to for people to actually touch it and have a reference for it. You know, like what you guys were talking about earlier this year, having a moment with Mike, and then you're going to have that with kids. And I was lucky enough to touch people in the theater growing up like that, sitting on a table like. So no question you to what would be the best advice you would give to a young kid or, you know, a teenager that's coming up in their profession, whatever their profession may be, whether they want to be a boxer or a football player, actor, a scientist, like what would be the best advice that you can give that kid?

It's a great question, I think, to realize that you're enough sometimes that people don't realize that they're enough when we would go up on stage and we'd be asked to improvise, you know, if you're nervous and you doubt yourself or you're listening and you're a slave to your fears and doubts and thoughts, you're going to be a lesser version of yourself. You know, it's never make yourself small. You own the space that you occupy.

You're enough in the two year old and stuff. Your mother, your whole mission should be to make them happy and make them have what they never had before in their life. That would be a mission. You have everything else that gives. You got the platform now. You got to be entrepreneur and take care of your family and teach them how to take care of their family. You know, you could break the cycle, whatever it was that wasn't good, your family drugs or whatever it was.

And that's what it's all really about. No, but it was the best in the world. I'm the best in the world in order to do this for my family, my friend, the people that I love, that's all. But this shit is about no ego. I'm the best. You know, we got to deal with that. We got to kind of give gift ourselves. But, you know, by taking care of people, all the stuff we got hope and people, they can't help themselves like.

Wow. Thank you.

Sequined Berkeley for joining us. Thank you, Damon. It's beautiful. Some deep, deep, deep stuff. Yeah, it was fun. Thank you. Learn a lot.

But you got to do right now when you leave, what are you going to do, work out.

And I got rehab. Yeah.

What about working out what the pay is worked out. Twenty six hours he is. Oh they want to pay worked out or they.

He used to run this hill by my house. Oh the dirt hill. Right. I lived down. Straight from there, this is what I I to a dirty ugly here. Yeah, just one more sprinted up that bad boy, he was old school. He would just take weights in his hands and get on that trampoline stuff that we had kind of never seen before. You know, he was about Lisetta five ten. He really was about five five nine.

But playing like that, running through people. That to you, my man. Good luck. So Famiglia, I'm a Chicago Bears fan, but now I have to give it up to the guys where they have tell.

Also, when you get your new contract, I want to borrow some money. We'll talk.

We'll talk into the interest. Thank you, guys. Thank you, guys. For the ones who know safety isn't a catchphrase, it's a culture and the ones who help make sure everyone makes it home safe for the safety minded who watch everyone's backs, Granger offers supplies and solutions for every industry, as well as safety assessments and training to keep your facility safe and your people safer. Call Granger Dotcom or just by Granger for the ones who get it done.

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