Hey, where'd you go?

Chase Coffman, former Missouri, NFL TE || Leveraging What You Learn

May 04, 2021 Collin Kushner / Chase Coffman Season 1 Episode 10
Hey, where'd you go?
Chase Coffman, former Missouri, NFL TE || Leveraging What You Learn
Show Notes Transcript

Chase Coffman was honored with the prestigious John Mackey Award in 2008, recognizing him as the best tight end in the nation. However, despite his outstanding performance throughout his college football career at the University of Missouri, his NFL career did not quite pan out as expected. Coffman was cut from several teams, moved around the country for a few years, and did not score his first NFL touchdown until his fourth season. In this episode of the 'Hey, where'd you go?' podcast, Coffman discusses his time playing football at Missouri, being drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals, the lessons he learned from being cut numerous times, and his transition to becoming a financial advisor. Today, Coffman works as a Financial Advisor at BMG Advisors in Kansas City, Missouri.

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Speaker 1:

If it's not going to be in the NFL, if it's not going to be football, right? Like you can still take that into your relationship. For me, with my wife, teaching my children, helping them grow with my good friends with my now colleagues, the NFL is quite a bit of a bubble and you know, you're in the limelight and, you know, there's, there's this magnifying glass on everything that you do and everything is sped up. It does translate into so many different aspects of life that, that are gonna, you know, take you all the way to, you know, whatever that day is that that's the last day

Speaker 2:

[inaudible], what's up. Everybody. Welcome to another episode of the Hayward. You got podcast, I'm your host, Colin Cushner. And we have a special guest this week. We have former Missouri Tidende chase Kaufman. He played in the NFL and now he's in the world of finance as a financial advisor at BMG chase. How are you? My friend?

Speaker 1:

I'm doing great. Collin. I appreciate you having me on. And, uh, it's a beautiful sunny day here in Kansas city, Missouri.

Speaker 2:

I also have to mention the Epic mustache chase has the mustache. I have the mustache for those of you watching right now at work, you're just listening and you can't see either of our wonderful mustaches. This was not planned. This was completely impromptu. I just hoped that we would be on the same page.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. And we both have a little bit of stubble in there too, you know, not, not completely clean shaven. I love it.

Speaker 2:

Your dad played in the NFL. He was a tight end. You said for the Packers he played for the chiefs, Minnesota. Was he your football influence? Is he, is he the reason why you got into the sport?

Speaker 1:

Um, I, I would say yes. You know, knowing that he played, right. Like me and my siblings, we watched a few like old VHS highlight tapes of him back in the day. And you know, it was green Bay highlight films. I don't know that there was, um, much, much on his, his chiefs or Vikings career, but, you know, we were all pretty pretty into sports at a young age, all competitive or enjoy different kinds of games and coming up with games in the backyard, you know, all over that property, um, with our friends. Um, and you know, for me at a pretty young age, my dad wouldn't let me play organized football until sixth grade, because that's when he, he was allowed to play, um, at the, at the age of sixth grade. And so, you know, at a, at an early age though, I felt like, you know, football is, is my love is my passion. That's my favorite of all the sports. Right. But I, I mean, I, we played soccer, we played basketball, we played T-ball.

Speaker 2:

Was it like catching touchdown passes from your brother, Carson, your younger brother, I should know, back in high school because having the opportunity to play with family or siblings, it doesn't happen often.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it was. I mean, it was, it was a really neat experience looking back on it. I, I think, I mean, it's so much more special than actually in the moment, right? Like you don't sometimes see like how rare something like that can be when I got to high school, I, I wasn't able to actually have him as a starting quarterback until my senior year, but I remember my junior year, um, I had been a first team, all state receiver my sophomore year. And we went to this camp team, summer camp, and we were playing a few other teams. Our starting quarterback had gotten hurt and my brother being a sophomore, he was the starting JV quarterback. So he got to start against a pretty good team that we were scrimmaging and we had some struggles and he threw some there's some passes, uh, not the most accurate to me. And I was getting on him quite a bit at that time, our head coach, uh, he was like, you know, meet, go easy on your little brother. You know, he's not, but not been in this situation yet. And he's, you know, he's doing the best he can and he doesn't need as big brother. You know, it'd be beating them up even though, you know, that's kinda what he's grown up with. Um, and he, I mean, he ended up his, his junior year, my senior year, and then his senior year when I was gone, he was the starting quarterback on the varsity. And, uh, went undefeated as a starter in high school, which is a pretty neat, neat opportunity for him won two state championships and had the opportunity to go to Kansas state on a scholarship.

Speaker 2:

Again, I just think it's neat that you have that opportunity. And like you said, in the moment, you're not the only one you don't think about how special those moments are. There are plenty of moments, not exactly like the one with you and your brother that I've had in my life and you're in it. Great. This is awesome, but it's not till after, or some time passengers where you really understand the beauty of those particular moments. And I think it's that way by design.

Speaker 1:

I agree. Um, and I mean, now I think that like even more so, um, my wife and I have three little kids and sometimes we don't, we don't enjoy the moment. Always have, you know, maybe not sleeping or getting, getting things messy that we didn't want to get messy. And it's like, you know what, like now, like we've been through this before, not the exact situation, but like just what is it, what does it really hurt? What's really important in our life. Not, not things, but you know, the relationships and the things that we're able to teach each other and learn from each other,

Speaker 2:

Play with your brother. You had a ton of success in high school, and you were getting recruited by likes of Iowa, Kansas state, Kansas, Nebraska, Florida, Michigan state. And of course, Missouri, the school that you ultimately committed to play with, what was the recruiting process like? And did you enjoy it?

Speaker 1:

You know, everybody likes to be kind of praised for what they enjoy doing, especially, and it's a really neat process. It's also kind of like a stressful process, especially if you got a, I guess, even if you don't have options because you want the options. But, um, I think I had nine, um, division one offers whenever I said, like, all right, like, um, I want to stay close enough to home where my parents can still come to my games, um, where my brothers and sister could still, you know, I could still be involved in their lives. And I narrowed it down to Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas state and Missouri. Um, and then from there from to Kansas state and Missouri, and then ultimately just, just to Mizzou, I won. Um, I think it's important to if, if you want to, as a kid, if you want to come back to the area that you're from, um, you know, football, whatever sport you play is going to be done with at some point. And, you know, if that's where you want to eventually call home or you think that's a possibility, right? Like I think that it's really important to, I mean, to be, to be known in the area or at least, you know, have connections in the area, you know, like being in Kansas city, I have, uh, a whole network of Mizzou alumni.

Speaker 2:

You made a great point that when you're making these decisions where, where you should attend school or something in nature, you should almost have an idea of where you want to be geographically. Although chase, how many are 17 and 18 year old kids are thinking that,

Speaker 1:

I mean, hardly any, right? Like your goal is, and similar on the, you know, picking a major, right? Like what 17, 18 year old kids, you're going to pick the major that they're going to actually go into that field. Right. Who's ready for that life decision to pick, Hey, I'm going to go into this for the rest of my life. Um, but like you, which again comes back to like, Hey, if you can have people that are positive role models, positive influences in your life to tell you these things while making those decisions, man, what a great headstart, um, you know, most, most kids going to college on a scholarship is, Hey, I'm gonna make it pro school. Doesn't really matter. Like I'm, uh, uh, I'm, I'm, I'm, uh, I'm a student athlete. Um, you know, that's, that's, that can be a lot of the mindset is, you know, student comes, first, student comes first is what they say, right. And the student athlete where, you know, you really, you got the scholarship because you're an athlete, you just get, go down a path to get a degree. Um, and hopefully you get to pick that by some means that something that you're interested in, um, and hopefully you, you graduate and get that degree because at least it shows that you've worked hard enough to, to put in the work, even, even if it's the secondary thing. Right. Which I don't think it should be just because of the odds of making it to the next level, but you've put in the work to, uh, to at least get the degree, right? Like, that's, that's a form of just saying like, look, I know how to be responsible. And, um, you know, back to sports, if you have a good coach, you know, he, he or she is able to teach you all those, all those valuable lessons, the character, the work ethic, um, you know, even the moral, it was like not, not cheating, right? All these things that translate well into anything. Uh, but, but are not necessarily like the, the thing that you're going to put on the role model or the resume of, you know, Hey, I have really good character. Hey, I, I made it through two a days. I made it through condition. You know, I ran, you know, so many, one tens or, you know, this and that and lifted and squatted this much. And, you know, but, but the underlying values of what, what it takes to do all those things well is, is what really translates.

Speaker 2:

I completely agree. And especially nowadays with the glitz and glamor and Twitter and Facebook and Instagram, and Hey, I'm committing to Arizona state, they have these sick, new unis and they switched them out every single week. Don't get me wrong. Matt is the perfect kid response to having such a great opportunity like that. However, it's also important to think about the overlooked ideas. Like what's the character of the coach. Does he care about my academics? Does he not care?

Speaker 1:

Does he care? What kind of no, for us, what kind of man that I grew up to become, you know, am I going to be a responsible man, you know, in whatever job that I go into, whatever career I'm going to be, you know, a respectful husband, a good father, right? Like the things, again, the things that really matter in life, not, not just, can you get me wins? Can you get me to the NFL? And that, that, that does matter. But you know, if, if nothing else, you know, the rest of it is sustainable, the NFL is never a sustainable, you know, the joke and the joke in that is, you know, NFL stands for not for long. And the average career is three years. And so, you know, going, going in with the hopes of I'm going to have a double digit year career, I'm going to be a hall of Famer, right. Like, and trying to pick a college on that.

Speaker 2:

That's a lot, that's a lot of your future hindering hanging on, on wobbly ground.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. And for a lot of kids, again at 17, 18 years old, they've not had a lot of failure in their life to get to that point. Just, just because of probably just the pure athletic ability that they have to even be, you know, in the, in the, in the conversation of getting a division one school,

Speaker 2:

When you went to Missouri coach Pinkel, Missouri was still in the big 12, the time you played with the likes of chase Daniel, Jeremy Macklin, uh, you guys were insane. I think it was the 2007 season. You guys went 12 and to play to Arkansas in the cotton bowl, one, the cotton bowl. What w what were those experiences like

Speaker 1:

Across the board? Uh, we had very, uh, very selfless team guys that were doing their job that were keeping each other accountable that we're working hard. Um, and, you know, obviously those two are two of the most talented on the team and great leaders chase, especially being the quarterback. Um, and that's why he's still playing today. But you know, all across the board, you know, from the athletic director and Michael and Gary, Pinkel the whole, the whole coaching staff, the whole strength staff, the whole equipment staff, the training staff, you know, everybody had bought in to the system

Speaker 2:

Chase to this day. You still hold numerous university of Missouri records. Um, you were an All-American and you won the John Mackey award for best tight end winning an award like that. What was that moment like for you? Can you recall the exact moment in time? Yeah.

Speaker 1:

So at the time, you know, the college, it may still be held down there. I know, not recently because of COVID, but, um, it was, it was the award ceremony was held down at the, I think like wild wide world of sports in Orlando, um, on Disney's property. And they didn't invite the tightened, the tight ends that were up for the award down there for the, for the awards ceremony, for whatever reason. But, but, uh, one of my good buddies and teammate, Jeremy Macklin, he was up for the, um, bulletin, a cough award for wide receivers. And he had so many guests. I was like what he gets to go and, and miss some of our bowl practices while I get to stay,

Speaker 2:

You get to stay there and work your butt off. Jeremy Macklin gets to go to dress up in a nice and receive a potentially receive an award.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So he, uh, so he got at me, you know, it was gracious enough to invite me as one of his guests. So I got to go, I got to go down and sit in the audience with his family, which was fun for the award show, but they didn't, you know, honor me or anything at the show, uh, in particular. And it was just before everything. Um, our media relations director kind of got the cause of, you know, like, dang Jay, Jay, Jay Mac, didn't get the bullet in the cough. I think it went to Michael Crabtree that year. And, uh, and yeah, chase, chase. You want it? You won the Mackey award. That's, that's super cool. Uh,

Speaker 2:

I love it. Hey, Macklin, didn't win the bulletin a cop. Yeah, chase you. Here you go. You won this award.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Yeah. But then, uh, you know, after, I think in, uh, January, January, maybe mid January, they had the, like a little awards ceremony up in, um, like long Island, New York, the Nassau County sports commission, uh, sports bank banquet, where they honored me, uh, in front of a, uh, a group up there and my parents and I got to go up there and spend the night up there. And that was the first time I'd ever really been in New York, which was, which was pretty cool. Um, city doesn't really sleep. And, you know, after the, after the ceremony or like, Hey, you know, the driver that, that we have, can you take us around the city and kind of check it out? And we went up to the top of the empire state building at like one o'clock in the morning and, you know, like kind of got the full experience. And there, there was, there was literally, I mean, it wasn't packed like during the day I'm sure. But there was more people than were in peculiar out walking around and acting normal.

Speaker 2:

That's amazing though, that you were able to take in that moment, moment in a place like New York with your family. But again, it kind of goes back to what we were saying previously though. I'm sure it was one of those things in the moment. This is cool. This is great. But maybe you don't realize how special that moment is in particular until afterwards.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Yeah. I, uh, I feel like I'm still kind of taking in bits and pieces of how special that is, right? Like, um, it is, it is the only, the only, the only individual position award one at Missouri. And that, I mean, how cool is that? But I mean, could I have done it without the other guys that I had on my team? I doubt it. Right. Which makes it even more special if like, man, we had something that was really cool, really special and, and really like, it shows you, you know, there's people that have the, the talent and the success, whether it's in sports or business or whatever, but sometimes it's just not the right time in the right place for them. Right. And sometimes they don't, they don't reach that potential because of that. Not that they didn't have it, but it also gives you that, like, if you, if you can understand it, it gives you that urge to like, Hey, keep pushing. Right. Because, because that it'll come. Um, and something that I, anytime I get the chance to speak or talk to people about, you know, in life lessons, I always bring up this Bible verse that, that my brother sent me kind of while I was going through a tough time of, um, I think maybe some injuries and, and stuff like that. But it's Galatians six nine says, do not grow weary in doing good for at the proper time, you will reap a harvest if you do not give up. So, I mean, I related it to sports. I don't, don't give up working out, putting in the effort, studying film, doing, doing all the things that, that, you know, in the long run as has made people successful in this sport. Because if you, if you stop doing it, there's not a chance, but if you continue doing it right, that opportunity may come along where you finally get to prove yourself.

Speaker 2:

I tell people all the time, a lot of young broadcasters and journalists reach out to me on LinkedIn and seek out advice. And I always give them every, any, any piece of knowledge I give to them because, you know, I want to see other people succeed and do well. And of course at the end of it all pay it forward. So many people get jealous when they see somebody straight out of college. And I'm just strictly using this as an example, straight out of college, they get an opportunity to go to New York city, right out of college. You have the person that's worked in Wyoming, Louisiana, North Carolina, all over the country. And they're still not there yet. Maybe feeling jealous. And my thought process behind it is don't be jealous. Like find out like good for that person. Be happy for that person, because sometimes people do just have a little bit of luck and there's nothing you could do about it. Hit up that person, congratulate them, find out what they did to get to that point.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Yeah. That's and that's such a good way to look at it. And I feel like my mindset has changed to that too earlier in my playing career, in the NFL. And even in college, I was like, what the heck, this guy over here he's getting paid. Like, I'm way better than that. Right. And that's similar to what you were just saying, but like, you know what, like, I didn't have anything, you know, like what can I control? I can control about his situation. Right? Like figure out, you know, good for him. If he isn't good and he got a good contract, you know, like good for him. Right. Uh, what can, what can I do to better myself?

Speaker 2:

It's interesting to think about, because it's not, it's not as black and white, you know, it's, it's easy to get caught up with and goat and we've all done it. I've done it to this person. How's this person I'm better than this person. But I think the older and wiser that you get, you have to lean on the mindset that we described and you have to do it ethically and morally because the more time you spend perseverating on that person or that thing, that didn't happen, you're, you're pushing off the inevitable.

Speaker 1:

And sometimes, you know, they didn't get there by doing it the right way. So it's not sustainable. Right. It looks like they looks like they did all the right things and just got lucky. Right. And, and maybe they did, maybe it's just, you know, the right time right place. And they got their opportunity. But more often than not, you know, I've learned a lot that, you know, good things don't come easy and they don't come quick. So it takes consistency. You know, it takes hard work. It takes effort. It takes, you know, it takes, it takes, you know, putting in the hours and, you know, if it, if it doesn't, you know, and it's not in your heart to do anymore, and it's not a passion to do any more than, you know, pivot changed directions, go, go find something else, but don't come, don't complain that, you know, you, that, that somebody else, you know, sh you should be where they are.

Speaker 2:

Well, also another thing that takes a lot of hard work, these mustaches right here, that's a lot of hard work and dedication as well. I don't want to lose sight of that here.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Uh, I couldn't really grow that great of facial hair, you know, for probably the first 26 years of my life. And then, you know, after that

Speaker 2:

Chase, after Missouri, you ended up being drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the third round of the 2009 NFL draft. And this is the part that I find so fascinating again, from previous conversations, I always want to know, like, where were you on that particular day? I've had people tell me they were sleeping. They were out and about with friends. Where were you when you were drafted?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so I was sitting in my parents' living room watching the draft. So this, uh, this, that particular year, 20, 29, um, the draft was on two, two days. So it was the first and second round on Friday night. And then third through seventh, the, that Saturday. And I remember, you know, I won the Mackey award, you know, I was an all American census, all American tied in thinking like Shirley, I'm going to have the opportunity to go in the first or second round. I broke my foot in our bowl game, my senior year. So I didn't do the combine. I went to the combine. I didn't didn't work out. I didn't work out at our pro day at Mizzou. And so I didn't, it was like, you know, kind of a toss up in the air, like, w you know, where am I gonna land in this thing? What team am I gonna go to? And Cincinnati was not on the radar. Um, I remember getting a call from a number, I didn't know. And it was actually an old high school friend that I didn't have their number in my phone. And I was like, is this, is this the chief's eight one six number? Like, are the chiefs going to draft me? They had just, they had traded Tony Gonzalez to Atlanta. I was like, this is, this is what, what a dream come true. You know, the home hometown team, how cool, uh, they didn't end up. Drafting me is, Oh, Hey, what's up Marlin? What are you doing, man? Good to, good to talk to you. Um, Hey, like, I'm sorry. I thought you were somebody else. I remember, you know, getting this five, one, three area code and it, that crap who is that, you know, picking it up as coach Lewis, Marvin Lewis and, uh, the bangles. And I was like, kind of caught off guard, like, you know, okay. Like where what's, what now, what now? Like they want me, they drafted me, um, you know, where do we go from now as the very last pick number 98 in the third round and like, okay, Cincinnati, Ohio. I know where it is, you know, that it's in Ohio, but like where in Ohio is Cincinnati. And so trying to find out as much as that much about the team and the coaching staff and office coordinator, um, Carson Palmer, uh, Chad Ochocinco, um, Cedric Benson, Chris Henry. I mean, we had a pretty explosive offense who are the Titans that I'm going to be competing against for playing time. And, and then just kind of like wrapping my head around, like, okay, what's, what's the next steps. Um, and it was a pretty neat process. And I feel like, again, at the time, I didn't really, uh, enjoy it for what it was, you know, how many people get to get drafted into the NFL. But, but for me, it was, it was a childhood dream and it was kind of an expected thing.

Speaker 2:

Do you think that you had the mindset of, you got drafted, you shared the excitement, but you've been such a hard worker, your whole life, you automatically went into hardworking mode because all of a sudden, you're trying to figure out where is since he exactly geographically, who am I going to be competing against? Who's on the team to me. That's already scheming. Yeah,

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, like, that's, that's kinda what I had done throughout the recruiting process too. You know, going back to that, you know, where, what are the, what are my, what's my opportunity there and how do I, how do I go about that? Right? Like how do they plan on, on implementing what I do well, and to their offense? You know, what's their thoughts, thoughts on that. And, uh, I mean, to get into that, I don't think there's a lot of communication on that, getting there. And, um, you can see some, some of my struggles in 2009 hard knocks series where I got cussed out just about every day in training camp. Uh,

Speaker 2:

I'm sure that was very enjoyable.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. At the time I was like, Holy cow, this might not be for me. Um, I have a signing bonus that I got, and that might be it, my, my NFL career. Uh, and I, it, it was tough. I remember at one point there was, I think, five days in a row, uh, maybe a full week where me and Derrius Hill, who is another rookie actually from the Kansas city area, went to ball state, um, were the only two Titan healthy tightens on the roster because the three, the three veterans had all gotten hurt. Um, they were out two of them season ending injuries, and the other one was out for a week. We were like, we're taking first team rep, second team reps, third team reps, uh, also doing scout team scout team on the special teams or apps, you know, like we didn't have a break during camp. And that was the point that I was mentioning where like, yeah, Holly, this is this really for me. Like, they might kill me. I ended up not even suiting up one game that year as a rookie, um, which sucked like coming from a, you know, the All-American, the Mackey award, all this great stuff to not even getting a chance to suit up. You know, you have 53 men on the active roster and, uh, 46 of those 47 of them at the time suited up for game day. So you had your six inactives each week. And I was always on the inactive list. And that like, that really ate me up. That was, that was kind of a dagger to humble, humbling dagger. Um, but just like, man, I don't get to do this thing. I love, um, it was a really tough first year and my whole, my whole career ended up being similar to that. You know, being, being up up some weeks down some weeks, getting a little bit of playing time here, a little bit of playing time there getting cut. Um, and I finally scored my first touchdown in Tennessee in year six. That was a really cool opportunity, but Allie, it took me six years to score my first touchdown.

Speaker 2:

It's through those hardships chase, because again, so much success in high school that translated to Missouri at Missouri, the same thing you ended up winning the Mackey award best tight end in the entire country. Then all of a sudden you get drafted, you make it to the NFL, a childhood dream, and then all of a sudden it just flattens out. And those opportunities that you had before essentially disappeared.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. It was really tough at first, especially just because of that, you know, being young, um, kind of expecting that success. And I mean, looking back on, man, I think everybody goes through that, whether it's, you know, in junior high or at the end of your, your professional career or somewhere in between, in between not many people get to walk away on their terms and have the career exactly the way that they wanted about a week before the first preseason game, a guy in Atlanta got cut and, or got hurt in that first pre-season game. And I got a call and went down there for the second preseason game, um, a third preseason game, and then they cut me after the third preseason game. I'm thinking like, man, this is getting cut twice in one preseason. And usually after the third preseason game back then when you had to cut from 90 to 75, that was like, you know, these guys are not going to make, they're not getting a chance, you know, you're, you're you get cut VAT early in training camp. Like, you're, there's a good chance that your career is over with. And I was thinking that's probably me. And they ended up calling me back after the fourth pre-season game and offering me a practice squad contract. And it was the first time where I felt where my, my style of play really fit with that office and the team and the coaches. And like they wanted me to succeed. And I was, I felt like I was doing really well in practice, um, running scout team, working hard and, you know, showing up early, staying late, doing all the things that, you know, that prove that, you know, Hey, like I'm, I'm trying, I'm giving effort. I want to be available for when that opportunity comes. And the coaches started saying that, Hey, you know, like it's not, it's not if, but when like you're going to have an opportunity. So keep doing the things you're doing. And one of our, one of the guys that was ahead of me, he got hurt, um, against the saints, uh, in new Orleans. I remember sitting there with my wife at home, uh, in Atlanta, at our place in Atlanta and thinking like, Oh, this is my shot. Right? Like, I feel terrible for Tommy. He got hurt, but you know, like this is what I've been waiting for an opportunity, right? You don't wish for people to get hurt, but you prepare for the opportunity because there is a hundred percent injury rate in the NFL. And, uh, I remember getting a call the next day from two of my friends that I had played with one in Cincinnati, one in Tampa that said, Hey, they're bringing us in for workouts.

Speaker 3:

Uh, I'm remembering like, come on, are you kidding me?

Speaker 1:

Like, this is what I've been waiting for. They've told me that I'm like, it's not if, but when, and so like, this is it. And you guys aren't practice squad eligible. So what are they bringing you in for? Um, and I remember being like really off about that. And then kind of later that night, just laying in bed with my wife and praying to God, you know, God, if, if, if practice squad is all you have for me and you know, you're going to teach me something through this, like I give this to you, right. I don't want to put football in front of, in front of Jesus Christ in front of my relationship with Christ because, you know, then, then I'm making that my God, instead of, instead of the God that I really say is my God. And so, you know, I, I remember just giving that up to him. And, um, and after that point, you know, I ended up getting signed to the active roster the next day. And they didn't sign the, the two guys that had given me calls. But after that point, um, I got cut another seven times maybe throughout my career. And, and each time it was so much easier because it was like, Hey, you know what? You have done what you can control. And then, you know, the business decision that the coaches that the GM that, you know, whoever makes those decisions, you know, sometimes it's not about who's the actual best player. Sometimes it is a business decision and, you know, don't take it, don't take it personally, right? Like you, are, you still, you still come to work, working hard and preparing for those opportunities. And, you know, that's kind of the point where, for me, it, it turned over to, it was a little easier to get cut. It still sucked. Um, and it was still kind of like gave me, gave me some anxiety and, you know, having to move and pick up and go to a, you know, a new place maybe. And, um, and, and all the things that come along with that. But, but after that, it was like, all right, you know, like it wasn't, it wasn't because I am a failure.

Speaker 2:

And I think that's the difficult part is to, to understand when you give something, everything you have, it doesn't matter what the outcome is because you tried your best. Now it's easier to, to say that mantra as opposed to believing it. But as you just noted, you said it got easier to get cut. And I know it still sucked if you said it didn't suck. I would be like, wait a second. But at the same time you got to understand, I did everything. I could, I laid it all out there. This is not a reflection of me that, but, but those that's the difficult part as you're going through something like that to realize it's not me. Um, I did everything I could.

Speaker 1:

I mean, one of the things that my mom always told me to doing chores around the house is I hated that. But she said, you know, relate, relate this to sports. Like, God, God asks you, you know, do everything as if you're working for the Lord. So, you know, make everything your best work, whether that's cleaning the toilets or, you know, running or running around and catching passes or tackling, you know, whatever that is, you know, you gotta do it with, with your full effort and know that God is pleased with that, right. Because, you know, if you don't, if you don't do something with full effort, what do you expect? You know, Y Y w you know, going back to what my dad said, you know, if you want to be good, you know, here's what you can do to be there, to get there. If not, don't, don't expect to win. Don't expect to be better than that guy. And that's why, that's why it does hurt so much is because you put so much effort into it. There is a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, you know, going back to what I was talking about in training camp that week of running every single rep, right? Like it's hard. And I put a ton of effort in that and, you know, to not see it pay off is as tough to get cut after, after stuff like that is like, ah, Hey, it wasn't worth it. It's hard to get up and say, I'm going to work this hard again.

Speaker 2:

You have to assume and hope. And again, I know you're a big believer in faith that, although it didn't work in that particular sphere of the football sphere, that it will work in some other portion of your life.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. That's completely true, right? Like if it's not, if it's not gonna be in the NFL, if it's not going to be football, right. Like you can still take that into your relationship. For me, with my wife, um, you know, teaching my children, helping them grow, you know, with my, with my good friends, with my now colleagues, uh, you know, continuing to do those things or the NFL is, is quite a bit of a bubble. And, you know, you're in the limelight and, you know, there's, there's this magnifying glass on everything that you do and everything is sped up. Number one, because you're young and you don't, you know, for most of, most of the guys, you don't have that much life experience at that age. Um, and you know, hopefully you can get it or be surrounded by it so that you can make wise decisions while you have the opportunity to, but no, man that does, that does translate into so many different aspects of life that, that are gonna, you know, take you all the way to, you know, whatever that day is that that's the last day,

Speaker 2:

The big takeaway. Yes. Does it suck that all the blood, sweat and tears didn't translate on the football field, the way that you had envisioned? Of course it sucks a hundred percent. Um, but again, at some point in time, and, and for you, it seems like it's translated to the financials, fear that all that blood, sweat, and tears, hasn't just gone for nothing it's amounted to something and something great where you're, you're helping people like myself, your average Joe, and you're helping athletes, uh, become fiscally responsible, which is very important to be financially literate is very important and everyone needs to understand it at some point.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. And that's, that's kind of one of the things towards the end of my career that I got a lot more in, um, again, going back to faith and, and the Bible, you know, God tells you, you, and, you know, whether you believe in Jesus or not, right. Like, I think that you should be a good steward of the things that you have. Um, and, and one of those things that, that I was blessed with at a young age because of the NFL was money, you know, so I needed, you know, started diving into, you know, how do I, how do I understand how money works better? Right. What's the best thing for my money and, and really like looking into what that is. And through that process, you know, unfortunately, fortunately, and unfortunately uncovered some stuff that, that my financial advisor had been doing that wasn't in my wife and I's best interest, and it wasn't, you know, a killer, but you know, it, it stung a little bit, and it stung enough to say like, man, this, this is something that, you know, there's a lot of people out there that aren't, that didn't, you know, probably live as frugally and save as well as, as we had, you know, and that, that it would really, you know, knock their feet out from under'em if, if something like this had happened to him. And so, you know, not just athletes, but, but everybody, I think needs to be in a position where like, Hey, you know, let's, let's take control of this and we can be somebody that is trustworthy for you to partner with in helping you, you know, not only, not only be wise with your money, but, but learn that process yourself. And so kind of through that sat with a few different advising groups around the Kansas city area, because that's where we wanted to call home. Both of our parents are around here, but yeah, sitting down with a few groups to see kind of which group was a fit, right. How they worked. And ultimately the group that I picked was, uh, BMG advisors here in Kansas city. And we're partnered with LPL financial, who is, um, home-based out there in California. And, and they kind of allow us to run this business as our, as our own small business with all the support of, of the large company. And that's something that I really liked because we had the compliance piece, we had the support piece. We had, you know, if we didn't have the answer, if we don't have the answer in house, we have the people to be able to get that. And, and that's something that I really liked because, you know, coming into this early and I'm still, you know, right at two, just over two years in, you know, I don't have all the answers. If anybody tells you, they do, you better run. So, but, but there's, you know, four of us advisors in the group. And if we don't have the, the answer within the group, like we have the support to go get that answer, uh, outside. And, and that's something that I, everybody that comes along, you know, with, with the relationship to me, to be able to have for their own wellbeing and, you know, making sure that like they are taken care of, because I, again, I don't have the answer to take care of everybody, but, you know, I want you to, I want you to trust me in at least being able to, to go find that answer

Speaker 2:

Shared an article on LinkedIn. It was a CNBC article about the potential that college football stars could make us as much as$2.4 million per year as a former D one college athlete. When you, when you just hear that figure thrown around chase, imagine yourself as an 18 or 19 year old, and you're making two, almost two and a half million dollars a year, what are you doing with that money?

Speaker 1:

Um, I think most of them are probably doing things that they shouldn't be doing, right. Like what, again, like what, hopefully it's, it's different than this, but what life experience, what business experience, what money experience do you have at that age? Right. Like the, the, I think the, the number of athletes, right? Like we've all probably seen or heard of the 30 for 30 broke. Right. And the number of athletes that, that go broke, I think the percentage is in the 70, per 70%, something, 70 something percent that within two years or broker and or divorced of, of their professional careers. And, you know, again, back to the Bible, you know, it talks about not coming into money quickly because you don't have all the learning to, to support it up to that point, right? Like most careers, uh, you, you get out of college, unfortunately prior with a little bit of debt and, you know, you're, you're working, you know, this, this graph up up your earnings is going up or the NFL is like, you have this huge opportunity right here. And, and then obviously it's going to end, you know, hopefully you make enough. And, you know, I shared another one and somebody had put, put on LinkedIn about Travis Kelsey. And, you know, he talks about burning through his rookie rookie salary, rookie contract, um, which was probably a few million dollars. And luckily he's one of the, one of the few that have gotten that, you know, those next couple of contracts to really have a learned the consequence, the potential consequences of what he did early in his career, right? The majority of guys with a three-year three-year average, don't get that chance to go on and, and make up for the mistakes that they made young. And so it's crucial for schools to find trusted people that they can go to for these athletes when they start making those decisions, to really help them, you know, with the longterm opportunity that they have with that kind of money. You know, if it is that kind of money,

Speaker 2:

That's where guys like yourself come into play. Because when we starting from the beginning of your journey, it's always been forecasting out into the future. Okay. If I attend the university of Missouri, this is the geographically where I want to be the Missouri network. It takes an approach like that because when you're 20 years old, you're making two and a half million dollars a year. You want to go to the bar, you want to go to the club, you want to buy a bag of sweet corn,

Speaker 1:

We'll chase the F you want to chase the flashy things. Right. And there's a lot of temptation, and there's a lot of opportunity, uh, for, for young athletes, right? Like, you've, you've seen all these things on TV. You've seen, you know, uh, you know, attractive, attractive people, you know, the, the clothes, the vehicles, the vacations, like you have access to all of it. Right. And, you know, for you to have the, um, self-control to say no, right. Because it is fun. It is enjoyable, you know, but you know, again, like, is it sustainable? Does it bring long-term joy and, you know, uh, enjoyment, you know, like you're going to, like, you can't, you can't, I mean, there's a few people in the world that can sustain that kind of a lifestyle,

Speaker 2:

But not a majority of us.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Not a majority. So the majority, like I was talking to some people the other day that, you know, may have the opportunity to go into the draft where it's like, Hey, let's, let's look at what you have guaranteed. Right. And we'll go off of that first. Let's hope. Let's hope that you get to the, the contract that everybody wants, but, you know, until you get there, let's, let's pretend like tomorrow's not guaranteed. All right. Like, because what if a freak injury happens, you know, something crazy happens like that. You know, what are you, what are you going to do if you've, you know, but by the biggest nicest car for yourself and, you know, and your brother and your mother and father, you know, you bought a house for yourself and your parents, you know, like, uh, you know, hope, hopefully you get that second contract. But, you know, going back to my career, you know, I was, I had a pretty great college career and, you know, it was a third round draft pick and I made it, I made it eight years, but I got cut 12 times. And, you know, it was a lot of, a lot of tough, tough, tough times, right. It took a lot of effort to stick around for that long and just the right opportunity. And, you know, if you're not being wise with your money, and that can be really demoralizing when, when you get to the end and you're like, ah, dang, well, I guess this car is not worth what it used to be, but I got to get rid of it because I gotta pay for these other expenses that are needs. What's your favorite part about being a financial advisor? Once you can convey that conveyance to the people that you're talking to, and they start to buy into the process of, Hey, I see your vision and, you know, the value of financial planning, um, cause it's not, it's not just the investing piece, you know, that we do, but the whole financial plan of like, Hey, this is, these are, these are, these are your and goals. All right. Let's and those are probably change let's plan for those right now. And then continue to stay up, you know, and meet and check in as, as your life changes. Right. To make sure those are still the end goal is because, you know, we, we set those and then we work backwards from there. Right. And, and here's what you need to do to hit those goals. And, you know, sometimes it's like, Hey, you've already done a great job. And you know, you don't have to do that much now that's, that's not a normal circumstance, but you know, like most of the time it's like, Hey, look, here's, here's what you need to do to get there. Right. Just like my, just like my dad said when I was young, you know, if this, if you're, if the NFL is your goal, you know, here's the path to get there and it's not going to be easy. You know, sometimes you're going to think like, why did I even set those goals? But, but in the end, you know, and it, it takes time and you have to trust the process, you know, compound interest, right? Like you don't, you don't see, you don't see like the, the big result, you know, right away. You don't see it in the first year. You don't see it in the first five years, the first 10 years, but you get to your 20, 25 30, you know, if you were able to start early and be consistent, like, Holy cow, the payoff is like, it worked, you know, it, it did pay off. And I was consistent even when it felt like, man, I see these other people enjoying this and that, you know, but, uh, is it, is it worth it now to, to give it up later? And that's the question that, you know, some people say yes to, some people say no to. So, so again, kind of back to your question, the most enjoyable part is when you see people, like it clicks in their head, like, yes. Like I, I see that vision. Right. And, and then that's when like, okay, yes, I've, I've portrayed that well for them, you know, like, like a teacher, right? Like some teachers know the world, but they can't teach it well. And, and for me, trying to get better at that part of it and, you know, conveying the message well, and in a way that, that somebody can buy into it,

Speaker 2:

Would you say that all the blood, sweat and tears from your football career, and I know it was tough in the NFL being cut so many times. Would you say that all of that hard work has gotten you to where you are now as a financial advisor?

Speaker 1:

Oh, for sure. Um, without a doubt, I mean, it took a lot of perseverance and again, a lot of consistency and, you know, working out after I got cut. And when it, when it seemed like there's not an opportunity to get signed this year, you know, there may not be another opportunity for me to continue my career. Um, but, but sticking with it and being consistent. Right. Like, and, and like we talked about earlier, the values, the character, the work ethic, you know, all the small things that go into doing everything well, right. Like I was able to learn that through sports and, and can now continue that, you know, into financial advising and financial advising is a career that takes kind of a while to take off and, and really be, um, I guess what I've heard is, you know, kind of in the first, like five to 10 years, you work a whole lot harder than what you get paid. And then after that, it kind of flips because you've put in a whole lot of the base work, right. And, and now you've done it consistently for, you know, however long it takes you to get to that point, that people trust you enough to say like, Hey, you know, you've, you've proven that you are trustworthy in this. And that's, you know, the long-term vision that, that I see. And, and again, also something that you appraisal or me and my wife has done well enough to, to, you know, with three kids supplement, you know, what we're making now, because we did well with the money that we earned throughout the NFL. You know, I don't, I don't need to, to bring in a big salary or try to push sale sales or, you know, commissionable products or stuff like that, because, you know, we, you know, we, we were surrounded by good people that, that helped us to live within our means at an early age.

Speaker 2:

Do you have any regret when you think back to your NFL career about how things panned out, why those executives and coaches didn't see what you brought to the table and what you knew you would bring to the table each day?

Speaker 1:

I mean, sometimes it makes me wonder about that. Um, kind of what their thoughts were, you know, regrets now, I don't think I have any regrets. I think it did, you know, it's turned me into the man that I am today and, you know, had I had, I had gotten a, uh, Travis Kelsey like contract, right? Like I probably wouldn't be in this, this, this business, this line of work. Um, yeah. Maybe, but, but probably not, you know, I don't, I don't know what I would be doing. And, you know, it has caused me to, um, kind of like everybody this, this past year and the media out there, like look for the truth, right? Like it's hard to find truthful news and truthful media. And it takes a long time to discern and, and read enough articles even to get like a middle, a middle ground view. And so like, it caused me to, you know, really dig down and, and look into my own finances more and, you know, there's, and again, realize that a lot of people need this service. And, you know, I have a platform to, to help people with, with what I've done and still be a part of the community and give to charities and, um, you know, speak life into, to young men and young, young women for that matter. And, you know, different, different opportunities to speak different podcasts like this.

Speaker 2:

If you could go back in time and talk to chase Kaufman during the NFL days, during that time, when you're getting cut consistently, what would you tell him?

Speaker 1:

I would go back to college even and say, you know, continue building relationships outside of football. You know, you've got, you've got a plot, you got a platform because of the success that you and your team have had, right? Like continue to build those relationships, reach out, you know, whether it's just a couple of times a year with a few different people, um, just to kind of learn more about them and about their industries and, and build those relationships because, you know, those are the things that are gonna last, um, you know, football is going to end. Um, but you know, those, those people will still be around and remember how you treated them, you know, long after football is gone. And so, so I wish I think that I did a pretty good job of that. I think that the teams that I was with did a good job of, of giving us opportunity to do that. But I wish I would have done a little bit more of, of that

Speaker 2:

This Kaufman, everybody chase. I appreciate you taking the time to chat. I know we went in deep quickly within the first, probably two or three minutes, which, Hey, there's nothing wrong with that. That's, that's the point of this podcast is to, to have those conversations that, you know, unfortunately during your playing days, and if I'm local media, we never get those opportunities, um, in passing. Uh, so again, I appreciate you taking the time and sharing your stuff.

Speaker 1:

Yes, sir. Well, I appreciate you having me on calling

Speaker 4:

Instead of having my sons onto the crash, crashed it

Speaker 2:

For more interesting stories of former athletes. Check out Hayward. You go on out the podcasts, Spotify in a video version on YouTube. Plus don't forget to check it out on social media. That's at Collin Cushner on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.