Jordan Colbert- You Will Never Perform Freely Until You Stop Needing the Outcome

Jordan Colbert and I break down what it really takes to go from small-school football to an NFL locker room where every rep feels like a tryout. Jordan shares how he learned complex defenses fast, handled cut-day stress, and rebuilt his mindset after a season-ending injury. 

• adjusting from Columbia to Rhode Island defensive complexity 
• the NFL expectation to learn the playbook immediately 
• surviving as an undrafted free agent with limited reps 
• leaning on family and support to manage pressure 
• why special teams becomes the fastest path to staying up 
• what it feels like to cover Tyreek Hill level speed 
• how elite DBs win with recognition and film study 
• using strengths to create a clear roster role 
• landmines that get fringe roster players cut 
• separating identity from performance outcomes 
• reframing injury as time to build life after football 

Download the pod, subscribe to our YouTube channel. Uh check us out, athleticfortitude.com. Five stars only, baby. 

Transcript

From Small School To NFL

SPEAKER_02 0:00

How big of an adjustment was it for you to go from Columbia to Rhode Island to the NFL? I always find that so fascinating as a small school guy myself, just seeing how you perceived the jump.

Pressure Of Limited Reps

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Yeah. So even the jump from Columbia to Rhode Island, it was a pretty big jump just in terms of the defense and the defensive language and being able to play all types of defenses. And I feel like that's another reason why I wanted to transfer from Columbia. I wanted to transfer to continue my education, of course, and because I know football doesn't last forever, but I also wanted to be in a more versatile defense, more NFL style defense. So when I got to Rhode Island, it was like my head was spinning, I'm not gonna lie, because I went from just playing cover four and cover one to now we got sim threes and now we got Tampa 2, we got everything. And I think that's a big reason why I ended up committing to Rhode Island because, you know, going through the process again and being a football player who's experienced at the college level, I know what type of questions to ask. And when I met Coach Cooper, Coach Jack Cooper, he's actually at Wisconsin right now. He made it clear that that's exactly what he was offering. He was offering not only making me better as a player physically, but making me a better player mentally. So it was definitely a big adjustment going from there. I think that was honestly a bigger adjustment to going to the NFL. In terms of, you know, the language and everything on the field. Obviously, going from Rhode Island to the NFL physically, it's a lot different when you have, you know, someone from Rhode Island running at you. It's a little different when you have Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle running at you playing safety. Everything just happens so much faster. The quarterbacks are better, you know, everything's on timing where it's like one little misstep and you're not making that play. It turns a PBU or a pick into maybe a touchdown. So that adjustment was definitely a huge one. But in terms of language, I feel like the expectation in the defense is where the difference is. You know, college, if you don't learn it, then it's like, okay, like, you know, what's a better way I could teach you? Let's keep going. But in the NFL, especially coming in as an undrafted free agent, it's like, all right, we learned that defense yesterday. You don't got it by now, like that might that might cost you your job. So that's really the big difference. And being an undrafted free agent, you only get so many reps. There would be days in training camp where I'm getting like one rep a period. I'll probably, if there's four or five periods, I'm getting four or five reps a day. If you go in the game or you go in practice, and that one rep, you don't know what the defense is or you're messing up, that's you're 0 for one on the day. You're 0%. Like, you know what I'm saying? So that's where it really gets tough in terms of there's way more pressure on you to know it. And you don't have as many reps to be like, okay, like, you know, some people learn different. So being on the field and actually calling out the defense as a safety, you know, that might be the best way for you to learn. But if you're not doing that, then you have to figure out other ways in order to, you know, get it to stick in your mind.

SPEAKER_02 3:20

You're a psychology guy. What did you do to help minimize or deal with that pressure that came in, knowing, hey, if I don't execute my one to four reps, then I my career is basically over?

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Yeah. Um, I'd say I I really leaned on the people around me. I'd say it was tough some days, you know. There was days where you'd go in and you know the coverage, but someone else is trying to tell you it's a different coverage, but you know it, but now it's all messed up. So it's really easy to get caught up in your in your head and be like, man, I messed up my one rep for today. Like I got beat on this one rep that I had. And if I just knew, like did what I, if I just trusted myself, then, you know, but you know, leaning on the people around you, leaning on my wife now, leaning on my parents, and just really sort of being open and talking to people about it. It's hard because, you know, when you talk to people who haven't really been in the same shoes as you, it's a little hard for them to relate. But when you have the right people around you, they they know how you feel and they know they can see how bad you want something. So really just talking to them and then really getting to those preseason games and just knowing that, like, you know, practice, this is cool, but really your job interview is those preseason games. And special teams is where you got to show up because as an undrafted free agent, most likely you're not gonna be starting week one. Like, you know, it's sort of like those guys get paid to make decisions. And if I go in the game as a starter, as an undrafted free agent and I allow three touchdowns, then it's like, yo, this coach is stupid. But but if the first round draft frit gets in there and allows three touchdowns, it's like, uh, you know, it's it's on the kid, you know, this kid just didn't turn out to be what he is. Really getting in and taking advantage of your opportunities during preseason, especially on special teams. Uh, I feel like I did that. But even still, like, it was hard going into cut day. Um, you know, staying up till I stayed up till like four or five in the morning just because I couldn't sleep. Like I couldn't get it off my mind, like, yo, like, am I gonna be going into practice tomorrow or am I gonna be dusting off the LinkedIn? Like, you know, it's really that you you really don't know until that day. Um, I'd say just being, if you know that you're doing everything that you can, you know that you're putting in the extra time outside of the building, you know you're giving your all during practice. If you're doing everything you can on special teams and doing all the extra stuff that the coaches are looking for, at the end of the day, the chips fall where they fall, and you're still blessed to have the opportunity because there's a lot of people who I went to college with. There's a lot of people who I know in general who would, you know, love to be in your situation and have the opportunity.

Managing Anxiety Instead Of Erasing It

SPEAKER_02 6:16

And when you look at that performance space, one of the mistakes I think the general industry makes is believing that we can eliminate the feeling of pressure or the feeling of anxiety or stress. The reality is when it comes down to cut day, it's going to be hard to sleep, particularly if you're a guy who you don't know if you're going to be a definitive roster lock, whether you're 10-year vet or, you know, a rookie, those emotions are really hard to eliminate. Instead of eliminating them, it's learning how to manage and deal with them and learning how to draw your focus to the task at hand. And I don't know if you, I know we talked a little bit about it, but I don't know if you're a massive golf guy, but they just partnered with NFL Films to do some like mic'd up things. And they just like posted a clip from the players' championship this past weekend. And for me, one of my favorite things that I got to see was the mic'd up version of the golfers' reactions to their performance. And to be able to hear in those moments the things that they are saying to themselves, like, I'm you're really making this hard on yourself today, like guy talking to himself, versus some of the other things that other guys say. And understanding that we're gonna have human reactions, we're going to have human emotions, the physiological response. It's the what's next and how do we utilize what we're feeling to just be productive in the next moment. And the higher you climb on the ladder of professional sports, it's more of that and figuring out what do I need to tangibly do right now to get me ready for the next step to be productive, to do my job and to execute at a high level.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

Yep. That's that's that's what it's all about because you're in life, you're dealt a hand of cards and it's about how you play those cards. You know, you can't let your emotions get in the way of what you want in life because emotions are very strong. They can be very strong. And if you let them control your actions, then you're probably not going to make a lot of wise decisions. And that's something where I had to learn getting to the professional stage is like, you know, I'm pissed off, but if I go and throw my helmet on the sideline, this might be my last day here, you know? So it's like, you know, that's something that I had to, you know, learn very quickly.

SPEAKER_02 8:30

Now, are you someone who had to operate with the mindset of this is my last day? If I do X, Y, and Z, like having that constant over the shoulder, did that help you perform? Or were you someone who had to direct your folks and attention elsewhere and not think about the fact that, hey, if I make a mistake, I could get cut. Which end of the spectrum did you fall on?

SPEAKER_01 8:50

I would say I was somewhere in the middle, to be honest, because some days I feel like, you know, thinking about that made me, you know, hesitant about certain things or just really not play my full potential. I'm just sort of thinking of like, you know, they say as a DB, you're supposed to have a short memory. So, you know, thinking about the play before, like, oh man, I gotta make this play up because I got beat this play, you know, it's doesn't work out too well sometimes. But at the same time, like, I feel like you there was no place to question my effort. There was no place to question if I really wanted to be here or if I was really taking this opportunity serious. Cause I would say, you know, in the game, in practice, I was always on full go. And, you know, it's sort of it's all a learning experience. And we were going through camp one day and, you know, sort of talking about those emotions. I was going against somebody on the team, and we were doing the new kickoff rule, um, and it was new for everybody. So I was running down on kickoff, and I ran and then I made a guy miss, and I was going down, and he sort of like horse-collared me as I was running down. And I was like mad. I was like, bro, why would you do that? Like, you're my teammate. I could have got hurt. Like, and I was, you know, emotions sort of were high. Like I was like, I was almost ready to fight him. Cause it was like, bro, why would you do that? Like, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 10:22

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

And, you know, he sort of looked at me, he was like, I'd rather get a penalty than get beat because at the end of the day, I'm fighting for a job. Like, this is how I fed my wife and kids. And in that moment, it's like, how can I argue with that? Like, you know what I'm saying? It really becomes the stakes are at all-time high. And when people are used to, you know, this is how I literally feed and provide for my family. It's like, you know, I can't really argue with that. Like, if you get a penalty, you settle you gotta fight for yourself. It it becomes a you know, it becomes a battle for really.

SPEAKER_02 11:03

So yeah, the human I think it's a it's a fan, like for outsiders looking in, they don't understand that piece of it. And when you're a competitor and you're in those moments, it's this is my livelihood. Coaches, too. Like coaches, players, they want to win, they want to fight for their roster spot, they want to fight for their contract, their paycheck, not from a sense of greed, but from a sense of this is my livelihood. And people see millions of dollars, but not understanding that not everybody is on those guaranteed millions of dollars of contract. And sure, a minimum contract in the NFL is an immense amount of money. But at the end of the day, people in the NFL or professional sports are also really competitive, too. Like they they want to win, they want to be in position to succeed, whether that whether it's ego-based, external, or internal drive, whatever it is, people want to win and do well at a high level. There's very few people out there who don't care and just are out there going through the motions. It happens, but it's not the majority. And the beauty of football that I don't think other sports get or appreciate is just the true nature of competition. Because you end up being really good or really close with people who at the same time are arguably trying to take food out of you and your family's mouth because everybody appreciates the grind and the competitiveness that is required to not only just excel, but just to stay on a roster and to put yourself in position to maybe get a couple snaps here, there is really hard and it is it is cutthroat, and there's not one way to handle that type of competition or pressure, and it's different for everybody.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

Yep, exactly, exactly. But side note, if I was one of those people getting the 30 million dollars a year and he had done that to me, though, he would have been out of there. So definitely once you get to that level, pick and choose your battles because you know they it's an investment when they put a lot of money into people like that. So a horse collar on someone who's making$30 million a year, that's not the smartest way. It'll get you out the building really quick. So that's your Ivy League education there.

SPEAKER_02 13:16

Giving you the wisdom to know not to mess with the$30 million year players.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Yeah, don't. That's that's the worst. Hey, just let them have it. Just let them have it.

What Elite Speed Really Feels Like

SPEAKER_02 13:27

Tell me what it what was it like having to cover Tyree Kill, Jalen Waddle, and some of these true like 0.001% speed guys in the world.

SPEAKER_01 13:37

Man, it it was insane really lining up at safety. Like I remember playing one coverage, and it was sort of, you know, we're showing a shell too high, and it's a cover zero. So, you know, we're not, we're not matching up for like, you know, man. We're not matching up speed on speed or like, you know, personnel where I'm usually on a tight end. And I just remember being in one play, and it was Tyreek in the slot. He was at I had number three, and he was in the number three, and I mean, you know, counting like one, two, three. Like, one, two, three. Oh, yeah, that's my that's my man. Like, you know, yeah, that's me. That's me right there. And, you know, I sort of so you know, talk about that that fear. I wish I I really didn't have that as much fear, but you know, having that fear of getting cut of like, oh, he runs a go ball and I'm the 20 yards behind, that's not gonna look good. So um he ended up running like a a hitch or something, and I was a little hesitant to break on it, thinking that it's gonna be a stop and go or something. Um, yeah, speed, that speed is real. It it gets up on you fast. There is there's a reason why, you know, those guys are so good in the league and why they make other top-paid corners and top paid nickels look slow. Those people aren't slow at all. Though they're just a really a different type of speed. And I really think the difference between, like, you know, there's other people that have been super fast in the league and haven't been as successful, but what I think makes those guys so successful is they can get up to that speed and break down to zero in an instant, you know, and that change of direction and that shiftiness and that fast twitch, there's not uh any people. Well, not any people that I've seen that have have that type of abilities. You know, going against it, you know, I don't think I'm I don't call myself a slow guy. You're definitely not slow. Yeah, I don't I don't think I'm slow at all, but you know, when um when I line up against those guys, I'd be like, man, let me stretch my hamstrings before this play.

SPEAKER_02 15:54

Yeah, I have this theory on, you know, I think it applies to different domains of life, but the law of diminishing returns, and I look at it from a speed perspective, and I have this theory that a lot of guys who run in those like four T or 4-2, 4-3 ranges, the speed at some point is a disservice to them because they don't know how to stop. Now there's outliers and Tyree Kill and Jalen Waddle are those outliers that have that um elite level speed but can also manipulate speed and can break down and get out of brakes at full speed, which is rare. And that's what makes those guys just the only word I can think of is just dangerous, near the uncoverable, is because they can break when they're going 20 some miles an hour and they can stop on a dime. It's just most people can't do that, and not at all, you know, getting you know, unfortunately, I I haven't had the opportunity to see Tyree Kill up close, but you can even see it on TV. They just it everybody else looks like they're in slow motion. It's uh it's like uh this the SpongeBob episode where he's like, You want to see me go to the top of the mountain and back? And he goes, You want to see me do it again? It's like it's literally like that watching those guys, and it's uh you know, you think about being the defensive back that has to line up across from them and just the thoughts that are going through your mind have to have to be challenging.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

Yeah, it definitely. And there's times in um in training camp where you know it's a sack or like something happens where you see this receiver run this like 20, 25 yard out route, and you know, they run it with different people, they run it with like, you know, rookies or they run it with people who aren't them, and it's like the defense will literally be like, oh, that was a Tyreek route. Like, oh, that was a waddle, that that was a waddle route. Like they have their own route tree where they can run 25-yard comebacks where like you get 25 yards down the field, it's like, oh yeah, it's a go. He's running a go or a poster, it's you know, and then he breaks it down and runs that out, runs the comeback, runs the curl, and you're like, coach, I I don't know what I don't know what you want me to do on that one. I was already looking back for the ball. I thought the ball was in the air already. So yeah.

Defending Stars With Technique And Film

SPEAKER_02 18:11

Who do you think handled from a defensive perspective those matchups the best? And what do you think that they were able to do differently than your average defensive back can't?

SPEAKER_01 18:23

Yeah, well, I would say that handled them the best. I would I would have to go with Jalen Ramsey. I think that, you know, he's one of those guys that's, you know, just gifted, you know, just as gifted as them, you know, can't run as fast. Sorry, Ramsey, if you think you can't run as fast. But um, you know, not a guy, but a guy who does have elite speed, a guy who, you know, is very technical with his work, a guy who can get in and out of breaks uh in an instance. Seeing them battle in in training camp and going one-on-one and even during the year when we would have competition periods, it was definitely a sight to see. I think a big thing about him is he really understood the game as well. And I feel like his route recognition from the DB um point of view was elite as well as with his technique and his physical ability. You know, sometimes you would see him break on things because he just knew it was coming. Um, you know, he he's one of those players who I'd say is sort of like sort of like a unicorn, you could say, where it's like there's not too many players that come like come in a lifetime like him, just to keep it honest. Um I think that the other players that do give them good matchups um are the players who understand the defense, the players who understand what I can give up in this defense. When it's one-on-one, it's there's only so many things you can do. I'm just gonna keep I'm gonna be honest. But, you know, when it's a cover three and they understand that um, you know, they have a certain portion and they have their help here and there, um, you know, they can sort of break on things faster. Like, you know, I'm not gonna worry too much about this post because I got my post safety there. Um, you know, it's just I think it's about having an understanding of the game. I think that's something that's very um underrated. Especially like, you know, I talk about Jalen Ramsey, but I talk about Kendall Fuller. He was the opposite corner of Jalen Ramsey the first year. Um and I think that, you know, their their games were pretty different in the way that Kendall Fuller was so everything was mental. Like everything, the way he watched film, he would go through games uh 20 plus times, one game like 20 plus times, and he would understand where everyone's lined up. Oh, if it's why off. I know I'm getting this from concept. If he's, you know, he would understand down to a technical point where he might not be as gifted physically. Uh my bad, Kendall. You know, I'm still I don't I don't want to, you know, I don't want to talk down because Kendall Kendall can play. And, you know, he's he can get in and out of his breaks. But, you know, he just understood the game from such a technical way that he he could tell you what route I'm running. Like there there would be times where we have walkthroughs and I would have to give like I would go and give the looks at receiver and he would see the formation and he would tell me my route before the play started. So just having that different type of understanding, and that comes with years in the game in the NFL. That's why he was able to play at a the elite level that year. And um, you know, if he that's that's why he's been a very good corner in the league as well. So having that mental up top definitely helps as well.

SPEAKER_02 22:10

Those are my favorite types of guys, though. The guys who find a way to and obviously everyone at that level is some level of freak athlete. There's just tiers to it. Tyreek Hill just happens to be at the top of the mountain.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

Yeah.

Turning Strengths Into A Roster Role

SPEAKER_02 22:21

Jalen Ramsey, top of the mountain. But everybody else, right? Finding ways to fit in and use utilizing your strengths and those guys who can find the mental side of the game, understanding the X's and O's and understanding how a yard of difference and alignment is going to dictate certain route concepts if you're a defensive back, or different formations are going to dictate what the offense is going to do. And those things can be separators at that level when everybody is physically gifted. Nope. What is it for you that you've utilized in your career that can help you separate yourself from other undrafted guys to stick around in the NFL, particularly coming from smaller schools?

SPEAKER_01 22:59

Yeah. I would say make your strengths while you get paid and make your weaknesses into strengths and be, you know, become that versatile versatile player where it keeps you around for a long time. For me, for example, I knew that, you know, I'm not the fastest. I'm not getting out of breaks as fast as certain people, like where I could play corner. But one thing about me is I'm a physical player and I like to hit, you know, so I think I took that into special teams and I really felt as though I was one of those tweener players where it was, you know, I don't think a receiver could block me. I don't think that, you know, any DB or anything when it comes to special teams, I don't think anybody that was a safety, a corner, wide receiver could block me because I think I'm too physical. Like I think that I would just run through your face. But if I have a tight end or a linebacker, someone, a bigger guy trying to block me, I think I'm I'm way too fast. I think I'm way too quick for a guy like that to block me. So having that, I sort of played into that and leaned into that. And I think that's what helped me this year. This year we were actually playing the Chargers, and you know, my coach sort of this was my first actually active game this year as well. Well, I got elevated when we played the Bills, but that was on pre on P Squad. And then I actually got activated the active roster so for the Chargers game, and I was excited to play. And I remember my coach sort of like yelling at me to do a certain thing to like avoid this guy when we get into the game. But I had already watched film and I knew who was blocking me, and I knew he was a smaller DB. So I was like, all right, I'm gonna show him. So on the very first play of the game, I just ran him over and just went and made a tackle. So yeah, it's it's really just knowing like what your strengths are. You're at that level for a certain reason. Everybody has different strengths, and it's like, where can you use your unfair advantage to you know get up one up on people? So, you know, you don't see Derrick Henry trying to do too many juke and spin moves, and you know, trying to do he uses his power and he uses his size because he knows people don't want to get in his way. So it's it's just as simple as that, you know, making your strengths the reason why you get paid, and then, you know, working on those weaknesses to make sure you become a versatile player and you know, keep you around for a long time.

SPEAKER_02 25:37

What is like a non-negotiable thing that if you do it, you're gonna get cut? What is your land minds that you want to avoid? If you're a guy coming in and you're not a guaranteed roster spot, what must you avoid?

SPEAKER_01 25:49

I would say first, not knowing the playbook. If they can't trust you, um, you know, being an undrafted player, they really, I would say they really don't trust you to begin with, right? It's like your trust really goes as far as your contract or your resume in the league. And your resume in college has nothing to do when you get to the league. You know, obviously when you're a first-round draft pick, you know, you your resume got you to the point where, you know, we can trust you a little bit more. We're gonna work with you through the kinks, and so on and so on, so on. But once you're an undrafted free agent, it doesn't matter if you led the league interceptions. There's a reason why teams really wrote you off to go down that far, right? So none of that means anything. So they don't trust you on the field with the playbook. They're never gonna trust you to throw you into a game because it might be a cover three at corner and you think it's a cover two, and now it's a one play touchdown, and that's that will just make coaches highly upset. So I'd say, yeah, not knowing the playbook, getting into it with coaches or other players, you know, you don't really have the room to do that, even like even as a young guy in general, especially with you doing it with veterans or like coaches that have been around for a while, like they understand how the NFL works. There's a reason why they've been in the NFL for so long. So, you know, there is always that spirit of competition and everything. But if you're trying to tell a coach how to coach or like telling him he's wrong, even if he is wrong, it's not gonna, it's not gonna go over well. And then getting into it with the vet or doing something stupid where, like I talked about, you know, possibly injuring s somebody or going too hard, you're not going at the tempo of the practice, then one, the vets aren't gonna respect you. And if the the vets don't respect you, then the it's hard for the coaches to respect you as well. So you sort of just gotta play your part. You gotta play your role. And I would say some of the things that do get you noticed is one effort. Special teams is the a big part. You're not most likely not gonna have, you know, your Tyree Kills, your Jalen Waddles on special teams. So, you know, the risk of injuring them or something like that, that's thrown out the window. These are all people who are sort of equal playing fields. So that's really if you're a physical player like me, that's your time to let it show. Um and going in after and, you know, sort of like asking the coach, what can I do to get better? Where do you want to see me improve? What have I done that you didn't like, you know? And just really, it's really all the same things as college. It's just they want to see what type of person you are. They want to see your work ethic because um, as an undrafted free agent, uh, you you can make the team. You can't make the 53. And there was a person in my class who made it Storm Duck, and he had a very good camp and balled out, and he ended up making the 53 as an undrafted free agent. Um majority of the guys are gonna make like practice squad. So they want to see that you're the type of person that's gonna work hard and wants to, you know, keep better, continue that trajectory of just going up, whereas you're not just okay with being on practice squad and getting your paycheck and you sort of, you know, stall out. They wanted people to get better and you know, keep climbing. So they one day they may may be able to throw you on the field.

How Adaptability Gets Built

SPEAKER_02 29:39

So the thing that stands out is when you say the type of person that you are or the type of player that you are, and we think of ourselves in a certain way, but the reality is uh how we are perceived is from the actions that we are portraying, the behaviors that we put out on the field and in the locker room is ultimately the true reflection of the type of person that you are. For you, the adaptability that you have built over the years coming from again, you know, I keep alluding back to being a small school guy, how much of that was developed? And how much of that do you think is natural to you to have the sense of awareness and the adaptability to shift into change into different roles to be able to maximize your time in the NFL?

SPEAKER_01 30:29

Yeah, I think that even from high school, being a guy who was on JV as a junior, you know, hit a huge growth spurt into my senior year, going from 5'7 to 6'1.

SPEAKER_02 30:44

And, you know, he went from 5'7 to 6'1.

Separating Identity From Outcomes

SPEAKER_01 30:48

5'7 to 6'1. I'm still waiting on my growth spurt, man. So um, I think, you know, just being in that position where as a junior, obviously I wasn't where I wanted to be. So it was something where I had to go home and really look in the mirror and be like, what am I gonna do to change this? Am I just gonna be okay with this? Say I want this as bad as I as much as I want. I could just say I want to be great. I don't want to be on JV. I don't want to be in this position. But what am I doing to change that? And that's the year, instead of just going to workouts at the high school, I would go to workouts at the high school, and then I would go to my own personal trainer after. And, you know, sort of instilling that spirit of hard work within me, I feel like it started back then. And then I ended up growing and, you know, getting getting D1 offers and going to Columbia. And I feel like the same thing happened once I got to Columbia. I went from, you know, playing off cover three in high school to playing press quarters in college. So it was a huge difference. I was not traveling my freshman year, not even playing special teams, not doing anything. And it was like, you know, I don't I don't like the positional man. What am I gonna do? So really taking advantage of my scout team reps. The, you know, trying to get better each and every day, it was just something that was sort of instilled in me from even back then. So um then making that transition to safety after freshman year and and ended up starting. And then getting to going from Columbia to Rhode Island and struggling with the playbook and being like, man, I don't I want to be on the field more, but my coach can't trust me because he doesn't know if I know the the playbooks. Um I feel like it was all throughout my process where it's just, you know, I had that hard work and not not being complacent where I was. And I feel like that's something that I exhibited once I did get to NFL. I feel like the coach has seen how hard I worked and, you know, how much I gave on the field. And I think that after, in terms of mentally, I think that that process was way slower. I think that going to, you know, training with grassetti performance and talking in, talking and training with you guys and doing the mental training there really helped me as well because there was, I was a hothead. I'll just put it like that. In college, I was a hothead. Something didn't go my way. I sort of had a belief in my head, like the more mad I get, the better I play, like the harder I'll hit somebody. So sometimes I try to like psych myself up to make myself mad. But obviously, like I said, you can't do that in the league. You can't be so mad you're out here just hitting people and not going with the tempo practice. Like that'll get you out the door so fast. So I think, you know, meeting my night wife during that time, you know, sort of just being okay with I went from a mindset of like going into pre-draft training of like, I have to play football. Like it's the it's what I've done my whole life. It's the only thing I know. Like I have to make this work at and there's no other way to at the end of it, it's like, you know, I sort of I I'm doing everything I can. And I've been in a position where I'm blessed. I have two degrees, I have a lot of stuff going on for me. Like, if I don't make it, I'll outlive. You know what I'm saying? It's obviously not what I want. I still want this very deeply, but life won't be over if I don't make the NFL. So I think that switching mindset during that time period was everything, really. More than my hard work, more than my physical numbers, anything that I could have done on the field. Just getting my mental health, my the way I go about things, getting that process right was the biggest difference in why I made it as opposed to why I wouldn't have made it.

SPEAKER_02 35:22

Big thing with competition at that level, right, is anything that's a threat to your identity is going to inhibit performance. And throughout the process of chasing anything meaningful to be able to diversify who you are, to get out of that, you know, protection mode when the when you feel a threat is imminent in a loss or a failure in football or failing to make it to the NFL's attack on who you are, it's gonna make it really hard to compete freely. And there's a is such a strong dichotomy between engineering, you know, your identity outside of sport and engineering your identity inside of sport, but then being able to separate performance from who you are. And that doesn't mean you care less. It it certainly doesn't mean that you you want to lose or that you're okay with losing. It's just that understanding that it is not a direct threat and attack on who you are if you fail. It is just data, it is just information on where I need to improve. Because then you can go back and you can start changing your processes and systems to then increase your probability of success. Whereas when everything feels like it is an attack on you, or every failure feels like it is now I'm no longer, you know, Colin or whatever, then it makes it nearly impossible for you to reach your optimal level or to reach the best version that you can be, because everything is pulling you back and you have that constant reminder that if I fail at this, self-worth and my value is diminished. It's just a hard place to be in. And when you can build the or shift the mindset and you can learn to utilize different tactics to get the best out of yourself while separating who you are from the outcomes that you endure, it is much easier to create a more robust self and perform at the the highest level, which I don't think I don't think I know a lot of people really struggle with.

SPEAKER_01 37:16

Yeah. Yeah. And that was the biggest thing for me. Like I always felt as though throughout my whole process, I was, you know, I I feel like I had bigger goals for myself than where I where I I was at the moment. And I always carried that chip on my shoulder. In some ways, it helped me. But there are lot of ways it, you know, it was very bad for me where I would just lose everything. Like, you know, I'm in this caveman mode. Like everything is life or death, survival or not.

SPEAKER_02 37:51

And it's a hard space to live in.

SPEAKER_01 37:54

Yeah, it is a hard space to live in. It lead it let it led to some bad decisions, it led to, you know, sort of some things that I regret, but you know, everything happens for a reason. And I feel like, you know, g getting to that place was part of my my journey, and I'm able to give that back and share that with people now and sort of, you know, try to assist them through their own journey.

SPEAKER_02 38:18

Every athlete comes to the inflection point when a prior mindset or operating system no longer serves them in who their current self is. And the chip on the shoulder is one of the most popular and easier, easiest to point to. I was very much a chip on the shoulder person, being an undersized guy in a position where there weren't too many people that that looked like me. You know, I loved it. I operated with the the anger, the intensity until I got to a point where I couldn't enjoy playing anymore. And I was actually just angry all the time. And it made it impossible to perform at a high level because everything was out of rage and anger, and there was no enjoyment, there was no gratitude, there was no appreciation for anything I had accomplished. Nothing was ever enough. And it is a skill set that's necessary to develop the ability to understand hey, when does a certain mindset serve me and when doesn't it? Because what you can do is you can utilize different mindsets in terms of competition. I can use different processes or different levers to pull to bring out chip in the shoulder calling. And then I can use different processes and systems to pull out gratitude version of calling. And I can, you know, the it can go down the line of there's different elements of my personality. It's when does that element of my personality need to come out? And how do I bring it out? And that's the trick of, or the, I should say, the process of being a human competitor and a human athlete and just a human in general is when can I bring out the version of me that's needed and necessary?

SPEAKER_01 39:42

Yep, there's a time and place for everything.

Injury Grief And A New Vision

SPEAKER_02 39:44

Spot on, my friend. How are you going through some of the uncertainty that you're dealing with now? How are you handling the process of your injury and a lot of the unknowns that are coming down your path?

SPEAKER_01 39:57

Yeah, and um, I feel that, you know, that whole process of being okay with myself, you know, realizing that football isn't the only thing in my life. I feel like that process applies now. When I got injured in November, obviously it was, you know, heartbreaking because I was at a point where I started the season on the roster after Cut Day. I made the initial 53 and then I was cut the next day. So that was, you know, helping me.

SPEAKER_02 40:31

A wild, yeah, a wild experience.

SPEAKER_01 40:32

A wild, wild experience. So had to deal with that and then being elevated and then eventually going back on active roster, you know, I was I had to have my own, you know, sort of get let me let me let me let me start this over. So, you know, just going into the year, you know, being on active roster, making an initial 53 and then getting cut the next day. That was its own emotions to go with it. And then going back from practice squad to being elevated onto the active roster and actually playing in games, you know, you sort of have a different mindset when you're on practice squad as opposed to when you're on active roster because practice squad, you're not playing in the game. So it's more like you're focusing on, I would say, how am I getting better at my position? And I made the change from safety to linebacker, so and right after cut day. So I was trying to understand all the intricacies of linebacker and you know, trying to do this and understand this, asking people questions and really trying to, you know, dive into that. Whereas on active roster now, like I'm playing, like I gotta be ready for special teams. And of course, I'm still focusing on how I can be a better linebacker, but now it's like, all right, I gotta focus on how I'm gonna be the best special teams player right now. So into it, um, I knew that I could be a very good special teams player. I feel like that's a big reason why they kept me around and why I made the initial 53 is because they seen the value that I brought to special teams and what I was doing during the preseason. So once I got placed back on active roster, I had some really good games. Actually, the game before I got injured, I got a game ball because I had three, I had the first three special uh kickoff tackles, and I was just, I was balling, I was feeling myself. And um, it was a great feeling sort of going from practice squad a few weeks before, you know, getting cut, going practice squad, and then being back on active roster to getting a game ball. It was like honestly one of the greatest feelings of my life to have an injury the very next game, you know, it it was it wasn't fun because initially I just had a stinger and they believed that, you know, I would be back the next week, but they just wanted to do some additional testing when we got back. And once we got back, a few days later, I found out it was more serious and it was gonna be season end ending. So, you know, it sort of caught me off guard. Like I got the MRI and we headed to a different facility to see a a doctor, and I I honestly should have knew from then that you know it was something serious, but it just didn't, it didn't strike me as that yet. Um when she told me how serious it was, like, you know, I broke down in tears, and it was just something very tough that I had to deal with. But I would say within a week or two, I sort of, you know, there's because everyone, there's a grieving process for everything, right? It's it's normal, it's normal to grieve. It's normal to feel the feelings that you have. Not saying that you're supposed to hide feelings, but at the end of the day, life does go on. So Within a week, you know, I was thinking about, you know, how can I take advantage of this time, right? I have time on my hand where, you know, I can't play football right now. But now I have all this time. I'm not in meetings anymore. I have the whole day to myself. Am I just gonna sit at home and play the game and just do things where I'm not gonna be working on myself as a human, be working on myself off the field as a football player? Or am I going to take advantage of this time and, you know, start networking with people, figuring out what else am I interested in when football ends? Because football will end. Football ends for everybody. All sports ends for everybody at some point. And you live more of your life not with the sport than you do with the sport. So what is life gonna look like without football? So that's what I started to do. I started to look into, we get a tuition reimbursement where you can take classes with the NFL. I started looking into those programs and seeing how I can, you know, sort of sharpen up my resume off the field, right? So I think, you know, having the right people around me and, you know, having the right mindset throughout this whole process has served me well. And I've appreciated it in ways that, you know, from the outside looking in, that people wouldn't think of it as a blessing. I call it a blessing in disguise, right? Where I have this time. I had surgery a couple weeks ago, and now I have all this time on my hand where I, you know, I can't really do rehab right now. You know, it's mostly just walking. So there's not too much rehab I can do at this particular moment. Now I'm using this time to, you know, talk to talk to investors, talk to people in the spaces where I'm interested in. And I feel like life after football looks so much more clear. As, you know, coming in as a rookie, it's like I'm focused on this. That I'll worry about that later. Like I have to put on all my energy into this, I have to put all my time into this. Where now it's like I have a vision of what life after football looks like for me. And football is far from done. But life after football, it doesn't scare me as much. I feel like before, you know, throughout the whole process of the pro day training and all that, that's sort of my initial mindset going into it is like life after football seems scary. I've heard many people who I've played with talk about it, and it's like, oh, it's an adjustment. You know, I don't really, I miss it, I miss playing football. So I was really scared of that. But now I feel like I'm in a space where, you know, whenever it happens five, 10 years down the road, it's like I feel like I'm not gonna be, you know, I have my feet set on the ground. I have a solid base underneath me, I'm able to attack it.

Where To Find Jordan Plus Closing

SPEAKER_02 47:11

There's the analytical side of me where it's like once I identify a problem, okay, I can put together the pieces to solve for it. And then there's the qualitative side of me where it's when I'm in certain moments to be able to sit there, be present, and enjoy what's going on. And for me, the balance of that is what has helped everything that I do after playing the game is like, okay, I understand that my identity is why it was so hard for me to move on from football. How do I solve for that? Put together the pieces and solve for it. And then it's like, okay, how can I not be so rigid and inflexible in my you know quantitative self? And it's like, okay, now I need to learn how to become present in the moment, not think and just you know, be where my feet are. And you know, that that process that you go through is you know, I I also I have a fundamental belief that it's really hard to be ultra successful in sport or life without having gone through some stuff. And you know, each mountain that we have to climb is just further proof that we're capable of doing incredible and hard and amazing things. And I think you're a wonderful testament to that. I can't thank you enough for for coming on today, man. If uh people want to reach out to you or if you have anything that you're working on that you want to promote, please take the time to tell us now.

SPEAKER_01 48:27

Yeah, um, if people want to reach out, my Instagram is Jordan.colbz. Um yeah, I'd say uh probably on Instagram the most. You can find me on you know Twitter underneath the same name, or it might be an underscore, whatever. But um nothing that I'm working on right now that you know I want to share. But like I said, I I am, you know, starting to explore that space. And I think at the end of the year, you know, maybe when we run this back, we we'll have some more things to talk about. Um and I I think I'll have some some things then, but um, you know, if you want to reach out, you guys, I'm I'm an open book. I generally like to respond to people because I don't view myself as up here. I'm just an ordinary person who just happens to have a really cool job. Um like I like to help people, I like to, you know, talk to people about certain things, uh, inspire that hope within people. Yeah, you'll you'll see on my Instagram I don't have a hat on. I have the hat on because, you know, with surgery and everything, I haven't got a haircut in way too long. I haven't looked like this since the original COVID when everything was shut down. Yeah, I'm looking forward to running this back where I don't have to wear a hat. I don't really look like how I look in hats, but you know, um, yeah, anybody who wants to reach out, you know, feel free to. Um and then yeah, if they reach out to you, Colin, I'd be happy to, you know, talk to anybody uh about anything. You know, I got I got nothing but time on my hands right now. And um I love to give back to people in any way possible.

SPEAKER_02 50:13

I appreciate you, man. And uh hopefully, hopefully some people reach out to you and we can gain some of your your wisdom. But appreciate you, man. Listeners, thank you for tuning in. Tune in next week. Download the pod, subscribe to our YouTube channel. Uh check us out, athleticfortitude.com. Five stars only, baby.

SPEAKER_01 50:30

Appreciate you, Jordan. Appreciate you.