Embracing Change: Brock Mather’s Path After Football

Join us for an insightful conversation with Brock Mather, a former Division 1 linebacker whose life has been profoundly shaped by discipline, family, and competition. Raised in Ridgecrest, California, Brock spent nearly two decades on the football field, fulfilling his dream at Sacramento State University where he helped secure a Big Sky Championship. After college, Brock pivoted to join his family’s legacy in the ice and water distribution business in Arizona. In this episode, Brock delves deep into his childhood, football career, the challenges of academic balance, and his journey of self-discovery post-football. Whether you're a sports enthusiast or curious about how athletes transition into new careers, this episode is a compelling listen.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Once football ended, I knew that I was done too. You checked out. I checked out. Yeah. I remember walking off the field and being in the locker room and just feeling I I mean I balled my eyes out. Yeah. You know, I was hugging my teammates for the last time, my coaches, and knowing that this is what I've spent my whole life doing. I feel like it that was my identity. I feel like I'm still searching for what my identity is out outside of football because it's what I've known forever.

SPEAKER_02 0:49

Hey there, welcome back to Above and Beyond Recellants Meets Elevation. I'm your host, Jan Simon. This season we're raising the bar, diving into the passion, purpose, and defining moments of leaders who don't just aim high, they live there. Big ideas, real stories. Let's get into it. Today's guest is Brock Mather, a former Division I linebacker whose life has been shaped by discipline, family, and competition. Raised in Ridgecrest, California, Brock spent nearly two decades on the football field, fulfilling his dream at Sacramento State, where he helped win a big sky championship. After college, he made the move to Arizona to join his dad and brother in the family ice and water distribution business, continuing a legacy started by his father and uncles. These days, Brock channels the same competitive drive into golf and into building something meaningful with the people he loves. Brock, welcome.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Thank you. Appreciate you having me.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

Yeah, well, I appreciate you coming on. Let's uh let's kind of start out where we start with everybody, and I'm I'm just gonna start back, which we don't have to rewind super, super far, but tell me about Brock growing up. You grew up in Ridgecrest, California.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:58

Born and raised?

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Born and raised.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

18 years there.

SPEAKER_02 2:03

Okay. Farm kid?

SPEAKER_00 2:04

Nope. Just desert.

SPEAKER_02 2:06

Desert.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

Just middle of nowhere. Riding bikes, dirt bikes, razors, that type of stuff. Gotcha. Bonfires. Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_02 2:14

Is the weather similar to here?

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Yes. Okay. So it wasn't too bad of a transition. Hot and dry. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 2:20

Okay. I'm not sure I know where Ridgecrest is.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

It's about an hour and a half northeast of Bakersfield.

SPEAKER_02 2:26

Oh, okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

So kind of up in two and a half hours north of LA.

SPEAKER_02 2:31

Towards what's the bear what's the Mammoth? Yeah, the ski hill. Mammoth. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Out that direction.

SPEAKER_00 2:37

Yep. So it's like two hours, two and a half hours south of Mammoth.

SPEAKER_02 2:41

Okay. Okay. So you're kind of out in the middle of the desert. When you're driving from here to LA, you're like, am I there yet? And you still got two hours to go?

SPEAKER_00 2:48

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

That's where you're in your hometown. Yep. And you look around going, why the hell would anybody want to live here?

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Definitely. Yeah. So I wanted to get out of there, you know?

SPEAKER_02 3:00

Yeah. Growing up, you got a brother, I know that for sure. Any other siblings?

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Step, but no. Just me and my brother.

SPEAKER_02 3:06

Okay. And how close are you guys in in age?

SPEAKER_00 3:09

18 months apart.

SPEAKER_02 3:09

I'm older. Okay. So almost Irish twins. Yep. Not quite. Real close. Real close. Road bikes. Yep. Dirt bikes, quads, razor.

SPEAKER_00 3:20

Dirt bikes, razors. Okay. Uh BMX bikes. We used to we had a desert literally across the street, so we'd go, you know, take shovels, build jumps, that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_02 3:28

Is there a crazy YouTube channel up for you that has dumb stuff?

SPEAKER_00 3:32

No. Me and my buddies tried it one time. Uh-huh. When we got older, like junior, senior year of high school, and more so uh stand-up jet skis at the lake during the summer, going to mammoth in the winter and snowboarding and that type of stuff. Just you know, playing around when that kind of took off. Yeah. Gave it a shot to have some fun.

SPEAKER_02 3:50

Could could you do a flip on a stand-up jet ski? No. No.

SPEAKER_00 3:54

No, I had a 1972 JS550, older than my dad.

SPEAKER_02 4:01

Oh my god. Did they make them back then? That thing must have been crazy.

SPEAKER_00 4:05

It was so fun. So me and my buddies just spontaneous. One summer we were all just decided, let's do it. Yeah, let's try it out. So we hopped on Craigslist Facebook Marketplace, and we all drove down to wherever they were at and picked them up and took them to the lake. Couldn't even get up on them.

SPEAKER_02 4:23

No kidding.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

For like the first four hours we were out there. Couldn't stand up on him. And we were all so mad. Like, what why would why did we do this?

SPEAKER_02 4:31

Looks so easy.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Yeah. You watch these videos and stuff, you know, like, why did we spend our money on this? We can't even stand up. And one of my buddies' mom grew up riding them. She came down to the lake. It was like 45 minutes to an hour away. So she came down, jumped on it, and stood up right away and took off. And we were like, you gotta be kidding me. Came on. She kind of gave us some pointers. Yeah. And we jumped on them and were able to rip them from then on. So it was it was a blast.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

That's awesome. Could you do a backflip? No. No. I had a but I had a buddy growing up because they had stand-up wave runners or jet skis. I think that's what they were called. And he could do some crazy stuff on it. I was the same way. I could barely get up on him. I didn't it didn't have the balance.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Mine was more so just cruise around type. They some of the ones they make are nuts. But those ones, they have like two throttles on them. One side is for the throttle, how fast you go, and then the other one actually can adjust the where the jet is. Yeah, so you know, you can lower it or whatever to propel yourself up, and they have foot holders in them and stuff like that. Crazy. Yeah, that that's when you're getting to the big money. We spent like a thousand bucks on ours, you know, so cheap. We were just getting started and just wanted to go try it out.

SPEAKER_02 5:48

So funny. I bought a uh a 50cc motorbike when I was a kid. Just same, same thing. It was like, I don't remember where it showed up, but it was like all of a sudden this thing's available. I'm like, I could buy this. My dad's like, no, and I'm like, no, I've got this money, I'm gonna buy this. And I bought it, immediately took it out, built a jump, and blew the drive shaft through the crankcase. I mean, it was like, I think I had the thing like an hour, like blew it up.

SPEAKER_00 6:15

It was like, okay, that was stupid. You're working on them more than you're riding them on. Oh, yeah. That's how it was with the razor that we had, too. We transitioned to that early on. We, you know, when we were younger, my dad let us ride dirt bikes and stuff, and then an accident in town happen. It was a small town, you know, 30,000, 25,000 people. So everybody knew everybody. And a really good family in town, his their son was just riding around at one of the parks and hitting some jumps and crashed and broke his neck and ended up passing away.

SPEAKER_04 6:44

And oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

My dad never let us really ride after that. You know, we kind of he told me when I turned 18 I could do whatever I wanted. So literally, when I turned 18 and got access to my bank account, I went and bought a dirt bike, rode it for a little bit, and then ended up going to college, deciding to play football again and going to school. I I got rid of it.

SPEAKER_02 7:03

Yeah. Well, it's crazy it's crazy. I I don't know if now looking back, I can remember things where my dad's like, no, no, no, no, and I'm like, ah, you're just an ass. And now looking back on, oh okay, I kind of get it. 100%. It's like, I can understand a th a little bit of that. Now, now growing up, did you play like pop warner football? Did you play other sports than just football when you were growing up?

SPEAKER_00 7:26

I played baseball for probably five years. Okay. That was it. Baseball and football, and then just fell in love with football. Okay. And just wanted to stick with that. Yeah. Stopped playing baseball and just rode with football.

SPEAKER_02 7:39

Did you go straight from high school to college to play football?

SPEAKER_00 7:42

I actually took a year off.

SPEAKER_02 7:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

It was a rough year. Yeah. In the in the Mather family household. My dad was uh not happy. Pretty upset. Yeah. Which is. Your dad was a coach, right? Yep. And like we were just talking about, you know, you you think, oh, dad just being an ass, you know, now looking back after the memories and things that I've been able to create and look back on, I'm like, now I know why he was upset. So ended up taking a gap year after high school, like two weeks before I was supposed to go to end up going to Victor Valley Junior College with my cousin. And I didn't want to go to school anymore. I remember the feeling of with the day I graduated high school being like, I don't ever have to go to school again if I don't want to. Skipped that year, watched football every Saturday and Sunday college in NFL, and was like, what am I doing? That I should be out there. Yeah. But when I look back on it, as you know, much as I understand it was a stupid decision, I tried to also look at it as a positive, take those type of things from it. Like I was 175 pounds in high school. I I played left tackle, running back, and middle linebacker in the same season. Small town, yeah, don't have many kids to choose from. Played where my team needed me. And taking that year off allowed me to put some more weight on so that I could better prepare myself. You know, going into my freshman year, I was probably 195 to 205. So I was able to put on you know 20 pounds of bad weight. Once I started getting back in the gym, I was able to, you know, put some muscle back on and turn it into good weight. So yep.

SPEAKER_02 9:17

I uh well, I think sometimes though, you know, as as hard as it is, especially as a parent, when you're watching a kid and you think, okay, you know, he or she has really great natural talent that just needs to be honed in a little bit, right? And you're and you and you want to encourage them to proceed, but you don't want to push them forward, right? So it's like, okay, this needs to be their decision. I think as an individual, whether it's uh you know, coming out of high school into college, out of college into work, or just a career in general, sometimes it's good to be able to take a step back and blow steam, right? And just go, you know, and because I think it allows you to fall back in love with whatever it was. 100%. And I think had you gone straight to college, maybe you play a year and you burn out, you know, and then you're done for good.

SPEAKER_00 10:05

Yep. You know, there was some other, you know, factors that played into it, and then once I did end up going deciding to go back, I chose we went and checked out a couple different junior colleges and I decided to go to Bakersfield. Okay. Bakersfield junior college.

SPEAKER_02 10:21

Did you walk on there? I mean, I don't understand like the the JCO stuff, because they don't offer scholarships in the scholarships in junior college, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

Okay. So yeah, we went and checked a couple different ones out. My grandfather knew the head coach there, and it was close to town, you know. So my grandpa had had uh I think my grandpa played baseball there back in his day. I know my uncle, my dad's older brother did Troy. He played there baseball there. And uh so there was some family history there and went a couple checked a couple different places out. My dad went to Orange Coast, but okay. I decided Bakersfield close to him. I think that was another thing too, another factor that played into my decision was I grew up playing with the same kids my whole life from six years old until my senior year high school. The same group of guys we all played together on the same team, you know. And then also I've never been away from home before. Yeah, and I think the closer that it got to that, it scared me, you know. I was still a kid and I was totally understand that. I w didn't know if I was ready.

SPEAKER_02 11:25

I was I was uh presented an opportunity to play college ball and turned it down because it was across the country. And I and I didn't understand. Like I was like small town, my parents didn't have money, and I thought, I'm gonna go there, I will never be able to come home, right? It's like that's on the other side of the world. And as a young kid, you know, it's it I think you know, there's there's weird things because from a time you don't you don't have the perspective of time yet, I don't think. I mean, at 18, 19 years old, when it's like you're trying to make these life-altering decisions sometimes, unless you have this burning desire that you're like, yeah, you know what, I'm the best, and people are fawning over you, and obviously now with the you know, the the portal and all the other crap that goes on, you know, it's it's it there's just so much that goes into it. But I think, you know, self-doubt, whether you had, I mean, your dad was a coach, my dad was a coach growing up, and I feel like there's this piece of it where you may or may not actually hear your parent, right? Because they're your parent. And then you kind of hear somebody else telling you, Yeah, you're pretty good, but you don't really truly believe that you're as good as you probably are. And I'm putting words and thoughts out here, but but it's one of those things where I feel like you know, you you you then go off someplace, and and as a kid, it's like there's this whole reality of I'm leaving home for the very first time. You know, whether you've been away for summer camp, I mean I used to go to church camp all the time, and the summer is a week, you know, it's like you're sad when you go, you're sad when you leave because you miss all the people that were there, you know that whole thing, but then it's like now I'm I'm gonna be leaving home to go to college and not really know when I'm gonna see my family again, right? And you're and you're maybe you're going where there's nobody that you know.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

100%. I after growing up there, I never thought that I wanted to leave. I I thought that's where my life was gonna be. I thought that's where I was gonna end up, you know, forever, raise a family, all that stuff until I finally got to get out and experience other places, this being one of them, and I never want to go back. Right obviously, like my mom's still there and my friends and stuff that I grew up with, and every time I'm pulling in that little hill to that little town, I'm already ready to go.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

Yeah, and it's funny. I my parents still live in my hometown, and I feel the same way. It's like there are times where I like the thought of the slower pace that it was, but then I pull into town and I'm like, yeah, there's just nothing to do.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 13:57

That's the biggest thing.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

There's nothing to do. We made it fun with the the things that we did, but we're all older now. We all have our own lives. Like, yeah, I still have friends there, but they got jobs, they got families, they got stuff that it's not the same anymore. You know, it's not easy to just be like, hey, what are you doing? I'm coming over, come over, everyone get together, and yeah, it's it's different.

SPEAKER_02 14:17

So were you into music or anything in school? Uh-uh. No, no choir, no band.

SPEAKER_00 14:21

I I did a little bit of acting when I was a when I was a kid, and I actually gave that up for football also.

SPEAKER_03 14:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

We were having to go down to LA almost one time a week, depending on what auditions I was getting called for.

SPEAKER_04 14:36

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 14:37

And I just got tired of it, having to miss practice and thankfully never had to miss a game. It was usually always during the week that auditions were, but I just loved football. That's all I wanted to do, you know. When I was when I started out, I thought it was so cool. I got to be in a couple commercials, got to be in a movie, and just fell out of love with it. I just wanted to play football.

SPEAKER_02 14:56

That's awesome. In your gap year, what did you do? Just hang out? Just hung out.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

Did you work for the family business?

SPEAKER_00 15:03

Worked for the family business, watched football on the weekends and missed and started getting back in the gym because I knew I was gonna be ready to go. Yep. So told my dad, let's let's find a spot.

SPEAKER_02 15:15

Gotcha. And then you went to J. C.

SPEAKER_00 15:17

You were there, were you there for two years or ended up being three because COVID. Oh so 2019 was my freshman year, 2020 was a year off, and then second year was 2021.

SPEAKER_02 15:28

Gotcha. And then how did you get to Sacramento State? It was Sack State, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:32

Yep. Had a good freshman season and actually went on a visit to Fresno State and fell through.

SPEAKER_05 15:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 15:42

Which happens a lot, you know. They first time they lay eyes on me, I've I've been told I was, you know, undersized my whole life, which is another one of the things that I feel like drove me, you know. But had a good fresh, you know, solid freshman season. COVID year happened, put more bad weight on. We didn't know what the world was gonna look like after that, you know. If it anything was gonna go back to normal, classes were online. That's the year I came out here, fell in love with it out here, but just bad habits out here too. Working for the company, making some good money, and should have just been saving it up and spending literally go to work, yeah, get home from work, go to the nearest bar, drink all night.

SPEAKER_02 16:23

There's nothing, there's no problem with that.

SPEAKER_00 16:25

But ended up putting on, you know, bad weight again because of that, and yeah, had no money. Literally, we get paid every Friday, and by the time Thursday night before Friday would hit, I have cents in my bank account. Wow. That's how bad it was. Every single day we were eating out, having a couple beers, and just crazy. I mean, it was fun, don't get me wrong. Yeah. Now that I look back, I'm like, I could have been getting ahead.

SPEAKER_02 16:48

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Well, have not, want not? Is that what they said about? I don't know how that works out, but um what was there a point? Let let's take it up to the end of J. Co. Was there a point, you know, through junior high, high school, that gap year into J Co where you had somebody in your life that believed in you to a point that you didn't believe in yourself, that that pushed you to that edge that said, Hey, you know, you you probably have more than you think you do. My dad, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 17:19

Yeah. 100%. I mean, he grew up coaching my whole life and coached me through my high school years, and he ended up retiring because he wanted to follow me on my college career, and that's you know, it broke him when I decided not to go. And that whole year, yeah. I mean, we were watching games together, and I'm he can see it on my face, and finally got the guts to tell him I made a bad decision and I want to play again. And he was the whole time, you know, he at first it was brutal. Like I said, it was a it was a struggle in the house. Yeah, it was disappointed in me, but also was the type of dad that you you're 18 years old now and you're gonna make your own decisions, even if I don't think it's right, I'm gonna tell you, but it's your choice. As a parent, I think you internalize that and then you but the whole time he kind of just told me stories and reflected on his college years and how fun it was not only for him but his family, the way he was able to bring people together. And our family's tight, man. Yeah. And everybody's grown up playing sports. That's awesome. It brings it brings everybody together throughout my whole career, high school, junior college, and at Sack State.

SPEAKER_03 18:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:36

It's people traveled a long ways to watch us play and get to spend a weekend together, you know. So but the whole time, yeah, he's he was pushing me, just telling me like, go have fun, yeah, get out of here, go experience something new. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:51

I was gonna say something, I'll hold that off. I'll maybe maybe it'll come out later, but we'll hold it for now. Did did you have any failures in that point that that drove you to that decision to where you didn't want to play football or you needed that gap year, or was it just that you kind of got lost in the not really feeling like you wanted to go to school at the school anymore? I mean this the the academic aspect of it.

SPEAKER_00 19:48

It was um it's embarrassing to say, honestly. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 19:52

Was there a girl involved?

SPEAKER_00 19:54

Yes, because I was a girl involved. Like now when I look back on it, it's just embarrassing to think about that I let that affect my decisions as well, you know.

SPEAKER_02 20:05

I don't know a guy that hasn't done that, so don't feel bad about it.

SPEAKER_00 20:08

And another thing, you know, I take the positives from it. Yeah. Best decision I made in my life was deciding to move forward and do something new.

SPEAKER_02 20:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:17

Yeah. It wasn't good for me.

SPEAKER_02 20:19

Yeah. It's tough, you know, because well, I mean, we get into a whole philosophical conversation of dad type thing, but I feel like, and and and having grown up through that space where you find somebody who makes you feel good and you want to keep them happy. And sometimes, and I don't know if women do this because I'm not a woman, I wouldn't know, but from a guy perspective, I feel like sometimes we make sacrifices in our own lives to stop doing things that give us joy because we want to make sure that that person's happy. Whether they say it expressingly, you know, whether they tell us, stop that and I'll be happy, which they wouldn't do usually, or you know, we just concoct it in our head, oh, they seem happier when I'm not doing this, and so we back away from it. And I I think I think that's human nature, probably, to some to some extent. I mean, I don't know all the ins and outs of your relationship.

SPEAKER_00 21:16

100% it was it was toxic and um manipulation. Well, at least you learned early. 100% best decision I ever made, you know.

SPEAKER_02 21:26

It could have been 15 years down the road.

SPEAKER_00 21:29

There's a lot of could-ifs, could've that I think about all right.

SPEAKER_02 21:34

So you get out of Jaco, get past COVID, you get to Sack State. Were you offered a scholarship at Sacramento State? Okay.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

So I got a couple D2 offers at um Bakersfield. Sacramento State was the only Division I school that had come through. And like I was saying earlier, I've always been told that I was undersized. I knew my potential on the football field. I knew the type of student I was, I knew what I bring to a locker room, to a team. Football is like size matters. It's it's crazy, you know.

SPEAKER_02 22:10

Well, and especially when you start looking at those D1 guys, and you're looking at frickin' tight ends who are 6'5, 6'6, 320 pounds, and it's like, these are frickin' mountains, man.

SPEAKER_00 22:21

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

So I had uh you were a linebacker, right? So yeah, that guy coming across the middle, you got to take him out.

SPEAKER_00 22:26

Yep, you better hit low. But that was the thing, is you know, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I'm like, I just wanted to tell these coaches. I've you know, I was raised to be respectful and stuff, but I just wanted to tell these coaches like, man, the film speaks for itself. Yeah, what are you talking about? Why does it matter how big or small I am? Yeah, it doesn't I put a 360 pound guy in front of me, I don't care. Right. That's how much I love this game. I'm willing to die on this field. Yeah, no, seriously, that's how I felt. That's the passion I Had for the for the I'll do whatever I can to knock him on his ass. And um, so a couple D2 schools rolled through, and one of the recruiters that actually came to campus after we had done our kind of interview thing told me, Okay, let's step outside and we're gonna take a picture, Brock. This is what your scholarship is gonna come down to when I send this picture to the head coach. Just the picture. And I remember thinking to myself, like, Stand tall. Punch you in the face, you know. Because like I said, man, the film speaks for itself. You know, we just talked this whole time and you picked my brain. You see how I understand the game, you see my passion for it. You yeah, I feel like I'm I I'm putting putting that energy, you know, into you. But my scholarship's coming down to a picture. That's crazy. And it was actually I think he was like the safeties coach or something that was recruiting in that area, and the linebacker coach texted me later that night, and uh I held off on returning his text for a little bit and um asked my dad, you know, what I should say to be respectful, but tell him and I told him the coach straight up. I was like, listen, the guy came and told me that my scholarship is based on how tall I am. I'm not I'm not about that, you know. I'm not coming there.

SPEAKER_03 24:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:21

I'm gonna hold off and wait and see if anything else comes, but this isn't where I'm going. It was a Davenport University in Michigan, one old as hell.

SPEAKER_02 24:31

Long ways from home.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

Long ways from home. And um Sack State, a couple hours up the road, had a recruiter that came down, watched a couple praxes and stuff, and I never got to talk to him really. He was talking to my coaches more, you know. And we ended up communicating through Twitter after he had came down a couple times, watched a couple praxes, knew who I was, saw my game film, talked to my coaches to learn more about my character and who I am as a person and student.

SPEAKER_03 24:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:00

And ended up messaging me on Twitter and telling me, I just want to let you know we don't care about your size, we've seen your film and we've heard all about your character from your coaches, and we want you to come play for us. And I remember feeling that's the first time that I've ever felt wanted somewhere.

SPEAKER_03 25:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:18

And I knew that's where I wanted to go. That's so cool. So after the season finished up, me and my dad went down there for an official visit, got to meet the head coach, linebacker coach, watch practice, watch some film, learn a little bit about their defense, check out the campus, and um they offered me a scholarship at the end of it. And it was Thanksgiving week. I ended up flying back out here with my dad after, and the coach was like, I know Thanksgiving's coming up, you know. Let's I'll give you some time to think about it, talk with your family, whatever. Get back to me next week and let me know what what the decision is. So got back to Arizona, obviously was ecstatic. Right now, yeah, I was I was happy about it and everything like that. And I think the next day was Thanksgiving Day, and my phone started ringing, and it was him. I answered. I'm like, what's up, coach? He's like, Hey, how's it going? And starts BNSing for a few minutes, and what's your decision? And I'm like, he put me on the spot, you know. I haven't even really had time to process this besides being excited. You know, I got I finally got my dream, a division one offer, somebody who wants me to come play for them, but I haven't even told my uncles, I haven't told my friends really, you know. Like, I I haven't even had time to really I feel like we just got off the plane back home. You told me you were gonna give me some time. Yeah. And he put me on the spot, and I was like, hey coach, I honestly haven't even really gotten to put some you know thought into it. I kind of want to see if anything else comes to the table, you can just feel it out, and he's like, that makes it seem like you're not interested. You know, like we gotta go find somebody that can play linebacker for us. That's why we're recruiting you. If I need to know what your decision is, because we're gonna have to offer a scholarship to somebody else. And uh I got off the phone with him and went out and sat on the couch with my dad and we started talking for a little bit. I'm like, hey, he's I need to make a decision like tonight, you know. And um, so I called my uncles, got them, and my grandpa, I got them all on a a group FaceTime and told him that I was gonna commit to Sacramento State and go play there. And then I remember feeling a little overwhelmed at first because I did I got my first offer, and I feel like once you get one more start coming, I wanted to see what else I got. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:44

But did anything else come in after you committed?

SPEAKER_00 27:47

Nope. Okay. So once you I feel like once you commit it kind of locks, yeah, people teams stop reaching out and stuff. Gotcha. Gotcha. So I had to let all the other teams that had to offer me a scholarship, you know. I just sent them a text. I'd kind of just copy and pasted it, but added, hey coach, so and so. Decided to commit to Sacramento State, blah, blah, blah, whatever. But ended up being the best decision I've ever made, man.

SPEAKER_02 28:11

That's awesome. I'd well I I really I commend you for believing in yourself to the point where you you believe that your size didn't matter. Because I I can tell you from the other side of it. I mean, I told you I wrestled in college, but I also wanted to play football, and I was offered to play, but never really thought of myself as that great of a player. Now looking back, I think I was actually pretty decent. I mean, not D1, probably decent, but I thought I was pretty, I mean, I think I was probably pretty good. But I remember going to the locker room at Central Washington University, and they had on the door a list of positions and the basically the minimum size they wanted you to be. And in high school I played quarterback and free safety, and I knew I wasn't fast enough to play free safety in any college, no matter what. But I was pretty decent quarterback, and it said like 6'3, 225, and I was 6'1, 165 pounds, dripping wet, you know. And I'm like, Well, I'm not big enough, so I guess I won't play, you know, and walked away at that point. And I I look back now and I think about you know, guys who are smaller quarterbacks in the NFL, and I think, I was big enough to play. Yeah, I mean, you know, it's all about heart, it's all about what you got to give on the field. And so I commend you for doing that because I think unfortunately there's enough people that stop themselves because of that sheet on the locker room wall or whatever that says, yeah, you're not big enough. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 29:37

Yep. I just like I was saying, man, I just the passion, you know, the heart, I I loved it. That's awesome. I honestly felt you know there's risks that come with anything that you do, but football's a violent sport. Oh, absolutely. You see stuff happen all the time. Season or career-ending injuries. Yeah. You gotta think about your brain when you're done playing. Oh, right, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 29:59

I still think about my brain to this day, Picking.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

But I I just always loved it so I've never loved anything like that before. I loved it so much that I really truly felt like if I died on the field, I would be satisfied.

SPEAKER_04 30:13

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 30:13

I would be happy with my life. Yeah, obviously, thank God that it didn't end that way or anything, but that's just the way that I felt.

SPEAKER_02 30:22

Is is there I think I was when I was doing a little bit of research about you before, you were running back for a little bit in high school and then linebacker and running back or running back and linebacker in high school, and then linebacker in college.

SPEAKER_00 30:36

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 30:37

Okay. So in let's say as a linebacker, or even as a running back, I mean, did you ever did you have like a beast mode situation where you ran through a couple guys, or is there is there a specific play that you remember on the defense where you know some big ass tight end was coming across the middle and he caught the ball and you just laid his ass out? You popped up and you're like a couple times.

SPEAKER_00 31:03

I I don't think there's a better feeling, especially at my size, always being told that I was you know too small to play the position. I don't think there's a better feeling than putting your freaking the crown of your helmet under a six-five, three hundred and sixty-pound man's chin strap and watching him fall on his ass. Yeah, you know. But yeah, I mean, split zone tight end coming across a couple times, blasted slot receiver running a slant route across the middle, and I'd see it and time it up perfectly and break it up and blast them. There's been a couple that I just I watch back on my phone sometimes and it it brings a tear to my eyes sometimes because there's no other feeling like that in the world.

SPEAKER_02 31:47

You know what's funny is I remember in high school, some and I don't remember who it was, whether it was my dad or another coach had told me, if you hit that person harder than they hit you, it's not gonna hurt. So I just kept that in my head, right? It's okay, I don't care how big that guy is, if I hit him harder than he hits me, it's gonna hurt him, not me. You know, and I can remember a couple plays like that where it's like, you know, some weird crossing route or something, and I'm playing, you know, strong safety, free safety, you know, and you just you see it, you know, it's like you see that play develop and you're like, oh, I know exactly where this is going.

SPEAKER_00 32:24

One of the things that I feel like really helped me and my game and the way that I saw the game also was I played left tackle in high school. So I knew all the blocking schemes because I did it. Gotcha. So I was able to take that with me, and when I would read my lineman keys and see their first step, I would know where the ball was going. You know, I just feel like that was my gift was I just had a nose for the football and I was fearless. I did not care how big you were, how fast you were, how strong you were, how many offers you had.

SPEAKER_02 32:59

Any any good gaps you hit where you blasted the guy in the backfield before I mean Yes. I mean, where it's like all of a sudden you're like, how did I get through there and not get touched?

SPEAKER_00 33:10

In junior college and high school. So I the higher that you get up, defensive schemes change. You have a responsibility. You're not my whole life, high school and junior college, I was a free player. Just go get the money. My coaches knew like this guy's got a nose for the football, he's gonna find it any way, shape, or form that he can. Gotcha. And we're just gonna let him because he's not gonna be wrong.

SPEAKER_03 33:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:36

And once I got to Sack State, that's where I had to kind of relearn the game a little bit because I had a job. Every individual on the field has their own job and responsibility. And if you're not in the right spot, other dude, the dude on the other side, just as good. And he's gone. Gotcha. You know, so cutback responsibility, force play, like it's not just, oh, he has the ball and he's going this way. I'm gonna go get him. No, you you're on the backside, you're the cutback player, and you better stay there because if that guy's running that way and he sees a lane, he's good enough to put his foot in the ground and take it to the house. The other way, yeah. So it it it I had to play the game a little bit differently than was able to growing up, and I still did it successfully. That is probably the one and only thing that if I could have changed, I would because I played that way for 14 years of my life. Yeah. Just find the football and hit whoever was in my way until I got there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:36

Well, and I think in football in in high school, at least where I grew up, because we had really small team. Bug in my face here. We had a really small team, and so there wasn't a lot, we everybody played both ways and whatever, but there were there were enough guys on the field that didn't know their assignments. Where it's like you kind of had to play that way, right? It's like, okay, you know, you know, if I'm playing strong safety and I got the corner on this side and he's up against you know their number one receiver, okay, I know I got a cover for him. So now I'm like watching that and paying attention to what's going up here. And so rather than you know, sitting back in a zone or whatever it is, and I so I think at that level, you know, it's kind of there is a free-for-all type thing. Now I don't know in the larger schools, maybe it's different. But then once you get to, you know, JCO, it changes probably a little bit, and then you get to D1, obviously, is you know, basically a step down from pro. And and I heard somebody say at one point, you know, the difference about D1 and Pro is the the guys that are on the pro on the on the field in pro that are the starters, it's like they understand, like you just said, they understand that they have a job specific to them and they do that job, right? And they know that their buddy on the right, the buddy on the left is gonna do their job. And so it's like, okay, I got this piece of the field I gotta worry about, and I just do that.

SPEAKER_00 36:35

I've never felt more pressure in my life than when you're in a meeting room with your coaches and they throw you the marker and tell you to go up to the whiteboard in front of everybody and draw this scheme against personnel on offense. Oh, yeah. Sweating bullets. Oh, I'm sure it's nerve-wracking. I'm sure. And that was one of the things that helped me catch up at Sack State was in my free time from classes. If I had an hour break, a couple hours in between classes, whatever, I would meet up with my linebacker coach my first year there. I got there in um January. So I was a spring transfer, so I got to be with them through the whole spring instead of coming in in the summertime just before season. Yep. I was able to get a little bit ahead that way, but I've never stood on the sidelines in my life. And I didn't want to I got my dream opportunity to go play D1 football, and I didn't want to stand on the sidelines there. I wanted to play, I wanted to be a starter. Yeah. So every chance that I got, then between classes and free time, I was going to my coach's office and we were watching film, and I was learning the defense, and I did everything that I could to put myself in the best position possible to learn it as quickly as I could and get on the field as quickly as I could.

SPEAKER_02 37:52

Fast forward to today when you guys are watching football on TV, are you calling out schemes? Are you saying I missed this, missed that, whatever?

SPEAKER_00 38:00

I try to just watch it and enjoy it now. I've yeah, I I I try to just watch it and enjoy it. Once you start thinking like that, it I Who Who missed their assignment? Yeah, I I have a desire to get into coaching one day, and I know that that'll get me back into it that way. I'm still held on to all my playbooks and stuff from school. But yeah, when I watch it now, I just want to sit back and enjoy it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:28

Be entertained.

SPEAKER_00 38:29

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 38:30

All right, so off the wall question. You've got tattoos. When was your first tattoo? And what did your dad say about it when you came?

SPEAKER_00 38:38

It was it was like three or four days before my 18th birthday. Okay. My mom went with me, signed for me and everything, and it was my 18th birthday present from her. He knew that I was getting it. Oh, he did know who it was the lion right here. So it was hidden. Okay. He wasn't happy about it, but he knew about it. And once I started getting my forearm done, he thought I was gonna be one and done, you know. I got this this bicep done, and then this one, and I started doing my forearm, and it was in the middle of summer, same weather as here, middle of the desert, hot as hell.

SPEAKER_03 39:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:15

And I was wearing a long sleeve shirt every day because I was trying to hide it from him. Literally, after like three weeks of having it, yeah, we're in the kitchen one day, and he looks at me and goes, You know, I know you have tattoos on your arm, right? And that's all he said. And I remember just looking at him and thinking to myself, like, so you've just been watching me be miserable all summer. What why did you take so long to say something? And he's like, You're the one that was hiding it from me. Why did I need to told me? You know, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 39:45

But that's funny.

SPEAKER_00 39:46

I think that he kind of just accepted it. Yeah. Me and my brother, another silly phase when I look back at it. We um we got our ears pierced. Uh-huh. And he always told us if we ever came home with our ears pierced, he was gonna rip the earrings out of our dad said the exact word for word, you ever come home with the ear pierced, I'm ripping it out. Me and my brother went through a little phase all of our buddies, where we just wanted to be kids that wanted to do what our parents didn't want us to do. Of course. Decided to do it, and I remember the first time I showed up to him with them in my ears, and I was scared. I was terrified because the look on his face and the things he was saying to me, man, I thought I'd I thought they were coming out for sure.

SPEAKER_02 40:30

That's awesome. But how long how long did they last?

SPEAKER_00 40:34

I wore mine for a couple months. My brother wore his for a long time, actually. Did he? Yeah, but we both grew out of it, which yeah, thankfully, it's yeah, now that I think about it, another one of those things, I'm like, oh we die.

SPEAKER_02 40:46

Yeah, why are you doing that? It's funny because I my dad, I mean, my dad was old school. My dad was old school. And and in fact, to this day, he's not ever said anything about my tattoos. Like his mom, my grandmother, is the only one that I think I remember on my side of the family that has actually asked me about what they mean, type of thing. And she's passed since. But my dad's never asked me, word for word, you ever come home with your ear pierced? I'm ripping it out. And I was fighting forest fires and and probably drinking a little bit too much one night, decided I was piercing my ear, took a stud of some girl that was a firefighter, popped it through my ear, went home. Same thing. My dad looked at me, he's like, What is that? I'm like, What are you talking about? He says, What's in your ear? Nothing. Why? He goes, What is that earring in your ear? I'm like, Oh, that. He's like, Yeah, no, and I thought, same thing, is you'd rip it out of my head, but he didn't. Yep. He didn't. My dad had a way of disciplining us without disciplining us, like self-discipline. I remember one night, my buddy and I, I probably shouldn't admit this on the air. My buddy and I in high school, we went to a dance with this girl, I will not name her, but she had a two-liter bottle of what she called dynamite, and she basically had taken a little bit of every kind of booze in her parents' house and dumped it into the two-liter bottle so that her parents didn't know that she had taken some of the booze, right? But she had a two-liter bottle of booze. Yeah, we got a little bit messed up before we got to the the party or to the dance, and uh my buddy who was with me, one of the teachers came up to me and she says, Hey, where's so and so? And I'm like, I don't know. I'm like pressing myself against the wall because I'm like, you know, everything's moving. And uh she says, Well, come here. So she takes me out, and my buddy's out in the front of the school naked, just dancing around. Oh my god. So they're like, We're gonna call your parents and have them come get you. No, no, no, no. My parents aren't home. I'll call my my brother because my dad's a teacher and a coach. And so I call my brother, he comes and gets me. And at the time we lived out of town, we and and my bedroom we had a uh a garage or a carport that entered into the house, and then my bedroom was right to the right, and then kitchen was the left, and then the rest of the house was in the back. So you could get into my room from without having to go into the house, but there was then a door out of my room into the house. Well, I had two twin-sized beds, one on each side of my room. Don't know why, but I did. And I go in, sit down, you know, start taking my shoes off. My dad's like, You been drinking? I like look, I'm like, oh shit, because it's dark. I didn't know he was in there. Like, oh crap. Yeah. He goes, Okay. He gets up and walks out of the room. I'm thinking, oh shit, I'm dead, right? Woke me up at like five o'clock that morning. I was out splitting wood until noon, hung over as hell, splitting firewood. It was the worst. Never said anything after that. My god, that was horrible. It was like the worst hangover. Oh, I bet. I mean, you know, but yeah. I mean, he he plenty of times used a stiff hand or stick or whatever was close enough to hit me with.

SPEAKER_00 44:13

But when we were younger, we definitely got the belt and stuff like that. And they were both pretty strict. As we got older and when they ended up deciding to go their separate ways, my parents is when I feel like things got more laxed. Oh, yeah. We had a little bit more freedom. Obviously, there was still the discipline there, but it was not as much get you know, bend over the bed and take this belt to you. It was just what are you doing? Yeah. You know, make make good decisions like you always have.

SPEAKER_03 44:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:48

And that was that was the way that it was a lot most of the time growing up. We got the belt, like I said, but once we got older, it was more so just, hey, I know you're getting older and you're gonna start, you know, drinking and doing things. Just if you're gonna drink, never get behind the wheel, give me a call. Be smart, don't do anything that's gonna put your future in jeopardy, you know.

SPEAKER_02 45:10

Yep. My dad used to tell me he'd say two things he used to say. If you ever need to use me as an excuse, do it. But then make sure you tell me why or what you did, you know. Like if you need a an excuse to get out of a situation, you're you're in a bad situation, use me. The other thing he used to say is if you're ever in a place where you have been drinking or that happens. And you need a ride home, I will pick you up, no questions asked, and we'll work it out the next day. You know, so I'm like, but thankfully neither one actually ever happened. I mean, I'm sure I probably used him as an excuse at times where I'm like, yeah, my dad would probably kick my ass if I did that, but I'm not, you know, I don't remember any, but uh any anybody uh, you know, obviously your dad was influential in your life. Was there anybody else going through, you know, maybe when you got off to college or when you were away from home and started kind of developing into uh, you know, more of a a D1 player? Was there anybody that influenced you that direction that maybe believed in you on a deeper level there?

SPEAKER_00 46:10

I would say probably my grandpa. He was calling me daily after practice, and if it wasn't daily, it was you know every other day, multiple times a week, just checking in on me, seeing how practice went, how I'm doing with the transition and everything. And that really made me feel like I was explaining earlier how sports brings our family together. Having somebody outside of my mom or my dad checking in on me like that every day, I knew that I was doing it for more than just myself.

SPEAKER_03 46:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:47

It wasn't just my dream. I was bringing my family closer by giving them something to do every weekend, something to watch every weekend, and they were banking on me too, you know.

SPEAKER_02 46:59

Yeah. What what ended the football career? Was it school got over or was there something else?

SPEAKER_00 47:04

At l as far as why I didn't continue to play?

SPEAKER_02 47:07

Yeah, I mean, could could you have? Because I I mean I don't know. Could you you think you could have not in the NFL?

SPEAKER_00 47:12

Okay. I think I could have probably went and played in the CFL or indoor football league or something like that. Kind of like how we were talking before, burnout's a real thing, man. I did it my whole life, and there was times throughout my whole career I took that gap year, and especially at the D1 level, like fall camp, and there's sometimes you know, summer during the off season where it's just brutal. And then even in season, you know, you make a run, you're playing 14 games, yeah, 15 games. Week every time. It gets to a point sometimes where your body's banged up. You the one week in between isn't enough time to recover. Yeah, you know, you're playing hurt, you're playing injured, and you still got to go to school, you still got papers to write, you still got speeches to give, all this stuff, projects, group projects. It's tough. Yeah. School and football was the is the most difficult balance for sure. A lot of times. Both my junior and so I think that's when it really set in for me was at the D1 level because I've always been a good student, but like I said, with football, the higher up you go, the more difficult everything gets. It's the same thing with school.

SPEAKER_02 48:24

Yeah, did you guys have like in wrestling pre-season? We I mean it's pretty much like one practice a day. I mean, it was, you know, either you're you're you know just doing drills or you're running or working out. Once we got into season, it was weights and cardio in the morning and then we're drilling in the evening. Did you guys have two days through the season, or was it more you're just doing walkthroughs, learning schemes of what the team is that's coming up that you're gonna be playing and you know how they how they work, what their quarterbacks like, that sort of thing?

SPEAKER_00 48:55

In season, it's definitely a lot more relaxed because so we would go like f three days in shells, one day in just helmets, and then there would be no, so one day in full pads, two days in shells, one day in just helmets, and then travel if we were out of town or walk through practice if we were at home. But off season, brutal brutal. Fall camp is the hardest thing in the world. You're it's three weeks before season starts, so a month straight of ten hours a day. Like you're living in the facility. Our locker room had air mattresses that people would bring to lay down and nap. We had an hour and a half break.

SPEAKER_04 49:42

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 49:42

But it was we were literally there from 8 a.m. and it's waits, meetings, and then practice, and then waits, more meetings, and then dinner and go home. So they fed us breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We were there from eight in the morning. It might have been earlier than that, it might have been like seven until like six p.m. Wow. And thankfully that's right before school starts as well, because there's no chance that we would have been able to do that during school. But man, that'd be rough. My first go at that, I was like, holy cow overload of information. You're trying to there's just polishing things up. Seasons right around the corner. You've been learning it this whole time, but now they're just jamming it in you, you know. Playbook, putting the weight on, you're hitting the weights hard, yeah, practicing hard, full gear, you know, tackling, getting you ready to for as a defensive guy, getting us up to game speed and yeah, making sure that we're tackling guys and getting ready for it. There's nothing like that.

SPEAKER_02 50:44

Yeah, that's that's crazy. So, um, what what's your degree in? Or what would you go to school for? I shouldn't assume that you have a degree. I'm guessing you do, but I don't know if you do or not.

SPEAKER_00 50:55

So I have I have an associate's okay in psychology, and I still have two more classes that I've and you haven't finished them.

SPEAKER_02 51:03

Just take online classes.

SPEAKER_00 51:05

I know.

SPEAKER_02 51:05

Just go do it. Just get it in. And then at least you got the piece of paper. It's not gonna do you any good, but at least you got the piece of paper.

SPEAKER_00 51:14

One of them is uh writing intensive class, and you know what sucks is both of them I was doing so well in the whole year. And once football ended, I knew that I was done too. You just checked out. I checked out, yeah. I remember walking off the field and being in the locker room and just feeling I I mean, I balled my eyes out. Yeah, you know, I was hugging my teammates for the last time, my coaches, and knowing that this is what I've spent my whole life doing. I feel like it that was my identity. Yeah, I feel like I'm still searching for what my identity is out outside of football because it's what I've known forever. And I I checked out, I had a fallen fallen out with uh one of my partners in our group project in one of the classes, and that checked me out. And the final in the writing intensive class was a 12-page paper. I got about a page and a half in, and I remember just going blank and being like, screw it. I'm already I'm already, you know, threw the P sign in on that other class, so I'm not just adding another one to it. And it's been this will be the third year now, but I need I'm gonna get it done eventually. I just I I say I needed a break, and now that I mean hear that, I'm like, okay, well, it's been three years. You've gotten a break.

SPEAKER_02 52:28

Listen to yourself. I mean, I if if you had 40 credit hours left to take, it'd be one thing. You had two classes.

SPEAKER_00 52:36

Communications is what it was. It communications, okay. So I got into I did I I studied business and all the way up until my second year at junior college during COVID, and I was out here, and it's when everything went online because they shut school down, and it was new to everyone. Yeah professors, us, and I was taking that semester I had to take finite mathematics, which I've always struggled in math throughout my whole life. I mean, I've dropped a couple classes in high school because literally I'd be sitting up there looking at the board and I'm looking around on my classmates and they're nodding their head, and I'm like, did I miss a week or something? You know, I had finite mathematics and business law in the same semester, and it was all online, and it was like I was trying to teach myself, figure it out myself. You know, you're watching these teachers are doing recorded lectures that you gotta watch an hour for, and it's hard to have that attention span to you know, take all that information, and then you got an exam. Well, guess what? Since you can't take it in my classroom, it's on the computer, but your camera has to be on, and you're you can't have any other tabs open on your browser.

SPEAKER_03 53:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:52

Well, I guess I'm kind of screwed then. So I ended up dropping business and then I started doing psychology. That's what I got my associates in, and I started in no, I skipped one. I after business I did um kinesiology. Okay. Wanted to do some sports med thing or something once we started getting to the upper chemistry classes and stuff.

SPEAKER_02 54:15

A lot of memorization. There's a ton of memorization. Yeah, that's my that's my degree is fitness and sport management, but kinesiology, physiology, a lot of memorization.

SPEAKER_00 54:25

Same kind of thing. Some of those classes I'm like, this is crazy. Yeah. So I started doing psychology, got my degree in that, and when I got to SAC State, started with that, and some interesting professors and students. No offense to anybody that's in that, but not for me.

SPEAKER_02 54:46

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 54:47

So then I decided to Well, you were in California, so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:51

I mean that's all I gotta say.

SPEAKER_00 54:52

Yeah, 100%. I I did not fit in in those classrooms. Yeah. And it makes me sound like a bad student. I feel like four different, you know, things that I studied and couldn't make up my mind, oh, that was too hard. I wanted to play football.

SPEAKER_05 55:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 55:06

Like I said, I took the gap year because I didn't want to go to school anymore. Totally understood. But guess what? You can't play football without going to school. So if we're being honest, I chose the easiest route I could.

SPEAKER_02 55:18

Hey, you know what? I hear a lot of myself in you because I went to college because I thought that's what I was supposed to do. I wanted to play sports. I was always playing sports. I played football and then I wrestled and then I played baseball and golf. So I mean, baseball and golf kind of flipped. But I got to college, it's like I went to college and wrestled, you know, it's like just what you do. And I wanted to play football, but then I decided, well, the list says I'm not big enough, so I guess I can't play. And I started off in business and I took my first accounting class, and I'm like, what a minus is a plus, and a plus is a minus. I can't do math as it is, and you're telling me what that sucked, and then I switched to music, and and my music instructor thought that I would be a great tenor, operatic tenor, which sucked. And then from there, I think is when I got into kinesiology, physiology, and stuff, because I thought, well, I'm gonna be either a physical education teacher and a coach, or I'm gonna go into strength and conditioning. And then by the time I got done, it was I just get me out. I was done. And then I tried to get into physical therapy, but I just wasn't I didn't have good enough grades at that point. It was like you can't get into school with a two-point whatever I had. So, but I was done. I was the same thing. I mean, I just like I was never a good student. I just showed up. I was a good athlete and teachers liked me.

SPEAKER_00 56:42

Yep. That was it. So it was like I showed up. My parents always harped on, you know, coming home with good grades, showing progress reports, and if there's anything lower than a B on there, I mean they weren't they weren't happy with C's, you know. They would have hated me. I just had that drilled into me forever, you know. I mean, I had a couple semesters where I was a 4.0 student, and that's a good feeling. Yeah, and I wanted that to be what I tried to my goal for every semester and stuff, and yeah, the higher you go, the harder it gets.

SPEAKER_02 57:12

And I also never been 4.0, not even in kindergarten.

SPEAKER_00 57:16

It's tough. It's especially like I we were just talking about with balancing sports in school. But when I think about that, I'm like, all these other students on campus, or like even my friends that just went to college and didn't play sports, I'm like, how?

SPEAKER_02 57:30

Yeah. And how are you not getting an A? I mean, how are you not? You know, that's a great point because I think about that. I mean, and and when I was in high school, I mean, college was a totally different thing. College, like I said, we had weights and and cardio in the morning, and then you'd do classes wherever you fit them in, and then you'd have we'd do drills in the afternoon, unless there was matches or we were traveling or things like that. In high school, I had what now they consider zero hours. So I had jazz band in the morning, and then you go to school, or you had jazz band or sports, you know, if they had two-a-days, you know, sometimes they have two-a-day type stuff, and then you get into all your classes, and then after school you've got whatever the practice is, and then sometimes there's something it's like, dude, I was I was going non-stop. And yeah, I sucked. I mean, I was a I was not a great student. I think I graduated with a three-something in high school and a two-something in college, but it's one of those things where it's like I I think about that. I think about kids who just go to school. It's like, how can you not get great grades if all you're doing is going to school? I mean, I mean, granted, some people have a hard time learning and whatever, but it just blows me away.

SPEAKER_00 58:41

100%. Well, and also I just was always curious what drives them? Is it just you know, the workforce after this? Are they trying to go for a certain job? Because I feel like a lot of people who get degrees in one thing don't end up doing what they have their degree in.

SPEAKER_02 59:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 59:35

You know?

SPEAKER_02 59:36

Oh, I I would say the majority of people don't. Yeah. Unless you're, you know, a doctor, lawyer, computer something. Yep. Uh, you know, I mean, I it's funny because my brother, who just retired, which makes me feel even older than I am, is a mechanical engineer. He went to school for engineering. And I'm like, I and that's just blowed my mind, right? The amount of math, you talk about math, it's like blows my mind. But that type of thing, it's like if you're going for something very, very specific, I understand it. But I feel like there's so many kids, and I say kids, people that go to school now because that's what you're supposed to do, that are getting degrees in, you know, whatever, underwater basket weaving or whatever, just because they're there to get a four-year degree. And it's like, well, what are you really learning while you're here that's worth being here? You know, and and then what are you gonna do when you graduate? It's like, like you said, what's your drive? What's your motivation? What what's I don't know, take you to that next level? Yeah. I speaking of looking looking right now through your eyes, through your perception at your ripe young age, what does success look like to you? How how do you define success? Let's let's do this. How do you how did you define success when you were playing football and you were in college? And now looking forward, what what would success look like to you?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:01

During football, I would say just following through with what I believed in in myself and proving everybody that ever doubted me wrong. All the people that always told me that I couldn't do it.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:14

Proving them wrong. And today, I would say I have so much pride in the family name and the family business and watching what my dad and his brothers have done, what they've created from literally the ground up from nothing to what it is today. Just being able to be a part of that now and do what I can, continue to learn from them and do what I can to one day continue and to carry it on and take it to the next level.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:46

What do you do? So Mather Brothers is the name of the business. And I turn my Kirkland water bottle around and turn your Mather Water Brothers bottle first. What do you do for the business right now?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:59

So right now I am my title is operations manager. Okay. I have taken on the snow. So I'm doing a lot of the snow right now. We have winter time is when it's crazy, you know. There's still some in the summer, and we still are having some that we're finishing up for the year. Snow and events. So the bigger ones my dad has to have his hands in waste management, Barrett Jackson, because Yeah, it makes sense. It's a lot. Yeah, you screw that up. Yep. That's gonna look real bad. But the smaller ones where you know it's an event trailer, just making sure that we have the equipment, communicating with these customers and getting them the prices and making sure we have the equipment getting in loaded and getting it there. And then just slowly learning the ropes more and more. Just we share an office, so getting to hear the way he communicates with customers and sitting next to him and watching learning what not to do. What he's yeah, sometimes for sure. Well, I wouldn't say that on the phone.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:00

Yeah. Okay, note to self. That's not how I would have handled that. Yeah. Where where do you see? I mean, obviously they've they've built something quite remarkable, and they're in three states, California, Nevada, and Arizona, correct? You know, as as you get your fingers in, do you see opportunity to help grow the business? Do you want to push the business bigger, further, faster?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:23

I think that we could. Yeah. Sure. Texas, Florida, I think that we could. You know, there's those are not bordering states like California, Arizona, Nevada are, so it'll be more difficult. But I think that there's potential there. I think that if we continue to push the water, it could be the next big explosion because it unlike the ice bags, this has our name on it. Yeah. Everybody needs it. Yep. And also, me and my dad and my brother, we throw some ideas around every now and then of dabbling into something new, too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:56

Yeah. Well, and that's great. That's great that you guys have that relationship that you can think about that, throw it around. Hey, let's peruse this idea, you know, see where it goes. What's the scariest yes you've ever had to say?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:10

Ooh, that's an interesting one. Ooh.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:13

Sadie Hawkins? I'm just kidding. She was scary.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:18

Oh my gosh. I don't know, man. That's a good one.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:22

If you can't think of one, we can we can jump on. It's just one of those things where it's like I think about, okay, you know, whatever it is, you know, move moving into, you know, a new realm or a something, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:34

Gosh, I don't know. Because I feel like everything in my life has kind of played out in my favor. I've wanted to do everything that I am doing. And I don't I don't know if there really is anything that I've had to say yes to that I was like scared about. Yeah. Or I don't know. That's an interesting one. Fair enough. I don't know if I can think of one.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:55

Fair enough. You'll be laying in bed tonight at two o'clock in the morning and you go, I remember.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:00

Remember what I should say. If it pops in, I'll for sure we we could touch back on it.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:04

There we go. We'll we'll do a little cameo spot.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:07

If you could go back to a younger self, let's say 13, if you could go back to your 13-year-old self and give yourself a piece of advice, what would you tell yourself?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:17

Stay away from girls.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:20

Only go to guys?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:21

No. That's not what I mean. Just besides football in Sack State, I feel like the most fun that I had in my life was in high school with my buddies. We were talking about earlier the jet skis, the snowboarding, the desert stuff every day together. And if I could go back and change one thing, it would be just focusing on my friends and that type of stuff and not worrying about a silly high school relationship that I know isn't isn't gonna last. And I think about it a lot to this day for when I start having kids, I'm not gonna be the dad that's gonna be like, no, you're not allowed to date until this age, but I am gonna I do want to put in my kids' heads, listen, it could affect some not only decisions, but things that you might miss out on because you're worrying about something else that isn't gonna be there later down the road, you know. It it absolutely. Honestly, I that's it sounds funny, but that would probably be one of them is just enjoy your youth while it is, because I'm gonna be 26 in two weeks, and you know, you grow up your whole life with people telling you every year the year goes by quicker. And I remember getting ready to go to college and fastest five years of my life.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:45

Yeah. And it's it's crazy because I it used to when when my daughter was born, and she's 30 now, but when she was born, people are like, enjoy it now, because it's gonna go really fast, and it used to just bug the crap out of me. I'm like, shut up, and now I look back and I'm like, holy crap, and every year goes faster and faster. I can't believe we're already in February, and I'm like exactly blinked, man.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:08

It's crazy, it's scary to think about, honestly. It is, it totally is. Because I feel like, you know, growing up playing football and sports and stuff my whole life, I just I had the same routine, I was used to it, and now I'm doing something new in a new place, still trying to, you know, find myself, and you still have your routines and stuff, but I don't there's just something that makes the days just like just it feels like Christmas was last week and it wasn't. We're already in February.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:34

You well, and I think some of it is it, you know. I don't know if you've ever seen the movie Groundhog's Day, maybe be before your time, but there's a Bill Murray Groundhog's Day, and uh it it's one of those things where it's like just the whole thought process of we wake up every morning, we basically do the same thing every single day, get home, eat, yep, go to bed, get up and do it again tomorrow. And you just do that day in, day out, day in, day out, day in, day out. It's like, man, how do you how do you kill the routine, right? But you have to have the routine. Yeah. Right? Because it's gotta support life and everything else. What do you hope people say about you when you're not in the room?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:13

Um I would just I would say that I hope that people see my good character, know that I'm a down-to-earth, loyal, loving, good person who was raised right. Somebody that people want to be around, a leader. Yeah, someone that people want to be around.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:33

Yeah. That's cool. I think people want to be around you.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:37

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:37

I mean I hear a little bit here and there, but uh I don't know. Anything we need to know about Brock that I haven't asked you.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:44

I touched on uh the acting days earlier, but I guess we could go into a little more detail.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:51

Yeah, what you said you were in a movie.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:53

What movie were you in? Home Alone?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:55

No. Oh so I was 14, I want to say, 13 or 14.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:00

And Save by the Bell. No.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:02

The 420 movie, Mary Ann Jane. No way. It was a low budget film, never made it to theaters or anything like that. And it actually took four years to get released, I think, because this is how low budget it was. Running out of money. I think that the d that and I think that the director thought that we were 18.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:21

No.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:22

And I don't know if I'm I'm not sure. I could be completely wrong, but I don't know if there was if there's some law in place or something that he could have gotten in trouble. But he and literally the movie released in 2018 when me and the other girl that were in the movie turned 18.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:39

No kidding.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:40

It took that long. And we never got any information on when it was coming out or anything. I just every year, you know, a couple times a year, I would just look for it and look for. And finally in 2018, when I had to finally turn 18, it popped up, and I remember thinking to myself, what the hell took so long? And my mom, that was my mom pointed that out to me. She's like, you know what?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:01

You just turned 18.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:02

I wonder if that was a good idea.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:04

Are we past some type of statute of limitations or something?

SPEAKER_00 1:10:07

It would be a weird coincidence, or he could have been trying to avoid something, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:13

I'm gonna have to go look for that movie on YouTube or something.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:16

I'll show I can show you the clip after this. I'm only in a in a a minute and a half scene, yes. We um obviously it's a movie about marijuana and partying and stuff, and we we're just uh I have a sister and and a mom and dad, and we're just cruising through town and we get pulled over by a police officer who sees because we're a white family and pulls us out of the car and just kind of a little comedy scene that throws Skittles in my face, pins the dad on the ground and is saying some Yeah, some that's funny funny things to him, and yeah, just goofy little movie. But uh I was also in a Frosted Flakes commercial that aired. I made the most money off of that one. I was actually in the kind of a uh I was like the stunt guy.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:04

So I remember like Tony the Tiger Frosted Flakes? Yeah, no kidding.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:08

Yep. So I I remember going down to LA for those auditions, and they told us that we were gonna have to ride a bike. I grew up riding bikes. That's all we we spent all our time outside, that's all we did. And I remember going down to LA for that audition, and it was at some baseball fields, and I brought my bike with me because they said during the audition you're gonna ride a bike and you're gonna hit some baseballs. And all these other kids from that local LA area, I was the one, the you know, outsider that was traveling in from small desert town that was doing that stuff every day. All these local kids, they literally just had these cones on a baseball field, and I've never seen so many uncoordinated people. These kids couldn't even ride the bike. It was the craziest thing I'd ever seen. And I remember being like, Oh, I can't wait for my turn. I'm about to shred around these cones, you know? And that's what I did. They had these cones set up, and I brought my own bike, and the bikes they had there were like beach cruisers with the back kick brake, and I, you know, weave through the cones and did it with ease. And um, during the baseball scene, that was about the time when I was still playing baseball. I was I think I was probably fifth grade. And so they're they're throwing me pitches, and like same thing, these kids, they I don't know what the heck they do down there in those big cities. They must just stay inside all day because they're swinging and missing, and I'm just cranking these balls. So when I get the call back for a second audition, I'm like, oh, I got this locked down, you know. I'm for sure gonna be one of the main guys. Well, didn't get the opportunity to be the kid that was right in front of the camera swinging the bat, but I was the one that in the commercial that was on the bike doing the tricks and stuff. Yeah. That's funny. The skid. And I got to be in the background like during the baseball scene where the kid hits the ball and I'm up against the fence cheering and stuff, but I was the the stunt one that was doing the skid on the bike and that type of stuff.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:04

That's cool.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:05

So that commercial is like we're all on bikes, and we just the group just keeps getting bigger and bigger. So we're riding to each kid's house and their bike's like laying on their front lawn, and you know, they see us out the window, they come out, and then all of a sudden there's 20 of us riding to the baseball fields, and we ended up having a little pickup baseball game.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:23

That's cool. Has anybody you know reached out to you and said, Ah, I saw you on the commercial?

SPEAKER_00 1:13:28

No, because the only scene that you can really see my face was in it was kind of blurred out because I was in the background. The one in the stunt, it was just kind of from my waist down on the bike. Gotcha. And then I was in um a WWE commercial for Mattel, not one that aired on TV, but one that I guess they they film these commercials and send them to the stores to see if it would be a good product that they think they could sell, something like that.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:57

And then the movie. So I was in two commercials and a movie, and I went down there to audition for probably a hundred things. Wow. But it's it's tough. You go down there and it's a little studio room with 200 kids in it, and it's just boom, boom. You go, so we drive two and a half, three hours down to LA during the week. You sit and wait an hour plus for your turn to go in because there's so many kids, and you're in the room for 30 seconds. There's cameras everywhere. These people ask you some questions or give you a little prompt to act it out, and you're gone in 30 seconds.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:29

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:29

And that was one of the things I was over. I'm like, we're driving all this way for a shot in the dark. Yeah. Because I mean, I scored a couple, but one, nothing major, and and also like the chances of you actually getting called on for something were very slim because they had so many kids to choose from. So and that's one of the things I look back on and think about too to this day is I'm like, man, if I stuck with that, where could I be right now? Could I be some big time actor or something?

SPEAKER_02 1:14:59

You know, but maybe someday you could go back to it. Yeah, maybe take an acting class or something.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:04

So my dad's sister did it when she was a kid, and my grandma told my mom she thought it'd be a good idea. So we got some professional headshots taken, and I went and interviewed with a couple different agencies, and one of them really liked me and signed me on. Hallender Talent Group.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:21

There you go. Big time. No Nickelodeon or Mickey Mouse Club, but nope. Work on your tap dancing, I guess. Well, shoot, I've really enjoyed getting to know you better. I I have one more question for you, and uh then we'll kind of wrap it up. But ha has there been a time in your life where you showed up in a way that really surprised you?

SPEAKER_00 1:15:44

Gosh, some of these questions are deep, man. I love it, but I really gotta think. Huh. Nothing? That's okay. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:53

Things to think about as you go through your day. You know, I mean, it could be a hit in football. Did you ever get an interception as a linebacker?

SPEAKER_00 1:16:01

Yeah. Yeah. I never youth through high school, none.

unknown 1:16:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:06

College is when I finally got my hands on some.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:09

Best field in the world. I returned one for a touchdown my freshman year or my junior year of called my first year at Sack State. And I think that's probably one of the most exciting moments of my career. That's gotta be.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:21

Yeah. That's gotta be. Well, shoot. Well, Brock, I really appreciate it. Thank you for coming on. Yeah. Had a good time getting to know you a bit. Definitely. And uh if you ever think about some of those questions and you wake up, you let us know. Inquiring minds want to know. So, anyways, well, thank you very much.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:38

Yeah, thanks for having me, man. I appreciate it. This is Brock Mather, and I went above and beyond.