Finding Your Way Through Adversity with Jovanny Ruiz

What does true resilience look like? Meet Jovanny Ruiz, whose journey from a tiny Puerto Rican village to Division I football defies all expectations and redefines what's possible through sheer determination.

Growing up in Hayuya, Puerto Rico—a village of just 400 people—Jovanny's athletic career began with an annual turkey race. At age 10, he moved to upstate New York knowing only two English phrases: "excuse me" and "thank you." Through after-school wrestling, he found his footing in American culture before discovering football. Despite weighing a mere 99 pounds as a high school sophomore, his speed and determination stood out.

When college came, Jovanny received zero scholarship offers. Undeterred, he walked on to the University of Buffalo's track team before attempting the nearly impossible—walking on to the football team. What followed was a masterclass in perseverance: three years as a walk-on, battling against scholarship players for every opportunity, overcoming seven knee surgeries (two ACL tears and five meniscus injuries), and the heartbreak of tearing his ACL the day before his first start after years of struggle.

His resilience paid off when he finally earned a scholarship on Christmas Eve at a bowl game. But his challenges weren't over. After college, Jovanny pursued professional football opportunities, going $30,000 in debt for training. Down to his last $5 in Tampa, a miraculous $12,000 win in a one-on-one receiver competition gave him the breathing room to build a new life.

Today, Jovanny channels his extraordinary journey into helping others as a personal trainer, focused on holistic fitness through his "Nova Performance and Wellness" approach. His solo travels to Bali and Thailand taught him that true success comes from within—a perspective earned through years of overcoming seemingly impossible odds.

Have you been facing obstacles that feel insurmountable? Jovany's story reminds us that with enough determination and the right mindset, we can overcome anything. Follow him at @iamjovannyruiz to connect with his journey and discover how to develop your own resilience.

Chapters

• 0:00 Meeting Giovanni: From Puerto Rico to Football
• 15:39 The Walk-On Process: Fighting for a Spot
• 32:52 Rising Through the Ranks and Facing Setbacks
• 49:25 The Twelve Thousand Dollar Turning Point
• 1:04:12 Building Community in Tampa
• 1:15:22 Solo Travel: Finding Purpose in Bali

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of Sporting Suits. Let me throw a little nectar in to get this thing going. We got my man here, giovanni dude. It's been how long man.

Speaker 2: 0:12

It's been about a year, at least. A year and a half, yeah, at least.

Speaker 1: 0:15

So Giovanni was coaching receivers or training receivers? Yeah, Sean's been out to the house and saw a couple workouts, so it's actually Giovanni, yeah, it me out to the house and saw a couple workouts um. So it's actually joe vonnie. Yes, joe joe vonnie. Yeah, okay, I've been calling you the fucking wrong name.

Speaker 2: 0:29

The whole time I honestly in college everybody called me geo and I was like there's a hundred plus teammates, I gotta correct, so I'll just go. Okay, you could have told me that a year and a half ago.

Speaker 1: 0:37

No, that's cool, well shit, uh. See, I've known him for a good amount of time now. He's got an incredible story, uh, and it's incredible what he's doing now, and so, yeah, welcome to the show man. Thank you, brother, I would cheers you, but you're drinking water so and I'm not.

Speaker 2: 0:53

No, I appreciate it honestly. It's been, tampa's been amazing, and you're actually one of the first people actually met down here and, um, the sport of football actually introduced us. So thank you for making it a nice welcome to my new home.

Speaker 1: 1:07

Absolutely, absolutely. So where were you before? Were you up in?

Speaker 2: 1:12

Buffalo. Yeah, I was up in Buffalo. I went to the University of Buffalo, played football, ran track.

Speaker 1: 1:20

Had a couple workouts after the fall.

Speaker 2: 1:22

Yeah, had a couple workouts, a couple calls, a lot of interest from just teams not in the NFL but a lot of. Canadians yeah, cfl. I had a local day with the Bills and then ultimately led me to an opportunity with the Bucks down here, which turned out not to really be an opportunity, but it's OK because it led me here to Tampa. So everything happens for a reason. A hundred percent, so yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:47

Real quick Sean. What position do you think you played? Receiver? You already told them.

Speaker 4: 1:51

No, you told me in the text message thread Damn it.

Speaker 2: 1:55

What position do you think I play If I were you? Just look at me right now. Yeah, what position do you?

Speaker 4: 1:59

think Probably running back. Running back, yeah, I mean, not too tall, probably running back, running back, yeah, so. I mean not too tall, but that's fair, right, well, what were you going to say? Like corner I?

Speaker 1: 2:08

would have said maybe like a safety or something. But I've known him so I'm going to play receiver.

Speaker 2: 2:14

I actually went to college as a quarterback.

Speaker 1: 2:16

No shit. Well, yeah, I mean you can throw the shit out of the ball.

Speaker 4: 2:19

I know that Well how tall are you?

Speaker 1: 2:20

right now, I'm just six flat six flat yeah where'd you? Where'd you grow up?

Speaker 2: 2:25

so I grew up in, actually, puerto rico, a place called hayuya, puerto rico. Can you do me a?

Speaker 4: 2:30

favor, can you move the microphone closer to you please? Right here, yeah, just right there.

Speaker 2: 2:35

Yeah, yeah, that's good yeah, so I grew up in hayuya, puerto rico. There was probably like four puerto rico? No, there's probably around like 400 people in my own little village. It was very humble beginnings, simple life.

Speaker 4: 2:48

Playing a lot of soccer, I'm assuming.

Speaker 2: 2:50

No soccer at all. Baseball Nope. There's a lot of baseball, but where I grew up there was no sports at all. There was one thing that was athletic and that was called the turkey race, la Carrera del Pavo, and there it would be for Thanksgiving. So it's a big deal. Whoever wins brings home a turkey, and whoever loses brings home a small chicken. And so my brother and I we would win every year.

Speaker 2: 3:17

We were the fastest people and that meant a lot in our little village. So it was really cool, but, again, super humble beginnings. So my grandma, you'd come home, my grandma's washing her clothes on a rock on the creek. We ride our horses to the store and we kill what we eat, and so it was very simple. From there, basically, we went to New York.

Speaker 4: 3:36

So you grew up in La Finca, la Finca.

Speaker 2: 3:39

Yeah, campesino.

Speaker 4: 3:40

Yeah, campesino.

Speaker 2: 3:41

Yeah, you know Spanish a little bit.

Speaker 4: 3:43

Yeah. Well, my parents are like from Cuba and my dad's from Camagüey, which they called a campo yeah, a campo yeah.

Speaker 2: 3:50

So pretty much country boy deep down. Yeah, how'd you get into football? Yeah, so my mom decided we had to go to the United States to learn English, and so as soon as I get here, life is a little different. I was 10 years old Okay, 10 years old, and then I went back and I came back, so really around 10 or 12 was when I moved, like permanently to Fredonia, new York, up in upstate New York.

Speaker 1: 4:16

Jesus From Puerto Rico to New York, upstate New.

Speaker 2: 4:18

York.

Speaker 4: 4:19

That's all Puerto Ricans do man.

Speaker 2: 4:26

You know what there's like different segments? No, there's different segments. If you go to Tampa what's it called? Right above Tampa, what's it called? There's a spot where there's a bunch of Puerto Ricans.

Speaker 4: 4:33

Opasco Odessa, lutz Kissimmee.

Speaker 3: 4:36

Kissimmee. Oh no, kissimmee, that's by Orlando. Orlando, I should have Orlando.

Speaker 2: 4:41

Yeah, there's a bunch, there's different little segments all over, but there's a space in New York where, yeah, there's a lot of Puerto Ricans, and so my mom was like, hey, you need to learn English. And it's me and my brother. So we flew alone. I remember my mom told me two words in the airport. She's like excuse me and thank you, and I'm like excuse me, excuse me, excuse me.

Speaker 2: 5:00

And, and I'm like pointing the finger at the paper and I'm a little boy but we grew up very fast because of that. But basically how I learned English was after school programs. I needed to hang around English-speaking people and so that started with wrestling. Wrestling was my first sport and I believe is honestly, in my opinion, the best sport for any young athlete If you want to have grit and if you have them to have some sort of resilience in their life. Wrestling, if you look at a single I don't call it single person sport, I think wrestling is like a must in my opinion. That's interesting.

Speaker 4: 5:39

Well, actually, I hear a lot of MMA fighters say that, because that's the basis of any kind of well, at least fighting sport, and I can see how that translates into football.

Speaker 1: 5:50

right, Because you've got to tackle right, no doubt. I mean, I've got guys that were multi-sport athletes, that ended up playing long careers in the NFL and they've all played basketball or baseball or something. Wrestling makes the most sense by far.

Speaker 2: 6:05

You know what? Yeah, and to reword it, I think any mixed martial arts is a great sport, but wrestling is truly one that allowed me to excel in everything that I do and for that I started with that. That was like my main thing. I would go hang out with all the teammates and learn English and go to their houses and learn how their parents did certain things compared to how I grew up and so kind of got westernized in a little way.

Speaker 4: 6:32

Yeah, they weren't running for turkeys and chickens. They were going to the store. I know.

Speaker 2: 6:38

Dude, the biggest difference was going to freaking school and seeing what they feed the people. I was like we get Pop-Tarts for breakfast breakfast in puerto rico you get a whole course meal. Like people are making this thing in front of you now coming here, I was like pop tarts and my mom was like you're not eating that shit.

Speaker 2: 6:55

I'm like okay so it was a little bit different, but I would say a transition of. I did every sport. I did wrestling as my main sport, then basketball, then finally I got into football. But I was so small, bro, like even in sophomore year in high school I was 99 pounds, holy shit yeah, I was really good. I was like a small fast guy and didn't know how to play. Really I didn't know sport but 99 pounds as a sophomore that?

Speaker 4: 7:21

What were you playing when you were a sophomore?

Speaker 2: 7:25

at 99 pounds, corner and sometimes halfback and receiver.

Speaker 2: 7:30

Yeah, that's still a lot I could throw the ball, but it was just like. You know, guys are just way better than me and when you think about again, nothing against upstate New York, but competition level is way different than here in Florida. We have some dogs up there, for sure. It's just the development is totally different. You don't have steven out here playing with a right way up there. You kind of have to learn on yourself and watch videos, a lot of youtube videos. That's how I learned a lot of how to route, run, how to throw a ball, who is what is a quarterback? You know, I mean, and so, um, it's a lot of self, yeah, education, yeah, yeah yeah, well, shit, so then all right.

Speaker 1: 8:11

So then you start. You started playing football. You're a sophomore, or you started playing?

Speaker 2: 8:14

no, I started playing eighth grade, okay, and that was like, uh, modified football and um, I remember the first year I was playing, I wanted to play so bad and I was like thirsting, running back. I'm like, oh yeah, hopefully, like you know, someone either gets to play you know, you never want to wish that on someone.

Speaker 1: 8:33

But it's like don't be afraid to twist an ankle or jam a finger for a couple of plays.

Speaker 2: 8:38

Take a play off. Yeah, and unfortunately I was never really to play or was never really able to play a real snap, but there was this thing called the fifth quarter and it was for everyone who didn't play?

Speaker 2: 8:50

Yep, yep, and I got in there. I remember first touch boom to the house. I'm like, wow, this is so fun. And I remember second touch. I had my best friend who's also Puerto Rican. We're not known to play football, he's my full guard. He's like going through, he. We're not known to play football, he's my full guard, he's going through. He has one guy to block the safety and he turns around because he couldn't find him and just tackles me and I'm like bro. And at that I'm like, wait, wait, own teammate, own teammate tackles me.

Speaker 1: 9:14

He's one of my best friends. Friendly fire man Friendly fire.

Speaker 2: 9:17

That's a tough deal, but it was. And then get competitive. I would say I got competitive junior year when I stopped wrestling, gained some weight. Dude, I stopped wrestling, I gained 80 pounds.

Speaker 1: 9:31

I was going to say so. I know wrestling guys. They usually, like you know, they literally spit to like lose water weight Bro.

Speaker 2: 9:38

There were so many nights I went home Wear like the trash bags.

Speaker 1: 9:41

Trash bags.

Speaker 2: 9:43

No dinner. You walk around like a zombie. Obviously, it's a really tough sport.

Speaker 4: 9:49

Is it because they don't want you to go up a weight class? Is that why?

Speaker 2: 9:53

It's very strategic. Let's say there's a really good 120-pound guy on the other team and we want to put our best guy on him. If our guy is a 138-pounder, maybe we'll have to drop him on him.

Speaker 2: 10:06

If our guy is like 138 pounder, maybe we'll have to drop him. Yeah, so we have the best opportunity to win and our team was actually really good. We won states in new york, which new york is. New york and pennsylvania are the top two wrestling teams, I would say, or wrestling states, um. So we were very serious. Our coach was a female usa olympic coach and so you know, everything was taken very serious. Once I realized I was really having fun with team-based sports, I was like, okay, I need to make a switch because wrestling is no longer doing it for me. I love it.

Speaker 4: 10:35

You're not going to be a millionaire from sports wrestling. At least I mean entertainment wrestling sure. Like.

Speaker 2: 10:42

WWE, yeah, wwe. I grew up watching WWE but uh, and for me, I think every kid did.

Speaker 4: 10:47

I did yeah my favorite wrestler was Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Speaker 1: 10:50

Stone Cold and Kane oh man not the Hulk. Rest in peace. No RIP, though yeah, no again.

Speaker 2: 10:58

just to go back on this. And I I only watched WWE through CDs when I was young because we had two channels in Puerto Rico it was the news and the Simpsons, los Simpsons. At 4 pm and so we'd run home hopefully make it home on time on the bus and we would watch Los Simpsons.

Speaker 4: 11:16

And then from.

Speaker 2: 11:16

There we had the freaking news for the next three hours.

Speaker 4: 11:19

Was the bus pulled by like a donkey or a motor?

Speaker 2: 11:22

Oh no, that one had a motor Was pulled by like a donkey or a motor. Oh no, that one had a motor. Okay yeah.

Speaker 4: 11:25

That's insane. I mean the way he's describing it, man.

Speaker 2: 11:28

Oh no, I know Y'all had internet back then.

Speaker 1: 11:31

No, we didn't have internet and you're, I wish we didn't have internet, man. I think that'd be so pure.

Speaker 4: 11:35

Well, bro so he's 27 right now, so would have been my age still like 26, 7. Yeah shit bro. At 26, 27, internet was everywhere and then you at 10 no internet.

Speaker 2: 11:53

This is wild to me, bro.

Speaker 1: 11:53

Yeah, we had no ipads, no, none of that stuff like again kids being kids, though, man, I, I, that's a whole different subject, but, yeah, all right. So then you, you focus more on football and you're kind of so, yeah.

Speaker 2: 12:04

So then I transitioned from wrestling to, and you're like I'm actually kind of good at this yeah.

Speaker 2: 12:09

I go in on football and from there I know I'm fast, I know I can, you know, have a little bit of lateral movement stuff going on, but I always wanted to be like some sort of like leader, and I know there was always a spot for our team to be led. I think that's what held us back a little bit, and so I was like I need to have the opportunity to lead, and so I always saw the quarterback position as like the freaking what is it? The mitochondria in the brain where everything works through him and if he's not on point, then the whole team is off, beat oh absolutely.

Speaker 2: 12:40

No doubt. And so when I look at you know college NFL guys, those guys are wired a little bit different and you can tell who was a quarterback back when they were younger, even in business, like you can tell the way they. They do things is just different. And so I was like, ok, I can't throw a ball for shit right now, but I'm going to throw it every single day until I can throw it as best as my ability. And I would say, as I grew older and I got to my senior year, I was the best, worst quarterback.

Speaker 2: 13:09

Uh, in my situation, the worst, the best of the worst the best of the worst, I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say this the worst, best quarterback, worst as in. I cannot read any coverages. I don't know what the hell is going on, but you can get, get them the ball, but I can get the people the ball and make plays. And I can make plays with the ball in my hand, and so that was enough for us to have fun, enjoy the game and continue to want me to continue to play the game. So, yeah, I ran track and field.

Speaker 4: 13:39

That was my secondary sport which allowed me to get always ask that like what exactly did you run? Was it like the hundred, uh, two, the four the worst one.

Speaker 2: 13:48

What do you? Think the relay, no what do you think is the worst of hurdles?

Speaker 4: 13:52

yes, which ones? The ones where the steeple no 400 hurdles real good god dude.

Speaker 1: 13:58

What is that?

Speaker 2: 13:58

four laps around no, no it's just one but, it's not a jog and it's a full sprint. It's a sprint. The whole. It's just one lap, 10 hurdles.

Speaker 1: 14:07

I'm getting tired just imagining that. That sounds miserable.

Speaker 4: 14:11

Oh shit, now I know where your knee injury came from. No, no, no no.

Speaker 1: 14:20

Injuries came from football in college.

Speaker 4: 14:21

No, I'm saying the pressure on your knees Because, because you're From like landing on that and yeah, you're throwing your leg up, landing on it and just it's like a fucking gazelle. I see these people do it and I'm like holy shit.

Speaker 2: 14:30

No, it's unreal. That and I ran a couple of different events, but nothing really compared to the 400 hurdles for me. And again, that's another grit type of event. Absolutely. And any high school athlete understands like, oh shoot, we don't have anybody running that. Whenever there's time to run that event and there's nobody on the sheet, they run around. They leave the coach because the coach is looking for somebody to fuck off and just throw them in that event. But yeah.

Speaker 4: 14:59

Did you ever run the 100?

Speaker 2: 15:00

Yeah, what was your fastest time? I ran a 10.9.

Speaker 4: 15:05

That's fast bro yeah.

Speaker 2: 15:07

Best 100 was a 10.9.

Speaker 4: 15:08

This is in high school.

Speaker 2: 15:10

High school yes, I was fast. I just didn't know the sport of football that well, but I just knew how to get to the line, score a touchdown.

Speaker 4: 15:18

You were trying to get that turkey.

Speaker 1: 15:20

Exactly brother, yeah, yeah yeah, there multiple uh turkeys, when you especially in college.

Speaker 4: 15:29

Yeah, so then did you play in college, uh, uh, or did you run track in college also?

Speaker 2: 15:34

yeah, I ran track and field in college.

Speaker 1: 15:36

University of buffalo, university of buffalo well that's I was going to kind of get to. So at what point were you starting to get kind of scholarship offers and at least recognition or kind of like, oh shit, like I might get a chance to play college?

Speaker 2: 15:49

football or were you a walk-on. Yeah, so I never got the interest from colleges, I was a walk-on. It was weird because, again, from where I grew up, my mom would have been happy if I just picked the freaking to work at the factory next to our hometown. But we're like a pw, or was it just straight? No, straight walk on.

Speaker 1: 16:09

so holy shit, you came out, the fucking mud dude it was.

Speaker 2: 16:14

It was so bad, holy shit we had division three schools. Come to our program or our high school. To speak to our my really good friend who was a phenomenal football player he didn't end up playing in college but he was great in high school and I would be waiting for them to call me.

Speaker 2: 16:28

Hopefully, you know they'd say something to me and they never did. And so there was like seven different division, three schools that I would have gone on a heartbeat if they gave me the opportunity. But at that time I was like, okay, there's no interest, I want to go and do something that I could be proud of. So I'm going to go to the Marines and I'm going to be a sniper and that's going to be my good thing.

Speaker 4: 16:47

Somebody play Call of Duty Dude. All my life it was unreal.

Speaker 2: 16:54

But, yeah, no, it's. At that point I was like, okay, there's no other opportunity. Nobody in my family has ever been to college, nobody's finished high school. So for me it was like, okay, I'm about to finish high school, what's the next step? To do something that I can really be proud of? And so, okay, I'm gonna defend this beautiful country that I live in. Yeah, and I'm gonna go and, you know, push my body to its limits and see where it takes me. And um, that was the goal until I met up with um, my friend's family, who gave me an opportunity to go to his acceptance day. We just walked, walked around campus, went into the enrollment and registration office.

Speaker 4: 17:29

I don't know what acceptance day is.

Speaker 2: 17:32

Is that?

Speaker 4: 17:32

like you, accept a scholarship.

Speaker 2: 17:34

So my friend, he ended up going to the University at Buffalo as a student, and so it was a random Saturday, I have nothing to do. And he's like, hey, you want to come to my acceptance day at the University of Buffalo? I said, yeah, I have nothing to do. And so he went on his like orientation stuff. Me and his dad walked around the campus and we run into a random office for registration and enrollment and from there magic happened and they were just telling me applications. I applied and they had me join this program which is called the eop program. It's educational opportunity program for, like, lower income families and, um, just to give out people the opportunity to see what college is like. You either pass or fail. If you pass, you get to join the regular students when the school year starts. If you fail, then obviously you go back home and do something else. But yeah, it was an unreal Saturday and because of that Saturday I was able to experience an unreal college at the University of Buffalo.

Speaker 1: 18:32

No shit man. So then I mean talk to the people listening about the process of walking on as not a preferred walk-on Dude. What's the difference?

Speaker 1: 18:43

Preferred walk-on is a guy that's kind of like a fringe scholarship guy. They don't have enough scholarship offers. This was, you know, pre-nil. So if you're a preferred walk-on, like you don't have to do all the walk-on, testing, all that shit, like you're already you got a spot on the on the roster but you're still, for all intents and purposes, you're still treated like shit. At least that's how it was in south carolina 100 percent um a walk-on. You, you're doing all the, all the workouts, all the cleaning up shit, all picking up stuff.

Speaker 1: 19:11

You are absolutely treated like so you're like rudy yeah, but it's not treated like shit from the, the teammates for the most part, I mean obviously there's some guys that are just pricks, just to be pricks from the coaches, from the coaches and everybody's like, yeah, man, fuck this kid. Like let's make this absolutely miserable, to get this kid out of off the field yeah so you know, just kind of talk to talk to the people that like you know that whole process because yeah, no.

Speaker 2: 19:35

So walk on process is a process that I am so thankful that I went through, because now it allows me to see life as a walk-on process, like I'm like, okay, I really got to get out the mud every single day, every single opportunity that I have. And so, when it comes to walking on at the University of Buffalo, I did it twice. I did one for track and field and I did one for football. The first one was track and field. That one was a lot easier than it was for football, just because you've got to run a certain time. I knew I could do so, and so I just went on did that and I worked my way up. I did it freshman year.

Speaker 2: 20:12

So freshman year I didn't walk onto the football team, I just did track and field and I did well, but ultimately I was missing the feeling of camaraderie, brotherhood and the things you can learn only from a team-based sport like football. Now, this is when football came into the picture. Uh, towards the end of my freshman year, I'm like, bro, I fucking, I hate running right now. Like I need to run for something. I need to. I yeah dude, dude.

Speaker 1: 20:39

We'll get into that in the next segment about your instagram and what you're doing now, but I despise running, just to run.

Speaker 4: 20:46

I mean, you didn't really run, did you?

Speaker 1: 20:49

Like jogging. I mean my wife likes to jog around the neighborhood and get her running and shit I'm talking about in college.

Speaker 4: 20:55

It's not like you were. No, I didn't run to run.

Speaker 1: 20:56

Are you kidding me? No man.

Speaker 2: 20:59

No, most world players don't run over a mile until they're 30 and they're running their first marathon.

Speaker 1: 21:06

Can't do that either. No, so the coaches do the football coaches come see you run track and they're like this kid can't fucking roll no.

Speaker 2: 21:15

No, no, no, no. I remember going after track practice to watch the football practice and I remember watching all these guys do certain drills and I like I mean he looks pretty good, but I can do it just as good or better than him. And then I would go. I think I went for five days straight until I could get the courage to like be like, okay, I kind of want to do this. And so, again, I would literally sit at the top bleachers I don't want anybody seeing me and I just watch from the top bleachers. Okay, I can do that. And so I started copying those drills and just doing them in the, the uh, the field where everybody has access to yeah and I said, okay, yeah, boom, I can move all shin angles, I can whatever.

Speaker 2: 21:55

everything was like coming pretty easy to me and so I started going deep onto youtube. How do I get out of the in and out of this? I knew I wasn't going to be a quarterback at the University of Buffalo, but I knew I could run, so I'll be a receiver or DB, whatever they want me to. I did even long snapping, long snapping, yeah.

Speaker 2: 22:14

Any opportunity I got that's what you got to do, and so I remember okay, boom, I'm ready to go. I'm going to text these coaches see if they hit you back. That is not the right way to do it. They're never gonna hit you back. You're a random person, you know, I mean um, but did they? No and so they don't, they don't operate like that.

Speaker 1: 22:32

You kind of got to just show. You got to like, knock on the damn door like hey literally.

Speaker 2: 22:36

So I remember one day I'm like, fuck it, I'm gonna go in there. I'm gonna knock on the door, open the door, say this is me, who I am and this is what I want to help you guys do. And so I go to the football facility. I'm like three steps away from the front door and I'm like what the fuck am I doing? I'm not supposed to be here. I was already like whoa, I'm at Division I college. I had one of those what do you call it when your mind just says, bro, you're doing too much? Oh shit, yeah, I was. Your mind just says, bro, you're doing too much, oh shit, yeah.

Speaker 2: 23:07

I was like I literally turned around and went back home and I felt like the biggest bitch, like I did, I think I, I, I didn't cry, I cried, but I was like, bro, why can't I just like be strong enough to just try this thing?

Speaker 4: 23:16

you mean not give a fuck, yeah, yeah yeah and I was like okay, fuck it.

Speaker 2: 23:21

So the next day I go, I said I don't care, the worst thing they could say is no, and I can. I said I don't care, the worst thing they could say is no, and I can be in the exactly same scenario the worst they could say is no, that's yeah and I was already in a great scenario.

Speaker 2: 23:31

I was running division one track. I was in a great college and done way more than anybody would have thought I would, and so I said, fuck it, let's go, I show up. I talked to the front lady um, hey, hey, can I talk to this coach? His name is Robert Ainello, he's Coach I. He's an amazing coach. Ultimately he didn't really give a fuck, but I got an email and that email allowed me to send in my interest. I'm like, hey, I'm really interested. I'm a former, or I'm a current track and field athlete here and so I would love to try out for the football team.

Speaker 4: 24:07

And so I got an email back and hold that thought Before we get to that final email. We will be right back with Sports Suits. Please like, comment and subscribe. Follow us on all social media and also on YouTube. Hit that notification button so you can be notified any time a new episode drops. We'll be right back.

Speaker 1: 24:29

All right, welcome back, welcome back.

Speaker 4: 24:32

I'm not doing cocaine back here. I was wiping my nose, I swear.

Speaker 1: 24:37

Sean, with a great exit from last episode, as always. So we're going through just to rehash. You're going through. You just emailed what is it? The front office lady you know at university of buffalo, kind of pleading your case to like why you should be on the team. So go ahead and go with the email yeah.

Speaker 2: 24:55

so I sent a very basic email. I'm like, hey, I want to be part of this team. I think I should be part of this team because I will do x, y and and Z, which is help you guys win games. At the time I just wanted to sound as simple as possible. But you know, telling them that I am very confident in myself which at that moment I was but I really wasn't. I was just like, oh, let me just get an opportunity. And then from there they told me when the tryout dates were it was actually like a week after First off. I was very late to joining the group, but right there I got straight to work. I didn't go to class that day, I went to the field, I ran some 40s. I, you know, did the basic walk on like testing and all that stuff.

Speaker 2: 25:34

Yeah, it's all like combine movements and basically the night before or the morning before the the event, I remember I could barely sleep. I slept like three hours and I woke up three hours before the event. I went to a random gym, got my ET Eric Thomas in my freaking ears. I am in the gym, I'm riding the bike, doing whatever I got to do to get right.

Speaker 4: 25:59

When you say ET, are you talking about Eric Thomas? Yeah, Eric Thomas, oh shit.

Speaker 2: 26:03

Yeah, no, he honestly, the hip-hop preacher. Yeah, he's, he's unreal. And how you? He, honestly, that day was the reason I went in so hard.

Speaker 4: 26:12

He's like you gotta want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe. Yeah, and he goes. Bro, that shit gets me all the time.

Speaker 2: 26:20

I didn't come this far. It's only come this far. And I was like, repeating that over and over and I'm like, okay, I'm not even supposed to be in this college, but I'm going to go above and beyond and I'm going to take over and not just walk onto this team, but I'm going to earn a scholarship, become the best player I can be and maybe even be on a, on a flyer someday for this university. And so I was way beyond the trial. I was like I've already made this team. I did all my running, all my events. I long snapped, played quarterback receiver DB, did every drill you could do Because everybody else there was about 20 other kids there.

Speaker 1: 26:53

Everybody else was pretty like specialized and did like one yeah.

Speaker 2: 26:58

And they looked good. They were all great, but I knew in my case I'm very versatile and I was like I could do anything, and so I think that's what allowed me to get on. They only picked one, which is me, to join the team, and I remember when I got the email, I was with one of my friends who also tried out and he got the email that said no, and then I got the email that said congratulations. I'm like wow, I didn't even know what to do, was he happy for you.

Speaker 2: 27:25

Yeah, he was, and he was an amazing friend. He still is an amazing friend. But you know, he kept trying year after year. People do that often. If you go to university they keep going until they're done.

Speaker 1: 27:36

And there's usually I don't know how many workouts a year for walk-ons this university had one, oh, okay.

Speaker 2: 27:46

I know South for walk-ons uh this university had one.

Speaker 4: 27:47

Okay, I don't, I know south carolina had like two or three. Yeah, yeah, throughout the university.

Speaker 1: 27:49

One tryout, one person once a year yeah, you and the odds of that I mean that's yeah, how many kids were out there.

Speaker 2: 27:56

Every year there's 20 20 kids, oh okay yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 27:59

So every year there's about I mean usually it's not just a bunch of slapdicks out there, it's usually guys that like played high school football, like at least had some sort of knowledge of the sport, you know.

Speaker 2: 28:09

Yeah, no, they're all like solid and, honestly, all my friends were all walk-ons. So every year we'd add like two or three new guys to the squad that went through the same process that I did and those are like my guys, because nobody yeah, nobody gets out the mud. But basically I was able to join the team. They gave me number like 31 and some random number for a receiver, oh yeah, and I'm like okay, and then, uh, I'm at the bottom of everything, like I can't even practice.

Speaker 2: 28:37

I'm just watching practice and they won't let you like scout team stuff yeah, they'll let you, but the first couple weeks you're just watching because they don't want you to Fucking hurt somebody. Yeah, you're a safety hazard if you haven't been out on the field in a long time as a receiver. I joined mid-season like mid-camp. It was like weird.

Speaker 1: 28:53

How's a receiver going to hurt somebody? Because the receivers I mean, I don't want to speak for you, but I'm saying like the walk Again. This was fucking 15 years ago at this point the receivers that were walk-ons were playing like safety scout team. They were playing corners on scout team. I don't want this fucking walk-on kid whose parents has a shit ton of money. That's why he's on the fucking team Covering Alshon Jeffrey and like jamming him up or stepping on his foot, twisting his ankle, fucking pushing him late. Don't want that, nobody wants that. So it's like you're going to sit the fuck out for a little bit. Watch how the other previous walk-ons are doing right.

Speaker 4: 29:33

Yeah, 100%. But they didn't even practice you at all. I don't even mean in like a scrimmage or anything.

Speaker 2: 29:38

Just as practicing you as practice, yeah so you would do like the individual drills, and you would do, you know all the individual drills, but then once one on one you kind of learn the process.

Speaker 2: 29:50

Yeah, Especially in camp, like when you're like a week before camp because you don't want to or you're already in season. Actually, I joined in season. You don't want to injure the people who are going to play in three days. And so I remember I joined. I didn't play that first week. They sent me to the bleachers to watch the game. It was game at home. I again, I sat all the way up top. I don't want anybody to see me with my jersey after I told everybody hey, I'm on the team I'm like, oh, we were looking for you.

Speaker 4: 30:15

This is all about rudy right now, bro I don't know if you've ever watched that movie? No, I haven't. Yeah, you should watch it.

Speaker 1: 30:21

Yeah, you need I he didn't need to watch that shit. He fucking lived it, man, that's what I'm saying I got to get this guy on here because the story is so much different than pretty much everyone else that we've had on here. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 30:32

I mean, yeah, all the other guys we've had on here like, yeah, it was a four-star, three-star guy that had all these offers. I decided to go here and then injury prone and everything else. The guy came through a fucking a turkey bowl village, ended up busting his ass to. So this is rudy 1993 film.

Speaker 4: 30:52

It's got sean astin in it. That's basically you, except instead of coming from puerto rico, he came from a mining town oh, yeah, yeah, no, I gotta watch it again.

Speaker 2: 31:01

I'm very like delayed on all movies songs.

Speaker 4: 31:04

Delayed. I don't even think you were born, except for the Simpsons the Simpsons, I know it that movie came out in 1993.

Speaker 2: 31:10

Anyway, yeah no, I didn't watch any movies. How old are you? I'm 27.

Speaker 4: 31:14

Exactly, which means you were born in like 1998.

Speaker 2: 31:18

Yeah, but he ain't. I started watching movies when I was like maybe junior in high school, but it's weird, but anyway.

Speaker 1: 31:27

But yeah, so yeah, keep on keeping on so you're sitting in the bleachers.

Speaker 2: 31:31

Yeah, I'm sitting in the bleachers. I'm like I told everybody hey, I made a team, so they're looking for me out in the field and they don't find me. And I'm like I didn't tell them until afterwards. I'm like, yeah, I just had to go into the locker room and make sure everything was good. I don't know, I made up some lie because I was embarrassed. But from there, that following week was my first week actually on the field. Me and one of the scout team quarterbacks just went off. I scored like four touchdowns on scout, which is a big deal because you're playing against the best You're playing against the starters.

Speaker 2: 32:03

Yeah, yeah, and they're like, what the hell is this guy? And I'm just going off, bum, bum me and Dom Johnson he was a quarterback at the moment and touchdown, touchdown, touchdown. I'm like, wow, this is a lot of fun, I don't care if I get to play out on the big field, I can do this forever, yeah. But then you know, I registered that first year I didn't play a snap. The following year I ended up doing a little bit of scout team again and then I did special teams.

Speaker 2: 32:31

But now I was like fourth and I went all the way from bottom. We had like 12 receivers. I went to like level up to maybe eighth and then I went to sixth, seventh and new incomers, freshmen, come in. You're automatically kicked down to the bottom again if you're a walk-on, because these kids were promised that they're going to this university and they're going to get the best shot to start or play when I'm just like a random guy trying to undercut that. And so every time there was a new onboarding or a new year, I would be Reset, boom, reset down to the bottom.

Speaker 4: 33:03

Well then, how do you stand out against that?

Speaker 2: 33:06

Because it kind of seems like so this is how you stand out as a walk-on, and it's very important that you really lock in on everything, because you will be questioned on everything and if you get one question wrong, or if you get, you're probably going to get two plays out of that whole day that actually matter. If you get one drop, one miss, one error, you're going to stay at the bottom.

Speaker 1: 33:29

They forget about you.

Speaker 2: 33:31

You get lost in the shuffle. You're lucky if you get one rep.

Speaker 4: 33:33

Even though you might be better than the freshmen that are coming in.

Speaker 1: 33:36

Doesn't matter If that's a scholarship player, they're going to get a hell of a lot longer leash than a walk-on guy, and that's why, nil makes sense. I want to get your opinion on that here in a minute.

Speaker 2: 33:50

Yeah, no, I, I think um colleges.

Speaker 4: 33:52

Don't give a fuck about walk-ons. No, I mean, there is no walk-ons anymore yeah, there is.

Speaker 2: 33:56

I mean now you can go in the portal and pick up. Walk-ons are done, amazing people for whatever it's just anyway. The whole walk-on situation is like it's just you and this ladder working against each other every single day because you can be really good this day and you feel like you're gaining momentum. But as soon as one of the scouts players makes a one-handed catch or a random play that everybody loves, boom, boosted above you and so it's a. It's a very political game?

Speaker 1: 34:23

no doubt I mean, did you? I want to ask you this, you know, just on the camera like did it?

Speaker 2: 34:27

do you ever?

Speaker 1: 34:27

have like just go through a like fuck man like this sucks. I don't want to do this shit all the time so many times, bro. Yeah, dude, there was a moment where it's like I'm kicking fucking ass right now, and then you got these guys that are coming in bro, I was, uh, I was going into my third year on the team and I did really well the year before. And you're still a walk-on in the third year.

Speaker 2: 34:47

Yeah, I'm still a walk-on. That's crazy and I did really well on my that's unheard of. Oh, listen, I was in college for seven years. Six years, sorry, six years.

Speaker 1: 34:56

But being a walk-on for three years is unheard of Like as in like stay on the team and going through that fucking mental. Just fuck. Yeah, dude, that's insane man. I wish you were drinking so I could cheers to you, because that's unbelievable.

Speaker 4: 35:11

You have to go through the same process every year.

Speaker 1: 35:14

No.

Speaker 4: 35:14

Once you're on the team, you're on the team. Oh, okay.

Speaker 2: 35:16

The only way you're kicked off is if your grades suck or if you just suck, so just don't suck.

Speaker 4: 35:22

So there was people that walked on after you that did get kicked off the team.

Speaker 2: 35:27

I'm assuming, yeah, people like most walk-ons, like you said, they're just out. Honestly, even scholarship players, they're in and out. Football is a especially in college, is a very tough sport because even if you are a scholarship athlete and you see another freshman that might have more stars than you or whatever, and they put them ahead of you, those guys can't handle.

Speaker 1: 35:46

It's 100% the hardest sport, in my opinion.

Speaker 4: 35:50

Well, I would say, golf is. I'm saying mentally though. Golf is.

Speaker 1: 35:54

You're out of your fucking mind.

Speaker 2: 35:55

Golf is Dude you've never been in a huddle.

Speaker 4: 35:58

How many NFL players are there?

Speaker 1: 36:00

You've never been in a huddle.

Speaker 4: 36:02

How many NFL players are there? He's never been in a huddle. It doesn't matter how many people are in the tour championship right now 30.

Speaker 1: 36:08

It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter Across the world golf is.

Speaker 2: 36:11

I think you can't go team baseball for an individual sport. You can't. First of all, golf is a team-based sport. You have a swing coach, you got a swing coach.

Speaker 4: 36:22

You got a manager.

Speaker 1: 36:23

This guy's out of his mind.

Speaker 2: 36:27

Did you sneak him a little something over there. Oh man, no, I think, dude, there's a time in my career where, my third year, I'm kicking ass Like spring ball. I am number one, number two, me and Antonio Nunn, who's actually from Tampa. Spring ball as a walk-on.

Speaker 1: 36:45

you are one and two. One and two, that's fucking insane.

Speaker 2: 36:47

I literally ranked up every year. I did a lot of team building stuff. I've always been into community and always led by example and always created little groups of hey, I need to watch a lot of film. The only way I'm going to watch a lot more film, and a lot more film than them, is if I hold the film sessions. Was Khalil Mack? Yeah, khalil Mack Was on your team. No, I wasn't part of it, he was just drafted.

Speaker 1: 37:09

He was older. Okay, I was about to say you remember?

Speaker 2: 37:11

Khalil Mack yeah, his younger brother, though. He played with us and he was my locker mate. But, like I was saying that sophomore year I'm number one, number two and I'm balling. I'm going to go into the season going crazy and we hit summer ball. And you know, I'm starting to hear different things from different coaches.

Speaker 2: 37:37

Like hey, like we can't like various political things, I'm not even going to say them Say them oh yeah, basically it's like things like oh, oh, we can't have a. You know 5, 11, 6 foot puerto rican random dude, uh, starting for our program when we're trying to win this many games, not even like it was more the coordinators and you know we I would hear from other coaches- and other other athletes and I'm like bro, like I'm better than every, like these guys, it doesn't matter, I should be able to play right.

Speaker 2: 38:08

So I remember going to their office. I mean like, hey, like, where do you see me in the future of this program? And how can, how do you think I can help the team best? And he says, to be honest, um, uh, you know, if your goal is to play, then I would just go to the D3 school down the street. He's like you know, it's not a big problem. Again, I love this coach. He was my head coach at the moment. He told me hey, I went D3. And you know, look at me now. I won championships. I had fun. If you want to do that, then you can go down the street to Division III school championships. I had fun. Um, if you want to do that, then you can go down the street to, instead of division three uh school. And from there I'm like, bro, are you fucking serious?

Speaker 2: 38:52

I just went bust my ass for three years for this program and oh yeah, I just went through all this time to just be said I'm never gonna play, and so that's one of my mind because you're a six foot puerto rican, that was a reason.

Speaker 1: 39:05

Walk on, straight walk on, that's never been. Mind was shit, because you were a six foot Puerto Rican that was the reason walk on, straight, walk on.

Speaker 2: 39:08

That's never been done. So it was like yeah, there's preferred walk ons, that's been played that's a kick to the fucking nuts and so I decided to leave the team that's New York for you.

Speaker 4: 39:17

Yeah, I decided to leave the team. They preach tolerance, but they don't have any you hold on, so you left the team.

Speaker 1: 39:23

Dude, that's what I'm saying this story is. It's unbelievable. So I didn't realize you left the team and apologies.

Speaker 2: 39:28

It was my second year that I did this. It was my second year I went to my head coach and be like, hey, what do you see me in the next coming years? And he said, hey, I think you should go division three if you really want to play. And from there I left the team for that winter and a little bit of the spring ball, just because I wanted to be around people that believe in me Right, and I'd rather not be part of a program that doesn't believe in me, right, right, right.

Speaker 2: 39:53

But then I was sitting at home not doing shit. I'm like, bro, why can't I just try again? And so they were texting me. My receiver coach was like, hey, we're thinking about you because we got a really good connection. I was a big part of the leadership and everything, and you're receiver one or two at that, when I was sorry, no, I made a mistake, this is year two when I was kind of leading by example. And then he tells me like, hey, you're not going to play Now going into year three. This is when I end up leaving. I come back and I tell you hey, coach, I am sorry that I maybe disrespected you, because obviously a lot of words were said that I did not, could not control the heat of the battle.

Speaker 2: 40:33

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, I mother fucked them everywhere and I was like fuck this shit but this time, I think, I knew english.

Speaker 4: 40:42

I think you kept it English. Yeah, I think I learned English by this time, so I was like, started an English show, but at this you motherfucker.

Speaker 2: 40:52

Fuck you huh, no, bro, so I texted him. Hey, I would love another opportunity to be part of this team. I realized it's bigger than just myself and where I want to be. I want to help this team in whatever way I can yeah, that's the brainwashing college does to you, doesn't it? Whoa? Yeah, because a lot of people come in. They're selfish. I want to be three years.

Speaker 4: 41:14

I'm to the nfl but everyone that's said in that chair that I've had has basically said exactly what I just said yeah, 100 the same thing I would have said it's like they, they, they brainwashed the student athletes to think oh, it's about the, it's about the team, it's about the team, you sit over here, do nothing. It's about the team, it's about the program. And while the college is getting rich, you're over here not getting a chance.

Speaker 1: 41:43

The coach is getting rich the coach also can call mass and leave whenever the fuck he wants.

Speaker 4: 41:46

Exactly, Bro it's so fucked up. Fuck, like Yo Murphy said, bro, fuck the NCAA. That shit needs to be abolished. That's what he said. And you could hear it on the podcast last week. It was released today. Yeah, it was.

Speaker 2: 42:04

But yeah.

Speaker 1: 42:04

So I mean mean do you know, do you know, yoh Murphy?

Speaker 2: 42:06

I love Yoh Murphy, yeah, yeah we had him on last week.

Speaker 1: 42:08

Man, he's fucking awesome yeah alright, so let's let's kind of complete this, this task here. So you end up going, you talk with the coach after you motherfucked him and you're back on the squad, back on the squad again, go to the scout team.

Speaker 2: 42:23

Um back to square zero again and now they don't the you know, they don't really trust me that much anyway, because I thought I was selfish a little bit and I said, fuck, I don't really care when I get a scholarship, if I get a scholarship, if I ever play, I just want to be part of a brotherhood that allowed me to stay on top of my grades, allowed me to have pretty much friends right away, and so just literally put my head down and worked as hard as I could try to give the best look to the you know first teamers boom, boom, boom. That ended up taking me to be in the best football I could ever be. I, I did not care about the politics, I just did the things that I had to do, and I ended up being one and two going into fall. Now, at this point I'm getting like all the praise.

Speaker 2: 43:04

I'm like yo, this guy's a fucking beast. He knows every play. He is the first one in, last one out, he's in the weight room, he's a beast, whatever. And then we're four days away from our. So we called our starters. I'm already a starter, I'm a slot receiver for the University of Buffalo, and I remember calling my mom like hey, mom. I did it.

Speaker 2: 43:25

Like this is awesome.

Speaker 4: 43:27

I'm not sitting on top of the bleachers and she had no understanding of what the hell I was saying.

Speaker 2: 43:33

She just knew that I was happy about what was happening with football. Again, my mom loves football but she doesn't really know football, so she's like if Javonnie's happy, something good's happening. Basically, I told her I was starting and I'm gonna be playing in here in a week we have our final um uh mock. What is it like? Walk through, yeah, walk to do actually a um scrimmage, okay. And there was like the last drill of the day. I went out first. I was first in line, did it? Time was running out. It's like five seconds, more seconds. Let's get another rep. Coach, do you want to get in there? Boom, alright. Actually we got one more rep. I run up there. I do this final rep. Boom, tear my ACL. All the work that I've done to get to the square or to get to the top is out the window and I'm fucking crying there and I'm like I mean, I don't mean to laugh at your pain, bro.

Speaker 1: 44:23

No, it's just kick-ass, it's kicking the nuts.

Speaker 2: 44:26

Bro. That day was probably one of the worst days of my life Actually, the worst day of my life because I was like I spent two and a half years to that point trying to build something.

Speaker 1: 44:34

Let me ask you this I know we said it earlier.

Speaker 2: 44:36

Do you believe that everything happens?

Speaker 1: 44:38

for a reason. A hundred percent, brother Dude. As the older you get, you kind of understand it 100%.

Speaker 2: 44:46

And it sucks.

Speaker 1: 44:48

It almost sucks to admit it. I still have a hard time admitting the South Carolina fucking issues and shit that happened. Maybe it was meant to be. Shit happens for a reason. I even feel weird even talking about it and just being joyful about it.

Speaker 4: 45:03

At least you got to play in an SEC championship game, though.

Speaker 1: 45:08

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 45:09

And he was just trying to get a start.

Speaker 1: 45:12

I know, but it's still relative and the day before God. That's a fucking brutal deal, man Dude everybody has.

Speaker 4: 45:17

I don't even understand how you dealt with that man.

Speaker 2: 45:20

Which knee was it. The first one was my right School paid for it. Which knee was it? The first one was my right School paid for it. Yeah, so they did pay for it.

Speaker 1: 45:29

That's a serious question, though, because we had another kid that was Was it Desmond? Yeah?

Speaker 4: 45:33

He was on scholarship at.

Speaker 1: 45:35

Virginia Tech. On scholarship and they didn't pay for it.

Speaker 4: 45:37

No, they did, but they half-assed it, they fucked it up.

Speaker 1: 45:39

Yeah, they half-assed it. I think the first and the second one, yeah, and then he had to go to?

Speaker 4: 45:44

what is it? Long Island, rhode Island, rhode Island, yeah, and then Luca.

Speaker 2: 45:49

Stanzani was at Long. Island he tore his and his wasn't done well either, yeah.

Speaker 4: 45:59

No, I make sure that they took care of all that. He gets a lot of ACL tears on here, dog.

Speaker 1: 46:03

Dude we're going to change the name of the podcast To Sports and ACL Tears Dude. I hate to like. I mean, I know, I know it's a misfortune.

Speaker 2: 46:12

Honestly, the best part of the story because, like I was sitting there, I'm like, bro, I'm never playing again, like, and I couldn't stand up. I was like crying like I I don't cry a lot, but that year I was like the fuck is happening, like everything's just going wrong. And so this one took me, because I was being a little bitch.

Speaker 2: 46:30

It took me nine months to return that that sounds about right oh well, I mean, I feel like it sounds about right too yeah yeah, so I'll I say that because my second one only took me four and a half five months damn, you tore it twice uh, I tore my other one but oh, you said seven times and I had. Then I had meniscus over and, over and over and over.

Speaker 4: 46:49

Oh, my lord I know, I know, and so that first year, after everybody is like, let me ask you a question do you think because you were running on hard ground when you were doing track and maybe it might have sean?

Speaker 1: 47:03

loves track. By the way, in case you can't tell, maybe it might have Sean loves track, by the way, in case you can't tell.

Speaker 4: 47:06

I'm just saying, maybe it might have put extra strain on those ligaments.

Speaker 1: 47:12

I feel like that's a valid question. I honestly do, because everybody says don't run on concrete.

Speaker 4: 47:16

Everybody says run on grass Is Buffalo turf Turf. So that's where I think. But when you were running track, from when you got here all the way up until college, you were running on track, weren't you?

Speaker 2: 47:28

yeah, I mean, it was like a two-year gap well, let's, let's let's take it a step further.

Speaker 1: 47:31

Were any of those injuries contact, or were they all non-contact?

Speaker 2: 47:35

they were all contact, uh, like they didn't actually like hit it on me, like they were tackling me, but they didn't hit my knee. So yeah it was. It was a little bit of both, like I tore before they got hit me.

Speaker 4: 47:46

So then, maybe running on concrete for so long weakened those ligaments, which I'm pretty sure doctors have said does happen. Yeah, I mean there's so many different variables that we go into.

Speaker 2: 47:59

I really believe grass.

Speaker 4: 48:01

Not seven fucking time variables bro.

Speaker 2: 48:04

Yeah, I would say grass is the best thing you could ever do. Just go to his backyard and run around. That's the best thing you could ever do, because it has enough give for you to get in and out. If you're a shifty athlete you need a little bit of forgiveness for your knees, but Buffalo, where it's really cold, most of the time the turf is even hard, basically concrete.

Speaker 1: 48:25

Yeah, so my two older brothers played at harvard and they said the same thing. They played defense and they said that playing in those cold games was literally like playing on concrete yeah you hit the ground and you're literally like it's fucking frozen yeah, god pins and needles, yeah yeah, and that's not. You know, that sounds miserable.

Speaker 4: 48:45

Did either of your brothers tear any knees?

Speaker 1: 48:50

Not to my knowledge, they played defense.

Speaker 4: 48:51

Oh, it's because you were from the better Caribbean island. It's called Cuba.

Speaker 1: 48:58

Cuba Boy, cuba With that. Sean, go ahead and exit us out here. No, I think it's your turn, okay, well, we're going to take a quick little break and then we're gonna get in. After the acl injuries and then the meniscus, we gotta hear what you're doing now, because even this story, from like from start to finish, it's only getting better. Dude is my and it's it's pretty incredible what you, what you got going on, and I'm excited for the fans and I'm excited for this guy to hear because it's pretty fucking badass. With that being said, we're going to take a quick little breather.

Speaker 1: 49:29

Don't want to give a breather without giving a shout out to Nectar. We got Tampa Lux, new York, new York Pizza. Let's fucking get your ass together. We'll be back with Sports and Suits. Follow us, like, subscribe to all the shit on social media and on YouTube. Cheers to you, we're back. Are we? We are back, we're back, we are back. So we are kind of going on with, you know, giovanni's ACL, meniscus, injuries and kind of just wrap that up. And then you know, I want to get these, I want to get the listeners to kind of understand what you're doing now and the vision you have. I mean, you've taken multiple trips around the world, collected a bunch of information about what you want to do. You know moving forward.

Speaker 2: 50:12

Yeah, so uh again. My college career was filled with a lot of fun activities, like rehab for the most of it, and um had. In total, I had seven knee surgeries, two ACLs, five meniscus throughout my whole experience, and I was in college for six years. During that time I only had the opportunity to play nine real games, which to me was like I couldn't even believe it, but I remember some key points about the experience was earning my scholarship. I remember some key points about the experience was earning my scholarship. I was at a bowl game and it was Christmas Eve and Santa came through with the perfect gift, a gift that I didn't even know was still available. It was my, I'd say, junior year, because I had one more year after they gave me a scholarship. I played. I had the best game of my life, or my game of my life how much was a?

Speaker 1: 51:07

was a weight lifted off your shoulders when you were like I am on fucking scholarship. I literally came from a village running for turkeys to now I'm on a scholarship at a, at a fucking d1 school village is running for turkeys sitting in the stand saying that you made the team I mean dude, that is that's what I'm saying.

Speaker 1: 51:25

Like his story is like none other that that I know personally. I mean, you hear stories about that shit. There's movies made about rudy and shit but this is like a real life, fucking person that I know.

Speaker 2: 51:36

no, bro, I honestly, when they mentioned my name, I was so confused because I felt like I was already on scholarship. I was like what the hell is this? It was honestly like an added like I was already on scholarship. I was like what the hell is this? It was honestly like an added bonus. I was already starting that whole year. It was COVID year.

Speaker 2: 51:48

I was doing all the things that I wanted to do. The money and the scholarship stuff was just like I forgot about it because they already told me I was never going to succeed at this college, so I was just doing things for fun. I was like, let me just build the brotherhood and win. And so actually, when they said it, I was like, oh wow, I still had that goal to knock off and I finally did. And again the following day I had a great game. I think I had 89 yards, maybe eight, nine catches at the bowl game and finish off the year exactly how I wanted, with a final year to come, of just really taking over. That final year does, or the final year does come. We have a whole new coaching staff come in. I'm the number one going into that year. Who? Is the coach.

Speaker 2: 52:30

So Coach Leipold went to Kansas and now Coach Maurice Linguist who came from. Alabama. He came to Because who do they have now? Do you keep up with the program at all? I do not keep up with the program. As soon as I said bye to football, I stopped watching it.

Speaker 1: 52:45

It's a guy that came from South Carolina. I can't remember if it was Dow Loggins or if it's Bobo, Coach Bobo, Mike Bobo I can't remember yeah.

Speaker 2: 52:54

I haven't kept track and I plan to this year.

Speaker 1: 52:57

Coach Mike Bobo yeah, he was an OC at Georgia. He was the OC of South Carolina.

Speaker 2: 53:02

He was decent last year. What's his name?

Speaker 1: 53:05

Mike Bobo. Oh, okay. I think, I'm pretty sure that's who it is, because he was so Buffalo is this might? Have to be edited because I don't want to fuck up my son's deal. But yeah, buffalo was like reaching out to Memphis about doing that. So but yeah, go ahead.

Speaker 4: 53:23

Then you started smashing bitches, started slaying.

Speaker 2: 53:27

Everything that comes with the stereotype of football came through, and so it was the final year.

Speaker 2: 53:32

Everything is like coming to me, coaches are saying, oh, you're going to get 80-plus 100, maybe catches this year, life's going to be great, right. And so I build everything I can. I work my ass off Again. There's a lot of different injuries that happen throughout this time, but I end up starting game one first player of the season, I hit a corner post touchdown like 80 yards. And second game, we go to Nebraska.

Speaker 2: 53:59

This is the biggest place I've played so far and I think there was like 107. I don't know how much they fit, I think it was 107,000. People was unreal place, super hot, and you know I was having a decent game. We were getting our ass kicked, but I was doing decent. Um, we have about five minutes left in the game. I catch a little ball over the middle, I try to hit a spin move, boom, other ACL goes and I'm like this time I didn't cry, I just stood there. I'm like, wow, I can't believe it. I knew it was acl, but I didn't want to like say it out loud. I just got up, I jogged off, hopped off a little bit and I just started swallowing like, okay, I'll be fine. And so basically, I tore my acl again and had to go through that process again, but this time I did not play the victim game and I knew that I was going to come back better than before. It only took me five months to recover, that's quick.

Speaker 2: 54:55

Yeah, it was my trainers at the University of Buffalo. They care so much and they're really on top of everything and they have the best. I mean, obviously I hear stories of other athletes doing it, but for me to do it for a second time and actually like a seventh time over and over and over, these guys are just on top of it. So buffalo has freaking. I'm dead to them and the, the ability or the people that care so much about their athletes.

Speaker 1: 55:20

So it's a much different stance than the other guys have been sitting over there. They were not fond of their athletic trainers and I liked I. I still in contact with our strength or not our strength but our medical staff at South Carolina. They said I didn't have a torn labrum. I had a torn labrum. I still do. Never had surgery on it. Yeah, but it's like. It's like. You know, what I'm saying I don't want to say it on camera.

Speaker 4: 55:49

Why don't you?

Speaker 1: 55:50

Why don't I?

Speaker 4: 55:51

what? Why don't you say it yeah, come on.

Speaker 1: 55:53

Come on, don't give a fuck Garcia, I still go up to Columbia and I fucking have a podcast to come out. I can't burn those bridges.

Speaker 2: 56:01

Yeah, no, it's a different experience, probably when you go to a college where maybe, again in this scenario, I should have been overlooked not should have, but most times I am overlooked as a walk-on. But again, when you build connections and really focus on like the full team, I think that's when people start to really like love you for who you are. But now what can you do on the field? Right, but at this point I had already done kind of both, like I can play and I can lead or do whatever it is that I need to do and I can lead or do whatever it is that I need to do. But long story short, after all those injuries, I have a final year. I applied for a final year of what do you call it? Medical. Medical yep yep.

Speaker 2: 56:38

By this time, I have three degrees I have a bachelor's in public health, I have a master's in finance and a master's in education, and all I want to do is just play football and go to the NFL.

Speaker 4: 56:50

Fuck that, Go into finance bro.

Speaker 2: 56:53

I'm not using any of them right now, but I'm using the best one, which was the community-based one.

Speaker 1: 56:57

Outreach. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 56:59

And so.

Speaker 1: 57:01

That typically leads to pretty good finance.

Speaker 2: 57:04

Yeah. So, honestly, moving to Tampa has been the greatest thing in terms of opportunity for jobs, careers and community. So you cheer for the Bucs, right? I do cheer for the Bucs, yes, but I also cheer for the Bills. Oh, no, no, I like.

Speaker 4: 57:22

Josh Allen. Josh Allen's a great quarterback.

Speaker 1: 57:25

Josh Allen is the guy that I do the podcast with for South Carolina, pat DeMarco. He played with Josh for, I think, like three years before he retired and he said he's like, dude, you are exactly like Josh Allen. You and Josh Allen would be bad news in the same room. Wow, I can tell you this.

Speaker 4: 57:42

I'm surprised Josh Allen hasn't won a Super Bowl yet, man this year. Well they're saying the Bucs will.

Speaker 1: 57:49

Nope, You're dumb Tony. It might be the. Bucs versus the Bills. That would be insane.

Speaker 2: 57:52

That would be awesome.

Speaker 1: 57:54

Yeah, but anyways go ahead.

Speaker 2: 57:55

Never got the opportunity to meet Josh, but I met Baker and he is unreal. I love. Baker oh yeah, suka, yeah, hell yeah, I see him there every day.

Speaker 4: 58:06

Come on this podcast. Baker.

Speaker 1: 58:09

He's not coming on any podcasts anytime soon. You know why? Right, you guys know why. No, you don't.

Speaker 4: 58:19

No, I don't.

Speaker 1: 58:26

So remember when he said he's like, yeah, you know, they had Tom Brady and he was very straight line like no messing around, and then they brought me in to be kind of like the guy that jokes around everything.

Speaker 4: 58:31

That was like five months ago.

Speaker 1: 58:32

No, that was yeah a couple years ago.

Speaker 4: 58:34

No, that was after.

Speaker 1: 58:35

No, no no, no, no. I. I had a podcast with a guy whose podcast it was on really yeah, and he's like when baker said you know, I, they brought me to be the fun guy and tom brady during commented during it. Yeah, he's like if I want to have fucking fun. I'm gonna take my kids to disney world. That was last year that was last year.

Speaker 4: 58:52

Yeah, oh shit, because baker hasn't played this entire year, oh shit that was last year, bro, and he's been on podcasts since then has he yeah, man, this will be the next.

Speaker 2: 59:05

Yeah, come on sports.

Speaker 4: 59:07

you live in Tampa. I mean, come on, that's basically you, except older. Well, anyways.

Speaker 1: 59:15

We're not talking about Baker. We're talking about let's go.

Speaker 4: 59:18

Did you forget his name? No, giovanni man, not Giovanni, not Giovanni.

Speaker 2: 59:25

Yeah, basically to wrap up my college experience, I was able to come back from my final injury, played a little bit, a couple snaps, special teams, a little bit of slot receiver, but kind of like the NFL ambition that I was getting and the interest from NFL teams were kind of no longer there, and so I had two options, like do I continue to pursue what I really want to do and what I love, which is to play football, or do I just settle and pick one of the careers that I could have gotten with my degrees? And so, like any person who has been injured seven times and has had a hard time with football would do, I would continue to follow football. And so, from there, Hard-headed man, yeah, it's like, oh, I gotta like get to it. You know what I mean.

Speaker 2: 1:00:12

There's a quote that says no man is more. Well, I gotta remember it again. I forget no man is more on. Wow, we'll go back to that. I forgot what it is, but anyway, the quote talks about how a man needs to go through a lot of adversity to have the opportunity to show himself who he is. And so that's what I kind of took the college experience as and what has brought me here to Tampa now. So as soon as school ended I was like, okay, I'm going to go and pursue football. I have no agents, no money. I do have a couple credit cards I can run up, and so I know I got to leave Buffalo.

Speaker 1: 1:00:50

He told me about this, this is the story gets wild, yeah, yeah and more wild than it's currently been.

Speaker 2: 1:00:56

I'm like I'm sitting at home in buffalo. I'm like golly, I know that whatever the hell I want to do, whether it's football or whatever, it's not gonna be a buffalo.

Speaker 4: 1:01:02

I love it, but it's not for me damn at home in buffalo that just sounds cold. Yeah, like, like, like temperature-wise and my knees hurt, I would wake up.

Speaker 2: 1:01:10

I'm like, bruh, this is not the space for me, and so I called like three different training facilities for me to do combine training. Out of all three, the guy from Tampa just sounded the best I went to wow.

Speaker 4: 1:01:25

One.

Speaker 2: 1:01:25

Buck Place.

Speaker 1: 1:01:26

No, trench, trench, trench, yeah, yeah yeah, you and Caleb were there right.

Speaker 2: 1:01:29

Yeah, I met a bunch of great friends there, which is the reason now I know Stephen through there and, you know, killed it. I spent every dime that I could on every credit card. I was 30K in debt after my whole experience, but I had a great combine which was worth it. I ran a 447. Vertical was a 41.5. Everything was great on the number sheet but obviously what is Trench real quick.

Speaker 1: 1:01:57

It's a facility around here. It's a facility around here For training For combine. They do a bunch of stuff.

Speaker 2: 1:02:04

Yeah, great. Yeah, it was a great experience. From there, got a local workout to the bills I thought I killed it. I did really well, did a lot of special team stuff. Upon returning again, anything I did, long snapping everything that I could. It was like the walk-on story over again. Um, unfortunately I didn't get the email that said congratulations. I got the, the one that my friend got back in college.

Speaker 2: 1:02:27

So it's funny, life is about rewriting the same scenarios over and over it doesn't matter if you fail or win, it's how you respond to it, and so from there, I kept working, had a lot of different opportunities with or, I guess, interest from, cfl, european Football Leagues, but my mind was set on being the best that I could be, and I know the NFL is that, and so it's NFL or nothing mentality for me, which you didn't want to settle is it?

Speaker 2: 1:02:55

yeah, I mean, it wasn't an opportunity for me to go to the NFL. It was because I I got an opportunity to come here to the Bucks and and ended up not working out. But I didn't want to go and just try and be the best in Canada, when I really love living here in the US and I wanted to just be the best here.

Speaker 4: 1:03:12

What about, like the USFL?

Speaker 1: 1:03:15

I don't think that was a thing, yeah, it was. So it was.

Speaker 4: 1:03:19

And also the XFL was still in during that time, if I'm not mistaken, and now it's the UFL. They combined, yeah, they combined, so you didn't want to do that either, because both of them were in the United States.

Speaker 2: 1:03:33

Yeah, so there was a time where I did go for a tryout. I don't even know where it was, somewhere in Florida, I actually drove with.

Speaker 4: 1:03:38

I think in Orlando yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:03:40

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:03:41

It was.

Speaker 2: 1:03:41

Yeah, again, I did my thing there. I thought I was by far one of the cleanest looking in terms of overall, just route running and everything. Um, didn't get an email back and it's okay. Uh, from there I'm have again zero money. I don't know if I'm gonna go back to buffalo or come back. While in buffalo I had started a non-profit thing up there that I still have events for, and I was up there throwing an event for communities and in my pocket I literally had $5. I'm like I don't know what the hell I'm going to do after this. I knew I had people that would give me food and stuff like that. Not that I was needing it, but I had $5 in my bank account. And then Destroying comes through, and so if you guys don't know who Destroying is, he has a YouTube channel and he I didn't realize that he was the punter at UCF.

Speaker 1: 1:04:30

I did not realize that he has a crazy story.

Speaker 2: 1:04:32

He's got an absolutely insane story, yeah basically he was in the YouTube space and in college athletics the NCAA said you gotta pick one.

Speaker 2: 1:04:42

He picked YouTube but, now he's been able to come back to football. He's made a hell of a lot more money. He makes a lot of money, has a bigger impact and he also had the opportunity to play in the usf yeah, or ufl, ufl, yeah, um. But basically he runs a bunch of different uh, one-on-one tournaments all over the country and he so happened to go to buffalo on that weekend, like two days after my event, and these events are the most insane things. He just shows up. He has a bunch of fans from YouTube 600 people show up. They're all battling one-on-one. Some people get a wristband and, the best of the best, go at it at the end.

Speaker 4: 1:05:19

What do you mean by one-on-one?

Speaker 1: 1:05:21

Yeah, one-on-one, Like Madden Defense receiver versus DB.

Speaker 2: 1:05:23

Yeah, oh okay gotcha, so I would be the receiver. There's a DB in front of me, I got to score a touchdown and he's got to stop me from scoring. You go one-on-one until there's one winner and on this special day, I was able to go up there and win. Now, that day, I won $12,000. And for me, the money gave me the ability to create space in my mind to what I'm doing next.

Speaker 2: 1:05:50

Like I was 30K in debt, four months behind on rent, to somebody that I had just met in Tampa on my way down, on my way down from Buffalo, I had 24 hours to figure out where I was going to live. So I would go out on Facebook market. I'm like, hey, I'm moving to Tampa, I am pursuing my NFL dream, I need a place to stay. And so this amazing friend and so this amazing uh friend, two of them allowed me to stay in the house and basically up front the money for me. Like I, I paid them until I couldn't. And then I was four months behind on rent, 30k in debt, but this day allowed me to pay them off and give me a little bit of bread to really like realize what I gotta do to make tampa home.

Speaker 1: 1:06:27

Yeah some breathing room. I mean, that's, it's. Yeah. I mean I want to know and I've never asked you this what is what, the what, what is that the, the headband the turban, I don't know.

Speaker 2: 1:06:38

I felt like I mean, that's kind of like your, your stick. Though yeah, it brings me back to like when I was in, when I grew up in puerto rico.

Speaker 1: 1:06:44

It's like very you gotta, you gotta find that man look up his name and look up youtube and it's he fucking cooks dude, I put that on, I'm a whole different human on the field.

Speaker 2: 1:06:53

I feel like I have two different personalities. When I play football, when I'm like here, um, and when I put that on, I feel like no one can stop me. It gives me like a different alter ego. You got that chip on your shoulder and I feel like that's.

Speaker 1: 1:07:05

that is severely underrated. Having a chip on your shoulder oh yeah, Somebody says I can't do it. Okay, watch this shit. Are you talking about that?

Speaker 2: 1:07:13

Yeah, no, go to like destroying. I'm sure there's one in like this thing right here, yeah, but there's like a. This is Bali. We can talk about this one all the time. Dude, I've done so much random shit. That.

Speaker 2: 1:07:29

Go to like Reels Headband. No, go to Reels, reels. All right, yeah, you go up here and you can go to like. Go to that one. This is the route that saved my life. This is actually the route that I won the $12,000 in. Yeah, give me that. Everybody hated me there, bro, isn't that like a Everybody?

Speaker 4: 1:07:48

hated me there, bro, isn't that like a Arabic?

Speaker 2: 1:07:52

It's Arabic. Honestly, there's so many different things, hishab.

Speaker 1: 1:07:55

That's kind of what I thought when I first saw it. I was like, eh, it looks exactly like it.

Speaker 4: 1:07:59

I mean, he's been to Bali, he's been to Thailand.

Speaker 1: 1:08:03

Yeah, he hasn't been to. Islamabad no no no.

Speaker 4: 1:08:05

By the way, that was very offensive. No, I'm just kidding.

Speaker 2: 1:08:10

No, that's straight, just for style. No dog.

Speaker 4: 1:08:12

Asia has a lot of that Muslim tradition built into it. I mean that's a Muslim head garb.

Speaker 2: 1:08:20

Again, some people have their understanding of whatever that is or it's just a motherfucking beanie that you tie up.

Speaker 1: 1:08:26

I mean, that's why I wanted to have him on here again. That story is unbelievable. Like you're 30K in debt, you have $5 to your account, you end up signing up for this thing and winning 12 grand from this guy. Yeah, that's incredible and your life has changed.

Speaker 2: 1:08:40

Oh yeah, bro, since then, that's all I needed. I needed 12 grand to change my life, and from there I was like, okay, I'm in a new city.

Speaker 1: 1:08:46

We had goosebumps Like dude that's unbelievable.

Speaker 2: 1:08:49

What is the number one thing I got to do is number one meet people, create communities. I went to every free event yoga, whatever the hell was going on in Tampa, I was there. But, most importantly, what am I good at? And that was connecting with people and, obviously, health. And so I'm going to find the best gym, which actually found me in a way, and I'm going to find the best restaurant or hotel type vibe. So I applied to go work at the addition and applied to. Actually, my Suka story is a little bit different, because I just wanted to join a gym. They're super extensive, if you know, they are Suka, but they also have a phenomenal program and I thought that was like an Asian restaurant.

Speaker 4: 1:09:28

No, no.

Speaker 1: 1:09:30

Suka is a Lex Capx capitano, not to change this up. Yeah, yeah, so we had him on here. Oh great, yeah he talked about won't accept my freaking collaboration uh wait a second I'm pretty sure he did. He didn't.

Speaker 2: 1:09:40

I've been ripping his ass about it, oh like, like literally or figuratively jesus bud yeah, so I guess, um, I went into tampa trying to build community through the addition and, uh suka, I knew that I didn't want to work at a restaurant like first day at my job at the addition.

Speaker 4: 1:10:02

So I said, okay um the addition is actually really nice hotel restaurant that's what you're saying.

Speaker 2: 1:10:09

Yeah, yeah, yeah, they have like three different restaurants in there.

Speaker 4: 1:10:12

It's unreal don't they have like a rooftop bar?

Speaker 2: 1:10:14

yeah, they have that. They do. Unreal, yeah, um, but suka is truly where I was able to build community and it was crazy the way that I was getting in there, because I had a hundred and maybe 80 bucks left in my bank in order to join SUCA. A three-pack was $150. I was like, do I get groceries this week or do I invest in this community and see if I can give value of any sort? I spent $150 for three classes at SUCA, showed up at 5 am every day, worked hard, killed every workout. Then from there they elongated my stay for an extra 10 days and then, by the long story short, I ended up getting a front desk job to then becoming a personal trainer and then kind of leading a little bit of the personal training for a long time and, um, there was only open for three months when I joined. So I I really have, um, a lot of love for that place. Um, I no longer work there, but those people are amazing, and so they gave me the opportunity to really grow in Tampa.

Speaker 4: 1:11:19

The mentality I get from you is risk at all or don't do anything at all yeah, why?

Speaker 2: 1:11:23

why hold back?

Speaker 4: 1:11:24

Yeah, no, life's too short, life's too short, I agree.

Speaker 2: 1:11:31

And so here I am now. I am a personal trainer, I do in person and online, and I'm have some big project coming up soon. But I'm also somebody who's, like you said, gonna risk it all and go really experience life. So I like to travel a lot for a long time, long periods of time, and I like to do a lot of solo stuff. And, like, I went to bali, in thailand, for 40 days, um, spent some time living in the jungle, cost some 11, put pythons, killed some iguanas, uh, so where, when you were in bali, like, where were you staying at night?

Speaker 4: 1:12:06

you build your own shelter, or was it at a hotel room?

Speaker 2: 1:12:08

For three nights we found this big ass cave like 60 meters, oh shit 60 meters. Yeah, Damn, I met this guy named Mica Micael Aparicio on social media like four days beforehand. Is that the guy?

Speaker 1: 1:12:22

that went back to get your luggage.

Speaker 4: 1:12:25

No no no Bro.

Speaker 1: 1:12:26

Because I messaged him on Instagram. He's the one that stayed with the cannibals Dude he was posting stuff and he's like dude, you wouldn't believe it, lost my luggage. This guy that I met went to go to the airport, picked it up, brought it back, didn't take any money, didn't take anything out of my suitcase. Is this?

Speaker 4: 1:12:42

true.

Speaker 1: 1:12:43

Dude 100%. If that happened in America, she would be gone.

Speaker 2: 1:12:49

Bali is the safest place in the world. Literally. I gave this guy all my belongings. I had a breathwork event to get to and this guy picked me up at the airport. He had all my IDs, passport, everything that I would need to actually survive until getting back to the US In his car, and this guy literally slept in the car for eight hours of this event while I did my breathwork shit and met a bunch of people. I came back I didn't even have his number. I'm like yo, he was still sleeping on the damn parking lot. Yo, with all my stuff, huh that's a guy right there that that is the guy.

Speaker 1: 1:13:23

Like a good guy you won't. It's. It's hard to find that kind of guy in the states.

Speaker 2: 1:13:30

But now I text him all the time. He doesn't even know English.

Speaker 1: 1:13:32

That well, we just point and laugh we're going to take a quick little break.

Speaker 2: 1:13:38

I don't think he has any more time we can do 10 minutes, real quick 10 minutes alright, we'll take a quick little break like comment and subscribe, follow us on all the socials and hit that notification button on YouTube.

Speaker 4: 1:13:50

That way, you can get notified any time a new episode gets released. We'll be right back, and we're back with Sports and Suits. It doesn't matter if it's Molly or Bali we have the number one tourist and the second best SEC quarterback ever. Good lord, we're back on that note with your host sean febreze febreze frameworks, yeah, febreze framework studios right up there so uh, somebody found your uh passport. Slept in a car for fucking eight hours to make sure you could get your possessions back yeah, he is unreal.

Speaker 2: 1:14:28

He, he was the Uber. He was like my guide, my tour, and I just met him randomly on a random app. They had like Uber, their own version of Uber, and now I text him all the time Whenever I have friends going over there. I'm like yo hit this guy up. So people in Bali are unreal. Actually, it's a place where, if I had a daughter and she wanted to go on a solo travel experience, go there.

Speaker 4: 1:14:49

I need to look up where this place is at, man.

Speaker 1: 1:14:51

Dude. Look at his Instagram.

Speaker 4: 1:14:53

No, no, no Geographically.

Speaker 1: 1:14:56

I saw you posting I was like dude, send me your. I think I said send me your itinerary because that is unbelievable.

Speaker 2: 1:15:02

Dude, and the flight I mean to get there. It's insane.

Speaker 4: 1:15:10

It's like 30 something hours to get there it's a whole 12 hour change, so, oh, so it's in polynesia.

Speaker 2: 1:15:13

Yeah, yeah, okay there you go, but yeah, I got it confused with mali, which is off of the coast. Oh, that's a real place.

Speaker 4: 1:15:21

Yeah, yeah, no no, no, that is a real place, it's off the coast of india so you come back from that trip.

Speaker 1: 1:15:29

I mean, what? What was the premise of that trip? Was it just to kind of recalibrate? Was it to find yourself?

Speaker 4: 1:15:37

I mean, yeah, was it to do an endurance, swim over open ocean and shark infested waters to multiple oceans or islands it was.

Speaker 2: 1:15:48

For all of that, I think, uh, at this point I was like, okay, I got my job, I put my head down for two years straight. I never took a day off. I was working 5 am to 8 pm, I was building great connections, but I hadn't really done anything for me. I would wake up every day, I'd be serving somebody else every day and like I love it so much, but also I could feel my body like yo, like chill or like do something for yourself for for once. And um, I said, fuck it, I need to take a 40-day trip and I've been really into like breath, work and all that stuff. And so for me, I wanted to go to a place that kind of um, like um really embraces, like self-love in a way, and so Bali was the place. I also went to Thailand right after that and met some of my clients there. It was crazy.

Speaker 2: 1:16:39

My story went from living in a jungle in the middle of this big-ass cave to living at a beyond five-star hotel with the Amman Partyty over in Thailand with my clients.

Speaker 2: 1:16:56

We're going on yachts, we're going on unreal experiences and there's truly no difference when I told you, my grandma was happy and the richest person banging that clothes against the rock.

Speaker 2: 1:17:08

It is the same thing as me living downtown Tampa now with a smile, because when I was in the jungle and the guy who picked up my clothes, I went to his house and we had dinner. His house is a little shack and we're having a homemade meal and we're just smiling at each other four people or six people on this table and it's the same picture as me sitting in a 16 beautiful long table with super happy, successful families. And so the vision of success for me has been truly all within you, like it doesn't matter what you have, it's truly having the ability to understand yourself the most. And so my trip was all about that. Like who the hell am I? What I want to do with my life, and I realized that about that I was like who the hell am I what I want to do with my life and I realized that it's just where they were like close friends or, oh, they're like, they're my clients, but they're more friends than they are clients.

Speaker 2: 1:17:56

So I just met up with them and I stayed with them and it was an unreal experience like you mentioned that during the trip you were with people that didn't speak the same language as you.

Speaker 4: 1:18:07

Oh my gosh. So how did you guys communicate? It was the most I know you said smiles and pointing and shit like that honestly, but there's gotta be a way, right?

Speaker 1: 1:18:16

no, that's dude. It's a pretty good way of communicating this is good.

Speaker 2: 1:18:21

I had no plan going into bali. I know you said my itinerary was great. It's because I had zero itinerary. I really went with the wind. And so the first day I get there, um, I just tell the guy, I make you give me a ride. And I just give him american dollars, like I don't like american dollars, but like I'll take it. And so we went on this journey for like two hours. I'm on this little motorbike on the back, we're going through this jungle. He's like bro, I don't know like and I'm just pointing at like different pictures that I have on my phone like hey, just take me somewhere around here. We found a random villa like 12, 30 am. We knock on the door, like yeah, you can stay down here, and it turned out to be the most insane villa in the middle of a jungle and I'm like, whoa, okay. So the next day I had to find a way to get to the real jungle and took another scooter guy all the way up there. And, bro, it was just insane, are these.

Speaker 4: 1:19:08

Are you paying for those villas? Or are you just when you not at that?

Speaker 2: 1:19:12

point, I would pay.

Speaker 4: 1:19:13

Yeah, I would go with my credit card with my oh okay, so they weren't like just random homes that you were staying at.

Speaker 2: 1:19:19

I did for a couple of them, but the the ones that are like nice villas, they're real, like businesses I want, I want to know about, I want to know about the open ocean swim.

Speaker 4: 1:19:28

How far did you swim, would you say, guess me, guess me. And the reason I want to know is because, bro, french Polynesia has a lot of sharks and you did it without a care in the world.

Speaker 2: 1:19:41

Well, you know what? Another reason people go to Bali is because it's actually safe water and there's a lot of surfing going on there. So I would go about as deep as you would go surfing, but with no, no equipment, it's still pretty fucking.

Speaker 4: 1:19:54

Oh yeah, yes, yeah, I mean you know, like tiger sharks are just spitting out right here knee-high water in florida, and if you're, you know that right? No, you've seen that video oh yeah, there's, there's hammerheads there's yeah, bro, where they literally come up to the shore chasing a fish and then just spin out.

Speaker 2: 1:20:14

Yeah, oh my god, I'm not on that, I dude. There was a time and you're swimming in deep water, though yeah, I did a lot of free diving up there too, which is the same thing, but now this is like a whole different level we can talk about some of the time, but you just go as deep as possible, yeah.

Speaker 4: 1:20:31

Freedom.

Speaker 2: 1:20:32

And you learn to calm the mind, and the calmer you are, the deeper you go. But one, one last story about the cave is like we weren't eating, or pretending like we're going to be in here for forever, until we survive, and we couldn't kill any animals because we couldn't. Just it's hard, right, hunting is hard In a cave. Yeah, I'm sure.

Speaker 2: 1:20:51

Yeah, and so at the end we're like okay, we have these big ass sticks. We're living in a 60 meter cave. Let's go all the way to the back. We go to the back. Everything's super dark. Swing your bat, Boom, boom, boom Bats, bats ding. You pick them up, you take all their guts out, you cook them in the fire Bats.

Speaker 4: 1:21:13

Bats, can I show you something real quick? Yeah, look at the. Tv. Guano. This is in St Petersburg.

Speaker 1: 1:21:21

Yeah, that's a tiger shark.

Speaker 4: 1:21:24

Yep, and that is not a small shark either. No, that's a.

Speaker 1: 1:21:29

That'll do some damage yeah.

Speaker 4: 1:21:31

That will fuck you up, I mean shit. So I mean, bro, were you high on shrooms when you were doing it? How'd you know? Well, it was Bali, right, I mean, I would assume. So I'm not saying that you were allegedly.

Speaker 2: 1:21:52

No, I would say that I'm not going to say no.

Speaker 4: 1:21:58

No, no, say no.

Speaker 2: 1:21:59

I stopped drinking maybe two years ago and again I got into breathwork and there's different modalities of breathwork. Some may include shrooms and stuff like that, uh, and so lately I've I've been experimenting with it and I've only found like positives from it, and so I don't drink, but I do microdose, and I believe it's something that I truly makes me better in terms of finding out what I really want to achieve absolutely opens up your third eye.

Speaker 1: 1:22:28

Yeah, so I mean real quick, before you got to go. I know you got to catch a flight, but, like, tell everybody what your, what your plan is now moving forward and, if you can, yeah, no, a hundred percent I.

Speaker 2: 1:22:39

So, again, I'm a personal trainer. I, I, we do. We do this thing where it's all inclusive. It's called Nova performance and wellness. We focus on nourishment, optimize, vitalize and ascension, basically through training, nutrition, breath work and all-encompassing accountability online, in person. I just want to be able to, like show my experiences in a service to other people and, yeah, that's my goal. We have some big projects in terms of actual locations and actual businesses being built at the moment, but that's what I do now and again, just loving Tampa and giving back to the place that gave me a great home.

Speaker 4: 1:23:22

How can they find you?

Speaker 2: 1:23:24

Yeah, you can find me on Instagram at I am J-O-V-A-N-Y-R-U-I Z, that is my name and actually all social media. I am Giovanni Ruiz and you'll find me there, I mean that's a hell of a story, dude.

Speaker 1: 1:23:39

Thank you brother. I can't appreciate you more for coming on here, man, honestly, dude, that's why I wanted to get you on here. People that hear that kind of literally coming out the mud, because we've had guys that have been, you know, like I said, four or five star recruits that went to these big universities and you know, you know, you know what I'm saying yeah, you know also, they all have their own struggles I mean being a five star has a lot of like you go you're running into a lot of pressure and it's everybody has their own shit.

Speaker 2: 1:24:08

But I appreciate you having me on here and allowing me the platform to kind of share, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 1:24:14

I got to get on the breath work.

Speaker 2: 1:24:16

All right, bro, whenever I'll be back next week and we can talk about it.

Speaker 1: 1:24:19

Yeah, Well, I'm going on a little sabbatical myself. Tomorrow, boca Grande, the shark capital of the world. Beautiful Hammerhead shark, capital of the world. Beautiful Hammerhead shark, capital of the world.

Speaker 4: 1:24:30

Yeah, well, they still bite.

Speaker 1: 1:24:33

I'm hoping they do Just kidding Okay. But again, guys, I appreciate Dude. Honestly, that was unbelievable. I'm so glad you got to explain your story and again, thank you, sean, for putting this thing together. Don't forget like comment subscribe the whole operation. Sean, you're better at this than I am. Do you want to close us out?

Speaker 4: 1:24:53

here. Yeah, Steven sucks at this. Goodbye.