Steve Weatherford - Fighting Through Adversity

Steve Weatherford needs no introduction! After a 10 year NFL career AND winning the super bowl in 2012, Steve Weatherford went on to be named "The Fittest Man in the National Football League!" Not only does Wearherford shine in the areas of sports and fitness, he is also a man of service! Like I always say, People matter. Things don't. Weatherford was named Health and Fitness Ambassador of the Boys and Girls Club in New Jersey, serving as a role model, mentor, and fitness and nutrition coach to more than 80,000 kids throughout New Jersey. He also serves as spokesperson for Second Chance Toys, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and The Steve Weatherford Charity for Ghana. Now, he sat down with me in this exclusive interview to talk about his journey to and through the NFL; overcoming weaknesses, building a life he is proud of and enjoying the journey along the way. Discover how Steve Weatherford has become the revered star athlete we all know today! This interview will have you hanging on to every word! It's available now on Youtube, Stitcher, Itunes, and Spotify. Please SUBSCRIBE to all platforms, by CLICKING THE LINK IN MY BIO. Please SHARE, REVIEW, COMMENT, REPOST and TAG SOMEONE to spread the word about the fastest growing show on earth! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Ed Mylett?

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• 0:45Ed Mylett?

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• 1:01Speaker 01

  Mr. President, my company, for me, of the explosion on our rig.

• 1:05Speaker 02

  On October 2nd.

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• 1:25Speaker 01

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• 1:27Speaker 02

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• 1:47Ed Mylett?

  Welcome back to Max Out with Ed Mylett. I gotta be honest with you. I so wish we were recording everything that we just did off camera, because we've had one of the greatest interviews I've ever done, and we haven't even started yet. So I'm so excited to have this gentleman to my left here. This jacked up dude right here to my left is a Super Bowl champion. See that thing right there? He's letting me wear this for the interview. That is his Super Bowl ring, everybody. He's a pro bowler. He is a guy who dominated his position in football. And by looking at him, right now, you're thinking, this dude was a tight end for sure, right? Maybe he was a defensive end. But actually, this is a punter in the NFL and has the all-time Super Bowl record in a Super Bowl, four punting that we're going to talk about. He's dominated the fitness space post his career. He's a great father, five children, right?

• 2:32Ed Mylett?

  And one of the guys, one of the few people that I follow on social media to inspire me to get my day going, to get my life going. And I have a funny feeling that today will be a life-altering conversation for many of you. So I'm so excited to hear, brother. This is Steve Weatherford, everyone. Thanks for being here, man.

• 2:51Steve Weatherford?

  That means a lot to me, man. I really mean that. But honestly, like, just for the people that are watching and listening, I mean, it was from the moment that I walked in this door, like, we'd never met each other before. And we have so many mutual friends that like continually like recommending us to each other. And it wasn't because like I could provide value to you, or you could provide value to me. Like, so many people were like, dude, you need to meet Ed. You guys are like so much alike. And you guys have so much passion. And you guys are like so weird at the same time. You know what I mean? But it's like always coming from people that I love, that also that you love. And it was like, this was meant to be. But I mean, to see the way that this is kind of like, this interview is going to go, just because of the time that we spent today.

• 3:36Steve Weatherford?

  Like, dude, I've told Ed things that I haven't shared with anybody. And you really do. You have a really unique way of making people just feel really comfortable in your home, really comfortable to like share vulnerable things about themselves that I haven't shared with anybody else. Because I mean, you look at some of the other interviews that you've had. Like, people open up to you. And that is like, I want to acknowledge you for being... Showing up for who you really are and

• 4:01Ed Mylett?

  Thank you, brother.

• 4:02Steve Weatherford?

  And leading with the true person that you are, not like the costume that you think you need to put on in order to grow your Instagram account, or get this many likes, or get that many comments like you. And that's one thing that's always attracted me to you is you can tell the people that are like faking it for the gram. And you can tell the people that are genuinely and authentically pouring their heart and the dark things.

• 4:25Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 4:25Steve Weatherford?

  You know, the great achievements, but also, you know, being relatable to people and saying like, listen, like, yeah, I've achieved this financial success and I've had this massive impact here, but dude, I still struggle with this. And I still have problems, you know, setting boundaries and doing favors for people because I'm a people pleaser. And I really just want to make people happy and it's authentic and it's real. So

• 4:48Ed Mylett?

  Thank you.

• 4:48Steve Weatherford?

  I heard from so many people

• 4:51Ed Mylett?

  Me too.

• 4:51Steve Weatherford?

  That we need to connect.

• 4:52Ed Mylett?

  Me too.

• 4:52Steve Weatherford?

  I'm like, man, I don't care what I need to do, but I feel like regardless if it's a podcast or it's just you and I just sitting down and talking.

• 5:01Ed Mylett?

  Yep.

• 5:02Steve Weatherford?

  Whatever that is that I can do for you to continue to impact people on the level and the scale that you're doing and continue to grow that, man, like that's honestly, that's why I'm here because I want to be able to share things on this podcast that I love to listen to, that other people have shared things that they've never shared before. Honestly, dude, your podcast and your show and just like you as a person, you're kind of turning yourself into like a priest and people are coming here for like

• 5:28Ed Mylett?

  Thank you, brother.

• 5:29Steve Weatherford?

  For like confession. I'm like, I'm looking at like an older, more handsome, more jock version of myself.

• 5:33Ed Mylett?

  He starts with older. He starts with older.

• 5:36Steve Weatherford?

  Well, listen, I was eventually going to get to more handsome and that's something I highly regard myself for.

• 5:41Ed Mylett?

  Just so you know, this is, this is being recorded. Everybody knows that I'm not more handsome than you, but thank you for saying that. All right, let's talk about you for a second. So in front of me first, I want to go back just a little, right? So you're Super Bowl champion, Pro Bowler, you know, awarded for awards in the NFL for being the most charitable guy in the league. You got five children. Your, his social media stuff is so good, guys. I mean, if, listen, if you want to know who I really like on social media, go look at who I follow. You know, many of you are going to watch this and see my Instagram. I follow a very small, select group of people that move me and you're one of those people. And so

• 6:12Steve Weatherford?

  It means a lot, man.

• 6:13Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, brother. I mean, I think your stuff, I think you're awesome and I think your stuff is awesome too. So, but let's talk a little bit about little Steve. Let's go back just a little bit. So. You've achieved all these things, and by the way, you can tell from looking at them. This was a, this was an athlete, a world-class athlete who played the position of punter. But if we went through your whole life, you were a stud in multiple sports and track and all these other sports. But what was your upbringing like? Like, what's your mom and dad like? Where'd you grow up? What shaped you?

• 6:42Steve Weatherford?

  I didn't have a white friend until I was 11 years old. This is something that we didn't talk about off camera. But I was born in Indiana and age two moved down to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and, and literally was like thrust into African-American sports, you know, for lack of a better word. And I wasn't that special, you know, because they just, they're, they were just better than me.

• 7:03Ed Mylett?

  You had athletes around you that were better than you as a kid.

• 7:05Steve Weatherford?

  Oh, my gosh. Like, I remember when I moved from Louisiana at age 13 to Terre Haute, Indiana, which is kind of like the city that I claim. I don't know why I claim that instead of Baton Rouge, but I guess this comes with my family's from Indiana. But I remember leaving and being like the sixth man on the basketball team and then moving to Terre Haute, Indiana and be like, oh, my God, he's 14 and he can touch the rim, you know? It was like the biggest thing ever. And I had teammates that were dunking the ball in a basketball game. But it was like competition and elite competition and the competitive spirit just in general was instilled in me at a very, very young age.

• 7:38Ed Mylett?

  By the other athletes or by dad? Like, by who?

• 7:40Steve Weatherford?

  Um, just, there was something, honestly, that I feel like God, like, just truly, like, like, placed on my heart, just ambition, similar to you. Like, we've, I've always, I've, I've always had a problem with motivation. It's not that I needed to find a place. I had too much of it.

• 7:53Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 7:54Steve Weatherford?

  And I know it's just like, it might sound braggadocious to people listening to this, but, but hear me out when I, when I talk about the fact that my competitiveness and, and my self-worth really was almost kind of my demise as, as a person and, and as a human and as somebody that, that fathered five children and a husband to my wife and entrepreneur. And like on paper, like, my life was, was perfect and it is perfect. But, you know, the, the entire journey of my life and the evolution of the person that I was to the person that I am today is like... For the first time ever, like, sitting here with you, like, this is the first interview that I feel like, I don't feel like I know for a fact that I'm ever really doing as like,

• 8:38Steve Weatherford?

  it sounds so generic to refer to myself in third person, but as Steve. You know, I feel like every other interview that I've done on ESPN and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, Good Morning America, all that stuff, like, I was always wearing a costume and trying to be what everybody else wanted me to be versus just being who I was and feeling like that was enough. Like, so much so, Ed, that, you know, I remember tracing it all back to a conversation I had with my mom, and I remember crying in her lap, five years old, kindergarten, and that was the first time that I really, really realized that I was different than other people. And I viewed different as, like, not good, because I was the type of different that always

• 9:23Steve Weatherford?

  got in trouble in school. I mean, I went principal's office for pulling the chair out from a girl that was about to sit down for me, like, before lunchtime, my first day of kindergarten, you know? And it was just, it was continual from there, but like, none of, none of those struggles was I able to overcome because of, like, my ADHD and I couldn't sit still, and it was back in the day when people didn't really understand ADHD. They thought that that was like a cop-out for somebody that was just a mischievous kid. And now I'm 35 years old, and I literally have maybe like that much more control over it, and I've finally gotten to the point where I've embraced who I am, and now, you know, what other people had looked at as kind of like a learning disability, I've been

• 10:07Steve Weatherford?

  able to kind of mold that, shape that, package that, and utilize that as, listen, if I can never sit still, then I might as well keep myself busy doing something constructive. And so, at 14 years old, I remember being in the dentist's office and picking up my first copy of Muscle & Fitness, and it was at that point, well, it was after I actually stole it and took it home and looked at it, because there was no Bodybuilding.com. It wasn't like I could go to EndMyLead.com and get content to be able to apply into my life, to learn how to train, to learn how to eat, to learn how to increase human performance. But, kind of to go back to the conversation that I had with my mom and crying on her lap and realizing that I'm different.

• 10:49Steve Weatherford?

  I formed an opinion of myself that that different was bad. And that's kind of like what, you know, people on social media like different is not great. You know, and it's almost kind of like now people are just now starting to appreciate the diversity in life. And I'm not just talking about race. I'm just talking about personalities. I'm talking about where people, the different walks of life, sexual preferences, all that stuff.

• 11:14Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 11:14Steve Weatherford?

  And I'm, I'm a strong, strong supporter of personal expression, you know, and, and that's what I'm doing.

• 11:23Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 11:23Steve Weatherford?

  And it feels, it's, it's hard for people to, to be able to kind of, I don't want to say relate to that. I feel like it's incredibly relatable because everybody feels uncomfortable in their own skin.

• 11:32Ed Mylett?

  They do.

• 11:33Steve Weatherford?

  You know, and I know like you and I have talked about that kind of off camera of how, you know, there, there's always the performance anxiety of being enough for people.

• 11:42Ed Mylett?

  You got it.

• 11:42Steve Weatherford?

  And so when I realized I was different, I started to, to hate myself for the pain that I caused my family.

• 11:48Ed Mylett?

  Even that young.

• 11:49Steve Weatherford?

  Yeah.

• 11:50Ed Mylett?

  What's interesting about you to me, brother, is that your differences, the things that are different about you, built you an externally great life.

• 11:59Steve Weatherford?

  For sure.

• 12:00Ed Mylett?

  In other words, other people, their differences sometimes only work externally to their detriment. But there's things though that worked for you, right? There's these things that are pretty damn good about, like, I mean, amazing.

• 12:11Steve Weatherford?

  It's just like, I mean, you talk about how I started to like self-love and it was way past self-love. Because I, and maybe I created this story in my mind because my parents were amazing. I don't want this interview to reflect poorly on them because they loved me more unconditionally than you could ever love a kid. I mean, I'm sitting here in front of you and then I'm a, you know, I'm an influencer in the fitness industry. I'm an influencer in the personal development space. Um, I'm an influencer to, to other fathers.

• 12:38Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 12:38Steve Weatherford?

  And. After achieving all the things that are on my Wikipedia page or all the other things that people look at and be like, "Man, this guy's life is perfect." A lot of people don't realize, because I've never shared it before, but now that I'm really kind of like stepping into the power that I'm really, really authentically myself. I don't feel like I need to come on your show or come into your home and meet you and be any type of certain person that I'm not already, because the persons that we both have in common, whether they're the Mike O'Herns, or Randall Pecks, or Bejros Kulians, or Lewis Houses, like those are my best buddies, which are also your best buddies, and they're like, they really see me for what I am. They love you.

• 13:22Steve Weatherford?

  So I always, I've always looked at myself through a really distorted filter slash mirror of myself, and I would always, whether that's nitpicking my physique, or focusing on the two things that I did wrong on a launch that I did half a million dollars on, instead of focusing on the 98 things that I did so well. But that's, I've been conditioned that way, and that's the only reason I ever made it to the varsity team, because I started high school at 108 pounds. Gosh. Like, how do you go from being 108 pounds as a 14-year-old young man to 14 years later, on the cover of Muscle & Fitness, Unreal. toded as the NFL's fittest man? Unreal.

• 14:06Steve Weatherford?

  I tied my self-worth in the world and on this planet to my athletic achievements, because when I was a little boy, five, six, seven, eight, 10 years old, the only time anybody was ever like, "Hey, great job, man," You got it. was when I played sports. You got it. And so it was never like when I made the honor roll, because that didn't happen very often, because I couldn't sit still. Yeah. I got As and Bs in school, because I was smart, but I couldn't sit still, so I always failed discipline and behavior. But I always, I always knew, or I always thought as a kid, that if I'm playing sports, I'm more than good enough, I'm great, I could be the best ever, and I always had like a crazy amount of self-confidence when it came to sports, because I never disappointed myself when I played sports. Yeah, right. You know?

• 14:50Steve Weatherford?

  You aren't often going to get a conversation like this in the world, okay? I've never had that, I've done hundreds of podcasts, and honestly, either it wasn't a point in my life where I had this clarity, Yeah. or I didn't feel comfortable enough with the person to... To be real and the way that you make people feel comfortable enough like is it's a benefit to you because you're actually able to hear that story like from that person and I'm sure it changes you in certain ways.

• 15:15Ed Mylett?

  It does.

• 15:16Steve Weatherford?

  But it benefits all these other people.

• 15:17Ed Mylett?

  It benefits millions of people, brother. And I, and I, it benefits me because I struggle with the same things. And so, all of you there watching, for the most part, people who consume my type of content and yours are achievers or want to be. And so, the first thing you said, brother, that's so beautiful, no one ever says. Where's this stuff come from where we want to achieve? Okay, the first place it comes from is that when we are little boys and little girls, most of our acknowledgement, where we get a dopamine hit like in our brain, where we feel good, is when we achieve.

• 15:44Steve Weatherford?

  Right?

• 15:45Ed Mylett?

  You, you hit a home run, you want to track meet, you, you begin to confuse love with recognition. And in life, you want to always be addicted to recognition, but you can't confuse love with recognition. Because if you don't love yourself, right, if you're not perfect as you are now, you're always going to chase recognition, you're never going to be fulfilled. And so, the, the rub is how do we achieve like you've achieved? And that you've achieved in a way that is bananas. I mean, just so, you know, because he's very humble at this stage. And he's probably been always humble, but this is someone who is, you know, this is a guy that ends up getting into the NFL, ends up making a Pro Bowl, ends up winning a Super Bowl. Then in that Super Bowl, by the way, breaks the all-time punting record, 45-yard average in his career.

• 16:26Steve Weatherford?

  When we sit here right now and I'm able to share it.

• 16:28Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 16:28Steve Weatherford?

  Like, this is the beginning of a new chapter in my life where I'm the hero in my own story. Finally, Ed.

• 16:35Ed Mylett?

  Amazing.

• 16:36Steve Weatherford?

  You know what I mean? Like, it's always been every achievement that I've had, I've never acknowledged myself for it. I don't want this podcast to come off as like a pity party for me. Because it's not what I want to get across to people. I'm, I'm sharing this, this sensitive, tender, vulnerable part of my life. Because I know there's so many freaking men out there.

• 16:55Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 16:55Steve Weatherford?

  Yourself included, that... Ties their self-worth to extrinsic things that we can't control.

• 17:03Ed Mylett?

  You got it.

• 17:03Steve Weatherford?

  And even when we think we can control it.

• 17:05Ed Mylett?

  Yep.

• 17:05Steve Weatherford?

  It's controlling us.

• 17:06Ed Mylett?

  Right, so people out there, men and women, they think, "I'm gonna be happy when." So, "Once I get this relationship, once I win this Super Bowl, once I make my first hundred grand, once I make a million dollars," they delay their bliss, I call it, until a certain achievement. The problem everybody is, and this is where Steve's at too, and I'm there, is that you bring you with you to all these places. And so, until you love you when you get to those places, until you accept you're perfect as you are in those places, the reason this interview is gonna change the world is because if a guy with your life, with my life, right, Super Bowl champion, beautiful wife, incredible kids, achievement, every room you walk into, somebody knows you. Good-looking dude, stud, fit, all of it.

• 17:51Ed Mylett?

  And he has all of the things you think you want that will make you happy, okay? And he's here to tell you today that you can get to all of those places, but if you arrive there with someone you don't love, you're gonna feel the exact same way. And so, the key in life is to learn to learn to be blissfully dissatisfied, I call it. Which means that you gotta learn to live in bliss now and still have dissatisfaction to achieve. People confuse satisfaction and happiness. Happiness is a completely different state than satisfaction. You can be dissatisfied, want to go to the next level, want to achieve, want to win a Super Bowl, want to get another ring, want to dominate the fitness space. But you can find a way to be happy in the process of it. You won't lose your drive. You think you'll lose your drive, you won't.

• 18:33Ed Mylett?

  You bite into a steak, it's delicious, it's blissful. You don't want less of a bite, you want another bite. So, the more you can feed yourself love and bliss at this time, the more you're gonna achieve. So, let's talk about this. Are you telling me that even that day you make the Saints, you're not feeling great about yourself?

• 18:48Steve Weatherford?

  Oh my God. So, this is a good section. We didn't talk about this, just so everybody listening and watching realizes, we didn't talk about this off-camera. And it's funny that you said that because the day that I realized that I actually made a pro football team.

• 19:01Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 19:01Steve Weatherford?

  I walk into the locker room and they rearranged everybody's locker because in training camp you have 103 people on your team and then they trim it down to 53. So, there's a lot of the buddies and friendships that you made during training camp. The guys are gone. They're gone. And so I walk in and I'm looking for where my locker used to be and it's moved and now they moved it to numerical. And so I'm number seven and so I look to the right of my locker and it's number five, Reggie freaking Bush. Oh, my gosh. I look to my left and it's Drew freaking Brees, number nine. And I'm like, I'm thinking to myself, Ed, I'm like, I don't belong here. Did you? Oh, my God. Yeah. Like, literally, that's the first thing I said to myself. Hmm. That, like, I don't belong here. I'm in between the greatest, one of the greatest college football players of all time. And Drew freaking Brees.

• 19:46Steve Weatherford?

  Yeah, one of the greatest NFL players of all time. Right, so it's... And I'm in between them? Hmm. Man, dude, this is a lot of pressure, but it wasn't, it wasn't, uh, I don't belong, like, let's pack the bags and go home. I always learned, um, you know, it's, it's the imposter syndrome. Like, like, right now, I played in, I played ten NFL year, I played ten years in the National Football League and we have sixteen games a year, so let's say, you know, you include some, um, some playoff games in there. I played about a hundred and seventy-five NFL games. Yeah. And I puked one hundred and seventy-five times before the game. You're not serious? One hundred percent serious. And I actually shared a vomit bucket with Chris Snee,

• 20:31Steve Weatherford?

  who's in the Ring of Honor for the New York Giants. We shared a puke bucket before the game and he was one of the greatest at his position that's ever played in the NFL and especially for the Giants, and we shared a puke bucket. No way. Like, I want to have a conversation with him now that I feel like I have a higher level of consciousness and I actually, like, really see myself for who I am. You have no idea how much, like, self-torment I've caused myself and I've been able to take that self-torment and turn it into achievement. Yes. But every single achievement that you get, you know, you're a hundred and eight pounds and then you get to two hundred pounds and, and that doesn't make you feel any better and then you, you make it onto the varsity and that doesn't make you feel any better and you thought it would. So you were talking about continually pushing the point of happiness past the cognitive horizon because it's just like, once I get here, I'll be happy. Yep.

• 21:15Steve Weatherford?

  And then you get there and you're like, well, you know what? Well, then, once I get here, and then for people like you and me that are just, like, disgustingly ambitious. Yes. And, and motivated for life and for impact and for income and for influence, you look at all those things and be like, How are you not happy? Right. Like you set a goal, you achieve it, you set another goal, you achieve it. Not to say like, I haven't had a ton of failure and a lot, a ton of bad decisions and spent a couple nights in jail during that process, but I feel like it's really, really pertinent for me to share that on, on this podcast because I know there's a lot of people out there that want to live the life that you're living, that, that want to live the life that I'm living. But I'm here to tell you right now, I made 15 million dollars kicking a football for

• 21:59Steve Weatherford?

  a living. I made another couple million dollars as an entrepreneur when I walked away from that. Money doesn't make you happy. A marriage won't make you happy. Having kids won't make you happy. Winning a Super Bowl, a Pro Bowl won't make you happy. A 10 year career won't make you happy. Until you look in your, into the mirror and you brush your teeth and you love the person that's looking back at you, which is honestly, I'm, I'm in the infancy of actually being myself. I love that you're trying to. Like 22 days that I've been able to look in the mirror while I brush my teeth. And some days are a little bit easier than others because you have to think about it. I'm fighting 30 years of instincts of hating myself. A pattern. So it's just like, if I look at a new goal that I set within my business or a new fitness goal that I set for myself, or a new family goal that I set for myself, my instinct is

• 22:41Steve Weatherford?

  to go to a place of self hatred in order to motivate myself to achieve that goal. And, and I'm almost kind of like, I'm trying to like reprogram the system to, to pursue those things. Yes. From a place of love of myself. And like you kind of alluded to it earlier, and this might be the only time I ever disagree with you, that, you know, we, we all need that, that affirmation from, from other people, but I've had so much affirmation in my life and I'm not telling you this to, you know, to seem any certain type of way, but I've had so much affirmation in my life, it's desensitized myself to it, so much so that I don't believe any compliment that anybody ever gives me, or at least I didn't used to. Now when people give me a compliment, I have to stop my instinct of like schluffing

• 23:26Steve Weatherford?

  it off to the side or giving that acknowledgement to somebody else and actually accepting that gift from people. Wonderful. And believing it for myself, but that's a scary place to live because. You can't escape your own mind. You got it. You know, so whether it's it's the depression that sets in after achievement because it didn't make you better and it didn't make you feel better, or maybe it gave you a brief break from hating yourself, and as soon as you leave that ecosystem of people telling you how wonderful you are, or people wearing your Super Bowl ring, or people, you know, you taking a bunch of kids shoe shopping because they can't afford it and you want them to go back to school in Newark, New Jersey with brand new kicks because you know how much confidence that gave you and you got new kicks, whatever, any of that stuff, it might

• 24:08Steve Weatherford?

  make, it might put a Band-Aid on the gunshot wound for the time being and make you feel like you can cover your wound and feel a little bit better, but at the end of the day, when you go sit in your car by yourself and you're driving home, the hate machine turns back on because I'm like, now I don't feel any better about myself. So it's like, it's the difference in between, there's two types of happiness. There's the instantaneous happiness that we get from, from food, we get it from sex, we get it from drugs, we get it from alcohol, and, you know, or lifting weights. And so, my entire life up until about three weeks ago was filled with chasing the high, chasing the high of achievement, chasing the high of, you know, when I worked out, I feel better for a brief amount of time,

• 24:50Steve Weatherford?

  and then once those adorphments roll off, it's just like, God, I hate myself. Yes. And I didn't even really realize that I was fueled by hate up until, you know, going through this process called hardcore leadership that Shanda Sumter put together, and she's a friend of mine, and she just, she saw the pain in me, you know, but she also saw like the beauty and the love and the tenderness and the sensitivity that I have, that I give to people unconditionally, but I don't ever accept it. When people love me back, I don't accept it because I don't love myself. And so, I've given my wife, I've given my five kids, I've given my friends, like, new friends that I'm making like you, like, I'm giving you the greatest gift ever, because I'm going to be an amazing friend to you. You know what I mean? Yes. And the reason that I can be an amazing friend to you and love you and support you

• 25:34Steve Weatherford?

  and everything that you're doing is A, because I believe in you. Thank you. But I've stepped into myself. Yes. And so I finally can truly love people unconditionally. I couldn't fully see my friends. Yeah. Or accept any gifts from them. Until I could see myself.

• 25:49Ed Mylett?

  It's harder work to put the other face on, bro. It's harder work to be Steve Weatherford than to be Steve.

• 25:54Steve Weatherford?

  You alluded it right to it because I can show up here.

• 25:56Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 25:56Steve Weatherford?

  And like I've never ever shared this with anybody ever before, but I've I ended up winning the Walter Payton Man of the Year Philanthropic Award, the most philanthropic guy in the NFL. And it wasn't like I was some, you know, Super Bowl quarterback or cornerback. I was like the the least respected position in football. But I was able to earn respect because of my work ethic. I was able to earn respect because of my philanthropy and the way that I genuinely and authentically showed up for people. You know, if one of my teammates got hurt, I was the first person to go to the training room after practice and be like, hey, can I drive you home? You know, like, hey, can I take your kids to daycare the next day? Because I knew how much physical pain and emotional pain that they were in because

• 26:39Steve Weatherford?

  when you're in the NFL, man, you're only as good as like your last play. And if you can't play another play, then they'll discard you.

• 26:44Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, you're done.

• 26:44Steve Weatherford?

  There's no guaranteed, there's no guaranteed contracts. There's there's nothing's guaranteed. And so that's why they call it the not for long league. You know what I mean? And I'm just super blessed and super fortunate, so thankful that I was able to play at the most elite level, long enough to achieve every single goal that that I had set out for myself, in addition to being able to not walk away from the game when I wanted to. I skipped away from the game. Like, I was happy. I felt achieved and everything in that industry, but I wasn't happy with myself.

• 27:14Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 27:15Steve Weatherford?

  You know?

• 27:16Ed Mylett?

  It's amazing someone like you, because there's people watching this, there there's a nurse watching this right now, right? There's a school teacher, there's an entrepreneur watching this, and they are connecting.

• 27:25Steve Weatherford?

  A lot of military people watch this, man. I know because they they always tell me like, dude, you need to go on Ed's show. I love it. He's gonna love you. Like, even people that don't know you and kind of don't really know me.

• 27:35Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, they knew.

• 27:36Steve Weatherford?

  They're like asking me to go do your show because they know that you're gonna crack me open. And it's not even something where you've even had to try.

• 27:42Ed Mylett?

  No, because I love you the way I love you the way you are.

• 27:45Steve Weatherford?

  Yeah, you see me, man.

• 27:46Ed Mylett?

  I do. And what's amazing about you, bro, and that you have this gift to many of you, too. People, the beautiful part of being wired like you are, and I'm wired this way too, is that we have such great empathy for others. We don't give it to ourselves.

• 28:00Steve Weatherford?

  Oh, God.

• 28:01Ed Mylett?

  But like you-

• 28:01Steve Weatherford?

  That doesn't hit me like right in between the eyes. It's sick.

• 28:04Ed Mylett?

  It's like, so many of you are watching this, you're like, I always, I am the person who kinda cares for people. When someone's sick, I am the one to bring them dinner. I am the one to visit them.

• 28:12Steve Weatherford?

  And you don't look like it though.

• 28:14Ed Mylett?

  And you don't either. And you don't either. We're tattooed, I'm buff dudes and you know.

• 28:18Steve Weatherford?

  I can hide all my tattoos, but I'm-

• 28:20Ed Mylett?

  And by the way, and guys like, many times, everybody, when you see mega achievers, we are hiding things. And so, because what this show is really about isn't you maxing out your wealth, although I want you to have it, maxing out your current, you have it, I want you to max out your bliss. I want you to max out your faith. I want you to max out your giving. I want you to max out your love for yourself. And maybe, Steve, honestly, maybe you're gonna get through to people in a way that nobody else can.

• 28:47Steve Weatherford?

  There's no maybe, dude. There's no maybe. I speak it into existence. I will have such a massive influence, people forget that I ever touched the football. You look at every, like, all the different things that we keep referencing, the different achievements that I make, and I, like, I wanna make sure that people know, like, we didn't come on here to talk about the different things that I achieved. We came on here to talk about different, the different things that I've achieved, and the way I felt about myself despite all of those things. There's two different types of happiness. There's instantaneous happiness that comes from, you know, sex, or drugs, or food, or those, or, you know, buying a new watch, buying a new car. But it's quickly, as that happiness comes into your life, is how quickly it will fade. But the thing that you figured out, and the thing that I'm really starting to kind of come into,

• 29:31Steve Weatherford?

  is framework happiness, and that comes from being proud of yourself. And the only way that you can truly be proud of yourself is to set high lofty goals, and regardless if you achieve them or not, it's not about the prize. It's about the process and the person that you become while you're on that pursuit to get that goal. And I completely missed that part of the puzzle, because I always tied my self-worth to the result, because I was conditioned that way. You go into the NFL, and we have a game on Sunday night or on Monday night, and you come in the next morning, Ed, and then the only time that that little laser pointer ever goes over your jersey, you're freaking sinking down in your seat, because you know that red dot is not over your jersey number,

• 30:13Steve Weatherford?

  because you did something good. Because when you're a professional and you're the best in the world at what you did- Not that you don't deserve to be acknowledged, but you're expected to be the best in the world. So when you go out there and you set a Super Bowl record, you don't necessarily deserve to get acknowledged. They're gonna pinpoint what you didn't do perfectly because that's what coaches are supposed to do. They're not here to be like, "Hey, Ed, dude, you did a really good job showing up for your workout this morning. You did all your reps, all your sets, and you did a good job. You finished second in all the sprints. I know you're not the fastest guy, but your effort level was wonderful." No, they're gonna be like, "Ed, why didn't you win all the sprints?" You know what I mean? And so it conditioned me to focus on what I didn't do perfectly and discard everything that I did wonderfully.

• 30:58Steve Weatherford?

  And so I took that mindset that got me into the NFL and then propelled me further into the NFL of the elite. And then, once I retired from the NFL, because I didn't feel like there was anything else that I could achieve that would fulfill me and turn off the hate machine, then I went into an entrepreneur and be like, "You know what? I need to build something for myself and something that's mine, like my business and my achievement." Because I had 52 other teammates and I love them to death, but I want the next Super Bowl that I win to be mine. And then, you know, I write an ebook for a 12-week arm training program. It took me from 16.75 inches when I retired from the NFL to 19 inches 94 days later.

• 31:38Steve Weatherford?

  And I took five months to learn how to do the graphics on my own, to learn how to put it into an ebook on my own, to learn how to embed videos and the text on my own. It took me five months, but I went through the process of learning to do it for myself. I made a million dollars with an arm training ebook by myself with no business background in seven months.

• 32:02Ed Mylett?

  Amazing, amazing.

• 32:03Steve Weatherford?

  You wanna know how good I felt about myself? Pretty freaking bad, man, you know what I mean? Because you continually think like, "Well, now I'm gonna do it for me and I'll own the success." And I never did that.

• 32:14Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 32:15Steve Weatherford?

  You know, and so you fast forward another year and a half later, and I'm sitting in this chair right now, and all of the other entrepreneurial successes that I've had, I've never owned any of the wins. And I've taken complete ownership of all of the losses.

• 32:28Ed Mylett?

  Why? Do you think that you thought... I wanna understand this, because I know what's...

• 32:31Steve Weatherford?

  I'm still trying to understand it.

• 32:32Ed Mylett?

  Well, let me ask you this, do you think that you thought... Let's talk about it, let's explore it for a minute, because I'm learning this about me too, right? So... Do you think that you thought, I'm just asking, I don't know. Do you think that you thought, well, if I celebrate this, I'll lose my edge and my drive?

• 32:46Steve Weatherford?

  Yeah, I do. I do. The only time that I ever partied or I ever, you know, had drinks after we won the Super Bowl was when I was paid to show up at a, at a club or when I was paid to go to speak to a law firm in Manhattan, dude. I made, I made a lot of money in like two weeks. Just doing that and all of that affirmation felt wonderful, but like at a certain point, you get desensitized to it and you just couldn't wait for all of it to be over. And I'm like, man, I waited my whole life and I made so many sacrifices and I, and I sacrificed thousands of hours away from my family and thousands of hours away from my friends and I missed out on a lot of partying and, and a lot of drugs in college.

• 33:28Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, you cheated yourself out of all that, yeah.

• 33:30Steve Weatherford?

  I cheated myself out of all that for this and this doesn't make me any happier.

• 33:33Ed Mylett?

  And by the way, what it arrives to everyone is that eventually you will find drugs and alcohol. Because what, here's what happens. When you're achieving and you don't celebrate your wins, it's like a high you're chasing. And so there's no dopamine that hits your brain. So then you go, it needs to be a bigger one. It needs to be a bigger one.

• 33:51Steve Weatherford?

  There was nothing bigger in the NFL. That's what I love.

• 33:53Ed Mylett?

  You got it. And that's the part. So you're the perfect example because you almost can't achieve more. So this is happening for someone out there. When I made my hundred grand, I cheated myself. When I bought my first house, I cheated myself. When I got my promotion at work, I cheated. And you keep cheating yourself from these celebrations.

• 34:09Steve Weatherford?

  You just realize that, that Ed, that all of these things that require so much sacrifice, I'm talking thousands of hours of sacrifice, tons of money in order to, to be able to, to afford all these different training modalities and all these different specialists. And I have a hyperbaric chamber at my house. I mean, dude, you name it and, and I have utilized it as part of my training routine, at least for a little bit. And the stakes get higher, the demands grow just as much and the satisfaction decreases. And so like where do you turn from that? Well, you tear your ankle up and the doctors put you on pain pills and then you get addicted to OxyContin and I went down that road. And then, you know, getting off

• 34:52Steve Weatherford?

  of that when the season was over was like a movie, you know, like the only thing that made me feel better, and I know a lot of people out there, this is like a big deal, people addicted to painkillers. The only thing that would make me feel better was taking like a hot bath because my skin would stop crawling.

• 35:06Ed Mylett?

  Here's the irony. You winning a Super Bowl didn't inspire anybody. Really doesn't. They can't even relate to that. You looking like this? People tell you and I, this inspires me.

• 35:17Steve Weatherford?

  Right.

• 35:17Ed Mylett?

  But the fact of the matter is, they're like, I, it's more like, I'd like to be like you, but I can't be like you.

• 35:22Steve Weatherford?

  Right.

• 35:22Ed Mylett?

  Okay. What's inspiring in life is not the great things you achieve. What's inspiring in life is overcoming the things in your life that hold you back. And so, for the first time, bro, in your life, you're authentically being inspiring. Inspiring, the root of the word inspire is to be in spirit. So, what you were doing before is motivating. That's motives. I want to test your motive to make money.

• 35:48Steve Weatherford?

  It's a powerful way of...

• 35:49Ed Mylett?

  It is. Motive you to get a good, motive is to get a good body. Motive is to win the Super Bowl. Motive is to achieve. These are motives. That's motivation. You've been extremely motivational throughout your life. That's not inspirational.

• 36:02Steve Weatherford?

  Right.

• 36:03Ed Mylett?

  Inspirational is spirit to spirit.

• 36:05Steve Weatherford?

  I'm gonna take that with me, man. It's powerful.

• 36:07Ed Mylett?

  Inspirational is, hey, man, I don't feel good about myself either. Hey, brother, I've been hurting. Hey, man, I've had some substance issues. Hey, man, like, I got this unbelievable family and sometimes when I'm with them, I'm not happy. I have these beautiful spirits here. What's, what's, what's inspiring is to hear that and then to see you turn it around.

• 36:26Steve Weatherford?

  There's been so many amazing things that have come into my life in the last 21 days and I, I haven't tried for any of them, like, I didn't call you and say, hey, you could do this podcast. Like, you called me.

• 36:37Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, that's right.

• 36:38Steve Weatherford?

  And I was like, are you kidding me? Dude, I'd be honored. You know what I mean? I've been waiting for this day. And I dropped everything that I had planned today because this is something that was on my bucket list and it wasn't on my bucket list to build my brand, to grow my business.

• 36:51Ed Mylett?

  Yeah. Yet it will do that. Isn't that the irony?

• 36:53Steve Weatherford?

  And that's a crazy thing.

• 36:55Ed Mylett?

  Yet it will do that effortlessly. It's, what most people do is the reverse of you. So, what most people do is their imposter, your imposter life, right, to some extent, was an achievement life. It's like one of the great lives, like, if we just said, okay, everybody born, you're 35, 34?

• 37:09Steve Weatherford?

  35.

• 37:10Ed Mylett?

  35. We drew the line. Everybody born the same year as you, let's add up their life. You'd been the one millionth of one percent of the best external lives, right? So you're kind of masking this guy thing cause achievement. Most people that are watching this, the manifestation of their mask is they're playing it safe. Someone else's life. I'm making everybody, I'm working the career my dad told me to. I'm going to the college my parents wanted me to. I'm doing what my wife thinks I should be doing. I'm doing, my husband thinks I should be doing this, this and this. And every time I try to do something different, I get criticism. I get pain. And so you always go back to your safe spot. You, your pattern's different. Your pattern is every single time I start to feel this way, I go to an aggressive, vulnerable, crazy spot. Like I'm gonna go achieve more.

• 37:54Ed Mylett?

  But a lot of people, the same feeling manifests themselves in comfort. I'm just gonna stay in this box. Everyone likes me in this box. They like me when I'm normal. They like me when I don't chase my dream. They like me when I'm not changing. They like me when I'm not growing. And so your choice to deal with the mask is to be the person everybody else expects you to be. And so what you gotta decide when you're watching this, if he has the courage to have achieved all this and to say, hey, I'm making changes, your change is to stop playing it so freaking safe. Your change is to stop playing small. At least you took this struggle and played big. And you need to give yourself credit for that, brother. Most people take the struggle and play small. Okay, what I'm here to tell you and what you're now realizing is you don't have to struggle. So let me ask you this. If you could go back, this is gonna be interesting.

• 38:39Ed Mylett?

  You could grab that five-year-old little Steve Weatherford. Little Steve, who was crying to mom at that time. And you could grab him now, knowing the 35-year-old man. And you could grab him, what would you say to that little boy?

• 38:53Steve Weatherford?

  To be able to kind of navigate the advice that I would give the five-year-old version of myself is dude, you're enough, you know, just go have fun. Like you are what God made you to be. Go out and be the best at whatever it is that you try to do. But don't place all your self-worth on if you win or you lose. Because if you max out, your motto, if you max out, you're gonna be the best version of yourself. You're gonna be the greatest athlete of yourself. You're gonna be the greatest father, the greatest friend, the greatest dad, the greatest entrepreneur. And that's why I'm so like genuinely like authentically like excited to wake up every single day. Because I don't dread. The changing of the costumes. You know what I mean?

• 39:37Steve Weatherford?

  Like I like my, I pack a pretty light bag.

• 39:40Ed Mylett?

  Wow, that's really well said. That's really well said, bro.

• 39:44Steve Weatherford?

  Um, because it's, it, it really is, man. It's an exhausting existence when you feel like you have to change your hat or your mask, depending on who you're in front of or, or what you think that they, they.

• 39:57Ed Mylett?

  See, the symptoms are different, but the disease is the same. So what you just said is it's exhausting. Everyone that's watching this, it's, you're so tired, aren't you? You're tired of showing up and being the person everybody else. Now, the person, unfortunately for you, the person that everybody expects you to be is this stud achiever, great dad, businessman, football player, bodybuilder, businessman. There's a lot of pressure to show up as you.

• 40:25Steve Weatherford?

  Right.

• 40:26Ed Mylett?

  And it is exhausting. And let me tell you how else it's exhausting. There's a lot of pressure for all of you watching this. It's the, listen, everyone, it's the same disease, different symptom. Okay? The pressure for you is to conform. The pressure for you is to be average. So what's amazing, what you're saying is the pressure on me to achieve and show up. It's the same for those of you that watch this, like my, my husband doesn't want me to start a business. No, but I got back in shape and I started to get criticism from my girlfriends. Or, you know, hey man, I've started to make some money and my buddies think I've sold out now. And they get all this heat and criticism. Stop climbing out of the box. Stop being you. Be who we like. Be the person we think you are. Live the script we gave you. And what he's saying is I'm kind of tired of living the script, man.

• 41:08Steve Weatherford?

  I'm not kind of dude, I'm like.

• 41:09Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 41:10Steve Weatherford?

  Honestly, and like I obviously never shared this either. Ed dude, four weeks ago, I was never suicidal, but I was to the point with everything that I had, like all the tangible items and the relationships and devoted wife and amazing kids, amazing. I didn't care if I woke up because I knew if I didn't wake up, the pain would stop. That's heavy, man.

• 41:31Ed Mylett?

  It's heavy, bro.

• 41:31Steve Weatherford?

  You know, that's like, that's heavy. I know how many people would be so sad when I'm gone.

• 41:36Ed Mylett?

  That's right.

• 41:37Steve Weatherford?

  But at least I would like, for a minute, just have like a break.

• 41:41Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, and do you feel like you're in that break now?

• 41:43Steve Weatherford?

  Oh dude, like to me, like I'm still fighting like the instincts of like when you're introducing me like, kinda like hiding my face and you're like saying all these nice things about me and how much you admire me and you only follow 80 people on Instagram and I'm one of them, like that means a lot to me. But my instinct is to, oh man, well I appreciate that, thank you. But honestly, like I should stand up and be like, dude, that makes me so happy, man. Like I'm inspired that I inspire you. Cause that, that tells me that what I'm doing is right.

• 42:13Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 42:13Steve Weatherford?

  Because it's resonating with somebody that's operating on a higher frequency level and I'm not on Instagram to make friends. I'm on Instagram to reach people.

• 42:21Ed Mylett?

  You do.

• 42:22Steve Weatherford?

  And the fact that I'm able to, to reach and inspire and resonate with somebody who has the same life purpose on this planet that I do.

• 42:32Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 42:32Steve Weatherford?

  Because you, you know, you and I are really similar because you came from a completely different industry than what I did. But you completely dominated that.

• 42:39Ed Mylett?

  Every time we start to say something good about you, you put it back on someone else.

• 42:43Steve Weatherford?

  That's my instinct, man.

• 42:44Ed Mylett?

  So you do do that, it's your pattern, right? And so all of that, what you said, I'm very grateful for and I, I hope and work hard that it's true. You gotta go back and look at all of his posts. Most of what you would see on anybody's social media is perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect. And so, don't always believe everything you see, even in my life, I'm not showing you my bad days. I'm not showing you when I get in the car and I don't want to go to the gym. I'm not showing you the day where I'm worried about my dad's chemotherapy and his cancer. The days when I'm not getting along with somebody in my family. We have all of those things. Those just aren't the things you normally post. And so don't start to get depressed about your own life by comparing it because now you're hearing two men who's, we post our lives on there, but you don't see every side of our lives until you get more than one minute. You only get a minute of our life on social media. You're getting an hour of our life here.

• 43:30Ed Mylett?

  And we struggle with the same things that you do, the same ups and downs, the same mental issues, the same everything. What do you want in your life now going forward? Like, are there things that you go, "Look, man, I'm on this journey. I've been three, four weeks, kind of starting to love myself, starting to like myself." You're still an achiever, you're still wired. There's still millions of people who view your stuff over a monthly basis, right? There are people who look to you. So where do you want to go now?

• 43:56Steve Weatherford?

  This is probably the first time I've ever said this as well. Like, I still have goals. And I know my intention is completely different. My mechanism is completely different. My delivery is completely different. I really just want to focus on being myself. And if I can do that, like, God's gonna show me the way. And I'm not like a Bible beater. Like, I go to take my kids to church every Sunday. I'm a Christian and I try to live right, dude. I took a shot of tequila before I came in here, man, I have a good time, too. You know what I mean? Like, I live life.

• 44:28Ed Mylett?

  Right, we did. We lived.

• 44:29Steve Weatherford?

  But my point is, is I don't want to get caught up so much into the goal of where I'm gonna be in 12 months, where I'm gonna be in two years, five years, 10 years. Because then I feel like that's gonna almost kind of reinforce the negative goal pursuit that I used to have. So now my goal every day is to show up. Because if I know if I show up, I'm gonna show out. And if I show out, I know doors will be open to me. I mean, to the fact that, like, I'm getting phone calls from, like, Amazing Race. And I've never pandered to them. I don't even watch their TV show. So if they, somebody on their team listens to this. I've never watched your show, but I guarantee you, if I end up doing The Amazing Race

• 45:14Steve Weatherford?

  for the month of November this year, I guarantee you the way that... Because I told them I wouldn't do it unless I was doing the show with my wife. Because I know sacrificing 30 days away from my family is an opportunity cost for me to nurture that relationship. But I'm willing to...

• 45:33Steve Weatherford?

  To exchange that for the platform that they're gonna put before me and it's not to win a million dollars. It's not to win in general, but I know if I authentically show up as myself, it's really gonna be a race for second place.

• 45:45Ed Mylett?

  I love it.

• 45:46Steve Weatherford?

  In addition to.

• 45:48Ed Mylett?

  I love it.

• 45:49Steve Weatherford?

  In addition to the way that they're gonna see my wife and I interact because like you, I'm assuming in your relationships, you're the dominator because you're an action taker.

• 45:59Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 46:00Steve Weatherford?

  Because you're a winner, because you're an achiever, because you've, you know, you see goals and you don't, you don't chase them, you assault them. You know what I mean? There's a difference. There's people that are dream chasers and use the hashtag that's cute and everything like. People like you and I, it's not always a great thing.

• 46:15Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 46:16Steve Weatherford?

  We assault our goals.

• 46:17Ed Mylett?

  You're so right.

• 46:18Steve Weatherford?

  You know what I mean? Like you are a lion and your goal is whatever you want to eat for lunch. You know what I mean?

• 46:23Ed Mylett?

  You're right.

• 46:24Steve Weatherford?

  And I'm the same way and it's an awesome thing, but I want to be able to pursue all of those goals and not leave relationships in my wake and not, you know, break people's trust in my wake and not continue to practice selfishness in my wake. I want to be selfless. I want to serve people and I know if I serve people, karma, God, the universe, call it what you will, my path will be laid before me and all I need to do is show up as myself and be authentic. And obviously it's always gonna be a part of the formula. I gotta work hard because God's not gonna do everything. My new authentic self is not some magic pill. It's still gonna require everything that it required previously, except for my intention is love instead of hate.

• 47:09Steve Weatherford?

  So it's just really powerful for me to be able to like step into that.

• 47:12Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 47:12Steve Weatherford?

  And have no fear because it, it does scare me a little bit to completely change the structure and the formula for achievement.

• 47:20Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 47:20Steve Weatherford?

  Because it works so freaking good for me.

• 47:22Ed Mylett?

  You got it. By the way, just so you know, I'm a Christian. The Holy Spirit speaks through you in this interview to some extent. I just want you to know that because what you just said is freaking magnificent. So much. I just want to repeat some of it back to you and the audience. Like this is an interview, everyone, like when this is done, you need to find another hour. You need to go back and you need to play it again. You do. You need to go back and play this again. So what you just said there is a wow, like a few things. First I said what your goal and your plan. That was a little bit of a test question. Because anytime you've made a big transition. In your life, everyone listening to this, you need to go one day at a time. That's why AA programs and it's one day at a time. You gotta start grinding. Going 12 and 24 and 36 months, we need to transition. You need to show up tomorrow. So that was massive. The second thing is, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

• 48:07Ed Mylett?

  You've built an amazing life for a reason. So maintaining that, by the way, we do assault our goals. We smash things. Everyone who sits in this seat that does these interviews, they don't pursue goals or chase them. They smash them. They attack them. They annihilate them, right? What we're doing now is we're altering the guy who shows up there.

• 48:26Steve Weatherford?

  Right.

• 48:26Ed Mylett?

  That's all we're doing. The guy who shows up Steve instead of Steve Weatherford, the character.

• 48:31Steve Weatherford?

  Right.

• 48:32Ed Mylett?

  Right? So continue to smash stuff. Continue. The worst thing you could do is to drop your achievement. What you ought to do is go to the next level. And what's crazy is this time, I'm going to enjoy myself as I go. When I get there, I'm partying when I get there and celebrating it this time. I'm going to give myself credit this time. It's not, don't go achieve it. It's this time, go celebrate it. This go party this time. Let's love myself this time. Let's share. And what will happen is the results will be magnified. Cause for the first time, it won't be motivating. It'll be inspiring. That's what this is today.

• 49:03Steve Weatherford?

  So I'm going to take that with me, man. That's really powerful for me. And I don't know if that is for people listening, but maybe it is for me because I've lived that.

• 49:10Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 49:11Steve Weatherford?

  And I've always, I've always felt like God placed it on my heart that I have an innate ability to connect with people and inspire people and motivate people. But you're right, man. I mean, looking back on it, like self reflecting on when you said that, that is how I was running it. You know, and it was like, I want to motivate, I want to motivate, I want to motivate. It doesn't matter how you get to the result. Just get to the result. That's all that matters because you know, I was forged into that fire as a pro athlete. But now that I, I step out of that industry and I'm not blaming my, you know, kind of my personal issues on the NFL, because that's not what this stance is about. Because those issues started when I was five, not when I was 25. But I'm able to identify those, but it actually, having that mindset.

• 49:58Steve Weatherford?

  Really acclimated me to pro sports in a very seamless way. Cause I didn't need my coaches to set expectation levels for me because my expectation levels of myself were so insanely high. It was painful, but it reflected in my performance. It reflected in my preparation. It reflected in my sacrifices and my hard work and, and the priority that I placed on that particular goal in my life. But it also caused so much damage for me intrinsically and also for relationships because I would abuse the relationships that I held most dear to me because I knew that they were always gonna love me, Ed.

• 50:32Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 50:32Steve Weatherford?

  Because they, they could see me, like the way that you see me, my family could see me that way. My real friends could see me that way. So I knew that they were never gonna leave me. I was always chasing the, the extrinsic, kind of like the people that were on the fence about Steve Weatherford. You know, now it's just like, if you're sitting on the fence, give me time and eventually you're gonna hop off and come to our side because my grass might not always be greener. But I'm not worried about other people's grass. I'm gonna water my own lawn.

• 51:00Ed Mylett?

  Oh my gosh. Come on dude, come on. I told you, the Holy Spirit's speaking through this guy. You ain't that good. I'm not just curious, before we finish things up, like I, you know, I'm, I'm inspired. So, uh, when you find me at a loss of words.

• 51:16Steve Weatherford?

  I wanna acknowledge you for that. I don't take compliments well. That means a lot to me.

• 51:20Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, well, cause it is, and when you find me.

• 51:26Ed Mylett?

  When you get me at a loss for words, you've really done something good, brother, so. And you do that to me. I'm just curious, I'd never asked, I didn't even plan on asking you this. Did you ever know or play with Steve Gleason?

• 51:36Steve Weatherford?

  He was one of my best friends.

• 51:38Ed Mylett?

  Steve was?

• 51:39Steve Weatherford?

  Yeah. I mean, he is, but I mean, obviously it's a really, um, I don't wanna say a sad story, but you look at.

• 51:47Ed Mylett?

  Oh, sure.

• 51:49Steve Weatherford?

  How life has happened to him.

• 51:51Ed Mylett?

  You got it.

• 51:51Steve Weatherford?

  Did he sit, sit around and be like?

• 51:55Steve Weatherford?

  Life happened to me. No, he turned it around. He's happening to life. The amount of impact that he has had because of ALS in his life is greater than the person that the disease was named after, Lou Gehrig. You know what I mean?

• 52:08Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 52:09Steve Weatherford?

  Millions upon millions upon millions of people are positively impacted, not just by the inspiration, not the motivation, but just the life that he's living. He has such a finite amount of time on this earth right now, and he's spending it in service to other people, and it is so freaking inspiring. If people haven't seen his movie, they get your tissues. Because I don't care if you're a football fan or not, man, this guy transcends sports. He transcends competition. He's a saint in my book. I spent a lot of time with him in Southern California, and he is the most unique person I have ever met in my entire life. And I said that before he was diagnosed. I played three years with him, and I'm obviously a special teams player, being a punter. But he was my right-hand man.

• 52:54Steve Weatherford?

  Like, he was the special teams ace on the team, and he really mentored me coming into the league. And I'm a different person because of his life.

• 53:04Ed Mylett?

  Dude, bro, I'm so glad. And by the way, Steve's a friend of mine, and so I, you know, that he's up from the Spokane area, and I live in Coeur d'Alene, and so I'm part of this golf tournament a couple times. And just so you all know, if you haven't, you should take the gift, and you should Google who Steve Gleason is if you don't know. But this was a teammate of his, and he's like, he's told you he suffered from ALS. It's interesting to me that two of the most inspirational people I've ever met are you and him, and you're on the same

• 53:33Steve Weatherford?

  I wouldn't be who I was without meeting him, though.

• 53:35Ed Mylett?

  How so?

• 53:36Steve Weatherford?

  I mean, he changed how I lived my life. You know, he, dude, he drove a Dodge Ram 2500, veggie diesel truck, in a parking lot full of Bentley's and Rolls Royces and Mercedes. And I was always, as a matter of fact, in addition to that, sometimes he rode a bike to work.

• 53:57Ed Mylett?

  Is that right?

• 53:58Steve Weatherford?

  A bike sickle, not a bike like a motorbike, you know what I mean? And he had, dude, he walked in with this crazy long hair, and his flip-flops and board shorts, the opposite of what a football player looks like. We're walking in wearing Louis Vuitton, and Gucci, and Rolexes, and you know what I mean? We're filling ourselves. And you could see a guy that was so comfortable in who he was, and so comfortable in his own skin. He didn't beat to anybody else's drum. And it's something that I always just really, really admired about him. And it's something that that made people gravitate towards him. But now, I didn't realize until this very moment when I say it. He was himself.

• 54:37Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 54:37Steve Weatherford?

  Think about that. Like, now I'm actually able to kind of not be a replica of Steve. But the thing that I admire most about Steve? That's what I am right now when I look in the mirror.

• 54:46Ed Mylett?

  From the second we started the interview, I was waiting till the end to ask you. Because um. I think it's amazing that you guys shared a locker room together. And that you were on the same special teams unit. And you both can inspire completely differently. So he did embrace who he was. And so Steve's at this stage of his life, everybody, where um he really has lost his capacity to speak. And he's he's um. He's still inspiring. He's still making a difference in the world. And and then the juxtaposition is you.

• 55:16Steve Weatherford?

  Right?

• 55:17Ed Mylett?

  You're the super stud, super fit.

• 55:19Steve Weatherford?

  Physically like.

• 55:20Ed Mylett?

  Physically.

• 55:21Steve Weatherford?

  Physically limitless.

• 55:22Ed Mylett?

  Physically limitless person. And I think that maybe as we go, that what you're doing today? Carries on a legacy he's had to inspire people. And the two of you from that same locker room on the same special teams. Uh, end up doing it completely differently. And I think as you go too, it's important to reflect on someone, you know, like how grateful you should be to have all of these blessings in your life. And to have a life ahead of you, because even Steve, if you were here today, would say that he knows that his span of time here is going to be limited too. And so I think it's absolutely incredible that the two of you shared a locker room. And I'm so glad that you guys know each other.

• 55:56Steve Weatherford?

  Yeah.

• 55:56Ed Mylett?

  And um.

• 55:57Steve Weatherford?

  I'm thankful that I know him. And I'm gonna accept that that compliment that you give me.

• 56:02Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 56:02Steve Weatherford?

  And putting me on the same pedestal as you as you play Steve. But. You know, I want to acknowledge you for, I mean, because every single person that that God places in my path, that that I spend time with. Regardless if they're people that I don't admire or people that I do admire, like we have to be thankful for all of those relationships.

• 56:20Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 56:20Steve Weatherford?

  Because even the bad people remind me of what you don't want to be. So it's just kind of like the same way that you might have had an abusive father, and I didn't.

• 56:28Ed Mylett?

  Mm hmm.

• 56:28Steve Weatherford?

  But I always pursued like my dad's approval. And like for my dad to say, I'm proud of you, you know? And still, it still kind of bothers me that I didn't get that. But he was every other part of being a father that I needed.

• 56:44Ed Mylett?

  Yep.

• 56:44Steve Weatherford?

  And. And the fact that he had trouble orating that to me and sharing that to me, you know, from emotional intimate standpoint, I can't get mad at him because he showed me what I don't want to do for my son. So I tell my son every single day that I wake up, I'm proud of you, boy, and I love you. You're perfect and beautiful, and I want you to have a good day. You know what I mean? And so because of what was withheld from me, I'm able to give that to my son. And all the other amazing things, I always gave that to my dad, even, or I always gave that to my son, even before I kind of came to the realization of, I can't live this way anymore. Like, I don't want to live this way anymore. I don't have the time, the energy. I just don't want to live if I have

• 57:28Steve Weatherford?

  to continue on like this. And so I think people should be thankful for the relationships that they have in their life that they view as not helping them, or hurting them, or dragging them down. It's all in perspective, you know? There's a very powerful paradigm shift that's happened in my life that I'm just thankful in general for the crap that happens in my life. Like, I might leave your house and drive back to the, the event that you and I are, are working at to, you know, to inspire people and not motivate people. That's gonna stick with me, by the way. But I'll drive away from here in a, you know, a beautiful Range Rover with a red interior, and I might get a flat tire. Getting a flat tire freaking sucks, dude. I don't care any way you cut it. But when you have

• 58:13Steve Weatherford?

  the paradigm shift in your life that I've had, I'm not even bummed about getting a flat tire. You know what? I'm like, I'm thankful that I'm getting out of a car that I actually really enjoy to drive, and I can change a tire. I have the ability to change, the physical ability to change a tire. And I have the blessing in my life that I was riding in a car, because there's a lot of people that I just drove by before I got that flat tire, that are waiting at the freaking bus.

• 58:34Ed Mylett?

  You got it. And you don't know that that flyer tire that pulled you over didn't prevent you from getting in an accident that was gonna happen an hour and a half too. So you, there's a blessing in everything. Dude, you are literally one of the most unique, inspiring people I've met on or off camera. And I really feel strongly that there's something you're supposed to be doing that carries on Steve's legacy too of inspiring people in a Completely different way from a completely different place.

• 58:58Steve Weatherford?

  I feel like I have a true purpose in my life and I feel like my purpose is is to reach men. Like I know this is going to inspire and not motivate women as well because there's a lot of women that's deal with the same issues that we're dealing with like depression.

• 59:11Ed Mylett?

  Of course.

• 59:12Steve Weatherford?

  Depression, yeah, it's not gender specific and it's not race related either, man. Depression hits and when it hits, it's relentless, man. It is, it is unrelenting and it is freaking painful and the, and the bad thing is, is nobody can see it. So like I shared a little bit of what I've shared with, with you guys watching and listening. With Ed before we got on here because I wanted to make sure that he understood why I was here. It wasn't because I wanted to promote anything and Ed was like, he's like, no, I definitely, we're going to get into all that. But like at the end, how can I, how can I help you, you know, how you're, can I help your business? Or how can I help you? Like, what do you need to promote? And I'm like, honestly, like I know you know, I don't accept compliments well.

• 59:54Steve Weatherford?

  And I don't accept favors well because I really just want to be of service. But really the, the reason that I'm here is not to use you and not to use your platform. But honestly, like I, I need people to hear this for my legacy.

• 1:00:08Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 1:00:09Steve Weatherford?

  I need people to hear this for my fulfillment and I need people to hear this because people need to hear this.

• 1:00:14Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, they do.

• 1:00:15Steve Weatherford?

  It will resonate with people and.

• 1:00:16Ed Mylett?

  Millions of people.

• 1:00:17Steve Weatherford?

  And I will get DMs from people that will listen to this show the same way I did when I went on Lewis Howes's show. And, and I was myself and I was authentic, but I wasn't comfortable and confident enough to go as deep as what we've gone and share some of the things that we've shared. And the reason that I feel brave enough is, and I know I won't get this, but even if I did get, you know, my DMs blown up by people that, that hate me for some reason, I'm okay with that.

• 1:00:43Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 1:00:43Steve Weatherford?

  Cause I'm myself.

• 1:00:44Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, you are yourself. What you, the theme of your life, bro, is that you're courageous and it's just manifesting itself differently. Took courage to, you know, go to school, become an all big 10 guy, took courage to go make an NFL team. And to sit in that locker room between Bush and Breeze and still dominate, right? It took courage to be the NFL man of the year, took courage to do what you did in Super Bowl. Those are courageous, studly things you've done, never more courageous than today.

• 1:01:10Ed Mylett?

  Courage to say, hey, here's who I really am. This is what I struggle with. Courage is inspiring, right? And so even those of you that are listening to this, in your way, in your world, wherever you live right now, whatever town you're in, whatever you're trying to do, what will inspire people isn't the achievement, it's the courage to try. It's the courage to make the effort, right? And so you've never been more inspirational than you were today. And, um, I mean, in a way that, uh, you know, let's just be real. I mean, when this is over and I reflect on my day, I'm not gonna stop thinking about this. Tomorrow morning, I'm gonna be thinking about this because it impacts me. It takes real courage to say it in front of the camera, not behind the camera, because it doesn't help anybody if you say it behind the camera. You helped millions of people today, bro. And, um, I wanna thank you so much for being here. Like, I'm bummed it's ending, but...

• 1:01:55Steve Weatherford?

  Dude, I'm forty-five minutes away and the nice thing was, and it's kind of like my, my blankie now, is at my let when we were about to have our shot of tequila and I'm really kind of like pouring my heart out to you. You're like, you like stopped like the giggling and the bravado and the fun that we were having and you looked at me dead in my eyes and you're like, "Hey, if you're really struggling, I want you to know that you can call me."

• 1:02:16Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, I do mean that.

• 1:02:17Steve Weatherford?

  And like you, you can tell when somebody looks at you in your eyes and they're like genuinely and authentically like, they're there for you and they can really see who you are. I could feel that, man. You know what I mean? It's, it's special because I've met a lot of people. I've hugged the last four presidents. You know what I mean?

• 1:02:30Ed Mylett?

  That's pretty cool.

• 1:02:31Steve Weatherford?

  I've done some really rad stuff in my life, but reflecting on all the things that I've done and the people that I've met and the things that I've achieved, the people that have come into my life in the last twenty-one days

• 1:02:42Ed Mylett?

  Cool.

• 1:02:43Steve Weatherford?

  would blow your mind.

• 1:02:44Ed Mylett?

  Wonderful.

• 1:02:45Steve Weatherford?

  And you're at the top of that list, man.

• 1:02:46Ed Mylett?

  Thank you guys so much, man. I love you, brother. I really do. I really feel like, thank you, bro.

• 1:02:51Steve Weatherford?

  Ah, come on, let's hug it.

• 1:02:53Ed Mylett?

  Don't cry. Don't cry.

• 1:02:54Steve Weatherford?

  You know what? I'm comfortable enough with myself. If I did cry on this show, you'd be okay with that because it would be authentic tears.

• 1:03:01Ed Mylett?

  You started, you started to, but I really feel like it's the end of the interview, but the beginning of what I hope to be a lifelong friendship. But I mean that, I am...

• 1:03:09Steve Weatherford?

  There's no hope, man, dude. There's energies attract and especially energies that... That honestly are like contagious because anytime I genuinely feel like I'm having a rough day as busy as you are, like I could see it in your eyes when we were standing at that bar.

• 1:03:24Ed Mylett?

  I'm right here, man.

• 1:03:25Steve Weatherford?

  But I'll be here for you.

• 1:03:27Ed Mylett?

  I am here for you.

• 1:03:28Steve Weatherford?

  You know what I mean? There's no hope that it's gonna turn into something that's gonna be beautiful and benefit lots of people and who knows what type of projects we're gonna work on in the future.

• 1:03:35Ed Mylett?

  I can't wait to meet your family.

• 1:03:36Steve Weatherford?

  Yeah, man.

• 1:03:38Ed Mylett?

  Cause this dude, just so you know, under all this, is a cuddle bear. So you need to see this dude with his children, five, right? Boy and four girls, right? This is a busy dude, ten all the way to a five month old, right? Dude, so you're talking about a busy family man here and what I want you to do, even though he wouldn't say it earlier, is we, you know, I know this changed your life, you know, it changed my life and I know to some extent it even changed yours.

• 1:04:00Steve Weatherford?

  Absolutely, it changed my life. I feel like, I feel liberated that the people that watch this, the only people that really, really know me are the people that watch this and the conversations that I've had in between 21 days ago and this moment that we're in right now.

• 1:04:15Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:16Steve Weatherford?

  It's a lot of people and it's a lot of people that really, really see me now.

• 1:04:20Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, brother.

• 1:04:21Steve Weatherford?

  It's special to me.

• 1:04:22Ed Mylett?

  And needs you and needs you too. And so even though he wouldn't admit earlier, you need to follow this man on his journey. You're gonna learn, you know, there's all the things that he's the best at, like fitness and working out and being a dad and all these things you're gonna be blown away if you don't follow Steve like I do because I get inspired about being a better dad when I follow you and being more fit. I told you, I said, what's keeping me going in my fitness right now, cause I'm dragging is you, right? Like watching your training and so, so I want you following him and on his journey, but I also want you to watch this evolution too as more and more of you starts to come out and so please follow him and bro, really thank you so much for today and man, like just, I don't know, I'm beyond words and I'm never beyond words. And so everybody that's watching this, I hope that you'll follow him. If you're watching this on YouTube, give it a like, give it a comment, right?

• 1:05:07Ed Mylett?

  If you're on iTunes, we're number one in the world right now. Well, actually, we're number one in the US, number one in the UK, number one in Australia, number four in Canada. So Canada, we gotta get it going. So please give the thing a review on iTunes and then lastly, every day on social media. I do the max out two-minute drill, which when I make a post on Instagram, if you make a comment within the first two minutes with a hashtag max out, you win. We do a daily drawing. That drawing could be a 15-minute coaching call with me. It might be one with Steve Weatherford. It could be max out gear. It could be whatever you want. And so Steve's agreed to do that. You're gonna get a 15-minute call, one of you with him. And then if you miss the first two minutes, as long as you make a comment every single day, at the end of the week, we add those up. We do a drawing for people to just comment at any time during the day as well. So make sure you do that. And I want to continue to encourage you to have the courage to chase your dream,

• 1:05:52Ed Mylett?

  the courage to be the real you, the courage to be inspiring like Steve Weatherford next to me here today. The courage to max out your life. God bless you.