Miles Chamley-Watson American Fencer, Olympian, trailblazer in sports and fashion, journey from adversity to world champion, Kobe Bryant advice, Bond w/ Lewis Hamilton, Met Gala stories & embracing family dynamic

"Someone who was always true to himself, failed, got up again, but ultimately changed the sport that gave him everything and inspired a whole new generation of kids. That to me is bigger than any medal I could ever win." - Miles Chamley-Watson This episode is one where we learn about a sport unfamiliar to us but one rich with history and challenges and how no matter what the competition is, the path to success is paved with dedication, discipline and a degree of mental toughness that brings out the best within us, when we least expect it. In partnership with Fanatics, Ryan, Channing and Fred sit down with veteran Olympic and World Champion fencer Miles Chamley-Watson as he opens up about his journey from a young athlete facing adversity to becoming a trailblazer in sports, culture and mental health as he used his own experiences and lessons to shape the success he's had in and out of athletics. Wearing armor and always a defense mode is a part of his sport, but in our conversation with Miles, he drops his sword and lets his guard down, opening up about the unlikely path into fencing, mental toughness, his effort to bring his sport to media forefront, rise to fame and how his family dynamic and recent heartache has changed his life perspective. Miles explains to the guys about how putting on that fencing mask for the first time made him feel like a superhero, and gave him a sense of purpose. The sport- which has been around for centuries- was something that fell into his lap as a 6’5’’ dude from a mix of the UK, New York, and Philly. Yet, he fell in love with fencing, and found it helped him manage his ADD & ADHD, giving him something to focus on. Even though he used to hide his love for the sport after getting judged for being an “unconventional” athlete, he's now all about encouraging kids to follow their own path, no matter how different it might be. The guys go further into the conversation exploring the personal struggles Miles has faced within fencing, which is a predominantly white sport, sharing stories on facing racism in the craft, and how those challenges have only fueled his drive to create real change and make a larger impact. Making a name for himself wasn't easy at first, but through his charisma, unique style and success, Miles' meteoric rise to the top of sports has helped put fencing on the global stage. Garnering international fame through Olympics and becoming a world champion while juggling his star-studded personal life of fashion shows, Met Gala, A-list friendships and global brand campaigns. Miles reveals advice he received from Kobe Bryant during the 2016 Olympics that changed his outlook on wins and losses and molded a mindset of having a short term memory in terms of success and failures. As the conversation continues, we get into more sensitive topics like family, emotions, and mental health. He talks about the importance of opening up, especially for Black men, and how he’s learned to release emotions that he bottled up for years. Sharing stories of his up-brining, bond with his mother and stepfather, reconnecting with his real father and reveals a personal matter of his sister now undergoing a serious health battle.... Miles stresses importance of forgiveness and finding peace as life is too short to hold onto stress and unhappiness. He's determined to be an advocate for diversity in sports, leave a lasting impact on the sport and inspire the next generation of athletes to stay true to who they are. And thanks to SNICKERS. We’re giving you a shot at turning your rookie mistake into a chance to win amazing prizes, including tickets to the Super Bowl! To enter and for full rules and relevant dates, go to https://SNICKERS.com/RookieMistake Download the Klarna app to shop and spread the cost today. Buy now and pay later, only with Klarna! Disclaimer: California resident loans made or arranged pursuant to a California Financing Law license. 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.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:30Channing Crowder?

  So I showed you two of my cards before. I knew it.

• 0:32Ryan Clark?

  It's crackin' like?

• 0:33Channing Crowder?

  Oh! Oh, my man came in here with it.

• 0:37Ryan Clark?

  Pleasure.

• 0:38Channing Crowder?

  Oh, man, awesome.

• 0:39Ryan Clark?

  Hey, that's why it's model, it's fashionista, that's the Nista model slash fencer. So, I think you march too? Oh, I see him playing. Wait, I got 12X and 2XOs. I take XL. Yeah, XL. Oh, bro, he's getting, he's getting, he's getting.

• 0:55Channing Crowder?

  Hey, I ain't, I ain't got your midsection.

• 0:57Ryan Clark?

  I'll do the XL. It's double, it's double X right here.

• 0:59Channing Crowder?

  That's double X, yeah. I ain't got your, I ain't got your midsection, Miles.

• 1:03Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, I appreciate it. You see it, you see it, KK? That's lovely, yeah, this is dope. Man, appreciate it. This is real dope. I think you might be one of the first people to come in with actual gifts. Yeah, I don't recall a guest. Yeah. And five, six hundred shows. That's what we want to get into, you know, like, we were just texting, such an interesting story, journey. It's so funny, everyone I've talked to about having you on the show, like, yeah, you know, the black fencer, because it's pretty much an easy way to let people know who he is.

• 1:32Channing Crowder?

  Him!

• 2:05Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, yeah. Oh, my God. Hey, always told people too, if I had an accent, I'd be so much more handsome. You know what I mean? Like when you have one in America.

• 2:15Fred Taylor?

  Oh, yeah.

• 2:15Ryan Clark?

  They think you're a Dries Elba.

• 2:17Speaker 04

  Want to know my full name? It's the most, okay. Miles Cleveland Chamley Watson.

• 2:23Fred Taylor?

  Wow.

• 2:23Speaker 04

  I don't know where Cleveland came from, though.

• 2:25Ryan Clark?

  It's kind of hard, though. You got four names.

• 2:26Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 2:27Fred Taylor?

  It's like a soulful musician singer back in the day type of situation.

• 2:31Speaker 04

  Full name's gonna play instrument, man.

• 2:32Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 2:33Ryan Clark?

  I love it.

• 2:33Speaker 04

  I wish. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 2:35Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, so Miles, tell me about how a young brown boy is so terrible at school, he has to take up either badminton, tennis, or fencing.

• 2:46Speaker 04

  Oh, wow, you did your research, mate. Okay, all right. Well, yeah, so I was born in London, Brixton, Ealing, and then my mom met my stepdad, and he was working in London at the time, he's Canadian. And then she said, hey, we're moving to New York. And I was like, no, we're not. I'm not going anywhere. And I think I was nine the first time. You know, when you're nine, it's like, those are like important years, all your friends, family. Moved to New York, hated it right away. You know, mixed kid with an accident in the public school, right away. And I was like, this is not going to work for me. And I got kicked out of school, just like being a pain in the butt kid, you know, ants in the pants, couldn't sit still. And then my mom, this woman, that was on the admissions program for a private school, said, oh, you know, we can give your son an interview, but he's got kicked out of a public school. And I was going to work. I was like, I got it. Put the accent on, we got in.

• 3:29Speaker 04

  But as like a, basically a punishment, I had to pick up tennis, fencing, or badminton. Because I guess mental punishment sports, which if I never go into trouble, I never go out of trouble. Which is basically a double sided sword, which is what I do now. So, thank you.

• 3:45Speaker 04

  I love it.

• 3:46Ryan Clark?

  And with that, the jumping around and all that stuff from even, hell, I'm going to Jamaica in Christmas.

• 3:52Speaker 04

  Oh, my dad's Jamaican.

• 3:53Ryan Clark?

  We love Jamaica. And then, but all the jumping around, why was it that? Why were you in London? Why did it, like?

• 3:59Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 3:59Ryan Clark?

  The whole, just reading your story was like, this is, you just, you know, you ran through it, but the background of who, what made you, who you are.

• 4:07Speaker 04

  So basically, my mom, queen superhero, she was born in Malawi in Africa. And then she moved to New York, uh, to London, she was 18. And I was born there. And then actually also moving from London to New York, we moved to Philly, because of 9/11 happened. And then I was a class, science class, never forget it. And then... You know, God forbid the worst tragedy happened and then we had to move to Philadelphia. Cause my stepdad at the time was working for a bank right next to the World Trade Center, right next to it. And I happened to be late to work that day.

• 4:34Ryan Clark?

  What?

• 4:35Speaker 04

  Which is nuts. So then I went to Quaker school, like imagine being in Quaker school. Like he called you two by the first name. It's like this meaningful worship. We have to be quiet. I'm like, I can't do this. I'll kick that out of there, obviously. Then my last one was boarding school and what happened? Uh, St. James, the Knox School, shout out to them because they formed me into who I am. Uh, and that's kind of the lost role. Like if you don't make this work. You know, just like, and I think like growing up, my mom, obviously, um, my stepdad later on, but didn't have like a dad growing up really.

• 5:07Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 5:07Speaker 04

  To like figure out kind of who you are and some stuff. Then while getting in trouble with him, just didn't have any progress until I found fencing. And I think of my stepdad.

• 5:17Ryan Clark?

  But, but, but, bruh, like looking at you, you would have been a hell of a basketball player.

• 5:22Speaker 04

  I can still play.

• 5:23Ryan Clark?

  Hell of a tight end. Like why are you defensive, well, defensive bad men, like what the goddamn, bro?

• 5:29Speaker 04

  I kind of, I mean, I played football or soccer system, even for a British. It's like football, cricket, rugby. Those are the ones. And then London, we don't really have basketball, like American football, really. Now we do, obviously, but growing up, we didn't have it. So that was it. But I feel like I could definitely, you know, catch a couple of balls, you know?

• 5:48Speaker 04

  I'm not thought that was just good, but.

• 5:49Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 5:50Speaker 04

  Yeah. My dream actually is to do two Olympic sports.

• 5:52Ryan Clark?

  Okay. What would be the other sport?

• 5:54Speaker 04

  A long jump.

• 5:55Ryan Clark?

  So you do know, I listen, and I know we're getting this thing where who was it? Uh, Austin Rivers comes out and he's like, okay, all of these poopers could play football. You do know, Miles, you don't just get to go long jump. It's not like just one of those things. You just pop out and show people.

• 6:12Speaker 04

  True, but one time I did do my like full day of testing. You know how like beginning of season, you do your, your V two max, your long, everything? And I jumped like three meters standing, which is pretty good, they said. So.

• 6:25Speaker 04

  I'm not saying I'm gonna be a local champion, but I would love to Try it. Enter like a local one, just to try it, you know, what's gonna happen? Yeah.

• 6:32Fred Taylor?

  To inspire people to come over to the sport of fencing is your duty. On a recent, uh, on a recent Instagram post, you say you're forever indebted to the sport because without it, it changed your life and without it, you know, you wouldn't be who you are. It helped you with your ADD, ADHD, dyslexia. Can you dive into that for us a little bit?

• 6:53Speaker 04

  Yeah, 100%. And I think like as every little kid, you know, when I was seven, eight in London, you know, you pick up a stick, right? And then that was the first intention to fencing. But then I think not like having, well, it was father through growing up, I kind of was just kind of lost, right? Like, what do I do? Um, which is why my ADD, ADHD, dyslexia got exposed more. Um, and then when I did try fencing for the first time, when you put on, you know, the mask, you feel like a superhero. Right. Put it on, whatever's going on in the world, doesn't matter. Put the foil in your hand and it's so powerful. It's like, that was the first moment, I was like, wow, I love something for the first time. Right. And it was weird because I never knew about fencing, my friends, but you know, my family, only time I saw was a parent trap, you know, in the movie.

• 7:36Speaker 04

  So when I started to fence more and do better in school, my ADD, ADHD started to subdue a little more. Okay. Because all it is, is not having something to focus on. Yeah. And I feel like a lot of, you know, America, the world, it's always immediately ADHD, skim Adderall. Yeah.

• 7:51Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 7:51Speaker 04

  Right? Air for sure. And it's like, I'll never forget the day, never told anybody the story. So I was in boarding school, I was about 15, 16, and I was getting just being stupid, right? And then I had to go to the principal's office again. And then I'm like, Miles, you have to take Adderall, or you can't be in class. I was like, no. And it was almost like they like, almost held me down and like, tried to put it into my mouth. Never forget it. And I was like, alright, cool. And I spat it out at this woman, sorry, but I'll never forget it. And I was like, I'm not taking this. I was like, you know, I'll do better in school and I'll never forget that day. And then I said, okay, that's it. I'm giving everything I can into fencing. And that was the last time I ever. Was that around the time you stole your dad's car too?

• 8:28Fred Taylor?

  Wow.

• 8:30Speaker 04

  Wow. What did you ask, bro?

• 8:34Ryan Clark?

  Huh?

• 8:35Speaker 04

  Yeah, no, yeah.

• 8:36Ryan Clark?

  Tell me, tell me about that story though, because you said it was something in sitting there, talking to him about it and him being disappointed in you that really changed your life.

• 8:45Speaker 04

  Wow, man, that's crazy. That was, oh wow, okay, yeah. That was actually literally around the exact same time. Came back from like a summer break, or not summer, like winter break from, so I was in Long Island. I went to Philadelphia. I was with one of my boys and we want to get cheesesteaks. So we had to be 15 then, because I had my license at the time. And then my mom said she heard me. She was, I was like, let's drive to go get cheesesteaks. I have my license, nothing. So I went and I took the car. Oh, God. And I went to go get cheesesteak and everything was closed. And I'm right around the corner of the street and there's a pizza shop open. I could have walked. Then I went to the parking garage and as I'm turning right, because you can turn right on a red in Philly. And I guess like they said, you couldn't turn right. I got pulled over and I was like, no, I was like, oh no. And then a cop came over and he's like, hey, license and registration. And I was like, uh, sorry, I was like, I don't have it, man.

• 9:29Speaker 04

  I'm really, really sorry, like way like super British. And then he was like, hold on, this other woman came. He was like, you got two options. You're either going to the police station or you're going to call your mom. And I was like, how long am I going to the police station for? Because I'm my mom. Oh my God, I was like, no. And she came and she was furious and my, my dad, well technically my stepdad, but he's my dad. His name's Colin. He was like, let's take a walk and walked with me and was like, I just want to let you know you could hurt someone. You could have killed someone. I'm very disappointed in you. And I was like, wow. And just like, he was so calm, but just, I never forget that. So like, that was the last time I did something dumb like that.

• 10:04Fred Taylor?

  If you would have took the Adderall, you would have read the sign.

• 10:06Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 10:08Fred Taylor?

  No turn on red.

• 10:09Speaker 04

  I don't know. I'm like, oh, okay, I'm going to just chill here for two seconds. But no, I just turned right.

• 10:13Fred Taylor?

  I want to actually go back to when it first came to the US, right? And New York, the culture, you know, and in those times, it was a big hip hop scene. But same with sports. It's football, American football and basketball. The, the, the kids your age, your age group, did they look or frown upon you as being weird for getting into fencing?

• 10:33Speaker 04

  Oh, all the time. That's a great question because I would always lie to kids and be like, oh, I run track. I play basketball, so I don't have to tell them I was fencing. And now, like that's my, I tell everybody that. It's my Instagram, it's Fencer, just so everybody knows. But back then, you know, I got into fights every day. People saying it was a wussy sport, a white sport. Until I started to get like a little bit of notoriety, you know, you're like the kids watch Illustrated, kids making some waves. And then I was like, oh, okay, cool. And that's funny because now, fast forward, parents and kids will call me or message me on Instagram, but hey, just want to let you know, my kid gets bullied in school every day. But then he'll show them a picture of you and that that will change. That was like way bigger than any medal I could ever win. Right to like show kids whether you're white, black, a girl, boy, whatever.

• 11:14Speaker 04

  If you're like scared to do a sport that I'm not going to be accepted, like I'm here to show you that you can do whatever you want. And that's the bigger picture for me.

• 11:22Ryan Clark?

  But are you just naturally rebellious?

• 11:25Speaker 04

  Yeah, I'm nuts, bro.

• 11:27Ryan Clark?

  But you see what I'm saying? Like it's it's like hearing the story about the car and hearing different things about you. Like it's rebellious, it's almost like I'm gonna go do something that y'all don't think I can do and be great at it, just like I'm gonna steal my daddy's car, just like I'm gonna cuss out this damn principal, but just like I'm gonna do that. Like rebellion created you?

• 11:45Speaker 04

  A hundred percent. And I think that's why like when I saw the sport, there was one other guy, Peter, and then this woman in France that was, she was like an Olympic champion, a black woman. Okay, cool, like she's amazing, but I was like, I want to do something way bigger than this. Like I didn't know what it was, like I went to Penn State for a couple of years and then I and then I left. And I was like, I'm gonna be the first ever professional Fencer to make a million dollars. I told my mom that, she's like, okay, I better see it like a unicorn at the 7-Eleven. This doesn't exist, right? Like it's just like, there's no one to go, oh, look, he's this person. But I didn't know what it was, I I had this thing I'll figure it out. Like before any manager, any, I would just write emails on my behalf, like this, you know, like I just figured it out. I don't know where that came from, but.

• 12:23Ryan Clark?

  But you talk about being a unicorn, you actually are, especially in our country, to be a biracial, mixed kid that presents to me totally as black. Obviously, in this country, they're going to see you as black, right? And you're in this sport that's not only sort of this like boutique, bougie, upper echelon, elitist sport, but you don't see a ton of us. How did you? You deal with some of the doubt or some of the unfamiliarity of being a you in a sport that doesn't have a lot of.

• 13:01Speaker 04

  That's a really good question. I think now, like going back into thinking about sometimes when I've like lost, realizing like that wasn't because I lost, it was because I was a black kid that was gonna win the Junior Olympics. And then like, I'll never forget the first time I was in funny, Cleveland, Ohio. I got my first ever Junior Olympic medal. I was fourteen, fifteen, and under seventeen, so it was like a big deal. And I had football thing actually than the night before. I got my first ever medal and I was about to make the top four, which is like never, you know, to make the world championship team. And I got six red cards in a row. I said, what's going on? I realized that it was a hundred percent pure racism. That's the first time I've ever like really experienced it. And my coach, who's my second dad, a Ukrainian crazy man, was like yelling at the referee. At that age, you don't really realize what's going on. And I was like, man, that sucks. And I was like crying. And then I was like, and then I beat the other kid again, fifteen four, the same kid.

• 13:46Speaker 04

  And I'm like, okay, here we go. And then you get like, you know, certain times, it might be the Olympics or world championships. Unfortunately, our sport is subjective a little bit where like referees have a big impact.

• 13:55Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 13:55Speaker 04

  So, you know, I've dealt with it my whole life. And obviously now, it might be bigger than the sport, but you still get the flack from people that don't want it to change. But I think it's like, you know, if you're not really making noise or upsetting some people, you're not making change.

• 14:08Ryan Clark?

  But you also aren't like other fencers because obviously I know you because you are that different unicorn. And being a black man, you know, those sorts of things are inspiring, right? When you see Simone Biles excel in gymnastics, that's inspiring. Gabby Douglas, Dominique Dawes back in the day. Serena Williams. When you see all these people who Tiger Woods are in sports that aren't normally quote unquote our sports, you support it and you get behind it. Also too though, like the other fencers be having like four thousand followers, the good ones, you know what I mean? Like ten thousand followers. You're a dude that was able to model and do all these other things, get these endorsements to like supplement income and be great at your sport.

• 14:51Ryan Clark?

  Like when you hanging out with the other fences, you be like, shit, I hit Lewis up. So, we did a lap at the F1, you feel me? Then me and Izzy, you know, we was on the phone. Like, how do you even, I guess, sort of like assimilate and relate to the culture of the sport when everybody's so different?

• 15:10Speaker 04

  Yeah, that's a really, really good question. I think it's like I live two lives almost, right? Where like I live the life outside of the sport, then I want inside. And so I'm grateful that I can have both, but I'm also still learning how to juggle, right? Because it's like, okay, I have competition, but then I might have a huge endorsement, change my life. So I have to, you know, move training up a little bit earlier because I don't want to miss, you know, any, anything. Right. So like, that's something I'm still learning, right? But then also, I love my teammates. Obviously, if I'm not them and I'm looking from the other, other side, it's like, oh damn, you know? Which is like, natural. It's not like any hate, it's natural. So I love those guys, but also I'm trying to take the sport to a whole new level. So I might rub some people the wrong way, but ultimately, I know where I'm gonna go. But I think also like, having friends, you know, Louis is obviously my best friend and... Louis Hamilton?

• 15:53Speaker 04

  Yeah, obviously my best mate, someone you can learn from and, you know, inspires me every way. We can talk about real life stuff, just what it's like being, you know, black guys in white sport. Just like, stuff that no one else will ever understand. And then having someone like, you know, Izzy, who's someone that you look, that you kind of look up to, that also might be your friend. So it's weird to have these like people, even like being on here with all of you lot. Like, this is huge to take my sport, you know, to a mainstream platform, which is ultimately the goal, but we're still learning, man.

• 16:18Ryan Clark?

  You went to Serena, you were going back. I was almost gonna go Jackie Robinson.

• 16:22Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, that's real though.

• 16:23Ryan Clark?

  You know what I'm saying?

• 16:24Speaker 04

  Yeah. I'm just wearing shoes.

• 16:27Ryan Clark?

  Chan, man, you been watching the Yankees? Juan Soto killing them this year.

• 16:31Channing Crowder?

  Oh boy, they might win it all. Juan and big, big Judge and them boys, god damn man, they gonna do something.

• 16:37Ryan Clark?

  And bruh, the Soto shuffle?

• 16:39Channing Crowder?

  Hey, that's my joint.

• 16:40Ryan Clark?

  You think you could do it?

• 16:41Channing Crowder?

  I, I can try, but I ain't gonna disrespect Juan like that. The man himself, I like to watch him do it.

• 16:46Ryan Clark?

  And your knees touched too, so that probably...

• 16:48Channing Crowder?

  My Kenny Smith ain't gonna do it.

• 16:51Ryan Clark?

  Hey, Fanatics is offering a once in a lifetime experience to meet Juan Soto. All they gotta do is download the Fanatics app and play three daily games. And bruh, you might get a chance to learn the Soto shuffle from the man himself.

• 17:09Channing Crowder?

  Your personality might hurt that because you're not clean cut.

• 17:13Speaker 04

  No.

• 17:14Channing Crowder?

  You're not like other fencers.

• 17:16Speaker 04

  No.

• 17:16Channing Crowder?

  So you're trying to put a skin color on a sport that hasn't seen this sport. Like you said, you've lost matches off being black and seeing racism. But also you tatted up with, you know, I can't, you can't have my house around your neck.

• 17:30Speaker 04

  No, no, this is all something like, bro.

• 17:33Channing Crowder?

  But even like you just got, were you, did you always, were you always like that, just accept it? Just accept me? Or did it, did, did the fame build it up where you could be who you are?

• 17:44Speaker 04

  I think since I can remember, I've been this way. Uh, there's some people have told me, um, and the best compliment anyone could ever tell me is you haven't changed. Like, uh, fame, all this, I'm the same person. If I've ever met you when I was 12 and I see you and I'm like, I'll give you a hug. I'm more like, you know, I think that's all I've been since I was young. So if I'm with like my teammates and I'm with whoever it might be, you know, hey, this is my, you know, let's bring everybody together. So I've always just been this way since I was a kid, I think.

• 18:06Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 18:07Speaker 04

  And I was like, that's why I tattooed my hands because wool and white, right? And wearing a mask, I got my name. I was like, no, that's, it was scary to tattoo my hands because all right, there's no going back. But it's not like, oh, I could just, you know, like a lot of my teammates or ex teammates are like working in Morgan Stanley or all these other companies. I wasn't that, you know, intellectual type person. So I was like, I'm going to figure it out in the sport and then we'll just figure it out. You know?

• 18:28Channing Crowder?

  But did you ever regret it? Cause it probably makes your path harder. It probably makes your, I'll say not your path, your goal harder because you said you want to make.

• 18:36Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 18:36Channing Crowder?

  Fencing more mainstream like other sports.

• 18:39Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 18:39Channing Crowder?

  But it might, that might your, the way you are might make it harder for you to do that.

• 18:43Speaker 04

  Yeah, I think so for sure, but I also realized I'm not going to please everyone and I love how they look. And I know if I get into a room with anyone, it's over.

• 18:51Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 18:52Speaker 04

  And I know once you get me in the room, like when I first time, my first ever endorsement deal with Nike was for, I think it was like $15,000. And I was like, what, nine, 20 when I left? Yeah, 20. And I was like, all right, I left. And back at that time, um, if you were top two in the, in the world, you'd get $4,000 a month as performance enhancement money, which is like, back then it was no NIL, but it was like, okay for compliance. So I would save my money up and I was like, I'll figure it out. And then now I'm still Nike 10 years later and that's, you know, 50x. But I knew once I got into the door, I'll figure it out.

• 19:21Channing Crowder?

  50x.

• 19:23Speaker 04

  Well, not 50, I'm not good at math. It's a little higher.

• 19:27Fred Taylor?

  You ain't hurting.

• 19:29Speaker 04

  No, it's a little higher, but like there were times where like, you know, you're like, okay, where am I going to make some money? Because it's not like NFL, NBA, we have guaranteed contracts. We're basically similar to tennis where it's all endorsement based. That's kind of how you grow yourself. So that's the biggest difference is having a lot of endorsements, which is, okay, cool. Deep breath and then how's that longevity money of, you know, setting yourself up? Because I can't just, yeah, I could be a coach, no problem with that, but that's not me. I want to like change the sport.

• 19:55Fred Taylor?

  So in that attempt and throughout your journey, you know, trying to bridge the gap between that sport and the culture and vice versa. What we know nowadays is that Instagram or social media can make it look like one thing when it's totally something else. And right now at the moment, like you certainly looked the part, like you are, you are the perfect candidate to try and bridge that gap. But throughout that journey, there's had to be some, some adversities and some pitfalls that, you know, maybe have shaped you. Like, could you tell us what the toughest or the most adverse moment you've encountered throughout your journey?

• 20:34Speaker 04

  Yeah, there's been a, there's a lot. I mean, just some like, you know, you can start from growing up in London, getting into fights all the time growing up. And then like when your mom is like your mom and your dad, right? She never complained, never was tired, you know, all the same. And luckily my stepdad came around, but like, just like, basically like, you know, I could just do what I wanted until she came home. You know?

• 20:50Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 20:50Speaker 04

  All right. And then moving to New York as a kid and having like, like no ambition, like, oh, okay. And then that led to finding a sport which changed my life. But then there's been like, you know, the worst one recently, which I never told anybody was like my sister who's 37 and just had a stroke, which life is amazing until something like this happens to you really close. And it was nine months ago. So right in the middle of Olympic qualification. No one knows this actually, first time. So that was why father, I was like, all right, coach, I'm done. I'm not, I can take care of my family. Because that's my main, as a brother, as a son, as a man, my family, I want to take care of my sister. So when I see someone who, you know, we almost lost her, that's, and to somehow also compete and make the Olympics was the hardest I've ever done in my life, like by far.

• 21:35Speaker 04

  So that's the most recent one.

• 21:37Fred Taylor?

  Damn.

• 21:37Speaker 04

  Yeah, which I think puts so much into perspective of like, health is number one.

• 21:41Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 21:42Speaker 04

  And you know, and thank God I work really hard, but also like learning so much, like it's expensive to to just like medic, you know, like medical, like all that stuff is so expensive, like learning about the hospital, like so many things I've never, I've never even thought to think about. So that was by far the hardest thing I've done. Uh, and she's got two little kids, started three in one. So they're like my kids now. You have to step up. You don't have any other option. You become uncle, whatever. So to juggle that in the Olympics. Only people that know that is my coach and and my close friends, obviously not you, but that is something that, you know, you dealt with emotions, you know, the first time I've ever cried since I was twelve. You know, which is like, all right, like you learn a lot about yourself, strong man, all this stuff, but also something's out of your control, which is the worst feeling to have. So that was one of the most difficult things I've had to deal with in my whole life.

• 22:26Fred Taylor?

  Right. Like our sport, a lot of times the backgrounds in which we come up.

• 22:30Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 22:31Fred Taylor?

  We immediately are catapulted to like the head of the house. Like we have to take care of everybody in our family. In an individual sport like fencing, you mentioned the medical, like the NFL, they provide us medical and all this other stuff. Like, are you provided medical and all that stuff in your sport? And are you the person in your family that has to take care of everybody else?

• 22:53Speaker 04

  I mean, like, so medical, what what I was afraid to was, uh, bills for my sister.

• 22:58Fred Taylor?

  For your sister, right.

• 22:59Speaker 04

  Which obviously we have, we Olympian, they take, we have, you know, the best healthcare, all that stuff.

• 23:03Fred Taylor?

  Okay.

• 23:04Speaker 04

  And yeah, you know, want to take care of your family, because that's just what you do. Obviously my stepdad, my dad also works very hard. But like, when you make a certain amount of money, that's the the goal. You know, my mom, that's the goal. You wanna go shopping? Like, that's the best. But like, no one would ever thought that, or I did, but like a fencer could be able to provide, you know, like that for it's pretty cool to be able to do that, but also it's a lot of hard work. There's no one really sees that unless you're close to me. So we should Instagram. Yes, it is. Also, like, I'll post real shit too. And I'm always gonna be like, you know, you gotta be like, you know. I'm naturally a happy person, actually, thank God, but like, we all go through things, but sometimes you wanna post, sometimes you don't, but I think it's more important. Like when I talked about the ADHD, ADD thing, I I didn't realize it was such a big topic, but I was just like, no, this is like. Something that I've been doing my whole life, but no one knows it.

• 23:47Speaker 04

  I open up more doors to be like, and I think later, later on down the line, if I can, you know, I'd rather somehow help kids that have learning disabilities or not a disability. That all you need is sports. That's the real Adderall, the real drug. It's just sport. Gives you everything you need to learn, everything. And I think that's been one of my goals is like, all these, you know, drugs, I get it, but for like sports, I don't know where I'd be without fencing.

• 24:08Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, that was, uh, that was my drug for, for sure. Still addicted in, in many ways. Listening to you talk about adverse times, obviously, dealing with your sister and her stroke, that's a different level of adversity. That's a different level of tragedy, different level of trauma. But also in 2012 at the Olympics, you weren't having, or you didn't feel like yourself. And you said Kobe Bryant gave you some advice that helped you and that you live by. What was that advice and how did you utilize that in your life to continue to grow?

• 24:41Speaker 04

  You already did your research, huh? I got Kobe tied on my leg too now, recently. First Olympics 2012 in London, my, my nan's African woman got to see me fence. Had no idea what was going on. That was actually one of the first times my biological father reached out to me again. After like 14 years of, cause obviously Olympics, the first time I ever sent to Nike. So I had my first ever billboard in, in London. Never forget it in all the subways. And I was, oh, and that was the first time I spoke to him. I was like, okay, that's a lot to digest. Ended up getting a fourth, which was like basically get lost for me because it's the worst position, place. And then I was just like super down and I was like, oh man, like, but I changed who I was. I was like very serious, like not enjoy myself because it was the Olympics. But I realized it's all like just pressure, right? And then learning pressure is a privilege. And I've been like, no one really gets to ever feel this, so let's lean into it.

• 25:25Speaker 04

  And then that's when the next year my life changed. When I was the first American, still the first black man to ever become world champion in the sport. That's when I was just like, I'm gonna do it my way. I'm gonna enjoy myself. I'm gonna work harder than anyone else. And that was like my change of, you know, because I'm like, oh, I gotta wait another four years for this Olympics, right? In London, my hometown, thinking I'm gonna win, it's gonna be, gonna run into the crowd. You know how you visualize things. And then I was like, oh man, this sucks. And I was like, just beat you. And then I left school.

• 25:48Ryan Clark?

  It seems weird though, that you said you weren't yourself and you were serious. And the most serious competitor I've ever Seeing Kobe Bryant was the guy to give you advice to help you.

• 25:58Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 25:58Ryan Clark?

  It seems like he would want you to be serious.

• 26:01Speaker 04

  Well, I think, and then going back to where, when I was met Kobe was I was in the Team USA and he was getting ice after they go into the finals, I think. And I'm sitting there, I didn't know who I was, I'm sitting there getting ice. He said, hey, um, how you doing? What sport you play? I was defending. I said, what's your name? Kobe. And then, uh, he's like, how'd you do? I was like, I got fourth, man. He's like, it's all right, man, don't worry about it. And then he walked out, never forget it, with the two big ass ice things on his arm. He was like, the greatest athletes have the shortest memory. You win, you forget about it. You lose, you forget about it. When you're done your career, you go hard, bro, on it. Damn. But then that's also his killer mentality of like, I'm only gonna win, but like, I'm gonna go out doing it the way I wanted it. Supposed to like, being subdued and I'm very, I'm very like focused, but also like, in terms of like being at the Olympics, go out to London, enjoy yourself. That's what I mean of like not

• 26:45Speaker 04

  being myself. You know, like, I suppose it's like being in the room, only watching like video footage, which I'm not like, I know he's watching like lions eat each other and stuff, you know? But I'm over, you know, I'm like, I'm gonna put on Snatch and just chill in the room. But, uh, that's what I meant from like, you know, being myself, Miles, of like, enjoy yourself, but also, you know, like, just be you. That's the hardest thing, I think, is to be you.

• 27:07Ryan Clark?

  Hey, you almost finished, man. Grab this, dawg. You know what? Cause you not yourself when you hungry, dawg.

• 27:12Channing Crowder?

  I know, man. I gotta run.

• 27:14Ryan Clark?

  Hey, here the other thing is though, you are making a rookie mistake right now. Nobody bites the Snickers all soft. It just gets a little bit off the edge, man. You gotta really get after that thing.

• 27:24Channing Crowder?

  But you know what? Now, are rookies really rookies this time of year? They done been in there for a couple of weeks now. You gotta go, but this season's long. That's why they gotta get them a Snickers, man. I know I was eating Snickers.

• 27:33Ryan Clark?

  I'm telling you what, though, some of the rookies still are because they're still making those mistakes. Cool part is, Snickers wants to give you an opportunity to win tickets to the Super Bowl. And if you go to Snickers.com right now, Snickers.com slash rookie mistake, you get an opportunity to win weekly prizes as well.

• 27:49Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, what is it? Gift cards, tickets? What else?

• 27:51Channing Crowder?

  Come on now, go get you a Snickers or two. Come tell you, it'll make you look like me.

• 27:56Fred Taylor?

  What do we go to sign up again?

• 27:58Channing Crowder?

  Snickers.com.

• 27:59Ryan Clark?

  Hey, every now and then, I'm a little shy to share my rookie mistake, but sharing your rookie mistake can win you tickets to the big game. And there's no purchase necessary. You go to Snickers.com slash rookie mistake. That's Snickers.com slash rookie mistake. The only mistake you can make right now is not getting out your mobile device and going to Snickers.com.

• 28:19Channing Crowder?

  Oh, man, sorry. Let me put my Snickers down. Hey, we ain't done yet. Back to the show. Some people call it arrogant because when I looked up fencing, you wrapped your motherfucking hand around the back of your head. And you have a sport that's been around for decades and no one's ever done that. They named a move after you. What was the thought of that? Was it showing out? Was it like, I'm so much better than you, I don't even need, I ain't gonna do nothing, nobody, that's like the Watson. You know, like, how did that come about? Did you know you were gonna do it? Have you messed people up in the past and they be like, what the hell is he doing?

• 28:52Speaker 04

  I did it in Turkey in 2010, world championships, reaction. Didn't even, because fencing is a lot of infighting, means you're close. And if you turn your shoulder, you're gonna get a yellow card because you're covering target. So instead of turning my shoulder, I had to wrap my arm around my head and a foil came out and hit him in his chest this way. And the referee was like, hold on a second. It went back to the video footage. You've never seen it before. I was like, oh, wow. And then like, they went to the arbitrage, is this a legal move? They're like, alright, touche, like point tomorrow. And then I was like, oh, wow. And I started doing it all the time. And now it's funny because my coach, he be like, all these like little kids that are eight are just trying to do it in practice. My coach was like, stop, you're ruining the sport, stop it. But yeah, which is cool because like, only Simone Biles, Ryan Lochte have other moves, which is cool. But that's also another like, thing that sport just needs to change and that, you know,

• 29:37Speaker 04

  like, it's been around 300 years and just doing the same thing. So I'm like, which is cool.

• 29:41Channing Crowder?

  Do the other fencers take it as arrogant?

• 29:43Speaker 04

  Yeah, that's like my like crossover or like me jumping over you on like a one on one, you know, like that's my finisher, I guess.

• 29:49Channing Crowder?

  Oh, okay. Finish you. Not even Mortal Kombat.

• 29:53Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 29:55Ryan Clark?

  My arms are also too short.

• 29:57Speaker 04

  No, it's flexibility.

• 29:58Ryan Clark?

  Well, you know, I ain't got none of that neither. No, it's just as far as your nose.

• 30:01Speaker 04

  Because your arms are too damn big.

• 30:02Channing Crowder?

  Football, we tight. That's football players are tight.

• 30:05Speaker 04

  Y'all getting hit like that.

• 30:07Channing Crowder?

  But even that, with like, with your body type, you don't look like the other athletes. Like, it's just, do you, do you already win?

• 30:14Speaker 04

  No.

• 30:15Channing Crowder?

  Match when you walk out because you got this little five foot eight dude from Italy shaking his little one and your big ass walk out like, bitch, you ain't never gonna touch.

• 30:22Speaker 04

  Maybe mentally, but also why fencing is cool is you can be 5'5" from Japan and be so quick and still beat someone like me. Because they got a tiny target and I got a bigger reach. So that's why fencing is cool. And y'all have to come to a match one day, you promise me? Y'all come to?

• 30:35Channing Crowder?

  I sure will. LA 2028.

• 30:36Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, we'll do that.

• 30:37Speaker 04

  Is it?

• 30:37Ryan Clark?

  We'll come see you.

• 30:38Channing Crowder?

  LA 28.

• 30:39Speaker 04

  Yeah, come see me, we'll get you tickets. Well, hopefully everything's all good.

• 30:45Channing Crowder?

  They're like nah, them three, they can't come, Miles. No, Miles.

• 30:48Speaker 04

  No, we're gonna have a good time. But definitely, but yeah, it's honestly like chess and boxing together. Think ahead and react. That's why I tell people, physical chess, yeah.

• 30:57Channing Crowder?

  You've always said you want to make it a mainstream. How does it become that? Because it's so short, what is it? It's what, 11 minutes?

• 31:03Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 31:03Channing Crowder?

  Three, three minute rounds with a minute in between. It's an 11 minute match. Well, I did more goddamn research on this shit than-

• 31:09Speaker 04

  I was like, wait, he's right.

• 31:10Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, it's 11 minutes of time for one match.

• 31:14Speaker 04

  Exactly.

• 31:15Channing Crowder?

  How could you blow it up? You want to blow it up, you want to make it mainstream? How do you, when you think about that and you always say it, how do you see that happening? Where it's dudes coming into an arena. It's us coming, like you're saying, to watch you like, we gotta go see Miles go ahead and stick this little sword in this dude's chest for a little bit. But I'm only there for 11 minutes.

• 31:33Speaker 04

  There's a couple. Two, one of them, I'll tell you off air, it's gonna be crazy. But one of them was, for instance, like at the Olympics, when I had everybody come watch me. We've never, ever had those people come to a fancy match. You know, we had, obviously Lewis came, Sean White came, Nina came, Snoop came, Book came, Bam came. All, you know, to watch me, but also like, people in the crowd were like, wow. We've never seen this type of, and then getting their audience to, oh wow, what's he doing here? Watching, oh, Miles, then it goes, you know, and then it starts his chain. That was an amazing start right there, to get a different audience. Because the only reason I fancy is not on TV is because they don't understand what's going on. That's it, you got bowling on TV, right? Because it's so easy to understand, you got darts, because we all play it. But I'm working on a way now to make it easy to understand, which will ultimately change the sport.

• 32:16Speaker 04

  And then we're gonna have bigger spectacles, and then TV time. That's the, that's number one. That's what we're working on too. That's the big thing, is being on TV. You might know me from my Instagram, but you've probably seen me compete once a year on Olympics, World Championships. That's the only time we're really televised. So that's another big thing. And then also just like, things like this. Just gonna open doors, people that are like, oh, well, he's a fence or, you know, and then find out the story. Because it's such a beautiful sport, but I want it to be mainstream because it is combat. It's not like we're like, like people died back in the day, because it's a real sport.

• 32:45Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 32:45Speaker 04

  So I think when you see it in person, you realize how intense it is, how hard it is. And then another one is working on something.

• 32:52Channing Crowder?

  Okay.

• 32:53Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 32:53Channing Crowder?

  Listen, if I can gamble on it, I got you.

• 32:55Speaker 04

  I'm telling you.

• 32:55Channing Crowder?

  I'm betting on your big ass.

• 32:57Speaker 04

  It's gonna, you big, you better.

• 33:01Speaker 04

  You better, and then, yeah, and that's just like, and also like grateful that all my endorsements, they support me, which also puts fencing in a whole different light. If I'm in a billboard and whatever, it's, oh wow, this is, and you halt, you know, then it starts this chain.

• 33:11Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 33:12Speaker 04

  I think is, is the biggest thing is getting people to realize what he's doing. And then I think then you get behind the story and then, yeah, and I think that's gonna be a big game changer for the sport.

• 33:22Fred Taylor?

  You've been in the States long enough, like I mentioned earlier, coming in during the big hip hop era in New York. So you, you've adjusted to the, to the, to the rap culture here.

• 33:31Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 33:32Fred Taylor?

  The UK rap and the, the, the rap back home, do you like it?

• 33:36Speaker 04

  I love it.

• 33:37Fred Taylor?

  Yeah?

• 33:38Speaker 04

  I also grew up too, like I'm musically, I'm Miles, I was born, you know, Miles Davis. So I've always loved all music, but I grew up with like older British rap. You know, you got Gigs, you got Dizzy Ross, you got all those guys, and now obviously you got Central C and Dave. I love that because I understand what they're saying.

• 33:54Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 33:54Speaker 04

  Most people don't know what they're saying, you're like, huh? Uh, but then I also love like American hip hop, you know, and that's like, wake up, on the way over, I was just blasting, you know, hip hop. And I love music, yeah, and I think sports and music have like such a good relationship with each other. I mean, that's just like, wake up, music on, you know, I love music, like I love music. So all culture, all kinds of music, it's just been like my thing is, is, yeah.

• 34:15Ryan Clark?

  Okay, I got a question, right? Because I always wanted an accent and I don't even do them well. Like what I gave you at the beginning of the show when I said your name, that's like the stint of it. And normally I just end up sounding Irish Jamaican all the time because that's the only two I know. You know, so like say Shohei Ohtani or all these people who come from foreign countries and they're here for a while. I'm always hoping they learn English so I can understand them, right? And a lot of times when people come from another country, they try to like lose their accent.

• 34:44Fred Taylor?

  Oh.

• 34:44Ryan Clark?

  Do you keep your accent so when you shoot your shot? At some, like when you, when you in the club, like when you walk up and you shoot your shot, you feel like if I got an accent, it helped me? Because I know you didn't been in America long enough.

• 34:56Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 34:56Ryan Clark?

  Where you could lose it. So I feel like you keep it very happy for a reason.

• 35:01Channing Crowder?

  For the sexy.

• 35:02Speaker 04

  There's a two, there's a two part answer to this.

• 35:05Fred Taylor?

  Like, like Damsen.

• 35:07Speaker 04

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 35:07Fred Taylor?

  Dubsy was his coach, like you can get a coach too now.

• 35:10Speaker 04

  Nah, I was just with Damsen, he's just stronger than ever, man. So here are two things. In the beginning, I tried to speak American. It's like some interviews, you'll see me like trying, because I was like the only one on the team who wasn't. But then it's harder to understand me if I try and speak American. So like I can speak American if you want, but having a British accent, Ryan, is a cheat code, bro. Right?

• 35:28Ryan Clark?

  Bro.

• 35:29Speaker 04

  Getting out of tickets? It's crazy how less threatening you are to police with an accent. It's crazy. It's actually crazy. It happened to me twice. Obviously, you know, the ladies like it too.

• 35:39Speaker 04

  I don't know, I just think it's me, like, you know? I feel like my whole aesthetic is also British, but also like, yeah, all my, most of my friends are British too.

• 35:45Ryan Clark?

  Okay.

• 35:46Speaker 04

  It's kind of funny. But yeah, I'm not losing it. And my mom calls me every day and she's yelling at me in British, so I can't lose it.

• 35:52Ryan Clark?

  When you said between Rihanna and Madonna, did, uh, at the Met Gala?

• 35:57Speaker 04

  What was that, bro? What was the Met Gala, bro?

• 35:58Ryan Clark?

  So when you, when you, one, to get invited to the Met Gala is crazy, so I don't know how, you got to tell me how you get invited. How, not how I get invited, but how do they tell you you're invited? And so when you look at the seating chart, that's what I would do. I want to know who I'm sitting with.

• 36:12Speaker 04

  I'll tell you a funny story.

• 36:13Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, when you look at the seating chart and you see those two names, what's the next thought? And you, I want to hear the story.

• 36:18Speaker 04

  It's like, I gotta, I gotta get there early, bro. Is, uh, that was 2016, I think. Yeah. And it was the first time I ever shot Vogue. First time I got my Olympic medal in Rio. And I think Anna Wintour, maybe, or someone from Vogue might have watched my match or something. And then I was in New York for like just some, some press. And then said, hey, would you like to shoot Vogue? I was like, it's not April yet, for real? And I'm shooting Vogue, like, American Vogue, like a full spread. And then Anna said, ma, she likes you, would you like to go to the Met Gala? And I was like, this can't be true. Because, you know, I don't belong on there, you know, like, just, it's just, and I was like, what? And I was like, what's the date? I landed from Tokyo the Monday at 10 a.m. of the Met. Went to the fitting, did everything, and I was like, alright, cool.

• 36:58Speaker 04

  You're staying in like this, like, the Mark, you know, hotel by, and I'm like, this is, and everyone you're seeing, you know, everyone's walking through that. You know, like, everyone's in the hotel, and I'm like, this is crazy! And I'm like, I'm gonna walk up the stairs and everyone's like, who's that guy? But luckily, I knew a couple people there, and I'm waking up because it's super intimidating, like, you woke up to step. And my call time was with Lala, Anthony was like, my sister the best, Travis, Scott, and Aziz Ansari. And that's like who you, everyone has like five minutes of, uh, recovery time, that's when you have to arrive. I'm like, oh, alright, here we go. And then thank God someone knew who I was. And then you go to this like, kind of cocktail hour in the museum, and then everybody goes to seating. And I'm thinking I'm talking to Hugh Jackman, because I took his son friends. Oscar, who's amazing, and he was like, I'm hanging out with you the whole time.

• 37:41Speaker 04

  Don't leave my side. I know nobody here. I'm having a good time. And then I'm just like, we're having this good chat, and it's like 9:00 PM, you have to sit down. It's like 9:30. Oh, I'm late. And she's like, sir, go to table 16. You want to be at your table 16. I was like, alright, I'll be there. And I had like, someone was telling me you might be seeing these people. I didn't really know. And I woke up to the table. It's like a long, like, lost supper table. Kim K is there, Olivier from Bon Bon's there, Jeremy Scott from, uh, you know, Jeremy Scott, Muschino's there. Rihanna's there, uh, a seat open, Madonna's there, and I'm like, and then Lil Yachty is there too. It's the most wild table. Actually, think about it. It's the most wild table ever, actually. And with the Vogue table, and I'm sitting there, and I'm like, what? I'm, hi, nice to meet you, Miles, love to meet you. And I was like, this might be the last time I'm invited, so I'm just gonna have the best time.

• 38:25Speaker 04

  I was like, alright, like, let's all take a shot. And like, who's this guy? And then we all end up taking a shot, and that'd be like the, we had the best table, and the most fun. And funny, that's where I met Louis, my best friend, there. He was like, yeah, bro, how'd you get this seat? And I was like, I have no idea. I was like, just pull up a seat. Which I'm, you're not supposed to do that, really. And he pulled up a seat, and I mean, that was it. And we became best friends from that moment.

• 38:43Ryan Clark?

  I love that, that's a great, that's a great story.

• 38:45Speaker 04

  If you ever meet him, he'll tell you his side of the story too. But, uh, but, uh, but yeah, and that's how I got invited. And then, that was like, really cool to be at a table, or with people that you admire and respect. But like, but I was myself. I was a defender, which is why it was so cool to be myself. At a table with, you know, those people. And then we had a good night, man, and that's it. Next question. Yeah, you can hear, he said, look, that's it.

• 39:09Channing Crowder?

  You said you love the, you like the, the, the rap culture.

• 39:13Speaker 04

  Yep.

• 39:14Channing Crowder?

  So Ice Cube said he messed around and got a triple double on a day was a good day. I know you heard that song. Did you mess around and get famous? Cause it seems like you're still surprised by these stories that you're telling, like, yeah, what's going on, Rihanna?

• 39:27Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 39:28Channing Crowder?

  Shit, I'm here, so we gonna sit down and chill. Like, did you, like, are you still surprised by your fame?

• 39:33Speaker 04

  Yeah, and I think one day you wake up and like, things a little different. But it's also weird to me to have like, people, I don't know, on the plane, but I love what you're doing. And I'm like, thank you, like, you know, obviously, guess what's important, I'm sure, from people where it's like, a little annoying. I'm sure, but like, yeah, I think that's what keeps me humble is to always be thankful for all your blessings. I never get too ahead of myself, I always keep myself as even as I can, because I think you can get lost in this world. And like, being in L.A., you know, it's a lot of distractions, but like, having routine and focus is everything, but yeah, I think I am. I think I definitely, I don't know if I'm ever gonna get used to it.

• 40:02Fred Taylor?

  What was it like, um, Paris Fashion Week, hanging out with, um, Joey B and, uh, Jettis?

• 40:08Speaker 04

  Those are my boys. Oh, they were awesome, bro. It was funny, because, um, there was IMG2, and, uh, it was like, only like, five, six, I think, I think, Wemby was there, Serena. It was an amazing show, uh, and then we, we met, we was all connected. And like, you know, Justin and Joe are so different.

• 40:22Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 40:23Speaker 04

  Personally, I was like, Joe was, no joke, was sitting there, eating his meal prep.

• 40:28Speaker 04

  And like, like, Justin's shopping, and I'm like, y'all are just two different people, you know?

• 40:32Ryan Clark?

  They went to a great school.

• 40:34Speaker 04

  Oh, yeah, and then I didn't know the story, I didn't know the story, okay. And I was like, you know, because I know I'm on TV, but we just end up having just a great time, like, four, five hours with them. And I'm gonna go see Joe and Justin, um, at some, at some point. But then I realized they played together, I was like, this is so cool, that y'all can also do, be the best at your position. Do fashion, and, you know, and just be homies, which is like, I think, rare, you know, which is cool, and they're awesome. And their tempo at LSU is so loud in there, and...

• 41:01Ryan Clark?

  Tiger's also an LSU guy, too. Yeah, so, watch yourself. You got that purple on now, you know? You repping for us.

• 41:09Speaker 04

  But I would love to go to a game.

• 41:10Ryan Clark?

  Oh, you have to go to a game.

• 41:12Speaker 04

  Can we go to a game?

• 41:12Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, we could do that. You have to go to a game. Now, I know how you like to do, bro, I know you try to be frugal, right? You wanna take care of your family for years to come. It's the NFL season, dog, I know you wanna get that new gear, so if you do, you can use Klarna. All you gotta do, go to Klarna, it's gonna elevate your shopping experience, and on top of that, you can break up the payments into four installments. And so, instead of you coming off of all your money right away, you could get Lil' Chan, you could get Ava, you can get everybody tightened up, and spread the payments out.

• 41:42Channing Crowder?

  Bro, I love Klarna, because you can enjoy your fandom, you can pay now or pay later, you can regulate how you pay. You can track your purchases, you can also get the exclusive deals they got. Man, Klarna's gonna line you up to be the best fan you can be.

• 41:56Fred Taylor?

  The one thing we hated most as a player was losing. Because we know the fans, they work, they, they come to these games. They use their hard earned money to come support and watch us. Now with Klarna, they can save a lot of money, decide if they want to pay now or play later. So they can play now and come and see us do our thing. I love Klarna.

• 42:16Channing Crowder?

  And all you gotta do is download the app and you can regulate when you pay. So you set for the games and then you figure out when you gonna pay for those items. Cause you out there stunting.

• 42:25Ryan Clark?

  All right, listen, I already know you have done it. But they need to download the Klarna app, add it in your cart, right? Pay with Klarna and what you could do is buy now, pay later. All of our MLS fans, check out using Klarna and use the code word pivot and get 20% off your next purchase. California resident loans made or arranged pursuant to a California financing law license. I want to, and I know this is kind of backtracking, but the show is The Pivot. I would be remiss to not ask you what the conversation with your father was like after 14 years. To now be the Miles who's a fencer who has moves named after him. And to get that phone call from someone you haven't had in your life or haven't spoken to.

• 43:09Speaker 04

  Well, I think initially he's like, you're angry because you're like 20. But then I read this quote and it said, um, I know this quote and it said, or like kids don't realize that the parents are growing up too. Which like changed my whole of like, I can imagine having a kid now and he had, and he had a kid when he was 30 probably. Not no excuse, but I think just like understanding there's two sides of every story. Um, all right, cool. I end up, I'm like, I'm competing, but you know, see when I see you. Very short, it was like 36 seconds, I think. I don't want to remember that so well. But initially it's like, hi, are you here? Can I see you? Uh, and obviously the answer was no, but uh, then you circle back five years ago, I think. And you know, a little snare talking and this is important to like never have any baggage.

• 43:50Speaker 04

  I was like, hey, I remember I called my dad again randomly like, hey dad, how are you? I'm gonna be in London uh, next week for a shoot. Uh, if you're there, let's get a drink or some tea, whatever you want to do. And then I said it and I forgot. And then I'm in the hotel, never forget it. And they said, hey, Mr. Watson, Mr. Watson's downstairs. I was like, oh shit, I forgot about that. Go to minibar, smash a beer real quick, go downstairs and we just talked for three hours. And it wasn't like, I needed you to listen. I'm a man now. Do you need anything? I'm just like mature, keep a surface level. I don't want to dive into anything deep too well, but also, and I posted about it, just like, you know, men, especially black men, you know, it's like, it's, oh, you have a dad, that's normal. You know, I was like, well, it's also, I would say it's normal, but it's very common, but also now, just speaking about how you feel, all this weight, you know, kind of went away.

• 44:33Speaker 04

  So, and now I still talk to him, especially because my sister has had this stroke. We've been talking more.

• 44:38Channing Crowder?

  Hmm.

• 44:39Speaker 04

  Because I hate to be the guy who like, if he passed away, I'm like, it's too late now. So I think just like, yeah, I think it's just important to just be real and talk about how you feel, whether it's a hard conversation or not, and I think you'll feel better afterwards. I think it's important for everybody to just, you know, talk about, because like I said earlier, I didn't cry since I was 12, not because it's not true, just because you don't, you can't, you don't have a choice.

• 44:57Channing Crowder?

  Hmm.

• 44:58Speaker 04

  And then you realize, oh, wow, like, from that, from 12 till when it was lost, that's a, that's a, there's nothing, there's nothing wrong with crying. I think I'm learning more and more about it. You know, it was like, oh, wow, it's actually, it's a release, so. And I never ever had the thought process of like, oh, you need to let your emotions out, you know?

• 45:13Channing Crowder?

  But did it help you?

• 45:14Speaker 04

  I think so.

• 45:15Channing Crowder?

  Did it help you to talk to your dad? Like you're saying, you don't need nothing from him.

• 45:17Speaker 04

  For sure.

• 45:18Channing Crowder?

  You always want to lean, like, they always sort of like the, the parent.

• 45:21Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 45:21Channing Crowder?

  Child, but you don't need that now, but did it help you, your mental, did it help anything?

• 45:25Speaker 04

  For sure. I think it did, for sure. And he's never really seen me compete, ever. So, that's another thing, which would be cool to, you know, have everybody come together.

• 45:33Channing Crowder?

  Ah.

• 45:33Speaker 04

  But I think it definitely helped. For sure it did. Maybe not even me realizing that it did, it definitely did. Yeah, yeah. That's because back in the day, I was like, I'm, I'm never talking to you again. Right? As a kid, that's like my first reaction.

• 45:43Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 45:43Speaker 04

  But now, yeah.

• 45:44Channing Crowder?

  Me and my dad fell out for like, five years almost, four and a half, something, five years. And I was like, I don't need him. But then once we were together, I was kind of like, oh.

• 45:51Speaker 04

  Hmm.

• 45:51Channing Crowder?

  Like, this is cool. That's my, that's my dad. That's my biological father.

• 45:54Speaker 04

  Yeah, and then you see some things in him that you might say like, damn, you kind of, I like me in a weird way.

• 45:58Channing Crowder?

  Right.

• 45:59Speaker 04

  And I was like, damn, you know, like, you're kind of funny too.

• 46:01Ryan Clark?

  Uh, do you watch TV? You don't watch?

• 46:02Speaker 04

  Oh, yeah, I love TV.

• 46:03Ryan Clark?

  Did you ever, you say you watch documentaries, you ever watch This Is Us?

• 46:06Speaker 04

  Oh, my god.

• 46:07Ryan Clark?

  Well, you know, Sterling K. Brown's character was always looking for himself

• 46:12Speaker 04

  Hmm.

• 46:12Ryan Clark?

  in other people, because obviously he was adopted by an entire family, so he didn't have either of his parents, but you didn't have half

• 46:19Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 46:19Ryan Clark?

  of what made you.

• 46:21Speaker 04

  Hmm.

• 46:21Ryan Clark?

  Was that ever something you were searching for? Like you said, you got to a point where you didn't, didn't need him, but, you know, you talk about the ADD, the ADHD, dyslexic, say the word.

• 46:32Speaker 04

  Dyslexia.

• 46:33Ryan Clark?

  Dyslexia.

• 46:34Speaker 04

  It's the hardest word to say.

• 46:34Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 46:35Speaker 04

  Everyone's dyslexic saying dyslexia.

• 46:37Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 46:38Speaker 04

  It's like, I mean, it's such a hard word to say.

• 46:41Channing Crowder?

  And you can say it, you, you, you, you got it?

• 46:43Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 46:43Ryan Clark?

  Did you ever, you know, did you ever have to, were you searching for yourself because you were missing that piece of having a father in a land that was truly foreign to you?

• 46:55Speaker 04

  Yeah, I think so. I think you have like, cause like, people get confused when I say my like my stepdad, my dad, cause I hate calling my stepdad cause he taught me everything I know. He's my, calling him my dad. It's like having him changed my life, right? But then there are points when you're younger where you're like, oh, I could have used you for this or asked you a question. You gotta figure it out on your own. Which I think ultimately, now I know exactly the dad I will be, cause I, I've seen the one that I don't want, which is also like a blessing, you know? It's, it's never lost, it's always a lesson. I have a tattoo on my hand, which is like you learn more from things that you might not realize have a bigger picture, which now I've got so much respect for parents in general. But I think it's something I'm always constantly searching for. But I think that void wasn't fencing or wherever it might be, but I think that's also what my drive is,

• 47:37Speaker 04

  why I have so much drive too. So I think it's a blessing in a weird way, you know?

• 47:41Channing Crowder?

  We can, we got, we all got kids. We can, I'll let you know how to make some kids now.

• 47:45Ryan Clark?

  Taking away Freddie.

• 47:47Fred Taylor?

  Don't listen to him. That's, that's the bad uncle.

• 47:49Speaker 04

  Let me get you up. Three.

• 47:50Fred Taylor?

  He's the bad uncle. Don't, don't listen to him. He'll have you doing some shit you're not supposed to do.

• 47:56Speaker 04

  Yeah, that's the good uncle. I got my Uncle Dennis. That's my guy.

• 47:59Ryan Clark?

  Do your thing, Freddie T.

• 48:00Fred Taylor?

  It's always good to, to release that baggage, you know, just to be a little freer in life. This part of the show is the part I love the most. I get to ask the question, what's been your biggest pivot in life or moments?

• 48:13Speaker 04

  The biggest one I think, that's a really good one, cause I'm trying to figure which, which lanes to go into. Um, pivot my life. That's a good question. I'm trying to give you a good answer.

• 48:21Fred Taylor?

  One man, our guests love it too.

• 48:23Speaker 04

  I think, you mean in terms of like what?

• 48:25Fred Taylor?

  That, that one moment you can look back on and say, without this occurring, you know, in my life, I may not be the person who I am today.

• 48:33Speaker 04

  I think the first time I ever got hang, uh, here's another story for you guys. Damn, I got all the good stories. Uh, that's a great question. I think now I know exactly the point. I was in NCAA's, damn, I'm gonna get crazy. Uh, NCAA's in Texas, some reason? And I got second. I was really, really pissed. And my mom was there. And then the head of the Olympic committee was there. I was like basically giving me on the upcoming the team and the president of my federation was there. It was so dumb. I was like nineteen, I was at the bar drinking double whiskey coke chilling there. And I don't know why I was like throwing like shampoo like an idiot. I don't know what to do. Like I was young and then I guess someone saw me and they tried to find me and I got out of the elevator and someone's like, hey, I'm in rescue. I was like, no, you're not. And then like shoving this guy out of the way and it was a cop.

• 49:14Speaker 04

  And as he's like behind his behind your back, I'm like, no, I put my hands behind my back and my mother comes through the door. I literally like the and I was like, I ain't, my life is over. I was like, oh my, and I was like seeing like your mom disappointed in you. That's when I was like, that's it. And that that was probably the last time I ever got in real trouble. Yeah, I never forget it. Cause she was like, what are you doing? You know, you're like throwing your whole life away for what? Just like being stupid. That was probably my biggest pivot. And then after that, I made my first Olympic team in college when no one thought I would. And I went back to Penn State as an Olympian, but I knew that was when I was like, okay, this is this is ridiculous. You need to get your shit together. You, I never forget that day, actually. It's a great question.

• 49:50Ryan Clark?

  Yeah. World champion, bronze medalist. Twice, sorry. World champion twice, bronze medalist, fashion icon, model. You've changed the sport, obviously, but you've also done so much away from it. What do you want your lasting legacy to be when it's all said and done?

• 50:10Speaker 04

  I think going my last, that's a great, legacy to be someone who was always true to himself, failed, got up again. But ultimately changed the sport that that gave him everything and inspired a whole new generation of kids. That to me is bigger than any medal I could ever win. Cause if I'm, you know, when I'm done tired, kids can say, we're having the locker room, you know, the sport is better because of Miles. And inspiring black kids, whatever it might be, you know, cause I speak to all the kids that got bullied, didn't have direction. Might not have best household, found a sport that might not be cool and niche. And they can look at me as an example and say, he did it his way, failed along the way, got up. But ultimately it's that self belief. That's why I have that tattoo on my hand. That's all I need. That's it. I think that would be the, that'd be it for me. I can win. That's cool.

• 50:54Speaker 04

  But to change the entire sport for the better is, is, is what a legacy is.

• 51:00Ryan Clark?

  That's the answer. That's a word, man. Appreciate you. Thank you for pivoting with us.

• 51:03Speaker 04

  Oh, get out, special.

• 51:05Ryan Clark?

  Appreciate you, boy. That was great, man.

• 51:07Channing Crowder?

  Appreciate you. I'm gonna start saying bro.

• 51:09Speaker 04

  Bro, all you gotta say, bro.

• 51:13Ryan Clark?

  We want to take the picture.

• 51:37Speaker 05

  Every game day, you show up for your team. Now it's your time.

• 51:48Speaker 05

  Ask your prescriber about Wegovy. Somemagnitide injection 2.4 milligrams a GLP-1. Call 1-833-4-WEGOVIE or visit wegovie.com to view the medication guide and to learn more about Wegovy. Why wait?