Russell Wilson: Beyond the Scoreboard

Super Bowl–winning NFL quarterback Russell Wilson goes beyond game-day narratives to unpack the mindset, discipline, and mental conditioning behind elite performance. He reflects on how early expectations shaped his identity, including the belief of “Why not you?” — and how those lessons now guide him as a father, leader, and teammate. This is episode 4/4 of Good Inside Presents: The Playbook, a limited-edition series created in partnership with Nike.

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

• 0:00Dr. Becky Kennedy?

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• 0:43Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  This is The Playbook, a limited series by Good Inside in partnership with Nike. I'm going to be talking to some of the most successful athletes of our time, leaders who have had real impact in their sport. And I'm going to be talking with them about their highs, about their lows, about their mindset, about team dynamics, about what really motivates them, about the way they talk to themselves and recover from difficult stages. And I also have some of my favorite moments with these athletes where we talk about their life off the field, their early years, their family life, the things that keep them grounded, their rituals and superstitions that keep them going. We cover so much in every conversation. I'm Dr.

• 1:27Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Becky and this is Good Inside.

• 1:32Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  From the outside, people see Russell Wilson as polished, professional, and yes, obsessed with winning. They see someone driven, someone who's relentlessly optimistic, guided by faith, grounded in family, and fueled by a higher purpose. But what the image doesn't always show is what it takes to be that person. The discipline, the mindset, the daily work required to hold it all together, the part of the story that doesn't show up on the leaderboard or during a broadcast. Over the past decade, Russell has built a legacy as one of the NFL's most respected quarterbacks and community figures. He's a Super Bowl champion,

• 2:16Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  the Walter Payton Man of the Year, and a tireless advocate for faith, family, and service.

• 2:23Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  He's also a devoted partner to his wife, Sierra, and a proud father of four, leading his family with the same intention and faith that guided him on the field. At its core, Russell's story is about mindset over everything else. The belief that mental strength, preparation, purpose, habits, systems matter as much as talent. He spent his career seeking inspiration from great coaches, mentors, and leaders who challenged him to keep growing on and off the field. I'm so excited for you to hear this conversation. Hi.

• 3:01Speaker 01

  What's up, Dr. Beck? How you doing? I'm excited to be on your show.

• 3:03Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  I am so excited to be talking to you. We have so much to get to, and I want to talk about so much of your career in sports and parenting and kids. But sometimes I feel like the best way to understand that is actually to start by rewinding a little bit. So I actually want to start, such a psychologist thing to say, with your childhood. I don't know the expectations that were set by your parents, how that kind of shaped things. And I learned that you grew up in a family with pretty high standards. So just wanted to talk a little bit about your early years, what that was like.

• 3:35Speaker 01

  My childhood, I think what my parents did really well, they always encouraged rather than discouraged. My dad used to ask me questions like, you know, Russ, you're, you know, you're eight years old right now, but you're 25 years old. Paint a picture for me. And I would start painting this picture as my dad was driving, and he'd be like, that story's not good enough. And I'm like, what? What do you mean? That was a good story. And he'd be like, no, no, I want more. I want your imagination to be even bigger. But I think those early years from five to 12, 13 years old, my parents and my mom and my dad, they really both just influenced me in a big way. They painted a picture that was bigger than I could even see.

• 4:15Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 4:16Speaker 01

  And I think that allowed me to create, that allowed me to dream, that allowed me to, you know, go after what I really wanted to go after. And I think that was a big deal for me. And next thing you know, when I turned 12, 13 years old, I'm starting to wake up at, you know, 5:15 on my own and saying, Dad, let's go hit grounders. You know, let's do some baseball, let's do some football early in the mornings before he'd go to work. So that discipline of getting up early. Was a big, um, I would say, um, proponent of my trajectory later on.

• 4:46Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 4:46Speaker 01

  Um.

• 4:47Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  And, and did, just to be explicit, you're five, you're six. So you're like, no. Becky, at that point, someone was waking me up. They're like, let's go, let's get out of bed. Let's kind of get to work.

• 4:56Speaker 01

  My dad would knock on the door and be like, son, wake up, let's go. Five thirty, we gotta go.

• 5:01Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  And, and were you like, yeah, or were you like, oh, man?

• 5:04Speaker 01

  Yeah, no, I was, I wanted to sleep extra and do all that. But next thing you know, as I got older, eight, nine, 10, especially when I was like 11, 12 years old, that shifted. The atmosphere, I, I was waking my dad like that, well, what are we doing, move on to it? And so that was a big piece to it.

• 5:21Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 5:22Speaker 01

  But he instilled that in me, you know, and I always saw my mom working. She was a ER nurse. She was a woman that was up and trying to save lives and, you know, and I just saw the toughness and the grit, you know, my mom and my dad. And I felt like they would do anything, like anything to, to help me. And I never forget this. I had this one kid come up to me. And I had this kid come up to me and he's like, hey, you know, I know what your dad does. I'm like, what are you talking about? My dad's a lawyer. What do you mean? And like, he's like, well, I know what your dad does. I'm like, what are you, what are you talking about? In front of all the kids. And he was like, your dad works at the gas station. And I'm like, huh? Like, well, my dad does work. He's like, no, your dad works at the gas station. I'm like, my dad saw your dad.

• 6:04Speaker 01

  And I'm like, yeah, that's because my dad's doing a case and he's doing an investigation. And, you know, my dad's, you know, working extra because of that. And so I'll go home with my dad. I'm like, I'm like devastated. All these kids are like, I'm like, what? I'm going to this rice, you know, rich private school and I, I can't afford it. I'm like the one, only black kid there, basically. And I'm like, I'm like, dad, you work at the gas station? He goes, yes, son. I said, what do you mean? He goes, well, I'm working extra hours. I said, wh- why? He goes, you wanna go, you wanna go to a great school, right? Like, you wanna go do all the things you wanna do. I gotta do extra for you guys. I'm doing anything for you. And I remember him saying, I gotta buy those books.

• 6:43Speaker 01

  And so I just remember.

• 6:45Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  What's coming up for you now as you tell that story?

• 6:47Speaker 01

  I just sacrifice. I think sacrifice is everything. I think the ability to sacrifice for your kids and your loved ones. I was playing football and I was playing basketball and, you know, to buy the bat from Dick's Sporting Goods or to buy the new A2000 baseball glove from Dick's Sporting Goods or to buy the new football cleats or, you know, to whatever, the new football that I wanted to buy, you know, I always wanted this Wilson football and I was like, I want to buy that. Or if I wanted to buy some new Nike cleats, it was like, you know, I had to, my dad had to work extra and I didn't understand that at the time, but he sacrificed. My mom, same thing. And so I think that's taught me a lot. That's taught me a lot about, you know, sacrifice.

• 7:31Speaker 01

  And sometimes sacrifice in my situation is different. And I just feel like at times, you know, no matter how much we have or how little we have, there's a point in time that parenthood is all about sacrifice. It's the willingness to do whatever it takes for your kids to have a better life than you. And I think that's something that I've learned along the way.

• 7:54Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  That story about your dad working at the gas station, I can, like, my heart, like, it just, that hit me in such a deep, heavy way.

• 8:04Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  It is amazing when we look back on our lives. I mean, think about these very specific examples that represent something so big about what our parents really were willing to do for us. And clearly that shaped your attitude toward hard work and grit and determination. And so linking that to more of your career today, how, how did some of that prepare you for this career where, I mean, every moment of your professional life is taped, is analyzed, is talked about, right? I mean, the good parts, the hard parts, the, right? And so moments that don't go as you wanted, don't go as imagined, where a lot of those moments are very private for people. They're, they're not for you.

• 8:46Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  How, how do you feel like the way you were brought up helped you cope with those? Could you walk through a specific example?

• 8:54Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, I have a few examples. I think losing my dad was one. Yeah, I looked up to my dad. My dad was everything to me. He was, he's my closest friend. Uh, he was something I could count on, something I could rely on. But I just remember, um, going to NC State. I get there. My dad says to me, he says, "I want you to promise me something." I said, "Well, what's that?"

• 9:15Speaker 01

  He goes, "Well, I want you to graduate early." I said, "Graduate early? Like, what do you mean? What does that mean? Like, like graduate early from college? Like, how fast?" He says, "I want you to graduate in three years or less." I also think about in life too, you go through challenges. Obviously, career-wise, you know, I won a Super Bowl, won Rookie of the Year, I won the Super Bowl next year. And then finally, all the way back to the Super Bowl, get to the one-year line and it doesn't work. And through that, I realized that not everybody's on your side. Everybody that you think that's for you may not be for you.

• 9:45Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Like, they pile on, or?

• 9:46Speaker 01

  Uh, just like in the sports world, you know, you carry a lot of weight and you carry a lot of, you know, weight on your shoulders and people love you one day and they hate you the next. And that's how fickle the world is sometimes.

• 9:57Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  But for someone listening to this who's an athlete, or their kid is, or, you know, kids get in this place, would say it's, you know, they're like, "Oh, that game didn't end the way I want," or "I wish I had passed the ball," or "How did I miss an open to net?" Whatever the thing is. And there's a period where, maybe this doesn't happen to you, I want to know, where there's a period of, you can be really hard on yourself, you kind of listen to the noise and it gets in, then maybe have to work to get it out. How, how does that actual process work for you? Are you like, "No, no, no, I just, it never comes in," or "No, like, it comes in and I have to work to get it out." How do you talk yourself through that Super Bowl, or through something else?

• 10:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think there's moments in life that definitely, the negative stuff comes in. And I think what true champions are able to do is, it's not that it won't come in. Negativity is gonna come in and come your way, and adversity is definitely gonna happen. What we do know in life is adversity is gonna happen, but we also know is adversity is temporary. And I, I learned this a lot in my, my mental coach, Trevor Moad and I. Um, he was with me for 10-plus years. He passed away of cancer, unfortunately. And man, he was the number one sports psychologist, basically, in the world. We always talked about this idea that adversity is only temporary. And we believed it so much that there was a thought that, you know, we believe in positive, I'm a positive person by, by nature, Dr. Beg, yeah, I'm

• 11:14Speaker 01

  definitely positive. Um, but what we found was is that Yes, positivity works, but what we know works 100% of the time is negativity. And so we started talking about this concept around neutral thinking. What does neutral thinking really happen? Like when things go well, can you, and you throw five touchdowns, can you stay like this? And when things don't go your way and you throw in three or four interceptions and it's the NFC championship game like, how do you stay okay? Cause it's still just a 16-point game and we can still win this game. And you gotta be here. And so I've always believed as a leader, as a, as a husband, as a man, um, you know, as a father, it's like, man, I just wanna be here so you know what you're gonna get every day.

• 11:58Speaker 01

  And I think that's a big thing about sports in particular. Like there's gonna be ebbs and flows, there's gonna be challenges. And once you realize that you have to embrace that and realize that adversity is gonna come your way,

• 12:09Speaker 01

  I think you take on those challenges and you move forward and you're able to bounce stuff off.

• 12:14Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  We all think a lot about like, how do I deal with adversity? There's gonna be times when life doesn't go my way, right? In, in sports, with kids, personal life, that's all true. We all wanna get better at dealing with it. But what you're talking about with neutral thinking, in order to get better at the lows being less low, we actually have to watch for the potential for a high to make us feel that high. Because if winning a game makes you feel like I'm a better soccer player and I had five touchdowns in a row and all of a sudden because of that outcome, my mood goes from here to here, all that leaves me is vulnerable to when I throw two interceptions for me to feel like the worst quarterback in the world.

• 12:55Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  And so you're really talking about how much does an outcome change my baseline level of thinking about myself? And I think a lot of people don't realize that the more we let the good stuff make us feel so much better than everyone else, we're, we're leaving ourselves vulnerable to a bad game kind of plumbing us into an abyss.

• 13:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's a perfect thought process. I think, and what neutral thinking is to me is, is this idea that It's not outcome based.

• 13:24Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yes.

• 13:25Speaker 01

  You know, a lot of things in life are outcome based. And I think that when you really, you know, learn yourself and really start mastering the best version of you, you realize that it's not outcome based, but it's process based.

• 13:38Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Mm-hmm.

• 13:38Speaker 01

  And understanding that, hey, you know, what is the process that I'm going through? Are the things that I'm going through, the practices and the lessons and the things happening in life, you know, am I getting better daily? And those daily incremental gains, I think, are really critical.

• 13:55Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 13:56Speaker 01

  And so I think I've learned that a lot, that, you know, I embrace adversity. I embrace the process more so than the end result. If Steph Curry is a 94% free throw shooter, right? And he misses a free throw or two in the NBA Finals, does that make him a bad free throw shooter? You know, if Michael Jordan misses a free throw every once in a while, does that make him a bad? Absolutely not. He's still a great free throw shooter.

• 14:18Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 14:18Speaker 01

  It's just, he missed that one.

• 14:19Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 14:20Speaker 01

  And so sometimes you have to get back to the moment of keeping your elbow in. If a great golfer misses a putt, does that mean that he's not who he is? It's just, sometimes the ball goes, doesn't go your way. And I think the big part of it is, is that you get back to the process of the fundamentals. And I think for me personally, that's something that I've been really addicted to and focused on, even when I'm going through my challenging times, is understanding that, hey, you know what? Like, stay focused on the process of practice, stay focused on the process of your warm-up. Stay focused on the process of having the same routine every day.

• 14:53Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yep.

• 14:54Speaker 01

  And that's been a big part of, you know, my continual, just looking forward to the next moment.

• 15:01Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 15:02Speaker 01

  Knowing that when I get the ball again and I get the opportunity again, or whatever it may be, that, you know, the next moment's gonna be my best moment.

• 15:08Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  You know, two things come to mind. I remember my oldest, who used to play baseball. I remember him coming to us after a game and he was really working on shifting some stuff in his swing.

• 15:15Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 15:16Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  To get more power, different things. And he ended up basically hitting like a lot of outs. He hardly got on base that game. And he's like, but, but I really felt this thing click, right? And I'm like, really, I was like very proud of myself, right? And I feel like it's just such a good example of... Him separating, like, the thing under his control that is always under his control, his process, his system, that he really did believe would eventually help him, happened not to get him on base that game, right? But it actually, not only protects our confidence, but it actually keeps us going back and eventually achieving more. And it sounds like that's kind of what you do, too.

• 15:53Speaker 01

  Yeah, there's this, there's this love and addiction for, for the process, for the great ones.

• 16:02Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 16:03Speaker 01

  I think that when you love practice more than the game, you know?

• 16:08Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 16:09Speaker 01

  Everybody loves the cheers, and everybody loves the moment when you get in the end zone, but it's the stuff that happened before.

• 16:16Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Mm-hmm.

• 16:17Speaker 01

  It's all the stuff when you're isolated in your room by yourself, and you're laying on your back as a young kid, and I'm nine years old, throwing the ball up to my ceiling just to work on my spiral.

• 16:25Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yep.

• 16:26Speaker 01

  Our brain is a muscle, you know, you gotta work it. You know, we gotta work our mental side every day. I was talking to somebody, a close friend the other day about this, is like, you know, if we can work that every day and communicate with ourselves, like, what's our own internal dialogue?

• 16:38Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yes.

• 16:39Speaker 01

  You're playing baseball, and you're 0-for-17, and all you're telling yourself is, "I suck, I'm no good, I'm terrible, I can't hit the ball, I can't hit the, I can't do this." And all of a sudden, you keep believing that. And, you know, versus focusing on just this one pitch.

• 16:53Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yep.

• 16:54Speaker 01

  Just square this pitch up. You know, just square this one pitch up, and, you know, it's a home run.

• 16:59Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  You know, it's interesting, one of the things, a good insight we talk a lot about is this importance of separating identity from behavior. It's when we collapse the two, that we spiral. I'm an awful baseball player. Like, I'm a good player who's, haven't gotten on base in a while, right? And if you know you're working on your fundamentals, separating any one moment or one behavior from kind of who you are as a person gives you a lot more freedom to get back to the fundamentals, instead of kind of spiraling essentially in shame.

• 17:25Speaker 01

  Well, it's funny you say that, because there's, you know, I do these camps for kids, and I talk to kids a bunch, and I even talk to, you know, our son, Future, who plays, loves playing basketball, he's really good at football, really good at baseball, too. And it's so funny, we do these different camps, and I try to talk to the kids about, you know, has there ever been an amazing quarterback you've always loved, but he's never thrown an interception? Like every quarterback that's ever played any games has said in reception. Now, that person's also thrown a lot of touchdowns, too. And you have to be able to take the bad and the good and take them together.

• 18:00Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 18:01Speaker 01

  And that's why we love the people that we love because they're able to overcome. And I think that adversity that they are able to overcome makes them great. And that's part of a two-minute drill in football. You know, you get down and you're down 10 and you got to find a way to come back. And those are the magical moments and those are the moments we have to embrace.

• 18:19Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  That's right. I always think sports on the field or off the field, there's no greater feeling than watching yourself do something you weren't sure you could do. Like the high you end up getting from that and every moment of adversity kind of sets you up.

• 18:30Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 18:30Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  For that moment.

• 18:35Dr. Becky Kennedy?

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• 19:20Dr. Becky Kennedy?

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• 19:41Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  You know that feeling when your brain is at full capacity, right? I mean, you have a reminder from the dentist in your email, a birthday party invitation on the fridge, and your kid just texted you about a soccer game they forgot to mention until that moment? And you just cannot remember one more thing.

• 19:57Dr. Becky Kennedy?

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• 20:37Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  That's M-Y-S-K-Y-L-I-G-H-T.com/becky for $30 off your 15-inch calendar. myskylight.com/becky.

• 20:54Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  So question, in your home, how do you bring this to life? These lessons on the football field with your kids and your partnership? Like, what habits do you guys have? How do you talk to each other? I mean, I'm sure stuff comes up all the time.

• 21:05Speaker 01

  I think that if mom and dad are good, the kids will be good. So that's been a big piece for me and Cia is like, let's focus on you and I extremely well. Let's make sure we go on our date nights every Friday. Like, let's make sure.

• 21:19Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Is that something you guys do?

• 21:20Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah. Ever since we got together, I told her, I'm an old-school kind of love guy. I want old-school love. Like, let's take it back to the old days. And I think it's important that we're able to spend that quality time with each other. And so that one-on-one time, like being able to put my phone down for at least an hour and say, like, let me just stare you in the eyes and talk. Like, those moments are like what I think keeps us going at such a high rate.

• 21:45Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 21:45Speaker 01

  And I think a big part of that is saying, hey, let's make sure you and I are good first. I think for every mom and every dad back at home, like, make sure you guys take care of you first. And I think it's so funny, because I always ask C, like, who comes first? Me or the kids? And I feel like for moms, there's that nurturing aspect of them. Yeah, they really want to take care of the kids first, but I think it's important that we do it together.

• 22:08Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 22:08Speaker 01

  And that, you know, if dad and mom are good, then the kids will be good. And I think part of that after that is like, okay, now each kid's different. Especially when you have multiple kids, like one kid may be super high energy, other kid may be

• 22:21Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 22:21Speaker 01

  lower energy, the one kid may have attitude, other kid may not, like, so how do you deal with that? And, and your approach, I always say KYP, you know your personnel. I say that in football, but I also say that in life and at home. It's like KYP, each kid's different and you gotta know your personnel.

• 22:37Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 22:37Speaker 01

  And I think it's so important that we're able to understand how, how you talk to each one of them and, but love them all the same and hold them all accountable the same. Like, I'm, I'm probably the more firm one. Sierra's good at being like clear in her, but like, she's got a little morally way.

• 22:53Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  You're gonna hold the boundary.

• 22:54Speaker 01

  But I'm like, no, my yes is yes, my no is no. Like, if I say yes, you can go, you can stay up extra five minutes, you got that five minutes.

• 23:00Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  So, you know, I'm thinking about the way you were talking about your dad. It was so clear how grateful you were for the life he provided and worked so hard. How, with the life you have, the fame you've achieved, the success, how do you think about cultivating gratitude in your kids?

• 23:18Speaker 01

  I always feel like when I walk into, you know, a room, or if I go to the children's hospital, if I go and eat somewhere, like, I wanna make sure that I clean the dishes. I don't wanna just leave the stuff on the table and not do it if I'm going to somebody else's house, you know? It's like, make sure you make each place better. And I think that's important. I mean, it's an important lesson because our kids have it different, our kids in particular have it different than we grew up.

• 23:44Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 23:44Speaker 01

  You know, um, you know, our parents had to work for everything and we've had to work for everything, but we've been blessed beyond measure. So now, how do we do that? How we give back? And so, we try to teach our kids even, you know, around the holidays, for example, making sure that we, we, we make them responsible for giving back. And I think, whether it's clothes or whatever it may be, those little things along the way that are actually big things to others.

• 24:06Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  All right, I wanna, I wanna transition a little to think about, cause you're in such a unique position to think about tools, and some of them probably emotional mindset tools for the next generation, and especially the next generation of kid athletes who are into sports. So- A couple of questions along those lines. Your kid comes to you, or you're coaching a team and a kid comes to you. I suck. I'm the worst player on the team. What, what, what do you feel like a kid needs in that moment?

• 24:32Speaker 01

  He needs to change his dialogue.

• 24:34Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  So you coach.

• 24:35Speaker 01

  I don't, I don't, I don't let, I don't let my teammates say that. I don't let my kids say that, for dang sure. And I'm not gonna say it to myself. So as a coach, or as somebody leading young kids, I'm not gonna let you say that. Not around me. And they hear that tone, like, not around me. Like, we're not saying that. Like, your internal dialogue's gotta be a championship dialogue.

• 24:58Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  What does that sound like after a tough game?

• 24:59Speaker 01

  You, you know, it's like, you know what? Today was a tough day. You speak about your truth. Today was a tough day, but you know what? Tomorrow's gonna be better. And here's why. Right? Like, you start painting that picture.

• 25:09Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 25:09Speaker 01

  Of here's the reasons why. And here's what I've done before. You know what, like, you know, every great, like, my dad used to always talk about Hank Aaron. And, you know, for anybody who loves baseball, Hank Aaron is obviously one of the all-time great hitters of all time. Best baseball player arguably of all time. And what was interesting, Hank Aaron always believed, even if he went 0 for 4, he always believed he was 4 for 4. And I think there's a fundamental thought process that we have to, we have to wire our own mentality and our own language, our own internal dialogue. It has to be, has to be stronger than what the external dialogue is.

• 25:48Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  But you said something that's nuanced, and I think it's really important. And again, I think this applies to so many things I think about with kids off the field. We have to start to connect to someone. You have to join them where they are today, some version of it. Right? And I would call that, like, validate where someone is. But as a coach or as a parent, you have to see a more capable version of that kid than they can access in the moment. This could be true at drop-off. Your kid's freaking out at drop-off. They don't wanna go to school. And you have to start, I know drop-off's hard today, and I know you're gonna end up having a good day at school. There's like, I see you now. That's true. But I also see. A version of you that's a little more capable and it just reminded me so much of, okay, today was a tough day. True. I don't have to be scared of that thought.

• 26:31Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  And tomorrow is gonna be better, right? Like, there's this duality. Both can be true at the same time.

• 26:35Speaker 01

  You can have two truths at the same time.

• 26:37Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 26:37Speaker 01

  And I think part of it too is, is like you said, painting that picture.

• 26:43Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Difference quickly, difference between encouraging your kid and pressuring your kid.

• 26:47Speaker 01

  Encouraging to me is you're telling them what they can be. It's you're, you're, you're painting a picture for who they are. You're encouraging them what they've done and what they can, what they're capable of. Uh, I think pressuring their kid is, is you're putting the, you're putting your own mindset on them and what they, what they have to be.

• 27:05Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah. How do you balance as an athlete being, anyway, being really competitive, you wanna win? And being, being a good sport?

• 27:15Speaker 01

  I think it's a character thing.

• 27:16Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Hmm.

• 27:18Speaker 01

  I think being a good sport is how, it's just how the game should be played.

• 27:23Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Hmm.

• 27:23Speaker 01

  You know, give your all.

• 27:25Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 27:25Speaker 01

  But don't, you don't have to be a jerk about it. You can give your all and when, when we're in between the white lines, yeah. You can be, you can be the villain that day. You know what I mean? But, once the whistle blows, and once it's over, okay? Like, alright, let's move on to the next moment. And I think there's a great balance to that. And I think the people that really love the game and respect the game know how to do that well.

• 27:47Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  When your kids are older and someone just says, "What was your dad like?" What's, and they can only say one sentence. What do you hope they say?

• 27:56Speaker 01

  One sentence?

• 27:57Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yep.

• 27:58Speaker 01

  And so I'll put in one sentence, but I can give you some words.

• 28:00Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Okay.

• 28:01Speaker 01

  He was charismatic, dynamic, um, loving, um. He was, um, passionate.

• 28:10Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Hmm.

• 28:11Speaker 01

  And I think he was forgiving.

• 28:12Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Right now in your life, what is a quiet when you're having, something you're proud of? You know really matters, but maybe isn't visible to other people, but I just know it matters.

• 28:22Speaker 01

  I would say my favorite thing right now is, um, You know, living in New York has been pretty fun. You know, we live in the city. And on Fridays, I do all my work early on Friday morning. I go through all my plays. I highlight all my plays and all my favorites and that. And when practice is over around 1 o'clock, I make sure I shower up, do everything I need to do to finish the day. But I try to get out of there by 2 o'clock and I go pick up my kids every day and every Friday. And in the past, I haven't done that as much. It's kind of been tricky to do or whatever it may be. But just be on a walk and pick up my kids and, you know, pick up all three that are in school right now.

• 29:04Speaker 01

  Future, Sienna, and Wynne. And to walk with Ciara and do that, just to see my daughter's face light up when Dad's at the end of the step.

• 29:12Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 29:12Speaker 01

  She's like, Dad, you know, and, you know, and they always scream Mom's name.

• 29:16Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 29:17Speaker 01

  And they're like, Dad, you know, Wynne's like Daddy, you know, future Dad, what's up, man? And they all run over. Like, that's probably the loudest when internally, but probably the most quiet. I don't think anybody recognizes I'm just like by myself, you know, I'm like, but I feel like that's like, I feel cool with it.

• 29:34Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  I love that.

• 29:34Speaker 01

  It's probably my favorite time.

• 29:36Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  I love that. All right. Welcome to overtime. This is my rapid fire questions.

• 29:42Speaker 01

  Overtime's one of my favorite things.

• 29:42Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Rise to the adversity of overtime, right? Everything matters right now. Okay, so short questions, whatever comes to mind first. Best piece of advice you got as a rookie from a veteran?

• 29:53Speaker 01

  Take care of your body.

• 29:54Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Such good advice. Do you have a superstition, even if it seems silly, you know, it's superstition that you kind of believe on the field?

• 30:00Speaker 01

  I'm not superstitious. I believe in good habits.

• 30:02Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Great.

• 30:02Speaker 01

  Every stadium I go into, I find a spot in the stadium. Like when I'm playing MetLife Stadium, for example, where we won the Super Bowl, I look at the sign where it says life and just thinking about, man, everything I've been through. And think biblically too and scriptures around that. And so like, I'm like, find a spot in the stadium I can look at to bring me back to ground zero, to bring me back to neutral.

• 30:21Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Beautiful. Proudest moment of your career so far?

• 30:24Speaker 01

  Winning the Super Bowl, I think was definitely pretty cool.

• 30:27Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Yeah.

• 30:29Speaker 01

  To win it here and just to win it in New York, like, just pretty cool to hold that trophy. And I'm striving to find a way to win another one.

• 30:38Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Amazing. Parent who's listening has kids in sports. One piece of advice for a parent with a kid playing sports right now?

• 30:44Speaker 01

  My piece of advice is let them play as much as they can. Man, like what football did for me, because I played multiple sports. Everybody said I was too freaking small. I couldn't do it. And there's no way. He's only 5'11", maybe 5'10". Like, you know, like, there's no chance. He's going to play a different position. You know, I've been fortunate to throw for a lot of yards, a lot of touchdowns and win a Super Bowl and a lot of games. And just knowing kind of internally what God put in you and go for that.

• 31:12Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  Well, thank you for this conversation. Thank you for sharing so much of your story and this has been awesome.

• 31:17Speaker 01

  Thank you, guys. It's so much fun. Appreciate you. You're amazing.

• 31:20Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  I have so many takeaways from this conversation with Russell, but there are three that are really loud in my mind, so I want to share them with you. Number one, adversity is where growth happens. Russell talked about a type of joy he has in adversity. And if you really have a long-term mindset, if you're really focused on growth, then adversity is where you actually have the most opportunity. And that's kind of exciting. Two, watch yourself talk. I love when he said, "Not around me." Like, we have to really watch the words we say, the words our kids say. And sure, we want to see where they're at, but we really have to pay attention to the track that plays over and over in our mind.

• 31:59Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  And three, look for the ability to be addicted to the process instead of the outcome. And I think this is really true in our own lives. We can get so caught up in the outcome and what something looks like to someone else. And to a compliment someone gives us, all that makes us feel good. But what's so protective for our own self-esteem and confidence and grit and resilience is to gaze in, what do I love doing? What are my systems? What are my habits? Can I become kind of addicted to the way that lights me up or gives me purpose? Because that will protect me from kind of my mood being at the whim of the latest outcome in my life.

• 32:38Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  This was an amazing conversation and I am so excited for the next one with another Nike athlete. Let's end the way we always do. Place your feet on the ground. Place a hand on your heart. And let's remind ourselves, even as we struggle on the outside, we remain good inside.

• 33:03Dr. Becky Kennedy?

  I'll see you soon.

• 33:08Dr. Becky Kennedy?

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• 33:52Dr. Becky Kennedy?

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• 34:29Dr. Becky Kennedy?

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• 35:12Dr. Becky Kennedy?

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