Ryan Leaf - Former NFL QB & Current Host of "The S

Mark Cuban how you do anything is how you do everything if you're not you don't pay attention to detail on the little things You're not gonna be an habit of paying attention to detail for the big things. Can Griffey Jr Hey, he wears his hat backwards. Well, where my hat is because my bad head of throw and I wonder where it's at And if I put

a hat on at 86 and you know, he's got a eight and a half and I got like a little five It's not going to be stay on my head Genea Buss Thank you for having me. Let a nice turnout. It's good to see everybody John Smolts is if you don't have the imagination and the willingness to fail or not being afraid to fail I don't

think you can be truly great Candace Parker I have so much hope for this generation coming up that I've grown up with women in sports in leadership roles on television Speaking about sports speaking knowledgeably about sports. How a result to me all the word that I've done a lot humanitarian work that I've done As always giving me great perspective has allowed me to keep my feet

on the ground and has really put and reminded me what's truly important. Damien Miller. That was for Seattle. Just to name a few. Welcome to sports business radio. Now here's Brian burger. Well, thanks for joining us on this edition of sports business radio a great gas lined up for you this week. Ryan Leath the number two. I'm going to pick in the 1998 NFL draft by

the San Diego Chargers. He was a Heisman trophy candidate at Washington State one of the most decorated college quarterbacks ever. He's going to join me for a candid and raw conversation about his NFL career. Incarceration addiction and how he's turned his life around I just love his story. Leath is now a dad. He's a keynote speaker. He's the host of a new sports talk show called

the straight line with Ryan Leath and he's the subject of a 10 episode podcast. I mean, you would have talked about being reflective and being honest. If you listen to that 10 episode podcast series, it is just that. So I highly recommend that podcast series. I'm joined by Brian Griggs our executive producer, Greg. How are you? I'm doing good. And yeah, I mean Ryan talk about

a guy that's been through it all and has totally changed his life to something amazing. So cool interview. He's really candid. I love how open he is and how just direct he is with it and uses his life as an example of how to learn from it. And grow from it. So it's a pretty cool interview. Much like Michael Vick who we've also had on this

show. Ryan Leath just owns his past and you know, it's amazing how fatherhood and getting married and you know, just good opportunities like this new show with points about USA has turned his life around. But he's worked really hard for it. He is a great public speaker friend of mine saw him speak and connected us and I thank her for that. But you're going to enjoy

this conversation. And mentally it's just a human conversation. It goes way beyond sports. All right, let's get to some sports business headlines before we get to the Ryan Leath conversation. Griggs, what's going on in the NFL? To get's can cost. I thought we had a protocol in place to protect these players from themselves. But the NFL, the Miami Dolphins, I have friends there. So I hate

to say this. The coaches, trainers, the doctors. They all failed to you've got to protect the players from themselves. Studies show that two concussions happening in a short period of time, like in a week is like getting five concussions over a longer period of time. He should have never been cleared to play. And then what in the world. I'm in Arizona right now. JK watt went

into a fib last Wednesday. It is heart shock back into rhythm on Thursday. And he played in an NFL game. On Sunday. Have we lost our minds? I mean, do people not remember? Hank Gathers who I knew well, read you. You know, I was slow. I'm like, what are we doing here, Griggs? Well, and you're playing with a brain injury and a heart thing. I mean,

those are kind of two major. They're serious. Yeah. They're not just like, you know, I got to scratch my arm. I can play. But yeah, I couldn't believe it. When I watched that first Sunday game with two, when he couldn't even stand up and walk off the field. And then the next drive he's playing, I'm like, that doesn't seem right. And then Thursday, starting, you know,

five days later, I'm like, okay, that's that's weird. And then he gets blasted. It's just unbelievable. And I agree. Like, where's the protocol? Where's the? I mean, I'm going to be a system here. And I know that that doctor has already been, you know, relieved of his duties. But, uh, man, this is just seems crazy. And the JJ what thing is this baffling? I mean, you

have to protect the players from themselves. There's always going to want to play. They don't want to lose their spot in the lineup. They don't want to let their teammates down. You know, a lot of them are getting bonuses for how many snaps they take. So of course, they're going to want to play. But I mean, those three athletes, I just mentioned they all wanted to

play to Hank Gathers, Regi Lewis, Flow Heimuth. They're all dead. Is that what it's going to take here for us to protect players in the NFL is someone going to have to die on the field of play like in gladiator before we go, huh, maybe we need to rethink some things here. I mean, I thought we were making progress apparently not. There needs to be people

fired. There needs to be people find. I mean, this is ridiculous. And I don't know that I'd let to a play again this year. He's going to really have to prove to me over a period of time that he's okay. Like I said, studies show if you get two concussions right on top of each other in a short span like he did in the course of

a week, it's like getting five concussions. And, you know, how many people do we need to see with CTE that have killed themselves that have had long term brain damage. Where you go, well, this two are going to become one of those guys. Like you got to protect the players from themselves. Again, I know they want to play, but protect them from themselves. Yeah, I mean,

I think we've talked about it too. It all goes back to you. You mentioned the Almighty dollar. You know, these guys have money in the line. They've got, you know, in their contract, hey, if you play this game, you're going to get more money. Like we're seeing with like, Rob below. Now he's getting paid extra just because he's playing. And it's just like, yeah. And the

NFL game is so fast and so violent more than ever. These in these quarterbacks are getting hit almost every play after they throw the ball after they run. I mean, they're getting hit all the time. So it's like, I agreed to it should be out. If not two, three weeks, the rest of the season. Yeah. All right. One more topic I want to cover since we

had our SBR vault last week. Phoenix sons are officially for sale as are the Mercury, the WNV 18 Robert Sarver. We said, you know, last time we were with you, sponsors, stars like LeBron James and Chris Paul, when people start pressuring, then that's when there could be a sale. And now it looks like there's going to be a sale. Forbes and Sportico says the suns are

about $1.8 billion. Griggs, I'm going to go out in a limb. I'm going to say four. $1.8 billion or more for the sun. I just think they're in a great market. I'm in Phoenix right now. There's a lot of wealthy people here. These teams don't come up very often. They're a good team. You know, you got Devon Booker on the team. You got Monty Williams is

the coach. You got James Jones is the GM. I think it's going to go for four billion plus the name that keeps coming up as Jeff Bezos from Amazon. Of course, he can buy whatever he wants. He's one of the wealthiest people in the world. You know, you've got Bob Eiger, whose friends with Chris Paul from his days at Disney. He's got a lot of money,

but he'd probably need to get some people to come in on the purchase with him. But, you know, all in all, look, this wasn't the Donald Sterling situation, but certainly in a roundabout way, a sale has been forced. And, you know, Robert Sarver, who's been on the show, did some pretty bad things according to the investigation. But he's going to walk away with a truckload of

cash. So, you know, it's just like Donald Sterling. You punish him, but are you really punishing him? Because he's getting paid a lot of money, like, paying, punish me by paying me billions of dollars. Right. He definitely wins. He will win when he gets the team sold for sure. And I think it will be way more than 1.8 billion. But, yeah, I think Fienz is a

good market. I love the Jeff Bezos name because look, Amazon is really trying to get in the sports thing. We see with, there's a knife football. They're trying to add more live programming with sports. So I think it'd be a great deal. I love the Phoenix market. I think it's a great team. It's a growing team. It's a good fan base and a great place to

live and a great place to run a team. So I think it should sell fairly quickly. And it'll be interesting to see how much it goes for. All right, Greg. Before we get to our conversation with Ryan Leif, I want to welcome a new sponsor to the sports business radio family of sponsors inside tracker. Transform your body's data into true knowledge, meaningful insights and customize action

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data. So this is this is going to be good. Like I said, we'll talk about it more, but welcome inside tracker. All right. Coming up next. A great conversation with Ryan leaf human conversation. This is a guy who's got an inspirational story. You're listening to sports business radio. We'll be right back. When it comes to your health and longevity, you hold nothing back. You understand what

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inside tracker store. Just go to inside tracker.com forward slash SBR. That's inside tracker.com forward slash SBR. My guest is Ryan Leif. He was the number two pick in the 1998 NFL draft. He was selected by the San Diego Chargers after starring at quarterback at Washington State. He's now a dad, the keynote speaker. He's the host of a new sports talk show with points bet USA and

NBC sports. It's called the straight line with Ryan Leif. He's an analyst for ESPN college football. And he really shares some of the things that he's going to do. This is poignant story via the 10 episode podcast called bust. We'll talk about that. You can follow him on social media at Ryan. The leaf Ryan. Thanks for joining me on sports business. Radio. How are you? I'm

doing well. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Yeah. I just I followed your story for a long time. I think we're kind of close to the same age and I'm so impressed with your comeback. I think it's one of the great stories in the last 20 years. For people who may not have followed your story super closely, you were drafted like I said by the

San Diego Chargers. It was really between you and Pete Manning for the number one pick. You grew up, you know, you weren't a part of your you weren't using drugs. You had good parents. When did things start to kind of turn into an adverse situation for you? Probably, you know, after after a couple of those losses. San Diego, I never really failed before or at least

I thought I hadn't failed before. I had failed, you know, multiple times in my life. Don't get me wrong. I just I didn't see it as that. And now I was failing at the highest level in front of the entire world. And I was not equipped to deal with that in a healthy way. And so I. I behaved and reacted the only way I knew how

to and that was to be defensive. Fight back, dig in, you know, be the big strong athlete. Like I'd always been because I was always able to self correct by by performing well. But when you're at the highest level of your occupation. Where there's the best of the best, you know, you can't do that with your central nervous system on tilt all the time. And so

I crashed and burned really publicly. And and then I compounded that by not seeking any sort of help with my mental health distress and and shows to self Medicaid. And the only way I know how to. I have a lot of athletes on this show some current some former. It seems like now there are better resources when it comes to mental health for athletes athletes aren't

as afraid to talk about mental health issues. Do you think if there had been some of those resources. And so that's why I think there was a lot of resources back when you played that things might have been different. I think there was always resources. There's always been those resources. I think the stigma that surrounded mental illness. I mean, in real life, I'd never seen it

in TV or movies or anything like that. It was. There was a toxic masculinity to the sport I played in. The culture I grew up in in Montana, where it was a cowboy culture. So if you'd never seen it, how would you know how to to do that? How would I have known to say, Hey, I need help here. Can somebody help me. And so therefore,

even if, you know, even though there was resources available, I didn't view them as positive. I viewed them as shameful. It was a shaming way. If you went to a therapist, that means there was something wrong with you. And that's what the stigma does. And the stigma still exists. It still holds people down all the time. People really admire a lot of people speaking up and

how spotlights being shine on it. But that stigma is still incredibly influential. It stops people from asking for help still they may look at my story or hear me speak and go, that's amazing. What an amazing story and everything like that. But people still don't act because of the stigma that still exists. And so it's important that we continue to tell our story and shine a

light on it. So, you know, 10 years from now, the stigma doesn't exist at all. So when somebody is going through something similar that I was, it's not even a second thought to be like, boom, I need some time for me. And I think we saw that with Calvin Ridley a year ago. We're seeing it from some other individuals who are at least on the athlete

side of things, which I think is a good sign. Yeah, I mean, I look at Kevin Love, Demard, DeRos, and you mentioned Calvin Ridley and yourself as people who are helping to change that stigma. This is not a weakness. This is something a lot of us battle. Yeah, definitely. I think it's, I think it's more app for people to deal with this type of illness than

anything else. Right. I mean, it's just with social media, with the pandemic and the isolation, the anxiety and social distress and things like that nature. I think it's important. That you have an outlet, that you have an ability to express those feelings in a safe environment where you can be, you know, diagnosed. You know, I think that's the biggest thing for a lot of us. We

want to know why. And when you have a mental health disorder, it's invisible. So unless you have somebody really able to diagnose that and show you like, this is what this is, you don't necessarily know if you can confront it or combat it. And so that's why that was huge for me when I went into treatment. To finally get a dual diagnosis and understand, you know,

what it was and not just me being lazy or, you know, or just, just a junkie, you know, things like that. It was important to know why. As a human being, we're invested in why something's happening and how we can maybe, you know, solve that or try to. Yeah, the thing that is both a blessing and a curse for a lot of young, pro athletes, the

money, you come into locks of money and there are many pro athletes. It's well documented that they don't know how to handle that new found fortune. What was that like for you? Do you think you were well equipped, handle that money? Or do you look back and go, oh, I could have known a lot more about how to handle that money. Yeah, I didn't, you know,

my parents were amazing. My dad, you know, built his business up and, you know, did it with character and integrity and we didn't necessarily want for anything growing up. But I also knew we didn't, you know, we weren't. I also didn't know the exact details of what my parents were going through, you know, and living paycheck to paycheck and things like that. They just always took

care of us boys. So I never thought money would change me. And I honestly can tell you that that money changed me like money gave me the idea that I was more important than anybody else. It was the money power. And prestige aspect of what made you a success. And now I had all of it. And you weren't going to tell me anything. You know, I

pushed away the people that tried to hold the mirror up to me and show me my behavior. I had all the answers now because I had all the money, the power that came with that. And so, yeah, I had changed me. I just, if there was an inkling of superficial mindset because I was a great football player, that was exacerbated, you know, tenfold when you added

the money. The money to the equation. I've listened to your ten episode podcast bust. I think it's phenomenal. I can't remember too many athletes being as forthcoming and reflective as you are in that podcast series. When did things hit rock bottom for you? When did things turn around? I mean, I've had Michael Vick on this show and I asked him to explain to our audience. When

you were lying in the prison cell night one, and you would lost your freedom, you were the highest paid player in the NFL, like, take me into that cell and the mindset. When did you hit rock bottom and go, oh my gosh, I got to turn this around. You know, I don't think I ever did. You know, I don't think I ever did. I think rock

bottom ultimately is when you just don't get back up. So it just, it took time. Even when I started to change and do things differently while I was in prison, I still didn't know what was happening then, right? It's like the, you know, you can't see the forest, you know, through the trees mentality. It ultimately was starting to be of service to other people. That's what

changed it for me, but I didn't know what was happening then. So I don't believe I've hit rock bottom. Prison was not a deterrent. I could go stand on my head in prison for the next 20 years and be fine. It's a choice on whether I want to be there or not. And I'm choosing at the time right now, not to be in there anymore, because

I can quickly remedy that by, you know, going back to my old life tomorrow. I'll be right back in prison or dead in a gutter somewhere. So I don't, I don't think there was ever a rock bottom. You think it would be, you know, going to prison or you would think it would be, you know, attempting suicide. But no, no, that's not, that's not it. That

bottom would ultimately be where you just, you don't get back up. You talk about service to others. One of the things you've mentioned is one of your prison mates kind of dragged you into helping some of the other prisoners learned to read. And that was a service to others. Did that kind of change the mindset a little bit. Yeah, that was the moment. I mean, but

I didn't know it then. It was just something that I did. I can't tell you why I did it either. I had, I've had many of those kind of come to Jesus moments in my life, family from mentors from coaches. So I can't tell you why I went. He suggested we go down and help prisoners who didn't know how to read, learn how to read. And

I went. I mean, I still did it begrudgingly. I was thought he was stupid thought it wasn't going to help me. And I just looked at him like, doesn't he know how important I am. And the irony of that is the guy in a red jumpsuit, you know, in a prison thinks he's still important. That's, that's the sickness. So my narcissism there. So I started doing

that and this is where I found out. And this is where the first time I ever saw another man in a place where you're supposed to show no vulnerability. Go, Hey, I don't know how to read Ryan. Can you help me? And I, you know, I looked around like what, what's wrong with this dude. And so it was just two men in real adverse conditions really

helping each other out. And so I kind of knew that was going to have to be the foundation for when I got out. So when I got out. You know, I tried to use that as a guiding path to like, okay, this is, this, this never can be about you again. This has to be about someone else. And that's important. And so that's where I started

making it that that's, I didn't, I didn't, like I said, I didn't, didn't know when it was happening. I just started to realize I was, you know, sleeping better. I was more personable. I was speaking to family, things like that. Little shifts and in personality and behavior. And emotional, you know, emotional cutie and things like that. But, you know, I never, never fully understood it when

it was, when it was happening. I can't go like, I can look back now and point to that. But, you know, not at the time it was happening. How does one shed narcissism and ego? Service. I mean, you make it about other people. I mean, narcissism is, is all about you. It's all about you. Everything that I'm going to do is, you know, I'm going to

do it. You do or say or think it has to do with you. So if you make it about somebody else, that will, that will subside a little bit. I mean, I, I think even if you have narcissistic personalities, sort of which I do, that's never going to go away. You know, you just have to, you have to curb it and you have to be aware

of it and understand it. Because it's just, I think it's also, it was a driving factor in my success too, right? Because of how I worked and how I went about my business. It's a tricky, tricky slippery slope there when you're, when you're talking about it, can take you in a really bad direction. It can take you to, to real success too. I think some of

the greatest athletes of all time who have been champions, stuff are, are incredible narcissists. You know, and so it's, it's a matter of being aware of it, understanding it and, you know, not feeding it. And so that's, that's kind of what I figured out. If you made it about somebody else, like your life got better. That's ironic to me. I thought it had to be all

about me for my life to get better. But when you make it about somebody else, your life gets better. And that is, that flew in the face of everything I thought was, was right or, or how, how to go about things. You're listening to sports business radio. We'll be right back after this. Hey, everyone, Brian Berger here. And I've got my rain long sleeve gray Heather

Camo. I've got my rain long sleeve hoodies. I am wearing the shorts for workouts. The seven inch Mako shorts. So I'll tell you what, from top to bottom, whether it's casual or business wear, Ron has me covered. I know they're going to have you covered too. And Ron is offering sports business radio podcast listeners 15% off your purchase. Go. To Ron dot com, R H O

N E dot com and enter code SBR 15 at checkout, like sports business radio 15 SBR 15 at checkout, receive 15% off your purchase. That's Ron dot com R H O N E dot com and enter promo code SBR 15 at checkout. Now back to sports business radio with Brian Berger. You are a seven time felon. You are a recovering. There's more than I feel like

a double digit. No, I think it's just seven. I think there's probably more. Okay. How do you earn trust? Because you know, you're working with points about USA. You've worked with ESPN. You've worked with Kevin Conley of Entrage fame on the bust podcast. You've obviously earned trust of these companies and people that you're working with. You've got a rocky past as we've discussed and it's well

documented. How have you re-earned that trust? Action. You know, I'm a good storyteller. I can I can tell you what you want to hear. But bottom line is it's about action. And I received an award on Friday night for my work in the recovery community in Los Angeles. And two people came up to me during the event. And one said that I had gone to her

school when it was first starting out a recovery school to speak, you know, for nothing. Just when no one else would give her that in the time of day, I came and spoke. I didn't even remember doing that to be honest. It was five, five, six years ago. But I did it. And then there was another gentleman that walked up and he just started a treatment

facility and he had he passed me four years ago or something on the golf course him and his buddies. And I was ahead of them and at a t-box one time they came up and introduced themselves and he said I was so kind and nice. And that wasn't me. My whole life when people talked about meeting me or interacting with me it was like I met

that Ryan Levy what an asshole, you know, that's that's how I was used to hearing. And so what happens is you become your your own referral both those individuals. I had communication with the event planner and this and they were doing a trying to decide who who was the most impactful people in the recovery world in Los Angeles this last year. And, you know, they became

referrals of mine that I didn't even know I had because of how I treated someone else in the moment when it wasn't about me. You know, it was I made it about them. And that's what builds trust. And it takes time. And there are going to be people who do that. You don't trust me ever again and rightfully so. And I have to understand that. So

I just, you know, I don't buy into what other people think of me. Is any of it a bit of my business. If they choose not to want me to be part of something that they're doing that's that's their prerogative and I understand it. But those that do give me a chance that do lift me up and support me. I absolutely work my tail off for

them and we'll we'll do so. Because I have perspective and gratitude that I think a lot of other people don't when given second opportunities like a second third fourth opportunities like I've got. One of the things that I think is really difficult about being a celebrity or a pro athlete is every interaction you have with someone that's probably their only interaction with you ever. And, you

know, some people are going to go, hey, that guy's an A whole other people are going to go that guy changed my life with what he said and help my personal recovery. How is that, you know, always having to be on or judged when you're interacting with anyone. And like I said, that may be their only interaction with you. Well, if it's if it's false, then

you have to be on. But if you if you change and that's the person you become, then you never have to be on. I mean, everybody has a bad day. Don't get me wrong. Like life is still life. Life isn't fair. It's about how you deal with it that matters. So. I found over the last seven years since I've been out of prison that I've attempted

to be that version of myself. Because I know what it feels like to be treated poorly to be seen as, you know, a number warehouse, you know, marginalized. And I don't think I ever had that perspective before until I went through what I went through. So I think it's given me a ton of gratitude. My wife gives me a hard time because every night I would

I lay down at bed. I love my bed. I found the best mattress in the world and I love it. And I just I cut a lump in it and I just dig around it and I just she just hears me on the other side there go. And so grateful for this bed. I love this bed. And she's like I get it. You love your bed.

But she doesn't she can't fully understand it. I slept on like a concrete slab for three years. Wow. Right. So there's perspective there. And there's gratitude there. You know, I hear people complain all the time around the golf course and somebody complains about the golf round taking too long. I always say, well, you know, it could be worse. And they're like, they kind of chuckle. And

I'm like, yeah, you could, you know, it could be in prison. And they just kind of like stop for a second. And they don't know if I'm being serious or not. I think it's, it's true. It's, it's all how you look at any situation. So when you interact with people, whether they treat you well or not, you know, you have a choice and how you deal

with that. And I try to choose the right. I don't make the right decision. I'm just trying to be better every day. Well, I think you're doing a good job. A few minutes left. When you were a keynote speaking, we connected through someone who saw you keynote speaking. What are your topics that you discuss typically? You know, it's, it's my story. If you've listened to my

podcast, like you have, it's, it's, it's that. It's an unvarnished transparent. A cat. Super accountable accounting of my life. But I want people to understand that, you know, this is about choice. You know, you're not a product of your environment. Life isn't fair. Like I said, it's about how you deal with it and how you deal with it is your choice. There's a fork in the

road all the time. Either you deal with something in a healthy, positive way or a negative and toxic one. And then when you do deal with something in a negative toxic way. And you screw up. And it's so good. It's embarrassing and humiliating. You just don't pack it in. Like everybody's like that. It's not the end of the world. And I think this day and age,

especially with, you know, great school kids and middle school and high school kids, and even in college, when they mess up and make a mistake. And it's embarrassing and people know about they almost just go off the deep end because of it. Like it's like the end of the world. And so I want to show them like, no, it's not. It's just it's today. You know,

and today, it can be bad. And tomorrow can be amazing. It's what you make of it. And it's your choice. And if you choose a positive and healthy way, I'm a perfect example of what a solution based life can look like. If you, if you are open-minded to that, if you're self-aware, and can take criticism when it happens. Like, you know, life seems to be going

pretty well for me. But I've surrounded myself with accountability partners. And sometimes I'm old Ryan and old behavior. Rears it's ugly head because it just doesn't go away after you've been something for 35 years of your life. And when they show it to you, you get angry and you're upset because you don't want to see that ugly version of you. You don't want to see those

character defects. But I've asked for it. I've asked for somebody to show me that so I can try to be better. And it's hard. And that's, you know, life isn't easy now. It's, I'm grateful for it. But it's, it is what it is like for everybody. We're all the same. We all deal with the same type of things regardless of how Instagram pretty our life looks

like in the eyes of everybody else. Bost, as I said, is a 10 episode podcast series. You got together with Kevin Conley. I know your wife helped as well. How did that project come together? And again, so self reflective. Not many people would be willing to do that. How did you kind of finally make this decision? All right. Now is the time to do this podcast

series. Well, my wife and I came up with this idea that we were going to pitch a TV show. To like ESPN or HBO or Showtime and stuff where, where I go to every genre of sport where there were individuals, men or women who had tons of expectations on them, like mine, and didn't maybe live up to them. And people may refer to them as a

bust or something like that. And the pitch was we're going to call the show bust. And I was going to be the host because there's not many other people that could sit in a room with the, let's say, Jermarcus Russell and ask him some questions. And if it gives me BS answers, me calling them on it, right? There's, you know, no one else can do that

type of thing. So we almost had it sold to Showtime. We thought we had it. And there was some big corporate merger. I don't know how it works. But we didn't end up making it. So me and Kevin were out on the golf course one day. And I was just like, he was talking to me about what his, what he was doing around the podcast world.

And I said, well, let's, let's repackage this maybe. Let's, let's, how about I be able to do this? I'm going to be the first skinny pig. How about I just, you know, and I think we first went in and thought maybe people maybe asked me questions. And then what we found. What nobody else did was just you in front of a microphone, unvarnished, telling your story.

And then have somebody who works in the entertainment side of things. And that's Kevin's world to produce it, right? You know, with sounds, things like that. The editing was amazing. We worked really hard on it for a long period of time. We had a lot of content to do. We also got content to do 50 episodes, you know, and we, uh, we whittled them down to

10. Um, and in the most impactful way we thought we could. And it's been astonishing and overwhelming to hear the response from people and how it's affected them. And, um, I had my arresting officer. I was a part of it. And he was blown away by my transparency, my brutal honesty. And that's what he said in the message. And I just thought, you know, it doesn't

cost me anything to tell the truth. I think people most, if people know who I am at all, they, they, they already think the worst of everything, right? You know, my telling of it is not going to make it any worse. In fact, uh, it, it, it may be worse in their eyes to hear it from me. What really happened? So it doesn't cost me anything

to be honest about that. I'm not ashamed of it. It's made me who I am. Uh, it's almost a badge of honor. Uh, of course I would have liked not to harm my community and things like that. Uh, while I was going through it and I've had to make a man and continue to make a living amends for that. But, uh, I'm, I'm incredibly grateful for,

for all of that that, that happened to me. I commend you tremendously. Two more questions. The straight line with Ryan Leif. Looks like you're having a lot of fun doing that show. You're in a new studio. You're working with points bet USA and C NBC. Um, what's that been like? Well, it's been amazing. Like, you know, you talked about what you introduced me. I mean, there's,

I've been a mercenary of sorts for the last six years. Like everybody's wanted to work with me, but just no one was like, you know, he's our guy. Right. Let's build something together. Yep. And, you know, points bet came in. And, and that's what they wanted to do. They wanted to back me. Uh, and I'm a, I'm a huge loyalty guy. Like, you have my back.

I have your back through anything. And, uh, and we're going to build something together. You know, I, I give a ton of, uh, you know, thanks to the likes of Rich Eisen who, when he is out, allows me to sit in his chair and be the host. And I think it's a big reason why I got this gig and why I got this gig. I got

this job because, um, not too many former players, uh, can sit in, uh, a chair solo for three hours and, and, and host to zone show. And so I was kind of a unicorn in that, and my agent was able to, you know, work with points bet and see what would be best. And we came up with this show concept. And it's, it's, was based around

football, mostly, you know, but all sports. I opened the show today talking about gratitude and about the great week. I had. And, you know, I was, I was, I was like, you know, I'm going to play, you know, I'm gonna do, uh, and I'm just gonna do a little bit of, you know, I'm gonna play, you know, and, I'm gonna play like, I'm gonna do a

little bit of, uh, music. Um, I'm gonna play like, uh, I'm gonna do a little bit of, uh, I'm gonna play like, uh, a weird, my wife gave to me and, and my son was there to see it. And so it's life. But it's sports. And that's what, that's exactly what my life is. My life is real life and it is sportsfuel. And so that's what

my show is. Uh, and there's a gambling aspect to it, which, which is the future of sports anyway. Um, and I think getting in on the ground floor there is a perfect way to help shape it and, and make it something special. So, uh, it's three days a week right now. We're jumping to four days a week, starting in the beginning of October. Um, and uh,

yeah, new, new studio in Manhattan. We've moved to Connecticut. Um, like life's, life's getting big. Life's changing. I'm a dad. I know when I became a dad, it certainly changed my perspective. I see a lot of things through my daughter's eyes. Um, your son is pretty young still. How do you, uh, how is your perspective change since becoming a dad? Well, I think, you know, you,

you probably know this when they lay, when they lay them in your arms, when they're born, um, for me, there was this moment of. Like this wave of unselfishness rolled over me. Like I knew from that moment. That moment on everything was going to be about him and her. Um, and that's what it's been. Like everything I've done has been about them. Um, you know, it

kind of keeps in tradition with what I needed to make my life when I got out of prison was to make it about other people. But when you have it, when you see the version of yourself, like he's me, I mean, he looks just like me, he's going to be like six foot nine. I mean, and, um, I it's the best thing I've ever done. You

know, best thing I've ever done. Um, and, you know, I screw up all the time. You know, as the new parents. Uh, like, all new parents do, yea. And, uh, I think it makes it, it makes it fun. And it also is a great teaching tool for me, because I don't, you know, as good as my parents were the stoicism of them, when they mess up.

They never let us really see it. You know, excuse me. I think it's important. My son knows like it's just?. I know the people I get asked for. I know I I can't read the Gospel, and I go for it, cause the way my parents say about this. We'll see the stuff, and hair band. Uh, you know, the old singers decided something's they'll do right now.GR

steer He's seen me mess up in front of him and stuff, and I remember one time he told me, cause I told them this to him many, many times. Um, when I messed up one time, he said, it's okay, dad, we all make mistakes. Um, that, that's the teaching tool. It sounds like something really simple, you know, something really, really simple. But when the guy that

you look up to the most, makes a mistake and can admit it and be okay with a move on. He is, he's in that place. He's in that place where he's able to know that he can mess up. He can go through life and screw up and, and uh, uh, acknowledge it and move on in a positive way. Great, great lesson. Uh, you know, like I

said, long time admire of your story and how you've turned your life around Ryan leaf. Uh, listen to bust the podcast. You can find it on podcast platforms everywhere. The straight line with Ryan leaf. Really great show. And uh, follow him on Instagram and Twitter at Ryan. The, the, Ryan has been a pleasure. Thanks for joining me on sports business radio. Of course. Thanks for having

me. I really appreciate it. They're listening to sports business radio. We'll be right back. This is episode of sports business radio has brought to you by Underdog fantasy, the fastest growing fantasy app ever released and the official gaming partner of sports business radio. And with early investors like Mark Cuban, Kevin Durant, Adam Shafter and Jared golf. I know that Underdog fantasy is made for people like

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