# Financial Tips: Former NFL player discusses financial literacy and lifestyle discipline faced by professional athletes that can apply to entrepreneurs.

An episode of [Money Making Conversations Master Class](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1264705641), 7 Apr 2026, 28 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/b1db7263-d1a3-4d00-8976-af62012aab44/71ba3b5f-ac2c-4e61-b3db-b426015d1b76/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=35a10561-3e1b-4d05-a529-af62012aab6a

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Al Smith. Interview Purpose The purpose of this interview is to explore life transitions, resilience, and financial discipline through the lens of elite performance, using Al Smith’s journey from NFL All‑Pro to executive, entrepreneur, and community leader as a blueprint. The conversation highlights how preparation, education, mindset, and adaptability are essential when dreams evolve or abruptly change. Major Themes & Key Takeaways 1. Education as a Safety Net and Strategy Al Smith made the deliberate decision to finish his college degree before fully committing to the NFL, recognizing that professional sports offered no guarantees. This choice gave him leverage, confidence, and security—both mentally and financially—throughout his career. Key takeaway: Always secure something tangible before going “all in” on an uncertain opportunity. 2. Turning Fear into Fuel Smith openly discusses fear—fear of being cut, fear of competition, fear of uncertainty—and how he learned to convert fear into motivation rather than paralysis. He treated each season as if it were his last, approaching preparation with urgency and focus. Key takeaway: Fear is inevitable; how you respond to it determines longevity and success. 3. Competition Is Not the Enemy Competition played a central role in Smith’s development. Rather than avoiding it, he embraced it, understanding that growth requires discomfort. He credits adversity, pressure, and coaching challenges with sharpening his performance and character. Key takeaway: Competition strengthens discipline and reveals accountability. 4. Financial Literacy and Lifestyle Discipline Smith addresses the common financial pitfalls faced by professional athletes, many of which also apply to entrepreneurs: • Lifestyle inflation • Supporting others without boundaries • Delegating financial decisions without understanding them • Trying to maintain an image instead of sustainability Smith’s financial stability was aided by mentors, personal involvement in decisions, and a mindset focused on not owing—not just earning. Key takeaway: Financial success is not about income—it’s about control, habits, and awareness. 5. Mentorship and Environment Matter Smith emphasizes the value of surrounding himself with successful, disciplined people both on and off the field. Mentorship influenced how he thought about money, effort, competition, and leadership. Key takeaway: Proximity shapes thinking; environment influences outcomes. 6. Preparing for Life After the Dream Even while succeeding in the NFL, Smith planned for the transition ahead. This forward thinking led to opportunities in the front office, business, and leadership. He viewed this transition as a chance to open doors for others and to understand the business side of sports. Key takeaway: The end of one dream can be the beginning of a larger purpose. 7. Athletes and Entrepreneurs Face the Same Reality Smith draws a direct parallel between: • Athletes competing yearly with no guarantees • Entrepreneurs running businesses without security or routine Both require maximum effort, preparation beyond the clock, and resilience. Key takeaway: There is no 40‑hour workweek when you are building something of your own. Notable Quotes “I turned my fear into fire.” “There are no guarantees—every year is a one‑year deal.” “I treated every season like it was…

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Welcome to my show.
[0:01] Speaker 2: I'm Rashon McDonald, a host of Money Making Conversations Masterclass,
[0:04] Speaker 2: where we encourage people to stop reading other people's success
[0:07] Speaker 2: stories and start planning your own. Now, you don't want
[0:10] Speaker 2: to miss an episode, so please take a moment right
[0:12] Speaker 2: now to follow or subscribe to Money Making Conversations Masterclass.
[0:16] Speaker 1: It's free.
[0:17] Speaker 2: You can follow me on the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, Apple Podcasts,
[0:21] Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your podcast. New money Making
[0:24] Speaker 2: Conversations Masterclass episodes drop daily. I want to keep you
[0:28] Speaker 2: on alert because my guests provide tips on how you
[0:30] Speaker 2: can uplift your community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or
[0:34] Speaker 2: advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Now, let's
[0:38] Speaker 2: get this podcast started. My guess is a farmer all
[0:41] Speaker 2: pro in the NFL. That's right, the NFL, National Football League.
[0:46] Speaker 1: He's an executive.
[0:47] Speaker 2: He's an author, speaker with over twenty five years of
[0:49] Speaker 2: leadership experience in sports, business, broadcasting, in community. I have
[0:54] Speaker 2: him on my show today to talk about the big
[0:56] Speaker 2: transition when you have a dream and that dream can
[1:00] Speaker 2: change overnight or they dream you see coming to an end. Please,
[1:04] Speaker 2: welcome to Money Making Conversation master Class. Al Smith, how
[1:08] Speaker 2: you doing, mister Smith.
[1:09] Speaker 3: Doing good, doing good, pleasure to be here.
[1:11] Speaker 1: You know off air, we know, thank you. First of all.
[1:14] Speaker 2: You know, I've been wanting to get you on the
[1:15] Speaker 2: show for a while. And the reason I wanted to
[1:17] Speaker 2: get you on the show for a while because the NFL,
[1:21] Speaker 2: which is the most popular sport in America, and I
[1:25] Speaker 2: should say as they're spreading across this inter and out here.
[1:28] Speaker 2: They got games coming in Australia, they got games in Germany,
[1:31] Speaker 2: the games in England, Brazil, so it's becoming a worldwide sport.
[1:34] Speaker 2: Tell us about your NFL experience.
[1:36] Speaker 3: Al Oh, well, my experience, it was a good experience.
[1:40] Speaker 3: I mean one of the things with me, I was
[1:43] Speaker 3: drafted out of Utah State University in the sixth round.
[1:47] Speaker 3: They had twelve rounds back then, so when I look
[1:49] Speaker 3: at it, it was like you got a fifty to fifty shot.
[1:51] Speaker 3: I was, you know, to make the team. At that time,
[1:55] Speaker 3: you weren't able to finish school. Didn't have rules for
[2:00] Speaker 3: you to finish school before you you know, after you
[2:02] Speaker 3: got drafted. Now, BEFO, you get drafted to let kids
[2:05] Speaker 3: finish school before they have to report to the team.
[2:08] Speaker 3: Right back then they didn't. You know, it's almost like,
[2:11] Speaker 3: well you got drafted, a lot of guys just you know,
[2:14] Speaker 3: quit school and just go. But I looked at it
[2:18] Speaker 3: as it was fifty fifty shot, like it's no guarantee.
[2:21] Speaker 3: Now if I quit school and then go and get cut,
[2:22] Speaker 3: then I have nothing. So my whole thing was that
[2:26] Speaker 3: I had to get something out the deal. As far
[2:28] Speaker 3: as something out the deal is like, okay, well, how
[2:31] Speaker 3: much time can I miss? Because if you trust that
[2:33] Speaker 3: we were on a quarter system, right and the quarter system,
[2:35] Speaker 3: if you miss it, you know, two three weeks, you know,
[2:37] Speaker 3: that could be you know, detrimental to you obviously your grade.
[2:40] Speaker 3: And I was like in my spring semester and here
[2:42] Speaker 3: our man at the finish line on the ten yard line.
[2:45] Speaker 3: You just go, you know, you go quit. You know,
[2:48] Speaker 3: I couldn't do that and live with myself with no
[2:51] Speaker 3: guarantee of making the team. You know. It wasn't like
[2:54] Speaker 3: big you know, big money at that time, whatever the
[2:57] Speaker 3: case may be. But you had your dream, got drafted,
[3:00] Speaker 3: you have an opportunity and all these type of things
[3:02] Speaker 3: like that. So what I did was talk to teachers
[3:05] Speaker 3: and whatever would give myself the opportunity, UH, to see
[3:09] Speaker 3: how much time I can miss because at that time,
[3:11] Speaker 3: four linebackers were drafted the year I was drafted, so
[3:14] Speaker 3: I had three other guys that played linebackers, you know,
[3:18] Speaker 3: two before me and one after me, and they all
[3:24] Speaker 3: stayed and what have you. So I stayed as long
[3:27] Speaker 3: as you know, stayed during many camps and did all that.
[3:29] Speaker 3: So I'm feeling like, Okay, they're getting ahead of me
[3:31] Speaker 3: or whatever the case may be. But I found out
[3:33] Speaker 3: how much time I was able to leave from school,
[3:36] Speaker 3: and once I knew that, the teachers were allowed me
[3:39] Speaker 3: to you know, to miss up uptil a couple of
[3:41] Speaker 3: weeks or whatever the case, and I make up whatever
[3:43] Speaker 3: I need to make up. But those guys stayed the
[3:45] Speaker 3: whole time from that April draft all the way into
[3:48] Speaker 3: the training camp. So I stayed as much as I could,
[3:53] Speaker 3: learned as much as I could, went back, got my degree,
[3:58] Speaker 3: and I felt like I got one out of the two. Okay,
[4:00] Speaker 3: I got one thing done. So now I'm all in
[4:03] Speaker 3: as far as making this team, so you know, locked in,
[4:08] Speaker 3: you know, locked into UH training camp, locked into what
[4:12] Speaker 3: have you. I was fourth on the on the depth chart.
[4:15] Speaker 3: I'm looking at the line like this shot, I'm in
[4:18] Speaker 3: the back.
[4:19] Speaker 1: And what team is this we're talking about in the NFL?
[4:24] Speaker 3: This is the Houston Oilers, which are now the Tennessee Titans,
[4:26] Speaker 3: where people don't know who the Houston Ollars were and
[4:30] Speaker 3: I don't.
[4:30] Speaker 1: He needs to stop. It's painful. It's painful. I don't.
[4:33] Speaker 2: Don't bring up the Houston Dollars, okay, Earl Campbell days
[4:35] Speaker 2: because I'm a Houstone that I just wanted you to
[4:38] Speaker 2: say what you you on before y'all left in the
[4:41] Speaker 2: night in the.
[4:42] Speaker 3: In the night that too. I hated that too, but
[4:46] Speaker 3: that was above my pay grade.
[4:47] Speaker 1: Absolutely.
[4:48] Speaker 2: You know the reason I'm bringing that up because you know,
[4:51] Speaker 2: I you know, like I said, I'm a Houstone and
[4:53] Speaker 2: I knew when you got drafted because I was a
[4:55] Speaker 2: one hundercent all in fan of the Houston Ollars at
[4:58] Speaker 2: the time, and I still called you when the team
[5:01] Speaker 2: went to Tennessee. Fear stops a lot of people from
[5:05] Speaker 2: making decisions, all the right decisions, like you know, should
[5:08] Speaker 2: they move, should they take a job. But you had
[5:12] Speaker 2: fear looking you square in eyes, and plus you saw
[5:15] Speaker 2: competition looking your square and eyes, and as a young man,
[5:18] Speaker 2: you had to make the right decision for you.
[5:20] Speaker 1: How did you do that?
[5:22] Speaker 3: Well? I did it. Uh. I turned my fear into fire, Okay.
[5:29] Speaker 3: And yes, you know I didn't know. You know I
[5:33] Speaker 3: could have you know, got cut because I didn't you know,
[5:35] Speaker 3: I wasn't there the whole time, whatever the case may be.
[5:38] Speaker 3: You know, I got teased. At that time, our head
[5:40] Speaker 3: coach was Jerry Young Glanville. You know they you know
[5:42] Speaker 3: they you know, they were harder on rookies back then
[5:44] Speaker 3: than the of the day. So you know, it takes
[5:47] Speaker 3: shots at.
[5:47] Speaker 1: You, you know, hazy, let's go say it was.
[5:51] Speaker 3: You know, you know, defend in school and you know,
[5:54] Speaker 3: like shots, you know, take a little shots. But I
[5:57] Speaker 3: took it. I took all the shots and took all
[5:59] Speaker 3: the negative. I had a good conversation with Warren Moon.
[6:02] Speaker 3: You know, he's an LA.
[6:03] Speaker 1: Guy too, in the Hall of Famer, Hall of Famer and.
[6:06] Speaker 3: The Hall of Famer, and uh, I had to talk
[6:08] Speaker 3: to Warren. He's like, you know, man, I'm really struggling
[6:11] Speaker 3: with this, you know, this decision of what to do
[6:13] Speaker 3: and what have you. And he told me, you know,
[6:15] Speaker 3: being a veteran, being obviously a leader on the team
[6:18] Speaker 3: and he told me, you know, you're too close. It's
[6:20] Speaker 3: finish school. You come you know, to come back, and uh,
[6:24] Speaker 3: you know you'll make the team. You know, you know,
[6:25] Speaker 3: gave me some confidence. You know you'll make the team.
[6:27] Speaker 3: Everything go work out, blah blah blah. And that's what
[6:31] Speaker 3: that's what happened. And I went back, Like I said,
[6:32] Speaker 3: I was in the back of that line and kind
[6:34] Speaker 3: of you know, a week by week you just kind of,
[6:36] Speaker 3: you know, you move up a little bit, you move
[6:37] Speaker 3: up a little bit, got one guy get hurt, and bam.
[6:42] Speaker 3: You know, by the third pieces of the game, I
[6:45] Speaker 3: was They put me in the lineup as a starter
[6:48] Speaker 3: to see how I would respond. Wow, responded well and
[6:52] Speaker 3: then started started every NFL game ever played after that.
[6:56] Speaker 2: Congratulations. Now you know I got to get this out
[6:59] Speaker 2: the way. You know, whenever we watch college games, it's
[7:02] Speaker 2: always high mom.
[7:03] Speaker 1: Never high Dad. You know, saying that's a negative.
[7:06] Speaker 2: And in your bio you say your mom played a
[7:09] Speaker 2: critical role in your life.
[7:10] Speaker 1: Please talk to us about that.
[7:13] Speaker 3: You know, my mom was an angel. She was like, uh,
[7:18] Speaker 3: a side of assassin so to speak. You know, she could,
[7:21] Speaker 3: you know, had big carry a big stick. But then
[7:24] Speaker 3: talk a lot of what have you. I had both
[7:26] Speaker 3: of my parents together. My parents got divorced as I
[7:28] Speaker 3: was going you know, after my senior year of high school,
[7:31] Speaker 3: so you know, I was going away during that time,
[7:36] Speaker 3: but my mom was always there through you know, injuries
[7:39] Speaker 3: through uh no you know, you know, a dollar in your.
[7:43] Speaker 1: Pocket, no, n I l back then games.
[7:49] Speaker 3: You know, you can be playing in the cousins, play
[7:51] Speaker 3: in the conference with no money. But at the same time,
[7:57] Speaker 3: I mean, you figured it out. You learn how to compete,
[7:59] Speaker 3: you learn how to uh to adapt, you learn how
[8:03] Speaker 3: to overcome, and all those type of things that I
[8:06] Speaker 3: think has helped me today and helped me in my
[8:08] Speaker 3: life as far as all those type of things, because
[8:11] Speaker 3: I think that's where kids struggled now to little competition,
[8:15] Speaker 3: I'm out of here, you know, a little friction, or
[8:18] Speaker 3: the coach didn't talk to me that you know the
[8:20] Speaker 3: way I talk. You know he wanted to talk, or
[8:22] Speaker 3: didn't guarantee a starting job. You know, if you didn't
[8:25] Speaker 3: get guaranteed to start a job, well I'm gonna go
[8:27] Speaker 3: to you know, switch.
[8:28] Speaker 2: Transfer portal, transfer portal, and I am that opportunity. You're
[8:33] Speaker 2: not paying me enough money, you know, talking to Al Smith,
[8:35] Speaker 2: and you know, he entered the NFL by being drafted
[8:40] Speaker 2: by the Houston Orllers and then they went up to Tennessee,
[8:43] Speaker 2: uh and became the Tendency Titans. But he's still a
[8:45] Speaker 2: good friend of mine and I appreciate made all proll.
[8:49] Speaker 1: You know, it's really interesting.
[8:51] Speaker 2: I was fortunate get my degree in mathematics, got me
[8:55] Speaker 2: a job at IBM. Okay, and at that time, when
[8:58] Speaker 2: I got that job at IBM, they had never laid
[9:01] Speaker 2: off anybody in the history of IBM. So I felt
[9:04] Speaker 2: that was a job that I probably would have been
[9:07] Speaker 2: if I probably would have retired. Now, when you get
[9:10] Speaker 2: drafted in the NFL or basically any major sport, there
[9:13] Speaker 2: are no guarantees. How do you first of all, this
[9:16] Speaker 2: is an excitement and another compliment accomplishment to get drafted.
[9:20] Speaker 2: Do you have to compete for your job every year?
[9:23] Speaker 2: How do you wrap your mind around a position or
[9:25] Speaker 2: an opportunity that it could be a let's not even
[9:28] Speaker 2: talk about the injuries that it could be taken away
[9:31] Speaker 2: from you through competition, and there's no guarantee to longevity.
[9:39] Speaker 3: Well, well, that aspect is very tobah because you're fighting
[9:45] Speaker 3: and gets the unknown, right, so right, you know, by
[9:48] Speaker 3: doing so, at least for me, my mind mechanism or
[9:53] Speaker 3: against that was I treated each year. Well, first of all,
[9:56] Speaker 3: when you get drafted, it's no guarantee you to make
[9:57] Speaker 3: the team. You still have to make the team. You
[9:59] Speaker 3: have to get drafted. So a lot of people that
[10:00] Speaker 3: you get drafted, oh yeah, you know, everybody, let's go
[10:03] Speaker 3: spend some money. Well, you still got to make the team.
[10:06] Speaker 3: And then once you make the team, and then obviously
[10:08] Speaker 3: that but then after you make the team that year.
[10:10] Speaker 3: Each year is a one year deal, so you have
[10:13] Speaker 3: to make the you know, still make the team every year.
[10:18] Speaker 3: So I went into each year as if it was
[10:20] Speaker 3: my last one. So I prepared as if each year
[10:24] Speaker 3: is my last year, knowing that I still want to play, uh,
[10:28] Speaker 3: you know, putting in the effort, being prepared both mentally,
[10:32] Speaker 3: mentally and physically to make the team. So if they
[10:35] Speaker 3: took my job, they're gonna remember me. So you know,
[10:39] Speaker 3: I will be remembered by the fact that my play, uh,
[10:44] Speaker 3: my study, my work ethic, all those type of things
[10:47] Speaker 3: will not be questioned or denied or whatever the case
[10:53] Speaker 3: may be. And I could live, you know, be able
[10:54] Speaker 3: to live with that, and I had the fact that
[10:56] Speaker 3: I had finished school and finish my degree behind me
[11:01] Speaker 3: as a motivation too, right, and that I had something
[11:03] Speaker 3: in my back pocket.
[11:04] Speaker 1: Right cool.
[11:06] Speaker 2: You know, I got to get to the bottom line
[11:07] Speaker 2: of the financial because when you financial literature that you know,
[11:13] Speaker 2: that was one of the talking points because we see
[11:16] Speaker 2: the story's bankruptcy, not knowing how to deal with the
[11:20] Speaker 2: cash flow relatives. If you had to say off the front,
[11:24] Speaker 2: because I want to stay on this subject of matter
[11:25] Speaker 2: a little bit longer, because again I'm just reminding everybody.
[11:29] Speaker 2: I brought Al on the show because he is a
[11:32] Speaker 2: small business owner. When he got drafted in the sixth round,
[11:37] Speaker 2: he was a businessman brought on there. He had to compete.
[11:40] Speaker 2: There were no guarantees, don't that's how familiar when you
[11:42] Speaker 2: open your own business, they are no guarantees. He had
[11:46] Speaker 2: to give effort. He had to If the store open
[11:48] Speaker 2: at six o'clock, he had to be at five o'clock.
[11:51] Speaker 2: Same thing with the NFL. You know you always hear
[11:54] Speaker 2: that thing. He's there before the coaches get there. That
[11:56] Speaker 2: means the maximum effort the coaches leading, he's still there.
[12:00] Speaker 2: Doesn't that sound like a small business owner. I mean,
[12:02] Speaker 2: the extra effort means that there's no such thing as
[12:05] Speaker 2: a forty hour work week when you are a small
[12:07] Speaker 2: business owner.
[12:09] Speaker 1: With that being said, you.
[12:11] Speaker 2: Have heard and seen and lived with a lot of
[12:14] Speaker 2: disastrous financial literatary stories. What are the issues that you
[12:19] Speaker 2: think pop up for athletes who are small business owners
[12:23] Speaker 2: and who fail to understand the value of their money
[12:26] Speaker 2: or how to distribute their money.
[12:27] Speaker 3: Talk to me, Well, well, as far as a lot
[12:31] Speaker 3: of times, you guys, you know, you know obviously come
[12:33] Speaker 3: out on the league and they have a certain lifestyle
[12:39] Speaker 3: that they're trying to keep, or they may be married
[12:43] Speaker 3: with someone that has a lifestyle. You know, a lot
[12:45] Speaker 3: of people think because they're around you, your lifestyle is
[12:48] Speaker 3: their lifestyle, right, so they so they want to ride
[12:53] Speaker 3: with you. You know. So if you're cutting back, well,
[12:58] Speaker 3: that don't mean they want to cut back because they
[13:01] Speaker 3: used to, you know, going to the same restaurants and
[13:03] Speaker 3: having the same car or living in the same neighborhood,
[13:06] Speaker 3: all those type of things like that. And I was
[13:09] Speaker 3: very fortunate in my financial journey. Now, Rachan, you didn't
[13:14] Speaker 3: know that, but I had a brother that played in
[13:15] Speaker 3: the league before me. Cool, so my brother. He was
[13:19] Speaker 3: drafting once you state, he was two years ahead of me,
[13:21] Speaker 3: and he got drafted by the Denver Broncos. And I
[13:24] Speaker 3: got a chance to see firsthand, you know, off season,
[13:29] Speaker 3: going up there, watching those guys work, you know, working
[13:30] Speaker 3: out with older guys, being around other guys before I
[13:34] Speaker 3: got into the league, I was able to see how
[13:36] Speaker 3: guys move and understand that. And with me, you know,
[13:41] Speaker 3: with that year to year in mindset, you know, I
[13:44] Speaker 3: looked at it as you know, hey, I just wanted
[13:47] Speaker 3: a good start in life, you know, get a good
[13:50] Speaker 3: used car and got my degree, got a little change
[13:54] Speaker 3: my pocket. I could start off life. Would love that,
[13:58] Speaker 3: you know, get a card, a little in the bank,
[14:00] Speaker 3: and go get a good job. So but so with
[14:04] Speaker 3: that being said, I think a lot of guys struggled
[14:07] Speaker 3: with that because of the fact that they are trying
[14:10] Speaker 3: to uphold some kind of image or or some kind
[14:14] Speaker 3: of standard that they feel like they have, you know,
[14:16] Speaker 3: that they feel like they have to keep up with
[14:18] Speaker 3: but don't have the wherewithal or the means to do so.
[14:22] Speaker 3: Post you know, you know, post you know, playing or
[14:24] Speaker 3: whatever the case may be, or or giving their money
[14:29] Speaker 3: to other people and relying on other people to make
[14:32] Speaker 3: those decisions and not being involved with those decisions. And
[14:35] Speaker 3: I always always had great mentors and having those mentors
[14:41] Speaker 3: when it came to money. Uh, what's those saying, Rashaan?
[14:45] Speaker 3: If you know, if you know, hang around nine broke people,
[14:48] Speaker 3: you're gonna be the tenth one, you know. So I
[14:51] Speaker 3: always was around people who were successful. I remember this
[14:55] Speaker 3: one time in Houston and you and you know the
[15:02] Speaker 3: player with the rockets, John Lucas and guys like that
[15:06] Speaker 3: in Houston. Uh, we're great mentors. And one time we
[15:12] Speaker 3: and every time we used to do workouts, there were
[15:15] Speaker 3: always a mental session. I learned. I learned three you know,
[15:19] Speaker 3: three words O w E versus O w N. Just
[15:24] Speaker 3: three words do you want to o or do you
[15:26] Speaker 3: want to own? And I learned that early. It's three words.
[15:32] Speaker 3: I mean anybody can learn these three three three letters.
[15:35] Speaker 3: I mean anyone can learn those three letters with Sean right,
[15:38] Speaker 3: Oh O O w N versus O W E. And
[15:42] Speaker 3: I tell my son and all the time he's like, yeah, Dad,
[15:44] Speaker 3: I get it. But you don't want to you know,
[15:50] Speaker 3: you don't want to owe people. And I always kind
[15:54] Speaker 3: of live by that and and kind of put myself
[15:56] Speaker 3: in a situation where if a job or a ball,
[16:00] Speaker 3: or you get cut or IBM or somebody say, oh
[16:03] Speaker 3: we're laying you off right that your whole world don't
[16:06] Speaker 3: get flipped upside down based on how somebody else felt
[16:10] Speaker 3: when they woke up that morning.
[16:12] Speaker 2: Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
[16:14] Speaker 2: Money Making Conversations master Class. No need for you to
[16:17] Speaker 2: do me a favor right now to follow or subscribe
[16:21] Speaker 2: to Money Making Conversation. It's free and you can find
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[16:40] Speaker 2: Conversations master Class with me Rashaun McDonald. When did your
[16:44] Speaker 2: dreams start shifting because you were blessed, you got drafted,
[16:48] Speaker 2: you had your degree, you're in the NFL, you're getting success.
[16:52] Speaker 2: When did your dream start shifting to outside of that?
[16:57] Speaker 3: Well? Well, while I was playing always like I said,
[17:00] Speaker 3: look what I was like, I told you like each
[17:02] Speaker 3: year I played like it was my last year right now,
[17:05] Speaker 3: my last year end up being you know, eleven years later.
[17:08] Speaker 3: I mean, you know, had a nice career, but within
[17:12] Speaker 3: that when it got to the end, as far as okay,
[17:14] Speaker 3: do you want to squeeze you know, you know, kind
[17:16] Speaker 3: of bounce around, squeeze out another year or what have you.
[17:19] Speaker 3: I was very fortunate to be offered a front office
[17:22] Speaker 3: position with the team that I played all those years with.
[17:25] Speaker 3: They say, hey, we want you. You know, I'm like, what,
[17:27] Speaker 3: you know, that doesn't that doesn't happen often, you know,
[17:30] Speaker 3: like a lot of people going to coaching or other
[17:33] Speaker 3: things like that. But they offered me a position in
[17:35] Speaker 3: the front office. So with that, I'm like, at first,
[17:39] Speaker 3: I was you know, you know, hesitant for you know,
[17:42] Speaker 3: like being around the players now I'm in the front
[17:43] Speaker 3: office and things like that. But I felt like it
[17:46] Speaker 3: was an opportunity to be a trailblazer or to open
[17:51] Speaker 3: some doors for others that look look like us, to
[17:55] Speaker 3: be able to be on that side of the table
[17:57] Speaker 3: and to see that the show was possible and being
[18:00] Speaker 3: able to do those type of things on on that
[18:02] Speaker 3: side of the fence. And that's when it is shifted
[18:05] Speaker 3: to me as far as you know, you know, the
[18:07] Speaker 3: business mindset and how the business of football worked, and
[18:12] Speaker 3: how the business of sports work and how I was
[18:16] Speaker 3: able to help teach guys that were coming in to
[18:20] Speaker 3: you know, to get that mindset on the front end
[18:23] Speaker 3: and at the back end. And and by doing so,
[18:26] Speaker 3: that was kind of fulfilling and rewarding for me to
[18:30] Speaker 3: be able to give, you know, to give back, but
[18:32] Speaker 3: at the same time be able to uh, you know,
[18:34] Speaker 3: fulfill some dreams and that which created other opportunities which
[18:40] Speaker 3: you know, allow me to be a part of the
[18:42] Speaker 3: league even in you know today, uh and in certain fashions.
[18:47] Speaker 1: Here's an interesting thing about it.
[18:51] Speaker 2: I remember when I was in I mean I think
[18:53] Speaker 2: probably in the fifth grade, I got tackled and I said.
[19:00] Speaker 4: Get this, this is not for me. Okay, I got
[19:05] Speaker 4: tackled in the fifth is the fifth grade? I had
[19:08] Speaker 4: a rude of working that by being a football player.
[19:12] Speaker 3: Well, can I tell you one thing real quick, like
[19:15] Speaker 3: when it comes to that, Like I didn't play tackle
[19:18] Speaker 3: football until the tenth grade, okay, and before that was
[19:22] Speaker 3: flag But in l A, you know, flag was kind
[19:25] Speaker 3: of like street flag. You know, you kind of hit
[19:30] Speaker 3: but just tackle, but.
[19:33] Speaker 1: You're still Yeah, that's what I'm talking about street flag ball.
[19:38] Speaker 3: So I feel like I was a little battle tested
[19:40] Speaker 3: when the past came on. It was like, oh, this
[19:42] Speaker 3: is easy. You know, I don't have to get you know,
[19:46] Speaker 3: skin mart on the streets.
[19:48] Speaker 1: A year older brother. I had six sisters.
[19:51] Speaker 4: Okay, they can't give me no advice about flag football
[19:54] Speaker 4: in the street.
[19:55] Speaker 1: I got tackled.
[19:56] Speaker 2: I can turn no brother, big brother, go hey, you like,
[20:00] Speaker 2: get up and stay there.
[20:01] Speaker 1: I stayed down there, and well, this is not for me.
[20:04] Speaker 3: What that had even the pressure, well, that's that was
[20:06] Speaker 3: pressure right there. Having an older brother. Yeah, not just
[20:09] Speaker 3: was he not not just athletically. I had accomplishiation academically
[20:15] Speaker 3: because my brother was a good student and I didn't
[20:18] Speaker 3: really you know, I wanted to be okay student, you know.
[20:20] Speaker 3: So it's always like so I always had to come
[20:21] Speaker 3: behind him with teachers or different people. So the expectation
[20:25] Speaker 3: for me was always like, oh, you're gonna be you know,
[20:28] Speaker 3: like I'm gonna be like my brother, you know. You know,
[20:30] Speaker 3: so my mother had to kind of draw that line
[20:32] Speaker 3: like you know, we got two different you know, two
[20:34] Speaker 3: different people and blah blah blah. And had to deal
[20:37] Speaker 3: with some coaches coaches on that too, like but that
[20:42] Speaker 3: you know, that was a drive to uh uh, you know,
[20:46] Speaker 3: to prove your worth, so to speak of accountability. But
[20:51] Speaker 3: but you know, you know best. So I lost you know,
[20:53] Speaker 3: lost my you know, I've lost my brother since then.
[20:55] Speaker 3: But he was kind of like a role model because
[21:00] Speaker 3: your first fights, your first everything goes, you know, go
[21:04] Speaker 3: through your big brother, you know.
[21:05] Speaker 2: Right right, right right, and the lesson because he started
[21:08] Speaker 2: them in the end of them in the bedroom.
[21:10] Speaker 3: Okay, you can't get in there.
[21:17] Speaker 1: I love it.
[21:21] Speaker 3: Do some.
[21:25] Speaker 1: Knuckle up, as they say, knuckle up, knuckle up.
[21:27] Speaker 3: You know.
[21:28] Speaker 2: Here's the thing that always amazed me about football players
[21:32] Speaker 2: and and then and they and it's such a physical sport,
[21:35] Speaker 2: you know. And I you know, stevenhi Smith one of
[21:38] Speaker 2: my clients, and I was in the cv A.
[21:40] Speaker 1: I said, man, that's the only I know.
[21:42] Speaker 2: When somebody is over there going I'm gonna run really
[21:45] Speaker 2: hard in this direction, and then another guy go, no problem,
[21:49] Speaker 2: I'm gonna run really hard at you from the opposite direction.
[21:52] Speaker 1: And we're gonna meet and were cool with it.
[21:56] Speaker 2: Now, if it ain't the craziest thing I've ever heard
[22:00] Speaker 2: in my life, knowing that this person is as as
[22:04] Speaker 2: as adamant by going in this direction and you, by
[22:07] Speaker 2: this adamant is stopping him from going in that direction.
[22:10] Speaker 2: Talk about the mentality of a professional football player.
[22:13] Speaker 3: Well, for me, and I tell people that today, people like, oh,
[22:17] Speaker 3: you know you mild mannered, you know, how did you
[22:19] Speaker 3: play football? But that was a different dude when I played.
[22:24] Speaker 3: That was a different guy. That's not the guy that
[22:27] Speaker 3: you've been talking to. So that was you know, that
[22:30] Speaker 3: was a different individual to where you know, you kind
[22:34] Speaker 3: of transformed this in some to somebody else. And and
[22:39] Speaker 3: like you said, to run into a wall or three
[22:41] Speaker 3: hundred pounders or you know, you know, car crashes every day.
[22:46] Speaker 3: It has to be something more a driving force, right,
[22:50] Speaker 3: other than just that. Yes, it was an opportunity for
[22:57] Speaker 3: financial stability. Yes, it was opportunity to change your your
[23:03] Speaker 3: family tree, uh, an opportunity to make a name for yourself,
[23:09] Speaker 3: all those type of things. But you had to try.
[23:13] Speaker 3: At least I had to transform myself. A lot of
[23:14] Speaker 3: guys transformed ourselves into somebody different on the field. But
[23:19] Speaker 3: the problem comes a lot of guys can't turn it off,
[23:22] Speaker 3: and that same person goes off the field and off
[23:27] Speaker 3: the field, people don't understand that, and other people don't
[23:33] Speaker 3: accept that type of mentality off the field. And I
[23:38] Speaker 3: was able to uh to be able to turn it
[23:40] Speaker 3: off when I got off the field. It was like
[23:43] Speaker 3: two different people. And that's how I survived. And a
[23:49] Speaker 3: lot of guys have done well with that and some
[23:51] Speaker 3: guys have struggled with that. And you know, and that's
[23:55] Speaker 3: the difference.
[23:57] Speaker 2: Speaking of Al Smith from our pro got draft by
[24:00] Speaker 2: the Houston Dollars. That's treating transferred themselves to become the
[24:04] Speaker 2: Tendency Titans. And we were talking about entrepreneurship, small business owner,
[24:08] Speaker 2: financial literacy, overcoming the odds. That's all part of history.
[24:13] Speaker 2: When you as we close here, Al and you know
[24:15] Speaker 2: you're talking to the entrepreneurs. You know you're talking to
[24:17] Speaker 2: small business owner. You know, it's talking to people who
[24:19] Speaker 2: are afraid to make changes in life, people who have
[24:23] Speaker 2: to overcome the ards sometimes to even go to work
[24:26] Speaker 2: every day. What advice would you give them? And then
[24:29] Speaker 2: don't be short of words. You can take time to
[24:32] Speaker 2: present yourself.
[24:34] Speaker 3: I'll repeat the longer time. I'm sorry.
[24:36] Speaker 2: What I'm saying is that there are people that are
[24:39] Speaker 2: listening to this interview and you're a person who overcome
[24:42] Speaker 2: the odds, your person who basically, like you said, every year,
[24:46] Speaker 2: look you treated every year like it was new year,
[24:49] Speaker 2: which means that there's fear tied to that you overcame
[24:51] Speaker 2: that fear and you were successful at it. Well, that's
[24:55] Speaker 2: the same thing that happens to small business owners and entrepreneurs.
[24:59] Speaker 1: What advice would you give at them?
[25:01] Speaker 3: Well, first and foremost to never give up on your dream.
[25:07] Speaker 3: When I look at being able to, you know, provide
[25:10] Speaker 3: at that time, you know, for my mother when she
[25:12] Speaker 3: was here or or or or taking a load off
[25:16] Speaker 3: of that because at that point she was a single
[25:19] Speaker 3: mother because you know, we had she had divorced my uh,
[25:25] Speaker 3: you know, my parents got divorced me going into college,
[25:28] Speaker 3: so for me to come back and like you know,
[25:31] Speaker 3: you know, don't worry about it. But you know, I
[25:33] Speaker 3: was very fortunate to have a family. You know, they
[25:35] Speaker 3: still like to work. And it wasn't like, hey, take
[25:37] Speaker 3: care of me, take care of me, but you know,
[25:39] Speaker 3: it was kind of like I'm there if they needed me.
[25:41] Speaker 3: But I didn't you know, I didn't get that, you know,
[25:45] Speaker 3: for my family as far as pulling on me in
[25:47] Speaker 3: that way. And I was able to, you know obviously, uh,
[25:50] Speaker 3: you know, take care of my momy and help my
[25:52] Speaker 3: mother and all that you know in her for the
[25:54] Speaker 3: rest of her life. But at the same time not
[25:59] Speaker 3: giving up when your uh uh uh, staying stead fast
[26:03] Speaker 3: to it. Don't let obstacles and competition. Do not be
[26:07] Speaker 3: scared of competition just because you know there's a little adversity,
[26:12] Speaker 3: a little being uncomfortable, because that's what kids nowadays, when
[26:17] Speaker 3: they get uncomfortable they shut down, or a little resistance
[26:20] Speaker 3: they shut down. There's no difference when you get you know,
[26:24] Speaker 3: you work out, whatever degree you work out, or to
[26:29] Speaker 3: get gained every now and then, you got to, you know,
[26:32] Speaker 3: put a little bit more strain. You have to maybe
[26:34] Speaker 3: add a little bit more weight, you may have to
[26:36] Speaker 3: go a little bit more distance, you may have to
[26:39] Speaker 3: uh you know, go at some extra time. But to
[26:43] Speaker 3: get those gains, you have to have a little strain.
[26:47] Speaker 3: And don't be scared of the strain because you know
[26:50] Speaker 3: the strain. You know, the gain out weighs the strain.
[26:53] Speaker 2: I tell you the incredible ass Smith, I want to
[26:55] Speaker 2: take your time for coming on Money Making Conversations master Class, an.
[26:59] Speaker 1: Interview that's long overdue.
[27:01] Speaker 2: That when the future will be a lot that wind
[27:03] Speaker 2: will be a lot of shorter al because you're incredible brother.
[27:06] Speaker 2: And I say that because a lot of honesty in
[27:10] Speaker 2: this conversation, a lot of success in this conversation, because
[27:15] Speaker 2: longevity and NFL comes with sacrifice, comes with hard work.
[27:19] Speaker 2: It also comes with a badge of honor because it's
[27:22] Speaker 2: not a chief I think I read I would listening
[27:24] Speaker 2: to this says like.
[27:24] Speaker 1: Three years and four days. It's an average life of
[27:27] Speaker 1: the NFL football player.
[27:29] Speaker 3: I was like, wow, but you don't get hurt.
[27:32] Speaker 1: Yeah, you don't get hurt. But again, you will get
[27:35] Speaker 1: hurt in the NFL. That's the nature of that sport.
[27:37] Speaker 1: But again, thank you for coming to on Money Making Conversation.
[27:39] Speaker 3: Al Oh, thank you, Joe. I appreciate you.
[27:42] Speaker 1: Guys, thank thank you, thank you for listening to this episode.
[27:46] Speaker 2: No, I need for you to do me a favor
[27:48] Speaker 2: right now to follow or subscribe to Money Making Conversation.
[27:52] Speaker 2: It's free and you can find it on the iHeartRadio app, Spotify,
[27:56] Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please do
[28:00] Speaker 2: me that favor, follow or subscribe Money Making Conversations.
[28:05] Speaker 1: Keep winning.

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