How NFL Players Can Win in a Down Market | NFL Players' Podcast #52

In this episode of the AWM NFL podcast, host Riccardo Stewart is joined by Sam Acho, Jeff Locke, and Zach Miller to explore situational investing for NFL players in volatile markets. Drawing parallels between situational football and market strategies, they discuss how athletes can capitalize on current market conditions while managing risk. Gain invaluable insights into sticking to financial plans and viewing market downturns as opportunities rather than obstacles.

Key Highlights:

• The importance of situational investing similar to situational football strategies.
• Current market conditions and their implications for stocks globally being down.
• Advice on the significance of sticking to long-term financial plans and being a diversified investor.
• How NFL players can view market downturns as opportunities to buy valuable stocks at a discount.
• Real-world examples and insights on how diligence in tax considerations can save players significant sums of money.
• Practical tips on market behavior and the importance of having a non-anxious presence in volatile times.

Quotes:

• "The little things still matter." – Sam Acho
• "Stick to your plan. You don't get midway through the game, have some adversity, and just rip up and create a new game plan." – Zach Miller
• "Stock market corrections are a feature of the market, not a flaw." – Jeff Locke
• "Have a non-anxious presence, trust in your plan, trust in the team that you've hired." – Riccardo Stewart

Creators and Guests

Host

Jeff Locke

Wealth Strategist and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) at AWM Capital

Host

Riccardo Stewart

Former college character coach and Director of Human Capital & Family Leadership

Host

Sam Acho

Director of Human Capital and Impact and an in-studio and game analyst for ESPN.

Host

Zach Miller

Former NFL player and current CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®)

What is NFL Players' Podcast?

The podcast by NFL players for NFL players. Each week, we break down the biggest events in football and how they directly impact a player's career and money.

Join Former NFL Veterans Sam Acho (Bills, Bucs, Bears & Cardinals), Zach Miller (Seahawks & Raiders), Jeff Locke (Vikings, Colts, Lions, 49ers), and college coach, Riccardo Stewart, for a raw and unfiltered conversation about the game, the business, and how players can achieve generational wealth.

Riccardo Stewart: Hey, I wanna
welcome you guys back to another

episode of the A-W-M-N-F-L Podcast.

My name is Ricardo Stewart, and
I'm your host and I'm joined with

the Mayor, Sam Macho, the professor
Jeff Locke, and then the truth.

Zach Miller.

Um, you know, we were talking
about some different things on the

podcast the last couple weeks, but I
thought given the climate and where

we're at in terms of the market.

I thought we'd just take a little
side just to like, discuss kind of

what's happening and maybe ask you
some questions, um, to answer for our

listeners, for our clients about what
the heck is going on in the market.

And so lemme start here.

One of the things that Bill Belichick
did as a coach that was, I thought

was great, is really highlight
the idea of situational football.

Now, that was going on before
Bill Belichick, but he really

highlighted and situational
football in short is the unique

challenges that come up in the game.

To particular situations and
how do you prepare a team?

So down in distance, what
time of the game is it?

Is it the end of the game?

It's at the end of the half.

And like the unique challenges
you need to be prepared for.

And I, and I thought when it comes to
the market, is it situational investment?

Or given that we're, you know, just
finished March Madness, is it more like

basketball where every basketball coach
knows there's gonna be runs and some

team's gonna have a run and you gotta
withstand it and then you'll get yours?

Or which one is it?

And so I wanna be able to talk
to you guys about the situation

that we find our ourselves in.

And so the professor, Jeff.

Just if we can staple, take a step
back and I'll ask you just in general,

like what's happening in the market of
recent, and I should say this because

we're recording this on April 8th, 2025,
and things could change by the time

that this gets published, but yeah.

Jeff, what's going on?

Jeff Locke: Yeah, I appreciate
the, uh, the date stamp there.

So I'm not called out later on this,
but, uh, as of now, since the beginning

of the year, across the globe, stocks
are down about 10%, a little bit more.

In the US it's even more, we're
talking 13, 14% stocks being down.

So if you're reading the headlines, you're
seeing stuff on social media, a lot of

people saying a lot of things about what
is, what is going on in the stock market.

We'll talk about it a little bit later,
but like what makes our clients unique

in this circumstance is that you might be
fully insulated from this in a way, right?

You might be in a spot where like you
have cash to deploy, you have cash

to invest, and it's actually a good
time to be investing in stocks, right?

Really depending on what your plan says.

But we'll dig more into that.

But overall, markets are down.

People are, people are scared.

Riccardo Stewart: Yeah, I mean
it's, it's in this particular day,

it's hard to look at your social
media, the turn on the screen and so

forth, and not hear a lot of noise.

Um, mayor, the man of the people.

As you're interacting, you know, at
ESPN, as you're talking to NFL players,

as you're talking to our clients,
what are some of the questions,

concerns, or thoughts that you hear?

Sam Acho: The biggest thing I hear is
that the little things still matter.

What do I mean by that?

I was talking to A-A-A-N-F-L
player, multimillion dollar

guy, high draft pick, et cetera.

And I was just sharing with him how, uh,
there was a client of ours who plays with,

uh, team in LA and based off some tax
stuff that the team missed, we actually

ended up saving that client over $80,000.

And so I ran into this other guy who's a
teammate of his, and I shared with him,

Hey man, like, mind you, this guy's like,
like I said, high draft fit, whatever.

I was like, Hey man, you might
wanna look into that because

that's a thing that would actually
be a big time benefit to you.

You would think based off all the money
he made, he'd be like, oh no, I'm good.

He was like, no, dude.

Let me know what the information,
send me all the things you can send me

because I don't wanna miss out on that.

Whatever that amount might be for him.

Maybe it's less, maybe it's more.

And so for me, what stood out was
that it doesn't matter how much people

are making right now, there's still a
sensitivity to money that is leaking

outta their pockets, either intentionally,
uh, that's or maybe unintentionally

that they don't know about.

Riccardo Stewart: Door open.

Yeah.

Well, we talk about this
situation, Zach, and situational

football, situational investment.

I, I just wonder in terms of, I.

Today and now, and I know you're
talking to a lot of our clients and

you're usually the person on the team
that everybody calls is, is what do

I do if I'm a current NFL player,
like my age, my income, so forth.

Zach Miller: So I can't
emphasize this enough.

You gotta stick to your plan.

You don't get midway through the game,
have some adversity, and just rip up

and just com Create a new game plan
if you're well diversified, if you,

if your team you work with has planned
for these events like we do here.

You're already set up to
take advantage of this.

So one of my biggest pieces of advice
is as an NFL player, you have the

opportunity to keep earning great
income and put that money to work.

So down markets are an opportunity for you
every, every transaction in the market,

every time you see those big down days,

there's

a buyer for every seller.

So if you are that buyer, you are coming
in and scooping up deals at discounts on.

Great investments that have
always in the past, recovered

markets have always recovered.

So yes, every crisis is
gonna feel different.

You're gonna feel, um, you're gonna
feel a new reason to want to sell

a new reason to panic, but when you
have a strong hand, like every NFL

player does with that kind of income.

Um, you should be, you should
feel good about buying.

You should feel good about
putting money to work.

You shouldn't shy away from the markets.

Your advisor should educate you and
keep you informed as much as possible.

And for a long-term investor, those
short-term market moves, they just don't

matter In the grand scheme of things,
You're not planning to sell for decades as

a long-term investor, which we recommend
everyone be a long-term investor.

All you do as a short-term investor

or short-term trader.

Is

get eaten up by capital gains and misses,
uh, missing out on market returns.

And so staying, staying a long-term
investor during these times, and that's

with the caveat that you're diversified,
that you own, um, thousands of companies

that all are gonna navigate tariffs.

They'll navigate the next
crisis, they will navigate them.

It doesn't look good in the short
term, but they, they will come out

ahead and they will provide, um.

Those returns as they have in the past.

Um, there's no guarantees, but that's,
that's what markets have done in the past.

So you can bank on that.

You can bank on your

financial

plan, assuming your team has
built out a protective reserve,

assuming they have built out, um,
that strategy with cash flow so.

that you can smartly put money to work
when markets do what they're doing now.

Riccardo Stewart: That's good.

Like, Sam, I'm gonna put you on the spot
as you hear Zach talk and then, and you

hear him answer the question, what sort
of things come to your mind a as as it

relates to the, the men and women who
you've been talking to and listening from?

Sam Acho: The biggest thing that comes to
my mind is to see this as an opportunity.

What do I mean by that?

I remember I got drafted in 2011, and
that was right after the financial

crisis of 2008 2009 and I remember.

I didn't see that as an opportunity.

I instead was afraid, y'all heard the
story about Giannis who said, okay,

I have all this money and there's FDI
insurance at banks, so I'm gonna put

my money at all these different banks.

So it can kind of be, in short,
it's like there's better ways to

actually think through crises.

And I think one of the ways is
almost like Zach saying is thinking

not just for the next 5 years,
but think for the next 50 years.

Not just the fi next five minutes, but
the next, you know, like five, like.

5, 10, 15, 20 years thinking long term.

Uh, I think as I go back to it now,
when I made the NFL and and walked

into a, a, a large sum of money, that
would've been a great opportunity

after that crisis to invest.

But I didn't, I made a mistake.

I said, I took the yoss approach,
like, okay, how do I keep my

money as safe as possible?

So if you have people who you trust,
which is hard, I get it, but people

you trust who actually understand what,
what the markets have done in the past.

At least can give you a, a basic
understanding of, okay, what may happen.

No one knows the future, but what
may happen or what has happened.

That'll give you a better understanding
of the opportunity that's at

hand rather than walking in fear.

Riccardo Stewart: Professor,
why don't you wrap it up for us.

Two things I'd like you to give
our listeners, NFL players.

Two things to consider when we see
markets do what they're doing right

now and maybe one thing not to do.

Jeff Locke: Love it.

I think first thing you consider
is, how does this impact my plan?

Right?

Point blank.

Has my plan changed?

Have my priorities changed?

Has something changed
with my family situation?

Do I wanna do something different
with my money in the future?

None of that's changed if your
plan is built right, this doesn't

impact you in the slightest, right?

Second, stock market corrections are
a feature of the market, not a flaw.

The reason that you earn money in the
stock market is because there is such a

potential to lose money if you don't hold
it together when the markets are down.

That's why you earn is by having
your behavior in check during

these times when others don't.

That's why you earn more than
them, The thing not to do.

Piggybacking on that is to
act rashly out of emotion.

When you see a headline, I.

Right.

Think about who those
headlines are for, right?

And what those headlines are meant to do.

They're meant to drive clicks and
earn, ad earn, ad revenue, right?

It's not actual specific advice
for you and your situation.

So take a breath for what we all gotta do
in these situations and stick to the plan.

Riccardo Stewart: I love it.

I love it.

I guess the, one of the ways to just
wrap all that together is we started

off with situational football.

We know some of the best leaders,
whether it be point guards, quarterbacks,

receivers, D ends in those situations
where the game was on the line.

The people who you look forward to
or you look to for leadership are

those with the non-anxious presence.

And so the one thing we would say to wrap
it all up is have a non-anxious presence.

Trust in your plan, trust in the
team that you've, that you've hired.

And, uh, continue to ask questions.

If there's anything we said today that
you have questions on or you wanna

know, what does it mean to even have
a plan, uh, please reach out to us.

You can, uh, text us
at 6 0 2 9 8 9 5 0 2 2.