The Few Will Hunt Show

How does a fighter balance sobriety, family, and relentless pursuit of success? In this episode, Joey and Drew sit down with Pat Brady, a pro fighter (BKFC, PFL, Art of War champion), husband, father, and entrepreneur. Pat opens up about his journey from growing up in a tough neighborhood to overcoming addiction and finding purpose through faith. He shares raw stories of childhood discipline, near-death experiences, and moments of clarity that led him to sobriety. Pat talks about the challenges of raising his sons without the trauma he endured, balancing the demands of fighting, and staying grounded in his higher power. Tune in to hear how he turns life’s toughest lessons into strength for himself and his family.

The official podcast of Few Will Hunt, the world’s largest community of hard workers and Made in the USA apparel brand. Family-owned and operated and headquartered in Philadelphia. We’re on a mission to restore the dignity of hard work and help others live The Rules of The Few to strengthen ourselves and strengthen society. No entitlement or excuses are allowed here.

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Creators and Guests

Host
Drew Beech
Drew Beech is an entrepreneur and cofounder of Few Will Hunt. He spent several years in the sales and marketing industry, grossing over several million dollars in sales. But his love for the entrepreneurial journey and desire to escape the rate race started with his personal training business in college. Today, Drew leads the Few Will Hunt community alongside his cousin and cofounder, Joey in their mission to restore the dignity of hard work through the highest-quality American-made apparel.
Host
Joey Bowen
Joey Bowen is co-founder of Few Will Hunt.

What is The Few Will Hunt Show?

The official podcast of Few Will Hunt, the world’s largest community of hard workers and 100% Made in the USA apparel brand. We’re on a mission to restore the dignity of hard work and help others live The Rules of The Few to strengthen ourselves and strengthen society. No entitlement or excuses are allowed here.

Speaker 1:

My goal as a parent is to give my kids the environment that is most suitable for preparation for life. Right? Like, not comfort. Yeah. What whatever is that I've learned to be the the best conditions to be successful for when I'm no longer there.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Right? And, like, that's your goal as a parent is just prepare them for when you're not there.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Fuel Hunt

Speaker 3:

Show. What's going on, Eagles? Welcome to the Fuel Hunt Show. I'm Joey. I'm joined as always by my cousin and my cofounder, Drew.

Speaker 3:

And sitting to the left of me is one of the few, Pat Brady. I'm pumped to have you here, man. Welcome.

Speaker 1:

Joey, thank you, Drew. Thank you for having me. Long time coming.

Speaker 3:

Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Excited to be here, man.

Speaker 3:

Too long. Excited to be coming. Too long coming. So, Pat, you are a pro fighter. Right?

Speaker 3:

BKFC, PFL, art of war champion. You're also a husband. You're a father. You're an entrepreneur. You, like, check all the boxes of all the stuff we

Speaker 2:

like to talk about when

Speaker 3:

we're on the show.

Speaker 2:

Right? We have a lot to cover, dude. A lot to cover.

Speaker 3:

We have a lot to cover. One of and we will. One of the things that I love about you that is so special from speaking personal experiences, I know a lot of people. I know a lot of people with a lot of stories.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

But you are one of the people that I know closely that has a remarkable story of rebirth. Remarkable. Probably almost the most remarkable story of rebirth

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

In my social circle.

Speaker 1:

Thank you. Thank

Speaker 3:

you. I'm excited to dive into that today and

Speaker 2:

how This podcast has to live up to a lot. All right. Like, you just Wait.

Speaker 3:

You just Wait till you wait till you go.

Speaker 2:

I'm excited.

Speaker 3:

So, you know, specifically, like when we go through your story, like two things, like how a higher power showed up, because that's one of the most remarkable things.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

To me about your story is there were, like, key decision there were there were key points in your story where it seems as though a higher power showed up and bumped you back on a path or bumped somebody else in your path. So I want to cover that. And then, you know, I'd also like to talk a little bit about how your sobriety shows up. And I don't want to say it's balanced with, but shows up in those other areas of your life that we talked about as a fighter and Yeah. As a father

Speaker 1:

and Shows up and conflicts with. Exactly.

Speaker 3:

Right. That's why I didn't want say balance

Speaker 1:

because yeah.

Speaker 3:

Exactly. So there's, like, you know, a lot of different places that I'm excited to take it today. Yeah. So you ready for this? I'm ready.

Speaker 3:

I'm ready? So why don't you take us back to what growing up was like, the role that, you know, sports or football played in in growing up. What was home life like? Like, set the stage for what what what came later.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Well, my family originated from Southwest Philly, right? So anybody who's familiar with the Philadelphia layout and and what happens within those regions. Southwest was a pretty rough area, right? Like, it could be compared to North Philly, right?

Speaker 1:

Mhmm. And, you know, I think like eight aunts, six uncles, right? Just a bunch of them, bunch of Irish, you know, ticks running around, sucking the life out of everything around them. Know, my family, they were all from Southwest, the Brady's, right? And when I was four or five, we moved out to Collingdale, right?

Speaker 1:

My stepdad, he brought my younger brother and I out to to Collin Dow which wasn't for. Jersey? No. No. Collin Dow is Delco.

Speaker 3:

Delco. Delco.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Delco. But it it wasn't that far. It's Delaware County but. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

You know, we were just ten minutes outside of Southwest Philly. Yeah. Yes. Yes. It was just another zip code, right?

Speaker 3:

Was there was there something that prompted that or was it? I'm not sure. Like we gotta get out of

Speaker 1:

here or? No. I'm not I'm not sure. Right? I was young, but like a lot of people at that time were doing it.

Speaker 1:

Like there was a kind of a change of guard in the in those neighborhoods. Right? And as rough as it was, it was getting worse. And, you know, got myself and my younger brother Lewis out of Southwest and we moved up into Collingdale, not far ten, fifteen minutes away. Sure.

Speaker 1:

But, you know, and even in that neighborhood of Collingdale, it was it was rough, right? Like a bunch of kids, right? Like nobody was on their tablets hanging out, like playing roadblocks, right? Right? Like we were out in the streets playing captured, you know, hockey, things on the street, right?

Speaker 1:

Like, tackle football in the concrete. It was just like what we did, you know? And that neighborhood, it was it was tough, right? Like, we fought each other. Like, your friend, you could be punching each other in the face over, you know, I shot you.

Speaker 1:

No. No. You shot me. Like, right.

Speaker 3:

But I was saying, mean, I feel like every neighborhood in Philly's got kind of the same Mhmm. Similar story. I think varying degrees of the intensity of the fighting. Mhmm. But I feel like shit was going on at home Yeah.

Speaker 3:

For for kids. You know mean? Like, I know for me, it was. For my friends

Speaker 1:

Oh, for sure.

Speaker 3:

In in in North Philly and then Northeast, things were going on at home. And, like, you went outside. You're playing freaking stickball or you're playing wire ball or something. Something doesn't go your

Speaker 2:

way. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

You're just gonna you're just gonna try to beat somebody's face.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. I mean, we're we're all out loud to have the big feelings back back. Like, feel your feelings. Yeah. Can hear that.

Speaker 2:

I was

Speaker 3:

like, let

Speaker 2:

him out.

Speaker 1:

I said feelings didn't get turned on for me until later on in

Speaker 2:

I said to my my wife, we're watching my son's baseball practice, I was like, we would have never acted like that. Like in blue collar Philadelphia, like, no kids acted out on the baseball field, like throwing their hats or helmets. Like, my mom would have came on there and beat my ass. Like was Yeah. Realistically, as I did it.

Speaker 2:

Like, there was no no temper tantrums we had. I had this at home. Like you said, like, they were got them from a long day's work and they're like, don't piss me off. Get out of my face or I'm gonna fuck.

Speaker 1:

We weren't allowed. I wasn't allowed to sit on the couch. Right. When my stepdad, we heard his truck. Like if we were sitting on the couch, we got off of the couch and we sat on the floor.

Speaker 2:

Like

Speaker 1:

he would come in off the couch, right? Like it was that type of house.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And my brother and I were, we weren't called by our name. We were called boy. Oh, I

Speaker 2:

get it.

Speaker 1:

We just say boy. So like my brother, like if we were upstairs and he'd say, hey, get down here. We didn't know who he was talking to.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Right? Like, so it'd be boy.

Speaker 2:

And you know, that's.

Speaker 3:

But you both moved, bro. You're both

Speaker 1:

like, it's

Speaker 3:

one of us. Let's go.

Speaker 1:

We took, yeah, we stood attention. And that neighborhood, it shaped my childhood, right? Like you said, seeing stuff at home, my mom, she's great today, right? But like she was younger, right? She was in her thirties.

Speaker 1:

She was having fun. She came from a rough neighborhood. There was a lot going on. There was a lot of interference, right? Like a lot of distractions, you And I was a step kid, right?

Speaker 1:

And it wasn't just, I wasn't the only step kid. My mom had had a son previous to me, my older brother Rob, but he had lived, he lived with his father in Jersey, in South Jersey. Okay. Coincidentally, where I live now, right? Washington Township.

Speaker 1:

My brother grew up in Washington Township. One of the reasons why we moved where we did. Because he lives there now still. And I

Speaker 3:

was trying to make that Jersey connection.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

I kind of crossed the line.

Speaker 1:

Well, my wife is from Moorestown as well. So we we kind of found a a middle ground between Delaware County and Morristown. So we landed in a good spot, but that that childhood definitely was, was shaping, right, the my mindset Your

Speaker 3:

belief system.

Speaker 1:

Belief system at at a young age and I wasn't really aware of it, you know? I'm aware of it now, right? So, I try to implement some of the the lessons that I learned, right? As a kid for my kids now. Right?

Speaker 1:

Because they don't have that. They don't have that upbringing right now. So, I gotta.

Speaker 3:

The resistance and everything in the streets you're saying, right?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's there's

Speaker 2:

a lot

Speaker 1:

of little lessons like what you don't say to someone. Right? Like, you you didn't say the wrong because there were consequences, Right? You said something, you crossed somewhere. I remember.

Speaker 1:

I've told this story before if anyone's ever heard it, but we were playing hockey and I got into a fight with this kid, Jimmy, that lived around the corner and, you know, he just beat me up, beat me pretty And I remember coming home and my face was busted up and my stepdad was there and he's like, you know, what happened? And I said, you know, Jimmy got me. We were playing hockey, you know, said something or did something and he got me. He said, you know, but like what happened? I said, well, it was the skates.

Speaker 1:

Right? But Jimmy was older than me. Like, three, four years older than me at the time. That was a lot.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And he said, well, you think you would have beat him if he didn't have the skates on? I said, yeah. He said, alright. Well, let's go. Put your shoes on.

Speaker 1:

So, we walk around that corner. Hey, you know, that's Jimmy Jimmy and Pat got into it. Pat thinks he would have done alright without the suit. Jimmy beat the shit out of me again. Right?

Speaker 1:

Shoot. But but that was the mindset. Right? That was the that was how things were done.

Speaker 3:

And that's a that's a Bowen story if I've ever heard. Yeah. Like a Bowen, like my dad and his brothers, my grandfather. That's a Bowen story

Speaker 2:

if I've ever heard Yeah. That's

Speaker 1:

and that's how like.

Speaker 3:

That does not exist today for the youth.

Speaker 1:

No, no. But I try to recreate I try to recreate that with my kids now, like I was saying with with the lessons that I had learned. Right. Trying to look at them for what they were and find the positives in them.

Speaker 3:

Sure.

Speaker 1:

And then I try to implement them in my my sons and say, like, hey, look, these are these are things that you're gonna encounter. These are things to do and not to do.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

That I mean, that's my ongoing battle internally. It's like how we don't my son doesn't have the childhood trauma. Like, he doesn't come home to his mom and dad arguing at the top of their lungs.

Speaker 1:

Like, yeah,

Speaker 2:

how am I going to make him physically stronger or well, yeah, he's in jujitsu. Yeah, but still it's still facilitated. So I mean, I try and implement things like

Speaker 3:

I think

Speaker 2:

I think

Speaker 3:

he's practicing. You got him in competition. And that's if you're talking about facilitating, there's much less facilitation and competition.

Speaker 2:

That's all we can do is just facilitate. Can't act like there's no real like not there isn't no, but like it's hard to get that real life

Speaker 1:

experience to Well, look for me, right? So I have three sons and we just had a daughter, right? So my 13 year old, 10 year old, and then we have a three year old who's about to turn four next month. For me, it's conversations just like we're having right now, right? Like, there's the the recreation of the lesson as far as like learning how to persevere like in martial arts, right?

Speaker 1:

You're in a bad position in jujitsu. Like, you either quit or you get out of it, right? So like there's that that mental hurdle that we're trying to like recreate with martial arts. But then like there's the conversation of just talking to him. Like we are right now.

Speaker 1:

It's. Yep. Literal like not man to man but right. It's it's a very It doesn't we don't. There's no hard feeling.

Speaker 1:

You're not in trouble. It's just a pure conversation.

Speaker 3:

Let's talk through. Let's talk through

Speaker 2:

this. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And I never had that right in that environment. Like I didn't my mind wasn't sitting down talking to me about perseverance or like, you know, how to overcome or anything like that. Like I didn't have that. For me, I had to put my hand on the fire. Like if it's that hot, I had to touch

Speaker 3:

it. Yeah, man.

Speaker 1:

So you know, for kids, Drew, it's an ongoing battle and it's you want I my goal as a as a parent

Speaker 2:

is

Speaker 1:

to give my kids, the environment that is most suitable for preparation for life. Yeah. Right? Like, comfort. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

What whatever is that I've learned to be the the best conditions to be successful for when I'm no longer there. Yep. Right? And like, that's your goal as a parent. It's just prepare them for when you're not there.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So

Speaker 1:

so it's it's a hard line because like, hey, dad, a new computer screen or or a new bike or whatever it is, right? Like, that new thing, it's like, yeah, you wanna give it to them. Like and there are times when you do. Right? Yep.

Speaker 1:

Just because, hey. They're a good kid.

Speaker 2:

Right? They deserve

Speaker 1:

Plus. New things.

Speaker 3:

You also got you know, we we all do coming from, you know, blue collar, middle class homes. Yeah. You got that in your past saying, like, okay. Now I can afford. Mhmm.

Speaker 3:

You know, when my when my daughter asks, she can receive.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

You know, I can afford to do this. But you're right. It's it's that balance of watching it and saying, like, okay. It can't be because what happens is it makes them more comfortable than they are capable. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

And then that's an issue from where you're going, when I'm going, when you're going.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. And and what comes what what I found is what comes with that item, whatever the situation is that I outright explained to them, Look, dude, this thing was $500. Yeah. Right? I want you to understand what I had to do for $500 Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Right? Like you need to understand. So there's been days when he's come to work with me, right? Like he's pushing the broom, cleaning it up, running the shop vac, wiping the windows, whatever he's So he sees it. He sees what's involved.

Speaker 1:

It's like, our dude, now you made a hundred bucks today. Everything you did in those eight hours, you made $100, right? Yep. Now, take that and multiply times five. That's what you need to do.

Speaker 1:

Yep. To get that item. Like, that's what's involved.

Speaker 2:

See all.

Speaker 1:

Just this way, he doesn't get an item and he thinks like it appeared out of nowhere. Exactly. Because he needs to be able to make that relation between item and work and how it was earned, how came to fruition. So for me, it's more conversations like that than it is like, you know, him doing a push up with me, like with a belt over his back. You know what I mean?

Speaker 2:

Like, I have a parent. Parker

Speaker 1:

has been

Speaker 2:

playing my eight year olds are playing a lot of Fortnite and like familiar with they have the skin. Yeah. It's like it's like an ongoing consumerism culture built in. Oh yeah. The game.

Speaker 1:

Roblox is the same.

Speaker 2:

And he friggin sees it every time he lives on. And he's like, he's like, I get this skin. I'm like, all right, like you get this skin. So I buy him like the first one and they ask for another one. And I just like, I get this skin.

Speaker 2:

I probably just need to just like get something every time you want it. Like, I think he understands like the hard work stuff, but I'm like, you just get it because it's there. So I run five miles and he's like, like five miles or not right now. It's like 08:00. Gets on the treadmill, runs five miles.

Speaker 2:

He just like and I don't know. I just keep sending the ball either. He want another one. He had to do Murph. Like, yeah, I'm like, bro, like, he does.

Speaker 2:

He just like, will do anything. Like, I keep setting the bar high because I'm like, oh, you want to keep buying more? But like, you got to the bar gets higher. But I mean, I don't know if I'm if I'm like creating drama.

Speaker 1:

I'm not whether you're right or wrong,

Speaker 2:

I don't know. I saw saw that.

Speaker 1:

How could you be wrong? Yeah. Well, I mean, what are you doing wrong?

Speaker 2:

Because I saw that I got the I can't take credit for the hack because our boy, Joe DeSena, the founder of a Spartan race. Mhmm. He said his kid won an Xbox. So he made him, like, rope climb the rope climb machine, like, for, like, eight hours. Like, he's, he's, like, rope climb, like, like a thousand meters.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I mean.

Speaker 3:

I like your your look at it. Like, look, like, I can't tell you if you're right or wrong, but I can tell you you're kind of like on the right track. Like, that's the thing. Like, you don't know the outcome, but you know that the path is the right one.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. I mean, look. Who knows what's gonna happen, right? You have no idea what your kids are gonna encounter.

Speaker 2:

You can still do shit

Speaker 1:

head too. And you're not there, right? The only thing that you can do is know that your intention is in the right place and that you're aware. Like, I use that word aware because, like, there was a time in my life that, like, I was totally unaware

Speaker 3:

of what Self awareness.

Speaker 2:

Oblivious. Oblivious. Oblivious.

Speaker 3:

Of belief system, of the consequences of your decisions, of you probably go on and All

Speaker 1:

of it.

Speaker 3:

I feel like all of us are that way.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. And

Speaker 3:

then some of us, the consequences that we have of our decisions are much greater than others.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, there's an entire, you know, group of people, I don't know how else to use a word to explain, but there are millions of people out there who just in existing, looking through their eyes, having zero clue what it is that their goal or purpose or intentions or ramifications or anything, they're just doing.

Speaker 2:

They don't care.

Speaker 1:

Just like an ant building of an anthill, right? Like they're just existing, right? And I was in, I was there, right? Like I knew that, I know what that looks like.

Speaker 3:

I'm not a huge Napoleon Hill fan, but Napoleon Hill calls them drifters.

Speaker 1:

Mhmm.

Speaker 3:

Like, people that are just drifting through, like, the rhythm of life, like, that anthill. You know what I mean? And not understanding how the purpose behind what they're doing and how what they're doing affects others, essentially. Yeah. You know I mean?

Speaker 3:

So let's so we took a really valuable tangent there into which I wanted to take into into fatherhood. Let's bring it back a little bit. So when we opened the show, I said, look, you know, pro fighter, art of war champion, father, husband, successful entrepreneur, I'm I'm I'm giving you all these accolades that you've earned. People think, when they hear accolades like that, that you've kind of had it all together since day one. They think that maybe you don't have a plate in your face.

Speaker 3:

Maybe you didn't break your back.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

Maybe you didn't, you weren't in, you know, active addiction. Maybe you weren't

Speaker 2:

Screws in my ass all the time.

Speaker 3:

Right? They think that, like, oh, well, this guy has made the right decisions and been so self aware from the beginning to gain all this momentum to propel him to this place when most of the time I make the argument. Most of the time, it's actually the opposite.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. It it has to be the opposite. It, like, there's there's that ying yang. It has there is no other way. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Right? There's there's no other path.

Speaker 3:

To be that squared away, you gotta be out of square. Like Correct. For a for a while. Yeah. You know what I mean?

Speaker 3:

You gotta be out

Speaker 2:

of to be out square.

Speaker 1:

Like like a a sword was once just a slab of metal. Right? Yeah. It has to be forged, and it has to be, like, beaten into form.

Speaker 3:

And So let's let's bring it back. Right? Let's steer back to, you know, the neighborhood. We were talking about the lessons. You know, what to say, what not to say.

Speaker 3:

For me, when I was growing up, it was how to read people. Like, that's how I learned how to understand and read people, because I didn't want to get my ass beat in the neighborhood, because I wasn't super tough. Yeah. So when I walked to school in the morning with kids, I had to read if their dad beat their ass before Mhmm. We left the house.

Speaker 3:

I had to read them and look at them, their body language, their posture. Because I knew then if I said the wrong thing, I was gonna get a beating. Right? So, like, you learn those lessons. We're recreating them for our kids.

Speaker 3:

Mhmm. How did those lessons that you were learning in that neighborhood at the time, how did they start to manifest in your life?

Speaker 1:

Well, I don't know that when I was encountering those those types of situations that I was as aware as to what was going on. I don't think I really became aware as to what was going on in my childhood till, right, I got sober at 32 years old, right? Like, so a lot of what was going on, I was a drifter, right? Like, I was just existing and I don't know that I was really capable of reading a room, Like, I knew that there was right and wrong, and I knew that I was doing a lot of wrong, but I was always rationalizing it. So like, as a kid, you know, I was getting in trouble a lot in school.

Speaker 1:

Right? We had these things called think sheets, right? That if you broke a rule, you would get a think sheet. And then you'd have to bring the thing you'd have to write down what you did wrong, what you would do different. Right?

Speaker 1:

And what you're what you're going do, whatever the setup was, right? So, yeah. She, right? So, I

Speaker 3:

would. What age is this when you're. I mean,

Speaker 1:

elementary school, elementary school, right? Like, first through sixth grade,

Speaker 3:

right?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Middle school was seventh and eighth, right? We had these Harris Elementary. We had these think sheets. Right?

Speaker 1:

So

Speaker 3:

In theory, not a bad practice.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So we I was getting them all the time. Right?

Speaker 1:

Dump shit. Right? Taking a pencil, throwing it into the drop ceiling. Yeah. Stupid.

Speaker 1:

Right? Also for, you know, roll making a paper clip chain. Right? Lasso on it on my buddy's head from across the room. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Right? Just dumb stuff. That way, it's an interruption. Right? Like, you're it's a distraction.

Speaker 1:

The kid's trying to learn. Right? This is the And I'm over here being, you know, And so I would get these things called think sheets, and you had to get them signed by a parent then bring it back to school. And my mom was signing them, but, she didn't give a shit. Like, here is this.

Speaker 1:

Here. You're like, this looks

Speaker 3:

like good home. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Gotta smoke some weed out. The teachers picked up on that, like nothing was happening. Like nothing's changing. And then they said, we want your stepdad to sign it now.

Speaker 2:

Really?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Yeah. So I started having to get his signature, and he kept the-

Speaker 3:

Did you try to forge it first or no?

Speaker 1:

No. Oh, yeah. Well, you know, I wasn't that smart.

Speaker 3:

Well, you also said that you were kind of rationalizing you wrong. So you're probably

Speaker 1:

thinking like, Yeah, yeah. Yeah. You know, so my stepdad, he was a landscaper during the day, and then he worked at Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital at night, environmental services. So he would work pretty much

Speaker 3:

all day, And

Speaker 1:

he had this journal, this marble new book that he would write, like his laws that he cut and how much they were. And when I would get a think sheet that he had to sign, he would write in his book a time, right? He would put like one minute, thirty seconds. And then at the end of the month, he would add up the time and it was me and him in the basement, right? Whatever bullshit my little brother was up to.

Speaker 1:

And it was like, that's it. You're getting a whooping. Yeah. And my mom would yell down, don't hit him in the head. Don't hit him in the head.

Speaker 1:

But like, that's where like, I That takes to

Speaker 3:

a new level. It's not like just getting your ass beat. We've all gotten our ass beat here as kids. Yeah. That's like, you got a clock running down.

Speaker 1:

Dude. A clock

Speaker 2:

running Is it like a fist or is it like a-

Speaker 1:

Well, yeah. That was the thing. He would say if you tell your mom I hit you in the head, like it's gonna get worse. Now, I don't ever specifically remember a closed fist, but they felt like it, right? Like, but they were beatings.

Speaker 1:

And my brother and I, we learned to like split up in the basement because he could only get one of us at a time. He had this old turn, white turn style Yeah, timer, was

Speaker 3:

kitchen timer.

Speaker 1:

Then you knew your time was up. So like, my brother and I would like communicate from across the room. They're like, John Jack, it's over. Like, what do you got? Like, because we both had our own timer.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Like, because it was different, right? So

Speaker 3:

I would,

Speaker 1:

like, yeah,

Speaker 2:

that's hard. Like, I could never do that to my son.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. I just couldn't.

Speaker 2:

No. Like, is that

Speaker 1:

like The basement there is our parents

Speaker 2:

not love us? Like, is that Nah.

Speaker 3:

I think they were doing they were doing the best with the manual that they had, man. I just didn't get it.

Speaker 1:

Right. There was no was no doctor Phil. There was no fucking doctor Phil. They were doing Exactly. He would probably have the shit kicked

Speaker 2:

out of him

Speaker 1:

when he was good at it. Look, he's no longer with us, He overdosed, He died alone on a couch, on one of his friends' couches, right? Well, I mean, look, I went my way, right? He went his way. He made his choices and hurt people all around them.

Speaker 1:

So those were the choices he made. Yeah. So, you know, I don't

Speaker 2:

Are you ever grateful for it? For like Of course.

Speaker 1:

Every lick I took, I'm grateful for. Right? And not that to jump around a lot, but we're kind of setting the stage for as to like what brought me down the wrong path that I was on. Yeah. Right.

Speaker 1:

And like me seeing these types of behaviors and thinking that they were normal, like not knowing any better and going back to reading a room, like I was on tilt all the time. So I didn't know, like if I was reading a room or like, like what I'm, I was always in sensible ways. Right?

Speaker 3:

Like hypervigilant.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So, know, these types of things, right? Like where I get my name, the brick from, right? The story, like he bought me with a brick, right? Or just talking back.

Speaker 1:

To go back to your question, Drew, like as a part of my sobriety, right? You have to kind of be grateful for everything that you have. Right? If you're okay with the way that you are now, you have to be grateful for everything the way that it went. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

You have to be aware that if if one item changes, it changes the dynamic of everything after it. Therefore, changing who I am now and if I'm okay with who I am now, then, what's the matter with with happened in the past?

Speaker 2:

It's hard to have that reflection sometimes though. You have that when you're kind of in the rough of it or going through the hard time, it's kind of hard to have that perspective.

Speaker 1:

You're going through it at that time. Yeah. Now, when I go through things that what I might consider hard times, right? Like, aren't. Right.

Speaker 1:

That's just to me, I recognize it as a pity party now. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's like, dude, what are you talking about? Like, you're upset because you have too much work?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Yeah. Like, you're upset because you don't have enough time to to prep for a fight or you're upset because, you know, your your wife's busting their chops because you need to spend more time with the kids because you're either training too much or you're working too much or whatever that dynamic is. Right? Like, but ultimately, like, that's not something to be upset about.

Speaker 1:

Right? Like, that's that's just a pity party and like it it sounds silly. It it's for me, my easiest go to, right? Like my, if I want to snap out of whatever pity party I'm having for myself or whatever situation I'm deeming difficult or not difficult, it's a cheap, easy bailout is I just picture myself a parent sitting in chop somewhere and all that parent wants is for their kid to not be going through what they're going through. Right?

Speaker 1:

Like they don't care about money. They don't care about a fight at Wells Fargo. They don't care about anything. Only thing they care about is getting their kid healthy and getting their kid out of out of that bed. So it's like, if I can just take whatever it is I'm going through, put myself there and go, well, you're not there.

Speaker 1:

So whatever it is you're going through isn't that bad. Right? That practice right there for me has been like,

Speaker 2:

that's great.

Speaker 1:

It just instantly you snap right out of it.

Speaker 2:

Yep. It's fine. I mean, was a parent for for, like, two weeks. Yeah. Like, I didn't know that at that moment, like, for those two weeks, I would have gladly taken my problems from today for any amount.

Speaker 2:

You know what mean? Like, any any amount. Yep. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

Yep. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

We're running around here a little bit.

Speaker 3:

No. That's that's that's perfect. That no. That's perfect. That's I

Speaker 2:

wanna know how you go from shithead kid to, like, entrepreneur, business owner. Yeah. What comes first? Like, fighter business? Like

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So look in high school I mentioned I played football. Right. Like I played football for Collingdale as a kid. A lot of football.

Speaker 1:

Right. Football for me was was the the one consistent thing in my life. Right? Like, and I think a lot of that was attributed to the coaches that were on that team, right? Like, or the teams that I came up through, right?

Speaker 1:

They made sure that I got to the game, right? Like, were times when they were like, I slept over a coach's house the night before to make sure that I was there, that uniform was clean.

Speaker 2:

Did you start playing freshman year?

Speaker 1:

So I'm talking about weight football as a young kid. Right?

Speaker 2:

Like Okay.

Speaker 1:

Young, like, weighted football, like 70 pounders, 80 pounders.

Speaker 2:

Oh, really?

Speaker 1:

I played eight years of football before I even like before even.

Speaker 2:

Was that your stepdad getting you into that? No.

Speaker 1:

That was kids in my neighborhood. Maybe one kid played and then I went out there and then that was football was just it. I walked myself to practice. I wouldn't have to put my

Speaker 2:

own in You had to pay for that, though.

Speaker 1:

Like that, right? Those clubs? Again, the coaches were there for me.

Speaker 2:

They were they were. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. It was Look, maybe that was my saving grace.

Speaker 2:

From what know about your stepdad, might probably like, I'm not I'm not paying for that shit. There

Speaker 1:

were other things that that were more important. Right. Yeah. I don't 100% remember exactly, but maybe early on, they had to, right? But then, like, at a certain point, I remember being a kid standing at the registration and one of the coaches came over to the lady that I was talking to at registration and saying like, no, no, we got we got this one, this one.

Speaker 1:

Don't worry about this one. And I remember that, right? I would just assume that that happened. Over. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

More

Speaker 2:

often than that. That's awesome. Right? You're there by yourself? Oh,

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Mean, look, this was something that right? I learned how to put the pads in. My mom didn't know football.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I learned how to put the pads in. I learned how to adjust the strap on the helmet, which is a pin you need to pull on again, off again. Right? I learned how to boil my mouthpiece. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I got a scar right here on my ham because I was hungry and I opened up a a I I went to weigh ins. Right? We we weighed in, and then my game wasn't for, another hour and a half. And I ran home because I was so hungry because I had to make weight that I opened a can of chili and I couldn't get it off and I like grabbing on the Yeah. Can and I sliced my hand wide open.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So I go back after scarfing down this can of chili and I go back to the coach and the coach

Speaker 3:

Lightheaded, loss of blood?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. The coach is looking at my finger and he's like, ah, get some tape. Taped up and I played that game where I got taped up bloody finger. And like, you know, it's not a normal looking scar.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's how you can remember.

Speaker 1:

To answer your question, like, kind of football, football in high school, I got a DUI my junior year in high school. Right? Yeah. And, you know, the football coach was my homeschool instructor because the DUI, I crashed. I was like a mess.

Speaker 2:

I couldn't go to school. Bad deal. Okay.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Yeah. And they I had to get homeschooled and that teacher was one of my football coaches and he gave me straight A's that mark appeared, right? Like. And God's honest truth.

Speaker 1:

Without those straight As, like, I don't know that I would have gotten through that year. Yeah. Yeah. Like, I was just all over the place. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Then, you know, my next year, I was just skating by by the skin of my teeth.

Speaker 2:

Were you back in school that next year? Yeah. Okay.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Yeah. That was 02/2003 at Academy Park. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

I feel like I mean, you've been you've been with us. You've been with Fuel Hunt Mhmm. Since damn near the beginning. I mean, damn near the beginning. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Feels like

Speaker 3:

So you know yeah. You know that, you know, we're a community. When we talk to when we have when we have guests on the show, when the few come on the show, and they find, like, that, like, north star, that thing that they can be consistent with, that kind of, like, begins to, like, pull them out Mhmm. Or towards what they're meant to be, there's always a community aspect to it. Like, there's always it's never like, oh, hey.

Speaker 3:

Listen. I did it on my own. Mhmm. There's always people that were there, a community to support them. You know what I mean?

Speaker 3:

And that's what I'm hearing here with you, with your coaches.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

And it sounds like not just in the beginning, but like through like a good part of the journey.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. You know what? It's funny you said because I've never thought about that, right? Like, I've kind of always looked at it as like it was something that I was doing and I had some help along the way. But I never thought about it as like a cumulative community.

Speaker 1:

Like it was this coach and then this coach and then this coach.

Speaker 3:

I mean, that's why we're so passionate about it here. We've experienced it. We've heard it enough, You know? And that's why I think our default was when we saw a problem. We were like, okay.

Speaker 3:

Well, we gotta build a community. Yeah. Because we're gonna need that, like, force multiplier to help everybody and then eventually change the world, which sounds crazy, but kinda it's kinda starting yeah. Why not? Right?

Speaker 3:

You know?

Speaker 2:

Did you I'm just curious about those straight As. Did you, like, deserve the straight As? Or, like, did you give like, like, was homeschooling, like, a game changer for you? And you were just like

Speaker 1:

Well, not really. I mean, no. Diana deserves straight As, but he was my football coach and he kind of saw the writing on the wall. Right? Like, he came to my house and was like, let's get this kid through.

Speaker 1:

Right? Now the following year, right? Like, it's not that I got straight As again, but, like, I kind of like, okay, here's a little bump I need.

Speaker 2:

There's a curve.

Speaker 1:

Sure. Yeah. Right? So now, like, I can, like, if I don't fail the classes, I can graduate and essentially, that's what it became. It's like, don't fail.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

But it was it was a struggle, right? We bounced around a lot, right? At that point, my stepdad had left. So, I was bouncing around a little bit with my mom, staying here a little bit, staying there a little bit. And if you can imagine like a kid in high school bouncing around.

Speaker 1:

One of those

Speaker 3:

formative, demanding times for

Speaker 2:

the kid. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And and I had taken a job working where my stepdad had worked at the hospital, at Fitzgerald Hospital.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Right. And I was doing third shift. Oh, I was sleeping in closets. Yeah. I was doing third shift and, you know, I would go to school.

Speaker 1:

I had to be at school at 07:22 and then get done at, you know, fifteen or whatever. And then if it was football season, would go to football practice, go home, try to sleep a couple hours. Right? And then I had to be in the hospital at eleven, right? So I would go in at eleven, you know, maybe I had 10 different job days, clean this floor, collect these trash cans, buff this floor, whatever it was.

Speaker 1:

I would hurry up, try to get it done, and then try to find a closet to go sleep in for

Speaker 2:

a little

Speaker 1:

Right. Just and and that at that time for is what I needed. Right. Because I was getting at the time, bucks an hour was a lot

Speaker 2:

of money

Speaker 1:

to go to high And

Speaker 2:

you're rich in high school.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. And look, I was able to, buy a car. At the time it was like prepaid minutes on a cell phone.

Speaker 3:

Prepaid card. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

So I could buy like this little voice stream, which is now T Mobile, right? I could buy a prepaid mobile card And, you know, I had a cell phone. It was cool, right? But like that kind of started to, right, like that coupled with my stepdad making us cut lawns when we were kids, like go cut this lawn. And, like, we didn't get paid either.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. But, like, go cut this grass. That's kinda where, like, my work ethics started to get results from working. Right? Like, I started to see the relationship between work and results.

Speaker 3:

And and and kinda like freedom because you're the more efficiently you buff the floor, collect the trash cans, swept the floor Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Faster I got to sleep.

Speaker 3:

To sleep in the closet, which is what you needed. So you start to saw see that tie between work, you know, work and freedom.

Speaker 1:

Oh, yeah. Yeah. So that, you know, transitioned me into college. Right? I had to take some prerequisite classes at Delaware County, and then I ended up going to Widener, right, where I played football at Widener.

Speaker 2:

Oh, really?

Speaker 1:

And, you know, that that was where what business

Speaker 2:

you what business

Speaker 1:

you play? Okay.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

During the the high school experience, I gotta imagine at some time at some point, you you you alluded to, like, smoking a little weed or something. Yeah. I gotta imagine during high school, at some point, alcohol came on the scene.

Speaker 2:

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, you got a DUI. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. I got

Speaker 1:

a DUI. Yep. Right? Like, we didn't we didn't really do because you're grinding.

Speaker 3:

You're like, you're playing football. You're working the jobs. But are you you drinking during this? And then

Speaker 2:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, look.

Speaker 1:

On the weekends, we went and drank in the woods. Right? Like, I had a car. Like, that means I

Speaker 3:

don't know

Speaker 2:

if kids still do that. Do you have those, that keg bars? Basement

Speaker 3:

shit now. I don't

Speaker 1:

Yeah. I don't

Speaker 2:

I have woods. I have not tell

Speaker 1:

you. I'll you what. I'll tell you in a couple years.

Speaker 2:

My brother my brother just started his freshman year in college. I I don't think he ever did a keg in the woods. Yeah. We did beer

Speaker 1:

balls.

Speaker 3:

Beer Beer balls.

Speaker 1:

The pump always broke and we always had to cut the thing up and get the cup in it. But yeah, I mean, look, the drinking was a part of of high school. Right? Yeah. I didn't real we didn't really do drugs.

Speaker 1:

Right? Because we never was we never really had enough money.

Speaker 3:

I think that's that's one of the things that I think people like, misconception with, like, the areas, like areas in Philly, areas like, it's like alcohol. We like, there's not a ton of or at least when we were growing up there wasn't a lot of ton of like drugs. Like that was suburban shit.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

You know what I mean?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. For sure. Like that was like the richer kids had money for access and stuff like that. A lot of a lot

Speaker 2:

of I went to school, high school in the suburbs and a lot of the kids that are like passed on, they're dead today. Like they're from that area and they would go down to they would travel down to Kensington and buy the stuff.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I I I've had friends that passed away. Right.

Speaker 3:

I got to imagine it like at some point alcohol hit. I mean, don't know, maybe the DUI was just like a bad night or?

Speaker 1:

Well, no, it was always a bad night. I went to an after prom party up the mountains. It wasn't even my prom. Right? And a girl invited me out there and

Speaker 2:

I was

Speaker 1:

chasing tail. So I went up there and there was a group of kids there that I had butted heads with in a previous situation and they got me. Right? They got me good. And, you know, I got jumped and then I tried to drive home and I passed out from loss of blood.

Speaker 1:

Right. Cause they, they, they, that's where the titanium plate, my orbital comes from.

Speaker 3:

Yep.

Speaker 1:

Right. And I got cracked with a pool cue in the face and yes. Yeah. Well,

Speaker 2:

yeah. Did you know they were going be Well,

Speaker 1:

I knew they were there, but I didn't give a shit. You know what I mean?

Speaker 2:

Do you think it was going happen?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Say that again.

Speaker 2:

You didn't think anything was going to happen?

Speaker 1:

No, I guess not. No. Or nor did I care. Yeah. Sniff.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. I'm chasing one thing only, but I'm chasing I'm chasing the old money. Yeah. Exactly. So it's I was on the hunt.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Yeah. Right? And it applies to all areas of

Speaker 2:

the market. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And

Speaker 3:

so you get jumped. You're like, okay, I gotta get out of here. But I'm imagining Yeah. I know a little bit of the story, I'm I'm leading you a little bit for transparency. But you're you're busted up.

Speaker 1:

I'm busted up

Speaker 2:

pretty good.

Speaker 3:

And you're drunk.

Speaker 1:

And I'm drunk. Yeah. And a lot of it is blurry. Don't remember all of it, but I remember moments of it. And I remember the girls that I was with, like leading me to the car, right?

Speaker 1:

Like opening the door and like, Get in the car. Closing the Oh my god. Like get out of here. I remember I had a gold Nokia phone, right? With the face plate, the removable face plate.

Speaker 3:

I remember it, sure.

Speaker 1:

And I remember like trying to like look at it with one eye with the neon green lighting up, And I'd called my girlfriend Jill at the time and I was trying to like say whatever it was. And she had told me later on that she was hysterical crying because like she could tell that something was wrong. But this is where I encountered my higher power for the first time. And I didn't recognize it then, but I know it now as my first meeting with my higher power. Because, you know, I drove home and I was up tailmanting trials, and I hit a tree in the middle

Speaker 3:

of I was gonna say nothing around. There's nothing around it.

Speaker 1:

Nothing. Nothing anywhere.

Speaker 3:

And I'm imagining this isn't 9PM at night. This

Speaker 1:

is like No. Yeah. Whatever time. 03:00 in

Speaker 3:

the morning. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Park Ranger is driving down the street for no reason that night. Right? For no reason. He's in an area just dry, right?

Speaker 1:

And he sees me crash on the side of the road, hit a tree and pulls over and he explained it to me as I was walking around the car, dragging my ankle, just walking around the car dragging my ankle. I don't know what the hell I was trying to do. But, you know, sat me down and they called an ambulance and the ambulance took a while to get to me and the ambulance, the EMT said, like, this kid's gonna die and can't really see it that well, but there's a scar that starts up here and and runs all the way across my face.

Speaker 2:

Mhmm.

Speaker 3:

All the

Speaker 1:

way across my face and across right here. And I didn't completely sever, but there's a vein artery that runs down here that was punctured that was pulsating. Yeah. Yeah. And the EMT is like, this kid's not gonna make it.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Because you're not I mean, up there, as far You need, like, trauma center. Yeah. There isn't really one around there.

Speaker 1:

No. So they drove me to a field, and the helicopter came and picked me up in the field and took me to St. Luke's Trauma Center in Bethlehem.

Speaker 3:

Or you're like, It's a waste. Like you wouldn't have survived

Speaker 2:

the No,

Speaker 1:

no. Was 18. I just turned 18, right? So I was 18 my junior year in high school and they they took me to Bethlehem where they lost me twice in the helicopter and once on a trauma table from loss of blood. I coded.

Speaker 1:

And I don't remember any of it, right? Like, I remember a little bit about the helicopter ride. I think I remember cracking a joke because at 09:11 had, like, just happened. Yeah. And like, you're out of it.

Speaker 1:

I think I remember kind of cracking a joke about being in a helicopter, but just these little glimpses of memories. And they bring me to St. Luke's and they call my mom that morning night. And they told her, We have your son's body here. Right?

Speaker 1:

The chaplain called her and he was like, we have your son's body here. And that's the only information I have is that your son is here and I'm not quite sure if it's his body or he's here or what, but this is all I'm able to get through to. And so my mom drives up to the mountains not knowing if I'm alive or dead. And was, right, that was the first time that I had felt the ramifications of drinking. Like, that was the first time that when I had I had gotten negative results.

Speaker 1:

Mhmm. Right? Like, you know, we got triggered in the woods, the cops would show up, you'd run, you scuff your knee or something like that.

Speaker 3:

I imagine those type of experiences, you're thinking like, this is how life goes. Like, this is how you do life. Yeah. Like those those experiences. But this experience was so far off the path that you're kinda like, hey.

Speaker 3:

Well, this is maybe this isn't the way things are

Speaker 1:

supposed You would think that light would go off. Right? Would think that light would go off, but like the craziness that was my life and

Speaker 2:

the

Speaker 1:

chaos of like my mom moving here and going here, this, that and the other, like, it was so chaotic that like something of that okay. Right? Like, this is what we're doing. I was always in fights. I was always busted up or right?

Speaker 1:

It was just always something. Right? And so, like, while this was traumatic, obviously, I didn't really register it as super traumatic until later. Right? Like, but that that was the first time that it was like art.

Speaker 1:

Right? But then, like, I think I look back and I go, well, without that, maybe I would have failed out my junior year. Maybe I failed out my junior year. I don't graduate high school ever. Maybe I don't graduate high school ever.

Speaker 1:

I'm doing this. So like, well, that's

Speaker 3:

gratitude thing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Well, that sucked. It was necessary. Yeah. That's more part of it.

Speaker 1:

Right? Yeah. And

Speaker 3:

So I guess that's what so that, you know, bringing it back in and getting back on the path, like, that's why you were homeschooled that year. That's why you had the football coach. That's, you know, being your teacher. That's why you got the straight As. That's why I came back.

Speaker 2:

It's a part of the journey. Yeah. So did you straighten up after that?

Speaker 1:

No. No. I got another two DUIs. Oh my god. Both car crashes.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. Both car crashes. Was that one?

Speaker 1:

That was my first DUI, first car crash. Right? Was that

Speaker 2:

the second one as bad?

Speaker 1:

The second one was I fell asleep on Atlantic City Expressway driving home from the shore. Yeah. It crashed into the back of a minivan, which had a lady and her two kids in it, right? She did one of these, hit the median. I

Speaker 2:

Oh, they good?

Speaker 1:

Crashed out. Yeah, everybody was okay. It was kind of like one of those wobble wobbles, but it could have been worse. Oh, yeah. Right?

Speaker 1:

It could have been a lot worse.

Speaker 2:

How old were you then?

Speaker 1:

That was 2,006. Two thousand and six, right? Yeah. So I was in college at that point. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And then I got another one in 02/2007 coming home from a graduation party, a college graduation party, where I hit a telephone pole and my buddy went through the windshield.

Speaker 2:

Don't they lock you up at some point? Oh yeah. Oh yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Jail's a part of the story. Okay. Sure. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Dude, if

Speaker 2:

you believe it, we got even If you

Speaker 3:

believe it, we got more to cover. So we we are gonna have to gloss over something. Yeah. No. No.

Speaker 3:

No. No.

Speaker 1:

And look. We could gloss over a lot. Right? Like, the

Speaker 3:

the But I got when you got in a so we're hearing about ramifications. Like, it's an interesting word you you chose earlier. You said results.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

You know what I mean? And that's a really interesting way. You hear consequences, ramifications, the fallout. You hear all these things. You use the word results, which is a really interesting word to use, but and I I think I know why you would use that word.

Speaker 3:

But it sounds like when you got to college, maybe things you you had that curve where, like, you got straight A's junior year, senior year, you were hitting the curve, like, you straightened out a little bit. But I it sounds like when you got to college, maybe things, like, accelerated a bit in a negative direction.

Speaker 2:

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Well, you

Speaker 3:

because that's what happens in college. Like, you come into college with, like, a little something. Yeah. There are opportunities for you to pour gasoline on

Speaker 1:

that. Correct. Gasoline just happened to be a little white powdery substance that, you know, would, would, it was ultimately the fuel to the fire that just jet, jetted me straight. Yeah, straight literally. Yeah, straight to, you know, rehab.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, like, and that's

Speaker 2:

my wife and I have talked about this a lot, man. Like college is such an interesting concept to like kids that are 18 years old, like fresh to the world. I've lived under their parents care for the past eighteen years. Get sent away to go do whatever they want with no supervision. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Like it just it sounds like a recipe for disaster. Yeah. Think about it.

Speaker 1:

It makes you think that like some countries have the better idea is that like you have to serve your country before. Like after high school, you go, you serve your country, do a little stint in the military.

Speaker 2:

Yes. But

Speaker 1:

like to me, that kind of makes sense. It against a lot of our constitutional values, right? But at the end of the day, like I get why that is in place. And I don't know that you can necessarily be both as free of a country as we are while simultaneously forcing people to be indoctrinated into the military. So like you can't have both of those, but I get it.

Speaker 1:

I get it.

Speaker 3:

Right? So you so you've you found a powder where the powder found you, however it happened.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

And then you're still you're playing football. Right? Yeah. You're still you're you're holding your tenure there. I mean, you're you gotta be passing.

Speaker 1:

I'm getting through by by the skin of my teeth. Right? And then and ultimately it blew up in my face and and, you know, I'm I'm right on the cusp of finishing, but I made other things more important. And it's like, did you finish? Did I ever go back?

Speaker 1:

And then it was like, I did my student teaching, right? And then like, everything was like, again, like even with high school, like you're right on the doorstep. So it's like, if I go back and I really look at my college career, I'm sure I could look through it and say like, yeah, I finished. Like, I'm sure I had the credits. But like, did I ever go and do the walk and do the ceremony?

Speaker 1:

No, I had made everything else more important. Right? So like, yeah, I went through all of the years, right? Went to all the parties, I played all the football games, but like, I was never really there, right? Like in spirit.

Speaker 1:

And like, I look back at some of the friendships and relationships that I'd made at that time. And it was like, it was all based off of like what it is that I wanted to do. You know what I And none of it was really genuine in the sense of like a mutual

Speaker 3:

For others.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, exactly. Like where I'm doing stuff, it was all about me.

Speaker 3:

Was gonna say, when you say like I made other things more important, it was really you.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, for sure. Yeah, ish.

Speaker 3:

Which is part of the journey. Matter how For sure.

Speaker 1:

A %.

Speaker 3:

No matter who you are, no matter how dark it is, no matter how, like at some point in the journey, that's what it is for you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

So if we want to gloss over, right? Like the next turning point would be 2016 at thirty two, right? Like, so I went through the college and then that mentality of me, me, me just kind of continued. Right? And then I took my first hostage, which was my wife, which was a term that we use and AA is taking hostages.

Speaker 2:

Right? I

Speaker 1:

took my first hostage.

Speaker 2:

I got a little nervously first off.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. I was like, that was crazy, but. Yeah. Know, but that's what you refer to it as when you're that type of person, is taken hostage.

Speaker 3:

So I want to make sure we don't miss one of the higher power moments as I understand it. Yeah. When do you break your back?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so I break my back.

Speaker 3:

Is that after you've taken your first hostage?

Speaker 1:

No, no, I was married to her at the time. Okay. Right? Yeah, so I felt-

Speaker 2:

I just,

Speaker 3:

I want to make sure we don't

Speaker 2:

miss Yeah, yeah,

Speaker 1:

yeah, yeah. Was right. So looking back, I can see that my higher power was with me that night on the side of the road. I wasn't aware that there was something else at play in my life until I fell off the roof and I broke my back. And then and how everything played out from that point on was.

Speaker 1:

Were you working at the time when you fell through? Yeah. So I was working for a builder and doing something on a roof and I fell off the roof and I broke my back. Right? Ambulance comes, brings me, they had to do thoracic fusion on my back where they fused four vertebrae, right?

Speaker 1:

Put eight screws and two rods in my back.

Speaker 3:

How old

Speaker 2:

were you?

Speaker 1:

31, right? 31, it was the year before I went to rehab, right? So 2015, 'fourteen, 'fifteen, that range.

Speaker 2:

And you're partying, sorry, I'll blow you. Whole partying. From college to 32.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I wouldn't call it partying, man. I would like just in the dark, right? It was dark stuff. It was like that over everything else, right? Like, and even like I'd gotten married, had a wedding, right?

Speaker 1:

Had a child, right? Had two kids at that point, right? Oldest and my middle son, Liam. But like, it was always the most important thing. Right?

Speaker 1:

Drinking and drugs were always more important than anything else. Like, if we're going to the wedding, I'm making sure I have what I need at the, like, it is that we're Was

Speaker 2:

it a thing on like weeknights? Like was it like every

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, it it of course it trickled into weeknights. Especially if I got a big tax return or something,

Speaker 2:

it was

Speaker 1:

three weeks, right? It was, that was the mindset.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. Right?

Speaker 1:

So I fall off a roof, I break my back, and I'm in the hospital. And previous to that job, I was working for a restoration company, and I met a good friend who's still a good friend to this day, Jerry. And Jerry had gotten sober. And, you know, we were working together. We'd partied together.

Speaker 1:

And Jerry had disappeared one day and went to rehab, right, and came back a different person. And Jerry and I parted ways because I got fired from that job. Right? So I hadn't seen Jerry in a long time. And my wife was driving to the hospital.

Speaker 1:

I'd broken my back. And my wife at the time and Jerry were driving down the road opposite of each other, and their mirrors collided, right? Like their mirrors hit each other, right? So Jerry pulls over, my wife pulls over and they recognize each other and they know each other. I could show it to you whenever I talked about this, but So they're talking on the side of the road, and my wife explains to Jerry that where she was heading, and she was flustered, she was apologetic.

Speaker 1:

And that night, Jerry showed up at the hospital because he knew it was gonna get bad. He knew me. He knew what I was like. And he knew that me breaking my back, it was only gonna get worse as an introduction to other substances along with the pain.

Speaker 2:

Because you get Yeah.

Speaker 1:

He knew exactly what was gonna happen and how bad it was gonna get. And Is Jerry your age? Jerry's a little bit older than me. A little bit older. Yeah, little bit older than me.

Speaker 1:

But-

Speaker 3:

So you hadn't seen him, I gotta imagine, Yeah,

Speaker 1:

had been years. It had been years since I've seen Jerry at that Wow,

Speaker 2:

that's crazy.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. And he shows up at the hospital for no reason, just no reason at all. And he just offered his hand out to help. You know, he he didn't have to help me. He just wanted to.

Speaker 1:

And. I feel like he called me every day for weeks for weeks called me every day for weeks.

Speaker 3:

I gotta imagine you're in the bed for a

Speaker 2:

while, man. It's not like you didn't go to

Speaker 3:

a outpatient.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I was laid up for a while.

Speaker 1:

I was laid up. And Jerry was there and. Remember he said to me. Come to a meeting with me. Come to a meeting.

Speaker 1:

He was always asking me to come to meetings with him.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And, you know, I wasn't ready. I didn't want to. Right? So there was the final straw my wife had left me.

Speaker 2:

And just were you recovered from the back?

Speaker 1:

Not fully, not fully, but as you can imagine, it was a nightmare of a lifestyle.

Speaker 3:

Another point where, you know, you had a community, albeit a small one in Jerry, come to your side and say, I'm here for you. It sounds like he didn't it sounds like he he didn't come into that room and say, yo, Pat, you gotta clean up. You know, come to this meeting. You gotta work the program. You gotta he was just like, look.

Speaker 3:

I'm here for you.

Speaker 1:

Correct.

Speaker 3:

I'm gonna check-in on you. I'm gonna let you talk this through with me. Yeah. It's it's important. And then at some point he said

Speaker 1:

Yeah. It it's important to understand that, like, you don't come to somebody you don't offer help to somebody as as inferior to, as superior to them. You have to come to them as you're equal, right? Like, Hey, look, what you're going through, I went through it, right? Like, I've been there.

Speaker 1:

You have to be able to relate. And that's what he was just doing. He was just relating. And

Speaker 2:

he How long sorry. Yeah. How long was the recovery for the back back break?

Speaker 1:

I was out of work for two months. And then when I went back to work, I was just light duty and

Speaker 3:

just Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And And it was

Speaker 2:

So in that two months, your wife decided to leave here?

Speaker 1:

It with no. Before after that, over the course of, like, six, seven months Mhmm. It got chaotic. And she leaves, she takes the kids. And then a night of absolute mayhem and cars, I'm drinking and driving, trying to hook up with my buddy's girlfriend, it was just a nightmare of a night.

Speaker 1:

And it ended with the cops, me face down on the floor. The cops kicking me, two cops, and they all knew me, Two Norwood cops. Brady, wake up. And, you know, what's up? He's like, you were telling your wife that you were gonna kill yourself last night.

Speaker 1:

You're texting her, telling her you're gonna kill yourself. You know, we're here to make sure you're not dead. Are you gonna kill yourself? I just had, like, this moment of clarity. I just remember thinking that, like, all of my lies were out.

Speaker 1:

Right? Like, just done lying. Whatever lies that I had on the tip of my tongue, I was just over it. And I just said, no. I just wanted attention.

Speaker 1:

Right? And I just remember just coming to that next morning and just thinking that like enough was enough. You know, it was just enough. And I called Jerry and I was like, Jerry, I think I'm ready for that meeting. He's like, Yeah, we're past that meeting probably.

Speaker 1:

You're going to rehab. You know? And he showed up at my house and took me to Walmart and we got a bag of T shirts and socks and boxers. And we put together a go bag and he dropped me off at rehab. And we talk about that, the moment of like, being, what was the word you used, the wanderer?

Speaker 1:

What was the

Speaker 3:

word? Drifter.

Speaker 1:

Drifter. Up until rehab, drifter.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Right? After that, it was like a totally life changing, turn the light on moment where it was an moment, right? And I remember being there thinking like, this is exactly where I'm supposed to be. And I remember that feeling of like, why Jerry and my wife collided mirrors, like, what was that? Like, why?

Speaker 1:

Like, what was at play there? And we said that we sit in rehab. We said to our father. Right now, I had said to our father a thousand times before football games, after football games, a million times. I've said it.

Speaker 1:

I know it. I've said it, right? But I've never heard it. I just remember being in rehab, hearing it, and like every word relating to every part of it. And just like being like overcome with emotion and just, and that was like my like, okay, there's something bigger than me here.

Speaker 1:

Right? There's something more at play here. And a part of sobriety and AA is knowing that you're not in charge. Like, it's not your show. It's God's show.

Speaker 1:

Right? And if you participate in what he thinks you should be doing, then life goes well. Right? And since then, man, it's just been straight up. Right?

Speaker 1:

Like, it's just been I mean, look, there's been moments when, like, things didn't go my way or or like I I fell off track or I lost sight a little bit, but it's never been down. Right? It's it's always been this and then maybe I leveled out a little bit and then. Mhmm. And it's not like by accident.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. You know what I mean? It's not by accident. It was all by design. Was all part of the plan and it was all a part of God's plan and not mine.

Speaker 1:

So that's the idea is just continue on with what you can understand as being a part of my higher power plan and just keep doing that, man. Yeah. Like even like being here on this podcast, it's like, do I really want to like divulge my most inner like fuckups? Like, dude, you're doing Coke, right? Like all of these different things.

Speaker 1:

It's like, does any man really want to just purge all of his mistakes? It's like, no, but I know for sure, right? Like someone's probably gonna hear this, somebody's probably going through something and maybe that's that little piece of something that they needed to hear to think that like, okay, I can totally relate to what he's saying about being in the dark, and and maybe they're in a dark place at this very moment listening to this. Mhmm. And they can hear that there's a way out.

Speaker 1:

Right? So, like, for me, it's like, this is what I gotta do. It is what it is. Right?

Speaker 2:

Like It's even, like, a lot of the messages we write for the feed, social media page and put out to the community, people message us and they're like, thank you so much. I needed this to save me. It's like there are a lot of times just us speaking to ourselves, inner dialogue and things that, that give us the push we need to get through the day or reminders we need. And it's like, you don't realize how one thing that's so small to you could be so big to someone else.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. I am personally living breathing proof because I I I don't know if you remember, but back in the day after you did Josh's show, JT's show, I texted you and I was like, bro, you sharing your journey Yeah. Has, you know, I was already, like, kinda messing around with wanting to be sober. Yeah. And I had made a bunch bunch of mistakes up to that point, and I was already messing around with it.

Speaker 3:

And you sharing your story? Yeah. This is before a lot of who you are now, the accomplishments and everything. Yeah. You just having the courage to speak on it

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

Inspired me. Yeah. You know, along with Josh. JT from Consequence of Habit inspired me to eventually get sober.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. I I don't know.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

So I mean, that's kind of, like, a part of a part of it. Right? Like and, ultimately, like, it's it's awkward to say, but it it's true. Right? Like, it's kinda selfish in nature.

Speaker 1:

Right? Like, I have to do this in order for my life to be good. So it's like, these are the steps that I have to take in order for my life to be good. And it's like, you're it's like, are you only doing them for your life to be good? Or are you motivated motivated by like, like you said, you got somebody who commented and it made you feel good and it you needed it to whatever it is that you were going through or doing at that time, you took that little bit of fuel to get over that hump.

Speaker 1:

It's like, am I only doing it because I need the fuel to get over the hump or to push or to make my life better? And it's like, you tow this line where you think about like, oh, am I just ultimately being selfish because this is what I want?

Speaker 3:

But you're But You can't serve others unless you serve self. And that's it's a very hard thing to come

Speaker 1:

%. Grips with.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. But we say it all the time, you can't pour from an empty cup. Like, that's a better analogy. But Yeah. Like, you cannot serve others unless you are at first, minimally self serving.

Speaker 3:

Mhmm. You have to do the things that fill your cup so that you can pour in other people.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Yeah. Well and and it's like they coexist. Right? Like, they're pouring to other people is the sell is the sell like, it's

Speaker 3:

like It is.

Speaker 1:

It's like this circle of, like, I have to do this in order to get this, in order to be this way. Yep. And then it's it's like it's a feeding circle. And it's like, I've noticed that if I can hone in on what my intentions are, right? Like find out like, okay, why are you doing this?

Speaker 1:

Exactly. Like, what are your intentions here? Like, are they pure? Are they good intentions or are they, are they is it for your ego? Right?

Speaker 1:

Like what what what are you serving here? And I found that like, long as I can I can hone in on my intentions, which if I can trace it back to my higher power and finding out right, like, okay, this is why I'm doing this, then then I'm good? Right? Like, it is that I'm doing, right? I can rationalize.

Speaker 1:

I can I can find out what it is that I'm doing and why I'm doing it? And and it even helps with, like, the path of what I'm doing. Right? Like, okay. You're doing this for this reason.

Speaker 1:

It clears up a lot of yeah. Exactly. That's what I'm looking for. Clarity.

Speaker 3:

You you said the magic word intention, and then the other magic words clarity. It's the same the same thing. Like, there I'm sure there's times where maybe you got to you got to go to a meeting and you got say, hey, I can't hang with the kids. I gotta go to a meeting.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. I

Speaker 3:

gotta go train. I can't be with the kids right now.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

But you know that you're not going to the meeting or you're not going to training just to feed your own

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

Ego or your own accomplishment, you're going there so that you can fill your cup. Yeah. The the cup you make such a important point that, like, serving others in itself fills your cup.

Speaker 1:

Mhmm.

Speaker 3:

But I feel like there's, like, a there's a there's a line on that cup. And, like, there is pouring into yourself Mhmm. Is the only way to cross that, like, one line on the cup. Yeah. You know?

Speaker 3:

Because otherwise, if you're just serving others, you will eventually you'll burn out.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Yeah. And it's it's I tussle with with the the fighting and the MMA, and I tussle back and forth with that one because it's like there's a lot of what's in there that feeds my ego, A lot a lot of lot of that stuff is self serving and it's like you want to get your hands because you want the praise, right? Like and then you'll manipulate yourself and you'll tell yourself like, oh, well, you're doing this so that you can, you know, be an inspiration to other people, but really you just want your hand raised so that everyone can pat you on the back until you did a good job. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Right? Like, so like, there's there's a hard, like, introspective look there that like

Speaker 3:

It's

Speaker 1:

It's it's it's hard. Yeah. Listen, it's that is probably one of the, like, the hardest things for me to be able to navigate. It's like, when is this about me, and when is this about, you know, making a better version of me for me to be that better version for my family? Yep.

Speaker 1:

You know?

Speaker 3:

The lights the lights are on now. So you're now having that moment, and you're saying with intention, you're doing that audit because the lights are on.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. Yeah. You know?

Speaker 1:

That's way of audit.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So that's what I was alluding to in the beginning of the show where I was, like, struggling for the word of, like, balance and sobriety or whatever because what you do now, right, as a pro fighter and a pro entrepreneur Mhmm. Because you're not like you're doing big business. Right? Yeah.

Speaker 3:

Pro in both of those arenas Mhmm. Like, it there's they there's to a degree, you need to be selfish.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

You need to be self serving to a degree to be successful in both of those areas. Mhmm. And, like, sobriety's gotta come first.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

So now you got like that. You got the fact that these things require you to be not selfless sometimes, but then you're serving others because also sobriety asks you to serve others. Mhmm. Right? To to do to do what's best for it's part of it.

Speaker 3:

It's part of it. So you've got, like, this crazy the way I see it, like, this crazy push and pull going on, not just, like, once a quarter, like, every fucking day.

Speaker 1:

It's every day. It's it's it's I use this analogy as, like, I call it my pie. Right?

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Like, it's it's I have a pie. It's apple berry, whatever kind of pie you want to call

Speaker 2:

it, right?

Speaker 3:

You like your sweets

Speaker 1:

too, bro. I know that. It's a problem. It's actually in the big book. Was good Alcoholics and sugars, and there's a correlation between childhood, children, and carbohydrates, sugar intake and actual alcoholism and the reward system that your brain builds when it gets sugar and it But not to jump away on that one, because we could talk about that But back to the pie is I look at my pie and I have to give it away, right?

Speaker 1:

Like at the end of the day, I put my head down at night, it's all gone. Right? Like that's my day. This is my time. These are my hours.

Speaker 1:

I have to give the pie away to something. And it's constantly going out as the clock ticks. Yeah. And if I'm giving it to this, this person's not getting it. Right?

Speaker 1:

If I'm giving it to that, this isn't getting it because there's only so much you

Speaker 2:

can't say yes to everybody.

Speaker 3:

Or are you eating all the pie?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. That's where the line Why am I training? Why am I doing this? What am I trying to accomplish here? What are my intentions?

Speaker 1:

And it's like, I'm at this place right now in my life where, you know, I was undecided if I was really going to talk about this, but like, I'm at this place right now in my life where I have to make a hard decision. Like I'm 41 years old, Right? And I'm a professional fighter, and I'm fighting at the highest level. Right? And, you know, I just fought at Wells Fargo Center for Bare Knuckle Boxing.

Speaker 1:

Right?

Speaker 3:

In front of the largest crowd ever assembled in Philadelphia for History

Speaker 1:

of combat sports history. There's never been a larger combat sports history audience ever in Philadelphia. And I fought a guy who was on a four fight win streak, four straight finishes. Right? And I finished him in under a minute, right?

Speaker 1:

But the amount of sacrifice that that took, right, after it was all said and done, and I can go back and I can look at it, right and audit both literally and metaphorically, even financially. You look at it and you're like Wait, then I How much did I not make here? Because I was here and what did I do? Like where it struggled and what quality slapped here because of the nurse caused this. It's like, I broke my hand and what are the effects of that moving forward with this, that and the other?

Speaker 1:

And I look back and I go, okay, I did it. Right? Like that was like this moment that, like, every combat sports person has, like, this image of, like, getting his hands raised and everybody, all eyes are on him and, like

Speaker 3:

Plus, you're home, man.

Speaker 1:

I'm at home. And, like, that's the that's the moment that, like, you're laying in bed thinking about having.

Speaker 3:

Right?

Speaker 1:

Yes. And I got it. And I had it.

Speaker 3:

It's the vision.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Exactly. And and Is there

Speaker 2:

a son there too?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. That's Yeah. Both of my boys were there, my 13 year old and my 10 year old. And like we had been. It was magical.

Speaker 1:

Right. And like I had to sacrifice a lot. There was a lot of people who didn't get pie for that to happen.

Speaker 3:

For a while.

Speaker 1:

For a while. A Yeah. For weeks. Right? Like it was it was.

Speaker 2:

My friend Aaron Hines, he said like a podcast or something years ago that I heard that I've always thought about. It's like, can't say yes. When you say yes to one thing, you say no to something else. Correct.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. And

Speaker 2:

I love how you broke down the the thought of, like, why am I I ask why to everything, and it's every single thought or action we have can be broken down into, like, a subatomic particle of, like, is this selfish? Is this not is this philanthropic? Like, you know I mean? Like Mhmm. There's so everything can be peeled down to a more simple form of, like, actually deciding why you're doing something.

Speaker 2:

And I think that's something I've been thinking a lot. Like why do we do anything as a society,

Speaker 1:

as a culture? Is it to get my dick wet?

Speaker 2:

Am I

Speaker 1:

thinking about that new object? Am I thinking about someone saying good job? What am I thinking about? This is what I've come to realize that I feel my absolute best, not when I'm riding a jet ski, not when I'm getting my hand raised. I feel the largest amount of dopamine when someone says, Thank you.

Speaker 1:

You saved my life. There's nothing that can compare to that. And when I sponsor guys and I help them go through the steps and when I get to see the change that I got given to me, nothing feels better than that. Nothing. So it's like when I'm like you had said, sobriety's gotta come number one.

Speaker 1:

And when I when I encounter these situations where I have to give pie to things other than that, and I know that that makes me feel the best, but I'm still doing this. It makes you think like, well, why? Yeah. Right? Like, lot of it comes down to ego.

Speaker 1:

Right? A lot of it was like, want to notch that belt. Right? And I wanted for my children to be able to see that their dad did this, and he was this, and now he's this.

Speaker 2:

That's cool.

Speaker 1:

Right? So, that that before and after photo, I have it. Yeah. Right? Like, I that it's there.

Speaker 3:

It's here it is. Like I said in the beginning, it's it's a full rebirth.

Speaker 1:

Correct.

Speaker 3:

And I'm not I'm not here to, like, canonize you, man. Yeah. Like, make you insane or anything. Yeah. You know what

Speaker 2:

I'm saying?

Speaker 3:

Like, I'm sure you still like, we all do. We got stuff to work on.

Speaker 1:

Of course. Yeah. But I make mistakes. A %.

Speaker 3:

It's a full rebirth.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

Dude, it's like you burnt down to ashes

Speaker 1:

and came back. Yeah. And look, like, don't mind

Speaker 2:

if got anything about your entrepreneurial side too. Like, damn, if I wasn't doing this shit, I could probably end up

Speaker 3:

Well, that's what you're saying. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Like, that's what exactly. Like, like, I have these plans for my business, right? Renovations by Brady, right? Like we do kitchens, bathrooms, basements, additions, right? Like, but it's like, don't want to swing a hammer forever.

Speaker 1:

Right? Like, so eventually I have to like, like, I have to put into play the steps that I need to take to

Speaker 3:

Systems and the system. Correct.

Speaker 1:

In order to set myself up for a better future. Now, look, I'm okay with what I have now, right? Like, I'm grateful. Like, I'm good, right? But like, you should be striving for better, right?

Speaker 1:

You should be striving for excellence, right? So what my point is, is that this pie that's going out, I'm at this stage right now where it's like, I'm 41, right? And the toll that fighting and everything has taken on my body, on the things around me, on what I can give energy to. Right? My son's 13.

Speaker 1:

My oldest son's 13. Right? Like, he's going to require more attention. I'm not saying I didn't give him any attention previously, but I just mean like, gonna, I have to kind of bring him in a little bit closer at this point because, right? I don't mean by closer as in like strangle him.

Speaker 1:

I mean closer as in like, just pay more attention. Right? And I noticed with this fight is that I couldn't pay attention. Right? My my 10 year old says like he started doing jujitsu more times like that.

Speaker 1:

When are you going to come to my practices? Right? Because I was going to my practices. Dad, you go to yours. What about mine?

Speaker 1:

So I've made the decision that after this next fight, I'm going to retire. Really? I'm going to hang it up. It's time, right? Like it's time.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to do, I think I'm going to do one more MMA fight, right? Art of War and I'm going to make sure it's a tough one, right? Like, because I wanna do that, you know?

Speaker 2:

Can I ask why you wanna do the Art of War fight? I mean, you just kind of had like the fucking pinnacle of your career.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Mean, look, that's where I started.

Speaker 3:

Right? Title defense.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. I'm the heavyweight champ. Right? Mike and Deb Dickings have been great to me. Right?

Speaker 1:

And as has Dave Feldman. Right? Like, he's been great to me too, man. That guy's been I could call him right now for advice and on something and he'll spend twenty minutes on the guy's

Speaker 3:

Aces.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, the guy's the fucking president, right? Like he's the king, right? Like, and he takes my phone calls, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So like, I'm forever grateful to these people.

Speaker 1:

I just have to look at, again, the pie. I have to make a decision based on, do I want to go fight in Atlantic City in front of 20,000 people at Boardwalk Hall? Or do I want to be the main event for Art of War where when I come out of the cage, I can give all my friends and family a hug, kiss my kids? Like, I couldn't do that at Wells Fargo, right? Like, I couldn't go out and see my kids and like have that moment.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. You know? So it's like I have to make because I know that eventually the decisions that I'm making are going to be for me, right? And they're not gonna be for the people around me. And they're gonna be ego in its purest form.

Speaker 1:

And that only ends with like me on my back, stiff as a board with my hands up, Like, what are we talking about? Like, I've had these visions of like fighting for the bare knuckle heavyweight championship and it's like, yeah, would love to do that. But then you think like, at what expense? Yeah. Sure.

Speaker 1:

At what expense?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. They're brutal. They're brutal fights, man.

Speaker 1:

Can I do it? Yeah. I'm I'm fucking confident that if I went burn the ships.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. You gotta lock in.

Speaker 1:

Burn them. Yeah. That's it. Fuck everyone. I'm going to be the Bare Knuckle Heavyweight Champion.

Speaker 1:

I could do it. A %. Sure of it. If I said burn the ships, I wanna make it to the UFC. I wanna be the oldest guy ever signed to the UFC.

Speaker 1:

I'll have it done by the time I'm 43. I bet you I could fucking do it. Yeah. Right? If I burnt the ships, but what what am I getting in return for for that?

Speaker 1:

Like, I'm doing this. What's the return?

Speaker 2:

Guys, one off topic.

Speaker 1:

ROI, Return on investment. What am

Speaker 2:

I doing here? One off topic question is, like, what does your body feel like? Like, football since you were eight years old. I know because I played seventy five years, so that's probably where to start. Like, and then, like, football literally through college, like, all those practices, all those games.

Speaker 2:

And then

Speaker 1:

you've been

Speaker 2:

joining MMA jiu jitsu for how long?

Speaker 1:

Like, you got 18.

Speaker 2:

You got your body hurts, man. And and you broke all these You

Speaker 3:

got rods, pins, plates. Like you're

Speaker 1:

kitted up. And I'm not flexible.

Speaker 2:

You're kitted I'm just one

Speaker 1:

stiff ball of muscle. That plays into the decision, right? That return on investment and that pie that's going out. It's like, what I getting? What am I doing here?

Speaker 1:

Right? Like, am I gonna beat my body into a point where I won't be able to like play with my kids? Yeah. You know what I mean?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Like, it's

Speaker 3:

have a you ever have a shoofly pie?

Speaker 1:

Wait. What's in it again?

Speaker 3:

It's like a it's like molasses kind

Speaker 1:

of thing. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

I have, a similar pie analogy, but it seems like you're at a point now where, again, the lights are on Mhmm. And your level of awareness, you're like, okay. I gotta look at the ingredients in this pie. Like, it's deeper now than just me divvying up the pie. Mhmm.

Speaker 3:

Now it's like, gotta look at the ingredients inside. Because the pie is always gonna be there, but you gotta split up.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

But now you're looking at the ingredients, and you're saying, okay. Look. Like, this point, the story's been written. Yeah. You know what I mean?

Speaker 3:

When it comes to fighting, and that ingredient is gonna be taken out

Speaker 2:

for now.

Speaker 1:

My intentions my intentions early on were to like do something that I'd never done. Like we did a boxing match for recovery to help people get into recovery houses. Right? We raised money. And then that turned into an MMA match.

Speaker 1:

And then I lost my first amateur fight. And now I got to win one, right? And then it was like, okay, well, now I win. I win. I win.

Speaker 1:

I win. Now I got to go pro, right? So I was also like moving the bar forward just one notch. It was never like UFC or bust. It was always just one more notch.

Speaker 1:

Then it was like, all right, get another win. And then one more notch. And my intentions were always like that next notch. Was it was never this grand stage.

Speaker 2:

That's so interesting.

Speaker 1:

But then I got there and now it's like, oh shit, I'm gonna be able to walk out in front of 18,000 people. It's like that little just next notch, this next notch turned into this. And now I have to like stop myself, look back and go, okay, what's next? Because I keep moving these notches and like they get pricier and pricier like they they they cost more and more pie. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And it's I I just I'm not I'm not I'm not there. I'm I I have a daughter. Right? And I can't be the dad who can't have a softball catch with his daughter. And I want to be able to train jujitsu with my son without really being banged up.

Speaker 1:

Like, Chuck Liddell. You know what mean? I don't want to do that.

Speaker 3:

Plus, I mean, you know, in the sports that you're fighting in too, like the physicality is one thing, but, know, there's also a mental component to it as well as you start chasing that heavyweight, you know, title. Like, you you don't know what could happen. So the lights are on, man. Like, the light switch is on. The intention is there.

Speaker 3:

Like, you're you're making decisions.

Speaker 2:

I think I think this I'll cut you off. Okay. Like, another thing that the few struggle with as well is, like, Amanda was just saying something to me this morning about it. It's like, at what point do you, like, stop and reflect and be like, okay. Like, I'm actually doing great things here rather than because we we we accomplished something.

Speaker 2:

Mhmm. And then we move the we move the bar forward. Yeah. And I do it too, like, literally a fault. It's like I'm never I wanna never satisfied.

Speaker 2:

And, like, not even sound cliche, but it's, like, a problem for me. Like, it's like I'm just never take a second to be like, okay, we actually did something great. It's like, okay, we need to keep doing more.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Yeah. For me, like those types of moments, right? Like where you want more and more and more, like, that's where I tap into the power of being grateful. Right.

Speaker 1:

Like, and just real, like really hone in on that and think that, Oh shit, I was sleeping on the floor of my buddy's basement on an air mattress that was half inflated next to his cat litter box and was waking up to like crusty eyeballs, like a bloody nose and like his cat flinging fucking litter on me. Yeah. You know what mean? No pillows, like my hoodie bought up. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And now it's like, I'm upset because I have to apply for a variance for my addition that I want to build on my house. Yeah. It's like, it's like pump the brakes here. Yeah. What do you want to say about again?

Speaker 1:

Don't know if this

Speaker 2:

is our driven entrepreneurial or even fighters are entrepreneurs. Right? Like, is it because I know for me personally, I never feel safe. Like, I feel like at any moment, my wife said to me, she's like, because she's a business owner as well.

Speaker 3:

And

Speaker 2:

I was like, I feel like the rug could just be pulled out from us. Then yeah, any, any day. And just like, I never feel like that. And I was like, yeah, that's because I am the one thinking like that. I don't know

Speaker 1:

if like we all think like that or not to judge you or, but what's your relationship with a higher power?

Speaker 2:

Probably not good enough. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Me, that's

Speaker 3:

But I

Speaker 2:

say it is, Yeah. I believe that the universe is conspiring for me. Put all the positive energy

Speaker 1:

towards the universe. I'm like, I'm like, please, like. Yeah. To me, faith is that God has a plan. It's better than mine.

Speaker 1:

And I'm going to be okay.

Speaker 2:

No matter what. Definitely have not surrendered like that. I truly have.

Speaker 3:

It's funny you use the word surrender.

Speaker 2:

Wish that that's amazing. Like you, mean, like you can articulate, I truly like, I could see it in your eyes

Speaker 1:

that when you

Speaker 2:

say that you believe that shit and like, you operate your life on this believing that. But I almost feel like no one's got my back and I have to do it all.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's not it's not perfect. It's never perfect. You always have these moments that are based on fear. Like always have them all the time. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

But it's seeing the moment, recognizing it and addressing it, right? Like having those tools, having a prayer, saying this running prayer, having something in your tool belt, right? Like you're in a bad position in jujitsu, oh, I'd grab a kamura grip, right? Like whatever it is, like you have to have this tool to get you out of that moment and then you're on the other side of it. Oh, okay, that's what

Speaker 2:

I'm having. A serious, like, moment right now. Like, I like.

Speaker 3:

Did you see that?

Speaker 2:

I always say the universe is conspiring for me. Like, it's like I truly I say it, right? I believe the universe is like working for me, but I've never truly just given up and

Speaker 3:

it's a surrendered

Speaker 2:

for for like to use that word again. Like I've never I apparently I'm not doing it right because I don't I haven't felt like that. You know what mean? That's true. Like taking care of that your high power is taking care of you.

Speaker 2:

I don't know if I ever felt that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. No, listen, it's it's not easy. It's not like this. It's not this overall presence of like you're good, right? Like it's this, but you know

Speaker 2:

like someone's got your

Speaker 1:

back. Correct. Yes.

Speaker 2:

I don't think I feel like. Mean, I want see

Speaker 1:

that out in the

Speaker 2:

universe like, but I don't know if I have that feeling right now.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's just it's it's having faith that right. It's it's having a what we call a conscious contact with your higher power, conscious contact with your higher power. Like there's been times when, like, I was going through whatever it is that I was going through. I burned down relationships with friends. I've hurt people.

Speaker 1:

I've done stuff in sobriety that I'm not proud of. And then you find yourself in this place where you're like, oh shit, I haven't been in contact with God in a long time. Like, no. I haven't drank. No.

Speaker 1:

I haven't gotten high. But, like, I'm not with God right now. I'm not walking with him. And then, like, you put these things into place where it's like, before I even get out of bed, my knees hit the ground. Right?

Speaker 1:

Like, I don't even my feet don't even hit the ground. Right? Like, there's things that I have to do sometimes to put myself in a in a place to where I don't have those fleeting thoughts because those fleeting thoughts turn into this, turn into this, and it's an escalator. Yeah. Right?

Speaker 1:

And it's just the next. And next thing you know, it's like, oh, poor me. I'm going to just go to the bar and have a couple of beers.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. Right?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Cascades. Well, because to me, drinking and drugging was never my problem. It was always my solution. Right?

Speaker 1:

Like I was always the problem. Yeah, right. The problem was always me. The solution was always what I turned to to numb it or to get rid of it. That was I always thought that was the problem.

Speaker 1:

But I noticed that there has been times in my life when I wasn't drinking a drug and now I still had problems. Yeah, yeah, Because I was creating this kind of chaos situation because I'm used to chaos, right? Like so like your hands is conditioned. My mind will put me back there. Like Yeah.

Speaker 1:

It's why I've I've noticed, like, why do I love fighting so much? Yeah. Like, what is it about getting in that cage and shutting that door? You have no fucking clue what's gonna happen. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

No clue. No no prayers are gonna save you at that time. Like, nothing's gonna save you from that guy trying to kill you. Right? Because that's what he's trying to do.

Speaker 1:

We're recreating murder here. Yeah. Right? So he's gonna try to kill me. I'm in this chaos situation that I put myself in.

Speaker 1:

Like, through some, like, whatever, self manipulation, and now I'm here. Right? And I got addicted to it. Right? And and they're just moving that notch.

Speaker 1:

And I find myself in a place now and it's like, alright, dude, you gotta check it. It's time.

Speaker 3:

Yep.

Speaker 1:

You know what

Speaker 2:

I mean?

Speaker 1:

And and maybe this is your moment when you're like, shit, man. I gotta check this, and and I gotta I gotta develop a conscious contact. And it doesn't have to be Jesus. It doesn't have to

Speaker 3:

be Yeah. That's it.

Speaker 1:

It could be anybody.

Speaker 3:

That's the important thing. Like, I feel like for me, like, I'm not where Pat is yet.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

But I'm on the path. Like, I held on to that, to to faith not fear Yeah. For a long time. Like, we released a bunch of gear. Mhmm.

Speaker 3:

Faith not fear. Choosing faith over over fear. And you said it perfect Mhmm. Perfectly. There's like those moments where you feel that fear, and you feel like you're alone, and you're not someone's not walking with you.

Speaker 3:

Mhmm. And that's the moment where you need that thing, that tool that you have to to change course.

Speaker 2:

Know what

Speaker 3:

I mean? And do the opposite thing because the fear is pulling you one way. Mhmm. And, like, I'm not where he is. I'm not where Pat is, but, like, I am maybe I'm a little further along than you are on that journey.

Speaker 3:

But you like, that when when we brought that messaging to the community and released that gear, you saw what it did to the community.

Speaker 1:

Oh, yeah.

Speaker 3:

That resonated heavy because everybody's there. You know? This is like, you know

Speaker 2:

I feel like I have and this is like a super deep like, I have faith, but I, don't know if I believe. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, it's like and and I know one has come before the other, but, like, it's like Yeah.

Speaker 2:

I guess it's what I'm lacking.

Speaker 3:

This is the journey though.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. There's a saying for that, right? When you come in the rooms is fake it until you make it. Right? No, seriously.

Speaker 1:

Fake it until you make it. Like just believe in, just tell yourself you believe in it. Even if you don't, right? Like just read, do this, do that, just fake it until you make it. And then I had a moment in rehab.

Speaker 1:

I didn't have to fake it until I make it for very long. I had that moment when I read, right? When I read the Our There will be a moment, right, when you when you oh, okay. I get it.

Speaker 2:

You're like, oh, he's got like that Our Father. Just

Speaker 1:

I can't

Speaker 2:

explain that to you. Were like, oh, like, God's got me.

Speaker 1:

I've whether I believed in God or not, I did after that point. Yeah. Yeah. God's got me, that all comes with conscious contact, that comes with literature,

Speaker 3:

that comes with And a clear a clear conscious to the higher power. Yeah. Like, all the things in the world, they're throwing up roadblocks, and they're gumming up that clear path of consciousness to the higher power. At least that's the way I

Speaker 2:

look at it. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

And I never so I'm like, you know, over a year in, a year in four months into being sober. Right? Mhmm. I never worked a program. I went to a couple meetings, but I never worked a program or anything.

Speaker 3:

So you're gonna have to tell me. But, like, in the program, like, it's not Jesus. It's not There's no actual label on the higher power or the God.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. It's it's a higher a higher power as you see him. Right? Yeah. It's as you describe him.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. And and that comes with it comes with going through the steps. Right? It comes it comes with these moments with yourself and with another man. Right?

Speaker 1:

When when he's explaining to you what he went what he went through. Sure. His his his experiences. And then you you share this moment of, you know, a bonding moment where you can relate to one another and it it it has to be a lot of that. Right?

Speaker 1:

Has to be with a lot of hearing but like you the fake it until you make it comes with like, oh, well, that's what that means and then, oh, well, then when this happened to me, like I said to you earlier, like, a lot of the stuff that had happened to me in my life, I didn't realize what it was until I realized what it was. Sure. You know what? I didn't know that that this was this or that was that until oh, okay, now that makes sense.

Speaker 3:

The fake it till you make it's been bastardized too, where like almost to the point where people start to think it doesn't require work.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's like do the work until you make it, really. It's basically like,

Speaker 1:

it's never ending work.

Speaker 3:

It's never ending work. So like,

Speaker 1:

oh, fake

Speaker 3:

it till you

Speaker 1:

make Education without a graduation. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And that's why I

Speaker 1:

will say

Speaker 2:

that I do the work. I meditate. I like speak to the universe, like gratitude. Like we pray before every meal at my house. Like it's like literally it's there.

Speaker 2:

The work is there. It's like that that feeling of trust that the trust is where I'm lacking. I'm

Speaker 3:

finding it. This is and it sounds silly and you probably don't look

Speaker 2:

at it. You could tell Pat trusts.

Speaker 1:

He's like,

Speaker 3:

like, you can see it in his eyes.

Speaker 1:

Listen, I

Speaker 2:

saw the most beautiful eyes I've seen.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Of it, I think has to come from pain, man. Like, don't know how much pain you've been through. Right? Like,

Speaker 2:

I don't

Speaker 1:

know what's that. It's apparently on top. Pain is relative to the eyes beholder. Yeah. If When you've been through as much literal pain as I have, and then you come out the other side of it, working something that wasn't what you worked, you had no other choice but to believe.

Speaker 1:

There's no other choice. It's like, oh, well that wasn't me. Yeah, because if it was me, I would have been pent up in my basement peeking out the window, wearing a bloody wife beater, right? Like, that's me, This is God.

Speaker 2:

It's so interesting because I I perspective is my superpower. Like, I've been through some shit and, like, I've everything I've been through, I I make it my my superpower. I'm, this is why I am the way I am today. And it's, like, I thought I had been through it. I'm, like, listen to stories like you and other people on the show.

Speaker 2:

And I'm like, damn. Like, I've I haven't been through anything. It's like

Speaker 3:

Going back, you you hit the nail on the head with trust. Right? And, like, when you think about trust, we say it all the time. In business, in life, it's the hardest thing to build. This is no different.

Speaker 3:

Mhmm. And, like, the I don't know if you look at it, but, like, that little Trello card I made for our L 10 thing, the book of proof Mhmm. That's what that's why I made that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

Because I'm like, there are signs. There are signs as you move throughout your day. Now you've had some remarkable signs. Right? And you're like but there are signs as you move throughout your day that are building blocks of trust.

Speaker 3:

The trust that you need to realize that you're not in this alone. Yeah. But you have to the lights gotta be bright enough. Yeah. You gotta be aware enough.

Speaker 3:

The intention needs to be there for you to recognize the trust. And it's a journey,

Speaker 1:

man. Yeah. For sure. It's a journey. Look, like I said, I've I burned some bridges, man.

Speaker 1:

I've made some tremendous mistakes, things that I'm not proud of. And the only thing you can do is brush yourself off.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Look at it, understand what it was and what happened and move on. Yeah. You know what I mean? And and move on and and understand that you want the person that made that mistake. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

You know what I mean? You're who you who you're not. You know what I mean?

Speaker 2:

So

Speaker 3:

Yeah. For sure.

Speaker 1:

Look, man. I think your lights are on, brother.

Speaker 3:

You know

Speaker 2:

what mean?

Speaker 1:

Lights are on. Stay the course.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. Yeah. Stay the course. I was ready for this to my spiritual awakening.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. In the beginning listen. In the beginning of the show, I said what I said.

Speaker 1:

Talk to you. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

You ever

Speaker 1:

I mean, you ever

Speaker 2:

heard of Kairos? You met Kairos when you were in high school? No. No. It's like a retreat and, like, only you sign up for it and you go, like, to, like, the retreat like, Catholic retreat house and, like Mhmm.

Speaker 2:

You have, like, three nights. It's like I forget. Someone will have to comment, but it's like fear cry and you get in the groups and you're like, you cry you're a cry night, and then you're like, another night. It's

Speaker 3:

like Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Don't know. Cry night, they like you don't know this, but leading up to it, they've been sourcing letters from everyone in your life. Like, you're kind

Speaker 3:

of really bad. Man.

Speaker 2:

And they, like, light candles, and they read these letters aloud to, like, everyone. There's, a hundred people there.

Speaker 3:

How'd you how'd you have to do that? I didn't have to do that.

Speaker 2:

I don't dude. Everyone that went to Catholic school, like, knows about this. Yeah. I don't know how know.

Speaker 3:

Well, there's like 10 difference between us. Maybe that's a new thing. I don't know.

Speaker 2:

Well, anyway, so that I thought that would be my spiritual awakening. I've had like that, but I I I'm I'm realizing that.

Speaker 3:

Well, you're ready. You're ready when you're ready.

Speaker 2:

I lack trust.

Speaker 1:

Well, do you say you read, but, like, a lot of it is in things that I've I've read that I've read that I'm like, okay, that makes sense. It's like you can't you can't expect to learn jujitsu by not being on the

Speaker 2:

Mhmm.

Speaker 1:

Right? You can't expect to have this faith or this this this trust without trying the move. Right? Like, you if you can say saying saying you do it saying you do it.

Speaker 3:

Allowance. Yeah. That's where I look at it. It's allowing. It's a it's

Speaker 2:

a release.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Mhmm.

Speaker 2:

I find that in my meditation sometimes too. Like, I do some of do guided, some of that do not guided. Yeah. And like they said, like, I don't, like, push it away or throw it away. Like, allow it to leave.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Me, I like saying it doesn't matter. It doesn't really matter. Right? Like, it doesn't really none of it really matters.

Speaker 1:

Right? Like, at the end of the day, we're we're I know that I'm going to be okay. Yeah. Right? So whatever bullshit that I encounter doesn't matter.

Speaker 1:

I'll be good.

Speaker 3:

Yep. %.

Speaker 2:

Boys, this was the Yeah. I was not ready for a bad break. I tried

Speaker 3:

to bore you. Listen.

Speaker 2:

Fucking so spiritual.

Speaker 3:

I told you it would have started to show, man.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. That's why

Speaker 3:

I set it up there because I You

Speaker 2:

did not say get ready for your spiritual awakening. Like, that was not in the prep for the for the Pat Brady's.

Speaker 3:

Listen. Hold on. I know a lot, but I don't know everything. So I can't tell you when that awakening is gonna come, I'm glad it came, brother. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

I'm glad it came.

Speaker 1:

And like I said, look, I'm not looking for any type of praise, man. I'm not perfect. I made a lot of mistakes. I made mistakes in sobriety. I make mistakes.

Speaker 1:

I'll make a mistake today, right? Like, but it's important to just know that That's a mistake. Fix it and move on.

Speaker 2:

What Mr Brady say otherwise? You say don't make any mistakes. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

Alright. Well, do you have a lightning round today? I don't think you think

Speaker 1:

we could No.

Speaker 2:

You don't have it.

Speaker 3:

We don't we don't even need to do

Speaker 1:

a lightning

Speaker 2:

round today.

Speaker 1:

That was lightning. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

Why don't you exactly. Why don't why don't you tell the community where to find you, where to find renovations by Brady, and then maybe what's coming next? Like, I I appreciate the fact that you were unsure if you were going to talk about retirement. You brought that to the show today, so I appreciate that, brother. But why don't you what's next?

Speaker 3:

Where can they find you? All that good stuff.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So my company is called Renovations by Brady. Website's renovationsbybrady.com. Right? My Instagram handle is heavyweightbrady, h e v w e I g a c brady.

Speaker 1:

Okay. Right? Yeah. I mean, you know, I go on my Instagram. It's great to talk to people and stuff like that.

Speaker 1:

But yeah, I mean, I have this fight coming up as of right now. We're looking at June 14 as a tentative date for Valley Forge Casino for Art of War. I'm going to defend my heavyweight title. And yeah, man, like I said, I was unsure. I've been toying with the idea and I've talked to my wife about it and I've talked to Chris and Kyle about it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. And it's something that sometimes you need to say something in order to lock it in.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Right? Like you got to put it out there into the universe in order for you to really stick to it because like there's something inside me that says like, no, come on, one more. But like me saying this, right? Like and me putting it out there and me putting that energy out there people, you know, people are going to come to me and, you know, it's going to be a topic discussed after this. Right.

Speaker 1:

And not too many people really know about it. So me just speaking it into existence. I know myself. I think my wife and my kids will be happy as well.

Speaker 2:

So will you get in the gate after retirement then? Sure. Why not?

Speaker 1:

I'll wait. Yeah. Who knows where? You know?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. There you go. A lot

Speaker 1:

of places.

Speaker 2:

It's true. I was gonna say maybe we could IBJJ Efron.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Not any contact. Howard, Howard, dude. We don't wanna unlock that beast. Maybe we'll wait until after I'm 45 that when I no longer think MMA is an option because if I start to let that competition beast out, you know, I might think that I can squeeze one more fight.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. It's like Master's post.

Speaker 3:

You're gonna go through you're gonna run through Master's.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Well, I've been through.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. You got power. Above Master at 40 five?

Speaker 3:

I'm assuming so, dude. Executive, I

Speaker 2:

think maybe. I think it is.

Speaker 1:

I think I'm executive. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

I think I'm executive.

Speaker 2:

That's funny.

Speaker 3:

Well, thank you for coming on

Speaker 1:

the show. Boy, it's

Speaker 3:

nice to I I knew what was gonna happen today, I was, like, super pumped about it. So thank you for coming on the show.

Speaker 2:

We had a talk. We had some business talks

Speaker 3:

Thank you

Speaker 1:

for about

Speaker 3:

playing a part.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Thank you for playing a part in, not just being like a excellent, model of rebirth in our community and the Fuqua community, but also for me in my journey when I decided to get sober.

Speaker 1:

Appreciate that. Thanks for having me, guys.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Any closing thoughts?

Speaker 2:

No, dude. A lot of thoughts.

Speaker 1:

Words. Alright.

Speaker 3:

I'll leave it. I'll leave it here with a reminder. Always choose hard work over handouts. Always choose effort over entitlement. Remember, no one owns you.

Speaker 3:

No one owes you. You're one of the few. Now let's hunt.