Sam Acho: Welcome back to the Sam Acho podcast featuring Cliff Marshall.
A space where we go first, we give space and we grow hope.
We talk about faith, family, football, and finances.
And today we have another special guest.
Clif Marshall: Sam, I'm so hyped to welcome our friend,
Vinny Ray to the podcast today.
Vinny has a great story for God's glory.
Vinny is a follower of Jesus Christ.
He is a husband, he is a father, and he recently went from being the
Cincinnati's Bengals team captain to being the Cincinnati Bengals team.
Chaplain.
Vinny played college for the Duke Blue Devils, and he went on to play for
nearly a decade in the NFL as a standout linebacker and a special team stud.
I got to watch firsthand how Vinny defied the odds.
Going from an undrafted free agent to the team captain of the Bengals,
I was a performance director at Ignition, the gym that Vinny trained
at every off season in Cincinnati.
His story is one of courage, consistency, and commitment.
Vinny, thanks for being on the podcast.
We are eager, eager to talk faith, family, and football with you today.
Vincent Rey: Man, I cliff.
I like how, how you wrote that, man.
I like the, the rhyme scheme, the alliteration.
That was all good, man.
Sam Acho: He was talking, we were talking beforehand.
He was like, Hey man, from team chap, from team captain to team.
I like that's that's nice to team Chaplain.
That's nice.
Oh man.
Clif Marshall: That flows.
Sam Acho: it flowed and you know Cliff.
So Cliff, you trained Vinny.
I met Vinny while training in those off seasons.
I think that's what we made.
If I'm not, I'm not, not mistaken, of course we played each other.
But just seeing you and a man of faith, a man of character,
and a man who worked hard.
That's the thing that stood out the most for me when I was training with you.
I, I prided myself on being a guy who gave his all and who worked hard
and was gonna outwork everybody.
Right?
Man of faith.
And I look at Vinny, I'm like, oh no.
He gives his all, he's a man of faith.
He outworks everybody.
I can't beat him.
But, but it was this deal of like, irony, sharpening iron, iron, sharpening iron.
And so Vinny, uh, thank you so much for being on the podcast.
My first question for you, we heard Cliff talk about you going from
team captain to team Chaplain.
What as the transition out of football, at least out of
playing football, been for you?
Vincent Rey: Yes, man.
Great question.
So I think it's been, it, it was a little tough, um, initially, so I came
in the NFL in 2010 and I played nine years, and then I tried to make a 10th
year, had did the whole track, you know, workout for this team, that team
getting flown out everywhere, even.
Down to like, than around Thanksgiving.
I think I was going and working out, but I ended up retiring in 2020.
And one thing, um, that my chaplain, Lamars Crawford, who you what, when he was
a chaplain for the Bengals, when I was a player, he would always say, football's
what you do, it's not who you are.
He would always share that with the players and he needed to say that because.
Football culture is telling you that you are what you produce.
Um, based on how you're treated, you play well.
Um, other teammates treat you well.
Coaches treat you well.
Maybe front office treat you well.
Family and friends treat you well.
And then when you don't perform well, then you're not treated as well.
When you're injured and you're not able to perform, you somehow become le
less important in the eyes of others.
Nobody's gonna say that, but that's how you're treated.
Uh, and then one day when it's over.
If, because the culture is telling you that you are what you do, then
you start a, you start to feel like a, like a widget that's no longer useful.
Uh, like a, you know, I, I live in Ohio and here you have, I think
some people call it the rust belt.
You like, you'll have some of these factories and it just kind of, they have
been, they haven't been used for decades.
You kind of feel like something that, Hey, I used to be useful, but
I no longer am because they found someone younger with less injuries.
So I no longer bring value.
So you feel your value is now down.
But, um, tell you what, during, uh, when, when I was retired, a brother, um,
at my church had said football's, no.
He, he said, what you do matters, but who you are matters more.
And that really set me free, man.
Um, that really helped me.
And because I know I.
What I do, whether it's football, whether you are an attorney, whether
you are what, whatever your job is, that matters, but it matters more who you are.
And at the very least, all of us, we are, I would say the crown of God's creation.
Um, I don't believe we're random cosmic goo that happened to come together.
Right?
I think we're all, we all have inherent value and, um, I'm loved by God.
He made me to love me and I can rest in that.
So the, uh, the transition, uh, has been pretty good from knowing that at first
it was difficult because you're, you're an expert at something and then you go in
and you try to jump in and be an expert at something else when you're really not.
Um, which is one of the reasons I think, um, players may struggle financially when
they're done for, uh, when they finished.
Uh, some people make it seem like, oh, former players just blow all
their money and they lose it.
There's some of that, but I think most of the time that it's someone trying
to be an expert in something else that they never really put the time in to do.
So I, um, was looking to try to do something else, but, uh, I'll tell
you what, being a chaplain kind of fell in my lap, and I love what I get
to do with my family because my wife and I work together as chaplains.
I know I was a little long-winded there, but I'll be quiet.
Sam Acho: No, no, no.
I got,
there's so much, so Cliff, I know we got some questions, but
there's so much I need to unpack.
Really, there's two things I wanna unpack if we, if we can
like park there for for a second.
The first one is, you said that when your chaplain, or maybe
it was the pastor, said that.
Said something that set you free.
You said that it set you free.
You know, uh, what you, who you are matters more.
But when I hear, set you free.
I hear, okay.
That means you were trapped or somehow not free before.
What was that process like?
Vincent Rey: The not free process.
Sam Acho: Yes.
Vincent Rey: Yeah.
So I guess we can go there.
I, I've been, um, uh, I've been following after Jesus for most of my life.
I was raised in a Christian home, but, um, when I get, when I got to college,
I made, uh, I had a, a chaplain who kind of, who shared with me the faith
and kind of told me some things about myself that I needed to hear, and I've
been following after him ever since, but.
During that time, I did feel, I, I guess you could say trapped by,
um, kind of the thoughts of others.
Like, man, I'm, I've, I haven't gone out on my terms.
Um, I knew that one day I, I would hear the same door that you walk
inâthe NFL building is the same door you're gonna walk out one day.
Um, but I had never been, you know, released before.
And that, that was kind of a shameful thing.
Like, man, I'm, I'm no longer good enough, but I real, I, I became
secure in knowing that what my father thinks of me really matters the most.
Um, and I know he thinks highly of me because he paid a high price for
me in Christ, in his son, um, by.
I believe he gave his son lived the life.
Um, not just I, but we were supposed to live and, and then die.
The death we were supposed to die in our place.
So even though I, I was someone who was a man of faith at the time, I still
felt a little guess you say trapped in shame in things not turning out
the way I wanted to, um, with, with the game of football that I love.
But, but yeah, that, that freed me up reminding me that who I
am matters more and who I am is not something I need to attain.
Um, I don't have to work my way up to it.
Um, because God already came down, you know, in his son,
and, you know, I, I'm secure.
I'm secure.
I'm loved, like to be loved.
That means I don't have to do anything to get it.
I just embrace what he does, what he did for me.
Sam Acho: I don't even have a, I mean, cliff, could you
give some Cliff notes real
Clif Marshall: Yeah.
Yeah.
No, it's, it's a lot here.
It's really a lot to unpack and it's something that coaches and
players alike deal with, and I call it the idol of performance.
You know, in the Bible it says you should have no other idols before God.
But I've seen some of the strongest men of faith make their sport
an idol, make it their God.
Right.
And Sam, I wanted to just ask you, um, have you dealt with this, have
you felt the pressures in the outside world of, you know, being the best and
making the most money and, uh, earning the awards as at some point in time in
your career, was it an idol for you?
Sam Acho: Oh, without a doubt.
I mean, yesterday, cliff, yesterday I had some friends over and one of
'em just graduated from college at Clemson and you know, he, we, we
were outside playing basketball and I was playing with him and it was my
kids and all those kind of things.
And even in that, I wasn't winning in the basketball game.
Right.
And I, I'd like to blame it on one of my children, but I'm
not gonna do that right now.
Uh, but another buddy of mine was there and I, I said, kind
of flippantly, like, um, man, I need to, I need to show my worth.
You know, just kind of like, I thought I was joking and I think I was joking,
but there was something in there of like, dude, I don't want to lose.
Even as I talked about the intro to Vinny of like, oh man, like Vinny, as
much as we were, you know, competing in the off season, like I didn't want
anybody to outdo me even in that.
And then talk less of actually on the football field, on the football field
of having coaches say there's a, a, a, a sign in our meeting room, maybe
my third year in the NFL the sign said, you are what you put on tape.
Clif Marshall: Hmm.
Sam Acho: So imagine walking into practice every single day and
then meetings after at practice.
'cause then think about it, you, you, you practice in the morning.
As soon as practice ends, you might go take a quick shower, grab a meal, and
then 30, 45 minutes later you're in the meeting room, you're watching film of
the practice and that's throughout the week and then the game comes on Sunday,
boom, you watch it on Monday or on Tuesday you are what you put on tape.
And so I was like, well crap, if I have a bad practice, am I just bad if I have
a, if I'm not performing, am I not?
So that really got to me and that there was something already
deeper of chasing awards, I think.
And I think.
initially it wasn't necessarily chasing awards.
It was like, man, I have fun.
I'm good at the X, Y, and Z.
But there, there did come a time Cliff where I remember, and Vinny, you'll
atta, you'll relate to this or you may relate to this between plays in games,
you know how you look to the sideline to see, hey, what's the personnel?
Or hey, what's the next play call or whatever.
I looked to the sideline in games and practice and sure, I'd look to
see, hey, what's the next play call?
But I would look to see if my coach approved of my last performance
about like the last play.
You know, if I made a mistake, they have their heads down.
If I made a good play, they're like, Hey, great job.
Like, I was trapped.
I was trapped.
And if I could just be honest, like I don't know what, when exactly it happened.
Uh, but there was a time something changed in me and I started
looking to God for my approval.
Instead of looking to the sideline, I'd instead looking left or right.
I'd look up and I would just pray.
I'd be like, Hey, God, what did you think about that play?
And I almost felt this piece, bro.
I felt this piece of like, great job, keep it up.
And that what happened was I, the approval that I was looking for in
coaches, I wasn't getting so, so it was almost like the opposite.
It was like they were looking down on me and I was like, well, shoot,
I got 17 more weeks in this season.
It's early in the season.
I can't, I can't live like this.
I started praying, fasting, God, how can I rely on you and not rely on them?
And so he started to show me like, Hey, like I ma, my opinion matters.
And so between plays.
Between games.
It wasn't like I wasn't waiting for the coach to say, great
job or poor job, immediately.
Hey God, what'd you think about that?
And I felt a piece of like, great job.
You're good.
Clif Marshall: So the problem is the idol of performance, the solution.
Sam, what you said is.
You start looking up and you play for God.
And we call that the audience of one, right?
And I think when you do that, it allows you to play free.
For eight years I've been a team chaplain for the Indiana Hoosiers
men's basketball team, right?
Where I was also the strength and conditioning coach.
And so we'd have an optional chaplain, um, on game day, but
great attendance and great dialogue.
But I can tell you man, this concept of the idol of performance is real.
It was certainly real here at Indiana in the conversations that I had with
players and even when, when I was a strength and conditioning coach
in the NFL, it was the same way.
So I'm glad that we've kind of spoken on this and I hope this will bring,
um, some peace and perspective to some young athletes who may be out there,
uh, listening to our show today.
Sam Acho: Yeah.
No, that's so good.
So remember we said there were, there was two things I wanted to unpack, Vinny.
So that was the first one, right?
It seems like we unpacked it.
We got out of park, let's drive a little bit more and then boom, the
next stop sign you talked about.
'cause on this podcast we talk about faith, family, football, and finances.
But so far we haven't really dug into finances in depth just yet on any
of our podcasts for whatever reason.
But you, you made a comment about athletes, and not just athletes, but
people who, I guess you could talk, let's say football players, athletes, whatever.
And this idea of going broke when they're done playing.
And you said it's not, it's not because they're blowing all their money.
Oftentimes it sounded like you said it's more of a, an issue with identity or what?
Like what, like, let's unpack that for a second.
The financial piece of what happens with athletes when
they're done playing financially.
Vincent Rey: Yes.
I, I think it does connect with identity still, Sam.
Uh, I think the idea is.
I have been told that I'm great for so long.
Uh, I played football from age seven until age 32 every year of my life.
And there's others who are similar.
You've been told for so long, Hey, you're great at this, at football and, um.
When you're in high school, you get to leave school early
to go to football practice.
Or when you're in college, you get to enroll early in classes
because what you do matters more than what everyone else does.
That's what's being communicated.
So you're like, man, I'm important because of what I do.
And then tens of thousands of people come to watch me and play in college
and in the NFL and I get all this affirmation and then it's done.
I'm not playing anymore.
So I need to get that affirmation again.
So I'm going to be great at something.
And just one thing that some players go into is business.
I'm going to be the best at business.
Um, also it's a unique, uh.
A unique job, uh, as a professional athlete because you're getting probably
the most money you're going to get financially early on in your twenties
where most people are going this way.
You kind of start here and then you come back down, um, at some point.
So I think that may play into it also, but I think it's, Hey, I
need to show that I'm still great.
But the problem is I didn't do the work to be great like in football or my sport.
I was, I practiced at this a million times.
I practiced running this route, or, um, doing this footwork.
I practiced a million times doing this, but I didn't practice a million
times in this business pursuit.
So that's just something I've seen.
Um.
And, and I like to correct the fact that it's not just a bunch of
athletes just just mindlessly spending their money on, uh, on chains and
cars, even though that does exist.
It's, I think it's mostly that way I'm spending, or I, I'm trying to be
great at, um, business and even I, I want to, here's another thing I want
to help my community that I came from.
I want to provide jobs, so I'm going to give this money to this
person who's not really qualified, but I'm leading with my heart.
Um, and I'm being genuine.
I'm being sincere, but it's still, I would call foolish.
It's a foolish thing to do.
Uh, so yeah, financially,
Sam Acho: Why is it foolish?
Why is it foolish?
Vincent Rey: because you didn't dot every I and cross every t like you,
like as a, the athlete went when he is getting ready for a game on Sunday.
He has practiced full speed.
He has done jog through, he has done walkthrough.
He has watched more film than he even spends on the field.
So he has dotted every I and crossed every T.
But when it comes to, um, provi trying to provide for your community or
doing a business venture with someone, you didn't invent that guy out.
You probably didn't even get a, uh, like one, did you get
a background check on him?
Uh, do you, have you seen what he has done beforehand?
Have you talked to some people who have worked with him financially beforehand
and not just your aunt or your cousin?
So all these things are, are things that many play, um, former athletes
learn like the harder way, uh, but.
These are things you're just not thinking of because you probably didn't get
your MBA yet, or you didn't, not to say you have to get an MBA, but you,
you haven't spent enough time, um, just toiling in the soil of business.
You've just, you've been doing football, which is fine, but yeah, I don't
want to just kind of talk circles, but pay the, pay your dues and learn
financially, because financially it is what I think that you hit the jackpot.
If you're in the NFL and you have a certain amount, you don't have to
go and take the biggest risks, which is what some people want you to do.
Sam Acho: Hmm.
That's good.
Just the lessons, the lessons, uh, of growth, right?
Spent 25, 30 years, 15, whatever, years at one thing, becoming an expert,
becoming a pro, becoming, uh, uh.
Best in class,
Vincent Rey: Yes.
Sam Acho: just expect overnight to switch careers and just be best in class.
It's like you think so, but it's like go back to when you started
playing or forget sports, like whatever field you're in, you've been
doing that for a number of years.
You've gotten the number of reps necessary to be successful.
And so in the same way in which you watch film, study tape, go over the
plays have been getting the reps in the weight room, all those things
since you were 7, 5, 3, 15, whatever.
In the same way, it's going to take that amount of
focus, knowledge, skill, discipline in another area, and you can't
affect it to happen overnight.
Vincent Rey: Mm-hmm.
I agree.
Clif Marshall: Vinny, I know as a team chaplain for the Bengals that
you're helping these players, right.
Um, on and off the field.
But I want to ask you as a team chaplain, what is your day-to-day
responsibility, week to week, and then also what is the, the greatest joy
that you have as being the, the team
Vincent Rey: Uh, man, those are great questions.
Uh, so this is going into my fifth year as team chaplain.
I'd like to share, uh, really quickly how I became chaplain.
Um, I retired in 2020 and the former chaplain reached out to me and said
that he's going to be leaving to be a pastor in another state in another place.
And he thought I would be perfect to be chaplain and not just
me, but me and Noel together.
Uh, which Lamar and Megan, they worked together as our
chaplains when we were players.
And I was a little hesitant at first because I wasn't
someone who led bible study.
I wasn't someone who led chapel.
Uh, but at the same time I was involved in whatever he had that he did.
Um, chapel Bible study.
Maybe we went down the street to speak to some high schoolers.
Maybe we, one time we went to the, to the west side here in town and went to a
laundromat and were giving out quarters and were praying with people like some,
some, uh, I mean some guys who maybe Andy Dalton was there, you know, he's giving
out quarters, praying with, uh, with.
Andrew Whitworth was there.
This guy's about six, seven, you know, big guy we're standing in a laundromat, giving
out quarters to mostly it seemed like, older women who were there at the time and
just asking him if, can we pray with them?
So I was involved with all these things that, uh, my former chaplain was doing.
So the next step was just to do the work of ministry, um, which I'm still
learning, developing as someone who leads Bible study, developing as someone
who, um, speaks on behalf of God.
What a humbling thing.
Um, but, but yeah.
My week, my day to day, I'll give you during the season, because right
now I'm, I'll have a bible study once a week with the players and
with the coaches, um, separately.
And then I'm doing a lot of what, what we call ministry of presence,
which I'm just being around.
I am in the lunch room, I am in the locker room, and I'm just mingling.
And just by being around the ministry will happen, players, um, training
staff, um, people in the lunchroom
coaches, people will come and ask me different questions or just
wanna start conversations with me.
Um, but quickly I'll share with you during the week, during the season,
um, let's say the game is Sunday,
We go to the games because after the game we get a chance to be
around the significant others, the families and friends, and
just get to connect with them.
And again, ministry of presence seeing I.
God, what is it that you're already doing?
Because we begin with a pre presupposition that God is already at work and we
want to get in on what God is doing.
God open our eyes.
How are you working within this organization?
How can we serve?
And um, so that's why we're there.
On Sundays after the games, Monday I'll have a Bible study after the team
meeting with the players, and then we'll have a couple a time with couples.
Um, in the evenings, which it may be at a player's house, usually it's at our house.
And my daughters will act.
They are babysitters, so they're junior babysitters.
We'll have an older babysitter for the other, uh, an adult
babysitter or a teenager, but my kids are, they're serving also.
So we're all doing it together.
Um, and then Noelle will have her time with the players',
wives, the coaches' wives.
Then I'll do a chapel message the night before a game.
And, um, but Noel see.
We'll have, like just today, she'll have her a walk with
some women who have children.
They'll go walk downtown, um, they'll go out to lunch, to breakfast.
They'll walk, go to the zoo, go to the aquarium.
Just different things, just connecting, um, you know, engagement and she'll,
every year she has the, her and some of the other women, they'll throw a baby
shower for any woman who's been pregnant.
And this past year was five women, uh, the year before were nine women.
So a lot of pregnancies and a number of them were in the offensive line room.
So we were like, man, something's in the ward over there.
What's going on?
So that's what our, our ministry gen generally looks like.
I've had a chance to baptize maybe three players.
We've done weddings for them, premarital counseling, uh.
And I would say Cliff, that's probably my greatest joy.
The thing I
enjoy Mo most, I think, is doing premarital counseling.
Uh, I just love, um, I love the idea of, of a, a marriage, like
the Bible says that God's people are the bride of Christ.
And I'm, I'm married to Christ, we're married to him.
And scripture says, even when we're faithless, he remains faithful,
so he cannot deny himself.
So he, he's faithful and I love to see the picture of a husband and a wi and
wife coming together, um, becoming one.
And, you know, that's a picture of God's love for his bride.
So I think that's my favorite thing in the ministry we do.
Sam Acho: I got a question, man.
I, I feel like I'm, I'm stopping this at every moment.
Um,
for somebody listening that's saying, okay, marriage is a
picture of us in God's bride.
How does somebody listening say, okay, I want to be a part of that.
Vincent Rey: Oh, can you restate that?
Sam Acho: Yeah, so like I'm listening, I'm like, okay, marriage.
And some people see it as like, well, okay, what about all the divorces?
Like is that a good thing?
Is that a bad thing?
And then it's like, okay, marriage.
Okay, so God's people are married to, to Christ.
Like what?
And okay, some people's like, okay, what if I want to learn more about that?
How do I like it sounds good in theory, but how does that
actually play out for me?
Vincent Rey: yeah, that's good.
Good question, Sam.
So, um.
Jesus.
Jesus is like the husband, and the church is like the, the bride.
And
we as the church, as God's people, we are his bride and
he's never going to forsake us.
He's with us to the end.
The Bible calls him the faithful husband.
That's why we are secure, because Sam, I'm, you know, I struggle in life.
I have my struggles.
I have children as we all have children here.
And I think, I think that kind of brings to the surface my issues
where I am not patient, uh, where patient means long suffering.
I don't suffer long with my children all the time, and I'm
learning that, no, that's not cool.
I, I, I need to treat them the right way.
I need to be long suffering with them, not just because it's the nice thing to do.
But because God been long suffering with me,
Clif Marshall: Mm.
Vincent Rey: I, there have been times I haven't been honoring God yet.
He stuck, he stayed right by my side.
And for someone to get in on this and say, man, I wanna learn more about, and God
has been, is faithful to his bride and will never leave them or forsake them.
Um, I would say that's, that's the best news man.
And that's also known as the good news, uh, the gospel, that
God became man in Jesus Christ.
Uh, he lived the life we were supposed to live.
There was a life.
We, the standard, the Bible says we are supposed to keep that we didn't.
Yet.
Jesus kept that standard.
He lived that life perfectly.
This is news that we believe, you know, it's good news, but it's news.
We believe that this is a fact.
But then he died the death that we was supposed to die.
Um.
He paid the price when he wasn't supposed to, but it was in our place.
So it was like he was our substitute.
It's like if someone did an, did an uh, an egregious crime and the
judge says, nah, you're free to go.
We would say, man, that's unjust.
Well, what if that's us that did the crime?
The judge has to judge the crime.
It's only right yet because God is gracious and he's, he's loving.
He said, look, I'm gonna provide an opportunity, which I'm gonna have my son
in your place.
So God's able to be just in his son paying the price that we were
supposed to pay, but we get all his son's righteousness and goodness.
That's how we're seen.
How do we get this?
We just, there's a word called repent that means to turn, turn from this
way, to go that way, but turn from all the wrongdoings in your life, all
known, known wrongdoings, um, ways that you're living that you know is wrong.
You turn from that you trust in him.
You faith is just like an empty hand.
Just, I'm gonna just trust in you.
God, I believe the facts about it and I'm gonna just depend on you.
And by faith, you now have become a child of God.
And God loves you with the very love he has for his son Jesus.
And you are instantly, you are the bride of Christ.
Clif Marshall: That's great.
Vinny, you know what, as I think about marriage, you can't have a
marriage without a relationship.
Vincent Rey: Hmm.
That's true.
Clif Marshall: And the rela the, the relationship that we have with
Jesus Christ, our heavenly Father.
Is most important.
'cause that's what we're talking about.
We ain't talking about religion, we're talking relationship.
And when we have that relationship, as you're describing with Jesus Christ, you
know, that makes you know Christ and the bride, the church make all the more sense.
And in order to have a relationship, you also have to have communication.
You have to talk
Vincent Rey: that's true.
Clif Marshall: and you have to talk.
Often.
I can't have a relationship with anyone unless I have dialogue,
unless I have constant conversation.
And so I think that's a great reminder to us as well, you know, as we're
building this relationship with Jesus Christ, is that we have to communicate.
Vincent Rey: Yes.
Clif Marshall: He's always there.
He is always listening.
And so that's great insight, Vinny, and great, um, just great knowledge,
uh, as you paint that picture for us.
I do, uh, wanna just go back a little earlier in your career
before you were 18 chaplain and talk about, um, you as a student athlete
and then as a football player.
But one of the things I remember, um, about your story is you rode a school bus,
correct me if I'm wrong, like an hour, hour and a half every day into school when
you were living outside of New York City.
Is that correct?
Vincent Rey: Close.
So I rode, I, so I was living in Queens and I rode not a school bus, but a
city bus and not just one city bus.
It would be a city bus and two trains.
It took me two hours to get to school every day.
I had
to walk to the bus or the train stop.
Took one, took the a train to the j train to the Q 31, and it was two hours each
way for four years to get to a school that had a reputable football program,
because at the time, New York City didn't have many reputable football programs.
Sam Acho: Were you going
by yourself?
Vincent Rey: Yep.
By myself.
Clif Marshall: I guess I remember part of that story because you
know when nine 11 happened,
you talked about seeing that right from the bus that you were on.
Vincent Rey: Yes.
So this is where I, I went to school, so it was a Tuesday
morning and I'm at school.
Uh, school in New York City starts late.
So it started, I think on my birthday, which was September 6th, on a Thursday.
Um, anyway, Tuesday morning we're in biology class and I'm sitting in the back.
Uh, my last name starts with a R.
So based on, you know, I, I'm more in the back and I'm looking, I remember
looking out the window and seeing smoke coming from one of the towers.
I saw it and I didn't think anything of it.
You know, you think maybe it's a fire in the window.
Now.
Those towers they were in, they're in Manhattan.
They were in Manhattan.
I was in Queens, Northern Queens.
So not too close, but I can still see.
But, um, once I got to the next class, it was a global history teacher.
And I still remember, we walk in and he said, we are under attack.
And it sounded like another language because.
War on American soil.
Like I've never heard of that.
And he said, yeah, uh, some planes were flown into the Twin Towers,
and after that class, people were basically just leaving school.
Nobody, there was no announcement from the principal or anything.
We just didn't know what to do.
You know, I didn't have a cell phone, so I went to the payphone.
Uh, I had a quarter.
But I wasn't getting through on the payphone.
Uh, I think my parents may have had cell phones at the time, but
I just remember what, it didn't take me two hours to get home.
Tell you, that took me a lo a lot longer because I, I couldn't take the trains
home because underground they weren't dr.
They weren't going because they're thinking, Hey, about a million
people travel underground every day in New York City, maybe
terrorists would attack underground.
And by the way, my father was a train operator for the atri, and
he was underground at the time.
So all these, these things are going through my mind.
I don't know where they're at.
Uh, my parents, I don't know where they're at, my sister, my nephew,
but I made it home and everyone else, one by one made it home.
Clif Marshall: Wow, what a story.
Just incredible.
Vinny, I can remember you sharing that when you were playing there with the
Bengals and just your story as a whole.
Um, that transition now takes you to Duke right after high school.
You graduate, you go down to North Carolina, you play
for the Duke Blue Devils,
and then you come to Cincinnati, Ohio, not to play for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Initially, you come to Cincinnati, Ohio to sign with an NFL agent and
then start training that ignition.
And Sam, as you know, if they train with me, I got a picture
of him here in my office.
But Vinny, Vinny, um.
Vinny, I remember you coming into Ignition and the one thing that stood
out to me initially was your wingspan.
So I'm gonna say you're probably six foot one, but what do
you think your wingspan is?
Vincent Rey: I'm six foot.
I know my wingspan.
Do you know it?
Clif Marshall: I would say it's at least like 6, 7,
Vincent Rey: it's, uh, 82 inches, so it's six 10.
Clif Marshall: 6, So 10.
So Vinny, I can tell you from spending the last years, uh, last eight years
at Indiana, the biggest measurement, the most important, important
measurement for a basketball player is his height compared to his wingspan.
so like what would be considered excellent at the NBA combine
is a plus five wingspan,
Vincent Rey: Wow.
Clif Marshall: You have a plus 10 wingspan and that Vinny.
I can tell you helped you become a great football player because Sam,
as you have to have long arms to keep those offensive linemen off
of you when you're a linebacker.
But the other thing that stood out obviously, is you ran a great
40 time, you have like a 4.5
40, just great athletic ability, but you don't get drafted.
You sign as an undrafted free agent to the Cincinnati Bengals.
So we actually ended up naming our NFL Combine Prep program after you believe it
or not, we started calling it Operation 53 because our philosophy at Ignition was we
don't care if you're a first round draft pick or if you're an undrafted free agent.
The only goal is to make the 53 man active roster.
And you did that after going undrafted for nine straight years,
you made that 53 man active roster.
I want to know how you did it.
Vincent Rey: Oh man.
there's so much you can't control, as you both know, but
people say, control the controllables.
And what that meant was you don't come on time to meetings,
you're early for meetings because
when you get there early, the coach is already in there, so he'll go through
what he's gonna go through, so you'll get a chance to hear it twice and just,
it was just competing with myself to be as great as I possibly could be.
just, yeah, and just saying, I'm not gonna leave every week.
No.
Knowing the stakes, also knowing the stakes that it's not a one year contract.
It's not a one month, it's every day.
every day I'm going to.
Be great, be as great as I possibly can.
Colossians 3:23 with all your heart work, heartily, work with
all your heart in all you do.
I'm butchering the verse.
In all you do work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.
So work with all you have.
and yeah, it just kept doing it and made the team first started off on
special teams, and that's what I did.
And I get opportunity on defense.
I carve out a role and just knowing that, here is a little, here is
a little nugget here, but people, coaches, and maybe even in the business
world, I don't know, but they're not maybe looking for the most talented.
They're looking for someone who's gonna consistently bring what they have.
so you don't, you rather a guy who's a consistent eight than a person
who's a ten and then maybe a four and then a nine and a six, because
you want that consistency every day.
Um, the best ability is availability, of course,
but here's another one is reliability.
To be
reliable, to be known as someone who's going to get the job done, whatever
they're called to do, they're gonna do it.
They're always gonna be in the right spot.
So I think I was that person.
And you build trust over time, little by little, little by little, but you
build trust with, with coaches over time.
And, um, I was able to get out there and make plays and kind of, and just
stay man and stay in one place for nine years, have over a hundred play games
that I played in as an undrafted player.
Um, I don't know the record.
But I think with the Bengals, that's, that's up there for
someone who was undrafted.
So praise God.
Clif Marshall: Sam, can you, um, recall recently we had a
strength coach from the Cincinnati Bengals that was on our podcast.
His name was Jeff Friday, and Jeff went on to WR to write a book,
uh, called Built for Winning.
He talks about four foundations, right?
The physical, the mental, the spiritual, and the social.
And so we kind of put him on the hot seat as we were on this podcast
and we asked Coach Friday, is there ever been an athlete in your 30
plus years as a strength coach?
And remember now he was a Super Bowl winning strength coach who
trained guys like Ray Lewis and Sam.
Do you remember the athlete mentioned when we asked who had the four
foundations that were built for winning?
Sam Acho: Vinny Ray,
Vincent Rey: Wow.
Sam Acho: Ray.
Vincent Rey: Amazing.
Sam Acho: For me that stood out because I had my thoughts, right?
Like I said, he coached Ray Lewis, ed Reed Super Bowl, you name
it, you know, and I'm thinking, okay, it's probably gonna be Ray,
maybe Ed, you know, maybe thinking about the other guys he coached.
And I mean, he didn't know that we knew each other.
He may have known that you and I don't even know, but he sat and he
thought, he said Vinnie Ray, and I think he actually wrote about
you and your story in his book.
Vincent Rey: Mm-hmm.
Sam Acho: So I guess my question is
for being undrafted, how do you make an impact?
Vincent Rey: How do you make an impact?
Um.
I It is knowing that, yeah, that, that's, that's a tough question.
How do you make an impact, uh, doing the little things, being
great at the little things?
Uh, man, I, I got a great, uh, nugget.
It was gold from, um, when I was in college, I was trying to get in
the NFL and I had a chance to go to what's called a local workout.
Um, I'm from New York, so they let me go to a workout with the New York Giants.
But before we worked out, and it was mostly guys who were gonna be
undrafted and, um, like myself, but there was a guy who spoke with us who
works for the organization, New York Giants, and he said, most players don't
realize that they're already competing before they go get on the field.
They're already being evaluated by how they carry themselves, by how they shake
someone's hand, by how they look you in the eye when they're talking to you.
And I didn't know any of these things.
Uh, so the you competing is not just on the field.
You're competing to bring your best version of yourself in
the locker room, speaking to people who you don't even know.
Um, for those who may be watching who don't know when you're a professional
athlete, definitely in the NFLI don't know about other professions, but there
are all these people who are in the building that you don't know who they are.
They're just in the building.
And they'll, you'll, you know, you don't know them, but you should treat
them well because you just don't know.
They treat people well because they're people and you're just
always, you're always on display.
And I, I think, I think that's something I did a good job of was just always
treat, treating everything like a game.
Um.
Even if it's practice, again, walkthrough, jog through, I'm,
I'll mention these things.
I don't know how many people are watching who really care about this,
but, or listening who care, but there's something called a mental
rep in, in sports that is important.
It is highly important.
Basically what this means is you are, let's say you're a rookie.
You come in or you're a young player and there's someone starting ahead of you
while you're watching from the sideline.
Or you may be someone who's, um, who's on the other side of the ball just
lining up so the, the players in front of you can do what they're doing.
A mental rep is seeing what the person in front of you is doing, and
then when you don't understand what they did or why they did it, you ask
someone, Hey, why did they do that?
And they tell you, oh, this is why they did that.
You just got better.
So it's constantly competing to pursue excellence, to be great within yourself.
I'm trying to get better.
I see this, I'm not getting any reps because I'm a young guy, but I
see everyone in front of me at the position I play, and I'm getting better
just watching him do what he does.
And then when I see, oh, did he mess up there?
Oh, he actually messed up.
Hey, yeah, I'll let him know, Hey, I think you were supposed to do this,
because I'm constantly getting better.
So I think that's a, that's a way to have impact is to just constantly get better.
Sam Acho: So we, we, we talked about some of the highs, Vinny, the impact, right?
Some of the undrafted nine-year from captain to chaplain.
talk about some of the lows.
Uh, on this podcast.
We talk a lot about adversity and uh, so I wanna ask you.
What adversity have you been through and what did it teach you?
Vincent Rey: Man
adversity.
I'll give you two.
Um, that come to my mind.
Initially, the first thing that came to my mind was, um, while in college
I was, uh, after my junior year at the time, duke was not a powerhouse at all.
My first two years we went one in 23.
So we were losing all the time.
We, we were not that good.
But, uh, going into my senior year, I was, I was someone
who played well on the field.
I had been elected as a captain, as a junior, so I was probably gonna be
elected as a captain, as a senior.
People thought well of me, um, everyone would say I'm a nice guy.
I went to church, I went to bible study, but then a chaplain came in
January of oh nine of my junior year.
And I remember I mentioned him briefly earlier, but I remember him telling me
things about myself that I didn't like.
Um, just from, from observing how I lived that.
Uh, and he called me out on things that other people wouldn't, and
I'll just share this with you.
I don't remember much of anything that he taught me scripturally,
but this is what he showed me.
He goes.
You have.
He showed me three pictures, right?
And he said, this is a picture of a Christian.
This is a picture of a non-Christian, and this is the picture of a carnal Christian.
Now the second picture and the third picture looked identical.
So what he was saying was, he told me the cardinal Christian says they're
the Christian, but they look exactly like the non-Christian to the world.
And he said, this is who you are.
You.
You're the Cardinal Christian right now.
And I would say that was I.
Maybe adversity isn't the right word, but that was my moment where I
could've, I was at a fork in the road.
I could've said, man, I don't know you like that.
You don't have to talk to me like that.
I don't have to meet with you.
Um, I don't want to hear what you have to say.
But I'm thankful I was able to sit down and listen to him because that was a
game changing moment in my life, um, to be able to listen to wisdom from him.
And, um, I believe I've been growing ever since.
So that was the first thing that came to my mind.
But the second thing was in my ninth year, I had an ankle injury
that I would rehab every week.
I would, it, it was a battle to get it healthy enough to play.
And then after I play, like I'm back hurting again.
And I played that entire season that way.
And looking back, maybe I shouldn't have played.
Maybe I should have sat, sat out.
Um, but that was a hard time.
Um, I hadn't dealt with an injury in that kind of way before where it was
always affecting me and it was hard.
I re, my wife reminded me not too long ago, she said, yeah, I
remember one day you said, Hey, I don't wanna wake up in the morning.
I just want to sleep.
I don't want to get outta bed because I don't want to deal with
this pain that I'm dealing with.
So that was, um, some adversity there.
Uh, and that was my last year playing football.
So
Sam Acho: What did it teach you?
Vincent Rey: well,
it taught me
that I talk with Noelle, my wife, about this.
Why did that happen?
I don't know.
I don't know why it happened.
It taught me that it's okay to not know.
I don't fully know why.
Um, I know the following year I, I had workouts at other places and
I was healthy, but, um, I never got signed and I don't know why.
And I had some other bad breaks, uh, during that time.
Um, and I don't know why that happened.
But God be praised.
Like I know that it's all right because he is got me.
And, um, yeah.
So I don't really know what I learned there, except that I
don't have to know everything.
Clif Marshall: Really good stuff, Vinny.
Um, I did want to ask you quickly, we talked Proverbs 27
17 on here as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
I can remember a point in time at Ignition where even Sam was there, right?
You were there.
The defensive player of the year in the NFL Luke Keekley was there, who
also plays the same position as you.
What was it like training next to Luke, and then how do you
feel like that made you better?
Vincent Rey: Yes.
So I tell, I was just having this conversation not too long ago,
but I think Luke Keekley was, uh, he, he played eight years.
So if, if not for that, I think he, he would no question the, in my opinion,
the best, uh, middle linebacker ever.
That's my opinion.
But he's still up there.
He's ranked to me.
He's a, he's a Hall of Famer in my book.
Um, the man was, well, he, he won the NFL uh, rookie, MVP, then he
wins defensive MVP the next year.
But training with him.
Luke is very smart.
Everyone knows he's very smart.
Luke is actually very athletic.
I don't know if you know people don't assume that he's
not, but he's very athletic.
He's strong.
But Luke Keekley, if we ran a hundred half gasses, we ran half gasses afterward,
like we would do something, we'd
do some sort of running.
If we ran a hundred of them, he won a hundred.
There were corners, there were smaller guys, there were people faster than
him, but Luke refused to lose and that showed me to be, to be great at
something you just refuse to lose.
You just compete with yourself to be as great as you can every time.
Like it, it's, the athleticism may get you to the door, but
the desire will keep you there.
Like his desire to just keep winning.
That shocked me.
Like, here's a MVP, like he's here training with us, yet we're, it's
May or April, whenever it was, and he's competing at that level.
Um.
I, it really shocked me and what he was eating, it wasn't
something that I would want to eat.
I, I was like, what is that man?
Like, he's, it, it did not look good.
But he, he paid a price that I was not willing to pay.
But, uh, but yeah, I, that's what I gotta say about him.
He is, uh, he refused to lose sprints in the off season with
people who he didn't even know.
You know, we weren't, I was not at, at his level.
And yeah.
That, that, that to me is greatness.
Clif Marshall: Sam before Sam closes, closes us out.
Always like to give a couple cliff notes.
And man, Vinny, the first one I have for you and for every, everybody
listening out there, is to treat every day like it's a job interview
because that's what you did, and that's how I believe you went from being an
undrafted college free agent to the team captain of the Cincinnati Bengals.
The second one is don't fit in.
Stand out.
Romans 12, two tells us, don't conform to the patterns of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind.
And what I say that for is don't fit in and stand out.
It's because I remember one time we were in the weight room and
you were engaged at the time at, I don't think you were married yet.
You were engaged at the time.
But you and your fiance went to a wedding out of town.
And I remember you telling me and a few others that were around that
you got her her own hotel room while you got you your own hotel room.
And I thought to myself, well, that's not the way of this world.
The way of this world is that you would get your hotel room with your
fiance and you guys would stay in there and you would do what you do,
right?
Like most of this world does.
But you, on the other hand, chose that's not the route.
That's not who I am.
I'm a man of God.
I'm a man of character, and I'm gonna stay pure until I'm married
and you got a separate hotel room.
So I say that don't fit in and stand out, don't fit in.
Instead, stand out because that's what you did on the football field
and also off the football field.
So I appreciate that Out of you, uh, Vinny, you made me
better, uh, just watching you.
Sam Acho: Hmm.
Vincent Rey: That means a lot.
Cliff.
Thank you.
Clif Marshall: Do you remember that?
Do you remember the conversation or do you remember getting two separate hotel
Vincent Rey: No, I definitely remember getting two separate hotel rooms
because we did that all like, it was a time where maybe she knew someone who
was getting married and I or I knew.
So we did that multiple times, so, yep.
Clif Marshall: Yes.
Sam Acho: Well talking about that impact, and I'm gonna check something because
this stuff might fall down and it's fine.
Um, talks about as iron sharpens iron, so does one man sharpen another?
This is one of the ignition deals from when I train, but
the year before I don't have it.
Cliff.
Cliff may have it.
Um, which I think you trained in 2020, if I'm not mistaken.
Uh, or sorry, 2010, excuse
me.
Um, and even whether at ignition or even just watching
you, you sharpened me, right?
Like I don't have the deal, but it was like on that shirt it says,
uh, got you trained with Cliff.
It said Proverbs 27 20, uh, 27 17.
Uh, as iron sharpens iron, so does one man sharpen another and
we hear verses.
Read verses talk about verses, but as I'm listening to this podcast, Vinny,
and looking at you, I'm looking at iron.
I'm, I'm looking at, I, you sharpened me from in the off season training
for the few times, the few weeks we got a chance to train against
each other or with each other.
Like you sharp.
Most people, I wouldn't feel like they sharp.
I mean, they might sharpen me from a run.
You sharpened me spiritually,
physically, mentally, emotionally, you sharpened me right.
Fast forward.
Right.
We we're going to PAO some of these conferences.
I see you, you're sharpening me.
And even listening to you, it's like, yes, I'm doing ministry with my family.
Right.
You've talked about Noel multiple times.
We haven't even gotten there yet.
Right.
He was talking about doing ministry with your children
multiple times.
Right.
I'm a father.
I, I have four kids.
Right?
You have four kids, right?
I'm trying to figure how do I do?
And so it's like as iron sharpens, it's almost like as a, a, a as as.
Iron sharpens iron.
So does Vinny sharpen Sam Cliff, like you
name and I'm and I'm just saying that for, for me, and I haven't seen it
until just now, I haven't, I guess I haven't, it hasn't permeated to my heart
and imprint, but it's an imprint, bro.
Like, I see like a, it's like a, so like a sword, but most like a, like an ax.
Like you sharpened me, bro.
And no, very few people can do that.
Like, like I said, physically.
Sure, I'm gonna train with this person spiritually.
Sure.
I'm gonna go and, you know, study with, but physically, mentally, spiritually,
emotionally, you're, you're sharp of me.
And so really I just say all that to say thank you for being an ax.
Thank you for being
a vessel used by you.
Earlier you said, I'm honored that I get a chance to be God's voice.
Like you are also doing his work.
You are living out Proverbs 27 17.
And so I just want to, want to say thank you.
Vincent Rey: That is a huge encouragement, Sam, that I like that man.
Wow.
Thank you.
Sam Acho: So, Vinny, there is a point that you wanted to
make about the finance piece.
We talk about faith, family, football, and finance.
We haven't dug into it yet, but I'd love to love to hear more about
Vincent Rey: Yes.
Um, this was a thought just with, um, with athletes now guys who are currently
playing, like with the Bengals or maybe some other athletes I know who are either
in college or coming out of college who are, whom I've had a chance to speak with.
I try to let them know, uh, this one question, what's your number?
Like, that was something that somebody told me, like, what's your number?
What, what is specifically, what's the number that you
need to live off of every year?
Um, and someone told me that this after, like about when I retired.
And I think it's just a good point because I.
Again, everybody's going for the gusto, wants to be great.
If you're playing in the NFL, you're playing professional sports.
You were once great, you were great playing.
It doesn't matter if you're the, at the bottom of the, of the
53 man roster, you are great.
That's why you're in the league.
That's why they want you.
So you want to go and be great somewhere else.
But remember, what's your number?
Maybe you spend, I don't know, $10,000 dollars a month.
Maybe that's what you spend, uh, with all your bills and everything.
That's $120,000 dollars a year a year.
If you could somehow get that amount passively, then in a way, you've,
you've kinda won financially.
You, you can be out of the rat race.
Some say you, you've won.
So I know that's a lot of money.
Maybe $1.2
million.
dollars You're able to get 10% from that.
And, and this is all rough math, of course you have to pay taxes.
But start thinking in that manner of what's my number that I need,
like per day, per week, per month?
That would mean that I need to, I need to know some things.
I can't just fully depend on financial advisors which they're
excellent, but I also am responsible.
Um,
one, the Lord says, let them rule, um, let them take dominion.
Meaning, uh, we have responsibility.
We have, we're the steward, what God gives us and.
I did have a conviction that I wasn't being a good steward.
I was depending on other people to handle my finances.
Um, which that doesn't mean I, I, I don't have to do that.
Um, I don't have to have other people help me, but I need to be knowledgeable also.
I need to have some sort of idea.
So all of that to say what's your number?
And I think a bigger point is,
are you stewarding well, what God has given you.
Again, that doesn't mean knowing every single detail, but also having
the ability, have the ability to manage whoever's managing your stuff.
Um, do you know what you're paying them?
Have you asked them?
Um, this is, I say this to my shame.
I didn't want to ask my financial advisors if I like what I was
paying them because I felt.
I felt like, man, that's my boy.
These are my friends.
I don't like that can hurt our relationship.
But the truth is I have to be a good steward for what God has given me.
And
in order to do that, I have to ask tough questions.
I have to get outside of my comfort zone.
Um, so yeah, tho those are just some, some thoughts I wanted to add.
Sometimes when you're an, when you, football is what you do.
Yes.
But you can also do other things.
You, you have the ability to, to learn.
Uh, not to say you have to go and get all these high degrees.
I haven't gone to get other degrees, but I learned little by little.
So we are responsible ultimately, um, for what God has given us.
And, um, what's your number?
That's all
I had.
I.
Sam Acho: that's so good.
It's this idea of how much is enough, you know what I mean?
Like how much is enough?
You have to know that, you know, and that's one piece of it.
What's your number?
How much is enough?
Are you just chasing status?
Or have you realized, okay, this much is enough.
Whether it's like for this year, uh, for my career, for this
generation, for future generations.
And then also this idea of owning your wealth.
That's what I'm hearing from you own it.
Don't just fully delegate.
I have no idea what's going on.
It's like, no.
And I felt some of the same things.
I was scared at times to ask my financial advisor, Hey, how
much am I actually charging you?
I don't wanna feel dumb.
Like, I don't understand.
I didn't get it.
You know?
And what are they talking about and basis points?
What does that mean?
You know?
And it's like, no, I need to own my wealth.
Everyone wants to be A-A-C-E-O, right?
Like an athlete, ceo, EO.
Well, CEOs make decisions.
CEOs hire people and they fire people.
Vincent Rey: Mm-hmm.
Sam Acho: CEOs look at, they do, they look at what's best for their company.
They see it as a business relationship.
You could still be friends with somebody, but I don't have a business relationship.
And so this idea of like stewarding your well, like that's one thing
I'm, I'm like committing my life to, it's like, okay man, football,
ESPN, I enjoyed all that stuff, but it's like, man, like we don't know.
Athletes don't have the game plan financially.
We got the game plan on football.
A lot of us got the game plan for, for our faith.
Some of us have the game plan for our families, but financially,
so we're not stewarding it well.
Vincent Rey: Yes.
Clif Marshall: Hmm.
Sam Acho: And so it's like owning your wealth.
What's your number?
How much is enough?
Don't, not being afraid to ask hard questions.
Questions that someone who you're paying to do a job should be able
to answer, They work for you.
Vincent Rey: Yes.
Sam Acho: them.
And we have to, we have to almost reframe our minds to realize, no, no, no.
You work for me and I'm paying you to do a job.
And if you're not doing it up to par, then changes may need
to be made, and that's okay.
Vincent Rey: And Sam, I think part of someone doing their job is explaining
it to you in a way you can understand.
Because if I am hiring you, yet you have more intelligence than me in this, in
this area, you, you're more knowledgeable.
still, I still would like you to explain it to me in a way I can
understand because am managing this.
I, you know, I own, I own this, right?
So be, and I say that because for years when I would hear some
advisors talk to me and above my head and I just didn't understand,
I felt, well that's not my thing.
You know, I do the football thing when, nah.
You know, I, I, I can do more than that.
I, I'm, I'm a human being.
I, I can learn, I can grow, but, um, I can also hold someone accountable.
But
yeah, that's, uh, that's what I wanted to mention.
Sam Acho: Yeah.
And even to your point, like just the language, some people that a
lot of that's intentional, like speaking in language that it's like,
sounds like it's over our head.
So it's like, oh, okay, well I'm just not in and I'm just gonna like let it go.
It's like, no, actually no.
Can you educate me?
Can you teach me?
And if you're not able to educate it to me it's like, are you doing that on purpose?
Vincent Rey: Mm.
Sam Acho: I just kind of feel, get lost.
Get lost in the sauce.
You know what I mean?
Or, or, you know what I mean?
Like, educate me, help me understand.
I went to a, a, a venture capital, uh, uh, deal conference a few weeks ago, a few
months ago, not even months, weeks, weeks.
And, and I went with the, you know, the group I'm I work with and my team.
And essentially I was so glad to be there because my team was like,
Hey, Sam, we're gonna educate, educate you on how this world works.
But I, as I was there, there was a lot that I, I was like, man, okay,
what are they actually saying, right?
And what is this new language?
It almost was intimidating, like, oh man, like, how am I supposed to
know what all these things mean?
And I can read about it in the book and study it, but now they're saying, you
know, it's like when you try to learn Spanish and it's like, okay, you learn
how it is in the book, but then you go to Spain to Spain or Mexico and it's
like, they, they using slang, you know?
And it's like, and after a while it was this, God made it clear.
It's like they're not smarter than you.
They're just speaking a different language.
Learn the language, learn the language, and it, and, and also it
doesn't, it didn't happen overnight.
Like, just like I've been playing football, the last in been
football the last 15 plus years.
These people have been in the business of, whether it's venture capital or
investments, whatever, for a long time.
So learn the language, right?
That's one way to to, to be a good steward of your wealth, to own your
wealth, is to learn the language and, and, and, and then, and have the people
who are around you, have them teach you.
And if they're not willing to teach you, then I would say either go learn
yourself or go find somebody who will.
Vincent Rey: Yes.
Sam Acho: Yeah.
Vincent Rey: That is good.
Sam Acho: That's good.
Well, Vinny, I appreciate you, man.
Thank you again, and, uh, so honored to to, to reconnect
and excited to connect again.
Vincent Rey: Yeah, this has been great.
Love what y'all have going on.
Still gotta listen to Coach Fridays and listen to the others that you
have, so yeah, I'm, I'm happy.
I'm happy for y'all.
I'm happy to be a part.
Sam Acho: Definitely.
Well with that, we'll sign off for the Sam Macho podcast.
Go to sam macho.com
to to learn more.
We'll see y'all next time.