Sam Acho: Welcome everybody to the Sam Acho podcast featuring Cliff Marshall,
and as we usually do, cliff, we have a very special guest and I'd love for you
to introduce to the world our guest.
Clif Marshall: I'm so fired up today guys.
We have Fatus Bullard on the show.
Thaddeus is an American professional wrestler.
He is described by the wwe.
As one of the most philanthropic superstars in WWE history, he
was actually the recipient of the WWE Hall of Fame Award in 2021.
Uh, fatties played college football for the University of Florida and
thereafter in the Arena Football League, and that led him to a career again
in the in, in the wrestling world.
Uh, he went under the ring name as Titus O'Neill.
A former WWE tag team champion as part of the primetime players.
He is a father.
He currently resides in Tampa, Florida, and uh, he is devout in
his faith and we are super, super fired up to talk to Thaddeus today.
Sam Acho: Eddie's got a new show coming out.
We're gonna get, we're gonna get into the new show.
We got a new show coming out.
Which, uh, it's gonna be on NBC and on Peacock.
Uh, it's, it's called King's Court.
And I'm, I, I don't wanna get too deep into it first.
Tha so I wanna talk about how we connected
Thaddeus Bullard: Yeah.
Sam Acho: So I think it was maybe three, four months ago I, in national
championship I believe it was.
And, uh, I'm in the hotel lobby.
I see this, uh, dapper looking young fellow muscles sticking out everywhere.
And I recognized him.
And for me, Thaddeus, it wasn't necessarily from your
wrestling career, but it's from.
Your impact, I would say, not just in the community, but also when it
comes to social media, et cetera.
I just seen a podcast you had done with a colleague of mine, Ryan Clark,
and you went deep and I was like, man, there's something about this
man as a human, as an individual.
And we connected, talked about some of your, uh, philanthropy and some of your
work and family, and that's kind of how the podcast conversation came about.
But what do you remember about that initial kind of, uh, interaction?
Thaddeus Bullard: Yeah, I, I mean, I, we, we were one of only, uh, very few.
Black man in the lobby at the time.
And uh, so I was like, uh, but I've always been a, a huge fan of your work.
And, uh, just wanted to come up and say that.
And, and that's exactly what I said to you.
Hey man, I'm a huge fan of your work and this and that.
And, um, he was like, thank you so much man.
And we just literally.
Started talking like we were brothers from another mother and,
uh, exchanging pleasantries, talking about family, talking about faith.
I just want to be a good human being.
You know, I don't want.
If I, if I'm wealthy, great.
You know, if I, if I have nice cars, nice clothes, but if I have all of that
and I'm a horrible human being, I don't want it, you know, and, uh, my, the,
the meeting this guy at 13 years old and being able to literally take him, I.
To church with one of my teammates who at that time his family owned
one of the largest mobile home manufacturers in the southeast.
They got him a job.
He ended up running a place by four years later, got reconnected with
his ex-wife not to get married, but he hadn't been around him.
'cause one, it didn't, couple of weeks after I met him and talked to
him, uh, you know, I asked him, you know, how did you end up in this
place, if you don't mind me asking?
And he said, uh.
You know, uh, if I told you that I was A-A-A-A-C-E-O of a company, I had nice
cars, a beautiful home, beautiful wife, beautiful daughters, would you believe me?
And I said, if that's what you say, you know, that's what I have to believe.
He said, that's exactly what my life used to be.
Drugs, alcohol, and gambling took me away from my family and to know at that age.
How I responded to him, you know, when he told me that God's gonna use you, not
realizing that, you know, I'm going to go to a Catholic church and 'cause at the,
you know, ask of my teammate who had been asking me all year and um, I went, I.
I love all religion 'cause I think we can learn from everything.
It just didn't move me at all.
It was a bunch of standing up, sitting down, humming, and I didn't
know what the hell was going on and I had no idea what was going on.
And I walked out of there like.
You know, in church most of the time at le, at the minimum I get the music.
And the music made me feel good.
You know, sometimes I wasn't getting the message, but this was a time where I
didn't understand none of it, you know?
But what it, but what I saw this man experience as a, at me as a kid
watching this man, just be happy to be in a house of God at all.
Um.
Really put in perspective what he was saying to me in regards to
like, how God is going to use me.
And I'm not, I'm unapologetic about it to this day.
You know, like I cuss, I fuss, I blow the houses down.
Uh, but I know that God chose 12 people in the Bible that were the most in.
You know, probably the most unqualified folks in the world and made 'em
disciples, you know, and some of the best work in the Bible or people in the
Bible were from, from some of the most, quote unquote unqualified by society.
And so, you know, I, I get to live with a freedom, you know, and,
uh, we, uh, a freedom that says.
Regardless of what people think of me, I know who I am, you know?
Um, and I know that there are way more people that know who I am instead
of knowing what I do for a living.
You know, when I was playing football, that's what I did for a living.
I would constantly tell folks when they'd go, oh, you're that
football player at such and such.
No, that's what I do for a living.
It's not who I am for a living.
Oh, you're a wrestler.
You're that pro wrestler.
Oh yes.
What I do for a living, that's not who I am for a living.
Lemme tell you who I am for a living and, uh.
You know, I didn't grow up with the example that a lot of people grow up
with, with the positive dad in the home.
And, uh, you know, being, you know, the superstar athlete in
high school, and I didn't become all that until later in my, I.
Uh, high school career, you know, I was the number one
recruit coming outta high school.
Uh, I could have chose anywhere and obviously I chose the best school at
the University of Florida and, um, you know, won a national championship there.
Graduated from there, uh, two SEC championships.
I.
I'm in the University of Florida Hall of Fame.
I was the vice president of student government and which is
why I hate politics to this day.
Um, a lot of the people that, uh, that helped me get elected into office
are still, er, are now serving as senators and congressmen and women.
Um, and I have my hats off to 'em if they can, you know, navigate those spaces.
But I just.
I, I'm a person that firmly believes that God put me on this earth to connect
people and to, um, to impact folks in ways in which traditional people cannot do.
And I think all of us have that in innate, innate ability to do
that, um, because we're all called, um, but few are, are chosen.
Sam Acho: Alright, Thaddeus, I heard a lot.
What you just said about faith, uh, about family, about football,
about finances, about philanthropy.
But I have a question about, just circling back to the family piece.
Before we started the call, we talked about you being a father
and you know, you have the show coming out, King's Court about being
a bachelor and all these things.
But you talked about, man, I have sons from a previous
marriage, but an adopted daughter.
Tell me about your daughter.
Thaddeus Bullard: My daughter Leah.
She's, uh, she's amazing.
Uh, I've actually known her since she was seven years old.
Uh, her mother has been a long time friend of mine, and she, uh,
had some health complications.
Um, you know, not to get too far into what it was, but it was a chance
that she may or may not make it.
And, uh, she was just hoping that I would just check in on Leah.
You know, um, in the event that something unfortunate happened, and,
uh, I said, well, what if I adopted her?
And she was like, what?
And I was like, yeah, I've always wanted a daughter.
And, you know, I'm not having physically having any more kids.
You know, vasectomy 2012 is my alternate Bible verse.
And, uh,
and so I, um, um, so I, uh, you know, I said, well, let me talk to my sons
about it first and see what they say.
And, uh.
But I knew they would be fine with it because about three years prior to that,
you know, I had met two 7-year-old twin girl, SYA and Skye, and I met 'em at the
youth ranch and I was like, you know, I.
Like they were hanging all over me and I was just fell in love with 'em.
And I said, uh, I went to the counselor and I said, you know,
I, I want to, I would love to see about like seeing if I can be around
these kids more and this and that.
And, you know, I hadn't thought about adoption, but I, I was definitely
thinking about adoption at that point.
And so I started the process of seeing how I could become their father.
And probably two months into the process, uh.
The social worker came to me and she said, I think this is very
admirable of what you're doing.
Um, there's no question These kids will come to a great home.
You're a great man, yada, yada, yada.
But I need to tell you this, you know, we're, uh, you could take
these young ladies and you can put 'em in the best of situation.
And, you know, two or three years down the road, the mom or the dad can come and
say, Hey, I'm ready to be a parent now.
And you would have to, you know, pretty much relinquish the rights
back over to the parent because they're in a foster care system.
And I stopped the process because I just didn't want to.
I couldn't, I couldn't imagine pouring all that time and stuff, uh, into these
two young ladies and giving them the opportunity to pour their love into me
only to have their life shifted again.
They were already in the foster care system, and so they kind of been
at one place to another place, to a relative here or whatever, and
I just didn't want to continue.
I wanted to be the one that broke that cycle and gave them some stability
and gave them some, uh, normalcy.
Um, and, uh, I, I knew that I was gonna have a lot of trauma and mental
health and things like that, that I would have to help them navigate
through, but I was willing to do that.
And so cutting that process off, uh, I clearly God had knew that was on my
heart, that I wanted to have a daughter.
And, uh, the opportunity came up to, to get Leah and, um, you know, sh once I.
Talked with my sons, and it was an absolute yes.
They knew her already.
Um, uh, jokingly talking about where she long as she notices a
competitive family and all this, that, um, you know, it was all good.
And so I, I, um, I end up, you know, FaceTiming her and Carrie
and, you know, she, uh, Leah said, why are you doing this for me?
I said, well, you know, I, uh, I've always wanted a daughter and if I had
a daughter, you'd be everything that I would want, and a daughter or a son.
And she was like, well, you know, I'm gay, right?
And I paused and I said, um, Leah, I don't give a damn.
If you purple with streamers flying outta your ass.
Like, I'm not here to make you be a certain way.
I'm here to help you be the best version of yourself.
And I want you to be a good human being.
And as long as you're a great human being, you, you are more than welcome to be
anything and everything you desire to be.
Um, but part of being a great human being is also understanding that
that may be your sexual orientation and your choice, but you long as you
don't try to push that motive much.
Like I don't want anybody to push Christianity on anyone.
I don't want anybody to push politics on anyone.
I want people to be.
The their ultimate best selves.
And because diversity is important to me, you know, and, um, and, and
not only diversity in skin color and religion and politics, but diversity
in thought because we have a lot of one track thinkers, um, when it comes to
a lot of things, uh, when in business.
Uh, you have a lot of guys that just look at the bottom line, the bottom line, the
bottom line, and they completely take out the human element of that bottom line.
You know, people do get sick, people do have life, life issues.
People do have deaths in the family.
And when you're looking at people's performance and you're rating their
performance based on just the number and not equating all these other things.
You're taking out the human element that got you to the position that
you're in to even have a business.
And it's the same way I feel about teams.
You know, everybody says, uh, you know, if you were a coach, you know,
do you coach every player the same?
No, I don't.
Do you treat every player the same?
Absolutely not.
'cause every player doesn't come from the same background.
But every standard is the same.
You will be on time, basic stuff.
You will be on time, you will respect the game.
You will respect one another.
And, uh.
Um, my daughter and my kids understand that, you know, we
have three rules in our house.
You know, the first rule is love and respect.
Everybody you come in contact with, you know, you're not gonna like all of them.
Uh, and you're not gonna agree with all of them, but you love
them and you respect them.
Uh, rule number two, don't use the word can't.
Uh, I was told my entire life, what I can't do, what I won't do, how I'll never
be, and it was all proven to be a lie.
And then from a biblical sense.
Uh, you know, the Bible says that we can do all things through Christ
who strengthens us, and so I can't tell people that I believe in Christ.
And then tell them what can't be done.
It's just a com complete oxymoron to what I believe.
And, uh, and rule number three, be your best.
You know, um, some days 70% is your best, 30% is your best.
But as long as you're doing your best.
You or anybody else can never be disappointed.
It's when you didn't study for that test or you didn't prepare
for that presentation as much as you should have and you lost out
on that deal or whatever it may be.
That's when you should be disappointed.
That's when you're going to be disappointed because
you didn't do your best.
And my daughter has given me so much introspective, even
though she's, you know, gay.
She's still a woman, you know, and that's a different, women are
different, you know what I mean?
I don't get, women are different, you know?
So, uh, um, you know, as, as much as of a jock she is, she's still very much
so feminine and very much so sensitive when it comes to certain things.
And, you know, I have to, I've had to like.
Check myself on, on, on a lot of occasions because I'm like talking
to her like I would talk to my sons.
So my daughter has definitely been an amazing experience of
fatherhood, but she's been an amazing addition to our family.
She just, uh, she just, uh, signed, uh.
She went into the transfer portal.
She was at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.
And uh, now she's gonna be at UMass.
And so, uh, great opportunity for her there.
Um, she got a little NIL money coming too, so
Clif Marshall: Okay.
Thaddeus Bullard: get out of daddy's pockets, you know, get out of dad's
pockets and do your own thing.
But, um, yeah.
And then my oldest son plays at UCF.
Uh, plays football at UCF and then my daughter, my youngest son
plays, uh, football at Florida.
So I'm a very happy and proud empty nester.
And, uh, so obviously this show coming out, uh, Queens Court, which will be,
uh, debuting on July 13th, on Bravo, uh, and also streaming on Peacock.
Um, it's myself, Tyson Beckford and Carlos Boozer, hosted by
Holly and Rob Holly Robinson.
P and Rodney p.
Uh, to of Hollywood's royalty when it comes to married couples kind of steering
us through this journey and, uh, so it's a, it's a great, I think it's gonna be
a, a fun experience for people and the front journey for people to go along with
us on, uh, as we try to discover if who's our who, if, and who will be our queen.
Sam Acho: I got.
Okay.
I know Cliff got a question.
Can you give us some insight?
Did you find it Queen?
Did, I mean, what can you share with us about, about the show?
Thaddeus Bullard: All I can say it was a great journey and I think,
uh, the outcome of the show, uh, will really be indicative of.
Just the journey we're all on, you know, and, uh, in discovering
who we are as men at this point.
You know, uh, Carlos formerly divorced, uh, as well, and his,
his two sons are top basketball players in the country, you know?
Uh.
Uh, and they're going to Duke and, uh, tried to get 'em to come to Florida.
They were very close to coming to Florida, but obviously they had to follow in
pop's footsteps and go to Duke, which is also an amazing opportunity for them.
And then obviously Tyson's been a fashion icon for years.
Uh, been around the world and, and has dated a pe uh, a person or two.
Uh, so we'll, uh, we'll, we'll.
We're, we're very excited about what, what is to come on the show and what
people will be able to see from, from that standpoint and vantage point for us.
Clif Marshall: Thaddeus, I'm again so fired up Here're on the show
today, and I told Sam before we got on the uh, podcast with you.
I said, man, I'm a little nervous.
I've never really spoke to a WWE superstar, and I grew up in the eighties.
I grew up watching the WWE with Hulk Hogan, macho man, Randy Savage, and
I followed it all the way up until.
Where it's at today.
As a matter of fact, in, in the spring of this year, I was blessed
to go down to the Royal Rumble.
It was in Indianapolis.
And uh, I had a connection where I was able to get ringside.
my goodness, man, I just have a new respect for the athletes of wwe.
So I really just wanted to talk to you about your journey from college
football to the Arena Football League, and then into wrestling.
Like did somebody scout you?
Uh, or how did you get involved, uh, in wrestling?
Thaddeus Bullard: No, my best friend is, uh, one of my best friends is Dave
Bautista uh, who was also, uh, in, in wrestling at the time and, and, uh, kind
of encouraged me to try out for, and I was like, man, I'm not doing that.
I want to go coach.
You know.
And then 2009, I, I was driving by FCW, which is, uh, um, our
develop was our developmental league, which is now called NXT.
Uh, and uh, I wanted some jerk chicken, which is a place called
in Tampa called the Jerk Cut.
So I was going to get jerk chicken.
I saw the building on the right hand side that he had been telling me about.
I picked up the phone, I said, Dave, is this a place you've been telling me about?
He said, yeah, um, I said, I'm gonna poke my head in the back door
and see what it's about, you know?
And he said, uh, yeah, ask for Dusty Rhodes or Steve Keirn And I said, dusty
Rhodes like atomic elbow, dusty rose.
And he was like a bionic elbow, dusty Rhodes he's like, yes.
He's like, he helps the talent with, uh, developing their
promos and stuff like that.
And so I poked my head in the back door and, you know, lo and behold,
two weeks later I was signed and learning how to become a WWE superstar.
And the rest is history.
You know, that happened in 2009 and.
2020, I was put into the WWE Hall of Fame as a Warrior Award recipient.
So it's, uh, definitely, again, one of those things where if people
would've told me, you know, and that's why even now, you know, if people
asked me the question, where do you see yourself five years from now?
I can honestly say five years ago, I couldn't tell you where I was gonna be.
You know, I wouldn't have told you that.
I'm getting ready to be on a, you know.
Uh, unscripted reality TV series on Bravo of all places.
Um, I wouldn't have told you that I was gonna be in the
WWE e when I was in college.
I wouldn't have told you anyhow.
I mean, I speared people into the pool during my pool parties, but
that was, that was just me being, you know, being a fan and being crazy.
Uh, but yeah, I just, I tell folks all the time and when they ask me, you know,
what do you see yourself in five years?
Right now, you know, five years, 10 years, I see wherever God has for
me to go, that's where I'm gonna go.
And, um, I haven't controlled my destiny up to this point.
I didn't control how I got in, came into this world.
The only thing I can control is my attitude and, uh, and my
gratitude and, and displaying both of them in a positive way.
Each and every day, I will never be able to repay the folks that poured
into the Florida Sheriff's Boys Ranch.
I'll never, I don't even know a lot of them.
I don't know the people that wrote checks for the Boys and Girls Club.
I just remember the moments, the moments at 12 years old when I was
given an opportunity to stay, even though everybody wanted me to go.
I remember at 12 years old before I went to the Boys Ranch, a white
lady from Chi from uh, Boynton Beach, Florida came up and gave me
a really nice remote control car.
For Christmas and said, I want you to have this.
I really, I want, I bought this for you because I wanted you
to have a really nice gift.
And that was the only thing that I got for Christmas.
And I kept that car until my junior year in college and I would still have
that car to this day if my college roommate, uh, darl Owens, who also
played football with me at Florida, didn't come home and wanted to wrestle
at two o'clock in the morning after drinking, having a good night out of town.
And, uh, he broke our fish tank.
And, and my, and my, uh, and my car, well, I didn't really care much about
the fish tank, you know, that could be replaced, but I, I probably beat
his ass for three days straight, you know, about remote control car.
And he, to him, man, it's just a car.
I'll get you another car.
But to me it is, it wasn't just a car, it was the first time
somebody treated me with dignity, um, when they gave me a gift.
We do a lot of very transactional stuff in this world.
You know, Christmas comes around.
Everybody's giving and they'll put some gifts in a plastic bag and hand them
and they'll feel good about themselves.
But those people that are getting that nice car or whatever, they might not
have money to get the batteries, or you're giving them food boxes during
Thanksgiving, but they might even be, not even have a home to warm that food up in
or to cook that for, prepare that food.
So while we're all very giving, you know, by nature hurricane hits.
You know, national disaster, national disaster hits, mass shooting hits.
Everybody feels like they want to do something.
In my opinion, I, you know, transactional things didn't get me to where I'm at.
Transformational things did, and I'm a transformational thinker when it comes
to how I give, you know, if I can't.
Do something that's su that's sustainable.
I won't do it.
You know, when I invested my time, my talent and my resources into
turn in one of the lowest performing schools in the entire school district,
and literally telling the school district let me do what I need to do.
Don't mess with us, don't screw with us.
You know, like I will help turn this school into a positive beacon for
this community and four years later, it's one of the best schools in it is
definitely the best looking campus.
We've completely transformed it.
It's the only middle school with a whole bunch of stuff.
I got a street hockey rink there in the middle of the hood.
So brothers and sisters are playing hockey.
Uh.
You know, we have a turf field.
We're the only school in the school, the only middle school in
the entire school district that's public, that has a turf field.
We got an academy wing, we got robots, we got all kinds of stuff.
And so I, because I truly believe that exposure leads to expansion,
and when you expose people wherever they are from, it expands their mind.
It expands their thought process and expands their ability to
think outside of their own.
Surroundings.
Um, and so when it comes to being in the WWE e having a platform that I've
had in the wwe e uh, and, and even now to this day, I still have very close
connections with a lot of people on the, on the roster, but also former WWE talent.
It's not because I was world champ 25 times and not, it's not because
I, uh, was, you know, tag team champion 3,500 times or whatever.
It's because I was a great human being in that space, and I continue to be the
same dude that I was walking in the doors.
It didn't matter how much success I had or didn't have, it was really
all about, you know, me being grateful for the opportunity.
And I think that if people, I.
Looked at that holistically across the board, whether it's, you know, dealing
with your own kids, like, man, these damn kids, you know, they getting on my nerves.
Well, guess what?
It's some people that don't have kids to get on their nerves and they wish
they could have kids, but they can't.
Uh, it's some people that had kids that were getting on their nerves
and they lost them to cancer and some kids that were getting on their
nerves and um, you know, and they started finally turning the corner and
getting things right and then boom.
Life happens, accident, shooting, whatever.
So I think, you know, for me, uh, I.
Being in a WWE e gave me a better perspective even of what
a being American is, you know, especially an African American.
You know, folks always, I ask the question all the time, do you feel like America's
the greatest country in the world?
And you'll get some people to raise their hand proudly.
Yes, absolutely.
And for me, ab yeah, it's not.
Like as a black man in America, like my history in this country
is not good and still not good.
You know, it doesn't mean I can't be successful and I haven't been successful.
But when I go to China, who people talk crap about here, or when I go to Japan
and it's clean and people are respectful and there's no obese people over there,
like you gotta wonder like how can.
We say we're the greatest country in the world.
We lead the world in mass shootings.
We lead the world in, in incarcerations, mass incarcerations.
We lead the world in a whole lot of things that are not good.
And I always say the only time we're ever collectively in this country, good.
Really good.
And United is in times of tragedy.
And even that is fleeting.
You know, hurricane hits, you see the best and best of people.
And then two weeks later they're back to being the divided country that we are.
And so I always tell people, people come to this country not because it's
the greatest country in the world.
They come to this country 'cause it's the country with the
greatest amount of opportunity.
People can come here and get an education that they wouldn't be
able to get at a respective country.
They'd be able to come here and start a business.
It is truly the land of opportunity, but even with having that
opportunity, there are still people.
Completely negate the fact about the struggles that go
along with that opportunity.
And depending on how you look, where you come from, what language barrier you have
or you don't have, what's your sexual orientation, what the color of your skin
is, or what your political affiliation is, there is real life situations
where systemic issues will affect you.
And so I don't get too caught up in being a proud American.
I get.
More caught up in being a great human being.
You know,
whether you're American or not, this is supposed, this is a melting pot.
You know, whether you were born in this country or you were not born in
this country, you get an opportunity to help this country be better, which
hopefully will help the world be better.
And that's well constantly what I preach to my children.
Like if you go to the league, great, but if you go and you're successful
in whatever you're successful in and people love you for the human
being that you are, not just 'cause you're a talent, but because of your.
Attitude, your character, your integrity, those things matter to me
because I set the legacy for my family.
I broke the generational curses for my family and I set a legacy
for my last name in my family.
And I truly believe that anytime for a man of any sort, the greatest gifts,
and I told you this, you know, when we first met Sam, the greatest gift
that we'll ever give our children and our families is a great last name.
And it's not the house that you live in, it's not the car that you drive.
It's a great last name because at the end of the day when you're dead and
gone, how will people remember you?
What will they remember you for and will that will how they remember you?
Open up opportunities for other people you know, as a coach.
As a CEO, as a president, as a teammate, when people hear your name or they see
your number come up on the caller ID and they ask you for a favor, or you're
asking to help somebody or get somebody help, will your last name be the bridge
that people need to become better?
And for the most part, up to this point in my life, that's been the case.
I didn't, I wasn't raised with that though.
I had to build that for myself and it took a lot of people from a lot
of different backgrounds to help get me to the space that I'm in now.
So when people say, how do you make so much time to do everything that you do, I.
My immediate response is, how can I not?
People invested in me when they had absolutely nothing to gain in return,
and I serve a God that truly has.
Jeremiah 29 11 written all over my life, he knew the thoughts that he had for me.
He understood that if thoughts of good things and I've had a damn good life, and
I'll continue to have a damn good life.
And it's not that it is a life that comes without struggles.
It's not a life that comes without weapons being formed, but they haven't prospered.
Because I continue to grow and I continue to go.
And, um, you know, I I thank you guys for giving me the
opportunity to come on your podcast.
Uh, one, because I know that you're a believer.
I, I mean, it was very evident.
I'm a believer right out of the gate, you didn't shove it down my throat.
I just could tell by the way you walked, the way you talked about your
family, the way you, you carry yourself.
Um.
And you know, brother to brother, both of you, even though you're
a little lighter than I am, uh,
we still brothers, you know, I'm in this walk.
Uh, continue to use this platform man to, to, to bring as many voices to
the table as possibly can that not only will speak to their journey or
speak to their faith, but speak truth.
Because that's what I think a lot of folks are scared of
nowadays, is to hear the truth.
I ain't running for office, have zero desire to run for office.
So if I tell somebody to F off, I ain't worried about that coming back and
bite me in the butt two years from now.
Somebody worried about, you know, well, you know, you told such and such
grew off, you know, two years ago.
Yeah, I did.
And I'll tell him again and I'll tell you why I told him.
I'm debt free.
I'm stress free.
I'm worry free.
I'm kids free.
And so, uh, you know, it just, if it's just me and my French Bulldogs,
at the end of the day, I'm good.
You know, as long as my kids are healthy and God is continuing to allow me to
open doors for folks and do things for people, um, that help facilitate
the world in which I know we can help.
Build then so be it.
You know, they always say if you can just reach one, you
know you've done a great job.
I've reached thousands.
And thousands.
We've put 370 something kids in college in the last 15 years.
38 of 'em are in the NFL playing football.
You know, several of 'em are playing major league baseball.
Some of 'em are lawyers, some of 'em are doctors, some of 'em are police
officers, some of 'em are school teachers.
So, and this is since they were 12 years old.
I'm 48.
I'm not even halfway dead yet.
So just imagine when I get on that other side of 50 when
I really don't give a damn.
Because you know, the older you get, you lose all the damn.
Yeah, you lose all the damns together, you know?
Sam Acho: Uh, so I got, I got one more and then Cliff, you, we
always end every episode we end with some cliff notes, right?
So Cliff has, his cliff notes will have, he'll have his cliff notes
and maybe a, a question to close us.
Um,
and I'm, I usually ask, how do you win without losing it all?
And, and it seems like you've answered that question, but I, so what I
want to ask you Thaddeus, is what truth does the world need to hear?
Thaddeus Bullard: You are enough.
Simple.
The world will tell you what you can't do, how you can't be, what you're not
capable of, what you're not qualified for, and it's a boldfaced lie.
You, you are truly enough.
And the enemy will put that doubt and that fear and that that wall up so
that you won't go through that wall.
Like, just think about it like people.
The enemy doesn't go after you for what you have.
That, that's, that's, uh, that's easy.
You know what I'm saying?
Like that's the easy part when you go into a game plan.
Sam, you played football.
Uh, who's the best running back you played against?
Sam Acho: Um, I played against Saquon, so I'd say Saquon.
Thaddeus Bullard: All right, so Sequan Barkley.
So prior to you getting on the field with Saquon Barkley, you didn't care how many
yards he rushed for last yard, last game.
Sam Acho: No,
Thaddeus Bullard: You didn't care how many yards people projected him to get
in the game that you played against.
What you cared about is stopping him from gaining anything.
That's how the enemy works.
It ain't after what you did in the past.
It ain't after what you got going on in the present.
They wanna stop your future.
Hey you, you ain't gonna do that with me.
You, I'm not gonna allow you to do that.
You ran for 300 yards against the last team.
You ain't gonna do that here.
That's how the enemy works.
So the devil says, Hey, y'all think I want what you got right now, man.
What you got right now ain't no.
It is not even a fraction of what I know.
Got God got.
But if I can keep you from getting at what God got for you in the future,
oh, I can kill your whole family.
I can stop.
I can stop your grandkids.
I can stop your great-grandkids.
If I can just get you right now because you may be a millionaire.
But your great gang cri be, are supposed to be multimillionaires because
they're gonna continue the generational wealth that you've accumulated.
But if I can stop you in your tracks right here and set you back and set
your family back, and you be the patriarch of that, all of a sudden
I'll put you back in a space and your family back in a space in which now
everybody's got a doubt and wonder, will we ever get back to where we were?
And you're wondering from a world sense, you're not depending on
God, you're depending on the fact that you just lost all this stuff.
So my thing is, you are enough.
There was a time in my life where I was very insignificant to a lot of people.
My life up to this point.
Uh, from this point, moving forward is all about significance
because success is for ourselves.
It's very selfish.
I wanna be this, I wanna make this amount of money.
I wanna do such and such.
I want to graduate from high school.
I want to graduate from college.
I want to do this, I wanna do that.
Great.
Anybody can be successful at anything they wanna do, especially in this country.
But the question is, what are you gonna do when you get that success?
How are you gonna impact the people around you?
Because I believe that the 8-year-old Thaddeus and the 80-year-old
Thaddeus will never be too far apart.
I'll never forget where I came from.
I'll never forget how I felt when I was ho, when I was hungry, when I
was cold, when I was homeless, when I was told when I'll be molested.
So therefore, I can look at other people that are in that situation.
I'm gonna be like, Hey man, you, you are enough.
I love you and I believe in you, and we gonna get through this.
The 80-year-old me is sitting up there like, yeah, I've gotten all
this, this, I've accumulated all these things, and I got all these great
memories, but I'm still wanting to make sure that other people can do that.
That's why I love kids and I love elderly.
They both are that they, they, it is two of the most truthful demographic of
people you'll ever meet in your life.
If your breath stink and they're six years old, they're gonna
tell you your breath stink.
If your breath stink and they're 85 years old, they're gonna
tell you they breath stink.
As a 8-year-old or a 6-year-old or 7-year-old kid, they're gonna tell you
the same story every day, all day, and, and you going and the 85, 90-year-old
tell you the same stories a million times.
You know why?
Because those were their dreams that they, they see things and
they experience things, and they.
Constantly wanna live in those moments because those are great moments for them.
And as much as you don't want to hear what your 6-year-old, 7-year-old
saying all the time, over and over and over and over again, man, it's
gonna be a time that you go when they 85 grandpa or great 85-year-old
granddad, or 85-year-old dad or mom.
And you're gonna wish you had those conversations back.
You're gonna wish that you can talk about the good old days.
You're gonna wish that you can talk about what they want to be when they grow up.
Because once they grow up, they're not talking to you about the same
thing that they were talking to you when they were talking to you at six.
So you are enough.
Wherever you are on the spectrum of life, you are enough.
God, Jesus died for us all for a reason.
Clif Marshall: Hmm.
Thaddeus Bullard: And it wasn't because I was the best.
You was the strongest.
He was the fastest, she was the richest.
They was the, this, you know, whatever it was because he loved us.
Clif Marshall: Hmm.
Fatties.
My last, uh, thought, and this has been incredible, I've spent the
last eight years as the director of strength and conditioning for the
Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team.
And as Sam mentioned earlier, I've, you know, I've been coaching for
almost 30 years now in the NFL College football, college basketball.
But there's one quote that I typically will leave on my
grease board for the athletes to see, and it's from John Wooden.
And it says, a great person is more important than being a great athlete.
And just hearing your story and the impact that you've made with the platform that
you've been given is incredible to me.
it's not really a question.
It's more or less a salute.
A thank you.
And a, uh, encouragement man to keep doing what you're doing because
you have certainly inspired me over the last 45 minutes or so.
Thaddeus Bullard: Thanks, man.
Appreciate it.
Sam Acho: Yeah.
And, uh, everybody for listening, thank you all so much for checking out
the Sam Macho Podcast, uh, featuring Cliff Marshall, AKA, cliff Notes, and
today's special guest, Thaddius Bullard.
Uh, make sure to check out King's Court.
It'll be on NBC and on Peacock starting in July.
I.
And all this information will be in the show notes.
We'll have links for you to check out and go to sam macho.com
to check out all the resources.
Thank you.