Unstoppable: Jesse Williams on Conquering the NFL, Cancer, and Redefining Success #498

And then It took that out and he had to walk around the wards wire . So I did that before my family even got back the next day .

Now , jesse Williams grew up here in Brisbane and made his way over to America , played for the University of Alabama , won a And won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks not bad and he has defied so many odds . But this is where his story gets really , really interesting .

I Not only did he achieve great heights at just 24 years of age , he was struck down with kidney cancer , and how that story plays out and his Resilience and determination to get back on the field is something that you definitely want to listen to and take away now .

For me personally , when I was sitting there having this conversation with Jesse , his results speak louder than words , right , but the words and the way that he speaks were phenomenal . I was sitting there going man . I want to take notes .

I've listened back to the episode , but I was really motivated and I was really inspired to drop my excuses around why my life wasn't going the way I wanted it to .

So for those of you who are wanting to play a bigger game , who want to be the best in whatever Area it is that you want to thrive in , this episode is going to be for you , and , before we dive into this episode , whatever platform you're listening on , if you could take 30 seconds to leave a rating and review , it's going to help me bring on bigger and

bigger guests each week so that we can , you know , have conversations that get your thoughts , that provoke incredible thoughts , that Provoke incredible thoughts and help you become the best version of yourself to maximize your life . Now That's enough for me . I really appreciate you taking that time to rate and review the show .

Let's get into today's episode with Jesse Williams .

It's got an incredible story and so much value to offer , and we went for , you know , catch up two weeks ago , three weeks ago , we counted for like 90 minutes . Two hours was awesome And there's so much that I took away from that conversation and I'm really excited to . You know , get more people to be able to hear the insights of you .

But , as you're saying , like when people like self-invest your timing coming on an Podcast , for example , there has to be some point of leverage and growth . Because you know that's the whole point and same for me the first 300 episodes I'll sort of develop in my communication skills and I was interviewing people And then it came .

I was like , okay , let's get some guests and try different things , but I wasn't really doing due diligence in regards to , okay , well , how can this be mutually beneficial for for everyone ? And now that we've got such a big platform , it's like we , we get it , especially in the us .

I've got massive Listening , we've cracked 30,000 downloads a month , which we're going to 100 . So , no , no , it's happening . And so then it's like , okay , well , we've got these engaged audience , 83 percent of mail . A lot of boats are gonna absolutely take so much away from your story and insight .

So then how can I help you , you know , get your message out there and what you're doing now ? and one of the things I loved about when I was listening to your podcast with Mark Horace was You're not the NFL player anymore . That's the past . That was this small Moment of your life . You've still got triple that lady , double triple that left .

You have right , and then as I got more into it and my career and That's sort of all I was doing for it You try and break free of the shackles pretty quick when you realize I could probably offer them a little bit more to the world .

But yeah , it is that you know and you go through and it's I don't really monetize my story in any way or anything It just it kind of just gets old . You know what I mean .

Like you sort of just like Like it's a good message for sure , and you know there's a lot of tangible things where I feel like it can be broken down into some really white-sized things for people to really use , and then I'd really have tried to just get on ones that are like quite big . So it's like They'll get more people instead of me going .

Let's do every podcast in the world , because it's just the story is different . It definitely comes out different every time about how I'm feeling or what I remember right , but it's um , after a while you just like man , like can you just like click this link and you're done . You know , i mean recut , that it was great , um .

So I really try and pick and choose and it's more like the subjects and like Where it's going is important , like , not just like You know , a huge one mark was good because it was really talking about . You know a lot of tangible things that you know correlatives to business or football and how that works for me .

And then You know other ones has been like deep dive into myself , and then other ones just like tell us about football , you know . So it's sort of you get to pick and choose and I usually just go into it like Give me a little space where you want to move into , and then like I can float into there . Yeah , and what ? when we caught up , originally .

I don't do that . I sort of would take an easy route there .

And We'll touch a little bit on football , because when I was told a lot about You know a Facebook group , everyone's like , oh , i spent this aspect and I'm like well , you can google that , google the things that you can google , but you can't get you know time with just to actually unpack his mind and what's made him great , what's made you accept what you're

continuing to build upon and the fact that you have this mindset that That was a chapter in your life , but that doesn't define who you are and you're creating bigger and better things now . That , for me , is what is really exciting , because It is very easy and you see it so frequently where People achieve certain levels of success and you achieve .

Well , you know you want a super bowl , you know it's very easy to just lean on that .

And when you talk about obviously not monetizing your story , i think it will come back to you and what you do in your other endeavors , like being able to Spread your message and what you're about now and how you are impacting the youth and , obviously , the indigenous population . You're a massive leader in that .

That feel the fact that you've achieved what you've achieved . You've now set a new precedent for what's possible , right , which , for me , is like this is fucking awesome , because before you there was no , so no one to pave the way , right ? Yeah , i mean well , for football definitely , i think in my community .

And I remember having that mindset and whenever I , you know , was able to Get over there , get to alabama , make it see NFL , do these things , and um , that stuff really stuck with me because when I go and speak whether it's You know a thousand kids with queens and police or you know a couple hundred kids on football field or one kid that approaches me , it

it was Pretty much me in most of those situations . So I take a lot of that pretty seriously and , um , yeah , a lot of that , just it's No one helped me at all . You know , me and like it was , it was pretty um , back against the wall with myself and my family .

So I've it feels unjust to myself to be able to um , not you know , off or at least the experience , anecdotal experience I have of my life at what it feels like , you know , on 32 .

It feels like An extremely long amount of time but still , you know so sure , um , but it feels valuable to me enough to be able at least to spit a little bit to some people that are still and come up , you know .

And you know , at the beginning of high school , you know , my dad used to say , um , you know how you behave and the actions and choices you make right now Was a terrible type of man you are . So it was like , oh , this is serious . And For them it was like , oh , we're only getting straight A's or you play sport .

So I was like , cool , sports , that's amazing . I love sport . So , um , that was already straight into it .

And then I think as a person I'd get a lot out of routine Um , working as a team , putting a lot of effort into stuff more than myself , um , so I straight to basketball and , like , my family , play basketball , all that's my grandparents , cousins , everyone So it worked really well .

And I think the dynamic with sport and my family and sort of how I was raised in the standards of A very small , tight knit family , still cultural , just very respectful , um , very hard working sort of low to middle socioeconomic status , always getting after it , always getting after it .

It's all about How we present ourselves , our presence at work , you know , respecting everyone's who's in the room . It's seeing everyone do lots of stuff .

There's those sort of frameworks , that sort of Kept me didn't let me deviate too far either way as I was moving through as into an older man , um , and I think most of learnings come from sport for me , you know , overcoming and being able to deal with resilience , working hard , working More than I probably think I'm capable of .

Um , team sports obviously helps with that and I think I was lucky enough just to have , you know , my dad just saved me all the time . Like to be happy , it's easy to have to have a good memory And for me it was the same .

With discipline , i just had to have a good memory of all the things that I've already laid down to get to where I was , so it would be silly to give it up right now . I said to keep going , keep going . That's all I did . Stack and stack and stack in Like the framework of sports and my family kept me out of , like drinking and smoking .

I didn't drink or smoke , i don't smoke at all , but you know I I drank a little bit so whiskey now , but I didn't drink . It's always 31 , that was last year . So it was like my whole like schooling Culturally as well . Both my parents smoke and drink casually .

Um , my uncles , everyone I never once through all my sports to national championships , super bowlers and stuff , never so like the The . That framework kept me disciplined enough to stick to something as simple as that . To me it seemed very simple And that sort of kept me in line per se while I was chasing things that were Not simple . You know what I mean .

Yeah and um , my thought process behind it was like , and I told you last time we met was If drinking and smoking pushed me closer to my goals or maybe bigger and stronger , i'd be a crackhead , you know what I mean . But it only took me back in the indigenous side And my family and sports .

You get to learn firsthand really quick how not to do things , how physical emotional substance abuse can Unravel people's lives . You learn pretty quickly , not so much in my family , but secondary , or cousins or uncles or however um . So I learned pretty early on .

I like this doesn't seem like an additive to any bottle I love And I never wanted to make mistakes and let my family down . Including myself . So it was the easiest decision ever . Whether I talked to young kids now like , oh , what did you do ? a pot , i , i didn't go . You know what I mean .

Like I , if we were working out at the party I would have been there , you know , but But we weren't and I just didn't go . You know it's . It's crazy now and I I talk about it quite a bit because people like , oh , I'm sure this is great , yeah , it was crazy , but like it didn't involve me having to get into it and crazy to To sort of mix it up .

You know , um , but it's just little simple . Things like that , that sort of Start when I'm 15 years old and ricochet now double my lifespan to , you know , over 30 . It's like , oh man , this still works , yeah .

That was part of me , that I , i love us to this day . I love sport and , um , everything about health and fitness . But there was also an element of me that I wanted to be the boys , i wanted to be the cool dude . So I did , you know , drop my standards as a result of that .

So , sitting here , knowing the experiences I had , in the drive that I had and I feel like I'm a very driven person You are Fucking unique to be able to go through those and be like no so how did you become so Rock solid on what you wanted to achieve with your life from ?

Um , me and my brother were both like , in a non Harriking way , we were the best at everything . as soon as we started doing it , it was like we're playing basketball , like I'm not here to have fun , i need to win .

I think this is that stems from my dad , my mom , pushing us on what we do and like , if it was sports day , like I'm winning , like I'm going home If I don't win everything , i'm going home like I just wasted a whole day , like you know what I mean . So that like mindset already set me apart .

So like everyone in my primary school knew , like every sports day , like I was going to med school , i was going to States , i was going to nationals , for I went for shop put most of the time .

And then same in high school , everyone knew at early age , once I sort of in that 14 , 15 year old age decided football was the thing , i was already piloted basketball playing representative all the way up to nationals in 1116 and then , once football was there , everyone just knew , okay , jesse just does football . Like they would never see me outside of school .

They wouldn't even to the point where no one even asked me because it was just like I don't want this time you know what I mean . Like I'm not going to see anyway . And um , people used to see it all . It saves me all the time . Like I've never seen you outside of school and like , yeah , because you don't hang out in my house , you know what I mean .

Like you don't go to the same gym as me , um , and it made a lot of those interactions easier . I never wanted to fit in because when I first started to do those things , i accepted that the path I feel like going on right now is lonely , treacherous , and fitting in wasn't part of the characteristics .

So all the other stuff like Grade 12 , like we're gonna do that . I was like , uh , like I used to literally work out in the morning , go to school kind of late , like I would just get like late nights from my mom and just be .

Like the teachers knew I was trying to go to the US , the principal knew they just knew like , hey , jesse , like oh , yeah , it's literally go to your workout and get rid of them . Yeah , you know what I mean . Like everyone knew it wasn't even like People weren't like , hey , what don't you ? you know , stay and hang out and relax .

I don't like , if anyone said anything close to that , like you were shunned , like I would forget exactly who you were , what you look like , everything . Yeah , um , because it's just in any , any value to me and I lost a lot of friends In that middle transition age .

Even when I was going to junior college , of like people , like even when I would come back first year , like I was a nobody .

I went over there and I played really well and did a lot of stuff , but like , when I came back here no one knows what hours on Austin College and you matters on it , but to me I just assumed no one cared , no one did anything . So it kept me in this little pocket of just like . It kind of was a positive and negative . I'm in my own echo chamber .

Be out here . Those things For my mental health probably not the , i wouldn't say so . I was positive for a young person but for being able to create like really good outcomes out of the work yeah . It's well , it's proven . You know what I mean , like it worked for me .

But I'm very different and I don't really need confirmation from anybody usually to do anything and I've never really been in situations where I need to walk in the room and be liked or anything . I'm standing out either way and the choice for people to interact with me is up to them .

Never has to me , you know , and I sort of just had that it's a little chip on my shoulder the whole time .

In my life I've experienced poor mental health and , looking back , i didn't have much going on in my life and it was very easy to sort of not be happy with where I was at because I wasn't doing anything . So being a bum really in my terms as soon as I started deciding what I wanted for my life and what it was going to take to do that .

I was feeling amazing . I still am feeling amazing , so I tend to agree with that approach . For people who maybe disagree , what would your thoughts be around that I ?

That was the difference , and around the mental health side , it wasn't like I was sort of taking stuff out . I think my biggest thing was the voices in my head telling me what I wasn't doing , and it had me into the schedule of waking up before everyone and I was just doing more and more and more and more .

It seemed like nothing was ever enough until I got to where I needed to get to As a young man . That sounded amazing and that's all I needed to chase . I didn't need like . I didn't want shortcuts . I didn't want to take the easy route .

I didn't want to hear people's soft excuses of being the amount of people that grew up with me , played football or sports with me . That never made it then . That was the defining factor of them compared to me is as a long list . You know what I mean And when I see if you fall off . I was just like I'm not doing that .

Like I saw guys go to the US and come back . I was like come back . I said I told my family when I left . I said I don't know when I'm coming back . You know what I mean . Like I didn't plan a trip back . I barely had enough money to get there .

So I was like coming back was not an option to me , so like any little bit of weakness or fun was off the table . You know what I mean .

I was waking up and literally I was just training and not even like smartly , i was abusing my body because I had no guidance , had no one helping me , it was just myself , my dad , and my dad didn't know about like training or like the stuff we're doing to get ready and prepare for it , so it was like I was me on doll up internet at our house trying to

search and all I would do was look up NFL con blind . I just went . I gotta get this fast , i gotta get this strong , i gotta be able to jump this and do all that stuff . That's all I chased .

And I used to , like my dad used to drive to work real early on Richmond road at Cannon Hill and I would fill my bag up with the textbooks out that I would really use or like bricks on my back And he would see me running up and down the hill like in the dark , driving to work as like a 15 year old or 16 year old And like it just became so normal

, like everyone knew that , like I was just that was it , like it was only like two speeds and was like asleep or like full speed ahead .

I didn't have anything in between And that's not for everybody by any means And that's why I feel like that mental health piece around , like you know people now and people might take that wrong . You know , like I just think people are so soft , not committed and not ready to pay what it takes to get .

So I go into the shop and something's $100 and trying to get it for $50 doesn't work And I just knew that what I wanted cost so much . So I just had to stack that like layers of paint over and over and over and over again till I got there , because I never wanted to be scrounging around for coins to pay .

I wanted to go there deserving whether you'd be like here , keep the change . You know what I mean And that's the sort of mentality I took , trying to get to that . And I still , to this day , like I'm pretty harsh on myself and people because not in a mean way , i just know what it takes to get to the place .

A lot of people are trying to go on , so much the NFL , but just like in themselves , and I'm not afraid to tell them directly because I don't take shortcuts or want to care about people's feelings when it gets hard and stuff like that .

And you know I try and know this is not like I'm telling talk for all kids , like you got to run with textbooks and stuff , but it's , you know it's being able to win each moment and win the day . And then you know , so on and so on . I think it starts with those simple things as much as like being willing to buy into something costs $100 .

I need to pay that every day , over and over and over again . It's like you're there , which seems , man , the easiest thing to offer me .

I hope a lot of people really take that away , as it's very easy to get bogged down and trying to have this perfect plan or trying to find the best of everything that people just have like that analysis by paralysis . They don't do anything .

You know so , and I think a lot of people get lost in that because it is . you know , i still wake up and train and like if I don't have that challenge or that sort of stuff like that , i'm never going to be an opportunity to take any of the stuff I want to get , let alone see how opportunities that might come across me .

And I think sitting around and that's what social media and half the people that you know put comments and do stuff right , is , like you know it's I don't have the time to I yeah , a lot of people say that and we spoke about a lot of some .

you know a lot of people have that attitude Like I don't care if people think and stuff like that , which as a young man I was that , but I think as I've developed and gotten older , i really , really care about what people think . I . just in that transition I just realized you have to care and it's just important about choosing the right people .

you care about what they think . And for me it's now is it used to be like I want this person to say what this and I would get . I would get into it like yeah , i would , you know , take it very personally very quickly and it can escalate as a volatile young man . But I think now you know I I don't give .

Someone comes in and says , hey man , i don't like that , show it , i don't like your business . I'm like cool As long as my family , my wife , my son , when I do these things around 10 , is there , and that's what's important to me . And social media means absolutely . It means less than zero to me .

I couldn't care less what people say , the media , all that sort of stuff .

So it's really important that a lot of people get that , that shift of , like that motivating factor and where that my intrinsic motivation is either refueled or put back together a little bit with some of the more important valuable extrinsic information or stimulus I get from my family and other people , instead of just everybody all the time .

Because I , my wife would say , other coaches , people that work with me know that you know my super parents not to be influenced Like . I literally really care about what people say . I will . It will take a lot of wearing down for me to believe ideas and stuff .

Unless you prove to me or have done more than me or better than me or have an expertise , i'll respect it for sure .

But if it's just bypassing any time , like like you can have to speak up because I do not hear nothing , and that works for me , like I , what I've been doing works and it's enjoyable And it gets me the things I want to get And I just I'll pick up new traits here in the hair and like new skills .

But I'm not here to buy into the current culture , especially of Australia , and what that looks like in business and life and what we chase after as people .

no . very few people will ever experience that That's , and I can imagine the stuff that would have been happening online during that period . everyone would have had their opinion based on how you're playing and Oh , yeah , yeah , australian media .

And that's the same now with social media . Like I have a really good skill of me how to forget things that aren't important to me in moving forward And that's being able to detach myself emotionally from situations is a skill for me And it comes in really valuable to a lot of what I try to stick to .

A lot of things , especially negative , or things that are take , take , take . I prefer a give give situation , not a give take situation . So it's that sort of helped me along the way , especially with social media and doing that , like people can call me , do whatever , like I can delete it literally and in my head and never see it again .

You know what I mean , but I have to say my son , my wife and my family every day , you know , and that that's the sort of stuff that's important to me .

How do you or what if someone was asking you , how do you detach from that ? look like .

Like even now , people care about being in the gym . Obviously , people get hurt in the gym and 20 people around no one even notice And people will worry about what they wear to the gym , like people are in their own world . No one cares . It's even worse and worse how little people care about even interacting or seeing other people .

And I just took that on early on . I was like no one helped me , no one is caring about me right now except my family .

I was like , ok , well , let's keep that the whole way , because the same people that weren't helping , the same people that want to get photos of me when we do these cams , so when we're doing stuff , and I just had that stubborn , stubborn young man attitude , which I still have .

It works well for me I was like , ok , you don't want to help now , that's cool , i get it , you don't care . But now I obviously pre-take in what that looks like Because I know people seldom care about what other people's issues are , problems , anything So I don't need to worry about someone that's not caring about me .

Let's focus on people that want to add to the situation , want to care and that are here , and I think people buy into a lot of stuff And I think it only takes a small sliver or something to be like OK , that person doesn't care You don't want to be , so it's a little bit of weight lifted off your chest .

I haven't found many people in life that really want to just hang on and actually care . There's a lot that just want to hang on until they get something or take something , so it's always been easy for me to be able to do that and detach .

I'd love more people to be able to just sit in a room and listen to this , which is , i think , one of the most beautiful things , because people who have what most people are striving towards can now just tell you what that experience is like . Because when you can start to understand experiences , it gives you an insight to do .

I really want that , or maybe that isn't for me , but as a result of that , it does become I don't want to say it's like , yeah , transactional to a degree , because there's so many moving parts , and it's something I think about a lot , because I'm like I want to continue building relationships from a lot of people . But time once again comes back to .

You're rather investing time or money . There are two commodities here . We have times obviously more important than money , because you can always make more money and get time back . We're all aware of that .

So it's something that I still don't have an answer to there , but I try to make every interaction that I have with people that I respect and that I value as genuine , because I want to learn from that growth as genuine as possible and try to come across in a way where I'm not making people feel used , if that makes sense .

This very rarely relationships or interactions I go into like I'm going to get something from this , it's more they need something from me . Like how am I , how am I getting that out ?

And once I sort of that notch from retiring from this like receiving role of confirmation , attention , money , everyone , whatever into more of a serving role , it made a lot of those interactions easier for me , because now I can really narrow my intent . Before it was like kind of weird , i'm really getting everything I need . What does this person need ?

So there's a lot of sort of hoops I got to jump through to figure out what that is . Now It's like I have a serving role . I don't need anything from anybody . What can I help with ? How can I add value to that ? So I had to shift that . And then for myself it was once I narrowed that down and so it put me in better rooms .

And then , when it comes to time and all the stuff around what's important to me , i had to start being more selfish Because when you come from a receiving role , you're feeling inclined to spend time And all these people are paying in or it's this You've got to do it now , when I don't really need anything from anybody , i'm independently floating around looking

after my family , doing all those things . I can be selfish Because people want to say back to the start of the podcast when I have people 100 people in my DMs right now saying , hey , can you do this football podcast ? Hey , can you do this podcast ? Hey , can you do that ? I can be selfish and not reply to anybody .

But previously , like on my build up , there's usefulness in some of those interactions because I need to receive something to do that . Right now I'm sheltered off . I'm a ghost . I float around . You barely see me , and so I can be selfish in my time because what's important ? my intent , i get to add value to my family and all these things now .

But when I interact with people at these camps and football stuff that we do , my intent is very authentic . Everything is on the table . I'm very truthful about everything . My integrity and what I say is important to me . Getting it out there in the right way , not selling the dream , but selling a realistic picture of what it looks like .

So those two things sort of help me narrow down . When I go into things like , ok , if this is not good , whether it's a business deal or some collaboration or some football thing I have to really be like .

I have to be selfish because if I'm away for an X amount of time like what does my family get of me being gone compared to what you're getting out of everything I'm adding to this And people don't always understand because it's not money . When I go to things , people are like , oh , we can this much and this much of your time . It's not about that .

What is the value , what is the imprint of this Where I tell my wife and my son or other people in my family I'm not going to be here for a week , like it's a long time . A lot can change in a week compared to doing some work stuff or whatever .

So I've been really strutting that line a little bit lately and really trying to be selfish and stay really intentful of how it is . Now that I've narrowed my intent as a man to like what's important to me , not what's important in general , there's a huge difference .

You know , like there's a lot of things in my brain and young man that's left into me not the want , but those things aren't important . You know , my family is important .

The development of that and the growth of that and the love and care that comes from that's reciprocated both ways and not having a different car or going to an event or like being at an NFL event or making X amount of money has no intrinsic value to me at all .

So being able to separate those things now it's kind of together , and a constant , constantly adapting situations to find two goes to really figure out what I can put my time into You know what I mean . Because there's a lot of things out there that can be beneficial and can take away and just roll the dice every day .

But as long as I got myself sorted , i'm very confident when I walk into every room because I really don't need to get a lot from anybody . It's more just like what value can I add here ? If I can't , then man just get a cut out of me .

I'm sure you could find a picture where I look handsome and cut that out , right , you know , but if I can be of value , then let me shake the room down . That's what people let me do . So people know that's how I am . Like we want to come in here .

When I go to schools and they want me to talk to 10 of the indigenous kids , i'm like , fuck that man . I'm like , get the whole school down here . Like let's not waste our time . Like let me get this to everybody . Like this is not an indigenous issue . This is not a low socioeconomic issue . This is not a mental health issue . This is not a men's issue .

This are just skill sets that will help with everyone's everything . You know what I mean . That all correlates .

Being close and my wife working in indigenous media , my mom works in indigenous child safety for the government I was doing a lot of stuff around it And for a long period of my life I've been in those circles .

As a young absolutely nobody young indigenous man from the South Side of Brisbane , i got a pretty good scope on what life looks like , with pretty good range And a lot of it is just I don't have time to pick sides . I don't care about politics . It seems like both sides . A lot of people aren't getting a lot of stuff anyway .

I just prefer to even with my family's foundation , the First Step Foundation around football . I'm not here to save the world . I'm here to save the world around me and what I can reach right now . You know what I mean . The foundation was set up not to cure cancer or malaria or hunger . It was here to change young men's lives .

With football It's like a small slither . I don't have time to buy into indigenous kids , african kids , like disadvantaged non-indigenous kids . I don't have time to sort through that . They all need the same stuff . I've got all the stuff , so let me do that .

You know what I mean And that's how I've taken everything indigenous , non-indigenous , sports , mental health , all this stuff has gone on with everything . This is a huge waste of time distracting everybody from just helping people And I just never bought into it because it's just a waste . They want to talk to people like what do you think about this ?

Like what do you think about indigenous topics ? What do you think about the work of old police and police ? I don't think about it at all . I think about the kids that are in front of me when I get to the events .

I think about the kids that I spend time with that in two years , come back and see me again and remind me that the five minutes I spent with them at this event two years , that has nothing to do with it . I don't care where to keep coming from , what sort of sexual orientation or this , that I don't care .

So have you here trying to do this And cool , i'm the person here to help And that's what's really helped a lot of it . Like I just I can't buy into the hype of people's stuff .

It's just so wasteful of time And it's like my biggest thing is the efficacy of where my time has been , especially the community work , because I hate just going to places and like let's take some photos in front of kids . That doesn't get anything done , like I've seen firsthand . Like I hate it .

Indigenous , non-indigenous sports groups come in and like hey , just talk to kids for 10 minutes , okay , and like take a photo , what the hell does that do ? I was a kid that was sitting there . I'm like who's this guy ? Just for 10 minutes Like what did he get across ? So I really put time into like even the camps .

When you do football , like I'm there for four hours off the camp , every kid for Like as many questions . They feel like you know before they saw feeling uncomfortable and same with the parents And I think I try and do that everywhere I go and it's just like that's for community work and work in general .

That's sort of stuff like that , because I Know what having a short amount of time left on earth looks like and I don't feel like wasting it on some people's junk and Opinions . To me is a lot of people's junk .

That , like there's constantly people asking and I can appreciate that , but Not everyone's fight is my fight and I really related to what you were saying there . We only have so much time and part of that time is looking after our own health and families .

The other part is work , and then we do have a little bit of time to give back , yeah , but we can't get back to everything .

I think a lot of it . You see with all these groups and you would see the mental health I sort in . You know someone who had pretty serious cancer . I sort a lot of cancer groups and heavily in indigenous groups . There is 150,000 groups all doing the same thing .

Mm-hmm all taking one , two points or one percent of the funding , yeah , to do the exact , slightly variation of the exact same thing . When , like , if a Smart person would say , hey , why doesn't everyone just work together and do the one thing ? Everyone would get a huge amount of funding and have a much more effectiveness .

But then that's what people you know , they cling to our egos and a lot of that sort of stuff , especially in helping people , right ? so I definitely get Seeing other groups and it's just like I don't . It's no competition in helping who can help those people .

I want to help my people , first myself , my family , and then , like , all the rest of the stuff in time . Then we can go from there . But , I just I do see a lot of so much crossover , like even in business . I'm just like there's too much ego around , like what you're trying to achieve here if everyone just worked together , like it's a lot easier .

Yeah , because I'm a team sport guy , just because I feel like I'm a common sense guy , and a lot of that just doesn't seem like common sense .

Can we go back to that point , what it was like , facing that adversity and what you were thinking through those moments ? Maybe the support that you learned on and how you've , you know , grown through that .

There's a lot in between there and I think You know around the injuries and stuff for football , especially like having kidney cancer , and sort of part of the reason I retired is That was probably the biggest one on the outside to people .

For myself I don't always like to talk about Sort of how it affected me because I don't want to be sort of Not aware how other people have handled certain situations . I can only talk from how I sort of thought about it . And for me I had , you know , stage three slash four .

Kidney cancer was quite serious , quite quick , and I had to get my kidney removed in like three days After finding it out and I'm kind of just treated like I had the flu . Look , i didn't believe it , like I had no pain , like I was in like the peak shape of my life . I wasn't , i wasn't scared of anything .

I was glad it was me because if it was like , my family and my mom or I would be shook . I knew it was me because I was at the time . I was a . I was a bad man , but I could have handled anything that was right on me . I could have got hit by Kyle . I've been playing next week , you know , and That's how I just took it .

It was like , as soon as I found out , my parents have run flu over and thought I was gonna die , which is , you know , pretty common And I just was like no , it was like when ? when can I play when ? what's , what's the return of like ?

They don't really throw a lot at it because it's they don't know how everything's gonna go . It's hard for professional teams for a lot of stuff . But even though they helped amazingly , it was more just like , personally I didn't really have a lot of people .

My dad was here , my family food back was just myself , my dad , my place in Seattle and I just went back to what got me . There was all those skill sets . It was like if I can outwork out these other things and out rehab Again , you know breaking stuff , tearing stuff , you know the mental ups and downs I was like this is fine .

So , like I had , i set myself a timeline of seven weeks , five days . I remember sitting in the surgery , getting out . I was supposed to be in there for like four or five days . Soon as I got out I was like I need to get the hell out of here , and that was they said . I have to take the catheter out , which is the worst part of having any surgery .

And then They took that out and he had to walk around the wards . Why so ? I did that before my family even got back the next day , so I had the surgery at night , yeah , so my family got back . They got flowers and balloons and shit and they were like expecting .

I had meals packed Like I was gonna be there five days and I was laying in my clothes on top of the sheets like waiting . I was like , oh , we're here already . Yeah , i was like . I was like I can't , like I was out of surgery like four or five hours And I was like freaking out . I was like this place I don't like I've lost a lot of people .

I've been a lot of hospital cells , like I can see the sign out there . I was like we need to figure out . Like I'm fine and I wasn't fine at all . You know I could like they cut through . I had 12 cuts in my stomach . I could . I was just lucky my upper body and my like legs were strong because I had no core at all .

So I was like You know old boy from family , guy in the wheelchair , i was walking myself around my hands and Managed to get out of there and I went back to Seattle the day after surgery and everyone was scared . They were like what are you doing here ? I was like I should have surgery .

You know I was like I had it yesterday and everyone's losing their mind . You know I'm bleeding out all these holes and patches and like my stomach is just black from bruising , having a surgery like 16 hours ago and I actually I think I drove my truck from the hospital with my parents in it because I didn't want my parents to drive .

So then , yeah , it was just like I just I didn't want to , i don't , i didn't out tough it at all , i just didn't care about enough . I was like , okay , like I just treated every little thing like it was just that little thing . I got these cuts , i got a healed cuts and then soon as I healed the cuts , they would let me .

So they let me walk around the field . During practice I used to like speed up and like trying to draw a little bit , getting trouble . So I'll walk me again and then Try and speed up and I get in trouble . There's a walk in . So I went through that for a few weeks . Susan , let me in the weight room . I was lifting weights again .

I started to feel myself Soon as I . They gave me a date . If my scars healed before this date , i can start practicing . So that was out there doing drills . I was out there doing this is in like four or five weeks about my kidney root . So , like , people are like treating me like I'm dead and I'm a ghost Casper .

A family goes flowing around with helmets and shoulder pads on And I hated it . I was like stop going soft on me . Like I was hitting dudes , like I was like let's . I was like I'm not here . I'm not here to fuck around . Yeah , what I mean like this is this is me . And Then you know when I could get back in there full speed .

I was just like I missed it so bad . I had so much . I still have so much . I Joke around when I tell guys a football but I still got a lot of demons , it's not gonna get out . You know , the football was the the expression of that and You know , going through all that rehab was hard .

It was a Very lonely journey of sitting there with trying athletic trainers and physios and doctors and surgeons every day , every day , every day , like assessing , assessing , assessing . And then You know , seven weeks , five days later , here comes Jesse , right now , the time in San Diego . I played all the preseason games . You know what I mean .

So it's like What really is it in part of ? that is not about cancer number , it's about me just doing what I believe is capable in this amount of time and just doing it . I didn't have excuses about God say I feel so I'm gonna rest . I'm like rest . I'm like how does that fit into this ? It doesn't fit in , you know . And it got .

I played the four preseason games and I was . I split all my stitches every single one . So my scars really big . I've tattooed over them . Now I forget , i don't even want to see them and I Sort of put my body in a pretty bad situation , recovered , wise to to continue playing the rest of the season .

But that goal of getting from kidney removed , catheter out , running out of the stadium and Being out of play all those games Maybe not a hundred percent and that was half the reason we sort of pulled the pin and but I was there , i did everything and no excuses , like keeping up with everybody else .

You wouldn't know what you if they said point out the guy that had his kidney removed seven weeks ago . There's no chance They thought of me . You know what I mean And so it's .

It's that stuff that is sticks for me and that's important to me , that has the foundation of how I am now and the work that I put in and the work that I can With conviction tell people that I've been able to do and achieve is shit like that . You know what I mean . Like Super Bowl is a cool , like I'm a Super Bowl ring and don't know those things .

But none of that shit is important to me . What's important to me , like the bricks that I laid down to build the person I am right now , because it's cost me way more . You know what I mean And no one's ever gonna see that or understand How many times I would just sit and like I'm going through surgery , off to surgery , which is fun .

I'm happy to do this pot of plant personal sport , but like you , just sit in the dark , you're sitting in steam rooms , cold tubs by yourself , crying to yourself , trying to recover fast and trying to sleep more , trying to eat better , billows , things .

People just see the rings , they just see the pictures , they just see Covers on magazines , they just see all that sort of stuff . And that's fun because the stuff that's important to me , there's all the stuff that I got to do that No one else will ever get their experience .

Um , and I guess just the tough part now is just expressing that to To people in white-sized pieces , like when they see me , or like in podcasts and stuff or whatever . And you know I'm trying to write a book when I ever get that started already or get that done , hopefully , when I piece together enough time to write it and do lots of stuff .

But um , it is little things like that where The adversity was . It's a constant , so you sort of just get used to it and just the severity of it doesn't really click . You know what I mean . Like Some people , usually kick their toe and it's the end of the world .

I'm like I'm like I need to get back , so they don't let me wear this pad and they , i had to wear to practice a few times And I would just pretend and just like try that shit on the ground . You know what I mean ? Like I just keep going . Um , so it's just it's perspective and I was just lucky enough that I was .

When I was a young man , i got to go through a lot And I was so eager to develop my inside and who I am , what I believe in and what I believe in myself . So in situations like that I was , i was unshakable . My , my , my Person inside , my Belief and my strength was so deep in the earth . Like I was , i could not be moved .

The storm , the waves , the adversity nothing could shake me . You know what I mean ? Like I was untouchable at that time And that's just the attitude I got to taking to things . Whether it's gonna go good or not , i got to die .

There was plenty of things that could have went wrong , but I choose to focus on the things I could control , things I can't control . And dying now , i could die this afternoon . I I don't need to waste any time thinking about it . You know what I mean . I just want to , i just want to focus on things I can control .

They're packing your bag with books and challenging yourself , getting up early , saying no to partying , doing all these things with you , building your character , and I'm a massive believer that you've meant . You've said it as well that sport or even just physical exercise Can prepare you for adversity that's out of your control . Choosing to , that's all the choice .

All the stuff that you've done Is a choice playing football , getting up early , sacrifice is a choice and because you did that , you'd flex that muscle enough that when you were faced with adversity that was out of your control with cancer or The knee injuries you knew how to handle it .

And a lot of people and I thought about this because I I did say it to you when we first spoke I'm sitting there going .

I can't fathom how you think the way that you think , having heard what you have gone through , but I thought , i thought about it a lot and I'm like well , there's no wonder You think the way you do and you act the way you do , based off all the stuff that you've done In the build up to that and that , for me , is character , and it's one of the most

important things , is one thing that we talked about in our category all the time is like building resilience , like putting in the reps to be prepared for Ship . It's out of your control .

And I Was that kid . Like people see me now and I'm like It didn't stop . Like that at all . Like you asked my parents , like it was hot , it's hot , but Giving in to every time it's hot . It's like starting at a new level is unplugging it . It's like I try and explain to some of these kids They wouldn't know because Everything's saved now online .

But like playstations and stuff used to have a playing plug-in save card . You know what I mean . Like so you would play a whole game if you didn't have a memory card which , like we didn't have , half the time You turn it off , you turn it back on , it starts again from the start of the game .

So like for me it was just like every time someone quit it , like this is how I'm a quit , i'm change teams . Okay , so you literally it just sacrificed all those games You just played to get through everywhere and you're starting a whole new game stuff from from fresh .

And for me , like I try and show this kids , like that's why I say there's really good range there , because all these kids and people that see me only focus on all these highs , i was like that's not the cool stuff . I was like look at this . Like my parents showed photos when I first started playing football .

I was just like this young , shy , chubby kid . I just had a lot of anger inside me that I was able to get out , but it wasn't strong , i wasn't , like I wasn't big , i wasn't , i wasn't the fastest , like even all the way up to playing in Alabama .

I speak about them a lot of media things like I was nowhere near the fastest and I wasn't the strongest . I had the least amount of football experience . But one thing that couldn't be matched was how much I wanted it and how much I was willing to sacrifice .

It's not not just ones , not just in the national championship , which I played in one tune , not just when it's easy , when it's hard , every day , when it's not at game day to run it in the summer in 125 degree heat in the state of Alabama , it's running up hills in the morning out here in Morningstar .

It's doing all those things Over and over and over again . And like you said , like I , just for me it was like Layers of paint . You don't notice . You don't notice . You don't notice . You paint a room three times , like he probably doesn't affect the size you painted three hundred thousand times over and over again .

It's gonna start getting smaller system rooms getting smaller . You know , that's all it was for me . I stop it , as this little scared , insecure kid had , you know , not a lot of role models , not a lot of guidance , no direction . If you asked me in grade 11 or 10 What I was gonna do , i would have said I don't know . You know what I mean .

Like To where I got . I think that that's where , that's where the work is , that , yeah , that's where my skillset and that's where I feel like a lot of people that understand like life , and especially older people , when I get to speak , they respect that more than having a Super Bowl ring or I Got a box of rings at the house .

You know there's a piece of metal . You know I mean I had the memories . It was tickled me forever and a lot of people have stories and folk tales of me doing crazy stuff when I was a young kid , especially playing football , and that's us more important . You know what I mean . I think it's very good point .

I remember when I first fucked up with footy and I was back in Tulver and I went over to France and . I was watching . I didn't want to watch footy on TV anymore because I might be the guys that live in the dream that I want to be . How is getting a photo with them ? How is you know , watching them gonna help me improve what I wanted ?

It's like I need to get fucking footy . I need to pass footy . I need to get stronger . Yeah and I still take that to this day like It's nice ring , but for me it doesn't give me any meaning .

what I'm fucking loving is what's in your brain and the experiences that you've had , because now I'm like , if I want to get to the level that Jesse's out in skills of transferable business , football , that sort of stuff , i want to understand how your mind thinks and your your stubbornness in regards to knowing what you want to , not be prepared to compromise on

that , is phenomenal , and some people may think it's a need , balance or whatever , but say if you want to be the cream of the crop and really create a life that you're proud of , that's what you're gonna do .

But When people is like , oh , there's no balance , you missed out on so much , i was like , all right , let's stack our lives together in those years . Let's stack them together and see what we achieve . Because it's like not only a perspective thing but also like these are things I wanted to .

Let's go and see the things you wanted and effort you put into that . I thought about chasing this stuff like this . The top of anything is it's like a facade , it's a trap . You get up there , it's just like a movie , push through it and it's just like fucking missed , there's nothing there . Yeah , like I tell people all the time but what does it mean to ?

it means nothing . It was just another game .

When I was at Alabama we won an actual championship . I was on a plane that night . We're flying back and we start out workouts . Not for that game . For the next year I was like I took one thing that sticks with me and hopefully I pray it sticks me for the rest of my life . Coach Nick Saban one of the best coaches ever coach football .

It was with me for years at Alabama . His thing on the 24 hour rule was like the epitome of what I believe in . It was 24 hours , win or lose . We're back to work . We don't sit around and worry about it Like we're the best team in the country , sit around and worry about a loss or a win , but we have to win next week .

Every game is important And this is like people that go on through their days Like I tell . When I had cancer , i went into surgery like it was a game day , dressed like it was a game day , i had headphones in . I told my parents and stuff , but the day before I was done , talking to them , i'd share like a game .

I'm going to there to do what I need to do And it was 24 hours after that I didn't need to think about it no more . I just need to think about what right now is what I need to move forward , and I think a lot of that around what people are chasing and their audiologies of their success , and like what the end game looks like .

And man , i don't like to burst people's bubble , but there's more . You know what I mean . Like I chased it so hard , i sacrificed everything I possibly could And it was taken from me straight away with nothing . And like now I feel like I'm like side missions . I had to start my life again And it's like I got to refine that again .

So it's like I'm grateful for the opportunity to start from ground zero And like let's chase what else . Like I might be able to fit two or three lives in the amount of time I might get or I might go tomorrow , but I'm going to use this time like it's worth a lot , and I think a lot of people are .

They get disappointed , especially athletes , when they get there and success the top being the best . I don't think it's for everybody . You know what I mean .

I think chasing what you want , being selfish and being effective in your life or your family and loved ones , and your goals and who you are as a person , your character I think those things are more important than having a super room . You know what I mean . Like this just sits in my sock drawer . You know what I mean .

But you know , for me being through and seeing a lot and had to deal with a lot , i think for me now is , yeah , success is relative and success is different from me every day and what I feel like I can achieve that day .

And now I'm just I'm probably over 300,000 layers of pain right now , but I'm just trying to stack it and see what the hell happens .

I was like is it probably the most toxic place as well , in regards to like people and how they treat other people And it's perspective on others for sure . But I think for myself now it's the same goal , just disguised as something different . My goal when I was leaving to go to the US was you know , i wanted to come back like a good man .

I wanted to have like my integrity and all these things Making money and doing other things . It was never important to me . It actually it kind of annoyed me more and trying to chase that stuff . For me it was like always been trying to be a good man .

That's like you know , strong handshake , good eye contact , does what he says , believes himself , looks after his family , does all those things for his community , and that's all I've been doing . And that takes different forms For me right now , like previously , me and my wife were , we're doing a lot of indigenous stuff .

I was lucky enough to go up North Palm Island , all these different places , and I think you know we still work a little bit in that , but it shifted a lot to football .

Now , with the growth of football and my effectiveness in the space to help young men sort of make their journey to the US , which I push heavily , is life changing in regards to to getting a college education , not just making money .

And so we do a lot with that , working closely with with local great on Australia , the national body , trying to grow the sport and stress the importance of not only the opportunity to go into the US but the tangible skills it takes to not only go there but make a difference and be successful . And that's sort of a lot of the stuff .

I spit out a lot , you know , around the hard work , discipline , integrity and building yourself before we go over there and people shitting the bed Still a lot of that . So that's where a lot of my effort is going at the moment . I'm really interested in having that really set up for kids because I just believe that's a life changing opportunity .

Rugby league , rugby , you know all sorts of stuff is it's not really set up for success pre , during , after , unless you're like the top five player per year . We're going to the US where there's a basketball , track and field , football , cross country , swimming , whatever You're kicking over there for good enough , get a scholarship for free .

Three , four , five hundred thousand dollars . Scholarship at a big university place for it . That's no Hex Debt , that's nothing . The land of the home of the free , it's opportunity everywhere People want to help . Like sports is huge , business is huge . I just think it's silly that more kids don't go over there . People out here want to work .

To be a Brisbane Bronco , i'd be more working to try and get over there and get to a small college , because there's more opportunity to go on a small college than playing for a Broncos here .

It's really unique and something that I definitely want to surround myself more with . We've got three minutes , but there's a question I put .

people posting questions , and this is the most uploaded question in the group And we're sort of touched on it And the question was how did you prepare yourself mentally for high stakes games like the Super Bowl , Like when you've got a high-level idea or viewership of the Super Bowl is , but Oh , it's in the millions , like , even like college national championship .

Especially from being in Alabama was where I probably fine-tuned myself in that degree in able to switch on and off The off parts the hardest , but being able to switch on to get things done . We never changed . We never did anything different . Never did anything . If anything , we worked extremely hard to keep everything the same .

Like we ate the same thing before every game , doesn't matter where we were . We had the same chefs . We had the same flight attendants at every game . We take charter flights . It's the same snacks . You sit in the same seats . It's the same thing . It's the same thing . Routine is the difference maker . It's repetitions of everything , mental and physical .

And we never . It was not like people got more high for national championships , it's the exact opposite . We trusted in how good we are at just playing football . All we did for the game was put my hand in the dirt and try and beat the other person in front of me More times than he beats me , and that's all it was every game .

If I went out there and worried about seeing crowds like we had national championships and super balls . Every famous person is there . I've seen everyone , from the president , lebron . Lil Wayne would come to LSU games , like everyone is there . But I couldn't care . I couldn't hear a thing . I was so locked in and dialed .

I could see the hairs on the center's hand when he's grabbing the ball , about to snap the ball . I was just so focused on what I had to do Because we're bored into . This game is more than me . This is , you know .

I represent myself , but I also represent what's on the back , what's on the front of the jersey , and when we step on the field , when we get ready to go , it's you know . We represent the football team and we got to do our job And that's all it is . Best players play and do your job . It's important skill to have and be able to stick to .

It's not easy , but I think that's what separates great teams from you know , these hype teams that come out in one year and drop off . When you look at the University of Alabama , that's the most constant , high performing team in the last 15 years And that's the skills that I take . It's no different Super Bowl .

We're playing on the same grass , same paint and field , same TV . The crowd noise is same . You know what I mean . Like you was probably louder at Alabama than it was in the Super Bowl . Wow , you know , but it's what you focus on , it's what you buy into . I was just there to play football . I wasn't there to wave at everyone .

I wasn't there doing a halftime show . I wasn't doing no that , just had to play football . But I did nothing different . I had the same playlist , whole college career , same playlist , most of my career in the NFL . If I did anything different , i would like counteract that by going straight back to what I know .

If I was playing bad in the second quarter , go back to how I started the game .

Make sure you definitely follow his journey . And , mate , it's been an absolute pleasure , pretty sure .