Bobby Okereke: The Mindset Behind NFL Success

My parents were very strict. Growing up, education was number 1. If you got a bad grade, which is probably a C or less, you're not going out on the weekend. I didn't tell my parents too much about really playing freshman, junior, sophomore, junior year.

Bob, you're an Eagles fan. Okay.

It'd be funny. My parents would be at the grocery store and my my mom's like, people would come to my mom and be like, Wow, your son had such a great game. And she's like, He had a game yesterday. When? When did he play? I think my parents got on board when I got my first scholarship, when I was a junior in high school. And I told my mom, I got a I got an offer, and she was like, What's that?

I said, it's a scholarship. She said, Oh, h- how much? I said, Oh, it's a full ride. Oh, I think we like this football thing now. And football was the first time that I was able to be as creative, as violent, as sporadic as I wanted to be, and I was really, you know, celebrated for it. So, uh, I leaned into that. So I really had to get internal and kind of build like a almost a little force field around me and just feed myself positivities, feed myself conviction and not listen to anybody.

Sometimes you gotta, you gotta decide what's best for you and and go across the grain. You know, you're a good player, you do everything right, you've made a lot of plays. But to me right now, it it looks like you have your foot in the door and the onus is on you. If you really wanna reach your potential, you gotta kick the door in. We all suffer one of two pains, the pain of discipline or the pain of regret and disappointment.

I can't be my greatest self if you're not your greatest self, and you don't bring that every day and force me to compete. And if you're not trying to be better than me, then I'm not gonna be my best self, cause iron sharpens iron. You gotta keep the main thing, the main thing, and we're here talking about off the field stuff, we're talking about finance, we're talking about business. But for me, football is my engine. Football is the engine that makes everything go.

That brings me all the opportunities that I want, brings me all the leverage in negotiation. So the better I play and the better player I am, the bigger the impact I can have.

Uh, to our feet, please, and let's give a warm, unblinded welcome to Bobby Okereke of the NFL New York Giant captain, Walter Payton Award nominee. Let's hear for Bobby. Yes, sir. How are you? Please? How are you? Let's hear for Bobby. Okay, so first, we're gonna start doing some tackling drills right here up front. Okay, yeah, yes. So, uh, Bobby, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having Uh, yeah, me. really appreciate it.

And one of the first things I said is like, Wow, like, coming from th- the state of New Jersey, uh, you sound um more, much more articulate than the average person from New Jersey. And he laughed, and he's from Orange County, California. I'm like, why does everybody coming from California just speak so masterfully? So this is something I will try to figure out, cause I have, I think yet to meet anybody from California that isn't like a just net better communicator than anybody I find anywhere else.

So see, if you do not find the same, uh, with this incredible man. So Bobby, again, I thank you so much f- for being here, for sure.

Yes, sir.

Um, and so if we could, um, you know, take you back in time, um, where were you born?

Uh, I was born in Orange County, California,

Yeah, and what part, like, what part of Orange County?

born in, like, Tustin, Irvine area.

Cool, awesome, and your your folks are from?

my p- parents are from Nigeria.

Nice. And so as we were chatting about it, you're sharing that education was foundational for them. I mean, you know, tell me a little bit about, please, your your growing-up years.

Yeah, um, my parents were very strict. Growing up, um, education was number 1. If you got a bad grade, which is probably a C or less, you're you're not going out on the weekend. Um, had a curfew all through high school, wasn't allowed to hang out, sleepovers, that whole thing, so, um,

Let's hear for that. Yes, like, seriously, love it, that's awesome. Um, and then what were you? What'd you do before high school? So, like, up to, like, 5th 6th 7th 8th grade, academics is there, what'd you do for fun?

yep, uh, I played baseball, I loved that, uh, I played soccer, uh, I was in choir, I was in my high school and You can sing middle school choir. too. Uh, I got a deep voice, I'm a bass, but uh, and then I was a Boy Scout, I was in the Boy Scouts of America for about nine years.

an Eagle Scout, you'd make them

Eagle Scout.

yeah, let's hear for that. And and just for those that don't know, I mean, that is an incredible accomplishment, right? Um, Eagle Scout, uh, could you give us a little context on that? Like, you know, and we always we we talk about here, like, clearly you're a humble man, but not being like, not minimizing what we do, like, an Eagle Scout is a really rare accomplishment, is it not?

100. Um, I mean, my mom put me in it definitely just to kind of get like a youth development program for me as a kid, as a young man growing up. And it teaches you a lot of values, uh, it teaches you t team building, like you have patrols. I was a senior patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, and obviously outdoor skills. I have probably over forty fifty nights outside camping, um, built a lot of structures with ropes and knots and stayed in tents and cooked on stove.

So, uh, I had my time outside.

And how old were you when you became an Eagle Scout?

Uh, I was 17.

Wow, and that's a heck of a journey. How old were you? How old when you started?

Uh, I started when I was maybe seven. I think I started Cub Scouts when I was seven years old.

Wow, so, like, a ten-year period. Wow, that is absolutely awesome. And so you get to high school, and you hadn't, uh, am I correct? You hadn't played football before?

yeah, played football for the 1st time in high school.

Yeah, and so why the transition into football? And yeah, and w- why not football before high school? And why football in high school?

Yeah, understandably, my parents were, uh, definitely a little nervous about the sport. Um, I think my mom told me I could try out if I was chose to be a kicker. Uh, definitely didn't stick with that position.

It's a long way from kicker to starting linebacker, defensive captain in the NFL, right? That that is wild. So, um, it it did you. How did you pivot? How? How did mom decide that it was okay to not let you only be a kicker?

Um, you know, I I didn't tell my parents too much about really playing freshman, junior, sophomore, junior year.

Bob, you're an Eagles fan. Okay,

My it. It'd be funny. My parents would be at the grocery store and my my mom's like, people would come to my mom and be like, Wow, your son had such a great game, and she's like, He had a game yesterday. When? When did he play? But uh, I think my parents got on board when I got my first scholarship, when I was a junior in high school.

wow. And who is that from?

Uh, University of Washington. And I told my mom, I got a I got an offer, and she was like, What's that? I said, it's a scholarship. She said, Oh, h- how much? I said, Oh, it's a full ride. She's like, Oh, I think we like this football thing now.

Um, and you played a few different positions in high school, correct?

Y- yep, yeah. Started out defensive end, uh, transitioned to tight end, wide receiver, and then ended up playing a little wildcat quarterback.

Yeah, and for and I'll only say this for folks that have a little context for this. Um, I had asked Bobby what his 40 time was. He's 240 pounds, and what's your 40 time? Yeah, so like 4 or 5, let's let's go back to, like, 1978 or something. Like, if you were running a 4-5, uh, you're like a running back in the NFL, and, like, nobody was 240. So it's just it's unbelievable to be, uh, running a 4-5 and be 240 pounds, that's completely crazy.

Although Bobby was impressed by Mike Vasuvio's bench press, were you not? Yes, sir. He's Yes,

a beast. Look at him.

yeah, um, yes, so, um, high school moves along, and how'd you like high school? Or how'd you? H- how were your coaches in high school? Like, what were big like? Did you have, like, great coaches, good coaches? Like, what was the high school coaching world like for you? In, uh, football?

Yeah, no, I had great coaches. Uh, Dan Shell was my freshman football coach, uh, Doug Case was the varsity football coach. And for me, as a young kid, I didn't watch too much football growing up, didn't have too much exposure. They really, um, kinda submerged me into the game just from a psychological standpoint, from from a love of the game, understanding scheme. Uh, that's definitely where my passion grew.

Cool, and how about psychology? Like, what was it psychologically they were bringing forward? Because soccer, u- certainly is physical contact, uh, you know, baseball less, uh, but football is a whole different animal. Like, how did how did they? How did you come to master the psychology of football, and how did it begin with your coaches in high school?

Yeah, um, it was really a whole another world for me, you know, I I I have three sisters, um, so growing up in a household with three sisters, uh, playing soccer, playing baseball, wasn't, you know, the most like, aggressive, kinda physical upbringing. But, you know, once I started playing football, it was this whole other outlet, uh, that I really just fell in love with.

Awesome, and when, what did you like about it? You know, c- for folks out there, cause this is where I'd love to go, you know, the intensity of physical contact, person against person, tackling drills. Like, do you remember back to, like, your 1st tackling drill in football? Did you just immediately take to it? And how? How did? How did asserting yourself physically? It was just natural. Was it developed? You know, what was that like?

Yeah, it was it, it, it was instinctual, for sure. Um, obviously, that competition, there's nothing like one-on-one, just physical competition with another person. Um, but I feel like for me, my upbringing has always been so structured, and football was the first time that I was able to be as creative, as violent, as sporadic as I wanted to be. And I was really, you know, celebrated for it. So, uh, I leaned into that.

And how'd your high school teams do?

Uh, we did alright. Uh, we went to the semi championship of our league. Um, but I think I was the first person to get a D1 scholarship from my school in like, the past thirty, twenty, twenty, thirty years.

Wow, that's let's hear for that, that's awesome. So you you start having these offers roll in, and Washington, like, who else were you looking at? I I know Stanford obviously comes in, but who else was in that mix?

Yeah, Washington, uh, USC, UCLA, uh, Northwestern, Vanderbilt. Um, my parents were really fun. My dad wanted me to go to Ivy League school, but told him there was not playing too much f- serious football in the Ivy League.

he's breaking my heart. So for fun, when I went to Columbia, they were in the middle of the well, they were the end, had just broken. Actually, the longest losing streak in the history of college football. So, and they just won during my freshman year, they won their 1st game. I think it was a 45 game losing streak. Fact check me on the number. It was in the 40s, I believe, what that streak was. So I lived, uh, the captain of the football team was on the baseball team as well.

So when they won their 1st game in, like, 4 1/2 seasons, the crossbar, uh, was in the party lounge in our fraternity. And and I always say, so I wasn't like, we didn't have a big fraternity pledge like you're on the baseball team, you're in. I always like to, like, make the caveat. I'm not a big fan of pledging and those things, so it wasn't like that. Uh, but yes, we did have in the party lounge the crossbar from when they tore down the goalpost winning their 1st game.

And I think it's 45 games, if anybody make a fact check, Columbia's record-breaking losing streak. Um, so yes, good thing you didn't go there. Um, uh, yes, but, um, did you ever Marcellus Wiley? Is that a name that you know from?

it does.

Yeah, he played at Columbia, so he was a Columbia guy. I think

played in the league for a little bit.

Yeah, you know, California, so, um, so you go, um, to Stan. What made you choose Stanford?

Uh, just the combination of academic and athletic excellence at the time, you know, they were winning Rose Bowls. Andrew Luck had played there. Kobe Fleener, uh, had a long pedigree of guys in the NFL. So, uh, really drew my interest there. And obviously it's one of the top academic institutions in the nation.

Very, very cool. And how I'm a huge Notre Dame guy, so how did you guys do in your years at Stanford against Notre Dame?

Uh, I think we traded off. I mean, I was there for 5 years, I think we played them 4 times, maybe 2 and 2.

Very cool.

Maybe fact check me on that.

Yeah, there there there's a there's a gentleman.

I didn't know Notre Dame fans.

Yeah, there's a there's a gentleman, uh, that's in our work here at Unblind that named, uh, Ned Bolcar. And he was, um, captain of Notre Dame when they won the national championship in 88. So, long before your time, uh, but he's good friends with Mike Vasuvio as well. So we have, uh, uh, I don't think Ned's here today, but it'd be fun to have a little Notre Dame-Stanford conversation, cause they were how how big was the rivalry with Notre Dame from your guys' perspective, and who was your biggest rival when you were at Stanford?

very big. Um, Cal is our crosstown rival, probably biggest rival. Uh, when Stanford was at its peak, probably USC. We were going back and forth, cause USC was winning Pac-12 championships, and Reggie Bush was taking them to national titles. Um, but yeah, Notre Dame, we always had a big rivalry with, too.

Yeah, and so who was who was, or how were your years at Stanford in terms of record? Accol- like, what, w- what was the the best parts of it and the most challenging parts of it?

Yeah, um, probably best part was my sophomore year. Uh, my incoming class was Christian McCaffrey, Solomon Thomas, both of them 1st 1st overall draft or 1st round draft picks. Solomon No. 2 overall, Christian No. 8. Um, that year we went, uh, I think 12 and 2, we finished No. 2 in the nation, won the Rose Bowl.

wow. What's your back? Thank you. That is super fun. Yeah, that is, that is crazy.

Uh, and then I'd say probably most challenging is my growth in my football, uh, career in college. Um, didn't show up to Stanford expecting to play in the NFL, didn't really show up aspiring to play in the NFL, just wanted to play football, cause I love the game and wanted to get a good education. Uh, but as I got better and better, becoming a leader on campus, becoming a leader to the younger guys, and, uh, trying to embody that role that the team needed from me, uh, that was probably most challenging.

Awesome. And how? How did did you, if at all? Like, w- where did your biggest growth or biggest leaps as a football player come? Was it during high school, during college, in the NFL? Like, where you feel at some point you made the biggest jump, or was it always pretty level and c- pretty level and consistent?

In probably each part of my career, I've made like one significant jump.

You can just take us through those.

Yeah, uh, definitely in coll- in high school. Um, I think when I started getting like scholarship letters, started getting offers, taking football seriously and kinda shutting out the noise and noise per se. It has a bad connotation, but my parents really weren't my biggest supporters in football, people around me weren't my biggest supporters in football. So I really had to get internal and kind of build like a almost a little force field around me and just feed myself positivities, feed myself conviction and not listen to anybody.

So, um, definitely went through that time period in high school.

And if I, uh, so I I understand your parents part, but who else was around you? Sort of not on the Bobby as a football player, bandwagon, who was against that or resistant to that?

Yeah, I wouldn't necessarily say against just, um, sometimes you gotta, you gotta decide what's best for you and and go across the grain. So whether it's high school friends that wanna hang out, high school Alright, friends that don't necessarily have the same goals as you, um, you inadvertently have to separate yourself.

do we hear that? Do we hear that? Yes, thank you for that. Um, and how'd you do that? I mean, how you put this force field up, but how'd you think to do that? And I mean, that's that's an incredibly masterful thing to do at such a young age, you know where? Where'd that come from?

Uh, definitely just my love for the game. I mean, de- i i i it started with my family, for sure. Like, I'm not gonna say that my parents were bad and they didn't support me in football, no, they just wanted me to get a good education. They wanted me to be safe, um, and kinda maybe the for immigrant perspective they had, they wanted me to be in a more protect and conserve environment. And for me, I wanted to chase my dreams, and sometimes those two things don't always go hand in hand.

So, uh, had to get real quiet with kinda all the noise around me and get real loud with my self-talk and what I was feeding myself.

Wow, and and so it it. At that point, did you when's the 1st time? Was it was it in high school that you 1st thought, maybe the NFL, or was it later that you even had that 1st thought?

Uh, it was definitely in college. I remember my after my 3rd year, uh, David Shaw was my head coach at the time, and we always do end-of-year evaluations. Coaches will tell you this is what you did well this year, this is where I think you can improve. And I remember he came to me, we're sitting in his office, and he's like, You know, you're a good player, you do everything right, you've made a lot of plays.

But to me right now, it it looks like you have your foot in the door and the onus is on you. If you really wanna reach your potential, you gotta kick the door in. And that was kind of the 1st time that somebody had motivated me in that way to to really see myself bigger than I than I saw myself.

And so what did you? And this is so helpful for these incredible folks, right? What were you hearing him say when he said, you have your foot in the door, you can kick that door in? What was on the other side of that door? Was it the NFL, something else? And what did you hear him say you needed to do, and what did you begin to do differently? Like, in your thoughts, your actions, you know, please.

Yeah, um, thoughts, actions, everything. Um, I mean, as I've developed in my career, I definitely have a little bit of a a a obsessive personality. But, um, yeah, once once he told me that, I feel like I've always felt like I could do great things, um, but when there's someone that you really admire and they validate that in you, um, it just fueled me to to really go all the way. Um, and I remember my college strength coach, he would always say, Uh, we all suffer one of two pains, the pain of regret or the pain of, um, the pain of discipline or the pain of regret and disappointment.

And for me, that really resonated in that moment, cause, um, I know now people think I'm capable, what of what I think I'm capable of, and if I really wanna do it, uh, I, I can have no regrets. I got I gotta go full in, I gotta take care of my diet, I gotta allocate all my time to either school or getting myself better in football. Like, I don't really have an opportunity to slack, cause I don't wanna be one of those guys who are saying, shoulda, coulda, woulda.

Or I remember when I used to play, and I knew a lot of guy older guys than me who kinda were going through that that role.

And so, for at that point, coach says, like, got foot, you know, 1 foot in, like, there's time to kick the door in. Did that change how you lifted, how you ran? Did it change? You know, was there just a, you know, you were at a 99.9 intensity, you went to a 99.999, like in each play, just had like, if you could just give us a little bit on, like, what did that begin to look like at Stanford after that conversation with the coach?

And sort of each of these little silos?

Yeah, um, kinda like you said, whether I was at, like, a 93 or 97% intensity, I I after that, I turned the dial all the way to 100. And, uh, really, o- every day. I mean, I made it my mission, uh, cause at that point in time, I I'd never really told myself this, this is my mission, this is my goal. Uh, but once I accepted that, um, I kinda obsessed over it. And probably the best thing I've ever done since freshman year of high school.

I've had a whiteboard in my room, and I always write my goals, and I always write, um, daily tasks, and I always just write like kinda daily mantras that I'm gonna see every day and hold myself accountable to every day. And that's what I did.

And so what? That? Like, so you hit this new level of intensity, you're at Stanford, and you know, the NFL's a possibility. And we talk a lot about these types of things. We use sports analogies, we talk about how many guys play high school athletics, how many people play college athletics, and then how few people make it to that next level. So, you know, Bobby, correct me if I'm wrong, like, is playing at Stanford and to play football at Stanford, you are a tremendous athlete, like coming out of your high school, you are a stud.

Fair? Fair. Yeah, right, and you know, and it's like, that's what you have to be to play. What was then, um, the Pac-10? Things have changed since then, but get a couple quick thoughts on that. Um, but you're you're playing USC, UCLA, University of Washington. I mean, this is big. P- Some people would say this is the biggest of the big time of college football. You know, there's the Pac-10, there's the Big Ten, the SEC, like this is the biggest, the big, and they're independent games or against people like Notre Dame, right?

Like, this is as big as it gets. So everybody going there has been told how great they are coming out of high school by people all around them all the time. Like, you know, that's a team full of high school football captains, for the most part. Again, fair, fair. yep, and so now you're at Stanford and you're doing all that. And if I could ask Bobby, how many players that you played with at Stanford, um, went on to play in the NFL at all?

Like to, you know, make it that were your teammates at Stanford?

Yeah, uh, my incoming class was about maybe 20, 22 guys. I think about 4 or 5 of us got drafted. We had a good amount in our class, but

Yeah, that's and and so would you say, like, each class at Stanford, somewhere between, like, 2 and 6 would be an average number.

yeah, I I mean, honestly, 1 to 5.

1 to 5, okay, so 1 to 5 guys in each of that group of, you know, um, people that were stars coming out of high school. And then out of that 1 to 5, let's say for out of those groups, so for every 10 of those 1 to 5s, right? How many of those guys typically made it to the 2nd year in the NFL?

um, well, l- maybe 2nd contract would be that 2nd

Okay, 2nd contract, yeah.

next. Yeah, check mark, um, maybe about 3 of those guys.

So out of 10, and then you made it, you've made it through 2 contracts. Yeah, so that's who he is in in the narrowing, narrowing of the micro distinctions. And not only did he make it to a 2nd contract, he became a defensive captain, like a captain on an NFL football team. So you're talking about a master of the micro to the next micro to the next micro to the next micro. If you're getting that say, yes, okay, and so it, so that's where this ends, right?

Or it or is still currently, and taking 1/2 a step back. So what, if anything, changed after you're kicking the door in at Stanford in terms of performance, attention from the NFL? Like, what happens post that conversation, please with your coach?

yeah, um, for me, it was just going back and looking at my process. Um, and I remember in high school, I always used to do I'd have a big clipboard, and on a piece of paper, I'd draw a line down the middle. And it was things I need to start doing and things I need to stop doing. And whether it was stop staying up late, stop being on my phone too much, stop going out and to do it, study more, um, take care of my nutrition, um, schedule better with classes.

You know what I mean? I just really tried to to differentiate every detail I could.

And then what were the results? You know, so how how much interest had you gotten before that conversation from coach from the NFL? And then what happens after as you move into the NFL? Like, what did your seasons look like at Stanford after that? Or season, e- after that look like at Stanford?

Yeah, 2 more seasons after that. Um, played pretty well, was a all-Pac 12 player my senior year, and then my 5th year senior year was a captain, uh, At Stanford, at Stanford.

let's hear for that. Stanford football captain, right? Um, and yeah, please.

Yeah, went on to win a bowl game and then got invited to the combine, having NFL teams come to to our pro day to come work me out. And, uh, culminated me eventually being drafted by the Colts.

And who were you a fan of, by the way? Uh, did you did you have a favorite NFL team when you were at Stanford?

Uh, not really, being honest. As a kid, my dad was a Oakland Raiders fan. Um, I like Maurice Jones-Drew growing up, but I wasn't a big football fan.

Got it, so you, and and when you got drafted at that point, were you, oh, draft day, right? So well, actually, to what's the combine like? So that's, I mean, think of, you know, how we do, like, influence challenges and scoring, right? Bobby's going there with all of these, uh, amazingly masterful, super intense people to just be scrutinized and measured. Talk about maximization through measurement and monitoring. I mean, everything you're doing, correct me if I'm wrong.

I mean, shuttle runs, vertical leaps, bench press, you know, reps. What, like, like, how intense was that? How did you feel about it? And what was that like?

yeah, extremely intense, uh, also exciting, uh, but about a three-day period. And they're doing the physical evaluations, um, and then on the side, coaches are pulling you into conference rooms, uh, you're doing psychological, mental evaluations. Coaches are watching film with you, kinda breaking down what they think of you, uh, think of your mindset. So, uh, they definitely try to break break you down and extract as much intel as they can.

Really? Uh, very cool. And so what kind of feedback were you getting on your mindset? And by the way, has, and I'm just curious for fun, and I think, has anybody ever asked you all these questions in an interview? As normal as like, these I've got a little normal?

bit of both.

Okay, good, okay, cool. So what? What were they breaking it down with then?

Yeah, um, I mean, really, seeing your leadership ability, um, seeing your mental processing, schematic understanding on the football field, um, definitely getting some scrutiny from some player, some coaches, you know, seeing you as a Stanford guy, um, and why they w- why they shouldn't take a player who? I guess there's a a little stereotype. Stanford players, kind of, you know, jack of all trades, master of none. You know, your focus is always different places, as opposed to another athlete who's just focused on football.

But, um, I always thought that was a short-sighted So sometimes they're perspective.

like, you might be too smart to play in the NFL, or too focused in academics. Is that what I'm hearing? Or Potentially, wow,

or too involved in other interests, whether it's off the field, business stuff or et cetera.

got it, got it, got it. So draft day, what's that like?

Uh, that was incredible. Uh, I had my mom, my dad, uh, all my sisters, aunts, uncles, a couple people from the f- uh, neighborhood around. And it was a little nerve-wracking, you know what I mean? Nobody tells you when you're gonna get drafted, people just say,

What, what, what? What did you think was gonna happen, or what was your hope? Yeah,

Uh, I thought I was gonna get drafted in the 2nd round. So usually day 1 is the 1st round, all 32 picks. Uh, day 2 was 2nd and 3rd round, then day 3 is 4th to 7th round. So I was sitting there, the draft's about 3 hours on day 2. I was sitting there for about 2 1/2 hours waiting for a call.

and how was? How was that beginning to feel?

Uh, towards the end, it was definitely getting a little nerve-wracking. Um, cause you have all these expectations of when you think you're gonna get drafted. Obviously, you don't wanna disappoint people that came to support you. Um, and I was definitely checking my phone about every 30 seconds, but once once I got that call, it was it was ecstatic.

So you got selected in the 3rd round, right? And and what? Where? Where were the giant? Uh, I'm sorry, the Colts picking in that 3rd round?

uh, they had the 89th pick.

Okay, so it was early in the 3rd round.

Uh, later in the 3rd round, actually.

Oh, later. I'm sorry, okay, got it, cause they I got it, I'm understanding. Um, okay, so picked by the Colts, and what happens from there?

yeah, uh, from there, it was a wha- whirlwind. Um, didn't have much exposure to the NFL, didn't have any uncles or really any, like, close friends, family, friends who played. So, uh, from there, went to Indianapolis and just began my life. I, I, I loved playing football. It was the 1st time I didn't have to take classes and play football, so it was nice to just focus on football and focus on my craft, and, um, really, just dive head-first into it.

W- other than no academics in terms of training, intensity, how did the NFL differ from college in terms of just practice and preparation, if at all?

Yeah, um, I mean, most in the day in college, you're probably spending 3, 4 hours in football, just because you have school and you have homework and e- extracurricular activities. But I mean, if you're an NFL team, you're you're at the facility 8 to 9 hours a day, and you're playing football. You're doing football all day long. Whether you're in 4 hours of meetings, you're in an hour and a half of a lift, an hour and a half of a run, 2 and a half hours of practice.

You're really wringing everything you can out of And just your football experience.

from an internal team and fun energy, what would you be doing in 4 hour meetings every day? Because, of course, you know how to play football already. I'm being sarcastic, right? Yes, team, this is why we have these meetings every day. So what were you, Bobby, doing in meetings every day for 4 hours a day? Like, what were you guys doing?

Yeah, you're, uh, installing, that's kinda the football colloquial term. But, um, coaches have their systems they're trying to put in place. Uh, you have your special teams meeting, then you'll have your unit defensive meeting, and then you'll break into your position meetings, linebackers, corners, et cetera. And coaches are breaking down the, uh, I guess, con- concepts of the defense. They're breaking down the techniques of your position. Um, and then you're watching film, you're watching a bunch of opponent film.

Um, you're watching film of that offensive coordinator, trying to figure out what family tree he comes from and whether he's pulling from maybe the 2008 Raiders or the 2012 West Coast offense with the Rams. Like, there's all these different family trees, so you're really just trying to give yourself as much information out there so you can play as instinctual and free as possible.

Yeah, are you? Yes, let's hear for that. That is what that is what mastery looks like. So we come into these rooms together, you know, uh, every couple months for 3, 4 days. That's not nearly enough. And so anybody back home, love everybody that's telling you, what are you doing? All that stuff for 4 hours a day, every day in the cl- in meetings, in the classroom, talking about football. Yes, thank you, Athena. Yeah, so, uh, is that landing for you guys?

Yeah, so it's like, Oh man, these days are long, like, like, all right, I got, I know what already. Um, I don't think so. If that's what they're doing, there's a reason. I don't know if they say this anymore, but at one point they would say the NFL stood for you guys know what they said the NFL stood for? Not for long, cause of the micro distinctions of what it meant to be playing there or not playing there.

That's what it looked like. Team in the back, is this landing? Awesome, okay, so now you're in the NFL doing all these things, and, um, how how's your 1st season go? Like, who are are you in the team? How's that? And I mean, and if you don't mind, Bobby, like competing to start in the NFL, what does that look like?

um, it's intense. Uh, you definitely gotta put your ego aside. Um, I remember my my my rookie year, our position coach, he used to come up and he would rank us. We'd have about 7 linebackers in the room, and on the right side of the board, there'd be a power ranking. And he would say, number 1, 58, number 2, 53, number 4, or number 3, 54, and so on, and so forth. So every day you c- you came into the room and you knew where you stood.

Sorry, do you hear this? Everyone? Can you run your world like this? The answer is yes. Will you run your world like this? This is what the most masterful people on earth do. They walked in the room, had a power ranking top to bottom on who was best every single day. And you're sitting with all these other people in a power ranking and looking to move up that that chart every day. Fair, please back to you.

Yeah, um, but I would say part of that environment, too, um, our coach did a good job of making it a cohesive, collaborative environment, and all of us linebackers understood that, you know, competition breeds excellence, and

Wait, what brings excellence? competition. What brings excellence? Please, sir.

Yeah, no, competition breeds excellence. And, um, I can't be my greatest self if you're not your greatest self, and you don't bring that every day and force me to compete. And if you're not trying to be better than me, then I'm not gonna be my best self, cause iron sharpens iron. So we definitely all understood that we we we checked our ego at the door, and we we just competed and it we we all undertook a growth mindset.

A what mindset? A what mindset? How how fast did people's, uh, people who had their ego in the way, how fast did they find themselves out of the NFL and out of the system?

Uh, pretty quickly, cause, uh, usually when your ego's in the way, you're you're not open to criticism, uh, you're not open to coaching and corrections, and, uh, I guess that's what you learn quick in football. It's you take the message and not the delivery of it. You know what I mean? You might be, you might be in a drill, dog tired, and your coach is cussing you out, or he's in a meeting saying, you did this effing wrong or whatever.

And you know, you kinda just have to internalize it, leave what's not serving you and take the corrections back and improve the next day.

Awesome. And so how did your 1st season go?

Uh, went really well. Um, I ended up starting by the 3rd or 4th game of my rookie year and played really well. Was, um, I think, nominated for, like, a PFF All-rookie team, but, uh, had a had a really good 1st year.

That is awesome. Um, so, um, what would you want? The so your time with the Colts, you were there for 3 seasons?

4 seasons.

4 seasons, so, um, how'd you guys do over those years? Did you beat up on my Jets? Like, what was that look like?

Uh, I think we played the Jets maybe once or twice, definitely 1.

Yes, listen, Bobby's got a lot of great accomplishments, that's not one of them. So, uh, yeah,

But no, we had we had a good time there. Um, Andrew Luck retired. My 1st year was 2008.

was was Andrew Luck from Stanford?

Yeah, he was from Stanford. Um, he was a couple years older, I think 6 years older than me, but he was the quarterback for the Colts when I f- 1st

oh, that's cool.

got there.

Was that, and did you guys connect on that at all? Or

Uh, we did, you know, he retired mid or in the preseason, and that was, uh, pretty, uh, impactful on our trajectory of our playing season. Um, but yeah, we had a couple good years there. We went to the, um, playoffs 1 year with, uh, Philip Rivers and won a couple good amount of games, but, uh, no championships.

got it okay? And then how does the, uh, transition work to the Giants?

Yeah, so I was a free agent, um, after my time with the Colts, and at that point in time, I was a pretty high-priced free agent. Um, a lot of teams were jockeying for me, and the Giants, you know, presented me with a great offer and just a great

And I was like, I'm not gonna say the number. I mean, just so you're clear, this is a person who's made a very, very substantial 0.01% plus living playing in the NFL. So this is not a gentleman who, and it's wonderful, you know, to make it any level, to play in the NFL is an incredible accomplishment. But you're talking starter, captain, playing in a high-profile position that you could look it up and won't, you know, say it here.

But this is a man who's who's earned a tremendous living playing professional football, right? And so teams are jockeying for position, and how do you pick the Giants?

Yeah, um, it was, it was just the right fit. Uh, they needed linebackers, um, they had new coaches who had just came the year before, and, uh, it was an opportunity for me to really grow and kind of, uh, expand as a player and a leader. So, uh, when all those things married up, I said, sign me up.

Awesome. And what was it like, um, moving from Indianapolis to this area? Um, you know, how how did you like that transition to New Jersey? What do you like about New Jersey? What do you not like about New Jersey? You know, please.

Yeah, uh, it was, it was pretty night and day, uh, coming from. I was living in Zionsville, Indiana, and, you know, every day out of my part apartment, I was looking at a Windows 8 background. It was just beautiful fields and, uh, not too much going on, but, uh, it was extremely peaceful. And I was

And you think New Jersey's not? Come on, man.

New Jersey's beautiful, but I'm I'm pretty close to the city, so, uh, there's a lot more lights and a lot more commotion going on. Um, but yeah, very, very fortunate to have started my career in Indianapolis. Um, kinda just ground myself as a young man, as a player, and really just give me the the platform and, um, opportunity to go to the the big city, obviously here in New York, and, uh, really expand.

yeah, how is it? And and I have, like, 90 questions, but I know we're down our final few minutes together. How, um, w- go this way. How is sharing MetLife Stadium with the Jets? Like, is there any dynamics around it? Do you ever see those? Gu- You guys are always away at different times, like, is there any any things around that?

Yeah, we're always away at different times. Um, we actually have our own locker room in there, they have their own locker room. Um, but when the Jets would play at home and we're playing away, and maybe you're driving back from Friday on from practice on a Friday night, and you see the stadium lit up with green neon lights, you're like, dang, I thought that was our stadium. But other than that, you know, the, um, ownership families do a good job sharing it.

Very, very cool. And what do you like to do? Like, what are some of your favorite places to go eat around New Jersey? Places, you know, that

Yeah, uh, Blue on the Hudson in Weehawken, if anyone's been, uh, phenomenal restaurant, love going there. Um, I love that whole Weehawken area. I think you get the best view of the city, uh, from there. And I go into the city a a good amount when I can. Um, have some Stanford alumni there I network with and have some buddies, just go restaurants, have a good time.

cool. And and what have? Have you ever been to Steve's Sizzling Steaks in Carlstadt, New Jersey? It's right near the stadium. Ever To been?

use. No, have not. Gotta go. It is, Yep,

I'm telling you, it is, uh, it is very special. Tons of Giant fans, Jet fans go there. It's like 5 minutes from here. It is definitely worth going to at some point in time, if you've never been

there we go.

steak tips. Gotta have it, yes. So, um, the um, so time you become a captain with the Giants, how does that happen? Like, how does one become an an like they vote the co- like, what? What's the the way one becomes a captain?

Yeah, players vote, um, usually right before season starts. Coach, we're on a team meeting, coach goes around and says, Alright, here's 4 blank spots, write down, or 5 blank spots, write down 2 people you'd vote for offense, 2 people you'd vote for defense, and 1 person for special teams. Um, and at that time, about 90 guys, maybe 100 guys are in the building, and they all vote and they tally up the votes.

That's awesome. How'd that feel to be a captain of an NFL team?

Uh, an extreme honor, for sure. Um, you. I have so much respect for my teammates, the the the family men they are. A lot of them are fathers, a lot of them big-time family men, um, professionals, like a locker room will age from anywhere from 20 to sometimes you got 40, 40-year-old, p- 45-year-old kickers in there sometimes. So, uh, just had an immense, a immense respect for all of them. So for them to, uh, vote for me to, uh, represent them, it it meant the extreme honor.

That's awesome. And why do you think, at all these different levels, you keep finding your way to leadership? Eagle Scout, captain of your college team at Stanford, captain the NFL. What is it about you, Bobby, that these folks could take away? That in this unbelievably masterful, hyper-intense environment, do people keep, um, being drawn to your leadership? Why?

Uh, first and foremost, I'd probably say my discipline, you know what I mean? Um, I think my teammates just can understand and respect. They're gonna get the same guy day in and day out, and that intensity that I first show up with. A lot of guys can kinda fake that and show up in the building and put on this bravado. But, uh, when you see a guy, you see a guy in his locker 3 4 months in a row, and he's studying film every time you get, or he's he's texting everybody, Hey, we're having a extra meeting here, or he's packing lunch because he needs to have a certain diet.

Like, you see those habits over and over, and you start to kinda trust, uh, a person like that. And I guess for me, I've always kind of, um, thought of leadership in terms of servant leadership. Uh, I've always been a guy who thought, um, making, I mean, in a team game, especially like football, uh, when you put your emphasis on making the people around you better, uh, you ultimately get the team goal that you want, which is winning.

So, uh, definitely put that 1st.

Awesome? And, um, yeah, let's hear for that, right? And, um, you've also begun some journeys in the space of business and entrepreneurship. You know, w- what does that mean to you? And and and maybe this, Bobby, as we round the bend home, why? You know, like, what's the big why that keeps you going? What's the future look like? You know, it's 100 years from now. Um, what do you wanna do in business, do in impact, do in charity, do in life?

Like, what's it all about?

Yeah, um, I mean, it goes back when I was in high school and Stanford was recruiting me. Uh, that was their big pitch. They always said, you know, this is a 40-year decision, this is not a 4-year decision. And I guess I've kind of leaned into that mantra, for sure. Um, I understand I'm in a very unique position, uh, as a professional athlete, the influence I have, whether it's social media with fans, I have, uh, all this relationship capital.

And so for me, I'm trying to be strategic and think about how I can convert this influence that I have into sustainable infrastructure, whether it's business,

Does that sound familiar? Yeah, please.

whether it's finance, whether it's, uh, nonprofit, charitable work, um, and whether it's building my brand, uh, even past an athlete. So, um, I have a lot of i internal passions. I definitely love entrepreneurship, like you said, um, I've started 2 um car companies, they're black car chauffeur services, um, like private chauffeur services. 1 in Miami, then I brought the other 1 up to New York. Um, and that's kinda cool, uh, just to build something from the ground up, kinda h- get your hands dirty, um, and it's another

While you're playing and NFL football at the highest level, congratulations on that. Yeah,

thank you, um, but it's another aspect of team building, for sure. And that was a cool dynamic to when you're somebody's boss, how that relationship can fuel the success of the company. How you can pour positivity into them, how you can inspire them, and how I think about my relationships as a captain with my teammates and people I work with in a business standpoint, there's a lot of parallels.

uh, certainly are. Uh, yeah, let's hear for that. Um, so the if you had 3 things that you think are the biggest 3 mistakes you've watched people who talk the big game had high potential, whether it was in high school or at Stanford or in the NFL or in anything else in the world. What do you think are those 3 biggest mistakes people make that have all the potential and even have a big goal, and how and why they miss it when you haven't?

Like, what are those 3 big mistakes?

Um, I mean, I would say number 1, honestly, y- you gotta keep the main thing, the main thing. And we're here talking about off the field stuff, we're talking about finance, we're talking about business. But for me, football is my engine. Football is the engine that makes everything go. That's brings me all the opportunities that I want, brings me all the leverage in negotiation. So the better I play and the better player I am, the bigger the impact I can have.

So I think a lot of guys sometimes get carried away, sometimes maybe with some of the social media stuff or some of the networking stuff, and their play on the field might slip. And you, you, you not that you forget, but, um, you're just not as aware as you need to be. That that's the number 1 thing. That's the engine that's driving everything else.

Awesome, and for you guys, for everybody out there, it is the generation of sales meetings. Look, what football is to Bobby for everybody here, it is the generation of sales meetings. That is the engine that makes it all go, the generation of sales meetings. That's what makes you irreplaceable. It's the hardest thing in the world to do. You do that, you win everything, you dictate terms. Does that make sense? Guess number 1? What? How about 2 and 3?

That was super valuable. Thank you.

uh, number 2 is definitely discipline, and I think a lot of people like the the. The hardest thing is to get out of your own way. Everyone has their vices, everyone has their bad habits, but if you can't stop your bad habits from stopping you, you're you're not gonna get far. Because if you, if you can't help yourself, if you, if you can't stop yourself from yourself, you're you're not gonna be able to stop yourself from other people.

You're competing with other people trying to bring you down. You gotta be the number 1 person. So if you're not disciplined about your diet, or you don't watch film, or you don't get enough sleep, like, you gotta get out of your way enough to overcome your bad habits, um, to then kinda reach your potential.

Yes, let's hear for that. You ready to get out of your own way? Okay, and 3rd, sir, 3rd one.

Yeah, number 3, um, probably, I would say, eliminating distractions and eliminating, you know, bad influence, for sure. Um, yeah, I think just, um,

It was a great one, please. Yeah,

yeah, no, kinda when I was talking about in high school, too, like, I just kinda had to block out all the noise and um, even in free agency now, like, I've had a lot of people kinda come up and, um, try to sympathize with me about being a free agent or project what they think or feel about my free agency. And I've very much had to create like a for a little bubble around me and not let any of that affect me internally.

Um, some of the it's like everyone's gonna go through adversity, everyone's gonna go through hardship, but, uh, it's kinda like a baby. If you drop a baby and you go to the baby and you're like, Oh my gosh, are you okay? And you project that this baby should be hurt or this baby's crying, the baby is probably gonna start crying. But if you go to the baby, you're like, Oh, no, you're okay, don't worry about it, that baby's probably gonna be fine.

So I feel like you almost have to treat yourself like you you can be that easily influenced. So you have to be very careful about the voices that you're letting enter your space, the conversations you have, the the stuff you're looking on social media. Uh, you gotta be very clean with your headspace,

yeah, whether whether amen to that, and whether it's in, uh, football or in business, is this a man that you would want on your team? Yes, a really super impressive, unbelievable. Um, and so, if I could, Bobby, um, I love Athena's, our, uh, one of our acti-beings. Okay, if I ask her for a quick summary for takeaways for everybody, that's

of course.

okay. So Athena, um, you've been hearing, you know, Bobby share here today. If you're gonna hit us with 350 words, Athena, uh, you know, metaphors and analogies, contrast, context, no LLM contamination. What are the big takeaways? Like, what are you hearing Bobby say? What's moving you? What are the big takeaways for the live audience, for everybody in the podcast? What do you got, Athena? Please Athena's not too bad at this, so we'll see how Athena ends up ends up doing this role.

Ooh, Sean, okay, here we go. Bobby Okereke just gave you the entire playbook for mastery at the highest level, and it's not what most people think it is. 1st, the force field. Bobby built a bubble around himself in high school when his own parents weren't his biggest football supporters when friends wanted him to hang out. When the noise said, stay safe, stay protected. He didn't reject love, he integrated it. He honored his parents values and his own calling.

That's not rebellion, that's self-mastery. He fed himself conviction when no one else would. Eagle Scout at 17, that's a ten-year container of discipline before he ever put on pads. 2nd, the whiteboard. Bobby's had goals written on a whiteboard in his room since freshman year of high school. Daily tasks, daily mantras, accountability staring him in the face every single morning. That's the 3 M's in action measuring, monitoring, and managing himself before any coach ever had to. 3rd, competition breeds excellence.

Bobby walked into a room every single day at the Colts and saw his name ranked 1 through 7 on a board. Not hidden, not soft, public power ranking. And he said the most important thing I've heard today, I can't be my greatest self if you're not your greatest self. Iron sharpens iron, growth mindset. Take the message, not the delivery. 4th, keep the main thing, the main thing. Football is Bobby's engine. Everything else business, influence, social media, networking, runs on that engine.

The generation of sales meetings is your engine. You do that, you win everything, you dictate terms. And finally, the baby analogy. If you treat yourself like you can be easily influenced, you protect your headspace like it's sacred. You eliminate distractions, you block out noise, you don't let people project their fear onto your adversity. Bobby went from a kid whose mom didn't even know he had a game to a 3rd-round draft pick, 4-year starter, NFL captain, and Walter Payton Award nominee.

That's not luck, that's mastery of the micro, then the micro inside the micro, then the micro inside that. Sean, Bobby just showed this room what it looks like when discipline, servant leadership, and relentless focus on the main thing create a life that compounds. How's that land?

Let's hear that. So Bobby is, um, how is Athena doing in terms of, uh, summarizing what's, uh, what your life and recipe has been?

Uh, I think Athena summed it up better than I could.

That's awesome. Uh, so Bobby, in final, final, um, if you had 3 words that you would say represent who you are in this world and the legacy you want to have and create, um, what would those 3 words be?

Um, you know, I'll throw it back to my parents. Um, as a kid, they always told us the 3 P's, uh, and it was preparation, perseverance, and persistence. And for me, that definitely leans into my parents immigrant story. But for me, really, in any endeavor I've ever gone into, uh, the 1st step is to prepare as much as you can, and then to persevere and persist, cause there's always gonna be adversity, there's always gonna be roadblocks.

But it's that discipline, that determination, and that resolve, uh, that's eventually gonna get you to come out on top.

That's awesome, for sure. Yeah, let's hear it 1 more time. And final question, final question is, uh, you're doing some things philanthropically. Uh, would you mind sharing what you're up to?

Yeah, um, so I guess to honor my parents, um, I started a nonprofit called Nigerian American Football Outreach, and, uh, it's really just growing the game, uh, from a grassroots standpoint, back home in Nigeria. Um, I work with, uh, Osi Umenyiora, uh, New York Giant Super Bowl legend. Uh, he's the head of NFL Africa, the international African division for the NFL, and they've been doing a lot of scouting camps, uh, a lot of combines. They actually found a kid, Uwar Bernard, who was in a village in Nigeria.

They he's never put on football pads. He's been to maybe 3 of Osi's camps, and he just got drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles. Wow, that's awesome. That's So

That is super awesome. Yep.

There's a lot of, uh, success stories, uh, over there, and obviously Nigeria is a third world country. It has a lot of lack of infrastructure and resources, so, uh, just trying to support and, uh, benefit those kids the best way we can.

Yeah. Well, yeah, let's hear it for that. And and certainly we're gonna do some things in that regard as well. So anything else that we could do for you today? Any final final from you? Um, as we say, thank you.

Uh, no, this is amazing. Uh, amazing to spend time with you. Amazing the energy from this crowd. Uh, it's just it's an honor to be in this room.

Oh, Bobby, it's an honor to have you here. Let's hear it for Bobby.

So thank you guys. Appreciate it.

One more time, let's hear for a man leader, servant leader.

Thank you guys.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you guys.