February 6, 2024 • 45 mins
One grew up in Colorado, the other in Illinois. Two redheaded offensive lineman. Both received $2500 scholarships to play Division II football. Ryan Jensen headed south to CSU-Pueblo and Garrett Gilkey played for Chadron State. Their schools were in the RMAC and they quickly learned about one another.
The competition grew between the two, especially as Ryan and Garrett began getting noticed by national D2 publications and NFL Scouts. It continued after college: Garrett was invited to the Senior Bowl and NFL Combine and in the 2013 Draft, Ryan was picked one round ahead of Garrett. They still jab each other about it.
Their pro careers eventually led both to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Garrett was out of the league and getting his MBA as Ryan was getting a mega contract with the Bucs, being Tom Brady’s center and winning a Super Bowl. They stayed in touch and when Ryan was looking to build a house on some land in Colorado, he contacted Garrett to help with the process. Now the two are in business together with Gilk.
The competition grew between the two, especially as Ryan and Garrett began getting noticed by national D2 publications and NFL Scouts. It continued after college: Garrett was invited to the Senior Bowl and NFL Combine and in the 2013 Draft, Ryan was picked one round ahead of Garrett. They still jab each other about it.
Their pro careers eventually led both to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Garrett was out of the league and getting his MBA as Ryan was getting a mega contract with the Bucs, being Tom Brady’s center and winning a Super Bowl. They stayed in touch and when Ryan was looking to build a house on some land in Colorado, he contacted Garrett to help with the process. Now the two are in business together with Gilk.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
I remember just locking eyes with JasonKnight, who's the GM. He's got
this hope in his eye that like, please don't be hurt, like bad
at least, and I just rememberlooking at him and just shaking my head
and looking at the ground, andyou know, that was that was a
moment for me where I was like, Wow, like one, they care
about me as a as a asa person, but also as a player,
and like how important I was tothe organization. It was another one
(00:22):
of those mental battles, and yougo from, you know, being this
so called elite athlete to you can'thit walk anymore. Welcome to Cut Traded,
Fired, Retired, a weekly podcastfeaturing conversations with professional athletes and coaches
who have sat down to tell theirstories of stepbacks and how they were able
to move forward. I'm your host, Susie Wargen. Well, this one's
(00:44):
a first. I've got two guestsin one episode. I have to admit
I was a little anxious on howto navigate through two stories in the same
conversation. But as you'll hear,Ryan Jensen and Garrett Gilkey stories started to
intertwine in college, then the NFL, and now they're fully in trench together
in retirement. Ryan grew up inFort Morgan, Garrett and Illinois. Their
college careers were spent in Division twofootball, with Ryan at c Issue Pueblo
(01:08):
and Garrett at Shadron State, bothin the armac, so their schools faced
each other on the gridiron. They'reboth big offensive linemen with red hair,
and they became quite competitive because theyeach wanted to be the only big redhead
getting noticed. Both guys were drafted, with Ryan holding a slight upper hand
in the sixth round and Garrett inthe seventh. Ryan's career eventually brought him
(01:30):
to Tampa Bay, where he signedthe highest contract at the time for a
center, snapped the ball to TomBrady, and won a Super Bowl.
He also just retired. Garrett's careeralso finished in Tampa Bay, and the
two reconnected through a real estate ventureand now they're in business together with Garrett's
company GILK Lots of ups and downsand great stories, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Ryan Jensen and Garrett Gilkey cut TradedFired Retired podcast with Susie Wargen, Ryan
(01:59):
Jensen and Garrett Guilty two guests.I've never had two guests on one of
my episodes before, so it's likedouble the fun And how are you guys
doing really well? Thanks for havingus doing good. Absolutely, you guys
both have very interesting stories that startto connect, and now you are connected
in outside of football too, whichis really cool. So we're going to
(02:20):
kind of move through this. Hopefullywe won't confuse people too much by going
back and forth. But I thinkit's great how your stories started and then
how they kind of came together.So Ryan, since you are the Colorado
kid, I'll start with you.You're born in Rangeley and you end up
going to Fort Morgan High School.YEP, All State, All Conference.
Your senior year was football always yoursport? More so baseball is my sport
(02:42):
growing up? Really you play.I played a little bit of everything.
I pitched, I caught outfield,just a little bit of everything. You
know, Football wasn't really a dreamfor me because, you know, just
going back to my senior high school, I was two hundred and ten pounds.
You didn't look like this, No, I did not look like this.
I was, you know, sixread two hundred and ten pounds,
kind of a string being, hada really good frame, but just hadn't
(03:04):
really touched a weight room yet,and obviously that changed when I went to
college and down at csu Peblo.It's pretty interesting, you know. I
had two scholarship offers coming out ofhigh school. One was to Western State
for fifteen hundred bucks and one toCsupeblo for I think it was twenty five
hundred bucks. It that was it. You know, it was just looking
for an opportunity and you know,ended up finding one. That's awesome.
(03:27):
All right. So Garrett, youcome from Illinois and you're a fascinating story
in with what you kind of grewup with as far as some things that
you had to face challenges with WolfParkinson White syndrome. Explain what that is
and how that affected you growing up. But you still had a career with
sports. Oh yeah, I meanit was a catalyst to some pretty complex
circumstances when I was younger. It'sa syndrome that basically where there's an extra
(03:51):
electrical pathway in your heart. Somy heart would beat abnormally and would beat
at super super high paces and ratesand basically lead me to like near death
experiences or basically cardiac arrest moments.You know. So I was having a
series of those interactions going into myfreshman year of high school, and I
was at a football camp and thecoach I had my shirt off and I
was actually playing running back at thetime, which was probably the reason I
(04:15):
had the issues. Short burst ofyeah, and he saw my chest beating
at a just an insanely fast rate, and so he pulled me out of
practice, went home. You know, I went to go see a pediatric
cardiologist. They put me on somedifferent monitors. They ended up catching and
seeing the irregular rhythms of my heart, and then I ended up honestly having
an emergency heart operation about like aweek later. How old were you,
(04:38):
I was thirteen years old, Ithink. Wow. So I was thirteen
and then went into a new highschool, you know, as a kid
who just had heart surgery and hada you know, my story, you
know, it's public, but there'sa lot of speaking that I've done on
the topic of building and some oflike the social related issues that I had
as a kid. And then,you know, I ended up leaving that
public high school after my freshman yearand I went to a private Christian high
(04:59):
school where Don Bebe, who wasmy high school coach, coached me for
the last three years of you know, high school, and I had a
super similar situation. I remember goingup to him one time asking him the
fight if you thought I was goodenough to play Division on football, And
he looked at me and he saidno and said maybe a Division III if
you're lucky. A week later,he brought me in his office and asked
me, if I, you know, got a recruiting trip out to Shadron,
if I would take it seriously.And so I went out and Bill
(05:19):
O'Boyle, you know who just coachedunderneath Dean Sanders at Colorado, he gave
me a twenty five hundred dollars scholarship. So you guys are both rolling in
the morning, super super super,you know, high demand, you know
recruits absolutely wow. Okay, SoCSU Pueblo for Ryan and then Chadron for
you, Garrett, and then youguys end up playing each other in college.
(05:41):
And that's how you met. Howdid you meet as opposing It's a
funny, it's a it's a funnystory. So my freshman year was his
actual, I think sophomore year.He's a year older than me. I
started playing. I started as atrue freshman down there at two hundred and
thirty five pounds playing tackle. AndI remember always looking over at the Chadron
State guys and looking how, youknow, well built they were as an
offensive line, and I'm like,I'm just this two hundred and thirty five
(06:04):
pound guy, well shattering has thesethree hundred pounders that are Nebraska boys and
Midwest guys. Yeah, corn fedguys. And you know, the first
couple of years, I got upto like two seventy five and was really
being competitive and playing and playing reallyphysical. And at that point it was
a time where me and Garrett werestarting to get some some notice from the
NFL and notice from Division two footballdot Com talking about who's the best offensive
(06:27):
lineman in the country. And youknow, that kind of sparked a little
bit of a competitive hatred of eachother. You know, were you playing
center all this time? I playedtackle? Tackle? Okay, and Garrett,
you were playing uh I was alsoplaying We're also playing tackle, okay.
Interesting. I got mad when Isaw a picture of him after we
both got first team All Conference andhere's another redhead. There should only be
one giant redhead in this conference.He's a first team all Conference tackle.
(06:49):
Right, because it's radio, theycan't see its podcast, I should say,
you guys are both redheads. Weget mistaken for brothers all the time
because you don't you don't see alot of six four six' five redheads
with man buns that are hanging aroundtogether all the time. So yeah,
so that was kind of this competitivenature between the two of you. Yeah
(07:10):
so, and it you know,it started as this kind of like bitter
rivalry, kind of like I don'tlike this guy because he looks like me,
and you know, we're both reallygood at football on rival teams.
And you know, after our oursenior game, our last game we played
against each other in college and justgonna you know, poke the beary a
little bit, we beat him andtriple overtime. You know, they couldn't
get a QB sneak from the halfyard line. They kept geting stuff.
They tried it three times, nobiggie, but uh but yeah, after
(07:33):
the game, you know, wenever gets brought up, right, no
never. You know, we meton the field and we both knew we
were gonna have an opportunity to potentiallyplay in the NFL. Uh So we
we you know, exchange numbers andgot to know each other a little bit
because we're going through that whole processtogether. And uh again, there was
just still this competitive kind of likedigs at each other. You know.
(07:55):
He got to go to this reallycool workout facility down in Florida. I
was up here in Denver, Atlantaperformance, which I love, Lauren.
It's amazing seeing what he's doing andhim going to Notre Dame to be their
strength coach. I'm so happy forhim, just knowing it for so long,
you know. So it was alwaysthose little, those little pokes.
Oh I'm down here at a well. Garrett got to go to the Senior
Bowl, right, one of threeDivision two guys that got invited to the
(08:16):
Senior Bowl. Oh, trust me, I heard about it because this is
this is just how how it alwayshappened. You know, he got invited
to the Senior Bowl. I didn'the rubs it in my face. He
gets invited to the NFL Combine.I didn't he rubs it in my face.
So I got the last laugh becauseI got drafted before him. You
did one round before, one roundbefore him, and h Garrett always gives
(08:37):
me heck about it because about fiveminutes after I got drafted. It's such
a stressful time when you're going throughthe NFL draft process, and I,
you know, it's truly kind oflike wanting to know where he was at
because I hadn't really paid attention ifhe got drafted yet or anything like that.
So like five minutes after I getdrafted, I texted him like,
hey, he got drafted yet,as if it's not on the TV later
(09:00):
of you. Yeah, no,I'm just sitting in nihilism, you know,
I'm just sitting in absolute nihilism intopravity. And and he's just rubbing
the fact that he just got draftedin my face. And what was your
response to him? Garrett? Ryanand I've always been super super like honoring
to each other, so I meanI think it was probably something just modest.
Oh really, yeah, okay,but I just saw where you were.
(09:20):
I mean, like I was atthe one of the lowest points in
my life waiting to get drafted.I mean, I thought I was going
to go in the third or thefourth round in that draft, and I
ended up getting picked to twenty sevenor something the seventh. So did you
think you were going to go highertoo? Ryan? Yeah. It was
one of those weird things where,you know, I had some of these
quote unquote NFL draft professionals or expertstelling me, you know, some people
(09:41):
had me like a second third roundgrade. Some of these guys had me
at an undrafted free agent. Someguys had me at a just as a
tryout guy. So for me,going through that whole process was chaotic because
I didn't know you know, Iknow, going into the second day,
you know, the second and thirdround, before the draft started, the
offensive line coach, I can't rememberwho it was as eleven years ago,
(10:01):
their offense line coach from the Giantscalled me and it was like, hey,
like be by your phone. Youknow, we have a couple of
picks coming up today. You mightbe gett an opportunity to you know,
be drafted today by us. Solike I'm sitting in this this chaotic moment
where I'm like, could I bea second rounder? Am I a third
rounder? Like? What's going tohappen? And then I didn't get a
single phone call the rest of theday. That anxiety started to really kick
(10:24):
in towards the latter end, intothe fifth round, I started getting a
bunch of calls from different teams.They're like, hey, you know,
we only have two picks left.You know, you're one of the one
of the three guys that we're thinkingabout picking. But you know, if
we don't pick you, we'd loveto have you in as an undrafted free
agent. So I keep receiving thosecalls, and that just caused more anxiety,
(10:45):
and absolutely it was funny. Soit works out because actually got you
ended up getting drafted by Baltimore.But I was just going for a walk
around the block. I just neededto get some fresh air. There are
so many stories like there, likeI just left the house. Yea,
I couldn't stand it anymore. Andmy buddy who was in the Air Force
ended up actually he was living inWashington, DC working at the base down
there, the Air Force base downthere. I got known this guy for
(11:07):
like five or six years, andhe got a new phone like two weeks
before that. All of a sudden, I get this call from Maryland.
So I answered it as some likea block and a half away from my
entire family at this draft party thatwe're having. I'm like, there's no
way I'm going to get drafted andnot be around my family. So I
answer it and I start kind oflike tie tailing it back to the house
and he goes, Hey, what'sup, bro, And I'm like,
who is this? He goes,this is James, Like James, who
(11:31):
He goes Valdez. I'm like,I literally said, I said some explicits
and just hung up on him.And it's just funny because like, at
that moment, that's the moment Ithought I was gonna get drafted, you
know, because it's some random numberfrom from Baltimore in the Maryland area where
you know, I had taken apre drive visit there and they you know,
loved me. They said they weregonna I was gonna get drafted,
(11:52):
and just kind of a matter ofwhen. So when I got that phone
call, yeah, I got alittle excited that. I was like,
oh, it's the Ravens call itand then it was just one of my
buddies from college, and I wasvery disappointed past the time just I mean,
just wrestling in my own crap.I mean, it was horrible.
It was the I mean it really, you know, looking back, you
know, I had conversations with theJets and with San Francisco about third round,
(12:13):
you know, early fourth round andthat ended up like not happening,
you know. And so the hardshipis you live in this place of expectation,
right, So, like you're havingall these relationships, you're building all
these relationships. People are telling youall of this like very you know,
two sided loose commitments. Yeah,they talk out of both sides of their
talk about of both sides of theirmouth. But like you're also living in
the experience of those relationships and likethe real connections that you've had and like
(12:37):
the confidence in it. Then you'resitting in the day of it and like
no call, no call, nocall, right, so like you can't
help, but just like really experiencethe anxiety of it. And so you
got to wrestle with all the internallike intrusive thoughts and you know, all
the challenging you know, is theresomething wrong with me? Like what did
I do? Like what's going on? Yeah? Can I really do this?
Am I supposed to play in theNFL? Am I not? You
(12:58):
know, I mean you just gotto wrestle through all of those thoughts and
all those questions. And it's sucha crapshoot with offensive linemen where they go
and sometimes it just makes no sense. And it's all dependent on a scout.
It's all dependent on what happened inyour combine or no combine or whatever.
Who else is getting drafted before you, right, I mean it's a
it's a constant, you know,Relette table like changing algorithm. You could
be you know, the number tentackle and you know, and if a
(13:22):
wide receiver, you know, somethingunforeseen happens earlier, you know than in
that run. Everything changed changes.Yeah, And that was the crazy thing
about the twenty thirteen draft was theamount offensive linement that we're taken in the
first round. It was like anunheard of Oh I remember that. I
think there was like twelve or thirteenoffensive lineman in the first round. I
know there was six in the topten. So I think you know,
that changed the whole equation of thedraft for these teams because now they're like,
(13:46):
you have these you know, firstgraded first round you know, skill
position players or d lineman or whateverthat are still out there. Now they
have to, you know, changethe whole board. And it's a whole
strategic thing that's way above my uhright, but take one then a whole
bunch of more like wait, whereare we missing out on We're gonna now
we got to start doing that withus too, exactly. So it's crazy.
It is wild, all right.So you Ryan get drafted by the
(14:09):
Ravens, like you said in thesixth round, Garrett, you go to
the Browns in the seventh round asyou start your first season. So Ryan,
you're on the practice squad first year, right, first year, I
was actually on the active roster.You're on active roster. Okay, yeah,
So the second day of training campand something with me and second day
of training camps and getting hurt.But uh, I broke my foot so
I had to have a surgery,had to have a pin putting my fifth
metatars on my left foot. SoI didn't get to go through training camp.
(14:31):
But the Ravens, for for somereason, you know, I think
it goes back to what I wasdoing in OTA's and stuff like that,
actually kept me on the active rosterfor the whole year. I didn't dress
out for any games or anything likethat. It was almost one of those
moments where I felt untouchable, likeI'd made it. You weren't on ir
was on active roster. Wow,So it goes back to like the ego
thing. It like really bolstered myego in a negative fashion, Like I
(14:54):
was like, oh, I'm untouchable, So I kind of stopped working hard
and going into my second year,you know, I was I was like,
oh, I'm good, Like I'ma draft pick here. They always
take care of their draft picks here. And then fast forward six weeks into
training camp and I get cut andthey get put back on practice squad.
That was one of those turning pointsin my career where I was like,
Okay, like this isn't for theweek, Like you have to keep working,
(15:16):
you have to keep moving forward atall times, or like what happened,
I got cut and they'll find somebodyelse that can do it better than
you. It's one of those momentsin my career when I look back,
you know, just finished my eleventhyear. It's one of those those turning
points in my career. You neededthat. You needed that because by the
end of your time then with them, you were starting yep. So it
was one of those one of thosethings where sometimes you need to get plunched
in the face to realign your wholeprocess, your outlook on how you were,
(15:39):
how you're playing, how you're operatingday in and day out. So
it was one of those things thatyou know, at the time, it's
you know, you're getting your heartripped out because you're you feel like you're
losing your dream. But then it'swhat you do with those those situations,
how you how you act. Youcan either run into the storm or you
can run away from it. AndI chose to run directly into it,
and obviously it paid off a littlebit, a lot of bit. Garrett,
(16:00):
you have your first year with theBrowns and did you sign a four
year deal? Yeah? That wasan active roster guy, Okay, you
know, just wasn't able to holdon to the crest. You know,
in my different opportunities to be astarter. I played an ever game as
a as a rookie. My secondyear, my coach you drafted me in
Cleveland, went down to Tampa afterCleveland cleaned the staff, everyone got canned.
Yeah and uh, and so awhole new regime can And who's whose
(16:25):
guy were you who went to Tampathat then brought you George warhawt Okay.
Yeah, this is a business whereif you're somebody's guy, you're going with
them. You're going with them,you're going with them, Yeah, they'll
take care of you if you're not. If you're not, forget it exactly.
It doesn't matter how good you are, what you have. I mean,
it's like, if you're not someone'sguy, you're out. So George
is a great friend of mine stillto this day. I mean, he's
a mentor father figure for me.You know, I talked to him last
week. But he's a he's anamazing coach. That's great. And then
(16:48):
how long in Tampa, Garrett?My second year in Tampa is when I
tore my ACL man CL and thenI finished out my contract with them,
but just on injured reserve, okay, and then you couldn't pass a physical
I think that next year, right, correct, I mean because I needed
another surgery. Yeah. So Ihad surgery to fix my acl AMCL and
then it took me like and honestly, it took me like two years to
(17:08):
recover from it. Oh my goodness. Yeah, super long recovery. And
by that point, you know,as already focused in the growth of the
firm. Yeah, what are yougoing to do next? Exactly? Yeah,
and when did you start going backto school? As soon as I
got hurt? I you know,I went back and started my master's degree,
so I was still technically on theBuccaneers you know, payroll, and
I you know, started my firstmaster's degree. So I got my master's
(17:29):
degree in engineering and then started myMBA, you know, all the while
I was still a player, andthen got my GC license and my plumbing
license. Oh my gosh. Verysmart, and that is tough, I
think to have that forward thinking.So many guys, I think so many
athletes in general will think I'm goingto come back, I'm going to give
it another shot, and once thatinjury kicks in, it's so hard once
you take your eye off the ball, right, It's like such a quintessential
(17:51):
saying, but it's true. Yeah, the reason we get and have gotten
to where we've gotten to is becauseof the relentless pursuit to achieve and chase
after something. You know. Forme, a lot of my career in
the NFL was in a lot ofdegrees my own ego as it relates to
the challenges that I have. Butthen also like there's a very real political
component too, you know, andso once I saw a lot of it
being taken out of my hands,you know, it was easy for me
(18:11):
to recognize the writing on the walleven with their being time left, you
know, and then just transition thesame kind of work ethic and grit and
passion into the real estate, youknow, construction industry, right, and
we're going to get to that.It's a business that you, as a
player have zero control over except foryour own production. Zero. That's all
(18:32):
you can do, and then it'sup to everybody else what your fate is.
Yeah, definitely, it's a youhave to fight your fight your butt
off because there's a younger guy,bigger guy, stronger guy, more athletic
guy that's always coming behind you thatthey're trying to they're trying to find,
you know, the front office.You know, they have a job,
and their job is to replace you. You know. Eventually that's something you
have to live with. Then youhave to live knowing it to production league
(18:55):
and if you're not producing, guesswhat, they're going to find somebody that's
going to produce and lay better thanyou and bring more to the team.
So, I know a lot ofguys struggle with that aspect of it.
It's hard because you think you've madeit and then all of a sudden.
You know, you might be astarter for a year and then they draft
a kit in the first round thatplays your position, and it's like,
oh, this is a business,and it's just something that a lot of
(19:15):
guys psychologically can't handle. Well,we talked about Ryan, how that moment
for you paid off in the longrun. After your final year with the
Ravens, you sign a contract withthe Bucks and you become the highest paid
center in the NFL. At thatpoint, it paid off and it had
that mind shift. Yeah, definitely, it was a it was a battle.
You know. I didn't become afull time starter until my fifth year
in the NFL. And it wasn'tone of those guys where I was a
(19:37):
day one starter. You know.I was hoping to have a job,
you know, working to have ajob after every training camp for my first
four years, and then finally gotan opportunity, and you know, for
me, that was the biggest thing. So I just need an opportunity.
I just need to show them whatI can do, who I can be,
what kind of player I can be. And yeah, I went and
finished my fifth year in Baltimore,starting all sixteen games, going into an
(19:57):
unrestricted free agent year, like youmentioned, end up signing the biggest contract
for a center in the history ofNFL, which still is unbelievable to me.
Like I started one season, youknow, I'm getting this huge deal,
and you know, sometimes that's that'swhat the NFL is about, is
about that timing. You know,I remember my agent, I'm frustrated my
third and fourth year because I've startedsome games and I'm playing well, but
(20:18):
then they benched me for whatever politicalreason, for whatever that is, and
I'm like bitter, I'm angry,and my agent's like, hey, listen,
Like when you get a true opportunityand you go and take it,
you're gonna have less miles on yourbody, You're gonna have less wear and
tear, and you can be atit and you're gonna be in your prime
when you get this opportunity from ahealth standpoint, and you just got to
(20:38):
take it. And you know,that's what ended up happening. In my
fifth year, started all sixteen games, and really that's when I kind of
started getting noticed for more of youknow, who I was as a player,
the way I play the game,and you know, then obviously signed
down in Tampa and my first yearin Tampa. I kind of I reverted
back to that second year. Aftermy rookie year, I was like,
oh, I've made it. Ican relax, and I go down to
(21:03):
Tampa my first year and I playeddecent, but not well enough for what
they're paying me. Did you hearabout that? I definitely heard about it.
You know, there was I wascoached my first year in Tampa by
George Warhap as well, and youknow he you know, he always pushed
me, and he's like, youshould be a pro bol, you should
be a Pro Bowl or you know, your mindset's not right, this,
that and the other. And youknow, for me, this whole transition
from Baltimore to Tampa was like thiscrazy existential crisis for me, Like I'm
(21:29):
a very much a person who likesregiment and the very next thing, so
like uprooting my entire life just afterhaving my first son, and we have
my son, this free agent craziness. Now we're buying a house in Tampa.
Like I was mentally, I waslike all over the place. I
was drowning a little bit. Andyou know, I went and played my
first year. I was overweight,I wasn't training like I should have been.
(21:51):
I played well, but not notup to the standard that was expected.
And that was another one of thosemoments in my life where I'm like,
you have this opportunity, don't squanderit away because if I played like
this next year, they're gonna cutme. Oh yeah, they don't care.
They don't care. I had twoyears of guaranteed money, so it's
great to get that money, butif you're not performing, you're gonna hear
about it a hundred percent. Soso yeah, I ended up playing out.
You know, my four years,my first deal with Tampa, you
(22:14):
know, won a super Bowl,Tom Brady Center. Yeah, it was
It was crazy. It was justa crazy journey of you know, when
I signed down in Tampa, youknow at that time, not very good
football team. You know, alot of talent, but can't win games.
Last person I ever thought I wouldbe snapping a football too in Tampa
Bay was Tom Brady. You know, he comes in and we won a
super Bowl. The next year,we get the divisional round. Should have
won that game, come back againstthe Rams and Cooper Cup, famous post
(22:37):
route. Yeah. But but yeah, then that next part of me,
because I was going into an understrictedfree agent year. Tampa hadn't extended me
up, so there was a lotof uncertainty going into that moment. You
know, Tom had retired and thenunretired and you know, really made that
decision easy for me to come backto Tampa. You know, they ended
up taking care of me again ona three year deal. Yeah, it
(22:59):
was, it was. It's beena crazy, crazy journey, it has.
And that was in twenty twenty two. But you ended up going on
IR again that year, right,Yeah, So in training camp, Yeah,
so training camp at twenty two.On the second day, not even
pads, We're in a two minutedrill, I'm getting bowl rushed by Vida
ve And for people that don't knowhow big Vita is, he's about six
four, about three seventy, butathletic and strong as an ox. So
(23:22):
I'm posting him up on a bowlrush and unfortunately had a player on the
defensive side of the ball trip andfall into my braceleg and ended up turning
my MCO, my PCO, myaco, my moniscus. I had a
fracture in my fibula, so muchcartilage damage. It was one of those
moments in my career. I'd alwaysbeen a pretty healthy guy, like you
(23:44):
know, we get our Nixon bruises, torn ligaments in your ankles, stuff
like that, stuff you can playwith. So that was like my first
time really going through an injury,a debilitating injury, which is hard,
which is which is really hard.You know. That was really the first
time where I felt like I wasactually like a very important part of the
team because for me, I justalways had that mindset like just go to
(24:07):
work, Go throw people to theground, go do your job, Like
that's what I did. I didn'twant to recognize for it. It is
just like that's just why I playedthe game. But I remember coming out
of the doctor's office at the trainingroom right after practices got over. You
know, I had to get cartedoff. I couldn't walk and crutching out
of the doctor's office in the trainingroom, and the entire front office was
standing outside, uh sorry, standingoutside the office, and I remember just
(24:37):
locking eyes with Jason Light who's theGM, and he's got this hope in
his eye that like, please don'tbe hurt like bad at least, and
I just remember looking at him andjust shaking my head and looking at the
ground, and you know that was. That was a moment for me where
I was like, wow, likeone, they care about me as a
as a as a person, butalso as a player, and like how
important I was to the organization.It was. It was tough. It
(25:00):
was another one of those mental battlesand you go from you know, being
this so called elite athlete to youcan't hit walk anymore. Like it's a
mentally draining aspect, and yeah itwas. It was tough. But again,
you know, I cried, Ihad my sorrow, I had my
anger, my bitterness. But thenit's just like all right, well,
(25:21):
time to get back to work.And one hundred and twenty nine days after
I had that injury, I endedup starting in a playoff game. Probably
shouldn't have, you know, lookingback on it, but it was one
of those things where I felt that'swhat I needed to do to prove to
myself who I was as a player, as a as a man, And
you know, it was it wascrazy. It was an unbelievable journey through
(25:44):
that year. Yeah no kidding,I didn't know that you played in that
playoff game. Yeah, so weended up losing against Dallas was Tom's last
game. It was tough, okay, and then you come back in twenty
twenty three and are you still havingproblems? Yeah? So, you know,
craziest thing about my whole thing isI had a completely torn MCL.
I was interstitial, so I didn'tpull off the bone, but it was
just the internal of my MCL.I tore my ACL but it was barely
(26:07):
hanging on by a thread. Mymoniscus tore and flipped in a fashion they
called a bucket handle tear, butit was actually like an inverted bucket handle
tear, which is apparently super rare. So you go through all the doctors,
you know, I had like eightor nine different surgeons. Eight of
them were like, yeah, youneed full need reconstruction. And then I
met one of my doctors and he'slike, he goes, I really don't
(26:30):
think you need surgery. He's like, I've seen this injury this way before
he goes either way. At thispoint, your career is in jeopardy.
I remember, you know, afterI went got my MRIs and I came
back, Bobby Slater, who's ourhead athletic trainer, me and him have
a very close relationship. I remembertalking to Bobby and he just goes hey,
man, like this might end yourcareer as a high performance athlete.
(26:51):
The last thing you want to hearis like, hey, you might be
done. So talking with my surgeon, we did't end up doing surgery,
but yeah, everything healed. MyACL healed, my MCL held, my
PCL healed. You know, mymoniscus is still flipped, but it's not
in a place where it's causing anydeficit and range of motion. But the
thing Bobby told me, he goes, I'm worried about the cartilage damage and
(27:12):
that was the biggest issue. Andgoing into the twenty three season, I
was feeling pretty good. I trainedall off season like I hadn't trained in
years to get ready for training camp. And you know, we start me
off slow during training camp and Istart getting pain and it's starting to hurt,
and it feels like a toothache inmy lateral compartment in my knee,
and I'm like, come on,like I can fight through this, but
(27:33):
let's go get an MRI just tosee what's going on, make sure nothing
kicked loose or anything like that.And talking with Bobby, I was like,
hey, I was going to goget a PRP shop at the doctor's
office, and I had had anMRI the day before. I go into
Bobby's office. I'm like, Hey, how did my MRI look? And
he goes, I haven't looked atit. He was lying to me.
He goes, hey, I'm goingto meet you up at the doctor's office
because we had to drive about twentyminutes north of Tampa to go and get
(27:56):
this in the house. At thatmoment, I knew, I'm like,
he's seen it. I know he'sseen it. So I walk into the
doctor's office and I beat Bobby bya couple of minutes, and my MRI
is just up on the screen.And at that point I watched diagnose.
I've been looking at MRIs for thelast year, and I just saw all
the white. So essentially, youknow, we get there and we're talking
(28:18):
with the team ortho and Bobby's inthere and he goes, hey, we
can shoot you up with PRP.We can give you pain medication, pain
management. He goes, you're goingto miss games from swelling and pain.
He goes, you'll be lucky toplay ten or eleven games this year,
And the Ortho was just like,I'm more concerned about you in ten fifteen
years listen if you play, hegoes, You know, I know you're
(28:38):
pain tolerant. She have very highpain tolerant. You'll gut through it.
He goes, I'm worried if ifyou play, you're going to need a
near place when you're forty. Andfor me, that was a punch,
like right in the gut. Andit hurt because before you even said that,
like looking at my MRI, I'mlike, yeah, this isn't good.
(28:59):
And you know, it took sometime, just me and Bobby in
the room talking and it was justone of those we made the decision to
not play this year, and youknow it sucked, but such as such
as life in the NFL. Youknow, you not very many players who
played for a long time walk outon their own accord in that type of
aspect of things, And yeah,you don't get your fairy tale ending,
you know. I remember when theRams won the Super Bowl in twenty two
(29:22):
and when he retired Whitworth, hehad that opportunity with his kids on the
field to say, hey, thatwas the last game daddy's ever going to
play in. Like players, especiallywhen you have kids, you dream of
that moment of being able to endit on a high note like that CONTI
in the confetti and your family runningaround and the excitement and stuff like that.
So you know, there for along I felt robbed. I felt
(29:44):
robbed of that, Like I gaveeverything I had to this game, and
at the end of the day,the game stabbed me in the back.
As dark as that sounds, justthat it's true and that moment, that's
the way I felt, you know. Obviously, you know, after reflection
and working through those emotions, likeI look back on my eleven years that
I've played and the amount of blessingsthat have coming out of that, it's
just it's amazing. Yeah, elevenyears, I mean, that's the shelf
(30:04):
life is Garrett, right, youknow, I mean even you know it's
three years maybe sometimes if you're lucky. Yeah, I mean I was above
average. Yeah, it was short, it is. And so who did
you rely on? You guys werestill connected obviously because you were down in
Tampa too, So you your timedidn't cross as players in Tampa, right,
No, I didn't, It didn'tcross. I came down in twenty
(30:25):
eighteen, and I think his lastyear was sixteen or seventeen year. Okay,
but you were still in the area. Yeah, yeah, so I
had you know, Homestead, didn'tput a personal residence there, and yeah,
basically got into the business community there. And did you guys hang out
then when you were playing? Didyou keep the friendship going pretty strong?
You must have. Yeah, definitely. We always stayed really close in touch.
And then you know, the timingand of me coming down to Tampa
and him still being in Tampa.It was just like one of those things
(30:47):
like kind of everything came full circlewith our with our relationship. Now we
can hang out and then be closerto each other. Absolutely. So when
did and you guys are in abusiness together, now, when did that
start to form? And then tellme more about what you guys are doing
and now it's moving from Tampa toColorado, which is very cool. Yeah.
So about three and a half yearsago, I was in the process
(31:07):
of a land acquisition in Evergreen herein Colorado, where I had an opportunity
to buy six hundred acres off offmarket and just a small piece of just
a small piece of land and justa postage stamp. Yeah, exactly.
And I didn't know what I wasdoing. It was off market, you
know, got a little fishy therefor a little bit just in language and
look at the contract. So youknow, I flew Garritt out, had
(31:30):
him look at the house that wascurrently on the property, wanting to you
know, potentially remodel that home orwhatnot. And you know, we ended
up tearing half the house down andwe're in the process of constructing our dream
home. And you know, throughthat whole process, I really fell in
love with construction and the process behindit. You know, as football players,
we have such a process with everythingthat we do. Yes, the
construction industry and design build really hassome very similar processes and checks and balances,
(31:56):
and you know, kind of fellin love with it. And we'd
always kind of joked around going intobusiness together, whether it be you know,
construction or which is whatever, justtwo buds that you know, created
a business together. And after somediscussion, after how well we integrated,
you know, his checks and balanceswith the company out here in Colorado at
a from a satellite position, we'relike, why don't we just expand out
(32:17):
to Colorado? Why don't we expandnationally? And you know that's when we
got into discussion about becoming partners.That's awesome. Garrett, how did it
go for you? Yeah, Imean it it was your business to start
with, right, I was okay, Yeah. So, you know,
I grew up in My sister wentto school for inter design and architecture,
and I was super inspired by herand my dad who went to school for
(32:37):
architecture, you know. And sowhen I was in transition, I had
some amazing mentors who were in realestate, real estate development and in the
high end design build world. AndI was exposed to some pretty high end
homebuilders that are now my competitors,and they just shared their perspective and their
philosophy. It was really this likeextension of the offensive linemen to the market
(32:58):
into the marketplace, which is thislike deep advocate owners rep shields, shepherd
really vulnerable people who are leading inlike really complex decisions like building a multimillion
dollar custom home, who need somebodywho can actually shepherd the process, lead
the process and protect them from theindustry's you know, volatile trade relationships and
(33:19):
kind of unethical practices. Ryan andI both have our own journeys of going
through the processes like construction consumers andthen being objectified, being seen as a
transaction, being seen as just adollar sign being seen as just the big
dumb football players who have a tonof money, so therefore you can take
advantage of us financially, you know. And so out of that experience for
me, and also just the relationalway in which I live in terms of
(33:42):
just like really enjoying being around tradesguys and you know, just like people
in the industry, I really enjoybeing around the blue collar kind of like
workforce. You know. I tookthat inspiration from some of my mentors with
the education that I had, andyou know, the reality that like,
hey, if you just have deposablethumbs and you just like call people back,
you should probably be okay in themarket. Yeah, you know,
and so and so out of thatcame this now nationally expanding brand of really
(34:09):
really cool design build We've taken onand done some really really amazing projects,
and we continue to do some reallyamazing projects. And so when Ryan brought
me out here, I was supernervous, right, I mean, I
was like, the last thing Iwanted to do was screw up one of
my best friends homes. Let alone, get into something with somebody and end
up, like, you know,just like each other. Hating each other
(34:29):
and it growing up. So I'vebeen in my own journey of just really
continuing to learn relationship and surrender andjust like leadership dynamics as we've kind of
joined forces. But it has beena really really cool opportunity to continue to
to kind of shepherd again some reallycool complex projects start to work together and
really now take the kind of likethe joint brand of who we are in
(34:50):
our backgrounds to the marketplace, youknow, and it's proving to be something
that's the story of who we areand why we do what we do is
something that continues to be desirable andattractive for people to listen to here to
be a part of. We justdeeply believe in being able to kind of
like wedge the gap between people whoare our high net worth you know,
people in the sports entertainment world whoneed complex projects done built, you know,
(35:14):
designed and built. And we havebuilt this amazing business model that basically
has no baried entry with trade relationshipsbecause of who Ryan and I are.
And then on top of that,you know, forty employees later, we
have an amazing architectural team and anamazing design team, and we also can
design and build really really well.You know, so we're not just like
two NFL players, two x NFLguys who are like getting into business,
(35:35):
Like we really are a team ofgifted designers, architects and builders. That
is awesome. And you know youbrought up the dumb football player. Offensive
lineman never get enough credit for howinsanely smart they have to be. And
especially and I've talked to a coupleof centers. You're the first one that
touches the ball every single time,and you've got to know what everybody's doing
at all times. And so Ithink that you know, that mentality of
(35:57):
oh, you're just a big olddumb football player illusion. It is an
illusion because you're just not. Andthe studying that goes into it, and
like you said, the process ofwhat Garrett was doing is very similar to
football. I mean, it's gameplanning, it's studying, it's looking at
at so many process constant variables.I mean, our our minds, we
don't realize it until you're out.Our minds are really really really complex processors,
(36:20):
especially as offensive lineman, whether you'rea center or you're like a guard
or a tackle that does a lotof language and you're playing like you have
to be able to process super supercomplex puzzles in real time very quick,
very quickly, very quickly. Lessthan two seconds. Yeah, you know,
it's a second. You know,you break the huddle normally you want
to be out of the huddle withyou know, with eighteen seconds left on
the play clock, you know,and takes a couple of seconds to get
(36:40):
to the line, and you knowyou're processing what the defense is doing.
Are they in single high? Arethey in too high? They in zone
coverage? You know, are theyan under defense and over defense? Are
they in jam? Like? Where'sthe linebackers, where's the mike? Like
it's there's a lot you have toprocess within you know, really five seconds
of getting up to the line becausewe have to get down, we have
to get communicated where people are going. And then you know, the ball
(37:01):
snapped and then it's okay, whathappened in the play, flush it back
in the huddle, new play,and it's just a grinch repeat and it's
uh, it's very complex just fromyou know, analyzing you know, what's
in front of you very quickly tomake sure you're making the right communication,
making the right calls and getting everybodyon the same page. And it's pretty
complicated. And you know a lotof times when you have a good offensive
(37:22):
line, I'll say in twenty intwenty one, when we when we won
the Super Bowl, those in thelast two years, I was fully playing
with the team, like we hadsuch smart people on the offensive line.
We had me who you know,was directing everybody. But he got to
the point where we built such arapport that we didn't have to say anything
anymore because we had that trust factor, that trust factor that the guy next
(37:42):
to you knew exactly what he wasdoing. I would make the bank point,
wouldn't have to tell anybody where togo, and everybody just communicated and
boom, ready to go. Itwas it was uh was that the year
that three of you went to thePro Bowl? That was twenty one?
Was it was me, Ali,Marpett and Tristan Wursch And that's I mean
to have three offensive linemen go tothe Pro Bowl. Yeah, and we
had our right guard Alex Kappa,who's with Cincinnati now. He was an
(38:04):
alternate, So we really could havepotentially had four offens alignment in the Pro
Bowl, which is pretty amazing.That is amazing. Yeah, so where
do we go from here? Guys, you're going to be getting going in
Colorado. You've renamed, You've rebrandedthe company just recently to GILK. What's
next. Our goal is to beout here and just to continue to build
relationships and foster relationships the right designers, the right architects, the right engineers,
and the right clients. We arereally really committed to doing really cool
(38:28):
projects for really amazing people, youknow, and so we take the story
of our vulnerability and we lead withthat as we identify with people who share
similar risks. We want to continueto just plant roots here and open the
doors to really cool opportunities. Andwe're here to do the community, do
the environment well, and also usethe gifts and the resources that we have
to you know, design and buildsome really cool stuff. I love it
(38:51):
and you're coming home. Yeah,So you know, Colorado's home for me
obviously, born and raised here.So it's exciting to see what as a
company, as a brand, whatwe're doing and bringing that this area to
home to you know, hopefully bringalong a great product, but also you
know, have it be something thatpeople enjoy doing with us. You know,
home building is such an intimate relationshipwith your client are saying are for
(39:15):
our company is building dreams and transforminglives, and that comes from you know,
obviously we're we're home builders. We'rebuilding dream homes. We're transforming their
lives within the people that you knoware going to be living in those homes.
But also like for us, we'revery outward in the community with helping
you know, in Tampa and hopefullyonce we get into Colorado we'll do the
(39:35):
similar things. We work with alot of nonprofits, with men who have
been incarcerated, men who have comeoff of you know, addiction issues,
and bringing those people into our environmentand uplifting them. You know. So,
yeah, we're transforming lives of theclients that we serve, but also
we want to serve our employees andbring them along with us. These these
men and women who otherwise might nothave done a second, third, fourth,
(39:58):
fifth chance, and that's just somethingwe enjoy, you know, Garrett
had mentioned like love spending time withour labor force contractor our contract like those
are some of the best people I'veever met. They have stories of downfall
and you know, now we canhelp and put a handout to help them.
You know, be the phoenix risingout of the ashes, and it's
just it's amazing what we've been ableto do. The foundation that Garrett is
(40:21):
set within the company to be ableto do those kind of things, It's
it's amazing. That's why I loveit too. I do, you know,
a ton of charity work with veteranoutreach and stuff like that. So
being able to do that with youknow, the local community, with men
and women who have struggled in theirlife to you know, bring them along
with us, That's that's just whereour heart's at. That's cool. All
right, last question for each ofyou, and I'll have each of you
answer on your own here. SoI'll start with you, Garrett, and
(40:44):
I ask all my guests about thisabout what your advice is to people when
they are at that low. WhenI mean you had it as a as
a kid and getting bullied, andthen you had it in the NFL where
you're like, all right, mydream's done. What now? So what
do you tell people? I've hadit year over end in business. The
thing that I think most NFL offensivelinemen and giant giant dudes are not going
(41:05):
to say, which is feel it. One of the primary issues that men
face in our world is feeling theiremotions and sitting in and experiencing their emotions.
You can pretty much tie just aboutevery issue to most issues that men
have to not knowing how to sit, process and experience what they are inside.
Yeah, I think go down withit, like be willing to go
down with it and not feel theneed to not feel the need to escape
(41:29):
it. There's always a lesson,there's always a you know, we're all
on journeys, we're all trying tofigure this out. We're all trying to
walk this out together and do thebest that we can as we unravel ourselves
and as we figure out who weare, you know, And so let
yourself go down to the bottom ofthe pit, you know, because it's
at the bottom of the pit thatI think light shines the brightest. And
it's in those moments that I thinkwe have the greatest direction and clarity.
(41:50):
Find somebody who can sit with youas you go down. Don't pull somebody
into it, you know, like, don't pull someone into your mess.
But but but find that but somethingyou consid in it with you, you
know, like allow yourself to experienceall of it because it's what shapes us
into the men women of integrity,faith, passion, compassion, mercy,
grace, all of it that Ithink our world needs, you know,
(42:13):
So if we can live in thatexample, with the images that we have
standing behind us, that's there's noexcuse for anyone else not to. That's
awesome. Ryan. I don't knowhow I'm supposed to on top that that,
but but for me, something Ialways tell, you know, whether
it's it's guys that are in theNFL that are struggling, you know,
within their career path, or justthe average person. You know, we
all deal with crap every day.There's always punches getting thrown, and I
(42:37):
always kind of explain it this way. You have your victories and have your
losses. For me, I alwayswhether it's done a football game or in
life, you you learn more fromyour losses and being able to differentiate where
you're at in this loss and beingable to really work and learn from what
got you to that point, becauseeverybody loves you when you're when you're winning
(43:00):
in the sports world and the realworld and whatever in your everyday life.
You know, everybody loves a winner, and you don't learn as much you
get to that point and you're like, oh, I made it. Where
when you're down at your lowest point, like you learn so much more about
who you are as a person,who you are to your core. Like
my experiences, like when I gothurt, like I was so bitter,
(43:21):
I was so angry, But throughthat whole thing, I learned so much
more about myself than I realized whenI was winning and I was this elite
athlete and I was this and that, Like I learned more in two days
of me being hurt about who Iam as a man, who I am
as a person, and how doI grow from this opportunity? You know,
(43:42):
losses aren't an end all. Youknow, you learn and you can
grow from what happened to you whenwhen what got you to that position of
loss or frustration or anger or failureor any of that. And for me,
it's just learn from it. Yougot to learn because you know,
if you don't like being in thatposition, learn and what caused you to
be in that position in your everydaylife. So that's always my two cents
(44:05):
towards guys, especially in you know, the NFL, when they're kind of
struggling their career or whatever. It'slike, Hey, listen, you're learning
more about yourself and in these moments, whether it be from your profession or
who you are as a person.Like, you learn more when you're in
these valleys of life than you dolearn who are your friends and who are
your supporters when you're in those lowspots too, which I think is really
important because I think when you dowin and everything's great, everybody loves you
(44:28):
and you don't know who really trulyloves you until you're way down there,
and that's an anxiety. You know, most NFL players live in and everyday
life is. It's sad, butyou can't always trust everybody that says they
have good intentions for you, becausewhen it's over, the true colors will
show. Well, that's why yougot to, you know, protect yourself.
Yeah, once you're done play andthey're like, oh you don't play
anymore, Okay, the check stopcoming in and all of a sudden people
(44:50):
start leaving. Yeah, guys,this was fantastic. Thanks for coming in
and best of luck. Will getlinks up and things like that so people
can connect to the company and findout more. But it was really fun
to have you both in and todo the first dual episode. I think
we did. Okay. I waslike, how do I how do I
make this work? So it's notconfusing? But yeah, yeah, you
guys look like brothers, but atleast you sound enough different that people can
(45:13):
tell who's who. Right, Yeah, he's the smart one. He's here,
you know, literates a little bits. No no, no, no,
all right, Ryan, Garrett,thank you so much. I appreciate
it. Thank you, thank you. Thanks Ryan and Garrett. That was
a lot of fun. New episodesHave, Cut, Traded, Fired,
Retired are released on Tuesdays on nearlyevery podcast platform. Please follow, download,
and review this podcast wherever you listento podcasts. You can get social
(45:36):
and find out about new episodes onTwitter and Instagram at ctf our podcast and
also check out the website ctfurpodcast dotcom. To find out more about me,
visit Susiewargen dot com. Thank youagain for listening, and until next
time, please be careful, besafe, and be kind. Take care
I remember just locking eyes with JasonKnight, who's the GM. He's got
this hope in his eye that like, please don't be hurt, like bad
at least, and I just rememberlooking at him and just shaking my head
and looking at the ground, andyou know, that was that was a
moment for me where I was like, Wow, like one, they care
about me as a as a asa person, but also as a player,
and like how important I was tothe organization. It was another one
(00:22):
of those mental battles, and yougo from, you know, being this
so called elite athlete to you can'thit walk anymore. Welcome to Cut Traded,
Fired, Retired, a weekly podcastfeaturing conversations with professional athletes and coaches
who have sat down to tell theirstories of stepbacks and how they were able
to move forward. I'm your host, Susie Wargen. Well, this one's
(00:44):
a first. I've got two guestsin one episode. I have to admit
I was a little anxious on howto navigate through two stories in the same
conversation. But as you'll hear,Ryan Jensen and Garrett Gilkey stories started to
intertwine in college, then the NFL, and now they're fully in trench together
in retirement. Ryan grew up inFort Morgan, Garrett and Illinois. Their
college careers were spent in Division twofootball, with Ryan at c Issue Pueblo
(01:08):
and Garrett at Shadron State, bothin the armac, so their schools faced
each other on the gridiron. They'reboth big offensive linemen with red hair,
and they became quite competitive because theyeach wanted to be the only big redhead
getting noticed. Both guys were drafted, with Ryan holding a slight upper hand
in the sixth round and Garrett inthe seventh. Ryan's career eventually brought him
(01:30):
to Tampa Bay, where he signedthe highest contract at the time for a
center, snapped the ball to TomBrady, and won a Super Bowl.
He also just retired. Garrett's careeralso finished in Tampa Bay, and the
two reconnected through a real estate ventureand now they're in business together with Garrett's
company GILK Lots of ups and downsand great stories, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Ryan Jensen and Garrett Gilkey cut TradedFired Retired podcast with Susie Wargen, Ryan
(01:59):
Jensen and Garrett Guilty two guests.I've never had two guests on one of
my episodes before, so it's likedouble the fun And how are you guys
doing really well? Thanks for havingus doing good. Absolutely, you guys
both have very interesting stories that startto connect, and now you are connected
in outside of football too, whichis really cool. So we're going to
(02:20):
kind of move through this. Hopefullywe won't confuse people too much by going
back and forth. But I thinkit's great how your stories started and then
how they kind of came together.So Ryan, since you are the Colorado
kid, I'll start with you.You're born in Rangeley and you end up
going to Fort Morgan High School.YEP, All State, All Conference.
Your senior year was football always yoursport? More so baseball is my sport
(02:42):
growing up? Really you play.I played a little bit of everything.
I pitched, I caught outfield,just a little bit of everything. You
know, Football wasn't really a dreamfor me because, you know, just
going back to my senior high school, I was two hundred and ten pounds.
You didn't look like this, No, I did not look like this.
I was, you know, sixread two hundred and ten pounds,
kind of a string being, hada really good frame, but just hadn't
(03:04):
really touched a weight room yet,and obviously that changed when I went to
college and down at csu Peblo.It's pretty interesting, you know. I
had two scholarship offers coming out ofhigh school. One was to Western State
for fifteen hundred bucks and one toCsupeblo for I think it was twenty five
hundred bucks. It that was it. You know, it was just looking
for an opportunity and you know,ended up finding one. That's awesome.
(03:27):
All right. So Garrett, youcome from Illinois and you're a fascinating story
in with what you kind of grewup with as far as some things that
you had to face challenges with WolfParkinson White syndrome. Explain what that is
and how that affected you growing up. But you still had a career with
sports. Oh yeah, I meanit was a catalyst to some pretty complex
circumstances when I was younger. It'sa syndrome that basically where there's an extra
(03:51):
electrical pathway in your heart. Somy heart would beat abnormally and would beat
at super super high paces and ratesand basically lead me to like near death
experiences or basically cardiac arrest moments.You know. So I was having a
series of those interactions going into myfreshman year of high school, and I
was at a football camp and thecoach I had my shirt off and I
was actually playing running back at thetime, which was probably the reason I
(04:15):
had the issues. Short burst ofyeah, and he saw my chest beating
at a just an insanely fast rate, and so he pulled me out of
practice, went home. You know, I went to go see a pediatric
cardiologist. They put me on somedifferent monitors. They ended up catching and
seeing the irregular rhythms of my heart, and then I ended up honestly having
an emergency heart operation about like aweek later. How old were you,
(04:38):
I was thirteen years old, Ithink. Wow. So I was thirteen
and then went into a new highschool, you know, as a kid
who just had heart surgery and hada you know, my story, you
know, it's public, but there'sa lot of speaking that I've done on
the topic of building and some oflike the social related issues that I had
as a kid. And then,you know, I ended up leaving that
public high school after my freshman yearand I went to a private Christian high
(04:59):
school where Don Bebe, who wasmy high school coach, coached me for
the last three years of you know, high school, and I had a
super similar situation. I remember goingup to him one time asking him the
fight if you thought I was goodenough to play Division on football, And
he looked at me and he saidno and said maybe a Division III if
you're lucky. A week later,he brought me in his office and asked
me, if I, you know, got a recruiting trip out to Shadron,
if I would take it seriously.And so I went out and Bill
(05:19):
O'Boyle, you know who just coachedunderneath Dean Sanders at Colorado, he gave
me a twenty five hundred dollars scholarship. So you guys are both rolling in
the morning, super super super,you know, high demand, you know
recruits absolutely wow. Okay, SoCSU Pueblo for Ryan and then Chadron for
you, Garrett, and then youguys end up playing each other in college.
(05:41):
And that's how you met. Howdid you meet as opposing It's a
funny, it's a it's a funnystory. So my freshman year was his
actual, I think sophomore year.He's a year older than me. I
started playing. I started as atrue freshman down there at two hundred and
thirty five pounds playing tackle. AndI remember always looking over at the Chadron
State guys and looking how, youknow, well built they were as an
offensive line, and I'm like,I'm just this two hundred and thirty five
(06:04):
pound guy, well shattering has thesethree hundred pounders that are Nebraska boys and
Midwest guys. Yeah, corn fedguys. And you know, the first
couple of years, I got upto like two seventy five and was really
being competitive and playing and playing reallyphysical. And at that point it was
a time where me and Garrett werestarting to get some some notice from the
NFL and notice from Division two footballdot Com talking about who's the best offensive
(06:27):
lineman in the country. And youknow, that kind of sparked a little
bit of a competitive hatred of eachother. You know, were you playing
center all this time? I playedtackle? Tackle? Okay, and Garrett,
you were playing uh I was alsoplaying We're also playing tackle, okay.
Interesting. I got mad when Isaw a picture of him after we
both got first team All Conference andhere's another redhead. There should only be
one giant redhead in this conference.He's a first team all Conference tackle.
(06:49):
Right, because it's radio, theycan't see its podcast, I should say,
you guys are both redheads. Weget mistaken for brothers all the time
because you don't you don't see alot of six four six' five redheads
with man buns that are hanging aroundtogether all the time. So yeah,
so that was kind of this competitivenature between the two of you. Yeah
(07:10):
so, and it you know,it started as this kind of like bitter
rivalry, kind of like I don'tlike this guy because he looks like me,
and you know, we're both reallygood at football on rival teams.
And you know, after our oursenior game, our last game we played
against each other in college and justgonna you know, poke the beary a
little bit, we beat him andtriple overtime. You know, they couldn't
get a QB sneak from the halfyard line. They kept geting stuff.
They tried it three times, nobiggie, but uh but yeah, after
(07:33):
the game, you know, wenever gets brought up, right, no
never. You know, we meton the field and we both knew we
were gonna have an opportunity to potentiallyplay in the NFL. Uh So we
we you know, exchange numbers andgot to know each other a little bit
because we're going through that whole processtogether. And uh again, there was
just still this competitive kind of likedigs at each other. You know.
(07:55):
He got to go to this reallycool workout facility down in Florida. I
was up here in Denver, Atlantaperformance, which I love, Lauren.
It's amazing seeing what he's doing andhim going to Notre Dame to be their
strength coach. I'm so happy forhim, just knowing it for so long,
you know. So it was alwaysthose little, those little pokes.
Oh I'm down here at a well. Garrett got to go to the Senior
Bowl, right, one of threeDivision two guys that got invited to the
(08:16):
Senior Bowl. Oh, trust me, I heard about it because this is
this is just how how it alwayshappened. You know, he got invited
to the Senior Bowl. I didn'the rubs it in my face. He
gets invited to the NFL Combine.I didn't he rubs it in my face.
So I got the last laugh becauseI got drafted before him. You
did one round before, one roundbefore him, and h Garrett always gives
(08:37):
me heck about it because about fiveminutes after I got drafted. It's such
a stressful time when you're going throughthe NFL draft process, and I,
you know, it's truly kind oflike wanting to know where he was at
because I hadn't really paid attention ifhe got drafted yet or anything like that.
So like five minutes after I getdrafted, I texted him like,
hey, he got drafted yet,as if it's not on the TV later
(09:00):
of you. Yeah, no,I'm just sitting in nihilism, you know,
I'm just sitting in absolute nihilism intopravity. And and he's just rubbing
the fact that he just got draftedin my face. And what was your
response to him? Garrett? Ryanand I've always been super super like honoring
to each other, so I meanI think it was probably something just modest.
Oh really, yeah, okay,but I just saw where you were.
(09:20):
I mean, like I was atthe one of the lowest points in
my life waiting to get drafted.I mean, I thought I was going
to go in the third or thefourth round in that draft, and I
ended up getting picked to twenty sevenor something the seventh. So did you
think you were going to go highertoo? Ryan? Yeah. It was
one of those weird things where,you know, I had some of these
quote unquote NFL draft professionals or expertstelling me, you know, some people
(09:41):
had me like a second third roundgrade. Some of these guys had me
at an undrafted free agent. Someguys had me at a just as a
tryout guy. So for me,going through that whole process was chaotic because
I didn't know you know, Iknow, going into the second day,
you know, the second and thirdround, before the draft started, the
offensive line coach, I can't rememberwho it was as eleven years ago,
(10:01):
their offense line coach from the Giantscalled me and it was like, hey,
like be by your phone. Youknow, we have a couple of
picks coming up today. You mightbe gett an opportunity to you know,
be drafted today by us. Solike I'm sitting in this this chaotic moment
where I'm like, could I bea second rounder? Am I a third
rounder? Like? What's going tohappen? And then I didn't get a
single phone call the rest of theday. That anxiety started to really kick
(10:24):
in towards the latter end, intothe fifth round, I started getting a
bunch of calls from different teams.They're like, hey, you know,
we only have two picks left.You know, you're one of the one
of the three guys that we're thinkingabout picking. But you know, if
we don't pick you, we'd loveto have you in as an undrafted free
agent. So I keep receiving thosecalls, and that just caused more anxiety,
(10:45):
and absolutely it was funny. Soit works out because actually got you
ended up getting drafted by Baltimore.But I was just going for a walk
around the block. I just neededto get some fresh air. There are
so many stories like there, likeI just left the house. Yea,
I couldn't stand it anymore. Andmy buddy who was in the Air Force
ended up actually he was living inWashington, DC working at the base down
there, the Air Force base downthere. I got known this guy for
(11:07):
like five or six years, andhe got a new phone like two weeks
before that. All of a sudden, I get this call from Maryland.
So I answered it as some likea block and a half away from my
entire family at this draft party thatwe're having. I'm like, there's no
way I'm going to get drafted andnot be around my family. So I
answer it and I start kind oflike tie tailing it back to the house
and he goes, Hey, what'sup, bro, And I'm like,
who is this? He goes,this is James, Like James, who
(11:31):
He goes Valdez. I'm like,I literally said, I said some explicits
and just hung up on him.And it's just funny because like, at
that moment, that's the moment Ithought I was gonna get drafted, you
know, because it's some random numberfrom from Baltimore in the Maryland area where
you know, I had taken apre drive visit there and they you know,
loved me. They said they weregonna I was gonna get drafted,
(11:52):
and just kind of a matter ofwhen. So when I got that phone
call, yeah, I got alittle excited that. I was like,
oh, it's the Ravens call itand then it was just one of my
buddies from college, and I wasvery disappointed past the time just I mean,
just wrestling in my own crap.I mean, it was horrible.
It was the I mean it really, you know, looking back, you
know, I had conversations with theJets and with San Francisco about third round,
(12:13):
you know, early fourth round andthat ended up like not happening,
you know. And so the hardshipis you live in this place of expectation,
right, So, like you're havingall these relationships, you're building all
these relationships. People are telling youall of this like very you know,
two sided loose commitments. Yeah,they talk out of both sides of their
talk about of both sides of theirmouth. But like you're also living in
the experience of those relationships and likethe real connections that you've had and like
(12:37):
the confidence in it. Then you'resitting in the day of it and like
no call, no call, nocall, right, so like you can't
help, but just like really experiencethe anxiety of it. And so you
got to wrestle with all the internallike intrusive thoughts and you know, all
the challenging you know, is theresomething wrong with me? Like what did
I do? Like what's going on? Yeah? Can I really do this?
Am I supposed to play in theNFL? Am I not? You
(12:58):
know, I mean you just gotto wrestle through all of those thoughts and
all those questions. And it's sucha crapshoot with offensive linemen where they go
and sometimes it just makes no sense. And it's all dependent on a scout.
It's all dependent on what happened inyour combine or no combine or whatever.
Who else is getting drafted before you, right, I mean it's a
it's a constant, you know,Relette table like changing algorithm. You could
be you know, the number tentackle and you know, and if a
(13:22):
wide receiver, you know, somethingunforeseen happens earlier, you know than in
that run. Everything changed changes.Yeah, And that was the crazy thing
about the twenty thirteen draft was theamount offensive linement that we're taken in the
first round. It was like anunheard of Oh I remember that. I
think there was like twelve or thirteenoffensive lineman in the first round. I
know there was six in the topten. So I think you know,
that changed the whole equation of thedraft for these teams because now they're like,
(13:46):
you have these you know, firstgraded first round you know, skill
position players or d lineman or whateverthat are still out there. Now they
have to, you know, changethe whole board. And it's a whole
strategic thing that's way above my uhright, but take one then a whole
bunch of more like wait, whereare we missing out on We're gonna now
we got to start doing that withus too, exactly. So it's crazy.
It is wild, all right.So you Ryan get drafted by the
(14:09):
Ravens, like you said in thesixth round, Garrett, you go to
the Browns in the seventh round asyou start your first season. So Ryan,
you're on the practice squad first year, right, first year, I
was actually on the active roster.You're on active roster. Okay, yeah,
So the second day of training campand something with me and second day
of training camps and getting hurt.But uh, I broke my foot so
I had to have a surgery,had to have a pin putting my fifth
metatars on my left foot. SoI didn't get to go through training camp.
(14:31):
But the Ravens, for for somereason, you know, I think
it goes back to what I wasdoing in OTA's and stuff like that,
actually kept me on the active rosterfor the whole year. I didn't dress
out for any games or anything likethat. It was almost one of those
moments where I felt untouchable, likeI'd made it. You weren't on ir
was on active roster. Wow,So it goes back to like the ego
thing. It like really bolstered myego in a negative fashion, Like I
(14:54):
was like, oh, I'm untouchable, So I kind of stopped working hard
and going into my second year,you know, I was I was like,
oh, I'm good, Like I'ma draft pick here. They always
take care of their draft picks here. And then fast forward six weeks into
training camp and I get cut andthey get put back on practice squad.
That was one of those turning pointsin my career where I was like,
Okay, like this isn't for theweek, Like you have to keep working,
(15:16):
you have to keep moving forward atall times, or like what happened,
I got cut and they'll find somebodyelse that can do it better than
you. It's one of those momentsin my career when I look back,
you know, just finished my eleventhyear. It's one of those those turning
points in my career. You neededthat. You needed that because by the
end of your time then with them, you were starting yep. So it
was one of those one of thosethings where sometimes you need to get plunched
in the face to realign your wholeprocess, your outlook on how you were,
(15:39):
how you're playing, how you're operatingday in and day out. So
it was one of those things thatyou know, at the time, it's
you know, you're getting your heartripped out because you're you feel like you're
losing your dream. But then it'swhat you do with those those situations,
how you how you act. Youcan either run into the storm or you
can run away from it. AndI chose to run directly into it,
and obviously it paid off a littlebit, a lot of bit. Garrett,
(16:00):
you have your first year with theBrowns and did you sign a four
year deal? Yeah? That wasan active roster guy, Okay, you
know, just wasn't able to holdon to the crest. You know,
in my different opportunities to be astarter. I played an ever game as
a as a rookie. My secondyear, my coach you drafted me in
Cleveland, went down to Tampa afterCleveland cleaned the staff, everyone got canned.
Yeah and uh, and so awhole new regime can And who's whose
(16:25):
guy were you who went to Tampathat then brought you George warhawt Okay.
Yeah, this is a business whereif you're somebody's guy, you're going with
them. You're going with them,you're going with them, Yeah, they'll
take care of you if you're not. If you're not, forget it exactly.
It doesn't matter how good you are, what you have. I mean,
it's like, if you're not someone'sguy, you're out. So George
is a great friend of mine stillto this day. I mean, he's
a mentor father figure for me.You know, I talked to him last
week. But he's a he's anamazing coach. That's great. And then
(16:48):
how long in Tampa, Garrett?My second year in Tampa is when I
tore my ACL man CL and thenI finished out my contract with them,
but just on injured reserve, okay, and then you couldn't pass a physical
I think that next year, right, correct, I mean because I needed
another surgery. Yeah. So Ihad surgery to fix my acl AMCL and
then it took me like and honestly, it took me like two years to
(17:08):
recover from it. Oh my goodness. Yeah, super long recovery. And
by that point, you know,as already focused in the growth of the
firm. Yeah, what are yougoing to do next? Exactly? Yeah,
and when did you start going backto school? As soon as I
got hurt? I you know,I went back and started my master's degree,
so I was still technically on theBuccaneers you know, payroll, and
I you know, started my firstmaster's degree. So I got my master's
(17:29):
degree in engineering and then started myMBA, you know, all the while
I was still a player, andthen got my GC license and my plumbing
license. Oh my gosh. Verysmart, and that is tough, I
think to have that forward thinking.So many guys, I think so many
athletes in general will think I'm goingto come back, I'm going to give
it another shot, and once thatinjury kicks in, it's so hard once
you take your eye off the ball, right, It's like such a quintessential
(17:51):
saying, but it's true. Yeah, the reason we get and have gotten
to where we've gotten to is becauseof the relentless pursuit to achieve and chase
after something. You know. Forme, a lot of my career in
the NFL was in a lot ofdegrees my own ego as it relates to
the challenges that I have. Butthen also like there's a very real political
component too, you know, andso once I saw a lot of it
being taken out of my hands,you know, it was easy for me
(18:11):
to recognize the writing on the walleven with their being time left, you
know, and then just transition thesame kind of work ethic and grit and
passion into the real estate, youknow, construction industry, right, and
we're going to get to that.It's a business that you, as a
player have zero control over except foryour own production. Zero. That's all
(18:32):
you can do, and then it'sup to everybody else what your fate is.
Yeah, definitely, it's a youhave to fight your fight your butt
off because there's a younger guy,bigger guy, stronger guy, more athletic
guy that's always coming behind you thatthey're trying to they're trying to find,
you know, the front office.You know, they have a job,
and their job is to replace you. You know. Eventually that's something you
have to live with. Then youhave to live knowing it to production league
(18:55):
and if you're not producing, guesswhat, they're going to find somebody that's
going to produce and lay better thanyou and bring more to the team.
So, I know a lot ofguys struggle with that aspect of it.
It's hard because you think you've madeit and then all of a sudden.
You know, you might be astarter for a year and then they draft
a kit in the first round thatplays your position, and it's like,
oh, this is a business,and it's just something that a lot of
(19:15):
guys psychologically can't handle. Well,we talked about Ryan, how that moment
for you paid off in the longrun. After your final year with the
Ravens, you sign a contract withthe Bucks and you become the highest paid
center in the NFL. At thatpoint, it paid off and it had
that mind shift. Yeah, definitely, it was a it was a battle.
You know. I didn't become afull time starter until my fifth year
in the NFL. And it wasn'tone of those guys where I was a
(19:37):
day one starter. You know.I was hoping to have a job,
you know, working to have ajob after every training camp for my first
four years, and then finally gotan opportunity, and you know, for
me, that was the biggest thing. So I just need an opportunity.
I just need to show them whatI can do, who I can be,
what kind of player I can be. And yeah, I went and
finished my fifth year in Baltimore,starting all sixteen games, going into an
(19:57):
unrestricted free agent year, like youmentioned, end up signing the biggest contract
for a center in the history ofNFL, which still is unbelievable to me.
Like I started one season, youknow, I'm getting this huge deal,
and you know, sometimes that's that'swhat the NFL is about, is
about that timing. You know,I remember my agent, I'm frustrated my
third and fourth year because I've startedsome games and I'm playing well, but
(20:18):
then they benched me for whatever politicalreason, for whatever that is, and
I'm like bitter, I'm angry,and my agent's like, hey, listen,
Like when you get a true opportunityand you go and take it,
you're gonna have less miles on yourbody, You're gonna have less wear and
tear, and you can be atit and you're gonna be in your prime
when you get this opportunity from ahealth standpoint, and you just got to
(20:38):
take it. And you know,that's what ended up happening. In my
fifth year, started all sixteen games, and really that's when I kind of
started getting noticed for more of youknow, who I was as a player,
the way I play the game,and you know, then obviously signed
down in Tampa and my first yearin Tampa. I kind of I reverted
back to that second year. Aftermy rookie year, I was like,
oh, I've made it. Ican relax, and I go down to
(21:03):
Tampa my first year and I playeddecent, but not well enough for what
they're paying me. Did you hearabout that? I definitely heard about it.
You know, there was I wascoached my first year in Tampa by
George Warhap as well, and youknow he you know, he always pushed
me, and he's like, youshould be a pro bol, you should
be a Pro Bowl or you know, your mindset's not right, this,
that and the other. And youknow, for me, this whole transition
from Baltimore to Tampa was like thiscrazy existential crisis for me, Like I'm
(21:29):
a very much a person who likesregiment and the very next thing, so
like uprooting my entire life just afterhaving my first son, and we have
my son, this free agent craziness. Now we're buying a house in Tampa.
Like I was mentally, I waslike all over the place. I
was drowning a little bit. Andyou know, I went and played my
first year. I was overweight,I wasn't training like I should have been.
(21:51):
I played well, but not notup to the standard that was expected.
And that was another one of thosemoments in my life where I'm like,
you have this opportunity, don't squanderit away because if I played like
this next year, they're gonna cutme. Oh yeah, they don't care.
They don't care. I had twoyears of guaranteed money, so it's
great to get that money, butif you're not performing, you're gonna hear
about it a hundred percent. Soso yeah, I ended up playing out.
You know, my four years,my first deal with Tampa, you
(22:14):
know, won a super Bowl,Tom Brady Center. Yeah, it was
It was crazy. It was justa crazy journey of you know, when
I signed down in Tampa, youknow at that time, not very good
football team. You know, alot of talent, but can't win games.
Last person I ever thought I wouldbe snapping a football too in Tampa
Bay was Tom Brady. You know, he comes in and we won a
super Bowl. The next year,we get the divisional round. Should have
won that game, come back againstthe Rams and Cooper Cup, famous post
(22:37):
route. Yeah. But but yeah, then that next part of me,
because I was going into an understrictedfree agent year. Tampa hadn't extended me
up, so there was a lotof uncertainty going into that moment. You
know, Tom had retired and thenunretired and you know, really made that
decision easy for me to come backto Tampa. You know, they ended
up taking care of me again ona three year deal. Yeah, it
(22:59):
was, it was. It's beena crazy, crazy journey, it has.
And that was in twenty twenty two. But you ended up going on
IR again that year, right,Yeah, So in training camp, Yeah,
so training camp at twenty two.On the second day, not even
pads, We're in a two minutedrill, I'm getting bowl rushed by Vida
ve And for people that don't knowhow big Vita is, he's about six
four, about three seventy, butathletic and strong as an ox. So
(23:22):
I'm posting him up on a bowlrush and unfortunately had a player on the
defensive side of the ball trip andfall into my braceleg and ended up turning
my MCO, my PCO, myaco, my moniscus. I had a
fracture in my fibula, so muchcartilage damage. It was one of those
moments in my career. I'd alwaysbeen a pretty healthy guy, like you
(23:44):
know, we get our Nixon bruises, torn ligaments in your ankles, stuff
like that, stuff you can playwith. So that was like my first
time really going through an injury,a debilitating injury, which is hard,
which is which is really hard.You know. That was really the first
time where I felt like I wasactually like a very important part of the
team because for me, I justalways had that mindset like just go to
(24:07):
work, Go throw people to theground, go do your job, Like
that's what I did. I didn'twant to recognize for it. It is
just like that's just why I playedthe game. But I remember coming out
of the doctor's office at the trainingroom right after practices got over. You
know, I had to get cartedoff. I couldn't walk and crutching out
of the doctor's office in the trainingroom, and the entire front office was
standing outside, uh sorry, standingoutside the office, and I remember just
(24:37):
locking eyes with Jason Light who's theGM, and he's got this hope in
his eye that like, please don'tbe hurt like bad at least, and
I just remember looking at him andjust shaking my head and looking at the
ground, and you know that was. That was a moment for me where
I was like, wow, likeone, they care about me as a
as a as a person, butalso as a player, and like how
important I was to the organization.It was. It was tough. It
(25:00):
was another one of those mental battlesand you go from you know, being
this so called elite athlete to youcan't hit walk anymore. Like it's a
mentally draining aspect, and yeah itwas. It was tough. But again,
you know, I cried, Ihad my sorrow, I had my
anger, my bitterness. But thenit's just like all right, well,
(25:21):
time to get back to work.And one hundred and twenty nine days after
I had that injury, I endedup starting in a playoff game. Probably
shouldn't have, you know, lookingback on it, but it was one
of those things where I felt that'swhat I needed to do to prove to
myself who I was as a player, as a as a man, And
you know, it was it wascrazy. It was an unbelievable journey through
(25:44):
that year. Yeah no kidding,I didn't know that you played in that
playoff game. Yeah, so weended up losing against Dallas was Tom's last
game. It was tough, okay, and then you come back in twenty
twenty three and are you still havingproblems? Yeah? So, you know,
craziest thing about my whole thing isI had a completely torn MCL.
I was interstitial, so I didn'tpull off the bone, but it was
just the internal of my MCL.I tore my ACL but it was barely
(26:07):
hanging on by a thread. Mymoniscus tore and flipped in a fashion they
called a bucket handle tear, butit was actually like an inverted bucket handle
tear, which is apparently super rare. So you go through all the doctors,
you know, I had like eightor nine different surgeons. Eight of
them were like, yeah, youneed full need reconstruction. And then I
met one of my doctors and he'slike, he goes, I really don't
(26:30):
think you need surgery. He's like, I've seen this injury this way before
he goes either way. At thispoint, your career is in jeopardy.
I remember, you know, afterI went got my MRIs and I came
back, Bobby Slater, who's ourhead athletic trainer, me and him have
a very close relationship. I remembertalking to Bobby and he just goes hey,
man, like this might end yourcareer as a high performance athlete.
(26:51):
The last thing you want to hearis like, hey, you might be
done. So talking with my surgeon, we did't end up doing surgery,
but yeah, everything healed. MyACL healed, my MCL held, my
PCL healed. You know, mymoniscus is still flipped, but it's not
in a place where it's causing anydeficit and range of motion. But the
thing Bobby told me, he goes, I'm worried about the cartilage damage and
(27:12):
that was the biggest issue. Andgoing into the twenty three season, I
was feeling pretty good. I trainedall off season like I hadn't trained in
years to get ready for training camp. And you know, we start me
off slow during training camp and Istart getting pain and it's starting to hurt,
and it feels like a toothache inmy lateral compartment in my knee,
and I'm like, come on,like I can fight through this, but
(27:33):
let's go get an MRI just tosee what's going on, make sure nothing
kicked loose or anything like that.And talking with Bobby, I was like,
hey, I was going to goget a PRP shop at the doctor's
office, and I had had anMRI the day before. I go into
Bobby's office. I'm like, Hey, how did my MRI look? And
he goes, I haven't looked atit. He was lying to me.
He goes, hey, I'm goingto meet you up at the doctor's office
because we had to drive about twentyminutes north of Tampa to go and get
(27:56):
this in the house. At thatmoment, I knew, I'm like,
he's seen it. I know he'sseen it. So I walk into the
doctor's office and I beat Bobby bya couple of minutes, and my MRI
is just up on the screen.And at that point I watched diagnose.
I've been looking at MRIs for thelast year, and I just saw all
the white. So essentially, youknow, we get there and we're talking
(28:18):
with the team ortho and Bobby's inthere and he goes, hey, we
can shoot you up with PRP.We can give you pain medication, pain
management. He goes, you're goingto miss games from swelling and pain.
He goes, you'll be lucky toplay ten or eleven games this year,
And the Ortho was just like,I'm more concerned about you in ten fifteen
years listen if you play, hegoes, You know, I know you're
(28:38):
pain tolerant. She have very highpain tolerant. You'll gut through it.
He goes, I'm worried if ifyou play, you're going to need a
near place when you're forty. Andfor me, that was a punch,
like right in the gut. Andit hurt because before you even said that,
like looking at my MRI, I'mlike, yeah, this isn't good.
(28:59):
And you know, it took sometime, just me and Bobby in
the room talking and it was justone of those we made the decision to
not play this year, and youknow it sucked, but such as such
as life in the NFL. Youknow, you not very many players who
played for a long time walk outon their own accord in that type of
aspect of things, And yeah,you don't get your fairy tale ending,
you know. I remember when theRams won the Super Bowl in twenty two
(29:22):
and when he retired Whitworth, hehad that opportunity with his kids on the
field to say, hey, thatwas the last game daddy's ever going to
play in. Like players, especiallywhen you have kids, you dream of
that moment of being able to endit on a high note like that CONTI
in the confetti and your family runningaround and the excitement and stuff like that.
So you know, there for along I felt robbed. I felt
(29:44):
robbed of that, Like I gaveeverything I had to this game, and
at the end of the day,the game stabbed me in the back.
As dark as that sounds, justthat it's true and that moment, that's
the way I felt, you know. Obviously, you know, after reflection
and working through those emotions, likeI look back on my eleven years that
I've played and the amount of blessingsthat have coming out of that, it's
just it's amazing. Yeah, elevenyears, I mean, that's the shelf
(30:04):
life is Garrett, right, youknow, I mean even you know it's
three years maybe sometimes if you're lucky. Yeah, I mean I was above
average. Yeah, it was short, it is. And so who did
you rely on? You guys werestill connected obviously because you were down in
Tampa too, So you your timedidn't cross as players in Tampa, right,
No, I didn't, It didn'tcross. I came down in twenty
(30:25):
eighteen, and I think his lastyear was sixteen or seventeen year. Okay,
but you were still in the area. Yeah, yeah, so I
had you know, Homestead, didn'tput a personal residence there, and yeah,
basically got into the business community there. And did you guys hang out
then when you were playing? Didyou keep the friendship going pretty strong?
You must have. Yeah, definitely. We always stayed really close in touch.
And then you know, the timingand of me coming down to Tampa
and him still being in Tampa.It was just like one of those things
(30:47):
like kind of everything came full circlewith our with our relationship. Now we
can hang out and then be closerto each other. Absolutely. So when
did and you guys are in abusiness together, now, when did that
start to form? And then tellme more about what you guys are doing
and now it's moving from Tampa toColorado, which is very cool. Yeah.
So about three and a half yearsago, I was in the process
(31:07):
of a land acquisition in Evergreen herein Colorado, where I had an opportunity
to buy six hundred acres off offmarket and just a small piece of just
a small piece of land and justa postage stamp. Yeah, exactly.
And I didn't know what I wasdoing. It was off market, you
know, got a little fishy therefor a little bit just in language and
look at the contract. So youknow, I flew Garritt out, had
(31:30):
him look at the house that wascurrently on the property, wanting to you
know, potentially remodel that home orwhatnot. And you know, we ended
up tearing half the house down andwe're in the process of constructing our dream
home. And you know, throughthat whole process, I really fell in
love with construction and the process behindit. You know, as football players,
we have such a process with everythingthat we do. Yes, the
construction industry and design build really hassome very similar processes and checks and balances,
(31:56):
and you know, kind of fellin love with it. And we'd
always kind of joked around going intobusiness together, whether it be you know,
construction or which is whatever, justtwo buds that you know, created
a business together. And after somediscussion, after how well we integrated,
you know, his checks and balanceswith the company out here in Colorado at
a from a satellite position, we'relike, why don't we just expand out
(32:17):
to Colorado? Why don't we expandnationally? And you know that's when we
got into discussion about becoming partners.That's awesome. Garrett, how did it
go for you? Yeah, Imean it it was your business to start
with, right, I was okay, Yeah. So, you know,
I grew up in My sister wentto school for inter design and architecture,
and I was super inspired by herand my dad who went to school for
(32:37):
architecture, you know. And sowhen I was in transition, I had
some amazing mentors who were in realestate, real estate development and in the
high end design build world. AndI was exposed to some pretty high end
homebuilders that are now my competitors,and they just shared their perspective and their
philosophy. It was really this likeextension of the offensive linemen to the market
(32:58):
into the marketplace, which is thislike deep advocate owners rep shields, shepherd
really vulnerable people who are leading inlike really complex decisions like building a multimillion
dollar custom home, who need somebodywho can actually shepherd the process, lead
the process and protect them from theindustry's you know, volatile trade relationships and
(33:19):
kind of unethical practices. Ryan andI both have our own journeys of going
through the processes like construction consumers andthen being objectified, being seen as a
transaction, being seen as just adollar sign being seen as just the big
dumb football players who have a tonof money, so therefore you can take
advantage of us financially, you know. And so out of that experience for
me, and also just the relationalway in which I live in terms of
(33:42):
just like really enjoying being around tradesguys and you know, just like people
in the industry, I really enjoybeing around the blue collar kind of like
workforce. You know. I tookthat inspiration from some of my mentors with
the education that I had, andyou know, the reality that like,
hey, if you just have deposablethumbs and you just like call people back,
you should probably be okay in themarket. Yeah, you know,
and so and so out of thatcame this now nationally expanding brand of really
(34:09):
really cool design build We've taken onand done some really really amazing projects,
and we continue to do some reallyamazing projects. And so when Ryan brought
me out here, I was supernervous, right, I mean, I
was like, the last thing Iwanted to do was screw up one of
my best friends homes. Let alone, get into something with somebody and end
up, like, you know,just like each other. Hating each other
(34:29):
and it growing up. So I'vebeen in my own journey of just really
continuing to learn relationship and surrender andjust like leadership dynamics as we've kind of
joined forces. But it has beena really really cool opportunity to continue to
to kind of shepherd again some reallycool complex projects start to work together and
really now take the kind of likethe joint brand of who we are in
(34:50):
our backgrounds to the marketplace, youknow, and it's proving to be something
that's the story of who we areand why we do what we do is
something that continues to be desirable andattractive for people to listen to here to
be a part of. We justdeeply believe in being able to kind of
like wedge the gap between people whoare our high net worth you know,
people in the sports entertainment world whoneed complex projects done built, you know,
(35:14):
designed and built. And we havebuilt this amazing business model that basically
has no baried entry with trade relationshipsbecause of who Ryan and I are.
And then on top of that,you know, forty employees later, we
have an amazing architectural team and anamazing design team, and we also can
design and build really really well.You know, so we're not just like
two NFL players, two x NFLguys who are like getting into business,
(35:35):
Like we really are a team ofgifted designers, architects and builders. That
is awesome. And you know youbrought up the dumb football player. Offensive
lineman never get enough credit for howinsanely smart they have to be. And
especially and I've talked to a coupleof centers. You're the first one that
touches the ball every single time,and you've got to know what everybody's doing
at all times. And so Ithink that you know, that mentality of
(35:57):
oh, you're just a big olddumb football player illusion. It is an
illusion because you're just not. Andthe studying that goes into it, and
like you said, the process ofwhat Garrett was doing is very similar to
football. I mean, it's gameplanning, it's studying, it's looking at
at so many process constant variables.I mean, our our minds, we
don't realize it until you're out.Our minds are really really really complex processors,
(36:20):
especially as offensive lineman, whether you'rea center or you're like a guard
or a tackle that does a lotof language and you're playing like you have
to be able to process super supercomplex puzzles in real time very quick,
very quickly, very quickly. Lessthan two seconds. Yeah, you know,
it's a second. You know,you break the huddle normally you want
to be out of the huddle withyou know, with eighteen seconds left on
the play clock, you know,and takes a couple of seconds to get
(36:40):
to the line, and you knowyou're processing what the defense is doing.
Are they in single high? Arethey in too high? They in zone
coverage? You know, are theyan under defense and over defense? Are
they in jam? Like? Where'sthe linebackers, where's the mike? Like
it's there's a lot you have toprocess within you know, really five seconds
of getting up to the line becausewe have to get down, we have
to get communicated where people are going. And then you know, the ball
(37:01):
snapped and then it's okay, whathappened in the play, flush it back
in the huddle, new play,and it's just a grinch repeat and it's
uh, it's very complex just fromyou know, analyzing you know, what's
in front of you very quickly tomake sure you're making the right communication,
making the right calls and getting everybodyon the same page. And it's pretty
complicated. And you know a lotof times when you have a good offensive
(37:22):
line, I'll say in twenty intwenty one, when we when we won
the Super Bowl, those in thelast two years, I was fully playing
with the team, like we hadsuch smart people on the offensive line.
We had me who you know,was directing everybody. But he got to
the point where we built such arapport that we didn't have to say anything
anymore because we had that trust factor, that trust factor that the guy next
(37:42):
to you knew exactly what he wasdoing. I would make the bank point,
wouldn't have to tell anybody where togo, and everybody just communicated and
boom, ready to go. Itwas it was uh was that the year
that three of you went to thePro Bowl? That was twenty one?
Was it was me, Ali,Marpett and Tristan Wursch And that's I mean
to have three offensive linemen go tothe Pro Bowl. Yeah, and we
had our right guard Alex Kappa,who's with Cincinnati now. He was an
(38:04):
alternate, So we really could havepotentially had four offens alignment in the Pro
Bowl, which is pretty amazing.That is amazing. Yeah, so where
do we go from here? Guys, you're going to be getting going in
Colorado. You've renamed, You've rebrandedthe company just recently to GILK. What's
next. Our goal is to beout here and just to continue to build
relationships and foster relationships the right designers, the right architects, the right engineers,
and the right clients. We arereally really committed to doing really cool
(38:28):
projects for really amazing people, youknow, and so we take the story
of our vulnerability and we lead withthat as we identify with people who share
similar risks. We want to continueto just plant roots here and open the
doors to really cool opportunities. Andwe're here to do the community, do
the environment well, and also usethe gifts and the resources that we have
to you know, design and buildsome really cool stuff. I love it
(38:51):
and you're coming home. Yeah,So you know, Colorado's home for me
obviously, born and raised here.So it's exciting to see what as a
company, as a brand, whatwe're doing and bringing that this area to
home to you know, hopefully bringalong a great product, but also you
know, have it be something thatpeople enjoy doing with us. You know,
home building is such an intimate relationshipwith your client are saying are for
(39:15):
our company is building dreams and transforminglives, and that comes from you know,
obviously we're we're home builders. We'rebuilding dream homes. We're transforming their
lives within the people that you knoware going to be living in those homes.
But also like for us, we'revery outward in the community with helping
you know, in Tampa and hopefullyonce we get into Colorado we'll do the
(39:35):
similar things. We work with alot of nonprofits, with men who have
been incarcerated, men who have comeoff of you know, addiction issues,
and bringing those people into our environmentand uplifting them. You know. So,
yeah, we're transforming lives of theclients that we serve, but also
we want to serve our employees andbring them along with us. These these
men and women who otherwise might nothave done a second, third, fourth,
(39:58):
fifth chance, and that's just somethingwe enjoy, you know, Garrett
had mentioned like love spending time withour labor force contractor our contract like those
are some of the best people I'veever met. They have stories of downfall
and you know, now we canhelp and put a handout to help them.
You know, be the phoenix risingout of the ashes, and it's
just it's amazing what we've been ableto do. The foundation that Garrett is
(40:21):
set within the company to be ableto do those kind of things, It's
it's amazing. That's why I loveit too. I do, you know,
a ton of charity work with veteranoutreach and stuff like that. So
being able to do that with youknow, the local community, with men
and women who have struggled in theirlife to you know, bring them along
with us, That's that's just whereour heart's at. That's cool. All
right, last question for each ofyou, and I'll have each of you
answer on your own here. SoI'll start with you, Garrett, and
(40:44):
I ask all my guests about thisabout what your advice is to people when
they are at that low. WhenI mean you had it as a as
a kid and getting bullied, andthen you had it in the NFL where
you're like, all right, mydream's done. What now? So what
do you tell people? I've hadit year over end in business. The
thing that I think most NFL offensivelinemen and giant giant dudes are not going
(41:05):
to say, which is feel it. One of the primary issues that men
face in our world is feeling theiremotions and sitting in and experiencing their emotions.
You can pretty much tie just aboutevery issue to most issues that men
have to not knowing how to sit, process and experience what they are inside.
Yeah, I think go down withit, like be willing to go
down with it and not feel theneed to not feel the need to escape
(41:29):
it. There's always a lesson,there's always a you know, we're all
on journeys, we're all trying tofigure this out. We're all trying to
walk this out together and do thebest that we can as we unravel ourselves
and as we figure out who weare, you know, And so let
yourself go down to the bottom ofthe pit, you know, because it's
at the bottom of the pit thatI think light shines the brightest. And
it's in those moments that I thinkwe have the greatest direction and clarity.
(41:50):
Find somebody who can sit with youas you go down. Don't pull somebody
into it, you know, like, don't pull someone into your mess.
But but but find that but somethingyou consid in it with you, you
know, like allow yourself to experienceall of it because it's what shapes us
into the men women of integrity,faith, passion, compassion, mercy,
grace, all of it that Ithink our world needs, you know,
(42:13):
So if we can live in thatexample, with the images that we have
standing behind us, that's there's noexcuse for anyone else not to. That's
awesome. Ryan. I don't knowhow I'm supposed to on top that that,
but but for me, something Ialways tell, you know, whether
it's it's guys that are in theNFL that are struggling, you know,
within their career path, or justthe average person. You know, we
all deal with crap every day.There's always punches getting thrown, and I
(42:37):
always kind of explain it this way. You have your victories and have your
losses. For me, I alwayswhether it's done a football game or in
life, you you learn more fromyour losses and being able to differentiate where
you're at in this loss and beingable to really work and learn from what
got you to that point, becauseeverybody loves you when you're when you're winning
(43:00):
in the sports world and the realworld and whatever in your everyday life.
You know, everybody loves a winner, and you don't learn as much you
get to that point and you're like, oh, I made it. Where
when you're down at your lowest point, like you learn so much more about
who you are as a person,who you are to your core. Like
my experiences, like when I gothurt, like I was so bitter,
(43:21):
I was so angry, But throughthat whole thing, I learned so much
more about myself than I realized whenI was winning and I was this elite
athlete and I was this and that, Like I learned more in two days
of me being hurt about who Iam as a man, who I am
as a person, and how doI grow from this opportunity? You know,
(43:42):
losses aren't an end all. Youknow, you learn and you can
grow from what happened to you whenwhen what got you to that position of
loss or frustration or anger or failureor any of that. And for me,
it's just learn from it. Yougot to learn because you know,
if you don't like being in thatposition, learn and what caused you to
be in that position in your everydaylife. So that's always my two cents
(44:05):
towards guys, especially in you know, the NFL, when they're kind of
struggling their career or whatever. It'slike, Hey, listen, you're learning
more about yourself and in these moments, whether it be from your profession or
who you are as a person.Like, you learn more when you're in
these valleys of life than you dolearn who are your friends and who are
your supporters when you're in those lowspots too, which I think is really
important because I think when you dowin and everything's great, everybody loves you
(44:28):
and you don't know who really trulyloves you until you're way down there,
and that's an anxiety. You know, most NFL players live in and everyday
life is. It's sad, butyou can't always trust everybody that says they
have good intentions for you, becausewhen it's over, the true colors will
show. Well, that's why yougot to, you know, protect yourself.
Yeah, once you're done play andthey're like, oh you don't play
anymore, Okay, the check stopcoming in and all of a sudden people
(44:50):
start leaving. Yeah, guys,this was fantastic. Thanks for coming in
and best of luck. Will getlinks up and things like that so people
can connect to the company and findout more. But it was really fun
to have you both in and todo the first dual episode. I think
we did. Okay. I waslike, how do I how do I
make this work? So it's notconfusing? But yeah, yeah, you
guys look like brothers, but atleast you sound enough different that people can
(45:13):
tell who's who. Right, Yeah, he's the smart one. He's here,
you know, literates a little bits. No no, no, no,
all right, Ryan, Garrett,thank you so much. I appreciate
it. Thank you, thank you. Thanks Ryan and Garrett. That was
a lot of fun. New episodesHave, Cut, Traded, Fired,
Retired are released on Tuesdays on nearlyevery podcast platform. Please follow, download,
and review this podcast wherever you listento podcasts. You can get social
(45:36):
and find out about new episodes onTwitter and Instagram at ctf our podcast and
also check out the website ctfurpodcast dotcom. To find out more about me,
visit Susiewargen dot com. Thank youagain for listening, and until next
time, please be careful, besafe, and be kind. Take care
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