Latest / Morning Joe with Gibrón / 50-Yard Line Mom Jo Ann Pugh, Football Players Health Study at Harvard University

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50-Yard Line Mom Jo Ann Pugh, Football Players Health Study at Harvard University · Morning Joe with Gibrón

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: This is Jabron Williams, founder of OVA Marketing Consultants and
• 0:06
  host of Morning Joe with Jabron, had a great opportunity
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  to sit down with Joanne Pugh, better known as the
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  fifty yard Line Mom. We discussed the importance of health
• 0:19
  and well being for student and professional athletes. We discussed
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  also her book The fifty yard Line Mom, one Mom's
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  Journey through the NFL and beyond. In this first segment,
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  we talk about what does it mean to be an
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  advocate and what does that really look like. What is
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  the importance of being an advocate for your student athlete
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  or your professional athlete. I know you've been working with
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  the football players Health Study at Harvard University, and you know,
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  what do you think are some of the most important
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  insights that you've learned about nurturing young athletes.
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  Speaker 2: The most important thing is to start very very early.
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  And I believe that when I say starting very early
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  as being an advocate for those athletes, because at a
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  very young age, their thought process is about the game,
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  and whether that's football or whether that's basketball, whether it's baseball,
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  their major focus is the game, and it's what do
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  I need to do to be successful? So I could
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  get on the field or on the court. So I
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  think when we're looking at it from a parent standpoint,
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  guardian standpoint, coach standpoint, we really need to start nursingship
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  and women that are athletes to really be self advocates
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  for their own health and well being for their bodies,
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  to know when enough is enough to have the courage
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  and permission to say no, I'm going to set out
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  recognizing that there may be short term consequences for that
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  the long term gain. So I think that that's very,
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  very important, and I think it's important for the family
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  member or with the mom, the dad, the guardian, and
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  they know that they have the rights to advocate for
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  their child and really educating them, Educating them on the
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  what is not discouraging, and I think there's a fine
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  line there, but just to educate them on the what
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  is so that they have the information, correct information to
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  be able to successfully guide and then nurture that career
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  path or that journey, no matter how long or short
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  it is for their young young daughter or young son.
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  Speaker 1: Joe Anne goes on to talk about what happens on
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  the field and what she learned from the field that
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  not only affects the players, but also the family. You
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  being the mother former NFL safety Jordan Pugh and is
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  playing with the Carolina Panthers Washington football team for you
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  know previously the Washington Redskins and the New Orleans Saints.
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  You've you've been on the field, and I know from
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  previous conversations you didn't miss it too many games. If
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  any what what did you gain from being on the field.
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  Speaker 2: I would say the insider knowledge. You know, I will
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  tell you that, first of all, it's a journey, and
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  you're absolutely correct. My husband and I both were at
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  every single game and that was from the time he
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  was playing pee wee ball through high school, through college
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  and the pros and being what would be termed the
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  helicopter moth that I am. I was there even for
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  the preseason games.
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  Speaker 3: Wow.
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  Speaker 2: And so what I learned were a couple of things.
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  I learned about the business of athletics, and I will
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  say good, the bad, and sometimes not so good. I
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  learned about the passion that these young men have for
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  the game and what they're willing to do, the sacrifice
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  that they're willing to make, the intensity that they take
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  in training and preparing their bodies and giving the best
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  that they can on and off the field. Also learned
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  about teamwork. If there's nothing I don't think, I think
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  sports is probably one of the greatest examples of really
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  understand standing what it means to come together as a
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  team to accomplish a goal. And then I also learned
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  what it takes to really help to support And I'll
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  go back to what you said just a minute ago.
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  Nurture is young men and women throughout that journey. And
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  when I say what it takes, what it takes in
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  terms of preparation, in terms of mental mental work for
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  the mom or for that parent, because it takes a toll,
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  I mean, and it's a physical toll as well, when
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  we were traveling to all of the games while working
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  full time jobs. And then also the need to really
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  not give oversight to the rest of the family. And
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  I'm speaking specifically about the sibling because oftentimes when you
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  have actutes are very very good at what they do,
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  a lot of attention is focused on them and trying
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  to make sure that they are very, very successful, and
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  there are times that the sil sibling is kind of
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  moved to the side. And I will say that we
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  worked hard to try not to do that. But there
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  were times that I know, Jordan has a sister, and
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  there were times that I can definitely say that we
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  could have done a little bit more in terms of
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  just making sure that she was included and not that
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  she was not. But then you think back and you
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  go back over all of those years and you think, oh,
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  my goodness, there could have been a greater opportunity. And
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  also with the extended family, there would be times that
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  we would go to an event and it's a family
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  event and everyone gravitated towards Jordan's.
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  Speaker 1: You didn't leave her on the bus or anything like that,
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  leave her in the car.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, no, And she had her events and one of
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  the things that we tried to do to nurture that along.
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  You know, I say that when you look back, you
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  think maybe there could have been other opportunities to try
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  to engage her more. I expected because she went to
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  most of the games. You know, that was a part
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  of how we raised both of them, that she support
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  each other. And it worked both ways because when Jordan
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  was not playing and she was involved in activity, he
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  was expected to support her and attend those activities. But
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  those are some of the things to ask answer your question.
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  Those are some of the things that I really learned
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  throughout the whole journey that first of all, it's a
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  family affair, that every member of that family is impacted,
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  and that once that career on the field or the
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  court is over, then there's still a transition period.
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  Speaker 1: That there's a transition after football, after the game, after
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  the professional sport. Joanne tells us what that transition looks
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  like and.
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  Speaker 3: How to be prepared. Often sports is a way to
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  stay in shape.
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  Speaker 1: You go to the gym, you know, you're, you're, you're, you're,
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  you're doing this to stay in shape.
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  Speaker 3: And then you if you enjoy.
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  Speaker 1: It, football, baseball, soccer, you know, boxing, the list goes on,
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  you know, but at the flip of a coin, your
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  health could be impact.
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  Speaker 3: It could lead to health.
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  Speaker 1: Issues, and you know, whether that's during your time, you know,
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  or with.
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  Speaker 3: The CTE, it could be after your career.
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  Speaker 1: What what kind of advice would you give for parents
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  and guardians after.
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  Speaker 2: As a mom, I always wanted to prepare Jordan for
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  life after the game, and my view on that was
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  playing football is clan B tell me which plan A
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  is and that has to start very very early. I
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  think you raise a good point when you're talking about
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  that transition, and the transition doesn't necessarily have to start
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  after someone's reached the pro level. I think you are
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  aware of statistics around athletes going pro. You've got about
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  one percent of all college athletes that will ever reach
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  and I'm speaking more specifically to football that will ever
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  reach that pro level. But if you get to the
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  collegiate level and then that and that is where your
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  career ends, there's a transition because you think about all
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  the years prior that you were dedicated and focused on,
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  for the most part, a lot of these young men
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  one thing, and that was playing the game. So I
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  think it's incumbent upon parents to really share with their
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  young man the other things that they're good at. You know,
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  we would share with Jordan, Jordan, you're an excellent athlete,
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  but you know you're a really good speaker. Yeah, we
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  would really like to see you kind of hone that
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  skill a bit, just other little things that you can
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  pick up within that child that you can kind of
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  nurture and plant that seed. Because to your point, most
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  of these athletes, particularly football players, are one play away
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  from losing their career. The other piece of that when
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  we talk about injury, I think that's a building block
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  of being. You know, earlier I said self advocacy. It's
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  knowing your body and not pushing your body to the limits.
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  And I think that that's improving. I think when we
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  look at athletics today and particularly football, I'm seeing more
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  of these young men look here, you know, I realize
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  that what the stats are, I've got maybe two years
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  to five years to play this game. So I think
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  they're becoming a bit more conscious about their body and
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  the ability to really pace themselves. However, I think one
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  of the challenging things is that they know that if
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  they're not out there performing, they can lose their livelihood,
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  and for many of them that it is their livelihood
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  and you have families, children, or you know, others to
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  help support. So I think knowing that there is opportunity
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  outside of the game to do something else as key,
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  and I believe that has to be nurtured during the
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  whole career path. I remember watching a p interview and
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  I believe it was Michael Irghan. I think it was
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  one of those thirty thirty type interviews on Sports Channel,
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  and he was talking about when he played in college
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  that that was all he knew. He did not know
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  what he would do if he could not play football,
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  and that was one of the things that I never
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  really wanted to hear from Jordan. I don't know what
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  I would do if I couldn't play football. And so
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  that was the reason why that we as a family
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  just really try to encourage when the season was over,
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  go out and do something else. For Jordan, a bit
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  of that was speaking and doing some broadcasting. But it's
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  a wonderful opportunity to have great advancement in life, but
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  it is also it comes with challenges, and that one
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  being the challenge of injury and the other being the
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  lifestyle after When you're in the game, your day is
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  it's planned for you. You're told when to get up wow,
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  basically when to go to bed at night because you've
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  got to be prepared for that early morning. You know,
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  your meals are planned, your day's plan. You have a
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  speci to the routine. And when they transition out, they
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  don't have uh, you know, they're on their own, and
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  oftentimes they're really not prepared for that. And I use
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  this an analogy I uh with Jordan. I said that
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  when Jordan the first year out of the league, he
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  would still get invitations to attend different events. You know.
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  The second year out of the league, it was like,
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  oh yeah, Jordan Pugh, that's right, let's send him this invitation.
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  The third year out of the league, it's Jordan, who
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  Wow that quickly you know, they're out of side, out
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  of mind, right, So that is definitely a transition.
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  Speaker 1: There's a study going on at Harvard University. It's called
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  the Football Player's Health Study. At Harvard University. Joanne Pugh
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  is on this team. She gives perspective and describes what
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  her role is.
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  Speaker 2: You know. There's also when we talk about my work
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  the Harvard Study, which I absolutely love because the Football
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  Players Hell Study at Harvard University is about the home
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  listic health of a player, and they not focus not
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  only focused on CT or the cognitive aspect, but mobility, cardiovascular.
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  Don't realize that a lot of players that long term
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  end up with cardiovascular disease. The emotional side of the
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  process of health, because that's one area. And you think
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  about an athlete, there, big bulky, everyone that seems healthy
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  young men and oftentimes they don't think about not having
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  a really good health long term because they've always been healthy.
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  Se te gets a lot of attention and rightfully so.
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  But there's also some myths around ct is that you
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  know or you can be diagnosed with CTV while living,
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  and that's not correct at this point with science, ct
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  is only diagnosed after death. So again it's really important
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  to be an advocate for your own health and well being.
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  We know that continuous glows to the brain can potentially
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  cause CTE, so pace yourself, know when to take yourself out, no,
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  when to go back to be all part of you know,
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  just really paying attention to you.
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  Speaker 1: I'm thinking about and you said, you know ct that's
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  an easy you know to remember, and it, like you said,
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  it's all over.
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  Speaker 3: The media and.
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  Speaker 1: Some of these other issues because of the arthritis. If
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  you can't move around, it's going to be hard to
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  stay in shape. You know, absolutely, you're not moving the
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  body and the jail points aren't moving, and you know,
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  then you just I don't know, I don't know if
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  it's atrophy or what, but I know that you are
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  a registered nurse, okay, yes, and and you spend time,
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  you know, doing that and now you're with the.
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  Speaker 3: Harvard you know the study there at Harvard.
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  Speaker 2: What is your role there, Yes, I am an advisor.
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  I'm on the advisory board. So really it's about giving insight,
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  giving perspective. It kind of helps, you know, guide the
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  researchers in terms of what the study. I'll just put
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  it that that's simply you know, they they really look
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  to the advisors to give kind of guidance and force
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  too to different aspects of the study. And the advisory
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  board consists of former former players because it is a
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  study of former players, and also their their spouse or
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  their significant other, the partner, and then there are several hops.
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  So we've got the player perspective, we've got the family perspective,
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  that being that that partner or spouse, and then there's
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  a whole different perspective that I may be a little
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  bit biased here, believe that that that mom gives because
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  we've been throughout that whole journey and really probably know
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  that son better than most anyone. I will say, perhaps
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  you know, and depending on how long they may have
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  been with their current partner, that I would say that
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  we absolutely know that child or that our sons better
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  than anyone.
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  Speaker 4: And also your health journey the fifty yard line, Mom
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  is one book that will inspire you and help you
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  and your student athlete or professional athlete on and off
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  the field.
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  Speaker 1: I asked Joanne, what inspired you to write the book?
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  This is what she had to say about the fifty
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  yard Line Mom One mom's journey through the NFL and beyond.
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  Speaker 3: What inspired you to write the book?
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  Speaker 2: My son being drafted into the NFL. Okay, that was
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  the major. The other was when I knew that he
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  had an opportunity. I started doing some research. I wanted
• 18:30
  to learn as much as I could about the business
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  of the game and about the game overall. And what
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  struck me was there were limited resources. I couldn't find information.
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  I was hungry for information. You know, what do I expect?
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  You know, how do I really navigate my son through
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  this huge, huge opportunity. But then looking at all these statistics,
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  huge huge challenges as well, and so it really I
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  was inspired to not see another mom for young men,
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  because it's not only for moms, it's for players and
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  families to have what I learned, what I took away
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  from the game for Jordan's career four years, four or
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  five years, and to put that on pen and paper,
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  just to give some insight. It's about my experience, but
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  I think my experience mirrors a lot of family and
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  a lot of moms experiences. So that was the reason
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  for the book. And it's so interesting. Not only has
• 19:41
  my book fifty Online Mom One Mom's Durning nfla yond
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  really resonated with those parents and family members that have
• 19:50
  aspiring athletes. I've gotten very very good feedback from businessmen
• 19:56
  from parents that don't have athletes, because the in from
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  and that book is really about life. You know, you
• 20:03
  can take the football away and put a son or
• 20:06
  a daughter in a certain stage of your life, maybe
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  when they're entering in to the job market, their first
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  job out of college or out of high school, and
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  all of the things that you need to do in
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  terms of being good a steward of your health, good
• 20:23
  steward of your finances, good stewards of resources that are
• 20:27
  around you. So, as I said, gotten really really good feedback,
• 20:33
  and I just really wanted to help provide informations, lessons
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  and learn to others who are aspiring or working with
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  their young men and women, especially young men for football.
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  Speaker 3: Was it a hard book? Was it a hard book
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  to write?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it really wasn't because it was about my experiences.
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  It's about my passion really trying to help these athletes
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  and their families. No, I didn't find it it was
• 21:07
  it was difficult at all. I just knew that there
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  was a need. And I consider not only Jordan being
• 21:15
  my son, but all of these players are my son.
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  So I was really writing it for the opportunity to
• 21:23
  give some sense of information to all of my young men.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: I noticed, Yeah, on your website you have photographs with
• 21:32
  several you know, players, these young guys, and they seem
• 21:35
  to you know, Mark Wahlberg actor, He said, you can
• 21:39
  tell when someone's just acting like they like you, and
• 21:42
  when someone actually likes you.
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  Speaker 3: You know, you can tell, and you.
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  Speaker 1: Can tell in those photographs they are really happy to
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  be taking a photograph, you know, with you.
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  Speaker 3: But are you going to write more?
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  Speaker 2: That is an excellent question, Debroun, and I've cheap in
• 22:00
  the back of my mind. I think yes, probably a
• 22:03
  part two because I and the part two is really
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  that transition. You know, it's not a year, it's not
• 22:12
  two years. The transition out of the league, in my
• 22:19
  view and perspective, it goes on for a number of years.
• 22:24
  And it also affects the family. You know. It's interesting
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  throughout Jordan's career and even in the prose, I was
• 22:32
  working working full time or a really large corporation and
• 22:37
  had been with that company, oh fifteen years maybe overall
• 22:42
  before Jordan went into the league, and I became known
• 22:48
  as Jordan Mob. You know, every weekend I was at
• 22:56
  Jordan's game.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, they're looking for you.
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  Speaker 2: And my point being is I had a transition because
• 23:06
  when you for what eighteen years or said, I don't
• 23:11
  know if my math is correct. It was really about
• 23:15
  working with Jordan and seeing him grow and being so
• 23:21
  proud and happy of his success and having something to
• 23:25
  do every weekend, and it was around football. When he
• 23:30
  left the league, it's like, what do we do now?
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  We don't have to hop on a plane, run to
• 23:35
  a game, watch the game, leave the game, hop on
• 23:40
  another plane, get home, and then go to work on
• 23:44
  Monday morning. So it's it's a transition for the whole family.
• 23:49
  And I quote my daughter because I thought she had
• 23:54
  very very profound words. She said, Mom, the day Jordan
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  got drafted, this whole them like I drafted into the NFL,
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  because you experienced everything everything, Wow, and the wonderful opportunity
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  and the happy day when you see and hear their
• 24:12
  name called to that very very just dissheartening day when
• 24:19
  they leave the league, and most often they lead the league,
• 24:22
  not because they've chosen to leave the given times, because
• 24:25
  they were told they were run the league.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, wow, you know, you've obviously done a really good
• 24:34
  job with this book. And I was looking the forward
• 24:40
  for the book from Eugene Robinson, who was a bart
• 24:45
  Star Award winner, you know for outstanding character, leadership and
• 24:50
  in the home and on the field and in community.
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: So I also noticed that he played for.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: The Carolina Panthers and as a safety. So I didn't know,
• 25:04
  did he have something some pool to help Jordans start
• 25:07
  off his career there or no?
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: He not. Its real interesting was a wonderful, wonderful man.
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  When Jordan was drafted to the NFL, he met Eugene
• 25:21
  after he was drafted because Eugene had long since retired,
• 25:26
  but being a defensive back, Eugene kind of gave him
• 25:30
  a little insight, you know, just kind of took a
• 25:33
  group of young men that were on the team and
• 25:37
  spent some time with him, just tried to kind of
• 25:39
  nurtured them along up it. So I got to know Jordan,
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  and interestingly enough, we never met Eugene while Jordan was
• 25:50
  with the Panthers, but I met Eugene because he is
• 25:54
  on the advisory board at Harvard. Okay, so that's how. Yeah,
• 26:00
  that's how we met. And we're both on the advisory
• 26:02
  board at football Players. He'll study at Harvard University and
• 26:07
  just a nice, nice man. And I had shared with
• 26:12
  him that I was writing a book and asked if
• 26:15
  you would be willing to read the book and give
• 26:18
  me a forward, and he said absolutely without hesitation, So
• 26:23
  that's how that transcurred.
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: That's great.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: Well, this has been very informative, and you know, I
• 26:32
  look forward to speaking with you again. The fifty yard
• 26:37
  Line Mom one Mom's Journey through the NFL and beyond.
• 26:41
  Your book delivers wisdom and advice for navigating the complex,
• 26:46
  demanding and exciting.
• 26:48
  Speaker 3: World of sports, and I appreciate your time.
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: Joyan, Well, thank you for having me. This has been
• 26:56
  a lot of fun and you're making my wheels trying
• 27:00
  to bring back a lot of memories.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: There are, no doubt many books that have been written
• 27:07
  to help athletes. Self help books help for students, help
• 27:13
  for athletes. However, joe Ane Pugh has put together something special,
• 27:19
  something that could only happen from the sidelines, something that
• 27:23
  only a mother could probably provide. Her unique perspective, her candor,
• 27:31
  and her insight and professionalism make The Fifty yard Line
• 27:35
  Mom one book that I must simply just pick up.
• 27:40
  I'm Jabron Williams, your host of Morning Joe with Jabron.
• 27:44
  We'll see you next time.