Latest / The Standard / From Maine Football to Financial Success — Building Game Plans for Life After Sports | Ep. 44 Jeff Durr

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From Maine Football to Financial Success — Building Game Plans for Life After Sports | Ep. 44 Jeff Durr · The Standard

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: Good afternoon, team.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: What is happening?
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Standard Podcast, where we raise the bar, rebuild the culture, and call off the lies or misconceptions that nobody else will.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: This isn't motivation, this is a movement.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Thomas Rowe, and I'm joined with my host, Aaron Charles.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: And today we're sitting down with Jeff Durer, senior partner of the RU Financial Athletic Department, and senior vice president and chief development officer at Mass Mutual, who has spent over 35 years in financial services helping athletes build financial game plans for life well after sports.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Jeff's journey began on the football field at the University of Maine, where he earned his degree in psychology while competing as a member of the NCAA varsity football team.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: In Orno, he learned the values of discipline, resilience, preparation, and team-first leadership.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Lessons that continue to shape his life and career today.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: Since entering the financial services industry in 1988, Jeff has carried the athletes' mindset into his role coaching advisors nationwide and specializing in helping current and former college athletes navigate the financial transition well beyond athletics.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: He's also the host of the Are You Strong podcast, highlighting stories of perseverance and transition beyond athletics.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: Jeff believes the same qualities that drive success on the field, discipline, courage, and work ethic create lasting success in life and in business.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: His mission is helping athletes understand that the skills they developed in sports are transferable assets for building financial security and career success.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: We're diving into the truth behind what it really takes to build identity, discipline, and legacy in sports and in life.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: Let's get into it.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: Jeff, welcome to the show.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: We're so excited to have you here.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: We really appreciate it.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_03: And I I am excited to be on.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_03: And that intro, boy, it makes me sound important.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_03: That's good.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_03: That's good.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, glad to be here.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's well deserved.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: So you've spent over 35 years in financial services, helping athletes build financial game plans for life and in sports.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: What does raising the standard mean to you in the work you're doing right now and the with current and former college athletes?
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_03: You know, that that question, I always got to go back to Nick Saban.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_03: You know, and Nick Saban's got so many cool lines, you know, and and and I took it from him, I don't know how many years ago, but refusing to settle for average.
• 2:47
  unknown: Right?
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's just it's showing up early, doing the work, you know, being accountable not just to yourself, but but to your team, you know, and and that mindset is should carry through when you get out of school and get into the into the real world.
• 3:02
  unknown: Yeah.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: What did he say that mediocre people dislike high achievers and high achievers dislike?
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_03: So they don't they don't want to work together.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_03: They don't want to be together.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, 100%.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, and I think at your point, where you and I are right now in our careers, we can we can identify high achievers right off the bat, right?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then we could then there are those that just want to do enough to just get by.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: And we I mean we don't gravitate to those people at all.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_03: Some guys just like being on the team.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: And that's okay.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: The world needs worker bees, and I'm cool with that.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think is the biggest lie that the culture of the financial industry has sold athletes about money, financial planning, and what it means or what happens when the game ends?
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_03: I I think I think if you go backwards a little bit, the the biggest lie to any athlete is that their identity is their sport.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: 100%.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_03: And then and then when the the sport is over, like say for me, I was a football player, you know, or maybe a wrestler, or maybe a baseball player, you know, it's when it's when the game is over, you know, many of them just feel lost.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_03: You know, they they're not really sure what's next, you know, and when people are are chatting with them after the game is over, the helmets off in the last time, they don't know how to even have a conversation.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_03: And people stop asking them about the game and and and the sport, and they just stop talking to them.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_03: Now they they feel the athletes just they just feel lost and they don't understand that that the athletic world they're in was really the training ground to get them ready for life after the game.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: 100%.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know, in this podcast is not about me, it's about you, but just drive this point home.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: I remember one time I was sitting in a bar.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: This was a couple years ago in Middle America, and we were just kind of this guy at the end of the bar, he and I struck struck up a conversation, and I couldn't believe that he went back and he was telling me about how he threw the winning touchdown in the high school championship back in 1965, and I was like, wow, you're still talking about that.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: Al Bundy.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: Al Bundy.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: So you played NCAA football at Maine and learned the values of discipline, resilience, and preparation and team first leadership.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: How did those lessons from Orno shape your approach to helping athletes navigate financial transitions?
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_03: Well, you know, when you think about the lessons we we learn in in sports, you know, it prepared me for business.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_03: You know, it prepared me for leadership.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_03: And when I came into the financial world forever ago, my first day on the job was June 1st, 1988.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_03: And I knew as soon as I started in the business, like I didn't want to just be a regular advisor helping people with their wealth and their protection and what have you, which is still extremely important.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I wanted to lead the team.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_03: I wanted, I don't I don't want to say be in charge, but I wanted to make a difference, not just in an individual or a family, but in the organization.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_03: And I wanted to help the organization grow.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_03: So that leadership that I learned from playing college football prepared me for hey, how how do I run a business?
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_03: How do I, how do I start a business?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_03: How do I, you know, make a difference in other people's lives?
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, no question.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we had a coach one time that he said the world's divided into two people assets and liabilities.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: I have no room on my team for liabilities.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know, go home, let your parents and your girlfriend tell you how great you are.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: If you're a liability, you're gone.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: I thought, wow, that was pretty insightful, no question.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: Also, you know, with sports, it's so great.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: Do you want to watch the game or do you want to play the game?
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: So you're talking about June of 88.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_03: Right now I'd rather watch.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right, right.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: So true.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: From here we're going to go into segment two, which is identity and legacy.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm going to kick it over to Aaron.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron, take it away.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's all yours.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I want you to share with us just who is Gifter beyond all the accolades that Thomas shared at the top of the show.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: Tell our audience who you are and what values shape you've become.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_03: I, you know, Aaron, that's a that's an awesome question.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_03: And I I get that I don't want to say a lot, but enough.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_03: And and the one word that I I typically use is a mentor.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_03: I'm a mentor.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I help build people, you know, I help them build their career.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_03: And the one thing I I think I do pretty good at is I help people change the way they think about themselves, the way they look at themselves, the way they think about themselves.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_03: Because when they're athletes, that's all they think about when they're in their sport.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_03: Well, now when that sport's over, now what?
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_03: How do how do I look at myself?
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_03: How do I think about myself?
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_03: How do I view myself?
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_03: Where do I see myself?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_03: You know, so so I think I mentor all of that.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: I love that so much because I think it's so important that they get that experience because I think they get so much of their identity through sports, and it's reinforced with their coaches and yeah, you know, everybody around them.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so I love that answer.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's so profound.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_03: Not everybody wants to change the way they think either.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, no, I think that's that's where it's like if you can get them younger, hopefully it makes that much easier, or you have that pivotal moment as you've aged and grown that you're like, oh, I should probably, you know, be a little bit more open to learning.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: So, with that, you believe that the same qualities that drive success on the field, discipline, courage, work ethic, create lasting success in life and in business.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: What does legacy beyond athletic achievement mean to you, especially someone helping athletes build their financial future?
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_03: Well, you think about legacy.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_03: It's, you know, for me, you know, the legacy I want to leave behind is that I was, I I became a better leader, right?
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_03: You know, a better husband, a better father, you know, a better coach, you know, and I and I want to leave that behind when that one day ever comes, we're we're no we're no longer here.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_03: But I I think also every athlete needs to understand that sooner or later they're gonna leave a legacy, you know, and they have to realize that the legacy just not it's not just their sport.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's what they've done after the game, who they've touched, who they've impacted, and the difference they made in other people's lives.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I love that.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: That element of impact that lasts far beyond what they're doing for right in the moment.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's hard to sometimes know, okay, what I'm doing now impacts long-term beyond this moment.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I you yeah, this is now about your podcast.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: So you're strong, you are you strong, are you strong podcast?
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, are you strong podcast?
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Highlight stories of perseverance and transition beyond athletics.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: What separates athletes who successfully trans transition from sports to financial and career success from those that struggle?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: And what's the character piece that most miss?
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_03: Man, that's a great question.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_03: I I think you know, those who succeed, they they take what they've learned from from their sport, meaning their coachability.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_03: You know, you got to be coachable, you got to be courageous yet, you have to have discipline, yeah.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_03: Work ethic, you have to be resilient.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_03: Those who bring that with them from their sport and they learn that from their sport and they bring it into the into our world, man, they just light the world on fire.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_03: Those who leave that behind and say, Well, I could do it better, I'm gonna do it my way, I'm not really gonna listen.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_03: They they they don't have the courage to do things that are outside the comfort zone.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_03: They don't typically do too well.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, wow.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: There's two there's two words that I love in what you said coachability and courage, like having the ability to step outside your comfort zone to really try something.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's huge.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, being able to be receptive to learn from other people, I think is an area we could all, I think, adopt and excel in as human beings.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_03: You know, a lot of people talk about constructive criticism, you know, and I don't like that word criticism because I always think, hey, you're making fun of somebody.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_03: I like to say constructive correction.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_03: Are they open to correction?
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_03: Because when do you want to know you're doing something wrong?
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_03: Now or later?
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_03: You know, tell me now.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_03: Let's let's let's fix that stuff now.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_03: And so when out where I'm out there in front of somebody, you know, it's it's fixed, ready to go.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: And like, do you want to keep doing the same thing, not getting great results?
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like, does somebody have a vested interest in me to for me to learn from them?
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you want to keep making the same mistake.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, okay, somebody told me I shouldn't be doing this.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: I've now got burned a few times.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: I got this now.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: I I know what they're what they're saying.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: So with that, what's one truth you wish every athlete, parent, or coach understood about the financial transition from sports and building wealth that lasts?
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_03: Man, that's huge.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_03: I I think what everybody has to understand is that the game, whatever game they're playing, ends for everybody.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_03: And and the habits you built while you were playing the game, I don't care what game you're playing, like we said before, discipline, accountability, work ethic, teamwork, what have you, it sets them up for the next 50, 60 years of their life.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_03: You know, and and if they take that with them and they understand that the game's gonna end, some of these young men and women don't think the game's ever gonna end, you know, and but when it does is they got to be able to bring what they've learned with them and understand that that gets them ready for the next 50 years.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's yes, listen up.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: It ends at some point, kids, whether it's 48 and you're Tom Brady or you're, you know, 25 or 18, and it's but what I think we've kind of missed is the great skills that you learn being a part of sports, right?
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: And how those translate into other well, really every aspect of life, but that you can really excel in because of that.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, Thomas is back in charge of the questions now.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: Excellent, excellent, Jeff.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, to build off what you were talking about, you know, I we met earlier, I guess a couple weeks back, and my dad was a career military man in the Marine Corps, and he had three, he had four kids and he had three boys.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: If it wasn't sports, he definitely wanted us to go into the military simply because he thinks that the military gives young men and women structure.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: But the fact that we went into organized sports like you did at Maine, think about, and I say this all the time: the things that I learned in my fraternity as well as in the locker room far surpass the things I learned in the classroom, right?
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, some of the things in the fraternity we can't talk about on the podcast, but the locker room either.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's true, that's true.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: So, Jeff, if you could sit down with yourself as a young athlete at Maine, before you understood the financial lessons you know now, what advice would you give that version of Jeff?
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_03: You know, that's a great question.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_03: And I've looked back on that many times and said, hey, what would I do different?
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and and I think it's start preparing early for life after the game is over.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_03: Start earlier, you know, start thinking about it your freshman year, your sophomore year, you know, your junior year before it's your senior year and the helmet's off for the last time, and now what?
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I would say build on relationships that you have, build on relationships that you you don't have yet.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_03: And the big thing is learn about money.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_03: Learn about money early.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_03: Don't don't wait till you got your first job or your second job and you're starting to think about money.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_03: Start worrying about money as a freshman, as a sophomore, as a junior.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so this way when you're in the real world, it's not a shock.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I that's so easy to say in theory, right?
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, one of the things that Aaron and I talk about with our clients is when we're like, hey, you know, so and so, how old are you?
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: And they're like, I'm 20, I'm 22, I'm 24.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I say, Great, okay, listen, I was 20, I was 22, and I was 24.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: You weren't 55.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: So please listen to what I have to share with you.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Because that's so important.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: And the the next question is the big million-dollar question, no pun intended.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: We're talking about finances.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: When you and I were playing, there was no transfer portal, there was no NIL, right?
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: So what about these current college athletes who are who are earning some strong NIL money, but may not understand long-term financial planning?
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: What do they need to know about building wealth beyond their playing days?
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I think the first thing they have to understand in the beginning is how to protect it, how to protect their wealth, you know, and and that and then taxes.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_03: You protect their wealth.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_03: How do you you know they're accumulating it now because they're playing and they're earning it and starting to accumulate?
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_03: Well, how do you protect it in case something goes wrong?
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_03: Then they are our our buddy, the IRS, you know, how do you how do you plan for that?
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_03: It makes sure you that you understand that you know the IRS wants a big chunk of those dollars that you're earning.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_03: And what I'm seeing, these young people are getting these big chunks of dollars, and you know, they're having a little bit too much fun.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_03: There's too much, I would say there's too much month at the end of the money and too much fun at the beginning of the money.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_03: You know, and and next thing you know, they're they're behind the eight ball.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_03: So it's it's prepare for the IRS, you know, to make sure you understand what's going on and protect your wealth because your health is your most valuable asset, and your health is what builds helps you build the wealth.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: No question.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's not just about preparing for taxes, it's also about building, you know, finding talking to somebody like yourself and say, do I need an LLC or an escort?
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: What do I need to shelter this money?
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: Because you're right.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it eventually the game's gonna end.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: And what unfortunately, right now with NIL, some of these athletes, they're gonna hit their highest earning potential like 19, 20, 21, right?
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and if they don't go pro, they need to hold on to that money for as long as they can.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: So you coach advisors nationwide on and work with former athletes making that transition.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: What advice would you give a recently retired or transitioning athlete about leveraging their athletic skills in financial and into financial and business success?
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I mean, their their athletic skills, like we mentioned before, it's it's the discipline, it's the work ethic, it's the coachability, it's the courage.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_03: You need that going into the professional world.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_03: I don't care what you're doing, especially if you're in an entrepreneurial type career like ours, you need to have that discipline to stick to the what I call the mundane.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_03: You have to be great at the mundane, the boring, you know?
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_03: And then it's it's how do you learn?
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_03: How do you develop?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_03: Are are you are you willing to get better?
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_03: Are you waking up every day thinking, how much better can I get?
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_03: Can I become an expert at what I'm doing and and how do I get there?
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_03: You know, and it's it's not a success overnight.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_03: I don't care what you're doing, what business you're in, you know, it's one day at a time, one grind at a time, and focus on the process, which we hear a million times as athletes, focus on the process, not the outcome or the result.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_03: We don't control the outcome.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_03: We only control the process.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: 100%.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: And what about for parents and coaches?
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: What do they need to understand about helping athletes prepare for prepare financially for life after sports while they're still competing?
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you before you answer that, one of the things Aaron and I have discussed, and we've met with other professionals like yourself, where they say parents are the problem, right?
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and now we're seeing that more and more.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: So, what advice do you keep give parents and coaches?
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I mean, the parents and coaches have to understand that these kids are kids, right?
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_03: Right?
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_03: These kids are still trying to grow up, they're still trying to mature, they're still trying to figure out life, and then they're getting thrown.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_03: If you look at the big NIL deals in college, these kids are getting millions of dollars thrown at them.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I sit, I sit down with people 50 years old with millions of dollars, and they can't handle it, let alone have here's an 18, 19, 22, 23-year-old kid who's got two, four, five, 10 million in front of them.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_03: And we expect them to understand the value of money and and what they need to do with it.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_03: And so I think the coaches and the parents have to be patient.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_03: I say patiently in a rush, you know, with the progression of the young student who is an athlete trying to figure out like they can't handle 500 bucks on the weekend, let alone 5 million.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_03: You know, so and and I think the parents are impatient with that.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_03: And and I think from a coach's standpoint, I think the coaches are more focused on winning and recruiting, and they don't really put a lot of emphasis on, well, what's going on with the kids and their their personal development, let alone financial development.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: No question.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: No question.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: With that, I'm gonna turn it back to Aaron, segment four, which is the rapid fire round.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron, take it away.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'm back.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'm gonna start my sentence and I'm gonna have you finish it for me.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: So discipline equals.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_03: Discipline.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_03: You know, what does Mike Tyson say?
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_03: It's doing things that you hate like it, but acting like you love it, you know.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_03: But I think it's I just think it's just doing the hard things consistently, you know, and you hear Jocko, he says discipline equals freedom.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_03: But it's just doing the hard things consistently.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: What about leadership?
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: Leadership equals.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_03: You know, leadership equals.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_03: I I think, you know, and some people might look at this differently, but it's serving uh others before yourself.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: Spot on.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: Faith equals.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_03: Just trusting the path.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_03: You know, you just gotta have faith that things are gonna turn out.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_03: You know, if you follow the right path, you're gonna get the right result.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, 100%.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: Legacy equals.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_03: I always say, hey, it's the impact you leave on other people's lives.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_03: You know, it's when you're no longer here that they're gonna remember the impact you made.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: What about what is one thing that we you would never compromise on?
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_03: That's a good one.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_03: But I I think looking at yeah, your sport's temporary.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_03: You know, whatever sport you're in, it's just temporary, but your character.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: Character is everything.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_03: Your character is per permanent.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's going with you, whether you're on the field or off the field.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: And what is one message you'd put on a billboard for athletes, parents, and coaches today?
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_03: Just take everything seriously and take nothing for granted.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: That is so good.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: That is so good.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_03: Most people don't take things seriously.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_03: They take everything for granted.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_01: 100%.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: I've been guilty of that.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we all are.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: Excellent, Jeff.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: From here, we're going to click it into our closing segment and we're going to make it.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: So what we want to do here at the end is before we get into a few other questions, before we wrap up, is there something we didn't touch on today that you feel athletes, parents, or coaches need to hear about financial planning and the transition from sports?
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: This is kind of an open floor, free free-flowing, whatever's on your mind, go ahead and share.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_03: I just think that athletes, if you just look at their transition from sports to wherever career they're going, they have to go into they just need to realize that they have the skill that all the corporations are looking for.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_03: And it many times it's not what they've learned in the classroom.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_03: It's what they've learned in the locker room, like you said before, or in the or on the field, or in the in the team meeting, or on the bus, or on the plane, or in the hotel.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_03: You know, they they've learned how to intertwine and work with others.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_03: And they learn how to be leaders.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_03: They've learned how to be teammates, you know, and and they've learned how to pull other people along with them.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_03: And a lot of companies look for that, you know, and just apply that outside of the game, you know, and apply what you learn from the game in in life and in whatever business you want to be in.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_03: And then when it comes to the financial world, and you know, understand that you don't know a lot, understand there's a lot to learn, understand that there's people that have been doing it for a long time, like you said before, you were 55, they're only to 18.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_03: You know, they they don't understand what's coming down the road, and just be open to what I call constructive correction.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: I love that correct constructive correction.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: Is that it?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna have to use that.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, in the wonderful world of art imitating life, top three sports movies, any genre.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my goodness, top three sports movies.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_03: Now you you you you catch me on that one.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: Now you're on the hot seat.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: You went from the rapid fire to the hot seat.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so top three sports movies.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_03: Remember the Titans?
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_03: You know, that that's that's a big one.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_03: Obviously, everybody loves Rudy.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, oh yeah, and but I don't I don't know if you call this a sports movie, but it is Rocky.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_03: You know, the first rock, the first Rocky is is you know, I st I still I remember being 11 years old watching that movie, running from the movie theater all the way home.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_03: You know, and that is just like the ultimate classic.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: You know, yeah, because I've got for for my number one is miracle, you know, but number two is Rocky, number three is Hoossiers, and there's a whole bunch of honorable, yeah, whole bunch of honorable mentions.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: Well, in the spirit of basketball, we are coming up on the final four.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no pressure.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: I went to Arizona, so who is your pick to take it all?
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: I guys, Jeff is gonna take Arizona.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much for tuning in.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_03: I'm uh I'm a Bobby Hurley, I'm a Bobby Hurley fan.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I'm a Van Hurley fan.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I'm a Hurley family fan.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_03: They're literally 20 miles from where my office is, where they grew up in Jersey City and where they went to school.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_03: And I just like the Hurley attitude, man.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_03: It's just like, let's go.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_03: You know, in that game the other night, that you when he hit that shot, he was going berserk.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_03: But did you see the mother?
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: Talk about locker room mouth.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: My goodness.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you didn't have to hear, you could read her lips on that one.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's pretty amazing.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I tell you what, it's gonna be regardless of who goes and wins it all, there's a lot of great basketball that's gonna be played here.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's not a layup or a gimme for anybody.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: Jeff, where can people get a hold of you?
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: Where can they connect with you?
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'm everywhere.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: Whether that's uh your website, whether it's LinkedIn, social media.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I'm on LinkedIn, just my name on LinkedIn.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_03: My our company website, rufinancial.net.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_03: They can find the company and and learn more about what we do there.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_03: I'm on Instagram.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_03: I have an RUStrong Instagram page, which has all my interviews on there.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_03: I have an RU Financial Instagram page, which is which I have my own Instagram page.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_03: I'm on Twitter and I'm on TikTok.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_03: I'm uh I'm one of the new guys on TikTok.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_03: So uh so uh I'm I can be found almost anywhere on social media.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: Great team, everywhere except only fans.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: Jeff has I am not there yet.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: No, he's not crossed that chasm, I know that chasm yet.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: Jeff, thank you so much for showing up with us today and carrying an athlete's mindset into financial success that really works.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_01: Team, if this conversation hits you, do two things for us.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: One, share this episode with someone who needs to hear it.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_01: An athlete transitioning from sports, a parent helping their child plan financially, or even parents that need to plan financially for themselves.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: A coach preparing for athletes will be on the sport and competition.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: And two, connect with Jeff at RUfinancial.net, follow the RU Strong Podcast on YouTube and Spotify, and check out at Jeff Durer, it's J-E-F-F-D-U-R-R, and also at r you underscore strong underscore podcast.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're an athlete needing financial guidance, Jeff brings an understanding for someone who's walked your path.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're an athlete parent or coach ready to raise the standard, check us out at blueprintbluechip.com.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: We help athletes build identity, discipline, and a legacy that goes well beyond the game.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: Team, this is the standard podcast.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: And it's me it and this movement only grows when we raise the standard together.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: Talent fades, but truth endures.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: Let's raise the bar, let's rebuild the culture, let's become the standard.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: Jeff, Aaron, thank you so much for joining us today.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: We're super excited.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: Go cats.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks for having me.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_03: It's been great being on the show.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.