Latest / In Search Of Excellence / Arik Armstead: Jacksonville Jaguars & Developing a Winning Mindset With NFL Football | E105

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Arik Armstead: Jacksonville Jaguars & Developing a Winning Mindset With NFL Football | E105 · In Search Of Excellence

• 0:00
  Arik Armstead: When I was like 10 or 11, I tried football, I was trash. I was terrible. I was a big kid I had to play with the older kids kids way more mature and advanced than me. They was killing me all the grossest trash like I used to hide like in the back of drills, me and my dad used to write goals every year. So when I started playing football, get to high school, one of my goals in high school where I wanted to be army, all American and a McDonald's All American. My goal was to play football and basketball in college, and I wanted to be the first person to play in the NBA and NFL.
• 0:35
  Randall Kaplan: Welcome to a search of excellence where we meet entrepreneurs, CEOs, entertainers, athletes, motivational speakers and trailblazers of excellence with incredible stories from all walks of life. My name is Randall Kaplan. I am a serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and the host of the Search of Excellence which I started to motivate and inspire us to achieve excellence in all areas of our lives. My guest today is my good friend Arik Armstead. Eric is a star defensive lineman NFL football player for the San Francisco 40 Niners. In addition to being an absolute beast on the field, Eric is an active and very dedicated philanthropist has been nominated. So the NFL is Walter Payton Man of the Year Award for each of the past four seasons, which is given annually to commemorate a player's excellence on the field, a commitment to philanthropy and community impact off of it.
• 1:28
  Randall Kaplan: Eric, it's a true pleasure to have you on my show. Welcome to a Search of
• 1:34
  Arik Armstead: Excellence Research. And man, thanks for having me.
• 1:36
  Randall Kaplan: psyched, you're here. So I always start my podcast with our family because our family helps shape our personalities, our values and our future. Your mom had a very interesting background, we'll start with your mom, your mom had a very interesting background, she wrote a book out, she was an illegitimate daughter of a minister. And she's had a very inspirational story growing up in South LA, talk to us about your mom and the impact she had on you growing up.
• 1:59
  Arik Armstead: Definitely, my mom, she's from LA born and raised. And you know what I remember, we always come here as a kid, our family is still here.
• 2:08
  Arik Armstead: But just like what I remember about my childhood is like her never wanting to like raise us in LA in that's a reason that she left and went to Sac State and met my dad and never really came back, just from all the different struggles that she dealt with. You know, growing up in the jungles, and having to experience you know, gang violence and, you know, not really feeling safe. And, you know, my mom at the time. She's, she's lice game with red hair, no one really looks like her and no one really. So she never really felt like she, she had any place for her or fitted or fitting in and, and, you know, her writing her book, and, you know, being able to even, you know, I've heard these stories where her like laying it all out for people, you know, to read and, and talk about and discuss, I think it opens up conversations for people who go through, you know, similar, you know, situations. You know, my, my childhood, I knew the story of you know, how she was born or came about, and I knew of the relationship with my grandmother and her counselor pastor at the time, you know, in the Catholic Church, and, you know, that was always like, a weird thing to me, like I've never met, obviously, I've never met that side of my family. And so that's like, the one kind of Caucasian side of my family. But you know, no one really, no one really knows anything about them. And so yeah, it's very interesting.
• 3:54
  Arik Armstead: I definitely am super proud of her for getting that done.
• 3:59
  Arik Armstead: She's, you know, talked about it for a long time. And, you know, the main message of the book is, you know, in her search of not really knowing who her father was. She found her real father, which is her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So yeah, it's it's a great, great memoir.
• 4:22
  Arik Armstead: Definitely proud of her and anybody wants to read it. Check it out. There's a lot more details and stories in there.
• 4:29
  Arik Armstead: Yeah, she had a while wild upbringing SATA drive by
• 4:34
  Randall Kaplan: here in LA she was shot. Yeah, wherever she shot. She got
• 4:38
  Arik Armstead: shot in her back.
• 4:38
  Arik Armstead: It was a drive by she was at her cousin's house for the window kind of thing. Yeah, they were shooting shot at the house and boys came fun through the through the house and so yeah, she had a lot a lot of crazy, crazy stories. grew up as a black Muslim here and In LA, which was, you know, a big, big thing during that time period.
• 5:05
  Arik Armstead: My grandmother was so my grandmother was in the Catholic Church, then she was a black Muslim. At one point, my mom has kind of been in every religion and always searching to, to be a part of something in for like she fitting in. And, you know, in throughout this process she you know, founder, founder, Lord and Savior. So
• 5:27
  Randall Kaplan: let's talk about your dad cos one of the most respected basketball trainers in the United States that at Sac State, then it became a trainer training for 35 years now over 500 NBA players, what was it like having him as a dad growing up and hanging around all those cool dudes,
• 5:45
  Arik Armstead: it was amazing. I definitely feel like I had a unique childhood. And, you know, love my dad. And being a father, you know, now myself and really understanding like the commitment to your family. You know, it makes me appreciate him and love him even more. But the cool job that he had in terms of training NBA players, you know, he trained NBA players, elite college guys, elite high school guys. And so, I just remember, you know, growing up, like, I was his tagalong, like, wherever he went, you know, whether it's on the road, you know, scouting, you know, college games and, and whether it was in the gym, I was just, that's, that was my childhood. That was my upbringing. Just being a gym rat. I used to get mad when he like, didn't like, wake me up.
• 6:39
  Arik Armstead: If I overslept, and he went to the gym. I'm like, Dad, I gotta stay at the house all day. I just love being in the gym and being around the guys. And it really shaped like who I am.
• 6:48
  Arik Armstead: Like, what I do now, being a professional athlete, like I never seen, like too big to me.
• 6:57
  Arik Armstead: Like it always seemed attainable, because I was around people that did it. And, you know, I saw like the ins and outs, like, what got them there?
• 7:04
  Arik Armstead: How hard they worked. And so I felt like, you know, if I work hard, I can I can do it, too.
• 7:13
  Arik Armstead: And so yeah, it was it was it was great. You know, sports is obviously huge and huge in my family. You know, so definitely growing up basketball was huge.
• 7:23
  Arik Armstead: Then I got into football a little later. Yeah, we're gonna talk
• 7:28
  Randall Kaplan: about that. In a few. Were you the coolest kid growing up because you had all these NBA guys having dinner at your house, you get to hang out.
• 7:33
  Randall Kaplan: I mean, when I was younger, I saw the center of the Detroit Pistons once I can't even remember his name. I saw him in a business and oh my god, I got huge. I watched them on TV all the time. But we're two people want to come hang out with you.
• 7:47
  Randall Kaplan: And, you know, sit at your dinner table and have all these guys and say, Hey, what's up?
• 7:53
  Randall Kaplan: Yeah,
• 7:53
  Arik Armstead: I think I think people really didn't know. Like, all the way like my friends and stuff at school. It wasn't like something that we, like, boasted about per se. Um, it definitely, definitely. So I don't think I was the coolest kid by by any means. I had to kind of grow into that being a young man and working through adolescence like it is. It's tough for everyone.
• 8:19
  Arik Armstead: So I wouldn't say I was the coolest kid on the block. But my dad and you know what he did and who I was able to be around was pretty cool. You know, Sky name.
• 8:29
  Arik Armstead: A lot of people might not know him, but name is Mike Wilkes play in the NBA, like 12 years.
• 8:41
  Arik Armstead: When I was a kid and met him, he came out to train with my dad his first summer, out of out of college. And throughout the course of our relationship, he started staying at my, at our house every summer in training with my dad and so being around him. This is an undrafted guy who made you know, played extremely long time he coaches for the thunder now. So being around him and seeing how he operated not only as a as a pro athlete, but as a man, he's a man of high character and does things the right way. And, you know, he had a family. He wanted to get a wife and, you know, that's that's what he was on. So that's like what I was on to as like a kid like as a kid. I was like, yeah, all this stuff that like my peers and stuff are doing is cool. But like there's more for me in life and like, I'm gonna have more fun. Like when I was in high school, I was like, I'm gonna have more fun in college when I was in college. I was like, I'm gonna have more fun when I'm a pro. So I just made you know, sacrifices and try to separate myself from my peers because I really didn't like think the stuff they were doing was that cool? And I really learned that from Mike and being around him. You know, in the sacrifice that he made train wise and never, you know, I'd never seen a party and never seen him drink or smoke anything. He was big on his faith. And so having a NBA player like that living with you during the summer, and like being around him and being able to call him like a brother, that really like shaped me as well to and the type of person I am today, because, like, I kind of tried to do all those things as well to do
• 10:31
  Randall Kaplan: we're gonna get into some of those later, you mentioned that you weren't boastful. You had all these guys coming over your house. And we went to dinner, I went to dinner with your family maybe three or four years ago and met your mom and your dad. And what I was the one of the impressions I walked away with is how humble they are. And you're very humble guys that you did that come from your parents? Did they tell you hey, we're not going to show off.
• 10:56
  Randall Kaplan: We're not going to be flashy. I mean, you're gonna want to be a very humble guy. We know each other now. Seven, eight years, I've never seen you be arrogant.
• 11:06
  Randall Kaplan: I've never seen it be cocky. I mean, even when I, you know, we tax you know, great plans, like, oh, yeah, man, thanks.
• 11:14
  Arik Armstead: I think definitely, you know, not only just my parents, but just, you know, growing up in the church growing up in our faith and really, like, you know, when you have compassion for like other people, and you have empathy for other people, and you're able to think outside of yourself, and see other people, and not just get so caught up in, you know, what you have going on in your life, I think that gives you a level of you no humility, and, you know, you have to, like, those both go like hand in hand, humility and compassion. I feel like because, you know, we, we have to bring ourselves like, back to reality and, you know, realize that we really aren't, we really aren't that special, like, you know, I play, I have a cool job, I play football, but very cool job, I have a cool job and play football, I'm blessed.
• 12:20
  Arik Armstead: But other than that, like that, that doesn't make me different than anybody else. That has been putting me like, on a pedestal over anybody else. Because also to like, that's, I'm blessed, like that all wasn't just me, you know, my life has been guided my footsteps have been guided by God. And it's a whole host of people that have allowed me to be successful. And even, like, at a young age, like, always appreciated. Like, things that I saw, like, I like even as like a kid, like, some of my friends, like parents are going through a divorce. And I was like, man, like, I don't have to experience that. Like, thing.
• 13:11
  Arik Armstead: Like, I'm, like, I'm blessed, like, dang. Like, I feel bad for them. I have compassion for that, like, I mean, I can imagine happened to and so having, but you only you can only you can only think like that, when you, you know, when you're not so caught up in everything that you have going on. And so, like, I've been so blessed and and I realized that and it's like, you know, I don't know why, you know, my life was shaped this way to be in this position. You know, it kind of just happened that wasn't on my own doing, you know, a lot of the things had to happen for that to happen. So that's just how that's just how I view it.
• 13:58
  Arik Armstead: You know, I'm just a regular guy. I have a cool job and yeah, it's really really not that big of a deal. Your
• 14:05
  Randall Kaplan: dad had a great quote on Instagram a month or two ago it said your hunger to be successful must exceed your thirst to shine.
• 14:15
  Arik Armstead: Hunger to be assessed successful must exceed your thirst to shine.
• 14:19
  Randall Kaplan: I love that quote. By the way, I mean,
• 14:22
  Arik Armstead: people get caught up and wrapped up in the wrong stuff. You know, like I said, you know, in the environment that we're in, you know, it's constant constant you know, people telling you you know what, you want to hear all these great things about you and you can get caught up in that and wrapped up and you know, really feel like Man Yeah, I really did this like yeah, I'm really him like it like I did this. I did this by myself. But Robert, you, no one does anything by themselves. And so I I think guys get caught up in that. And then that's how they start living and treating people. And, you know, so that quote is talking about, you know, you got to be that quote to me sounds like you got to be obsessed with grinding the hard work the process, rather than obsessed with how I'm gonna shine or how I'm gonna, you know, be in the limelight, because that stuff is fleeting, that stuff comes and goes. You know, everything is, you know, for a moment momentarily. momentarily, you might be the guy. That's a everybody's talking about, but it's not gonna be forever. And you're gonna have to deal with that at some point.
• 15:40
  Randall Kaplan: You're 13 years old, you're working at concession stand at a program basketball game and sighing Costco Hotdogs for a profit, where your parents telling you hey, Eric, you got to plan for your future no matter what you do, did you have the entrepreneurial drive and because we're gonna talk about what you're gonna do after football later, but what was behind upselling Costco hotdogs,
• 16:03
  Arik Armstead: I had no entrepreneurial drive at that time. Really, the entrepreneurial drive in my family was my oldest brother. So my oldest brother started the snack bar. And he did it to make some money before he went off to college. Then he went off to college, and then I got the keys to the snack bar and kept you know, running it, but the kind of business was already kind of in place. You know, we go to Costco, a pack of hot dogs is 999 for 30 pack, you know, I'm saying we we go in there we go ball and stuff. And then we select create little meal deals like a hot dog chips and a drink. Called a mildew meal deal.
• 16:45
  Randall Kaplan: people ate mildew. Yeah, no,
• 16:47
  Arik Armstead: not a meal deal.
• 16:47
  Arik Armstead: Like a meal deal. Yeah. meal deal. Yeah. So we used to call like a meal deal. Yeah, like, you know, like, you got a you go to McDonald's and order number one. So like we used to, you know, be sell the items separately? Or you could, you know, make it a little deal. I think it was like, three, I don't know who's in charge for that, like four bucks or something. Yeah, and then we just just kind of run it up that way. But, uh, entrepreneurial drive. We've
• 18:11
  Randall Kaplan: talked about some stuff here. You You call me a couple times? What do you think about what do you think about this,
• 18:15
  Arik Armstead: you know, entrepreneurial drive as a kid, I would say it wasn't their entrepreneurial drive kind of started from me, I would say, in college, really. Not that I like executed or any of it. But those are when like, my ideas and stuff. That's when I started thinking different really am viewing. I feel like that's when like my creativity kicked in.
• 18:43
  Arik Armstead: And I start, like, walking through life like viewing asking questions, trying to problem solve. I saw my friend like, we were talking about this other day, like when I my freshman year in college, I got sick, and like FaceTime had just like, just like, came out. And I was like, man, like, I'm sick. It would be cool. If people could like FaceTime your doctor, just from like, the comfort of your home and like not have to like go in and like that'd be that'd be like pretty cool. Like stuff like that, like I used to just, my brain started working differently. And then I started like, viewing stuff and seeing like, where problems could be solved. Things that I think people would like or would enjoy. And so I don't know, I'm still the same way now. And but it's not really like just stuff just kind of comes to me at times. It could
• 19:39
  Randall Kaplan: have been the first one doing the telehealth I think there's probably been $50 billion of wealth created. But
• 19:45
  Arik Armstead: I was in college, playing football. You know, everyone has ideas. It's all about the execution at the end of the day, though. But yeah, but my brain did start working differently when I got to college.
• 19:56
  Randall Kaplan: So I think one of the things that is most important to our success is work ethic. And sometimes we got to get our ass kicked by someone.
• 20:02
  Randall Kaplan: Tell us about what happened with Matt Barnes when you were 13 years old.
• 20:07
  Arik Armstead: Yeah. Matt.
• 20:10
  Randall Kaplan: First of all, Matt was a very good Yeah,
• 20:13
  Arik Armstead: my dad, my dad, my dad started training Matt in high school. So I knew Matt, you know, since I was a kid, and my you know, every summer you train with my dad, in Sacramento. And so, I used to be around the gym, obviously, I wasn't old enough to. I started training and playing with the guys, the pros.
• 20:36
  Arik Armstead: Probably when I was 1414 or 15.
• 20:36
  Arik Armstead: But before then, like I could train you know, with the high school sessions, playing
• 20:46
  Randall Kaplan: basketball just for the viewers. I mean, we're going to talk about your basketball and football but right now, basketball you are you're a beast and bad Small as well, this
• 20:53
  Arik Armstead: is basketball. So I used to be able to get into some of the drills, like around that time with the guy that couldn't play with him yet, like five and a five and stuff, couldn't play with them. But I used to get in the drills, and then my dad used to have like other groups and sessions, you know, not pro guys, and I could get in those and play and so, I'm playing, I'm, uh, I'm working out. Like I said, I used to be in the gym every day, I'm working out with my dad, and I'm actually working out with some of his high school girls that he used to train that are gonna go to that they were going to college too. And so I'm like, 13, they're, you know, they're in college. Some of them are about to go to college. And this is right before, like, the pros are working out. So pros are coming to the gym mats coming to the gym. Everybody's kinda like watching, you know, getting ready watching. And Matt just didn't like the way I was working that day. Like he's like, he felt like, the girls were like, outwork me or like, I was like being lazy. So I probably was because, I mean, I do this, like, this is my way.
• 21:59
  Arik Armstead: I'm always doing these, this type of stuff. He pulled me to the side and was just like, like, what are you doing? Like, you look, you look bad. Like, like, you're gonna let these girls like, outwork you in a workout. Like, do you like, do you want to be good? Like, he's like, don't ever like, let me see you, like training like that, and not giving effort. And I was like, dang. Like, I'm 13 Obviously, I looked up to Matt, he's an NBA. And it kind of hurt. But it was true. It was like, man, like, these guys are actually taking an interest in me and I better be, you know, all my stuff like, and I needed to I needed to be, you know, self evaluate and like, work harder. And, you know, fast forward now. You know, those all those guys, like super proud of me, obviously, for everything that I'm doing and they never would even imagine like this little chubby kid in the gym.
• 22:59
  Arik Armstead: You're chubby? Yeah, I was. I was a little chubby kid.
• 23:03
  Randall Kaplan: When did you have the growth spurt? Like how old were you? How tall were you?
• 23:05
  Randall Kaplan: Maybe in sixth grade, eighth grade. And then when I was always
• 23:11
  Arik Armstead: a bigger kid, and there was like a couple kids as big as me. And then like eighth grade, like middle school to through high school. I used to grow two inches and gained 20 pounds every year. So it wasn't like One summer I just sprouted like five, six inches. So it was like two inches, 20 pounds. So I was like 6365 to 60. Next year, I was like, six, seven to 85.
• 23:37
  Arik Armstead: Like I just kept kind of getting bigger and bigger, gradually.
• 23:40
  Arik Armstead: natural
• 23:41
  Randall Kaplan: diet, eating your readings. Not
• 23:44
  Arik Armstead: as just just blessed really? Is God really. I mean, my dad is like, six to six, three, my mom's my mom's like five, eight. So they're not, you know, they're not small people. But one of my brothers is six three, my other brothers six, five. I don't know how I got six, eight. I don't know where that came from.
• 24:04
  Randall Kaplan: So basketball is your true love. You're hanging out with the gin NBA players.
• 24:07
  Randall Kaplan: You didn't touch a football till the eighth grade. I
• 24:11
  Arik Armstead: actually play when I was really young. Didn't like it quit.
• 24:16
  Randall Kaplan: On how young like 1011
• 24:19
  Arik Armstead: Okay, yeah, when I was like 10 or 11 I tried football. I was trash. I was terrible. I was a big kid. So I had to play up because they had like weight restrictions. So I was a big kid. I had to play with the older kids. Kids way more mature and advanced me they was killing me. I was like, bro, it's just trash. Like, I used to hide like in the back of drills.
• 24:40
  Arik Armstead: It was nothing but conditioning get there and it make you just run laps. And my brothers and I and at the time I was really good at basketball. So it was like I was starting something that I wasn't good at. So I was like, I don't like this feeling of not being good. And so I stopped playing. I played two years, stop playing for like two years and then my eighth grade year my basketball coach convinced me to try football again. And his son playing on the team. And he's like, man, you gotta do something like you have a big like you got you got to do some. And at the time, my eighth grade year my brother was all American in high school is on USC and hoops. No, no football and football. Yeah, football. So he was an all American going to USC. So everybody was looking at me like your brother don't play football. Like, what is he doing? Like so I was. So I felt pressure like dang, I gotta I gotta be good. You know, everybody looking at me because my brother's good. I gotta be good too. So I started playing wasn't very good. But I started getting better and better throughout my eighth grade year.
• 25:47
  Arik Armstead: And then my freshman year high school. I got a lot better there. And then, after my freshman year high school was when I got my first scholarship offer. So I got a scholarship offer before I played varsity football.
• 26:01
  Randall Kaplan: Right. So we'll talk about that in a second.
• 26:04
  Randall Kaplan: When was the first time you threw one down and did a tomahawk dunk over everyone when that happened? Did you give the stare at everybody? Man? I got this. A
• 26:15
  Arik Armstead: dunk. I mean, I started dunking like freshman year high school. I wasn't I wasn't super bouncy, like that.
• 26:27
  Arik Armstead: dumped on somebody. Probably didn't dunk on anybody until maybe like my junior year. Yeah.
• 26:32
  Arik Armstead: Junior High School. I wasn't. I wasn't very like. I was like, I was a big kid. So I wasn't like very like, I wasn't super bouncy, like my game was more skilled, like on the ground. But um, I started dunking like my freshman year.
• 26:52
  Randall Kaplan: When I was a senior at Michigan. Chris, whoever was a senior at my high school Detroit Country Day, they were in the finals. And he was a man child. Right? i How old? Are you your freshman year in high school? I think he's 14 years old. Yeah. Like he's six, seven.
• 27:05
  Randall Kaplan: And he was Tomahawk dunking over these kids. And it was like, you know, these kids were blips on the screen. I don't know if he had like, 35 points or something. But I mean, this could stop me and no one. No one on him at all. Yeah.
• 27:21
  Arik Armstead: I would say I wasn't I wasn't like a man child like that. When I was a kid. I kind of became like a man child, like in high school, where like, I just kept going like this. And then like, other kids just started going like that. So you
• 27:37
  Randall Kaplan: switch to football. And you had goals? You wrote the goals on your door every day? What are the goals?
• 27:43
  Randall Kaplan: Say? And how are you tracking them?
• 27:46
  Arik Armstead: Yeah, me and my dad used to write goals every year. So when I started playing football, I get to high school.
• 27:57
  Arik Armstead: I mean, some of some of my goals in high school, were I wanted to be army, all American and a McDonald's All American. So I wanted to be. And my goal was to play football and basketball in college. And I wanted to be the first person to play in the NBA and NFL. And, and
• 28:23
  Randall Kaplan: we'll talk about you played a little bit your freshman year in college, and then you really had to focus but you accomplish your goals. And then what is your advice to people who set these goals? I mean, I don't think a lot of people in high school write goals on their doors, should they? What's the importance of writing things down and holding yourself accountable to them?
• 28:47
  Arik Armstead: I think you should write your goals. I think you should dream big. Also, you should protect your goals, especially if you're easily swayed otherwise. What does that mean? Protect your goal, you should protect your goals from other people who are pessimistic and ain't really did nothing with their life. So they're going to project their failures onto you haters. Not even not even like hating on you. But like, because they couldn't mean well. But just like, you know, when I when I was like, I want to play I want to play at the next level football and basketball like, these are things I want to do. No, I mean, it's not. Like, it's probably not gonna work. It's not gonna happen. You know, when I was playing when I stopped playing football, everybody was like, you should just play online like, I don't know why you're trying to play D line. Like you're more offensive lineman. I shouldn't play both sports. I should just focus on one. No one can no one can do that. And I haven't done it yet. I haven't played in both yet. But I think dreaming like that and working that way, you know gotten to this point. And we're on
• 30:03
  Randall Kaplan: that now. Still want to play in the NBA? Yeah,
• 30:06
  Arik Armstead: I think when I retire from football, I might might give it a shot seriously, you know, playing the G League and see see what
• 30:13
  Randall Kaplan: he told me once it dinner. Well, before I did my research for this podcast that Yeah, I had a choice. I could have played the NBA and could play the NFL on saying what?
• 30:25
  Randall Kaplan: Just just that simple. I mean, most people just don't have the skill set to do both. Now
• 30:29
  Arik Armstead: I would have been it would have been. I can't I can't say that I just would have made it to the NBA. I think you know being realistic now like basketball wise. Like going back. If I really I would have like a little bit of a different plan. Like I would have stayed around like I To stay around like to 60 to 70. Like playing basketball like 290 300 is pretty tough. Yeah, I would have thought I would have did things a little, little differently. So I can't say that I would have for sure. Like made it to the NBA. But I think I had I think I had a great skill set, and could have possibly could have possibly done it. But I feel like I would have really had to focus in on on basketball, if that was the case. But could have been done for sure. I mean, like my, my dad, in the players, he works with a lot of the players specializing at that time. undrafted guys working their way up through the G League, like Matt Barnes, Mike Wilkes, all these people I'm talking about. They weren't drafted, you know, Matt had to start in the G League and make a career for himself and like really develop. So I feel like I could have did that. In. In, in garden league somehow.
• 31:56
  Randall Kaplan: There's so many parents I know, who push our kids to be great at sports, you know, they're driving around a practice or driving games and pushing them you should do this, you should do that. You're hitting the gym and the weights at 6am. Do you think athletes can be successful if they're not motivated internally, and people just pushing them to be their best and to perform at the highest level? Now,
• 32:21
  Arik Armstead: I don't think they'll be successful without internal motivation. You know, my thing, my dad did that very well. It was like, you know, he never like forced me. You know, to necessarily, like, go work out or, like, you know, he laid the table and it was like, if you don't say I want to do this, this is what you need to do. So it definitely takes a lot of internal motivation, I think. I think parents can cultivate that, though, in some ways, like exposing their kids to different things, and not just what you think is best for them. But expose them to different things and whatever they take a liking to, you know, but I think you definitely have to have that passion, you know, for, it's not going to work if it's just forced.
• 33:14
  Randall Kaplan: You mentioned you got a college recruiting offer was from UCLA defensive line coach named Todd Howard recruited you even though you had never played a down of varsity football, we were thinking, Man, I'm the man and was college any less important to you in terms of your studies?
• 33:33
  Randall Kaplan: Are you thinking I really don't need to study at this point.
• 33:36
  Randall Kaplan: Because I'm 14 years old, I know where I'm going. And education is not that important. To me,
• 33:40
  Arik Armstead: I would say education was not super important to me, it was somewhat of a means to an end. Like it was important in the sense that like, there was standards, like our standard in our family was like A's and B's. But it wasn't like, you don't get straight A's blah, blah, blah. So not that I didn't take school important.
• 34:03
  Arik Armstead: You know, like I tried, you know, I did my best. I wasn't just like, Oh, I'm just not going to I'm just focusing on sports, because I knew that you had to go to school to, you know, get to where you want to get to and so yeah, but it wasn't as of importance to me that I feel like now as it should have been to me back then I would say and I wish I would have done a few things differently. Then definitely, definitely in college, I would have got out of my comfort zone met some other people around campus like Tatiana with other students and as you were hanging around with Yes, not being so like football football, right?
• 34:48
  Arik Armstead: Um, I would uh, you know, just not made everything so so football, football, I wanted to study business. Then they're like, they're then you learn like, oh, like businesses like actually grads, grad school thing.
• 35:04
  Randall Kaplan: Oh, not gonna go to grad school at University of Michigan. It's not Oh,
• 35:07
  Arik Armstead: I didn't know.
• 35:09
  Randall Kaplan: So you get to undergrad? Yeah, there's there's a good undergrad. Great. Yeah.
• 35:11
  Randall Kaplan: the Ross School of Business you can get in your junior year you apply. Oh, really? You get in?
• 35:19
  Randall Kaplan: Yeah. I mean, some people can get in now. Freshman year.
• 35:22
  Arik Armstead: Yeah, actually that you say that. Like, I actually wish I would have took a trip to Michigan. Just at the time. And
• 35:33
  Randall Kaplan: did they recruit you? I mean, we're gonna talk about Brady Hoke. Yeah. Brady Hoke. So I'm a huge Michigan guy, you know, and you can congratulate me being a national champion this year was a great, great moment for us. But it Brady Hawk was a terrible coach.
• 35:50
  Randall Kaplan: For us, right? I mean, he was awful. And some of the players that I knew on the team said, I didn't have respect for a coach who wasn't in shape. It was a little heavy. It was a little sloppy looking. And he just didn't look physically Great. Do you agree with that?
• 36:10
  Arik Armstead: Oh, in terms of respect to them, no. I mean, Andy Reid is sloppy. He is sloppy.
• 36:17
  Randall Kaplan: The Walrus
• 36:19
  Arik Armstead: mustache. Yeah, he read a sloppy he gets back.
• 36:23
  Arik Armstead: So that's true. Yeah, it's I think, I think in that situation, you know, it could have been more. This wasn't going good. So then you like double down on like, the physical and the sloppiness or whatever. But now it's it's pretty sloppy coaches that got a lot of respect.
• 36:49
  Randall Kaplan: So you're, you're getting Deewan offers from everybody. Bama, Amana, you go to Nick Saban's house, you know, hey, or come on overload.
• 36:57
  Randall Kaplan: DinDin. And then tell us about why Chip Kelly was different?
• 37:03
  Randall Kaplan: And what should people be thinking about all the recruits out there watching this show?
• 37:11
  Arik Armstead: Well, I mean, I could have could have gone a lot of places. The thing I appreciated about Oregon, which I'm super proud and wouldn't have changed anything. So I've gone there, they recruited me, they let me know, especially the the line coach. Coach asked who was there at the time coach ass coach, as a coach, as as an arrow was his name. Coach as like, they recruited me. They let me know that they wanted me.
• 37:44
  Arik Armstead: But it wasn't like, like, but at the same time, it wasn't like, they went like super overboard, or like just did a bunch of wild stuff that, you know, now that I know. A lot of stuff that's not like real, like, promising this and promising that and like, like, they didn't weren't like tampering me at the same time.
• 38:11
  Arik Armstead: So they recruited me, they let me know that they wanted me but they weren't like, you know, calling me all night and trying to you know, so I actually respect that and appreciate that. And they had a plan for me. He liked all defensive linemen. Me and DeForest Buckner came in at the same year. So he had a plan for us. And they had a track record to like, they already had guys there. You know, we're like 6668. And we saw I saw how they were playing.
• 38:40
  Arik Armstead: So I saw I saw myself being in that role. And Oregon wasn't too far from home far enough, but not too far. And we won a lot of games had a great, great run.
• 38:54
  Arik Armstead: And so let's go ducks.
• 38:57
  Randall Kaplan: He He told you, God look sorry. He told you at some point that he may take the Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coaching job, he still went anyway. Who's that? Oh, Coach Kelly.
• 39:10
  Arik Armstead: Yeah, he's no, he told me when he was recruited me. He said, he said this, he's like, if you come here, I was like, Coach, I know you're not gonna leave or whatever. He's, I'm not gonna guarantee you that I won't leave. But I guarantee like, if I do leave, not much, it's going to change at Oregon.
• 39:26
  Arik Armstead: Like, it's gonna still be, you know, very similar. So he kind of peak he kind of prepared me for truthful, he was truthful and honest, he's I'm not gonna promise you that I'm gonna stay here. I'm be at work in your whole career. But I can guarantee you that if you do come, not much, it's gonna change, it's still gonna be very similar, right? Probably going to hire from within which they did heart health for HR, who was the OC. So
• 39:53
  Randall Kaplan: college athletics, huge, profitable business for the schools, billions and billions of dollars. They are paying football players 2030 years ago in college and now is basically illegal to pay the players not from the school, but for sponsorships and there's huge money. Did you see any of that when you're being recruited? Did someone say Hey, Eric, I mean, you're smiling right now. So so we know what happened.
• 40:16
  Arik Armstead: So I didn't personally take anything. You didn't take anything but I'm saying
• 40:21
  Randall Kaplan: like, what was the biggest offer someone promise you we're not going to name any names and we have to go into the details. But you did not say hey, man, here's this Mercedes coupe or, you know, so
• 40:33
  Arik Armstead: with me, I felt like, you know, they read the room well, so they knew like, my family wasn't on that. Like my mom at the time. I mean, I don't know about high school about this now because we were broke down. She didn't say like right with her spirits, she, it was illegal. So she didn't feel right about it. And like all the, all the coaches knew that.
• 41:00
  Arik Armstead: Because, like how it goes, it's like, you let them know, like, Okay, this is, this is how this is gonna go. So they knew like, my family wasn't like that. So it wasn't a whole lot of, you know, conversations about that type of stuff because they knew like my family really wasn't he really wasn't like on that we weren't necessarily searching for that. Right.
• 41:26
  Randall Kaplan: People still offer. i
• 41:29
  Arik Armstead: It wasn't direct offers, but it was like, Eric, anything you need? Gotcha. Let us know. Eric, anything you need? Let us know. So I probably could have got like 200,000, I would say from it would have been from an SEC school, where
• 41:47
  Randall Kaplan: they would have just paid you cash on the table give you a lump sum in a suitcase or pay these guys every week or, um, how'd it work? I back then.
• 41:57
  Arik Armstead: I'm not one who took it. So yeah. I don't know how exactly it works. But I've heard some stories about some other guys. That's kind of you know, it's crazy. All right, somehow, you know, somehow it works. You know, guys get a brown paper bag. But yeah, I mean, for for the type of crude I was at that time. And like, the schools that I was dealing with? Yeah, if I would have asked for like 200 Probably could probably would have got it. And
• 42:21
  Randall Kaplan: today, you got to the highest bidder, right?
• 42:24
  Randall Kaplan: You can get sponsorships, and I've got some friends who are coaches, and I just said, Hey, you know, so I'm gonna pay someone $2 million a year or $3 million a year, they're gonna take it right. Even if they're going to a lesser school. I mean, if you're that good, you're probably gonna go pro regardless, give or take, maybe, maybe not always, I mean, you'll get more chance to shine on a great team. So maybe you take a little bit less. But my friends that our coaches all say it's just about function of the highest bidder, it
• 42:53
  Arik Armstead: is definitely a lot of highest bidder now. But I think kids should still look at their situation. And, you know, think about what's best. For you know, your career, you know, your your situation. Because, you know, once you once you just get into that, oh, I'm, I'm available for the highest bidder analysis, you're just super monetarily driven. And so I also think that kids should, I think they should definitely value the money as well, too. But they should also look at, you know, who in the coaching staff is going to mentor me and help me become a better football player?
• 43:38
  Arik Armstead: What does the school have to offer me in terms of things I'm interested away from sports, like how can I get connected?
• 43:46
  Arik Armstead: You know, like I mentioned earlier, like, I I know now about, like, the alumni and everybody, and how, you know, prestigious it is to go to University of Michigan. alumni all over the world. I understand that it's
• 44:07
  Randall Kaplan: been a most winning football program in the history biggest alumni base in the world. Yes,
• 44:12
  Arik Armstead: that's, that's so that's, that's cool. So like, you know, I think like, those are the type of things that you like athletes should be be looking at. And like, shoot, if I was, if I was in college right now, or if I was in high school, going to college right now. I'm definitely look at the money.
• 44:29
  Arik Armstead: I'm gonna look at who my position coaches, how, what's your plan to develop me? Because I was a kid, I'm like, I want to be out of here in three years in the league. So what's the plan for that? Like, how do I, how do I become that player? Like, is it a place on my freshman year, and then my sophomore year, I'm the starter. And then my junior year, you know, I'm saying, like, who's going to help me develop my skills? And then I'll be looking at like, no, I need like, guaranteed development away from football to if this doesn't work out, like you guys need to introduce me to X, Y, and Z. Apart who are part of the university, I need an internship if I want it. Whatever you're interested in, shoot, like, even if it's not like business, like if you're interested in music, like make them get some music execs connected to you start those intros and stuff. As soon as you get in college, that's what I would be I would be, I would be using my leverage more than just money.
• 45:31
  Randall Kaplan: It was interesting, and I want to bring this up at some point in our show. We were at DeForest, Buckner, his wedding, that's where we met. And I love football, sports guy, you were hanging out with some of your teammates. And you're kind of isolated not really talking to the rest of the crew. And I said to my wife, oh, you know, there's some football players and I said I'm gonna go over there and said, No, you're not.
• 45:52
  Randall Kaplan: But I was already five steps ahead and I was on my way over there. And it's like, Hey guys, what's up, and just want to say hello, I'm a huge football fan.
• 46:01
  Randall Kaplan: And we started talking. And what was interesting to me is that first of all, you guys were all super humble. You were actually interested in what I did for a living. And then when I told you guys what I did want to probably not going to mention his name.
• 46:18
  Randall Kaplan: You know, it was a first round pick. Coming on a $16 million contract and I somehow I started talking about my summer internship program. And he said, Hey, I'd like to be an intern next summer, and learn from you.
• 46:31
  Randall Kaplan: And I'm sitting there shit. Now, like my interns, are freshmen and juniors in college. And here's a guy who's a professional athlete, I think, at the time, 2324 years old, is a millionaire, and he wants to be an intern with a bunch of college kids. And that, that struck me is huge. Because I had an impression that a lot of football players, athletes, basketball players, yeah, I think it's more common now for people to want to think ahead when their career and their playing days are finished, but I just found that was a very mind shifter for me. And I was I was blown away by you guys. I just thought that was awesome.
• 47:14
  Arik Armstead: Yeah, really, uh, you know, for me, when I met you in got to connect with you. I was at a space, like, where I was like, I'm in Silicon Valley, I'm in the Bay Area. A lot of people were having conversations that are like, way over my head.
• 47:39
  Arik Armstead: And I didn't like that feeling.
• 47:39
  Arik Armstead: And, you know, also to, it was like, if people are, there's gonna be opportunities, but if I, if I'm so like, me, I have no clue, like what they're talking about. And I'm gonna, like be off of it. So I was like, I need to learn. Well, since I'm out here, I need to learn about this space, I need to learn kind of what's going on around me. So when I want when I come around people I know the lingo. I know, I might not know that the expertise that you do. But I know it well enough that I know what makes sense and what doesn't. And when I met you, I was already, you know, interested in, in your space.
• 48:21
  Arik Armstead: And so it was like a no brainer to like, connect even more, and I really educated myself a lot, you know, during that time, and was trying to connect with people who, you know, have had more knowledge than me. And during that time, too, I went to, there was a course offered.
• 48:48
  Arik Armstead: I know a lot of well, not a lot of people, but some people might be familiar with like the Harvard, the Harvard Business sports light course that they do, like, it's like a few weekends or something. I did one like that. It was all on venture investing at Columbia University. So this is during like, OTAs. I was there in OTAs.
• 49:06
  Arik Armstead: I would fly out there on the weekends. And looking back, I probably didn't have to I probably could have just wanted to Stanford, but I don't know just something about it. I guess I went to Columbia, maybe because it was Ivy League and I was oh, this is but I learned a lot. And you know, just taking that time to you know, learn that in. You know, it's helped me a lot when I'm, you know, interacting with people like in the space and stuff.
• 49:35
  Randall Kaplan: Let's talk about the wedding. And we were going to come back to your career and business a minute. But let's talk about that wedding for a minute. I mean, insane, right?
• 49:45
  Randall Kaplan: Yeah, it was one of and good friend Lance Chatelet. Great dad, Shannon, great, great.
• 49:50
  Randall Kaplan: Great mom. Put on this sick wedding. Honolulu. And you and DeForest Buckner are basically besties right. You were teammates, roommates for
• 50:05
  Arik Armstead: while teammates, teammates roommates and college teammates roommate so roommates for roommates for a while in college as well to teammates and then you know, obviously played together at the Niners too so we've been together like eight was five Yeah, we've been together five years and professionally and then three years in college so
• 50:36
  Randall Kaplan: so a couple things I remember from that wedding. First is how awesome it was. Second was great people were there and I met some great people like you will become lifelong friends. And third, that the forest Buckler is one of the best answers that I've ever seen. Mm hmm. And the guy was a six, nine to 90 and he was doing the moonwalk like Michael Jackson. Okay. It was It was unbelievable.
• 51:00
  Arik Armstead: Yeah, now you can, he could definitely dance I didn't seen. That's, and that's how he is like, that's why he's a good player too. He's like, he's loose and athletic, and he can dance. You can dance crazy.
• 51:10
  Arik Armstead: I've seen it on multiple occasions. So
• 51:15
  Randall Kaplan: let's talk about junior year, you finished playing? You don't play your senior 2015 draft who the 17 Pick. These drafts are spectacles right now. They're televised live. And you got the commissioner. First pick up to the seventh pick. And all these dudes are on the craziest suits that you've ever seen. Right?
• 51:34
  Randall Kaplan: You got neon green and got this crazy suits? You didn't go? You stayed on the Sacramento, we stayed on your couch. You had a party with your family?
• 51:47
  Arik Armstead: Why didn't he go?
• 51:47
  Arik Armstead: Well, for one, the draft was in Cleveland. What's wrong with Cleveland? It was it was Yeah.
• 51:56
  Randall Kaplan: Cleveland people out there. What are you gonna say to that?
• 51:59
  Arik Armstead: Now the draft the draft, that what I remember, the draft was in Cleveland. The reason I didn't go was because I didn't know where I was. My agent told me like, you can go from anywhere from like, 10 to like the bottom of the first or bottom of the first round. So I was like, Yeah, I'm not going to be out there looking down. If this, if this go house supposed to,
• 52:24
  Randall Kaplan: you're worried you're afraid that your stock would fall and you wouldn't hit the first round. So you didn't want to embarrass guy that
• 52:32
  Arik Armstead: because I didn't know I wasn't like a bonafide like lot, you know, top 10 Pick, or, like, my draft range was pretty wide. So you never know how it's gonna go. And then two, I just, we had a I watched it with my family. But um, we also had a party for like, literally, like, every, I feel like every significant person in my life was like, there. So there was like a watch party. So then I went and met with all those people as well, too. So it was it was it was a great experience for me, I wouldn't have I wouldn't have changed it.
• 53:07
  Arik Armstead: Because I got to share that with so many other people who played a huge role in my life, that I wouldn't have been able to, you know, they would have been just excited from from home or whatever. But they actually got to, you know, share that moment with me. Agents
• 53:21
  Randall Kaplan: are notorious for recruiting athletes, even when there's not supposed to.
• 53:23
  Randall Kaplan: Agents are showering football players with attention. Talking about money. What was that like?
• 53:34
  Randall Kaplan: And why did talk about Chaffey field and how you selected him as your agent? Yeah, the agent process. Lay when you smile and pause like that, I know, you're going through some really good stories. So just tell us about some of the guys I mean, don't name names about some of the crazy shit they did. And then tell us why you chose your agent. Let's let's let's take the filter off and tell some tell at least one or two crazy stories about some of these agents? And then tell us why you have an awesome agent. You know, we had a dinner as well, one night great guy, very successful agent.
• 54:07
  Arik Armstead: Yeah, the evening game is is is very interesting.
• 54:10
  Arik Armstead: Well, back then it was it was a lot a lot different tools more, you know, within IO, I think it was kind of opening up and kind of brought everything to light.
• 54:18
  Arik Armstead: So but back then it was different. My dad controlled my process of picking the agent.
• 54:26
  Arik Armstead: And there was a few people reaching out, head into my junior year, you know, there's a few people, few people reaching out. And then my dad kind of was like the, the cipher. So everything went to my dad. And he's all distressed, distressed, distressed, distressed, when you're talking to you, we're not talking to you. And then he would like let like, you know, so, that was like the first first kind of wall. And then after my junior year, when I decided to declare it was like Alright, these are the these are the three that you know, we feel. Now you can pick from any of these three, who we feel like are pretty solid options. So my dad will my agent Shafi he, he first like saw about me like my junior year because he he told me he was like I it was his game versus Michigan State. It was a really big game. And I played, I played well made, made a bunch of plays. And he was watching that game. I mean, he's like that, who's who was this kid?
• 55:35
  Arik Armstead: And so that's when he first you know, heard about me. And then he reached out to my dad after that. They went through because
• 55:42
  Randall Kaplan: he knew your dad was controlling the process like these guys just show up at your dorm room and say, Hey, I'm an agent or so
• 55:49
  Arik Armstead: they got different ways. So it's like, you wish you could reached out to the school. So some back then some of the schools handled the process, right. Like for people who didn't have like family or anything to like, kind of, but my dad's been in basketball, you know, he's worked with Agent throughout his career. So he knows the landscape from the basketball side. And pretty similar, you know, I'm also my brother, you know, playing in the NFL, so it's kind of like me going through it twice. And so Shafi heard about and reached out to my dad, him and Joel Siegel work together. So they were talking to my dad throughout the year I finished my finished my junior year played a bowl game declare, and then I had like these these three meetings, and just felt like, you know, they were the best fit between Joel and Shafi at the time having both of them and yeah, we've had a great relationship, you know, ever since
• 56:53
  Randall Kaplan: Okay, well you didn't answer my question. Take the filter off give me give me one story about something crazy some agent did. To me. Yeah.
• 56:58
  Randall Kaplan: Bro. I honestly like honestly.
• 57:07
  Randall Kaplan: All right are still at so.
• 57:14
  Arik Armstead: This this is this is a story that lots of people don't know. So when I was at Oregon, my, my sophomore year, heading to my junior year. I had a friend on our team. We were real cool. It was spring break.
• 57:30
  Arik Armstead: We needed something to do. So my homie. He was like, I got this guy. Like he's in LA. He said he can, you know, we can come hang out with him. I was like, oh, fro. He's like, Yeah, I know him from from back home. He's like, cool. He's like, come on, kick it. Like I'll take care of you guys. So my article so we got a little vibe going like we want to slide we're gonna go down to LA have fun for spring break, I guess like this. So we we get down here. Get down to LA
• 58:05
  Randall Kaplan: and drove or you flew, drove
• 58:07
  Arik Armstead: we drove from Oregon, stopped in Sacramento, kicked it with my fam and then got up in the morning. Next day.
• 58:15
  Arik Armstead: Came out of LA we get here and we meet the guy. We have dinner the first night. It's cool.
• 58:19
  Arik Armstead: Like, because we got there pretty late. It's cool. We go check into the hotel. And then we check into the hotel. It's just like a you know, Marriott double room like nothing crazy.
• 58:30
  Arik Armstead: And the guy texts my friend is like a Yeah, like, um, you know, the you guys need to meet with this guy in the morning. He's Uh huh. What do you mean? He's like, Yeah, the guy who was taking care of you guys, you guys. He wants to meet you in the morning. And I'm like, Huh?
• 58:50
  Arik Armstead: He's like, yes, agent. He wants to meet you in the morning. He's the one taking care of you guys while you're down here. So I'm like, bro, what? I'm like, I'm talking to my friend like, Bro What like we're gonna get I'm like Nah, bro. Like, we can't do this. Like, we're going to I'm going to my Jimmy I'm trying to leave like I can't have no NCAA violation. It gets suspended. So I'm like Nah, bro, I'm not doing it. So we left the hotel remind me we're supposed to be down there for spring break this that the spring break story gets very long. So we leave the hotel on my bro We can't stay here like we're not mean what to do. We can't stay here like I don't know who this dude is. And it's just not worth it bro. Like for a little double room Marriott like you bought the bias for Marriott room 100 bucks. In the hot bro. So we left the room didn't have nowhere to go. Some crazy stuff. Couldn't find a hotel room by the time we find another hotel room. It was like a Makita for like 350 a night real light. Henry 50 Hell no, like Cainta I look into for like 350 Watt. I can't. It was like the middle of the night. Like, I don't know what was going on in LA. It was like the kita for like 350 And I'm like, Nah, bro, we're not doing that. We're broke. We're real. We're on our fast. Well, that's all we got. I think I had like, I think I have like $600 So we're like Nah, bro. We can't do that. So we slept in the car that night.
• 1:00:23
  Arik Armstead: What kind of car my expedition Okay, so hello room. Yeah, we slept in the car that night in the hotel parking lot. Woke up the next day didn't have nothing to do. Kyle along our former teammate was in the NFL at the time. Snapper long snapper. No, no, he's he was often the tackle.
• 1:00:40
  Randall Kaplan: Okay. Oh, yeah.
• 1:00:40
  Randall Kaplan: Okay, I'm thinking
• 1:00:44
  Arik Armstead: oh, yeah, you're thinking of I know you're thinking about a car long was he was it was offseason for him. So he was out here. We went over there and like just tried to Get out his house, you know, as long as we could because we'd have nowhere to go but we kind of overstayed our welcome. And then the story gets way longer and longer and longer put. I don't know if we want to get into all that, but that's probably the cradle we
• 1:01:03
  Randall Kaplan: didn't want to get into. Just just give us some. I see you smiling and if these stories are incredible
• 1:01:14
  Arik Armstead: so we overstayed our welcome that call he doesn't even know this. We went to his house with nowhere to go. And we were over there. Chillin, hanging out. He doesn't even know that we have nowhere to go.
• 1:01:24
  Arik Armstead: But he's like, alright, like, you know, like, what do you guys you know, I'm about to go to dinner and I realize, alright, man, we'll see you later. So we ended up leaving with nowhere to go. my homies like, my homies like, man, we had nothing to do to do. So. We're just driving around LA. We leave Carl's house. We're just driving around LA. He's like, man, let me I am in LA. Let's go see where we're.
• 1:01:59
  Arik Armstead: Let's go see where Biggie got shot. So we drove to Hollywood, to see where Biggie got shot, because he had never been to LA.
• 1:02:06
  Arik Armstead: And we need to do so. He saw our Spring Break Spot on Twitter at the time. It's called Lake Lake Havasu. I guess it was like a spring break spot for Arizona schools. So he sees it. He's like, bro, like, it's only like a three hour drive. On like, so realize I was on like a three hour drive. We literally had nothing to do. Because our plan was to be in LA for like four or five days. It was like it's only like a three and a half hour drive like a three and a half hour drive. So we're like, bro, we're not doing nothing. It's late at night. We're like Arliss hit the road. So we're headed to Lake Havasu now. And so we're heading to Lake Havasu. We stop in Barstow and sleep.
• 1:02:50
  Randall Kaplan: Get in the car again. No,
• 1:02:52
  Arik Armstead: no, we got a little cheap hotel in Barstow.
• 1:02:54
  Arik Armstead: Okay, go into Lake Havasu. Get to Lake Havasu. I had I had like$300 to my name at this point.
• 1:03:04
  Arik Armstead: It was a spring break and my FAFSA, which is like your financial aid was supposed to hit a Pell Grant or whatever it was like 1750. And so when I got like when you get that in college like 1750s, like, so it was like 1750 Like every four months or so. And I was waiting for mine hit but mine was a hidden so I was running out of money. But we get to Lake Havasu. We get to Lake Havasu.
• 1:03:36
  Arik Armstead: We get there. It was fine. It was though we found like a little Best Western. We have fun. But I'm running out of money. One of our other teammates. He was in LA we tell him to come because his financial aid hit so he had 1750 I borrow. I borrow some money. I was I broke just see me get like five on it. So we get back and my financial aid hit. So I was like, Alright, we're good now.
• 1:04:04
  Arik Armstead: So like we're at the Best Western Lake Havasu I guess.
• 1:04:06
  Arik Armstead: Like it was like boats on the lake. You know, it was, you know, they had like parties and stuff was fun. We had we gotta get time. We got spring ball.
• 1:04:16
  Arik Armstead: And a few days. I tell you the story gets long. We asked spring ball in a few days. To the hour, we got to start making our way back up north We're in. We're in Lake Havasu, Arizona, I think, I think it's Arizona Lake Havasu at this point, and we got to get back from Springboro all the way up in Eugene. So we got to remake, we got to start making our way back. So we're starting to drive. And we're starting to drive. And like to get back. I think we have planned on like stopping like back in LA or something. But when we're driving, so we're leaving Lake Havasu we're driving. And it's like, you can either go, you can either start going that way through Las Vegas, or through LA. So we're driving back, and I'm driving. And it's like, we can go to Vegas or LA guys, which I want to do. So I'm driving and like, we're just like, oh, I don't know what we're gonna do. Driving driving and then like, the exit is getting up. We're like, we gotta like make a decision like we're going to Vegas or we're going to LA because you can just stop in LA or stop in Vegas on the way back to we're gonna stop and like Sacramento and then go back up to Eugene. So I'm driving driving like what are we doing?
• 1:05:32
  Arik Armstead: Like what are we doing? And remind you My my, my other teammate, he got his 1750 So we got a little bit of money now.
• 1:05:39
  Arik Armstead: You know, I'm saying like, my homie got a little bit of money.
• 1:05:41
  Arik Armstead: We got 1750 from his his financial aid. So we're like, cool, we got a little money. So we're driving with a ha Alright, we're going to Vegas some Now we're going to Vegas. And so we get to Vegas. And we try to get a hotel on the Strip. We don't well not no plans. We're just doing stuff at this point. We try to get a hotel on the strip.
• 1:06:07
  Arik Armstead: And it was they were all we couldn't because of the the minibars in the room. We couldn't get a room. No one would give us a room. So I got 21 Yeah, we couldn't get a room.
• 1:06:20
  Arik Armstead: We weren't 21 yet. So we're like, dang. So my homie, who is this funny part. He was like, Man, I knew we shouldn't came down here. Like we're doing too much. We should have just went to LA, then went back home. He's like, man, we're doing way too much. So really the eyebrow or whatever. So we ended up finding a hotel off the strip. A regular hotel. We're like, bro, where he was like we're doing too much, man. I told you guys we shouldn't came here. Blah, blah, blah. So really our eyebrow let's just make the best. So we literally just get a hotel room and then we go walk the strip.
• 1:06:57
  Arik Armstead: So we're just walking the strip like that was the thing to do when you couldn't do anything was just walking the strip. I guess. Like I did that all the time for like a few tournaments like when I was a kid just walking strip. So we're just walking the strip literally.
• 1:07:13
  Arik Armstead: We're passing by Caesar's Palace. And so we're walking through we're walking through the shops past like, Caesars Palace like a Louis Vuitton store. So we walk in to the to the mall area. And we see like, we see the little baton store, but like nobody's in it. And when I was this, we're like, why is nobody in the store? And it was like two big old dudes standing outside with the money team shirts on TNT. So we're like, Money Team. They be with Floyd, the Great Wall. They that's Floyd security. And then we look in the store and we see Floyd in there. Well that Oh, dang Floyd Floyd Mayweather is in there. So we go to the security guards and we're like, Hey, can we meet Floyd? Like I walk up to the security guard who's named Big Adam. We're still cool to this day. I say can we move forward? And he's like, you're awesome grown men and want to interrupt another grown man to like, meet him.
• 1:08:20
  Arik Armstead: Right? No, no, no. No, it's not like that. Like we play football at Oregon. Like, we're just like big fans. He's Uh Oh, you guys play football? I'm like, yeah, he's like, who here? I said, I'm Erica homestead. He's an eau de you play D line. Right? It's like, yeah, he's like, Yeah, my son plays D like, I watched you play in the army game. Like, I know. I know who you are. And he was like, actually, Floyd likes you guys. Like, he likes Oregon Ducks. Because he used to bet on us all the time. Because we used to always cover the spread, because we used to beat people by like, 70. So he was like, actually fully electric guys.
• 1:08:53
  Arik Armstead: He's like, I'm not gonna bother him now. But you guys can come to the gym tomorrow and watch and train. So we went from not being able to get a room to now we're about to meet Floyd and go to the gym and watch him train.
• 1:09:04
  Arik Armstead: And my homie, who was like the biggest Floyd Mayweather fan ever was the one saying I told you we shouldn't it came here. I told you we were doing too much.
• 1:09:15
  Arik Armstead: So we that happens. And we go back to the room like little kids. I oh my gosh, we got to go to sleep for our big day. We're about to go meet for tomorrow.
• 1:09:21
  Arik Armstead: So we wake up the next day we go to the gym. super dope. He was I can't remember exactly who was fighting. But it was a it was a huge fight. He was getting ready for Showtime all access was there. Swiss beasts was in there. Like all types of celebs watching them. We watched him train for like, we were there all day. We were there all day.
• 1:09:43
  Arik Armstead: We were there. We were there when other guys are training.
• 1:09:45
  Arik Armstead: And then before he got there, and he trained for like, five hours straight sparred three different dudes. Like, first, it was all defense who's just moving and dodging. Second guy, counter punches. Third guy, he started attacking. Like he switched up his boxing style versus three people in a row. He kept sending guys and then we watched him hit the bags. It was crazy. Like, that was one of the I've been around a lot of hard work. But that was like the most hard work I've seen like someone do. And it was just him. You know, I'm saying everybody's just watching him work. And train and it was crazy. So we were in the gym all day. Like that was a you know, motivating experience like seeing somebody that's successful and how hard he worked. And then he gets done. We meet him chopping up with him. And then, you know, we're just talking. He's like, hey, I want to go to eat. And we like Yeah, I mean, we're not doing anything. Really? Oh yeah.
• 1:10:45
  Arik Armstead: So He's alright, let's go. So everyone just starts leaving, he leaves he hops in his Bugatti takes off his whole entourage and start hopping in the car is taken off. And we're like, where are we going? So I just, I just have my car and just start falling. So we're following like, seven cars through Las Vegas. Like I'm trying to keep up with him. And we go to this hibachi spot, like close to the strip. And it was cool. We hung out with him. You know, we're eating chillin, you pay for everything. So we got done eating. It was cool. You know, we talked a little bit and then he was like, you want to go to movies? I mean, yeah, we're not doing anything. So we got to, we got to South Point. And go to South Point, casino, whole movie theater, like it's just ours.
• 1:11:50
  Arik Armstead: Get whatever you want from the concession stands. And so we're just getting, we're just getting whatever we want. And then we go into the movie. And then like, in the in the movie theater before the movie started, we were like really talking to we were really talking to him. And he was telling us about, like, how you bet on us and like, you know, he was telling us that like he always watching us and you know, got to talk to him a little more. And then the movie starts and it's the movie Jonah with. It was Jonah. It was no no, not Jonah. I'm sorry, Noah's Ark. With Russell Russell.
• 1:12:26
  Arik Armstead: Russell
• 1:12:29
  Randall Kaplan: Crowe. Oh, yeah.
• 1:12:29
  Randall Kaplan: Russell girl. And
• 1:12:31
  Arik Armstead: so watch the movie. Literally 10 minutes into the movie this man stands up for it stands up like Man, this movie was born. Let's go. So everyone just left and then that was like didn't so that was our essence saying that was our spring break. It started off why agent trying to meet with us not having nowhere to go. bumming it around, going to Lake Havasu.
• 1:12:57
  Arik Armstead: Finishing in Vegas meeting Floyd and hanging out with Floyd. And really, yep, it's time to go back to go back home. I don't know what more could have. Could have top that.
• 1:13:08
  Randall Kaplan: I'm not sure I've ever had a spring break like that.
• 1:13:12
  Arik Armstead: Nah, I mean, we weren't really interested in but no,
• 1:13:16
  Randall Kaplan: I'm proud and pumped that Floyd's agreed to do my show. Oh, yeah. He is so excited. Shout out to Rodney Jerkins on that it was amazing guy on my show. Grammy Award winning producer, songwriter, incredible guy. So he hooked me up with Mike Tyson. Props around that. I'm super excited about Floyd. We haven't set up yet.
• 1:13:37
  Randall Kaplan: But I will mention this during the interview.
• 1:13:41
  Arik Armstead: He's not he probably won't. He probably won't remember it. He probably that's that's like a regular day for him. But it was, I would say I would say the most the biggest thing I took away was like the training part. Watching him training and working. Seeing this level of success he's at it was definitely because like how hard he works. And so that was that was really like, you know, inspiring and motivating. All the other stuff was like cool.
• 1:14:06
  Arik Armstead: But that's like, what I like took away from it most. For sure.
• 1:14:13
  Randall Kaplan: Thanks for listening to part one of my amazing conversation with Arik Armstead, the star defensive lineman of the San Francisco 40 Niners. Be sure to tune in next week to part two of my awesome conversation with Eric