Comedian and former NFL player Antonio Brown joins Jemele to discuss his new show, The Joe Rogan Experience, and what it s like being a comedian in the modern era of social media. He also discusses the dangers of head trauma in the NFL and how he overcame it.
00:02:00.000So, you know, I was like, you know what?
00:02:03.000Maybe I could, you know, rebrand CTS being, you know, giving people perspective of different challenges people face and great individuals, how they overcome adversity.
00:02:14.000And just kind of share and tune perspective of, you know, how people was getting through trauma.
00:02:20.000No matter if you're a football player, I mean, what is it like for you?
00:02:50.000So for me, I try to use it because this is a serious standpoint.
00:02:54.000A lot of ex-players and players have actually has been diagnosed and passed away from CT. So for me, on a serious point of...
00:03:05.000Bringing record awareness and bringing, you know, a reality standpoint of what athletes and people fighting or anyone in their daily lives facing from head trauma of just people writing them off, you know, and encouraging therapy, encouraging how do you get through tough situation and then making it funny.
00:04:21.000And when you started playing football, nobody even thought about it.
00:04:24.000Yeah, because you just, you know, you never think about the repercussions.
00:04:27.000You just think, I'll make a better life.
00:04:29.000Well, back then, nobody even really knew that that was going to happen to football players.
00:04:34.000It was kind of a thing that they thought about with boxers.
00:04:37.000Rarely people talked about football players who aren't doing so good.
00:04:40.000Yeah, so I feel like CTSP was brought back to recognize the awareness of...
00:04:45.000High-level people are experiencing trauma and not being able to overcome that trauma because, you know, life's changing on you in a second.
00:04:52.000You're playing football, you know it's going to come to an end.
00:04:59.000For pro athletes, you go from being a kid to all of a sudden you are making millions of dollars and you're young and you're wild and you're not thinking it's going to go away and then all your friends are buying jewelry and all your friends are buying Mercedes-Benz and Bentleys and all this shit and you're like, fuck.
00:05:17.000And I think the number was something like 85% of NFL players go bankrupt within X amount of years after retirement.
00:05:26.000Exactly, because the lifestyle, you know, and making so much money and being able to transition in regards of having a new career and not making that much money all at once like you used to.
00:06:00.000You know, ones that, it's not just like, well, the relationship didn't work out, the lawyer told you you can get some money from him, maybe you should go for it.
00:06:50.000Like, if you're doing okay, but then all of a sudden she starts working for a billionaire and he gets divorced and he's real friendly to her, next thing you know, she starts picturing that closet.
00:07:19.000It's a natural state that some women, I mean, obviously there's great women out there with character and morals, and they don't do that, but it's a natural thing that women do.
00:07:35.000When you talk about CTE, when did you first start noticing, The effects of football.
00:07:45.000I feel like to me, I always knew the game was going to come to an end.
00:07:49.000And I feel like to me, I always played the game smart as a receiver.
00:07:52.000Not putting myself in bad positions, getting hit.
00:07:55.000But I did have a chance to, you know, rest in peace to Marius Thomas, one of the ex-receivers who came in the NFL around the time I came in.
00:08:03.000I had a chance to see him experience, you know what I'm saying, some of that CT trauma.
00:08:13.000He passed from CTE? Yeah, when they study his brain, yeah, because I don't want to speak about the problems that he really had, but, you know, being a close friend to him, you know, we've seen some of the experience that he was going through.
00:08:25.000And playing for Temple my last year when we won the Super Bowl, I think it had a player, Vincent Jackson, rest in peace, also pass from CTE. So for me, you know, it's a real thing.
00:08:37.000And not only just from the hits you take, but like you said, aftermath of your career or, you know, having a moment in your career where some guys can't get over it or, you know, you done seen fighters have a fight or it may not go the way that they wanted to go and it could possibly affect the outcome of how they look at it.
00:08:55.000And I feel like we all have traumas in our lives from all, no matter if you play sports or not.
00:09:01.000So it's just raising awareness of getting mental therapy.
00:09:05.000Being able to, you know, work on yourself so you can have a better life.
00:09:08.000That's an important point you brought up, like the psychology of an athlete.
00:09:12.000You have to learn how to, like, put losses behind you and failures behind you and regain your confidence and then excel and move forward, right?
00:09:20.000You just got to not let one moment overtake the overall moments of your career.
00:09:27.000Some moments are big moments, and, you know, if you get cut, little things that happen in your career, just take it with a grain of salt and be able to, You talk pretty openly about CTE, but when did you start feeling the effects of that?
00:09:45.000I feel like I always was in tune and aware of my situation and where I'm at in life.
00:09:53.000I've been pretty blessed in my regards of being a football player.
00:09:58.000Come from Central Michigan as a walk on to Central Michigan, leave three years, go to the Steelers being the second receiver pick in that year.
00:10:06.000And then, you know, I always had a high belief in myself and never was deteriorated about the position or where I had to start from or where I was going.
00:10:14.000So for me, I always had the intuitive trust and the belief in myself regarding any situation I've been in because, you know, I came from Liberty City from nothing.
00:10:55.000They're looking for younger players to excel at the game.
00:10:57.000And then when you leave one of the best teams and put yourself in a position, you know, to do what's important for you other than important for the NFL. So, you know, what's going to come with that?
00:11:08.000So, to me, I always made a calculated decision, you know what I mean, to put myself in the best position, i.e., like playing with Tom Brady, you know, going to the Pacers or leaving the Steelers.
00:11:43.000I'm sure you run into, and you definitely did while you're playing, young guys are coming in, and you feel compelled to let them know, like, hey, you got a short amount of time here.
00:11:53.000The longest anybody that ever lasts is like Brady.
00:12:57.000Of all, it's just what you do is really not who you is, but I feel like people will kind of get to know you from what you do based off, you know what I mean?
00:13:38.000Yeah, it's interesting to see that some people can navigate it and they figure out how to do it and they get through life and then they move on to other things and they start doing commentary on ESPN or what have you and they're doing great.
00:13:50.000And then most people, that's not the case.
00:14:24.000Learning how to channel it, you know, learning how to deal with some relationships that maybe changed now that you're not in a position and how to deal with that or, you know, how to deal with people leveraging you, you know what I mean, for what you got now.
00:15:23.000Yeah, they was calling me, Justin LaBoy, like, calling me in New York, like, yo, Kanye wanna meet you.
00:15:29.000I ended up flying to L.A. to meet Rich with Fashion Nova, and we met right in Craigs, randomly in Craigs, but he was looking for me in L.A., and after that...
00:15:40.000And I'm hanging with him, making his album, Donda 2. Wow.
00:21:59.000And you can get caught up in it and it can become your whole life and you will waste your life thinking about that stuff instead of thinking about stuff that you actually have control over.
00:22:42.000Or would you take it on the DL back then, like a little lighter?
00:22:45.000No, obviously back then I was representing the NFL and some stuff I can't really talk on or speak on when you represent a T. Right, if you were representing the NFL right now...
00:22:54.000Yeah, man, you gotta get the fuck out of it.
00:22:56.000Yeah, some of the shit you write is wild.
00:25:29.000And it's also, like, the fun thing about you doing something like that, too, is it lets other people know, like, oh, I could cut loose, too.
00:26:30.000I feel like as a player, I always was about action.
00:26:33.000I love to talk and be funny and creative, but sometimes it depends on, you know, what's the seriousness and the purpose coming behind it or what's the meaning.
00:27:53.000Enough real-world perspective to know what's actually important in this life.
00:27:59.000And it's not really necessarily other people's opinions, especially the type of opinions of people that get upset all the time about everything.
00:28:52.000I mean, I'm my worst critic, so if I have a bad show, if I do something I don't like or wish I didn't do, I am upset at myself more than other people are gonna be anyway.
00:30:37.000Because that's why I feel like that's why people get in trouble with all these coins, just pump and dump.
00:30:41.000People don't want to be scammed or fucked over or manipulated.
00:30:45.000So I feel like you got to have, for me, to make one coin, I feel like we got to make one that won't sell a tank, an unguardable one that you could.
00:31:16.000I think those people are just gamblers.
00:31:18.000And they're just trying to figure out, okay, if I buy in now, and, you know, they probably got, like, their finger over the sell button, waiting for it to get to a certain number.
00:31:35.000Because the casino, like, the person playing it.
00:31:39.000Can't rig it, but this the person playing it is rigging it the person buying the coins can rig it like if you especially if you get a famous guy like Hamzat or Someone else to tweet about it and make it a big deal and then the price goes up and then you just Pick a peak peak number and when it hits that number like that's it Yeah, you can't fuck people over people.
00:32:01.000No one's feeling good fuck what out there.
00:32:03.000No decision, but also Who are these people, and why did they think they were gonna make money on bullshit coins?
00:32:18.000We're like, well, that's what you signed up for.
00:32:20.000Like you could have won money like people win money in roulette or they don't but if you lose all your money in roulette, we're not mad at the casino.
00:32:55.000And again, I feel terrible for anybody who got tricked into doing that shit, but I think most of those people who are not getting tricked, they're like scamming.
00:33:07.000But the weird thing is a guy like Portnoy can tweet about a coin, and then once he makes that post, the coin goes up, and then he sells, and he makes a million dollars.
00:39:40.000But I think we were conditioned, because of the way the old Twitter worked, to be very careful of what you said, very cautious of what you said.
00:39:48.000And also, there was real consequences.
00:40:17.000He just like, I don't think we should be celebrating the death, I think the death of Osama bin Laden, I think it was for the 9-11 attack, I think in 2012, I think he must.
00:41:49.000I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down, demolition style.
00:41:54.000The latter post is eventually removed by Mendehal's Twitter page.
00:41:58.000Wendy's offering was a different story.
00:42:00.000I appreciate those who've decided to read this letter and attain a greater understanding of my recent Twitter post.
00:42:05.000See, I've gotten misconstrued, and I wanted to use this outlet as a way to clear up things that do not truthfully represent myself, what I stand for personally, and any organization that I'm a part of.
00:42:15.000First, I want people to understand I'm not in support of Bin Laden or against the USA. I understand how devastating 9-11 was to this country and to the people whose families were affected, not just in the USA, but families all over the world who had relatives in the World Trade Center.
00:42:27.000My heart goes out to the troops who fight for our freedoms every day Not being certain if they will have the opportunity to return home and the families who watched their loved ones bravely go off to war Last year I was grateful enough to have the opportunity to travel overseas to participate in football camp and put on for the children of U.S. Troops sanctioned in Germany.
00:42:57.000Oh Don't believe this is an issue of politics or American pride, but one of religion morality and human ethics see that's the problem with Tweets because you're writing something it's 120 characters back then and it's just You know a complicated issue like that thing like maybe we shouldn't be celebrating death Maybe we shouldn't be celebrating murder,
00:43:21.000you know, you know, maybe we should Instead of having joy and cheering, maybe we should wonder how that guy got into the position he's in in the first place.
00:50:55.000You're loud It's the best podcast I go to sleep watching this This man talks so many This man got knowledge of a man Listen Joe Rose is the best Thank you, sir.
00:53:24.000Yeah, yeah, exactly You lose everything for one moment.
00:53:28.000Yeah, so you're sitting there Maybe you got a couple of drinks in you and you're like, you know, I gotta fucking say something like someone needs to be there to grab Your hand like you know calm that shit.
00:53:38.000Don't do it Take yourself out the game, but I think now if you do that people go.
00:53:42.000Yeah, I I'm glad you said that because I was thinking the same thing.
00:53:47.000Now it's different because people feel like they can express themselves, which is the real danger of censorship.
00:53:52.000Even if you don't agree with what someone is saying, you've got to let them say it because if you don't, someone's going to limit what you say.
00:54:00.000And that's just the nature of free speech.
00:54:50.000So I was grateful that we're in better times and things getting better.
00:54:53.000People were able to express themselves more on the X app.
00:54:57.000Thanks, Elon Musk, for giving us that good freedom of speech.
00:55:02.000I think the country's moving in a good direction.
00:55:04.000As long as we can avoid this fucking war, as long as we can avoid war and war with China and war with Russia and everybody else, if we could just avoid that, I think we're gonna be okay.
00:55:15.000We just gotta make it through some weird shit.
00:55:55.000If you're yapping about some shit, especially if it's actually some government shit that they're working on, and then, you know, some two men in suits come up, and when you see two men show up in a Cadillac in suits, you automatically assume they're serious people.
00:56:08.000They get out with black suits, black ties, and they look at you and they tell you, hey, Antonio, we'd like to talk to you about your encounter.
00:56:15.000And then you're like, oh shit, I'm in trouble.
00:56:17.000And then they're doing some hypnosis on you and some mind control shit, you know, and bringing you in a room.
00:57:02.000They probably manipulate the way you think, especially if you're under stress, if you're nervous, like you think you could be in trouble, like something's going on.
00:58:08.000You have a bunch of cassettes, and each one has work.
00:58:16.000all these different things it's he's got like legit great information yeah i want to see him in boca return maybe like 2020 right before i got with tampa bay it was like yo you're gonna win the super bowl man you're gonna make a big catch see yourself really just lock it in in my spirit just like it's pretty cool man shout out to tony robbins for doing that i think there's something to He got a real good manifestation and just...
00:59:03.000But I think if you're already talented and you're already in the game, you could put some things in your mind and you could make some things happen.
00:59:13.000I think there's a little bit of something to that.
01:00:37.000I feel like it just make your vision a part of your spirit.
01:00:40.000Anytime, you know, because I feel like you can write stuff down, write affirmations, affirmations, you can set goals, but to meditate on them and make them a part of your spirit, like, it's different.
01:00:55.000Yeah, to deeply think about them and embed them in your consciousness.
01:01:21.000But it's an aspect of success in life.
01:01:25.000And I think with everything, with being a good parent, with being a good father, with being a good husband, with being a good friend, with being a good...
01:01:34.000Employee, a good boss, like, with everything.
01:01:59.000Because the first time was probably the weirdest one.
01:02:01.000The first time was a little weird, but then when I went to sleep and woke up, I'm like, dang, I feel refreshed.
01:02:08.000I feel like, you know what I'm saying?
01:02:10.000I feel like I got some new feelings in myself.
01:02:13.000Because I feel like at that point I was going through stuff in the NFL and I was kind of like was pissed off because I kind of knew like, man, these guys could just get you out your spot whenever you want.
01:02:22.000But it was just like, I finally realized that, you know what?
01:02:26.000It's not even about me being right in the situation.
01:08:32.000His left hook is what he knocks out everybody with.
01:08:34.000But it might be that his left hook is faster, and it's a better weapon because it's in the front, and his right hand is more powerful, but he just doesn't land it as often that way.
01:16:09.000They have a power slap that kind of talks about what you guys were just discussing.
01:16:13.000Okay, the promoter may, but is not obligated to, incorporate the following rule for any event, for any specific category matches, such as title matches.
01:16:21.000A participant was the first defender in round one and did not elect such position.
01:16:27.000And B, there is a KO or TKO finish of such participant in round one.
01:16:31.000Then, after the referee declares a finish, a clock of two minutes begins.
01:16:36.000During this time, the defender is given two minutes to recover and be examined by the supervising physician.
01:16:41.000If the supervising physician in consultation with the referee determines that the defender has established their fitness to continue and is without medical health risk for purposes of delivering one strike to the opposing participant within such two-minute period and not receiving any further strikes as a defender, then the referee will announce the commencement of the redemption round and will instruct the striker to complete one permitted slap of their opponent.
01:17:08.000If the return strike results in a KO or TKO finish of their opponent, the match is declared a draw.
01:17:14.000If the return strike has any other result, the match result stands.
01:19:24.000It makes a rematch very exciting, though.
01:19:26.000And I think that's great for Javante because other than Shakur, who's the other major star, and then Lomachenko if he decides to fight again.
01:19:36.000But other than that, there's not a lot of compelling challenges out there for him.
01:19:41.000So now this Lamont Roach fight becomes the most compelling fight in the division for him.
01:19:56.000During the round in question, the following the commission's request for the replay video, there was a technical issue preventing the commission from receiving it within the allotted time to review.
01:20:05.000Therefore, the referee's in-ring decision was relied upon and the fight continued.
01:21:04.000I feel like people used to tank just knocking people out early in the round.
01:21:08.000So to see him go to the deep end, 12th round, seeing that both of the guys was damaging each other and putting them in a good fight was pretty...
01:22:12.000Well, he just won the 154 pound title.
01:22:15.000And, you know, before that he was fighting at Walter weight, which is 147. But it's not like he doesn't have time to, like, thicken up a little bit.
01:22:23.000And if he's walking around at 185, that means he probably cuts a considerable amount of weight to get down to 54. And now, but I think he's getting thicker.
01:22:31.000And he was deadlifting 450 pounds the other day.
01:23:51.000You're picking up weights on the floor.
01:23:52.000No matter what you do, as you're lifting, even if you're fully extending and stretching your body forward, you're compressing your back when you have that enormous amount of weight.
01:24:03.000There's no way you're not compressing your back.
01:25:02.000Yeah, twitchy meaning you explosive to get out.
01:25:05.000Yeah, you got to be elusive in your body movement.
01:25:08.000But you want to have a lot of strength, too.
01:25:10.000Just enough, because you're going to get hit, pushed around in your shoulders and your legs and your glutes.
01:25:14.000So what kind of stuff do they have you do?
01:25:16.000So many launches, single launches, explosive launches when you're driving up, hamstring curls, bench press, dumbbells, single arms, a lot of core rotations.
01:29:19.000It's a bunch of different things, but I think mostly it's 10 to 9. It's mostly overuse because it would start to hurt and I would just ignore it and keep doing it.
01:29:26.000I got it from archery where it just started flaring up because it's like...
01:29:30.000When I'm shooting the bow, the bow is 80 pounds to pull back, and I do it 150 times a day.
01:29:38.000So that's like 150 rows with 80 pounds.
01:29:43.000So doing that all the time, my lower back and stabilizing, it started to flare up, and I'm an idiot.
01:31:10.000Yeah, and it warms everything up, and it loosens it, it stretches it a little bit, because when you get to here, you know, you're challenging your range of mobility.
01:31:19.000And then you get to here and here, you know, it's like, and it's hard to do, so your abs are firing, everything's working.
01:31:26.000Yeah, we got everything activated, man.
01:32:31.000Especially if you're a wide receiver or defensive back, guys who got to be athletic and jump high and attack the balls and do different stuff.
01:32:38.000You know, maybe like an old lineman may not be getting the balls, so they might focus on lifting weights and, you know what I mean, being strong and combative.
01:32:46.000You know what else I started adding to?
01:32:48.000Ab wheel to my feet when you do explosive push-ups.
01:32:52.000So you explode up, you roll your abs forward on the wheel, and then you come down and catch yourself, and then explode up and roll the wheel forward, and then come down and catch yourself.
01:33:36.000I like to do the single leg and then be on one leg and then rotate your hip like if you was doing the...
01:33:42.000Full circle of your hip, but do it on one leg so you get the glute burning.
01:33:47.000Oh, so you're doing that on one, and you're balancing too.
01:33:49.000Yeah, so you're on one leg, just try to rotate this hip forward 10 and backwards 10. On one leg, opening the hips is always key.
01:33:58.000Laying on the ground, getting this leg to this leg, this leg to this arm, you know, laying on your stomach, rotating your back leg to your back.
01:37:13.000Yeah, setting it up now to get our own team.
01:37:15.000Me and Kodak Black, one of my close friends from Miami, probably started a volleyball league for the women and some flag football for the team.
01:37:26.000Community activities to help some kids achieve their goals and taking them to different tournaments to be able to compete all over the world.
01:37:35.000Well, that's cool that you have that focus that you want to like help kids to you know help them You know and also like when they see a guy like you has done it been there done that You know been at the top they could say oh, it's Paul.
01:37:48.000He's human He's just like me, you know and him talking to me and working with me Maybe I can get something done in this life.
01:37:54.000I got some new music coming out Actually tomorrow song called click it 41, Cal, Rich, Tata, Jen, Carter.
01:39:30.000He had a whole prep school that was allowing the kids to go to school, down to sports, giving them the opportunity to play basketball, taking them to play different games.
01:39:41.000I mean, we had Rob Dillingham who used to be in the program who played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, now got drafted, who went to Kentucky University.
01:39:51.000I think he went to Duke University and came out and went.
01:41:39.000But it was also because you had laid the groundwork of being funny all the time on Twitter and being that wild follow that people like to go check you out.
01:41:48.000So when you do something like that award show, everybody's like, yeah, I can't wait.
01:42:07.000Because, like I said, it's just, it's fun.
01:42:10.000It's like a thing that wasn't around before, and it's like a sign that everything's getting back to normal, that you can do fun kind of shit like that again.