This week on The Burn Podcast we wanted to revisit an important and powerful conversation with my dear friend, Julius Thomas.
Julius is a former tight end for the Broncos, Jaguars, and Miami Dolphins. During his time in the league he was a monster on the field, putting up 40 touchdowns in his 7 year career. JT has always been a man of many talents, he actually was a basketball star at Portland State before taking his shot in the NFL. (Glad he did!)
He has now moved on to become a Cognitive Scientist and the founder of Optimal Performance System where he teaches top athletes and business professionals how to find THEIR optimal performance.
This episode is a very powerful one as we cover a broad range of topics but I can guarantee that YOU will be coming back to listen to this one over and over. Full episode now Live on Youtube and all podcast platforms.
This week on The Burn Podcast we wanted to revisit an important and powerful conversation with my dear friend, Julius Thomas.
Julius is a former tight end for the Broncos, Jaguars, and Miami Dolphins. During his time in the league he was a monster on the field, putting up 40 touchdowns in his 7 year career. JT has always been a man of many talents, he actually was a basketball star at Portland State before taking his shot in the NFL. (Glad he did!)
He has now moved on to become a Cognitive Scientist and the founder of Optimal Performance System where he teaches top athletes and business professionals how to find THEIR optimal performance.
This episode is a very powerful one as we cover a broad range of topics but I can guarantee that YOU will be coming back to listen to this one over and over. Full episode now Live on Youtube and all podcast platforms.
Welcome back to the burn podcast. This week on the show, we are going to be revisiting one of Ben's conversations with his dear friend, julius Thomas. Julius is not only one of the most sought after coaches in the business world today. He was also one of the most high profile and successful professional athletes from his time in the NFL. Julius has now gone on to give and serve and to help individuals to be their best, and he's now actually Dr Julius Thomas. In fact, he's actually coaching Ben's son, isaac. So, with no further ado, we had to bring back this amazing conversation with Dr Julius Thomas.
Speaker 3:
Welcome back to another episode of the Burn. I am Ben Newman and today we're going to have a very, very special episode with a dear friend of mine, julius Thomas soon to be Dr Julius Thomas which I'm so excited to see that DR behind or in front of his name. And Julius Thomas had an amazing career in the NFL as a tight end Seven seasons, two Pro Bowls. He was one of those guys at tight end that was getting it. There's blocking tight ends and then there's tight ends that go up and catch a lot of touchdowns. So he knocked on the door of 40 touchdowns in his career two seasons at 12 touchdowns. So he was a blocker, he was a playmaker, he was a big body and he was a hell of a teammate.
Speaker 3:
And from Portland state. Now consider this. Many of you who say to themselves man, like the chips are stacked against me, Is this for me? Can I make it? Coming out of Portland state, most people don't even believe you can have a resume like the one I just shared with you. And Julius Thomas is one of those guys who's fought for everything that he has earned in order to be the best that he can be A great teammate, great husband, great father and now he's going to be a great doctor helping athletes. Okay, he's gone back to Nova, southeastern and he's going to specialize in the brain and what happens to brain injuries, how it affects the body through contact sports. So, julius Thomas, welcome to the burn, my friend.
Speaker 2:
Man, thank you so much for having me. Thank you for that introduction. We're going to get into the story absolutely. Also, thank you for being somebody that I consider as a mentor when I was first transitioning for the league. Getting to see you do your thing, getting to watch the impact that you have on other people by helping them get their actions right. How do you help people get closer to that thing they want? And that's important to what we do with coaching, and I'm very thankful to have you as a friend. I'm very thankful to always be able to reach out to you, ask for some advice, get some knowledge on how I continue to grow in this space and in my career. And you know I'm excited to talk about my burning. You know I'm excited to be here. I mean, we have been talking about this for a while, so, man, let's get it.
Speaker 3:
So I actually I'm going to take this in reverse and I just I appreciate your energy and just appreciate how you show up in our relationship. I do. I want to start in a place that I think we need to start as a result of what's currently going on in the world. And you know the timing of this interview. We've literally been talking about doing this for probably two years and it's just interesting how God shows up with timing. So this, we're actually going to run this episode and we're filming this just a couple of days after everybody was impacted by DeMar Hanlon's injury on the field during Monday night football. And I just want to start before we specifically talk about this, because I think there's a perspective you can share. I just I can't stop thinking about DeMar Hamlin. I can't stop thinking about this young man being in a hospital, not knowing what's going to happen when they take him off the sedation, what's his future life going to be like. And you know, certainly in your work now, in my work now, you know we're helping to prep guys for interviews and press conferences and how to just show up in life, because they're worried and they're stressed and they're fearful.
Speaker 3:
And there's a prayer that I found I'm always prayerful and I never hold back from prayer in our episodes of the Burn, but here's a prayer that I shared.
Speaker 3:
I'd love to get your thoughts on this as we turn to your perspective on Damar. And here's something I sent it to executives, coaches, players, collegiate players. It says I pray, lord, that you will bless them and love them and guide them and comfort them as they go through whatever travail you may have planned, strengthen them and allow them to see your presence, your hand, your purpose and your intention in all of this distress that you have allowed to befall them. And I found those words and it was just so powerful and I've been a little bit off, you know. And so, julius, I'd love to hear your perspective as a, as a former player now working in this space. How has this impacted you? And I just want everybody, before we start with Julius, I just want everybody to just think and to pray and to pour as much positive energy as you can to DeMar Hamlin's family and most specifically for DeMar himself, for great strength during this time.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, no, you know, number one. Thank you for that prayer. I think that faith has been such an important part of my life and I owe I owe the Lord glory for everything that he's brought me through and taken me to. And then you know currently my role as pursuing a doctorate in clinical health psychology, spending a lot of time working in rehabilitation psychology, which means a person that has usually a physical and a mental illness that are occurring at the same time. You know, when you think about what happened with Damar, it's something that we all have to process, right. Why should we talk about it? We have to talk about it because when we witness an event, especially a life-threatening event now, our minds are raised, seeing we've got feelings and emotions, hormones from the brain going on inside of us that we need to address. One of the important pieces about psychology and why I always tell people I'm a believer is because when you take the time to discuss what's happening within you internally, you find a way to make sense of it right.
Speaker 2:
A lot of people are experiencing fear right now. A lot of people are experiencing sadness right now. There may be even some people that are trying to figure out what that, what they watch means for them, and so it's important for us to talk about it and it's great that we were able to do this here for the people that are interested in the story. They can come on and see how we're going through it. You know, and I think the first thing you want to do in processing is you got to get to the emotion. What's the emotion that comes up, you know, for you and I might be sadness. You know parents think about what it's like to see your son playing the game he loves and then be riding in the back of an ambulance with him to the hospital. Like I've personally rode in ambulances and some of the training I've done with the fire department here locally, when you see people in the back of that ambulance, hooked up to an EKG, getting taken to an emergency room, there's a different look in their eyes. It's not about what's not happening on Thursday. It's not about how they didn't get the girl they wanted back in high school.
Speaker 2:
The moment and the focus is all on sustaining life and that's where he's at. That's where his family is right, like his mom's at that hospital with him right now, every day, thinking what can I do to support my son so that he can continue fighting and recovering from what the recent reports say. He's sedated right now, so he's not in a conscious place, but there's going to be a day when they remove that sedation and he wakes up and there's going to be a gap in his life. Right, I was playing football. I hit somebody and he may not remember the hit, right.
Speaker 2:
Sometimes, when we have events like that, you get a little bit of amnesia about 30 to 40 minutes before that at times. So somebody's going to have to share with him what happened and he's going to say well, what's today? Is it Tuesday? No, it's not Tuesday. Whatever day, it is that they remove that sedation, he's going to have to figure out and catch back up on everything that's happened and he's going to have to understand and work through what does this mean for him in his career?
Speaker 2:
But one thing I tell everybody this week, one thing that I'm I think I'm okay to say because I've spent so much time in NFL locker rooms these are fighters and I would be shocked when he wake up. When he woke up, he said man, I want to play, I'm ready to fight, I'm ready to get back out there. I mean, how many guys have you worked with that have sustained season ending injuries, possibly career threatening injuries, to go? No, no, no. I'm going out on my own terms and they want to, and I hope that he has that ability to make that decision. I hope that what happened with the heart was an anomaly and his heart's still strong and he's able to keep playing if he chooses to, because this is a really serious thing that we witnessed and I'm pulling for him, I'm praying for him and I hope that his team is able to come together around this event and get refocused so they can go, you know, really play in his honor.
Speaker 3:
You know, and there's one thing when you think about the playing aspect of this and you know, mind-blowing to me but not surprising, the number of comments with no emotion that we heard. You know, people putting stuff out about their fantasy football and playoffs you know, you realize during traumatic events like this what is most important. And I know there's an unwritten rule that I've heard so many players talking about recently, over the last couple of days, but you hear it all the time. This unwritten rule, even though there's the. You know, ryan clark kind of took us through.
Speaker 3:
Uh, you know all of the things that we say hey, we're going to war, we're going to battle, we save these things, but at the end of the day, no matter who you're playing it's a conference opponent. If it's a playoff game, all you want, as a player, is to go home safe to your family, and all you want, for every single one of your teammates and every single opponent that you are lining up against yes, it's this proverbial war for 60 minutes, but isn't there so much truth to that unwritten rule? You just want everybody to go home safe to their families.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you know, one of the ways that I've heard from fighters right, and I think in some ways football is the same way you want to inflict pain, not injury, right, like when you hit a guy you want him to feel it.
Speaker 2:
When you go to run a guy over, you want him to feel it a little bit, but you want him to get back up. You want him to continue to be able to do the thing that he loves and the thing that allows him to provide for his family. When you have a player sustain a life-threatening injury, the first thing you realize is he's mortal. Right, he's a human being. No matter how many weights he's lifted, no matter what jersey he came out with, he's a human being and life is precious and it's always at risk. But then, once you're able to recognize that he almost sustained a life threatening injury, the next natural place the brain goes is wait. But I can't. That could be me.
Speaker 2:
How many times in a player's career has they been tackled or been hit? And now you're knowing that if you get hit precisely in the right place at the right amount of force, your heart could stop. So how are players around the league going to have to face that realization in themselves, right? So now something is basic to the game of football as tackling. Now, everyone that plays the game and watches the game is aware that the heart could stop when a tackle happens. That puts into conflict what Ryan shared about wanting to see guys get home to their families and wanting to be able to do the same thing for them, and how the teams and individuals process that as they move forward with what they do for a living.
Speaker 3:
You know, one of the things that I respect so much about you is you were you were a dog on the field, right. I mean you were a big body getting after. It's so athletic for a big guy, you know playing tight end, but there's that, there's just this humbleness and passion that you speak with and that's really. You know. We got to know each other after your playing career so I got to used to love watching you play. But I got to meet you after and I've gotten to see this behind the scenes, you working with players, right, and you know, thank you to Caleb Thornhill, who's like the great uniter of human beings in the world through the pro-athlete community, through PAC and all the great work that he's doing. And I get to see you engage with these athletes and speak to these athletes and I think there's such a unique even just hearing you talk through this Damar issue. I think there's such a unique and needed place for your work, more than there's ever been. Now that we're talking about mental health, we're talking about the struggles mentally it's not this forbidden thing to talk about and I think the perspective that you bring from being a player, not somebody who just showed up to a couple of training camps, you had an amazing career and then now to go get your doctorate and to do what you're doing. I can't wait to see where you take this.
Speaker 3:
But what I always think about and what I want all of our listeners to hear is where does that kind of a burn come from? Because I'm not sharing anything private here, but you made plenty of money. You didn't have to go back and get a doctorate. You didn't have to do these things. You have a 2,000-hour internship coming up. You didn't have to do these things. You have a 2,000-hour internship coming up. You didn't have to subject yourself to that. So you have to have a burn for life to be great for people. Where does that come from for you, julius?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you know I like to say it and I hope everybody can appreciate the way that I say this because it works in my mind. Maybe it's not the most politically correct right, but I always say it because I'm a little black kid from Stockton California, because when I grew up I do the same thing everybody else did I threw rocks at my friends, I kicked cans down the street, I hopped on my scooter and I always wondered what life would be like when I grew up and my heart, my heart, my compassion for others it comes from faith right at At an early age. Thank goodness to my parents, they put me into Christian school and I got to spend time understanding and learning about the Lord. And when you read and you study scripture and you get to learn about these messengers and prophets and people of faith that have come to care for the world, you pick up a little bit of that. So I think those are those two things that really define me right, like my heart and how I care about people, came from faith, and my drive and my ambition to continue to prove people wrong and to continue to achieve the things that I'm after it came from the fact that you know I wasn't like a top 100 kid in eighth grade.
Speaker 2:
I was playing basketball at the end of the bench in freshman year. Because, you know I wasn't like a top 100 kid in eighth grade. I was playing basketball at the end of the bench in freshman year because, you know, I wanted to go to college one day. And that drive and saying, you know, I need people to believe in what I'm after, I'm hungry to achieve the things that come into my head as visions, and once they show up and I ask myself are you aligned with it? When we talk about it, I immediately start taking action. And that action comes from this fire inside of me. I don't know if it was just born into me, I don't know if I developed it, but I've always had this desire to achieve and that's really what sustained me through the challenges that life throws at you.
Speaker 3:
So tell me now you know, being able to connect to that fire off the field at such a significant level, what's exciting? You most right, because there's a lot of people, and you and I have talked about this a lot. There's so many people who tell you how great they want to be, and then you have the conversation with their action and that's what tells us the real story. You've been all about that action for a long time. So what are the things? Where do you want to have the most significant impact as you now make this unbelievable transition for you, which has already started? You're already impacting and working with clients, but what most excites you now to carry on that passion and desire to this next chapter?
Speaker 2:
You know, I think we're really. What most excites me is bringing things together that have been considered separate. Before me is bringing things together that have been considered separate before right? It's like when I think about mental performance and I think about mental health, are they really separate, or how often do they come together?
Speaker 2:
And so, for me, what I really want to do is I want to take the heart that I have for people, the experiences that I've had early and throughout my life with the training that I've gotten after and understanding how the mind and the brain works, pull them together and to help people do what they want to do at the highest level possible. So I want to work in mental performance, I want to help people with mental health, and I want to help people with leadership and giving the world hope, so that everybody knows that, whoever they were when they started, it doesn't matter where you start in life. You can achieve anything, and I'm a living example of that. And when life comes and brings you pivots and you change, what does it matter? I want people to have the feeling of being a mountain climber. I want people to climb the biggest mountain they can find in their life right now. Then I want them to get to the peak of that mountain. I want them to look out, find another mountain. They want to go climb, walk down that mountain and go climb another one. Because that's the spirit, right, that's the tenacity that you can have for life. And I want other people to know that they can do it too.
Speaker 2:
Because when I was on the end of the bench playing freshman basketball and having to work my way up to playing varsity as a sophomore, they go to college to play basketball and then, four years into college, you go. I think there's a mountain out there that I can climb. It's called football. And everybody says, no, what are you doing, dude? You're a four-year basketball player, senior captain, most wins in school history. Like you're about to go play football. They laughed at, laughed at me. Football guys used to come out there and heckle me as I started running around. So I was sliding around like Bambi on ice. It's okay, I'm going to get the last laugh. And that's the spirit that I want more people to know inside of them that they can have too. You can achieve anything, because what's in you is a fire and we need to stoke it. That's the burn. How do we take your burn, how do we double it, triple it? And that's what I want to give people access to.
Speaker 3:
You know, I love hearing this because that's really the purpose of PAC. You know, really in PAC we're trying to empower these former players to realize your next chapters can be more significant than the ones that you've already written. And hearing you say that there is this belief, fire, passion that is going to happen for Julius Thomas. So what do you say? And I know there's some people who are probably starting to wonder now, okay, like this is exciting. I love that Julius is doing this for these former players. But what about me? I'm in the business world or I'm an entrepreneur. I want you to pay attention and I have no idea how you're going to answer, but I know how powerful you are with your words. I promise you this answer is going to speak to anybody who can go and do something bigger than they've already done it, which is kind of interesting.
Speaker 3:
This year. You know, this is going to be our first episode of Season 5. It's our first episode to kick off the year and I'm going to encourage people all year long raise the bar in your life. So, even though Julius and I give these talks at pack events for former players that your next chapters can be better, can you hit everybody with just your thoughts on the next chapters, being better and not settling and not being seduced by success, no matter what you do in your life. How important is that mindset?
Speaker 2:
So important, and thanks for mentioning Pat and what we're doing for other players. What I always say is what's common between a former player or a business owner or an executive? Life is presenting them with challenges. When I talk to the former players, I always ask them is this going to be your first meal or your last meal? Is the NFL going to be the last time you sat down and you enjoyed a big meal, or is it going to be the first time For you? I want it to be the first time and I'm challenging them. When you sit in front of an executive and you ask them what is your challenge going into this year and are you aligned and ready to meet that challenge? And if you're not, I'm going to give you the five things you need to meet that challenge. For me, it's simple. I've been doing these same five things.
Speaker 2:
One of the blessings that I have is that I'm able to sit back and realize how did you become a Division I college basketball player? How did you become a Pro Bowl football player? How did you become a division one college basketball player? How did you become a pro bowl football player? How did you become, or soon to become, a doctor? What? What is in common has nothing to do with my physical abilities. It has everything to do with the things that I showed up to focus on, and I've named them. I call them the five keys to success.
Speaker 2:
Commitment, discipline, guidance, quality, support and resilience is going to get you from wherever you're at to where you want to be, as long as you apply those things to your life. It's no secret. It's about getting up and getting after it, taking the challenge personally. When people tell me former football players they don't go get doctorate degrees. You've been out of school eight years. You didn't grow up thinking you're going to be a doctor. How are you going to do that? Eight years, you didn't grow up thinking you're going to be a doctor. How are you going to do that? I'm going to show up, I'm going to take the challenge on and I'm going to go make the same things happen that I've continued to make happen in my life, by relying on the same traits.
Speaker 3:
Julius, how can people stay connected with you? Because, we're going to finish right there, Because I mean you talk about, you know, kicking off the year and focusing on those things, except that challenge from Julius. But if you want more of that type of challenge, how can people stay connected with you?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you know, um, I think the best ways to stay connected with me or find me on LinkedIn, um, find me on Instagram Julius Thomas, on both of those. Uh, I just launched my website, uh, mastery-developmentcom, because I want everybody to be a master of what they're doing. Mastery-developmentcom because I want everybody to be a master of what they're doing. Everybody has this inner desire to be proficient and highly skilled at the things they do in their everyday life, and that's what I want for them. So I want to teach mastery, and mastery covers whatever discipline somebody's working on and whatever somebody wants to do in life. So check out my website, follow me on social, and I'm going to continue talking about and giving away the things that I've learned to help people be able to take those same traits and apply them to their own life.
Speaker 3:
Brother, I appreciate you so much and we'll make sure in all of the call notes that we make it very easy for people to be able to connect with you and continue to build a relationship with you and be impacted by you. But we've been talking about it for a long time. I appreciate you. I'm so glad we're finally able to make this happen. Julius Thomas, thank you for joining us on the Burn.
Speaker 2:
My guy, I appreciate you as always, Looking forward to what we're going to continue doing together with PAC and then anybody else that wants to take the challenge that's facing them in their life, build mastery to become what their potential will allow them to be. The future's going to be good man. Looking forward to having it with you Make sure to stay connected.
Speaker 3:
Let's continue to go deeper, accept those challenges of life, keep great perspective and forever stay connected to that burn that ignites your why and purpose and causes you to go attack and to raise the bar, to be your best.