Chris Streveler — The Long Path: Resilience, Reinvention, and the Mental Work of an NFL Quarterback

[00:00:09] Seth Pepper Welcome Back to Unlimit Your Potential. Today we have a special guest. This is Chris Streveler, awesome guy and person. He's in that leadership role on the field as a quarterback, and then we're going to learn more about your journey and life off the field. [00:00:30] Chris Streveler Totally. Let's do it. Really cool. I am excited to be here. I appreciate you. Awesome [00:00:34] Seth Pepper So let's go back to the beginning. Were you always a football person? Did you start with a different sport? Do you remember that first experience, okay? This is it? This is what's calling? [00:00:46] Chris Streveler I played a lot of sports as a kid. It was primarily football and baseball, and I remember when I was probably eight or nine years old, I was playing flag football and the parents in the stands were sitting next to my dad. 'Oh, he runs like a deer.' I had these long legs and I was always a fast kid. They would just give me the ball on bootlegs and I would get to the outside and outrun everybody. I also played baseball competitively as I grew up. I was on a pretty competitive travel team where we would travel around the country and go to the World Series, and we'd play some international teams. As I got a little bit older, I felt like I was gravitating more towards football. Transparently, I love the violence of football. I always loved hitting people. [00:01:25] Chris Streveler And it was hard for me when I would strike out in baseball as a kid and just sit in the dugout for the next couple of innings and be all mad. For me, I grew up playing running back and linebacker in football. So it was like if I messed up, I could just go tackle somebody on the next play and get that out. Then as I got a little bit older, I found out that my future was probably going to be more geared towards being a quarterback. And so I had to embrace that side of the game as well. [00:01:47] Seth Pepper Awesome. So being a quarterback is definitely a mental game, so to speak. What did you feel the mental was for you? Was it reading patterns? I am sure there is a lot of different areas, but on the mental performance side of things, what does being a quarterback mean to you? [00:02:11] Chris Streveler Exactly to your point, man. There is so many facets in terms of when you talk about the mental game of being a quarterback. A lot of people want to focus on just the physical attributes, but to me, what separates an average or an okay player from a great player is up here, especially when you get to the higher levels. So for me, we're talking about me as a young kid. And the first aspect of the mental game of football that I had to kind of tackle was how do I tempo myself down a little bit emotionally? Because I was always such a, I am a very high energy person, and I would always three hours before games, I am just like listen to my pump up music. I am all amped up before the game, and it was like I was wasting energy. [00:02:50] Chris Streveler I'd run somebody over. I'd get up. I'd be screaming again, wasting energy. And I remember my first year starting in high school as a junior, that coach kind of sat me down and was like, "I love the energy. I love the intensity. The guys love it, but we got to just tempo it down a little bit." There is a time and a place. That was really my first experience of having to change my mentality a little bit to tailor towards quarterback. And then as you continue to grow, obviously there is the X's and O's aspect of things of how do you read coverages? What's your mental process? Because as a quarterback, you are processing information in milliseconds and you're making split-second decisions. And so, how can you simplify the game in your mind, every single play and have a great process for how you're identifying what's going on in front of you? And almost the process of elimination of, okay, this happens so I think they might be doing this, which might eliminate this route. So now I can simplify my process after the ball is snapped. And I played with Aaron Rodgers in New York. [00:03:45] Chris Streveler For a year there, and one of the things that he said that resonated with me was, "If you are trying to see everything, you are seeing nothing. If you are trying to see a little bit, you are going to see everything." And so, the more that you can focus your mind and focus your eyes on where they need to be, that was something that I learned as a young kid, and then obviously continue to grow and incorporate that into other aspects of my game as I've gotten older and become professional. [00:04:07] Seth Pepper Excellent. Excellent. So you bring up Aaron Rodgers [00:04:13] Chris Streveler Jumping all over the place on ya. [00:04:14] Seth Pepper That's fine. I like it. Is there something different? Do you see it on the field? Do you just think there's a different sort of frequency that person is at? And it's not necessarily quarterback, but any level of greatness from a different position. Like, do you think you've been around the best of the best? Is there something different about them? Would you include me in the same argument? [00:04:48] Chris Streveler I wouldn't put myself in the same category as Aaron Rodgers. I have made it through the NFL, but we're talking about one of the goats right there. But I do feel extremely fortunate that I've gotten to share the room with so many great players and I've gotten to be in the room with some real legends. And it's crafted my game in a certain way. And whenever you are around people that are better than you, it motivates you to be better and it motivates you to work harder. And so that was always something that pushed me to go harder. I am sitting next to Aaron Rodgers. I got to know my stuff because if I get called on, I don't want him to think that I don't know it. Or when I get out on the field, I want to make sure my footwork's dialed in, so I don't have to slow down the drill because Aaron doesn't want to slow down the drill. And the interesting thing about the greatness piece that you bring up is it looks different for everybody. Not everybody has the same superpower. There are different things that make different guys great. I got to play with Lamar Jackson in Baltimore. [00:05:42] Chris Streveler The thing that makes him great, his attitude, and his energy is not the same as Aaron Rodgers. [00:05:48] Chris Streveler They're both great in their own way, but the way that they tap into their superpowers is different. Lamar's energy and his excitement for the game, I could feel that every day, and I was only there for a couple months. But getting to go out on the practice field with him and be in the meeting rooms with him, you could tell that dude loves football. It's almost like a childlike enthusiasm for the game. That was really cool to see because I always loved his athleticism and things that he did. [00:06:11] Chris Streveler He's obviously extremely physically gifted, but then there was that other side of things. Aaron, when you sit down with him in a meeting room, this is like if you are talking calculus level football, that's him. And his memory and recall of plays is he'll take you back to the minute of a quarter of a game in two thousand ten. And he can recall a play. There have been a lot of other guys throughout my career, but those are just two different examples of guys that are great. But again, the way that they get to their greatness just looks a little bit different, and same for me too. Like, not that I am in those guys' categories, but the things that made me a good player was different than those guys. And so, how do you tap into that and continue to feed into that as you get to the highest levels? [00:06:51] Seth Pepper So we've established that you played at the highest level. Now let's go back to the beginning again. Let's take it back and let's go through adversity. Let's go through the journey because I love it. We know where you ended up, the NFL, incredible, especially in that position of the quarterback. What did you have to go through? What are some of the things that you had to go through? [00:07:15] Chris Streveler I don't know how much time we got, but I mean, man, it's adversity that's the journey. If you want to make it as a professional, it's not a matter of if you are going to encounter adversity. It's a matter of when and how do you respond to that. And so many people encounter adversity and stop them in their tracks, or they give up and they don't get through it. And I found through my career, if you want to go through all the adverse moments I've been through, we can. But when you get through those hard times and you push through them and get on the other side, it teaches you something about yourself and what you are made of and the way that you can show up and continue to persevere through those moments. The latest adversity I am going through right now that we kind of touched on is I've torn my ACL. The last two seasons in a row, I tore my ACL, my MCL, my PCL. Last year was throwing a pass and a D lineman dove into my knee and just basically completely collapsed my knee. I came back in seven and a half months. [00:08:06] Chris Streveler From that, started our first game of the year. Played the entire season, very last game of the regular season. I go to make a cut, pop my same ACL, both meniscus have to get surgery again. And you could probably imagine the mental toll that takes on somebody. And for me, it was difficult. And you know, I've been through that again. And so when you know the journey that's ahead of you, sometimes it's almost even more daunting than the first time you go through it. You know it's going to be hard, but you don't really know what the day to day looks like. And when you know you're going to go through it again, and you know what that rehab process looks like, it's difficult. But for me, the way that I always get through that is there's a grieving process. Of course, when things like that happen and it's totally natural. But maybe you feel bad for yourself or maybe you're angry. But how quickly can you set that down and focus on what's in my control right now? What can I do to move the needle for myself today? And when that happened to me for the second time this year, it was okay. Am I going to be the guy? [00:09:04] Chris Streveler Where this is probably my last year of football, am I going to go into the facility every day and kind of hang my head and kind of bring these people down around me? Everyone knows what I am going through. Everyone knows it sucks. Or am I going to be the guy that still shows up with a positive attitude, brings out the clipboard for the playoff game, is charting plays on the sideline with a headset in, getting dudes water? Like, how do I want guys to remember my energy? And the way that I carried myself in an adverse moment like that? So that's just the most recent adversity. But we can go back to my college career where I was the national player of the year in the FCS coming out of college and broke a bunch of records, and you know, had a really, really good season and going into the draft. I thought there was a chance that you know, maybe drafting would have been kind of far fetched. But I thought there was a real chance of an undrafted free agency pickup. NFL draft comes and goes, I don't hear anything. Three days go by, I still haven't heard anything. So I end up going to the CFL right out of college. I didn't even get an NFL minicamp, I didn't even get a tryout. I went from thinking I might go to the NFL. [00:10:00] Chris Streveler So now I'm in the CFL, and my mindset through that was always, well I get to play professional football. How can I focus on this opportunity right now? How can I be where my feet are and make the most of this? And because of that, I played well my first couple years. We won a championship my second year. I ended up getting tryouts in the NFL and ended up making an NFL team. That's something I like to share with young athletes, specifically, because in this world that we live in now with social media and all its outside noise, it's so easy to look over here and be like Well, look at this opportunity this guy's got, or look at what this guy's got. And I always use my example as well. I could have been doing that when I didn't go to the NFL, but I embraced the CFL. I focused on what can I do today, how can I embrace my process and get better? And I ended up having a four year NFL career out of that as someone who didn't even get an NFL tryout coming out of college. So those are just a couple examples. We could go on and on about the different adversities of, I've been cut five times in the NFL and had to kind of claw my way back there. [00:10:57] Chris Streveler There has been so many things throughout my journey. To me, it's all about how you overcome adversity and continue to persevere through that. [00:11:05] Seth Pepper When you go into the office, is it an office situation? And they say we don't need your services anymore? How do you get cut? It's different every time. [00:11:17] Chris Streveler Different every time. The first time I got cut. I was with the Cardinals. I was on the Cardinals' roster, all of twenty. And then all of twenty one, and I want to say it was like week twelve or thirteen. So we're like, two thirds of the way through the year. At that point you are kind of thinking okay I am on the team. I've been here for two years. I am going to be here through the end of the year. I had actually just closed on a house like the week before. It's by week, it's a Tuesday and I am taking a nap on my couch. Thanksgiving is in two days, and I wake up to a call from the head scout. [00:11:51] Chris Streveler The head scout, like if he's calling you, something's going on. That's not a phone call that I am regularly getting. I answer the phone, "Hey Strav." Most people just call me Strav. "Hey Strav, what's going on?" Oh, it's not the magic show. What's going on? He's like, "Hey, did you see the news?" I am like, "No." He said yeah, it just leaked on Twitter. We're about to cut you tomorrow. So go ahead, just bring your iPad in and bring your stuff in. Like we'll have a garbage bag in your locker. "That's the first time I got cut. And I am sure you can imagine how that feels for someone when you just bought a house. That's you've been on the team for two years, and you get a phone call saying it just leaked on Twitter, and you woke up from a nap that you are going to get cut. That was a really hard moment for me. But it showed me my fiance. Now we had kind of just started seeing each other. She was there with me through that moment and how hard that was. And she knew how to be there for me. And you see how the people around you stick by you in those hard times. And that's another moment where you've seen so many people get cut, that you kind of like. [00:12:49] Chris Streveler Hype it up in your head in a way where you don't know what's going to happen. It's so uncertain, and then it happens to you, and you just feel like the world is closing in. But then you start to just pick up the pieces and figure out what's next. And then four days later, I was on a plane to Baltimore, and I signed with the Ravens. So that's how I got cut from them. I ended up getting cut from the Ravens after that season. I signed with the Dolphins in the off season going into OTAs. They ended up drafting a guy. I got cut on my off day there again. I was kind of in the facility getting some extra throws with one of my buddies, and I saw the little scout guy come up. I was like, 'I look at him because I had been through it two times.' I was like, 'Dude, no,' he's like, 'Yeah, the GM needs to see you.' I was like, 'Oh my gosh.' So then I got cut from there. And then that's when I signed with the Jets. And I had a pretty unbelievable preseason after I ended up signing with the Jets after being cut multiple times in the course of like six months. And you know, kind of had to claw through that adversity as well and ended up having some success there. [00:13:45] Seth Pepper Thanks for sharing that. What would you learn through? I am sure you learned a lot of different lessons. But what I've found is my story, which I think you've heard a little bit of the story. It's starting really late and overcoming, maybe an adversity in a different way of just the odds are against you, and everyone else has started when they were little, and you are starting it as a young adult. And good, wanting to go to the Olympics and being able to achieve. Literally everything, except for go to the Olympics and get as close as you can get, like I am the next guy. I've found that people can relate to that failure a lot more than they can relate to being a national champion or the success stories. You've been on these amazing teams and been an amazing contributor. But the part that I think a lot of us can relate to is how did you deal with the failure. [00:14:42] Seth Pepper You know how that must have felt, and how you keep coming back for more. The reason is, I use this example all the time with Tom Brady. I mean you probably know him really well. [00:14:56] Chris Streveler That was the guy I looked up to as a kid growing up. [00:14:58] Seth Pepper So I mean, he was like the backup quarterback for a zero and nine team in high school. I think that's where he started. Then he was seventh string. I think in college. In each step of the way, I keep saying, and this is the eventual GOAT, like seven times Super Bowl champion. Even Michael Jordan has six. This guy has seven. And he was overlooked left and right and had to fight for the rep. And that one rep had to be as good as it possibly could be. How do you feel you know your life has unfolded to where you can share with others? [00:15:39] Seth Pepper Give them some sort of guidance because I think a big part of success, ironically, is showing up. Just one more rep or one more attempt. My mantra in the morning is just stick with it. Because I don't know what's going to happen, and my mind's trying to figure out if this is going to be a good thing or a bad thing. A good thing? We all deal with it every day. And so I literally say out loud just stick with it. How do you approach this? Whether it's on a football field or in life. [00:16:10] Chris Streveler I love that mantra, just stick with it. And I actually put something on social media and I've been telling everyone my personal motto for this year is I'm going to get shots up. If the ball comes my way, I'm shooting it. If I miss, it doesn't matter. The ball's going to come back to me and I'm going to shoot it again. I'm not going to make every shot. But what I mean by that is I'm just going to continue to put myself out there and put my best foot forward every day. Eventually shots are going to start to fall. I might miss twenty, but maybe I'll hit my twenty-first shot. And so I think it's kind of the same thing, just stick with it. I am just going to shoot the ball and continue to put myself out there. That's kind of my mindset right now as I start to transition away from the game and into the next phase, because there is a lot of uncertainty and I am kind of stepping into something completely unknown, and that can be hard at times. So that's my mindset for that. But going back to the adversity piece, you brought up Tom Brady, and I love the documentary; it's called "The Brady Six." He was drafted in the sixth round. There were six other quarterbacks taken in front of him. He's sitting at home watching this draft unfold. [00:17:06] Chris Streveler Am I going to have to go sell insurance? What's going to happen to me? You talk about some of the other adversities he had been through. I can relate to that with my own journey because I just feel like when you go through hard things, that reveals your true character. That really reveals who you are about. Because it's so easy to be that high energy guy or super happy and treat people the right way when you are the top dog and you are undefeated and you are throwing touchdowns. What happens when you just threw four picks and you lost a game? And you got booed off the field, and you are on a four-game losing streak. How do you show up? That process can't change. You have to have confidence in your process and who you are as a person, and how you are going to show up every day. And just because you are winning or you are losing, that can't change. I had a quarterback in the CFL. Tell me this, my very first year as a professional. It's been kind of a motto. I've always stuck with. He said, "Stay off the roller coaster." As a professional and in life in general, man, there is so many ups and downs. My job as a leader, and my job as a quarterback is to stay right here. [00:18:04] Chris Streveler When people are down, I'm gonna stay right here and I'm gonna bring us up. When people are getting on their high horse, I'm gonna bring us down to reality and say we still gotta work. And that's my job as a leader, and that's kind of always been my mantra: stay off the rollercoaster; you don't have to ride the ups and downs. And then again, to the adversity piece: when you push through those hard things, it gives you confidence that you can overcome more hard things. And I feel fortunate that I've been through so many of those situations in football that when I see my friends going through things like that, whether it's football or not, I have a very unique perspective as someone who's been through those hard things. And I am not perfect; I don't have all the answers, but I've gotten through a lot of those things and I am still here. And I am still growing. And so, I just love sharing that perspective and my hardships with people and maybe how I dealt with that or some modalities that they could maybe use to get through their hard times or maybe just get some perspective in general. [00:18:54] Seth Pepper Awesome. So you said something; I am always listening for little cues. You said 'be where your feet are.' Take us through what that means. [00:19:07] Chris Streveler Man, it means so many different things. I am a new dad too, so I have a one year old at home. That's something that to me being where my feet are with her and with my fiance is super important, because I kind of mentioned some of the things I am doing, like I am all over the place sometimes, but those moments. And that time that I have with them, how can I be present in that moment? And it applies to all these different things that I am doing. How can I give my most to this moment right now? I rushed back up here to do this podcast with you today. How can I be here right now and give you my best? Give you what I have. And to me, that's what being where your feet are is. Maybe you don't have one hundred percent. Maybe I got seventy five percent for you today, but I am going to give you one hundred percent of that seventy five percent. I am going to give you everything I have. And to me, that's what being where your feet are means. [00:19:51] Seth Pepper That's awesome. I always say this to people that I'm working with or anyone that I'm talking to: if you want to be great at something, you gotta raise the floor. Don't focus on the roof. So it's that overall. As you are coming up and you are making headway, was it your family? Do you have like, did you learn? Did you have a mentor? Did you have coaches? I love those stories. My own story is that I was actually second in the nation. My second year, my sophomore year or my junior year. My coach would say this. [00:20:29] Seth Pepper Thing to me and say, "Seth, why are you apologizing for your greatness?" He was a world record holder. So he could see something. I was like, "Wait a minute," I am going against this guy that I had just seen on television. He won the gold medal. This is pretty good. [00:20:43] Seth Pepper And then he said this second time it happened. He goes, "You know why are you asking for permission? Just go take it." Oh take it yeah so do you have some? He could see my greatness clearer than I could see it. [00:20:55] Seth Pepper And then when I actually did do it and I went to this whole other level, I was like, "Oh, that's what he was talking about." [00:21:02] Chris Streveler Have you had people along the way that have done that for you? Hundred percent man. I mean and every single step of the way it's a different lesson. The first person that really instilled any type of lesson in me was my dad. He just always taught me that if you work hard and you treat people the right way, good things are going to happen. And as a kid like I didn't necessarily understand his work ethic because I just didn't. You don't know, you can't really appreciate your parents in that way. But now as I've gotten older, I'm like man, this dude grinds and he'd show me what it took. And I applied that to my life. I'm in seventh grade. I want to go win the little league super bowl. So what am I going to do? I'm going to carve out a trail in my neighborhood. I'm going to go ride my bike twelve miles a day so I can get in shape. I'm going to put on my helmet and go run laps around the cul de sac so I can get in shape. And like I didn't know what I was doing, but I just knew if I wanted to be good, I just had to work hard. [00:21:53] Chris Streveler And so, that's something that I've always carried with me. Being good to people and treating people the right way, I am just such a proponent of that because what you put out comes back to you in some way, shape, or form. I truly believe that. My dad was really the first person to instill those lessons in me. I had three high school coaches at Marion Central. They all taught me different lessons, but they started to cultivate a mindset of having a process and how to be a leader. It's easy when you are a kid to just be a better player than people. But how do you actually bring the people around you up? That's what a great team is. It's not just one great player. It's about a guy who can elevate the best people, elevate the people around them to be their best. And I think when you have great players who know how to elevate the people around them, that's when you have great teams. And that is so important. [00:22:51] Chris Streveler Especially in football, you got eleven dudes, and if one guy isn't doing their job or isn't locked in, it's not going to be a successful play. So that's always something that's kind of been near and dear to my heart in high school and beyond. I remember when I was younger, someone would drop a pass in practice, and I'd kind of be upset. I remember my coach kind of took me aside one time, it was just like go pick that guy up, go tell him he's got the next one. And that's something I've always done since that point. Burning back fumbles, I am the first guy trying to help him up and say, "I got you, bro. Like we're in this together." You feel terrible about that. I know I throw interceptions. I feel terrible about that. I don't need to let you know that was bad. Everyone knows. I'm here to lift you up as a teammate and I'm here to help you get through that, like we're in this together. And so those are just a couple lessons that I learned at a young age. And then you know my offensive coordinator in college, his name is Ted Schlachter. [00:23:48] Chris Streveler Really, someone that I took the next step with the X's and O's. He also kind of taught me the aspect of how do you facilitate the game. And as a quarterback, that's extremely important. How do you facilitate the football to guys and help them let them play to their strengths? When I first got to college and I was starting at South Dakota, I was just trying to do everything and just do way too much, and it was hurting me. He was like, "Dude, you don't have to do everything. You can just let these guys around you do what they do." And then when it's time for you to make a play, you make a play. These are just a couple examples. There is so many people that have influenced me throughout my career and have helped me get to where I've gone to. I am the first person to stand on the table and just tell people thank you because I know that you know, I had to transfer to go to South Dakota. I didn't get to play at Minnesota, so I had to transfer which was hard. And then I had to go to the CFL, and then I finally got the tryout for NFL teams and ended up making my way on a roster. I'm always the first person. [00:24:48] Chris Streveler Thank South Dakota. Thank Winnipeg. These places I absolutely understand. I would not have gone to the NFL or been the place I've been had it not been for all those people that have helped me and all those places that have helped me elevate my life. And those people still show me so much love and support. So I just thank them so much. [00:25:07] Seth Pepper So now that I have a quarterback on the show [00:25:10] Chris Streveler Bring this up and hear your perspective. [00:25:13] Seth Pepper I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Quincy Avery. [00:25:17] Seth Pepper I know a very successful quarterback trainer. [00:25:20] Seth Pepper And so my wife heard about it taking a while to arrange this talk. And I was looking forward to it. I always believe in some sort of timing to things connected to everything because I could talk to a person like that at any time, but it's nice to have something that you really like a burning question. At the time, it was when Philip Rivers, who was a grandfather, and he's going to play at the age of forty four or forty five. That was the question to ask Quincy. And Quincy's eyes lit up. I'd asked the question. I was fascinated by forty five year old playing, and most of these guys are half his age. Why? This is interesting because I really want to hear your perspective. [00:26:12] Seth Pepper From your generation, and maybe even if I don't know if you'd speak of earlier generations, but at least your generation, he said. I am going to use my version of it. He said in a stadium when you have seventy thousand people watching you as a quarterback, you only have how many seconds before you have to make a decision? Is it like four or five seconds? [00:26:35] Chris Streveler If you have five seconds, your old line is strapping people up. [00:26:38] Seth Pepper So three to four [00:26:40] Chris Streveler If that, let's say two and a half to three and a half. Probably. [00:26:43] Seth Pepper We'll go with three. Three, he's like you have to make a three second choice right in most of those choices are messy choices. So you have the potential of making a fool of yourself in front of seventy thousand people. And then also, if you care about people watching it on TV. And you have to make this messy decision, and if you throw an interception, then all of that is hanging in the balance. What I was seeing is a connection to and I am not like negative on it, but the effects of social media. That social media is based on storytelling; it's someone else's story. You get to post your own stuff, but everyone's kind of posting their best stuff right from the more or less right. [00:27:29] Seth Pepper And so, the trap is the human ego, which is if I don't have something to post, I have nothing to share and I don't exist. Basically because my existence is now my self worth is online. [00:27:40] Chris Streveler It's a dangerous way to think about it. [00:27:42] Seth Pepper But the effects of it are really rampant everywhere, hundred percent. So it's basically looking at my existence comes from what other people think, right? I was just curious. You bring back a forty five year old grandfather to make a messy decision and be able to live with the failure over someone that could run circles around him physically. Speak to that a little bit because do we have like this sort of culture now where the NHL players that I've mentioned with you and others, they say the skills have never been better. [00:28:26] Seth Pepper There is always this skill development, so the guys can run faster and do these really complicated things. The thing is, the deficit created in this sort of modern time or machine is adversity in making these messy decisions and living with failure. That's the part where I don't care how much skill you have; everything can collapse like a house of cards. [00:28:52] Seth Pepper What do you think? I've put a lot of talking; take it and run with it. [00:28:56] Chris Streveler I kind of want to go back to the seventy thousand people thing because I am so appreciative to the fans and the people that support me. But I don't play the game for the fans. I can't really give merit to what people who aren't on the field with me and aren't in the day-to-day process in the trenches with me think about me and how I go about my job. What matters to me is my family, my inner circle, and my teammates. My teammates mean everything to me. So the way that they view me and the way that I can honor them is what matters to me. I don't really care. I never have ever thought about the stands. I never think about that when I'm playing. And I guarantee you bring up Philip Rivers like he didn't come back for the fans. He came back because he probably had an inner competitiveness to him that he felt like there was an opportunity for him to maybe go win a championship. He's got ten kids. [00:29:53] Chris Streveler He's got eleven people that he truly, truly cares what they think of him. At the end of the day, you are going to leave that game, you are going to go home to your family. They're going to love you no matter what. So that's what's really important. Wins and losses are, we work our tails off to get those. But at the end of the day, there are these relationships with people that mean more than any type of stat that's going to happen on a field or any type of win. Could that happen. So that's just kind of how I think about the game, why do you play the game? If you're playing the game because you care about social media and you care about what other people think, that's not going to carry you through these adverse moments that you're thinking about. The minute that things start going bad and these fans aren't cheering for you, you're going to have nothing to stand on at that point. So what motivates you? What's your why to play the game? And I think that the earlier you can identify why you play the game, the better off we're going to be when those bad things happen. [00:30:50] Chris Streveler And you'll be able to get through them because that social media and that external praise that you're getting, that's going to come and go. Even if you're the best quarterback of all time, there's still going to be people that are naysayers, and you're going to retire at some point. Those people are going to disappear. So why do you get up every day? Why do you work hard? And who is this inner circle of people that you truly, truly care about what they think? [00:31:12] Seth Pepper So before, when we were talking behind the scenes, you mentioned being a quarterback coach or coaching quarterbacks. How do you broach that with him? His 'why' is a big question and an ongoing question. How do you kind of penetrate what your 'why' is? Do you go into that like, 'what is your why?' [00:31:37] Chris Streveler I am really big on attacking. Obviously, we do field work and it's extremely important from the mechanical aspect. But I am also really big on the mental aspect and all the kids that I train with. They'll tell you that I love to go down the rabbit hole mentally with them and just ask them questions. And I truly invest in what they're going through. I always tell them, "Hey, if you need somebody, just give me a Facetime." I've more than likely ninety nine percent been in the position that you are going to be in if you are struggling with something. So use me as a resource. And in terms of guys, I just try to push them in the direction of what's your process? What's your process on a daily basis? Everyone. [00:32:15] Chris Streveler You want to go division one. You want to go to the NFL. That's great. How are we going to get there? How are you going to start to make small changes in your life every day to slowly move the needle because it's not about some big effort one day where you work extremely hard and then you just fall off. It's about stacking days and doing the right things every single day. And you talked about Kobe before we started this. I think that's kind of the Mamba Mentality. If I get up at four a.m. and I get a workout in before anyone else is awake, by the end of the year, I've done three hundred and sixty five more workouts than everyone else. And I've kind of applied that to my mindset as an athlete, and I try to apply that to kids too. Hey man, ten extra minutes a day over the course of a year really adds up. And you are going to get better. So take these things that I am teaching you on the field. Sure, we're on the field for an hour and a half or we're in the classroom. But take these things and continue them on your own because it's not just about doing it one day with me. It's about how are you going to apply these things to your life and continue to move the needle when somebody is not holding your hand? [00:33:12] Chris Streveler And because they're not always going to be someone to hold your hand [00:33:15] Seth Pepper Awesome. You did just mention that you are big into the mental side of things, and we like to share tools on the show. So if you have anything that you are willing to share, what are some of the things that you have the guys do? Just simple things because we're getting really. I try to someone that's not necessarily in a competitive space. You know use it as the metaphor of the Battlefield, right? When bullets are flying, you know it's about doing something. It's not about knowing something. We know everything we need to know basically with all the information that's out there. What are you going to do when it's really uncomfortable and everything is on the line? How do you help someone with the tools? Do you have any tools? [00:34:03] Chris Streveler That process starts before everything's uncomfortable and everything's on the line, as you know. You don't just jump in the swimming pool in the national championship race. It started way before that. And so that's what I always tell guys: okay, let's come up with a process right now for how you process information. You talk about muddy decisions; I mean, you can't see sometimes what's going on in front of you because you got these six guys. So how am I processing information before the ball snapped? What was my film process like before the game even started? How did I break that down? Because it all just adds up throughout the week, and all the work to me, the week leading up to the game is the hardest part. That's when you are putting all your work in, and then the game is just the test for how much you prepared. So that's how I always kind of frame this to guys: like let's put this work in on the front end, then we get to the back end and we have the test, which is the game. We have all answers. And so that's one thing I preach to guys. The other thing that I've become really big in as my career has progressed is like. [00:34:59] Chris Streveler Just breathing and visualization. I think the more that you can put yourself in that position before it happens, the more ready you're going to be for it. And that doesn't just apply to football or sports; it applies to everything. You're going to get on stage and give a speech. Have you put yourself in that position? And the more realistically you can make it feel, the better you're going to be. Can I get my heart rate to feel like that? Can I get my palms a little sweaty? Can I feel the environment? Can I see the people in front of me? The more realistic you can make that, can you hear the stadium? All these things, and when you get there, you've already been there in your mind. And I truly believe in the power of putting yourself in those shoes. That way, when you get there, you feel more comfortable. You've made the right decision. You could take it another step further with football: okay, I am in the stadium. It's third and seven. What do they like to play on third and seven? That's what I see. We're running this play. Where am I going to go versus this coverage? And this play? You could play the game on your head beforehand just by doing those things. And not that it's always going to be that. [00:35:56] Chris Streveler That clean and clear cut in the game, but you've been there and you visualize those things and you work that process. So I think it all kind of goes back to having a process, but then being able to slow yourself down with your breath and breathing, being where your feet are, being present in this moment. You throw an interception, people are mad, you're feeling the pressure. How do I flush that? How do I move on and drop it? These guys around me still love me. They're with me. These people might be mad that they're with me. I'm back. I know I've been putting in the work to be here in this moment. So let's go make it right, and that's kind of how I've always thought about things. And I try to share that with guys: that you are going to make mistakes, you are going to be in uncomfortable positions, but let's put the work in leading up to that. So we can push through that and get through it on the other side. [00:36:39] Seth Pepper So you said some big ones. [00:36:42] Seth Pepper So we're going to slow it down. I am just going crazy over here. [00:36:45] Seth Pepper This is all great. So the first one would be breathing? So are you talking about a reset breath? Are you talking about box breathing, like a breathing pattern? What type of breathing are you talking about? Are you just talking about being consciously breathing? [00:36:59] Chris Streveler You are probably further down the rabbit hole with that than I am, but I am just big four second in six second out. Do a couple of those and try to slow down my heart rate and calm myself down. [00:37:10] Seth Pepper And for the listeners, when you breathe out a little bit longer than you breathe in, you are getting into the parasympathetic. So you are calming your nervous system. It's kind of like a hot wire, okay, everything's okay, because I can breathe out longer than I am breathing in. Next would be visualization. When you visualize things, there's two. I have two big questions. One is, do you choose to visualize? This is a mistake I made. I've learned all these on the back end. Gosh, I wish I would have known this to remove the choice of visualization to make it part of your daily routine. [00:37:52] Seth Pepper That would be a big part. Did you do it enough? Did you put it in your process so you didn't have to choose it? [00:38:00] Chris Streveler Choose it as in go out of my way to do. [00:38:02] Seth Pepper I know what I am getting at because mine was like, I know, I got to visualize. And then it was kind of like kicking a can down the street. And then I was like, okay, well maybe I'll do it this weekend. And then this weekend. [00:38:13] Chris Streveler And then you are just kind of going through the motions. You are just checking a box. So for me, I've always been really big on walking through. When you're a professional football player, you get this massive game plan with like hundreds of plays on it. And so every night, I would go through that and visualize: okay, here is my motion. Are we in the right formation? It's a fib. Send the motion. What's defense doing? Snap the ball and I'll go and I'll go through it. I'll go bang over here and I'll walk through it and visualize. So that's always been something that has kind of been. [00:38:50] Chris Streveler Part of my process, and I've done it different ways. When I was with the Cardinals, we had these virtual reality glasses on where you could literally watch the practice. And like you are the guy back there because you are not getting reps. Like as a two or three quarterback, but you are not getting any practice reps. So back to the point of no one's holding your hand. Like definitely no one's holding your hand. You are not even getting any reps. I played an NFL game where I had six hours' notice that I was going to be playing. I had been on the practice squad playing scout team safety because I was a fourth string. And six hours before the game, they came with me and said, "Are you ready to go? You have plays." So I've been in those positions where you don't get any heads up. So what have you been doing to stay ready? So that's been part of my process. And another thing that they actually made us do my first year as a professional in the CFL was when the starter's taking your rep, all the backups are behind and you are running that play in the back as well. Let's say it's a five step drop. You are taking a five step drop and you are throwing the ball to where you would have thrown the ball. [00:39:48] Chris Streveler That's like the most extreme version of a mental rep. But to me, it always really helped because it's like it's on film. First of all, if you are messing around and not paying attention, you are getting called out. Second of all, it kind of trains my timing with all right here is the starter. I am a rookie. Are my feet and eyes and my throw where the starter is? I am on the right track then. And something that was kind of forced upon me, but that I continued to incorporate as my career went on. [00:40:11] Seth Pepper That's awesome. That will bring up another question, but the question before that, for me, on visualization, I learned this post career is that Tiger Woods is a big visualizing, not only everything unfolding perfectly. So seventy eighty percent of it is spent on like perfect scenarios. But spending a good amount twenty thirty percent on recovery. What happens when you hit the ball out of bounds? You know what then? Then I learned that Michael Phelps was doing the same thing. [00:40:46] Seth Pepper Is that he was visualizing seventy eighty percent everything's going right, but then for him it was the suit rips or the cap doesn't work or your goggles fill up. And yeah, it actually happens in China at the Olympics. He goes into the finals and his goggles like he dove in, and then they came back on. So that's like the worst of the worst. You are swimming blind, you can't see, but he had visualized it. So that it wasn't a stigma. It wasn't a bad thing. It was just oh this is version I don't even want to say B. It's just a different version, and I've counted my strokes in my visualization. I am very comfortable with this. And then he swam to a world record basically blind. [00:41:28] Chris Streveler That's crazy. [00:41:29] Seth Pepper So that's one of those simple things where I was like, damn, I wish I would have known that at the time. Makes perfect sense. Now being in a team sport, where there are a lot of unpredictable variables, did you visualize adversity? Did you visualize things not unfolding smoothly, the messy, the muddy? [00:41:47] Chris Streveler I think being one hundred percent honest, my natural predisposition is to visualize things going wrong. So I would always try to avoid that as much as I can. That's why I would always gravitate towards more positive things. When I would think about something negative, I would ask myself, how am I going to respond in this moment? Yeah, you are going to throw an interception. How do I want to show up in that moment from an attitude standpoint? Because again, I am a really high energy guy. I get very excited very easily, and the same thing happens when things get bad. I can get angry pretty easily too on the field. How do I control that? And be who I actually want to be in that moment and not let my emotions take over and express myself in a way that I don't want to? That's how I would think about that, because I knew that it. [00:42:37] Chris Streveler Would happen at some point, and I would just try to be as conscious as possible about how I respond emotionally in those moments. [00:42:45] Seth Pepper So you see the power in being neutral, kind of like not so high, not so low. [00:42:52] Chris Streveler Because it's not my natural place. My energy is very high, so I have to be conscious about being here. Other people have to consciously bring themselves up. That's never been an issue for me. So I kind of have to regulate myself. [00:43:05] Seth Pepper How do you what are some of the tricks to regulating yourself? Is it I know Kobe talks about being curious, like when you are outside of yourself and not reacting, and you are moving forward and being curious trying to figure out the problem. Like a puzzle piece problem. What are some of your like how did you regulate yourself? Did you just say chill out listen to different music? Like yeah [00:43:27] Chris Streveler No, totally like that's actually one thing I did is that I got into really smooth jazz this past year after I had my daughter. It was so chaotic that I'd be riding in the car and just couldn't even do words right now. I just needed saxophone. Sometimes when I would be hyped up before games, I would just rip some smooth jazz and it would put me in kind of more of a zen place. [00:43:48] Seth Pepper That's so cool. [00:43:49] Chris Streveler So that's one thing I've done. [00:43:50] Seth Pepper But what is your smooth jazz artist of choice? [00:43:53] Chris Streveler Who's the one guy keeps? I think it's Boney James. I think that's his name. The guy can rip on the saxophone. Louis Armstrong is good, too. That's not really smooth jazz. [00:44:03] Seth Pepper I remember seeing there was a race car. I work with a lot of race car drivers, and there is one Gran Turismo. And there is one in there where he gets into the flow state listening to his guy, his engineer, because that's kind of like your quarterback coach that's over the headphones. And so he puts on, I don't know, Kenny G. He's just listening. What the heck? He's like, no, just here. Listen. [00:44:29] Chris Streveler I'll tell you what, I play it for the guys in the sauna. Sometimes, Strav, what's this? I get it. I get on this new jazz man. I am telling you [00:44:35] Seth Pepper You are missing out. It's so funny. It's like our challenges. It's like Kobe would say, "Your greatest strength is also your greatest weakness." Your ability to get really super intense is also your greatest weakness at the same time. You got to find that middle ground. [00:44:53] Chris Streveler And that goes back to my story about being a high school kid. My first year playing, I was so energetic and very intense, and guys felt that, and it made them elevate. But it can also be a downfall if you are throwing interceptions, and you are getting super pissed or running people over and screaming in their face and wasting energy. One hundred percent, I've always felt that one of my superpowers has been my energy. And being able to tap into that in the right way has been very important for my career. [00:45:21] Seth Pepper So internal tools, I don't know if you ever saw it. Michael Jordan's speech when he was inducted into his Hall of Fame, and he started sharing about internal rivals. That's kind of like the term I use, but he calls them "dots on a board." And all these people, these rivalries that he had inside his head. He invited them, so he had his coaches there. He had the guy who was cut from his high school team. So that guy was in the audience. And he had all these different people and called them dots on a board. [00:45:56] Seth Pepper Way he described it was putting logs on the fire. And then Kobe had his assassin, his kill list. So rankings would come out when he was in high school, and he was like forty seventh, real low. And that just became his determination of like hunting these guys down. So the mother of invention is necessity. That's just nature. I was obsessed with going to the Olympics. I was so obsessed that I created all these weird things, whether you call them tools or delusional realities, just to draw out more necessity. So that's a part that I don't think people talk about that much because I thought there was something wrong with me. And then I started helping others. And then I started seeing what these greats were doing. And I was like, that's why I said. [00:46:52] Seth Pepper There was our main rival in swimming, the United States is Australia. And so the main Australian guy was coming to our team, university. And he was the next great one year younger. And I remember saying every single day I am going to take his soul. And I am going to let him have just a little bit of hope. And then I am just going to crush his spirits every single day. That was really twisted. I never really admitted to anyone until I started doing what I do now to say, 'you know what, it made sense because it created such a level of intensity where I could just draw the greatest amount of effort.' Because you got to find it; you just got to find it. And that's another part that I don't think people talk about is if you want to be great, it takes a great or the way Jordan would say, 'if you want to be extraordinary,' it takes an. [00:47:47] Seth Pepper Extraordinary amount of effort. It's your responsibility. It's not your coaches, it's not your parents, it's not your buddies. It's your responsibility to find out what motivates you. And that's going to change. It's going to be a target that moves with time. But the interesting part about it is that they don't need to know about it. Like Jordan was at the end of his career, and he is telling all these people all the way back to high school, guess what you stood for this? And for me, I am very, very close friends with this person. And he still doesn't know that. But I know that I brought out the best in him, and he brought out the best in me. What did you do to harness this energy? You know this hunger. How did you keep it going? How do you still do it? [00:48:40] Chris Streveler It's interesting. You say that because I hear so many guys who that really resonates with. I hear these receivers that like. I was the eighth receiver draft, and I have a list of all seven guys. That's never really resonated with me. My motivation has always just been trying to be my best. I want to chase my best and I want to reach my potential as a person and as a quarterback. I've always just thought about it like that. I've always had the same type of laser focus with getting into the NFL. I still have friends from middle school, and they're like, dude, I remember you doing your autograph in your books being like. [00:49:14] Chris Streveler When somebody gets this book one day, they're going to see my autograph in here, and they're going to know that he went to the NFL. So I always had the same laser focus. My motivation was just always so much more centered around myself. And it's interesting because I've been in so many competitions, like you talk about this guy from Australia that you were swimming against. That's been my life every single year since I've been a pro. They're always bringing in the next guy to try to compete with me, and so at the same time, football is such a team game, and as I mentioned before, the team aspect is the most important thing to me. So I've always approached competition from a really positive standpoint: I am going to actually build this person up next to me, and I am going to encourage them because I don't really care what they do, because I know that I am better. And that's just the belief, and you know, not that I won every competition or that I am the best quarterback in the world, but that's the mindset: I am going to encourage you because it's best for the team. And ultimately, we're probably friends. But at the end of the day, you go through a completion, throw a touchdown. [00:50:10] Chris Streveler Watch me. I am going to go do that now too. And that's kind of how I've always approached it. It's never been like tearing this other person down, or like them doing bad or like me, beating them was never really my motivation. My motivation was always just me. And how do I look in the mirror tomorrow and say, "All right, I got better today"? And how do I continue to do that every day? And I am just so big on running my own race and just trying to outwork people. And that's always kind of been my motivation: of like, "I am going to work harder than people." Just do a little bit extra. And that's always going to be kind of like my edge over people because I was always a good player, but I am not the most talented guy in the world. Like, I was not a five star recruit or I had one scholarship coming out of high school. So what's my edge? I can control how hard I work. I can control my attitude and having a positive attitude. I would just always lean into those things of well, I can work out an extra time, and I can put in some more work. So that's kind of just always been my mindset of how I've got through competitions and continue to put. [00:51:09] Chris Streveler Push myself and had the same type of hunger, and just come at it from a little bit of a different perspective. [00:51:14] Seth Pepper It's fascinating because there is no one way. It's being more and more self-aware of knowing, if I push this button doesn't do anything. And so my brother is also national championing, his motivation would never be what my motivation is. Yeah, at all whatsoever, we're opposites, but his was I want to beat my older brother. So they would basically put us like two horses and put us side by side. And they knew that was bringing out the I didn't even know. I was like, 'My brother's really good at losing.' That was my yeah. And they're like, 'No, he friggin' hates losing to you.' And that's why we put him so close to you. [00:51:55] Seth Pepper Because it would just keep pushing him and pushing him. [00:51:57] Seth Pepper And then when he was in the nationals, like we were in, he's in nationals. I had been done with my career. He's a dark horse, so he wasn't supposed to be in the race. All these big names, fastest race ever. And he's circle seated, so he's on the outside. And right before the race, it wasn't 'so and so do this,' all these sort of strategy things. It was 'your brother did this.' Yeah, you can do this. And that's all he needed to know when he goes out and wins a national championship. But to him, that was his motivation button. So it's kind of searching for. [00:52:34] Seth Pepper What works for you? [00:52:36] Chris Streveler I had somebody tell me something when I was in the NFL that also resonated with me, and they said, "There is literally millions of people that want your job." So what are you doing today to keep that and stay in front of them? And that was kind of always my invisible motivation: Man, all these people are working hard. They want to come take my spot and take my job. What am I going to do today to stay in front of them and keep my foot in the door? You know it's not a physical person, but it's these imaginary people that are chasing me. So I got to continue to work and run my own race to stay in front of them. [00:53:04] Seth Pepper And I know that with Jordan and with Kobe, they both had expressed this that one of their motivations in games was the guy with his son up in the nosebleeds. This is the one game they will see their entire life; they saved up, and this is the moment—this is it. If he just phones it in or doesn't even come in, then you know what about those people? So it's just finding all these ways to motivate us. Switching gears just a little bit, talking about the flow state—the zone—the moment being where your feet are. Basically, I try and just tell people, it's when you are a little kid. You are in the flow all the time, because you are in your body all the time. You are not really thinking about it; you are just doing it. Did you experience that? What are these moments to you? You mentioned earlier things slow down. [00:53:59] Seth Pepper What are kind of these hyper aware, or maybe you don't even describe it that way but you just did stuff, maybe you didn't even know you were able to do. [00:54:08] Chris Streveler There have been a couple of times in my career where I've been playing really good football and definitely to me, it always feels like I use the saying, 'I am seeing it,' like I am seeing things. And that's very important at the quarterback position because if you are not seeing things, everything is moving super fast, and you are not processing information. But there are those moments where the game's moving slow, and you are really seeing where guys are and you know where to go with the ball. Those are the flow moments. And I had some of those in college when we were doing really well. And I think honestly, I kind of touched on my experience with the New York Jets. But that had been I signed with the Jets in twenty two after I got cut from the Cardinals, the Ravens and the Dolphins. So I was like I was kind of on my way out of the league. They called me the day before camp started and it was like. [00:54:55] Chris Streveler Hey, our room's basically full, but we'll bring you in. We need a camp arm to just throw at practice, and we'll maybe get you in the preseason. For me, it was a hard thing to hear because I felt like I was just waiting to get cut again, and I don't love that. But at the same time, it is the NFL, so I am going to go do it. As camp went on, I told this story on social media, but it's relevant: I didn't get a snap in camp for three weeks. I didn't even take a play. And all of a sudden, I am thrown into the first preseason game. When that happened, when I was going through practice and I wasn't getting any reps, I dropped all expectations of what I thought should happen or could happen because I was pretty much already on my way out at that point. I was obviously gonna get cut. I wasn't even practicing. And when I got rid of all those expectations and maybe the pressure I put on myself, that's when I could play a lot more freely because I was already gonna get cut anyways. [00:55:54] Chris Streveler But at the same time, I am still going to put in the work. I am still going to put in the work to stay ready because at the end of the day, I know I am going to get cut. What if I get an opportunity? What if I do get an opportunity and I wasn't ready? That's my biggest fear, not being prepared for a moment, and that was my own doing. I cannot live with that. I can't accept that. So, although I kind of knew the writing was on the wall of me getting cut, I stayed in it. I continued to work hard. I continued to run extra sprints, extra routes with guys after practice. I'd study my scripts and I'm like, if I do get an opportunity, I don't know if I will, but I'm gonna be ready. And if I get cut, it doesn't matter because I was ready and I did everything I could. Lo and behold, I go in that first preseason game. I throw two touchdown passes. I throw a game winner with seventeen seconds left. We win the game. Going into that game, half the team didn't even know my name. And I got to break the team down after the game and the coach was like, how about Streveler in that game? That to me validated. [00:56:52] Chris Streveler That entire mindset of dropping these expectations and being present in the moment and trusting the process allows you to have success. The next game, I led another fourth quarter comeback. We won a game. The following week, we won in the fourth quarter with six minutes left through two touchdown passes, a game winner on fourth down with ten seconds left to win the game, beat the Jets, beat the Giants. I ended up making the team. It was a time in my life where I was in flow because I had dropped these expectations of what I thought should happen. I was able to be present in the moment and trust my work. The writing was already on the wall. I was on my way out. Why don't I just go out here and sling this thing and trust my work and trust who I am and just be myself? That really validated moving forward throughout the rest of my career of being myself. As long as I continue to work hard, things are going to work out the way they're supposed to. That's awesome. [00:57:50] Seth Pepper There is a phrase on the PGA and LPGA tour for golf: 'beware of the sick or injured player.' Because when they're sick or they're injured, as long as they can still play, they'll be distracted by the discomfort and they'll just go and play. They won't worry about the potential of a bad shot. And so when you had no expectations, I was going to ask the same question: I know working with pitchers is when they go out there and they're in the bullpen, and they can't find the strike zone to save their life. I ask them, 'Well, how did that game end up?' They're like, 'Oh, those are the special games.' So in your warm-ups, have you had that where it's like I don't know what's going on. Nothing is like mechanical or whatever the quarterback version would be. [00:58:37] Chris Streveler And then you go out and have an amazing game. I try not to think about those things, because I go down the mental rabbit hole. You know what I mean? So if I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm not hitting something because then I start to overthink it, like if I have a bad warm up then I'll play good. It's like I just don't even want to open that can of worms. So I just try to have a very consistent process that helps me be in the exact same place every time, because that's how I regulate my emotions. If I'm too reliant on how my warm up went, then that's going to affect my emotional state. How can I just keep it the same every time so I can feel the same going into a game? [00:59:12] Seth Pepper Good answer. So where are you now? You had the surgery and in the recovery or the rehab, playing back at it, fully committed. Is it too early to say? [00:59:28] Chris Streveler Oh no, I mean I recorded a couple weeks ago my retirement video. [00:59:32] Chris Streveler I am going to be done playing. [00:59:35] Chris Streveler And it was hard, like it's always hard when you step away from the game and especially with injury. It bothers me a little bit internally that you know, you talk about external people and I try not to pay attention to it. I never wanted to seem like I just gave up because I got injured again. It really just is the right time in my life to move on to the next thing. I have a one-year-old daughter, I have other interests. It's just the right time for me, and it's hard to leave my teammates because, ultimately, that's why I love football, and that's stuff that I'm going to miss. But what I'm focused on right now is how do I apply the same competitive mindset? [01:00:13] Chris Streveler The same work ethic, these same leadership principles we've talked about today apply to this next phase of life. And the way that I always view it is like, I was a guy who probably never should have made it to the NFL, and I did. So if I can make it to the NFL, there's no reason that if I apply the same work ethic and all these other things to the next phase, I can't have success as well. And that's something that I lean on in these moments of uncertainty. It's a big transition moving away from the game. I've been playing football for twenty plus years. I've been a pro for eight years. That's all I know. But in these moments where I am uncertain, it's no different than when I was on the Jets. And I wasn't sure if I was going to get cut. It's like, what can I do today? I can control my attitude. I can control how I show up for myself and the people around me. And I can control how hard I work. And that's why I work hard every day. That's my motivation to provide for my family and move the needle every day. So yeah, man, I'm going to retire and move into the next phase of life and all these different things that I'm doing. [01:01:08] Seth Pepper It sounds a lot like Kobe we were talking about Kobe earlier, and Kobe had seen someone get cut early when he was twenty years old. He realized whether it was getting cut or an injury, man, could this happen to me? So then he started exploring life after. He sounded like you. He sounded like him, using the same principles going forward, same level of curiosity, same level of failure. Having to go out there and try and do things. [01:01:42] Seth Pepper Get a little bit better over time. [01:01:46] Chris Streveler Find it. It's all about reps and putting yourself out there. How do you get better at anything? You just got to get reps. Whether it goes good or bad, you're going to learn something from that, and then you're going to stack another rep and another rep, that's just kind of how I think about it. I'm here with you today because I went to the Butterfly Effect and my fiancé connected me with Judy. I didn't know anyone. I just put myself out there and showed up at this event, and now I am here today. I am just such a believer in having these conversations and shaking somebody's hand and telling them who you are and what you are doing and what you are about. Maybe something comes of it, maybe something doesn't, but you have to put yourself out there. That's really what I've been focused on. I am saying yes to opportunities and having meetings with people and networking and just putting myself out there as much as I can. [01:02:32] Seth Pepper Awesome. Final question: Just pep talk? Take on the name. What would be your suggestion to people out there, anyone whether they've touched a football or they're not even an athlete? What would be something that you'd share with the world that you think is really important? And it could have been something we said earlier, and you are just reemphasizing new. But your window of like, what would you suggest to the next person? [01:03:04] Chris Streveler Man, if you control what you can and you focus on those things every day, good things are going to happen. That's how I live my life. My three things that I control are my attitude, my effort, and my work ethic. Those are the three things I try to control every day. And if I do that every day and I maximize that at the end of the day, when I put my head on the pillow at night, I am at peace. I can wake up and do it all over again. So for anyone out there that's just kind of uncertain about what's coming or maybe going through a hard thing. [01:03:35] Chris Streveler Focus on those controllable things because there is a lot of external things happening in our lives right now that we don't have control of, and it can be scary, and it can be frustrating. But when you put your focus internally on what you can do today to move the needle for yourself and move the needle for the people around you. That's when you figure out what your process is and that's where you figure out what your why is. So focus on that and it gets you through any situation. Awesome. [01:04:00] Seth Pepper I really appreciate you coming in. I was looking forward to this. This kind of went down for an hour and six minutes. We kind of went into flow state. It really does. [01:04:09] Seth Pepper This is cool. So chance to promote. Tell us what you are up to and how people can get a hold of you. Anything you want to share? [01:04:18] Chris Streveler Let me plug the dating app that me and my fiance are founding partners of. So it's called Going Steady. We just launched here in Arizona last month. We're in the App Store wherever you can find apps. And it's a new values based intentional dating app. We've kind of tried to address some of the pain points with the current dating app and the state of dating apps and slowed that process down and made a platform for people who want a real relationship, want to ultimately get married and want to have kids. So it's been a very exciting thing to jump into. We're also doing a ton of events around the valley. So we just did an event at Global Ambassador actually yesterday. We just had our first Steady Men's event where we had. [01:04:53] Chris Streveler A bunch of guys show up at eight a.m., get a good lift in, have some coffee, hit the cold tub. We're just trying to build communities around people centered around our app that just want to elevate their lives and want to better. And we kind of think those things go hand in hand with relationships. If you are chasing your best self, then you are going to be better in your relationship. And if you are a single person, you are going to be ready for that person that you are supposed to be with when that time comes. So it all starts with these controllable things. Working on yourself and trying to become the best version of yourself so that you can be that best version when you do find your person. It's something that's been very exciting, and I am sure you can tell as we've gone through this conversation. I love connecting with people and just being out in the community and talking to people. That's been super fun. I also do some public speaking and just sharing my journey on mindset, overcoming adversity. And we talked about a bunch of stories, but I got a bunch more throughout my journey and applying those to. [01:05:47] Chris Streveler Business and life, and as I journey into being a young entrepreneur, like all of these things are carrying over. I just love to share my perspective with athletes and businesses. I do quarterback coaching here in the valley, ground up quarterback. I have a partner who coached at Arizona State, and we collab on that and coach quarterbacks. So man it's all very exciting. And like I said, just trying to apply the same mindset with sports into these next things. Awesome. You can hit me on Instagram. [01:06:16] Seth Pepper Handles. What are your handles? [01:06:18] Chris Streveler You can hit me on Instagram. It's @cstrevy5. Chris Streveler is my name. TikTok same thing. I'm also super active on LinkedIn. You can hit me on any of those. And I always respond. If you comment on one of my posts, I respond to everyone because I just think it's important to show people love that are showing you love back. Awesome. [01:06:40] Seth Pepper Well, way to be a great example. Congratulations with everything that you did as an athlete, and as you continue on, it's no accident. [01:06:49] Chris Streveler I love what you are doing too, man. When I heard you speak at the Butterfly Effect, I left feeling like I needed to get back connected with him. You talk about things happening for a reason. I feel extremely fortunate to be here having this conversation with you today, because I really resonated with your mindset. It gets a lot of the same things that I talk about with my athletes and the way that I process things. I just want you to know how thankful I am that you had me on today and to get to have this conversation with you. [01:07:16] Seth Pepper Thank you again, Sir. That's a wrap.