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158. All-Pro NFL Safety and New England Patriot, Brenden Schooler (Repost)
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In this captivating episode of "Especially for Athletes Podcast," we have the privilege of sitting down with All-Pro NFL Safety and New England Patriot, Brenden Schooler. Join us as we dive deep into Brenden's remarkable journey, exploring the core values of work ethic, resilience, and the invaluable lessons learned both on and off the field. Brenden shares insights into his experiences playing under the legendary Bill Belichick, offering a glimpse into the mindset required to thrive in one of the most competitive environments in professional sports. From the relentless pursuit of excellence to the unwavering commitment to teamwork, Brenden's reflections on his time with the Patriots provide invaluable wisdom for athletes, parents, and coaches alike. Throughout the episode, we uncover the defining moments that have shaped Brenden's career, from overcoming setbacks to seizing opportunities with unwavering determination. His story serves as a testament to the power of perseverance and the unwavering belief in one's abilities, inspiring listeners to embrace the challenges they face with courage and resilience. Whether you're a seasoned athlete, a dedicated coach, or a supportive parent, this episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking to unlock their full potential and achieve greatness both on and off the field. Join us as we embark on a journey of self-discovery and empowerment with Brenden Schooler, a true champion in every sense of the word. Key Discussion Points: • The importance of work ethic in achieving success in sports and life. • Insights into playing under the guidance of coaching legend Bill Belichick. • Overcoming adversity and bouncing back stronger than ever. • Lessons learned from triumphs and setbacks on the field. • Advice for athletes, parents, and coaches on cultivating resilience and determination. Tune in now to gain invaluable insights from one of the NFL's brightest stars
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Credits: Hosted by Dustin Smith & Shad Martin Produced by Shad Martin and IMAGINATE STUDIO
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Transcript
Introduction and Brendan Schooler's Resilience
00:00:00
Speaker
Wow everybody we are so excited for you to hear the discussion we just had with all pro defensive back for the Patriots Brendan Schooler. Dustin that was awesome talked about resilience talked about his work ethic what are you most excited for people to hear?
00:00:16
Speaker
Well, we got into a lot of things with him, even even how he handled COVID and how some of the athletes he was around dealt with COVID and and and how they still figured out ways to you know to get the work in. But the the greatest things that he talked about was how he managed his day, that elite level mindset you have to have if you want to be successful at something. And and then he even talked about some spiritual things that are important to him in his life. And so anytime we can have an all pro NFL football player on and talking to us while he's currently at camp out in in Massachusetts, just finished up practice an hour ago. It's valuable to listen to. Whether you play football or not, you ought to give this a listen.
00:00:55
Speaker
Yeah, this is awesome. Here's all pro defensive back, Brendan Schooler.
Sportlight Podcast and Athlete's Program Introduction
00:01:00
Speaker
Welcome to the Sportlight Podcast for parents, coaches, and athletes. The Sportlight refers to the time in an athlete's life when they have increased ability to affect the culture around them and the increased opportunity to learn life's lessons through sports. This podcast aims to help parents and coaches capitalize on their athletes' precious time in a Sportlight.
00:01:19
Speaker
The Sportlight Podcast is brought to you by Especially for Athletes program.
00:01:25
Speaker
So Brendan Schooler playing with the the New England Patriots
COVID Transition and Training Adaptations
00:01:30
Speaker
right now. We appreciate having you on, Brendan. We were just talking off air about how crazy 2020 was, and you were an athlete at that time.
00:01:38
Speaker
You played at the University of Texas is where you ended up graduating or or finishing your football career. Did you graduate there or did you did you come out early? I graduated at the University of Oregon and was a was a grad transfer to the University of Texas. yeah Okay, awesome. During COVID as an athlete, how did that, I know physically it was tough because we couldn't get in person and do some of the same types of workouts in person that on the weight room and things that we could do now or before then, but mentally, you know how did you see that effect either yourself or teammates and things of yours? How was that?
00:02:16
Speaker
Yeah, it definitely it definitely wasn't easy mentally. And you know luckily I had some really, really good teammates um around me who who were like-minded and we didn't let you know the restrictions of us being in the building, the restrictions of us you know using the facilities kind of you know hold us back from wanting to accomplish a common goal that we all had so we we we met up and we threw you know the football around at parks you know we put you know each other through drills and obviously you know running these things by our coaches what do you think we should do since we're really not allowed to be you know in the building when we're not supposed to um to get that extra work that we wanted so
00:03:01
Speaker
you know Like I said, having those guys around myself and you know being able to push each other and you know keep everyone in line and you know have that same common goal and you know at at the end of the tunnel, I think was you know something that we all leaned on each other for. and you know Everybody didn't you know know exactly what was going to happen, and there a lot of uncertainty. But you know and us having on each other through that you know really helped us get through those hard times.
00:03:27
Speaker
Had you been in high school during that time, and as you know, a lot of schools, you know they didn't they didn't play football, they didn't play any sports. um Had you been in high school and then been told you weren't going to play your senior year because of COVID?
00:03:42
Speaker
What do you think that would have been like mentally for you and your teammates, being that football, I assume, was a an outlet for you, right? Probably mentally, and and it was your thing. Can you imagine or can you know how would that have how would you have handled that, you think?
Emotional and Social Challenges of COVID
00:04:00
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that would have been devastating for for myself and, you know, all my teammates and my younger brother um because that's something that sports and, then you know, sports as as a a whole has been an outlet for myself, my brother, you know, guys on my teams, my friends. So to be able to, you know, have someone tell you you can't play a sport that you love,
00:04:23
Speaker
I mean, it would i would have gone through the gauntlet of emotions. I would have been frustrated, sad, mad. And then, you know, you kind of, as ah as a as a guy, you you try to, you know, find solutions to things. Well, what can we do to, you know, put some film out there? Can we start our own league? Can we do this? Can we use this field? Like, what can we do just, you know, trying to to go out there and just do something you love and have someone tell you no, it's it's really frustrating and I can't even imagine those guys that had had to go through that and, you know, maybe didn't have the resources to, to pull together and, you know, start their own league or you know, what, whatever it was, if it was an all-star league, you know, so just having to, having someone tell, you know, to do something you love is, is beyond frustrating. And I i don't even want to picture myself in that situation, yeah you know, only imagining how hard it would be.
00:05:17
Speaker
Shad, you're in the education world. Shad, it's been four years now. We've seen it up close, obviously, and especially for athletes. But in in your world and you know outside of here, we're four years from it.
00:05:33
Speaker
What have you seen or noticed or we were all afraid of what might come of that? Are we dealing with some of the ramifications of the social inabilities that kids were forced to have during COVID?
00:05:48
Speaker
I think for sure, right? Even studies are beginning to show that. But one of the things is, as ah Brendan was speaking, one of the things that I thought of, I heard one time that trials reveal character, right?
00:06:05
Speaker
And I think during that time, one of two things happened, too even at the professional levels and and even at the college levels, right? High-level college athletics and is some people, if they have a good excuse to not do something, they'll take it.
00:06:22
Speaker
Right? And so, oh, I'm living this higher, you know, that I'm really concerned about everything going on, and so I'm not going to do anything, right? It was a great excuse to completely disengage if you wanted to.
00:06:39
Speaker
But trials reveal character. And I think what happened during that time is we we found out some people aren't as tough as they thought they were without the structure, without someone riding them, without those things. They really went downhill.
00:06:58
Speaker
But some cream rise to the top as well. it It revealed who had high character, who had high work ethic, who had self-motivation. And as i as I think about you know what what Brendan was saying there, that's probably why he's in the NFL, because of the fact that He got some people and I'm sure it wasn't everybody right. who Who's going to parks and they're saying, hey, coaches, what would be the most valuable things for us to do? And and they're working and they're they're putting in that work and doing stuff away from the facility because they could.
00:07:31
Speaker
i bet there was plenty of people playing. PlayStation at that time, right? And so I think one of the things we're just seeing now is what that time did to people. And it's not all people's fault.
00:07:47
Speaker
I'm not saying that, but those who were proactive, those who said, noh this isn't going to stop me from my goals. I'm going to find ways to make things happen. they really surpassed people.
00:08:00
Speaker
But I think it's kind of a metaphor. That was a super weird and exaggerated time of life that we all look back at now is so weird, right? but But I think we face those things in our in our lives every day, right? Where either someone tells us we can't do something or some circumstances arise or we wake up not feeling good.
00:08:20
Speaker
and We face that choice in little ways every day.
Elements of Successful Athletes: Talent vs. Work Ethic
00:08:24
Speaker
Are we going to go the park and work out are we going to sit and play PlayStation? you big And so, but I mean, that's what I'm seeing, Dustin, and in my world is that I think it's being revealed right now who is resilient.
00:08:39
Speaker
who said, you know, i can't control this right now, but i'm going to I'm going to do what I can do, and who just laid back and used it as an excuse to not do anything. I shared a ah quote on our our social media um not too long ago that said you won't, be and I'm kind of paraphrasing the exact quote, but it was something along the lines of, you'll never become your best, or you won't become elite, or whatever if,
00:09:04
Speaker
you only work on the days you feel like it and you know and and and in hearing brendan speak i was on a ah podcast yesterday talking more about the quarterbacks that i work with and and some of the ones who are currently division one and and and a handful that are in the nfl and the the person asked me what separates those that made it that far and i said well First of all, we need to understand oftentimes there's some genetic gifts that those that these athletes are given. And and it's it's, you know, i would love to say every one of them just woke up at 5 a.m. every morning and just and and, you know, sometimes you're six, eight and you're you're really big and you're going to have a chance. But there's a difference between talent and skill.
00:09:51
Speaker
Right. A skill set has to really be developed. And so I started talking about outside of that, what made them different. And Brendan, it was interesting hearing you talk about, you could not, as hard as you tried to answer that question, you couldn't get away from the fact that you you kept coming back to but we would go out and work and we would find other ways and we would figure other things out. And, and I loved hearing now because you're a one who's made it. You're playing at the highest level of football. You've been, had a great season. You're, you're, you know, with a great franchise who really looks for kit guys like you. That's, that's why they've been so successful. But,
00:10:32
Speaker
You couldn't answer that question without coming back to the fact that you found a way to address the solution. And that was we might have to go to a park. We might have to figure out a way to, you know, whatever. We just got to do something. And and I said in that interview that that's really what separates the greats is that they.
00:10:52
Speaker
they so they They plan their their days around what they have to do to be great and they don't let other distractions get in the way of that. that that's That's a priority and that's that's cemented. In your progression in high school and college in the NFL, some of the athletes that you've been around, ah has there been any that their work ethic or their example has has really made an impact in your life? And would you mind, if so, sharing what it was they did that impacted you?
00:11:22
Speaker
yeah i think it and it all starts for myself it starts with my dad and my mom because they were both you know collegiate athletes my dad played football at eastern michigan my mom was a volleyball player at cal state la and i think from a very young age They saw in you know my brother and myself that, okay, these kids, you know and my sister as well. My sister was a phenomenal volleyball player.
00:11:48
Speaker
ah They saw that, all right, these kids might be able to do something in you know the athletic world. And so they instilled in all the three of us, you know there's people who go out there and will beat their chest and beat on the drums and say, I'm doing this, I'm doing that.
00:12:05
Speaker
You know, it's it's not those people who typically rise to the top. um It's the people who do their work in silence and who do it day in and day out. And they enjoy the grind. They love the process. They love going through the pain, the sweat, the tears, all of that. They love to compete.
00:12:25
Speaker
And i think having that instilled in me at a young age was just work, just go to work, just go to work, just go to work, no matter what's going on in your life, make that a constant, go to work, go to work every day. You know, there's going to be days you wake up and you don't want to roll out of bed and you want to hit that snooze button and you want to go get that extra hour of sleep, but your goals and aspirations don't care how you feel at the end of the day.
00:12:54
Speaker
And that was one of my old teammates. He said that Jalen Mills ah last year. i remember was during this time last year and we're, you know, running like dogs out out there. And, you know, he kept saying that quote over and over again. And that's one of the quotes that stuck with me. And, you know, you get to this level and everybody is just physically gifted.
00:13:16
Speaker
Everybody is, but it's the guys who can go through all of that hard training and, you know, the early mornings and, you know, lifting heavy weights and, you know, everything that happens in between there is the guys who are mentally strong enough to show up every day and be that same guy every day, whether that's for yourself, whether that's for your teammates, whether you're a leader,
00:13:40
Speaker
whether you're leading by you know example or you're a vocal leader, you got to show up every day and put in the work. And i think having my parents instilled that in me, i'm like, look, it there's not going to be a single soul on this team who's going to outwork me today.
00:13:57
Speaker
I'm going to lay it all on the line. and i'm gonna get up tomorrow and i'm gonna do it again i'll wake up the next day and i'm gonna do it again and having guys who are like-minded like that around you when you start pushing each other in those those ways where you just test your your your mental strength because your mind will take you to places your body didn't think it can go so as long as you're rock solid hit up top you're you're going to be fine in whatever workout that you're going to be doing. And if that's you having to drag people along with you, then d be that guy.
00:14:29
Speaker
Or whether that's you, when you know you're going to get a little mentally fatigued in a workout, lean on that guy who's going to be mentally strong and have him drag you. Because at end of the end the he's going to prove to you that whatever you put your mind to, you you will accomplish.
Mental Toughness and Self-Motivation
00:14:45
Speaker
Well, first of all, I just have to pause here and say I played baseball at Cal State LA. There we go. You don't hear that college a lot, but, but you know, i yeah. So shout out to your mom there, a Golden Eagle, a fellow Golden Eagle. that Yeah, but that's all I wanted to say, Dustin. I didn't have a profound thought. i just You lost me. I'm sure everything you said after that was great, but no, I'm just kidding. it je You just wanted a name drop that you played at Cal State. that was awesome that was like yeah i i remember your mom she was probably a couple years before me no yeah and so can i can i ask a question about what his response which was awesome or so awesome can you say that phrase again that about your feelings your goals and aspirations don't care how you feel at the end of the day yeah because because if you put if you if you put this out there and you're like look guys
00:15:46
Speaker
This year, i want to be you know whatever accolade that I want to get. Well, guess what? You put that out there and you made it clear to everybody else that this is what you want to do Well, guess what? That goal doesn't care if you if if if you don't want to wake up early one day. That goal doesn't care if you know your back's feeling a little tight. Like, oh, I can you know make this excuse. My back's tight today, coach. Sorry, I can't. but Your feelings don't care. So you've got to do...
00:16:14
Speaker
whatever it is that you have to do to get there. and you know, having that rock foundation for me, i wasn't highly recruited at a high school. I was a two star recruit at a high school that was super thankful to get a scholarship offer from the University of Oregon.
00:16:33
Speaker
And that's all I wanted to do all of high school it was just work my tail off to get to that spot. And it didn't matter how I felt that day because I made that goal and I made that promise not only to myself, but to my family. It's like, I can go do this. I'm going to go do this.
00:16:51
Speaker
So what I didn't want to... run those gaps was after practice or if I didn't want to, you know stay late at track and like work on my starts and, you know, do all these things that athletes need to do outside of theirce they their their training that they're that they're called to do. you aren't going to reach that potential because there's there's ah everyone's always got potential. But you've got to go find it. you're not going You can't rely on your coach every day to go tell you to go do something you know because he he can't want it more than you. yeah So having having those obstacles to to overcome and you know the the trials and tribulations that you go through in life you just got to find a way through it and like for me that was just to work like let me go to work and let me show you why i deserve to be here yeah that's awesome and that's uh you went into this a little bit but the the question i had is i'm just trying to help athletes picture the way an elite athlete thinks
00:17:59
Speaker
Because being exposed to that, they could start having those thought patterns. So I'm sure like everybody else, even as a professional athlete, you wake up some mornings and you don't feel like doing what your goals demand.
00:18:15
Speaker
But your goals don't care about your feelings. it that So... what Can you take us into your mind, like, when you have that hesitation, when you're thinking either, I don't want to get up right now, man, I just want to sleep, or after practice, I don't want to stay and run those gassers, what does an elite athlete tell themselves to overcome those feelings so that they can meet their goals? Tell us about your inner talk there in that moment.
00:18:44
Speaker
I don't know if you really want to know what I told It's definitely not a nice choice of words, but um it's i kind of look at it as like, you got to be kind of crazy. like Nobody in their right mind wants to put their body and test their mental strength in whatever sport it is. like You got to go tap that potential yourself.
00:19:12
Speaker
And when you're, you know, dog tired after practice and you got to go run or, you know, do extra work with whoever you're going to drag along with you, i think it's at the end of the day, it's like if if I'm doing this,
00:19:28
Speaker
which is like the baseline. Like if I'm just doing the necessity that I need to do, somebody else is out there trying to do this as well. So what am I going to do to give myself a leg up on my competition? Because at this level, they're trying to replace you every year.
00:19:45
Speaker
They're trying to get a new group of guys in who want to take your spot. So how hungry are you? Because I remember how hungry I was leading up to the draft, leading up to you know when I got the phone call from the Patriots and yeah I was undrafted, but you know I still got that phone call and I was like, hey, I'm coming to you guys.
00:20:03
Speaker
um like I remember how hungry I was. And so I think about all those those kids coming out of college who are just as hungry as I was. So i'm like, okay, well, got to do something more now.
00:20:14
Speaker
like I got to be a little crazy. I got to find someone who's crazy like me to help push me through whatever workout we're doing. And you know my really good... my good buddy Adrian Phillips who actually played at Texas quite a few years before me and was with the Pats um for the past four years um him and I work out together in the offseason and he's just as psychotic as I am like in our workouts we're like oh how many reps did you do here oh I did 10 all right I'm doing 12 just to just to make you mad like I outworked you today
00:20:47
Speaker
So it's having those people to push you and, you know, i always having that drive where I'm like, no one is going to come in and take my spot. Like I've worked too damn hard to get here. and if I'm going to let somebody do this, no, no, no, that's not happening today.
Competing Against Personal Limits
00:21:02
Speaker
So just always having that constant, like thought in the back of your head to never settle and never be complacent because somebody out there is working just as hard or harder to have the spot that you're in.
00:21:16
Speaker
See, and what I hear, Dustin, and I'm sure you got thoughts, but you're like competing against yourself. Like a true competitor doesn't need an opponent, right? needs a He or she just needs a temptation, like stay in bed. And it's like, forget you. I'm not staying in bed. Like I'm getting out of bed. You almost have to compete against those thoughts just like you would against an opponent. Yep.
00:21:39
Speaker
ah the old the the The old Native American sitting bull has a phrase that he he says he has he has two dogs inside of him. And which one becomes the alpha dog is the one that he feeds the most.
00:21:53
Speaker
right And that there in all of us is a dog that wants to rest. There's the there's the the inside dog that wants to be inside and be warm and and be taken care of and fed. And, you know, it's the house cat or the house dog.
00:22:09
Speaker
And then there's the one that wants to go to work and go earn and do things. Whichever one we feed the most will be who we become, right? What our personality you know will become. And and you know i'm I'm sure you're aware of the name Eric Weddle.
00:22:22
Speaker
yeah Yep. You guys play some similar ah positions. Eric's a good friend of ours, friend of our program. We've had him on the podcast. He's been at a couple events of ours, and and he's probably going to be in the Hall of Fame, um I would so i would you know guess here, not too long. But he said something as you were speaking, and I want your thoughts on this, because it's funny how you guys, Shad, you probably felt this. There's just this similar...
00:22:49
Speaker
mine and And to play defense, like I'm an offensive guy, i'm a ah football is is my life, um and you've got to be a crazy son of a gun to play defense, especially to be good at it. like you got to and And sometimes I just hate you guys. like I wish I could take part of you and put you in my you know some of the offensive guys I coach, because you're just crazy. but He would go through his day and he did it on our on our podcast, how early he'd get up and go in you know the weight room and film and then a massage and then an ice bath. And then anyway, go through the whole thing.
00:23:23
Speaker
But he said something really interesting in our podcast and we've used it many times where he talked about knowing that there was somebody else coming every year to possibly take his spot, that that was a motivation to him.
00:23:35
Speaker
But he said he learned a lesson early in his career. He would ask other safeties, other people who played the position he played, for advice. Guys on his own team and even guys from other teams. And he he was surprised at how few of them were willing to give it to him.
00:23:52
Speaker
And until he until he realized, wait a minute, this isn't like the old days. This is a business. These guys see me as a threat and they don't want to give up any of their secrets or anything that they look and you got to figure this thing out yourself. I'm not giving you any anything the inch because because you might come and take my spot someday. But Eric actually took it the other way personally himself where he said,
00:24:17
Speaker
He went out of his way to give the younger out the younger rookies or the younger football player that came into the to the franchise to give them advice and to help them and to to actually tell them things that would make them better.
00:24:31
Speaker
And then he said something that was so awesome. And I said, why shatter? I asked him, well, wait a minute. Aren't you nervous about the same thing? You just gave them some advice that... could maybe later cause you to lose your spot to them? And he said, yeah, that's why I give it to him because I got to go find new tricks now.
00:24:50
Speaker
when i give when i When I give them something, I now have another reason to wake up and get back to work because I just gave my ah somebody who could take my job some some some tricks, you know some advice that could help them that I had to learn the hard way, so I gotta to find a new way to fight now.
00:25:10
Speaker
And ah you know is is is that's the kind of mindset that you're talking about, right, Brendan? 100%, yep. Yeah, you you got to have that killer. We call it winning the hour. So the first chapter of our book, the sport light, we talk about winning the hour and we use the phrase going 16 and 0.
Importance of Recovery and Self-Care
00:25:30
Speaker
We actually are talking more about the other eight hours, but we talk about the 16 hours that you're awake, assuming you sleep eight. Now, recently we've discussed how we need to talk more about the importance of the eight.
00:25:44
Speaker
that you're getting sleep. um How important is that to you as a pro athlete to get make sure that you're getting the proper sleep, winning the hour the the days you're you know the hours you're awake. we' We're talking about not wasting time, prioritizing your day, making time for what really matters. But how important are those eight hours that you're getting rest to being ah an elite athlete?
00:26:08
Speaker
Oh, it's it's huge because that's when your your your body does the most recovery is while you sleep. And so not only am i real cranky if I don't get like a good eight hours of sleep, but my body just doesn't feel right. And that falls into the category of just like recovery in general, where, you know, I'm the first one to say I hate the cold tub.
00:26:31
Speaker
But guess what? I'm like one of the first guys into the cold tub because I know how beneficial it is to my legs, my knees, my joints, you know my muscles, all of that.
00:26:43
Speaker
And that fall, that that also leads into taking care of yourself with your diet. like You have to eat clean. You can't be you know going out, eating McDonald's, drinking like all these sodas. and you know Every once in a while, yeah go go treat yourself. like We work hard for this stuff, but you've got to put the right things in your body because then there that leads to inflammation in your joints and then that leads to you getting hurt. Then that leads to you ultimately not being on the football field, not being on the court, not being wherever you are.
00:27:15
Speaker
because you didn't take care of the easy things. And that's easy. You're not even going out. You don't got to break a sweat to cook good food. But it's you know not as convenient as it is going through a drive-through.
00:27:27
Speaker
So having in recovery, your sleep, your body, getting massages. And had one of our our older players uh jabril peppers on our team talking to us uh last week and he was talking about you know how guys will you know go to the club spend thousand dollars on alcohol but you know are mad when they got to pay 250 for a massage it's like well look that's an investment into your body like let's not spend so much money on you know those things that make you look good
00:28:00
Speaker
but let's spend the money on things that are going to make your career last longer, things that are going to make you make more money at the end the day. You know, you get to do this a couple years longer because you took care of your body in the moment instead of having so much fun.
00:28:16
Speaker
you know, look, a life's all about give and take and moderation and I get it. You know, you want to have fun. You want to do these things. But you got the rest of your life to do that, man. And I think, you know, having those those influential guys and, you know, having the old heads on the team when I was in college, when I was, you know, first getting into the league, you know, kind of show you the way and be like, look, don't make these mistakes
Healthy Competition and Motivational Fuels
00:28:40
Speaker
I did. Don't do this. Don't do that.
00:28:42
Speaker
you know They're telling you for a reason. It's because that stuff is true, and they went through it. so i mean Recovery is is huge at the end of the day. That's half the battle right there.
00:28:54
Speaker
we yeah We have a principle, Shad. Maybe I'd like to get his thoughts on compete without contempt. um yeah ah That's the another principle of our program, another chapter in our book.
00:29:08
Speaker
ah Brendan, we we stress competition. um We were athletes. We we love sports. I'm coaching every day, and and i hate competition.
00:29:19
Speaker
people who don't want to compete, whatever it is, right? compet So when we say compete without contempt, we purposely don't say sportsmanship, not because we want kids to practice poor sportsmanship, because we if that's an easy phrase to throw out. And I think everybody understands, well, yeah, you should be a good sport. And we all kind of know what bad sportsmanship I think looks like, but we don't want to undervalue the importance of competition.
00:29:48
Speaker
And Shad mentioned earlier, and and you kind of talked about the biggest opponent is that you're competing against yourself, right? And I talked about the two dogs that are inside of us. That's what we're competing against.
00:30:00
Speaker
But competing with contempt, if your fuel, if your motivation is because you hate your opponent. You hate the the the person that you're going against.
00:30:12
Speaker
We try to encourage athletes that that's a that's a very short-term motivation, that your motivation should be to compete because you've worked hard now to have the opportunity to go out and showcase what it is you've developed. And win or lose, you get a chance to do it. And so the demeaning or or you know or or devaluing your opponent by competing with contempt doesn't do any good for anybody.
00:30:39
Speaker
um What are your thoughts on that and and how can we teach young people and adults that competition is good, but we don't have to rub it in everybody's face when when we win. There's a right way and a wrong way to compete. Do you have any thoughts on that?
00:30:54
Speaker
No, i think I think you hit it on the head. I think you know there's there's times where you play in big rivalry games where you're like, you just do not like this school or you know this team or or whatever it is. But the way I've always you know been told and taught how to conduct myself is your opponent should be faceless.
00:31:16
Speaker
Now, should you know you know their last name, their number, where they're from, you know height, weight, what they're good at, what they're not good at, 100%. Study your opponent. And I think that is kind of the art of the game. You've got to know what they're good at and what they're not good at and attack those weaknesses.
00:31:35
Speaker
But when I say no face, I mean it shouldn't matter who's lining up against you. And my philosophy is like whoever lines up against me, my goal at the end of the day is to just impose my will on you every snap.
00:31:52
Speaker
every moment that we get to go up against each other you're gonna feel me you're gonna feel all those days where we we're running gassers where i was dying where i didn't want to do this i didn't want to do that you know those those dog days you have leading up to a season like you're gonna feel all of this and it's not because i don't like you but it's because i want to just dominate and just be the best at whatever it is i'm doing i want to be the best version of breath and I want to be the best version you know that my parents get to see, my family, my friends. I want to be that athlete you know that that that God gave me these talents, and I want to go showcase those talents. And I'm going to let you have it every single time that we're lined up against each other, and then I'll pick you up after.
00:32:37
Speaker
and I'll be like, it's going to happen again. And so that's kind of how I was always taught to you know approach your opponent. Well, that's the beauty of it, because if you don't have that, and and we're all three, I'm sure the same way, there's there's you don't want to ever show up and play somebody who's apathetic towards who wins or loses.
00:32:56
Speaker
Like, that's not fun. I don't want to, you know, if we're competing in something and you're just kind of nonchalant, well, I don't care if if you beat me or if I beat you. Like, that's annoying as well. Like, no, I want you to...
00:33:07
Speaker
I want you to want to to take it give it to me and and and take it to me and beat me because i got find I want to find what I'm made of, right? So we should appreciate the fact that there's an opponent there that's giving us a chance to test ourselves. But like you said,
00:33:23
Speaker
you know, it's okay to to like them off the field or to help them up or to be respectful because without them, we don't get that opportunity. Right? and and and And so I like the way that you you worded that. There's nothing wrong with wanting to dominate in sports. These games are, and especially football, it's a very physical, violent sport. It is what it is. If you get into it, you got to know that. But It doesn't mean you have to stand over somebody or text them or tweet at them after and try to ruin them. um Because the truth is, most of our opponents, if they were on our team, would probably be our best buddies.
00:33:59
Speaker
Yep. Good for saying, yep. You know, Dustin, it's something you said and something Brendan said is just to build off it. I love when you started to talk about what, like, you don't need to hate your opponent, they're faceless, you know, you started to mention things like family, love of the game, you know, God.
00:34:20
Speaker
and it's like, for me, those are the sustainable fuels. right like wanting my mom was at every single game i was ever at she wanted to see me be successful you know she had to bring joy to my family to bring honor to my last name that was on my back the way i conducted myself i loved especially you know the the schools that i got to play for and And even growing up, like I love representing my high school.
00:34:53
Speaker
I represented them. I love my community. I love my school. love my college. There's so much love that could motivate us that I think sometimes when people and I've seen this, you've probably seen it, too. but And I'm not even going to mention names, though there's one on the tip of my tongue. But it's like they.
00:35:12
Speaker
They have to find something that their opponent did that offended them. and then they're going to go to the press and be like, oh, they said that, you know, like, and now I'm motivated. And I just almost think if you have to have hate and you have to invent things about your opponent's character or something they did to offend you, I don't know that you're a true competitor.
00:35:34
Speaker
like I just need a ball and someone to play against, and I want to win. like My family gets mad at me for Monopoly. I don't want people to cheat. like I think, no let's play fair. Let's see who wins, right? like yeah and And i I think it's a lack of competitiveness when we need hate to be our fuel.
00:35:53
Speaker
But when it's just, I want to beat that guy. I want to dominate that guy because it's my... Like it's all about me and my family and my school and the organization that trusted enough in me to pay me to play this game in your instance. That's a way better fuel. The fans that pay all that money to come watch you and and you want to bring joy to the Patriot fans like that is a great.
Schooler's NFL Journey and Academic Challenges
00:36:17
Speaker
positive fuel you don't need any hate within you to get motivated so i just i heard that in both of your your statements there and i just think it's a cool way to think about competition that the fuel should be love not hate it's just more healthy more sustainable more fulfilling no doubt you um remind us again when did you graduate or come out of college and join and get in and end up as a undrafted free agent with the patriots what year was that so my rookie year was 22 so i'm heading into uh i'm heading to my third season with them now and did you you played quite a bit right last year yep yeah i didn't miss didn't miss a single game yeah yep and so and my understanding is you received some awards as well
00:37:06
Speaker
Yeah, it was the first team All-Pro. Got that award, which was which was huge, man. Super thankful and blessed, and I wouldn't be you know anywhere i am today with without my coaches and teammates who believed in me, and you know mom and dad, brother, sister. like Those were the ones that were there from since day one, and you know,
00:37:28
Speaker
fell short of a couple other accolades that i wanted but that one was that one was super special to me and you know just trying to go out there and do it do it again this year and that that's the game that we play it's like you you're only as good as your last performance and you know right now no one cares that i got that award last year it's cool but I don't want to hear it. i don't want to hear, oh but you got this, you got that. Like, no, I got to do that again, though, this year. So it doesn't matter really what what last year's accolations were. But, um yeah, I was super happy, man. That was that was big time because, you know, coming as a you know a kid coming home in third grade and telling his dad, you know, I want to be –
00:38:09
Speaker
a professional football player to getting an award like this that's voted on by your coaches and you know the the guys you go up against it's it's it's it's a huge a huge uh accomplish uh you know something to accomplish and you man i just like i said i'm super thankful for that i mean i couldn't couldn't imagine getting something like that we have a a all pro first team all pro a defensive NFL football player with us today. And he's talking about things that you're not going to get every day from just a regular person on the street. going to ask you a hard question here, Brendan, um because we didn't preface that I was going to ask you this before the the interview, but...
00:38:53
Speaker
And I don't know well you well enough. I do know as an undrafted football player to be three years or two years later, a an all pro NFL player is a pretty intense rise to success. So I know that didn't come easy. Congratulations on that. But looking back on your life, and this doesn't have to be sports related.
00:39:17
Speaker
We oftentimes, one of our other principles in our program is resiliency. And we talk about that we don't really know if we're resilient until we have to be resilient, right? We think, yeah, I'm resilient. Well, we don't know it until life kind of kicks us in the face and then we find out if we are or not.
00:39:34
Speaker
What has been something, football or non-football related, that you feel like your resiliency has really been tested? Have you had something in your life where you've really had to buckle down and and and really evaluate, can I get through this? Something hard that you got through that we might be able to share with our listeners that are struggling with something hard right now themselves.
00:40:00
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, the first thing that really pops into my mind is, you know, my journey through high school where there was a mistake with one of my academic advisors and she didn't realize I wanted to be put on track on a four year plan. And she just put me on a plan to be ah eligible to get into a a junior college.
00:40:21
Speaker
So this was caught. my senior year by my one of my new academic advisors, and she was like, all right, well, this is saveable, but you're going to have to take a couple extra classes, you know stay a little later. And you know colleges would see that I'm not going to be a qualifier, and they would just be disinterested right away.
00:40:45
Speaker
And even when myself, my mom, my dad would tell them I'm gonna be a qualifier, it's just not gonna, it doesn't it just't say that right now. And, you know, Oregon came around and we they were talking to me and my ah DB coach that really got me there, John Neal, he ah he he knew. he knew what the deal was, but it was trying to convince the head coach and, you know, the defensive coordinator. And, you know, I was actually enrolled at a junior college. I didn't sign on signing day.
00:41:20
Speaker
I was ready to go to a JUCO for a year and then go find a home somewhere. in oreg And Oregon ended up having this guy that got kicked off the team. And I signed my letter of intent on June 30th, which was well after signing day.
00:41:37
Speaker
And i actually missed like the first week of summer camp at the JUCO, my local JUCO. And missed all of fall camp not all of fall camp all of summer school summer workouts at the university of oregon and just showed up two days before fall camp and ended up winning the two the the the backup corner spot i played corner my my my first game up at oregon and then moved to the starting nickel spot and was a starting nickel and then by the third game i was the starting safety and
00:42:11
Speaker
was if it was a a freshman All-American and was you know led the team in interceptions. and and whatnot. But what I'm getting at is my mom kept telling you just got jump through the hoops, just jump through the hoops they want you to jump through. And I think it was her just with that constant reminder that you there there there's a common goal, there's a goal that you're working towards right now. and like we said earlier, your goals don't care how you feel. like You just got to keep working towards them. keep jumping through those hoops and doing whatever it is they need you to do to prove to them that you're ready to be there and you're going to be a qualifier and you're going to do this and you're going to do that. I think that taught me the resiliency. Well, she taught me that resiliency to believe, not only want to believe in myself, but just to do whatever it is you got to do within yourself now to get to that spot. And then, you know, having a new head coach every year football and,
00:43:12
Speaker
you know, having to deal with staff changes and coaching changes. and it just taught me to like, whatever life throws at you, take it how it is and just make the best of it. Like whatever it is that you got to do, however it is you have to approach this situation that you're in And, you know, when you pray and you ask for strength, God's going to give you an opportunity to be strong.
00:43:35
Speaker
or you pray and you ask for patience, God's going to give you these opportunities to have patience and demonstrate that and have yourself learn what patience looks like, what being strong looks like, and you know having ah a great family and having a religion to fall back onto. I think that helped me get through those tough times of just jumping through hoop after hoop.
00:44:00
Speaker
That's awesome. Now, can I ask a question? Because It sounds to me like you graduated from Oregon. How many years were you at Oregon? I was there from 2016 to 19. So I actually got my degree in just a little over three years. um But that was that was that was I was able to be a grad transfer because of that, because I know it's like as soon as you get your degree, you hold all the power like you can go or you could say you can do what you want. So I was always very motivated to to get that done pretty, pretty, pretty quick.
00:44:34
Speaker
which is cool and a cool story of resilience that here's this kid that everyone's worrying about whether or not he was going to qualify and whether or not really what they're worried about is can this kid hack it in college? Right. And that's what the qualifying process is for. And then you not only jumped through the hoops to get there, but then you didn't like, ah, you know, and relax. It's like, forget this. I'm going to graduate in three years to open my options while I'm playing football. which that just shows why you are where you are and why you're an all pro undrafted all pro in your second year is because it's just kind of that, that attitude that you're going to be relentless. Like after our interview, I'm just thinking, man, Brendan schooler's a, he's just a relentless dude, you know, that he's just going to keep going and keep going. And I think that's what resilience
Faith, Hard Work, and Teamwork Lessons
00:45:26
Speaker
is. So that that's cool that you,
00:45:29
Speaker
struggled to qualify and then not struggled like academically or anything, but because of that situation and then graduate in three years, open up your options and then it leads to this. I think that's a cool story of resilience.
00:45:41
Speaker
Thank you. Well, i'm gonna I'm gonna pick up on one thing you asked and then maybe ask a final question or one thing you said, excuse me, and then ask a final question.
00:45:52
Speaker
You said, when we if we pray for you know, to for work, God's gonna give us work. If we pray for patience, God's gonna give us chance to be patient. There's a lot in that statement. And, you know, when we go around and speak at schools,
00:46:08
Speaker
We can't talk about that sort of thing. We can on this podcast. So we're gonna talk about it for a second. Cause I love that. I agree with that. we I think oftentimes those of us who who believe in a and a higher power think that if we pray for something, God's just gonna give us work ethic or he's just going to give us patience because we ask for patience. So all a sudden we're going to wake up a day or two later and be super patient and nothing's going to you know rattle us. The truth of the matter is what you just said is if we pray for these things, we're probably going to be given opportunities
00:46:45
Speaker
to test our patience or to test our resiliency. And it's up to us to, you you know of our motto, we wear it on our wristbands and and we'll have to mail you one. um We'd love to have you wear it. You know, it don't doubt we have we have one or two guys in the NFL right now, maybe just one. I know Jaron Hall with the Vikings. um and and maybe there's one or two others, but it would be awesome if you did and and you were kind of an ambassador for us in the NFL. But eyes up, do the work means exactly that, that if we take our eyes up to God and ask for something, he's probably going to tell us, okay, here's your chance, now go do the work.
00:47:21
Speaker
Yep. Right. Like you're aware of something. Okay. Here's your opportunity. You might not like the answer to it, but are you willing now to put your big boy, big girl pants on and your work boots on and go to work? Cause I'm not just going to give it to you. That's not how this works. And I think the more we understand that as human beings,
00:47:40
Speaker
ah And you you probably said the word 20 times today is work, work, work, work. That at the end of the day, if we don't know what should I do, work. You know, that's that's really the answer. So that builds into my final question.
00:47:54
Speaker
We would be stupid if we didn't ask you this because you play for probably the greatest, at least one year. He's he's not there now, but all-time coach, football NFL football coach of all time.
00:48:07
Speaker
What was that like in your interactions or something that you learned from playing for coach Belichick, who is an all timer? Yeah, I was thankful, you know, that he took a chance on me. Like he didn't have to bring me in.
00:48:22
Speaker
at the end of the day, it was like it was his say so. So super thankful that, you know, he took a chance on this long haired kid that played at Texas. But, you know, getting to be, you know, two seasons under, you know,
00:48:38
Speaker
under Bill, it was you just learned that no one no one's too big for the team. There's a common goal, and if you know you put the team before yourself, that will bring you personal accolades. That's going to bring the team success.
00:48:58
Speaker
And I think with him, it's just like you got to find whatever that role is on a team and just be the best at it. Prove to him, prove to the coaches, prove to yourself that you deserve to be there.
00:49:13
Speaker
every single day and you're going to show up and you're going to be consistent and you're going to be dependable and tough and like you're going to be that nitty-gritty football player that is going to get the job done day in and day out and we know exactly what we're going to get so i think just having the football knowledge that he has and being able to break down film and learn how to look at tendencies and you know like as a rookie and you know second year guy you just try to absorb everything you can and he just has you know over these these decades of just football knowledge up in up in that noggin of his so when he did spit out those little you know golden nuggets you're just like oh let me write this down real quick and you know because you're probably going to forget it if you don't write it down so just knowing what it means to be you know a true pro
00:50:08
Speaker
um in the nfl and you know show up to work every day and you know put the team first and do your job and do it to the best of your ability that was that was like that was the you know the epitome of of what he preached to us day in and day out well that's awesome man and and if anybody wants to look at resiliency and and and also look at the The truth of sports, so that's that it's not always great. Not every year is great.
Conclusion and Reflective Takeaways
00:50:38
Speaker
Go look at Bill Belichick's coaching record. Go look at his career. He had years where he didn't win a lot of games. he hash yearss but he did early in Especially early in his career, he had some games where, or seasons where he didn't do great. And he was let go. And he just kept grinding and kept grinding and then ends up now being
00:50:57
Speaker
you know, but most likely um Andy Reid's coming after him, but the all time greatest, you know, football coach, at least at the NFL level. So, Brendan, we probably better wrap this up, but we listen, man, we'd love to have you on again. You or you said some, talk about spitting out some golden nuggets, man. you You said a lot today that we can use and we're going to use, and and and and we'd love to keep in touch with you. We're going to be fans of you, and I told you on the phone, you're going have a lot of fans out in Utah now of you following you and the Patriots. So,
00:51:30
Speaker
Didn't know if you knew that you'd become a ah a fan of some random people out and in little old Utah, but your interview has for sure done that. We're going to keep an eye on you, and we look forward to ah talking to you in the future.
00:51:44
Speaker
Thank you guys for having me as well. Thank you. Well, Dustin, that was a great conversation. Any concluding thoughts to our interview with Brendan Schooler? Well, I think there's a lot of things there that we, I hope that when athlete or parents or coaches that hear this will ask their athlete or their their son or daughter to listen to that and do so with a notebook handy because there were several quotes, several, you know, just just quick blurbs that were said that we could have dove, you know, into and spent a lot of more time talking about. So, you know, yeah, please share this with every athlete should listen to this interview we just did with Brendan.
00:52:20
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. So like it, share it, listen to it. And as always keep your eyes up and do the work. This has been the sport life podcast from especially for athletes sponsored by Coca-Cola.
00:52:33
Speaker
You can learn more about especially for athletes by visiting the website at especially for athletes.org. You can also learn more about the book, the sport light by Chad Martin and Dustin Smith at especially for athletes.org slash book.