Hey what’s up this is Nate B I want to give a quick shout out to peanut en rollan at the NFL players second acts podcast so here’s what happened we had a super dope episode and y’all should check out all of the episodes they have incredible guests telling incredible
Stories doing big things but at the end of the episode they were like yo we want you to Freestyle and I was tired I wasn’t on my game I didn’t feel right when I left you know I actually went home and couldn’t sleep I’m like man you can’t really
Leave him with that you got to redeem yourself so here we are it’s a little something for y’all and you can see New York as the backdrop right but I’m from Seattle I feel right at home when it rains the 206 is synonymous with my name I’ll take the Space Needle straight to
The veins there’s something in the way that City make me feel word to K coang rest in peace to a legend I want to find Nana on Earth before I get to heaven that’s no desire no sense of self been a rich without money see that’s a sense of
Wealth once had low cash now my digits is up but if you can’t trust me you can’t trust us we dead mice peanut and Roman it’s a must this is something you ain’t CD for but I’m not MC Gusto yeah see this is hip hop back bigger and Blacker this slaps like Chris
Frck yeah we don’t make music we make movies kid smoking every single track just like poopy did for real something like second act I’m peut Tillman and this is the NFL player second a podcast and with me as always this is my older Uncle uh Roman Harper right here what’s up with it
What’s up with it boss I’m good see that is the type of intro I’m used to getting right when he just says my my government name I’m like oh I don’t know what to do next all right anyways I do know what to do next and that is ask all of our
Followers our Watchers to make sure continue to hit subscribe hit like give us a festar rating I’m telling you not asking give us the five star rating anywhere you pick up your podcast whether it’s Apple podcast or iHeart Radio please give us a look a listen
Tell a friend to tell a friend to tell a friend peanut who’s our guest today an oldie but a goodie this is someone that we’re trying to be like you know on the on the national level uh get there 2003 draft class dressed up for he’s a third
Round 2003 draft class played 11 years uh and since leaving the game he has become a media Mogul he is one of the ho excuse me he is one of the co-hosts from the CBS Morning Show Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome in Nate burlson what’s up y’all what’s up I appreciate
That introduction thank y’all for having me in U before we get started I just want to say um I’ve always admired what you guys did on the field what you guys have done in your second act has been incredible and it’s a beautiful thing to
See man so um this is an honor you know when I got word that y’all wanted to have me on I was pumped about it man you even got the voice don’t he like I feel like when you played I didn’t really recognize your voice but it’s like well
You know I I really want to thank y’all for tuning in and coming you remember been working on it Dr Green Donnie Simpson on BET shout out to Donnie Simpson that was Dr Green that was that was one of my Inspirations I see it okay you see it it’s coming it’s coming in
Thank you for noticing man things that really get people excited like as Nate has progressed in his career and his life he’s like bro I don’t even care about you give me all the love and some of the catches and stuff it’s like man did you feel that story did you feel the
Passion in my voice right there that’s what he’s looking for so you actually just scratched that it a fact I appreciate I like yeah yeah yeah yeah no worries man but yeah man you’ve been you’ve been killing on CVS warning show I like it you representing us well
You’re doing your thing I like you straight hand like you give a us a a platform to say that yo man we not just athletes like I don’t just have I don’t just have to talk about sports I don’t just have to be a coach or an
Analyst like I can come in I can do radio I can do TV I can do like legit news I can interview the president I can interview politicians Hip Hops artists athletes like I can do it all yeah you know what I’m saying and I’m just I’m
Proud of you I really like what you’ve done you started out at good morning football and your progression and the the work ethic yeah that you put in and like you legit you you like legit media like you you doing the damn thing and I just hey man I Applause you it’s it’s
Amazing to see yeah I see I sincerely received that man and um and like I said you guys have also um you know kind of recreated the blueprint I feel like we all we all have this one big blueprint um and we’re all making our marks on it
You know individually um you know straan of course is one of the people that they look at and they say all right he going from a a Super Bowl champion Hall of Famer into media into news and now hosting everything from reality shows to game shows um now there is this
Blueprint out there but what I love about this new landscape and the new NFL player is that we’re all grabbing that same blueprint making our mark saying here’s an Avenue for you as a player you can go into podcasting you can um go into law enforcement you can go into
Coaching if you want but you can also go in the fashion media music Finance you can do whatever you want um you know I think the greatest lie Sports has ever told us as athletes is all you need to do is care about this yeah and I don’t know where
We picked it up from maybe it was just indoctrinated as a young age at a young age but like we we got to the NFL and if you would have talked to us our rookie year our second year about what we would do for the team I think about 99% of us
Say I run through a brick wall and mean it like I I die for these colors this this logo on my helmet this emblem and and these team colors this is everything that matters to me and for the most part that helped us do our jobs at the level
It did right but it also blinded us to like the next chapter and what we were also going to have to face which was figuring out who we are after we take the helmet off um and I think us and and many others like us are just representations that being an athlete
Was just a small part of our Lives it n necessarily who we were um and the sooner guys can figure that out which is why I love this new generation of athletes it’s like you’ll be better off once retirement comes it actually makes a lot of the coaches and people that
Work with these players more uncomfortable because they’re not used to it they’re used to just guys doing what you tell them and now they’re like man you know they understand they have value right they understand that they’re not just football players that and you know they they have their own face they
Have their they want to know what their you know the media responsibilities and they want to be off of the field is where their brand their brand yeah so so all these things are happening and I just think it’s really cool um I heard you talking this guy about uh on Cairo
Radio seemed like one your home yeah it seem like you guys really hit it off like kyo’s that’s Hometown right there yeah yeah I can tell I can tell like you guys open up shared a lot of stories and just you talking about your whole journey of like man you know uh the
Confidence that came with as you got more and more of this and doing more and more of the TV that it allows you all of a sudden now you’re relaxing and you’re you’re really getting into these things more at what point in time did that really start to happen for you I’m I’m
In this space right now uh that I work with on a day that’s my normal job and so I’m trying to do more personality TV I want to be able to be able to make that switch and show like I have more than just football knowledge do have way
More range like you guys are just holding me down from this right like like I can talk way more about way other things I actually enjoy that way more of course you know what mean I’m not just football I mean that’s just a small chapter in my life there’s so many more
To do how do you get to that and at what point in time did you all of a sudden start to get way more comfortable be like dude I can totally expand and do this yeah that that’s such a good question um the first time I was
Actually on TV was the year I got drafted which was 2003 I went to the NFL Network and um you know I got a little bit of a buzz from it and it and I got to be honest it was more self- serving I’m a wi receiv you know we’re divas I
Like to hear talking I like to look at myself on TV no surprise to yall you probably don’t even need them glasses you know what I’m saying like I get it no man I’m come on I’m almost 42 I’m I’m blind up here but um but you know I
So I I say that because every offseason I would do either local or national TV or radio I would go do the NFL Network hits they were never paying me I would do stuff back home so it’s almost like I was sharpening the tools um while I was
Playing and then I went to the broadcast boot camp and that’s when I realized that I wanted to do this as a career um and and it was funny because I had a little bit of a p back I was still playing yeah I was like
Year nine 10 and um they they basically gave me a pat on the back hey man you’re talented you got you got some some foundational pieces that could allow you to be good at this um if you choose to but I remember struggling when we did
The exercise of calling a game like it just it was so foreign to me to have somebody in there to kind of like te me up it was like the alleyoop and I just kept missing the dunk you know it’s like all right uh first and 10 Ben rossberger
Drops back and the pass is completed and they wait for me to jump in and I just didn’t know how to do that dance so once I left the broadcast boot camp as much as I felt good about certain areas of being on TV I just kept thinking about
Where I struggle I guess that’s the athlete in us you know we focus on the details of something we’re not doing well at and that made me feel like a rookie again yeah and that that’s what I think that element encouraged me the most when I retire I’m going to work on
This craft I got I got to be good at it and at that time I had um a partnership with a clothing line Baines and& Baker I had um an Italian restaurant in Seattle I had a couple other small things going on from a creative standpoint so I had
All these things that I didn’t know um I didn’t know what I wanted to do MH so I had to pick something it was either going into to TV or try my hand of all these other things and I thought if I go on TV and I’m good at TV it’s going to
Make these other things easier so let’s get into TV and that’s when I signed on to NFL Network and from there I was the busiest guy like there was there wasn’t nothing that they couldn’t call me for it was live TV tape TV pregame halftime postgame digital content getting reps
Getting reps so all it was is getting as many reps as I could and also you know I wanted to prove that I was just as good as some of these guys that were there I didn’t I didn’t have the gold jacket or the ring so for sure you know I needed
To work twice as hard and and I felt like remember when we first got in the league and the OG’s be like hey hey Rook slow down man chill out today it’s Friday you going too hard it’s Friday yeah Marty Booker got me with that come
On Rook what you doing it made you feel real bad right you just like I’m practicing I’m just I’m I’m doing what they pay me to do they pay me to do I’m yo chill chill out bro chill out and that’s how I felt the the ogs at the NFI
Network where was kind of like hey yo Rook slow down bro like you’re not getting paid anymore so why are you doing stuff that that you’re not getting paid to do and I I didn’t have an answer all I knew is if I got as much reps as I
Could at all of these different aspects of TV eventually I’ll start to find my rhythm and um and I’m still finding it but you know I feel like I at least I found my voice yeah and so so look I want this is going to be the toughest question to
Right and so P got me so excited I I I wanted to hit you with this first all right who’s the best receiver Calvin better receiver Calvin Johnson or Randy Moss you play with both all right Randy was a different time in Minnesota when you remember but Calvin you had young
You were older and you got Calvin yeah so which one was the best receiver you ever played against you ever played with I would have to go with Randy Moss um you know a couple of reasons one longevity by his side all right even at an older age when people
Thought he was washed he went to New England and got busy like 22 touchdowns 23 touchdowns something wild um he was the most naturally gifted athlete I’ve ever seen I mean he could play baseball I think he could have ran in the Olympics really good Hooper a beast um
And he he would show up and not even really have to warm up in his prime like Randy didn’t even warm up I’m talking about not at practice a game I remember you know warming up next to him and I’m like like Jim Carrey and cable guy I’m
Doing all kind of stretches you know I’m saying and Randy’s over there just moving his feet up and down and the coach is like hey Randy you gotta warm up and he just sitting there like whatever and he’s like Randy come on let’s go we gotta game in a little bit
And he just so casually looked out he’s like hey you ever seen a cheat of stretch before hunts and it was like one of them like abnormally profound questions saiding we didn’t have to answer for her and I’m like and we’re all like yeah you’re right the cheater
Never it just goes it gets to food and and we all kind of looked looked at Randy looked at the coach coach turned around walked away and Randy had another big day on the field so Randy was naturally gifted I will say this though Calvin was a freak yeah but he also
Worked his ass off Calvin was 64 65 230 sometimes he get it to around 240 and he still was a 4 guy jumping a 45 in vertical but he would show up every day and work like he was a free agent like Calvin when we do conditioning he
Wouldn’t just like lead us by a step or two he would beat us by as much as his athleticism was supposed to beat us by right and I always like I admired that about him um and and I feel like if Calvin would have played as long as
Randy this would be a different conversation but I you know you you can’t you can’t knock ry’s numbers and then on top of that just just like his his intimidation factor I remember being in the slot and there was a there was a DB um in front of him there was a safety
Behind the DB and then the safety from the other side of the field was rolling over the top so he basically had to beat three levels of Defense in one play and sure enough Dante Co pepper dropped back with Max protection and let that thing rip touchdown back of the end zone like
And I I just remember being in there were moments where I was just in ah like I remember another time DB is giving everybody fits and Randy goes up there and I saw the the whites of the DB’s eyes his toes was all the way up because
He’s ready to get out of there he’s ready back and then Randy uh the DB backs up right so he’s acting like he’s going to press him and then he backs up to about eight yards and as soon as he snaps the ball ry’s off the line
Scrimage just goes like this now mind you he had a hitch so he could have ran the hitch right but he’s like does DB’s off at eight backpedaling which means he’s probably like a 15 yeah and Randy in his head is thinking I’m still gonna
Run past you so he comes off the line screaming and just off hot hands and then boom touchdown So Randy was just a different type of Beast Man and look that’s what all the look my my my former teammate Darren sharp was like look like nobody with card Randy Moss 101 in his
Prime like you had to have another safety over top or it was like you had no chance and that was a whole defense was out there doing the thing yeah I think for me though I I think I had success with Randy you played both yeah I had success with Randy because coach
Used to always say man you got to guard the man not his reputation and I really I really took that the heart like yo I he is Randy moner he is that dude but yeah I I can’t be I can’t be afraid of you the man like
Your reputation you’re this but like I’m a dog too and you also played to your strengths yeah your length like your length big even if you knew you weren’t trying to get your hands on him you knew if you just did the street fighter like dawsome just like reached out you knew that
Would just like it would cause a little bit of hesitation if you can get Randy to hesitate to land scrimmage not saying you got a chance to beat them you got a chance to stay with them um but yeah you know I’ve always admired those battles
Man um you know it’s it’s just it’s hard though when you look at those two guys cuz they’re just so different like Calvin was physical I will say this though you stack up their highlights together you’re going to see impressive catches you’re going to see them go up
Over the top of guys double coverage even triple coverage you’re going to see good route running but I think the separation will be that Calvin was by far a better blocker like Calvin was a beast in the Run game I remember me being in the slot and having a bubble
Route and cow was on the outside I got up to the line of scrimmage and in my head I’m I’m like I’m I’m already thinking about my dance I’m going to do cuz Calvin’s about to run this dude into the tunnel and I knew it and I I knew I
Was about 30 yards away from the end zone I wasn’t even worried about Calvin’s man he got up on that DB put them hands on him drove him to the sideline I just ran right inside because I trusted Calvin that much he he never
Gave up on a play what was it like when you cuz you use this acronym for her oh yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah his his Everlasting romance with football yeah with football yeah all right after being involved with it for 11 years having to walk away and you’ve had some tragedy
Things happen throughout your career moved from a couple places you had a ACL injury talk about that Journey when you finally said all right it’s time to move on yeah I feel like we all fall in love with this sport at different places in our lives you know I started playing
When I was a kid in Pop Warner football and then in high school was like puppy love and then it’s like we got engaged in college and then the league was like oh damn I’m married to this job like put a ring on it you know and there were
Some good times you know the reason I describe it like this t love affair is because um you know the good times are the contracts the touchdowns the the the wins you know what I mean the traveling City to city and playing villain on the
Road you know all of that like it’s like it’s like it’s like good sex and a marriage you know what I’m saying the vacations are fire and V Vibes are good vacation love is great right exactly exactly that’s that’s what the good times in the NFL were like but then there
The injuries there’s the contract negotiations when they tell you you’re not what you used to be to devalue yeah the devaluing and which it plays such a role on our mental health but we don’t know it at the time because all of a sudden you go from When We Were Young
Telling us where the greatest thing since sliced bread to when we’re older that you just ain’t got it anymore and this is why we’re going to pay you crumbs um and and I think like all of that the bad times it’s like sleeping in separate beds or arguing with your boo
Or you know just just not being on the same page P so when it was time to walk away from the game I mean I knew it was I knew it was here like I I I remember seeing the light at the end of the tunnel it’s brighter than ever but I
Still didn’t want to have that conversation with her it was like in it’s like football came to me and she was like hey Nate um can we talk and you know when you hear that as a man it’s like something something this is a real
Deal we gotta talk damn what did I do um and she basically said the NFL basically said I found someone else he’s younger he’s faster he’s more athletic he’s cheaper and I’m happy with him and I’m happy and it was that’s when it sank in
Where I had to look at the league and just say it was fun while it lasted and and it also had things that I could fall back on so there there’s also talking about the second act when you have something that you can look forward to
It makes it easier to deal with like a breakup like we all deal with when we play our last game right um it’s tough though as a player when your career abruptly ends and you don’t have a next chapter to go to yeah so why was it
Important for you to start the media uh like right away I know for me I did a little bit of media I wish I would have did more like you did like in the off seasons and things like that I went I work for spot I went and I work for Fox
Sports and I thought and I thought I was terrible yeah and I was trying to get these reps and everything wish I envy you because you said you you were going and you were getting all these reps and you were doing all these things yeah and
I wasn’t as prepared as I should have been so why do you think it was important for you to go and get all these reps during the off season um I just knew one if I was in the building these execs and producers would get to
Know me yeah and when somebody knows you you’re much more than just a talent like when they bring on athletes it’s just like you’re football guy talking football but if they know me it’s you’re Nate burles the football player Talking Football um and they want to help me out
And they want to make it work I mean they’re a little bit more honest with me I remember I had a bad show I was working for the NFL Network in my head I had a bad show stumbled through a few lines and I just took the long way to
Answer some questions and I just wasn’t sharp and afterwards The Producers came by as we were walking to the locker room at the NFI Network and he was like hey good job good job everybody good job good job he Pat me on the back good job
And I was like wait wait no no no don’t tell me it’s a good job I didn’t do a good job yeah and he’s like no I’m you know I’m just saying I was like yeah but don’t do that like I’m used to coaching yeah you know we come from the football
Field like a huge thing just be just be honest and and also like you don’t want me to get into a place where I feel like mediocrity um is acceptable and so I can like BS my way through it or not prepare and just show up um and I think from
There it it shifted so now they started like they started coaching up Nate burles who’s talking football versus always high-fiving the football player because he’s in studio yeah um and and I’ve seen that before with athletes it’s like you know you see him at at one point in their media career and then
Five years later there isn’t much growth you know what I’m saying and I feel like it’s not necessarily an athlete if you’re telling him he’s doing a good job for five years straight he’s never going to change or approach hard to get honest feedback in this side of the business
Unless like you’re saying you you build those relationships where now they’re going to be open and honest with you and then you can actually have real growth because the biggest thing is when and in this space for me is that I’m always trying to ask like all right how was
That how is this and I know I try to look at myself and that’s another part of it but when you don’t honestly know cuz you don’t even know what they’re looking for right right you have no idea you have no idea and you don’t know your
Voice no like you have no idea I got to the NFL Network and you know you try to be like what you see on TV and guys that are in the building so you know one day I come in and and I’m just like all right I’m I’m going be like like Dion
And Herb you know what I mean because they were in the building so I’m coming in I’m all hype and I’m talking a little bit of passing like herb do I’m dressing fresh like Dion and I’m like yeah but I’m not them though like so why am I
Trying to be them I’m like okay I see Marshall fa you know he’s more of intellectual type so let me just come in and and you know focus on the pontification um and make sure that they you know when I’m talking about these words that it’s more elaborate in
Articulate and I was like that’s not me either that’s not it so what is my voice and then surely um shortly after that I started to realize who I am which is uh a kid from the West Coast who loves sports music movies pop culture who
Loves art who can write like that’s who you that’s who you are that’s your voice and the more I displayed that um the more receptive the viewers viewers were you can see it though too and I I think it’s I think authentic so you are well not you’re not a self-proclaimed but
Your wife calls you and from what I’ve learned about you is that you are a creative I am I am a creative I’m I’m married to a creative so I know so you know you know scatter brains all over the place all kind of all over the place
You’re kind of dibbling in this that we got all these Grand ideas really Grand ideas you’re like n i get it right so accurate so I’m married to one so and um I want you to really dive into this um this Mantra you used about uh open your eyes and you
Uh you torn your ACL after one of your best seasons I think that was in uh and you were down in Birmingham you went to Dr Andrews you doing some drinking and you realized like man like it’s a slippery slope that’s a fact and that how fast it could easily just go away
When you start to get in your own head yeah and you’re not using that energy and putting it into other things and you talking about open your eyes and I want to get this quote right you talked about how all the beautiful things around you the support system the people that you
Had that were actually there helping you and uh how bright today really is yeah and so maybe you could share with us how you still use that Mantra about opening your eyes and every day use so like maybe where you out with it now yeah for sure um I remember going to Birmingham
Dr Andrews world-renowned um doctor and he did both of my knee surgeries he’s a beast he’s a beast I remember I’m sitting in there just depressed and he comes in he had a little country he’s like hey son you’re gonna be all right and I know in that moment I was like oh
Yeah I am going to be all right but I wasn’t though because it was my first major injury um and you know when you have that type of injury first you start thinking about if you’re going to be the same when you come back run as fast jump
As High play as well be an explosive right um and then you know the actual procedure happens and I’m in Alabama recovering my family is still in Seattle my kids are in school so the wife is holding down the fort and I remember listening to the game on the radio
Because it’s Alabama they don’t play Seahawks games and I I just so desperately wanted them to say my name like I don’t know why just like I want you yeah I wanted them to say like man they could really use Nate BRS and or you know Thoughts with them I just want
Them to like just focus on me that that that’s that that selfishness um that I was used to and I think might have said something in the beginning but it was quick hey neighbor Olson’s out next guy up that was it the entire game they didn’t mention my name and I don’t know
Why that made me so sad because I think it set in it it sank in that they’re going to move on without you yeah like this is just an injury but one day they are going to move on without you that’s the name of the game right so you know
The the first day I come back after being cleared from like using my medication like hey let me get a vodka soda and uh drink my little vodka soda next day I’m like yo make it a double you know what I’m saying a few days
Later I’m like hey just fill up the cup all the way no ice man just slide him a little huny and then like a week later I remember going to him like Hey yo uh here go huny can you just send the bottle up to my room and he’s like uh
Yeah sure you got mixtes I’m like no I don’t need them and I remember sipping vodka on ice and drowning my emotions in alcohol and I I’ve never had an issue drinking um but in that moment I feel like I was close to the edge I was
Either going to drink myself into a stoop or create some habits that will follow me for the rest of my life and I woke up fully dressed I’m you I’m a pajama guy you know hoop and t-shirs a T-shirt and a hoop shorts and t-shirt
When I go to sleep and I had all of my clothes on from the day before and my shoes with my brace on like on top of the sheets yeah and I was sleeping still and I remember waking up and I kind of like came to as if I was like sitting up
In the casket what I felt like yeah like the Undertaker P um it was wild like my arms were like crossed so oh yeah he was he was yeah I felt like I felt I felt like I was in a casket yeah and then my mind starts thinking like a creative
Like is this am am I reading too much into this or do I need to read more into what just happened oh yeah I blacked out woke up completely dressed like the day before with my arms crossed over my chest like I’m sitting in the casket
What are you going to do Nate and I remember pouring the vck out putting it in trash and I was like bro let’s rehab lock in let’s let’s get busy like you got enough hurdles that you got to get over you got enough obstacles you got to
Get around let’s not put alcohol in the mix you know what I’m saying um and that’s when I I got focused and I I came back from my ACL in like six months it was extremely fast so that was a a turning point because I either had to
Sit in this like state of depression um and feel sorry for myself or I can’t open my eyes and realize like not only do I have a great support system but I got everything I need to get back healthier and even stronger um and that’s what I decided to do yeah that’s
What’s up so now that you’re in TV and you were trying to say you know do I want to be like Dion you want to be like Marshall so now I I I I get how you can have that view now you’re like TV TV you’re doing the news every day five
Days a week man CBS Morning Show right you have a certain look mhm your hair your dress your language how you talk yeah like it’s not the traditional and reporting to you live on the CBS Morning News show Charles tomman and we’re going to why you new that’s how they talk though and
It’s it’s no secret it ain’t no joke no doubt about it you’re right about that did you did you get any Flack or any push back or backlash about just you being you because you you have your voice yeah right you said you found it
So this is this is you was there any backlash like talk about that I remember talking to strayan um shortly after taking the job and he said you know go in there and try to find your voice right away um also realize like there’s a lot of people that love that you’re
There but there’s a lot of people that don’t want you there right and and those people are also working for CBS basically saying that there’s individuals that they don’t want another football player they don’t want Kirkland brand straigh hand taking a seat when there are experienced journalists that
Have been waiting for that seat to open for years some decades so there was a a hyper awareness um and that’s got to be a good vet move to come out there and tell you that early yeah no doubt no doubt like huge yeah and and it gives me
Some sensitivity to people I work with I’m not coming in with my chest all out you know um I understand what it looks like now I have to earn your respect by what I do and the work that I put in but I did have some struggles though
Initially finding my voice because when I came in like all right this is news it is different and everybody kept telling me like yo this is news you can’t dress like you typically dress which I didn’t really get cuz like that’s that’s who you are yeah but it’s not like on
Sundays I wear like pimping can suits or you know what I mean like I’d wear regular suits but you know there were a few people that were like hey you know you can’t dress loud on this show and I’m like when have you are you talking
About stuff I wore 20 years ago when I was on the road playing against the Green Bay Packers and my suit was and what is what is yeah what is loud yeah what is loud exactly exactly and you got to be a little bit more traditional cuz
You know I speak with you know like we all do with our hair and our look and our cut and our swag and how we dress and walk and talk yeah um so initially I came in and I was wearing a bunch of Browns and blacks and navy suits like it
Was very blah and even my voice in delivery was different when I first joined because I thought that’s what they wanted and that’s what they needed and I was doing the same thing hey how you doing this is Nate Burson and we are here this morning it’s good to see you
Guys uh we have a traffic accident on the freeway and it’s like it’s not a’t you that’s not me yeah so one day I took all the suits I had in my office and I put them in a bag took them home I replaced all those suits with suits that
I have in my closet at home and brought them to work and I walked in with a brighter color suit it was like a deep red or something like that I had my flat top C like a cranberry and um and immediately my voice was different yeah it was crazy like once I
Got comfortable in my own skin my Del delivery was different even the way I set even my body language was different so um it took a few months for me to find my voice and um and I feel like you know I’m at a good place you know shout
Out to Gil because I remember walking in with that type of suit and she kind of looked at me was like about time about time okay and I’m like bet this this is where I’m at with it um but yeah it it takes time man it does for
Sure for sure so now being in that position now yeah has any other players like reached out who are in the in the media say football and they’re trying to get over into like the news side of it have they reached out to you or have you
Like Mentor like look here’s what y’all should be doing CU you goingon to get my number when I leave 100% bro we got to tap in listen we got we have to be each other’s biggest fans period and um you know I’m not just here to get in this
Position and close the door behind me I want to kick this damn door down yeah so we can walk into the spaces that we want to walk into um but yeah guys have reached out and I I told them the same things that um I learned early on was
One reps but two force your way into these other spaces because when I was doing good morning football I was grinding away three hours of TV a day live TV which is crazy um and then you know way harder yeah yeah no doubt about
It and and then I but if that’s all you know that’s all you know yeah yeah yeah but it it was great to have those reps on the run and on the Fly and live TV you’re it’s like a heightened sense of like being on on point um but then I I
Started to strategically put myself in different spaces and that’s why I joined extra to do entertainment now it’s not necessarily hardcore news but we do tackle hardcore topics so they might be more celebrity driven but it’s the same type of concept you know we’re talking about celebrity news and sometimes the
Crossover between politics and death and tragedy happens so people were able to see me in a completely different light yeah they were like oh wait like Nate he can do entertainment oh he’s tackling you know po politics because we’re doing a story about Obama meeting uh the Super
Bowl champions and he’s he’s speaking about it so eloquently like that I think that right there got the attention of um CBS and they were able to see that you know I I remember going over to the digital side of the CBS building um and they wanted to do a hit talking about
The the opening season uh schedule and and I remember something somebody told me a long time ago microphones are always on yeah um good and bad so watch what you say but also take advantage when they’re on and I was over there and we were talking about the season and
What games I’m looking forward to and what game CBS had but in between the takes I was just sparking conversation about stuff that I knew they didn’t know about me I knew they didn’t they didn’t know I owned a restaurant or that um my financial advisor and I help athletes
Invest money or that I started a few clothing lines or that I had interest in poetry so I was just like throwing this stuff out there starting conversation and by the time I left I remember one of The Producers was like hey Nate and I kind of look back like what’s up he’s
Like hey would you mind coming back at some point and talking about all that other stuff not just football and I was like yeah yeah of course and I just kind of gave myself a fist fist pump because like that that was the point it was strategically done yeah sometimes you
Know we assume that people know more about us than they do but in reality all they care about is that we play ball right and that’s fine you know we’ve been playing ball a whole lives so we almost have to force their hand and show them so the the strategy came with
Little moments like that where I was able to step outside that box and that’s the advice I give to these guys like I know the comfortable thing is talking about sports but Flex all your muscles for sure like we all have all these interests and nobody knows so and that’s
The best advice I can give to those guys so the wealth management the clothing line the restaurant uh poetry art you have so much interest what what you call that earlier oh he’s a Creator creat so you a Creator this is the term they all use Heather’s a creative too like no no
Doubt Heather’s a creative too like I get it so I can already see you and how you are and everything but like how do you focus on what to do because you got the TV I’m sure you got to prepare and work on that cuz that’s your full-time 9
And five priority but yet you also but yet also you got all these other interests you know what I’m saying and then you got kids and you want to be a dad you got to be a husband you know like so that’s that’s a lot of time to
Okay I got job I got work but my creative side and this and that I got be a parent and sports and uh basketball games and like what what am I doing like how do you manage all that I I’m doing a better job of managing it now when I
First moved out to New York um about seven eight years ago now um did a terrible job of managing it I couldn’t I I I I said yes to everything because I was like man it’s it’s my opportunity to show you how versatile I am I’m saying
Yes to everything I wasn’t getting paid a ton to do it but I knew if I got the Reps and I got the exposure eventually I’ll get to a point where I can say no to things um but because I did know how to manage being a husband a father a
Coach juggling multiple jobs like I remember one day waking up and like little patches were missing in my beard and I’m like damn am I using the wrong like facial soap or lotion or something and then before you knew it big patches were going and then my entire beard was
Gone butt bald naked and you know black man with no mustache no beard can’t trust it okay you got a little Thomas Thomas got a little Thomas got a little sub shout out to Thomas yeah he got a little bit a little bit but m is butt naked all the
Way around though so um I remember going to a dermatologist and it um Al yeah it started as her just diagnosing me and then it turned into a therapy session she’s like all right you have alpia due to stress your body’s reacting and this is its way of fighting oh wow and I’m
Like okay that’s weird she’s like do you have history Al like nope surround the family nope and then she’s like what’s different in your life I’m like oh man um start a new job you know I used to play used to play that breath yeah wa wait for
Somebody that deep exhale a I I think I kick my feet up on the couch I got a new job I got a new job I’m waking up at 4:00 a.m. and she just kind of listening and I’m like I used to have another job
And I used to wake up at you know seven or eight and she didn’t understand football she’s like I don’t I don’t really follow football I’m like well waking up at 4:00 a.m. is one thing moving to the east coast is another thing but also this job I just really
Want to be good at it man and she’s like oh well that’s it like you’re you’re stressed out because of your job you’re you’re worrying and you’re not embracing you know how much this means to you I was like no no no I’m not stressed you
Know you know now my my ego’s kicking defensive I’m I’m all stressed what are you talking about and I’m like n my old job I used to have these these linebackers and safeties they used to try to like break me in half like that was stressful and I’m like smiling as
I’m telling her that part and she’s like no like look at the joy when you talk about football that didn’t stress you out it might have been difficult but you loved it this new job when you start talking about that you weren’t smiling and she was like you have to figure out
How to balance your energy and if you do a better job doing that your beard will come back and sure enough I did I started to focus and just be a little bit more strategic and not say yes to everything you know because when we
Leave the game it’s like we feel like we have to say yes to everything to prove to everybody that I’m so much more than a football player um but but then I I figured out that that was detrimental um and I had to be a little bit more
Selective man I mean you just gave us a lot um and I love that too right is learning how to balance your energy that everybody uses in different different terms or or founding your your your inner peace or whatever that may be but balancing your energy because you
Naturally like have a lot of things going on naturally that’s that’s your your type and um but you know I will use that when I get home as well you know balancing en yeah balanc energy I probably do a better job of balancing my energy I think my kids are like Dad
You’re always serious all the time but I was like but I’m not but yeah ever since hearing you say that yeah I think that’s going to be that’s going to be a goal you can’t say you’re serious all the time yeah cuz I’m I’m always like the
Authoritative like but I know me and I’m like I’m the jokester like I’m always playing pranks and I’m always telling jokes like but but you’re you’re the authoritative figure in the household correct correct okay so when when the when the the hand comes down it’s it’s
Usually you do this do that yeah yeah it’s it is always us wait till your dad gets home you know I’ve been hearing that forever I’m I’m I’m going do that I’m I’m going try to you know be more be more funloving and more Bal little more
Balan this is something I want to know from you and that is like all right after a year and a half in of CBS in the morning how where is your comfort level at now I’m Comfort your dress your dress is going there really helped you out I
Thought that was probably huge having like that yeah she’s awesome man um I’m really comfortable now and and it’s and it’s because of you know how I see myself on air I feel like I’m being what’s next as well cuz like that’s we always naturally like what’s next we
Think about what’s next yeah um I I think my for also came in the form of the team I’m working with so at CBS mornings I didn’t realize that you had your own like team of people you your assistant producers yeah I didn’t know like I came from Good Morning football
Where yeah we had people that worked on the show but they weren’t like our assistance assigned to me so I remember um getting there yeah they was like Hey so uh who you do you want your assistant to be I’m like I get an assistant yeah
Um so the producers are going to start um putting in their names to to work with you I’m like they’re going to work with me alone they’re like yeah to tell your stories so when I go sit with Bill Russell or Frank O’Hare rest in peace to
Uh both of them um or um you know Obama or Michael J fox or Barry Gordy it’s a team of people that put together these stories so I can tell any story I want as long as I pitch it and we can build out the characters as we call it in TV
Um and then we can execute it and I just like for a long time I didn’t realize that I’m like damn like like morning news is a completely different animal when it comes to St storytelling especially at CBS um it’s the one thing they hang their hat on so um that that’s
Why I’m extremely comfortable and then as far as what’s next I have a production company um you know it’s called watch which is an acronym for we are the culture house um we have a few projects that we want to launch um you know I want to start doing work behind
The camera as well as an executive producer of some projects going start with a docu series um focus on Sports and a athletes uh not just on the field but also what they do off of it um and then just continue to flex my creative muscles you know I’m continue to write
There’s a few shows that I pitched that were based Loosely based around my life got a couple of nibbles at it but nothing is landed so just want to want to do more continue to expand and grow and and uh and step outside this box so
Speaking of shows you know I’m a I’m a fan of SNL watched it a few times great great show so what’s a what’s a bigger thrill so SNL did appear per I remember and you also got recognized by alucino on the red car so bigger thrill you did a good voice over
Too tried to do a decent job being recognized with alcino SNL was fire don’t get me wrong that was crazy it was right before the Super Bowl U I think it was Chris red yeah and had these these funky little little he had the bu braids in he had
The uh the the Tyler Perry braids that he having in his movies uh I thought I thought that was uh fire but albertino though like I was working for X at the time I think it was the Irishman um yeah and uh you know it’s like a four hourie movie long movie
So I’m just doing my thing you know I talk to Nero and and a few other people that starring in it and then I’m like hey Al can I talk to you comes over and I’m like you know just humbly hey how you doing my name is yeah I know who you
Are nice to meet you and I’m like wait you know who I am yeah yeah you you play receiver yeah yeah you do the football show and I’m like yeah yeah and I’m immediately I’m sweating like back of my knees is sweating I’m like nervous yeah
I’m like yo this is crazy I had to like collect myself I looked at at our cameraman I’m like yo just give me a second like y Mr Pacino you for real he’s like yeah I’m a big football fan and I’m like yo this is wild right now
Um and then I got back into my mode as a professional and interviewed them and and so yeah that that’s pretty cool man when people that you look at and you’ve seen all their movies recognize you that sweet all right that’s this is something pea I would love to know who’s got the
Most out all of us you probably do but how many pair of shoes you got do I saw I saw Nate Robinson at the crib yeah you brought out some some heat I got some heat you got some heat I I would say I would say about do you have a number
Count in your head yeah I think I got like 400 shoes 400 shoes this tennis shoes or dress shoes ten shoes dress shoes all my dress shoes are upstairs in my closet my my tennis shoes and kicks are downstairs in my sneaker room so yeah I love kicks I’ve always Lov kicks
That’s kind of like my thing man you know I’m foot don’t change sizes for a long time yeah that’s a fact Nike deal you was able to you know what I mean that’s that’s where the B I did I did a lot of that before I retired I spent
Like thousands of dollars on that the Nike account I like I loaded up everything KS everybody I loaded up on it and they were young I was like you getting a size 6 y seven y 8 y see that’s smart I didn’t I did all that for
My kid I should have got all their sizes knowing they was going to come one day yeah that’s what I did so I didn’t have to buy for they was like no I just got it all myself n but my boys my my son’s 163 164 there was a brief moment where
My um middle child Nehemiah who 17 now he was like in seventh grade big old foot he’s a size 12 he’s like Dad can I wear your shoes school and I like yeah cool where my shoes it’s fine son so he picked like one of my like exclusive
LeBron kicks man boy came back them things was so beat up I was like what was you doing bro he’s like oh man it was a was like a gladiator day at school he like he’s like bro we played a Super Bowl we had a basketball game then it
Was soccer and then then we also play kickball I’m like first of all how long were you guys outside my shoes was beat up I said any here’s the thing man you know I love you but unless you learn how to respect my shoes you will never put
On another pair ever not and uh that was the the lesson of the day was like this is how we take care of shoes moving forward yeah I’m still like that with my son they they they already know don’t touch my stuff cuz they do what size are
They are they your size no they’re not my size they just like anything that that we have like they don’t going soon it’s going to happen soon I’m trying you have a favorite pair yeah yeah the Concord Jordan besides those I’m I’m black I like the blacks all black
Space Jam the Space Jams are fire it doesn’t get better than C listen if you can if can go on the court and hoop and then wear to a prom come on bro like you with a wedding you can do anything it’s a fire kit it’s a fire K I guess the final
Question we have for you today is you know you’ve had a successful life an amazing career and you’re continuing to just kill it who would be on your personal Mount Rushmore you know people that have had just influence in you people that have mentored you helped you along the way
Help you along this journey help you to get you where you are right now um I would say one my mom and dad um they have been my biggest supporters um on and off the field um and they’ve always they’ve always seen more in me than I’ve
Seen in myself so I have to shout them out um and it’s just staying within the Family Circle for right now my wife she former track star she won indoor hurdles as as a senior she’s a champion graduated then graduated with her Masters um beautiful woman really had
The world in front of her and put everything on hold to to follow me Chase this dream of the NFL so if if she wasn’t married to me she’d probably be some woman running some Fortune 500 company um but you know she put all of her dreams on the Shelf so without her
Support I don’t think I’d be here um but as far as like men that have like men or women that have been there as a support system um straight hand has always been there because there’s these comparisons that happen and he has constantly told me you’re different than me be different
You know you don’t have to try to be like me and if you’re different and you’re better in the areas that you bring to the table that I can’t bring to the table um this this business is going to open up its doors to you yeah um and
I always thought that was dope cuz it wasn’t like there’s only room in this town for one of us you know it was the opposite it was like never I’m going to make room for you which is why I want to make room for everybody else um Gail
Gail has been such an influence and she’s just a dope woman because she’s constantly trying to build people up and allow them to grow like so she’ll have assistants and producers but as soon as she feels like they have kind of reached their Peak where they are she’s like
Leave the nest and and I’ll be the first one to stamp um your approval anywhere I I’ll I’ll be the the one that yeah gives the recommendations um you know instead of just like hogging all the talent she puts the talent on and then allows Tim
Allows them to to leave and grow um and then just like I think collectively you know and I said it at the beginning I’ll say it again it’s the Brotherhood of the NFL like you know when I said that I’ve seen you guys as athletes on the field
But that Pals in comparison to what you guys have done I truly mean that um and we don’t say it enough but um I just I just love watching y’all work and that goes for the rest of this fraternity there’s so many men doing great things across all spaces um of course in
Football back into the game on a low level like pop warner all the way up until the league there’s guys that are coaches or assistants are working for teams that are doing a fantastic job but from the men that have went into the medical field law enforcement the finance World art um the
Creatives just I just think like there’s no better motivation than knowing that the guys that bled like me gave everything they got everything they gave to the game like I did are exhaling in in other spaces and that that gives me all the Hope in the world to know that
We can continue to do whatever we want man um football is it’s it’s a beautiful sport and I don’t want to be dismissive of the careers we had because it is like being a rock star with pads on for sure but if we can do that at a high level
Man we can accomplish anything in this world no doubt you know what no doubt it’s two things I I really loved about that whole breakdown number one was that I mean creatives got their own space in that that whole description right there no doubt no doubt no doubt no doubt law
En for y the creators are right there bro actors and producers guy like Matthew Cherry who’s who’s an Oscar winner um he’s a director um you know guys like that that have have done such a good job um but I will say this though
Before I go I got to hook y’all up with some suits man and I mean that and free of charge you know Baines and Baker is the brand um this is I’m buy all my suits I got you I got let me let me let me hook you up first B straight hand
Some suits I bought straight hand suits no see you ain’t got to buy them first I’m going to hook you up first I’m just trying to mean and we do everything from traditional suits we call this like the Jumpman suit we have joggers um it it
Was built as a brand to allow guys to look fresh while not overcharging them you know what I’m saying because you guys remember when we first came in sure and them people was the Walkers and but they was us the price the price was killing us and on top of that they had
The they had the women in there was like oh theyy yeah feeling you up get you right so so all right because you’re the real professional in this whole business I want you to WAP the show for us man give us a tell them let it be gone speak
It to the camera let them know out here yeah well listen man we out of here um iHeart Radio um you know this is uh this is the the main stage for guys like this to give individuals like me the stage um to show that what we have done in the
League um it is it is a small part of who we are and what we’re doing now is is truly a um a representation of how gifted athletes really are I’m peanut that’s wrong that’s sake NFL player segments podcast we out we Out
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