The Hardest Thing I Ever Did…Twice

I was 28 when I made, at the time, the hardest decision of my life—I walked away from the NFL.

The dream I had chased for so long, the one that defined my every move, had somehow turned into a prison.

For someone who had built a life on pushing harder and always striving for more, stepping away from the NFL was terrifying.

More than anything, it felt like a failure. It felt like admitting defeat.

Yes, it felt like weakness.

But deep down, I knew it was necessary.

What's so clear to me now is that even though it felt like it at the time, walking away wasn’t failure—it was growth.

The point is, sometimes, growth requires us to leave behind the things we thought defined us.

It asks us to step into the unknown.

That’s exactly what I did. I lived in the wilderness of my life for the next several years.

I left the NFL and moved to Canada where I became a janitor at a church in exchange for therapy...not exactly what I had on my vision board at the beginning of the year.

And as you might imagine, those first six months were brutal. I kept my bags packed, ready to leave every day.

But something inside me knew that because I wanted to leave so badly, I had to stay. There was something in the staying.

And there was.

Staying wasn’t just about enduring—it was about letting myself be remade.

Walking away from the NFL was one form of growth, but staying in Canada, choosing not to run, was a different kind of growth.

It was about learning to slow down, stop performing, and start becoming.

The point is, real growth isn’t about whether we stay or go. It’s about honoring the path life asks us to walk, not resisting it.

Sometimes, that means leaving. Sometimes, it means staying.

I don’t know where you’re at in life, but if you’re feeling that pull—the one that whispers you need to walk away from something or stay in a place that feels uncomfortable—trust it.

I know it isn't easy, but when we honor what life asks of us, it leads us exactly where we need to be, even when we don't fully understand it.

Most importantly, we become transformed in the process, empowering us to become not just better leaders, but better people

As always, I’m here rooting for you. We’re in this together.