From NFL to TV Stardom: Akbar Gbajabiamila on Identity, Addiction & Resilience

I just took what I had made from the NFL and I leveraged that on myself. And then what happened? I got married, you know, and then I had a child. And then good things started happening. No, actually, no. After I got married and had a child, I actually started running out of money. If someone has a problem with substance use disorder, please call One Call Placement. That's 888-831-1581. And if we can't help you, we'll make a referral to someone who can. One Call Placement is affiliated with Carrera Treatment Wellness and Spa and One Method Treatment Centers. Today on We're Out of Time, we're joined by Akbar Bajabimela. There you go. You got it. There's a Bia Milla in there, but you got it. Bajabimela. Come on, man. Former NFL player turned television personality and Emmy-nominated host. You know him from American Ninja Warrior and from his run on the CBS daytime show The Talk, which wrapped its series run last year. He also co-hosts the new podcast, 154 Africa. Akbar, it's great to have you here. Thank you so much. I appreciate you having me, Richard. Is that your government name? Oh, there's more to the government name. You want the whole thing? Yes. I should make you say the whole thing. Do it. Akbar Oluwakemi Idowu Bajabiamila. Dude, that's bitchin'. Yeah, yeah. That's bitchin'. Yeah, there's a story behind it. You know, Akbar means great. Oluwakemi, you know, God pampers me. uh idowu born after twins and then bajabi amila is uh big man come save me yeah so and the story is that you know my great great grandfather this was actually a nickname it turned into it was a nickname that became our last name that he was you know a seven foot guy who's a mediator in his in his village and people would call on to him to come and help mediate and so that nickname then turned into a last name and that last name is one family's last name so everybody who has that last name is a part of this family flat family lineage there is no you know oh oh there's that person with the same last name but y'all ain't in the same like we're all part of the same um family so how many how many what how many in your family a lot more than i can count um but in my immediate family that I grew up here in LA. There's seven of us. That's one short of the octagon. Yeah, six boys, one girl. And mom and dad, they came to this country in the late 60s, early 70s, settled in Los Angeles here in LA. And yeah, there's that big old family. And now I've found that I have a cousin, a second cousin who is the chief of staff to the president of Nigeria. No kidding. Yeah, yeah. Femi Baja Biamila. Have you talked to him? No, but I'm looking forward to meeting him for the first time. Very soon, I go to Nigeria. Have you been? I've been to Nigeria for a year. How is it? You know, when I went, I went for the first time with my father, and it was so cool. It was a while back. It was back in 2006. And it was probably the coolest experience I've had in all my life, all my travels. I've done 41 countries. but Nigeria not just because it's home and this was the story of my mother and my father but I'll never forget um we land in Murtola Muhammad airport and we set up at the hotel the next day we go to to see my grandmother this would be my first time meeting my grandmother father's side my father's side yes and my father is telling oh like there was no street sign some the street signs were like down or whatever and he's like turn here turn there turn here he hadn't been back home in 32 years and he just was like everything was just snapping from him turn here and then he's like we're here yeah all right we're here and he walks in to uh into his home and he was like you see this tree here this tree they said that would never grow my brother planted this one and I planted this one and then look this is the biggest tree in the courtyard he says you see you never know God's surprise I'll never forgot that but we walk in and he goes Alaji Alaji and calling his mom who had been to Mecca so she gets the name Alaji and she who's there who there he's like a me a me Mustafa a me saying it's me Mustafa she goes she kept saying who my Mustafa No, no, wait, my Mustafa, she sang in Yoruba. And it was the first time in my life I had seen my dad as a child. I had never, like, he was just always dad, this big figure to me. And I had never seen him as a child. Like, wait, I knew it was my grandmother, right? Like, logically, oh, that's my grandmother, you know. You didn't see him revert back into his child when he was in the presence of his mother. Yes. And it was something I will never, ever forget. And then he started telling me stories about when he would sneak out the house. And I'm like, you snuck out? Wait, what? It was just crazy. And the look on her eyes. How come she didn't recognize your dad? Because he hadn't been home in 32 years. He hadn't come home in 32 years. and just the struggles of making it in America, raising seven kids, time just goes by. And I thought the same thing. How does 32 years, 32 years can go by really, really fast. I know. And it sounds like a lot. I look at my daughter now, just turned 16 years old. I'm going, how did I get to 16 years? Like, you know, I've got a 16 year old daughter too. Oh yeah. It's the same thing. Same thing on the way to drop them off to school this morning. That's what I thought. Yeah, it happens fast. I was in Hawaii during the summer for my daughter's volleyball tournament. And I've always had this thing like I because of this trip with my father that I want to take my kids to Nigeria before they get to college and before like I want them to have core memories. Absolutely. Absolutely. And when I say I was flooded with anxiety because I'm like, wait, if I don't take her this summer, then she's going to go to college and then this and she's going to have her life. And before you know it, I'm going to miss this opportunity. And in my mind, I thought, oh, I'll have time. Let me get a little older. They can remember it. And then they get a little over and then they got this and they got that. I was like, I don't care what sports, whatever. I called the coach. I said, coach, I'm letting you know, we're planning this trip. We're going to Nigeria and I don't care what happens. I'm taking them out of school. It has to happen. Otherwise, life just keeps going and it feels like you can never really catch up because something's always happening. And not only that, but you're, for lack of a better word, you're going to get cock-blocked by the school and everybody's got their agenda. No, we can't miss this. Man, there's always a million reasons to not do something. Right. There's only one reason to do it. Right. And that's just because it's right. Yeah. And also, too, because it's now. You know, I think it's so easy to take for granted now. Right. Because you just think you've had a lot of nows in your life and you just think that now will always come. And we don't know that. You know, we really don't. That's right. We don't know when now ends. Yes. All right. Let's do this. You grew up in South L.A., one of seven kids with Nigerian parents. what part of that upbringing built resilience? I think of seeing the hard work and knowing that both my mom and dad were business owners. My dad was a plumber before he retired because of Parkinson's. My mom was a hairstylist before she passed away. And they both built their businesses from scratch. They came to this country, figured the way out. And me growing up a little bit later and seeing the hustle and the hard work that my parents did, I really respected that. But there was one defining moment. I talk about this in my book, Everyone Can Be a Ninja, is, you know, my father. I've told the story many times before, but I remember, you know, there was a time where, you know, everybody was talking about food stamps and this and that. And I was like, Dad, because I didn't understand it from that standpoint. but my dad rejected the idea that you know that he wouldn't get to help government assistance and not saying government assistance is bad I want to make that clear but for him he felt like he could do it on his own him and my mom could do it on their own and they did that with raising seven of us and I didn't understand it you know I used to always say oh I grew up poor I've changed that since then because when I saw how my father grew up I realized what my father was able to build in raising all of us he made it my father and my mother they made it and so I saw that hard work and that that resilience that it took um to to build what they built and I never forgot that but it was also too what my my parents used to tell me you know like you know you start something you finish it they never let you off the hook on anything when did your mom pass my mom passed my senior year in college um in a car accident it was that sucks yeah i was you want to know because i was thinking i was hoping yeah that maybe she saw you become the man you became and maybe she saw her grandchildren yeah that sucks dude no she actually crazy enough her god that hurts yeah her first grandchild my brother Kabir his first child was born the day my mom passed away so she lived long enough to know that she had a grandchild but died later that evening in a car accident she died in a car accident? died in a car accident drunk driver yeah so yeah but How long has your dad been sick? Since officially diagnosed in 2000 with Parkinson's. 1998, he was misdiagnosed. But then in 2000, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's. And he's been battling that since. He must be so proud of you. Yeah, he is. My father's a man of few words, but he is. I'll never forget when he first told me he was proud of me. and that meant everything because he didn't use that you know like all the time and so to hear it I think hearing I'm proud of you a thousand times is not as impactful of when you save it for the right time so my dad telling me that time that he was proud of me it sticks with me today because I know he meant it when he said it he meant it you know I think now you know in this over parenting culture of you got to do this, you got to do that, you got to do this, you got to do that. I think we say, I know, I certainly have said that to my kids all the time. I use it. And now it's kind of like, do they even know if I'm really proud of them? Because I've used it so much. Oh, please. I say that to my kids all day long. I'm so proud of you. I love you so much. It doesn't mean anything. Yeah, but I think it means something when you save it for the right time. For sure. Yeah, for sure. Let me ask you a question. Okay. What was a bigger deal to you? being in the NFL or doing the talk? I would say playing in the NFL was a bigger deal just because I didn't dream of playing in the NFL as a kid. I dreamed of playing in the NBA. You showed me some special shoes that you had before you even pulled them out. These were some special 1987 Converse. Weapons. The weapons. Yeah, and those stand out in my mind because I remember the Magic Johnson and the Larry Bird commercials him getting out of the limousine I was a massive basketball fan growing up That was my life I was going to be playing next to Matt Johnson So immediately I saw him before he pulled him off Boom I know what these are All right And so I always knew that I was going to play in the NBA, but that didn't happen. Fate would have it that I would be forced to play football and then turn to like football and then grow to love football and then play in the NFL. and the reason why I say it's a bigger deal is just because that's the only thing that I know that I'd worked so hard for for so long and to see it actually materialize you know like and there's there's this finite amount of time that you can play pro ball for sure and so to work for something and to actually achieve making to become a professional athlete was and still is one of the professional highlights of my life what were you defensive end defensive end do you ever get do you ever get a sack oh yeah yeah yeah now now now yeah okay what was a bigger deal getting your first sack or your emmy uh well i not nominated for an emmy so i still have never won an emmy oh then the question sucks emmy nominated yeah it doesn't count yeah but it even if i did get an emmy um it would have still been that first sack for sure because i still remember warren sepp looking over to me hey you popped your first cherry I'm like what what are you talking about you popped your first year because I was just in the moment I didn't even I didn't even realize I got the sack I was just I got him yeah like you know it was just a big moment and when I come off to the sideline that was the first thing he said to me was you popped your cherry like you got your first like wait you've been keeping up on my stats he was so great yeah Warren Sapp was so great I for some reason I don't know somebody can check this but I want to say he was drafted wealth for some reason right because of that whole marijuana thing right I bet those 11 other teams just want to light themselves on fire well I don't remember when he was drafted or you know what number he went but I do know he was a dominant force he was so he was a dominant force yeah what a star What a star. All right. Anybody from the U is a star. Where'd you go? San Diego State. The San Diego State University. With Marshall Falk. I didn't go when Marshall Falk was there, but I went there with Kyle Turley, Ephraim Salaam. Kyle Turley? Isn't he? No, no. That's not the Turley running back from Georgia. No, no. No, that's Gurley. Yeah, Gurley. Yeah, Kyle Turley, Ephraim Salaam, Oz Akeem, who played with Marshall Falk on The Greatest Show on Turf. My brother, he played for the Green Bay Packers. and San Diego State. We had a lot of guys. What's your brother's last name? Same last name, Bajabi Amile, but they called him KGB. In fact, it was John Madden who gave him the nickname KGB because he said, I just can't say the last name. By the time I start trying to get to his name, they're on to the next play. That's right. He just called him KGB and it stuck. All right, that was good. So when I was in high school, I played football. and when I stopped playing I had an identity crisis because that's where I hung my hat yep right I can't imagine playing in the NFL and then not going through an identity crisis and going through some type of depression before you were into your next thing how did that work you know the depression is deeper and deeper the further you go along you know from high school you've only technically committed, you know, maybe six, seven years of your life into this identity. And then by the time you get to college, that ramps up to about 11 years. And then if you make it to the pros on average, it's about two and a half years. You know, let's say you played four or five years like I did, right? Now you're looking at 17, 19 years of your life was kind of really put into this window of you've dedicated everything. And they say this, that what NFL players, professional athletes in general, when they leave the game and through identity crisis is the same thing that happens when older people retire. And when older people retire, they've been on this job for 20 years, 30 years. And then when they retire, they go, wait, wait, nobody needs me the same way. They're not counting on me. What do I do? My kids are grown. And you're going through this entire identity crisis like who am I what am I I woke up every day with a mission to go accomplish you know x y and z and so the only difference is that you're 25 26 27 years old and you're going wait a second I poured everything I had into making it to the pros and at the what did I sacrifice you had to sacrifice something to gain something and you sacrifice all the extracurriculars but now it's over and now it's over and you're you're now stuck with what do i do how do i do it you know people see you a certain way people only want to put you in a certain box and you're trying to break out of that box so how do you do that how'd you go first of all so you're done so you're done with football what are you getting into next how long was that gap before you figured it out and you said, oh, this is my next chapter. I moved through pain is really what I did in order for me to transition. I had to move through pain. I was down in the dumps. You know, I remember not wanting to leave my house. I would go out at nighttime. So nobody would recognize me. Not that I was super famous, but in San Diego, when I retired, I went home. Like it's just, people always ask me, you still play, you can still play. And I'm like, gosh, I don't want to answer this anymore. But what I did was I took a leap of faith. And even though I was feeling all this sadness. I said, let me take the equity that I built up in my life so far, which was in sports, and let me try to leverage that. So I went to a local station in San Diego, NBC 739. And I asked, hey, can I do the Aztecs and the Chargers postgame show? And I'll do it for free as a broadcaster. And I knew that I didn't have a big enough name, like some of the big Hall of Famers and playoff guys or like my brother. So I had to figure out what I call the backdoor approach. And I needed to create some sort of internship for myself. So I did that. And in that process, they let me do it because I was doing it for free. That's great. Yeah. I had a little bit of money that I had saved up to where I'm like, all right, I'll just bet on myself. And so I then started to really kind of invest myself in growing there. It suffocated the pain a little bit because I was busy and I wasn't occupied with what what I was going to do next but that was a real part and that that time took about you but it took me about a year until they started paying you oh no no it took me I did two years for free I worked for free for two years and then my first job out of that was calling college football games I was making like 26,000 hold on yeah best thing ever yeah because my buddy I was going to work for Steve Jobs. He was supposed to be the CEO of the iPod. And he told him no. And I said, why? And he said, because Steve Jobs is an asshole. And I said, get out of my car. I literally told him to get out of my car. You told Steve Jobs to get out of his car? No, I told my friend to get out of the car. because he said because i told him i would have worked for steve jobs for free for three years just to be in the presence of greatness and that's what you did but not to be in anybody's presence you were willing to go to any length no matter what as long as it took to get to where you needed to be yeah that is so impressive i appreciate that i had a high school coach coach duck we He's called Maurice Duckett. And he was like, how badly do you want it? How badly do you want it? How badly do you want it? He used to always ask that question. And that's how badly I wanted it. I was like, all right, I'm going to do it for free. And it's not lost on me because I think some people, well, you could do that. Yeah, I did. I had made, you know, a decent amount of money. Not a lot. I was an undrafted free agent. So it's not like I was, you know, balling in the millions or anything like that. But I just took what I had made, you know, from the NFL and I leveraged that on myself. So you go ahead and you work for two years for free and then you move over to this other place for $26,000 a year. $26,000 a year. And then what happened? I got married. And then I had a child. And then good things started happening. No, actually, no. After I got married and had a child, I actually started running out of money. and uh the next year i was making 28 500 and my money was just dwindling down i had gotten down to my last 40 000 left in my bank account after playing in the nfl because i'd worked for free for two years i had gotten married you know you know kid on the way you know well kid was born then at that time you know so now all of a sudden life just accelerated everything just started costing at one point i moved back in 2010 i had moved back to crenshaw in the neighborhood that i grew up in and i'm living in my dad's house i'm living in my dad's house and i lived there for six years until i was able to kind of get back on my with your with your with my wife and my kids so my kids grew up part of part of their life they grew up in the same home which was also an honor but they grew up in the home that i grew up in um and i remember my wife looking to me and going like do you think you're chasing a pipe dream here? Like, you know, you're going at it, but like, you know, the bills are adding up. Stuff is stacking up on top of us. And I was all right, you know, maybe you're right. And so I took a detour. I went to go sell artificial turf for a year. Went to go sell artificial turf, making $70,000 a year, just so I could keep things moving forward because I wasn't making enough. But you weren't doing the other stuff when you were selling the turf. No, no, no. I told my wife that was it. I wasn't going to do the broadcasting thing anymore. I'd spend enough time in it and it wasn't mapping. So you spent a year doing that. Yep. And then I hid from my wife. I had gotten a call from my agent. I was like, hey, there's this audition over at the NFL Network. And I was like, oh shoot. And I'm supposed to go sell this turf. Let me just make a detour. Yeah. F the turf. Yeah. I sneak my suit into my car. I go do it. The audition, I mean, big names stacked up. I'm going, I said, forget it. I'm just going to do it. I just threw everything I had into it. I walked out, went to go sell turf, more turf, try to go meet my appointments that I relate to. And I get a phone call about a week or two later saying you got the job. And from that point, it's what started my entertainment career. Cause the year after I got the NFL network, I got American Ninja Warrior, American Ninja Warrior catapulted. And then it would have it that you know years later i would get my main what to me was one of like one of my biggest goals was to be on a talk show was to get the talk and to be able to be a one of the host of the talk that's so cool yeah so you want to know what i always tell people what's that i tell people that children don't cost you money they make you money and it made you money too because oh i see yeah that's really yeah that's a good point uh-huh that's a really good point yeah yeah because it puts it lights a fire under your butt like oh my goodness sure because we're the dad now yeah right and and you're like i'm down to my last 40 grand and people are like oh that's you've got 40 grand no no that's scary when you've got kids and a wife and you're in your father's home and you're down to your last 40 clicks you're having a bad day and you're seeing you know people and to your point people might see it like oh man i wish i had well the rate in which living in los angeles and the rate in which that number was going down i didn't see 40 i saw zero that's right i already knew where this this number was just i couldn't stop it it was just a free fall because it was 200 like six months ago yeah yeah right yeah have you seen any of your talk co-hosts lately yeah yeah actually i just went out to dinner um with all of them except for jerry because jerry's filming right now. How is everyone? Everyone's good. I think we're all making the adjustments to the new day and new era in entertainment and figuring out what that is. You know, as you probably already know, I've heard and had conversations like, you know, this is an industry that has been a legacy industry for so long It has been the backbone of los angeles but you know production and all that has changed in la a lot and so you know we had conversation about like what's our pivot what's the ways that we're going to try to create and do something new and different and that's been the big challenge right now in hollywood is like how do you pivot the last time i made a pivot like this was coming out of the nfl and into broadcasting like trying to figure it out but it's hard when there's a lot of noise around you it's so hard to concentrate it's so hard to think when there's a lot of noise or people say you should do this you should do that you should do this you should do that and you get all the stuff coming into your feed and you're like what the heck what are you doing now um i created a new uh podcast with a partner uh and friends um what's it called again 154 uh africa and it means one continent 54 countries that's Africa. And it's a beautiful way that this kind of all came together. Godfrey, the comedian, he and I, both Nigerian, born in America. And this kind of idea and concept was inspired by talking to my uncle back in Nigeria. And he says, oh, I see you on the social media, the Instagram, and you guys are doing so good. And what I heard in his voice was pride. Like, I'm so proud of you is what I heard, even though he didn't say it. I, this is what I heard. And I said, you know what? I never even thought anyone was paying attention to my feed in Nigeria. You just think, Hey, I'm here in America. Only people in America are paying attention and not realizing like, that's a big reach. And I'm like, what if we told the stories of all those who were first gen, second gen doing well in America and entertainment and sports and in other areas in business. And we told their stories to be able to inspire all of those who were watching around, not just the ones here, you know, in America stateside, but also over on the continent. And you would think that they would be like, you know, like when Yao Ming played here, like there was such pride over there so that you're doing really well here. There's got to be pride at home. Absolutely. And because I'm not there, I don't get that sense of feeling. But what I heard in my uncle's voice was, wow. And I said, well, why don't we start telling those stories? So it's not just in Nigeria, but people of Ghana and Egypt and Congo and, you know, all over the diaspora, we want to be able to tell their stories. And so this season, we've been telling a lot of the Nigerian stories. And now we're getting ready to turn and start to tell the stories of the people from other countries from Sierra Leone and from Mali and from Burkina Faso from you know from Sudan to Somalia Eritrea all over you know I've been to nine countries in Africa and it's but it's my hope that I'll be able to visit all 54 countries I think the best way to carry it on is use the platform that I know how to you know to to use and being able to multiply and share you know around for everyone people are really finding it love you know finding love in it because there is the commonality but then they're also the little bit of the secret sauce um and kind of like what drives a lot of the first gens and second gens what do you love most about nigeria naija no day kari last you may not start out you know in the in the beginning but you definitely will not finish last and so just because you start you don't start off strong you don't start our first but you will never carry last and that is a very popular saying I know they carry last and I love that because it's been the story of my life you know got into the NFL as an undrafted free agent got into broadcasting with not having a big name you know coming in from sports you know taking that career and then trying to find a way in entertainment not being a a-lister and figuring out a way to kind of continue moving forward dude you act like you ain't got nothing going for you you walk in here you're handsome is all get out you're six six okay you got a smile that lights up a room i mean did you ever think maybe the guy in that back room was like yeah just take the handsome guy maybe you don't maybe maybe i never i never think about it like that but i do i wear this chip on my shoulder um as as an underdog because i do feel like an underdog you know like that's fraudulent no it's not fraudulent no it is it is you think it's real okay but to everybody else who sees you it's fraudulent really yeah how so because you're you're because when people look at you they're like oh he's special he's a special man he's an elegant man he's somebody someone who who's comfortable in their own skin. Let's talk about brain injuries in the NFL because I just got done on Dr. Amen's podcast and he was on mine. Yep, I heard it. We're running it now. It's great, it was fascinating. He's great. He's magnificent. I learned a lot on speaking to Dr. Amen, But I was watching the NFL the other day and there's always that one guy and he's usually a wide receiver and he's usually in the slot, right? Who's got the big... Fat helmet. The big fat helmet. Yep. Okay, now I get it. You either have to make everybody wear that, right? Or nobody wear it. Because if everyone's not wearing it, The one guy wearing it is getting grief, right? Yeah. Yeah. You play the game on the brink of disaster. I think everybody knows that is a combat sport. You can't legislate the violence out of football. I think the NFL, Roger Goodell and the NFL has done an amazing job really trying to take protective measures to protect the football players the best they can. But there's only a certain amount of protection you can give an NFL guy. They've changed the kickoff rules and the length and the distance and all this other kind of stuff. So in that respect, yes. But I think when you start talking about like brain injury, there are a lot of things. And this is not a deflective comment here in that there are so many other things we're doing in our lives that has impact on our mental health, on our brain. I take, for instance, I present to you sugar. Not the worst. Yeah, sugar. And it's all over our culture, but it's widely accepted. and the amount of inflammation that it brings to the brain. And if you look at the overall numbers of NFL players who are playing, and again, this is not to minimize. There are real guys who are going through real stuff that have taken a lot of head injuries. But we also understand what we're signing up for. No different than boxing, no different than any of the other sports where you can have the same amount of head injury. Now, you get this repetitive injury with football, and it's dangerous. It's a dangerous sport. Nobody's going to tell you anything differently. I don't know how to reckon the choices and the decisions you make when you step into that. I guess you could make the choice and the decision not to play. My son has followed suit. I try to get him to play basketball. Quite frankly, I was like, I don't know if you want it. If you don't want it, you've got to be a different personality. You've got to be a different beast. You've got to be a different cat. You've got to be a different cat. But he insisted, and he stayed on it. Is he that guy? Yeah, yeah. He's going to be that guy. He's still got a lot of work to do. He's going to be that guy. but he's he's moved towards that but you know I look at myself I look at my brother I look at a lot of my friends who I played with and a lot of them are healthy and so I think when we start to magnify a lot of the injuries right like if you started to magnify a lot of the plane accidents that are happening that we've seen like in the media you might dang you feel like every other plane is going down but overall plane plane rides have been pretty safe when you look at the overall, you know, and especially look at the, the, the length of time that NFL players play in the NFL. There's about two and a half years of, of that. So anyways, I don't, again, I don't want to make it sound like I'm saying football is safe because it's not, it's a dangerous sport. Um, but it's also a choice that a lot of athletes make. You mentioned your brother a couple of times. Uh, he's playing in the NFL. Played. Retired. Yep. How long did he play for? Uh, nine, 10 years. And he did really well. Yeah. Yeah. He did really well yeah it was all-time sack leader uh for the packers before clay matthews broke it um that record record stood for a while i was i was actually watching the game clay matthews broke the record i was like dang it i wanted my brother to have that just a little bit longer but it was cool to see a guy like clay matthews uh break that record that's cool yeah i um when you said that it just flew up in my head uh about the sharp brothers yeah yeah yeah sterling and shannon Right. Yeah. So it's, and it's always bothered me. I think it's been rectified since I'm not certain, but it always bothered me that the better of the two brothers wasn't in the hall of fame. Yeah. And then by a lot, by a lot. Yeah. And it's been rectified now that Sterling is in the hall of fame. You have both brothers, um, in the hall of fame. That was a beautiful ceremony. I watched every, from the beginning to the end, you know, I watched this the same year. Antonio Gates went in as well. And it was cool to see that. It took a long time for Sterling to get in. That's ridiculous. He had that neck injury where a lot of people were like, oh, well, what happened? Because you didn't see his full career. No, but he was there. He was already, he was, you could. He was on trajectory with Jerry Rice. There you go. Do the math. He was with Jerry Rice. They were neck and neck. Right. No pun intended, but yes. Right. That's so good. Okay. Oh, you know who else? The other brother I met the other day. Who was that? I also played, I think, I don't know if it, I think it's Shane Griffin. Oh, the Seahawks. The one with his hand. Yeah, yeah. Right? Yeah. I heard him give a talk in the Hamptons. And, you know, when they go and they ask people to talk, like everybody's afraid. Right? And so I just, give me that thing. And I just loved him. I remember watching him. Me too. Like, what a. he was the epitome of what it means. It was like, you know, he was not disabled. What are you willing to do? He was differently abled and was able to still pursue his dreams despite what other people thought he was capable of doing. And be great. Yes. And be great. You know what, man? I want to ask you something serious, okay? You know anybody or anybody's who had children that have died of a family? overdose or a drug overdose no i don't know i don't know anybody who's struggled with that um i know i live in a neighborhood where you know you hear about these things where kids and people are being exposed whether accidentally or somebody thought you know you know put it in this candy or put it in this thing or whatever um you know it's it's as a parent i can tell you it is nerve-wracking and i try to constantly tell my kids like just we'll buy you whatever you if you want to eat something or like just like you go to some of these places or that has some of these things that they call candy parties where they throw random drugs and things and and mix and people are like don't do it like you just need a little bit and somebody might tell you that oh i took it and i was fine that gram dosage might have been different for their body type and for who they are and what don't do it like it's too dangerous and the tolerance that these people have you don't have because you're right um so you have had the conversation with your kids of course i mean to the point now where i just say it as a running thing i'm like you don't know what that is that thing could have fit in it because i want them to constantly think about it so not as a joke but more or less as a cautionary kind of thing that i bring up when the time is right like no don't eat that you don't know what that thing is because it was kind of like you know when you know the i grew and they just say no, you know, and it's only drugs. Never. You've never done drugs. Well, outside of, well, no, I lied. I lied because I did develop a habit after I got out of the NFL and I didn't even know it was a drug, you know, drug habit. It was using a Vicodin. And so from the pain, cause you had it for the pain, for pain. And to me, it was something that was handed out. You know, if your body has gone through something, that's right. And so it was perfectly normal to me I didn see it And then you were done playing football and it had you you didn have it So how you get off it My wife my my wife actually prior to us getting married before we even met, she was a farm tech and she saw the way I use it. If I had pain or whatever, I was like, I just pop in. It did nothing to me. I was just, but I didn't know, I took so much of it. I didn't even know. And it was her that's like, you can't do this. And it was one moment. She just took my, my, my stash and threw it down the top. What are you, what are you doing what are you what are you doing like no like i'm good i'm 6'6 260 pounds i can handle myself you know like this is nothing like i took this for you know for pain and injury but it wasn't until then when i realized like oh shoot i have a problem but it was my little old wife who was the one who called me out on it and when you got rid of the when it left your system yeah after you detoxed you weren't in pain anymore were you um i mean i still have residual pain but not like you thought you did no it wasn't like i needed the vicodin i didn't need the vicodin do you know why do you know why that was because what happens is is you need more after you take these pain killers when you're coming down off of it you feel pain so you confuse the pain that you had when you started using the pills yeah right with the pain of withdrawal and once you get done with the withdrawal okay your pain if it was a 10 or you thought it was a 10 it's now a two and you can work around it. Wow. Yeah. I mean, that was over a decade ago. Yeah, actually more than that, like 14, 15 years ago. And, you know, I don't use it. In fact, even if I have surgeries and stuff like that, I don't even want it because it just, you know, I don't even want to go back into that route. But I will ask you something. I'll tell you one addiction that, you know, and I don't say this to be funny at all, but the one addiction that I'm really trying to break and I'm having a hard time and it's actually made me relate to relatives and people I know who struggle with addiction in that way is sugar. I thought he was going to say sex addiction. No. I swear to God, I was preparing for sex addiction. No, no. It's the other S word, sugar. I'm genuinely trying to break it. All right. Well, let me tell you how you do it. Yeah. And I've thought about going through like, I said, what if I did one of those AA type things to go through the steps and process? Because I'll go through, I can hardcore go two weeks and force myself. And then what happens is I start to feel like I did a good job. I can have just a little piece of candy. Right. And then I start ramping back up until I get right back into the. Yeah. Nope. All right. Nope. Where you're screwing up is after seven days, you're no longer physically addicted to the sugar. The only reason you're picking up is because you're telling yourself a story and you're lying to yourself. Like I can go ahead and have this. Okay. After seven days, your body doesn't call for it anymore. So now that you have that information, right? You know that the first seven days are going to be a problem. But after that, if you pick up, you did that. But how do you stop the choice, the choice of making and going for sugar? because that's the hard part for me is I make the choice to go, I'll just have a little. Because most of the time you're making the choice within your first seven days. So you're folding within your first seven days. Truthfully, how many times have you made it two weeks and then fold? I've done this, seriously, I've done different variations of it, two weeks, three weeks. I even went after watching this one documentary, it was called Sugar Coated. I watched this documentary called Sugar Coated and I was on such a motivational high, but it was all willpower. And I went six months with no refined sugar. I had this whole little cutout thing. And then after I went six months, I'm like, I'm good. And when a dessert came up, a birthday came up, oh, I just have a little bit. Oh, I have a little bit. And to your point, the story I kept telling myself like, well, I'm good now because I did it for six months. And what I didn't realize was that this is what they call relapse. but it's hard to use the term relapse because you're thinking sugar is so readily available everywhere in every yeah but just because every moron does it doesn't mean it's it's no we're not it's not it's not living your your best self what are the people who have the most success from breaking away from drugs because that's what i want to tap into like how do i all right how do i permanently like stop the consumption have you ever been on a glp1 i don't know what that is okay Like Ozempic or Zetbound? No. Okay, well, they're totally different. Okay. Okay, Ozempic, I don't like. It makes you nauseous and it's a problem. Okay. Okay? But Zetbound is really good for addiction. It really is. Okay? And I can prove it. First of all, we're getting results at the center and we're using that when needed. Okay. Okay? We're the first center to do that. Okay? but my personal experience with it is i love cuban cigars and when people ask me how many i smoke a day my typical answer is as many as i can okay so it's not uncommon healthy well i mean dude you saw the the doors open into the walls i got 30 feet here yeah i'm smoking outside essentially right so it's not like i'm getting any secondhand smoke and i don't inhale it and i just went and i went to the doctor and my lungs are perfect he says so you know it's it's more of a meditation thing but you know i've been on this zep bound thing for a month now right and it's good for your your cholesterol and your blood pressure and all these things it's overall health It's not to lose weight. Okay. But I can't smoke more than two cigars a day. Why? Because I don't want to. And it doesn't taste as good. And the GLP ones have ruined my cigar smoking completely. Okay. So if you want to get off the sugar, how about trying that? First of all, you're not going to be hungry. Right? No. You got to work out on it. You got to eat right. You want to eat steak and potatoes and vegetables. You want to keep the weight on. So Zepbound is a GLP-1? That's right. And how long do you have to take it before you just eat quick? I would do one shot a week. But talk to your doctor. I'm on. I started with two points. The beginning dose is like 0.5 of a milligram, right? I started with 0.25, which was half that, and then I went up to 0.35. So I'm not even at the baby dose. I'm at a micro dose, right? And you'll see my guess is that you're going to have an easier time with the sugar. And that may give you your first week. And then if you stay on it a little more, but ask your doctor, man, this is not a vanity play. This is not. It's to try to reverse because the damages, especially with joint pain and with brain fog and with all the other stuff, like, you know, I'm starting to just lean a little bit more into the impact of how it's even to like to the point where, you know, with diabetes and all that other kind of stuff like that stuff is. it's real but nobody talks about it like i mean i don't want the sugar industry coming after me but i'm like it's a problem it's a it's a real problem it's a real real problem i think even too like there are a lot of people who are being diagnosed i think prematurely with you know whether it's adhd add whatever and a lot of this is symptomatic of the things that are coming from from sugar yeah it's just not not optimal brain health and until you clean yourself out you don't know you got to rule it out because you don't know what's wrong right so you're doing another season yeah season 18 this would be my 14th season you're you've been on it for 14 seasons 14 seasons of American Ninja Warrior um that's a blessing that's I played I played in the NFL for uh five years play I've been doing Ninja Warrior for 14 it's the longest job I've ever had in my life it's been one of the most rewarding jobs uh because I get to celebrate the athletes and these are people who I actually kind of really connect with because you know they're not your LeBron James of the world but yet these are your everyday people who are doing extraordinary things and you know just to see the show continue to grow even in the industry that we're in today with the you know Hollywood and the reshift and the remake what you know what we're seeing on TV shows being cut left and right to have a show on for this many seasons has been you know a blessing but I think it speaks to what people love um which is seeing people kind of overcome obstacles you know it there is like a little bit of a metaphor in life there when you're seeing people overcome obstacles after obstacles especially getting to know their stories it's fun yeah it's just it looks fun yeah it is like i want to do it yeah i did it i did it back in 2018 how was it it was great did you win uh i hit the buzzer i hit the buzzer and it was one of the most gratifying things i'd ever done in all of my you know sports career because I had to overcome so much fear because I didn't want to be a fraud I didn't want to be like the guy who was just a former NFL guy who got into the host booth and could never do what the athletes did I'm like wait if I'm an athlete I need to prove my athleticism that you don't see a lot of ninjas my size you know I cut down 13 pounds I trained my butt off I did two a days I took a little bit of that football mentality I did two a days ninja gym weight room ninja gym right room double up on uh on ninja and i did that enough to where i was able to hit a buzzer uh and this season uh coming up one of the young ninjas asked me he's like hey would you do it again i was like i did it at 39 i'm 46 i'm like i don't think so i was like i don't know have you ever hurt yourself there uh i did i actually popped my bicep training for ninja warrior i popped my this is the first time i ever had tore or popped a muscle and is because I was doing so much of carrying my weight and I had healed just enough to compete on the show and I had to skip one obstacle because I knew had I gotten on this one obstacle I would have torn it would have just ripped right off right on that thing and you could even see any of the hanging obstacles I'd try to keep my arms like straightened out because had I done this I would have popped it. That sounds like so much fun though. Yeah, it was. It was a lot of fun. Where do you film? We film in Vegas now. And so it has become our permanent home the last couple of seasons. And just for efficiency purposes and just where everything is going in Hollywood, we just thought that it would be best to- For efficiency purposes, huh? Yeah, for efficiency purposes to set up in Las Vegas. 13.3% efficiency. you put the math to it not me alright man hey listen this has been a really good time thank you so much I really appreciate it I really appreciate you having me here this is cool to be in your domain here it's a pretty nice setup you have here too man thank you I'm about to move in alright well listen I only got two extra bedrooms so what are we going to do with your 14 kids oh man good stuff man appreciate it absolutely All right. Where can people find you? You can go to on all my platforms, Akbar underscore GBAJA on Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, all of it. You didn't put your whole last name. Man, no. Ain't nobody going to follow me if I had that many letters in my social handle. See you next Tuesday. That's right. We're out of time. Please subscribe on YouTube. Click the thumbs up and leave a comment. Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and leave a rating and a review. And share the We're Out of Time podcast with others you know who will get value out of it. See you next Tuesday.