Jay Glazer and Coach Rhule Get Vulnerable About Mental Health On a Special House Rhules | Ep. 14

Summary

---

House Rhules Ep. 14 | Jay Glazer and Coach Rhule Get Vulnerable About Mental Health

Release Date: November 20, 2025
Host: Matt Rhule (with Co-hosts Matt Campbell, Jay Glazer, and special guest Emmett Johnson)

---

Episode Overview

This installment of House Rhules delivers a powerful and deeply personal exploration of mental health in athletics, featuring NFL insider and mental health advocate Jay Glazer. Host Matt Rhule, joined by guest coach Matt Campbell and standout Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson, navigates through Nebraska football’s culture, brotherhood, leadership, and, in a profound segment, the challenges and solutions around athlete mental health. Jay Glazer’s raw vulnerability and practical advice for athletes, coaches, and anyone in leadership bring an unforgettable and urgent clarity to why talking about mental well-being—and building strong support networks—is so essential.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Nebraska Football Culture and Recent Games

(00:40–08:26)

• The episode opens with Matt Campbell and Matt Rhule discussing college football upsets and momentum swings, specifically referencing the South Carolina vs. Texas A&M game.

• They deconstruct the psychological aspect of big in-game comebacks, the myth of momentum, and how overemphasis on the scoreboard can pull athletes out of the moment.

  • Quote: "The scoreboard is the one thing that pulls you out of being in the moment." – Matt Campbell (04:53)

• The pair express admiration for the NCAA’s increasing parity and caution against giving preseason rankings undue weight.

---

2. Emmett Johnson on Team Brotherhood & Coach Rhule’s Leadership

(09:30–19:50)

• Emmett Johnson, Nebraska’s star running back, reflects on a breakout game, sharing thoughts about teamwork and quarterback TJ’s impact.

• Johnson praises Matt Rhule’s leadership style, emphasizing the coach’s care for player well-being beyond the field.

  • Quote: "Coach Rhule isn’t somebody that we can just call coach. He's somebody we'll remember for the rest of our lives... he helps you in life." – Emmett Johnson (11:47)

• Brotherhood and unity during adversity are celebrated, as is playing for sidelined teammates.

• Emmett Johnson’s approach to on-field excellence:

  • Staying in the moment and “neutral,” regardless of outcomes (16:15)
  • Importance of routine and consistency for progress (17:26)

• Advice for coaches and parents: “Be yourself. Don’t try to force anything... This generation’s big on social media—maybe get into things on social media with your kids or play video games with them.” – Emmett Johnson (18:22)

---

3. Jay Glazer: Vulnerability, Brotherhood, and 'Unbreakable'

(20:04–63:38)

Jay Glazer’s Mental Health Journey

(22:36–29:18)

• Glazer shares his lifelong struggle with clinical depression, anxiety, ADHD, and bipolar disorder, and why he went public only five years ago.
  • Quote: “This huge personality and... being in a cage and fighting... was all kind of a mask.” – Jay Glazer (22:36)
• Writing his book Unbreakable and being public about his battles led to stronger, deeper connections, especially with other men who respected his vulnerability.

The Courage to Speak Out

(29:18–37:37)

• First time publicly opening up on social media was “horrifying,” but was met with an outpouring of solidarity.

  • Notable moment: Mercedes Lewis, NFL veteran, checked up on Jay within 90 seconds of his first open post.

• Profound story of Michael Strahan, Glazer’s best friend, who responded to Jay’s vulnerability with empathy:

  • Quote: "By you not telling me, you took away my chance to be your best friend for 30 years." – Michael Strahan (37:38, as recounted by Jay Glazer)

• “Hope was right next to me all these years and I had no idea.”

Building 'Battle Buddies'—Support Group Models

(37:38–43:25)

• Glazer describes an all-star text/support chain including Michael Phelps, The Rock, Sean McVay, and others. They provide a safe space for vulnerability, showing “real strength” is in being open, not just tough.

• Coaches should lead by example—be honest, check on others, and cultivate a “shared struggle” culture.

  • Quote: “If you start doing it, they’re going to see it’s okay.” – Jay Glazer (41:07)

Reframing Mental Health for Leaders and Teams

(43:25–53:38)

• Discussion of survivor’s guilt after teammates’ suicides—Jay insists, “That is not your fault.” (53:10)

• Veteran and athlete peer support groups, powerful deterrents to suicide.

• Mental health needs to be viewed as important as physical health; teams must staff as robustly for the mind as for the body.

• “Everything’s six inches between our ears... being great is lonely, and that’s all part of mental health.” – Jay Glazer (52:45)

Advice for Young Athletes and Leaders

(59:38–63:38)

• “Lean into your teammates. Tell them, tell them, tell them.” (59:44)
• The act of being vulnerable forges stronger brotherhoods.
• Encourage the building of ‘battle buddy’ groups for real-time support.

---

4. Rapid Fire / Personality Segments

(65:33–74:30)

Sample Questions & Answers:

• Wings: Flats or drums? “Flats and drums. Never breaded.” – Matt Campbell (66:10)
• Favorite Christmas movie: “It’s a Wonderful Life.” – Matt Campbell (67:06)
• Dream football dinner guest: “Vince Lombardi. I'd ask him to explain the Packer Sweep.” – Matt Campbell (68:05)
• Laughing hardest recently: Watching Leanne Morgan Netflix special with his wife (71:29)
• Favorite Thanksgiving side: His grandmother’s creamed onions, but also green bean casserole and good stuffing (71:40)

---

Memorable Quotes

• “Vulnerability is the strongest thing I've ever done. It turned friendships into brotherhoods.” – Jay Glazer (24:01)
• “Leaders take care of everyone else—but who takes care of the leaders?” – Jay Glazer (24:40)
• “Letting people see you suffer changes the coach–player dynamic.” – Matt Rhule (44:02)
• “If there's anything I know how to do, it’s take on pain. So I’m going to do that as long as it takes.” – Jay Glazer (59:38)
• “Being great is lonely... that's all part of mental health.” – Jay Glazer (52:45)

---

Timestamps for Major Segments

| Time | Segment/Topic | |---------------|------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:40 | Football weekend recap, momentum, and leadership | | 09:30 | Emmett Johnson interview: Leadership & brotherhood at Nebraska | | 20:04 | Jay Glazer introduction | | 22:36 | Glazer details his mental health journey and 'Unbreakable' | | 29:18 | Opening up: Fear and positive surprise | | 37:38 | Michael Strahan story: The power of telling your truth | | 41:07 | Creating a culture of vulnerability in teams | | 52:45 | Mental health in coaching and sport | | 59:38 | Leaning into teammates & “battle buddies” | | 65:33 | Rapid-fire “anything but football” questions | | 72:29 | Previewing upcoming Nebraska games and “Husker tips” for fans |

---

Tone & Language

The tone is candid, warm, and direct—equal parts locker-room camaraderie and heartfelt group therapy. Glazer’s irreverent humor and candor, Rhule’s steady compassion, and Campbell’s introspective authenticity create a safe space for raw honesty, practical wisdom, and genuine hope.

---

For Listeners

This episode is essential for anyone interested in the intersection of sports, leadership, and mental health. It provides not only actionable advice for athletes, coaches, and parents but also potent reminders for all listeners: workplace and life leadership, vulnerability, and caring for one another matter most.

If you need support, remember:

Reach out. Use your team. Build your “battle buddies.” Vulnerability is the foundation of true strength and brotherhood.

---

Transcript

[Matt Rhule]

When you put the Christmas lights up.

[Matt Campbell]

Oh, they're already up. Julie put them. When do I put them up? Hey, thank you, brother. Hey, thank you. That makes me feel good. I came home from recruiting on Saturday and I said, oh, the Christmas lights are up. They look great.

[Jay Glazer]

Come on.

[Matt Campbell]

You know one person runs this house, dude.

[Jay Glazer]

Express your bed.

[Matt Rhule]

House rules, baby.

[Matt Campbell]

House rules.

[Matt Rhule]

Look at that. You look sharp, brother.

[Matt Campbell]

Yeah. You like to feel like. Like a half stylish, half an NFL referee, you know? I mean, just, you know, just a little bit of everything. This is Adidas. Always swags me out. They're the best, so.

[Matt Rhule]

I know, man.

[Matt Campbell]

That's cool.

[Jay Glazer]

I love it.

[Matt Rhule]

It's really cool. All right, time now for our toast. Thanks to our friends at Outlaw Lite. And we toast to some Big Ten football. All right, outlo. So, bye week. What did you watch? Because there was some great football on, man. It was some good stuff this weekend.

[Matt Campbell]

Well, I. I gotta. Let me preface it with this, if I may. I left recruiting on Wednesday afternoon and got back Saturday morning. So I watched football all day, but I did not make the seven o' clock games. I was passed out on the couch just so I didn't see Texas, Georgia, man, but I watched. Obviously, we're getting ready to play Penn State. I watched Penn State. We're getting ready to play Iowa. Watched Iowa, man. I watched that South Carolina game. An epic, epic, epic game.

[Jay Glazer]

So let me.

[Matt Rhule]

Let's stop right there for a second, please. So South Carolina at A and M. A and M, of course. Unbeaten, powerhouse, number three in the country. They're up 30 to three at halftime. So take me into the locker room. Both sides, right? What are you saying? Up 30 to 3 as the underdog against that team on the road?

[Matt Campbell]

Well, I can tell you probably walking in, up 30 to three. The teams I've been around, guys are probably all yelling, it's 0, 0, 00, which. It's not 00, bro. It's 30 to 3. Like. And so, you know, on the flip side, the other team probably saying, like, well, we couldn't play worse. It couldn't. It couldn't be any worse. And what happens is, I'll never forget hearing Tony Romo talk one time. And he was talking. He was just. He was just out talking to some guys. I was with them. And he was just saying, like, when you get down and you're that far down at that point, you're kind of playing with house money, right? Like, you're just like, you know what? Our odds aren't real.

[Matt Rhule]

Good.

[Matt Campbell]

So I'm just going to play free, I'm going to play loose, I'm going to let it rip. I'm going to take chances that the quarterback of the team that's up 30 to 3, they're like, hey, protect the ball now. Like. And so it just kind of becomes one of those deals where the team that's down, they can just forget the score and then they just got to start playing football and the team that's up, man, like you start to start looking at the clock, look at the clock, look at the clock, like how much time want the clock to run. And if you go back to that, and I'm not talking about those two teams because I don't want anybody, you know, but I'm talking about in general, I've been a part of. But you know what, Cuz it literally comes down to like one or if they get one or two, first down, South Carolina does, the game's over. And even then they had a chance at the end to go win the game. So crazy, crazy game. But I tell you what, now credit to Texas A and M, A credit to Marcel Reed. You know, the first half goes the way it goes and he doesn't, he doesn't panic and that. But you know, I, I was a part of a game during my time at the Giants under Tom Coughlin, we played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and someone can fact check me, I don't know the exact numbers, but I want to say like Eli had like five picks in the first half and I think one was for a pick six. And he comes out in the second half and he brings us all the way back and we call inside street ready hits Victor Cruz for a touchdown to win the game. And I was like, wow, like it was impressive. But you know what, hey, every player's going to be a drop back. You get to do what you love. And the ability as a leader to have a first half that doesn't go your way and rebound and go play different in the second half, that, that's a mark of a good team. So A and M is obviously a great team.

[Matt Rhule]

And you know what's interesting too is to your point, momentum is so fickle, right? Go back to the Patriots comeback against Atlanta in the super bowl with Brady, right? Like once you get one when the field starts to tip a little bit, then you get two and then all of a sudden, man, it's like a 90 degree angle. And that's what it was like with A and M, South Carolina in the second half.

[Matt Campbell]

You know, you talk to like, a lot of analytics people, people I've been around, they're like, there's no such thing as momentum. There's no such thing as momentum. And what I would say to you is, like, yeah, that makes sense. Like, one play doesn't affect another play. I get that. But. But why do we have sports psychologists? Why do we have. It's. It's the feeling in your head. And I'm telling you, the biggest thing, if you ever have a chance. Pete Carroll wrote a book, win Forever. And in the book he talks about, like, just don't. Like, the scoreboard is the one thing that pulls you out of being in the moment. So if you're down, you're not even looking at the scoreboard, and all of a sudden a play happens. If you're up, I'm telling you, bro, you're like, huh?

[Matt Rhule]

Oh.

[Matt Campbell]

And you're not enjoying the game anymore. And so it's that. That creates momentum, it creates energy. It creates positive physical and emotional mental energy in the one team. And the other team gets tighter and tighter and tighter as the game goes on. I mean, and there were some great finishes. Michigan, Northwestern.

[Matt Rhule]

Yes.

[Matt Campbell]

I mean, just so many, so many games. And like I've said to you before, Parity is here in college football. Anybody can beat anybody on any given Saturday.

[Matt Rhule]

I mean, how about there's Alabama at home, Oklahoma tier, God bless them, right? He's still got the hand. And they go into Tuscaloosa and win. And that defense is nasty for the Sooners.

[Matt Campbell]

Yeah, they are, they are. And you know, block a field goal, make all the plays that you have to make. Like I said, man, college football is. College football is, I think, at an all time high, to be quite honest with you. I think the parody is good for the game. I mean, it's like you watch an NFL game, like, you're not going to see a lot of blowouts, you know, and one of the problems we have in college football now is we talk about teams, how good they are. Like in September, I don't even talk about it till the end of October, beginning of November. Because now you see who actually is a good team, who's healthy. And then it comes down to how do you finish your year? Like, do you win these games, go to the playoffs, do you lose these games? Like, how does it happen? And so I think it's. It's fun to talk about it all year round, don't get me wrong. But, like, it's kind of cool to see the teams Playing well down the stretch.

[Matt Rhule]

Because you're right. Like you don't know. You know, the biggest waste of time which changed so much is what happens preseason, right in the, in the preseason rankings and all that stuff, which none of our projections worked out. I do a college football show on Fox. None of it worked out right. Like you don't know how things gonna be, but it's kind of like our duty to pump it up. Cause I know I can't wait to talk about it. I can't wait for it to happen. So we are all gonna get involved and we're all gonna get it wrong.

[Matt Campbell]

That's right. To your point. It's what makes it a great game. It's good, it's exciting. We should talk about it. The problem is, is when you're like, ah, that wasn't a good win, or that was a good win. Like, you know, we beat Cincinnati 2017, and everybody's like, ah, well, they're top 25 team for most of the year. So it's like, you know, you just kind of not given enough weight to the wins. But I think the cfp, I think the committee, they've got it figured out. They got the strength to schedule. They have their metrics, I'm sure, and, and you know, you don't see a lot of controversy right now, but the poll one week is a lot different than the poll the next week. And the whole thing is you got to play your way in.

[Matt Rhule]

Yes, you're right. That's where these preconceived notions because of what we established in August is faulty. So if we're going off of a fault of something that's wrong in August and we're in October, November, well, it doesn't have the same meaning. So the whole thing, you're trying, it's meaningless.

[Matt Campbell]

You're exactly right. But it's fun.

[Matt Rhule]

It's awesome.

[Jay Glazer]

College football.

[Matt Campbell]

Levrack was born on a Nebraska farm built by a few guys who just wanted to make better use of their space. What they came up with is simple and effective. A mobile aisle storage system that combines shelving and other storage accessories to help you organize everything and get more room out of the space you already have. It's the kind of setup that makes you stop and say, okay, that's actually pretty cool. What started in a farm shop has grown into one of the toughest, smartest storage systems out there. From home garages and workshops to equipment rooms, military bases and warehouses across the country, levrack is built to handle it all. Made right Here in the usa by people who take pride in doing things the right way. Clean, strong, and built to last. Check them [e-mail] and make room for what matters.

[Matt Rhule]

Office hours, house rules. Look at this. We got our man Emmett Johnson. What a game Saturday night. I mean.

[Interviewer]

I mean, not without 200 yards total offense, 232. I mean, 28 carries, 129 yards.

[Matt Rhule]

You caught three for Buck O3. Two touchdowns, three touchdowns total, man.

[Interviewer]

That was the night.

[Emmett Johnson]

Yes, sir. Man, it was fun. Most importantly, I'm just glad we got that win. I appreciate you having me on the show, man, but we got to keep this thing going.

[Interviewer]

Take us back into the game for a second. And the idea that you got TJ going right first full start, after the whole. After Dylan's injury and everything, take us into the thing. And how much does having, like, a mobile quarterback like TJ help you as a runner?

[Emmett Johnson]

Tj, he's been doing great, man, ever since, you know, he's put into that role. He took the. Took the challenge of just learning from the older guys, and the O line has been great help in that, too. Like, they talk to him every single day. And I tell him how much, you know, I have a belief in him. And he just wants to be coached. He's a warrior. He wants to be coached. And so I knew that. I had no doubt if you gave him a full week of practice, he'll be ready to go. And so I'm really proud of how he played out there. He is playing loose and free. Being able to run and do different things and make plays for the team has been big. So I'm pretty sure the whole team was proud of him. Not just me, but the whole team knows that, you know, he's a warrior and he's trying to do whatever it takes to win. And so I'm proud. I'm proud of how he played. And I know we got a lot more to go.

[Interviewer]

All right, so listen, coaches in here. All right, so we're going to talk about coach, okay?

[Matt Rhule]

So he won't even know that we're talking about.

[Emmett Johnson]

All right?

[Matt Rhule]

All right.

[Interviewer]

So one of the things that I loved was after that night where Dylan gets hurt, you guys lose that tough game at usc. He was so proud of you guys, how hard you fought. Like, watch me talk about you guys, how much he loves you. I just gotta think. It's just beautiful, man. And I was just curious as someone who plays for him and someone who gets a lot of his affection, what.

[Emmett Johnson]

That'S like, yeah, man, it's amazing. You know, Coach Rule isn't somebody that we can just call coach. He's somebody who will remember for the rest of our lives. He's a players coach. But most importantly, he, he helps you in life. You know, he, he cares about you, he cares about your family, he cares about what you're going through outside of football. He teaches us a lot of life lessons. So he's a, he's a coach that isn't just a football coach. You know, you get Coach Rule on the field, but you know, off the field, man, he's like a homie, man. He's, he's out there having fun with us, going to different events, letting us use our platforms to do different things. So I have a lot of respect for Coach Rule and a lot of people on our team have the same respect that I do for him. Just because he's not just a coach, he does a lot of other things. He makes sure the team is going to be ready for life after football. He wants to be able to have a great bond here and everybody be great teammates with each other. But most importantly, he wants us to go to each other's weddings, you know, have friends down the road. When this game of football ends at some point, you know, football is not going to be forever. So he wants to make sure that he, that everybody's prepared for life after football. So I got a lot of, man, a lot of love for Coach Rule. Man, I love what he's been doing for this program. As you can see, he's doing great things, but we all love him here. We love him.

[Interviewer]

You know what's cool too is that I think he fosters love within the entire program.

[Jay Glazer]

Right?

[Interviewer]

Like you guys seem like a really close knit team and you've listen, like any season you have ups and downs, especially this one right where, you know, couple tough games. I mean, you've been in every game playing hard, really good football, you know, achieving. Then you lose, Dylan, like you need to be unified and come together to have that kind of success.

[Emmett Johnson]

Like, like you said, man, Coach Rule has instilled the brotherhood in the whole program and that's something that we live by. You know, last game he talked a lot about caring for your teammates. You know, there's a lot of guys that aren't out there that we wish we could have out there and you know, unfortunately they got hurt, but we're caring for them by how we play and how we play for each other. And so he talked a lot about that during the week and, you know, Dillon being down, we're just showing that we care for him with the way we play. You know, tj, I'm pretty sure Dylan's, you know, critiquing and helping him with things that he needs to do because he was a true freshman last year playing quarterback. So just that whole brotherhood he instilled in us has been great for the program and I feel like that's what's got us closer, you know, outside of just football, but just in our everyday lives. And so you can see that chemistry that we have off the field. We spent a lot of time in the off season doing things that weren't football so that when we play on the field, we're actually caring for each other. We have a real relationship with each.

[Interviewer]

Other personally for the year. I mean, you're having a monster, right? Like Maxwell semifinalist. I mean, you're a Heisman candidate. I know where your heart lies and you're a team guy through and through. But what about your personal goals and what are you looking at? Your second in rushing, first in all purpose yards?

[Emmett Johnson]

Yeah, man, I'm big on my face, so I can just give credit to God for, you know, giving me the opportunity to play this game. And also just my teammates, man, I couldn't do this without them. Those guys up front blocking for me. A lot of receivers that people don't talk about, but making a lot of blocks for me to make runs. There's a lot that just goes into my personal success and I'm proud of it. But you know, I got a lot more work to do. I always am going to hustle. I got a chip on my shoulder every single day of the week. My teammates know that. So this is all great things, but as long as the team is winning, I'm going to be happy and I'm going to do my job in that. And so I just got to keep, keep my head down and keep working, keep grinding and just letting everything take care of itself.

[Interviewer]

You know, it's funny, people don't realize how important the wide receiver, the blocking wide receiver is when it comes to big plays. Like your chump plays will get, you'll get sprung by a wide out and.

[Matt Rhule]

Like to me that that's kind of.

[Interviewer]

Who you guys are.

[Emmett Johnson]

Yeah, it is. It's a part of our DNA. And like, like coach said, man, there's, you know, people and scouts asking about Isaiah blocking on film. It has nothing to do with him making a one handed catch or, you know, scoring a long run, but that Just shows, like coach Rue said, caring for our teammates, and they show that every single day. And so when I get a chance to go block for somebody else or do something for somebody else, I'm going to do that too. And so once I see Isaiah or somebody make a play like that, it just makes me want to go make a play for them.

[Interviewer]

What's the, I guess the greatest lesson that you've learned this year? Each year you learn lessons and you grow as a player and a person. What's the best lesson that you've had this year?

[Emmett Johnson]

Yeah, I'll just say staying in the moment and then staying neutral, things go well, stay neutral, things go bad, stay neutral. And that just helps me stay focused every single day. I know a lot of people look forward to, you know, this game or look, look ahead to this. But I like to stay just in the moment. Like, how can I get better today? How can I be a great teammate for my teammates today? And then also just like, yeah, just staying in the moment, keeping my faith up. Like I said, meditation and everything's been big for me, but it just helps me stay focused and grounded on what we have to do as a team here. And so just staying in the moment, taking it one play at a time. And then when things happen that don't go right, we have something that says what's next? And then we just have a what's next? Mentality. And so we're going to attack whatever it is, any obstacle that comes at us. Just got to stay neutral and just keep, stay level headed with it. And that's, that's something that I've taken to my life, not just football, but I use it in my everyday life. Things are going to go bad at adversity is going to happen, but you got to be willing to push through that and say what's next? And just bounce back from it.

[Interviewer]

You have a daily routine. I have this conversation. I got two young football players, right? Seventh grade and sophomore in high school, and I tell them about the importance of a routine, right, when it comes to your schoolwork, but also your workouts and being consistent.

[Emmett Johnson]

Yeah, that's extremely important. We have a routine here. Every single day the schedule is the same. You know, we come in early or working late in the evening or whatever it may be. But just keeping that same routine helps over a long point of time because if you stay consistent, stay doing the same work, you'll see the progress come later. And I think a big part of it too is trusting the routine and trusting the process. Because sometimes you may not see it right away, but over time it shows. So just staying consistent and staying focused on the process and just taking it one day at a time has helped our team be successful.

[Interviewer]

Last thing, you got to help us out here. So Coach Rule and I around the same age.

[Emmett Johnson]

Right.

[Interviewer]

So. And I got kids and so I'm like, I still try to be cool.

[Jay Glazer]

Right.

[Interviewer]

I still think, like, I can be cool.

[Emmett Johnson]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And my kids look at me like they laugh at me. Right. Like.

[Jay Glazer]

So. Yeah.

[Matt Rhule]

What. What's a good advice for Coach Rule.

[Interviewer]

And I not to be cringe?

[Emmett Johnson]

Oh, I would just say be yourself at the end of the day. Like, you know, know, just be yourself. Don't try to force anything. Like, you know, Coach Ruiz, he's naturally, you know, a people's person and a player's coach. And I would say, like, you know, a lot of. A lot of guys on the team have fun with him. And we make jokes all the time. And so he's somebody who, like, as long as you be yourself, I don't think you need to act a certain way. But, you know, social media is something that's taken over this generation, so that could play a part in, you know, helping out the younger kids or whatever it may be. But maybe getting to like, things on social media, media with your kids or playing video games with them, like, something like that may help, but just be yourself. I don't think you need to do anything different. But this generation's big on social media. You see, it's kind of taking over the world, so.

[Matt Rhule]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Actually, that was the only time I.

[Interviewer]

Got cool points is because I had a lot of followers.

[Matt Rhule]

They were like, daddy, you got a lot of followers.

[Interviewer]

Like, yeah, man, you know?

[Jay Glazer]

Yeah, for sure, for sure.

[Emmett Johnson]

I already know how that be. Yeah.

[Matt Rhule]

And I.

[Interviewer]

What's next for you? Like, when you think about the future, what do you think about?

[Emmett Johnson]

Oh, I'm thinking about how I can get better today and how I can watch Penn State film and. Yeah, just attacking that this bi week is a chance for us to get ahead. You know, they're playing. They're playing this week against Michigan State, I believe. So we're going to be able to watch another game on tape and then just recover our bodies. But I love kind of bio weeks because you can get a head start and get ready for the next week. So I'm attacking that today. That's my next thing that I'm focused on is just attacking pack Penn State.

[Interviewer]

You're a treasure, man. You just are You're a treasure. God bless you a million times. All right.

[Jay Glazer]

God bless you.

[Interviewer]

You know, best of luck the rest of the way. Thanks for. For doing this. Really mean it means a lot now.

[Emmett Johnson]

I appreciate you for having me on. God bless.

[Matt Campbell]

You know, one of the things I really appreciate in football and in life is when people just do things the right way with integrity and care. And that's exactly what I appreciate about the folks at Baxter Ford. There's a reason they say, we won't sell you a car, we'll help you buy one. Because when you walk into Baxter Ford, that's how it feels. There's no high pressure, just a desire to help you find the right vehicle. And it's not just a slogan. They've done the work to transform their process and deliver you a better car buying experience. At Baxter Ford, there are no handoffs, no hassles, and no hidden fees, meaning you work with one person from start to finish. They give you a competitive and transparent price right up front, and what you see is what you pay. So absolutely no doc fees buried in the fine print. It's honest, straightforward, and they treat you like a teammate, not a transaction. So if you're thinking about a new Ford F150 Explorer, Bronco, whatever fits your family, check out Baxter Ford in Omaha or Papillion, and shop online [e-mail]. well, my guest today is someone who's been at the intersection of football, fighting, and fearlessness for more than two decades. You know him as the NFL insider who breaks the stories before anyone else. But behind the scenes, he's a mentor, an MMA coach, a mental health warrior, and one of the most connected people in all of sports. He's trained super bowl champions, inspired countless athletes with his unbreakable message, and built relationships in the league the right way. He's loud, he's real, and he brings a toughness you can feel the second he walks into a room or a podcast. I'm fired up to have him here today. Jay Glazer, welcome to the show, brother.

[Jay Glazer]

Loud. What are you talking about, loud? I went loud.

[Matt Campbell]

Passionate, inspiring, no doubt.

[Jay Glazer]

I'm loud. Absolutely.

[Matt Campbell]

I really. I'm good, man.

[Jay Glazer]

I'm good.

[Matt Campbell]

And I really appreciate you doing this. You know, I. I had. I had reached out to you. I think, you know, all of us, you know, a couple weeks ago, after the unfortunate passing and tragic death of Marshawn Nealon, like, start really thinking about mental health and the battles that our young people face and. And, you know, on our teams in our Buildings. And you've been at the forefront of that. I've heard you speak, you share your story. In Unbreakable. What does this battle look like? What are the things? What are the things, man? As I walk down in this building and see all these young people like, what are the things that we have to really start to talk about and what are the things that you've been talking about to get this message out there?

[Jay Glazer]

Remember, Matt, I only talked about it starting five years ago. And you know, for years and years and years like you talked about, I'm this mentor and this coach, this MMA coach I've coached. I started the first mixed martial arts Training program for NFL players and pro athletes in America in 2007. We coached Jared Allen, but he was a long snapper and part time defensive end. So I always had this huge personality, but this huge personality and, you know, being in a cage and fighting and foul mouth and breaking stories, it was all kind of a mask, you know. And you know, the truth is I was diagnosed at a very early age with clinical depression, anxiety, adhd, bipolar, later on, recently, ocd, anxiety. Other than that, I'm a model of stability. But I've, you know, unfortunately, you know, suffered through this all these years silently. And five years ago, I wrote a book titled Unbreakable. You know, how I turn my depression and anxiety into motivation. You can too, because people have always wanted me to write a biography about, you know, all the inside stories about the NFL. I'm like, I'm not looking over my shoulder the rest of my life with all the shit. I know I'm not doing that right. But I want to be of service. So I wrote this book the first time I ever came out with all my issues. The number of people like, oh my God, you too. Thank you. Someone's talking about it, especially like for me, the reason why I talked about it. No one's question my manhood. You know, I cry on the drop of a dime. So I think we need people like that. But as I've opened up and talked about it, one thing I didn't expect is how close it would make my relationships. This vulnerability. I always thought me choking somebody out in a cage made me strongest. And it turned out me being vulnerable is the strongest thing I've ever done. And it has turned these friendships into brotherhoods. And now because I've talked about this so much and because, like, listen, Matt, there's a difference and I want people to understand, like, I'm not an expert, I'm not a therapist, I'M not clergy. I'm not a teacher. I'm just. Can I curse on this podcast or no?

[Matt Campbell]

Heck yeah, you can. This is a football coaching show.

[Jay Glazer]

I'm just a dude who's fucked up, who's learning how to be good with his fucked upness. And I say learning because I'm still going through it. You know, I'm not there yet. You know, since I started this, I don't want to say start on this mental health training, but I started getting put on meds at a very early age. Like, my parents brought me to the therapist. Like I was a fucked up one. Nothing wrong with that. And they started put me on meds early. Unfortunately, 30 something meds later, none of them have worked. There was ever a guy that, you know, you wish weed would work for, It'd be me. But it doesn't sucks. And I train Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg. If there's ever a guy that you know, it'd be great, it'd be me. I got an endless supply. But it's not. So I've had to really figure out other ways to keep myself out of what I call the gray and into the blue. And as I've started talking about more and more and more, yeah, I've connected with so many people of all walks of life. And, and what I did by my book is I just wanted to give mental health words. So I wanted to do and describe it, because how are we supposed to have the conversation if we don't have the words? And if you. And again, words by somebody like me, not, not, not a therapist or teacher or something. And if you have the words, then you can start talking to people and open up. But the one thing I went when Marshawn Neal and happened, I helped, I don't know, the majority of teams in this league or a big majority of teams in the NFL. And because there's no, like, Matt, there's no amount of. I told Brian Schottheimer this. There's no amount of schooling that you could have gone through that would have prepared you for this. There was none. Right. And the other thing too is, you know, Matt, leaders take care everybody else, but who takes care of the leaders? Like, you got to take all that on for these guys, right? So what I told a lot of these coaches is, listen, you need to address this with your team. Because at first some guys are like, yeah, you know, it's not their team. Yes, it's our team. We're all in this shit together. Right? But it's an opportunity for you address this team. When I go and I talk to these teams about my mental health issues, the two biggest things I say that gets me through my gray is one, being of service. But to your teams. Teams, teams, teams, teams. And I go and I talk to these teams all the time. Like, hey, man, you know, I think we need to take, you know, mental health and be much more proactive about it instead of reactive. And you guys, you know, don't just catch passes when you have the drops or run 40s when you get slow. You do it all the time. But the only time you all are going to see a therapist, and therapists for me are coaches. The only time you see mental health coach, therapist is when the sky's falling, and that's too late. I said, but, you know, I understand a lot of you guys probably aren't comfortable yet taking that step. That's fine. Okay? But at least for an NFL locker room, I'll say You only got 53 therapists in this room sitting to your right and to your left, okay? Those bonds, those coaches. And like I said, when I started opening up, man, those relationships got so incredibly close. And what I told Shadi also is, bam. You tell these teams, these players, if you could be there for each other now, 25 years of age, those are the brothers. The bonds will be there for you. 35, 45, 65, 75. That's a bug. That's. And for me, like, you know, I'm 55, and I've been doing this for a long time. I've been covering the league for 33 years. I started fighting in MMA in OH3, wrestling in 82, boxing in 89. I will die for my fight teammates, and that's been put to the test. I will die for these dudes. Right? And that's what you have to. You got to lean into your teammates right now. So I told every team, whether he's on your team or not, this is your chance to tell your guys, man. Lean into your guys and your right, your left, especially. Like, Marshawn had a big personality. I have a big personality, and I was hiding it. That's a lot of. A lot of times those guys, you got to be careful of, make sure they're doing okay.

[Matt Campbell]

You said that you started talking about it five years ago. And I've seen, you know, just. Just after. After Marshawn's passing, like, I. I just made sure that, you know, I had the team up. And I. I. I said just in sort of in passing, you know, just How I had a player who. Who passed away who, you know, from, you know, took his own life. And how for the rest of my life, I'll always think about the last time I saw him. And what if I'd have said something different and just encouraged them all? Like I just said, hey, man, like, just. Just talk to each other, get to know each other. Go talk, you know, and. And how many of the guys afterwards to meet Jay just kind of quietly said to me, like. Like, it's okay, you know, Is it really okay to go talk to people about these things? Like, how much courage did it take the first time? I know you've done it now for five years, but when you first made that leap, like, hey, I'm going to talk about this. What was going through you?

[Jay Glazer]

I was horrified. And so what happened was I wrote the book, and I knew it was in the pages, and the book had like another six or seven months to come out. And I'm like, man, I want to be of service to the world. So. So what happens is depression. The roommates in your head tell you really bad things about yourself. Like, my self talk is horrible. Like, I'm a piece of shit. I'm unworthy of anything good happen. Everybody hates me. Universe hates me. When it doesn't make sense because universe is there. It conspires to help us. God loves us. Universe loves us. No one's against us. But when those crazy roommates in my head start having these conversations, it's easy to believe them, even though it's not true. So being of serve when you're of service. And like, writing this book was a way of being of service. By the way, checking up on my teammates is a way of being of service. Doing something. Feeding the homeless is a way of being served. Like there's different ways, right? You could be a service, just calling someone, hey, how you doing today? That's being a service. When you're of service, it's a way to fight back against those. Those roommates that are telling you such bad things. Well, it can't be this bad from doing this job always. Even when I was broken and broke them broke, which I want people to say. My book is called unbreakable. First 11 years of my career, I was making 9,450 bucks a year because there was no real NFL insider job yet. And I was living in New York City. Boy, I would. So I went from broken, breakable even then I was figuring out just ways to be of service to help people. And back in New York City back in the help homeless person, help this person, go volunteer here, whatever it is. So anyway, I was. I came out the book and I said, I don't want to wait seven months for this to come out because I know how much could help. I know the publishers are going to be happy about this, but I'm going to go on social media and tell everybody the truth, right? And see if I got start helping. And one thing I know how to do is build some badass fight teams. So I said, folks, here's the truth. And listen, you don't need my level of gray to feel depression, anxiety these days because social media makes us all think our lives suck. You know, we're comparing ourselves to everybody else's filtered one second of one day, and how are we supposed to survive that? We all feel like losers. Like, how come my meal doesn't look like that? Why am I not at that party? How come my play doesn't look like that? Like, man, all these people have. We're comparing ourselves to highlight films when life ain't about highlight films. And really life's about surviving the bad times and how we get over that, right? And. Or on Twitter. Look, I grew up in Jersey Shore. You had your ass kicked in the Jersey Shore. It sucked for a month. Now we're getting our asses kicked 100 times a minute on Twitter. Yet your players, everybody else that can't help but to go look and try and get validation for people they don't know, Right? Doesn't make any sense, but we're addicted to it. So I said, I'm going to go to the worst thing out there, social media, and be honest. Truthful. And what I'm going to try and do is try and build the team up. So I said, gang, here's my truth. Truth is I'm the laughing, jokey guy on Fox NFL Sunday. And I did five years on ballers playing the same guy. And, you know, I have this big personality. But the truth is, man, I've been living a lie. I've been wearing this mask all these years, and I struggle with depression, anxiety, adhd, bipolar, ruin every relationship I've ever had. You know, it's a everyday thing in my life and it's really difficult and I don't want to. I'm figuring now I open up and I got two teammates I can walk this walk together with. Life will be a little bit easier for me. If you feel the same way, post, put a comment down below and I press send. And I was like. And I said, Put a comment down below. I will walk this walk together with you. And I was horrified when I pressed because again, social media is just going to murder you. And within 90 seconds, we, Mercedes Lewis, who's now in his 20th year in the NFL, one of the baddest dudes you'll meet. I started training Mercedes in mixed martial arts his third or fourth year in the NFL, the Jaguars. This is a long time ago, 16 years ago. And so you think he'd know me really well. And obviously he did because I hit it. And he hits me up 90 seconds. Within 90 seconds, he says, coach, I saw your post. I'm trying to keep it together when I say this because I still get emotional about it because it changed my life. He said, coach, I saw your post. I knew you were crazy and that's a badge of honor in football and fighting, but I didn't know you're in pain, man. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. How about that? I got you. And that dude has checked up on me every week since. And I have conversely checked up on him non stop. Like when he was out of leave for a little bit here, I made sure I kept up on him. And the story, though, Matt, that really think changed everything, is my best friend I've ever had in this business since 93. I joke around and say it's my baby sister, Michael Strahan. And you know, Stray and I, we Both started in 93. Michael, when I told you I was so broke, drove me back into New York City every day of my life from 93 to 99 because I didn't have enough money for bus fares. Subway to bus to Giant State and back every day, every single day, this cat throwing me back into New York City. And so you think, and we live together, like works with me now obviously, Fox, you really think. Nobody knows me better than him. And it wasn't until four years ago is the first time ever, like I had an episode. One night we're supposed to go out to dinner here in la. I said, brock, I can't go out tonight, man. The Beast got out of the box. And I said, beast got in the box. Like I was having an episode. I'm sure Marshawn was out. Like, it's, it ain't good and it ain't safe for everybody else. And you know, in the past when I would have these episodes, I would take a bunch of Vicodin and Adderall and go out and drink because I wanted money. Everybody know I still want to be the glaze and it would not be safe for me or certainly not everybody else. But I'd rather. I'd rather. How fucked up with this that I'd rather put myself in line to go out and do something really bad and get canceled than anybody know that I had depression.

[Matt Rhule]

Wow.

[Jay Glazer]

I mean, what the fuck, right? It's so backwards. So first night ever, I said straight, I can't go out tonight, man. The beast got out of the box and I am just not in a good place, man. I'm struggling. And he went, oh, you want me to come over? And you know, like my relationship with Stray, we are like two cats from stepbrothers. We're like, what's the hockey movies back in the day with the hands. We're like the handsome. We fight over everything. Every. Like Michael, I put hands on each other, we're bad. And if I say the sky is blue or he says the sky is blue, I will literally figure out a reason why it's not blue. What the you saying blue? It's not blue. It's. It's purplish. It's. It like we just fight so we're not vulnerable, really. And he said, you want me to come over? I said, whoa, I wasn't expecting that. It's just not a relationship. I said, I don't. I really just need to sleep this one off. Because it was so bad, Matt, that I felt it. I've. When it's that bad, I feel like my joints, like I'm gonna like a 90 round fight in the rain. Like, man, it's brutal. And I feel behind my. My rib cage feels like I'm having a heart attack. My left side of my gut really hurts. It was weird. Even though it's a mental health thing, I feel it physically. And I said, I just got to sleep this one off, bud. And he goes, you want to talk about it? And I said, I would, just not tonight, man. I'm just exhausted from this. And he said, why have you never told me? I said, I don't know, bro. I don't make up the rules of this. Like. Like, I didn't ask for this. So with you, I was ashamed. Shame is the worst thing we go through anybody with mental health stuff. Shame is horrific. It's horrible, man. It's awful. And something we don't deserve because we're not doing anything wrong, you know, but it's. It's a silent killer. And I said, whatever reason, I was ashamed of you. And he said something that changed my life forever. He said, by you not telling me you took away my chance to be your best friend for 30 years.

[Matt Rhule]

Wow.

[Jay Glazer]

Right? So here we are thinking that we're burdening people with this. Instead he's like, do you took away my chance? Like, tell me I was selfish for not lean into right? And like I want people to. And again, I get teary eyed when I say it because that was the moment that those two things changed everything for me here I hit him for all these years and man, there was hope right next to me. Hope right next to me all these years. And I had no idea. So for all your players, this is what your relationships become like. They become brothers. They become. And now, man, I tell him. He tells me that we all lean into each other. You know, we. We started a. I started this thing called a We call our battle buddies group. Me and Michael Phelps. Phelps and I did a Subway commercial years ago, became buddies. Then when I started talking about mental health, he reached out because he talks about a lot. It was the greatest limping of all time. And man, we latched on each other. The dude actually gave me a bracelet that. He gave me a bracelet with the promise that he will never quit anything, including life. And now when he's hurting, no matter what time it is in the middle of night, he will FaceTime me when I am, I'll FaceTime him. We both do bad things to ourselves too, when we. And I don't mind telling this publicly because we've talked about it on my podcast. We self harm and I hit hard as fuck, so it's not good when I'm hitting myself. And he does a similar thing. And he started doing that as a kid. And you get so frustrated with that shame. You do things that don't make sense, like that I'd rather do it to me than somebody else. And so when it happens now I know to call him. So I don't do it. And 50% of the time it works. But also, like his wife now is involved. My wife is involved. Well, that little group. We then added Andrew Whitworth. Andrew's just as up as us. Okay, so here's another one of the baddest dudes ever, right? Then we put Sean McVeigh into that group. Sean's just fucked up his ass. Dan Quinn is now part of that group. The Rock is now on that chain with us. Mark Kerr, who is the Smashing Machine, who the. The Rock just did a movie on. That's my training partner forever. Mark her, one of the baddest dudes on the planet. He's on that group. So we have these dudes who are bad motherfuckers who literally text each other and video each other and leave message each other that are so vulnerable and raw and cry at each other. And again, if there's a group that no one's ever going to question their manhood, it's that group. So any of your players will listen to this. Nobody will question your manhood, man. If anything, it's just going to get you to be so much closer to your brothers and right and your left.

[Matt Campbell]

How. How do I. How do the people you know watching this, Coaches, dads, moms, business people. But how do I walk downstairs, Jay. And there's, you know, there's 130 guys on the team, and everybody walks by me and everybody. How you doing, man? I'm fine. I'm straight. I'm good. How do I reach out to them? Knowing. Knowing that somebody is hurting no one. That's. And they're hiding it like. Like what. What can we do if we're not yet in that battle buddies group? Like, how do we. How do we make it where it's okay for them, whether it's us or somebody else? Like, what do they need?

[Jay Glazer]

So I think you have to start as far as when I. When I'm really hurt now, I call two people to tell them that I'm really struggling, okay? And think about you as a leader. If you call a couple of guys, hey, guys, I'm really struggling over this, Marshall. I'm struggling. It could be your own thing. I'm struggling. You're my teammates. I just want to let you know, well, look at your vulnerability. If you start doing it, they're going to see it's okay, right? But then I call two other people and I don't tell them anything wrong, and I just check up on them because that's my way of being a Service. And Matt, 90% of the time, somebody will say, I'm good, I'm fine. But I've had 10% of the time, somebody say, oh, man, it's funny you call today, Wow, I needed that. Hey. And they start talking. And one of those times, one of my best friends, I'm not going to say what he is, but one of the baddest, baddest men on the planet told me a couple weeks later, remember that day? You called me that day, said, yeah. He said, you saved my life that day. I was planning to kill myself. Like, wow. Wow. You never know. And. But the thing also, it's on us to tell people when we're hurting. So all you could do, Matt, is give them more opportunities. It's on them to take the opportunity. You know, it's on us to tell someone we're struggling, like. But I think it's great if you start the conversation, if they follow my example. If you all sudden have this team and bring this up, you know, like, hey, you. I would say to them, guys, you know what a real fight team is? Fighting is people that share their struggles, right? It's not just all about the wins. We share our struggles. We lean into each other. That's a fucking brotherhood. I want to be your brother for 50 years. The way we'll do this is this. You guys are going to be there for each other forever if you open up and lift each other up, right? Shared struggle is everything and vulnerability is everything. So I think you have to start that culture and start the conversation. Now. I want to tell you this too. When I first came out with the book, dude, nobody was willing to talk about it. No, people weren't ready. Five years later, everybody is, right? But I would like pound my head against the wall, but I wouldn't stop. So my point is, wherever you start now too, it's going to continue to blossom. And it's not like a one shot deal. It's something that we continue continuously, always do.

[Matt Campbell]

You know, I know you cover the NFL, but two weeks ago here I signed a contract extension to be able to stay.

[Jay Glazer]

And my loan application.

[Matt Campbell]

I'm looking at the background. I think you're doing, I think you're doing okay. I'm feeling pretty.

[Jay Glazer]

Hey, these bills don't pay themselves, you know, let's go. That's right. I hear you.

[Matt Campbell]

But so. So when I went to tell the team, I asked my wife to come because she's been my. She's been one of my battle buddies, right? But. But one thing I did because. Because when I left Carolina and after how hard that was for me, I said, when I go back to college. It's funny what you said, but I literally spoke at a John Gorn event last year and all I talked about was suffering together. Like, letting people see you suffer changes the coach player dynamic and what I've learned now. And Jay, I read off before I told them I was declining extension. I read off the journal note that I had put in my phone the day I was fired. I went home, I drank Tito's and Diet Coke and waited for my family to get home. And the shame I felt when my daughter started bawling like I Had let her down. The shame. I felt like my wife was going to have to move again. And really, I was showing that to them. Like, hey, that dark moment I thought I would never get out of. And yet, look at this amazing moment. But. But I think what you're saying is so real. Like, you can sit there and tell guys. I mean, Dr. Joanne Perry was our team psychologist at Carolina, and she. I mean, I don't know how many players she helped, because obviously that's confidential. But, man, I know she. I know she helped me. And I think what we term, like, mental health is, like, man, I was going through it, and, you know, like, Cam Newton would come down every Monday and sit in my office, and people always like, how are you? And Cam, I love him. He would sit in my office every Monday. We would talk about life, and then Dr. Perry would come down Tuesday. And it's. I think, one thing as a leader. We don't really have people to talk to sometimes because we think we're not supposed to.

[Emmett Johnson]

To.

[Matt Campbell]

We think we're like coaches, GMs, probably. I mean, the prep. I think we probably all need battle buddies and people to talk to as well.

[Jay Glazer]

Yeah, absolutely. But that's the thing, too. Like, your vulnerability is going to show that you're in it with them. I told Shoddy, too, for the Cowboys, you know, like, I said, you know, leaders, take care everybody. You know, take care of everybody. But who takes care of the leaders? I said, shoddy, make sure you tell your players to check up on YouTube. You're in this with them, right? Check up on you. I remember I went and talked to the Vikings. I told the players this about Kevin O', Connell, and Kevin's like, Dude, I had, like, 30 guys coming to my door, like, the next week. He's like. He goes, but better than having zero, right? It used to be zero. Nobody. And see how I'm doing. Check up on me. And that's what it is, man.

[Matt Campbell]

You.

[Jay Glazer]

You. You know, in my opinion, life is about the shit we overcome, right? There's no books needed or podcasts for good times, right? It's only the hard things. Life is about the hardship, and. And it's way easier to get through the hardship when you're walking this walk with others, right? So you find some other people you walk this walk with, and those relationships that will be there forever. And I still have. I go to the hall of Fame over the year, and I've always been a player's guy. I was the first, you know, when I started covering the NFL. I was told you can't be friends with players, right? And I was like, well, why not? They're like, well, because you're not objective. I go, I think you guys aren't objective because if they don't talk to you, then you guys kill them. So, no, I don't think you guys rejected. So I just got murdered for it all the time. And now everything's relationship based. But I got destroyed. And that's why I couldn't get a job for 11 years. Because every time I went for a job, the editors or the producers or whoever go ask these other reporters about me, he said, no, he's friends with the players, he's friends with the coaches. Not objective. I got murdered for 11 fucking years. Especially in Strand, I think Strand. And I won. So, okay, you know. But the. As a result of these relationships, I go to the hall of Fame and I see players, now that I've known forever and ever, still bring out to me. Mad, man, you were there for me back then, man. Hey, Jay's always been the guy who's there, like, anytime, man, I knew I can count on him. And, like, my wife was there and. And they were able to tell her. And it's just cool that, you know, to have that of, like, we didn't know we were being there for each other back then, but we were there for each other back then, you know, so even without talking about it, that's what these guys remember. Of all the way back then, man, this was there for me, right? Without saying, hey, I was struggling, or this and that. That was always. That's always been the most important part of all of our relationships, even before we knew how to talk about this stuff. So if it was important back then, think about how important it's going to be now that we're moving forward with it and we're going to start being open, we're going to start leaning into each other.

[Matt Campbell]

You mentioned, like, you know, it's kind of the same with a coach. Like, you know, hey, can you be close with the players when you have to be a coach, you know, it's, you know, you have to be a reporter. You have to break stories. Sometimes it's a good story, sometimes it's a tough story. How do you balance, like, hey, the relationship and also, like, the professional duty, knowing, like. Like, hey, when you. Like when I got fired, you. If you broke that story, like, hey, that's. That's Matt's worst day. Probably that's the worst day for his kids. Like, how's that. How do you do that?

[Jay Glazer]

Well, for me, I always tell guys, look, it's going to come out anyway. You'd rather me do it? Because I'm not gonna take a shot. Like, I'm not gonna take a cheap shot. I. Your thing, I put fact. That's it. I didn't say, oh, but he did this, this. I don't take shots, right? And hey, I've had to break steroid stories on my guys, right? And I'm like, when Falco came out, I broke that. I had a bunch of my guys got caught up in it, like, man, you'd rather me do it than somebody else? Everybody else can call you a juice head and this and then just, you know, kill you for everything you've done. And I know my guys got sold a bill of goods from Vincer Conti, you know, with. With Falco, with the clear and all that stuff. So a couple of them did. A couple of them were trying to cheat, a couple of them weren't, right? So, yeah, regardless, I'm gonna put the facts out. That's it, you know, and I probably put out, honestly, I put out 1% of what I know. Like, I am. I look at it like we are. I talk about my teams, how much I need my teams, even though I'm a reporter and there are coaches and players, executives, I look at it like we're all in this team together. We're on one big badass team together. We've all gotten richer than we ever could have dreamed of, right? We are all there for each other. We need it a certain way. So as much as anything, you know, I'm kind of like an information broker. I want to see guys succeed and do well, right? If you up and I have to report on you, I got to report on you, you know, but for the most part, I want to see everybody really succeed, because I also look at it, sports is escapism. We're not like, dude, we're there so you don't have to watch what's going on with politics and, you know, stuff. Damn. In the Middle east or whatever, right? Like, we're escapism. That's it, right? So I don't want to make it where it's even worse for you, for what you, you know, you're coming to escape. And I always, I. I've always looked that way, like, I'm not that important. I'm escapism, I'm not covering the important stuff.

[Matt Campbell]

You're in this fight, you're one of the. You're one of the leaders of it. You started it and you can see it now starting to come to light where people are talking about it like what, what, what has to happen next? Like what are the next steps to make this go?

[Jay Glazer]

I'll tell you the biggest, the crazy thing. So Matt, you'll know this. Like how many, how many strength coaches, doctors and trainers did you have with the Panthers or do you have there, let's say the Panthers, Panthers, we had.

[Matt Campbell]

Like five or five, six. Strength and sports science, probably seven training probably in total, probably close to 20.

[Jay Glazer]

20. Right. And how many mental health professionals did you have? One. And they're only required to be on site three days a week. That is it. Cba. That's it. How backwards that. By the way, when I talk mental health, it's not depression. It's not all depression, anxiety. It's not just that everything starts at 6 inches between years, right? If I'm coaching a fighter and think about this mixed martial arts, it's really only sport you're only guaranteed half your salary to to participate in. That's it. You get the other half if you win. Think how crazy. That's right. Sometimes. And a lot of my fighters are only making let's say 20,000 a fight and 20,000 win early on it would be like 4,000 to fight. 4,000 winner, 10,000 fight. You know we had guys who were bigger like Randy and Chuck and those guys. But you know the prelim fighters, they're back in the day, they were not making a lot and it's like 8,000 to fight, 8,000 win. And if your game plan is not going great, I only have in a three round fight, I have two one minute periods to somehow connect with that fighter and change some things. Right? You guys have. But you have 160 players, whatever, right? Both sides of the ball. I got two, two one round, you know, minute one minute rounds to change everything. But not just connect here and try and motivate and try and inspire. Try and get them to understand it. Try to get them to not lose their confidence. Try to get them to be more emphatic about what the fuck they're going to do. I mean, let's go right like it. That's different. That's all mental health also, right? It they trying to get people to sacrifice. When I say sacrifice, every time I train a guy, I say hey, you know what the blueprint of greatness is? Find out who the best is and do more than that. That is it.

[Matt Campbell]

Right.

[Jay Glazer]

And it's not a Secret. Most people aren't willing to do that. Right. Well, I'm going to try and get you mental health wise to motivate you greatness of the number of hours that you put in work when no one's watching. Right. It's non stop and it is exhausting and it's miserable and it's lonely. Being great is lonely, right? Trying to be great is lonely and that's all part of mental health. So everything's six inches between, between our ears. So I think we're so far behind what we're supposed to be. But because we're talking about it now, I'm hoping that one day they have equal number, you know, of mental and physical. They view our therapists as coaches. Right. They're going to them constantly but, but also where we're constantly checking up on each other. Right. And that's really, you know, I think we're so far behind. But even like the NFL, I'm going to talk to both sides because there's certain things that still aren't paid for for mental health wise and I'm still getting that. But there's like anything physical wise, I'll pay for it. It's covered. But like mental health wise, it's not yet covered. And, and no offense to them, they just don't know yet. Right. They're just so far behind. They don't know. But that's right. You know, and the other thing I just, this is kind of not, I'm just pivoting here because I just want to make sure. I think it's important to say with the, with the suicide we had last week. Right. Yeah. I want, and I'm saying this because I, I work with a lot of veterans and I prevent a lot of guys and women from making that choice and I try and villainize suicide. I'd rather you be mad at me. How I talk about it in your life then you know, you're not pissed me, you're not here. Right. So you know, when that, you know, Neil and her took his life, I started crawling around a bunch of cats that I've been working with and I know they're hurting and struggling when suicides happen, one it becomes like power suggestion where people look at it and they see how much love there is to that person took their lives. And a lot of times, and this happens a lot with our military, they'll go, well my life sucks right now. I don't feel anybody loves me. Everybody loves this person. I'm going to do the same thing. So we Got to prevent that from happening. We've got to make sure, like, we point that out, right? Luckily, that hasn't happened this time, I hope in the NFL, you know, we're still in it. I want people to understand that. The biggest thing that happened when I was really working with our veterans and I had this. This group I started called Virgin Vets and Players. We took former combat vets and former pro athletes. I put them together and I trained them together, like, physically for about a half hour, just to give you that burn. But after we had these mental health, these Wrestlemania, for like an hour, right? And that's why I got the courage to talk openly about my mental health. Like, man, if I could talk to our vets about this and I could talk to anybody about it, and, like, no one's shaming me here. But there was one time in this story I think really has made a huge impact on those veterans. The first five years of this foundation. First five years, our foundation, you know, there are 22 vets a day that kill themselves. And the majority of our members of this foundation had attempted suicide before joining our foundation. The first five years, we didn't lose a single person because of these huddles, because of that brotherhood, because of this team, and because of vulnerability. But the story I have for you, and I do want everybody to hear this, is we had a guy, he's a Marine, and we had about 90 people in the room. And this guy's like, I got to be first, raised his hand. He said, man, I was supposed to go out with one of my teammates on Saturday night. And, you know, he called and I didn't take his call. And because I've seen him the next day, and I was my wife in a movie. I think. I don't remember the exact story, but I think it was like, you know, movie with his wife. And he said, I didn't take the call. And he killed himself. Man, if I just took the call. If I just took the call now, I immediately said, that is not your fault. That's on him. And the problem, too is we've had players do the same thing. Like you said also earlier, like, I just took his call. No, dude, that's not on you, Matt. That's on him. That has nothing to do with you. Zero. That's him. It's his decision, right? There are guys in the Cowboys that missed the call, and they're having the same survivors guilt. It's not fair. Okay? It's not on you. And I said. And the whole room starts Crying. They were hysterical clients. And I said, all right, show of hands here. How many attempted suicide in the past? And if there are, like I said, like 90 hit 90 people in that room, a good 80 something hands went up. 80, 85 of people who attempted suicide. I said, okay, look at this room right here. This is what you would have left behind if you completed your mission. This is what you would have left behind. Is this what you guys wanted to do? No, I said, whatever afterlife your brother believes in, he's up there right now. You think he's looking at everybody here crying right now going, yeah, look what I did. Or do you think he's up there going, no. What the did I do? No. I wish I could have a do over. Well, all this grief, you see, this is your chance of a do over, so don't do that to the rest of us. That's the bottom line, right? And that's. That's a story like, Matt, you got to release any guilt from you, bro. That survivor's guilt, it's terrible, but it had nothing, nothing to do with you. Zero. It's not fair. And I guarantee your brother sit there right now, your buddy and your player, and go, man, coach, if I could tell you I'm sorry, I would thank you for that. Yeah.

[Matt Campbell]

Wow.

[Jay Glazer]

So I just so deep up, but I wanted to release that from you, man. It's not. No.

[Matt Campbell]

Well, it's.

[Jay Glazer]

It's not fair to you, you know.

[Matt Campbell]

You know? Well, you know everything. I think the one thing we forget sometimes is, like, you know, how. How things that wound us or things that we hold shame over, how they stay with us for such a long time. It's easy for like. Like I told my son, like, I don't, you know, but like, for me, like, you know, especially as you said, taking care of the people who are leaders, like, I spend my days trying to take care of people, and you just hold these things with you and.

[Jay Glazer]

Push it down and then you explode, man. The wrong people.

[Matt Campbell]

That's exactly right.

[Jay Glazer]

Yeah, man. That's why I want to release it from you, dude. Because, like, look, I made the decision a long time ago. I would never kill myself because I'm not going to do that to my son now, my wife or you or anybody else. It doesn't mean.

[Matt Campbell]

I hope.

[Jay Glazer]

It's been a lot of days where I hope tomorrow doesn't come, but I'm not going to do it right, because I just think it's selfish. I'm not going to do that to you if there's Anything I know how to do is take on pain. So I'm going to do that as long as it takes.

[Matt Campbell]

If there's one message to, like, young athletes who feel like they're not seen or like you just said, they feel like they're not loved, like what?

[Jay Glazer]

Like, lean into your teammates. Tell them, tell them, tell them. Like, listen, the first time I ever really came out and told anybody, I just posted something on this the other day. It was. Rosie and I split up. It was in Tampa. I was having, man, I was having problems with business and different, you know, running that charity and my business, unbreakable. The gym I think we're coming out of COVID and was just. Man, it was just a really brutal time in my life and I was kind of scared for myself. And like, I said I wouldn't commit suicide, but I was. Every day, man, I was just hoping tomorrow wouldn't come. It was bad. And I was going to Tampa for the Super Bowl Ronde Barber has been one of my best friends for a long time. We got a good little group down there, so I hit him and a friend named Ben Help Fund and Brian Ratigan. I said, man, I'm coming down tomorrow. I need to meet with you guys. I need to have dinner. They're like, now we're busy. I go, no, no, I need to meet with you guys. I'm fucking struggling. And they're like, seven o', clock, meat market, see you there. Everybody probably did, and I showed up, I told them and I cried my fucking eyes out. And we were all boys before that, man. But those are my brothers, like, beyond belief now. Like, again, it took our relationship to the next level. So have faith in those relationships. Like I said about straying, like, I never knew. It's on us to tell people when we're hurting, right? But I think you'll be surprised what the reaction is because people want to be of service to you.

[Matt Campbell]

I think the first thing I'm going to do when I get done talking to you and I can't thank you enough for this, like, just personally for me, I can just tell you there's two other guys in this room, and I think both of them are sitting here nodding their heads. But I think the first thing I'm gonna do is just like, I'm gonna go build my own buddy group battle buddies. I mean, I'm gonna.

[Jay Glazer]

I'm gonna.

[Matt Campbell]

Like, I don't have that. I might have great friends, don't get me wrong. But I've never said, like, I've never said, like, hey, I'm struggling with this. And then what you said, then I. It comes out in the worst moment at the person who doesn't deserve it, and I don't want that. And I. And afterwards I'm like, yeah, I don't want that. I want to. I want to. I want to find something. I want someone to feel that way about me, that they'll say to me like, hey, hey, Matt, I need to talk, I need to help you. Because that, that makes me feel. Honestly, that's why I got in coaching. It's like, it makes me feel alive to feel like, hey, I'm. I'm in service of someone else.

[Jay Glazer]

So, you know, what's the first thing.

[Matt Campbell]

I'm going to do?

[Jay Glazer]

Rosie's the first person I ever. So I always sabotage their relationship because I didn't feel worthy being loved. So I would, like. I figured, like, everything had to end, like, and, you know, this level of gray tells you again, you're just not worthy of it. So the question of the lit, the pain of living in, question of when it's going to end is actually worse than an ending. So I sped up the end. I sabotage them all. That's why guys who are about to get reinstated in the drug program use again. You're not worthy of it. And I know because I've trained a lot of them during that time, and you just don't feel worthy. So you're going to fuck it up on your timeline, right? So always either, let's say, got with the wrong woman for my life, or if I had somebody good, I would sabotage it, make sure I would ruin it on my timeline. Well, the Rosie is the first person ever where I told her what I need. When I have these moments, I'm like, babe, I just need you to tell me you're not going anywhere because I'm going to push you to go somewhere. I need you to tell me you're not going. She's like, I could do that. So my point to you is, even when you're talking to people, tell them when you're hurting, what could help you the most, too? So I took it a step further. I don't just tell them hurting. Going into it, I'm like, hey, this is what I could really use when I act like this, right? And then ask them, what? How could I best show up for you? Be you. It could be what you think is the most embarrassing thing for you. Tell me what that is and I'll do that for you. That's battle Buddy.

[Matt Campbell]

Battle buddy. Jay Glazer. You're the best, brother. Thank you for doing this for us. Thank you for I can tell you this. I know my team needs to hear this, so thank you.

[Jay Glazer]

I appreciate you, man. Can't wait to meet you too, brother.

[Matt Campbell]

Yeah, we're going to do that.

[Jay Glazer]

Perfect.

[Matt Campbell]

We need to do that.

[Matt Rhule]

All right.

[Jay Glazer]

Love you, my brother. Always here for you. Love you too, man. I'll be one of those battle buddies for you, all right?

[Matt Campbell]

Please, please. It seems like every day I get a text from someone asking where they can get the best deal on Huskers tickets. That's why I'm giving the sponsor of today's episode, SeatGeek, a huge shout out. With over 35 million downloads, SeatGeek is the number one rated ticketing app. There are more than 70,000 events listed on SeatGeek, including concerts, sports festivals, and more. There's the NFL, NBA, and of course, college football. Besides basketball, just remember, you can get your Iowa at Nebraska tickets on SeatGeek. SeatGeek is the official ticket marketplace of Nebraska athletics. All Nebraska Tickets on SeatGeek are authentic and secure. I love using SeatGeek. In fact, coming up here soon, we have Riley Greene coming to town, Eric Church coming to town, Trans Siberian Orchestra getting ready for the Christmas time. But one thing I didn't even think about, Wicked is coming to Omaha Broadway shows right here on SeatGeek. I know my kids are gonna be excited. SeatGeek has your back. Each ticket is rated on a scale of 1 to 10, so you know you're getting a good deal. So look for the green dots. Green means good, red means bad. Plus, every ticket is backed by their buyer guarantee. And of course, I have a code for you guys. You can use code Rule10 for 10% off your next set of tickets at SeatGeek. That's 10% off any tickets with promo code Rule10. Make sure you click the link in the description to download the app and have the code automatically added to your account so you can use it later. Thank you, seatgeek.

[Matt Rhule]

All right, time now for anything but football. And for our super segment coach, we asked our audience to send us some.

[Matt Campbell]

Good questions for you, all right?

[Matt Rhule]

And we needed to keep them fresh right here in the Outlaw light cooler.

[Matt Campbell]

I love it.

[Matt Rhule]

All right, look at that.

[Matt Campbell]

That's a great cooler, by the way. Look at your ability to hold that, hold the microphone. I mean, what can't you do?

[Jay Glazer]

What can you not do?

[Matt Rhule]

Now watch me flub it as I reach in for the questions. All right? All Right. Rapid fire.

[Jay Glazer]

Okay.

[Matt Rhule]

All right, here we go.

[Jay Glazer]

Coach.

[Matt Rhule]

Wings. Breaded or not? Flats or drums? Both.

[Matt Campbell]

Flats and drums. Never breaded and. And dumb. Like, they're done. But I used to live in Buffalo. You gotta. You gotta. You gotta fry them, sauce them, put them on a grill. Grill them. I know it's controversial, but I would have wing. I would have wings over flats, drums over flats. But. But I take them both.

[Matt Rhule]

I like the flats, man. You break them apart, you drum there.

[Matt Campbell]

I like them both. Most places, they actually give you both. Right. But breaded, that's. Breaded is. I mean, that's just not American.

[Matt Rhule]

Not for nothing, but I love bar food. All right. Oh, where's Longacre? We need Longacre.

[Matt Campbell]

South Philly taproom makes an appearance. I love it.

[Matt Rhule]

All right. Your favorite Christmas movie.

[Matt Campbell]

I would say. Oh, man.

[Jay Glazer]

Home Alone.

[Matt Campbell]

No, I love Home Alone. I love Home Alone. Honestly, I'm. I'm partial to It's a Wonderful Life. I think that's iconic. Amazing.

[Matt Rhule]

That's beautiful.

[Matt Campbell]

Yeah, yeah. I'm black and white, you know, kind of, you know, old school, so It's a Wonderful Life.

[Matt Rhule]

Oh, I love that. We got the angel now.

[Matt Campbell]

That means I don't have to watch with my daughters. I have to watch elf like, 17 times over the next month. But, you know, that's good.

[Matt Rhule]

When you put the Christmas lights up.

[Matt Campbell]

Oh, they're already up.

[Jay Glazer]

Julie put.

[Matt Campbell]

When do I put them up? Hey, thank you, brother. Thank you. That makes me feel good. I came home from recruiting on Saturday and I said, oh, the Christmas lights are up. They look great.

[Jay Glazer]

Come on.

[Matt Rhule]

You know, one person runs this house, dude, that's awesome. All right. You could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be? And what would you ask?

[Matt Campbell]

That seems too. That seems too vast.

[Jay Glazer]

Give me.

[Matt Campbell]

Give me like a genre, like, all.

[Matt Rhule]

Right, let's go football.

[Matt Campbell]

Vince Lombardi.

[Jay Glazer]

Yes.

[Matt Campbell]

And I would ask him, just explain to me the Packer Sweep. And I would just sit there and take notes.

[Matt Rhule]

I love that. Did you ever see the Vince Lombardi on hbo? They did a doc. It was awesome. He's in the first of all, he didn't even know where Green Bay was, Right? And then they have him in the family room with a split level house, and he had his dad, like, the party. It was awesome.

[Matt Campbell]

So that thing that they did, they have the party afterwards, and then they say, try towards the end of the night, you could see him start to get real serious. And like, that's. You can ask people, like, that's me like, after the games, we go over to the little loft we have downtown. People come over, and about midnight, everybody leaves. The girls go to bed, and I start to, like, you can start to see, like, I change and I put on the TV copy of our game and watch us, you know, beat Northwestern. And then I start thinking about the coming week and the coming week. And then I don't sleep very much. And then, so I can totally, totally identify with, obviously with Vince Lombardi, but I mean, I can totally identify with that. So when he said that, I was like, I'm not. I'm normal.

[Jay Glazer]

Okay?

[Matt Campbell]

I'm normal. That's just what. That's what a coach does. Wow.

[Matt Rhule]

That's all. That's so cool, man. I love that doc. That documentary was fantastic. All right, if you weren't a football coach, what would. I can answer this. What would you be doing?

[Matt Campbell]

Well, let me see. Let me hear your answer.

[Matt Rhule]

You would be a sports talk host. I know you would. You would be.

[Jay Glazer]

You're.

[Matt Rhule]

First of all, you're great at it. You would be a media dude. Ah.

[Matt Campbell]

You know what I think? Whenever my time comes to pass, I would love to go. I would love to go do that. I think the biggest things I would like to do, I'd like to do something every day, like be like. Like kind of like, you know, you get on the radio every single day talking about sports and not just football. I'd love to just be a part, like, just be a part of a city talking about this, talking about the Sixers, the Phillies. You know, if you're in Kansas City, talking about the Royals, wherever it is, just talking about the day to day of that city.

[Matt Rhule]

You would be awesome at. I was hoping that you would fail as a coach so you could do the show with me.

[Matt Campbell]

Give it time. Give it time.

[Matt Rhule]

No, I'm just, Just teasing. All right, couple more.

[Matt Campbell]

All right, let's go back into that outlaw cooler.

[Jay Glazer]

I love it.

[Matt Rhule]

Here we go. Fresh, fresh questions from the outlaw light cooler. All right, the last time, you laughed really hard.

[Matt Campbell]

Not counting you when I'm talking to you. You know what? Honestly. Honestly, my wife and I, Julie and I, you know, I'm the one, like, I like, I hold the remote, right? And so she decides to show, but I got the remote and so I put on Leanne Morgan Netflix, and I don't even know who Leanne Morgan is. And I saw my wife laugh so hard, and at one point, I laughed so hard. This is like last week on the bi week, like a Monday or Tuesday, if Anybody hasn't seen it, she has two of them. But it was hilarious. I love stand up comedians if they're funny. And I laughed so hard. It was amazing. And so did my wife. So the Jules.

[Matt Rhule]

Oh, that's cool. That's cool. Well, Jules. Jules got taste. All right. Your favorite Thanksgiving side dish.

[Matt Campbell]

I've been asked this a lot and it gets really controversial. So. So, okay, just allow me, if I may. My grandmother, rest in peace. Hilda would make creamed onions and they were amazing. So I love those. Julie makes an amazing. She makes everything, but she makes an amazing green bean casserole. Amazing. But when I was growing up, like, my mother would also have a side of like pasta, you know, and so I like that too. So I'm not picking any one of those women over the other one. But you kind of get in a genre, some onions, a little pasta. But if I had to pick just randomly, I love, I love great stuffing, you know, I love like stuffing a little gravy on top. I mean, you know, if I'm going to someone else's house, but if my family, whatever they pick.

[Matt Rhule]

Perfect, Perfect. All right, brother, here it is. We got Penn State on Saturday night. So we got this. We got to, we got a. We got a way to end the season right, like the regular season. We got seven o' clock on NBC at State College back home, Iowa, Black Friday, like we normally, normally do at noon. It's going to be fun.

[Matt Campbell]

It's going to be fun. It's going to be, it's going to be fun to go, you know, go back to Penn State, obviously. Great program. Terry Smith as the interim coach has done such a nice job. Almost beat Indiana two weeks ago. Beat Michigan State. Top 25 defense, unbelievable running backs, big time. O line. Be a great crowd, I think. I don't know if it's a white out or if they're just, you know, they have sometimes that white out light too, so. But it'll be, it'll be cold, crispy in the air. I mean, it'll be, it'll be a lot of fun. And I think the biggest thing for me is I'm proud of our team. I love our team. It's another chance for them to go play on national tv. And I want everyone to see the way that we play, our style of play and how we play as a team. And it will take, take everybody, it'll take every single guy fighting together to win in that environment.

[Matt Rhule]

The one thing we know, and this is a very proud moment, Husker fans travel. So give them a tip about going to Penn State. What do they have to do? And is there something they need to eat?

[Matt Campbell]

Well, you know, I would have said for years you got to go to uo college diner and have the grilled stickies. But they don't. The diner shut down. Right. So the stickies. But you have to, you have to find a place to buy them. Right? And you don't just heat them up, right. You get a, take them home. Get, get a grilled sticky in State cops. Take them home and then get the frying pan out, put a little butter and then grill. Now it's not great for your heart, but put them, put, put them in the, put them in a grilled sticky. Put the grilled sticky in, in the frying pan, fry it with some butter and just enjoy some coffee and a grilled sticky on Sunday or Monday whenever you get home.

[Matt Rhule]

Perfect. Perfect. Good luck, Huskers. House Rules.

[Matt Campbell]

Well, that's it. Another episode in the can. Please remember to like, share or subscribe on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. And please follow house Rules on socials until next time.