[MUSIC PLAYING]
[APPLAUSE]
NOBLE VARUGHESE: So
I'm going to start off
with your book,
"Mindset for Mastery."
Along with the
talks you give, they
cover topics around financial
literacy and leadership.
How did you decide to
tackle these topics
and how did your life
experiences equip
you to focus on these topics?
RYAN HARRIS: Yeah.
Well, thanks for having me here,
and thanks to Dan and the team
at Google for bringing me in.
Mindset for me
really came into play
when I was in football, right?
There are countless times
where I was unable, unwilling,
and I thought that was it.
And the truth is, is people lie
to us throughout life, right?
My first time I ever
got my football pads,
I got laughed off
the field because I
didn't know how to hit and I
was this big dude, you know?
Next practice, some
cornerback comes
running down with the football.
I closed my eyes and lept
with everything I had.
It turns out, I knew
how to hit, right?
In college, I got literally
knocked out of my shoes.
On your worst day in Google, did
you get knocked literally out
of your shoe?
And that sounds not pretty
either, let me tell you.
So I had to make up
my mind right then.
Hey, I am here at Notre Dame
because I can play football.
I will learn how to practice.
I will beat this guy
on one specific drill.
I will focus on it.
I will visualize it.
And then the next
time, it happened.
I got originally drafted
to Denver and I got fired.
I had a new coach
after my fourth season,
and I was unwilling to
work, unwilling to learn.
What happens to those
kinds of people?
You get fired, right?
I'd never been more
humiliated in my life.
So, with tears coming down
my eyes, I'm thinking,
how do I tell my wife in
our first year of marriage
that I lost my job
because I'm unwilling?
How do I make sure
I never lose my job
again because of my arrogance?
And I had to choose my mindset.
Say, hey, I can
make sure I never
lose my job again because
of my unwillingness to work.
I can stop at Panda
Express on the way home
and get that orange chicken
and eat my feelings,
you know what I'm saying?
And sure enough, the next
morning, the Houston Texans
call me.
Gary Kubiak was the coach there.
And brought me to the Houston
Texans, which played well there
for two years.
Played for the
Kansas City Chiefs.
And I talked about
how people lie to you.
After starting 15 games for the
Kansas City Chiefs and we just
missed the playoffs, they
said, you know, Ryan?
We don't think you
have any football left.
Well, the Broncos called
me back and said, hey,
we think you can help
us win a championship.
I said, hey, I can do that.
And so I did.
And so, last Thursday, even
though the Broncos lost,
I had a fun time seeing my
old coaches at the Chiefs,
you know what I'm saying?
Like, hey, good to see you.
Because we won the Super
Bowl that very next year.
So people lie to you throughout
your life, and many of you
experience that.
Hey, you can't do this.
You can't do that.
Right?
You aren't supposed to be here.
And so, between
those experiences
and having nine different
surgeries in 10 years, three
on my back alone, I had to
choose my mindset every day.
And especially when it
comes to financial literacy,
ain't a lot of black guys
walking in banks getting
called Mr. Harris, right?
And I want other people to
have that moment in their life.
And I've experienced so much
benefit from small things
that I've done financially
that later helped me
in ways I couldn't imagine.
NOBLE VARUGHESE: So what
did financial literacy
look like for you as
you were growing up?
Did you have any mentors that
coached you in this space?
And how did you grow into that?
RYAN HARRIS: My first
lesson in financial literacy
I can remember is--
everybody's gone to the grocery
store with their parents,
right?
So I was young, and so I put
a Snickers bar on the conveyor
belt. My dad picks it up and
says, what are you doing?
I said, well, I
want a Snickers bar.
You know, we're here.
He goes, do you have
Snickers bar money?
No, but you do.
You're right.
Puts it back.
Grabs a Milky Way,
his candy of choice.
Puts it on the thing.
But what are you doing man?
You know?
He goes, well, I
got Milky Way money.
So right there, I kind
of learned, like, hey,
just because I'm
with my parents,
just because I'm around
somebody who's capable,
I've got to figure
out a way for me
to be financially successful.
I need some Snickers bar money.
You know what I'm saying?
I need that right away.
And fortunately for me, I
also learned from my parents
what not to do with money.
You know?
From my family, I
always grew up thinking
you were going to die in debt.
That debt was a reality
of life, and the better
you can manage your debt,
the better your life will be,
right?
And it wasn't until I left
home and went to college
and started seeing the way
other people talked about money,
didn't spend money,
really, really started
to change the way
I look at things.
And sat down with a financial
advisor, or a woman who
teaches at the University of St.
Thomas, and she took 30 minutes
and told me, this is
what a PEG ratio is.
This is what you do
to invest in stocks.
And I took $500,
invested in Scottrade.
I bought-- I'm not joking--
McDonald's, Google, Apple, and
this company called Chipotle.
And I forgot about those
stocks, and then a year later, I
went back and that
$500 turned into 1300.
I was like, whoa, OK.
I like not doing anything
for money, you know?
And so I started learning
the different ways that we
can increase our savings.
We can make choices
about our money.
And when you're in the NFL,
you see a lot of bad choices
that people make
with their money.
I didn't want to be
one of those people.
NOBLE VARUGHESE: So, speaking
of the NFL, about 80%
of players actually go
broke in a couple of years
after retirement.
Why do you think that is?
I think, when we were
chatting earlier,
you mentioned that Google's
401(k) is actually more
generous than NFL's.
RYAN HARRIS: Yeah.
NOBLE VARUGHESE:
But you don't see
a lot of players actually
maximizing their contributions
to the NFL's 401(k) program.
What do you think could be--
or why do you think
this happens and what
could, whether NFL or others,
do to improve that situation?
RYAN HARRIS: I think all of us
like to see our money, right?
And when you have a lot of
money and you're not used to--
and you're not in an environment
where somebody teaches you what
to do with it, what choices
you can make with it,
how to invest, you can see more
of the money you make, right?
And I think about one young
guy that I mentored in the NFL.
I said, hey, do not go buy a new
car, do not go buy a new car,
do not go buy a new car, and
he goes out and buys a new car.
Porsche Panamera at that.
A car I'd still love to own to
this day, you know what I mean?
But I tried to tell him, hey,
delay your purchases three
months to three years.
You know?
We're getting into
the holiday season.
If you delay a purchase of a
television for three months,
you'll probably
get 20% off, right?
In three years, somebody
will give you that TV.
You know what I mean?
But sure enough,
this young player
who would make the
first money of his life,
580 grand, which sounds like
a lot till you get taxes.
So you're down to about 320.
That car.
Now you're about 220, right?
Not to mention, are
you living somewhere,
are you going to eat, what
are you doing for fun?
So, all of a sudden, three
months later, this player
with a Porsche Panamera gets
fired, never works in the NFL
again, is driving
back to Philadelphia
with a Porsche, no winter
tires, no house, no 401(k).
Preventable, right?
But how many times do we
do that in our own lives?
And we will make
mistakes with money.
Saving money is
really hard to do.
And knowing yourself and what
you want to spend money on
can really create
your financial future
to where you can achieve
really the goals you set out
to achieve by making small
changes here and there.
NOBLE VARUGHESE:
Did your teammates
ask you for advice when it
came to financial planning,
amongst other things?
Or what kind of resources
exist for these players
to ramp up on topics like this?
RYAN HARRIS: You
know, not at first,
because I was always
the boring guy, right?
Like, I didn't want to go
out because you know what?
If I go out and spend
like $1000 at dinner
and some other establishments
you can spend money at, like,
that's a lot of money.
I ain't doing that.
Y'all want to come
over and watch Netflix,
I got this 8.99 a month.
You know, we've got
unlimited movies, right?
But eventually, once I got--
because there's a
big gap in the NFL.
There's a lot of players who
are in years one and two,
and then there's
a lot of players
who are in years eight,
nine, 10, 11, 12.
And in between, there
aren't a lot of them.
So, all of a sudden, when
I'm a fifth-year vet,
people are like, hold on, Ryan.
Like, you got a used car?
You don't care what
anybody thinks about you?
I'm like, hell no.
My job in the NFL is
not to have a nice car.
My job the NFL is to whoop
your ass if you're across
from me, right?
Let's not get it twisted.
Let's not forget
about what-- my car is
to get me to practice on time.
My car is to get me to
the stadium on time.
And so I began to have
those conversations.
And I would sit down with guys.
And I've done it in the
radio station I'm at now.
Sit down with people,
open up a Scottrade,
a TD Ameritrade, a ING, or
talk about their 401(k).
And tell them, hey,
own what you buy.
If you've got a
Google phone, right?
The Pixel 4, right?
If you've got a Pixel 4
and you go to Starbucks
and you like this company called
Amazon that delivers things
to your door, you should
probably own those stocks.
By the way, what's the
telecom company that's
on your cell phone, right?
AT&T, DIRECTV.
I mean, what is it?
Comcast?
Maybe you should own
those stocks, too.
You ever heard of Walmart?
Barnes and Noble?
I mean, I told you, I
started with McDonald's.
I was a fat kid, man.
What do I know and love?
McDonald's, let's go.
You know?
A great stock, too.
Parents.
I have my dad of three up there.
You know what I'm saying?
Hey, Disney.
How much money is
Disney taking from you?
Own that stock.
Get a real cash back.
You know what I'm saying?
But these are things
that are all around us.
And it's amazing,
not just in the NFL,
but when speaking to young
kids who look like me,
multiple times, tears
coming from players' eyes,
tears coming from youth's
eyes, I can own a stock?
I can own part of Nike?
I can be invested in what
you all are doing here
at Google on a daily basis, and
I don't even have to know you?
Like, the empowerment
that people
get when they make the
choices they really
want to make with their money
makes a huge difference,
and I'm here for all of that.
NOBLE VARUGHESE: What does
your investment philosophy
look like?
It sounds like you
invest in stocks,
but do you also do
things like real estate,
or do you have other
types of investments
that may be only available to
high net-worth individuals?
RYAN HARRIS: You
know, it's funny.
Every day in the NFL,
the "USA Today" comes,
full of Main page, Sports.
No one ever touches the
Money section, right?
It's crazy.
You've got literally
40 millionaires
that don't read the Money
pages that are right there,
like hand-delivered.
So my point in that is the
information's out there.
What do you want to actually do?
A lot of times, we
think, hey, I don't
want to think about my money,
because if I make a mistake,
then it's not my fault, right?
Or our favorite thing to do,
give it to somebody else.
They'll care about it
more than I do, right?
Well, wrong.
But what I did is I learned.
So I learned, hey,
own what you buy.
So I read Warren Buffett.
One of my favorite
things he said
is, treat investing
like baseball.
If the stock's too
high, that's not right.
If it's too low,
don't worry about it.
Hit that pitch where
you want to hit it.
Real, sound, basic advice.
I also had some great
mentors who talked to me.
I was about to buy--
I made the mistake asking
a bank, what kind of house
can I afford?
Wrong question to ask the bank.
They'll have you at 10% down
and it's 8% for 30 years.
Well, I had a
lawyer, Mike Doherty,
who said, hey,
Ryan, you sure seem
happy in this
two-bedroom apartment.
Well, I was about
to buy a $750,000
house, single, no kids, one car.
What am I doing?
Right?
So just reading.
Asking questions.
You know somebody
who's good with money.
You know somebody who
doesn't waste money.
You know somebody who doesn't
come in and talk about what
they spent last weekend.
That's who you
want to be around.
Ask somebody who's retired.
What do I need to think about?
How many of you,
raise your hand,
have thought about
how much money you're
going to need every
month when you retire?
Wow, that's good, because
90% of people don't do that.
On top of that, 8% of
those-- eight more percent
do not actively invest
to meet those means.
But what does it look like?
Where are you living?
So for me, I do stocks, yes,
but I also like real estate.
I do commercial and residential.
So I like duplexes, fourplexes.
Players ask me all the time,
what should I do with my money?
I'm like, buy a duplex.
Well, I want to buy a house.
You don't need a house.
They're going to ship you
out in two to three years.
Well, I just got here.
They drafted me.
They liked me.
Yeah, and you'll be
gone, so when you leave,
how about you make some
money in that duplex
in Denver or the Boulder area.
I mean, how many of you--
some of you do-- how
many of you would
love to charge somebody
rent and live maybe
with one less bedroom in
your house in Boulder?
Right?
So these are the kinds
of things that are there.
And so often, we think it's
unattainable, unreachable.
I didn't come from money.
I don't know about money.
Well, those aren't
excuses when you're
talking about how you
want to enjoy your life.
And money's not your enjoyment,
but it's going to help.
You know what I'm saying?
It's going to help
you get there.
It's going to help you
visit your grandchildren.
It's going to help you when
you find the person you
want to marry and build a home.
It's going to help you when you
take your kids to Disney on Ice
and spend some money.
You know what I'm saying?
So these are all things that
the information's out there,
but so rarely are we
willing to actively have
conversations or take
the time on ourselves
to read about and learn
about what we want to do.
NOBLE VARUGHESE:
What do you think
about the next generation
of children and students
and getting them engaged
early in the world
of financial literacy?
Are there tactics or
strategies that you
have found to be effective in
getting kids involved in this?
RYAN HARRIS: Yeah, I give my
kids the money talk every day.
We were just in the
store the other day.
My daughter said, hey, dad,
can we get some hot chocolate?
I said, you got hot
chocolate money?
Which they don't even
respond anymore, right?
They just know, if I
ask them that, they
know that I know that they
ain't got no money, right?
NOBLE VARUGHESE: How
old are your kids?
RYAN HARRIS: Five,
four, and six months.
So I do not care.
You gonna learn early, right?
But especially with
the digital wallets
that are coming, when you
think about it, our youth,
they're not going to have
a conceptual idea of money
the way we do in
terms of cash, right?
I mean, they're going to be
able to hit their phone six
different places and have
12 different things arrive
at their house.
But actually showing them out--
and one thing that's really
awesome that I've
done with people--
with youth, even, as well--
actually price out and
calculate out the payment
that you're making.
OK, you want that car.
Instead of telling
a young man that I
mentor right now who's 18--
he wants a $30,000 Chevy Camaro.
Cool.
How much is it going to cost?
561 a month.
How much is the insurance?
Insurance?
Yeah, how much is the insurance?
I don't know.
Well, here's an
insurance number.
Why don't you call them?
OK, insurance is $150 a month.
Cool, how much is gas?
Gas?
Yeah, like, you know,
to make the car go.
Oh, well, I drive 150 miles
every week and it's 30--
OK, so, all of a
sudden, you need 150--
so that car is now $800 a month.
Now multiply that out.
OK, now that's five times
or two times as much
as the car payment.
Do you really want that car?
No, I don't want that car.
Good.
Now, why don't you do
it for a Prius, right?
A used Prius.
A used Honda.
None of you know
what car I drove
to get here, and let me ask
you this, does it matter?
No.
But just making
people do the math.
I did that with a buddy of mine
who wanted to buy a huge house.
He could afford
a $450,000 house.
So I priced out the
mortgage with him,
and by the time he's
ended up paying,
that's $850,000 for
a $450,000 house.
So they downsized.
They cut some costs.
So doing math with
people, especially
kids who aren't going to see
the actual exchange of cash
like we grew up seeing,
it's important for them
to understand the amount
of money that insurance,
that having equity, that
having a different rate
on your mortgage can really
make and price it out.
Price it out with people.
NOBLE VARUGHESE: So what kind
of car did you come here in?
RYAN HARRIS: I bought
a GMC 1500 Sierra.
Wide bench seats, you
know what I'm saying?
I got a little wide stance
in the seats, you know?
But I'll tell you what.
My first new car I bought was
in my ninth year of the NFL.
And I did it at the end
of Chevy truck month.
So I went to Chevy
and I said, oh, I
like that Chevy Silverado.
And I went to GMC and said,
I like that GMC Sierra,
but Chevy's going to
give me this deal.
What can you do for me?
Creating leverage.
How many places can
you create leverage in?
So I got a screaming deal
that would've been less
than a used Tahoe
on a brand new 1500
because nobody wants bench
seats, I guess, anymore.
You know what I'm saying?
I don't need any
heated steering wheels.
Hey man, I'll turn
the heat on earlier,
you know what I'm saying?
So I don't fall for the frills,
but I got a nice vehicle
and it's comfortable.
NOBLE VARUGHESE: Talking
about intersectionality
of financial health
and mental health,
do you think there's
correlation there?
Like, if you do well financially
from a knowledge perspective,
does that carry over to the
mental health [INAUDIBLE]??
RYAN HARRIS: 1,000%.
I mean, they have
studies that show,
when you don't have
money, you're constantly
in a scarcity mindset.
And I don't know if any
of you have been there.
I mean, I was there in college,
you know what I'm saying?
Hey, we got $250 a month.
I was 305 pounds.
Try eating on $200 a month,
you know what I'm saying?
You get some friends real quick.
But it's so rare that we
talk about the connection
between mental health
and the confidence you
have from the choices you make.
Have you ever been upset with
yourself for saving money?
Anybody?
Ever been like, damn, I
really shouldn't have saved
that amount of money, right?
Versus how many times have
we been like, oh, we've
got this extra surplus.
So glad that I didn't spend it
on the heated steering wheel,
right?
That I can actually
go do something.
I can go take care of
my parents who are ill,
or I can go visit
my grandmother,
or I can go to a funeral.
I mean, these kinds of things
make a huge difference.
Not only that, how about the
leverage and respect that you
can build with other people?
Twice in my career in the
NFL, I told teams things
that they had never heard.
The year before I went to the
Broncos, they called me early
and they said, hey, we want
to do this kind of a deal.
Hey, man, that's not
going to work for me.
I know my value.
Each and every one of you in
here knows your value as well.
Well, they called back
a couple of weeks later.
They gave me the best
deal of my career.
I was at the Pittsburgh Steelers
after winning the Super Bowl,
and they offered me a deal
that was not to my standards.
And because I didn't buy a
brand new car and because--
how many cars can we drive
at the same time, by the way?
One, right?
That's how many I bought.
Because I didn't
buy multiple homes.
Because I didn't give money
in large amounts away,
I was able to say to the
Steelers, I'll go home.
And the look on their
face was like, what?
You know?
They said, give us five minutes.
Came back.
Exactly the deal I wanted.
And later on, they
told me, we've
never heard a player
say I'll go home.
How much more money could you
have gotten in your contract
right now if you had
been financially secure,
prepared for that moment,
prepared for negotiations,
and said, this is my line.
You want me here?
Great.
I want to be here too.
This is what it's going to take.
And what a lot of people
don't know about the NFL
is that they are invested
in players being broke.
Because Noble, if I'm willing
to pay you $3 million,
but you're broke because
I didn't tell you
you can only drive
one car at one time,
I didn't tell you about heated
steering wheels are an option
that you don't have to
have, I didn't tell you
you could buy a used
car, well, now, I'm
going to offer you $60,000
and a $800,000 salary.
You may or may
not have children.
You may or may not have
debt that you need to pay.
Do you take that deal?
NOBLE VARUGHESE: Yes.
RYAN HARRIS: Your body's
already saying yes.
He's like, I'm broke,
yeah, I need the deal.
Yeah.
Well, now, I go
to the golf course
and laugh with my buddies
because I just saved $2 million
all because, Noble,
you weren't financially
prepared for the moment.
And that happens all the
time, in every industry,
in every sector,
around the globe.
And you have tremendous
power in the choices you
make with the money you earn.
And when you believe in that and
when you live life like that,
you have time to go to yoga.
You have time to see a
mental health specialist.
You have time to
take time off and go
on a vacation that changes you.
You have time to take a
staycation, staying at home.
All these things come
from the small choices
we make with our
money every day,
and it can make a huge
difference in our lives
and the lives of
the ones we love.
NOBLE VARUGHESE:
You've been successful
both on and off the field.
Can you talk a little bit
more about the mindset--
you kind of talked
about it a bit earlier,
but what are a couple
of things that you
do to sort of train your mind
to have the right mindset?
RYAN HARRIS: Yeah.
I say the words, I
am, I can, I will.
Say it back to me.
I am.
AUDIENCE: I am.
RYAN HARRIS: I can.
AUDIENCE: I can.
RYAN HARRIS: I will.
AUDIENCE: I will.
RYAN HARRIS: Now, like
you believe in yourself.
I am.
AUDIENCE: I am.
RYAN HARRIS: I can.
AUDIENCE: I can.
RYAN HARRIS: I will.
AUDIENCE: I will.
RYAN HARRIS: I said this
to myself the other day.
I was at the pumpkin
patch with three kids.
I said, I am going to
make it out of here,
I can say it's time
to go, and I will
leave with one of these child at
the pumpkin patch if I have to,
right?
But it also helped me, you know?
I talked about, in
college, I said, hey,
I am here because I can be.
Right?
And that helped me
even when I got fired.
Hey, I am able to
still be a good husband
without being a Denver Bronco.
I am capable of helping a
team win a championship.
So speaking I am
gives you this moment
of honesty with yourself.
And when you speak
the words I can,
you can find the possibilities
in front of you instead
of the excuses or the
happenings behind you, right?
When you're down
at your lowest--
everybody's worked through a
critical error in the software.
Everybody's worked
through a major problem.
You're going to live beyond.
So what do you need if you're
going to be living beyond?
How do you want it to look like?
So I speak the words I can.
What are the opportunities in
front of me instead of what
happened behind me.
And then I will is just
speaking that commitment.
Giving action behind it.
You know, I am bad at money.
I can ask people who are
good with money around me
how to do it.
I will follow them.
I will read articles.
I'll listen to podcasts,
things like that, that
can make a huge difference.
So I chose my mindset with the
words, I am, I can, I will.
But I'll tell you
something else.
Learn how to recognize
distractions.
We were going to the Super
Bowl, and I got a call
from a friend who I
hadn't seen in five years.
They said, hey, we wanted you to
come by our kid's kindergarten
class and get them ready
for the Super Bowl.
What?
Hey, I love your kids.
Love speaking to kids.
Right now, I'm getting ready
to leave for the biggest
moment of my life, OK?
I love you.
We'll talk in the
off-season, right?
It's not my job to get
kindergarten kids excited
for Super Bowl 50, right?
I had 200 ticket requests
for Super Bowl 50.
How many of those same
people were with me
after my third back surgery
when I was out of the NFL
and took the LSAT
because I thought
I was going to law school?
How many people were with
me in my toughest times?
You think there were
200 people there?
Were 200 people there
for your moment?
Tell everybody back home you
just got a million dollar bonus
from Google and watch
what happens, right?
My uncle, when I got drafted
at the NFL, all of a sudden,
wanted to do a $1.5
million real estate deal.
He's never done real
estate in his life, right?
I was asked to invest
in a company that
sold the milk from Froot Loops,
Frosted Flakes, Count Chocula.
They didn't have a single
licensing from General Mills
or anybody with this.
So there's all these things
that are distractions.
Who are distractions?
What's a distraction?
And I really learned that from
playing with Peyton Manning
because champions look and
sound different in the NFL.
There were 1,600 players
in the NFL this year.
Only 53 will call
themselves champions.
There are literally
1,500 people who
are getting paid to lose
in the NFL right now.
And those guys will make
you feel bad for staying in.
Those guys will make you
feel bad for studying longer.
Come on out to the bar.
Come on out to the club.
Come on out to this.
Bring your family.
I ain't bringing my family.
I got uncles still
mad to me this day
that I ain't bring
them to the Super Bowl.
That was $1,800 of tickets.
I didn't bring my kids.
Those kids ain't going
to remember that.
You know?
So all these distractions
are around us every day.
And we want to be
nice to people.
We don't want to change, right?
We don't want people to
say, oh, they've changed.
Well, yeah, I changed
because you stayed there.
You didn't take risks.
I did.
You don't want to be great.
I do.
I'm going to sound different.
I'm going to look different.
I'm going to work
differently than you.
And whether it shows this
year or in nine years
or in 20 years, I'm making
that decision today.
And that's how you choose your
mindset everywhere you go.
NOBLE VARUGHESE: How do
you feel like the NFL is
treating mental illness?
Has that changed in the
course of a while you were
there and then maybe even now?
RYAN HARRIS: Yeah.
I mean, it's tough for
the NFL because there
are multiple situations.
There was one recently here in
Boulder with a former teammate
of mine, where you cannot
ignore the mental health aspects
of playing in the NFL.
There has been a change,
though, significantly
in terms of
performance coaching.
Mental health
performance coaching.
We had one the year
we won the Super Bowl.
And it was incredibly
dynamic for me.
One of the things that I
learned is the difference
between external validation
and internal validation.
Right?
Do I want to be a captain
and go to the Pro Bowl,
or do I want to make that
play that nobody knows
that I worked on for two weeks?
Do I want to be the
difference maker in a play
where a running back scores
a touchdown and nobody
knows my name, or do I
want people to say, wow,
Ryan really made a great block.
What's really important there?
You know?
I had a mental performance coach
for all my 10 years in the NFL.
I didn't speak about it
to anybody for nine years
because the NFL wouldn't
talk about that.
What, you get worried
before a game?
I used to think before every
game, I would give up six sacks
a game.
My first start in the NFL was
on Monday night in Oakland.
And I woke up that morning
and I thought, run.
Just run.
Give back the money.
You're going to
embarrass yourself.
Somebody's going to get injured.
They're going to
know you're a fraud.
And this guy was up
with my chiropractor
and I'm like, hey,
what do you do?
He was like, I actually
work with the mental side
for athletes.
And I'm like, you need
to help me right now.
And so he did.
I'm like, I'm going to
do this and do that.
He's like, OK.
And so we worked on a
concept called power tapping,
which is kind of separating
the physical and mental things
going on between you.
Meditation became a
huge part of my life
since my sixth year in the NFL.
What does your
success look like?
Visualizing that.
And the night before
the Super Bowl,
I visualized what it was like.
I had a goal to
raise the trophy.
And sure enough,
24 hours later--
because the night
before, I could only
see it from the bottom up.
I thought, that's weird.
And for those who
don't know football,
it's a big metal football
they put on the stand.
And sure enough, the next
night, we'd won the Super Bowl
and here's Peyton
Manning handing me
down to the Lombardi
trophy and I'm
seeing it from the bottom up.
What does your
success look like?
How much time have you
dedicated to seeing
all your goals come true?
And the NFL has gone
a long way in allowing
for that space for players
to talk about, hey,
I do get nervous, or
I don't get nervous,
or here's how I handle it.
A lot of teams now--
I mean, I've been doing
yoga for 18 years.
For about 14 of them, they
called me names for it,
but then the last four,
they're like, hey man,
can I join you at yoga?
You know?
Kansas City Chiefs have
yoga every Tuesday.
The Denver Broncos have a
yoga expert that comes in.
I mean, these are
things that the NFL's
starting to expand to.
And I'll tell you, the NHL
is far more advanced in that.
There's an NHL player
who won an award
and he said something amazing.
I may be mentally
ill, but that does not
mean I'm mentally weak.
Here is a grown man,
professional athlete
who could rip all our
faces off, saying that he's
got mental challenges.
And being open
about that has been
the difference in a lot of
lives in the NFL and beyond.
AUDIENCE: I just
wanted to ask you,
what are some of
the main attributes
that you've seen in successful
organizations across, like,
the NFL?
You've been with four teams.
RYAN HARRIS: Yeah.
AUDIENCE: You know, what
are some of the things that
really stand out in your mind?
RYAN HARRIS: You've got to
get together outside of work.
And it's not just
in the NFL, right?
We'll do dinners on Thursdays.
But I'm seeing a panel
with a member of the US
national cycling
team, and he said,
there was one cyclist we had
that got a lot of attention
and we couldn't have dinner.
And the best team we were ever
on, the only rule of that team
was don't be late for dinner.
And we had bus three the
year we won the Super Bowl,
and the only rule on bus
three was no rookies.
They ask too many
questions, right?
Any rookie Googlers here?
Any first-year Googlers?
Yeah.
Yeah.
You notice, y'all are kind
of sitting away from people,
right?
They're going to let you figure
out the cafeteria by yourself,
right?
But you've got to
interact away from work.
And that's something
that's tough to do.
You've got parents
or you don't want
to go somewhere new, right?
You may have the place you
go for on taco Tuesdays.
But I encourage each of you
to spend time with your teams
outside of work.
Top teams that I've spoken
to will have their meetings
even outside of the building.
I mean, how many
of your best ideas
came when you were glued
to your desk, right?
Often, it's walking around
or in a conversation.
Where can you go with your team?
I mean, one of the
things about NFL teams,
and the best part about
winning the Super Bowl,
is week after week, there
are fewer and fewer teams
that are playing.
But week after week, there
are fewer and fewer teams
having team dinners, right?
Joking with each other.
And you've got to have fun.
So I would say, getting out
together, but have fun, man.
I can only imagine
working at Google
how intense it is, right?
But do you have fun every day?
Do you laugh with
your coworkers?
Because you know what
happens when you laugh?
You build bonds that are
impervious to failure.
You build bonds
that are impervious
to misunderstandings.
You have the confidence
to go and talk to somebody
because you were doing
a ropes course with them
and you were both terrified
10 feet off the ground
that you were going
to die even though you
had six ropes on you, right?
You could say, hey,
maybe your intention
was to do this,
but let me tell you
how that happened
in my world, or hey,
maybe next time you have
a very important thing,
you ask me if I'm doing
anything very important
because I was actually just
talking to my family or x, y,
and z.
So it gives you
all this confidence
when you laugh with people.
And think about the
people you laugh with.
Do you ever really not
like being around them?
There's always good
things around people
you can laugh with,
and so have fun.
Go to a ropes course.
Do something you've never done.
Hey, if you haven't been
to a roller skating rink
and one of your team members
loves to roller skate,
go to the roller skating rink.
You know what I'm saying?
I mean, how many things have
you really extended yourself
for with your team?
And you never lose
when you win like that.
AUDIENCE: As a college
football player,
did you have actually
time to study?
RYAN HARRIS: Too much.
Too much time.
NOBLE VARUGHESE:
Got your degrees.
RYAN HARRIS: College was so
hard, I'll never do it again.
You know what I'm saying?
I would wake up at
6:00 and sometimes
be at a 7:00 AM workout,
class at 8:30 till 2:00.
Practice meetings start at 2:30.
Practice would be from 4:00
to 7:00, and oh, by the way,
dining hall closes at 7:30.
When you're 300 pounds and
that dining hall closes,
you're moving, right?
So you eat from 7:30
to 8:00, and then I
would study from 8:00 to 12:00.
I did that for four years.
And many of you have, too.
And I will never do that again,
you know what I'm saying?
But what I loved is challenging
myself to win in the classroom
the same way I wanted
to win on the field.
And that's why I love Notre Dame
because only at Notre Dame--
and I encourage all of you
to come join me anytime.
I do the radio broadcast there.
I'd love to host you,
put you on the sidelines
with anyone you love, and give
you the Notre Dame experience.
But it's rare that
people that you're around
want to challenge themselves
in more than one way,
and it's rare that you
have the opportunity
to challenge yourself
in more than one way.
And so I love that, and I'll
never do it again, though.
Yeah.
AUDIENCE: Can you talk
about the power tapping
thing you were talking about?
RYAN HARRIS: Yeah.
So Robert Rudelic, he's
actually in San Francisco.
Shout out to Robert.
It was really cool, too.
I got to bring him here
for the AFC championship
game in my ninth year in
the NFL to say thank you.
From that scared boy to now
this soon-to-be Super Bowl
going woo, having fun.
But I got to bring him there.
So power tapping is just, you
hit these different points
that can separate
anxiety or feelings,
because one of the
things-- like, if you think
about the most stressful thing--
and even right now, I'm not,
uh.
You know?
So being in the game,
I'll be laying in bed
like, oh my god, I don't
want that to happen.
I don't want that to happen.
I don't want that to happen.
You know?
So, when you tap and you
create a physical sensation,
it separates that
mind-body connection.
Because your brain thinks
it's real, you know?
I mean, it's the same way where
then I would visualize success
on the field the next day
and it would often happen.
We talked about the raising
the trophy and getting it.
But I was searching
for something
to separate the mind-body
so I could really
dictate what I wanted to achieve
and what I was capable of,
you know?
And so that's one technique
that really worked for me.
Visualization was huge.
Dr. Rick Perea,
who's here in Denver,
was with the Denver
Broncos when we were there.
I talked to the president
of the Chicago Cubs.
They've got eight
mental performance
coaches on their staff
and like five of them
are dedicated to pitchers.
So I mean, it's like,
there's this idea that you
have everything you
need to be successful,
and the reality is, we
have few of the tools we
need to be successful.
And the greatest one is
willingness and ability
to learn.
And whether that's
when you learn
from being a first
year at Google
to being a tenured
professional here at Google,
you have to learn
some new things.
And for me and for a lot of
players and a lot of people,
it's what can I do to make sure
I'm not focusing on an outcome
but I have a process that makes
me successful wherever I go?
Because even after winning
the Super Bowl, that's it,
you know?
When I got back
to those kids that
didn't come with me,
to my kids, I was like,
they didn't care I
won the Super Bowl.
But what's my process
for finding achievement?
Well, now, I've been able
to do it in broadcasting.
I'm so glad I didn't
hinge my entire life
on just winning a Super Bowl.
For a long time, I'm
sure for a lot of you,
working at Google
was a huge goal.
And now that you've done it
for three, five, six years,
I'm sure you've
found new heights
that you want to reach to.
So really trying to
find those things.
Meditation was huge.
These are huge things that
powerful and successful people
use every day, you know?
But we tell each other, oh
no, we don't need meditation.
Oh no, I don't need this.
I don't need that.
It's like, all right, man.
Cool.
And you get a lot
of that in the NFL.
Guys with six chains.
Man, I don't need to talk
to nobody about confidence.
Boy, I'm swagged up, boy.
Right.
Right?
That's why you had to buy
six chains because five
wasn't enough.
You know what I'm saying?
So we've got to have these
conversations with each other.
But really, it's a vulnerability
for yourself and reaching out.
Hey, what works,
what doesn't work?
I had a team that we weren't
going to win the Super Bowl,
let alone go to the playoffs
if we didn't play better.
And instead of
being like, hey, you
got to get your crap
together, it's like, hey man,
I've been using this
guy for nine years.
He's really made a
difference in my life.
I'd love for you
to chat with him.
He's ready to talk to you.
He called him.
Guy didn't have a problem
the rest of the way.
We are Super Bowl champions.
So that's also as leaders.
What kind of engagement
are you having with others?
It's not just about
whether I found somebody,
but just like the question
you asked, what is that?
What is power tapping?
Who is that?
What are some other
tools you can use?
Those are very
important questions.
As a leader,
engaging in that way
can make a huge
difference for your teams.
AUDIENCE: It sounds like
you've been a great mentor
for many people in your life.
I'm curious, like,
early on, who mentored
you or what books influenced you
and what would you recommend?
RYAN HARRIS: Yeah.
I've got to give a special
thanks to Michael and Mary
Doherty.
Michael Doherty specifically,
I call him my conciliary.
He's a business lawyer, right?
But he gave me a
lot of great advice,
especially with investing.
You know, invest with someone
who doesn't need your money.
Like, if somebody
needs your money,
they're probably going to
take some of it at some point.
I just recently was speaking
with a company that's
looking to digitize the loan
process for infrastructure
builders in second- and
third-world countries.
I said, hey, send me your
PPM, your Private Placement
Memorandum.
What are you going to
do with this money?
Oh, we're a tech startup.
We don't really do that.
Great, well you ain't
gonna use my money then.
You know what I'm saying?
So Mike and Mary
Doherty were huge.
My coaches were huge.
I had a coach who was
a gambling addict who
talked about it openly,
about how he almost
lost his marriage and wife and
kids because of his gambling
addiction.
I had Daniel Graham was a
great mentor to me in the NFL.
He's a guy who went to CU.
A big-time buff.
A world champion
with the Patriots.
And he didn't know how much
money he has, you know?
Spending time with
guys like Ryan Clady,
who this guy's got a lot
of money in the bank.
Doesn't wear any chains, right?
Seeing a Warren Buffett.
How many chains does
Warren Buffett have?
How about Bill Gates?
You know?
And also, in being a
mentor, interjecting.
After we won the Super Bowl,
we had two rookies getting--
I'm not lying, this is
the hilarity of the NFL.
Two rookies jump in
the car on the way--
because we're going
to Vegas, right?
To hang out together
and blow some steam.
They've got brown paper bags.
What the hell is in that bag?
Cash.
Cash, OK?
For what?
Because they couldn't put
cash in a backpack, right?
It had to be in a
brown paper bag, right?
I'm going to get some ice, man.
Ice?
The hell you talking about ice?
You know, watch, chains.
OK.
So I google Bill Gates.
Hit Images.
Boom.
This is what rich looks like.
Bill Gates is wearing a purple
polo and some New Balances.
How may chains he have?
None.
OK, that's one of the
richest people in the world.
Why do you need ice?
And the look on one of the
rookies-- he starts sweating.
He's moving his knees.
He's like, can we
stop back by my house?
I'm like, yeah, we're gonna
stop back at your house.
Put that bag away.
You know what I mean?
But I was very fortunate
to have mentors
who didn't need my money.
Mentors Ken Highfill, a
guy here in Boulder who--
I wanted to get into real
estate, and instead of saying,
I want to get into real estate.
I'm just going to throw
my money at the wall.
Who do I know in real estate?
Well, I know this
guy, Ken Highfill.
Well, if I asked him, hey,
tell me about real estate.
I want to be rich.
He'd be like, OK, no.
Right?
Instead, I said,
hey, I'm thinking
about getting into real estate.
Would love to join
you at any meetings
that you go to just
to learn and observe.
So he invites me.
So a couple weeks
later, he says, hey,
why don't you join
me at this meeting?
I'm going to the bank.
OK.
So I go and I join them.
First thing I notice,
he waits to sit down
till the guy across
from him sits down.
Cool.
They didn't do that at the NFL.
You know what I'm saying?
You sit down or else you're
getting fined, right?
So I sit down.
And this guy's looking at me
in this, like, what is this?
Some kind of mentor
project or something?
You know?
I'm listening and
learning and we leave.
Well, I come back two
months later with a deal
that I like to that same
banker, and I say, hey man,
good to see you again.
I was here with Ken Highfill.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
This bank will give
me this interest rate.
What can you do?
Wow, I'm so glad I
asked and gave my time.
So whatever it is you
want to do-- be a quilter,
be a motorcyclist,
whatever it is, a gardener,
who do you know in that space?
Ask their advice.
Ask if you can join them.
Ask if you can learn
the language, right?
All of you have had to learn a
different language to be here
at Google, whether it's
programming or HR or even
calling yourself Googlers.
That's cool.
You know what I mean?
But it's funny how we'll stop,
as soon as we leave work,
learning, when your
success depends so much
on who you know in that space.
And who doesn't like to give
advice about something they're
successful at?
If I asked any one
of you, hey, I'm
thinking about getting
a job at Google.
Could we meet for
coffee so I can
learn what you think the
best program for me to be in
would be?
I mean, there's like 20
of you nodding right now,
like yeah, check my schedule.
You know?
But we don't do that
enough, and especially
when it comes to finance.
When it comes to being a parent.
When it comes to these
big things in life,
I encourage all of you,
reach out, find a mentor,
or mentor someone else.
Listen, if you can save
a kid from spending
50 grand on a watch that he'll
never make that money back,
how much better of a father,
of a husband, of a son
did you make that person?
When we own things, we
create real communities
that see each other, right?
And we have that
opportunity as mentors
and we have that
opportunity for the goals
that we want to achieve, to find
mentors in that area to really
create meaningful change.
AUDIENCE: So, I'm sure
when you were in the NFL,
you had a bunch of habits
or pre-game rituals
to get you in the mindset
that you needed to be.
RYAN HARRIS: Yeah.
NOBLE VARUGHESE: How have
you found the ability
to translate those habits
now, maybe into broadcasting
TV or being in a
talk like this, like,
have you noticed that you use
the same pre-game routine,
so to speak?
How is that translated?
And then, for the folks in
the room where maybe we did
have pre-game
routines, so to speak,
when we were doing something
for a hobby or outside of work
but we find it harder
to recreate that time
or space in the
middle of a workday,
how do you recommend
that we find time
or find ways to institute that
into our day, amidst meetings
or other presentations?
RYAN HARRIS: Yeah, I mean,
that's a fantastic question.
Yes, I had routines,
but I was also
so grateful my trainer,
long-time, Todd Johnson
had made me read a book,
"The Book of Five Rings."
Anybody read that?
Ancient samurai.
All right, man, yeah.
My guy Rich back there.
Because there's this
concept in samurai
warrior culture of no thing.
Not nothing, no thing.
There's no thing
outside of yourself
that when you prepare yourself--
in that case, for battle,
but when you prepare yourself
for work, you're ready
when you get there.
So a lot of building a
routine and finding a rhythm
leads to letting go of things.
I mean, I usually took
fish oil and I would
do a hand-eye coordination.
A little app.
I still don't know if the app's
real or some Russian bot just
getting all my info,
but I would do that.
Well, why?
Because fish oil helps your
brain and stamina and heart.
Well, good thing when I'm
going into a football game.
And that hand-eye coordination,
if there's a tackle,
well, I've got to hit you
in a certain spot, right?
So I'd better practice that.
Well, before the Super
Bowl, somehow, the fish oil
is out of my bag and
my iPad was on charge.
So I can go to coach and
be like, coach, can't play.
Don't have my fish oils.
Don't got my iPad working.
It's not going to
work out today.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, I could do
that, or I could just
laugh and be like, damn,
wish I had my fish oil,
but let's go rock this anyways.
You know?
I also would prepare
extremely hard.
And that's something where--
what's your name?
Dan, right?
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
RYAN HARRIS: Dan, if I
were to go against you,
I would know everything about
you when we're in the NFL.
I would know that when
you put your foot one
way, that you're going left.
That you put your foot one
way, you're going right.
I knew that on
third down, you're
going to try the spin move that
you learned from Von Miller
because you thought he was
cool and you can't do it yet,
so I'm gonna stab
you in the chest
when you think
you're gonna do it--
[INAUDIBLE]
You know what I'm saying?
But now, I go to broadcasting
and it's like, OK, well,
Notre Dame's going to
play Michigan coming up.
Well, what does
Michigan do defensively?
Well, they're a
man coverage team.
Well, who's blitzing?
This guy's going to blitz.
So I would take that
same preparation
and put it towards
what I'm doing now.
And what we fail to
realize is how much power
we have to prepare.
We can control how
prepared we are.
We can control our
reaction to an outcome.
We can throw a
timeline and shorten it
and raise it and extend it.
We can do all of these things
before anything actually
happens.
And so, when I go into
the broadcast booth now,
I'm completely prepared, right?
I may not use 90%
of what I learned,
but I might use it in
something like this, right?
I might talk about it
in a different way.
I may meet somebody who's a
Michigan grad and say, wow,
you really got a player there
in Donovan Peoples-Jones
there at that wide receiver.
Oh yeah.
You know?
Here you go, you're
having a conversation.
But preparation never
goes unutilized,
and that's something we learned
in the NFL as champions.
Whether you use it
this week, next week,
10 years down the line-- you
know, we learned a drill--
I learned a technique
two years earlier
and we had a fourth-down
play to win a playoff
game against the
Pittsburgh Steelers.
It was a fourth-down play.
The whole week, we're like, hey,
if we don't get on third down,
we're going to do this
play on fourth call.
It was called Cobra.
Quick strike.
You know what I'm saying?
We're getting in there.
Sure enough, third down, they
stop us on the goal line.
And Pittsburgh celebrates.
Woo, we won the game.
They look back, we're on
the line of scrimmage,
and the guy I'm going
against, James Harrison,
likes to fool tackles.
Move inside out and
kind of bait them.
And it's like, OK, this is the
play to go to the playoffs.
I can just run.
If I hit him, I win, or
I can use my technique
where I gather my feet so I
can go north and south in case
he moves.
Well, thank god I
remembered my technique
and I shuffled, because
he spins back out.
Wham, I hit him.
Field runningback
CJ Anderson hit me.
I scored before he did.
Him and I are looking at
each other in the eyes
before everybody said touchdown.
Those little things, those
preparations-- something
I learned two years earlier
helped us win a playoff game.
What information's around you
right now that you can use,
that may help you today but
might help you in two years?
Might help you in five.
It might be the
difference in you
achieving your goals or not.
So that's why I
use my preparation.
AUDIENCE: So, when it comes
to being prepared for games,
it seems like time management
was really important for you,
but on the back
end of it, when you
have to maintain a sense
of normalcy, what did
you do to create balance in
your life and also recovery?
RYAN HARRIS: Recovery is huge.
Number one performance
enhancer in sports is sleep.
Sleep.
Sleep sleep.
So like, when I was at
the Pittsburgh Steelers,
we started training camp.
We had the doctor who actually
worked with the Golden State
Warriors, who helped them
win their first championship,
talk to us about sleep.
Sleep can help your
overall performance by 9%.
Cognitively, 24%.
You're literally
coming in hungover
if you don't sleep, right?
But what does that mean?
Maybe that means one less
episode of The Marvelous Mrs.
Maisel, right?
I love that show.
It's funny.
But you know what?
She gonna be there
tomorrow, right?
And maybe it's one
less happy hour.
Things like that.
So sleep is used to recover.
And then, I was thankful,
Mayor of Denver, Hancock,
had a meeting with
me and some others.
And I asked him,
like, what do you do
as a politician with all this?
You know, you're
constantly pulled.
And one of the things they
said is, balance is not real,
but you want a ballast right?
So I'm not looking
for balance, but when
I'm in broadcasting, when I'm
on the field, I'm on the field.
And part of me misses
that, because short
of somebody dying, nothing
else mattered when you
went in on the field on Sunday.
But there are going
to be times where
I'm not the best father or
husband because I'm not home.
But that means that
I'm making money
so we can go places like
Florida for vacation or Vail
or do some things.
So, in my life, I've really
let go of having balance.
Like, I'm going to be
balanced with who I am,
but I can't be a perfect
father, a perfect husband,
and a perfect
professional every day.
That's not a balance.
That's unsustainable, right?
But you know what?
At times, family, cool.
You've got to chill.
And at times, work, you've
really got to chill, right?
So creating that,
finding what that is,
and for me and my
family, it's vacations
and it's breakfast together
and it's dinner together.
So I make an effort
to be at those things,
really focused on those things.
I'm not going to make every
parent-teacher conference,
and I'm not upset that
my mom missed or made
any of the all
parent-teacher conferences
that she did or didn't go to.
Right?
So what matters to you,
your family, your situation,
and create ballasts.
And know and have
confidence that there's
going to be times where that
ship's swaying but you're going
to get where you're going.
AUDIENCE: When I tell him that
I was here and he wants to play,
and just what is your
advice for little ones?
He's 11.
He wants to play.
And I'm a little
scared to let him play.
RYAN HARRIS: Me too.
The question is, your
kid loves football.
I didn't play football
till I was 14.
And I was sitting next
to a guy two years ago.
He's like, my kids
are the toughest kids,
and we win the championship
because we have the toughest
training camp.
I said, cool.
Why do you have the
toughest training camp?
We hit the most.
Cool.
How old are your kids?
Nine.
You're an idiot.
Right?
Like, one of the
things with-- like,
if I was going to go to
a Google Academy that
was a feeder to Google
and I was 11 years old,
am I really learning
from the best people?
You know what I mean?
Am I learning how to
be a tech entrepreneur,
to be a member of a
team, to be a Googler?
A lot of the coaches
at these lower levels
didn't play and are in
their minds the John
Madden's of the world, right?
I'm sure you guys
have met people
in tech who are nowhere
near where they need
to be to be integrated
into systems and protocols,
but they've got their IT
Academy or something, right?
That's what a lot
of these guys are.
And furthermore, you
don't need to hit.
You don't need to be
physically aggressive.
Because let me
tell you something.
When you really play
the game of football,
it's not about being aggressive.
It's about dominating the
person across from you.
It's about completely
taking their will
to compete against you.
Can an 11-year-old learn that?
You know?
Can a 12-year-old?
So one of the things I look
forward to hopefully doing here
in Colorado, I
would love Colorado
to be the first state
that doesn't allow contact
football before the age of 14.
Developmentally,
there are issues.
Just from a
schematic standpoint,
they are not going to learn
what it takes to be successful
in football because you can't.
How could you possibly learn--
you know, have a mentality
to kill someone's will
when you're 11.
You know, you're still
sharing teddy bears.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, things are different.
I would encourage you,
though, to use flag football.
Take him to a game.
Take him to a college game.
If you live here in
Boulder, take him to CU.
It's probably, what,
$15 a ticket right now?
You know what I'm saying?
But take him.
But allow to be on a team.
And that's the biggest
thing with sports,
is let your kids have fun.
You know, I had a teammate of
mine in high school, Joe Mauer.
He's probably going to be a
Hall of Famer in baseball.
And recently had him on my
show, because you know what?
We were teammates in football.
Still to this day one of the
best quarterbacks I ever saw.
He also played basketball.
And here he is, about to go into
the Hall of Fame in baseball.
And I said, Joe,
parents these days,
they want to wipe away and
focus so early on sports.
What would you have done?
He's a Hall of Fame
baseball player saying,
I would have chosen basketball.
One of the greatest baseball
players to ever play
would never have played if he
was forced to choose a sport.
For what, right?
To compete at 11?
To compete at 13?
No.
Let your kids have
choice, experiences.
You know what's a great lesson?
Being a bad player on the team
in a sport that you suck at.
Soccer?
I was terrible at soccer.
And I fought every
day, every practice not
to get lapped on the
two laps before soccer.
That's it.
I just didn't want
to get lapped.
But it taught me how
to be a good teammate.
Was that more important?
Or should I have been
playing football at nine?
You know?
And I've seen guys at
Notre Dame in the NFL.
When they get
there, they're done
because they've been playing
since they were six, nine, 10.
If you'd been a Googler
since you were 11,
how much would you
love being here, right?
People are like, oh, Googler.
You're like, please don't.
Just use something else, right?
Right?
But that happens all the
time with youth in athletics.
NOBLE VARUGHESE: You're gonna
have to yell really loud.
AUDIENCE: What do you do for
exercise and recreation now
and how does it
impact your life?
RYAN HARRIS: Yeah,
so I love exercise.
If you've ever watched--
I think the book is called--
I can't believe I'm forgetting
the name of it right now,
but it talks about how,
each and every day,
exercise changes and
expands your brain.
Even seven minutes
of exercise per day
can really change your brain.
So this morning, I went on
a walk my wife and kids.
You know what I mean?
Like, get out, be active.
I do swimming, I do
spinning, I do the yoga.
I'm big on the yoga, you
know what I'm saying?
And you know, the
big thing, too,
is I tell people--
because they're like,
hey, what should I
do to stay in shape?
I'm like, stop
worrying about what
other people think about you.
You know?
Because I think-- running.
Sometimes people
say, well, I don't
want to run because
I don't want people
to laugh at me in their car.
How many times have
we laughed at somebody
when we're riding in a
car when they're running?
Usually, we're like, damn, I
should probably get a run in,
too.
But when we do these
things, we have this idea.
Like, especially
even in yoga for me,
I thought everyone was
looking at me in yoga.
Like, oh my god, I'm the
only black person here,
like sweating profusely.
No one's watching me, you know?
So kind of getting over that.
Getting over that.
But there's a good--
I think it's called
"Spark," the book.
And it talks about how exercise
is better than medication
when it deals with
depression and anxiety.
You know, you meet new people.
You place yourself in
all these opportunities.
So I try and be active
every day, to the extent
that my body allows.
You know, it was about 10
years ago my doctor told me
I had a 90-year-old's back,
and I was like, OK, I'm 28.
You know what I'm saying?
24.
But exercise is huge,
I love it, and it makes
a huge difference in my life.
And I encourage all of
you to find something--
rowing, walking,
running, climbing--
anything that gets you
active, gets you out
of your comfort zone, and
literally expands your brain.
NOBLE VARUGHESE: Ryan,
I want to thank you
for coming and joining
us this morning.
I think a lot of your
insights were amazing.
I'm looking forward
to reading your book.
RYAN HARRIS: Thank you.
NOBLE VARUGHESE: You've
been super down-to-earth
and thank you.
RYAN HARRIS: Thank you, Noble.
Thanks for having me, guys.
[APPLAUSE]
Appreciate it.
