What Is Human Capital & Why It Matters To NFL Players | Zach Miller, Sam Acho, Jeff Locke, Riccardo Stewart | NFL Players’ Podcast #3
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Playing in the League is not the only way NFL players make money to secure generational wealth. Building and sustaining multi-generational wealth begins with an understanding of Human Capital.
This episode starts a mini-series discussing the topic of Human Capital, the skills, knowledge, and experience of an individual that brings value.
As Financial Advisors, one former coach and three former NFL players, Sam Acho, Zach Miller, Jeff Locke & Riccardo Stewart, provide financial expertise and wisdom in relatable ways unique to the NFL experience.
For questions, you can reach out to Riccardo Stewart at +1 (602) 989-5022.
+ Read the Transcript
Riccardo Stewart (00:00): Hey, I want to welcome you guys back to the AWM podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Riccardo Stewart. I got my friends here with me. And you know what, I'm going to take a little bit of time to go back and tell you why we have these names. And so, I'm going to start first. My main mayor here, Jeff Locke. Jeff Locke is a professor because here's the reality, nobody can scoot on. I'm just saying. He's one of the smartest guys we know and he's been given financial advice to teammates and friends and before he even joined the industry, being a financial planner. And then we got the mayor here, Sam Acho. And if anybody would know why, there he is, there's that smile. That's why he's the mayor, not because he's politicking, because at the end of the day he's going to get everybody's vote.
(00:49) And lastly, we got the truth. No one's going to go deeper in terms of finance and football and so forth. My man, Zach Miller, he's been known as the truth because of what he was able to do on the field and then the truth and the way that he's able to give advice off the field. And then I know Sam's going to give me a hard time if I don't say how I got my name. It's pretty simple. I coach. I've been coaching since I left college and I've coached college all the way down to EU flag football. And so now we're taking all of who we are and we're talking about the financial world, talking a little bit about football, but mainly, just a lot of fun. So let's start. We've been traveling a little bit. Everybody's kind of been at different places and whatnot. And so where we been? You guys, I would love to hear some stories.
Sam Acho (01:32): Man, y'all been traveling. I've been home, man. I've been in Dallas. I say home. I moved from Chicago. I played for the Bears for four years. The Cardinals before that, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Well, I moved back to Dallas where I grew up and it's been awesome because now I do stuff at ESPN as well. The college NFL season is coming towards an end. So I've been able to be home more and I've been up at Exos training trying to look like I could still play again. But this is awesome to be able to be there and to be able to train to get my body right, and also connect with some guys who I got a chance to watch and support and talk about on TV. So I've been here in Dallas and Frisco, where are you guys been? Zach, where you been at last weekend-
Riccardo Stewart (02:08): Sam said he's been working out at Exos in Dallas. Let's just let you guys know as our listeners, we actually talked to one of the NFL players who was working out there and I said, "Is Sam really working out?" And no joke, I'm not going to use the exact words he said, because that's not appropriate for the kids that are listening to this. But he said he's been getting his [inaudible 00:02:26] work out on.
Sam Acho (02:29): Well, the reason why, Coach, is one of my friends, because I was like, man, as we go through life, we're trying to grow physically, mentally, emotionally, all these things. And so I was in the process of going to hire this life coach helped me with like, "Oh man, I want to do this and that." And one of my best friends was like, "Bro, you don't need a life coach. Go hire a personal trainer." I was like, "Why?" He said, "So you could look like you used to look like when you used to play. You're on TV, your suits are fitting loose." So I say, "You know what? I have the perfect idea. I'm going to go and train. Not just with retired players." No offense to Jeff and Zach and Riccardo, I know y'all aren't playing anymore. But I'm going to go train with guys who are currently trying to do their off-season workouts. So that's where I've been and I got to go all in, man. I'm all gas, no breaks. So that's where I'm at right now.
Riccardo Stewart (03:10): All right. Well-
Zach Miller (03:10): Well, the other three of us were in Mobile, Alabama last week for the Senior Bowl. Got to spend some time in a nice small town in the south of America. I never got to play in the Senior Bowl. Jeff is a Senior Bowl grad, one of the great illustrious punters to come out of the game. So definitely a fun experience there. Have one of some guys playing in the game that we work with. So a fun time to be down there together.
Riccardo Stewart (03:40):I mean, I think the first slide is-
Jeff Locke (03:41): First time back since I played in it [inaudible 00:03:45] It's been 11 years, 12 years since I played in it. And it is different from that side of the table. When you're a player, you sign autographs.
Riccardo Stewart (03:54): You signing autographs?
Jeff Locke (03:56): You know I ain't walking down the street getting autographed.
Riccardo Stewart (03:58): Hey, here's what I would give you. Here's what I [inaudible 00:04:01] the professor and his perspective because here's me and Zach, we're watching 101s, watching lineman 101s. We're like, "Look at that quarterback. He can spin it." And Jeff goes, "Oh, oh wait, what was that Jeff?" He goes, "I'm just kind of getting ahead of that punter because the wind was blowing this way. And I think he was hoping that when they punt it they were going to go this way, but it looks like they're going to go the other way and that's not good." I was like, "That's different."
Zach Miller (04:26): When special teams comes on, I check out, Jeff checks in.
Riccardo Stewart (04:31): Stop talking to me. I got to focus.
Sam Acho (04:32): We were watching the national championship together and it was third down comes and goes, Fourth down where I want to go talk. Jeff's dialed in. "Oh, did you see that punt?" So shout out to Jeff, but also you talked about the Senior Bowl, which Jim Nagy shout out to Jim Nagy obviously getting us all there. And I got a chance to play the Senior Bowl as well. I forgot to share. I was actually at the East West Shrine game as well. Got a chance to speak to some of the players there, me and some other former NFL players and some Hall of Famers just to talk about what it is to be going to the next level, which I know Riccardo, you want to talk about that as well while we're here today.
Riccardo Stewart (05:04): I mean, honestly, I'm glad we're at this conversation too because this is the time of the year. By the time this airs, the Super Bowl is going to be over and to many of the spectators is like, football is over, but there's so much football that's happening. But I feel like we have somebody here because we don't know. Or as of right now, who's going to win? Is it going to be the Chiefs or the Niners? But one thing I would love for you to talk about, Zach, before we really, really dive in, it's going, hey, what's it like to be on both sides of a Super Bowl win and a Super Bowl loss? Not to put you out like that, it's you're the only one who's played in the Super Bowl. And actually two.
Zach Miller (05:42): Well my on the record recommendation is to win the game. Much better feeling, much better atmosphere after the game. I mean the whole week leading up to the Super Bowl is crazy. There's just so many distractions. And we tried to address that when I was in Seattle with just doing everything the week before and then just repeating it the next week. All these things to go to. I mean we went to a Knicks game, we went to a bunch of other things that weren't football and just not a normal week. So you don't have bowl games in the NFL. So having a Super Bowl and going to a different site to play a neutral site game, I mean the media, the amount of media hounding, not me so much. Marshawn is just insane. And then that first experience, we win the game it's 43 to eight, we know we won this game in the fourth quarter.
(06:33) I'm dumping Gatorade on Pete Carroll. That's just an amazing experience. First ever. Super Bowl for of the city of Seattle where we have Macklemore doing the concert after the game. It's just the most crazy experience with your teammates, with the guys you just grinded out the whole year between twenty-one weeks of games with. And then contrast with losing, especially the way we did to the Patriots the next year here in my home state of Arizona. And the way we lost that game was one of the most brutal losses ever. The locker room was, I mean I've never seen anything like it, never felt anything like it. They're showing highlights this week of that game. I walk out of the room, I don't watch it. They constantly want to show the interception. And then we have Snoop Dogg performing after the game and it was like a lot of guys didn't show up. And that little after party that's supposed to be fun and an amazing experience was just, it was terrible. And no one enjoyed themselves. It was like our best friend just died. So got to see both worlds.
Riccardo Stewart (07:38): I'm glad I brought that up. I'm glad I [inaudible 00:07:40] talk about that.
Zach Miller (07:40): Puts me in a dark place and I was on Ninja Reserve, I wasn't even playing in the game and still to have to deal with this 10, 11, nine years later, I guess now it is. Yeah, definitely winning a Super Bowl. I never thought I'd even have a chance to play in a Super Bowl because given the start of my career with the Raiders, we weren't good. So that's just, you got to keep doing the right things. Keep putting yourself in a position, keep showing up, and then good things happen if you're in the right place at the right time.
Riccardo Stewart (08:08): Well, we appreciate your perspective. If I were where you were, I'd give you a hug, but I'm actually in my living room. Sam, looks like you are and your place, Zach's in his office. Jeff, this is a new background for you. Where are you at?
Jeff Locke (08:21): Yeah, I'm at our Pasadena office working with probably 10 to 12 members of our team, watching them over here, sitting at computers and just working on all things financial planning for our current clients from the office and get things done some days.
Riccardo Stewart (08:36): So what I want to do is this season we said is this time of the year is this overlap where bands don't watch football games, but you're going to have all this coverage. We talked about the senior bowl. So you have guys who are transitioning from college to the NFL. You have guys in the NFL, they're going from their first contract to their second contract, second to third, you have guys who are going from one team to the next teams. Likewise with coaches. There's a lot of football that's happening. And for those of us who work in the industry from a financial standpoint, but work with professional athletes, namely NFL guys, this is actually ramp up time. This is turn up time when it comes to people thinking about their financial strategy. You have rookies or soon to be rookies who were thinking about, okay, I need financial advice.
(09:21) And so I want to step back because when it comes to the financial advising world, one of the things that's not the concepts that's not often talked about that we do a lot, we talked before about how money is a tool, how do you make that money? And there's a phrase that we use called, human capital and it's not unique to us, but it's something that's not often thought about as just thinking about human capital as a whole. So Jeff, we're going to take a few weeks to really kind of talk about this and ways that are hopefully fun and engaging in stories. But before we do, just kind of give us a layman's 10,000 feet definition, working definition of what the heck is human capital.
Jeff Locke (10:00): First thing I'm going to do is break down the term capital because people are like capital? You mean like capital, like state? You mean a capital in the city? When we're saying capital, what we really mean is just something you can use. It's a resource. That's all capital is. Something you can use a lot of times you're converting some capital to a different type of capital. So that's capital. And then human, that ones a little bit easier. That just means what makes you distinctly human or what can you distinctly do as a person. So really human capital is things that require your effort, your skill, your expertise or your time that is like your ingrained human capital. And as you mentioned Riccardo, a lot of people in all world just think of the financial capital and what do we do with the financial capital when we got to take a step back, like you're saying.
Riccardo Stewart (10:53): That's why he's the professor. That was pretty darn good buddy. All right, so there's three branches of this human capital that we'll talk about. One is physical, one is intellectual and one is social. So the physical one, we would think, okay, that makes sense. But Zach, I mean you clearly played in the NFL for a long time, played in two Super Bowls, one you won. The other one we won't even talk about ever again. But what would you describe as physical capital? Maybe even in your case or even some of the case of our clients?
Zach Miller (11:25): Yeah, so I mean physical capital to me was very easy. It's gone. I can't play anymore. One will pay me to play football. And then so I have intellectual capital and that's going back, getting my finance degree, becoming a certified financial planner. Now that helps me earn more money doing those things. And it's not the only thing NFL players can do when they're done. We have guys that they own a gym where they train offensive linemen and that's using that intellectual capital, all that learned knowledge from being an NFL player to then help train up the next group. And then there's guys that go back, get their MBAs, do more school and they end up in the business world and they're owning companies, running companies, doing all those things. So there's a ton of ways to use that intellectual capital once that physical capital is exhausted.
Riccardo Stewart (12:10): Sam... First of all, that's a good answer, Zach. I appreciate it. If it was a bad answer, I wouldn't even say anything. Sam, I mean, if anybody understands social capital and how to just love people and honestly, and people loving you, explain just briefly what's social capital is, what it's meant to you.
Sam Acho (12:30): Social capital for me is your last name. What do I mean by that? It's when people say your last name, even your first name. What's the first thought that comes to their mind? Is it, oh, this guy calls and I want to pick up and I want to talk, or it's oh, I see her call and I don't want to pick up? Those are the kinds of things that I think about when I think about social capital. And oftentimes you could use your physical capital thinking about playing in the NFL. A lot of our clients are baseball or golf, or football, or use your physical capital that may open up doors for your social capital. So for example, Zach and I both played in the NFL, we're both part of the NFL players association. So in my time with NFL PA, I was actually one of the people negotiating the collective bargaining agreement.
(13:11) What does that mean? That means I was one of the vice presidents. It was me and eight to nine other players representing the teams, the players really, not the teams of players. But we were sitting in rooms with different owners, negotiating with different owners and also in rooms with people like Roger Goodell, right? So all of a sudden in those negotiations, well yes, you're fighting, you're arguing, but sometimes friendships can be formed. And so some of the owners that I may not have known before, well now I know them on a first name basis. Roger Goodell and I have a relationship. We actually came out to Chicago a couple of years ago when me and some teammates were doing, we call it a liquor store, teardown party. We talk about that on different podcasts. But we bought a liquor store, we tore down, we built this food mart in a food desert. Like I said, different podcasts.
(13:53) But he came out and he brought his wife and all of a sudden different people in the community came out. And so it's almost like your last name. Some people may even say your network, right? I've heard the term use your network is your net worth. And so it's social capital. What do people think of when they hear you or when they see you? When obviously being on ESPN, people talk about my smile or your joy. That social capital, it may not be a physical tool or intellectual tool, but it can help you build your wealth.
Riccardo Stewart (14:23): That's good. That's good. Well, here's what we're going to do. As we talk about over the next couple of weeks, this human capital, essentially, how do you get your net worth? Before we could talk about net worth, what do we do to get physical? We've talked about it. In our client's case, they play on the field and the NFL, A team pays them money. Intellectual, as Zack talked about, one of the more intellectual people I know, okay, I don't make physical anymore, but what do I do with my mind? And then social, Sam, I love that. It's the name on the back of the jersey that show. What do people say when you call them? So we're going to talk more about this. If anything we've said this week or last week, piques your interest, we would love to hear from you. Please hit us up, shoot us a text, 602-989-5022. Again, 602-989-5022. Signing off for the four of us. Can't wait to see you guys again, and we'll talk about who won that Superbowl.
Speaker 5 (15:27): The information in this podcast is educational, in general, in nature. It does not take into consideration the listener's personal circumstances. Therefore, it's not intended to be a substitute for a specific individualized financial, legal, or tax advice. To determine which strategies or investments may be suitable for you, consult the appropriate qualified professional prior to making a final decision.