Icebreakers With...NFL Legend Ndamukong Suh
Heart and Hustle Productions
Tampa Bay
Buccaneers defensive end Ndamukong Suh just snagged his first Super Bowl
ring this winter, but he’s already preparing for life after football as
a business mogul. You can find him dishing insightful business advice
on Twitter,
and he recently partnered with fintech company Stash to bring financial
literacy education to public school students in Portland, OR, through
the Stash 101 program.
We chatted with Suh about investing, crypto, and whether anything compares to a pick 6.
Was there a moment when it hit you that you weren't prepared to handle your finances?
Yeah, no
question—when I first got into the NFL. Now you’re coming into not only
hundreds of thousands of dollars but millions of dollars, and nobody in
my family has had that before. I had to ask myself, “How do I understand
what a budget is?” and “What are all these expenses?” Not only for
myself, but for my future family. If I didn’t have mentors like Joe
Moglia at Nebraska [the former CEO of TD Ameritrade who was also a
football coach], I’d be lost.
How do you think the role of head coach in football is comparable to the CEO of a company?
The head coach
is definitely the CEO of that organization. The players are the
employees and you have to manage them, operate them, and really push
them in a direction to build the organization to be one of the best—if
not the best—and win a championship.
On the flip side
is the ownership group who are your shareholders. You have a fiduciary
responsibility to them to make the tough decisions to get the
organization to a level where you can walk into a stadium and get a win
hands down thanks to your plan.
Do players talk about business and stocks in the locker room more than they used to?
There’s for sure
more conversations on those topics in the locker room compared to 2010
when I first got in the league. I remember back in the day a long
snapper named Don Muhlbach was one of the few guys in the locker room I
would talk to about finance, where he was at with his business, and who
he aspired to be.
Now, it’s on
Reddit and you see all the news about GameStop so I think it’s seen as
more “cool” to talk about it and be in the know.
Would you buy an NFT of yourself?
I don’t see why I
wouldn't. I’m still learning about the space and understanding how it
all works, but if I were to start anywhere, I might as well start with
myself.
No. 1
draft pick Trevor Lawrence is getting his signing bonus paid out in
cryptocurrency. Would you ever consider taking your salary in bitcoin?
I’ve seen guys
do that and it’s very, very interesting. I think it was Russell Okung
who actually came out of the same draft as me in 2010—he took half of
last year’s salary in bitcoin. It was great at that point because he
still probably doubled his money based on where bitcoin is sitting right
now.
It’s one of
those things where I don't think you need to bet all of your money on
one thing, but I do think you need to have exposure to it. I don’t see
myself putting my salary fully into bitcoin.
What should people know about Nebraska, where you went to college?
Best fans in the entire country for college football and college volleyball.
Would you rather have a strip-sack for a TD, a pick 6, a blocked punt return for a touchdown, or four sacks in a game?
Four sacks in a
game hands down. All day. Some of them I've already accomplished so
that’s probably why I didn’t pick them. Four sacks in a playoff game or a
Super Bowl win—that’d be the best.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
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