David Novak 0:04 

Welcome to How leaders lead where every week you get to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world, I break down the key learnings of the by the end of the episode, you'll have something simple you can apply as you develop into a better leader. That's what this podcast is all about. Well, my guest today is Eric Wood, who is a former All Pro NFL center for the Buffalo Bills. Eric was in the prime of his career in 2017, when he was forced to retire due to a neck injury. Now, for a lot of people, that would have been an absolutely crushing blow. And it obviously was a crushing blow for Eric. But as you'll hear today, Eric has navigated this big life and career transition, not by considering himself a victim. But instead he's chosen to have an incredible positive mindset. Now, let's be honest, sometimes you talk to optimistic people, and it's all just puppies and rainbows. But Eric doesn't ignore the tough stuff. He just has a different perspective on it for him, things don't happen to us, they happen for us. We can develop that kind of mindset to by creating positive habits of gratitude, learning and generosity. You're going to be so encouraged by this conversation, especially if you're going through any kind of transition right now. So here's my conversation with my good friend, and soon to be yours. Eric, would

you always like to start out at the beginning. Tell me about your upbringing.

Eric Wood 1:43 

Yes, I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, working class family. My dad was in the moving business. My mom dealt cards at a casino. And, you know, I was a Catholic school kid. I learned a lot of discipline there a lot of lessons on hard work, worked through high school played multiple sports.

David Novak 1:58 

What was your first job? Do you remember your first job?

Eric Wood 2:01 

My first job was working construction for my uncle. My second one was cutting grass at a cemetery. Near my high school, which some of the ballplayers at elder did so

David Novak 2:10 

what was that like cutting grass to the cemetery? You had to have a lot of thoughts going through your head,

Eric Wood 2:15 

for sure. And it was a lot of hard work. I mean, we cut grass and did odd jobs 40 hours a week. But you know, we had a lot of last we have so many stories my wife to this day says, when we get together with my old buddies, she'll say not another cemetery story. I've heard this

David Novak 2:29 

so many times. I'm like, What's your funniest cemetery story?

Eric Wood 2:33 

Oh, it's terrible. But we're putting a casket down into the ground. And it wasn't dug perfectly. So one of my buddies is kind of down there guiding it in, and a piece of the machinery cracks off part of the vault. And he gets some of that, I guess it's formaldehyde or whatever in his mouth. And he just, he's frozen. He doesn't know what to do. And then he just looks at us and he just says, I want to go home. I would do. So he left work at our boss, let him leave that day. They probably paid him for the rest of the day, too.

David Novak 3:08 

I hope so. You know, speaking of stories, Eric, do you have a story from your early years that really shaped who you are today?

Eric Wood 3:16 

Something that's given me perspective, my life is I grew up with a brother with severe cerebral palsy. So when I was very young, he was three years younger than me when I was very young, I spent a lot of time at babysitter's houses, my dad would work, my mom would spend time at the hospital. When my brother did move back home, we had a nurse at our house 24/7. So, you know, I got to see how my parents kind of struggle with that I gained a perspective on the little things in life that you can do and that are effortless that my brother struggled with. And ultimately, he passed when he was 11. And I was 14, which eventually led me to start my foundation when I got in the NFL helping families with sick children, helping them out financially, just trying to take some of that burden off because I saw what it looked like. So I think that shaped me a lot. It gave me a lot of perspective. And it gave me a lot of inner drive to want to use my gifts that I'd been given that and stuff that just comes naturally to me.

David Novak 4:06 

Yeah, I noticed that you were you know, always nominated for the Peyton Manning Community Service Award by the Buffalo Bills. And so you're really famous in Buffalo and also in the local area for giving back.

Eric Wood 4:17 

Yeah, and one of my things is, there's only so many things you can control on life, and you can control how generous you are now, certain people might be able to donate more than others, but a proverb that we try to live our life by in our family is a generous person who will prosper and he who refreshes others will be refreshed. So for us, that's what we try to live by. We try and build people up. And we try and be generous. And so that was one of our big things in Buffalo was giving back to the community.

David Novak 4:43 

When did you start playing football Eric?

Eric Wood 4:45 

I started when I was nine and then my when I was 10. I was actually over the weight limit so I couldn't play and then from then on after that I played football and it's funny, football wasn't always my best sport and I wasn't always a star my mom recently she made a statement At our house when we were doing brunch, he said, you know, even when you were in high school, we didn't think that you were going to play in the NFL Eric. And I said, Well, that's not that bold of a statement. Mom. I didn't even start when I was a junior. So that wasn't that bold of a statement. But I did love the game. I've always been pretty aggressive. But I kind of grew into my body when I was 1718 and was really able to excel. Were you highly recruited in college? I didn't receive my first scholarship offer until after the football season. My senior year when most guys in high school nowadays commit when they're 16 or 17. Their sophomore junior year, they're committing places. I hadn't even gotten a scholarship. Fortunately, loopholes. football coaches came up to watch me play a basketball game in Northern Kentucky. And I told my basketball coach before the game. Do not take me out. I'm trying to earn a football scholarship tonight. I'm going to show him how hard we're going to earn a football scholarship playing basketball. Yeah, I'm gonna show him how hard I work how I run up and down the floor. And sure enough after the game, they offered me a scholarship and my dad was standing right there. I looked at my dad, I said, I have to take this scholarship. You know, I don't have any other option. My dad said you haven't even been to Louisville yet. How are you going to take a scholarship? I said, I don't want them give it away. So we went to a we went on an official visit that weekend down to Louisville and I committed then

David Novak 6:15 

that's fantastic. Now, when you were in college, were you focused on academics? Or was it just all sports?

Eric Wood 6:21 

No, I was focused on academics. My grandpa, who I looked up to a lot he was a judge and a county commissioner and a contract lawyer his whole life. And so he actually gave me an opportunity to go to elder in Cincinnati, he had paid for that. And so I became a political science major with a concentration in law and public policy thinking. I'll go to law school if this football deal doesn't work out, I'll go to law school and kind of follow in his footsteps. And so I carried I think I graduated with around a three five GPA but my first semester was not the strongest. So I kind of had to rebound from that throughout college. But I think I graduated with around a three five

David Novak 6:57 

that's something you and I have in common that first semester was not my strongest. Well, when did you know you were going to have a career as a professional player.

Eric Wood 7:06 

You know, I got down to Louisville and I redshirted my first year. And then I ended up starting at Senator my redshirt freshman year. So I had made the freshman all American team and they send you a letter with a stat on it that said 80% of guys that make the freshman first team all American team get drafted to play in the NFL. Prior to that me and my buddies in Cincinnati, we would always talk about, man, Eric, if you can make the Bengals practice squad one day, you can make $80,000. And you can work for the other six months, you can make over $100,000. And so when I saw that letter and knew what the chances were at that point, it kind of gave me a dream. It gave me something tangible to work towards that I wanted to be drafted in the NFL. And then when I had seen a couple of senators were starting to go in the first round, I decided I want to be a first round draft pick,

David Novak 7:49 

did that accelerate your work ethic? Eric,

Eric Wood 7:51 

it did. And it lit a fire under me, I was always hard working. But that really kind of took it to the next level. And that really led me to create some habits. From a nutrition standpoint that isn't very popular in college, I developed a nutrition program to try and get to the next level working out. And we had a period in college called a discretionary period. And a lot of kids would go home, I always joke that when I left, my parents gave my room away. So I didn't really have anywhere to go back to but I would stay down here and I always said I'm going to catch up or beat everybody else out during those six weeks, I'm going to catch an edge on everybody. So it led me to a lot of little decisions that I think gave me an edge. But those work ethic habits are part of the reason that I believe I was able to have a leadership platform at the University

David Novak 8:40 

of Louisville. Yeah, fantastic. Now, were you captain of the local football team.

Eric Wood 8:43 

Yeah, I was a captain there for my last two years. And I really enjoy that. And to me, it meant a ton because I wasn't even a captain on my high school team. And what that showed me was a couple things. One, I wasn't doing any leadership studies through college. So these are habits that kind of came naturally to me now. We had great coaches and whatnot. But I developed some habits that people wanted to follow. But also I had some charisma and some other things that people also wanted to follow. But you can't have that when you're sitting on the bench. Now I was a captain in basketball, but football specifically I wasn't. And what that showed me in something that I try and instill in young guys now is just because you weren't a captain always doesn't mean you can't develop habits that people want to follow. Because ultimately, that's what's going to translate to them.

David Novak 9:29 

Right. And you can eventually become a captain with shirts you definitely did. And the same is true in business. You know, you don't always start out at the top and that leadership position, you know, tell us about Draft Day. I mean, you're a first round draft choice and you know, now they televise the draft on, you know, an ESPN and you know, it's a big deal. Tell us your draft day story.

Eric Wood 9:48 

Yeah, it was a special one. And at that time, they would invite five or six guys to New York nowadays they fight about 30 which I think part of the reason is so they can get that second day drama to see who is going to be at the tail end of that first round, which is just a sad sight. But I had some family and really close friends and my girlfriend at the time, who's now my wife over to my mom's condo up in Cincinnati, and we were all hanging out watching the draft. And eventually, I had got tired of watching. So I had to kind of remove myself from the room. We had thought I was going to go 32 To the Steelers, they had told me all along, you won't get past 32. And I just thought, well, I probably won't get drafted any sooner than that. So I'm going to hang out back in my little brother's room. Until then I got on the computer, just reading some articles and whatnot. And all of a sudden, about maybe 40 minutes before I envisioned it happening. I get a call from a 716 number. And it was the Buffalo Bills calling and there was tears of joy and sadness for my family. They thought I was going so far away. It's this cold frozen tundra up in Western New York. And it's they're never going to see me again. I don't think they realize how close Buffalo was to Cincinnati. But man, Buffalo became a very special place to us, and really a seven and a half hour drive from Louisville and about six from Cincinnati. So I was a lot closer than anybody realized at that time. Yeah,

David Novak 11:08 

you did think of buffalo being way out there. That's a good boy. How'd you prepare for the NFL? You know, when you're going into the big time as you get ready for that? Yeah. So

Eric Wood 11:18 

prior to the combine, I was training out in Orange County. And then I had come back here after the combine. I was training at the University of Louisville and I always had this mantra that I wanted to do what got me to the NFL, the way I prepared in college, I wanted to keep doing that. So I would never have that rookie year slump, that sophomore slump. So I always wanted to go back to Louisville and train with the guy. So I was training with the college guys a lot of times in the offseason, which kept me young. It was always fun and energetic. I thought it was good for them to see the way I worked and how I got there and kind of give them something to look at. And then mentally just picking guys brains. Hey, what can I expect this first year in the NFL? You know, you play four preseason games, and 16 regular season games in college 12 games felt like an eternity. Well, now you're playing 20 games, including the preseason. It's just a lot. I reached out to guys about different practices that they did during the season, whether it's taking care of their bodies, taking care of their minds, hey, on Tuesday, read a book do something that's not football related to kind of get away from it. So I had some guys pour into me a little bit and that definitely helped with the transition.

David Novak 12:27 

Now, Eric, how do you decide to be a senator on the offensive line? Well, that was kind

Eric Wood 12:31 

of chosen for me when I got to the University of Louisville because there was only one spot open going into my redshirt freshman year. So I decided I'll play senator, little did I know how perfect that was going to end up working out for me, size wise, I read an article about prototype NFL centers. The prototype was six for 310 runs this 40 With this arm length, and I was 19 years old looking at that saying, I might be five pounds lighter, but that's literally me. I could be a prototype NFL center. And then from a leadership standpoint, and a command of the offense, the center a lot of times gets everybody kind of going well, that's where I wanted to be. I never wanted to let somebody else have the opportunity to screw that up for us. I would rather do the prep work and own it myself. So it was something I really enjoyed. Why is the

David Novak 13:17 

center such a critical position other than the obvious factor that the play starts with you? Yeah, so

Eric Wood 13:23 

the play starts with you and you got to get the snap but but eventually that just becomes second nature to where it's not even something you ever think about but generally your center will get kind of get the play started. He points out who the mike linebacker is and that kind of gets everything going from a schematic standpoint. I'll make different calls, how we want to block things throughout my career in Buffalo off and helped out quarterbacks with Blitz pickups. And I always joke that if I played with Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, I would have had to take a much further backseat because I was so used to running the show. We had so many quarterbacks, so many young guys that I thought and I truly was helping them out. I allowed them to just keep their eyes down the field and not worry about the blitzes and whatnot. Well, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, that would have been a nightmare for them because they want to control everything. So I always said it'd been funny. And I've actually talked to Tom about that before.

David Novak 14:13 

Did you ever have any regrets that you didn't play with the Tom Brady or Peyton Manning or a superstar quarterback?

Eric Wood 14:19 

You know, it's something I often thought about in after getting drafted in Buffalo. The Patriots reached out to my agent said you told us 32 We were we were positioning to pick Eric just ahead of the Steelers. Why didn't you tell us and so throughout my career out, you know, I always had that kind of in the back of my mind. You know, I thought I was gonna go to the Steelers, they win Super Bowls. You know, they're always in contention. The Patriots all these different teams. I played against the Patriots 18 times and we beat them. Two or three. So I often wondered that but I truly felt deep down. God put me in Buffalo for a reason. Hey, maybe some of those bigger cities. God knew I couldn't handle those, you know, with a young guy with a family and a young wife. Maybe he thought I couldn't handle that. Maybe I was Wouldn't buffalo to make an impact on the community which led me to start my foundation, and there's a number of different things I also had, it's humbling being up in Buffalo, you're losing, I had gotten hurt a bunch, I truly was humbled so many times. That kind of led me on my path that I ended up on.

David Novak 15:17 

That's great. You know, what's the most difficult thing Eric about playing center that a person who's never played football would know, from the

Eric Wood 15:25 

mental standpoint, sometimes that stuff on guys, different guys have different challenges. I'm not naturally a huge guy. So for me when I got a guy that's 350 pounds lined up across from me, and I gotta start to play with my hand between my legs because I'm snapping the ball, and he gets a couple of yard headstart on me. That's tough to do. And then the next day, when you wake up, you truly feel like you got in a car accident about 30 times the day before, but you learn different techniques through your career. Towards the end of my career, I felt like I was rarely ever straining extremely hard. I'd worked out enough techniques where I knew how to get a guy's momentum stopped before he started going, and whatnot. But yeah, some of those guys are tough. Yeah,

David Novak 16:04 

sure. You know, the quarterback, you look at a great game, you talk about the number of passes, they completed number of touchdowns, the quarterback rating, tell us about the best game you ever played? And how do you gauge that?

Eric Wood 16:16 

It's tough, because your best game could have tons of highs. But with offensive line play, you give up one sack, that game is out the window, you know, you can throw it away, because you had one big mistake in that game. Early in my career, I played a season at guard and I played against an Adamic ensue when he was a rookie and I was a second year player. And he was having this, you know, Rookie of the Year campaign. And I played really well against him. It was a battle of Oh, for teams, we were owed eight and so are the lines that we won. Thank God, they end up going Oh, and 16 that year, I thought it could have been us honestly, because we were pretty talent depleted. You know, I think of back at that game that game sticks out. But coaches may have a better grasp of what my best game was just because of, you know, different stuff schematically, or just a crystal clean game where I never gave up a tackle for loss or a sack or my God never penetrated and messed up a play. So it's hard to say.

David Novak 17:12 

But the SEC is the offensive lineman its biggest nightmare. It is and

Eric Wood 17:16 

I gave up one in our playoff game. This may not make a ton of sense to the audience. But I had, we had a read on their defense, one of our offensive coaches previously coached defense in Jacksonville, I knew a lot of their calls, one of the ones they made was a blitz coming from my left side, I was gonna have to kind of go to my right, but then I needed to help them left. Well, they didn't run the Blitz, I don't know if they knew that I knew the terminology. So I kind of took a real lazy set know when I was gonna have to go help the other way, my guy beats me right off the line and gets a sack in the first quarter. Well, there's nothing worse than giving up a sack in the first quarter because you know, you can't give up too. And so that's Duncan, with it being my last game. It's something I'll always remember. But it's all good.

David Novak 18:01 

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You know, you did mention that earlier about missing the role of being the leader. Explain your role as captain.

Eric Wood 18:56 

You know, I've always felt like my role and my personality compared to the other guys that were captains. I always tried to build relationships with young guys so that we didn't have for older guys on the team just barking out a bunch of young guys that would shut down on you. And that's one of my big principles in leadership with this current generation coming out of college and into the NFL is that. And these guys have been a little more coddled than we were used to especially high school and college. These guys need relationships with some of the older guys. So I always felt I would try and bring them in, we would do couples Bible studies, I would try and get them there. So that was my kind of role. Now, I did do a pregame speech on the field each game, which I feel a lot more comfortable in a setting like this than I did, you know, with 53 guys looking at you saying get me fired up for this game, you know, so I would do some speaking roles within the team. But I always tried to have a positive attitude. And when my injury happened, the coach and the GM said, Eric, we're going to miss your attitude around here too, because I always felt like I would come to the stadium each day with a positive attitude and I always wanted to rub off on everybody else. Hey, it's a long season. weren't buffalo there's a lot of days where we don't see the sun. You know we come in before the sun comes up and the sun sets up there about five. So we leave after that so I will always try and be positive and rub off on guys. Yeah,

David Novak 20:10 

tell me a story when you you think you stepped up and you motivated your teammates you have one of those Newt Rockne speeches that you gave or a time when you know that if you hadn't done what you've done, you guys wouldn't have won or you know, we

Eric Wood 20:24 

we played a game down in Miami earlier my career and I wasn't a captain yet in our captains at the time, no offense to them. We're not very inspiring. And chan Gailey was our head coach who wasn't his forte wasn't motivational speaking either. So we were eliminated from the playoffs. It's late in the season, and we're playing the dolphins who have to beat us to go to the playoffs. And I gave a speech before the game talking about they have a lot to play for today. And that's obvious, but so do we, we have a lot of jobs on the line. This is the last time this group takes the field as a collective group. And then also we're trying to build momentum into next year, we got to quit being the bottom feeder of the AFC, East and Latin every but all of our division foes beat us all the time. And we went out and beat them. And I didn't think a whole lot of it after the game. I wasn't sitting in my locker saying way to go Eric great speech. But chan Gailey came up to me on the flight home and he said, I really appreciate the words you said, you have a talent in leading. And like I said, at the time, I wasn't a captain, I just felt the need to say something. And I'll always remember that and the words that Chang gave me after the game, I knew how that felt. So throughout my career, whenever I've had someone give a good speech, or maybe step outside their comfort zone, I always try and compliment them just knowing how much Chan's compliment meant to me speaking to

David Novak 21:41 

head coaches, the bill's have had a number of head coaches during your career. And most of them failed. What was missing with these head coaches? Why did they fail?

Eric Wood 21:50 

You know, it's funny you say that I had seven head coaches, including interim coaches, seven head coaches in nine years. I haven't done the research, but that has to at least tie record. And I think part of the reason some of them failed was just a lack of time. In this day and age of sports. They're so quick to get a head coach out of town to switch up the environment switch up the culture, because they got to sell tickets, and they can't give a guy like chain Gailey five years. So what ends up happening is, and I actually spoke to Tom Brady about this at one point after a game, the Patriots are always drafting for the same scheme. Well, the bills are drafting for one scheme for two years, then you bring a new coaches. Well, now those guys don't fit. And now we're drafting for a new scheme. So I think part of it is just a lack of time that we may have given some of these coaches, but I will say this, Shawn McDermott, who's in Buffalo now is the best leader I've ever been around. He is so consistent on a day to day basis. He truly cares about the players, but also, he's able to be demanding without demeaning, which I think is really valuable in leadership roles. You know, he cares about you, but he's not afraid to jump your case if need be. So I do think they have a good thing going up there. Now,

David Novak 23:02 

I like that phrase demanding, not the meaning what does that mean to you? I always wanted

Eric Wood 23:06 

to build people up before maybe I broke them down if I had to hold them accountable to something. But I would always try and relate to a guy. So if a guy was taking a really bad passage, and he was an offensive lineman, it would do me no good as a leader of the group to go to the guy and be like, Man, you need to put some extra work in because that's thanks. And you're getting be like a dog. Well, what I might say is, hey, early in my career, I was struggling with this, I found some guys around the league, that I would try and pick up some different pieces of their game on to check out some film, I'll give you a few guys to check out. And if you need me to, I'll work with you after practice a little bit. Rarely are they going to take you up on the make you spend more time with them. But that's a way to be demanding, hey, you need to get your stuff, right, because you're hurting us. But I'm not demeaning him, to put them in a position where he's gonna lose confidence because I want to empower him. You know, I want him to improve. I don't want him to take two steps back, especially if it's during the season. So I would try and be demanding without demeaning him to where I would put him in a little ball and make him feel smaller of a person. That's a

David Novak 24:07 

great story. And you know, Rex Ryan's one of your more famous coaches to the jehad. The bill's became somewhat big reputation, you know, he is known, supposedly, for being friends with the players and but also having teams with no discipline. Can a head coach be a friend with his players? Or does there have to be an emotional distance? Or do I have it wrong about Rex Ryan?

Eric Wood 24:29 

No, you ever write about Rex for a system like Rex is to be successful, you need very strong leadership from within. And you need guys that are willing to be the disciplinarian. When he was in Baltimore under Billick. They had Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. Those guys were in their double digit years in the league. They had no issues correcting somebody when Rex was with the bills I was in your sixth and seventh. You know, it wasn't quite comfortable for some of us to truly be the disciplinarian of the team. And that's what Rex is culture kind of record. ARD. I also think you need to draft higher character guys in that situation. But I will say Rex empowers players, he got players to play sometimes better than they were capable of, because he treated him like a man. He said, Hey, I trust you, Hey, you guys don't have a curfew tonight. But I trust that you will be in bed, or a number of examples like that. So I do see a way of doing it. But it's a lot more rare of a situation, then I know if you come in and put your thumb down on guys. And you never want to motivate truly by fear. But you guys, you don't want guys to feel comfortable making mistakes and hurting the team either.

David Novak 25:35 

It sounds like maybe the trustee provided wasn't around. He gave it a little bit too early,

Eric Wood 25:39 

for sure. And I think to some of the young guys, it was too much for them to handle. And Rex might say, Hey, I needed the leaders to step up more of the team, because that's my coaching style. And I told you guys this, that's twofold. It partially was probably on us as captains to hold some of these young guys accountable. I just know that in, I believe it was 2013 or 2014. I decided, okay, now I gotta be the discipline of the group, especially the offense on the O line. I had a lot of young guys shut down on me that year, especially late in the year when we were losing ballgames, they completely shut down on me because I had just been a jerk to them over and over and over a going into the next season is when I said, Okay, I need to truly build relationships with these guys, instead of having a bunch of rookie nights or make them pay all the time, I'll start off paying for their meal. So they see that I care about them. And then we'll move from there. And it always worked better for me in that regard.

David Novak 26:34 

It's true, you know, nobody's gonna care about you until you show them that you care about them. Tell me about what it was like to be named All Pro and go into the Pro Bowl for the first time. The Pro Bowl

Eric Wood 26:43 

was incredible. And I had been an alternate for the Pro Bowl a few times and never made it in. And so when we got to go, we had 14 of us go to Hawaii, my parents, my wife's parents, they had never been so it was truly a special experience. One of the most fun weeks of my life mean, me and my wife still talk about it's I'm constantly telling her about situations that I'm invited to that I have to go because it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. And she'll say you don't know that. Well, the Pro Bowl now was a once in a lifetime opportunity. And some of the pictures and memories we have, we'll never forget.

David Novak 27:17 

That's great. You know, you're around all these great players. And what do you see as the true intangibles of great players?

Eric Wood 27:23 

You know, most of them come with a strong work ethic. They're highly intelligent. Generally, they look the part but I always say, you know, Pro Bowl players, a lot of them look different. They talk different. They're from different areas. But they all get along. It's amazing how at the Pro Bowl, there would be a huge pool party and everybody from every team's hanging out. Because when you see greatness in somebody else you want to learn from him, you want to talk to him. It was just a special week players and coach wise, trying to gather information from everybody meeting with other people from opposition group and hey, how do you block this? How do you snap this? Whatever it may be, it was it was a truly cool experience.

David Novak 28:01 

You know, after the first year in your tenure that you guys actually went to the playoff games, then you find out that you've got a career ending injury. Tell us about that injury and how you found out about it.

Eric Wood 28:13 

Yeah, so I had got some stingers throughout the season, which is a pretty common football deal where you get hit in the head and your neck pinches a certain way and you get some numbness down your arm. I had gotten those throughout the season. And we did a x ray during the season and everything looked fine. And so I played the entire year. And then after the season, we had exit physicals on January 8, and they said air let's get an MRI on your neck. Before you head out of town. I said my wife's do with our baby any minute in Louisville, I have to drive home right now. And they said, Just get the MRI, we'll we'll clear you for the Pro Bowl. You can do the MRI on the way home. I said okay, that's fine. So I get the MRI drive back to Louisville on on the ninth, I get a call, Hey, you need to go get another MRI in Louisville. They have a special MRI machine. We need some further tests. And at this point, I'm thinking I just played the whole season. I definitely don't want a surgery. What are we looking at? And they say, well, it might require surgery. And I'm envisioning six months and a neck brace and whatever it may be. That's worst case scenario that I'm thinking, well, it's January 11. And we're sitting in delivery room waiting for our baby to be born and I get a phone call again. And my wife says go take it which kind of sums up our relationship. She understood how important football was to me. So I take the phone call. And more or less given the news that my career is over. And this isn't one man's opinion. It's many, many doctors neurologists throughout the NFL so my son was born an hour later, which was just crazy timing. My career is taken away, and I'm giving a son an emotional roller coaster as you can imagine. But after that we sought more opinions. All the opinions came back consistent.

David Novak 29:50 

What was the strength that you you drew on to pull you through that tough time?

Eric Wood 29:55 

You know, early in my career I had some pretty devastating injuries. I was used to D Dealing with some tough times between the death of my brother. My parents got divorced. I had crazy injuries, I had a number of disappointments that I've, I eventually, through my NFL career got baptized became a Christian. So I could always fall back on my faith. And I wish I could say that that's the only way I've ever coped with things was through prayer. But there's definitely some warning, there's some why me there's some pity party, but I've always tried to be positive and and I knew my wife was really hurting with it, especially when my daughter would say, When are we going back to Buffalo, we say, well, we just sold her house. And we're not going back to Buffalo. anymore, baby. And I'm sure we'll be back, but not in the sense that we'd be living up there again, but I would lean on my faith lead on my friends and family, lean on positivity lead on my work ethic.

David Novak 30:46 

You know, with all the injuries, Eric, and especially concussions in football today, you know, how do you see football surviving and thriving in the future,

Eric Wood 30:55 

you know, I think they're gonna have to make some special modifications to the game. And I don't know if that's through tackling rules. I know these rules that they've implemented in the last few years, they're not going to take place in one year in the NFL, they're not going to just show up the next year. I'm hoping through by putting those in place. Now. The kids that are creating habits and youth in high school football, you'll see those start to translate on Saturdays, when you see college teams playing and eventually on Sunday, but when you have a safety in the NFL, and he's been leading with his head, in taught, put your helmet on the ball, because that's going to knock the ball loose when you tackle, it's really hard for him in a split second decision to say, Oh, I can't do that anymore. Now I have to wrap up a guy between his knees and his chest, or else it's going to be a 15 yard penalty, and we lose half my paycheck this week. So I don't know that those were one quick fixes. I'm hoping for the longevity of the game that they do pay off. I don't think glorified seven on sevens are going to sell out 90,000 seat stadiums like they are now the violence is something that Americans like about the game. So you can't fully take that away

David Novak 32:01 

knowing what you know. Now, why would you want Garrett, your son to play football?

Eric Wood 32:06 

You know, it's tough. And I've been asked that a lot. And I would say yes, for the fact of what football is taught me from a discipline standpoint of work ethic, camaraderie, team, you know, the social issues that people face in a community, you would be amazed the comfort people have with race relations in a locker room. Those are the lessons that you just don't necessarily learn every day and football brought all that football was able to provide me generational wealth. Now in 15 years, if I'm struggling, and I have issues because of head injuries, then absolutely not. But at this point, I still feel sharp. So that's a long winded answer of maybe?

David Novak 32:44 

Well, it's a tough question. You know, you mentioned to me that players who are focused who play one position in the NFL end up making a lot of money, but a player who is sort of the guy who can play, let's say, all the positions on the line, they don't make as much money. Why does that focus pay off?

Eric Wood 33:01 

Yeah, that was something told me early in my career, if you can do one thing really well, in the NFL, you'll make a ton of money. And if you can do a bunch of things, you'll play for a really long time, and you'll make no money. So you know, I always wanted to focus solely on being the best Senator, I could, I didn't take pass that's acting like I was a tackle. And I didn't run routes acting like I was a tight end, I wanted to perfect the center position. And I think that translates to business. If you try and spread yourself too thin, and business, if you're good at a bunch of stuff, that's never going to pay off. Like if you're great at one thing, and you focus solely on it. And so I'm getting hit up for a lot to sit on a lot of boards, to make all these small investments to take a little bit of equity in this company, let us use your name, well, all these require a few hours a month, an hour a week, well, eventually, I'm going to spread myself so thin and not make an impact anywhere fully make an impact anywhere if I commit to everything. So I'm really working on saying no to things that I'm not fully passionate about. And then eventually work myself into the right thing for me and my family. And I'll go all in on it and try and build that into whatever I can. Yeah, you know,

David Novak 34:09 

one thing that you are in, you've demonstrated as a person, you are unbelievably, you know, you're you're a winner. And what advice would you give people on how to win in their career, your careers, football, you know, but you can transfer these things to other careers, what would be your three bits of advice you give people on how to win,

Eric Wood 34:28 

I would say first off, create winning habits. When I was playing in the NFL, I tried to always create habits that would set me up for success. Whether it be I had about a five minute drive to the stadium every morning. I drove him with the music completely off, and I just had a drive of gratitude. And I would say, Man, how cool is this that I'm playing in the NFL? I'm so lucky to be going to work right now. It might be 545 And I'm sore. But I'm so lucky. This is my dream at the time. You know I have a healthy daughter. That's just gorgeous. And my wife is gorgeous and so supportive and just like so how lucky am I. And then by the time I walked in the door after I had, you know, seen the stadium lights in the morning, and I pull in, I was ready to go. And people would be like, Do you how many hours you sleep last night, I'm like, it doesn't matter. I'm just training myself to be grateful. It's hard to be stressed. And it's hard to be anxious when you're extremely grateful. So that was one thing I would do, I would take a lot of decisions out of stuff that I didn't want to have to decide on throughout the day. And I would just write it in. So a habit of mine was eating healthy through the season, I felt like that set me up that allowed me to be more productive. Well, I would just let them prepare all my meals for me. So I was putting exactly what I needed into my body. And then, you know, I've gotten into a habit now of podcasts in the car, I listen to a lot of sermons from around the country, just putting stuff into my brain that I want to spew out into my relationships into my leadership, whatever it may be. So just little things and being intentional with your actions, not coasting through life, maybe some people like to meditate, you can call it meditation, or you can just say, spend five minutes of just stillness and kind of evaluate your actions. I had someone recently asked me, let's pretend like it's 15 years from now. And your daughter's going to introduce you to her high school class. How would she introduce you? And I said, never thought about that. He said, Well, let's paint two examples. One is, this is my dad, he was a football player, successful businessman. He's gonna give you so many great lessons on life today. I'm so proud of him. Or it could be this is my dad. He was a football player. But he coached all my teams. He never missed anything I ever did. He's the most loving, forgiving dad of all time. I love him so much. Here he is. Those are two great scenarios, but they're different paths. You know, one is probably building a company and doing that route, and one is probably spending a little more time at home, carving out time to make sure I don't miss activities. Well, if I just go about life, I might miss some decisions, just subconsciously. So really trying to be intentional about all my decisions I make in life.

David Novak 37:13 

We'll be back with the rest of my conversation with Eric wood in just a moment. After doing color commentary for the Buffalo Bills Radio Network, Eric has grown to appreciate the incredible artistry of play by play commentators. And he even mentions one of the greats, Jim Nantz. When I had the pleasure of talking to Jim Nance, I was so impressed with the prep work he does before he goes on air,

Jim Nantz 37:37 

that when you're in a pinch, and you're on live television, you don't have time to look things up, David, you might find something on your spotting board. But by and large, you're going to rely on your instincts and your memory.

David Novak 37:48 

It's a great reminder that even the most talented people still need to show up prepared. Listen to my entire conversation with Jim, Episode 76 here on how leaders lead.

Eric, you say you'll eventually work yourself into what's going to be right for you. And in fact, you launched the podcast a few years ago called What's Next with Eric wood? How has that podcast helped you navigate the world since leaving the NFL?

Eric Wood 38:21 

Well, I'll say this, you were one of the first guests I had on there. And originally when I started the podcast, it was truly me trying to figure out this transition into a new chapter of life, a new chapter of career that I wasn't necessarily prepared for. And I believe that in life, confidence comes from preparation. And I was not prepared for that transition, I had just signed that contract, etc for the bill. So in my mind, I was going to continue to play pro football. So I sat down on a journey. And essentially I was going to create some content, I was going to try and hone my broadcasting skills, assuming that's what I wanted to hop into. And I was going to learn from as many people as I could, that have found success in some bucket of life. And many have success in all buckets of life. But I wanted to learn from these individuals. And I felt if I was learning, others would as well. And so it's been a very fun journey. It's been a very fun project. That is almost a career for me. But I'll tell you this, David, almost first and foremost, with the podcast as an athlete, or even as a CEO, as you can imagine, generally you're the one being asked the question, so becoming the interviewer was a transition that I had to make. And it really helped me with that as well.

David Novak 39:25 

Yeah, that's fantastic. And you know, I was so honored to be on your podcast and honored that you did reach out to me and wanted to learn from me. Where do you get that innate desire to learn from others?

Eric Wood 39:36 

You know, I just felt like as I grew in football, the best way you could do and even as I've talked to guys in the podcast, they've all said the same thing. Hall of Famers, coaches guys that have played a really long time. One thing that I always say is find someone that in the locker room is further along than you someone that's at a spot that you want to be at it emulate what they do, try and pick little pieces from their game from their preparation their daily routine. And so for me, I started that in football. And then as I transitioned to a new career, I felt that's got to be the same approach I'm going to take to this, I'm going to go find out the people that are successful in the business world, guys that have successful families and marriages and faithlife. And I'm going to try and learn from them as well.

David Novak 40:17 

You not only have this really popular podcast, Eric, but you have a brand new book out called tackle what's next? I love how you're amplifying that. What's next I idea, what advice would you give to others who are looking at their lives and their careers with a new perspective?

Eric Wood 40:34 

Yeah, and I think this book is timely, as we transition out of this pandemic, most people in life are in a transition no matter what that is, I also feel like each and every day, you could put yourself into a transition to make your what's next in life your best yet, it doesn't have to be this big, catastrophic life change. It doesn't have to be a career ending injury, like it was myself, it could simply be you saying, I want my tomorrow to be better than my today. So in tackle what's next, it's fueled by many of the conversations I've had with mentors and podcast guests and people further along in life, because I don't have all the answers. I have some past experience, from my story from my childhood, from my experiences in pro football, but a lot of it is taken for people that are much further along in life than me that helped me through that transition. And so essentially, it becomes owning your story and figuring out, okay, what am I good at? Where does my passion lie? Where am I gifted in life? What was I passionate about when I was growing up, because oftentimes, we see that what we're passionate about early in life shows up in later stages in life, as far as a fulfilling career, and then it's stacking winds, I just feel like it anything in life. It's never this big homerun Grand Slam moment. It's a continual process of getting 1% better every single day. And when you can stack those daily wins, you kind of see that hockey stick effect, where you see that upward trajectory in your life. And then it's about going out once you've hit that kind of hockey stick moment, okay, where do I want to be successful in life, and truly identifying that and creating a vision for yourself. And so all these concepts were foreign to me for a lot of my life, and I got the pleasure and all the experience from many podcast guests, many people like yourself, David, that helped me along my journey. And then I believe in life, it's all about what you can do for others and serving them. And so this book is a way for me to tell my story, but then also trying to serve and impact others.

David Novak 42:28 

I love the idea of owning your story. Talk a little bit more about that. What do you mean? Yeah,

Eric Wood 42:33 

everybody's got a story. And it's all about perspective to a good friend of mine, Ed, my lead always says, things happen for you, not to you. So I believe that recounting your own story, and understand your story. And understanding that everything in life happened for you. And it may have seemed like such a struggle at the time, you know, having six lower body injuries when I was playing in the NFL, and then ultimately, you're creating neck injury. You could sit there and say, Man, all this happened to me, God, why did all this happen? Or you can say, what did I learn from that? What Where did that make me stronger. And I believe that truly owning your story, like I said, finding your passion, finding your gifts, and allowing that to set you up on an upward trajectory is extremely powerful. I agree.

David Novak 43:15 

And you know, after you retired from the NFL, you actually spent some time and you're doing it now as the color commentator for the Buffalo Bills radio network. And what is all this broadcast experience teaching you Eric?

Eric Wood 43:28 

Well, broadcasting is fun, and I wasn't ready to be away from football. So it allowed me to stay around the game of football and I've dabbled in many different areas. I've called games for Fox and CBS and ESPN and ACC network. And all through that time I was on the bills radio broadcast. And for me, having my podcast and be able to focus on that more and be able to do the bills radio broadcast has been the most fulfilling and the most fun for me, as you get further away from playing college ball or high school ball sometimes going back to that moment and calling those games isn't quite as fulfilling. I'm not saying I'll never do that again. But at the stage of life I'm in with a three and a seven year old just really focusing on the bills has been great. But for me, one of the things I learned the most is you gain an appreciation for a broadcast and you're constantly listening and constantly trying to learn so you can never watch a broadcast the same again. I truly appreciate a good play by play guy, a Jim Nance, who's a podcast guest of yours. You know a Chris Fowler, I called games with a guy named John Murphy. Those guys that can set up the analyst in such a way they're the point guard they may not get all the credit at times a Tony Romo may get all the spotlight, but it's generally a Jim Nance who lays out at the perfect time to allow Tony Romo to make that prediction that gets him famous and gets him the millions of dollars each week. It's generally an excellent play by play guys. So maybe the thing I learned the most is how talented and almost how artistic those guys are.

David Novak 44:52 

You know, knowing all that you know now and as you think about the next season in your life, what's something on the horizon that you're really excited about? Up.

Eric Wood 45:00 

Each stage of life with these kids has been more and more fun my little boys starting flag football this year, my girls into dance and tennis and golf, a little boys into golf too. But we'll see if he's got the patience for my, my daughter seems to have a little bit more of the mindset for it. But it's been so much fun. Just each chapter life and me and my wife have said, you know, the NFL was great, but I feel like each and every year since every year is getting better than the last. And maybe that's some intentionality and thinking if but, you know, it's podcast guests, it's speaking opportunities, and it's opportunity to serve others that honestly has me excited to wake up each day. And sometimes my wife thinks I'm nuts if my alarm hasn't gone up, and I get up at 330. And I'm excited about the day and I just roll right into it. She thinks I'm crazy. But sometimes when you're on fire for life, you just get excited, so excited about the day ahead, that you get up and attack it

David Novak 45:49 

that contagious enthusiasm. Is that something you've always had? Or do you think it's accelerating?

Eric Wood 45:55 

I think it's accelerating. But I played golf with the Head Coach of the University of Louisville, Scott Satterfield a few years ago, and he said, man, you're like a Labrador every day is great, too. You're wide open, you're having fun. And I said, Man, I've never been told that before. And I guess that's a compliment. But I will say this, you know, I intentionally try and bring a positive attitude each and every day. And I feel like that's a way that I can be a light to this world is by bringing a positivity about me. I also feel like I'm on a mission each day to try and serve others trying to impact others and make a difference one at a time. And it's really hard to do that if you're walking around in a pessimistic state. So I think there's a lot of things that have contributed to that over time, there's meditation practice, and time spent in silence so that I can be present enough to find joy in situations. And one of the best ways one of my favorite things to talk about in speaking gigs. And it's so simple, is something I got from a performance coach named Jason self. And he talks about tracking your daily wins. And one of the ways that we can find contentment in life is but not by going to bed and letting our minds wander and picking on the one bad thing we did each and every day. He challenges people for 30 days to write down three wins from their day. And it could be as small as you know, I went outside and play with the kids. When I got home from work. And I went, I wanted to sit there and watch TV, I did the dishes for my wife, but could be big time business wins and big time sales wins. But tracking three wins a day allows you to focus on the good you had each day, those positive momentum builders in your life. And I think for me, that's made a big difference as well.

David Novak 47:25 

You've obviously just really converted the negative things that have happened in your life and turned it into a big time positive. But you know, frankly, you were an NFL football player, not many people get a chance to do that. And that's a great thing. But I want to take you back, you know, you have that dark moment when all of a sudden you're not going to play the sport you love anymore. You're you're all pro you're you're at the height of your game. What advice can you give to somebody, when that moment hits it and hits us all? We all have that moment, we don't expect? How do you begin to dig yourself out of that hole? And it looks sounds all great right now. But it had to be tough back then.

Eric Wood 48:03 

I'd be sitting here lying if I said it was waking up each day with my hair on fire, who was trying to even figure out what this new routine is going to be? What am I going to do next? You know what? I went from my whole life, essentially, from being an athlete and everywhere I went, Hey, Eric, how are the bill is going to be this year? How was Louisville going to be this year to Hey, what are you going to do next you got to do something, you're too young to be retired Eric. And that sent me into a period of honestly some anxiety trying to figure out what my next move would be. I will say this if you do not have a foundation of a strong community around you. Luckily I was I am extremely blessed with my wife and my family. And the friends I'm surrounded with. I'm extremely blessed to have the faith foundation I have as well that I didn't truly hit rock bottom, I hit a foundation that this life was built on. But in those moments, you have to truly dig in and find the things that you're truly grateful for in life. And then try and find some perspective around the moments and what you can learn from them. And in the moment, in that instance, it's impossible. It's impossible around the emotion. And that's where you have to take a step back, whether it's journaling, or meeting with a friend. I worked with an executive coach for four years to get to the point now where I'm comfortable talking about these things, and I want to help people along their journey as well.

David Novak 49:20 

You know, Eric, this has been so much fun, and I'd like to have a little bit more fun with my lightning round of questions. So are you ready for this? I'm ready. Okay, what are three words that other people would use to describe you?

Eric Wood 49:34 

I would say enthusiastic, generous, and competitive.

David Novak 49:41 

If you could be one person for a day besides yourself, who would it be and why?

Eric Wood 49:47 

I'm very into golf. I'm trying to think of a golfer that I might strive to be I might might be Scottie Scheffler and in the Masters. What's your biggest pet peeve? Watching people waste talent. And unfortunately, I got to see a lot of that in sports throughout my career, whether it was college or the NFL, but watching people, whether intentionally or unintentionally waste an excellent opportunity.

David Novak 50:13 

Do you happen to have a favorite quote? At the bottom

Eric Wood 50:16 

of my stationery is a quote by Jackie Robinson that says, a life is not important except for the impact that it has on others.

David Novak 50:24 

If I were to get in your car right now, what would be coming out of the speakers?

Eric Wood 50:28 

Well, I generally like to listen to podcasts. If the kids are in the car, we're probably listening to worship music kids bopper, country music,

David Novak 50:37 

your favorite NFL stadium to play in.

Eric Wood 50:41 

Some of the older stadiums like Lambeau and arrowhead those are probably more enjoyable. Even though the locker rooms aren't nearly as comfortable. They have way less of a corporate feel to them than some of the newer stadiums.

David Novak 50:52 

Who's your all time favorite NFL player.

Eric Wood 50:55 

Growing up I was a Bengals fan and even getting to know him. Now. I would say Anthony Munoz just an incredible person, maybe the best left tackle of all time. Right now everyone in our house is obsessed with Josh Allen. My my son took his school picture and the Josh Allen jersey. And the teacher said, Well, why don't you wear the Josh Allen jersey, not your dad's jersey? And he said, Well, my dad's favorite player is Josh Allen too. So

David Novak 51:21 

what's the book you've bought and given away the most copies of

Eric Wood 51:25 

likely the carpenter by John Gordon?

David Novak 51:29 

Great book, what's something about you few people would know,

Eric Wood 51:33 

even though I'm an extreme extrovert, I love my quiet time, especially in the morning, like, I need that two hours, ideally, in the morning of reading and spending some time a workout to myself in the morning. And then I love being around people all day long. But I do love that time in the morning myself.

David Novak 51:49 

All right, we're out of the lightning round. And I got two more questions ask him. I've heard Peyton Manning talk about how important his relationship is with his center. And he talks about Jeff Saturday, I believe that was his center. And yet Peyton got most of the media attention, what would you say to leaders who are behind the scenes? How would you coach them up.

Eric Wood 52:12 

And that's an excellent point. And oftentimes in leadership on a team in any organization, someone's going to get the spotlight and there's so many others working behind the scenes that may not get the spotlight. And that's okay. There is an offensive line room in every organization. And maybe it's just me saying this, but people often say that the offensive line is the most important position in football, because if you don't have the offensive line protecting the quarterback, then the quarterback can't do his job. And I will say I do think the quarterback is the most important position in all professional sports, but he cannot operate without an offensive line. So for all you leaders out there, people that are part of organizations, if you are not the one getting the spotlight, you can still be rewarded, you can still be appreciated. You just may not have the spotlight on you at this instance. But look who's on ESPN. Now, Jeff, Saturday, and everyone's talking about how good he is. And he lost all the weight and he's got those blue eyes and how well spoken he is your time will likely come your Jeff Saturday moment on ESPN will likely come but it's okay to work in the shadows for a while.

David Novak 53:13 

Well, I'll tell you something, Eric, you're a lot better looking now to okay, you know, there's no question about that. And you're in much better shape than you used to be a really big, how much weight have you lost?

Eric Wood 53:23 

I'm down about 6065 pounds. And yeah, I hope my wife appreciates it as well.

David Novak 53:30 

You know, what's one piece of advice you'd give to anyone who wants to improve as a leader,

Eric Wood 53:34 

I would say focus on improving every single day. And I think people often will underestimate what they can do in a year and overestimate what they can do in a day, you get so bogged down if that immediate success does not come. But by stacking daily wins by getting 1% better each and every day. And just moving the needle a little bit forward. As I talked earlier about that hockey stick effect that often happens in business, it will happen for you yourself as well. One of the craziest things to me is I learned it was by getting 1% better each and every day, you're not 365% better at the end of the year, you're actually 37 times better based upon compounding interest, because you're getting 1% Better of the 1% version of yourself yesterday. And so by doing that, I just believe that you can get so much done in the long run if you're focused on stacking those daily wins.

David Novak 54:26 

I love that idea stacking those daily wins and your book is terrific. And I hope everybody reads it. And I want to thank you so much for being on this show and tackling what's next. I mean you are a live example of what happens when somebody tackles what's next.

Eric Wood 54:41 

Well I appreciate that David I appreciate everything you've done for me personally I appreciate how you continue to pour into others and continue to make an impact that have been so easy with all your success to say you know what now it's time for me to just enjoy me and the way the way you just daily on social media and through your pocket. So in all your leadership platforms, the impact you make, does not go unnoticed by me. So thank you for that, David.

David Novak 55:05 

All right. I appreciate Jerry Thank you.

Hello, I gotta tell you, Eric's enthusiasm is so infectious. Talking to him just gets me so fired up. And that optimism isn't just false positivity, it comes from deep within. Because Eric has taken the time to cultivate that mentality. During his commute to work. He's counting what he's grateful for. He spends time each morning staying spiritually grounded. He intentionally surrounds himself with positive people. And he's always looking to learn from those around him. By developing these positive habits, Eric make smarter decisions, he leads with more compassion. And because of it, he's already on his way to a second chapter of greatness after his NFL career. So let's take a moment here and apply this in your life as leader. Transitions are an inevitable part of leadership, both for your company and for you personally, now is the time to develop the positive habits that will help you navigate those seasons of change. This week, try that habit of daily gratitude Eric use during his commute, find something you're already doing each day. Maybe it's brushing your teeth or walking the dog, and spend that time calculating a few things you appreciate about your life and work. Eric calls it training yourself to be grateful. And it's a fantastic way to start creating positive habits and a truly optimistic mindset. So do you want to know how leaders lead what we learned today is the great leaders develop positive habits. Coming up next on how leaders lead. We're looking back at 2022 and showcasing some of the very best insights we've learned this year on the podcast and you're gonna love it. So be sure to come back again next week to hear the entire show. Thanks again for tuning in to another episode of how leaders lead where every Thursday you get to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world. I make it a point to give you something simple on each episode that you can apply to your business so that you can become the best leader you can be