The dictionary defines a “leader” as a “person who leads or commands a group, organization or country.” But it’s profoundly more than that. And NFL star, Brandon Siler, encourages us to delve deeper in his new book, “Definition of a Leader.”
In addition to being an NFL star and an author, Siler is a businessman. In our sit-down with Siler, he heavily discusses his latest entrepreneurial endeavor – Legacy Pro Sports, a NIL sports agency. During our call with Siler, one of his athletes, Gavin Nix, joined in as well. And per Mr. Siler’s recommendation, Gavin is “the number one linebacker in the country,” and we are grateful we were able to learn more about him and his mindset as a young athlete.
Urban Magazine: Legacy Pro Sports is a NIL sports agency that caters to high school and college football athletes and students, correct? I’m curious to now what inspired the agency and additionally, would love to hear your thoughts on NIL deals and how you think they’ve changed the landscape for young athletes.
Brandon Siler: We started this [agency] because we saw that there was basically a need for it. It was the wild Wild West and there was no organization around guys basking getting the proper representation that they need so they can deal with these universities. Universities are taking on the NFL kind of landscape so they are negotiating contracts and putting different incentives, collective deals. So that initially stood out to us. We needed to fix it – these athletes needed somebody with experience on their side. Someone who understood the landscape and had experience negotiating contracts.
We’re the company in the middle that have the relationships with brands and athletes, and we can connect them and actually bring outside revenue to the players, to the student athletes.
Gavin Nix: I think a big con to it, as far as the high school level, is not allowing kids to capitalize on all the work that they’re putting in. And it’s devaluing considering all the work that we do. As far as the pros, at the high school level, I think it’s huge because we are able to reach out to these companies and start building these relationships at a young age. It gives a foundation, a gameplay, going Ito college, and have sort of a playbook on how to communicate deals.
Urban Magazine: Personal branding is important when it comes to NIL deals. Gavin, I’m curious to know your outlook on strategies for personal branding and how heavily social media plays into your personal branding.
Gavin Nix: Branding is everything now. It’s something we can leverage knowing that we don’t have access to to NIL in Florida. So my strategy is finding non-monetizing ways to really build my brand as far as trying to get my face out into the community, having a positive impact and leveraging my physical ability. In today’s world, social media is a huge aspect. If we’re not up to date or being relevant on social, you’re behind the curve and that puts you at a huge disadvantage. The guys who are really successful, as far as NIL goes, they all have great social media presence.
Urban Magazine: I truly appreciated learning more about you and learning about your level of advocacy regarding mental health. Having gone through a personal experience, myself, I also advocate for mental health and awareness. After witnessing a teammate of yours commit suicide, what lessons do you carry, to this day, regarding mental health – both your own and others?
Brand Siler: Well, when I went through that experience, it really changed my perspective of mental health. You always hear everybody saying that they had all these brain injuries (from sports) and I really didn’t pay attention to it before. I had a guy who I knew very closely, a guy that pretty much would give you the shirt off his back. For him to snap and do the things he did, not only just killing himself, but also killing his fiancee, that took me through my own mental health bout.
I don’t doubt for a second that God does everything for a reason. Because now I have two rehab facilities in California, where we treat athletes for mental health – whether from substance abuse, anxiety, depression or even neurological issues.
And now we have so many lives that we’ve changed, that we’ve saved, and guys telling like ‘Look, that saved my life, that saved my marriage, that saved my relationship with my kids.’ That’s all big. I also have a Legacy Pro Sports Foundation where we raise money to advocate for mental health for athletes and even provide for them to get this treatment. So, I love what we’re doing. I love chasing lives and I love saving lives every day.
Urban Magazine: Hand claps to that. I think because mental health is such a, or it had been prior to recent years, kind of like a taboo topic to discuss. Nobody ever really wants to discuss it. So I really commend you for that. Gavin, on your side, I’m curious to know what do you practice to keep your mental health in check?
Gavin: Yeah, most definitely. Like you were saying, as far as comparison, I feel I’m big into reading and I saw a quote in a book that I feel that comparison is a thief of joy. So that’s how I go about that. I like that you brought that up. But as far as me as in my career, I haven’t seen nothing as severe as Mr. Sala. But mental health is huge. It’s everything with the cloudy mind. It’s hard to have true side of your direction in your life. But for me, I’m real big in my faith and I have a Christian background raised in the church. So when things go left in my life, I like to get in my word just for me, having faith in the unknown. A lot of times in life we might not know what our next step might be, where we’re headed in life might be unsure about certain things.
But I feel like just having that faith and knowing that, like Mrs said, everything happened for a reason and just being sound in every decision and everything that happens in your life because it’s all happening for a reason. Everything shape out in life how it’s supposed to be. So for me, like I say, I’m be using my word and my faith. So when things go left for me, I’m quick to get in my Bible and just try to find a true understanding. For me, that’s my foundation. That’s my true understanding of why is this happening in my life or why am I going this direction? And in the end with time, eventually God, he he’ll show you why you went through certain things in your life. He has a plan for each and everybody walking this earth. So just the belief in unknown, having true faith and just being secure and everything that’s going on in your life. So that’s what I fall back on.
Urban Magazine: Thank you for your insight into that, it’s truly meaningful. Brandon, you have a new book, ‘Definition of a Leader,’ which I believe is a testament of who you are because even hearing you talk in this Zoom, I can definitely see the characteristics in you and how you lead and take on that role. What does being a leader mean to you?
Brandon Siler: I think being a leader is being able to pull the best out of everybody that’s around you, right? Everybody that’s following you, everybody that’s looking and guiding their way based upon how you motivate ’em and what you can pull out of ’em. I think that a lot of leaders understand that you got to get on people in order for them to pull the best out of themselves in certain scenarios. I think where leadership has to be recognized and what leaders have to recognize is you also have to give the people that are looking up to you or the people that you’re inspiring, the people that are following you as a leader, you have to give them a piece of yourself.
I think a big thing in leadership is being able to pull the best out of everybody around you.
Urban Magazine: Just to close this out, you named your agency Legacy Pro Sports, I’m curious to know from both of you, what type of legacy are both wanting to leave behind.
Gavin: As far as my athletic career goals, I want to be a guy that had unrealistic work ethic, just outwork all of my competition and being true to my work before anything else. Work is everything and I believe you only get out what you put in. So being a real gritty type of athlete and having left a positive impact in my community. I also feel like I’m more than just an athlete. I want to use all of my tools to propel me to be a positive force for those around me.
Urban Magazine: Brandon, I see you watching Gavin answer that questions like a proud dad over there. How about for yourself? What the legacy you want to leave behind?
Brandon Siler: It’s all about legacy, right? It’s about when I leave this place, when I leave this place called Earth and go on to heaven to live in my afterlife, what did I leave behind? Did I change the world? Did I change lives? Did I leave something that my kids can be proud of, something that they can build upon? And that’s what it’s all about for me. That’s why every day what we do is work, but not really work, right? We get satisfaction. I say that, I always say that I do well by doing good, so I do good for people. I make sure that I’m getting them disabilities. I work and I fight for ’em every day to change these guys’ lives. In some cases we are getting guys paid out for the rest of their life in a residual way, and that’s like life changing for a lot of these guys.
When they go out to our rehab facility and they having all of their mental health issues and they’re thinking about taking their own life and they go out there and now they come back and they got strategies and a better relationship with their kids and their wife and they got a better relationship with God and they have a different outlook on their selves and their life, so they could get in the same situation afterwards and now they see the glass half full instead of half empty. That’s the type of stuff that really for me, is the legacy that I want to leave behind, being able to affect lives and change lives while I’m here and continue to do it and build something that can continue to do it once I’m gone.
