00:00
They said, why do you play football? And I said, well, I can physically harm somebody and not go to jail, right? Like that was my answer. You can't say that today, can you? You can't say that now, right? I've always felt that Lights Out was bigger than anything I could do in the football field. And that's why when I bought the name and rights and trademarks I bought in 2006, I'm sure all my teammates didn't like me and I didn't like every single teammate that I had, but we found a way to come together to win football games and that was what was most important.

00:29
This part of that need is starting again. You're listening to the Radcast. If it's radical, we cover it. Here's your host, Ryan Alford. Hey guys, what's up? Welcome to the latest edition of the Radcast. I'm here today talking one of my favorite things, football with the Exile Pro, Shawne Merriman. What's up, brother? What's up, my man? How you doing?

00:59
I mean, I, the acronyms could go on and on. Now we got life insurance. I know we're going to get into it. We got lights out, a podcast. We got lights out apparel, fitness, and we got some damn kick-ass UFC and fighting and all that shit, man. You, you got it going on, brother. You know what, man? I'm a unfortunate, right? Because, um, now, you know, growing up, like you're, you're the number one thing you want to play football, right? You want to be an NFL, you get a chance to live out your dream. And now.

01:29
You know, the stuff that I'm doing now, it's, uh, it's like my second act to everything I wanted to do, right. Um, and just that transition, because we talked about it off air force for a second, it's not, it's not easy. Right. It's just not. Um, but I, but I've had a lot of fun with. Yeah. Well, you look like you're having fun with it. I can't wait to get down some of those rabbit holes. Um, but Sean, I mean,

01:53
You know, it take half a second on Google for someone to read and do things. So we don't have to rehash everything, but I do want. And to give people some, you know, your back history, you know, you know, as condensed as you want it to be, but like your story, I know huge chargers. I mean, I remember you just wrecking people. Like I remember you were like that dude, like that, like that freak, like they talk about some of the freaks now. I'm like, dude.

02:19
Shawne Merriman would wreck some people. Somebody was asking me like, Oh, I remember that name. I'm like, yeah, you remember that name. Cause he fucking destroyed people. You are a beast, man. But, uh, talk about, talk about the football background and then we'll get into some business. Yeah. I, um, I grew up in Prince George's County, Maryland. Uh, and so we grew up in the late eighties and nineties where, uh, and I was right next to Washington DC, which is like the.

02:43
It was a crack epidemic, the murder capital of the country for almost a decade. And so I grew up around that. And it was tough. We were homeless several different times, at least two or three different times where we lost our home due to fires because we couldn't pay our electricity bills. We're lighting, my mom lit candles in there because our light and gas got cut off. So our house burned down. We lost that. We lived in a shelter, back of cars.

03:12
And so, you know, kind of just fast forward and everything like that, because that can be a whole hour on its own. Yeah, no kidding. I ended up going to University of Maryland and I committed to University of Maryland as a junior. And the reason why is because I was home. You know, I didn't want to leave, you know, my mom leave, my high school coaches, friends, I wanted everybody to come and watch me play. So I went to the University of Maryland. Um, you know, had a great career there, but, uh, ended up leaving early.

03:39
You know, when I found out that I was going to go somewhere in the top 10, top 15 of the first round of draft, I was like, this is a, this, this type of shit doesn't happen, right? So you want to, you want to take advantage of it. Um, and then the rest is history. You know, I got out and, um, got that nickname lights out my sophomore year in high school. Um, yeah, I knocked out four, four players in, in, in one game in high school. And I ended up getting that nickname lights out and I kind of carried that all the way through. Where was that? You know,

04:09
that energy in that edge, like, was that just bottled up physical capability? Or was it like, you know, you were talking about it, you know, some of those bad times and some of that, those challenges. I mean, was any of that bottled up from that? I mean, cause I can't help, but think that maybe it was a hundred percent. Uh, and, and kind of take it a step further. It was my escape, right? Um, I remember when I was, I was rated my sophomore year in high school. I was,

04:38
I don't know, top hundred defensive players, something like that in the country. Yeah. And it was my first ESPN. Mind you, I had no media training and stuff like that then, right? So I didn't, you don't get that from where I came from. And so they said, why do you play football? And I said, well, I can physically harm somebody and not go to jail, right? Like that was my, that was my answer. Yeah, you can't say that today, can you? You can't say that now, right? But at the time, because of everything that I did go through, like that was my...

05:07
that few hours a day at practice or games was me being able to escape what I was going through at home and not having much, you know, whether I was gonna come home and have eviction notices on the door or were we gonna have food or life school. So that two hours was my getaway from everything else. And in return, I just started to light people up. You know, I was like angry and physical, I needed to get out aggression and I hated my circumstances in life.

05:34
Um, and then I would, I felt good after practice, after games, I was like, that was my meditation, my therapy, whatever it was, but you know, over a period of time, I just started to play like that. Like that was just my attitude. I was nasty and physical and wanted to hit everybody because that was the only way I learned the game. Uh, and it just, you know, translated all the way through college and, uh, and then to the pros. It was hard to turn that off. Like, you know, coming off the field.

06:03
You know, both, you know, we'll, we'll talk about the transition after football, but like, seems like some of that would be, you know, hard to turn off, but was it, was it hard to kind of leave that behind when you got off the football field? Uh, no, not really. Like the attitude, did you feel like you needed to carry it forward? Like, was it like, I definitely had a, uh, like a chip on my shoulder.

06:28
Yeah, no doubt about it. Even even now another chip has changed from me seeing another opponent to me be eager to want to prove people wrong in business or grow and all that that stuff. So the chip has definitely changed, but it's still there. So yes, I have had a chip on my shoulder. But the walking off the field, it was almost like a like an actor, right? The goal and you know, taking out a Caprio and a great Gatsby. He's not.

06:56
calling people with sport, you know, right in the street and that's where it got me was like, he was an actor. He was a character for that movie and for that role. And that's how I felt. It was like, I had this lights out demeanor. I ended up getting a blue mohawk. I had tattoos everywhere, flying around and just being like this guy. And actually when I walked off the field, it was the opposite. You know, I wasn't that guy. But doing those four quarters,

07:25
Um, uh, 60 minutes of football, shoot and go out and be whoever the hell you want to be. Uh, and then, you know, kind of, and I always say this, leave it on the field. Everything, everything you have, leave it on the field. And I still stand true to this day. How did you, um, you know, how many years did you play in the pros? Eight, eight years. Yeah. I mean, I, you hear, you hear pros talk about it. Um,

07:53
that I don't know that people that didn't have that energy flow and got the, both the attention, everything like that, how hard it is to transition. I mean, maybe, I mean, in your own words, like, you know, you have heard Jerry Rice talk about others, like getting away from the game, like the, the highs of that, you know, like the emotional highs and everything. How hard was that transition? Hey, that, that first year is beyond tough.

08:21
And I'll tell anybody that is about to retire. And I talk to guys all the time, right? They said they got a year, two years left, maybe three. I said, whatever you want to do when you're done, start doing it now. And that way, when you're done, you do it right away. Because if you have downtime, you're going to struggle. And, you know, for me, I went right into TV. I went to NFL Network, and I had my clothing line. I was selling in, you know, a variety of sports shops.

08:49
sports stores and retail, I had plenty of things to do. And it was still some days I sat around was like, is this it? Like there's no more, you know, going out to practice or working out or hearing a whistle, training camp, OTAs, many, I mean, all this is done, right? And so it still hit me and I had plenty of things to do. So I can only imagine a guy that's not lined up and ready to transition, how hard that would be. And that's why sometimes you hear these horrible stories.

09:17
Is it the highs and the endorphins that are missed or is it almost like the army? Is it like the structure? Cause I heard hearing you talk a little bit, made me think less about the lights on and all the attention, which I think is probably some of it. But what I heard from you there a little bit was just maybe the structure of it. It's just a structure. And the number one thing is being around the guys, right. In the locker room, because things happen and talk and be talked about in the locker room, you cannot do out in the workplace.

09:47
It's just, you know, it's just point blank. You can't do it. Yeah. And especially even now more so you can't do it because you know, it's just being around the guys, wins and losses didn't matter. It was you around the guys no matter what. And what happens is you have players that come from from the South or Wisconsin, Midwest and East coast. You got some city boys, guys who are married, guys who aren't. And one day a week, you find a way to get on the same pace and you can go out and win the game. All these personalities.

10:17
You look back and like, man, this guy was funny as hell. Right, this guy was crazy as hell. So you missed being around the guys more so than anything else. And that was what people struggled with first. And then you're right. The structure of somebody telling you, hey, you've got to be here to work out at 8 o'clock in the morning. We've got film after this. We've got practice. We've got lunch at 3. So the structure part is gone. And you've got to figure it out. So.

10:44
We transition, you were ready, you teed it up, you had NFL network, you've got the apparel company, lights out, nature or nurture? Like, were you just a natural born entrepreneur waiting to come out of the bottle? Or like, did you absorb and learn from others? No, I was just, I was natural, man. I've always, I mean, when I was a kid, I was selling, you know, five or six Nintendo games to get the one best one, right? And...

11:14
I'll go out and wash cars, you know, during the summers, cut grass, shovel snow, rake leaves, and I would take it and use all the money for what I wanted to, you know, whether I wanted to go buy a new mouthpiece or football equipment or cleats. I was always hustling in a way. And I think that this entrepreneur word has kind of become more recent, but you look back on everything now, even to the point of branding, right? I mean,

11:41
I look back on everything that I did when I was a kid or even, you know, having a nickname like lights out at 16 years old and getting a tattoo and you're right, my right forearm to it was, it was branding. It was marketing. I think that we just use the word for it now. Um, so, you know, though I had mentors and things I was doing this long before anybody came in the picture. No, but you did, you created the brand. I mean, you talked about for the Mohawk and the look and the feel and like you became the character.

12:09
I mean, character, so to speak, but the persona of a brand or a machine, I mean, like you were that, I mean, and yeah, I mean, all these words have gotten, you know, buzzy and everything like that with social media and stuff. But I said, no, we're going to talk about, but like, I think you are, uh, probably a little ahead of your time with having that both on the field. I mean, it's one thing to do all those gimmicks and then not live up to it, but then, you know, you destroy in quarterbacks and

12:37
Taking people off the field, you know, like you lived up to it in both, uh, stature and a brand. Yeah. And you know what? And, um, so as you, as you said, right, you had what I did on the football field as creating his character, his persona, all these things, but in the hindsight of it, I was just kind of the launching pad to everything with the brand, I've always felt that lights out was bigger than anything I can do on the football field.

13:03
And that's why when I bought the name and rights to trademarks I bought in 2006, I bought it for, you know, numerous things and clothing, workout stuff and equipment, marketing, advertisement, energy drinks. This, I bought, you know, this is something I acquired from another company at the age of 21 years old. And so I don't even know if, if trademarking was even that big, then the people talked about it enough.

13:27
Um, and I just took those extra steps and know that this brand was going to be a lot bigger than I ever could be. So what's, uh, what's that transition? Like, you know, you've, you've had a lot of iterations. Um, what's the, uh, how's it, how would you compare being in business versus being in football, you know? And I know business was football was business. There's contracts you're working. So I don't want to minimize that at all. I know it's a business, but how did you compare the two?

13:57
So funny story, I used to absolutely hate when I go, when I retire and I go into these business meetings and people would always use a football analogy to explain whatever business opportunity we're talking about. And in my head, I'm thinking like, dude, I'm not dumb. You know, you can, I speak the same lingo you speak. Right, so I don't care if it's like, you know, trademark stuff or, you know, stocks or whatever, whatever the business we're talking about.

14:25
somebody in the room would always make a football analogy. Say, hey, this is like the quarterback and say, listen, you don't have to do that. So fast forward after enough of those meetings, and I would listen to what some of these people say about making these comparisons. And I said, holy shit, this is very much like football. And I started thinking of it over and over again, right?

14:49
There's a team aspect. So you're not gonna be successful without a good team. And that's what there's employees, partners, whatever it is. So there's your team aspect. Overcoming adversity, football, knee injuries that I've had, achilles, body parts, whatever it is, you're overcoming, having to find a way to get back on the field, business, you're gonna get knocked on your ass, you gotta find a way to get back up and go back at it again. Being able sometimes to work with people you don't necessarily like, you know, like.

15:19
I'm sure all my teammates didn't like me and I didn't like every single teammate that I had, but we found a way to come together to win football games and that was what was most important. Also being able to be creative, right? I mean, I had this sack dance and all this stuff that I kind of created about this moniker, this presence that I had in the football field. So there were so many similarities that I got to the point where I started to go to meetings and give these like, these comparisons. And I'm like,

15:49
Yeah, we're talking about, you know, whatever deal or whatever it was. And I'll say, okay, that's like, you know, the fullback, right? Going to the flats, you know, you got, you know, so I started to use that because football was so much like real life and the things you have to deal with and that I started looking at it as an advantage when I retired at more so than a, than a disadvantage. Yeah. I love it, man. Talk with ex all pro Shawne Maryman. Sean. I mean,

16:20
I want to transition to more social media and the business side, but like, what's the biggest thing you miss about football and you know, maybe, I don't know if there's any misconceptions about football players in general. I think the biggest thing I miss, um, is being able to compete, right? Like, you know, to go against paid manning, Tom Brady, uh, some of these all pro

16:49
left tackles, right? Hall of Fame left tackles that I played against. You gotta get up for that, right? Because it's you, it's like man versus man, you versus him and some big, oh, this guy's gonna do this, he's not gonna let you side the quarterback. You'll watch a film looking at certain tendencies and what the offensive line do and what plays they like to run and what yard line to just, the preparation and to be able to compete, I miss probably the most.

17:14
Because this in my opinion, there's no game like team game, especially like football. Yeah, you got you can have 10 guys on the field doing the perfect thing. Everything he's supposed to do. You got one guy not doing what he's supposed to do and that whole play is ruined. Right. And so that part I missed a lot. Yeah, and I it's so funny you bring up the the 10 and the one like I was talking to someone about that like.

17:42
There wasn't that into football and they go, why do you love football? I don't know. I think I just appreciate the symphony of it all. Like it's kind of like the orchestra. Like, you know, there's a bad violinist. You're going to hear it. It ain't going to work. The song ain't going to sing, you know, like it's not going to be good. The, uh, so let's talk about lights out. So the brand carried forward, uh, you've got fitness gear, you've got apparel. I know you can share all that. What's, what's that experience been like in, you know, I,

18:12
If I was an ex NFL player, I would, I would probably be like, Oh, if I build it, they will come. But something tells me it's never as easy as that. No, never. I'm still knocking down those same doors. A lot of other people have the two, uh, to knock down, right? I'll get in to any need and just about a one meet with anybody because, you know, by football play and people name recognition, people know who I am. So they know I'm not just coming to meet with them to cause I got some free time to waste.

18:41
So, well, so I'll get in the meetings, but I do have to do the same convincing that everyone else is out here trying to promote or grow a company. It doesn't change, right? You got people that you're going in, they won't see your vision, they won't understand what you're trying to build, and you may have to go do it on your own so they can realize it and come back. And that's happened to me several times. You know, when I launched Lights Out Extreme Fighting, I had to go and pitch it to Fox Sports because that's where we started out at.

19:10
the regionals and I had to see it makes make sure they gave me an opportunity. And, um, you know, now we're on football sports, football TV. I had to do the same thing. So it's not like I called and pick up the phone, but Hey, I'm Shawne Maryman. I play football. Give me a deal. Like it's, it's none of that going on. If anybody thinks that it's the flying across country, right. Sitting down with all the important people in the room and make decisions, uh, letting them know what my vision is and how I'm going to execute it.

19:38
And then you still got to come back. You got people in the room that may not be convinced. And so you have to when you get your opportunity, you got to convince. Yeah, is where all is the fitness stuff? I mean, are you I know you got your own DTC stuff, but where all can like are you distributed? Yeah, we were in Tilly's for some years. And actually, we're going to this time next year, we should be fully back in the retail. We're going to potentially launch.

20:08
a really, really big retail store, probably one of the biggest in the country. And, uh, and getting going again, because the apparel space is like, honestly, my first love, because that's where I started at, even when I was playing, I was, I was still in sports mill, billiard shops. I was still selling lights out gear. Um, and I just, I love the apparel space so much because it's a part of the overall lights out brand. Yep. Is, um,

20:34
the transition into fighting, you know, like I told you pre-episode, like I, I, I remembered you. I remembered like, I'm never scared of anyone over TV, but if there's everyone, I was like, I didn't want to get hit by it. It might've been you and I'm a big dude. And I'm like, I don't want that fucker hitting me. And, but like, was fighting just always a passion and it's like been this national transition for you? Yeah, I actually knew that was probably my most natural transition, right? Because

21:04
You know, for one, I grew up in Prince George County, Maryland, that Washington area, that Washington, D.C. area, that DMV area. It was a ton of boxers, professional boxers, champs. And so they would come around my neighborhood and I would box a lot as a kid. We would always throw on the gloves in the neighborhood and box at the cookouts and family reunions. It was it was just a part of it. And so when I transitioned into MMA, a good friend of mine, Jay Glazer, in 2006, got me involved in the made.

21:32
Uh, my first day training in the bay was with him and Randy Gator. And so that was my welcome to the sport. You know, and like you can imagine, it wasn't so great, right. Um, yeah, because Randy was at that time still even still on top of his game. So, um, you know, MMA picked up a lot of steam in the mid late 2000s and you know, the UFC has done a great job of just branding the hell out of the sport.

22:01
and make it in as big as it is today. And now, look at the, well, a week or two ago, Adrian Peterson just fought Le'Veon Bell, right? A boxing match. There's going to be a long list of former athletes that get into some form of combat sports when they're done, and it's recommended, in my opinion, because that transition, as we just talked about, is not easy. And some of these guys get done and still have something left in the tank.

22:28
And they want to go compete at something. They can't play football anymore. They're not going to get picked up by team. Yeah. And you know, a lot of these guys start training, uh, combat sports in the may. So I'm, I'm actively transitioning former guys right now. When that's interesting because. Like you can play in the pro that's also fascinating. I look at you and you, I mean, you look young anyway, but it's like, I mean, if I didn't know better, I think you were still, you know, I mean, like a lot of you guys play six, eight, 10 years, which is

22:57
good career and the pros. Um, but then you're 30, 31, 32, 33. I mean, you're still very athletic. Maybe not maybe a bad ankle, bad knee or something that you just can't be at all. You know, be, you know, full force football, but there's still a lot of athletic ability there. So it does seem like kind of a now and like, shit who's these boxers, some of these fighters, you know, at 40, I mean, if damn Tom Brady can play football at 45, then I think, uh,

23:25
an ex football player and kick somebody's ass at 33. Yeah, no, no, no question about absolutely. And you know, what's funny about that is, um, is not if you look at the grand scheme of things, it's not that long in football, right? So I retired at 28. You know, you said 3334. The problem why I didn't sign and fight when I got done because they wasn't paying the Yeah, opportunity for, you know, when I remember pitching, when I

23:53
When I retired in 2013, I said, hey man, I wanna go fight and pay preview. I remember asking for half a million dollars for me to fight, which is now is not much. If you have a name and you can fight and you can sell pay previews, that's a starting point. Half a million dollars for anybody that, you know, is fighting another person with a personality or following is a starting point. So that's why I'm like, come on. You know, these guys that only played two, three years.

24:21
They still, you know, they can't get back into the NFL. They're tired, maybe tired of getting pushed to the side. I bring them, I bring them over. Yeah. Is what's the, what's, what's been the learning curve with promotion and you know, everything that goes into the fight game. I'm curious on that and also curious on, you know, I know Dana White has done an incredible job with UFC. I'm not, let's question about why they're so popular. I know what, you know, the machine he's built and what he's done.

24:51
damn, I grew up watching boxing with my grandfather and like, you know, to see kind of the decline of boxing, you know, has, has hurt me a bit, you know, and I don't know why, I mean, maybe it's starting to pick back up, but I know that was kind of a double loaded question, but, uh, I'd love to know your perspective. Well, for one, um, what would kill boxing the fastest is the uneven matches, right? And you got, you got these guys as 23 and old fighting somebody that's 10 and 20.

25:21
right on 10 to 15. And also I believe that the promoters and managers, kind of made the sport decline faster than what is because they're holding their champ back or somebody with a big name from fighting another big name, afraid that if they lose, they're gonna lose the breadwinner. And that's happening too much. And what Dana and those guys done at UFC is, the best is are fighting the best.

25:49
Right. You're getting the number one and number two, the number one and then before number one and number three, they're fighting each other all the time. So the best man actually, it literally wins boxing. That's, that's what killed the sport. That's what killed the sport. Cause you got a guy that's a extreme. Talented fighter, big name fighting somebody that no one heard of. Yeah. And when you have that enough, people are not going to pay for it. Why do you think people are okay with, you know,

26:18
And I know there's a few of these now, but for the most part, the champion in any divisions, like 16 and five, you know what I mean? Like, I'll be it's okay that he's lost, you know, cause they're fighting their ass off, they fight the best, but in boxing, you do kind of, they've built it up to where even I think I do it myself. Oh, he's got a couple of losses. He must not be, you know, and I'm like, shit, I don't know why I think that way. I don't know why it's acceptable in UFC to lose, but in boxing it isn't.

26:46
Well, because you know, MMA, there's so many different disciplines, right? You might have a guy that's a great wrestler, a jujitsu, Muay Thai, a striker, box, you know, and so sometimes you just outmatched and you get outsmarted. Yeah. And, you know, most of these boxers have been boxing since they were 10, 11 years old, so they're so technical that if you lose in boxing, it's automatically that that guy is so much better than you. Yeah. Right. That, and that's not true.

27:12
Uh, I get Canelo all the respect in the world for stepping up a weight class, even though he lost. Yeah. You know, he went for it and he didn't go fight another guy who he could just put through the ropes and knock out. And so while other people said, oh, he lost and, and that's the boxing community. Right. That's the boxing community, which I don't agree with other guys. Other people are saying that for me. I'm like, damn that he went to go. It was, he was unmatched. Yeah. Right. It was, it was, he was, he was fighting a bigger guy.

27:41
And it wasn't an even match, but he did it. And so boxing is not going to pick up unless Javante Davis go and fight Ryan. Right. Or, um, you know, what it's finally got freaking Spence and, uh, whatever this name is, I can't keep up with every name, but, uh, Errol Spence Jr. And freaking Terrence Crawford. I mean, like those guys should have fought three years. I mean,

28:10
It gets to where it's the end of the, the guys should have fought three years ago in their prime, you know, like we're going to see Canelo and triple G for the third time, which is good, but it's like, you know, some of these things get delayed so much. Yeah. And because, you know, it, Haney didn't fight Terrence Crawford or Aerosmith like that has to, in order for boxing to come back to compete with the NEMMA, those fights are going to have to happen. And if the promoters and these people are guarding them,

28:38
and not, and trying to have this huge, huge, huge, big payday. It, yes, he's going, everybody get paid, but it's not going to do much for the sport. And so unless the bet, you know, number one fights number two or three, number four guy fights, no, number eight, number seven, that's not the boxing is going to stay where it's at. It's never going to be able to take him and Megan. Yeah. Oh, I hope somebody gets their head out of their ass, but talk to me about, uh, your, uh, your fighting league and with lights out, like

29:07
Where, where are we headed with that? And you talked about some of the ex pro players, where you want to take your league and everything. Yeah. So we're on, uh, we're on football TV, football sports. Uh, we start back up in November and we go every month, uh, after that. And so when I look at it, do here's it probably the next few weeks, started announcing three, three dates at a time. Then you use and so forth, but, um, I love this sport, man, that I wish, you know, that somebody saw.

29:36
Back in 2013, I retired that, you know, how much I love this sport and I would have done it and paid me accordingly. Um, but you know, to be on the backside of this now, um, being part of the production, being part of the, uh, you know, we have big TV trucks outside and, you know, just everything we want to be, you know, the biggest minor league there is out there. Right. We, we want USC to come and see our talent.

30:04
Um, and be respectable and have a great brand and a back to me. I just, I want to be able to get these fighters more fights, right? You have so many fighters out there and not enough quality promotions to give them opportunity and lights out. You know, we can do that. Yeah. That's great, man. Is, um, are you partnered with anyone? I mean, I know it's bad. I mean, a lot with your name and stuff, but are you partnering like.

30:30
other than like Fubo and stuff like that. Who else, who else are some of your partners or sponsors? Um, well, we have, uh, what Fubo is obviously our exclusive partner with our fights. Yep. Um, but we always partner for our fights with different concierge casinos, uh, Fubo, obviously Fubo sports book who just, just launched just recently. Yep. Um, and, and sooner or later you will be able to bet during our fights through the Fubo app, you know, bet knockouts and chokes and

30:57
Everything else, you know, we're getting to that point where, uh, you know, at least 10 to nine and 10 States, you'll be able to gamble with this and bet on a fight being a gambling. That's changed a lot. Had an inch from your days. You know, that's full circle. Several years ago, I felt uncomfortable talking about it. Yeah. Uh, because it was, it was so frowned upon that I'll tell you this. I didn't even know what the over under was until like I retired. I had no idea.

31:27
If somebody asked me what the over 100 was, I looked at you like, listen, I don't know what the hell you talking about. That's probably a good thing, but at least while you're playing, uh, but it's crazy. But now it's, I mean, it's wide open. It's the wild, wild west out there. I mean, I really commend how you've used social media. You know, we talked pre-episode a little bit about this, how much power there is in social media for growing a brand and doing business.

31:55
Talk about how you've leveraged it. You know, for me, um, I like for one, one thing I've never really talked about a social media is politics, religion, that type of thing, because it's, it's a waste of time for me. It's not like I'm not interested in politics or I don't care what's going on. But you know, for me, social media is not the place for me for that. Right. So I use, I have these sign them up, but don't sign them up funny videos where I post fights and, um, and people like it. So, uh, you know, it's funny, it's entertaining. I.

32:24
If the guys can fight, sign them up. If they can't fight, don't sign them up. And I saw for that, I promote the league. I promote what I do. And so I see people sometimes taking these vacations once a month or this and that, which is all fine. I mean, I'm not saying you shouldn't go on vacation, but I'm just about growing this brand and working. Give me a gym, hour and a half, six days a week. Give me some food, give me six hours of sleep and just let me work, man. That's how I like my schedule.

32:54
I was going to ask you what your routine is these days, you know, still, still lift a lot. Yeah. I just, um, so this morning I work out at this place in Vegas. I live in Vegas full time, uh, called dragons layer, um, flex Lewis. He's former, former bodybuilder. He owns it. So I go there three days a week and I go to extreme tour, uh, train there, Randy couture's gym, uh, a few days a week to, uh, actually, you know, hitting mitts and rolling and stuff like that.

33:22
So I'm pretty active, man. That's it's so, it's so much part of my makeup. Like I'm scared not to, right? I always felt that if you've been doing something for so long and then you just stopped, I'd be, I don't know if I'm just croaking far right over if I missed a gym for a week, so I don't even know what that feels like. I know. What, what does Shawne Merriman do for fun these days? What's what's fun. Don't say go to the gym, but what is, I, I, you know, what I like to do is so

33:51
I try to base everything around what I'm already doing. So yesterday I was in Arizona. I had some meetings, meeting my really good friend, Jeff Hoffman, who co-founded the Priceline. And so what I would do is I'll stay an extra day somewhere. So if I got a meeting in Miami or New York, wherever I go, I'll try to stay there and hang out, get some drinks, catch up dinner with whoever I can. So that's pretty much the most fun that I get.

34:21
But you know, it's not, you know, going somewhere for a week or vacation. I mean, that that's just totally out the question. So I'll just try to book trips where I can stay an extra day somewhere and enjoy it. Yeah. Do you think, uh, is there a good, like, you know, you've embraced that you've taken advantage of the opportunities of social media and growing brands and making deals and all that, but like the average players, are they kind of just left to their own devices? I mean, is it like.

34:49
You either see it and you go after it or you don't like I mean, I just, I don't see a lot of education or what, I don't know what happens, you know, like some of these guys like yourself go make it happen. And some just kind of fade away. Yeah. We talked about, you know, the adrenaline and running out to 70,000 people to spotlight and all this stuff. Um, and just really a passion for the sport that you played, you know, I tell a lot of former guys this. Um,

35:17
If you find that same passion right that whatever that was. And let me tell you so it's next to the possible to replace that feeling of run out to 70,000 screaming people you make it a big cash big tackle sack yeah turnover. Everybody's going crazy your teammates a slap you on top of the head and pat you in the back. You get home you got you know 50 text message is very body because you just had 3 sacks on Monday night football you can't replace that feeling.

35:45
That part of it is just not going to happen. But the next thing you can do is replace the feeling of something you're building, right? And see it actually panning out like you planned for it to pan out. That is the closest thing for me that I can get back to that feeling. And because athletes are some of the most disciplined, hardworking, like, I mean, think about it. My whole life has been structured, right, since I was 10 years old.

36:15
I was told what time to eat, told what time to wake up, told what time to watch film and practice and what time I had to go to sleep to be ready for practice the next day. My whole life is structured. And so what do you need out here to be successful? Two things, discipline and structure. If you have those, you got a good chance to be successful at anything because that's what a lot of people lack. A lot of people lack just being disciplined and having structure in their life, which is one of the only things that I know.

36:46
I love it, brother. Uh, I know, uh, I'd be remiss if I didn't like get in life insurance. I mean, where'd the life insurance, I like, you know, like, is it lights out life insurance? Come on. You know, what's crazy is so during the pandemic, right. And everybody I felt got hit in some kind of way during the pandemic, right? You lost some things you had to figure it out. Everybody, no matter if you were.

37:14
you know, $1 billion or $100. During the pandemic, everybody had to figure it out. And when everything shut down for me, the MMA league, the TV shows, when I was shooting some stuff with Fox Sports then and doing some broadcast and work, everything shut down. I lost everything in a matter of four days, shut down, done. And so one of my best friends came up to me and said, hey, you should get your, you should do life insurance.

37:39
I laughed at him. I said, okay, you want to have a red shirt and some khakis to why I'm at it or knock on doors and, you know, and I made a joke of it. Yeah. Um, and I say, you know what? We were four, three or four months into the pandemic. I said, let me just go ahead and get my insurance license. I might not ever use it. Uh, might not do anything with it, but at least I'll have it. So I ended up partnering with this company called a family first life. And I went with them. Uh, one of the founder of it, his name is Sean Mike.

38:07
We we we had a really good conversation same mindset when it came to a bunch of different things But the second part of it is they were paying more compensation than everybody else and that's time I knew nothing about insurance Compensation what you know what company did what and so I said that's immediately started big damn everybody don't know you can make more money So I started to build an agency So now I have you know 207 agents in my agency and you know, we're probably going 30 to 48 this a month

38:35
At this point. And so my goal is to get to a thousand plus agents and help people make as much money as they possibly can. I love it, man. Hey, help. It's funny when you help others, it usually comes back around to yourself, right? Yeah. It's so, you know what? And you don't think about doing it as you're doing it, but somehow some way it's like a boomerang effect and it happens every single time. Sean, man, I could talk to you all day, but, uh, tell me

39:04
Let's tell everybody where they can keep up with you, your brands, uh, your insurance and all that stuff. People want to get to, to learn more about you. Yeah. Yes. Follow me at Sean Mermin on Instagram and Twitter. Uh, the, the lights out XF is MMA handle lights out XF, uh, for lights out extreme fighting and, uh, looking for a job, man, lights out lights out agency.com. And, uh, that's pretty much it, man, but I'm rocking over here. You are.

39:32
And, you know, ironically enough, you said, you know, at the beginning, you were talking about, like, people having to use the football and all that, analogies like they needed to, like, talk in a different language. I think I listened to you and I hear a businessman that just happened to play football. Ha ha ha. You're right, man. That's, that is, is people joke about that now, especially because I'm so far removed from the game. Yeah. And so everybody's, when I'm talking to some people, they may not know or remember.

40:01
They didn't watch football. And so they automatically assume I have this stuff going on. And like, Hey, what's, uh, what's business school does you go to? What's, uh, you know, what I said, I didn't go to business school. School of hard knocks called a real Shawne, man. I really appreciate it. And everybody out there listening, you need to go watch Shawne takes somebody's head off if you haven't seen any of those highlights, but then then what listen to this episode and you'll learn it even another lesson. Shawne really appreciate you coming on, brother.

40:30
Hey, thanks for having me on, man. I appreciate it. Hey, guys, you know where to find us, theradcast.com. Search for Lights Out. You'll find all the highlight clips from today. Might throw up some highlights from Shawne knocking people out on the football field, and now he's knocking them out on the business field. We appreciate Shawne. You know where to find me. I'm Matt Ryan, offering on the platform. Go follow me on TikTok. I'm blowing up. We'll see you next time on the Radcast.