Akbar Gbajabiamila

I'll never forget when he first told me he was proud of me.

And that meant everything because he didn't use that, you know, like all the time.

And so to hear it,

I think hearing I'm proud of you a thousand times is not as impactful of when you save it for the right time.

So my dad telling me that time that he was proud of me, it sticks with me today because I know he meant it.

When he said it, he meant it.

You know, I think now, you know, in this pandemic,

over parenting culture of you got to do this you got to do that you got to do this you got to do that I think we say I know I certainly have said that to my kids all the time I use it and now it's kind of like do they even know if I'm really proud of them because I've used it so much oh please I say that to my kids all day long I'm so proud of you I love you so much it doesn't mean anything yeah but I think it means something when you save it for the right time for sure yeah for sure let me ask you a question okay

What was a bigger deal to you, being in the NFL or doing the talk?

I would say playing in the NFL was a bigger deal just because I didn't dream of playing in the NFL as a kid.

I dreamed of playing in the NBA.

You showed me some special shoes that you had before you even pulled them out.

These were some special 1987 Converse shoes.

Weapons.

The weapons.

Yeah.

And those stand out in my mind because I remember the Magic Johnson and the Larry Bird commercials, him getting out of the limousine.

I was a massive basketball fan growing up.

That was my life.

I was going to be playing next to Matt Johnson.