Eric Thomas

Sorry for what? I was sorry for what I've got myself into the choices that I made, you know. OK, yeah. You 12 years old when you find out that the person is raising you is not your biological father and your mother lie. Absolutely. But it's not necessarily the best circumstances, you know, for a child to be born in. Like your mom lied about who your father is and. You know your father.

And don't even know you know your father, Lyle. Like, you've been around your father. But you didn't know he was your father. I didn't even know he was my father. Wow. I'm with his mother. My grandma and me like this. I'm with his sisters. I'm with his brothers, my aunts and uncles. I'm hanging out with them every day.

And don't even know you know your father, Lyle. Like, you've been around your father. But you didn't know he was your father. I didn't even know he was my father. Wow. I'm with his mother. My grandma and me like this. I'm with his sisters. I'm with his brothers, my aunts and uncles. I'm hanging out with them every day.

And so the realization of like, yo, not only did you get lied to, like, it's been manipulative. It's been deceitful. But what do I do, Lyle? I run away from home at 12. And I'm living in garages and living in my friends' homes. And this vicious cycle of every time something goes wrong or every time I'm confronted by this reality that's not your father, it's run away from home.

And so the realization of like, yo, not only did you get lied to, like, it's been manipulative. It's been deceitful. But what do I do, Lyle? I run away from home at 12. And I'm living in garages and living in my friends' homes. And this vicious cycle of every time something goes wrong or every time I'm confronted by this reality that's not your father, it's run away from home.

It's run away from home. And at 16, it's like, OK, ma, you just flat out lied to me. Everybody told me you lied. You keep telling me you didn't lie. You go tell me when I got older. I'm like, I'm out. But it's like, ee. When I looked in the mirror, it's like, why did you have to take? Why'd you have to leave? Your mom, you had counselors.

It's run away from home. And at 16, it's like, OK, ma, you just flat out lied to me. Everybody told me you lied. You keep telling me you didn't lie. You go tell me when I got older. I'm like, I'm out. But it's like, ee. When I looked in the mirror, it's like, why did you have to take? Why'd you have to leave? Your mom, you had counselors.

Why when you sat down with a counselor and they tried to walk you through the tools and the strategies to get on the other side of this, why were you in, don't talk to me. You ain't my mom. Don't talk to me. You ain't my daddy. Don't talk to me. I don't want to talk to y'all. These are professional counselors. who are saying, yo, we get it. You're going through a lot, but we're here to help.

Why when you sat down with a counselor and they tried to walk you through the tools and the strategies to get on the other side of this, why were you in, don't talk to me. You ain't my mom. Don't talk to me. You ain't my daddy. Don't talk to me. I don't want to talk to y'all. These are professional counselors. who are saying, yo, we get it. You're going through a lot, but we're here to help.

I don't want counselors at school, principals, teachers. I'm just now insubordinate. I'm evil, mean, mad. And I looked at myself in the mirror and was like, why was that the choice? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You got to talk to me. I know why you made the choice. But why did you make that choice? We know what the choice was. You're always wrong. You always run from conflict.

I don't want counselors at school, principals, teachers. I'm just now insubordinate. I'm evil, mean, mad. And I looked at myself in the mirror and was like, why was that the choice? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You got to talk to me. I know why you made the choice. But why did you make that choice? We know what the choice was. You're always wrong. You always run from conflict.

You always blame somebody. But why? And the reason why is because it was easier to put it on my mom and my dad than for me to have to do the work. And so the Eric Thomas that you've seen, the NFL, NBA, commercials, whatever, that dude is the dude that looked himself in the mirror and was like, yo, you owe yourself an apology. And not only that, you owe yourself correction. You owe yourself change.

You always blame somebody. But why? And the reason why is because it was easier to put it on my mom and my dad than for me to have to do the work. And so the Eric Thomas that you've seen, the NFL, NBA, commercials, whatever, that dude is the dude that looked himself in the mirror and was like, yo, you owe yourself an apology. And not only that, you owe yourself correction. You owe yourself change.

Wow. You need to be taught. You need to be trained. You need to become a better human. And that was one of the most difficult days of my life, was looking at myself

Wow. You need to be taught. You need to be trained. You need to become a better human. And that was one of the most difficult days of my life, was looking at myself

correcting myself telling myself i was sorry and then moving forward saying now what are we going to do from this point so so so the growth you see is the response to if you are are you are you repentful meaning you're about to change or are you sorry and i'm like no i'm not sorry i want to repent and i want to i want a better version of me because wow what 16 year old should be living in abandoned buildings eating out of trash cans like that's not it's not healthy one

correcting myself telling myself i was sorry and then moving forward saying now what are we going to do from this point so so so the growth you see is the response to if you are are you are you repentful meaning you're about to change or are you sorry and i'm like no i'm not sorry i want to repent and i want to i want a better version of me because wow what 16 year old should be living in abandoned buildings eating out of trash cans like that's not it's not healthy one

It's not safe in Detroit to be in abandoned buildings walking around. It's not safe. And I had put myself in so many situations where guns were pulled out on me. You know, people would break into the abandoned building and take my belongings from me. It's like, ee, what are you doing? Like, come on, bro.

It's not safe in Detroit to be in abandoned buildings walking around. It's not safe. And I had put myself in so many situations where guns were pulled out on me. You know, people would break into the abandoned building and take my belongings from me. It's like, ee, what are you doing? Like, come on, bro.

So I always think it's a combination, right? So it is. It is a rock bottom, but- This is a blessing because rock bottom turned into go to church with my boy, right? And go to church with my boy turned into I started dating this girl. Right? And I fall in love with this girl, you know? And this girl becomes almost like my first coach, you know? And she's saying to me, man, I'll never forget.