Read the conversation below

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Welcome back to the True Sports Physical Therapy Podcast, a show that's by sports PTs and for sports PT professionals. We're here to accelerate growth in your sports PT career, while giving you the tools to provide your athletes with game-changing results. Here's your host, sports physical therapist and practice owner, Dr Yoni Rosenblatt.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Hey, what's going on? It's Yoni Rosenblatt with the True Sports PT podcast. Thank you so much for joining us again, today we have Colin Thompson. Colin has had an awesome career so far, most recently with the Carolina Panthers in the NFL playing tight end. He takes a really unique look both at his career and also in his own business. He is the owner and CEO of Not for Long Media, his own media company, where you will find him sounding off on all things NFL, but really NFL culture, NFL business. And today we do a little bit of a dive into how Colin assesses talent both on the field, off the field, as well as in his business. And there's so many takeaways here for sports PTs, whether it's the way you're assessing the athlete that's in front of you, or if you're on the business side of sports physical therapy, how do you assess employees? How do you assess co-workers? Colin has some really awesome, awesome insight here, and it's really a wide ranging conversation.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: We hit a number of different topics. Obviously, I wanna thank Colin so much for joining us. I wanna thank everyone here for listening and tuning in, and for just trying to enjoy the conversation. Share your feedback, we look forward to hearing from you. You can always reach us with a dm, truesportsPT on Instagram is the easiest. If you're interested in joining us as a sports PT, shoot me an email. It's yoni@truesportspt.com. I'll get right back to you and we can set up some time to talk. We are always, always looking to add the brightest minds, the hungriest minds, people with the true growth mindsets in and around the profession of sports physical therapy. So shoot it over, be in touch, and really enjoy this conversation with Colin Thompson.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Welcome back to the True Sports Physical Therapy Podcast, we got Colin Thompson here, NFL tight end, entrepreneur, ranked as the number two tight end in the country in your senior year of high school. Current host of the Colin Thompson Show, former sideline reporter. Tell me what I missed. Who is Colin Thompson?

Colin Thompson: That's a loaded question.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: They all are.

Colin Thompson: As my dad would say about my mom, "She puts 10 pounds of shit in a five pound bag." I think I'm on the same wavelength of 10 pounds of shit in a five pound bag.

[laughter]

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Okay.

Colin Thompson: I was the number one tight end in the country...

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Oh.

Colin Thompson: And then I went to the Under Armour game, All-American game, and I came, we had practice and everything was great and I had a catch for whatever, 15 yards and the other kid had two catches for 30 and a touchdown and he moved from two to one...

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: It's that easy.

Colin Thompson: So very disappointed in that, I'll be honest... No, I'm kidding. It was a, that was a great experience. That was crazy too. But that's not what the show's about today. You didn't miss much man. Other than the fact that I'm here training with you, found you through a good friend Mike Burton. And it's been unbelievable. Not just pumping your tires 'cause I'm on the show, but you just have an amazing product for athletes, PTs, parents, people listening out here trying to figure out, what's the best for my kid? I can guarantee you, and we're gonna get into this too a little bit here, I was gonna say, I was going to say, outside of the professional atmosphere, but sometimes professional atmospheres can are not the best. That's in big time college football, big time NFL, you're not going to find better PTs, better care than here. That's a unsolicited commercial that...

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: I'm not gonna cut you off. You just keep rolling with it. [laughter]

Colin Thompson: Yoni is very awkward with this, 'cause he's like, wait, we didn't, this is not the plan. I'm a planner.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: I'm paying you for this, Colin.

Colin Thompson: No, it's legit. It's been amazing. I feel better. I move better. We're just getting started. So thank you buddy.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah. Thanks for joining us. For many reasons I'm excited to have you on the show. I was introduced to you by the aforementioned Mike Burton and it's when I was starting this podcast, because you've been doing it for years now with Not For Long Media and you really know how to put on a great product. And what struck me was how when I got on the phone with you, we didn't even talk rehab, we talked podcast and you were so generous with your time. You gave me like an hour, an hour and a half and I was just drilling you with questions, and I realized you're running a really nice size machine over there, a media company. I thought I was just talking to a buddy of Barton's who had done this a couple of times. And so your prowess with as an entrepreneur managing a media company and then your journey through the NFL, we'll talk about kinda all those other bounces and stops is, I think you're uniquely situated to speak on how talent is assessed, how you bring along talent, how you attract talent. That's something that's constantly at the forefront of my mind as a business owner and also forget a business owner, even as a clinician. Where's the athlete talented and how do I cultivate that? So I'm excited to hear your take on all those things. Take me back to a time when you felt your talent was properly assessed.

Colin Thompson: Wow. Probably when I went from the number one tight end in the country to number two tight end in the country.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: That was a proper assessment. [chuckle]

Colin Thompson: It was proper, should have went a lot lower. It was funny too, on a health base, I was the kid in high school that was, bigger kid, they gotta put weight on me, I happened to be, we went to a powerhouse in Pennsylvania for football, Archbishop Wood, we had five NFL players and a bunch of division one college football guys. We won the State title, the whole thing. Still really good football, and the coaching staff thought I should just be this monstrous tight end. And they were right, I was. I was 255 pounds, the same weight I am now. This was my senior year in high school. That's why I was ranked so high. I Only had 13 catches, I was just malling these 200 pound kids. So it was I was huge. And then, back to the journey, I ended up breaking my right foot twice, broke my left foot twice and kind of fell off the football planet and got medically disqualified from Florida after being on such a high. But where was I properly assessed? 

Colin Thompson: I would say it's been a real long I can't answer that question 'cause I've been constantly in my opinion under valued.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah. Yeah.

Colin Thompson: But also I would say the first time I was properly assessed was this year. When I was at my lowest point of my professional football career physically after several calf strains in a two three month period. And the team kept me around where I was on the practice squad. And you're supposed to practice every day practice squad players don't miss practice. I know that sounds kinda corny to people listening but it's like fact you don't miss practice. But the Panthers kept me even you know people labeled me as a Coach Rhule guy 'cause he was my coach in college. Coach Rhule left. They kept me.

Colin Thompson: I got hurt a lot and didn't really practice till week eight. They kept me so tons of respect for them and their front office and their people in that building for really appreciating my value that's more than football. And then when the football stuff was rolling with that you know obviously things are really good for me personally and I think for the team. But this year I was able to show you know my ability to coach lead bring young guys along you know battle through the injuries that were just never ending with the calf strains that people had on here are just absolutely brutal. You always heard about them and said you could get through them 'cause that's everyone's mindset especially as an athlete but they were a mountain. So I would say this year was the first year. It's a great question. It took me a minute to think about it.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: That's crazy that you think this is the first time you were properly assessed. Because like you said previously you have been assessed every single year every single game every single snap since call it sophomore year of high school. So all the way through different professional leagues. You train to get drafted you don't get drafted but but you're constantly being assessed and the first time you're you feel properly assessed is at age 28.

Colin Thompson: 28. I Just turned 29 December.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Okay. Happy birthday. So how did [laughter]

Colin Thompson: Four month ago.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: What did they do right that others did poorly?

Colin Thompson: That's a great question. I think would Coach Rhule and the front office there and I'm Coach Wright this is Coach Wright's gonna do an amazing job there too. And he's a very successful football coach and person from what I hear was they really value that kind of thing. And a lot of franchises all value that right? Everyone says the locker room guy but again you have to perform on the field. I think that's an overused term right? Like there's a lot of really great human beings in the world that would be amazing locker room people. But if you're not a good at your job like no matter what position you have there's a lot of amazing people that have worked for you that may or been not been a good match because of what it was professionally. So I think they just valued that and they valued the leadership role and the role I was in. And I think too there was players ahead of me that were performing really well. So that made it a lot easier for them to keep me around. 'Cause the end of the day it's a business you have to win and have the best players on your team. So.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Well you do you have you're right obviously but it sounds like they had figured out what it is they value.

Colin Thompson: It was the formula in our room I think in the tight end position.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: And you kind of matched that. Have you seen times I'm sure you have in which the team or whoever was evaluating you didn't have it figured out as to what they valued? 

Colin Thompson: Of course I it's a loaded question for me individually because I was always a low player at the bottom of the roster and I knew the guys were better in front of me. And again it's like what's what they're a pro bowler or you're a a good player but a locker room guy it one plus one is an equals two to get you ahead of what they are. So I think at the end of the day it's like what's your talent? What's your what's your level? Like I play with guys that do not speak that do not lead that do not but they're unbelievable football players and they're great people too but they're just like this is I'm a.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Different roles.

Colin Thompson: I'm a soldier. Yeah. You know I'm not a I'm a.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Or a robot right? 

Colin Thompson: Or a robot. Yeah. I just do what I do. Punch the clock and go to work.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah. How do you take what you learned from assessing talent in professional football to your business?

Colin Thompson: I think it's how you treat people. It's a really great question. Assessing talent. I'm really trying to dive into that because I'll bring people onto our media company that are completely underqualified and not that our company's this high thing but like I'm fortunate to have two to three manager type people in our business, that understand how I tick and then also understand what they need to do to make sure that they take less off it takes more off their plate and they can teach and manage and bring the group up. Because for me I can't afford to bring a professional in. That's you know 30, 40, 50 years old.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Right.

Colin Thompson: Now we have some and I sell marketing for them. Yeah. But from the podcast support system when I'm bringing people into the business I always say what do you do? Well we'll throw you right in that right away.

Colin Thompson: Well you have a hole you have an opening here and you have an opening here. That's fine. We're gonna get you in we're gonna get you comfortable do what you do well and then we're gonna train you of the other thing. So we build the confidence we build a camaraderie we build a relationship because everything we do is from a far. We don't have a brick and mortar. We have 20 quote unquote employees that work for not for long media which has five to six to seven podcasts. We either own or manage or produce or raise marketing for etcetera. So I get 'em in my team kind of gets ahold of them and it's all through group text it's all through Zoom meetings it's all through you know pre-recorded things about how to edit videos the way we like it done how to timestamp the way we like it done and pull clips from interviews. And then we fly by the seat of our pants at a lot of things. We really do. I've talked to you about here before. If Yoni and I were mic'd up for our workout.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: That'd be terrible. Terrible for business.

Colin Thompson: It wouldn't be terrible for business. We would turn into the Joe Rogan show. [laughter] And I mean that.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: It's not a bad thing.

Colin Thompson: Yeah. I mean it was just we'd just talk about everything. Yeah. So.

Colin Thompson: Yeah, it's a great question. Valuing any talent, but I just like one people that are hungry, curious.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: How do you test for that? Everyone wants that. How do you test that?

Colin Thompson: Because they reach out. That's the first start. That's a big jump. I think people look at the NFL logo and it's like, "Oh, I don't wanna take too much of your time." It's like, "No, no, I can only train two, three hours a day. Like, how much more can you do?" So, yeah, like the plate's always full with interviews and podcasts and meetings and etcetera. But it's a great, how do you the your question was, how do you know they're hungry? How do you know they want to do it? I think they touch base, they reach out. It's much different maybe than somebody applying for a physical therapist position. Like everybody wants that job, but then you have to meet them. I think face to face there has to be some sort of juice there.

Colin Thompson: There has to be a good handshake. There has to be eye contact, there has to be confidence. There has to be some sort of swagger that yes, I'm good at what I do, but I really don't know everything and I wanna learn and get better and continue to evolve. And I think that's what's been great to us. And for me, the people that I take care of at our media company are the people that always are just taking bigger bites. Bigger bites, bigger bites. And then I'll bump them up and pay because I'm down. I'm Oh, I'm fine to do that. I have no problem paying people. But my problem is when we're paying somebody, again, we're virtual and I know 'cause my managers are keeping track of what's being done. It's pretty tangible. Did you make X amount of clips? Did you do this? Did you do that? So it's unique.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah. The hunger is something that we certainly look for when we're hiring. It's sometimes it's the cold to reach out where it's like, there's not an opening, but it's someone saying, I'm super excited about being part of your team.

Colin Thompson: There's an extreme hunger there.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah. And that's...

Colin Thompson: You hear all stories too in pro football. It's like the guy who was banging on the door, like, "Get me in this door."

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Dude reading through your bio that was you.

Colin Thompson: That is still is me.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Still is you.

Colin Thompson: I am a connector at heart. I am a relationship person at heart and not in a cheesy, "Hey, that's my friend to get me on the team situation." No. This is like just part of normal human behavior in my opinion. Building those relationships. I've spent, I've constantly talking to young people about that too. Like, "Hey, this coach didn't get resigned in Carolina and he's somewhere here, there or have you messaged them yet?" "Oh, I love that guy." "All right. Did you say congratulations so happy for you and your family?" "No." "Well, why not?" Like that's a friend. That's not a coach, that's a friend. And at the end of the day, there's gonna be relationship down the road where they're gonna need you. You're gonna need them. Whether it's to get another job on both ends, whether it's a letter of recommendation, whether it's to help your kid out to go play for their kid who's a coach here. Like it has nothing to do with like, "Oh, I'm gonna be friends with this person. 'cause down the line," it has to do with just connect, connect, connect and sports. And that is kind of my journey. And I'll just bump through how two connections really changed my life. So when I was at university of, visiting University of Florida, getting recruited so fortunate to have a bunch of offers and that journey was incredible through high school.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Where else did you look?

Colin Thompson: My top five was a no order. Boston College, Wisconsin, Alabama, Florida.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Alabama offers you a full ride to play. Tell me again.

Colin Thompson: It was unbelievable. Nick Saban on the phone, I'm in the weight room in Archbishop Wood High School and my coach comes to Colin, come here. I thought he was pissed at me. I'm like, "Oh man," I always have that like fear. Kinda we all do like what did I do wrong. And I was a choir boy [laughter] And he's like, "Nick Saban's on the phone," hands me the phone. "Oh Coach Colin, how are you doing in a southern accent? How are you doing today?" And he just said, "Hey man," it was like a quick thing. "We're gonna offer you a full scholarship. I think you're a hell of a player. I think you'd be a perfect match for a shot at Alabama." And he is like, "Let's Skype next week and let's get it rolling. Let's start the conversation." And it just kind of, they sent a coach up. The coach was around the weight room filming everything we did. He was the only coach in the recruiting process. I could probably could Google him, whoever the old line coach was in 2011, 2010.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: We'll get our producer on that.

Colin Thompson: He was sitting there with his camera holding it like the old school camera, like you could see it. And he's sitting there and he's recording everything we do. How I interact with people, how the other guys interact with me. It this is essentially what happened too and I'm off topic. I wanna go back to that.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: You're not off topic because it sounds like where you're going is Saban or whoever's.

Colin Thompson: Relationships.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Relationships and he's assessing your talent.

Colin Thompson: He was completely assessing my talent and that was almost like in a creepy way. But he wanted to see how I reacted to the camera. Like am I putting too much weight on the bar, like, am I being myself? It was very awkward. Especially as a 17, 18 year old. Everyone now and be like, "Oh, I'd be if I was filming." People are filmed all the time now remember that in our world, it's very normal now to film somebody do something. I film myself every day in my face. I do these food reviews. That was a jump for me. I'm gonna put this on my social media, and me screaming about a cheesecake, shout out to The Samboner, check them out.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Samboners.

Colin Thompson: But long story short, I remember going into my coach's office that next day, this was when the recruiting period opened up probably like mid-April, getting close to it here and the coaches are in there. We had probably six division one kids my senior year. Bunch of D1AA guys, D2 kids. And then the next year there was a whole another crop. So it wasn't just like, oh for me it was like we had legit guys number third three rank center in the country. We had top 10 guard in the country. We had our whole, all of its aligned with division one and tight end back to back years. We had 3000 yard rushers. It was a different, we're up there in like top five teams in Pennsylvania state history. And I'm not like, "Oh like that." Like I didn't even buy the varsity jacket 'cause I felt it screamed high school musical.

Colin Thompson: Shoved the kid into the locker vibe. I was like, where's the sweatshirt as everybody wore the varsity jacket. I hated it. So my point was I went in my coach's office and I'm like, "I gotta commit right now. I know I wanna go to Florida." This was the next day after Alabama was there and all Stanford and all these coaches were in there. Ryan Day was at Boston College at the time. He was a head coach at Ohio State. And he just was like, I'm like, was like, "You ready to commit now?" I'm like, "I know where we want to go. We all know where I want to go." And there was only two tight ends there at the time. One of them was Jordan Reed and the other one and the next one were two defensive players that were transferring over. All these other tight end rooms have eight guys. And I'm not afraid of competition, but you're going to get hurt. Someone's going to get hurt. You have to find the right... And it was the right fit too for a million other things. But I remember, I'm committing 'cause I remember our teammates when those guys when Alabama was there recording, guys were putting, like weight on the bar, crashing their weights, like showing off. And it.

Colin Thompson: And I just... I was programmed and the right thing is about leadership at that time about making the right decisions. I was like, "Hey guys, we're not getting school rings our senior year. We're gonna win a state title. So we're not doing that." It was a whole... It was very Texas state football vibe of how we tried to go about our business. It was very serious. We had a ton of fun too, but I went off the rails, I end up committing to Florida on Cinco de Mayo, whatever that was 2011. Yeah, 2011 spring. And that was the best decision I ever made. But back to the relationship side of it, what were we talking about?

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: We were just talking about how Saban's in there, he's assessing your talent, right?

Colin Thompson: Yes, but by my connections and assessing talent, and this is also about how you look and how you dress, how you act. Of course, I'm supposed to get a haircut the other day. I have a ridiculous beard right now. And the barber was closed yesterday and wasn't happy about that.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: This is a big media appearance.

Colin Thompson: I know it is. Well, this is good. You have high tech cameras. You have high-tech mics.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yes. Big time.

Colin Thompson: If this is not enough for my media or I'm coming out of my MacBook.

[laughter]

Colin Thompson: It's a little blurry, so it just looks like I have some scruffy beard. I'm a mess. I was splashing water on my face. That's what I was doing. That's it.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: That's what you're doing.

Colin Thompson: That's hair and makeup and not formal media. Low budget. This is not true sports. So the two connections that kind of changed my life and there's a million of them. Million, but these are the two that stand out. When you stand up and you look back from a 10,000 foot field, you're like, "Whoa. Good thing I listened to my dad." So I'm on the recruiting trips at University of Florida, unofficial visits. We were going down there and very fortunate, my family was able to take us down there and do that stuff. He's like, "Son, you're wearing jeans. You're wearing slacks, you're wearing a polo." I'm like, "Dad, I've been to Penn State. I've done these local ones, right? Rutgers, Penn State. Everyone's wearing like their sweatshirts."

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: And they already want you.

Colin Thompson: They already want me.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah.

Colin Thompson: "You're wearing it."

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah.

Colin Thompson: "What do you mean?" I mean, I went to all BC all these places. Local pit, Delaware, whatever. "No. Like dad, they're all wearing varsity jackets. I'll just wear whatever. Something casual." "No, you're not." "Okay."

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: So you do it.

Colin Thompson: So I do it.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Good.

Colin Thompson: And it ended up being one of the best things I ever did because I'll never forget this, and I wrote thank you letters to a lot of the coaches that were there for the visits that had impacted me. Not the ones, I just shook their hand real quick, but the ones I spent a lot of time with. One of the guys, his name was Brendan Donovan. Brendan's now a scout, I think in the USFL or XFL. He's been in those circles. He's been in the NFL, Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles. But he was with Notre Dame, then Florida. And I wrote Brendan a thank you letter and I said, "I appreciate everything you're doing, you did for me on the visit." And again, I was dressed a little bit different than every other player. Not obnoxious, but like I put some time into it, right? So fast forward, I am out of the NFL. I am working marketing. I just finished my first year marketing for my mom's company, LSL brand. She has 20 different brick and mortar locations all in the northeast from Fox County, Pennsylvania, Princeton, all but down the Jersey Shore retail food fudge the whole nine. She's nuts, 10 pounds of shit in a five pound bag. Now it's like 20 pounds of shit in a five pound bag.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Oh, I'm learning what that phrase means. Okay, good context.

Colin Thompson: So I am pretty much dead in the water. The AAF is being born. It was the first kind of real minor league since like the old XFL. Trent Richardson played in it. A bunch of guys played in it. It was a really good league. Their whole thing was, "Hey listen, we're gonna pay you like a practice squad player."

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Which is?

Colin Thompson: 8,000 a year."

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: 8,000...

Colin Thompson: A week.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: A week, okay.

Colin Thompson: Excuse me. 8,000 a week. We're gonna pay you like a practice squad guy. At the time it was probably six or 7,000, or it could've even been less five, and this is 2019.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: 2019. And it's over. They've planned the course of 10 weeks, 12 weeks.

Colin Thompson: That season?

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah.

Colin Thompson: Yeah. I'll get into, I'm telling this, I'm trying to articulate the story. I'm sorry. I'll retell story.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Get outta here. [chuckle]

Colin Thompson: For social media. 'Cause I know it's all about today, the clip. So fast forward, I'm in a, not at a low point, but I'm in a low point of my career, not my life. I'm actually... If you take a snapshot of where I was, I was at the Guinness factory right here.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: I feel like you're always at a Guinness factory.

Colin Thompson: I'm not. I've only been here this one twice or three times in Baltimore. So I'm at the Guinness factory. I think it's 2019 spring. 2018 spring, somewhere in there I got cut from the bears, the fall before that, the day they traded for Cleo Mac. I got cut. Michael Burton got kept. He deserved it. How are you Bud stud?

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: He's probably not listening maybe, okay.

Colin Thompson: That's fine. I was gonna make a joke there.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: I know. I know what it was gonna be. It was gonna be something about like a Spotify subscription fee.

Colin Thompson: Correct. Yes.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: There you go.

Colin Thompson: Kinda don't wanna pay that fee. I gotta a true sports. I'm paying enough. So I'm at the low point and I'll speed their story up. I'm working marketing for my mom's company. I'm working for a finance company, doing some marketing for them. I just finished up my first year calling Temple football games on the radio, traveling with the team all over, or second year I should say. Just bouncing around coaching high school football. Came in New Jersey doing Eagles pre and post-game live every Sunday, so I had a full slate trying to do something, not making any money really, just trying to kick it down the road. We're at the Guinness Factory here in Baltimore, and now we live here in Annapolis, and I get a text from Brendan Donovan.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Haven't heard from him since.

Colin Thompson: 2000. Now we've stayed in touch friendly, but our paths professionally have never crossed since 2000...

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Since you wrote the thank you note.

Colin Thompson: 2013.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Or thereabouts.

Colin Thompson: Until I left Florida.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Okay.

Colin Thompson: 2013. So it's from 2013 to 2019, say really no contact professionally. "Hey man, are you in shape?"

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: You're holding two Guinness's.

Colin Thompson: Well, I just finished my third and we were out the night before in Annapolis. It's...

Colin Thompson: February March night and again a March day and it's a Sunday brunch kind of vibe. I think we're off Monday. It was one of the holidays.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: It's a Wednesday but it was a Sunday vibe.

Colin Thompson: It was a president's, I think it was either MLK Monday I think it was MLK Monday. We were out on a Sunday.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: And you're celebrating.

Colin Thompson: Whatever just having a couple proper pints and we just came back from London so of course the longest story ever again. We're celebrating having a good time and are you in shape? And I'm looking on my phone. I'm like, "Why is he texting me now?" My agent's telling me, "Listen there's a couple workouts that could come up with NFL teams but it's not looking that great for a future you should think about this league." He's like, "But let's see how the league looks on TV. Let's see how the league the players' responses are out of this league. If it's a shit show we're not gonna put you into a shit show. You're still playing you're still of interest. We're not gonna put you down there. 'Cause if you don't play well there... "

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: You're dead.

Colin Thompson: "You're dead." So I go to the... I go outside I text him back. "Of course I'm in shape." Anybody has three guinnesses in them they're in shape. And I had been training through it nonstop. That was a grind in itself. We get four hour episode about training and just like burning out because you're like, "When do I take time off?" I can't take time off because I, NFL workouts are on Monday, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I have to be ready to go. So I'm like, "Well just call me what's going on?" So he calls me he say, "Hey listen you know I loved you Florida. I thought you were first class. I think we could use your leadership here. I know what type of guy you are. I'll never forget." And then boom. I ended up flying out two days later winning the workout joining the team and becoming one of the starters of the tight end position. And okay well how does that do with you dressing nice at Florida? Well when I got down there Brendan's like, "Hey man I vouched for you because I know what type of guy you are. I'll never forget when you showed up and you wrote me that thank you letter. I'll never forget when you showed up and you dressed the way you dressed and you cared about it and you knew you were a pro before you were expected to be a pro.

Colin Thompson: And that's what... That's a crazy connection. And it really kind of changed my life. I think. Now who knows if I didn't do that and I didn't write him a thank you, Tim and I still had a great relationship. Doesn't matter. I don't know. But I'm a firm believer in the handwritten thank you. And then also the next connection which is a quick story.

Colin Thompson: I was there in the AAF the Birmingham Iron played for Tim Lewis who sat behind my mom in high school in Bucks County Pennsylvania at Penn Ridge High School. And used to shoot spitballs in her hair. My mom went and insult him on Monday Day Football when he put his head down when he was a first round pick had a pit. And if he played again and got hit like that again he would've been paralyzed. So he retired long story short had a great NFL coaching career and then he was the finally head coach at AAF for the Birmingham Iron. Of course he wanted to bring me in too. This is someone who's a huge influence on my life. I grew up going to NFL locker rooms 'Cause of this guy. Talk about relationships. I mean he really set my path.

Colin Thompson: So yeah long story short with Tim I'm in there and I'm playing for the Birmingham Iron. I meet this guy named Ron Selesky and the AAF folds overnight. The guy who owns the Carolina Hurricanes bought it tried to save it realized it was such a mess. Everyone's like blaming him. I'm like, "I don't blame him. He just came into this place that was a mess and it was a really good league. It's a shame." Whatever the league folds Ron stays in touch. Good friend got to know him in the building again relationships strong relationship in the building. Always get to know everybody. Spend the time family, friends, engagement. And then boom Ron gets hired by to run operations for the XFL Tampa Bay Vipers. I was coaching football and came in New Jersey. I'm in the eighth grade auditorium across the hall whatever it was in Cape May where we were living at the time.

Colin Thompson: And I get a call from Tampa Vipers I barely was drafted and they're like, "Hey this guy Ron Selesky is here pounding the table for you to get here. And they're saying you're gonna end up being our starter or one of the starters at tight end for us if you come and if you play." "Like let's do it. I'm in I'm drafted I don't have a choice. Let's do it. I'm jacked up." So I got a couple workouts out of the the AAF which was great in New Orleans Detroit. And then they didn't work out and then actually New Orleans signed Mike Burton that day. We were in...

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: He keeps following you.

Colin Thompson: Yeah no he does. And I follow him and switch agents and go to Malka and then switch everything I'm doing in my life and drop everything. Moved to Annapolis just to work with true sports.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Good reason.

Colin Thompson: So Brendan Donovan, Ron Selesky that took 10 minutes off our recording. That's how I got to the XFL. XFL was five six games training camp more relationships. And then that league folded and then Matt Rhule took the job from Baylor to Carolina Panthers. And then I graded out in good film they brought me into Carolina.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: And you were there how long? 

Colin Thompson: Three years in Carolina.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: So you were there years. So the highlights though to boil it down were you dressed an acted professional on your visit you stayed in touch. And so I'm hearing professionalism I'm hearing networking understanding that. And I think that's a lost art person to person, right? 'Cause now everybody's...

Colin Thompson: You have to stay in touch. And it's again it's, it sounds corny 'cause like I wanna stay in touch 'cause I want something from you down the line. I think that's an underlying thing that people fear. It's like no build the relationships, constantly. Like if somebody pops into my head I'm sending them a text. I'm sending them a text. It's happening. Yesterday I probably did it. Sometimes my best mental clarity is when I'm working out like our best show would've been if I worked out already into this. 'Cause now I'm like man there's a lot to talk about.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: We'll just take the mics.

Colin Thompson: I see the clock running I'm like wow. And we have PT in 25 minutes. No I don't care about that. But this is way more fun and more important. So yeah I think connecting is number one thing. And again if you're a PT listening it's like how do I connect 'Cause there's a million of you and how do I find the right fit for me? That's the other thing right? Like it's the same thing. It's so much different than probably professional sports where they're finding you but you're trying to find PTs too. Good fits. I think you just gotta dominate and get as much information as you can. Like I have to mentor a couple kids football players that are high school going to college like, "What do I get my degree in?" I'm like, "Well what are you gonna work in? If it's not something like this where it's some sort of hands-on you need to get science courses all that. Like get a degree in finance 'Cause it always works for you. And then connect with everybody you can along the way."

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: By the way even if it is this PT world like I if I had to do it again I wish I would've been a finance major. A business major. Something because it just broadens your horizon. You still need those pre-reqs but why not you want to be as like cast as wide a net as possible that's gonna help you. I chose a school coming out of high school before college. I went away to school in Israel and the only reason I chose the school that I did there was I just heard that they had the best dudes. It was an all guy school. I just heard that they had great great guys with similar interest to me. And it's crazy because of that network that I met 20 plus years ago is like still my network and still a place where I can go for business connections, but more so it's a relationship. Right.

Colin Thompson: It's huge. I think it's been really fun moving to Annapolis where we live now 'cause I don't know anybody.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah. And so you can create.

Colin Thompson: It's great. I have a couple connections through a couple different people, but I'd make a new friend in the sauna every day in Annapolis and I just sit there kind of with my headphones on and sit back and everyone's like, "What do you think is gonna happen with Lamar?" And I'm silent. And then someone's like, "You're pretty big. What do you think [laughter]? Do you play ball?" You know? And then that's always a good conversation from there. I fight it and hold it off as long as I can and then eventually gets out.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: And then eventually, I'm an NFL.

Colin Thompson: Not that I'm like, somebody important big, I'm a NFL player. No.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: No, but you don't wear it on your sleeve and you know, you're not walking around wearing the Panther stuff. And I think that does invite probably more real connections as opposed to the fans. Right. Yeah.

Colin Thompson: I always tell people I work in media and again, I am nobody's...

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: And you do.

Colin Thompson: I do, sports media.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: And sports media.

Colin Thompson: And we had food media, a little bit of everything.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: And very successfully. So did you know this coming out in terms of assessing talent, like your training, talk to me about your draft prep or your combine prep. Did you know what they were looking for and how to train for it? And was that a worthwhile process?

Colin Thompson: Well, are we gonna discuss how I think teams should evaluate better talent? 

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Hell yeah. We're gonna discuss that.

Colin Thompson: Okay. Okay, cool. So I'll answer this question first. You're saying, because I know we talked about that last week and I'm sure we're trying to get there.

Colin Thompson: And I'm just taking forever.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: We'll try and get it.

Colin Thompson: We are getting there and I am taking forever per usual [laughter] Because this is how I do my shows. I think, okay. So your question was how do teams do I know what teams are looking for? I think they're just looking for whatever your weaknesses are. If I think back, I don't move that great.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: I can attest to that.

Colin Thompson: Thanks. [laughter]

Colin Thompson: Damn it. [laughter]

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: I don't move that great, but I move well enough.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: And my other attributes are... They do me really well. Strength, power, hand-eye coordination, all the things that you can probably do at tight end other than run fast. I think I can do pretty good. So at the end of the day, I think I tried to feature the things that I didn't do well on that day on my pro day for the scout's eyes. And all of them came up to me. Not all of them. Christ, there was a lot there. We had a lot of really good players at Temple at the time. I would say three or four came up to me and said, "Wow, you can run routes," and there's some strategic planning to that. What routes I'm I going to run? How I'm I going to run them? There's work with the quarterback. There's preparation back where I was training in Atlanta Achieve. A great place to train for coming out for your pro day and your combine, etcetera. So I think I tried to show what they thought I couldn't do.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah. The other thing I jumped in before and said, I hear professionalism and I hear networking. The other thing that's so clear about hearing your journey and a great way to assess talent is does the person sitting opposite you know themselves? You knew you weren't the fastest cat in the world, right? You knew maybe you were weak at this and strong at that. That's a skill in and of itself.

Colin Thompson: Joe Brady said it to me when he's the offensive coordinator at LSU and then won the national title coach Rhule. Hired him in Carolina. He was there two years. Now he's a quarterback coach at Buffalo Bills the last two years. Very, William and Mary played there. He's a rising star in the coaching world. And Joe said to me when they signed me my first year, he said, "Dude your best attribute is you know exactly who you are and you don't try to be anybody else." And I'm okay with that. And I think a lot of players try to be something they're not. I think a lot of people forget too, we're constantly working on the things we're weak at instead of like, I'm gonna make my strength glare.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah.

Colin Thompson: Like if I was a pure, pure, pure, pure dominant blocking tight end, I think I'd be in the NFL still now. I had some injuries, whatever. But I'm a good blocking tight end. I'm not a great blocking tight end. I think I'm great but I'm not great. Like great is like George Kittle, Chris Manhertz, there's a couple Mercedes Lewis, these guys, they also have freakish gifts too. It's crazy. Long arms and crazy strength and ability. But to get that time on the field, you have to be able to do a little bit of everything. There's a whole side of that too. But draft pick, have you worked your way in?

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: So are you saying highlight your strengths, highlight your weaknesses? Which one.

Colin Thompson: Coming out?

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah.

Colin Thompson: Highlight your weaknesses when you're in under...

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Bring them up. Try to bring them up.

Colin Thompson: I call it when you're underwear, when you're in shorts, T-shirt, you can't, if your're weak, if your strength is the physicality. This is in football and I'm trying to relate it back to PT.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah.

Colin Thompson: And I'm sorry for those listening.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: No, we'll got there.

Colin Thompson: I'm not. I'm trying. But when I was coming out of the pro day, my thing is I'm gonna show that I can move okay. Because I only caught three passes my senior year at Temple. We ran the ball. We had big people, we had great fallbacks running backs, very similar to my high school situation. We were gonna beat the hell outta you. And we beat the hell outta Navy, one of the toughest teams in the country down here in Annapolis. Like one of the best days of my life. Our senior year. It was crazy. If I would've told you, we would've knocked out three or four quarterbacks and they would've lost to Army the next week for the first time, I think in 15 years. I would've said, "I don't wanna do that. I just wanna beat them and then have them beat Army."

Colin Thompson: 'Cause I'm a big Navy fan, so yeah, I, coming out in shorts and a t-shirt. I wanted to run a good 40. I ran an okay 40, but I moved. I looked like I moved, well, optics, and then I ran really good routes. I went over the bags better than people thought. And overall I think a lot of scouts were like, "He moves pretty good." Mm-hmm. And then from there it was like, okay, Eagles jets. I talked to the Patriots of all people before the draft. My agent's jaw was like falling outta his mouth. He's like, "You may end up getting drafted. All these people, excuse me, are calling you now." So again, my strength was blocking and physicality. And again, that really coordinates better to the, it goes better with the NFL game than college. So when you're in, you know, shorts and underwear, it's like, okay, you gotta show that you can move. 'cause there's like a, somebody holding a bag. When someone holds a bag, you gotta rip their head off and all that. And you gotta, there's optics for that too. But then the flip side, when I really get there, it's like, do what I do well.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah.

Colin Thompson: And let that shine through. Don't try to be anything you can't when.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: When you really get there. When you get to the league.

Colin Thompson: When You get to the league.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: And so that's, and that's gets to the gm that gets to the management side, whether it's business or whether it's football.

Colin Thompson: 'cause You have to show your tools, right?

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: You Have to show your tools and they have to put you in the right place to succeed.

Colin Thompson: Exactly.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Right.

Colin Thompson: That's on them.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Right? That's that's totally on them. And you'd say you're more of a receiving or blocking.

Colin Thompson: Blocking.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Blocking. Right. So they're not gonna.

Colin Thompson: Has great, I think has great hands. Big hands. I mean that. Yeah. Big hands and soft and I mean that humbly soft, soft to a football not soft to the touch.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yes, yes.

Colin Thompson: Sometimes, you know, I put good, good product on, but I just don't move that great to create in a one-on-one situation. I can win one-on-one reps. I can get open in zone. I would say a really broke poor man's Jason Whitten would be, would be the equivalent of probably how I play.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Okay. So I wouldn't mind being a broke Jason Whitten.

Colin Thompson: Correct.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: So, but it's on the management. They don't want to put you in the Mark Andrews position.

Colin Thompson: No. Mark Mark's.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Because he's a, he's a receiving.

Colin Thompson: He's a Pterodactyl.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: He's a Pterodactyl.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: So.

Colin Thompson: Him and George Kittle.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: But Like, knowing where you are, right? And knowing management side, this is where it gets back to PT. This is where it gets back to business. You gotta know who's in front of you. They should know who they are, what their strengths and weaknesses are. But we should be able to assess that talent and set you up for success. Yeah. Put you in a position to succeed. And I think that's, that's the root of any successful business. And definitely PT practice by the way. Even those who are listening clinically, it's the same thing clinically where it's, you have to identify what is it that the patient's lacking. Maybe they're coming out of, a knee surgery, they're missing ACL, or sorry, they're missing knee extension. You gotta spend your time there. If their knee extension's awesome. Spend your time on another weakness, higher level athlete. When I met you, it's like the guy moves pretty good. What is the lowest hanging fruit? Like what is the core doing? What is the glutes doing? Is that doing its job to set the calf up for success? In, in the previous mentioned example, you gotta know where the athlete or the patient is in front of you. You get that from doing your homework when it's really clicking. And this is why I love working with elite athletes. They know.

Colin Thompson: Yeah.

Colin Thompson: It, it's no secret. When I came in, I'm like, goni [laughter] posterior chain. Right? When you break your foot twice. I didn't run or do any lower body for a year of my college career.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: That's crazy.

Colin Thompson: I mean, I think back, I was talking to my wife last night. I'm like, "I went to college at 235 and played basketball all the way through," kids if you're a multi-sport athlete parents, my best advice is to stay a multi-sport athlete until you get to college.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Good advice.

Colin Thompson: Everybody says that right now. It's very popular. Everyone's like, "Yep. Well so and so Christian McCaffrey and you know, x baseball player, JT RealMuto Phillies catcher," I use him because you know, he played like football in high school and baseball and all that stuff. Like, if you can do it, do it.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: I love that you didn't use Nick Moore.

Colin Thompson: Oh, Nick Moore, this guy [laughter] That's another episode. We are an hour and a half. I love Nick. Nick, Nick Moore, who's been on the show, folks. I was Nick's backup long snapper for your Tampa Bay Vipers. You've had two Tampa Bay Vipers on the show.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: That's, we lead the country in Tampa Bay Vipers.

Colin Thompson: You do.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yes.

Colin Thompson: So. I forget where I was going, but.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Multi-sport.

Colin Thompson: Multi-sport, man, you gotta do it. It's going to help you. I've always say like, I I, they were like, it was like a football's like, "We want you to continue to put on weight. 10 pounds in the off season." Got it. Put on like 30. They were like jacked up, you know, they were crazy. They were so happy. If I was playing basketball, that wouldn't have happened. I would've stayed loose, limber. I would've been running more. My cardio would've been up, my cast would've been strong. Everything would've been stronger. Instead, what happened really was I put on all that weight was in like a nine and a half foot rim dunk contest with a bunch of now NFL guys that were like high school kids from my area. And I sprained my ankle horribly, horribly senior year. I had to tap my ankle, brace my ankle and spat my ankle to play because there was no, it, it was like a land to make believe. It was like you don't have a sprained ankle. Sorry.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: And when, when do you put on all that weight?

Colin Thompson: Before that?

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Before high school.

Colin Thompson: During high school. It was like my senior year. I did that. It was, it was at a, graduation party my senior year. Mike McGlinchey was there. He just signed a big ticket to the Denver Broncos.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah, he did.

Colin Thompson: Right. Tackle for the Niners.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: You know, who else just signed the big ticket with the Broncos?

Colin Thompson: Mike Bart.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Okay, so.

Colin Thompson: Big Ticket. Yeah. Right.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: But then you, but then you break.

Colin Thompson: You Deserve it though, Mike.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Then you break your foot.

Colin Thompson: Yeah, I broke my foot. About, Hmm. Six months after.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Six months after. And then you don't do legs?

Colin Thompson: No, no. That wasn't that period. I was training through that. I was doing different things through high school. And then I got to Florida, broke it again during training camp, just like running around trying to rehab it back. And then I was doing more legs. 'cause I'm at this, I'm at Florida, right. We're doing different things. PT, lifting and running. And then what happened was I had the navicular stress fracture on the left foot. And that was like the big boom. My fathers's like, "You're out. It's over. Career's over medically disqualified. You can, we'll pay for your school, but you can't play a sport in Florida." 'cause I'm like, "Great, I wanna stay here. I just met my wife. We have these awesome friends. I'm, I wanna play in the NFL. But Uhuh," again, you're like 20, 21 years old. You're like, "Oh man."

Colin Thompson: "Like this is."

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: This is fun.

Colin Thompson: I'm socially just becoming who I think I want to be.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah.

Colin Thompson: Doing well in school and then like boom, rock bottom hit. I'm like, "I'm transferring. I didn't do well in school." I was like, "I'm outta here." And, ended up being, you know, just a crazy journey. But I didn't do lower body then at all. I didn't run nothing 'cause I went to Mike and, Robert Anderson in Charlotte, North Carolina. He's like, "You need to shut it down because you are just burning it at both ends here with your feet and you're trying to come back and you're playing with nubs. You need to go down to square one and then bring you back up." Thankfully I picked, I went to Temple. They were my only offer after having 30 scholarships. They were my only offer, you know, two years before. And he'll probably listen to this 'cause I'll send it to him, but Joel Roth, I think he's the best PT in the world other than you. Yoni.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Thanks.

Colin Thompson: And he saved my career. He saved my career and I got very fortunate that he's there, works for NovaCare and runs practices and is extremely successful there. But yeah, I mean he's just, he's a great friend and he saved my career. I got very lucky with that because some places you go, and we're gonna get into this too, like institutionally, like just 'cause of a has a big logo or a big brand or a, a big shield next to it doesn't make it the best product. I think people get that confused. Like you always hear, "Oh, they do, they do surgery for the for, for this team." You know, like where I grew up. Like, "They do surgery on the Eagles." Like great, I got a I put a screw in at University of Penn. Right. Like pretty successful hospital. One of the best in the world. One of the best schools in the world. They put a smaller screw in 'cause they didn't think they, they treat everyone the same there. And I'm like, "I'm gonna be playing. Can we do a bone graft?" "No, we don't do that here."

Colin Thompson: I had to get the same surgery twice within four months because it wasn't done right. So I think.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Oh, I mean we.

Colin Thompson: You Have to do your homework. That's the bottom line. As someone who, you're gonna be doing talent evaluation. You have to do your homework so deep for you. Like what's social media like? Do they have any skeletons in the closet on social media? That thing, it's a huge thing we're finding in the world we live in today. I should have did, I should have done way more. And I did it later because I hit up a couple NFL coaches that I'm like, "Where did you guys send your guys if you break your foot?"

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: And that's, is that where Anderson started for? 

Colin Thompson: And Anderson came in 'cause he's best in the world at it, foot and ankle in my opinion. And he's in Green Bay now, but he was in Charlotte for the majority of his career.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: And so, like along those lines it's an eye-opening story because I've worked with NFL guys not named Colin Thompson, who had Dr. Anderson do their surgery.

Colin Thompson: Yeah.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: And what I saw later was a freaking mess. And the reason the guy was a mess was not Dr. Anderson. It's like what happens following. Right. And so some of those guys end up back in the building. Some of those guys have their buddy who's a pt, whatever, if they're not doing their homework, to know that that's an integral part obviously implies, but an integral part of the outcomes you're doing everyone a disservice, you're doing the team a disservice, you're doing yourself a disservice. And that's number one.

Colin Thompson: That's, and the whole thing at the end of the day is like, how do I know though I'm a player?

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah. What's the answer to that? How do you know?

Colin Thompson: I walk Into a building and I'm like, "This is who I trust."

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: That's a yes.

Colin Thompson: Because that's who you trust. They're in your corner. They've been there when you literally are rolling on the ground and your shoulder's separated. And they pop it back in for you and they help you. And that's the world of that athletic training. You know, physical therapy, strength conditioning at the highest level because it's the chicken or the egg. We need you to play. We don't want to hurt you. You need to play financially. So everyone's sitting here like.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Go play.

Colin Thompson: Everyone's sitting here like the office when they got their guns up, you know what, they're sitting there and they're pointing at each other.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Okay.

Colin Thompson: Everyone will know this other than you 'cause you're clueless.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yes. The office.

Colin Thompson: The office, they're sitting there like it's the Charleston episode and they're all like, got their guns up. All right. Whatever. Everybody listening knows it.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Okay.

Colin Thompson: But everyone's pointing guns at each other. Like.

Colin Thompson: "Okay, now what?" And and I think that's a really hard thing to do. I feel, I feel bad for the industry because you don't have enough time. Our union doesn't allow us to be in the building. We don't get paid if we walk it right now in March, we don't get a dollar. So at the end of the day, it's like business, are you gonna go into work for the next two months and not get a buck? Or are you gonna be home with your family? See your kids train on your own, pay for your own physical therapist. Like that's the whole, it's very tough and.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: It is tough. The solution.

Colin Thompson: Let's hear it. Mike Berman didn't give one by the way, on his episode. I'll give one right now.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Okay. I'm excited about that. I was gonna say the solution for the outside for the player goes back to your original point, which is what's your network? Who do you know and how.

Colin Thompson: The issue is you build that network by the time you're my age, 29.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: You're right. You're right. But that's what, that's why we're doing this. We're we're saying do it earlier.

Colin Thompson: You have to and you have to do it with everything. Financial managers. Yeah. But the problem is you're a 21 year old kid, everybody and you're making hopefully millions.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: But You already said, you said how, how'd you know? How'd you know to dress nicely?

Colin Thompson: Parents, I'm very lucky I have that. You have.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: You're right.

Colin Thompson: To have that. And that's.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: You're right. Or mentors or.

Colin Thompson: I Thank my parents as much as I can.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Or Someone older.

Colin Thompson: You have to.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Just, just someone older.

Colin Thompson: But then you also have to have the somebody who's in your life at a young age telling you to trust other people. That's a whole another episode. I play with a lot of guys that have zero trust in anybody. And I don't blame 'em because you hear their story and I'm like, "Why would you trust anybody?" But then people from the outside say, "Oh, they gotta trust people. Oh those guys, those guys are old guys. Just blow all their money."

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yep.

Colin Thompson: First off, who are those guys? What are you referring to? And then second off, you had parents, you had mentorship, you had whatever.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yep.

Colin Thompson: That's a whole nother.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: You're right, you're right.

Colin Thompson: That gets me jacked up 'cause it's a real big conversation.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Well it is a big conversation by the way. I wish the organizations had that mentality a little bit more.

Colin Thompson: In what way?

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Let's, what is the support that you're providing? Period. By the way, financial, medical.

Colin Thompson: They provide a lot more than people think. 'cause they don't, you know, hey listen, we had a financial advisor in today tell a story or three stories. They're not gonna market that. Right. That's not getting across. And I'll say this too, for those who sitting at home, like take Twitter with 10%, whatever you're reading out of a building other than somebody actually signs. There's a lot, there's a lot of crap. Watch Pressing Con. You watch a press conference if you think what's coming out of people's mouths is a hundred percent true. You're Crazy. I would go 10% true.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Okay.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: That's good insight.

Colin Thompson: Yeah. For those like listening at home and are like watching, you know, for the Ravens fans here, like watching Coach Harbaugh, like Coach Harbaugh's a pretty smart man and he's wanted ton success. Like he's not gonna get on the, on the mic and just like tell everything that's going on in the building mm-hmm. So that's neither here nor there I'm just my sauna talk, I have to kind of tamper that off.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah. But that's, it's freaking good talk and I'm thrilled to bring it to the masses. So along those lines, you're the NFL player. How do you see the ideal performance set up?

Colin Thompson: This is hard because I've been to a lot of different places and they're all good in their own way. And all of the people there, 90% of 'em I've interacted with are amazing. 99, 100 amazing, amazing human beings. They get no sleep, they work their asses off. They're all underpaid. They love it because they have huge passion for it. And game day to them is just as big as is to us.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yep.

Colin Thompson: It is everything. There's 17 of 'em a year in the NFL. That's what makes NFL special college football special. All the places that I've been to and been fortunate too. So I think, listen, I think the athletic training world is extremely important if it's paired with the right physical therapy situation.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: So that's what I'm asking you. The ideal Colin Thompson buys the Ravens tomorrow.

Colin Thompson: Physical therapists everywhere. Athletic trainers also there. But your physical therapists have to run the show your PTs. Because in my opinion, you look at athletic trainers, they're trying to help you deal with your pain discomfort. They are doing some physical therapy work. They're doing everything. They're spread thin. They're taping ankles, they're carrying waters. The they are working their asses off and are extremely smart and extremely gifted and work extremely hard to get where they have to go to. But I think there has to be an overall general person that's running it the whole entire show that is a physical therapist that knows what the plan is from a strength conditioning standpoint to a, athletic training standpoint. And then how do you mesh them.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: And a medical put that down if they're in there. Right.

Colin Thompson: Sorry, medical Of course. Yeah. And that's a whole another can of worms in the league because it's all pain management.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah.

Colin Thompson: Guys wanna play, but your shoulder's hanging on by a bone. Yeah. Like by a thread. Excuse me. Like you can't, that's a whole another thing. So that's why it's easy to, people can come on here and blame this and blame that. Listen, everybody's in the same pot 'cause it's short-lived and there'd be a hundred people behind you to take your job. So I think to me, there's an athletic, there's a PT structure with three to four of 'em at the top that run the entire show. I'd have a head athletic trainer in there as well. And I would, I would have a, I would've a strength coach in that mix.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: What, and this is like your leadership.

Colin Thompson: This was my medical leadership department.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Okay.

Colin Thompson: There's five of 'em. Say.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Who's on top of that then who's number one, who's your top dog? Like meaning, what are his credentials?

Colin Thompson: Someone who has tons of experience with physical therapy.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: So it could be a doctor, it could be an AT.

Colin Thompson: Yeah. It it could.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: It could be a strength coach...

Colin Thompson: Yeah It could, it could be an athletic trainer. That could be. But you have to be physic, you have to have physical therapy. You have to understand strength and balance and management. People management, time management because you only have so much time in the day. Like we talked about this with Burton's episode, which was phenomenal by the way. For those that didn't listen to it, go back and listen to it about, Mike's talking about the time you have in the day and Yoni says, "Hey listen, 10 minutes to jump on a force plate is not the worst thing in the world." And we did that in Carolina too. I thought we did a great job of that. But you're right, it, you need to, it needs to be someone at the top running the show with an athletic trainer and then there needs to be a group below it with four or so people.

Colin Thompson: So five people have to vote on things. There's an odd number.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah.

Colin Thompson: That's how I would do it. Yeah, I don't know if there's a perfect formula to it, but I think sports science is heavily involved too now with that world. You need that department because player load.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah.

Colin Thompson: Your management.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah sure.

Colin Thompson: How does that equal, I think guys need more time off. Personally I need, I think some of the stars, these guys that play a ton of reps like Taylor Moton for us our right Tackle last year he didn't practice on Wednesdays. He walked around. Now he lifted and did his thing. But like the guy would take like 65 reps during a game at right tackle in the NFL facing their best pass rusher their best run stopper like.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: That. And that's.

Colin Thompson: I thought we did a great job with that in Carolina.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: And. So that's unbelievable. And you rarely hear that. And you're the only Panther I've ever worked with. So small sample size, you know, it's like different orgs. Cross having worked with you, I did like a lot of the stuff that was coming out. I thought they did do a good job of integrating more of that sports science. The important piece was it seemed like they were aggregating the data on the sports science side. Every team does that by and large. But they were responding to it. And as crazy as that sounds, it's like that's half the battle.

Colin Thompson: Buy-in from the top down.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah.

Colin Thompson: Your owner right. Has to empower it. But at the end of the day, the head coach GM great. The head coach runs the show. The head coach sets the practice script, the head coach sets everything. So my opinion, if there's medical issues that's on the head coach, they have to find a way to remove that. They have to know, hey, there's a couple guys got hurt last week. We can't afford a couple more guys to get hurt this week. It needs to be throttled back. I think there needs to be more. I get it. There's something, the rubber's gonna meet the road at some point. And then again that goes back to the GM. Do we have veteran players in here? Do we have players? What, what part of stage are you, if you have a younger team, you have to practice hard.

Colin Thompson: But if you have an older team with some younger players sprinkled in there, and again that goes back to talent, bringing people in. Can you pull the throttle back and have more walkthroughs? Can you pull the throttle back and say, "Okay listen, we're gonna hit today just for the first 15 minutes of practice and we're gonna take the pads off, put the spiders on and then have a jog through the rest of the day." I think you really have to have a good pulse of that. Like there's some days I'm walking out there and I'm like, "Today should be a walkthrough."

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah, that's.

Colin Thompson: So there's also pushing through it. But what am I pushing through it for? It's week 14. You know, I think, and again I thought we did a really good job of that in Carolina 'cause our, our, it's always all synced from the top down. And there was a buy-in from both head coaches that I've been with there. Coach Wilks and coach Rhule, we are gonna trust the science department. We are gonna trust the science department. We are gonna trust it.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: That's really unique, they carry over to the business world, which I'm sure you're doing it in Not For Long Media is, do you have the pulse of your organization, right? And then are you willing to change, react and adapt? Are you nimble enough to do that? That's a matter of structure, confidence in who you've surrounded yourself with, which goes back to our assessment of talent, right? And people in the right positions. And do you have the humility to say, "That wasn't... That course that we charted over there isn't gonna get us to where we wanna go we need to change a little bit." I think those are the lessons from the NFL, that come all the way through. More burningly, the question I need to ask you about performance in the NFL is, why do the athletic trainers squirt water in your mouth?

[laughter]

Colin Thompson: I don't know, it's a great question. Just been a part of it forever. You're saying they shouldn't?

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Why do they, I'm just saying you should look at everything through that lens. Why do we do X? But most poignantly, why do we squirt water in other men's mouths? And by we, I mean...

Colin Thompson: In the profession, yeah. I don't know, it's a great question. I feel bad for these individuals.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: It's a great question.

Colin Thompson: First off, you're carrying like crazy water jugs, guys are exhausted, can I have some water. You're just like... So I with COVID was horrible because you had to... These individuals had to carry water bottles around individuals, God bless them.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: God bless them.

Colin Thompson: There's plastic water bottles everywhere.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: God Bless those athletic trainers.

Colin Thompson: They grind.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: They grind should say.

Colin Thompson: But I think to me, every building needs like, you think you have enough PTs? Get two more.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah. What do you say to the owners that are like, "What? Why do I have to pay for that?"

Colin Thompson: You have to, it's not a choice. I also think that guys should have their own plan from a PT to work on their weaknesses, constantly, constantly, three, four days a week. It's not to get through it, it's these are... Okay, you're sore, you feel like crap, but your posterior chain is not where it needs to be. Great. "Hey, strength coach, X, Y and Z, make sure today we get some... We're gonna work some RDLs today, I know he is hurting, can we find a way to alleviate, he took a contusion to the thigh the other day." That's the other thing too, it's like, great, we wanna maintain strength during the year, but you just gotta a helmet off the thigh and you can't even walk. So I like, that's a whole another can of worms there, that's where the pain management stuff comes in, that's where different pills come in that I don't... I'm not a fan of. So I think communication from the top down as we wrap up, or I'm assuming we are, if not, I love it keep it rolling. But communication from the top down.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah.

Colin Thompson: Ownership saying any resource you need to make happen we'll make it happen. And then the number one thing is what does your head coach really believe in? 'Cause every head coach believes in like, we're gonna meet in potatoes, we're gonna beat you up, we're gonna be physical. Every single one of them I ever played for. But the COVID year, we didn't have anything, we didn't, we weren't in OTAs, we weren't there four days a week for eight weeks, nine weeks in the off season with a month off and then you come back. We just rolled right into the training camp, that's the best I ever felt in my life. Now is it the best for football? No, but I think we killed it with virtual meetings in Carolina, it was tough, it was tough, we knew the playbook coming in 'cause our first year on the offense. But you were fresh, you were ready to go, I also thought COVID forced us to have more days off. 'Cause I got, there's an outbreak, you gotta take two days off here. So it was great, I'm like laying in the pool at the YMCA for an hour.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah. That recovery science, right? Is such a big...

Colin Thompson: I think you need more, everybody is gonna say that, "Of course I get it," but I'm not the 18 year old kid anymore who doesn't wanna practice. I'm the 29 year old that is like, "Wow." I think when you come off up your day off and again, how is that day off? Are you running tempo runs? Are you in the pool doing a pool workout? Did you get a lift in? It's not a day off, but it's a day off of the sprinting, the grinding.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: But it's about the outcome, it's about what are we looking to accomplish? Are we looking to win?

Colin Thompson: Win.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah. Win.

Colin Thompson: Sunday.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: So if we're looking to win, I don't care what your lift looks like on Wednesday, if I know you're gonna be better on Sunday.

Colin Thompson: To me, I think the lifts I value my... That lift is like, that's like my... The hardest part is during OTAs, people don't realize that you're only in the... You only can be in the building four hours at a time or six hours at a time or two hours at a time. And then that horn goes done, the coaches can't work with you, unless you volunteer yourself to go lift. So I would lift after, because I feel like I took a step back in OTAs, because they're like, "Hey, you gotta have a 30 minute lift. You're gonna transition to the field, you're gonna have a 30 minute run and then you're going to catch footballs and then you're gonna go to a 15 minute meeting and then you're done."

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: But and my point is, if you keep Sunday's front and center we just don't care how much weight is on the bar on Wednesday.

Colin Thompson: No.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: I would think.

Colin Thompson: No, no.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: But I think that gets lost.

Colin Thompson: Or it's like, "Hey listen, you're gonna... " I liked what we did in Carolina and a lot of teams are adapting it now, on Fridays we walk through where before you'd have practice all week and then you'd walk through Saturday, play Sunday. So you'd have two hard days Wednesday and Thursday, and then completely shut down on Friday, plus it was a half day. So you're home by...

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: And what happened Saturday?

Colin Thompson: Saturday you have a... You'd quick practice, now how's that affect game planning? Usually put a red zone in on Fridays, it's a big part of your game plan, gotta be able to score touchdowns in the red zone, right? That's no secret. So your quarterbacks are like... Your OC, your quarterbacks coach is like, "This is my time. What do you mean we're gonna walk through today?" So you gotta move it as a coach, so you gotta be pliable, it changes how you prep. You gotta do that preparation a little earlier, again, it affects everything in this building. Like the sports science gotta has to meet the football and the football wins you the game. So it's like, whoa, it's more than... It's like every, I think athletic trainer or PT is like, "Oh, more time off. Or "Hey, we're gonna get better lifts 'cause the guys feel better, but we're gonna have less practice time." Well, okay, you gotta get reps thrown in.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yeah, well that's why I think you have to have this unbelievable wide lens, that's why I like the idea of having a guy who's able to speak so many different languages, football speak included, running that performance side. But again, I think it's the same in your company as well, you have to have the CEO, the Colin Thompson at the top being able to see where am I going? How am I assessing talent and what is the goal? The goal is to put out an awesome product for Not For Long Media, right?

Colin Thompson: I just keep telling my group, keep kicking the can down the road. And for the, for our young folks that which are, they all are young, they're all like 25 and younger. They're all like college or out of college, it's like, if I always say Barstool Sports came today and wanted to hire you, is that clip that you just made for our social media Barstool Sports. And that and whatever you use, we use Barstool, like you would use whatever True Sports as you guys are to me at the top, but.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Thanks.

Colin Thompson: But, I was gonna say the NFL, but that's not always pretty, it's a shame to say that, but it's not always pretty I think 'cause of the product, 'cause of the overall environment. It's not like people aren't competent and good at their jobs, it's like, "Hey, you got 15 minutes with this guy, help him get his posterior chain right or he's got... ".

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: It's the system, it's the system and it's for... It's but it's the same thing in my field, you see that elsewhere unbelievable clinicians that work for my competitors, they're awesome clinicians, I would love to hire them. They can't perform where they are, because the system only allows them 30 minutes with a patient. So the system only allows the athletic trainer 15 minutes with a guy in the facility.

Colin Thompson: Or the guy, how much are you willing to give time.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Period. Yeah.

Colin Thompson: Are you going to come back to the... Are you gonna say, "I want you for an hour today." But does that person have an hour to give you?

Colin Thompson: But I think it's knowing what reality is, I'll tell you what they can give you, they can give you some type of knowledge, here's your plan, are you doing the plan? Are you investing your time? Maybe you go to your athletic trainer, I have seen this with other organizations, "Oh listen, I can't spend the time with you in-house, here's a guy I know. He'll give you an hour, he'll give... You need an hour it's just not in the building." Because that's not the reality of an NFL.

Colin Thompson: Yes, so you gotta pay outta pocket for that, and we can't do that anymore based off some other people paying out of pocket for some things that went wrong the last couple off seasons, I'm not gonna say what it was. But like I paid this year, let's just say thousands.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: To get yourself right.

Colin Thompson: Yeah. Thousands, that's a practice squad player and you took a 90% pay cut.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yep.

Colin Thompson: So it's a hit, from IVs to chiropractic care, to a massage to PT care, that's four different people I saw outside the building on a weekly basis to try to get myself back to practice.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: And then timing sucks, right? Because I got guys coming to me at 6:00 PM they were in the building for 12 hours.

Colin Thompson: Yeah, yeah, you're in at six.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: So they don't wanna... I don't blame them.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: They're cooked.

Colin Thompson: They're cooked.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: But then again, as a player, "Okay, how can I handle this?" Just finish practice, I need to get a lift in, I have an hour to get a lift in, eat lunch and then go to meetings, all within an hour and shower, and tub, and sauna and all the things that you wanna do to be a pro. So you really have to get up early, you really have to handle your time right. And then at the end of the week, you're gonna come up for air a little bit and breathe, but then it's like, "Okay, my caffeine gets involved." Like, where does your meal prepping get involved in that. There's just so much more to it, it's like, "Okay, I gotta see Yoni in an hour, I gotta do a cup of coffee."

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: I know you like the media game, you'd be an awesome consultant, I think Malka Sports should hire you as a agency consultant. You hear that Malka?

Colin Thompson: I... Malka.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: He's Cheap too.

Colin Thompson: You could... Yeah.

[laughter]

Colin Thompson: I am, obviously.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: But it's a great outlook and it's totally applicable to any field, which is lay your day out, how do you optimize? What are your goal? What are your goals? And it's true for Not For Long Media, it's for True Sports, it's true in the freaking NFL. So that lands with me, I'm sure it lands with our audience.

Colin Thompson: I hope it does.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Oh my God.

Colin Thompson: What did we miss? 'Cause we talked about so much?

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Well, I'll tell you what we gotta get to, we gotta get to the lightning rounds.

Colin Thompson: Oh.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: So buckle your ass up, here we go. Just answer, it seems like you're a little bit long winded with your answers, can you just keep them short.

Colin Thompson: Oh God, I knew you were gonna say that.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Okay.

Colin Thompson: And people are like, "This guy is so annoying. He said Brendan Donovan 50 times in a row."

[laughter]

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Okay, number one, who's the most talented athlete not named McCaffrey you've ever seen?

Colin Thompson: Oh man, I was gonna say Christian in a second. Talented athlete that I played with or seen?

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Yes.

Colin Thompson: You just said seen. Myles Garrett.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Oh monster. Everyone says he is a monster.

Colin Thompson: He's a pterodactyl. He just walks around out there you're like.

Colin Thompson: "What is that?"

Colin Thompson: What is that man? Freak. Christian knows the best player in the NFL.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: You lined up against him?

Colin Thompson: No.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Myles?

Colin Thompson: No, I was inactive this year when we played him.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Oh.

Colin Thompson: I line to get some freaks so Myles, Khalil Mark.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Boy oh boy. What's the secret of blocking that guy?

Colin Thompson: Nothing. Hold on for dear life.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Shot.

Colin Thompson: Cut now.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Cut. [laughter]

Colin Thompson: Can't do it anymore.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Okay. You versus Sydney Thompson in a lacrosse shootout who wins? 

Colin Thompson: Oh, Sydney I think. But she was defense, she was defense. But she could run and fricking she get's...

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: It's a shootout.

Colin Thompson: Couple goals in her career.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: It's a shootout.

Colin Thompson: I think she would win, she's a better, way better athlete than me.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Do you know what you're doing with a lacrosse stick?

Colin Thompson: No, but a hockey stick I do, I still wanna play in the NHL.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: But Arg is there.

Colin Thompson: I really still think when I'm done playing in football, I'm gonna strap the skates on for like a day and go to a free skate and then see if I can do it, and I will give it a shot secretly.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: As long as you give it a shot. Best place to get a Philly steak sub in Philly.

Colin Thompson: What the Hell's that? A Philly steak Sub.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Can you tell that I'm a kosher guy and I've never mixed dairy and meat together in my life.

Colin Thompson: But it's fine, you can still have a Philly cheesesteak no cheese.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Not a Philly steak.

Colin Thompson: First off, if you...

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Oh, you know what's amazing about that? The reason I said Philly steak is 'cause that's what it is in a kosher spot. It's just the steaks sub, it's not a cheesesteak.

Colin Thompson: It's just steak. Here's the thing.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Okay, hold on. Let me revise that, ready?

Colin Thompson: And It's not a Philly cheesesteak, it's a...

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: What is it?

Colin Thompson: If you call it a Philly cheesesteak...

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Just tell me what it is.

Colin Thompson: It's a cheesesteak.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Okay, okay. Best place to get a Cheesesteak in Philly.

Colin Thompson: Angelo's Pizzeria.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Why does it say pizzeria if it's a sub spot?

Colin Thompson: It's former Sarcone's Deli.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Oh.

Colin Thompson: That's incredible bread.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Okay.

Colin Thompson: And the guy.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Bread.

Colin Thompson: He was on The Samboner Show the other day, the guy's a character and a legend and the most gifted, gets up at 4:00 AM makes all the bread in the world. When they run out of bread, they ran out of bread, there's no like, "Oh, go down the street."

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Is he the guy who said, "I just love bread."

Colin Thompson: Yes.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Okay, I saw that cliff, good clip. Best place to get a steak sub, best place to get a Cheesesteak in Maryland.

Colin Thompson: Jino's with a J, over here in Savannah Park, right where we're located actually, I would say there's one up here too, like near Odenton that I heard it's pretty good, but it's tough here. I haven't been around, I heard there's a really good one in like DC, Baltimore that probably has one too, but.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Okay. You kind of answered this, but I want a short answer, ready? What do you look for in a sports physical therapist?

Colin Thompson: Elite communication.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Where is Colin Thompson in 10 years?

Colin Thompson: Not in True Sports performance that's for sure.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: I've never heard of True Sports Performance, that's like calling it a Philly steak sub. We're a True Sports Physical Therapy.

Colin Thompson: Oh, come on answer ask the question then.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: You might be, dude, you might be there.

Colin Thompson: Where would I be in 10 years? Probably 50 pounds of shit in a five pound back.

[laughter]

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: There you go. Good answer. What's the biggest business mistake you've ever made?

Colin Thompson: Oh man. Probably not being as dialed in as I need to be on the numbers side of things, the business. I just wanna work and grind and manage and do that stuff, but hopefully.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: You gotta make time for it.

Colin Thompson: You get big enough and hopefully you hire people to do all that stuff for you.

[laughter]

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: That's why you pray.

Colin Thompson: I'm not there yet though.

[laughter]

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: Okay. Last but not least, where can this unbelievable audience of sports PTs find you?

Colin Thompson: Thank You all for putting up with me today and listening to me today.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: You were great.

Colin Thompson: Just chaos, Yoni and I... The thing is, this is an hour nine, where can you find me? The Colin Thompson show is my show, Not For Long Media is our media company, I started Not For Long Media when I got cut from the New York Giants, had emergency appendectomy and found out the NFL stood for Not For Long, 'cause they said they were gonna keep me for a while and they cut me 48 hours later. Not For Long Media, Colin Thompson Show, colinthompson86 on Instagram, ColinThompsonTU on Twitter. And yeah, notforlongmedia.com.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: And I encourage everyone listening to reach out, you got questions about NFL performance, you got questions about the professional world. Colin's just like I said at the beginning of the episode, unbelievable communicator, but so generous with your time as you were today. You've helped us in this podcast tremendously, so I really appreciate you, everyone listening really appreciate you for listening at home. Can't wait to do it again, we'll talk soon.

Colin Thompson: I'm excited that it cut into our PT. So now we only have 30 minutes of PT.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: No, I cleared the rest of my day, cleared the rest of my day.

Colin Thompson: No, I gotta lift a 10, I don't have time for this.

Dr Yoni Rosenblatt: That's fair. Thank you.

Colin Thompson: See you guys.

[laughter]

LATEST PODCASTS

December 28, 2023Former MLB World Series Champ and Olympian Ryan Lavarnway on Career Resilience and Mental Strength

December 15, 2023True Sports PT’s Rise to Baltimore’s #1 with Dr. Austin Collish and Dr. Yoni Rosenblatt

December 04, 2023How to Wake Up a Quad with Dr Rayce Houser