The work nobody sees is the work that wins.

From the South Side to the winning locker room

I grew up on the South Side of Chicago in a family that believed in hard work and doing things the right way. I walked on at the University of Illinois, where I earned my communications degree in 1991 and set the NCAA record with eight touchdowns in a single game.

I spent 11 seasons in the NFL as a fullback with the Denver Broncos, blocking for Jerome Bettis and Terrell Davis and winning two Super Bowls. A fullback does the work that doesn't show up on the stat sheet so someone else can score. That job taught me what championship teams are actually made of.

For more than 19 years I've been a lead studio analyst at the Big Ten Network, and I've won an Emmy for it. Today I speak to athletic teams, corporations, and executives about trust, accountability, role clarity, and putting the team above self.

THE BOOK

Laying It on the Line: Notes of a Team Player

This isn't a football book. It's a book about what winning actually costs. You don't need to have played in the NFL to apply it. You just need to be willing to lay it on the line.