In the third episode of the LIFE, MONEY and FOOTBALL podcast, I sat down with Rob Bolden former Penn State, LSU and Eastern Michigan Quarterback and now known as The Money QB.
Rob takes us through his life's journey from growing up as a highly touted high school player, who won just about everything he could before college. Rob was the #2 ranked dual-threat Quarterback coming out of high school in 2010. He went on to become the first true freshman QB to start the opening game under Joe Paterno. It was during that freshman year that Rob faced his first real life adversity, which ultimately taught him the lesson he lives his life by now – “embrace adversity from the mountain top” instead of running from it. Rob talks about learning this lesson from his transfers to LSU and Eastern Michigan during his college career.
After football, Rob is now helping former college student-athletes build financial freedom in everyday careers. He believes that being a student-athlete gives you all the tools you need to be successful in life and he wants to help as many former athletes maximize their opportunity.
Along the way, we touch on topics like:
- What it was like to have a father who was very engaged in his development as a young football player.
- Life as one of the highest ranked college football recruits in the country and could play anywhere in the country.
- College football recruiting process/experience and how Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) and the Transfer Portal have changed all of it.
- What it was like to show up at Penn State and win the starting job as a true freshman.
- How adversity struck early in his career that he wished he had handled differently looking back.
- Why he decided to transfer to LSU and eventually Easter Michigan.
- Looking back on his career and learning that in life sometimes it is best to stick it out and battle through adversity.
- How he worked through the process of figuring out what to do after he had spent most of his life working towards a career as a football player.
Plus a few key pieces of advice like:
- Focus on building great relationships throughout your playing career. These will be very valuable to you for life.
- Most of the time you believe there is an issue with your situation, it is often something internal that you need to work on.
I believe Rob’s story includes several lessons that football players today can learn from. I hope you enjoy the episode.
For more great content for NFL and College Football players, check out my company TEAM Private Wealth Management's website Wealth Coach, Manager & Family Office for NFL Players | TEAM Private Wealth Management (teampwm.com) and our blog Blog & Podcast | TEAM (teampwm.com)