Internal Reps

In Episode 19 of Internal Reps, I sit down with Donnie Walton, an infielder ten years into a professional career that started when Seattle took him in the fifth round out of Oklahoma State. He won a minor league gold glove at shortstop, made his big league debut with the Mariners in 2019, and has since played for the Giants, the Phillies, the Angels and the Athletics, plus a spring with the Mets. Earlier this year he hit .319 across 32 games in the big leagues.

What I wanted was the ten years underneath all of that. What it actually takes to keep showing up when the game keeps moving you around, and what you find out about yourself while you are doing it.

We get into the first few weeks on a new team when you are sure everybody is going to hate you, what he does the night before a moment he cannot afford to get wrong, the season he started 0 for 18 and what he stripped it back to, and the one sentence a veteran gave him that he still uses.

Whether you play, coach, or you are just somewhere in the middle of something long, there is a lot in here you can use tomorrow.

In this episode
• Why your first few weeks on a new team are about listening, not performing
• Finding out exactly what a tryout will look like, then rehearsing that
• Starting 0 for 18, and the one thing he went back to
• Watching the best players in the world make mistakes too
• Knowing who you are that day, instead of forcing yesterday’s plan
• Keeping a note of every cue that has ever worked
• Picking one job for the team when your own numbers are stuck
• Visualizing the moment before it happens, start to finish
• Why everybody in the room feels like they do not belong
• What he would tell his eighteen year old self

If this one changed how you think about a bad stretch, subscribe and leave your biggest takeaway in the comments.

🎙️ Internal Reps
Conversations with athletes, creators, and entrepreneurs about the mindset behind success.

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Emma Morris played four years of Division I beach volleyball at Stanford before finishing her career at Tulane. In this one she talks about what the inside of all that actually felt like.

Emma made the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team and became a captain at Stanford, then started over at Tulane, where she earned 27 wins alongside Katie Hansen and helped the program reach its first NCAA Championship.

We get into her path there, what her first weeks at Stanford were really like, why affirmations never worked for her and what did instead, the voice in her head she thought was coming from everyone else, learning to lead, the courage it took to start over, and figuring out who she is now that there is no next season.

If you are an athlete dealing with pressure, confidence, playing time, or the uncertainty of what comes next, this conversation is for you.

Internal Reps is a podcast about the mental side of sport. The work people don’t see.

Follow along at @internalreps.

Anthony Pecorella is a punter at the University of Maine. At 22 he yawned ina mirror on Mother's Day, found a golf-ball-sized tonsil, and was startingchemotherapy within a month.

He went through it on the pediatric floor, alongside three- and four-year-oldswho ran the halls with smiles on. One of them gave him three words he stillsays every single day.

Two seasons gone. His first punt back was an average 42-yarder, fair caught —and he came off the field in tears. He is out there again this season at 25.

Anthony also opens up about the parts nobody posts: the Christmas Eve as atrue freshman when everything looked perfect from the outside and wasn't,what it took to put his mind on the same schedule as his training, and whyhe thinks athletes stay quiet for so long.

We get into why your sport will consume you if you let it, why you don't haveto tell a hundred people, how one bad practice quietly costs you four days,and what it actually looks like to treat your mind the way you treat your body.

A conversation about what you don't get to choose, and what you do.

Topics include: a cancer diagnosis at 22, chemotherapy and the pediatricfloor, coming back after two lost seasons, the first punt back, athleteidentity, telling one teammate instead of a hundred people, pressure andshrinking the job, comparison and NIL, building a daily mental routine, andchoosing how you show up.

Internal Reps — the work behind the athlete.

Former Seattle Mariners outfielder Braden Bishop joins Internal Reps to talk about the full journey from the University of Washington to the major leagues, and everything that came with it.

Braden breaks down what it actually felt like to get called up to the big leagues, the challenge of facing elite MLB pitching, the preparation required to stay ready off the bench, and what he learned from being around players like Ichiro, Félix Hernández, Robinson Canó, Nelson Cruz, Kyle Seager, and other longtime veterans. He also shares what Ichiro was like behind the scenes and the level of detail that made him one of the greatest players of all time.

The conversation also goes far beyond baseball. Braden opens up about starting the Four Mom Foundation after his mom was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s, how that experience changed his perspective, the difficulty of separating your identity from your sport, and what success means to him now that his playing career is over.

This episode is about preparation, failure, perspective, identity, purpose, and learning how to stay present throughout every stage of the journey.

Topics include: MLB call-ups, facing Gerrit Cole and Clayton Kershaw, Ichiro’s preparation, clubhouse culture, getting DFA’d, Four Mom Foundation, athlete identity, playing freely, life after baseball, and finding purpose beyond the game.

Ryan Phillips’ football career took him from Idaho to the NFL, where he became a third-round pick by the New York Giants, earned a starting role, and eventually played in the Super Bowl.

But this episode of Internal Reps is really about everything around those accomplishments.

Ryan and I talk about the nerves of the NFL Combine, running his 40 multiple times because scouts didn’t believe the number, getting the draft call in his childhood basement, nearly thinking he had been cut because the Giants called the wrong Ryan, and what it actually feels like to compete on the biggest stage in football.

Ryan also shares the story of Michael Strahan’s paycheck completely changing the way he viewed his own money, the moment everything seemed to slow down during the Super Bowl, his fiancée finding a way onto the field after he got hurt, and the much harder transition that came once football was over.

We also get into:

• His path from Idaho to the NFL
• What the NFL Combine really felt like
• Running a 4.5 three separate times
• The moment the Giants drafted him
• Thinking he had been released because of a mix-up
• Becoming an NFL starter
• The comparison trap inside professional sports
• Michael Strahan’s $250,000 paycheck story
• His biggest Super Bowl moments
• Playing through pressure on football’s biggest stage
• The transition out of professional sports
• Losing the structure and identity football provided
• What athletes should understand before their career ends

Ryan’s story is a reminder that reaching the level you dreamed about doesn’t mean the internal battles disappear.

Sometimes they just change.

#InternalReps #NFL #AthleteMindset #SuperBowl #LifeAfterSports

Sam De Vries went from picking tennis back up seriously as a teenager, to becoming a four-star recruit, playing Division I tennis at Portland State, transferring to UC Davis, becoming a captain, and eventually making the jump almost immediately from college athlete to college coach at Alabama.

In this episode of Internal Reps, Sam and I get into the parts of the journey that people usually don’t see: entering the transfer portal while still competing, feeling like you have to prove you belong, handling rankings and outside expectations, fighting for playing time, becoming a leader, and learning what actually matters once your playing career ends.

Sam also breaks down how he landed his opportunity at Alabama by emailing coaches across the country, what it’s like being one of the youngest coaches in the SEC, and what being on the other side of college athletics has taught him about preparation, confidence, and the work athletes do when nobody is watching.

We also talk about:

• Starting tennis late and still becoming a four-star recruit
• His difficult freshman year at Portland State
• Using a match against UC Davis as essentially a tryout
• Why competing mattered more than being perfect
• His transfer to UC Davis and earning a scholarship
• Clinching his final home match on Senior Day
• Becoming a captain and learning how to lead
• Separating your confidence from rankings and playing time
• Sending dozens of coaching emails before Alabama called
• The transition from athlete to coach
• What college athletes tend to learn too late
• What “Internal Reps” means to Sam

“What are you doing when nobody’s watching?”

That might be the biggest theme of this conversation.

#InternalReps #CollegeAthlete #CollegeTennis #AlabamaTennis #AthleteMindset

Paolo Banchero joins Internal Reps for a conversation about the full journey behind becoming the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.

We talk about growing up in Seattle, playing quarterback at O’Dea, hearing “overrated” chants in high school, training alongside NBA players at a young age, and why Coach K’s belief ultimately led him to Duke. Paolo also opens up about the pressure of Coach K’s final season, Draft Night, becoming Rookie of the Year and an All-Star, learning how to handle failure and hesitation, working out with Kevin Durant, battling injuries, and what it means to carry the expectations of being one of the faces of the Orlando Magic.

Paolo also shares his perspective on criticism, confidence, family, representing Seattle, and the advice he would give his younger self now.

A conversation about what it really takes to keep evolving when expectations continue to rise.

Internal Reps — the work behind the athlete.

Jakobi Davis joins Internal Reps to talk about the journey from playing Division I baseball at Cornell to building a life and identity beyond the game.

We get into the pressure of being a college athlete, balancing baseball with academics, leadership, confidence, personal growth, and what happens when the sport that shaped so much of your life is no longer the only thing you’re chasing.

Jakobi also shares how he transitioned into content creation and entrepreneurship, why he started building Champion’s Voice, and the lessons he’s learned about finding purpose, betting on yourself, and creating opportunities after sports.

A conversation about ambition, identity, and figuring out what comes next when one chapter ends.

Internal Reps — the work behind the athlete.

Jackson Slater joins Internal Reps to share the journey behind becoming an NFL Draft pick.

After receiving one full-scholarship offer out of Newport High School, Jackson committed to Sacramento State and developed into an All-American offensive lineman. He explains how consistency, loyalty, and trusting his environment helped him reach the NFL despite playing at the FCS level.

Jackson also discusses turning down interest and potential NIL money from bigger programs, proving he belonged at the Senior Bowl, hearing his name called by the Tennessee Titans, and adjusting to the speed and pressure of professional football.

This conversation goes beyond the accomplishments to explore what athletes rarely talk about: staying patient when opportunities are limited, choosing development over attention, keeping sports from becoming your entire identity, and continuing to prepare when nothing is guaranteed.

Jackson’s story is proof that the biggest opportunity is not always the best opportunity—and that the right environment, combined with years of consistent work, can take you further than outside recognition ever could.

Bella Nilsen joins Internal Reps to share her journey from gymnastics to Division I pole vaulting at Oregon and San Diego State.

Bella opens up about the college recruiting process, choosing between major programs, and why athletes should pay attention to where they are truly valued—not just the biggest name or logo.

She also shares the mental challenges behind competing at a high level, including performance anxiety, survival mode, failure, athlete identity, and learning how to separate self-worth from results.

Later in the episode, Bella gives an honest perspective on NIL and personal branding as a female college athlete. She discusses the pressure to build an audience, the uncomfortable side of social media, and why young athletes should think carefully about the brand they are creating.

This episode covers:

• Choosing the right college program
• Going where you are valued
• Learning to embrace failure
• Competing with confidence instead of fear
• Identity outside of sports
• Transferring from Oregon to San Diego State
• NIL and personal branding
• Adversity, relationships, and personal growth

Bella’s story is a reminder that success is not only about results. It is also about learning who you are, finding the right environment, and becoming someone you are proud of beyond the sport.

Subscribe to Internal Reps for honest conversations with athletes about the work, pressure, adversity, and growth behind their careers.

#InternalReps #BellaNilsen #CollegeAthlete #TrackAndField #NIL