Pro Mindset® Podcast

Current Denver Broncos OL Coach and former Broncos offensive lineman shares with Pro Mindset Podcast host Craig Domann his journey living in Anchorage, Alaska, and dreaming of playing hockey in the NHL to beginning his football career as a QB as a youth. Chris earned a scholarship to the University of North Dakota and was drafted in the 2006 NFL Draft in the 5th round by the Denver Broncos.

Chris shares his philosophy about how a young NFL Pro can earn his stripes in the NFL. As a player, Chris was self-deprecating and had a healthy fear of failure and getting cut. He recommends young players focus on getting better, soaking up coaching, learning from the savvy veterans and don't talk before you have earned the right to do so. His mindset as a player was to learn the ropes so that when his athletic ability started to diminish, it was more than compensated for by his football IQ.

Chris also talks about his experiences playing for the Broncos when Tim Tebow was quarterbacking and the magic Tebow had in the last two minutes of every game.

As a NFL Agent for more than 25 years, Pro Mindset Host Craig Domann has learned from his clients the Pro Mindset that it takes to be successful whether in the NFL or in business. Craig shared the 7 Building Blocks to a Pro Mindset in a speech recently in Kansas City.

Former New England Patriot DE/OLB, Rob Ninkovich, joins Pro Mindset host Craig Domann and talks about his journey from high school with no college offers to 5th rounder to the New Orleans Saints to 8 years with the Patriots. The final game of Rob's NFL career was the historic comeback by the Pats against the Falcons in Super Bowl LI.

During Rob's 8-year tenure with the Patriots, they won 8 divisions, they went to 3 Super Bowls, and won 2 Super Bowls! Rob won 99 regular season games and 11 post-season games in his 8 seasons with the Pats.

Rob's NFL career started out slowly until he found his way to New England and the Patriots in year 4. He shares that his greatest accomplishment was winning his first Super Bowl, but his overall greatest accomplishment was checking off the boxes next to the NFL football goals he wrote at 14 and achieved during his 11-year NFL career and maximizing his God-given talent.

As a 3-time Patriots defensive captain, Rob is intimately familiar with the "Patriot Way" and Bill Belichick's team-first approach. Rob shares story about how he stood out and earned Coach Belichick's attention and respect. Rob talks about players coming to New England and putting their selfish personal goals behind Belichick's and the Patriots team goals.

Rob parlayed his platform as a NFL player into opportunities in the national media as he works with ESPN, as well as, in working as a spokesperson for major companies in the Boston area.

Former New England Patriot DE/OLB, Rob Ninkovich, joins Pro Mindset host Craig Domann and talks about his journey from high school with no college offers to 5th rounder in the NFL Draft to the New Orleans Saints to 8 years with the Patriots. The final game of Rob’s NFL career was the historic comeback by the Pats against the Falcons in Super Bowl LI.

During Rob’s 8-year tenure with the Patriots, they won 8 divisions, they went to 3 Super Bowls, and won 2 Super Bowls! Rob won 99 regular season games and 11 post-season games in his 8 seasons with the Pats.

Rob’s NFL career started out slowly until he found his way to New England and the Patriots in year 4. He shares that his greatest accomplishment was winning his first Super Bowl, but his overall greatest accomplishment was checking off the boxes next to the NFL football goals he wrote at 14 and achieved during his 11-year NFL career and maximizing his God-given talent.

As a 3-time Patriots defensive captain, Rob is intimately familiar with the “Patriot Way” and Bill Belichick’s team-first approach. Rob shares story about how he stood out and earned Coach Belichick’s attention and respect. Rob talks about players coming to New England and putting their selfish personal goals behind Belichick’s and the Patriots team goals.

Rob parlayed his platform as a NFL player into opportunities in the national media as he works with ESPN as a NFL Analyst and he is also a spokesperson for major companies in the Boston area.

Blake Lawrence, Co-Founder & CEO of Opendorse, joins Pro Mindset host Craig Domann to share his experiences as a former college football player and his transition to life after football. Blake was a starting linebacker for the Nebraska Cornhuskers until he stepped away from football due to concussions and concern for his future health.

Blake played college football with current veteran NFL players Prince Amukamara and Ndamukong Suh, as well as, his current business partner Adi Kunalic. Blake shares his key carryovers from college football to the business world:

• Trust
• Discipline
• Compete
• Belief & Passion
• Work Ethic

Blake shares that sports has a tendency to draw people together, not only the players who practice, play and have fun together but also for fans who attend games or watch games together. There is a gravitational pull with and among athletes and fans.

Blake and his company are the leaders in the athlete social media marketing space. He tells us that consumers have a 20 times greater appetite (engagement rate) for player social media marketing than team/organization social media marketing. Even though teams average 30 posts on social media per day and players only average 6 posts on social media per day, companies/brands utilizing players in social media marketing is far more effective.

Opendorse, an athlete social media marketing company, matches companies and brands with athletes. Opendorse is built on the foundation that athletes have significantly more engagement value than companies because people on social media will stop their strolling way more often for faces than logos.

Opendorse is headquartered in Lincoln, NE. Blake and his best friend, college roommate and Nebraska teammate, Adi Kunalic, co-founded Opendorse in 2013.

This Pro Mindset Podcast has a unique format in that former PMP guest Anthony Trucks of Aww Shift Podcast, interviews Craig Domann, NFL Agent and host of Pro Mindset Podcast, about his career in representing NFL players.

Craig shares with Anthony the four (4) takeaway goals for every NFL player before he retires:
· Have his health
· Save his money
· Leverage his platform as a NFL Player to open up opportunities after football
· Maintain relationships with his teammates and coaches for a lifetime

Anthony also asks Craig to share the crossover success principles from the NFL that apply to the real world, for example,
· Dealing with adversity,
· Keeping focus on your goals,
· Overcoming the fear of failure, and
· Creating a safe landing for retirement.

Anthony Trucks is a former linebacker for the Oregon Ducks and Pittsburgh Steelers. Post NFL career, Anthony is an entrepreneur, international speaker, and host of the Podcast Awww Shift. You can find Anthony on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn or at www.anthonytrucks.com.

Warren McCarty joins Pro Mindset host Craig Domann and shares his experiences assisting high school football players in getting college scholarships. He shares the facts and myths in the college football recruiting world.
After Warren finished his football playing career as a QB, he worked for over a decade in professional football followed by several years hosting a talk show on ESPN. Warren has developed several interrelated ventures - Warrior Training, Warrior Recruiting and Warrior 7-on-7 - all designed to help high school football players in Colorado prepare for, and navigate, the many trials that stand in the way of a dream to play football in college.
People are stuck in the mindset that if you're good enough, you'll get noticed. "That's simply not the case."
Warren also represents several college and pro coaches. His connections in the college world lead him to create Warrior Recruiting. He has assisted numerous players get college football scholarships, as well as, he has placed (5) five players in college that have gone on to the NFL as starters.

Harold Richardson, former GM for the Atlanta Falcons joins Pro Mindset host Craig Domann. Harold is a long-time NFL assistant football coach with stints with the New Orleans Saints, Denver Broncos, and Atlanta Falcons; front office executive with the Broncos and Falcons and spent 9 years as the Executive Director of the East-West Shrine Game. With such a unique blend of football experiences, Harold shares his insights on the following:
· Peter Principle and how he believes football guys make the best football guys as GMs in the NFL
· Love of the Game is most important trait he looks for in NFL prospects
· Highest satisfaction as a coach is seeing his players develop
· As a GM the biggest challenge is getting everyone on the same page
· As #1 man for the East-West Shrine Game, he selected the players the NFL teams wanted to see most

The best example of the Peter Principle in broadcasting today is Tony Romo. Harold comments "Why should anyone be surprised by Tony's success as a color commentator when he spent his entire NFL career as a QB learning the game at the highest level - Tony is just showing everyone his football IQ that he developed during his successful career with the Cowboys".

Harold is retired and living in Florida but is still very involved in football when he is not on the golf course.

Current Dallas Cowboys CB, Donovan Olumba, joins Pro Mindset host Craig Domann and talks about the life of playing for America's Team, his determination to get called up to the 53-man active roster, and the challenges of earning a NFL roster spot as an undrafted free agent.

Donovan shares the philosophy that Cowboys head coach Jason Garret shares with his players:
· Know what you are doing
· Know your job
· Know your strengths and weaknesses
· Know how your opponent is going to attack you
· And Win

Donovan is a tall, athletic CB with length that models his game after Richard Sherman. He is in his second season in the NFL after playing college football at Portland State. After spending his entire rookie season (2018) and the entire 2019 season to-date on the Cowboys practice squad, he is confident and ready to get into real games on Sundays. He believes he has paid his dues on the practice squad and after having a few NFL teams inquire about him for their 53 man roster, he is close to getting promoted to the Cowboys or leaving for an opportunity on another team active roster.

XPE Pass Rush Guru and Coach for the Stars, Nathan O'Neal, joins Pro Mindset host Craig Domann and shares this thoughts and experiences coaching, mentoring and motivating NFL stars. Nathan talks about the business side of the NFL and it is ugly.

Nathan believes "OW-T" Obsessive Want-To is the key mindset to pursue greatness on the field. Obsessive Want-To is the most important characteristic of the best of the best.

Nathan and Craig discuss developing greatness by giving great effort and having great focus on every snap. They also talk about the importance of players building their careers via hard work, being attentive to details and having a strong desire to learn and improve. The most successful players keep the main thing the main thing.

The NFL Draft for NFL Players is just the starting point and should not define them. The players who get stuck on their draft position are either entitled (if early draft choice) or not confident (if undrafted), however, the reality is their performance is all that truly matters in building a career.

Nathan and Craig also talk about the three (3) potential draft zones for draftees and how many players only hear the best case scenario which leads to disappointment on NFL Draft weekend.

Nathan is not just a GURU, he's been hired by many top 25 college football programs to teach his pass rushing techniques. He's also been a consultant for a handful of NFL teams during training camp.