Episode 2: Robert Golden

WEBVTT
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Hello, Robert Golden, former leader of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and more importantly, the University of Arizona Wildcats football team.
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Bear down.
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Rob, what's going on?
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Bear down, brother Rudy, man.
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It's always good to connect, man.
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All is well and uh excited to be chopping it up with you, man, for the next hour or so.
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It's it's always a pleasure speaking with you and following up and just figuring out what's going on.
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I know every day you have something new going on.
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Um just real before we go into what what's going on now, okay.
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I want to kind of take a step back in your life and kind of talk about you grew up in Fresno, right?
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Correct, correct.
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Yep.
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How did you how did you pick University of Arizona?
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Man, you know what's um interesting is uh when I was coming out of high school, uh, man, I was the number one defensive back in the state of California.
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And um at that time, my senior year, I started getting a bunch of scholarships.
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But um Arizona found me, man, when I was a two-star athlete my sophomore year.
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Um, and they knew that I was going to be a diamond in a rough.
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So they offered me my first scholarship um in my sophomore year, and they stayed in touch with me, built a relationship with um the coaching staff, and uh man, it felt like home when I went to Tucson.
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So that's how I ended up being a U of A Wildcat.
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I mean, Tucson is a great place.
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I obviously I went to school there, spent a lot of time there.
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Um so when you were in Tucson, okay, the football program is obviously a lot different than when like a regular college student goes there, right?
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Yeah, so you go to classes, right?
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Correct.
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And but like when you're not in season, what are you doing on the off-season?
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Well, man, you gotta remember I went to U of A um during the Rob Gronkowski day.
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So uh that was that was my follow-up was you played with Rob Gronkowski.
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Correct, man.
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And uh when I took a visit there, uh Rob Gronkowski was my host.
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So uh I spent a lot of time with Rob and his brother Chris um during the times, but man, those guys, although they party hard, um, they worked hard as well, too, man.
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So um it was just good being around those guys, um, not only just going to school learning, but then being able to hit the gym, hit the training, hit the field with those guys, um, and as we prepare for the season.
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But um we had a great run together, man, not only with Rob, but a lot of other guys that was able to go off and have NFL careers, man.
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We were uh the prime of Arizona football at that time, that's for sure.
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Yeah, you wasn't Nick Foles was there too, right?
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Yeah, Nick Foles was my starting quarterback.
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In fact, Nick and I, we came in um in the same recruiting class.
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So had Nick Foles there, had a Trevin Wade there, Kriner, Jeron Kriner, and uh many other guys that was able to go off and play on the next level, but it was a good group of guys, that's for sure.
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So I went back for homecoming.
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You know, I told you that the uh back in November.
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And this was November, right?
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So it was incredibly hot.
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I was sitting right by the field.
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It was incredibly how hot is it playing down there?
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Man, I'll tell you what, um, before they got the turf, you know, playing on that natural grass, uh, it felt good.
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You know, we used that to our advantage because we practiced in it every single day.
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But now that they got that turf out there, man, uh, it's 120 degrees outside, it's at least 160 on the field.
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Um and that's one of the things that the coaches, even when I was playing there, used to heavily emphasize you gotta hydrate, you gotta hydrate.
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But when you see teams come to U of A or come to Arizona in the months of August, um, September, October, man, those guys be cramping up, those guys be dehydrated.
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Um, so that is part of the home field advantage of being able to play um in that heat in Arizona, man.
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But it was uh definitely tough um to get used to, that's for sure.
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Yeah, because I mean it's ridiculously hot just sitting there.
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I was like, oh, and especially like you're playing in the sun, and then the sun kind of fades beyond the right, but yeah, you you're like in the sun, you got the helmet on, you got the gear on.
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It's brutal, man.
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But you know, I think this year uh U of A just announced that they are moving to the visitor sideline instead of being in front of the Zona Zoo.
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So um the Zona Zoo side, man, that's where the sun is just beaming at.
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So now they're gonna put the opposing teams on that side and the home team at least have the shade.
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But you got to remember, too, Arizona is pretty much the number one place um for NFL and for MLB players to go and train in the offseasons because of the heat.
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And if you're training out there and you get used to working in that dry heat, man, there's no other weather that you can't um get out there and perform in, man.
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So it's a it's an advantage if you can get used to the heat, that's for sure.
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Yeah.
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So so did you think when other teams came that you guys used it to an advantage?
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Kind of like when teams go to like Denver to play in mile high.
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Oh, yeah.
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Oh, absolutely, man.
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Um, you know, and that was one of the reasons um that we wasn't even privileged to have a dome back then because regardless, we were going to be outside um working in the heat, man.
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But one of the cool things that the coaches used to do to kind of give us a break was, you know, during training camp time, we used to travel up to Fort Wachuca.
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Um, and we used to do our training camps up there in the mountains where it was a little bit cooler.
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But um, once you get down from Fort Wachuca and you start preparing for the season, man, we were out there in the heat, in the prime of the day, um, really building that stamina.
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But we use it um to our advantage the same way the Pittsburgh Steelers um use the cold weather to their advantage, especially during playoff time.
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Um, that is trying to that's the home field advantage that teams usually try to create.
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It's how can we use the elements?
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How can we use our fans?
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How could we use the whole environment to create some type of home field advantage?
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So um we definitely use that um during our time for sure.
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Right.
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And so now let's talk about leisure time in Tucson.
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I always ask people I mean, I had I threw a lot of the parties in Tucson, the bars and the clubs, and I always have the football guys coming over.
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Now I I had an incident once with with uh the two the 1999 uh Arizona Wildcat football team, and Nick told me uh kind of staved my ass.
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But Chris McAllister days about it.
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There was a lot of guys on that team.
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Um but we you know there's so much to do in Tucson.
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Did you go out at night?
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Did you go to the bars?
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Well, yeah, man.
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Um, I mean, that's what Tucson is known for.
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You know, it's a college town.
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So uh all of the college, you know, not only athletes, but um student body man, we were always looking for something to do.
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And um, back in my time being at U of A, man, we used to throw the biggest pool parties up at Star Pass.
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Oh, yeah, Star Pass.
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Those those were legendary.
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But um absolutely, man, spent a lot of time on Fourth Avenue um on Parkside over there as well.
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And um, downtown Tucson wasn't what it was, what it is right now, that's for sure.
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But uh man, it used to be a lot of good times um hanging out out there.
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But one of the things that I had the privilege of having is again Rob Ronkowski.
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Um, you know, his house was literally right down the street from the stadium.
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So uh we spent plenty of time um after the games and on the weekends over at his house.
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Um and his place was the place to be.
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So, man, we had lots of cool parties, and the guy had a jacuzzi right in the middle of his front yard.
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So you can only imagine how wild those parties used to get, but uh it was a good time for sure.
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So do you were the party were you did you prefer going to the parties or going to like fourth half?
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Man, fourth half was um definitely um a bonus anytime you were over there.
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But when Rob Gronkowski threw a party, you wanted to be at Rob Gronkowski House.
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So uh when he left, I'll tell you this, he left, um, he ended up entering the draft early, which was uh my junior year, and um my senior year was super boring uh once Rob left, that's for sure.
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But uh it was good times uh hanging out in Tucson, man, especially on Fourth Ave, and then downtown before all of the upgrades came for sure.
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Have have have you seen Fourth Ave like recently?
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Oh yeah, man.
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You talking about the the the new apartment complexes that they built over there, they upgraded the Jack in the Box right there on Fourth and Park, man.
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I mean, it's a whole new place there.
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And Maloney's is gone.
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Maloney's is gone, yeah.
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Shandy's still there, right?
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Right, right.
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There's a there's a building, it's like it's crazy, and yeah, downtown is I mean, when I when I was there, downtown was still happening, it was just a little different.
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We had different places, and when you got there, they were they were gone already, right?
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But now they have like it's like buildings, uh there's you know, bars, yeah.
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Man, you can bar hop.
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People bar hop.
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I mean, I don't know if it's very safe, but people are bar hopping down there.
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Yeah, restaurants.
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Let's talk about Tucson restaurants.
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Did you have like a go-to spot besides Jack in the Box?
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Well, I tell you what, man, there's a really popular burger spot, Lindsay on Fourth Ave.
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Okay, man.
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Oh my goodness.
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Uh, they used to have the guy from Man vs.
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Food go on there and try to eat the burger challenge.
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Uh, so that used to be one of my favorite shows.
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In fact, I wanted that job so bad back when I was in college.
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So I used to try to do all of the things and try all of the restaurants that he tried.
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But Lindsay on Fourth Ave, that's one of my favorite burger spots.
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And then um, if you want some true authentic Hispanic food, Minitos was another one of my favorites down in the South Side.
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And then you can't forget about BK, man.
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That's right there on, I want to say it's on Glen Avenue, I believe it is.
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But BK, I'm not talking Burger King.
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I am talking the original BK that sells to Sonoran dogs, bacon wrap, extra mayo on there.
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Those are some of my favorite spots.
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And those are my go-to spots whenever I head back to town, that's for sure.
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I've never, I never had, I never went to BK.
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BK, man.
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They are famous.
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So it's um right on, I want to say it's on Glen and Park Avenue.
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Um, heading down, is that Park Avenue?
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Yeah, I believe it's Glenn and Park Avenue.
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Um, it's a famous spot, man.
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They do the city.
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Oh, wait, I know where it is.
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I know where it is.
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I know where it is.
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I've never been there.
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But actually, we just we just passed it when we was back in Tucson with my daughter.
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We passed it, and I was like, it said hot dogs on there, and I was like, oh yes, man, it's the best.
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I'm talking about bacon wrap, mayo on there.
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They put all the toppings on there.
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If you want a Sonoran dog, um, you can't get it anywhere else better than BK, that's for sure.
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Next time I'm in Tucson, I'm definitely heading over there and grabbing.
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Man, get you two of them.
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Get two of them.
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Um, so okay.
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Tucson.
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You you you're a senior, you left senior year, right?
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Yep, correct.
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I did.
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You weren't drafted.
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Undrafted.
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Undrafted.
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Undrafted to Pittsburgh.
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How did it come about Pittsburgh Steelers?
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Yeah, you know, what's funny, um, Pittsburgh, they came to the pro day, my junior year, um, which was leading up to it.
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And um, I had a conversation, really quick conversation with them at that time.
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But, you know, throughout the draft process, man, I knew I was either going to Miami or the New Orleans Saints.
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Um, because those were the two teams that I was in conversations with um throughout the whole draft process.
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But uh, you know, as soon as the draft ended, I went undrafted and um I get a call from the general manager, Kevin Coberg, um, shortly after the draft, and he's like, Man, Robert, we want to bring you in to um compete for one of our backup spots.
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We got Ron Clark and Troy Palomalu here.
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They're going to be exiting pretty soon.
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You can be here for a long time if you come in and compete.
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Um, and that was really the furthest in-depth conversation that I ever had with the Steelers.
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I'm like, man, I'm not just trying to be a camp body.
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I'm really trying to come in and make the 53.
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Um, and they were like, well, this is the place to be.
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And uh they ended up flying me out.
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I went to Pittsburgh, I tried out, made the rookie mini camp, uh, then went to training camp and balled out and made the opening day 53-man roster, man.
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It was a uphill battle that I had to climb, but uh I was destined to be in a black and gold, that's for sure.
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And there you go, there you go.
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And so how so you leave from 120-degree weather to negative 120.
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Absolutely.
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So, what what was that like?
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Because I mean, you came from California, you went to Arizona, and now you're like in the snow, it's mad.
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Yeah, it was it was definitely a culture shock, that's for sure.
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Uh, you know, just even being in a downtown, high-flying city, you know.
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People know I come from California, but I come from Fresno, California.
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So uh very small town.
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Um, and then obviously going to Tucson, um, very similar to Fresno, you know, especially in the um population numbers and the city, you know, width.
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But then I get out to Pittsburgh and I'm in this big city, and it's cold, but it's a blue-collar working city.
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And um, it was a great opportunity, man.
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It was a great experience.
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I'll tell you what, the first day that I truly knew that I was on the East Coast in cold weather is when I woke up on Christmas Day um in 2012, um, and I had my first Snow White Christmas mask.
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So um that was always magical.
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I mean, you grow up watching movies like Home Alone, and you see Christmas had a bunch of snow uh when kids woke up in the morning.
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And just being in California and living in Arizona, I never had that privilege.
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But 2012, when I woke up for Christmas and it was snow white out there, man, it was like heaven.
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I mean, between you and me, I'm we so we're I'm in New York, I'm actually in New Jersey right now, but we've had a bad winter.
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There's a there was a lot of snow.
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And now I can't wait until it gets warm.
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I hear you.
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Starting, I mean, now it's like sunny out, but it's not warm, it's like maybe 50 degrees, which is kind of cold.
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Wow, yeah, for sure.
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I mean, here I saw a guy driving around in a convertible, so it's like it's you know, it's it's weird, but it's yeah, the cold, the cold weather is like I don't know, I'm kind of sick of it.
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But so the black and gold, is that what you so you're doing the school?
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Yeah, is that like the black and gold that you have?
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There's insignia.
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Is that the color because Steelers?
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Well, yeah, you know, um, I'll tell you a quick interesting story, man.
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When I was in high school, our colors were black and gold as well, too.
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Edison High School, man.
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So um our uniforms resembled the Steelers' uniforms.
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And uh my mom, she had got a 21 customized jersey for the Pittsburgh Steelers and put golden on the back and wore that jersey every Friday um while I was in high school, attending my high school games.
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And then, you know, you fast forward five years later, man.
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I'm playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and she's still wearing that same 21 golden jersey that she had customized when I was in high school.
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So uh the black and gold ran in my veins uh before the Steelers, obviously, with where I grew up at and went to high school at.
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Um I grew up playing in the Edison Pop Warner Leagues all the way until I got to high school.
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So I was wearing black and gold uh from when I first started playing ball until um I finished my career.
00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:46.960
Arizona, it put the red, white, and blue in my spirit, uh uh, which you know definitely was needed um to add the color schemes to it.
00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:53.680
And also just from the patriarchy um level that I bring, you know, to the environments of what I create.
00:17:53.920 --> 00:18:00.640
But um black and gold was definitely um destined for us to create the school colors after, that's for sure.
00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:01.599
Right, right.
00:18:01.759 --> 00:18:03.680
Um, and happy birthday to your mom.
00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:06.160
Yes, it's her birthday today, man.
00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:11.920
She's uh 65 today, and uh we're gonna celebrate it well with her tonight.
00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:12.400
Nice.
00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:13.839
What are you what are you doing?
00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:19.599
Uh so got all my brothers uh and our and our children, all of her grandchildren.
00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:21.839
Uh we're going over to her house.
00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:26.319
I got this big uh taco truck that is pulling up to the house.
00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:29.599
And I'm gonna serve the whole family tacos.
00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:34.799
We're gonna um pick up her birthday cake um later today.
00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:43.440
Uh, gonna hang out, play some cards, um, but can't stay out too late because we gotta all wake up in the morning and go to our jobs.
00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:47.119
But uh it's gonna be a good time hanging out with her tonight, celebrating.
00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:49.839
Then we head to Cancun on Sunday.
00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:54.079
Um, so she's spending a spring break with me and my family out in Mexico, man.
00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:57.279
So uh it's gonna be a good time celebrating her, that's for sure.
00:18:57.599 --> 00:18:58.559
That's great, that's great.
00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:06.799
Um back to back to the Steelers real quick, and then and then I'm not I'm not gonna really talk about football that much.
00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:11.680
But you were in the you were what six years in the league?
00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:17.359
Six years with the Steelers and then uh finished up with the Kansas City Chiefs in my seventh year.
00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:18.480
Seventh year, right?
00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:21.279
And then okay, that's it.
00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:22.640
I'm done with football right now.
00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:24.240
I might come back to it, you never know.
00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:26.079
Maybe something will pop up later.
00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:32.720
But how did you so like how did you get this idea for a school for a school?
00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:33.519
Yep.
00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:44.480
Man, you know what's interesting is um throughout my time of playing in the NFL, I always came back to my hometown and I developed mentoring programs.
00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:49.039
Um, I developed an anti-bullying program with Dick Sporting Goods.
00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:59.440
Um, I developed, you know, these different camps to really help children understand that, you know, sports was what they did, but it wasn't who they were as a human being.
00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:09.519
Um, but I was always active in my community, active with children, and had a mentor that told me, man, when you're done playing in the NFL, you're gonna open up your own school.
00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:15.440
Um and that kind of went in one ear and out the other because I was in the prime of my career in the NFL.
00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:24.240
But umce I retired, man, I knew that I wanted to create something that was gonna not only help people thrive, but help the planet thrive as well.
00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:39.920
And uh decided to create an environmental stewardship school that can help kids understand um what's going on in their environment, but make them be civically engaged as well, um, to have this hands-on learning opportunity to make their communities better.
00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:54.160
So it started as a seed that was planted from a mentor of mine, um, just given the nature that I've was always heavily active with children, and uh what started as a seed has grown into what it currently is right now.
00:20:54.799 --> 00:21:03.759
So when you when you got the idea, uh-huh, I mean, right now you're you're in the process of building a full-on school.
00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:09.200
But before that, you did what you did a uh like a mini school, right?
00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:09.920
Like a smaller.
00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:15.920
Yeah, yeah, we um we're we're currently operating right now, and we're in our fifth year.
00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:21.359
And what was crazy was uh when I was putting this school together, we were in the middle of COVID.
00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:28.720
So um a lot of schools, man, were closing down, especially private schools and other charter schools.
00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:36.720
They were closing their doors because everybody wanted to go distant learning and um enrollment was you know all over the place.
00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:38.400
So uh here I come.
00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:43.440
I step in on a scene in 2021 and I'm like, man, I want this campus.
00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:52.000
It was a former private Catholic school that has shed its doors in the middle of COVID and decided that they wasn't opening up anymore.
00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:54.240
And I'm like, I'll take this campus.
00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:58.480
Um, and it was funny because they're like, Man, schools aren't even open right now.
00:21:58.640 --> 00:21:59.759
Why would you want to take over?
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:14.880
This campus, I'm like, I have this idea to utilize this campus as a stationary place, but our kids are going to be outdoors, they're going to be learning about the environments, traveling to the mountains, learning at the river, learning at the zoo.
00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:26.480
So I really just needed a hub location and ended up taking over the current facility that we're operating right now, which has been able to accommodate over 400 kids.
00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:30.880
And we're yes, we're currently operating.
00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:31.599
Yep.
00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:36.000
Well, we serve, you know, transitional kindred through seventh grade right now.
00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:43.519
And once we move into our state-of-the-art facility in July, we'll be able to accommodate about 550 kids, man.
00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:46.880
So it started small and it's grown.
00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:53.839
And uh we're going to be able to add about 150 more kids to this new site once we move into it in July of this year.
00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:58.480
So how many, how many grades you got K through six, you said?
00:22:58.720 --> 00:23:00.720
Um K through seventh right now.
00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:03.279
Um next year we are at K through eighth.
00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:08.799
And uh hopefully if I continue to want to do this, I may take it to a high school.
00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:19.599
But um, as of right now, we serve transitional kind, which is like a preschool, um, probably in New Jersey, but it's transitional kind through eighth grade.
00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:23.279
And how many, how many classes per grade?
00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:32.799
Um, so we have two classes per grade level uh from TK all the way to eighth grade, um, about 27 kids per class.
00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:43.680
Um, but what's the unique motto about our school is that we have a full-time educator and a full-time um teacher aid or learning aid for our kids.
00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:51.599
So um our ratios of the kids that we are able to serve in a classroom, um, they all have at least two adults.
00:23:51.759 --> 00:24:00.799
But then for some of our kids that may have special needs, special learning disabilities, um, we're able to push inside of those Gen Ed classes.
00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:09.519
Um, so at any given time, there could be between two to four adults inside of a classroom of 24 to 27 kids on a daily basis.
00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:22.799
So it's been a really unique model that we've had um centered around place-based education and where we really get to utilize a zoo every day um as an extended learning laboratory for our classroom, man.
00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:24.319
So it's been cool.
00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:42.480
Um, a lot of kids have gravitated, a lot of families have gravitated towards the model because it's new, it's innovative, and you're giving a kid an opportunity to not only learn um uh from a textbook, but you're giving them the opportunity to actually put their hands in the dirt um and make a difference.
00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:45.200
So um that's been a unique thing about us, man.
00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:52.240
We're going into our sixth year next year and uh want to be moving into a$28 million state-of-the-art facility.
00:24:52.559 --> 00:24:55.440
So the the school's called the Golden Academy.
00:24:55.759 --> 00:24:56.960
Golden Charter Academy, yeah.
00:24:57.200 --> 00:24:58.240
Golden Charter Academy.
00:24:58.400 --> 00:25:03.920
Okay, let's let's talk about the new school because I've seen images.
00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:04.880
Yes.
00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:07.279
It looks pretty state of the art.
00:25:07.599 --> 00:25:08.720
Oh, absolutely.
00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:23.119
You know, um, I think when I was interviewing architects, you know, I really wanted to go with an architect that was going to design a school that was timeless, but also design a school that when people drive by it, they say, What's that?
00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:29.920
And um he, Arthur Dyson, was the guy that I came up uh um and ended up hiring.
00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:40.559
He studied under the great architect Frank Lloyd Wright, um, and was able to really learn a lot about being an organic architect from Frank Lloyd.
00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:55.920
And uh when I shared my vision with him about how I didn't just want a regular school, but I wanted something that was going to really be able to allow us to utilize outdoor learning spaces and also have this indoor-outdoor component to it.
00:25:56.079 --> 00:26:03.039
Um, he was able to take literally the vision out of my mind and draw it out, literally draw it out.
00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:06.799
And uh I knew exactly that that's what I was looking for.
00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:12.400
And um he's literally brought a vision that I had in my mind um to life.
00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:18.720
And I am forever grateful for um Dyson's architects that is here based out of Fresno, California.
00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:21.519
It's it's definitely a unique looking building.
00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:28.880
I mean, can you like so we're obviously we can't show it, but can you describe it what it looks like so that people kind of know what I'm talking about?
00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:35.599
Because the only thing I could probably think it kind of looks like is Jimmy Goldstein's house in LA.
00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:37.440
Yes, absolutely.
00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:52.160
So um, in fact, you know, Frank Lautner, who was the architect that designed the Goldstein residence, uh, him and Arthur Dyson um studied together um on being organic architects.
00:26:52.400 --> 00:27:06.880
So um when we designed that building, our building, and then when John Lautner designed um the Goldstein residence, one of the things that they said was that they didn't want was straight lines or corners.
00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:18.559
Um every single, you know, unique feature on our facility is that there are no straight lines, like everything goes at an angle in the facility.
00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:29.119
All of our classrooms have this unique rectangular shape to it, but it also provides an outdoor learning space that has like this triangular shape to it.
00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:33.279
But the goal was to really design something that was timeless.
00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:39.680
And um, when you're looking at the building from the outside, looking in, you will think that it's an indoor school.
00:27:39.839 --> 00:27:45.599
But when you actually walk inside of the campus, man, you're exposed to all of the natural elements.
00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:54.480
You have this really unique courtyard that is going to have a bunch of trees that are going to provide like this Zen garden feel inside of it.
00:27:54.640 --> 00:28:05.440
But, you know, our pathway to education is through environmental education, and we really wanted to incorporate the environment as much as possible inside of this facility.
00:28:05.599 --> 00:28:07.680
So it's definitely unique.
00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:14.559
We put a building like this inside of a community that hasn't seen a significant investment in over 60 years.
00:28:14.720 --> 00:28:30.880
Um, so you can imagine um, you know, what this is doing, not only for the economy in that area, but um the sense of pride that the community members that live over there in that area have um due to the Golden Charter Academy moving in that community.
00:28:31.039 --> 00:28:35.759
So we're excited to be moving over there um come July of this year, that's for sure.
00:28:36.079 --> 00:28:41.920
Have you since you've been building it, have you seen like other developments go like kind of like around the same area?
00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:44.799
There's like, hey, I see this building being built.
00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:45.200
Right.
00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:45.839
What is it?
00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:46.960
Oh, it's a school.
00:28:47.119 --> 00:28:55.200
Okay, well, I'm gonna start developing here, developing here, and like just more businesses are coming to the area because of the school being built.
00:28:55.599 --> 00:28:56.720
Yeah, absolutely.
00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:02.799
I think um what's really unique is again, we sit adjacent where I'm building my campus at.
00:29:02.880 --> 00:29:05.279
It's adjacent to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo.
00:29:05.440 --> 00:29:11.359
And um, our zoo here in Fresno is, you know, a top 10 zoo in the U.S.
00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:16.000
Um, it's uh credited by the associations of zoos and aquariums.
00:29:16.160 --> 00:29:22.480
Um here you have right adjacent to this state-of-the-art facility, um, oh, you have a world-class zoo.
00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:39.680
And um, across the street from where we're building our school at, um, the zoo is building this really magnificent horticulture facility that is going to allow our kids to be able to garden with their horticulture team, um, plant their own fruits and vegetables.
00:29:39.759 --> 00:29:43.039
Um, but that facility is going to be really unique and nice.
00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:48.720
They actually just broke ground on that um this month and started grading and all of that.
00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:52.319
So um that is scheduled to open up next year.
00:29:52.480 --> 00:29:58.640
Um, but then, you know, the city of Fresno, man, they're doing a lot of, you know, infrastructure around there.
00:29:58.720 --> 00:30:04.640
We have this high-speed, you know, rail train that was supposed to be done 10 years ago.
00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:07.680
Um, but hopefully that comes to fruition.
00:30:07.759 --> 00:30:12.559
But they built this overpath bridge that is less than a mile away from the school.
00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:21.519
They're closing the off-ramp um on the freeway exit um to be able to create more of a pedestrian feel um in that area.
00:30:21.680 --> 00:30:28.960
So there's a lot of development that is happening that I didn't even know about until I started developing the school.
00:30:29.200 --> 00:30:36.640
And um, it was kind of just like the golden opportunity for um us to be able to develop our site where we're building it at.
00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:47.599
But it's going to be a really transformational space um once the school is open and all of the other improvements that is happening around it um come to completion, that's for sure.
00:30:47.920 --> 00:30:51.680
So, like what how do how initially, when you were opening up, you didn't have 400 kids.
00:30:51.759 --> 00:30:52.880
Where'd the where'd the kids come from?
00:30:52.960 --> 00:30:53.920
How'd they hear about it?
00:30:54.240 --> 00:31:02.319
Yeah, so you know, interestingly, we started as a transitional kinder through third grade school, and every year we've been just adding a grade.
00:31:02.400 --> 00:31:11.119
So our kindergarten kids went to first grade, first grade kids went to second grade, and every year we just added a transitional kinder classroom.
00:31:11.279 --> 00:31:16.559
Um, but when we first started, man, we started TK through third with like 180 kids.
00:31:16.720 --> 00:31:26.559
Um, and we've added kids so much so that every single year we've had to do a um public random lottery just to determine who gets inside of the school.
00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:31.200
So um we've been doing this lottery um based on families.
00:31:31.359 --> 00:31:35.200
The great thing about us is that we're a public um school.
00:31:35.440 --> 00:31:40.000
So any zip code kid, no matter where they live at, could attend the school.
00:31:40.160 --> 00:31:41.920
And uh it's funny, man.
00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:44.880
We represent over 40% of the city of Fresh.
00:31:45.039 --> 00:31:48.480
No zip codes from where our student body has come from.
00:31:48.640 --> 00:31:57.279
But um the crazy thing about all of this is that I never really did know strategic recruitment strategies to go and recruit kids.
00:31:57.440 --> 00:32:00.240
Um, a lot of it just been word of mouth, man.
00:32:00.400 --> 00:32:16.319
And uh people seeing our kids out at the zoo, they see our kids at the river, they see our kids at Yosemite National Park, you know, learning in the outdoor spaces and really putting their hands in the dirt um to make a difference uh from an environmental standpoint.
00:32:16.559 --> 00:32:24.799
Um and you know, when you see that, and then you tack on our branding and you tack on the former NFL player opened up a school.
00:32:24.960 --> 00:32:32.640
Um, that is how the word has been spreading, and uh we've been growing every year um since we first opened in 2021.
00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:35.119
So the kids wear a uniform.
00:32:35.519 --> 00:32:36.799
They wear a uniform, yes.
00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:38.720
And the uniform is the black and gold.
00:32:38.960 --> 00:32:41.119
Their uniform is the black and gold, man.
00:32:41.200 --> 00:32:47.359
They gotta wear the logo, black or khaki pants, and uh that's the uniform they wear daily.
00:32:47.680 --> 00:32:53.200
So the parents who don't have the kids in the school see the kids and they're like, who are these sharp dressed kids?
00:32:53.440 --> 00:32:54.400
Where can they go?
00:32:54.720 --> 00:32:59.519
They ask questions, they're like, huh, I want my kids to go there, and that's how you grow.
00:32:59.839 --> 00:33:01.680
And that's how we've grown, you know.
00:33:01.839 --> 00:33:06.640
And um, I think too, what what's really unique about us is that we're an academy, you know.
00:33:06.880 --> 00:33:27.519
So um their structure at our school, you know, unlike um your traditional public schools, man, we really try to not only teach um responsibility and respect, but we've grounded everything in our golden rules, um, which is give respect, obligation, love, learning, dedication, elevate, and never quit.
00:33:27.599 --> 00:33:34.960
Um, so those golden rules are our foundation on, you know, truly being able to educate kids, man.
00:33:35.039 --> 00:33:41.200
You can't teach a bunch of kids to learn, man, if it's chaotic inside of a classroom space.
00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:45.839
So um it's been really unique, man, to ground everything around golden.
00:33:46.079 --> 00:33:47.920
And um, that's been our motto.
00:33:48.079 --> 00:33:49.839
Be golden, be excellent, be great.
00:33:50.319 --> 00:33:53.440
The golden rules, the golden rules, or are they the golden rules?
00:33:53.599 --> 00:33:54.240
You know what I mean?
00:33:54.720 --> 00:33:55.359
Is it a play?
00:33:55.519 --> 00:33:57.200
Is it a play on your name?
00:33:57.519 --> 00:33:58.480
Absolutely.
00:33:58.640 --> 00:34:01.359
Um, it's a play on the brand, that's for sure.
00:34:01.519 --> 00:34:05.359
But you know, every day uh Marcus recite the golden rules.
00:34:05.440 --> 00:34:07.920
We talk about what it means to truly be golden.
00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:16.000
Um, and it is embedded in every single thing that we do from our curriculum to our positive behavior reinforcements.
00:34:16.159 --> 00:34:27.760
Um, everything is really trying to position these kids to um not only be great academically, but be great citizens of their community and from a global ambassador standpoint.
00:34:27.920 --> 00:34:33.840
So uh yeah, it's a play on the name, but um it's also bigger than me, that's for sure.
00:34:33.920 --> 00:34:38.800
It's all about being golden, which simply means um be excellent for sure.
00:34:39.119 --> 00:34:41.280
I mean, it it's a great name.
00:34:41.360 --> 00:34:45.199
The your last name is a great name, and you could do so many, so many things with it.
00:34:45.440 --> 00:34:48.480
Absolutely to do that to for the branding purposes, you know.
00:34:48.800 --> 00:34:49.360
Absolutely.
00:34:50.159 --> 00:34:52.320
The school is a public school, right?
00:34:52.559 --> 00:34:52.880
Correct.
00:34:53.119 --> 00:34:54.000
Where does the funding come from?
00:34:54.159 --> 00:34:55.039
Does it come from the state?
00:34:55.199 --> 00:34:56.320
Does it come from Fresno?
00:34:57.119 --> 00:34:57.519
Yep.
00:34:57.760 --> 00:35:06.000
So we're a public school and we're funded the same way that your traditional public schools are funded um around the country, you know.
00:35:06.079 --> 00:35:12.800
If you have butts and seats, then you collect um ADA, which is pretty much your average daily attendance.
00:35:13.119 --> 00:35:22.639
But um, for the state of California, um, each kid is roughly between 12 to about 15,000 to fund their education.
00:35:22.800 --> 00:35:34.480
Um, unlike your traditional public schools, um, you know, many of the budgets that you operate under, um, they are funded, you know, through your public school system.
00:35:34.639 --> 00:35:41.920
So for a Fresno Unified School District, who we are authorized by, um, they're the third biggest district in the state of California.
00:35:42.000 --> 00:35:45.360
So they operate on a$2.3 billion budget.
00:35:45.519 --> 00:36:03.280
Um, so all of their facilities are covered, all of their um curriculum, food programs, all of that is covered under there, versus when you're operating as an independent charter school like us, you know, our funding got to cover facilities, it got to cover staffing, food programs, et cetera.
00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:11.119
So if you can imagine to truly offer a world-class educational opportunity, um, lots of fundraising have to continue to be done.
00:36:11.280 --> 00:36:13.360
Lots of grants have to be going after.
00:36:13.599 --> 00:36:28.880
And luckily for me, I've been able to leverage a lot of my contacts and um relationships that I've built over the course of my life that um have believed in my vision and has believed in the journey that I take into be more than an athlete.
00:36:29.119 --> 00:36:38.480
And um, it's afforded me the opportunity to not only provide these kids with everything they need, but be able to build them a state-of-the-art facility as well.
00:36:39.039 --> 00:36:59.280
So it's been a lot of relationships that I've established, a lot of networking, a lot of fundraising, a lot of brand recognition to really help us do this thing at a level of which we will like to do it at, but um the work don't stop, man, to really be able to offer the world-class opportunity that we're looking to give the kids.
00:36:59.360 --> 00:36:59.760
That's for sure.
00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:00.400
Yeah, absolutely.
00:37:00.480 --> 00:37:02.239
You need money to make it to make it happen.
00:37:02.400 --> 00:37:04.880
You absolutely you said ADA.
00:37:05.360 --> 00:37:05.760
Yep.
00:37:05.920 --> 00:37:07.599
What average daily attendance.
00:37:08.559 --> 00:37:16.239
Uh so I uh I want you to explain what that is because there's a reason why I'm why I'm asking it.
00:37:16.639 --> 00:37:19.039
Explain what it what ADA is.
00:37:19.360 --> 00:37:31.920
So so there is it's unlike your your um facility spaces when you got to have ADA access for people to you know have wheelchair access and compliance um spaces in between.
00:37:32.079 --> 00:37:37.760
But when we talk an ADA in the education system, it's your average daily attendance.
00:37:38.079 --> 00:37:45.679
So for a kid, they may get$15,000 a year if they show up every single day.
00:37:45.840 --> 00:37:53.599
But if they only show up 80% of the time, then you get the average daily attendance portion of that kid.
00:37:53.760 --> 00:38:06.079
So um what's supposed to be 15,000 if they have 100% um, you know, attendance may be 13,000, you know, if they're only showing up about 90% of the time.
00:38:06.320 --> 00:38:13.199
And it can dwindle all the way down depending on you know what um attendance look like on a daily basis.
00:38:13.440 --> 00:38:27.280
But um, if you can imagine when your kids miss school and your their the front office is calling, like, hey, we need that absent excuse, um, is because they're calling because every time a kid misses a day, um, it disrupts the funding formula.
00:38:27.360 --> 00:38:29.360
But average daily attendance.
00:38:29.679 --> 00:38:32.239
So I I I knew there was something with it.
00:38:32.400 --> 00:38:40.880
I just didn't know what it was until you just point out because every year my kids go to public school, and every year we have that first meeting with the school.
00:38:41.039 --> 00:38:42.639
Everybody go goes to the auditorium.
00:38:42.719 --> 00:38:44.400
Now we go to a very small school.
00:38:44.559 --> 00:38:49.280
There's about it averages between 10 to 20 kids per class.
00:38:49.599 --> 00:38:51.039
There's only one class per grade.
00:38:51.280 --> 00:38:52.159
It's a public school.
00:38:52.880 --> 00:38:53.360
Very small.
00:38:53.920 --> 00:38:57.199
It's K well pre-K to eighth grade.
00:38:57.679 --> 00:38:57.920
Gotcha.
00:38:58.320 --> 00:38:58.800
It's very small.
00:38:58.880 --> 00:39:01.199
It's kind of like a private school, but not a private school.
00:39:01.599 --> 00:39:01.760
Right.
00:39:01.920 --> 00:39:10.000
Um, but they always have this meeting with the parents in the auditorium and they cannot stress enough attendance.
00:39:10.639 --> 00:39:18.800
I mean, they they probably mention it at least 30 times attendance, attendance, attendance, when you're your kid here, they gotta be on time.
00:39:19.840 --> 00:39:23.280
The uh see uh butts in the seats, they have to be here.
00:39:23.599 --> 00:39:34.159
Now for for that to happen, well, like do you have a set uh like 15 absences allowed per school unexcused, or how does that work?
00:39:34.559 --> 00:39:43.519
Yeah, you know, um there's only so many um guardrails um that you can emphasize when you're a public school.
00:39:43.760 --> 00:40:09.519
Um, but you know, we do highly encourage families to um be in attendance on a daily basis after they miss a certain amount of days or have a certain amount of truancies, um, then they get issued, you know, a SARP, which is where, you know, the student counselors and attendance people may end up doing a home visit to figure out why is the kid missing so many do?
00:40:10.079 --> 00:40:13.039
Is it, you know, the kid can't wake up on time?
00:40:13.199 --> 00:40:20.079
Um that's when they start going through the SARP process to try to get a better understanding why the kid is missing so much.
00:40:20.239 --> 00:40:28.480
Um, if attendance doesn't improve after the SART process, then the kid does run the risk of being dropped in enrollment.
00:40:28.719 --> 00:40:31.440
Um and especially when you have a dropped.
00:40:31.840 --> 00:40:34.079
Yeah, yeah, they will get dropped.
00:40:34.320 --> 00:40:43.760
But um, especially when you have a waiting list of kids that are looking to get inside the school, um, you want to be able to provide that educational opportunity.
00:40:43.840 --> 00:40:48.559
And if the kids are missing a lot of days, then that means they're missing out on a lot of learning.
00:40:48.639 --> 00:40:52.000
And if they're missing out on a lot of learning, they're messing with your test scores.
00:40:52.079 --> 00:40:55.119
And if they're messing with your test scores, they're messing with your funding.
00:40:55.199 --> 00:40:56.559
Yeah, so it's a whole thing.
00:40:56.719 --> 00:40:59.760
And I can't say they everything goes together.
00:40:59.920 --> 00:41:10.000
So like the school gets more funding if the kids are there, yeah, the test scores are up, yeah, everybody's good, and then it shows up in rankings, and then you get more money that way.
00:41:10.079 --> 00:41:12.000
It's uh it's a whole system.
00:41:12.320 --> 00:41:13.599
It's a whole system.
00:41:14.079 --> 00:41:16.159
So the whole ADA thing, like over here.
00:41:16.320 --> 00:41:18.480
So we I told you we had snow, a lot of snow.
00:41:19.119 --> 00:41:29.039
They have snow days already built in, but because I I guess there was late openings or something, they added another day to our school schedule.
00:41:30.159 --> 00:41:40.400
But the problem is they just notified us, I think, like a two weeks ago, but everybody is already like going to camp or already have trips lined up.
00:41:40.559 --> 00:41:44.079
So I think that's gonna hold screw with their whole age.
00:41:45.119 --> 00:41:46.400
No one's gonna be able to tell.
00:41:46.960 --> 00:42:05.840
Well, I'll tell you what, when it when it's a when it's a small school like what you just mentioned, you know, 10 to 20 kids um per classroom, one classroom per grade level, man, I can imagine every kid counts um for them to be able to meet their budgets and pay and you know their staff, etc.
00:42:06.320 --> 00:42:14.559
But um crazy thing is we ended up having to add two days um to our calendars um this year.
00:42:15.119 --> 00:42:30.880
We didn't have snow, but um um we had a lot of different um activities because we start school before your public your other public schools start school at um and we have to be done by the end of May.
00:42:31.039 --> 00:42:36.719
So we're on a 10-month calendar, and most of your public schools are on an 11-month calendar.
00:42:36.960 --> 00:42:45.920
Um so because we started later, uh we usually start at the beginning of August and we're done by the end of May.
00:42:46.159 --> 00:42:54.400
Um, most public schools they start in the middle of August um and they don't finish until the end of June here in California.
00:42:54.559 --> 00:43:08.719
So we ended up adding two more days um on our calendar where we were able to, you know, add a day from our um winter break, and then we added a day before um after we returned from spring break.
00:43:08.880 --> 00:43:15.360
So uh I know our families wasn't too happy about that as well, but man, we're trying to balance budgets out here.
00:43:15.679 --> 00:43:16.719
Yeah, I hear you.
00:43:16.800 --> 00:43:18.079
I I completely understand.
00:43:18.239 --> 00:43:24.320
I mean, now I get this ADA thing, like I didn't I knew there was something monetarily, I just couldn't figure it out.
00:43:24.400 --> 00:43:27.679
I thought maybe there was like a teacher bonus, maybe there was something else.
00:43:27.840 --> 00:43:31.679
I was I wasn't really sure because there was so much emphasis every year.
00:43:32.000 --> 00:43:33.840
Gotta be in school, gotta be in school.
00:43:34.000 --> 00:43:36.079
Yeah, and God forbid you miss something.
00:43:36.239 --> 00:43:39.679
Oh, they call you, they write you an email, you get a letter.
00:43:40.159 --> 00:43:46.880
I mean, I mean my kids haven't missed that much, but uh still, we still it's a real thing, man.
00:43:46.960 --> 00:43:53.039
Uh you know, growing up, I remember when I was either late for school or we missed school.
00:43:53.199 --> 00:43:58.800
The attendance person used to always call, leave a voicemail or so, they want that excuse absent.
00:43:58.880 --> 00:43:59.760
And I didn't understand.
00:44:00.239 --> 00:44:04.960
Understand why that was so important back then, but I definitely get it now for sure.
00:44:05.199 --> 00:44:09.199
So if you haven't like a doctor's note, is that doesn't that's okay?
00:44:09.599 --> 00:44:15.840
Yeah, it excuses the absent um for the kid, but you still get impacted on ADA.
00:44:16.400 --> 00:44:19.440
Oh, you still get impacted on ADA, you still get impacted, you know.
00:44:19.519 --> 00:44:33.119
So the only way that your ADA stays in, you can receive funding for it, is if a kid is going to be gone for like three or four days, and then you put them on an independent study where you can send work home with them.
00:44:33.280 --> 00:44:39.440
And if they come back, they turn their work in, um, then you can recover those days that they were out.
00:44:39.599 --> 00:44:45.360
But it has to be more than three days, it has to be notified to the school and ahead of time.
00:44:45.519 --> 00:44:54.480
Uh, so it's a whole process when it goes to compliance and um recouping that ADA, but man, it's necessary to keep the doors open.
00:44:54.719 --> 00:44:56.639
Yeah, that's it's it's not so okay.
00:44:56.800 --> 00:44:58.480
You have two boys now?
00:44:59.039 --> 00:45:00.079
Three boys, man.
00:45:00.800 --> 00:45:01.440
Three boys.
00:45:02.320 --> 00:45:04.239
Wait, when did the when the third one come out?
00:45:04.480 --> 00:45:08.079
I got the nine, the six, and the three-year-old now, man.
00:45:08.480 --> 00:45:14.320
But my my my three-year-old, he uh he's the baby boy, but he acts like the big brother.
00:45:14.480 --> 00:45:20.639
So uh it's it's funny just kind of seeing his personality, uh seeing him kind of overtake the house.
00:45:20.800 --> 00:45:23.599
But uh three boys, man, they keep us busy.
00:45:23.760 --> 00:45:26.000
So wait, nine, six, three?
00:45:26.320 --> 00:45:27.360
Nine, six, and three.
00:45:27.760 --> 00:45:28.320
Nine, six, three.
00:45:28.400 --> 00:45:30.880
So the so the nine-year-old is in your school?
00:45:31.119 --> 00:45:33.360
The nine-year-old and the six-year-old is that.
00:45:34.239 --> 00:45:35.760
The six-year-old is what, kindergarten?
00:45:36.000 --> 00:45:36.880
Kindergarten, yeah.
00:45:37.119 --> 00:45:37.519
Kindergarten.
00:45:37.760 --> 00:45:39.360
And nine is what, third grade?
00:45:39.599 --> 00:45:40.639
Third grade, correct.
00:45:41.760 --> 00:45:44.000
And so they're in the school.
00:45:44.239 --> 00:45:45.679
They look do they like the school?
00:45:45.760 --> 00:45:49.039
Not just because you're the dad, but do they really like the school?
00:45:49.360 --> 00:45:59.760
Man, you know what's really cool is my my my nine-year-old, he started at the school when we first opened in 2021 and transitional kindergarten.
00:45:59.920 --> 00:46:04.239
Um, and every year he's grown through the program, and now he's in third grade.
00:46:04.480 --> 00:46:25.039
But you know, what's really um pleasing for me as a dad is to know that I'm trying to raise up a bunch of environmental stewards, people that care about the earth, that care about their neighborhoods, that care about, you know, um our land that we're stewarding and going to be passing off to the next generation.
00:46:25.360 --> 00:46:31.360
Um, so to see my nine-year-old, you know, heavily emphasize that we must recycle.
00:46:31.519 --> 00:46:34.480
Um, we must, you know, conserve Earth's natural resources.
00:46:34.639 --> 00:46:37.760
He wants to have his own composting in the backyard.
00:46:37.840 --> 00:46:38.960
He's gardening.
00:46:39.119 --> 00:46:48.719
Like these are the tools that I was hoping um the kids gravitate towards and fully take on and start to run with themselves.
00:46:48.880 --> 00:47:01.920
And to see my son being very environmentally cautious and correcting the adults in his life to make sure that we're not leaving no trace and that we're making a great impact on our environment.
00:47:02.079 --> 00:47:04.079
Um, that's the benefit, man.
00:47:04.239 --> 00:47:10.480
And I tell you what, every week or two, our kids get to have a special trip.
00:47:10.639 --> 00:47:23.360
They go to the zoo every day, a grade level go to the zoo every day and use the zoo as their classroom, but then they have this really unique experience where they'll go to the Yosemite National Park or the Kings Canyon National Parks.
00:47:23.519 --> 00:47:29.039
And like those experiences is what really changes a lot of these kids' lives.
00:47:29.280 --> 00:47:42.559
And my son, long story short, man, obviously he's uh he's he's been blessed all of his life and he's had an opportunity to um have a lot of things that a lot of kids that attend the school don't get to have.
00:47:42.800 --> 00:47:48.800
But even the experiences that he's having at this school um has been life-changing for him.
00:47:48.960 --> 00:47:50.320
So he loves it.
00:47:50.480 --> 00:47:54.480
Um they wake me up every day to make sure that they're on time for school.
00:47:54.639 --> 00:48:02.480
So um I tell you what, if they continue to enjoy it the way that they are, um I feel like I'm doing a great job, that's for sure.
00:48:03.199 --> 00:48:07.360
So when he like on the weekend, is he at the kids at home with you gardening?
00:48:07.440 --> 00:48:09.760
Or like what are they what are they doing at home?
00:48:10.079 --> 00:48:14.400
Well, uh my son, my nine-year-old, um, he's a real boy, man.
00:48:14.480 --> 00:48:15.920
This is no doubt about that.
00:48:16.079 --> 00:48:25.199
He's going to um follow after my footsteps and be um a star when it comes to you know his football and athletic ability.
00:48:25.360 --> 00:48:29.599
Um, I'm not saying this because I'm his dad, but I'm obviously biased.
00:48:29.760 --> 00:48:37.199
But he's one of the best little eight, nine-year-olds that I've seen playing on the football field um this year.
00:48:37.519 --> 00:48:46.719
But um, with their mom, man, they have a huge garden in my backyard that they've grown and planted their own strawberries, their own cucumbers.
00:48:47.119 --> 00:48:50.480
So um they get to do all of those types of things.
00:48:50.719 --> 00:48:57.119
But what's really unique about him is that he loves football, uh, but he also loves being outdoors.
00:48:57.280 --> 00:49:05.039
So, you know, he wants to go on the hikes on the weekends, um, he wants to go sit out by the river um near San Joaquin.
00:49:05.199 --> 00:49:14.559
Um, he wants to do all of the outdoor nature hiking adventures that I didn't get into until I got into the NFL.
00:49:14.800 --> 00:49:30.159
So um the fact that he has a day pack um that he's ready to carry out into the mountains, and the fact that he loves going camping um with me and being out in the mountains, and he's doing it um unafraid at nine years old.
00:49:30.480 --> 00:49:44.719
Man, those are the type of things that I as a dad want for my kid to be able to experience the world and embrace the environment and um be out in nature and be one with it and love it and care for it.
00:49:44.800 --> 00:49:51.360
And the fact that he has that empathy for it right now, um, that's what excites me about the program for sure.
00:49:51.679 --> 00:49:59.440
It's it definitely teaches him the sense of responsibility that you have to be good to the environment, and the environment will be good to you.
00:49:59.599 --> 00:50:14.480
So that's that's definitely something because you see a lot of these kids, and like, you know, like I'll go down, we have like a center down here, like you know, down the street, and like you know, there's Whole Foods over there, there's a pizza place, and you'll see like a kid will be like throw something on the ground, you're like, Yeah, why are you throwing that on the ground?
00:50:14.559 --> 00:50:15.360
There's a garbage right there.
00:50:16.320 --> 00:50:17.199
Why are you doing that?
00:50:17.440 --> 00:50:18.000
Exactly.
00:50:18.320 --> 00:50:20.880
Have some respect for sure, man.
00:50:21.039 --> 00:50:23.280
And that's and that's the whole deal, you know.
00:50:23.360 --> 00:50:35.599
When I think about why, you know, we took the environmental aspect of it was like I mentioned, where we're building this school at, that community hasn't seen a significant investment um in over 50 plus years, you know.
00:50:35.840 --> 00:50:44.559
So when I was growing up in this small town of Fresno, the way that neighborhood looked at back then, it's the same way that it looks right now.
00:50:44.800 --> 00:50:48.960
Um, so in order for change to truly happen, we got to be the change, you know.
00:50:49.039 --> 00:51:04.559
We got to go inside of those communities, you know, plant the garden beds, plant the community gardens, do the community cleanups, um, put a lot of the love and infrastructure and the time um inside of these communities that's needed.
00:51:04.719 --> 00:51:07.679
And um, these kids are growing up in those neighborhoods.
00:51:07.760 --> 00:51:24.480
And if they want better for their community, they're gonna have to learn how to love it and nurture it and care for it, and um then grow off and do great things and come back and um be civically engaged to make it better, um, similar to my path and what I've been able to do.
00:51:24.719 --> 00:51:34.079
So um the whole goal is for these kids to love their environment, but then go off and do great things and come back and help make it become a better place for the next generation.
00:51:34.400 --> 00:51:40.559
Have you taken your kids back to Tucson to look at the cat eyes, more desert?
00:51:40.880 --> 00:51:41.920
Oh, yeah, man.
00:51:42.079 --> 00:51:50.400
I um I think it was um two seasons ago, um, I was the honorary captain for um the game at home.
00:51:50.559 --> 00:51:59.360
And so uh the family got to go out there with me, and um, they see dad's name and Jersey up on the football walls in there.
00:51:59.519 --> 00:52:02.000
So um it was a unique experience.
00:52:02.400 --> 00:52:04.719
Was that did you get bang the gong?
00:52:05.360 --> 00:52:06.159
Uh no.
00:52:06.320 --> 00:52:14.000
So uh when I when I went there, I don't think they were doing that at that time, but um I was able to do the catwalk with the team.
00:52:14.159 --> 00:52:17.199
Uh so I met them down um there on the mall.
00:52:17.440 --> 00:52:25.679
We walked down um in the parade, um, got to run the team out on the field, and then obviously I was there at the coin toss.
00:52:26.000 --> 00:52:28.800
Um, so it was a really cool experience, man.
00:52:28.880 --> 00:52:33.840
The kids and my wife got to see um dad back on his old stumping grounds, man.
00:52:33.920 --> 00:52:38.880
So when I was there for homecoming, uh-huh, I'm sitting there, right?
00:52:38.960 --> 00:52:42.800
And like I know I I probably didn't text you to let you know that I was going out there.
00:52:42.880 --> 00:52:52.079
I didn't text anybody, but I'm sitting there and I'm looking, and you where where you're sitting, probably the best seats, but the worst seats, you know what I mean?
00:52:52.480 --> 00:52:55.599
You can't really see what's going on on the field.
00:52:55.679 --> 00:52:59.280
You gotta look on the screen, and I see Antoine Caseen.
00:52:59.760 --> 00:53:08.559
Yeah, and he's the guest honoree for so I'm texting him and I'm like, Anfo, is that you?
00:53:08.800 --> 00:53:10.880
Yeah, zero ghosted me.
00:53:12.559 --> 00:53:20.239
And I must have I probably spoke to him like six months ago, yeah, and the year before, I'm like, hey, I I think I'm gonna go out to homecoming.
00:53:20.320 --> 00:53:22.719
He's like, Oh, if you go to homecoming, I'm gonna go to homecoming.
00:53:22.880 --> 00:53:29.679
Yeah, but this year I didn't I didn't tell anybody I'm hey, I'm going to homecoming because I wasn't like really thinking of it.
00:53:29.760 --> 00:53:34.800
Like, I'm like, okay, but it happened to be him, and I was like, dude, the go the guy ghosted.
00:53:35.599 --> 00:53:41.840
Yeah, no, I remember, yeah, I remember when he was um the honorary captain for homecoming, man.
00:53:42.079 --> 00:53:46.800
But it's funny, I was just texting um Tuan this morning, man.
00:53:46.880 --> 00:53:50.159
Uh, we were texting, he had some ducks in his pool.
00:53:50.320 --> 00:54:01.519
Um, and he was uh shooting some messages to all of the old Oregon players, and he like, get these ducks out my pool the same way we got the ducks out of Tucson in 2007.
00:54:01.920 --> 00:54:05.199
Um, so we were laughing about that in a group chat, man.
00:54:05.440 --> 00:54:11.119
But uh Casey, man, he's one of the main reasons why I went to Arizona as well.
00:54:11.280 --> 00:54:13.039
Jim Thorpe Award winner, man.
00:54:13.119 --> 00:54:14.400
Shout out to that guy.
00:54:14.559 --> 00:54:16.480
Um, he's one of the best for sure.
00:54:16.800 --> 00:54:19.199
But he so he wasn't there when you were there.
00:54:19.280 --> 00:54:21.840
You kind of like took his yep.
00:54:21.920 --> 00:54:25.840
So when he was going out into the NFL, I was coming in.
00:54:26.159 --> 00:54:27.440
Yeah, he's a good guy.
00:54:27.679 --> 00:54:28.960
He's a great guy, man.
00:54:29.119 --> 00:54:29.599
Great good guy.
00:54:30.400 --> 00:54:33.840
I gotta I I'm gonna text him again and be like, maybe he changed his number.
00:54:33.920 --> 00:54:35.920
I don't know, maybe he changed his number.
00:54:36.400 --> 00:54:37.119
Probably so.
00:54:37.280 --> 00:54:39.280
I think it's still the same one.
00:54:39.360 --> 00:54:39.840
I'll show you.
00:54:41.199 --> 00:54:50.639
When we're finished, I'm gonna I'm gonna add if because if it is, then I'm gonna be like, yo, what the send him another text, like how you ghost me.
00:54:50.880 --> 00:54:53.519
Because he did message, he did message me a couple weeks ago.
00:54:53.679 --> 00:54:53.920
He did.
00:54:54.000 --> 00:54:54.239
Uh-huh.
00:54:54.639 --> 00:54:59.440
Not on on Instagram, not on not on uh not on text, on Instagram.
00:55:02.000 --> 00:55:02.400
It's funny.
00:55:02.639 --> 00:55:10.079
But so yeah, but sometimes like I'll you know, once in a blue moon, like I'll hit you up and like out of you know, out of nowhere, be like, hey, what's going on?
00:55:10.239 --> 00:55:12.880
You know, we have a lot of mutual friends, right?
00:55:13.440 --> 00:55:16.800
So it you know, it everything is good and and all good.
00:55:16.880 --> 00:55:22.159
But um, okay, the so you got the kids, yeah, you got the school.
00:55:22.480 --> 00:55:24.559
Yeah, I got a question for you.
00:55:24.960 --> 00:55:26.400
And I know we've talked about this.
00:55:26.719 --> 00:55:36.400
There's different now concepts for different types of schools, and a lot of because there's I feel like there's a shortage of schools, there's now all these different concepts.
00:55:36.960 --> 00:55:53.119
Today, when I was uh when I was driving into work, I was listening to CMBC, and I'm I'm blanking on the name, but there's now an AI school, and there's like there's like 50 of them across the country, and they're opening up more and more and more.
00:55:53.679 --> 00:56:16.000
And apparently the way it works is it's it's it's teachers, but it's also an AI teacher, and they're spending about three hours, I think she said, being taught, and the rest of the time the same thing that you have, they're out and doing stuff in the environment.
00:56:16.400 --> 00:56:27.840
Yeah, so it's not the name of the school, but there's all these different types of schools that are popping up, whether it be the AI or the environmental or directly sports.
00:56:28.239 --> 00:56:35.840
You know, some kids just want to go to sports and they're doing sports learning for three hours, sports the rest.
00:56:36.400 --> 00:56:36.719
Yeah.
00:56:36.960 --> 00:56:40.320
So where where do you what do you think about all these different schools popping up?
00:56:41.039 --> 00:56:52.159
Man, I tell you, um, it's it's it's a cool concept because at the end of the day, we're trying to prepare these kids to be college and career ready.
00:56:52.559 --> 00:57:07.440
Um, and when you have a lot of different avenues, um, it's going to give the kids the opportunity um to truly understand what they want to do at a younger age that will ultimately help set them up to be successful.
00:57:07.679 --> 00:57:12.159
I mean, when we think about it, every kid isn't going to a four-year university.
00:57:12.559 --> 00:57:23.840
Um, but when they get out of high school, if the education system has prepared them to be career ready, um, then we've done our job to help set them up for success.
00:57:24.079 --> 00:57:33.199
But um, when you think about the cookie-cutter model that education has been for a long period of time, man, something had to evolve.
00:57:33.360 --> 00:57:41.360
You know, you look at a 1950s Mercedes Benz and you look at a 2026 Mercedes-Benz, they look completely different.
00:57:41.440 --> 00:57:49.039
But when you look at education in 1950 and you look at it in the 21st century, um, it still looks the same.
00:57:49.360 --> 00:58:05.760
So we've been trying to figure out specifically over at Golden Charter Academy, it's like, how do we continue to evolve education the same way that technology, the same way that, you know, the internet, AI, all of these things are continuing to evolve.
00:58:05.920 --> 00:58:07.519
How do you evolve education?
00:58:07.679 --> 00:58:24.400
And I think that's where we've kind of you know sunk our teeth into um this environmental stewardship component of it, because at the end of the day, you can create all the robots and things of that nature that you want, but you need people to be able to put their hands in the dirt and turn the dirt.
00:58:24.559 --> 00:58:28.000
And um, you need people to be able to care for their environment.
00:58:28.159 --> 00:58:46.400
And you need developers to come back and want to invest inside of communities that have been marginalized and under-resourced, and um, those are the type of people that we're trying to steward and raise up in this program um so that they can go out and really make an impact and a difference in their communities.
00:58:46.639 --> 00:58:50.639
But um, your traditional public school isn't gonna offer you that.
00:58:50.800 --> 00:58:55.760
You're gonna get a textbook, you're gonna be tethered to a four-wall classroom all day.
00:58:55.920 --> 00:59:08.880
And um I'm a great motivational speaker, I think, but um kids don't want to sit in a classroom and hear me lecture for 50 to 60 minutes, you know, or anybody lecture for 50 or 60 minutes, man.
00:59:08.960 --> 00:59:15.599
They want to be interactive, and I think that's what we have been able to create um over at Golden Academy.
00:59:15.679 --> 00:59:22.639
And if more schools are gearing towards that versus doing the cookie cutter model, then yeah, man, I say go for it.
00:59:22.719 --> 00:59:24.639
It's definitely needed for sure.
00:59:24.960 --> 00:59:52.639
There's I feel like kids these days, because they're so stimulated by you know iPads or computers or something that they it's more like hands-on approach, like yeah, the hands in the dirt, or that maybe learning about AI, or learning about computers, or I just sometimes I see what my kids are learning in school, and I'm like, this you don't need this, like it doesn't make sense.
00:59:52.800 --> 00:59:54.880
Like, yeah, why why are they teaching you this?
00:59:54.960 --> 01:00:00.159
This the even the math, like I'm like, what this math does not make sense to me.
01:00:00.239 --> 01:00:01.599
Like, uh for sure.
01:00:01.920 --> 01:00:03.760
It's two plus two equals four.
01:00:03.920 --> 01:00:13.119
Not how do you get from these two apples and then the you you know it's it doesn't it doesn't make sense, but yeah, it's a it's a lot, man.
01:00:13.199 --> 01:00:17.039
It's it's it's uh, you know, and and that's one of the things that we try to do, you know.
01:00:17.119 --> 01:00:21.519
We um we're we're we're taking, you know, that math equation.
01:00:21.679 --> 01:00:24.880
And if you need to learn your fractions, why do you need to learn them?
01:00:24.960 --> 01:00:44.960
Because you may be developing some type of garden where you need one-fourth tomatoes over here and um one-third of apple trees over here, but it's really trying to figure out and take those equations and teach kids how do you really apply this math that you're learning um inside of your everyday life.
01:00:45.119 --> 01:01:02.320
And that's where I feel education needs to continue to evolve because if it don't, then kids are going to be learning all of this algebra and stuff and not know why they need to learn this stuff, you know, at a such a young age, especially if they don't plan on using it um throughout their life.
01:01:02.559 --> 01:01:05.119
But practical learning is what we're trying to give for sure.
01:01:05.360 --> 01:01:06.079
Practical learning.
01:01:06.559 --> 01:01:07.199
That's what it is.
01:01:07.360 --> 01:01:09.679
Absolutely speaking about practical learning.
01:01:09.840 --> 01:01:10.320
Uh-huh.
01:01:10.639 --> 01:01:12.800
I yeah, you're going to Cancun.
01:01:13.199 --> 01:01:13.519
Yeah.
01:01:13.760 --> 01:01:14.639
What's your favorite spot?
01:01:15.760 --> 01:01:24.159
Man, you know, um, it's funny, my wife and I was having this conversation um the other day about, you know, some of our favorite travel spots.
01:01:24.400 --> 01:01:29.440
But I tell you what, man, I went to um Jade Mountain in St.
01:01:29.679 --> 01:01:30.320
Lucia.
01:01:31.119 --> 01:01:34.079
And I can live there.
01:01:34.239 --> 01:01:44.400
You know, I have every every desire one day to retire, um, especially if I can live at the top of Jade Mountain in St.
01:01:44.559 --> 01:01:45.199
Lucia.
01:01:45.360 --> 01:01:49.599
But um such a beautiful, calming, peaceful place.
01:01:49.840 --> 01:01:58.000
Um, that is probably one of my favorite um destinations to travel when I just want to unplug.
01:01:58.239 --> 01:02:07.280
But when I need a vacation and my wife and I just want to get away for a while, man, I can never go wrong with a Cabo trip, man.
01:02:07.440 --> 01:02:10.800
So Cabo is my go-to, but uh St.
01:02:10.880 --> 01:02:15.360
Lucia is my safe haven to travel to, if you will.
01:02:15.519 --> 01:02:16.800
Um, that's for sure.
01:02:17.039 --> 01:02:17.760
So you're okay.
01:02:18.000 --> 01:02:22.239
Cancun, you're you said you're taking the kids to Cancun, but when you go to Cabo or St.
01:02:22.320 --> 01:02:26.719
Lucia, is it just you and the wife, or are you or are you taking the kids with you?
01:02:26.960 --> 01:02:27.599
Yeah, man.
01:02:27.840 --> 01:02:30.400
Cabo trips is usually just me and my wife.
01:02:30.480 --> 01:02:31.039
It's funny.
01:02:31.280 --> 01:02:37.920
Um the last six years we've gone to Cabo every every Valentine's Day.
01:02:38.079 --> 01:02:41.760
Um, we spent our um our Valentine's out in Cabo.
01:02:41.920 --> 01:02:43.920
So it's usually just me and my wife.
01:02:44.159 --> 01:02:51.039
Um, this for spring break, we're actually taking the kids to the Nickelodeon Resort Um down in Cancun.
01:02:51.280 --> 01:02:54.880
They're big on playing with the slime and getting slime.
01:02:55.199 --> 01:03:09.519
So uh we have a whole experience set up for them for five days out there, but uh it's gonna be a good time getting them over there to hang out and um see some of their favorite characters that they've grown up watching, that's for sure.
01:03:09.760 --> 01:03:10.320
That's pretty cool.
01:03:10.400 --> 01:03:11.760
I didn't know that they had that down there.
01:03:12.239 --> 01:03:14.559
In Cabo, is Edith still there?
01:03:14.639 --> 01:03:16.079
Do you go to Edith's?
01:03:16.880 --> 01:03:18.960
I haven't been to Edith's.
01:03:19.119 --> 01:03:24.159
Um usually Cabo is opening up a new resort um every year.
01:03:24.400 --> 01:03:29.840
So my wife and I try to we try to stay on the the new resort that just opened.
01:03:30.079 --> 01:03:36.559
So um this past year we stayed at the new um resort salas and it was amazing.
01:03:36.719 --> 01:03:43.360
But every year we try to stay on the resort and try a different newer resort um out when we travel there for sure.
01:03:43.679 --> 01:03:46.480
Because when I used to go there when I was a young man.
01:03:46.960 --> 01:03:58.559
Okay, like I I was going there, like it was still a dirt road, and I don't want to say how old I was going there, but there were resorts, like one and only was still there.
01:03:58.719 --> 01:04:06.159
There was like still like resorts, but a lot of people went to places to eat, like Edith, there was another place called Trailer Park.
01:04:06.639 --> 01:04:11.119
Um, then there was in in town, like the the bar Squid Row, I'm sure it's still there.
01:04:11.599 --> 01:04:16.320
And then there was uh a guy from California opened up a sushi place called Nixon.
01:04:16.800 --> 01:04:18.400
Nixon, I've heard of that one.
01:04:18.480 --> 01:04:19.039
I've heard of that.
01:04:21.280 --> 01:04:22.400
It's probably still there.
01:04:23.199 --> 01:04:27.599
But um I'm getting a glare right now because the sun is going down.
01:04:27.679 --> 01:04:28.159
Can you see it?
01:04:28.639 --> 01:04:29.199
I see it.
01:04:29.519 --> 01:04:30.079
I see it.
01:04:30.480 --> 01:04:31.840
Yo, halo coming through.
01:04:32.480 --> 01:04:35.119
So um, yeah, but so like it's it's interesting.
01:04:35.280 --> 01:04:41.039
But yeah, since then there's been like all these resorts and like huge development in Cabo.
01:04:41.119 --> 01:04:42.000
But I used to like Cobo.
01:04:42.239 --> 01:04:44.800
Now for for you, it's like what an hour and a half flight?
01:04:45.039 --> 01:04:47.599
Yeah, about two and a half hours, two and a half hours.
01:04:47.920 --> 01:04:53.199
For me, it's like a it's it's a mission because there I think it's like five and a half, six hour flight.
01:04:53.599 --> 01:04:56.159
And and I'm sure it's no direct either, right?
01:04:56.480 --> 01:04:57.039
There used to be.
01:04:57.119 --> 01:04:58.239
I don't know if there is anymore.
01:04:58.559 --> 01:04:59.920
I wonder if there's there used to be.
01:05:00.079 --> 01:05:03.199
It used to be there used to be an airline called Continental.
01:05:03.440 --> 01:05:03.760
Uh-huh.
01:05:03.840 --> 01:05:04.320
Oh, yeah.
01:05:04.400 --> 01:05:04.960
I remember the other.
01:05:05.599 --> 01:05:10.239
And then United ended up buying them out, and then when that happened, they stopped doing direct flights.
01:05:10.320 --> 01:05:13.039
There was actually, there's actually no direct flight to Tucson anymore.
01:05:13.280 --> 01:05:14.239
Is that right?
01:05:14.559 --> 01:05:16.000
It used to be Continental.
01:05:16.239 --> 01:05:17.440
Yeah, Tucson, man.
01:05:17.519 --> 01:05:24.559
I always, whenever I go to Tucson, I always just fly into Phoenix and rent a car and drive down, man.
01:05:24.719 --> 01:05:28.079
Um, so you do the two hour drive to Tucson.
01:05:28.400 --> 01:05:29.599
I do the two-hour drive.
01:05:29.679 --> 01:05:29.920
Yeah.
01:05:30.159 --> 01:05:30.320
Okay.
01:05:30.639 --> 01:05:34.400
Cause I was thinking about that last time, but we took the flight.
01:05:34.559 --> 01:05:35.440
We took that little flight.
01:05:35.519 --> 01:05:36.800
It was like a 20-minute flight.
01:05:37.039 --> 01:05:37.920
Yep, yep.
01:05:38.159 --> 01:05:48.320
I mean, shoot, by the by the time you know you uh check in and drive to Tucson and then got a fly to Phoenix to fly to wherever you're going.
01:05:48.480 --> 01:05:53.679
Um, I'm like, man, I'd rather just do the little hour and 30 minute scenic drive.
01:05:53.840 --> 01:05:57.519
Sometimes I'll stop somewhere in Phoenix and hang out there.
01:05:57.599 --> 01:05:59.840
There's a really cool um taco scene.
01:06:00.239 --> 01:06:06.880
Spot right there in downtown Phoenix that I gotta go to Taco Cello whenever I'm in Phoenix.
01:06:07.039 --> 01:06:17.679
So I usually try to make some pit stops before I make the drive to Tucson, but it's always better for me to just land in Phoenix, rent a car, drive up.
01:06:17.760 --> 01:06:19.119
It's pretty simple for sure.
01:06:19.360 --> 01:06:21.280
You ever stop by the farm?
01:06:21.840 --> 01:06:22.960
What are those uh birds?
01:06:23.440 --> 01:06:24.000
Ostrich farm.
01:06:24.239 --> 01:06:24.800
Ostrich Farm.
01:06:24.880 --> 01:06:26.480
Do you ever get the the eggs there?
01:06:26.800 --> 01:06:27.519
You know what?
01:06:27.760 --> 01:06:30.000
I am terrified of ostrich.
01:06:30.079 --> 01:06:34.719
Like that is my one bird that I do not want to come close to.
01:06:34.880 --> 01:06:43.679
But whenever we're making a drive, yeah, they they spit and then they if they stump you out, bad, it could kill you if you uh get caught on the ground.
01:06:43.840 --> 01:06:48.800
But uh yeah, my wife, she's always asked me to stop when we be driving down.
01:06:48.960 --> 01:06:51.760
But um I told her I always tell her next time.
01:06:51.920 --> 01:06:54.480
So uh next time we might do it.
01:06:54.800 --> 01:06:56.159
So I got a funny story.
01:06:56.239 --> 01:06:59.119
So you do you remember Brian Williams, Bison Dele?
01:06:59.840 --> 01:07:01.360
Brian Williams, I do not.
01:07:01.599 --> 01:07:05.920
So Brian Williams, Bison, then he changed his name to Bison Delhi.
01:07:06.079 --> 01:07:15.360
He played for um the Chicago Bulls, okay for the Detroit Pistons, and I forgot what he met his brother ended up killing him.
01:07:15.440 --> 01:07:16.400
I don't know if you heard that story.
01:07:16.639 --> 01:07:18.239
Uh not sure.
01:07:18.559 --> 01:07:25.920
So he was a little bit older than me, but during the NBA lockout, he spent time training in Tucson.
01:07:26.719 --> 01:07:31.760
So you know, I would be you know, I was like I was a kid, I was in college, and he would always bang on my door.
01:07:31.840 --> 01:07:34.639
Rudy, wake up, wake up, it's time to go work out.
01:07:36.239 --> 01:07:37.760
We just sat on TV.
01:07:38.639 --> 01:07:45.599
He used to come to my place and he would bring the ostrich egg like this big, uh-huh, and he would make the omelet in my in my apartment.
01:07:45.679 --> 01:07:48.239
He'd be like, and I'm like, and they tasted so good.
01:07:48.559 --> 01:07:49.280
Is that right?
01:07:49.840 --> 01:07:54.960
And they were huge, and they're and he'd pump out like a bunch of a lot of omelets, and they were and they were great.
01:07:55.119 --> 01:08:03.920
And so, like, I always tell people, I'm like, if you ever are driving from Tucson to Phoenix, stop by and get an egg.
01:08:05.280 --> 01:08:07.039
Man, man, now I'm gonna try.
01:08:07.199 --> 01:08:08.559
Now I'm gonna have to try it now.
01:08:08.719 --> 01:08:14.079
I wasn't uh looking forward to going over there, but if you said that, man, I'm gonna have to try it.
01:08:14.559 --> 01:08:17.520
I don't know how that works because like if you if you're flying back, I don't know.
01:08:17.760 --> 01:08:18.079
I don't know.
01:08:18.159 --> 01:08:19.279
Do they like you on the plane?
01:08:19.359 --> 01:08:22.079
It's considered uh yeah, that is.
01:08:32.239 --> 01:08:32.880
Yeah, right.
01:08:33.680 --> 01:08:35.359
I'm gonna have to look into that, man.
01:08:35.600 --> 01:08:41.279
Well, I'm here in the here in the agricultural county right now, man, where we feed the world.
01:08:41.359 --> 01:08:46.479
So I gotta imagine that there gotta be some ostrich eggs in the central valley of Fresno.
01:08:46.800 --> 01:08:49.039
It's we don't have any living up to that.
01:08:50.079 --> 01:08:50.960
Check out the egg.
01:08:51.119 --> 01:08:55.840
Yeah, send me a picture, let me know what you think about the egg.
01:08:56.319 --> 01:08:56.960
No doubt.
01:08:57.119 --> 01:08:58.399
I definitely will.
01:08:58.880 --> 01:09:02.720
Um, all right, real quick, I know we're we're coming close on time here.
01:09:03.199 --> 01:09:10.880
So I want to talk to you about how you so you were done with Steelers, you went to Kansas City.
01:09:11.199 --> 01:09:17.600
Yeah, how you so you decided, okay, I want to go back back to Fresno, or did you have a place in Fresno?
01:09:18.079 --> 01:09:19.840
Like what happened there?
01:09:20.159 --> 01:09:20.800
Yeah, man.
01:09:20.880 --> 01:09:29.600
So what's crazy is um, you know, I ended up once I signed my second deal with the Steelers, I ended up buying a place in Scottsdale, Arizona.
01:09:29.760 --> 01:09:32.159
Um, so I was living in Scottsdale.
01:09:32.239 --> 01:09:35.279
Um, that's where I trained at in the offseason.
01:09:35.439 --> 01:09:41.119
Um, you know, my second son was born in the Scottsdale, you know, hospital out there.
01:09:41.600 --> 01:09:47.920
Um, but you know, when I got to Kansas City, um, I remember I was playing in football heaven.
01:09:48.079 --> 01:09:49.680
Pittsburgh is football heaven, man.
01:09:49.760 --> 01:09:52.720
You play for the Rooney family, you play under Mike Tomlin.
01:09:53.199 --> 01:09:57.840
Um, you know, once you go anywhere else, man, it's a it's a job, you know.
01:09:58.000 --> 01:10:02.000
And in Pittsburgh, it's all about football, it's all about winning.
01:10:02.159 --> 01:10:07.119
Um, when you go to other organizations, man, it's about, you know, it's a business.
01:10:07.199 --> 01:10:11.680
You got to show up at a certain time, you gotta have your shirt tucked in when you're on the second floor.
01:10:11.840 --> 01:10:14.079
I mean, it's a whole business operation.
01:10:14.720 --> 01:10:28.399
I had got so accustomed to um the Rooney way and the Stillers way that it took a lot for me to adjust to what the Kansas City way and formula um for winning.
01:10:28.560 --> 01:10:31.039
Um, it took a while for me to adapt to that.
01:10:31.359 --> 01:10:40.319
But even before I got to Kansas City, my last year or my last two years in Pittsburgh, um, I was really questioning whether I wanted to continue to play.
01:10:40.399 --> 01:10:43.119
You know, I lost my dad in 2016.
01:10:43.439 --> 01:10:53.600
Um, so when I lost him, I kind of felt like I didn't need to play ball anymore because my whole goal and ambition was to, you know, make my dad happy and make my dad proud.
01:10:53.760 --> 01:10:58.319
And once he left, I kind of felt like I didn't have anything to play for anymore.
01:10:58.560 --> 01:11:02.880
So I was dealing with that for the last two years that I was in Pittsburgh.
01:11:02.960 --> 01:11:09.039
And then I got to Kansas City, and I was just kind of like, man, football is starting to feel like a job for me.
01:11:09.199 --> 01:11:11.359
Um, I wasn't having fun with it.
01:11:11.520 --> 01:11:15.119
So I ended up asking them to release me from my contract.
01:11:15.439 --> 01:11:19.359
Um, and they ended up doing so, you know, a month later.
01:11:19.680 --> 01:11:24.319
Um after I just continued to keep, you know, continue asking them for it.
01:11:24.560 --> 01:11:26.960
So they ended up releasing me from my contract.
01:11:27.119 --> 01:11:27.840
I went home.
01:11:27.920 --> 01:11:30.239
I was in Scottsdale, Arizona.
01:11:30.479 --> 01:11:34.960
Um, and I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life after that, man.
01:11:35.119 --> 01:11:39.840
And that's when my mentor kind of reached out to me and was like, start developing your school.
01:11:40.000 --> 01:11:41.439
This is 2019.
01:11:41.600 --> 01:11:44.159
So 2020, I started putting the school together.
01:11:44.319 --> 01:11:59.680
COVID hit, and um, I was flying back and forth, and then I decided that once I finalized my partnership with the Fresno Chaffee Zoo to do this zoo school, um, that's when I knew it was time for me to get closer to home to really be able to make this vision come alive.
01:11:59.920 --> 01:12:02.479
So 2021, my family and I moved back.
01:12:02.640 --> 01:12:05.279
We opened the school in August of 2021.
01:12:05.439 --> 01:12:08.640
Um, and man, we've been running with this vision ever since.
01:12:08.800 --> 01:12:15.840
Um, making this whole thing come alive and making it bigger um each year that we get an opportunity to serve the community.
01:12:16.159 --> 01:12:18.560
So, what's next for Robbie Golden?
01:12:18.800 --> 01:12:19.279
What's next?
01:12:19.520 --> 01:12:19.680
Yeah.
01:12:20.319 --> 01:12:21.439
You're doing the school.
01:12:21.760 --> 01:12:22.319
What's next?
01:12:22.399 --> 01:12:23.680
Is it another school?
01:12:23.920 --> 01:12:26.800
I know we talked about you want to do some public speaking.
01:12:27.119 --> 01:12:27.680
For sure.
01:12:27.920 --> 01:12:30.159
What what's what's next on your agenda?
01:12:30.479 --> 01:12:41.199
Man, I really want to be able to uh, you know, help other people thrive, not only as a human being, but thrive um in their community impact.
01:12:41.359 --> 01:12:54.479
So whether that's me being an inspirational speaker and providing people inspiration on how they could um make a difference in their life or motivate them to be better, um, that is something that is definitely up my alley.
01:12:54.640 --> 01:13:06.960
Developing schools, obviously, I've created a blueprint here, and you know, the big term goal and the big term vision is to open up a location at every single zoo that wants to have a zoo school.
01:13:07.119 --> 01:13:09.439
Um, so that's part of the horizon.
01:13:09.680 --> 01:13:16.079
But I also want to help, you know, athletes be able to transition from the game.
01:13:16.239 --> 01:13:30.079
Um, too often we are seeing players, you know, either fall into these deep depressions or take their own lives, man, just because they don't have a sense of identity after they complete, you know, their careers in sports.
01:13:30.239 --> 01:13:46.720
So I want to be able to help athletes make an impact on people in the planet, but um, at the end of the day, man, my life is an inspirational vessel, and I want to be able to just utilize my visionary expertise to help other people make an impact on people and the planet.
01:13:46.880 --> 01:13:49.439
Uh, so it's a lot that's next for me.
01:13:49.600 --> 01:13:54.880
Uh, but I definitely see myself continuing to make an impact on people in the planet, that's for sure.
01:13:55.199 --> 01:13:57.279
So the school's opening up in June.
01:13:58.000 --> 01:13:59.840
Yes, it'll be completed in June.
01:14:00.399 --> 01:14:02.239
And the semester's gonna start in August.
01:14:02.640 --> 01:14:04.000
In August, that's correct.
01:14:04.319 --> 01:14:08.239
Well, why don't so let's touch base after the school opens.
01:14:08.479 --> 01:14:10.800
Yeah, maybe you can show some pictures for us.
01:14:11.039 --> 01:14:11.840
I'll put it up.
01:14:12.640 --> 01:14:13.119
Absolutely.
01:14:13.439 --> 01:14:15.439
And we'll talk then, regroup.
01:14:15.680 --> 01:14:16.319
Yep.
01:14:16.560 --> 01:14:18.399
And I want to thank you very much.
01:14:18.479 --> 01:14:19.840
You're my second guest.
01:14:20.159 --> 01:14:21.439
Awesome, awesome, man.
01:14:22.000 --> 01:14:29.920
It was a it was great having a uh a former Wildcat on you know you gotta stay golden.
01:14:30.239 --> 01:14:31.600
Gotta stay golden, man.
01:14:31.680 --> 01:14:32.560
That's the only way to be.
01:14:32.640 --> 01:14:38.079
Rudy, it was a pleasure connecting with you, brother, and uh I look forward to showing you the finished product.
01:14:38.159 --> 01:14:41.199
But I can't just show you photos, you gotta make a trip to California.
01:14:43.600 --> 01:14:44.880
Well June is tough.
01:14:45.279 --> 01:14:48.720
Tough is that but maybe July 15th is my ribbon cutting ceremony.
01:14:48.880 --> 01:14:54.479
Put that one on your if I'm back by then, then maybe I'll maybe I'll make a trip out.
01:14:54.720 --> 01:14:55.680
Sounds good, brother.
01:14:55.760 --> 01:14:56.560
Just let me know.
01:14:56.800 --> 01:14:59.199
Good talking to you, likewise.