Building A Brand Beyond Sport
It’s week 12 of the NFL Season, and I’m sitting here writing this on the Monday after the first game that I’ve had to miss this year. I was placed on short-term Injured Reserve due to a Grade 2 MCL sprain that I sustained last Sunday in our game against the Jets (we gotta make some rule changes around the cut block). For context, a team placing a player on short-term IR means that the injured player must sit out of the next three games, removing him from the 53-man team roster and freeing up his spot to be filled with another able-bodied player.
This is far from the first injury that I’ve experienced in this sport. They happen. Unfortunately, the nature of the game is such that they happen often. However, it has been an interesting experience over the past 16 years of playing competitive football in high school, college and now in the NFL, to see how differently I have begun to respond to these injuries. This one in particular sucks just like the rest of them, but It feels a little different. I’m fine - at least, I was fine after I went through the 24 hour rule of soaking in self-pity and feeling sorry for myself. But when I arose from that, I was still energized. I was still stimulated. I’m still motivated.
When I sustained my first season-ending injury as a sophomore in high school with a relatively serious knee injury, I remember feeling like the world had closed in around me. That lump in my chest wouldn’t go away. The things that I loved most, which were competition and sport, had been taken from me for the first time in my life. And not only was this the thing that I loved most, but I also perceived it as the thing that others loved most about me. Subconsciously, if not consciously, I felt that people wouldn’t love me as much if I wasn’t able to perform on the football field, or on the basketball court, or on the track (11.7 100m at 245 lbs., athletic.net me).
Crazy enough, I don’t think those feelings are exclusive to me. Or exclusive to athletes, even. It actually seems naturally human to unconsciously soak up the praises and the love one might receive for consistently performing a task well, in a manner that slowly bleeds into one’s measuring cup of Self-worth. However, what is exclusive to athletes, is that the tasks we perform can only be done consistently at a high level for a finite and short amount of time, relative to the rest of our lives.
In high school, being a great athlete boosted the hell out of my ego. I loved the approval I received from my classmates, teachers, and coaches. It affirmed my confidence. It helped fuel my drive. I wanted more. When it was taken from me that Friday night in 2008, I wasn’t prepared for the aftershock. I felt like I wasn’t worth as much. I felt like my life didn’t have as much value. I felt like people would no longer give me praise. I felt like I lost everything I had.
In retrospect, I realize that my suffering went deeper than a knee injury. I suffered from a fragile identity – one that was largely tied to my ability to be on the field. Luckily, I had a support group both at home and at school, who lifted me up and helped me through those tough times. My old AAU basketball coach, Coach Jeff, told me something that stuck with me forever – “Football doesn’t define you, Brennan.” I’ve always thought that those words were so eloquently put. Or maybe their lasting effect was a product of his Akron-born slang that makes Coach Jeff impressions an enjoyable pastime. But upon considering the act of something being defined, you think about that thing being given meaning. What I believe plagues many of us as athletes is that, due to our love and passion for the game, we allow the game to define our self meaning.
By no means am I here to generalize the athlete population and say that because I have struggled with this issue, so has everyone else. Everyone has a unique set of emotions that they experience and deal with in their own unique ways. However, for me and for many of my peers whom I have seen get injured or otherwise transitioned out of the game at any level, this crisis of identity is a relevant one.
I am here to say that my journey to form a more whole identity that began with the wise words of good ol’ Coach Jeff and continues today, has been a rewarding one. One that I feel is worthwhile to share.
In my early days, I filled the void with competition in the classroom. I competed my ass off to be the smartest and do the best in school. It helped but it wasn’t the final solution because guess what, you’re not in school forever. Upon transitioning from my Stanford MS&E program to the league, and then being placed on IR my rookie year, I ran into the same issue. No ball, no school, so who is Brennan?
Fortunately, the whole school thing worked as a springboard into the ensuing part of the journey. I was able to take some of the skills I learned in my business and engineering education, and apply them to other interests like stock investing, real estate, community involvement, etc.
All of that was great, but it was only part of the solution.
The true answers that I was subconsciously seeking began to unfold upon my quest to tell the story of Brennan Scarlett the human being, rather than just Brennan Scarlett the football player.
My initial thought process was: if I can connect an audience with Brennan Scarlett the person, instead of just Brennan Scarlett #57, then when the game inevitably comes to an end, people will still care, they’ll still love me. While it did have its merits, this thought process was incomplete. Rooted in extrinsic motivation, this thought process meant that I was still heavily relying on the outcomes of my actions, and others’ perception of who I am for Self-realization. In a word, unhealthy.
As I dug deeper into exploring different platforms and mediums through which to share my interests, I found that the action of telling my story and sharing my personality was actually a very rewarding one. Sure, the outcome could have been more followers or a lasting audience, but the process of exploring who I was off the field – my interests, my thoughts, my worldview – and then sharing it out loud, was the most important piece. Not because it presented a different image of myself to others, but because it informed a greater image that I have of myself.
What has come with the exploration of these interests is a simultaneous exploration of communities that share these interests. As I have begun to immerse myself into these communities outside of football, I’ve been fascinated to find that in many cases, they could care less that I am a football player and about what happens on the field. The value that my presence brings is not bound to my performance in last week’s game.
Although in many cases, I have leveraged the NFL platform to initiate conversations and oftentimes there may be early excitement because I play in the NFL, I’ve found that largely my contribution is appreciated as Brennan Scarlett, the community member that also plays football. A much different relationship from the guy in my Instagram community that left the “shitbag” comment on my last post because I missed a tackle and messed up his fantasy football score.
Through my journey, I’ve found there are people out there who love me because I like indoor plants (love is a strong word but we’ll use it here for identity sake). They could care less that I tackled dudes for a living. They were just curious how I got my corn plant to bloom.
I’ve found that there are people who share my passion for inspiring kids to learn to read. I found that people actually create companies to accomplish those goals and were genuinely interested in the insights that I could provide them based on my unique life experiences.
I’ve found that there are people who respect or relate to me because I’m familiar with the Portland real estate market. I found that they have a whole community dedicated to real estate opportunities and were happy to have me join their Zoom meetings and listen in.
Community has been an important piece in reshaping my identity into a healthier one. A community that has grown from my willingness and intentionality to publicly share my story and share who I am off the field. Based on my interests and hobbies, I’ve been able to align myself with people, brands, and companies who vibe with my values.
Along my journey I have been inspired by athletes who have found the value in their own storytelling – the likes of guys like Ndamukong Suh with real estate, Brandon Copeland with financial literacy, Kelvin Beachum with investing. The coolest thing about these guys is that I exist in only one, in some cases maybe two, of these guys’ communities. It’s likely that they have several more outside of the ones we share. I met these guys through our communities outside of the game intersecting based on interests off-the-field. Football was not the core reason for us being introduced.
Fast-forward to today in 2021, I am dealing with this MCL sprain much better than high school sophomore B Scar dealt with the knee. Same toilet – I must spend the next couple of weeks without the thing that I pour much of my heart and soul into – but different shit. My Self-worth operates relatively independent of the game. I have other communities in which I am immersed in that value me the same whether I’m setting the edge on 1st and 10, or not. Brennan Scarlett is still loved for everything he is outside of the arena. And more importantly, I love Brennan Scarlett for who he is and everything that he does.
Football doesn’t even begin to define me.
My personal anecdote to this healing of a fragmented identity may be most directly relevant to a fellow footballer due to the injury rates and the transience of our careers. But I believe that this letter can potentially serve as one of encouragement to all athletes out there, regardless of age, competition level, or sport.
Yes, give everything to your craft. That’s how you’re going to keep being great. But understand that your journey through the process of becoming great is what makes you who you are. Your values, principles, discipline, commitment… these are the things that define you. The outcome of the competition is less important.
Take time to begin to apply these intangibles to other areas of your life. When your time permits, respect yourself enough to figure out who you are. Explore.
As you do this, don’t be afraid to share what you find with others. You’ll be surprised how many people share your interests. Seek out groups that share those interests. Connect with companies that have created viable business models off those interests. In each of these communities, look for ways to add value just as you’ve added value to your team by playing your position at a high level. Lean in.
In the emerging world of digital spaces, economies, and communities, finding individuals around the world who share in your interests has never been more accessible.
This intentionality of sharing these interests and immersing yourself in their respective communities could bring you a safe zone outside of the fickleness of sport, it could help you build a valuable personal brand in a way that’s true to your story and identity, it might even begin to create wealth-building or monetization opportunities. Or more.
Or maybe you’re just left with a fuller understanding of you.
Journey well,
Brennan Scarlett
11-29-21
