How Austin Ekeler Negotiated An $11 Million Contract With The NFL’s Washington Commanders

Forbes

Washington Commanders’ running back Austin Ekeler joined Forbes senior writer and Jabari Young at the Nasdaq MarketSite to discuss NFL business, and provides an update on his commercial NIL platform, Eksperience.  The NFL’s free agency period is underway, with notable deals including the Philadelphia Eagles signing Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley to a three-year contract worth $37.7 million, and the Green Bay Packers signing Josh Jacobs to a four-year, $48 million deal. Additionally, Ekeler signed a two-year, $11.4 million deal with the Commanders after spending seven seasons with the Los Angeles Charges.  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 He's a fantasy football favorite, one of the more versatile running backs in the NFL,

00:03 and next year he'll be playing for the team in the nation's capital,

00:07 talking business with Washington Commanders running back Austin Echler right now.

00:11 Hello everyone, this is Jabari Young here at the NASDAQ MarketSite for, you know,

00:17 Forbes Monday, man. I'm joined by Austin Echler, the new running back, not wide receiver,

00:23 running back, because you're like multi-dimensional, so you confuse me sometimes.

00:25 I can do it all. I can do it all.

00:26 Yeah, running back for the Washington Commanders, man, talking business and a lot more. You got a

00:30 lot going on, but I want to start by saying, A, are you healthy? Because you had that high ankle

00:36 sprain, man. You look like you're smiling. I see the chain on there, so you look healthy, man. How's

00:39 that ankle feeling?

00:40 No, it's feeling good. I appreciate you having me on. Looking forward to being here. Yeah,

00:43 but feeling good, man. Ready for the season. Ready to kick it off with the Commanders.

00:47 You ready for the season already, man? We just got finished football like a couple weeks ago.

00:51 I know. It feels like a long time ago for me because we were out early, unfortunately,

00:54 but body's ready to go back in shape. Yeah, definitely give me a couple months here, but

00:59 I think the offseason is just long enough where I miss it. I'm like, "Ah, I want to go back."

01:04 Nice.

01:05 I'm getting to that.

01:05 Yeah. Well, listen, man, we start this month is Financial Literacy Month, right?

01:09 Okay. Yeah.

01:09 Yeah. It's important.

01:10 This month, April Financial Year is very important, man. One of your brethren, Namdika

01:14 Su, I always think back to a conversation me and my brother had, and he was telling me about some

01:18 of the things he learned in financial literacy. One of his favorite topics was credit building at

01:22 a young age, right? He didn't realize that. Now he got credit cards in his kid's name, right?

01:27 They're not even 10 yet. I ask you, man, your biggest learnings of financial literacy since

01:31 you got into the league in 2017? Yeah. Absolutely. I think one of the

01:35 unfortunate things is sometimes you learn the hard way, but it also gives you lessons that you

01:40 can share with others. One of those in the financial space is for me is you don't have to

01:44 rush it. Don't rush it. Learn. Learn first. Learn so you can speak the language so you understand

01:49 when you're talking to someone about whatever industry it is, whether it's your personal

01:52 finances, real estate, whatever it is, you can speak the language. What I did was I trusted people

01:57 too quick and didn't understand the language. I didn't understand the industry because I didn't

02:00 spend enough time learning about it. Whether it's learning from a mentor or learning from

02:04 online, YouTube, whatever it is, spend the time to learn before you actually start putting money in

02:09 your mouth. You don't have to rush. There's no rush. I know there's a lot of pressure,

02:12 but oh, don't save money. This is not making you money. Well, guess what? If you put in bad

02:17 investments, you're going to lose money. Take the time. That's what I would have told myself

02:21 going back. You don't have to push your money in the market as soon as you get it. You can

02:25 take your time and learn. That'd be my financial literacy advice for you.

02:29 Take your time and learn. Listen, let's get into it right fast because you took your time. Again,

02:34 two-year deal with the Commanders. Now, I see it's eight million and then it's 11. What is the truth?

02:39 Is it the incentive? Is it up to 11 million? I know. I know.

02:42 Is it eight, 11? What is that number? What gets out there is all over the place.

02:46 It was crazy. Quick story. Actually, before I even agreed to the contract, I'm getting hit up.

02:51 Congrats. Congrats. Congrats. People are sending me the deal like, "Hey, this is what you just

02:55 signed." I'm like, "What the heck?" Somehow, it got leaked out there and people just ran with it.

02:58 I actually ended up agreeing to that deal. There's incentives in there. It's eight and then there's

03:05 incentives to get it up to 11 as I continue to play at the level I can. What are the incentives?

03:09 It comes down to yardage, comes down to touchdowns, everything that I do anyway.

03:13 Did you help negotiate that yourself?

03:15 Yeah, absolutely. You did it yourself?

03:17 Going into year eight now, I've been around contracts a little bit. I've been around just

03:21 seeing other opportunities out there. Then also, it's not only the negotiation, but it's the place.

03:25 Where do you want to be? What's the scenario that you also play into as a player too that

03:30 goes into the negotiation? What's the capacity that you're going to be? Are you going to be

03:33 a starter? Are you going to be a tandem? Are you going to be a backup? That's the conversation

03:36 that you have with your team to make sure you're on the same page when you go and actually talk

03:39 numbers. Bobby Wagner was a guy. He actually was fascinating because he always negotiated

03:44 his deals last minute. Did you call him at all? Who did you talk to about how to do this?

03:49 Because again, you're going into a new situation. You've been with the Chargers the entire career

03:52 now. The free agency is hitting you. Who do you lean on?

03:55 This is my first time being on a new team. It's been a blessing being with the Chargers for the

03:59 last seven years. As the nature of the game goes, you bounce around if you play long enough.

04:04 This is my first time. For me, it's been really with my internal team. My agency,

04:08 Dynamic Sports Group, is who I've been with. I've trusted them. They were the ones that

04:13 recruited me out of college. That's my group that I've really just stayed.

04:16 You also lean on other guys as far as seeing what's going on in the market and things like

04:21 that so you can get comparables. You can see who's making moves, who has availability.

04:25 There's a lot that plays into it, not only with yourself and your own team,

04:28 but also with your team talking to others. Absolutely. Get into a whole bunch of that

04:32 more. Let me ask you, why the Commanders? How much did Anthony Lynn factor in? I know it was

04:36 your head coach with the Chargers when you first started off. The Anthony Lynn connection is there.

04:42 How much did he factor into that? Absolutely. Why the Commanders? There was a scenario where

04:47 I came into a scenario where you're going to be a tandem back with the Chargers. It never really

04:52 played itself out like that. I was really the main guy the whole time. I feel like when I was

04:56 at my best, when it was with Melvin Gordon and I, and we were splitting back carries,

05:00 not only at my best on the field, but also with my body after the games and how I felt.

05:04 That was with, coincidentally, Anthony Lynn as well. Now, coming back, it seems like in every

05:10 industry, who you know matters. Anthony Lynn being on the team knows my play style, had me in that

05:16 tandem type of role. We have Brian Robertson who's also with the Commanders as well. I think he sees

05:21 that vision coming back of what we had back in the early days of the Chargers. Dual running

05:25 back style. Two guys that make an impact. When you think about how this league is changing,

05:31 I definitely want to get your input because some running backs have some great contracts. I know

05:34 you maybe disagree with some of the perceptions of running back contracts. When you go back and

05:40 you look at all these teams, is the Commanders the only one that hits you up or who others were you

05:44 interested in that you were leaning towards that? First day of free agency opening up, it was

05:50 madness in the running back market. People going off everywhere because there was abundance of us.

05:54 That 2017 class that now is becoming free and the class before us because they just franchised the

06:00 three guys and the one before us. There was a frenzy. People were going off the board. There

06:06 was deals getting done left and right. Simple supply and demand. Who were the bigger contracts?

06:12 Those ones went off the board first and then it started trickling down for everyone else.

06:17 What I want to see when we're talking about value of the running back market is the guys that are

06:22 making the big impact get paid rightfully so. It's about impact. I don't care what position you play.

06:28 If you make a big impact at that, you should get paid for that. You can't categorize a whole

06:32 category and say you play running back so you get paid less because you play running back. It

06:37 doesn't matter. It doesn't matter your position. If you make a bigger impact, you should be

06:40 compensated for that. 44 total touchdowns over the last three years and you led the league with 38

06:45 between 2021 and 2022. Hopefully the Commanders are getting that old style back. Let me tell you

06:50 something. I used you a lot on Madden. I played with the charges. You got that drag route. You

06:55 can just like that route right there. I love playing it. I was so disappointed when y'all

07:00 didn't get there. Y'all went out and traded for Khalil Mack. Y'all had the receivers. Everything

07:04 was working. I know. I know. What the heck happened? Here's the thing. Paper doesn't play

07:09 football. Humans do. There's a lot that goes into it. There's a lot that goes into execution.

07:14 There's injuries. There's the culture. There's people not playing well. There's people that are

07:17 playing well. There's the whole mix of all of this that goes into a season. There's a lot of

07:22 expectations going into it, which is rightfully so. We do a great job hyping it up. Everyone

07:26 getting excited. Fantasy. All of the stuff that's going on with football and outside of football.

07:30 But then it comes down to players. We got to make plays. We just didn't get it done last year,

07:34 unfortunately. I know. I know, man. You're in the NFCEs now, man. I'm from Philly. I don't

07:39 cheer for the Eagles. But still, you're in the NFCEs now, man. A dynamic division. Wish you the

07:43 best of luck, man. I appreciate it. Get into some more NFL business later, but let's look at your

07:47 off the field business, man. You have this NIL platform. I quote, "All athletes should have a

07:53 path to commercial success." That's what you said when you were doing the video for Experience.

07:59 Absolutely. Experience. This is a revolutionary platform. It's helping

08:02 students, student athletes connect with fans to both monetize the name, image, and likeness,

08:08 and to build long-term personal brand value. Take me inside of this business. Why NIL? Why

08:14 this platform? Yeah, absolutely. It goes beyond NIL, but really what I saw in the market of

08:18 sports is a lot of different industries that are pulling from the fandom of sports. A lot of that

08:25 money trickles to other places and not back to the athlete. As an athlete, I'm like, "Man, it would

08:30 be really great for us to be able to tap into our own fandom that we're creating, our own likeness,

08:35 and bring that back into the capacity of the athletes and into the fans," so to speak. What

08:41 I'm doing is creating a platform that's connecting the two, bridging the gap between fans and

08:45 athletes. How I'm doing it is making it as easy as possible on the athlete so that they're actually

08:51 willing to step to the table and come and do interactions, whether it be signings, because

08:55 signings are really outdated now. It's hard to get things signed, so let's make it easier for things

08:59 to get signed, but people will be able to send things in. Video chats, personalized video,

09:03 being able to follow along in a season, so really bridging the gap, not only in the NIL space,

09:08 but just in sports in general. Where are you at with this platform? I was browsing around,

09:12 and it looks like it's still in this introductory phase. Listen, it's hard, and it's very expensive

09:17 to run a software company. Where are you at with this platform, and how long is it going to take

09:20 you to launch it? I've learned a lot in my journey in the tech space. We've been developing for about

09:26 two and a half years, and I've been bootstrapping it. Then about eight months ago, made a pivot,

09:32 and we really got serious as we really started to catch traction with a few clients in the

09:37 university space. Then I had to hire professionals to actually come in and actually run the company

09:41 and actually bring it to a place where we can actually go into the market and then actually

09:44 scale. We've been, like I said, developing for two years and really close to doing our alphas

09:49 and looking for a round of funding. It's coming up on- You're seeking funding?

09:52 Yeah, we will be. How much are you seeking? The number hasn't been locked in yet as far

09:57 as our valuation and what we're going to be raising yet, but we definitely have talks that

10:01 I've been going through and learning about the funding realm as well as a CEO and founder.

10:06 What are you hearing from possible investors? What do you want to see more of?

10:10 Yeah. I have a ton of interest. I have a lead investor who's done due diligence and come in,

10:14 and now is just coming into, "Okay, what's this number going to be? How much are you going to

10:17 come in?" Then I also have supporting cast as well waiting for this first investor to come in.

10:23 We've been down the talks for about a month or a few months really of finding investors,

10:30 but almost there. Yeah, nice. Well,

10:31 look inside your portfolio because people may not remember, man, but you were a 2024 Forbes

10:37 under 30 lister. I was shocked when I saw your name. I ain't even going to front. I was.

10:41 Here you are. People may not know you have a great portfolio, man, a fantasy life. You're

10:46 still an investor in that particular platform, in fantasy life. Also, Moneyline, is that another

10:51 platform? Your fantasy life just went through a two million fundraiser in 2023. John Legend is an

10:56 investor in that company. Take me in fantasy life, man, because again, you're a fantasy football

11:01 favorite. People love your stat lines. Take me into this fantasy life company, man.

11:06 Yeah, absolutely. Fantasy sports in general, we'll start there, is just an awesome opportunity for

11:11 people to get involved in sports that maybe didn't know about players on different teams,

11:16 but now it's opening the door. Now people know who Austin Echler is, even though they're on the

11:19 East Coast or wherever in the world because they love fantasy football or sports betting.

11:22 That really draws me to the industry, not only because I'm in it, but because I love the community

11:27 aspect of it and how that just affects our society as a whole. Then when it comes to fantasy life,

11:33 it's like, okay, how can we continue to get involved in this? Well, let's give people

11:37 tips and tricks and here's the picks and here's what you should be picking. Here's the different

11:41 things to get involved. With notable people involved in that as well, it puts a name brand

11:46 and also gives a whole platform and a whole place where, okay, now I have a one go-to spot to get

11:52 all of my things that I need for my fantasy life, for my fantasy journey during the season.

11:57 You don't get since any backlash from the people who've, last year, maybe not been your best

12:01 season. You didn't hear any feedback like, "Man, what the hell you doing? You're killing my fantasy

12:06 community." As an athlete, you're always going to be criticized. I've been playing for 20 years now,

12:12 football, going back to my early days. There's always people that, "Great game. You suck."

12:17 All of everything in between, I've heard it all. You get thick skin because of that. You build the

12:23 mental toughness in that. You push through it, even though you're going to have ups and downs,

12:27 fans are going to be emotional. That's what makes the game as great as it is because people are

12:31 actually involved emotionally. They come and they cheer and they boo and they do all of it.

12:35 That's just the great part of our sport. - I like you said mental toughness, man.

12:38 For a perfect segue for me is we flash back. You grew up in Colorado. First of all, what was that

12:45 like? Because when I covered the NBA, I loved going into Denver, right? That airport ride from Denver

12:50 to the airport, that was a little bit very unique. I love Denver, man. A great, great city. What was

12:54 it like growing up in Colorado? - Flying into Denver, when you look around, it's just fields.

12:59 Fields and usually brown. Mountains are way off in the distance, but I was out in the plains. I grew

13:05 up in the ranch life. Learned how to work with my hands, learned how to get along and do a lot

13:10 with a little. That's what you learn when you're out in the country. Grew up with a lot of

13:13 responsibility, taking care of animals, building barbed wire fence, playing sports. When you're in

13:18 that environment, you learn a lot of tough love. You learn a lot of intensity as far as work,

13:22 detail, building. Also, you can bring that work ethic into the sports world and it makes for a

13:26 good combination. - I tell people, when you start like that, it makes you appreciate things. I used

13:31 to be a kid mopping floors at a car dealership and you just went down barbed wire fencing. That

13:36 kind of attention to detail part as well. Then, attending Western Colorado University, you bought

13:42 out there. What was your major when you was in college? - I was a business major. - You were a

13:44 business major. - Energy management. - Energy management. If the NFL didn't work out, what

13:48 was the route? - Actually, backwards, the NFL came to me out of nowhere. I wasn't even thinking about

13:54 the NFL. I grew up watching bull riding and I wanted to be a professional bass fisherman,

13:58 if you believe that or not. That's what I grew up doing. I was like, "Okay, I'm going to go to

14:02 school. I'm going to use football to help me supplement school." I didn't get a full ride or

14:05 anything out of Division II, but I'm going to school for business. I get an internship with a

14:10 company at the time called Noble Energy. They're an oil and gas company out in Colorado. A lot of

14:15 ties to that. I was going to get into that and use my capital to start house hacking and start

14:18 flipping homes and then build a real estate portfolio. That was my plan. Then, all of a sudden,

14:22 my coach comes to me after my junior year. He's like, "Austin, you got some scouts looking at

14:26 you, man." I'm like, "Scouts? Who's a scout? No one from my school has ever gone to the NFL,

14:30 so there's no scouts here." Sure enough, after my senior year, I had a bunch of people coming

14:36 and asking me, sitting down with me. Then, the NFL became a real reality for me. I was going

14:40 down the entrepreneurial journey before football. That's why it stays with me. - Down that football

14:44 journey, man, listen, in college, I'm looking at your stats and reading up on stories. You were

14:48 described as a competitive dude. You was going to get it done no matter how you're going to do it,

14:53 but you weren't drafted. You had to go under. What was your mindset like? You get the notice

14:58 that scouts are looking at you, so you may be a trajectory. Then, you don't get drafted. I say

15:02 that because this month is the NFL draft in April. There's going to be some kids who may not hear

15:06 their name called. How do you shift your mindset to say, "You know what? I'm going to make this

15:10 happen?" - Through my upbringing, I was just taught just attention to detail. Whatever you're in,

15:15 you go for it. You put everything you can into that and try to make it as best as you can.

15:20 That's what I was doing with my education. When football came, it became really real for me. What

15:24 I mean by that is I finished my senior year, and I didn't go back to school my spring season because

15:28 I said, "If this is an opportunity for me, I'm doing everything I possibly can to make sure that

15:32 it's not something I didn't do that causes me to fail." I want to make sure I put everything in

15:36 there. At the end of the day, I can say, "Yep, that was everything that Austin Ethics could have

15:39 gave." That's where I put myself. I put myself in a position where maybe it was a little too much

15:43 where I was like, "Hey, this is everything. This is survival instinct. Kick in. You got to make

15:47 it happen." I put so much pressure on myself to go out there and compete because I was sixth string

15:51 on the depth chart. I had everything to prove, and I knew that. I had limited opportunities to

15:55 do it. When I got my opportunity, I had to make sure that I knew everything, and I did it at a

15:58 high level. That's exactly what I did and it ended up paying out for me. That was my mindset. It was

16:03 like, "This is everything. You got to make it work." You made your way on special teams.

16:07 I did. People don't realize when you're on that undrafted, the way you get on rosters,

16:11 and I think you hear it through all these hard knock special teams. People may not want to

16:16 believe because everybody wants to be the star, but special teams is the way you do it. How were

16:21 you able to flip your special teams and turn it into an active roster? Yeah, absolutely. As I said,

16:26 I was trying to take advantage of any opportunity that I had. I didn't ever play special teams,

16:29 not one down on special teams before I got to the chargers. All of a sudden, I'm running down

16:34 on kickoffs and running on punts. Well, that's my opportunity. Guess what? I'm running for my

16:37 life out there. That's what you got to get done. It's still my favorite stat to this day. Like I

16:41 said, I never tackled anybody, never did any of that, but I led the NFL in tackles on punt my

16:46 rookie year. It just shows you where my mindset was. I am running for my life out here. I'm on

16:50 fire. You cannot touch me. You can't block me. You can't get around. I'm going to make this tackle.

16:56 That's how it was. That was my mindset. Then I was able to continue to make impact on special

17:00 teams. They threw me out on offense. My first ever carry that they gave me, 34-yard ripper right up

17:04 the middle against the Eagles. Yeah, I'll run that back. You've seen them twice a year now.

17:11 That was my first ever touchdown, first ever handoff in my third game. Then they started putting

17:19 me on offense a little bit more. Then the rest was history. Again, man, multi-dimensional. I love

17:23 using you on the mat. Staying here on the field again, let's go back to a tweet you made in 2023.

17:29 I saw it was an NFL scout who had a perspective on how to use running backs. His perspective was

17:36 you draft one, you tag one, you release them, and then you do it all over again. You came in and

17:40 you said, "This is the kind of trash that has artificially devalued one of the most important

17:44 positions in the game. Everyone knows it's tough to win without a top running back, and yet they

17:49 act like we're discardable widgets. I support any running back, whatever it takes to get his back."

17:54 That was in 2023. Again, the perception was running backs are devalued. Here we are in 2024.

17:59 We mentioned off the top of the show, Saquon Barkley gets his with the Eagles.

18:03 You have Josh Jacobs. He gets his with the Green Bay Packers. Two good deals. Is that mindset still

18:09 the same? Is the running back position still devalued? Or do you think maybe this particular

18:14 offseason has helped re-establish that? You go back historically, and I was making calls.

18:19 You talk about Emmitt Smith. You talk about Eric Dickerson. You talk about

18:22 Todd Gurley. People setting the market. Ezekiel Ellen in 2019. There were guys who held out to

18:29 get big paid money. Now I understand where that perspective of devaluing running backs comes in.

18:33 But again, 2024, free agency, is it better? Let me ask you this. Let me put a scenario on the

18:38 table. Josh Jacobs, 1600 yards, 13 touchdowns. "All right, Josh, you're going into free agency."

18:43 Actually, whoa, whoa, whoa. We're actually going to franchise tag you. You don't get to negotiate.

18:47 This is what you're getting. And it's a one-year deal. And all the risk is on you. It's guaranteed,

18:52 but it's all on you. There you go. That's your deal. Like, whoa. That's powerful. What do you

18:56 mean I don't get an opportunity to go see the free market? I don't get a chance to negotiate

19:01 with other teams? You're artificially holding the market down because of that. You're locking him in.

19:06 Doesn't give him opportunity to go get maybe what he was worth after that year, after a pinnacle

19:10 year. And when you franchise guys, when you do that, you're putting them in a position where

19:14 you don't get any control. And so that's what we were attacking there. And so

19:18 seeing these guys get their contracts is amazing. Like, that's exactly what we wanted to see last

19:22 year. And that's why all of the fuss came out about the running backs and what was going on

19:26 with that. Because we were just pissed off, to be frank with you. We didn't like that. And,

19:30 you know, it's still the same mindset. If we make impact, we want to make sure we have

19:34 every player, I don't care what position you play, you get an opportunity to go get your

19:37 compensation for that. Because we don't get a play forever. And so taking a year and forcing

19:41 you to take a deal is taking a year off the table of maybe something that you could have earned more.

19:45 And so that's where we stood on there. And I still stand on that today.

19:48 What needs to change moving forward? I mean, you guys are locked into a very long deal as far as

19:53 some, you know, collective bargaining agreements. I don't see much changing. Money's going to go up.

19:58 I mean, 13 percent jump in salary cap because of that big contract that they signed TV-wise. I

20:03 don't know if it'll jump the same next year, but what needs to happen differently so that running

20:07 backs can feel appreciated? Yeah, it's not just running backs, you know, and it's not something

20:12 I can come out and say because it is a collective bargaining between the NFLPA, which is our

20:17 collective community and the NFL owners. And so for me, from my perspective, I would love to see

20:23 change in that category. Not speaking for the whole NFLPA, but I just I just think it's really,

20:28 really like a tool that can't go on as far as for us if we want to continue to get free open

20:36 market deals. We're always going to we're always going to make more money. That is what history

20:39 has shown us. The caps are going to go up. We're going to continue to make impact. We're, you know,

20:44 Lee's expanding globally now. So there's going to be new markets we're getting into.

20:47 So the salary is always going to go up. But let's not put a put a ceiling on people because of,

20:52 you know, some type of control mechanism that's in the CBA. And so it's not something that can

20:56 easily be changed. It's something that will have to be negotiated for. And we'll have to see if

20:59 that's even worth negotiating. Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, listen, man, let's close

21:03 ahead. We have some rapid reaction stuff. Start with your foundation, right? The Austin Echler

21:07 Foundation. What's the status? Any big news? Any causes? I know you want to give back. Yeah,

21:11 absolutely. Coming up like you, right? Yeah. What's the status of the Austin Echler Foundation?

21:16 Yeah. So quick blurb on the Austin Echler Foundation, putting resources, tangible,

21:19 physical things back into the community. Washers and dryers, weight rooms is what we're focusing

21:25 on now. We just built Long Beach Poly's weight room. Now we have Balboa High School up in San

21:31 Francisco that we're building as well. And so we're always looking for opportunities to,

21:35 if there's something physically that we can put in the community that's going to be around for

21:39 years that generations can use. Those are the opportunities that we're going to look for.

21:42 Yeah. I know inside your portfolio in the real estate, right? A lot of craziness around the

21:46 real estate market. You got commercial real estate, which is all over the place. And then

21:50 you have the housing shortage, right? We are in an affordable, we're in a housing crisis.

21:54 What is Austin Echler looking at in the real estate sector?

21:56 Yeah. You know, it's interesting right now, I have a couple of portfolio loans that I'm

21:59 deciding, okay, is this something that we're willing to let this kind of lapse and then get

22:04 into where we have to get a new interest rate? Or do we want to sell? Do we want to start

22:09 off-boarding? So right now, kind of in a holding pattern, have a few years before we're going to

22:13 have to get back into that conversation with our bank. So right now it's interesting. If there's

22:18 cash opportunities, we're taking those, but not really taking out any financing right now.

22:22 Do you have any apartment complexes, anything that's in your portfolio now?

22:26 Yeah. So I have a few condominiums back in Colorado and then a ton of single family

22:33 homes as well out in Kansas City, Missouri. Nice. Why Kansas City?

22:36 It was an opportunity. Had a mass foreclosure. We had four flipping

22:39 crews that were willing to relocate and go and execute the deal for us and flip these

22:44 homes. And so we've been 1031 in the ones that aren't cash flowing and we'll keep the cash flow.

22:48 Nice. Absolutely. We'll take it to LinkedIn on this one, right? I went to the LinkedIn community

22:52 and I said, "Hey, I got Austin Eckler coming to the NASDAQ market." I'm like, "Where would you

22:56 guys ask him?" I got one question from Dr. John Turner. He said, "Are you planning to pick Magic

23:00 Johnson's brain about business and NFL team ownership as you think about your future after

23:06 football?" Yeah. I don't necessarily think it'll be

23:09 about ownership. Who knows? I'd really just want to make the introduction and really meet everyone

23:13 over there in the front office for our new team. I know there's a lot of new, exciting faces in

23:19 there that have a new era, a new kind of feel to them. And so I felt that when I made my visit and

23:25 signed the contract. So I'm looking forward to getting all those relationships going, especially

23:29 with Magic. You got to pick Magic's brain, man. I mean, the guy's like a Forbes billionaire,

23:33 right? He's got his empire, his enterprise. You got to pick Magic Johnson's brain, man.

23:37 And then speaking of leadership stuff, Forbes BLK, a great community we have, we're building

23:40 here at Forbes. And I know one of the things, spring is here now, right? You got any good books,

23:45 financial literacy books, anything like that, that could be helpful for people?

23:47 Yeah. So actually there's one called Spark. It's a leadership book.

23:50 Nice. Spark.

23:52 It's called Spark. I forgot who it was by. And then also I've been reading 10X is

23:57 Easier Than 2X by Dan Sullivan. That was a good one too. Another entrepreneurial book,

24:02 helping you just kind of organize your thoughts and making sure you're just focusing on the 20%

24:07 that can really build you and what you want to be intentive on. So some good books out there

24:11 I would recommend. Absolutely, man. Well, listen, get you out of here because one of my favorite

24:15 business books is Jim Collins' Good to Great. I love that book. One of the best leadership books

24:19 ever. And I get you out of here on this, man. What's the difference, especially as we're moving

24:23 on, 2024 season up, what is the difference between a good running back and a great one?

24:29 Ooh, the difference between a good running back and a great running back.

24:33 I mean, it all comes down to impact. That's how we're measured. What impact do you have? You've

24:39 heard me say that word so many times. What impact do you have on the field? And if you can make an

24:45 impact that it's unique to all of us, because you might have a guy like Christian, might have a guy

24:49 like Derrick Henry, Saquon, like myself. We all have our own kind of stamp that we can put on the

24:54 game. And I think when you can be respected and you're on the other team's game plan for when we

24:59 got to stop this guy, that's when you become great. You're only good, I think, if they're not

25:04 talking about you like, oh, they got a cool running game. But if they're game planning for you,

25:07 that's how you become great. And that's when you're recognized as great. But we're always

25:10 trying to make the biggest impact we can. So I think the other teams measure that for us,

25:14 depending on if they're game planning for us or not. Absolutely. Well, listen, man, here's the

25:18 cheers to you making a big impact with the Commanders this offseason coming up and making a

25:22 big impact in the business world, man. I'd love to have you back here. Always love talking business

25:26 with you and good luck, man. I'm glad you're healthy again. And go make some noise in Washington.

25:31 That's what I do. Absolutely. Austin Eckley here at the NASDAQ MarketSite. Thanks for watching.

25:35 [MUSIC PLAYING]

25:36 [MUSIC PLAYING]

Category

Transcript

Recommended