RIDEOUT: The Other Side of Hard

Eryk Anders was the last guy picked. He mailed 125 copies of his own VHS highlight tape to every school he could find an address for and heard nothing back. Then a running back didn’t qualify two weeks before the season, Mike Shula called, and Eryk showed up in Tuscaloosa in Timberland boots claiming he weighed 215. The scale was broken. Thirty minutes later he had a full ride to Alabama. He barely played for two years. After a bowl game where he never saw the field he told his dad he was transferring. His dad told him to stay and get the degree. He died that night. Eryk stayed. Senior year he started for Nick Saban, and in the national championship game against Texas, the team he grew up wanting to play for, he led the defense with seven tackles and the blindside sack and forced fumble that sealed it with three minutes left. Then football was over. Cut by the Browns. Cut in Canada. Arena ball. Cleaning factories with a water lance, a janitor at LabCorp, a customer service line where strangers cussed him out all day. He started MMA at 24 with no combat background, and his wife wrote a $3,500 check to pay off his car so he could quit his job. Two years to the day later he signed with the UFC. This week I sat down with Eryk to get the whole story. The UFC calling when he weighed 238 with ten days to make 185, then knocking out Rafael Natal in the first round. Twenty UFC fights, the Machida decision, the soccer kick in Lincoln, getting judo-tossed by Hector Lombard, 15 pounds cut in 90 minutes and a house bought after every fight. He won his last fight in March at 38, retired in the cage and now runs Ya Boi Fitness Academy in Vestavia Hills, Alabama. He calls himself a C-plus athlete. He just outworked everybody. Hope you guys enjoy this one. Follow Eryk: @erykanders Ya Boi Fitness Academy, Vestavia Hills, Alabama Thanks to OMRE for supporting the show. Please take a minute to subscribe and leave a comment. It makes a huge difference. More about the show at theothersideofhard.com. Thank you to our sponsors OMRE: omre.co Code “RIDEOUT” Ken’s book now available here: https://www.theothersideofhard.com/ Chapters (00:00) Meet Eryk Anders (00:16) Born on an Air Force Base (00:45) Football Was a Religion in Texas (02:02) The Kid Who Wouldn’t Shower (04:12) A Nurse Who Retired a Colonel (06:01) A C-Plus Athlete Who Outworks Everyone (08:02) Friday Night Lights in Bulverde (09:10) 125 VHS Highlight Tapes (09:47) A Scholarship Out of Thin Air (10:33) Mike Shula Calls Hawaii (10:58) Timberlands and a Broken Scale (12:27) Sponsor Break OMRE (16:15) NIL Money and Back Pay (17:56) Don’t Give Them a Reason (18:58) The Dexter McCluster Story (22:16) Everything Turned to a Blur (23:06) Shula’s Oklahoma Drills (23:51) How Saban Changed Practice (27:48) Eating at 2 AM to Keep Weight (29:52) Mess Up at 100 Miles an Hour (32:20) Third-Down Pass Rusher (33:27) Benched in the Bowl Game (34:01) His Dad’s Last Advice (34:45) Texas in the Rose Bowl (36:18) The Sack That Sealed It (37:06) God Status in Tuscaloosa (38:36) Cut by the Browns (41:34) Canada and Arena Football (44:51) Booster Lunches and No Job (46:25) Cleaning Factories With a Water Lance (46:44) Janitor at LabCorp (47:03) Apache Helicopters for Sweden (48:20) Customer Service Hell (50:04) She Paid Off His Car (50:59) Two Years to the Day (51:38) The Amateur Grind (53:29) Wrestlers Make Champions (55:02) Cutting to 185 (56:21) His First Real Knockout (59:15) 238 Pounds and Ten Days Notice (1:00:46) 15 Pounds in 90 Minutes (1:03:46) The Fight Ready Fallout (1:06:34) Life on the Road (1:08:34) Philly Fight Culture (1:09:53) Ken Quit Cold Turkey (1:14:03) Judo-Tossed by Hector Lombard (1:16:44) The Divorce (1:19:29) His Son and His Stepson in Spain (1:20:59) 20 UFC Fights (1:21:43) $12,000 for His UFC Debut (1:22:20) The Soccer Kick Bonus (1:23:14) $260,000 for His Last Fight (1:23:45) Retiring on His Own Terms (1:24:25) What a Kids Gym Needs (1:26:42) Don’t Break Your Toys (1:27:12) Kids Who Can’t Do a Cartwheel (1:31:49) Take the Attributes Out (1:33:26) A House After Every Fight (1:34:27) Ya Boi Fitness Academy (1:35:22) Why Women Need Jiu-Jitsu (1:37:40) Host Outro and Subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jessie James Decker was born on a military base in Italy and lived in 14 places before she finished high school. At a sleepover in Newnan, Georgia, two senior girls she had never met pulled up with a bucket of slop they had been saving for weeks and dumped it over her head. Somebody made a page online called I Hate Jessica James. At nine she got on a stage in Baker, Louisiana in a denim vest and red high tops, yodeled a Patsy Montana song and beat every adult in the room. Right out of high school her mom and stepdad loaded a U-Haul and dropped her in Nashville to live with a song plugger. She had a record deal two months later. A gold single, a top 25 debut, opening for the Jonas Brothers. Then she tried to make a country record and nobody in Nashville would sign her. The deal fell apart. The boyfriend turned out to be a loser, her best friend moved out and her family was in Hawaii. No deal, no plan, swearing off men. Then a friend sent her a BlackBerry photo of a Broncos rookie in a white t-shirt with his arms folded. This week I sat down with my friend Jessie to get the whole story. The text from Eric Decker that read like a novel. The phone call on a curb outside a Mellow Mushroom. Four kids and four comebacks, five foot one with nine-pound babies, and the 40,000 women now training with her in the JJD Fit Club. The Kittenish store in Nashville she has run since 2019, just picked up by Macy's, Nordstrom and Dillard's. And The Secret Sauce, her fourth book, written with her mom and her sister, out this week. She never took the SATs, didn't have a drink on her 21st birthday, and cooks dinner every single night. I still don't know how she does all of it. Hope you guys enjoy this one. Follow Jessie: @jessiejamesdecker Her new book: The Secret Sauce, out now. Thanks to OMRE for supporting the show. Please take a minute to subscribe and leave a comment. It makes a huge difference. More about the show at theothersideofhard.com. Thank you to our sponsors OMRE: omre.co Code "RIDEOUT" Ken's book now available here: https://www.theothersideofhard.com/ Chapters (00:00) Meet Jessie James Decker (01:27) Ken's Daughter Loves Kittenish (02:22) Built Differently (04:03) Gratitude Is Her Superpower (05:33) Ken's Brother and the Way Out (06:20) Military Kid and 14 Moves (06:54) Always the New Kid (08:52) Bullied Like a Scene From Carrie (09:22) A Bucket of Slop at a Sleepover (09:52) The I Hate Jessica James Page (10:12) A Girls Girl Who Never Had It (11:43) Sponsor Break OMRE (14:04) No College and No SATs (14:49) Nine Years Old in Baker Louisiana (15:35) This Is My Job Now (16:02) A U-Haul to Nashville (16:23) Living With a Song Plugger (17:17) Ken Meets BeBe Winans (18:16) Vivi on the High Bar (18:56) Shawn Johnson as Mentor (20:08) Not Even a Drink at 21 (21:50) Signed at 19 and a Gold Record (22:42) A Little Doll Pulled Everywhere (23:15) Opening for the Jonas Brothers (24:06) The Label Wanted Platinum Blonde (24:36) Ken Couldn't Enjoy Sarasota (27:26) A Blessing and a Curse (28:17) Four Kids and the Weight Every Time (30:53) Short People Build Muscle Fast (31:47) She Cooks Every Single Day (32:09) Kids With Abs at Three (33:06) Rock Bottom in Nashville (33:46) Nashville Would Not Sign Her (35:07) No Deal and Swearing Off Men (36:29) The Hockey Player Setup (37:39) A BlackBerry Photo of Eric Decker (38:24) A Text Like a Novel (38:53) The Call on the Curb (39:52) Jambalaya and Stapleton at Exit In (40:25) Too Good to Be True (41:23) Ken Meets Eric at Onsite (41:49) Eric After the NFL (42:53) Like a Back Surgery You Need (44:27) The Brokeback Mountain Walk (45:08) Ken's Retreat in Mexico (46:12) Chainsaw in the Ice Storm (46:48) What Is the JJD Fit Club (48:04) Two Steps and 40,000 Women (48:39) Consistency Is a Superpower (49:13) No One Regrets a Hard Workout (50:20) The Genetics at 20 Are Gone (50:57) Kittenish at Macy's and Nordstrom (51:36) Finding a Partner for Kittenish (52:45) Know What You're Not Good At (53:47) The Secret Sauce (54:23) Food Is My Love Language (55:22) Meat Locker Cold (56:09) Host Outro and Subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BeBe Winans grew up a block from Smokey Robinson in Detroit, shoveling his snow for $25 when everyone else paid $2. Stevie Wonder's house was behind theirs. He was the seventh of ten Winans kids, and when his four older brothers got signed by Quincy Jones, BeBe drove the van. Right out of high school he and his sister CeCe auditioned for a Christian TV network in Charlotte. She got the job. He didn't. Their dad wouldn't let her go alone, so BeBe went as her chaperone, planning to work at a grocery store. Then Jim Bakker walked into a rehearsal and told the two of them to sing "Up Where We Belong" as a duet. That is how BeBe & CeCe Winans started. Capitol Records followed, then gold, then platinum, then six Grammys. Whitney Houston sang backup on their first tour and made their outfits herself while Clive Davis lost his mind. What almost nobody saw was the hotel mirror in California at 33. BeBe was 255 pounds and couldn't get through two minutes on a treadmill. His trainer told him it took 33 years to get there, so give yourself more than three days. He got to 180 and never went back. He is 64 now, and I see him running past my house in Brentwood in the rain and on the ice, every day but Sunday. That is how we met. This week I sat down with my neighbor to get the whole story. The fourth-grade poem that made him a writer. Michael Jordan at a Detroit baggage claim telling him to put his head down and listen. Stevie Wonder calling him an incredible writer from the side of the stage. Dolly Parton at the register of the country store down the road. And the tour with CeCe next April, their first in 25 years. One of the kindest people I know, and one hell of a storyteller. Hope you guys enjoy this one. Follow BeBe: @bebewinans Thanks to ROKA for supporting the show. Please take a minute to subscribe and leave a comment. It makes a huge difference. More about the show at theothersideofhard.com. Thank you to our sponsors Our Title Sponsor ROKA: www.roka.com/ Code "RIDEOUT" Ken's book now available here: https://www.theothersideofhard.com/ Chapters (00:00) Meet BeBe Winans (00:40) The Guy Who Runs Every Day (01:18) Jelly Roll Knows Him (02:21) Growing Up in Motown (02:41) Shoveling Smokey Robinson's Snow (03:58) Ten Kids and a Piano (05:16) The Winans and Quincy Jones (06:24) A Poem Called The Wind (07:28) A Catalog of 3000 Songs (08:36) Never Sing Your Own Demo (09:16) Sponsor Break ROKA (11:01) Meeting Whitney Houston (12:10) The Bodyguard Soundtrack (12:30) What the Music Means to People (13:10) Gladys Knight at the Ryman (15:17) Trading Names in a Blizzard (15:47) No Excuses in the Rain (16:10) Nothing Flexes Like Being in Shape (17:13) Rejected at the Charlotte Audition (18:15) Chaperoning CeCe at PTL (18:41) Jim Bakker Makes Them a Duet (19:54) Signing With Capitol Records (20:52) Gold Then Platinum (21:43) Keeping the Solo Rights (23:10) The Mirror in California (24:19) Two Minutes on a Treadmill (24:54) From 255 to 180 (25:45) A Banana in Every State (26:21) Not Donny and Marie (26:44) When One Winans Wins (27:39) Mom's 90th Birthday (28:52) Dad Hollering From the Front Row (29:12) Telling Mom She Can Retire (29:51) Ken Embarrasses His Daughter (31:33) Dad's Last Words (33:06) Sing for 12 Like It's 120,000 (35:37) Greek Theater and Carnegie Hall (36:04) Guards on a Train in Russia (38:44) First Tour With CeCe in 25 Years (39:21) Driving the Van for His Brothers (40:40) Whitney Houston Sang Backup (41:39) Whitney Runs the Tour Bus (44:46) The Lady Who Didn't Know Whitney (45:45) Stevie Wonder Sings Happy Birthday (47:05) Prince in the Next Seat (48:48) Michael Jordan at Baggage Claim (50:48) Dolly Parton at the Country Store (54:43) Ken's Mountain Lion (55:38) Cougars in Vancouver (57:16) Running With Rhinos in Kenya (57:35) Two Kids Who Don't Sing (58:55) Niece Deborah Joy on Greenleaf (59:20) Fifteen Cities in 2027 (01:00:28) Building the Show (01:02:25) Don't Get Addicted to the Applause (01:02:38) A Musical Bound for Broadway (01:03:17) The Business of a Tour (01:05:43) Pull Up Your Brave Pants (01:06:03) Private Shows and Oprah (01:07:24) Eight and a Half Miles Every Day (01:08:15) Lifting Right After the Run (01:09:43) See You in New York (01:10:06) Host Outro and Subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anthony Bass was a Division II kid from Trenton, Michigan who threw 88 to 92 like every other college pitcher. Then in the summer of 2007 he watched a rookie his own size named Tim Lincecum throw 98 for the Giants, copied his delivery in the bullpen the next day, and never threw a fastball under 94 in his next outing. Twelve scout envelopes followed. So did a fifth-round pick by the Padres, a $166,000 signing bonus, and 12 seasons in the big leagues with seven teams. What almost nobody saw was how it ended. On an off day in Toronto in May 2023, Anthony reposted a video calling on Christians to boycott Target and Bud Light. His agent called while he was out fishing. He took it down. His wife Sydney told him not to hide who he is, so he put it back up. The next time he ran out of the bullpen at home, his own fans booed him through the entire inning. Eleven days after the post the Blue Jays designated him for assignment, the GM called it a baseball decision, and no other team would touch him. He was 35. This week I sat down with my friend Anthony to get the whole ride. 100 swings off a tee in a freezing garage. The fake call-up, then the real one: a start in Colorado and a win in his debut before they sent him back to Double-A that same night. $900 a month in the minors to $40,000 a month in the show. A perfect game into the sixth in San Francisco. A season in Japan where a 21-year-old teammate named Shohei Ohtani threw 100 on opening day and Anthony landed a remote-control helicopter on his head in the clubhouse. And the 2022 playoff inning where he never recorded an out. We also get into the part that never makes the highlights. The scripted apology. The resentment when he came home. What he would do differently. And why coaching kids is the next chapter. This guy can tell a story. Hope you guys enjoy this one. Follow Anthony: @anthonyebass Thanks to ROKA for supporting the show. Please take a minute to subscribe and leave a comment. It makes a huge difference. More about the show at theothersideofhard.com. Thank you to our sponsors Our Title Sponsor ROKA: www.roka.com/ Code "RIDEOUT" AMP Fitness: amp.ai/rideout OMRE: omre.co Code "RIDEOUT" Ken's book now available here: https://www.theothersideofhard.com/ Chapters (00:00) Sponsor Break OMRE (00:46) Meet Anthony Bass (03:57) Growing Up in Trenton Michigan (04:30) 100 Swings in a Frozen Garage (05:22) A Railroad Dad Who Played Catch (06:58) Copying Tim Lincecum (10:00) Suddenly Throwing 94 (10:38) Twelve Envelopes at Scout Day (12:38) Sponsor Break ROKA (14:17) Drafted by the Padres (14:56) Eugene Fort Wayne Lake Elsinore (16:52) Who Gets Weeded Out (19:45) Ken Raids the Bruins Equipment Room (22:21) The Fake Call Up (23:23) Starting in Colorado Tomorrow (24:20) Calling Mom and the College Catcher (25:40) Eight Hour Bus Rides (26:43) Swinging Late at 98 (28:40) A Room of His Own at the Ritz (30:05) Meeting Bud Black (30:40) Bass on the Back of the Jersey (33:13) First Batter Carlos Gonzalez (35:30) Winning His Debut in the Rain (36:00) Sent Back Down That Night (36:27) Heath Bell's Three Week Prediction (37:07) Sponsor Break AMP (38:16) Living Out of a Suitcase (39:40) From 900 a Month to the League Minimum (41:15) The 200,000 Pay Stub (44:00) Inconsistent in the Rotation (44:52) A Perfect Game Into the Sixth (46:40) The Triple A Grind (48:05) Traded to Houston (48:34) Hurt and Becoming a Journeyman (50:40) The Fear of Never Coming Back (51:46) Three Hours in a Japanese Grocery Store (52:23) A Teammate Named Shohei Ohtani (52:51) 100 MPH on Opening Day (55:00) Ohtani Hiding in Airports (56:00) Winning the Japan Series (57:41) Landing a Helicopter on Ohtani (59:08) Dodgers Money and the Salary Cap (01:01:36) Turning Down 1.5 Million to Come Home (01:03:25) The Cubs and Hand Foot and Mouth (01:04:40) Closing Games in Louisville (01:05:21) The Mariners Come Calling (01:07:20) Claimed by Toronto (01:07:50) Closing in the COVID Season (01:08:27) A Career Year in Miami (01:09:23) The Playoff Inning Without an Out (01:10:22) Sponsor Break OMRE (01:12:40) The Post (01:14:20) Sydney Says Don't Take It Down (01:15:29) Called Into the GM's Office (01:16:20) A 37 Second Scripted Apology (01:17:45) Booed for an Entire Inning (01:19:04) Released as a Baseball Decision (01:20:27) The Dodgers and Diamondbacks Pass (01:21:40) The Next Chapter Is Coaching (01:22:00) Ken's Recurring Bruins Dream (01:23:12) Fenway and a First Pitch Dream (01:27:54) Middle Tennessee Talent (01:30:33) Training for HYROX Nashville (01:30:50) Ken's Wall Ball Disaster (01:34:40) Confront What Scares You (01:36:09) Four Kids Under Ten (01:38:13) Host Outro and Subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marc Hodulich was a high school sophomore when he ran five months on a broken foot. The scan turned into a bone graft from his shin, two pins across his foot and three orthopedic surgeons before one of them would say he might run again. The pins are still in there 30 years later. He went on to run track at Auburn in the SEC, and then he built the hardest event most people will ever finish. Marc is the co-founder and CEO of 29029. Hike up a mountain, ride the gondola down, repeat until you have climbed 29,029 feet, the height of Everest, inside 36 hours. It is not a race. No clock, no trophy, no paid sponsors. It is walking. And since the first event in 2017, only 68 percent of the people who start have finished. A marathon is 98. This week I sat down with Marc, one of my closest friends, to get the whole story. Birmingham. Selling payroll door to door in Manhattan while working two other jobs. Six years in management consulting until a partner told him he did not want to go deep on anything. The Wall Street Decathlon he started on the side that raised millions for pediatric cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering. Meeting Jesse Itzler at their kids' flag football practice. Why 29029 has never taken a paid sponsor. The 80-year-old who called the event "frustratingly doable." And the summer he, Jesse and Colin O'Brady did 29,029 feet three ways, on the bike, in the water and on the mountain. We also get into the part that never makes the highlights. The day I quit at Kona. What I went through in Mexico. Why Marc deleted email off his phone. And what he means by fulfillment over achievement. Follow Marc: @marchodulich Thanks to ROKA for supporting the show. Please take a minute to subscribe and leave a comment. It makes a huge difference. More about the show at theothersideofhard.com. Thank you to our sponsors Our Title Sponsor ROKA: www.roka.com/ Code "RIDEOUT" OMRE: omre.co Code "KEN" Ken's book now available here: https://www.theothersideofhard.com/ Chapters (00:00) Meet Marc Hodulich (00:48) Growing Up in Birmingham (02:08) The High School Miler (03:02) Running Track at Auburn (06:22) The Book Scholarship (06:53) Five Months on a Broken Foot (09:27) Raising Chase and Dylan (11:38) Sponsor Break ROKA (13:18) Preparing for an Empty House (15:19) Selling Payroll Door to Door (16:46) Six Years in Consulting (17:50) A Partner Calls His Bluff (18:26) The Wall Street Decathlon (19:44) Scared to Quit (21:11) Who's the Better Athlete (23:28) Bought Out by His Partner (24:26) Why 29029 Has No Paid Sponsors (25:46) The Origins of 29029 (26:14) Running to Flag Football Practice (27:19) Owning Everest in 36 Hours (28:42) An On Ramp to Trail Running (30:54) Earned Luxury at the Ritz (31:59) Sponsor Break OMRE (33:37) Early Mistakes at the First Event (34:29) Hard Things Change People (36:00) A 68 Percent Finish Rate (36:45) Quit Feeling Sorry for Yourself (38:19) The Average Participant Is 50 (39:36) The Day Ken Quit at Kona (40:42) Training for Bad Conditions (42:48) Fulfillment Before the Finish Line (44:07) Teepees at Snowbasin (45:14) It's All Free (46:05) Ken and Rob Show Up Cocky (46:58) Frustratingly Doable at 80 (47:56) No Awards for Finishing First (49:01) Lapping the Field at Whistler (50:22) Negotiating With Yourself (52:48) Honest Conversations on the Mountain (53:27) The Idea Behind TRAIL (55:01) Leadville and Telluride (57:14) Ken vs Tyler at TRAIL (59:12) The Triple, 29029 Three Ways (01:00:43) A 5.5 Mile Swim (01:01:32) Buying a Bike for the Climb (01:04:10) The Hardest Part Was Staying Present (01:04:48) A Text From Chase (01:06:18) Cramping on Lap Five (01:07:02) Whitecaps on the Lake (01:09:19) The Safety Kayak Wake Up Call (01:11:38) Ken's Topanga Canyon Crash (01:13:34) Sitting in It for a While (01:14:44) Joy in Other People Winning (01:15:43) Ray Hicks and the Big Cup (01:16:47) Knowing What You Don't Want (01:17:24) When Racing Becomes Performative (01:18:40) Five Days Off in Mexico (01:19:05) Uncomfortable Plant Therapy (01:24:05) 5 MeO DMT and Ego Death (01:26:18) Grateful for What Matters (01:28:01) Deleting Email Off His Phone (01:31:09) The Runner's High Afterwards (01:31:46) 29029 Goes to Verbier (01:33:26) Fulfillment Not Achievement (01:34:06) Host Outro and Subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices