Life After (2022): Season 1, Episode 1 - DeMarcus Ware - full transcript

Members of the
Texas Sports Hall of Fame

are required to have brought
lasting fame and honor

to the state of Texas.

And our next inductee certainly
meets that standard again.

Going in at Number 11,
picked first round,

coming from Troy State,
that set the tone.

DeMarcus Ware, talk about
spears, the 20th pick of the draft.

Ware was Number 11.
And he gets to...

And then,
going into Dallas,

and immediately making an
impact and to this day,

is the team's sack leader.



Ware's come and
gone... He fumbled the ball.

If you aren't gonna
be able to walk after this game,

was it worth it?

For him to be remembered

as the player he was,
the attention to detail,

the fact that he
would give no quarter.

Forgive the terminology,
he was a beast.

Two games
before my last season,

my son came and...

He didn't know that
I had a back injury.

Nine Pro-Bowls,
four-time all Pro

and then going to Denver

and finally winning
a Super Bowl.

So, he jumped
on my back and...



I couldn't hold him up,

I fell on the ground...

No Cowboy fan will ever forget
him being carried off the field

and coming back the
next week in New Orleans

and leading them to a win that
no one expected them to get,

all because of his inspiration.

The fortunes that we
all see up here today.

And he looked
at me and he said,

"Dad, what's wrong?"

It wasn't always an easy road.
It wasn't always an easy fight.

Just like everybody
else has a village up here...

And that day I said I'm gonna
retire and hang up the cleats.

I told myself, "Well, what
are you gonna do next?"

Yup, there we go.

I remember us
having that conversation.

He was like, "I gotta stay active.
I gotta keep my mind going.

"I gotta keep doing something."

When your name holds
a lot of weight like that,

throughout your life,

you can do whatever you want.

DeMarcus Ware, Life After,

take one.

You know, football was,
something that was never on my radar,

at first.

Until, you know, it
gets to an opportunity

to be able to play college

and get a college scholarship,

and, you don't have to
pay for your school.

I really wasn't worried about...

life after.

My name is Chris Ware.

I'm DeMarcus' uncle/brother,

because of our age, you know,

we're like a year,
nine months apart.

So, growing up is actually more
like brothers than uncle and nephew.

My dad, you know, he
actually played a father figure

for a lot of my
nieces and nephews.

And their father wasn't actually
in their life at that time,

coming up as a young kid.

So, my dad was like,

the dad for a lot of us.

It's crazy because
everyone meets up at his house,

every single day, at
his grandparents' house.

So, the aunts, the uncles,
they would get off work,

first place they are going is
over to his grandmother's house.

All the kids would get off the
bus at the grandparents' house.

Pleasant was like the
little hometown street circuit

you know, lot of
kids running around,

everybody competitive, played a
lot of street football, touch.

He wasn't big. He was
small going into college,

from the high school.

He weighed like a hundred
and ninety, something pounds

So, I started playing
football, you know, later on.

But what really pushed me there

was when a guy named Bo Jackson
came to our boys and girls club.

And one thing he told
me that really hit home,

was...

"If you go to college,
you get to eat for free.

"You could eat all you want."

I mean for me, coming
from a... from nothing...

Oh man, that's great.

So going to college, he
wanted to go to Auburn University

but ended up going
to Troy University

because they were the only school
that gave him a scholarship offer.

You know, a lot of us
were struggling and stuff,

we weren't fortunate to have lot of
money and stuff from our parents.

With a big football game, we can
go over there and stay our course

and that's like,
extra money for us,

and you actually got a chance
to watch the game for free.

No one knew
exactly who I was

I had my hat on,
my hat and coat.

Do you think I cared? No.

Because I will leave with
$300 after that game.

But those are the behind the scene
things that people don't see.

They think that everything's
been given to you.

But nothing's been given
to me. I worked for it.

After Troy,
he had told me like,

he said that, um...

Oh, down the line, like
three or four years,

and he was at Troy, "I'm
gonna go to the NFL."

I said, "Nah, you ain't
fit to go to NFL."

He said, "Yes, I mean it, Ma."

I said, "Well...

"good."

He said, "Yeah..." He said,
"I might make some money."

It's a little different. We
got to drop it like it's hot.

We gotta get low,
come on! Let's go.

Good job.

Slow down. Here we go. Up.

Slow down. Up. Yeah.

Ten seconds left.

When you have an
early morning wake-up

and you work out,

it releases these crazy
endorphins, right?

But it keeps you more upbeat,

so when you have that early morning
wake-up, when you get that workout,

you will figure out
that throughout the day,

"I feel better."

Pop, yeah. There we go.

There we go. Hit it.

Hit it.

Hit it.

Hit it.

Hit it. Hit it.

Come on. Hit it.

There we go. Hit it.

I had an awesome career.

Playing 12 years in the NFL.

I was the number one
outside linebacker

in the whole world.

Everybody was talking about
him as a future superstar

and then you meet him and he's
such a down-to-earth person,

and have him turn into
what he turns into

on the football field,
it's completely different.

Got a lot
of trophies and awards

but to me, that never
really meant anything.

The competition was what
meant everything to me.

He doesn't even
act like a millionaire.

He was the type of person that

gonna maintain his
character all way through,

'cause you have a lot of people
adapt to the environment,

you know, you get around
a lot of rich people.

A lot of interest, and you know,

you start to change
a little bit.

Start pursuing... do things
you normally wouldn't do

and sometimes it
cost you to either

lose a lot of money,
lose a lot of friends,

lose a lot of family, so...

But he's pretty much
maintained a lot.

Get over the sand trap.

Come on.

Ah, I should have hit a six.

See, it's all over the place.

You tell yourself what you gonna
do then you do the total opposite.

Right.

- Right.
- It sucks.

- Do the total opposite.
- Mmm-hmm.

Dude, I knew. I was
like, "I'm lined up good."

And as soon as it went off
the cliff, I was like, "Oh."

The transition,
like the first two years

it was rough. I went through
depression like everybody else.

Trying to find yourself,

'cause football takes such
a big part of your life.

People try to say, "I'm not gonna
let football take your identity."

Well, good luck doing that.

This is gonna take all your time away
from you, your family, people you love

and it's gonna demand all your
time and all your energy and all.

Your thinking and everything
revolves around football.

Waking up every
day, figuring out my opponent,

going into the stadium,
which was my colosseum,

and going to battle.

That's what I did,
like, my whole life,

and I enjoyed it.

A lot of people didn't
see, most people didn't see

and I think he wouldn't
let most people see,

is he was really hurt.

I mean, on the last
game he played,

I think it was, like, the 29th.

He had to go in the next
day for back surgery.

Before then, he couldn't
walk after games.

We had to carry this
dude off the field.

Yeah.

His lower back was so tight.

I'm talking about
practices, not the game.

Then he'll come
back and do it again

and we'll carry him off again.

Yeah.

I talked to him a lot about it,

I said... I ask him like,

"How do you feel now because
you are not playing ball?"

And he said, "You know,
I got hurt so many times,

"that I don't really wanna...
I don't wanna go back."

I don't want him
to go back either.

I said, "You got
hurt so many times.

"Enjoy your life."

Not only was it a
physical change,

where he had to find
a way to get healthy

and rebuild himself,

to figuring out, "Okay, where
is my place in this world?"

to like "What do I do?"

"What is my outlet?"

"How am I going to do
the things that I need

"to find out who I am again?"

I mean, think
about every single Sunday,

you're going and
preparing for a team

and you get a
opportunity to electrify

a team, a city, a stadium.

And every Sunday,
when it's a home game,

you walk through this tunnel,

and it's almost like you
see a little door of light

and you're walking
towards it, knowing that

as soon as you get to the end,

the sun's gonna come out.

And you see your teammates looking
at you as you go in that tunnel,

they're going back and forth,
knowing that, you're their leader

and you're ready to
lead them into battle.

In life,
there's... there's a journey

and for me at the NFL,
it was a rollercoaster.

One thing that I've always
been able to do is change...

is change from one
thing to the next.

It was hard. I'm gonna let
you know that right now.

And, um... But I had
to make that decision.

Once I transitioned
out of the league,

I said, "How can I
still impact people

"like I impact the
guys on the team?"

So I started doing things through
fitness and still affecting people,

still having that
champion mentality,

but now motivating
people through fitness

and that's how I transitioned
out a lot easier.

Um, and I went with what
was comfortable for me.

And what I love and enjoy.

Because I don't have
to work anymore.

But the thing is, how much change
can I make in people's lives

and that's what
drove me to fitness

and that's why I
do it so much now.

And there you have it.

I love, like, technology.

And, I said, "How
can I mix technology

"with an athlete
or with fitness?"

So, I got in contact
with Jerry Jones,

and Jerry Jones know a lot
of people, which we all know.

And he contacted this friend,

Calvin Carter, who
owns Bottle Rocket.

That's a huge app
company in Dallas.

And so, we actually
figured out how

to really make a virtual
trainer in your pocket.

With 3D models,

augmented reality,

using machine learning,

and we learned so
much from that.

And we created the
ultimate fitness app.

If I can mix the videos,

the focus points on
how you should train,

and the methodology
from how I trained

and got out of the
three back surgeries,

the two neck surgeries,
the two shoulder surgeries,

two broken arms,

and still feeling great.

I can sort of, fit that on you,

and give you that knowledge

and so, now, you can feel
good just like I am right now.

And then, it's like,
while I'm talking,

and with some music going,

it's like, boom, they'll start
seeing this stuff and not me.

I'm Demarcus' manager.

I've been with Demarcus
the entire way,

from before he was drafted

to now that he's retired,
and on his second act.

I've just been a part of
every single piece of it.

So, it'll only be
like, 30 seconds.

- Right.
- Real quick.

So, technically, you're not
speaking in any of this?

Not yet.

How do you see the
final edit going?

That's what a lot
of people don't understand is,

I'm not just a talent.

The hard work that I
put in playing football

is the same hard work I'm
putting in to this app.

And I paid attention
to the small details

of what you actually need to be
doing when you are working out.

And some people really,
like, want that.

That's what you're gonna
get when you come to me.

Instead of just throwing
something at you and saying, "Hey,

"just go work out."

All
right, let's go.

And I wanted to
take it a step further.

Not only I wanna
be in your hand,

but I want to also,

build a brick and mortar that you
can come in and I can see you.

Three, two, one.

When 3Volt first opened,
he was very involved in it,

but he wasn't teaching.

And then it got to
the point where again

Demarcus, like, "I've got
to be doing something,

"I've got to be doing..."
That wasn't enough.

So he said, "I want to teach."

Fight for me.

Shake it out. Shake it out.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six...

Let my trainers
establish who they are

inside of the gym,

establish their identity,

and then eventually,
I started teaching.

I wanted to establish a company

not with the Demarcus Ware name,

but with the 3Volt Fitness name.

Meaning three volts, the
three methods of fitness,

the three bolts of life,

meaning having stability,

being able to be consistent,

meaning the cardio,

and then always
being able to grind,

which is the HIIT.

And that's how I'm
gonna electrify you

and your fitness program.

You know, a lot of stuff he
dealt with, he dealt personally,

he's not the type
of person to vent.

If he had a problem or issue,

he kept it in himself and
he'd just, like, tough it out.

I'm like, "Dude, if you need to
talk or vent about anything..."

He's like, "No, I'm straight.

"I got it. I'll figure it out."

You know, so he could sort of
hold stuff in and deal with it.

At first, being a dad

was a challenge.

Because I couldn't have kids.

My first son, that, you
know, we tried to have,

he had renal agenesis,
his lungs didn't develop.

So we had to terminate
at eight months.

Next pregnancy, the same thing.

You lose the baby at
seven or eight months,

again.

Because the heart just stopped.

And you start thinking that,

"Is that me?"

"Is it my fault?"

Is there something that I
had done early in my life

that, you know, God
is getting back at me.

And that's only
the devil, right?

And so my pastor, Pastor Haynes,

he started thinking
and talking to me once,

he said, "Have you ever
thought about adopting?

"There's a girl at
our church, and...

"she's not going to be able
to take care of her child.

"And I know that you would
make a great father."

I started thinking to myself,

you know what,

if God, that's what
you put in my life,

that's what you put in my life.

So, I'm going to be able to

bless her in a way to
where her mother couldn't.

Be a father to her, that
her father couldn't.

Three years later,

you know, I had my little son.

And I sit there
and I'm like, "God,

"you wanted me to
bless somebody else

"before you blessed me."

He doesn't
talk about this often,

uh, every now and then,

he would refer to the fact that,

you know, he went to Troy
as opposed to Auburn.

Uh, overlooked by
the big school.

And I think, there was,
a chip on his shoulder

that took him through football

showing Auburn, "This is
what y'all missed out on."

But then there is also that
chip on his shoulder that says,

"Yeah, I'm gonna
transform that chip

"into being my best,

"at all times. Doing my best,

"uh, to be everything, you
know, God created me to be.

"And then, I'm gonna
challenge people around me..."

cause you all are
doing virtual schools.

- We all are doing it.
- I like...

What he doing is, what
he doing for the love of it.

I don't think it's something that
he's trying to do for anything else.

I'm thinking, he's pursuing
what he love to do.

Because he's already given
people a lot of vision, as in,

what you can do as a person,

as in when you're motivated,

but then, few can
get an opportunity

to be life-changing, as in,

something that they can
go and push themselves,

motivate themselves, same
as what he's doing up there.

It encourages me more
to, like, play football

and, that like, I have a
cousin that's totally athletic.

And then, I can play
football just like him.

He got the aim,
my son, he got the drive.

He looks up everything
about Demarcus.

He's nine years old.

And anything dealing
with Demarcus,

he locks in on it like...

He tells me stuff like, "You know
Demarcus is in the Hall of Fame?"

And I'm like, "He
didn't tell me yet."

You know, and like, and my son,
he knows it, you know, so...

He got a perfect example
of what you can be

if you dedicate yourself and
do the right thing, you know.

I was a
185-pound wide receiver,

coming out of high school.

And now, being one
of the best ever,

to play this game.

And it's my... really my
first time ever saying it.

And,
what I see here is the glue

that keeps culture together.

Because what I see is

character, resilience.

I see strength
and determination,

I don't ever say
I'm the best at anything,

but when that title
is given to you,

don't be afraid to say it.

Because that's what you are.

And guess what, you
put me on a pedestal

to share that story,

to create the change that
I know God wants me to do.

And I'm gonna keep doing
it as long as I can.

I grew up in humble
beginnings in Auburn, Alabama.

We all dream of becoming
something bigger

than we can even fathom.

But it takes a village

believing in us,

to achieve that goal.