Episode 83 – Mark Clayton

00:00:00:02 – 00:00:24:03
Mark Clayton
Hindsight is, like, crazy for me because, you know, I didn’t think I would go to college or play football. I didn’t think that I would end up being a All-American you know, at Oklahoma. I didn’t think that I would get, you know, drafted. And it was, it was like a- all along those, I guess, milestones, I was just glad to be where I was at because I didn’t think I was gonna be there.

00:00:24:05 – 00:00:44:20
Mark Clayton
So I was just appreciating tho- that moment. At that time, my whole recruiting process was centered around the fact that I was this little bitty guy, but I just knew how to make people miss. I knew how to, you know, go- Shifty here, go sh- super shifty. My motivate was, like, making people look silly. Like I, I absolutely loved making people look stupid. That was just it.

00:00:44:21 – 00:01:12:12
Mark Clayton
And so it didn’t matter what color, who. If you’re in front of me, I’m just trying to make you look stupid. It’s about function. Like, it’s about here’s a market. There is a, a market for our people who like to work out with over-ear headphones. We need to be the best performance over-ear headphone on the market, period. I also have iterations of what we have today already drawn out for years to come, but they all take in consideration being the number one performance audio company on the planet.

00:01:12:17 – 00:01:28:08
Mark Clayton
Wanted to be a basketball player. Uh, college, NBA, I had, you know, hoop dreams. But yeah, NFL wasn’t even on the radar. But those were my main 2, 2 sports.

00:01:28:10 – 00:01:31:23
Brandon Adams
And so you, you had more, you had more passion for basketball than you did for football?

00:01:31:24 – 00:01:32:06
Mark Clayton
I did.

00:01:32:07 – 00:01:35:22
Brandon Adams
I did, yeah. And so when did that start to switch over?

00:01:35:24 – 00:01:52:14
Mark Clayton
Uh, it didn’t, I don’t think. I think I still have more passion for basketball.

00:01:52:16 – 00:02:14:18
Brandon Adams
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to The Blueprint. Today we’ve got Mark Clayton, former wide receiver for Oklahoma Sooners, the Baltimore Ravens, and, uh, turned entrepreneur. So, uh, he’s trying to figure some S out, he says. So stay tuned to figure out what he’s doing. And, uh, if you guys can do me a favor, hit that subscribe button on the bottom. Uh, I’d love to, you know, get more of these stories out, help us get these stories out, and, and it’s, it’s also gonna g- you know, help us grow a little bit.

00:02:14:18 – 00:02:20:19
Brandon Adams
So stay tuned.

00:02:20:23 – 00:02:21:13
Mark Clayton
Mark, thanks for- What episode is this?

00:02:21:14 – 00:02:25:23
Brandon Adams
This is episode 80 80, nice.

00:02:25:24 – 00:02:26:16
Mark Clayton
Okay.

00:02:26:19 – 00:02:27:20
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

00:02:27:22 – 00:02:28:19
Mark Clayton
Yeah. Yeah.

00:02:28:19 – 00:02:34:00
Brandon Adams
Yeah, that’s awesome. Coming up on 100 real quick, you know? What up? Thank you so much for being on the show. I really appreciate it.

00:02:34:01 – 00:02:39:13
Mark Clayton
Appreciate you having me out, man. For being the TA, getting us connected you know? It was cool. Golfers.

00:02:39:14 – 00:02:48:15
Brandon Adams
Well, the cool, cool part about that is too, is like you’re from one side of the metroplex and I’m from the other, and, you know somebody in the middle kind of hooked us up, you know?

00:02:48:16 – 00:02:49:03
Mark Clayton
And so- Yeah,

00:02:49:03 – 00:02:53:15
Brandon Adams
I just found out it took you two and a half years to get here today, so- appreciate the journey.

00:02:53:19 – 00:02:56:11
Mark Clayton
I know. I grew a couple grays on the way.

00:02:56:13 – 00:03:15:20
Brandon Adams
Well, I caught ’em. I caught a few, so. I got a couple more. Well, that’s cool, man. Um, what Let’s I wanna You know, something about this, this podcast is about getting people on the outside to understand the person in this seat. And kinda what their journey has been to get them to where they were at, right? And so you’ve got, you know, a couple different lives that you’ve led.

00:03:15:21 – 00:03:16:11
Mark Clayton
Yeah.

00:03:16:16 – 00:03:20:14
Brandon Adams
yeah. Where, where does Mark Clayton originate from?

00:03:20:15 – 00:03:57:16
Mark Clayton
Man, so I w- I was actually born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, uh, Mark A. Canth- C- Clayton and, uh, Jaquita Lynn Clayton. Um, I grew up for the first, well, I guess 12 years of my life, uh, just all around Oklahoma City. We moved around a lot. Uh, our household was fairly rocky, bumpy, a lot of, you know, domestic abuse and a lot of, you know, staying in areas where you, you had to look out for yourself or you had to be on edge. Um, just not safe environments.

00:03:57:18 – 00:04:28:20
Mark Clayton
Um, and, you know, uh, thinking back on it, just people handle different situations and circumstances differently. Um, and I think, you know, part of my introverted personality and, I guess, kinda logic-led thought process about life, as an adult I’m sure, you know, there as a kid, was always, you know, “Okay, how can I avoid this situation? I don’t like what I’m hearing over there, so how can I, you know, build something to get away from that?”

00:04:28:20 – 00:05:04:06
Mark Clayton
“Or how can I go in this direction to not have to deal or, or hear that?” Um, I think a lot of that early kinda came into, you know, my character and, and, and what what that built in me. And as things progressed as a, you know, middle schooler, um, junior high, high school, um, it started to show up in different arenas that people would say, “Man, you, you know, you’re, you’re really tough.”

00:05:04:07 – 00:05:31:10
Mark Clayton
“Like, mentally tough. Like, you can, you can take, like, you can deal with a lot. Uh, like, I can throw a lot at you and you can handle it.” And, you know, I look back and it’s like, man, I, I think a lot of that somewhat, you know, I guess I can call it trauma, um, trauma kinda maintenance, so to speak um, played out in how I dealt with things as I grew into my, my teenage years, um, and s- especially in sports.

00:05:31:11 – 00:05:56:15
Brandon Adams
Forged by fire, right? And so, like, you know what? I mean, honestly, like, I hear a lot of that, and that’s really cool. Thank you for opening up and telling people- Totally about that, to be quite honest, because it’s not an easy thing to talk about. You know, as people go through things in their life, and you, you gotta hear about, you know “I w- I grew up like this” “or this wasn’t so comfortable in my life,” or whatever, but I think there’s some things like that that also cause you to, um, be tougher, like you say.

00:05:56:16 – 00:06:04:03
Brandon Adams
Indeed. You, it causes you to grow up fast. Causes you to understand the world is not video games and-You know?

00:06:04:07 – 00:06:05:24
Mark Clayton
You know, cupcakes and- Cupcakes, yeah

00:06:05:24 – 00:06:06:19
Brandon Adams
And cupcakes.

00:06:06:19 – 00:06:09:13
Mark Clayton
the sun shines every day, you know? It, it rains.

00:06:09:15 – 00:06:25:10
Brandon Adams
You know, and so you look at things through a different lens, right? And so when you go to come across things that other people would see as difficult or hard, you’ve seen past that. Right? You’ve seen to the things that are really are hard in life. Dude. Right? So you can take a different perspective on some of those other pieces, right?

00:06:25:10 – 00:06:25:23
Brandon Adams
Right?

00:06:25:24 – 00:06:56:06
Mark Clayton
Certainly, yeah. I mean, it’s, you know, y- you think about life and, certainly in my adult years, it’s more, you know, this thing is short and, you know, surely we will die. And, and that’ll be it. Um, and you deal with the things in life that are scary or, you know, whatever it is that, that scares you the most or you’re most fearful of. And I would say like, man, I, I thought I was gonna die as a kid. You know? Th- those things were, were, were fearful.

00:06:56:07 – 00:07:31:16
Mark Clayton
I mean, it, death to me at that time or being around it was just like, that’s, that’s, that’s scary. Like, that’s You’re, you’re navigating this stuff as a almost, you know, helpless, you know, kid, and as an adult you deal with, you know, some different types of things on top of success that has, you know, came in life. Um, the things that are considered scary or fearful or uh, traumatic or life ending, so seemingly life end- ending or, or like, man, that’s, I man. Been there, done that.

00:07:31:18 – 00:07:57:08
Mark Clayton
You’ll be all right. You’re gonna be all right. Like, that’s you, you’re gonna be okay. You can- That’s the worst thing you can make it, man. That’s Exactly. And, you know, people say first world problems so to speak, but, you know, the, all those problems, and they’re real, but it’s, it’s just like after you’ve dealt and went through so much, you’ve built this capacity to handle, you know, a lot of things in, in life that would come that you d- didn’t necessarily expect.

00:07:57:09 – 00:08:21:17
Brandon Adams
And a lot of people would see that as like, “I’ve been beat down,” or, “I’ve been put down,” or “I’ve been, you know, held down to be where I’m couldn’t flourish like I thought.” And some other- That’s good you know, in today’s society too are like, don’t correct your kid,” or, “Don’t do those things to do this.” Or, “Let them flourish,” or whatever because all those restrictions you put on people cause them to be nerfed.

00:08:21:19 – 00:08:37:08
Brandon Adams
But I think it’s quite the opposite, right? You cause people to have limits so they know where they can break through their limits and they know what they want to be as an adult or want to be as this. Because you let people have complete freedom on what do they do, they kinda lose total control of what’s real and what’s not, right?

00:08:37:10 – 00:09:06:10
Mark Clayton
Especially kids. I mean, uh, I think as, you know, children of God, a, a part of knowing that you are loved is the fact that there are limits. Hey, don’t go over there. Don’t do that. The don’ts, you know, of life that are wise and lead to, you know, a, a life, a lighter life so to speak. You know? Um, dealing with less stress potentially. Dealing with, you know, less trauma potentially, whatever that is, but, um, those, those don’ts, uh, to me are, are an, an extension of love.

00:09:06:10 – 00:09:14:13
Mark Clayton
But those those don’ts to me are an extension of love.

00:09:14:15 – 00:09:18:05
Brandon Adams
I was, I was, uh I’m a big fan of Kanye.

00:09:18:06 – 00:09:20:00
Mark Clayton
Like- Yeah, me too. I- I like him.

00:09:20:02 – 00:09:22:23
Brandon Adams
I don’t know, I just, uh, and that’s probably not a popular opinion and I’m- No, no

00:09:22:23 – 00:09:24:00
Mark Clayton
And no, no.

00:09:24:01 – 00:09:47:04
Brandon Adams
not apologizing to be quite honest. Um, but I love- I love his spirit the fact that he speaks to some things that are not popular. Right? Things that are concepts that are not everyone wants to hear, and I heard him one time say I was playing with, my son was playing in the living room and he jumped off the coffee table onto the couch like Superman, and I thought, yeah, yeah, we’ve all done that, right?

00:09:47:06 – 00:10:10:24
Brandon Adams
We’ve all done the crazy jump off whatever, and then somebody came and said, “Don’t do that.” And he said, “W- why not? Why can’t they do that?” Said, “Well, they may break something or it’s something nice or whatever. They need to learn about this.” And he’s like, “You need to understand that this coffee table that he’s jumping off of, you’re telling him no. Not the coffee table.

00:10:11:01 – 00:10:29:01
Brandon Adams
I want him not to see the world as a bunch of coffee tables. I don’t want you to stack a wall of coffee tables up in front of my child with a bunch of no’s that he can’t do. I want him to understand that he should tackle and challenge and get out there and do things,” right? I think there’s a balance somewhere in there, right?

00:10:29:03 – 00:10:52:23
Brandon Adams
But I thought it was a really kind of a clever way to say like, sometimes letting your kids fall is a good thing, you know. Sometimes letting them catch some bumps, catch some bruises, bump their head on the ceiling, you know, to understand that there is one there, and that you’re just not quite in a place right now where you can, uh, you know, navigate that. Work your way to a place where you can, right?

00:10:52:24 – 00:11:12:24
Brandon Adams
And some of those tough upbringings- you know, cause us to understand like, well, I am small. I am a kid, you know, in a pretty rough environment. I can’t do anything about it now, but I can navigate or I can get to that corner. I can do whatever. I can kinda, you know, s- slip out in these certain ways, right?

00:11:13:00 – 00:11:20:17
Brandon Adams
Cause you to mentally have to think through life. You know? Would you agree with this statement?

00:11:20:18 – 00:11:23:19
Mark Clayton
I agree. Wholeheartedly. 1, 1, 1000%.

00:11:23:23 – 00:11:28:21
Brandon Adams
Well, I heard you say like I, I found my way to kind of, uh, uh, dip out of certain things or- Yeah, exactly

00:11:28:22 – 00:11:29:15
Mark Clayton
Yeah.

00:11:29:17 – 00:11:32:21
Brandon Adams
are you, are you a huge fan of, uh, Irish goodbye? You know what an Irish goodbye is?

00:11:32:21 – 00:11:33:23
Mark Clayton
No, I haven’t heard of that.

00:11:33:24 – 00:11:49:01
Brandon Adams
Irish goodbye is like when you’re in a party or whatever- and there’s always the guy that walks up and says, “Hey, man, I’m out of here,” whatever, “I’ll see you later.” Everybody’s like, “No, no, no, no, no.” “You gotta stay,” whatever, and it’s always like pressure to stay. An Irish goodbye is something happens on the other side that causes a commotion, and you walk out.

00:11:49:02 – 00:11:50:22
Brandon Adams
Gotcha. Right?

00:11:50:24 – 00:11:51:11
Mark Clayton
Sneak out the back.

00:11:51:13 – 00:12:01:13
Brandon Adams
Right? I’m a huge fan of Irish goodbyes. I don’t wanna- Yeah. I don’t look, if I’m, if I’m convincing myself to get out of a situation anyways that’s what I’m trying to do. I don’t need somebody to pressure me to get anything on the other side, right?

00:12:01:14 – 00:12:12:22
Mark Clayton
Indeed. No, I, I mean, I’m definitely, um, I’m just gonna let you know I’m, I’m out. I’ma catch you next time. This, this was good while it lasted but, uh, I’m, I’m gone, man. Gotta go.

00:12:12:24 – 00:12:18:02
Brandon Adams
Well, that’s cool. So- That’s good uh, as you were growing up and and, you had siblings?

00:12:18:05 – 00:12:25:20
Mark Clayton
I did. Um, so it was me, a younger brother, and, and a younger sister. I’m the oldest. My brother’s the youngest, and my sister’s the, the middle child.

00:12:25:21 – 00:12:26:16
Brandon Adams
Close?

00:12:26:18 – 00:12:32:23
Mark Clayton
Um, I’m 43. She’s 41. He’s So they’re like Irish twins.

00:12:32:24 – 00:12:34:00
Brandon Adams
Yeah, Irish twins. They’re actually like- Yeah, yeah.

00:12:34:00 – 00:12:35:03
Mark Clayton
Yeah, yeah.

00:12:35:04 – 00:12:39:15
Brandon Adams
Are you guys, uh, emotionally close?

00:12:39:17 – 00:13:06:23
Mark Clayton
Uh, somewhat. I’m cl- I mean, uh, closer to my sister. My brother a little bit. He is, he is the emotion He has enough emotion for both of us combined. Um, my sister is, you know, we’re, we’re a lot alike. Uh, just very s- you know, cerebral. She went to, came to Oklahoma while I was at Oklahoma actually. Um, we was in school together. And, uh, she got a finance degree and then went and got a law degree, now is doing criminal defense in Fort Worth and running for judge.

00:13:07:03 – 00:13:29:07
Mark Clayton
Um, f- you know, federal court right now. Um, super sharp, super, you know, just whatever the situation, we gonna, I’ma get it done or I’ma figure this out and, you know, move into the next phase. Um, and then, you know, my brother is definitely the, the, the nurturer of us and, you know, he, he wants to make sure everybody’s in the mix, and we’re, we’re seeing each other and hugging on each other and loving on each other, which is great.

00:13:29:07 – 00:13:48:07
Mark Clayton
Um, s- but, you know, our relationships are, you know, we’re, we’re adults. You got kids. I got kids. My sisters got kids. And so we’re, we do our own things, and then when we get to see each other, we get to see each other.

00:13:48:09 – 00:13:49:06
Mark Clayton
It’s, it’s good.

00:13:49:07 – 00:13:52:09
Brandon Adams
Are you kinda standoffish when it comes to emotional type stuff like that?

00:13:52:10 – 00:14:14:21
Mark Clayton
Yeah, yeah, I’m not I mean, and, and I think that goes all the way back to, you know, and to me, and being a first child too, I think you deal with a lot of the unknown, the, the parents’ fears of whatever the climate was at the time, and now you have a child who you, there, you don’t have a manual- Yeah, on how to do it on how to handle this child.

00:14:14:21 – 00:14:43:01
Mark Clayton
Like and I’m sure I was crying. You know, I was a baby, you know? And, and I think, like, a lot of the circumstance at that time, you know, fell downhill. And then, you know, I think first child expectations are, are very high in, in any way. And so it’s like I don’t, don’t feel like I had a, a lot of time to, to be emotional about life or about things, about whatever was on the table. Um, it was just- All business

00:14:43:03 – 00:15:01:00
Mark Clayton
a matter of, getting it done. This is what you ne- this is what, this is where we are. We gotta move, we gotta move. We don’t- Mm. And it doesn’t matter, you know, how you’re feeling or if you’re concerned or scared. Like, no, this, these are the facts and this is what you have, what we’re gonna deal with.

00:15:01:00 – 00:15:02:10
Brandon Adams
Input and output.

00:15:02:11 – 00:15:03:21
Mark Clayton
Yep yep.

00:15:03:22 – 00:15:10:12
Brandon Adams
So has that translated into, uh, you, you played, I’m guessing other sports as well or, or just football?

00:15:10:12 – 00:15:30:17
Mark Clayton
Basketball. So I was football, basketball. I ran track. But, uh, basketball was, ended up playing football. I loved basketball. I w- wanted to be a basketball player. Uh, college. NBA, I had, you know, hoop dreams. Um, but yeah, NFL wasn’t even on the radar. But those were my main 2, 2 sports.

00:15:30:19 – 00:15:34:09
Brandon Adams
And so you, you had a more, you had more passion for basketball than you did for football?

00:15:34:10 – 00:15:35:00
Mark Clayton
I did, yeah.

00:15:35:04 – 00:15:38:08
Brandon Adams
And so when did that start to switch over? Uh, it didn’t, I don’t think.

00:15:38:10 – 00:15:43:05
Mark Clayton
I think I still have more passion for basketball. Uh, no, I think I fell in love with football when I was in college.

00:15:43:07 – 00:16:07:17
Mark Clayton
Um- Oh, wow. Probably about my, it was around fr- sophomore year. Um, was coming off of injuries and, but I saw a glimpse of the work that had been put in-It was just a, it was more like a respect for everything that had transpired up until that point, um, that helped me fall in love with everything that wasn’t just playing football.

00:16:07:19 – 00:16:32:05
Mark Clayton
So I got really acquainted to, with all the things around football that made the game fun and s- like, ridiculously easy. But I think I, yeah, it w- that didn’t happen until my sophomore year. Prior to that, it was all essentially talent. Um, and some, some wit, you know? The skill to escape.

00:16:32:07 – 00:16:49:23
Mark Clayton
You know, my, my whole recruiting process was centered around the fact that I was this little bitty guy, but I just knew how to make people miss. I knew how to, you know, go here, go- Shifty sh- super shifty. Um, and so it was, it’s kinda cool to think back and as we’re talking through this, even now putting it together is like, dang, yeah, I’ve been shifting, you know 00:16:49:23 – 00:16:54:13
Mark Clayton
since I was a kid.

00:16:54:17 – 00:17:04:18
Brandon Adams
And trying to s- s- stay in the pockets. Right, right, right. Well, that’s cool. Um, and so at what, what age did you first pick, uh, the football up? Um, 5.

00:17:04:20 – 00:17:27:07
Mark Clayton
Like I s- I started playing early. You know, it was natural. I mean, I could, I could play. I was, I mean, and, and I, I think, uh, I was, I was very agr- I was a def- I was on the defensive side of the ball early, and I, I just remember, I just remember hitting. And so at then it was full pads and everything at 5 years old. 6yearold, 7-year-old.

00:17:27:07 – 00:17:48:07
Mark Clayton
And, um, you know, it was just my, like my s- my dad’s stepdad at the time would be like, it’s all you gotta do. Whoever got the ball, you take this part of your helmet,” do, do, do, “you put it right in their chest.” It was like hit you head up, like hit right in that sternum. And I, I promise you, they’re gonna be res- they refer to you.

00:17:48:07 – 00:17:52:22
Mark Clayton
And yeah, sure enough, I was known for just coming in, little guy, just- Smack.

00:17:52:22 – 00:17:54:07
Brandon Adams
Just smack.

00:17:54:08 – 00:18:16:24
Mark Clayton
smack. Um, you know, I remember making a couple kids cry. You know, and it was just, I just got understood what was going on, and I wasn’t afraid to hit. Um, but then obviously things changed over the years. But initially I was just a very aggressive, you know, football was just, it, it fit who I was at that time.

00:18:17:00 – 00:18:30:09
Brandon Adams
Do you think some of that played out as the opposite nature of what you were playing at the house, and you step on the field and kinda turned to the other guy? You know, or you said, “I wasn’t scared to hit,” ’cause maybe you’ve caught some of those, you know? And so- Yeah, yeah, for real you know what that feels like.

00:18:30:10 – 00:18:51:01
Brandon Adams
And a lot of people, you know, um, early on I played a little linebacker too, and so I’d stick my nose into stuff where I shouldn’t have been doing it, you know? And, but I loved that. That’s good. That’s, I had some some stories to tell too. Some, some- Right? And so- Exactly. Uh, you know, and so that’s why I’m asking you this question is to think like- was that part of it? Was that like the reason that you- I’m sure you weren’t scared of it?

00:18:51:02 – 00:18:53:01
Brandon Adams
It’s what some, yeah. You know, and a lot of people are scared of contact.

00:18:53:02 – 00:19:14:23
Mark Clayton
We, we’d play, I mean, I was in the contact sport at home on a on a regular basis. And so it was like, oh, I get to, now I get to contact somebody- No consequences no con- Oh, yeah. This is, it was I’m sure, uh, sub- subconsciously that’s what was going on in in that, in that space. But, uh, you know, as a kid, it was just

00:19:15:00 – 00:19:19:06
Mark Clayton
Who they got? Oh, okay. And it’s just, let’s go.

00:19:19:07 – 00:19:25:16
Brandon Adams
Because a lot of that sport generally is, like, the fear of repercussion, right? Or the fear of- Yeah, getting hit what’s about to happen to you.

00:19:25:16 – 00:19:44:22
Mark Clayton
Exactly. Right? Most kids are that. Like, a lot of them are. What you come to realize once you cross over. And then now looking back and watching Little League ball, and you see the kids that ain’t fear- like, the fearless ones versus the fearful ones. You can just see it, and it’s, make a, a, a vast difference.

00:19:44:23 – 00:19:50:19
Brandon Adams
So you started on defense. Uh, how long did you stay on that side before you flipped? Mm, I flipped over

00:19:50:21 – 00:19:54:01
Mark Clayton
Uh, so we moved to Texas when I was in the 5th grade.

00:19:54:03 – 00:20:13:14
Mark Clayton
My mom moved to get out of the situation, moved to Dallas. She let me stay because the team that I was playing on was, like, a really good, and I just, I really wanted to, to stay. I had my friends, you know, there in Oklahoma. So she let me stay for an extra year. And, uh, middle of the year, I was knucklehead in school, and I wasn’t listening to teachers, and I was going to the principal.

00:20:13:14 – 00:20:20:21
Mark Clayton
All this stuff was happening, so.

00:20:20:21 – 00:20:21:16
Brandon Adams
So you got.

00:20:21:16 – 00:20:47:18
Mark Clayton
You got snatched up. I got snatched up and moved right down to Arlington, Texas. Uh, and ended up at Morton, uh, Elementary in, um, in Arlington. And, um, you know, from there I didn’t, I don’t, I didn’t play for, like, a year or 2. And when I got into junior high, I think that was the first time I started to do both. Um, where it was Well, I take it back.

00:20:47:19 – 00:21:09:11
Mark Clayton
I was offense and defense in Little League, but I was primarily defense. In middle school was where I, I, they moved me and tried me at quarterback. And so I, I was a quarterback, and then I di- I was on defense, but I really wasn’t on defense ’cause I made quarterback. And so, um, I was like, I became quarterback. And that’s, that’s where, you know, it was like, oh, n- now I’m on all, I’m a offensive guy.

00:21:09:14 – 00:21:12:17
Mark Clayton
Um, but middle school.

00:21:12:17 – 00:21:18:21
Brandon Adams
When you look back and, and going all the way through your career, were you always the best player on your team?

00:21:19:01 – 00:21:50:17
Mark Clayton
I was one of the, I was a, one of the good players. I was not the best player, not even in, in high school. I was not the best player. Um, in middle school we had, uh, a kid named Sherdonye Mitchell. He’s prob- he’s the best player that I’ve seen, like, just on a regular basis as a pure athlete. Um, he was extremely fast and had really good, great size early.

00:21:50:19 – 00:22:14:02
Mark Clayton
Um, so he was, he was, he was dominant. He ended up being, like, a top, just a top 5 player in Texas our senior year, so 2000. Um, and then before that in junior high I was, I mean, it was Donye, and high school it was Donye. Our quarterback, Brent Housel, was exceptional. Um, and I was just one of the, the players. In college I got up, you know, to, I got a, I was offensive MVP, I think, my junior year.

00:22:14:03 – 00:22:28:07
Mark Clayton
Um, but, you know, always been surrounded by some really good talent, and, um, just one of the best players on the team.

00:22:28:08 – 00:22:53:10
Brandon Adams
Do you ever You know, you think back sometimes as to people that were either on a team with you or people maybe looking to you this way and say “How did that guy make it?” You know? Like there’s guys who are bigger and faster and got X, Y, Z for them or whatever, you know? And then they either look at you or you look at them, you know, and say the same thing of like, How?”

00:22:53:16 – 00:23:13:04
Brandon Adams
Right? Like how you walked in today and you’re my size. You know? And, uh, you played several years in, in the NFL, right? You said you wasn’t the biggest, but you were shifty. You made people miss. You obviously had good hands, you know as you’re going through things, right? Like, what do you think the real separator is between people who make it and people who don’t make it?

00:23:13:05 – 00:23:45:03
Mark Clayton
Man, the real separator is God, if we’re being honest. Like, if, if it is for you, it is for you. It takes so much that to happen outside of your will and, you know, determination, um, for you to, to make it to the NFL. It’s not easy at all. Um, but on you is, um, habits. It’s mental makeup, mental toughness, um, and skill.

00:23:45:09 – 00:24:08:09
Mark Clayton
Like you, I mean, you gotta be talented, period. If you’re not talented, you don’t got a chance. Um, after that, you have to, you have to be able to work at it. Like, you have to know what it means to put work in and hone the craft and become elite. And it’s elite, but you need to be in the top 1% of elite. Not just elite.

00:24:08:12 – 00:24:46:12
Mark Clayton
You gotta, you gotta be ridiculously elite in the way you train. In the way you work at it. Um, because the game, as you go up levels, is so fast that everything has to be, um, essentially a knee-jerk reaction. Like, it, you, you have to be hardwired for certain movements, uh, certain, um, n- your eyes seeing things and processing information super fast and, you know, seeing the ball through, you know, traffic and, you know, understanding what’s happening from a, a defense or a defender. And all, all this stuff has to process in a matter of seconds.

00:24:46:14 – 00:25:09:13
Mark Clayton
you know, 3, 3.5 to 4 seconds the average play. And so a lot of that, you know, your, your, your talent, the training piece, and then the mental makeup because nothing, every- I mean, there, you’re gonna deal with all types of adversity. You’re gonna deal with, you know, dropping a pass. You’re gonna deal with somebody trying to get under your skin.

00:25:09:13 – 00:25:36:23
Mark Clayton
Somebody talking about your mama. You’re gonna deal with, um, you know, coach saying whatever he gotta say to, whether he’s trying to motivate you or he’s just getting in your ass. You’re gonna deal with, you know, injuries at times. You’re gonna deal with being hurt. You’re gonna deal with, um, all the things that come with trying to be good or go to a next level, whether it’s football, basketball, any sport. Even in business, same thing.

00:25:36:23 – 00:25:46:01
Mark Clayton
You’re just, you’re gonna deal with shit. Like, you just are, and if you mentally can’t navigate dealing with shit, then it’s gonna be shitty for you.

00:25:46:03 – 00:26:11:21
Brandon Adams
And I see a lot of times people will see somebody and say they’re not the most athletic. They don’t have a 10 across the board on everything. But it’s funny how they term this package of someone who succeeds despite that. Right? And they call ’em a dog. that dude, that dude’s a dog, right? Like, he’s got something that don’t show up on the measurements over here.

00:26:12:00 – 00:26:24:04
Brandon Adams
And I’m telling you, like, he gets it done when it happens, and he, uh, even though you wouldn’t think, just watch out ’cause he’s gonna bite you, right? That’s Do you s- and that, is that what you’re talking about?

00:26:24:06 – 00:27:14:09
Mark Clayton
That’s good. That dog piece is, is, uh, yeah, it’s like a, you know, being ravenous internally, so to speak. Like, you’re, you’re not only starved, you’re, like, famished. Like, you, you haven’t had a meal in a while, and everything, you’re doing whatever to get that meal. It doesn’t matter. Like, it’s meal or die. That kind of despair, so to speak, in a person, in a player, in a business owner, in whatever, like, leads to some really good potential and possibility for being really good at whatever it is that you’re doing. Um, that, that driver is, is hard to match.

00:27:14:11 – 00:27:26:16
Mark Clayton
Uh, especially people, you know, who, who, who’s had meals, you know, who, who’s ate pretty good or something, you know?

00:27:26:17 – 00:27:28:02
Brandon Adams
Something came easy.

00:27:28:04 – 00:27:36:13
Mark Clayton
Um, but yeah, that’s, when I think of dog is, is kind of th- is that, is that, like, relentless pursuit of a meal.

00:27:36:15 – 00:27:40:23
Mark Clayton
Period.

00:27:41:00 – 00:27:53:01
Brandon Adams
No separation, you know, for You know, there’s people that have talents, they call them bust or whatever and people should be able to get this because they have all the intangibles, right? And then there’s people that just ain’t supposed to get it.

00:27:53:03 – 00:27:53:24
Mark Clayton
Yeah.

00:27:54:01 – 00:27:56:02
Brandon Adams
But they have this other side to them, right?

00:27:56:04 – 00:28:11:00
Mark Clayton
Just, just can’t stop. Like, they, they’re delusional about it, and there’s just no Nobody’s gonna tell them anything otherwise. And then w- once an opportunity presents, uh, they’re, they’re killing.

00:28:11:01 – 00:28:17:18
Brandon Adams
What’s more important, the dog mentality or the physical ability?

00:28:17:20 – 00:28:22:23
Mark Clayton
Boy, that’s, that’s tough. Um, ’cause I, there are, there are people that want it really bad and just, just don’t got it.

00:28:23:00 – 00:28:58:01
Mark Clayton
Um, but I’ll, I would say dog mentality because you can work at a skill. Like, you can ki- kind of get to a place where you can manage. Um, where a coach can trust you, um, to, to, to put you in the game. To rely on you as something. You can, you can work at something in those regard, if, if you’re already in that space. You know what I’m saying?

00:28:58:03 – 00:29:23:23
Mark Clayton
This is, this is not a, you know, a, a somebody who come from a family of, say, engineers and their makeup is, “You’re probably gonna be an engineer, my guy.” And you go and try to play football. Like, it’s, that is probably yeah, it ain’t happening. Even, no matter how bad you wanna do it. But, um, I mean, I don’t know. I, I, I think the dog mentality is- Numero uno.

00:29:24:00 – 00:29:24:19
Brandon Adams
Numero uno.

00:29:24:20 – 00:29:26:03
Mark Clayton
for sure.

00:29:26:03 – 00:29:46:19
Brandon Adams
When you, when you go through and you put this mentality on- is this something that you have the ability to turn on and off? Are you a compartmentalizer? Can you, like, take that and hone that, that mentality when you need, when you need it most? And then step out of that and be normal at other points? Uh, kinda.

00:29:46:21 – 00:30:22:00
Mark Clayton
I think, I mean, uh, I, I don’t know if you’ve heard, like, certain people talk about their s- experience with different athletes, and they talk about, like, in that experience, like, you just knew that this is their, this is all they thought about. Like, this is, this is where they were at. It was, there wasn’t no, no matter what the subject matter was, you could, you could hear the dog when they’re talking about playing pool. You can hear the dog in there when they’re, if they’re talking about, you know, going on a, you know, I don’t know, going on a trip or going to play pickup basketball or what.

00:30:22:02 – 00:30:43:16
Mark Clayton
that kinda, especially when you’re in the, in the mi- in the midst, midst of it. ‘Cause I can say I, you know, at 43, I When I play pickup basketball, it’s like I’m Now, I don’t If I lose, well, well, it’s okay. It’s no big deal. At 23, n- no.

00:30:43:18 – 00:31:11:10
Mark Clayton
Like, we’re not losing. If we’re losing, we’re playing again. And then again. And again, and again. And, yeah, absol- Nah, it wasn’t a losing. Uh but now it’s, it’s different. And so I would, I, I think somebody who is a dog, you’re gonna see that no matter w- where they’re at, especially when they’re in the thick of it. Like, you’re in the mi in the midst of trying to be or become whoever it is that you’re, you’re, you’re, you’re being or becoming. Uh, you can’t hide that.

00:31:11:12 – 00:31:15:04
Mark Clayton
Like, it, it just, it’s just there.

00:31:15:09 – 00:31:36:15
Brandon Adams
And it’s funny that you say that about I always thought that was a little brother mentality, which is I’m a little brother, right? And so, uh, you know, at significant amount of, you know- shutdowns. And, uh so, you know, as we go to, go through things, like, I wasn’t Y- you could beat me once, but guess what? Let’s play again. I’ll be back. And again, and again.

00:31:36:15 – 00:31:38:11
Brandon Adams
And I’m gonna pay, I’m gonna play you 1,000 times.

00:31:38:15 – 00:31:38:19
Mark Clayton
To.

00:31:38:19 – 00:31:42:08
Brandon Adams
To get my one. I promise you, and I’m gonna wear you out.

00:31:42:10 – 00:31:43:11
Mark Clayton
You know? That’s how I’m gonna get my one.

00:31:43:13 – 00:31:48:01
Brandon Adams
I’ma wear, I’ma wear you out. And, and you’re gonna remember that, that one loss that I, that I gave you, right?

00:31:48:02 – 00:31:50:01
Mark Clayton
And so- Yeah, ’cause you’re not gonna let me forget.

00:31:50:02 – 00:32:08:24
Brandon Adams
That’s- Or, or my kids, like, like my oldest in there, I was, you know, like I was telling you about, you know, playing football, you know? And I said, “Let me tell you something. Everybody’s there for 3 quarters.” Everybody. That 4th quarter when people get tired, that’s when you chew people’s head off. You push it down. You, you knock them down. That’s when you get started. You keep going because people give up.

00:32:09:03 – 00:32:09:18
Mark Clayton
You know?

00:32:09:20 – 00:32:22:23
Brandon Adams
Yeah, they do. So you always are the last one to make sure that you’re pushing people down when they’re ready to give up and they don’t wanna do it no more. Like- keep going. Keep going. And that’s the separator between you and everybody else, you know?

00:32:23:00 – 00:32:57:19
Mark Clayton
That’s one of them, them, uh, them dog slash can be attained cardio. Being able to be in the 4th quarter and feel like you’re in the first quarter. Bro, that is, is the best, and I w- you know, at Oklahoma we probably We’ve, I mean, we ste- we were, we dominated early and often, games that we won verse good opponents, cardio. Like, being able, being fresh or feeling fresh in the 4th quarter it’s everything.

00:32:57:20 – 00:32:58:24
Mark Clayton
It is everything.

00:32:59:04 – 00:33:06:14
Brandon Adams
So as you’re going through, uh, you, you’re playing in high school. Right? Uh, you’ve at this point switched over to offense, I’m guessing.

00:33:06:16 – 00:33:07:14
Mark Clayton
Right? Quarterback.

00:33:07:14 – 00:33:13:16
Brandon Adams
I was quarterback, backup quarterback. And so I’m guessing, I don’t know, as, as you graduated high school you came out as an athlete?

00:33:13:18 – 00:33:38:21
Mark Clayton
No, I was a receiver by that time. So I had, we had, I was the third, I ended up being the third string quarterback my junior year. And, uh, Brandon House was the starter. I think Brad Shiller was backup. Um, and we were, we’re They were good, and the team, our team was pretty good. Uh, but towards the end of the season we were on the cusp of going to the playoffs. And, uh, Brandon had got hurt, and then Brad, I think Brad got hurt, and I had to play, uh, my first game at quarterback on varsity.

00:33:38:21 – 00:34:00:03
Mark Clayton
‘Cause I would actually play on Thursdays for JV and then suit up and then be ready on for varsity. And, uh, the game I played in, we played DeSoto, which in Texas everybody knows who DeSoto is. Uh, they’re still dominating to this day. Um, and you know, they, they beat our ass pretty good.

00:34:00:05 – 00:34:29:10
Mark Clayton
And coach was like, next week he, he just brought me in and was like, “Man, I’m thinking about moving you to receiver.” I was like, “Yeah, I, I mean, that’d be cool ’cause Brandon’s gonna be back.” “But we think you’d be good at receiver.” And they moved me to receiver. I played a game, and I think I had a catch, and then got into the off-season and did all the 7on7, uh, tournaments, and just killed it for whatever. It was just, it just clicked.

00:34:29:10 – 00:34:43:03
Mark Clayton
It clicked with you. And then part of you know, being a quarterback, you have an idea of what- Reads you would like your receiver or where you like your receiver. And so it helped, you know, a lot, um, when it came to just making the transition and being able to get open.

00:34:43:03 – 00:34:44:22
Brandon Adams
And so that was your junior year to your senior year.

00:34:44:23 – 00:34:46:15
Mark Clayton
That was junior year going into my senior year, yeah.

00:34:46:17 – 00:34:48:17
Brandon Adams
So never played wide receiver at all.

00:34:48:19 – 00:34:49:12
Mark Clayton
Nope.

00:34:49:14 – 00:34:53:08
Brandon Adams
Jumped in your senior year. What was that senior year like?

00:34:53:12 – 00:35:22:02
Mark Clayton
So senior year was, was, it was awes- like, it was, it was, it was fun. It was So there’s Chidonié went to TCU. I mean, I’m sorry, Chidonié went to Missouri. Uh, Brandon House went to TCU, and then I ended up going to Oklahoma. Our center, I think he went Syracuse, I wanna say. And then we had, um, a left tackle, uh, go somewhere, and another, uh, we had a few players that were really good.

00:35:22:02 – 00:35:46:01
Mark Clayton
So our offense was really good. It was, it was fun. Um, and shoot, I, I probably touched the ball 50 times or so. And, you know, scored about 13 touchdowns, and, like, had a really fun year. And a lot of that was all of the, you know, the shifty stuff from watching Peter Warrick, actually. So Peter Warrick in 19- 1997- Seminoles 98, 99 at Florida State Seminoles.

00:35:46:02 – 00:36:09:08
Mark Clayton
Um, he was the only player that I was like, I had his, like, a little article about Peter Warrick up on my wall. And so between him, and then Barry Sanders been my favorite player. A lot of me running with the ball was just, like, trying to cut back or- Sure. make somebody look silly. Uh, and that just, you know, led to a really cool senior year.

00:36:09:09 – 00:36:15:20
Brandon Adams
Yeah.So when you went in your senior year, you had, I’m, I’m guessing you’re on no one’s radar whatsoever.

00:36:15:21 – 00:36:46:23
Mark Clayton
Well, what I was actually on radars because of, uh, 7on7 football. Oh, okay. So 7on7 we played at Texas A&M, and then, uh, we finished in the top 8. And Texas A&M, I got a letter that just said, “Hey, great work this weekend,” uh, you know, “Keep it up.” I was probably scoring 2 or 3 touchdowns per, you know, game. And then, uh, shortly after, uh, going into the summer, I started getting letters from, uh, Purdue and Georgia Tech.

00:36:47:00 – 00:37:01:13
Mark Clayton
Um, a couple schools had sent letters and it was, it had begun. And then I got my first offer from, um, ended up getting it from Purdue. then just kept going from there.

00:37:01:15 – 00:37:02:00
Brandon Adams
That’s cool.

00:37:02:00 – 00:37:03:16
Mark Clayton
And so- This is, yeah, leading up to So you started going to schools and checking them out or you- Not yet

00:37:03:18 – 00:37:07:14
Brandon Adams
decided, decided without even- Yeah, this was later.

00:37:07:15 – 00:37:25:18
Mark Clayton
This was So that was in the fall, late in the fall when I went on my first visit, and my first one was to University of Minnesota. Uh, that coach talked it up, you know, really. Uh, he was, a 17-year-old kid. He told me everything I wanted to hear. And, and I went.

00:37:25:19 – 00:37:49:23
Mark Clayton
Got off the plane, it was freezing ’cause this is fall and- Of course and then I, I came I was like, “Nah.” Nah. Appreciate it. I had a great time, but yeah, Minnesota ain’t happening. Uh, and then the other school, Oklahoma, um, Missouri went to, and then Iowa State. The all 4 of us, quarterback, Jadon Ye, me, and, uh, Jenap, we all went to Iowa State. We thought about all going there together.

00:37:49:23 – 00:37:50:15
Mark Clayton
Which was pretty cool tr- cool visit.

00:37:50:19 – 00:37:51:06
Brandon Adams
And that didn’t work out.

00:37:51:06 – 00:38:13:06
Mark Clayton
It didn’t work out. ‘Cause I was And then, you know, going to Oklahoma was just different. You know? At, at that time, uh, Mike Leach was the offensive coordinator. And Coach Stoops head coach. Brent Venables was recruiting me at that time ’cause he had our area. Steve Spurgar Jr. was the receiver coach, which was fun. He was, he was probably the funniest coach I’ve ever just played with, just made the game fun.

00:38:13:08 – 00:38:18:07
Mark Clayton
Um, and yeah, that visit was just special- it w- w- A lot of legends on that deal that you’re talking about right there.

00:38:18:11 – 00:38:24:17
Brandon Adams
Oh, yeah. Pretty crazy to get that. I mean, Oklahoma anyways is a, is a blue blood, so.

00:38:24:17 – 00:38:25:12
Mark Clayton
Indeed.

00:38:25:13 – 00:38:26:10
Brandon Adams
Uh, so they’re gonna be- But those were

00:38:26:10 – 00:38:27:15
Mark Clayton
To be yeah.

00:38:27:17 – 00:38:28:12
Brandon Adams
gonna be stacked up.

00:38:28:13 – 00:38:32:24
Mark Clayton
That was, yeah, that was a hell of a visit, and it made it, made it easy.

00:38:33:01 – 00:38:43:05
Brandon Adams
You didn’t So I’m gonna throw this out just because, you know, and that- Appreciate it or whatever, but you lived in Texas. You had no offers from Texas?

00:38:43:05 – 00:38:44:16
Mark Clayton
I did not.

00:38:44:18 – 00:38:49:23
Brandon Adams
You had an offer from Oklahoma, so you wanted to make sure that you were letting them know when it came time to the game.

00:38:50:00 – 00:39:09:20
Mark Clayton
Oh, man, and I wasn’t even thinking about it like that. I didn’t r- I didn’t know, I didn’t College football, I didn’t watch college football high school. I didn’t, I wasn’t a, I was a basketball guy still. So I knew NBA, I knew college basketball more than I knew college football. You know, from even the video game, I played more co- NC- I mean, NCAA basketball than football.

00:39:09:22 – 00:39:30:18
Mark Clayton
Um, going to Oklahoma was, it was just, it was awesome. They threw the ball a lot. Oh, Texas did not send a letter because they had a commit from Roy Williams, B.J. Johnson, and Sloan, Yeah ti- at that time. And those were, that’s number 0 they were one, two, and 3 Yeah top in the country. So what was I?

00:39:30:18 – 00:39:47:05
Mark Clayton
I wasn’t even a, I, I don’t know how many stars, but I had- I didn’t have as many as they did. So I wasn’t even on their radar. Um, and so it, it was just like Oklahoma was, was it for me. I didn’t see anybody or anything else the time I left that campus. That’s all I saw.

00:39:47:06 – 00:39:49:21
Brandon Adams
You didn’t feel some kind of way during the game though?

00:39:49:23 – 00:40:08:19
Mark Clayton
not at all. It was just- Business I’m having fun making people miss. Like that my, uh, my, my motivation was, like, making people look silly. Like I, I absolutely love making people look stupid. That was just it. And so it didn’t matter what color, who. If you’re in front of me, I’m just trying to make you look stupid.

00:40:08:20 – 00:40:17:20
Brandon Adams
So if, uh, so during the game or whatever and you do something like that, are you chirping at them or are you- No you just, you just- I’m very quiet just give them the eyes?

00:40:17:22 – 00:40:35:15
Mark Clayton
I’m very quiet. I’ve People try to talk me out, talk to me and all, a- and I just, it just never Yeah, no. I’m like, “All right, man.” Cool, man. Whatever. “It’s good, man. Hey, I’ll see you next play, dude.” You talking, you talking because you’re losing, really. And I’m good.

00:40:35:20 – 00:40:53:03
Brandon Adams
But yeah. It, it is funny to see the, the dynamic of different types of people you know, when they go into that. The people who are big talkers, you know, it’s like it’s, it’s kind of crazy to see, you know? Like, where does that come from, or why are you doing this? Is it insecurity, or are you trying to tell me you’re better because you’re trying to convince yourself or whatever?

00:40:53:04 – 00:40:57:00
Brandon Adams
Like, like what do you think- Or it’s- causes that, that chirping?

00:40:57:01 – 00:41:28:04
Mark Clayton
Well, I th- I think defense naturally is kind of a chirping side of the ball. Like, their, their deal, and especially back then, was to intimidate. Like a big part of being a good defense is intimidation alone before you even step foot on the field. After that, on the field is still we’re, we’re just, we’re trying to scare you. Like, our- their, the goal is if I can get in your head and make you think about something that is not identifying coverage, running your route, get open, catch the ball, and making plays, I’m winning.

00:41:28:08 – 00:41:52:18
Mark Clayton
Like, straight up I’m winning. And so, you know, on offense and then knowing that and understanding the assignment is beat their ass. Whatever they’re trying to throw at you whether it’s, you know, a certain scheme, a, a blitz, or talking. Whatever they’re throwing at you is, it’s irrelevant. You’re just, “I’m here to, I’m here to make y’all look stupid.”

00:41:52:19 – 00:42:08:20
Brandon Adams
Which is cool. I mean, I love, honestly, I love digging into this with you because um, a lot of this is, is really kind of talking about the psyche of who you are, and it’s gonna help define your next step after you go through this, right? Um, a- and you see these people that are kind of coming at you with this whatever.

00:42:08:21 – 00:42:15:16
Brandon Adams
Are you all business all the time? Did you ever go to parties and cut up and do that? Did you live that life, too?

00:42:15:21 – 00:42:19:17
Mark Clayton
Oh, yeah. I, I was on, uh, uh, what was that?

00:42:19:23 – 00:42:21:03
Brandon Adams
The freshman- Party dean’s list

00:42:21:06 – 00:42:45:15
Mark Clayton
when I was Well, yeah. That one, not the not the other one. I had to You know, there, there’s a story. So my mom actually Shoot, this is probably my register freshman year. My, my grades wasn’t so good. And, uh, she went up and just, you know, asked for a meet with Coach Stoops, and essentially was saying, “My son not playing this week.” “He not playing. His grades ain’t good enough.

00:42:45:16 – 00:43:09:06
Mark Clayton
He ain’t playing.” And from what I hear, Coach, you know, Coach was like, “Yeah? Well, I, I understand. I, I hear you, uh, Miss Clayton, but, uh, this, this ain’t high school football no more.” “I can’t Uh, I can, I’ll, I’ll do a little something, let them know, but, uh, he gonna play this week.”

00:43:09:08 – 00:43:10:18
Brandon Adams
I’m not sitting for academics.

00:43:10:19 – 00:43:15:15
Mark Clayton
It was like, yeah. Yeah, I think it was, like, Alabama, too.

00:43:15:17 – 00:43:18:22
Mark Clayton
It was like, “No, but yeah, he gonna play this week.”

00:43:19:01 – 00:43:21:21
Brandon Adams
You got that first game of the season maybe but not.

00:43:21:23 – 00:43:41:08
Mark Clayton
not that one yet. Maybe, yeah. But you came on the wrong week. I’m just letting you know. Um, and yeah, early I was, I, I, I had fun. I enjoyed college. So I was also So it was like our household was that, and it w- my mom was very strict, like you need to, you know, make your grades and, you know, and she w- she would beat your ass, like, if you wouldn’t, if you cutting up or getting in trouble, n- not listening to the teacher.

00:43:41:09 – 00:44:01:08
Mark Clayton
Like, it, she w- she w- she wanted us to be good human beings. Um, and, and so getting out of the house was, “Oh, wow, this is incredible. This is my fa” I hadn’t you know, drunk alcohol before. I hadn’t experienced any par- like, partying like that.

00:44:01:08 – 00:44:29:07
Mark Clayton
I wasn’t a big partier in high school. So in college was like, oh, the cherry was popped and it went- all, I went all the way in and, you know, had a, had a great time. And by the grace of God, I was, was able to, you know, kind of, my life was spared. Navigate back. Yes, indeed. Um, but yeah, I had that moment, and I think it played into ball, you know, and me getting to the point where I took it serious versus it was just, you know, fun.

00:44:29:07 – 00:44:52:22
Mark Clayton
And I was talented and fairly smart, so I could, you know, be I was, I was, I was good. The reason why I played my first game in college was because somebody forgot the play. And what I didn’t, I never forgot. I knew our playbook front, back, you know. And that was just, that was one of my things, where if, if, if it was the playbook, route, tree route combination, all that, I w- I would, I would never miss on that stuff.

00:44:52:22 – 00:45:11:01
Mark Clayton
Like, that, that was I’ll be in class. I’ll go over and drawing our, our playbook over and over, coming up with new plays. Like, “Hey, Coach,” you know, “put this in.” But, um, you know, that, having that piece, um, is kind of what, you know, led me to be able to play in the first place. But, uh, yeah.

00:45:11:02 – 00:45:20:08
Brandon Adams
So, so you’re going through college. Uh, you have your freshman year red-shirted? S- uh, sophomore year starting- Um, started playing.

00:45:20:10 – 00:45:21:01
Mark Clayton
Started playing.

00:45:21:01 – 00:45:22:10
Brandon Adams
breaking out a little bit.

00:45:22:11 – 00:45:41:21
Mark Clayton
third game, Air Force was the first game. That’s how I got put in. And then, uh, I ended up scoring that, you know, that, that day. It was cool ’cause I hadn’t even played that season at that point, and I was telling the guys is, “Today’s the day,” you know. Like, shut up. Like, nah, I can feel it. Like, it’s, it’s, it’s 00:45:41:22 – 00:46:07:11
Mark Clayton
coming today. I just It was something about Air Force. I was almost gonna go to Air Force had I not got recruited too, which was pretty cool, too, ’cause I was, I wanted to go be an, an engineer. I wanted to study architecture. Um, and then basic- go to Air Force and potentially be a pilot. That was one-Going out of high school, ’cause I, the recruiting didn’t happen till you know, later, uh, going into my senior year.

00:46:07:13 – 00:46:13:01
Mark Clayton
Um, and so yeah, for it to be Air Force and getting in the first time and score a touchdown, it was, it was really fun.

00:46:13:02 – 00:46:17:24
Brandon Adams
That’s awesome. So your sophomore year was kind of a breakout year for you?

00:46:18:01 – 00:46:19:22
Mark Clayton
And then after that, the Texas game- Your junior year was

00:46:19:22 – 00:46:21:14
Brandon Adams
Oh, the Texas game?

00:46:21:15 – 00:46:43:11
Mark Clayton
Freshman year. Actually, no. So I was, I ended up being freshman, all Big 12 freshmen, and I was on the freshmen, you know, kind of watchlist, All-American watchlist and all that stuff my freshman year. And then, then, um, I had some injuries and then sophomore year came, and I had more in- more injuries, so I didn’t play a full season there.

00:46:43:13 – 00:47:05:21
Mark Clayton
Um, I ended up having a, a surgery early, a microfracture surgery, where they were like, “It’s a new procedure that we really don’t know what this looks like years down the line.” “But we’ll, we’ll, we can try it.” “And based on your situation, either, you know, you can try it and it’s 50/50 chance it works, or you’re probably not, you won’t be able to play.”

00:47:05:23 – 00:47:31:10
Mark Clayton
Um, and you know, at 17, 18 years old, I was already bone on bone. I had a, a nice piece of cartilage that I considered a party trick that I could move around in my knee. Wow, okay. It was, it was, it was, uh, crazy. But I ended up having this microfracture surgery, which led to, you know, missing games and swollen knees and getting knees drained before games and a lot of the, all the, you know, the stuff that you’d probably see on, you know the movies or whatnot.

00:47:31:12 – 00:47:38:15
Mark Clayton
Um, but yeah, sophomore year went well for what it was, but I was injured. So freshman, so it was kind of patchy.

00:47:38:16 – 00:47:39:24
Brandon Adams
But again- Junior year, kind of blow up year.

00:47:40:00 – 00:48:26:14
Mark Clayton
Junior year was a blow up year. Junior year, completely healthy. Uh, grew. I got to school at 150. Um, I could not bench 135. I was scrawny. I could I, I was like a 4.7/4.40. Um, not very fast, but just quick. Uh, so I could get by some bo- I can get by anybody and then they would catch up right back. Um, but, uh, that junior year was just the culmination of all, all football. Everything that I’ve learned from being at school for 2 years and kind of getting the newness of freshman year all out of my system and being around the program and learn- knowing everything and physically developing and, uh, understanding more the defense and being able to connect with Jason White was the quarterback.

00:48:26:14 – 00:48:38:13
Mark Clayton
Us do a lot of work outside of what we were doing as a team and, um, all of that combined led to junior year, which was really, a really good year.

00:48:38:14 – 00:48:40:13
Brandon Adams
That was your breakout, got

00:48:40:13 – 00:48:41:06
Mark Clayton
Was that probably your most- That was like my

00:48:41:08 – 00:48:49:18
Brandon Adams
your biggest year in college, right? That was my biggest year. Then- S- Then you stayed to be a senior as well. Um, and that was, and then you had another injury that year?

00:48:49:18 – 00:49:11:09
Mark Clayton
I didn’t Senior, so junior year, senior year was, was solid. Um, grateful, you know, to be able to be healthy throughout those years. My senior year was the lightest load because we had a really talented receiver corps. Um, we had a receiver go in the first round, the second round, and the third round, and then we had a freshman receiver corps that was ridiculously talented.

00:49:11:09 – 00:49:23:05
Mark Clayton
So I didn’t even, I didn’t play You know, I played probably the half of most of the games in the beginning of the season. And then sparingly, uh, over the course of that season with all that talent.

00:49:23:06 – 00:49:24:04
Brandon Adams
Which is crazy because you- And, and a guy named Adrian Peterson.

00:49:24:05 – 00:49:28:20
Mark Clayton
We- Oh, yeah we had that, that kid.

00:49:28:21 – 00:49:31:10
Brandon Adams
He was pretty good. He, he, he, uh, took the bulk of the carries, that’s for sure.

00:49:31:11 – 00:49:35:12
Mark Clayton
Yeah, exactly. It was like, “I’m, I’m good. We’re good.” Um, so then as you’re going into your senior year, are you thinking like, as you started out big junior 00:49:35:14 – 00:49:48:13
Brandon Adams
I mean, had that big junior year and then started out heavy as a, your senior year and started to dwindle off, did you think, “My career is starting to wind down”?

00:49:48:19 – 00:50:08:15
Mark Clayton
Nah, not at all. I never Nah. ‘Cause staying to, to stay after my junior year, ’cause I got a first round, it was like a first, second round grade after my junior year. Um, and there was about 3 of us that they got first, second round grades and then a couple, two, three, and we all decided to stay because we just wanted to win.

00:50:08:16 – 00:50:28:08
Mark Clayton
We wanted to go back and, and win the national championship. And, uh, we, I mean, and I think at that time with ball, I, nobody was in my ear about like, “Man, you, you know, go. It’s time to go pro,” or, “You should go pro,” or any of that. Um, only thing I thought was, “Yeah, we, we could definitely win a national championship.”

00:50:28:11 – 00:50:46:11
Mark Clayton
Like, let’s, let’s come back and get it, and get it. Um, and in my mind as we were, you know, going through it was, “Man, we’re so good. I don’t, I mean, I, I, I’m gonna make my plays. I’m gonna make plays that we need, you know?” But apart from that, we got a lot of guys that can make plays.

00:50:46:14 – 00:51:08:03
Mark Clayton
And I wanna make sure that those guys know that they make plays, and I encourage them to make plays and step up and be, you know, a part of this offense, a part of this team in a big way. And so my senior year was, was really kind of de- devoted to making sure the young guys and, and everybody else was, was taking the helm and gonna carry it on.

00:51:08:03 – 00:51:27:00
Mark Clayton
And then, you know, having fun, like literally having fun, hosting, making sure, just like being like unk, I guess so to speak. And, um, like it was good. I wasn’t thinking about what I was missing out on or stats like that. I knew the stats were, were solid. I didn’t, uh, it wasn’t the, it wasn’t a thought process.

00:51:27:02 – 00:51:38:23
Brandon Adams
Coach took care of it. Well, you went from, you went from first round grade as a junior to a senior- thinking, I mean, now you start playing less. Do you think you still have a first round grade? Or you’re just like, “I’m gonna be in the league, I just don’t know if it’s gonna be the first round”?

00:51:38:24 – 00:52:04:22
Mark Clayton
No, I thought, I mean, I, I still felt I had a first round grade because of the, the type of plays that I made. They were- Okay I knew I was still explosive. I was even more explosive my senior year. It took less to do more. Average more. Like, I didn’t have to, I could touch it and d- you know, get, do what I do and then go to the sideline instead of running back to the huddle now. Because I know Rank is gonna go in and he can he gonna make it happen.

00:52:04:24 – 00:52:15:02
Mark Clayton
Um, but I knew just from a skill, uh, mate- that where I was at that point that I wasn’t, I wasn’t worried about you know, what, whatever the draft held.

00:52:15:03 – 00:52:20:16
Brandon Adams
So you went to the draft. You, you went, I guess you went to the combine first, right? Uh, that went well for you?

00:52:20:17 – 00:52:42:09
Mark Clayton
Yeah, combine was good. I ended up running. So the, my agent, Ben Dogra, was just like, “Man, look, if you’re, they’re knocking you, it’s speed.” They would, they think you’re gonna run 4.5, something, something in the 4.5s. I was like, “All right, cool.” And went down to API in, uh, Tempe, Arizona and trained with a lot of other guys and, uh, was Went, went in at 4.52, and then I left running 4.38, 4.39. There you go.

00:52:42:10 – 00:52:53:13
Mark Clayton
Like, yeah. And then ended up at the combine running 4.40, 4.41. Uh-huh. And then at that point he was just like, “All right, you’re good.”

00:52:53:14 – 00:52:54:14
Brandon Adams
You’re good.

00:52:54:16 – 00:52:57:21
Mark Clayton
He was like, “You’re good.” We’re in luck. That’s cool.

00:52:57:21 – 00:53:04:11
Brandon Adams
You got a good chance. So your name comes up on the board. You’re watching the draft go down. Do you think you could go for Do you have a team that you’re picking at, at the time?

00:53:04:11 – 00:53:23:08
Mark Clayton
Man, I low-key would’ve enjoyed like getting picked by the Cowboys, obviously. Growing up here I thought that was gonna happen, ’cause they had like 2 picks that year and, uh, and ultim- they ended up taking DeMarcus Ware with the first one. Dub. Awesome. Uh, of course. And then after I was like, “Oh man, they may go offense.”

00:53:23:10 – 00:53:27:19
Mark Clayton
Like, “You know what? Maybe they go 0 offense.” And, and then they went with Spears, my do- my boy 00:53:27:21 – 00:53:28:11
Brandon Adams
Spears. Still a good one.

00:53:28:12 – 00:53:36:15
Mark Clayton
Which, good. And then, uh, and then after that, you know, I got the call from, uh, Ozzie in Baltimore and it was just like, “Let’s go.”

00:53:36:17 – 00:53:45:09
Brandon Adams
That was What, what pick was that? That’s pretty crazy. Still went in the first round and uh, believed in yourself the whole time, knew it was coming and

00:53:45:12 – 00:54:11:01
Mark Clayton
It was, yeah. It was well, I did not know that it was c- and that’s what I, I tried to And so I, I always tell or, well, talk about how, you know, hindsight is like crazy for me because, you know, I didn’t think I would go to college or play football. I didn’t think that I would end up being a All-American, you know, at Oklahoma. I didn’t think that I would get, you know, drafted.

00:54:11:02 – 00:54:41:03
Mark Clayton
And it was, it was like a- all along those, those, I guess milestones, I was just glad to be where I was at because I didn’t think I was gonna be there. So I was just appreciating tho- that moment at that time, and then the experience that I was having and the people that I was having it with were, um, you know, nurturing me and, and guiding me as they did that would allow me to be really good at that time.

00:54:41:03 – 00:55:00:03
Mark Clayton
And that was it. The, I mean, NFL freshman year or so, getting to college was not, my dream, my goal still wasn’t to go to the NFL. It was just to be I mean, I was just g- like glad to be there, so I wanted to be good there. And then when NFL became a reality, and then it was just like, “Oh, okay. I mean, that’s awesome.”

00:55:00:03 – 00:55:23:07
Mark Clayton
But I’m still not really understanding or grasping what it means to be a first round pick because I w- didn’t pay attention to NFL like that. Like, not like I did the NBA. And so it still was kinda over there and cool, but not “Man, I can’t wait to get to the league. I can’t wait.” Like it wasn’t- Yeah, yeah it wasn’t that for me.

00:55:23:09 – 00:55:29:07
Brandon Adams
Were you a green room guy? Like, like- Did you go to the draft, go back into the green room and wait?

00:55:29:08 – 00:55:47:08
Mark Clayton
No, I was at home. I actually went to, uh, where did we I went to IHOP I think the morning of or waffle. I, yeah, I was one of those, all the guys, like I, I saw a deal with somebody, like he got the call, he was on a golf course. Golfing, you know. And I mean, Joe Thomas, I remember him fishing and got a call and

00:55:47:12 – 00:56:06:11
Mark Clayton
But yeah, I was just, I was like that, Uh-huh that’s fine. It was cool. I would, I’d rather be over here. And then, uh, my mom was, you know, she wanted to make sure that we had like a, something where we had family and, and friends and everybody thatBeen around, uh, there, and so we had something at home. And it was, it, it went well.

00:56:06:12 – 00:56:11:14
Brandon Adams
Well, it’s also a little different now, too, with all the NIL money. People are looking to show their, show their stuff off.

00:56:11:15 – 00:56:14:16
Mark Clayton
Yeah, you can’t hide that money, man. It’s good.

00:56:14:17 – 00:56:17:14
Brandon Adams
How do you feel about that now versus what you guys went through?

00:56:17:16 – 00:56:38:10
Mark Clayton
I’m happy for them. I’m happy for, you know, the young athletes that are now being compensated in a way that reflects the market that they’re in. I think it makes a lot of sense, and it was cool for them. I mean, if w- obviously, if we were getting that, I wouldn’t have known what to do with it. In fact, I didn’t know what to do with it when I got it at 22, 23.

00:56:38:11 – 00:56:41:01
Mark Clayton
But, uh, I think i- i- it’s great.

00:56:41:02 – 00:57:00:13
Brandon Adams
When you see the pendulum swing so heavy I mean, there’s a lot of dollars being thrown around. Like, a lot, a lot. I’m sure. I mean, the difference between the haves and the have-nots between the top-tier colleges and the other ones, it’s about to separate. This is about, this is about to be the richest school in the world. You know, not about the, you know, what it used to be about. You know, about recruiting and all the other things.

00:57:00:13 – 00:57:02:00
Brandon Adams
Now it’s about dollars, right? It is.

00:57:02:02 – 00:57:17:00
Mark Clayton
It is. Partially. I mean, it is, and it, and i- and, like, you have to be in the ballpark in a lot of ways. You can’t be under market for a certain player. Uh, you know, it’s about the dollars, and then, then the player’s desires.

00:57:17:00 – 00:57:24:08
Brandon Adams
Well, look at, look at, uh, Texas Tech. Those guys came out of nowhere. I mean, they haven’t been like that since Crabtree, right?

00:57:24:13 – 00:57:25:15
Mark Clayton
I mean. But yeah,

00:57:25:19 – 00:57:32:07
Brandon Adams
I mean, you’re talking about 20-something years. That’s dollars. And all of a sudden they open this, the floodgates open and they’re like, “Oil money, step back up in. Here we go.”

00:57:32:08 – 00:57:34:18
Mark Clayton
They’re like, “Hold my beer.”

00:57:34:19 – 00:57:36:07
Brandon Adams
“Hold my beer. Check this out,” right?

00:57:36:08 – 00:57:37:06
Mark Clayton
Right.

00:57:37:08 – 00:57:50:12
Brandon Adams
It is cool. I mean, honestly, like, it has changed the, changed the scope of things. And I just wonder, like, is there gonna be a pendulum swing back a little bit to kind of make it even across the board? Or is that just like that’s the new new?

00:57:50:14 – 00:58:15:16
Mark Clayton
think it’s, it should be the new new, just in terms of val- market, what the market’s willing to pay. Um, I think when, you know, some, some legalese may, you know, come into play and kind of put some parameters on it uh, in, in terms of structure, but I think the n- the dollar figure, those amounts, I think, are, justified.

00:58:15:17 – 00:58:28:16
Mark Clayton
And can be more. I mean, I’m, you know, I’m looking, you look at the, the market as a whole and w- what types of revenues are generated. Why are those revenues generated?

00:58:28:18 – 00:58:30:06
Brandon Adams
Name on the back.

00:58:30:08 – 00:58:39:00
Mark Clayton
I mean, it, it’s good programs, good organizations that win a lot of games. You win a lot of games, and you got a lot of good players. No good players, you’re not winning a lot of games.

00:58:39:01 – 00:58:42:13
Brandon Adams
You’re not getting Brandon. They’re still selling Ricky Williams and VY jerseys like crazy.

00:58:42:13 – 00:58:55:22
Mark Clayton
You’re not getting, man. Tell you, you’re not getting all. That’s not happening if you’re not winning. And so, yeah, I think it’s justified. Um, tho- those numbers are justified. Just there could be some, uh, better framing for contract st- structures and stuff like that, but Before we jump to the NFL, I 00:58:55:23 – 00:59:16:17
Brandon Adams
I want to kind of keep the NFL kind of, uh, I don’t want to say brief but. Yeah, sure. Um, the, the college part of it. The Texas-OU game is huge, right? And we talked about this earlier. About the rivalry between Oklahoma and Texas, right? It’s a big game. For people that don’t know 00:59:16:18 – 00:59:19:06
Brandon Adams
explain a little bit of the insides of that.

00:59:19:08 – 00:59:49:06
Mark Clayton
Man, I, I think it’s the, the best rivalry in college football because it has the, the neutral site. I think the neutral site just changes the entire dynamic of that game versus any other rivalry game in America. And when you get to experience the State Fair of Texas, which is incredible on its own, uh, and, and massive, I think the biggest fair in, in America, um, that alone is such a cool experience.

00:59:49:06 – 01:00:14:05
Mark Clayton
But then imagine, you know, over, you know, 100,000 fans that are crimson and burnt orange just- Split walking around. Split, yeah. And then you’re going through the state fair, and you just, that’s literally all you see. And, uh, you get into the stadium as a player on the buses, and you kind of, you, you go down, you know, the Red River Alley, like heading to the stadium.

01:00:14:05 – 01:00:30:06
Mark Clayton
And typically, when you’re on the bus and you go into a stadium and it’s an away game, you, you see the away fans or whatnot. Or it’s a home game and you, you go by your fans, and so you get to, you know, do that. But in this one, the, they’re split and it’s like you’re driving the bus and on that side of the bus is all crimson, and then on that side of the bus is all burnt orange.

01:00:30:06 – 01:00:37:03
Mark Clayton
look over there, you’re getting the waves. You look over here, you’re getting the French waves.

01:00:37:05 – 01:00:37:16
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

01:00:37:18 – 01:01:13:04
Mark Clayton
It’s really cool. And you get into the stadium, the same thing. Stadium is spl- right across the 50 and it goes all the way up to the top. And one side is crimson and the other side is burnt orange. And you know, even the yells in the stadium, you know, the, it’s, it’s, it’s cool bec- I mean, you know, you flip end zones and whatnot, and sometimes you’re stuck on Texas’ side or you, you’re on your side. Um, and depending on what side you’re on at the end of the game kinda, you know, helps too. ‘Cause you’re, if you’re, if you’re 0 if you’re Oklahoma and you’re on, you know, in Texas land and you’re trying to score going in and it’s late in the game, that can get pretty loud.

01:01:13:04 – 01:01:35:12
Mark Clayton
Like and then vice versa. It can get pretty loud and the crowd can play into it. Uh, but if we’re trying to score, it’s late and we’re on our side, the fans are in our favor. But it’s, it’s, you know, it varies. But I just think that, that the part of the fact that the stadium is split and you, you hear them going back and forth with each other throughout the game is a really cool experience.

01:01:35:12 – 01:01:40:15
Brandon Adams
And on the field. Is it tooth and nail on the field?

01:01:40:17 – 01:01:59:18
Mark Clayton
Oh, every time. Every I mean, I, there’s not a game you don’t step on the field and it’s, it’s not we’re, we’re just here to, really mud stump y’all off the, off the field. I don’t care who we play. That’s, that’s just how you go on the field. But it just happens to be Texas, they’re getting the same, it was, it was the same for them as it was for Arkansas State.

01:01:59:19 – 01:02:00:22
Mark Clayton
Like, it don’t matter.

01:02:00:24 – 01:02:07:15
Brandon Adams
On the field, you’re telling me you feel exactly the same way for that game for Arkansas State as you do when you step into the Cotton Bowl for that game?

01:02:07:17 – 01:02:16:08
Mark Clayton
Oh yeah. You’re getting I, I am as fired up to score 60 on Arkansas State as much as I am to score 60 on UT.

01:02:16:12 – 01:02:17:07
Brandon Adams
That’s interesting because- There’s no vary.

01:02:17:10 – 01:02:36:08
Mark Clayton
I, I’m approaching each game like it’s a, it’s a, I n- I need to, we need this game. And we need to, we need to look good. Like we, we put all this work in in the off season and in the summer. When we step on the field, we should look, Arkansas State should look like a middle school team.

01:02:36:09 – 01:02:47:12
Mark Clayton
Texas should look like a high school team. Like, we’ll give you a high school team. But Yeah but we, they should not look like they belong on the field with us. I don’t care who we’re playing.

01:02:47:16 – 01:02:57:10
Brandon Adams
Well, the funny thing is, is because coaches will lose their job based upon losing rivalries. True. You can win 9 games a year and you lose your rivalry 3 ga- 3 seasons in a row and you’re out.

01:02:57:11 – 01:02:58:08
Mark Clayton
Yeah, yeah.

01:02:58:12 – 01:03:00:06
Brandon Adams
uh, during the week- So I know them, it ain’t the same

01:03:00:07 – 01:03:22:17
Mark Clayton
I was gonna say, during the week, yes, you can, you could tell a little, you know, some, some butt clenching going on- on the coaches’ side. When the players be like, “Man, the co- he don’t want today.” But it’s like, I can’t All I know is, again, I’m here to run a route, get open, catch the ball, score touchdowns. I don’t see f- like, uh, whatever color you’re wearing, it’s just if you’re across from me, you’re gonna have to deal with it today.

01:03:22:17 – 01:03:43:22
Mark Clayton
And it was And I think we had a lot of guys like that on the, on that team that was just- almost mechanical. Business, you know, in, in that regard. And it, it, it led us to a lot of wins and very, very seldom did we play down.

01:03:43:24 – 01:03:52:20
Mark Clayton
It didn’t, like it was maybe a couple times that I can remember where we’re at half and we’re playing somebody and it was like, “What the hell is going on?” And then we go out and blow ’em out, you know, boy.

01:03:53:01 – 01:03:55:22
Brandon Adams
What’s your record in the rivalry game?

01:03:55:24 – 01:03:56:24
Mark Clayton
Um, 4, 4-0.

01:03:57:01 – 01:03:59:09
Brandon Adams
4-0. Boy, you went through a good one with that one.

01:03:59:10 – 01:04:03:08
Mark Clayton
And I think we had the, the most points in one of them, like 63.

01:04:03:09 – 01:04:05:02
Brandon Adams
It ain’t been good for the last couple of seasons, but- No, it ain’t.

01:04:05:02 – 01:04:14:06
Mark Clayton
They, they gotta- they gotta remember, man. When I got, when Sark got in there, I just knew. I was like, “Oh, that’s gonna be trouble.” So I like Sark. I, I like Sark.

01:04:14:08 – 01:04:23:02
Brandon Adams
Yeah, me, me too. But, yeah. Honestly, like, and, and we talked about this earlier, you said, “Hey, I’m still really good friends with some guys now on the outside.” You know?

01:04:23:03 – 01:04:52:22
Mark Clayton
Vince Young, Roy Williams, um, B.J. Johnson. Like there’s, you know, the We, you know, obviously had connected and then we, we watch these other clippings like going in high school. Um, but shoot, playing against them and, you know, getting in the off season and us basically being in kind of the metroplex area, um, the familiarity coming out of Texas, just the relationship was, has always been good.

01:04:52:23 – 01:05:01:10
Mark Clayton
Even in the league, like, you know, we’d do a trip to Austin sometimes and and hang out or whatever. Like it’s it’s been like that.

01:05:01:14 – 01:05:05:15
Brandon Adams
Is it a lot of bets going on around the, around the time the game comes up?

01:05:05:16 – 01:05:17:12
Mark Clayton
More shit talking than bets. I bet a couple year, like with B.J. once, but, uh, yeah. No, I bet with, yeah. I mean, but it, it is more shit talking than it is betting. And then we’ll, we’ll, we’ll party after.

01:05:17:13 – 01:05:18:01
Brandon Adams
Still.

01:05:18:04 – 01:05:19:05
Mark Clayton
That’s good.

01:05:19:06 – 01:05:33:09
Brandon Adams
That’s cool. All right, so you, let’s, let’s jump forward. You went to the you went, you got drafted by, by the Ravens. first season you walk in, do you feel like you had a foothold in somewhere in there? Like, you’re in the first round, so you know they, they’ve invested in you, so they’re gonna have you there for 3 years, right?

01:05:33:10 – 01:06:03:04
Mark Clayton
At least. And- At le- yeah yeah, I, I, I felt really good getting into Baltimore as a rookie. I was, I was very And in my mind, honestly, it was like, finally I’m gonna be in a offense that is gonna be, I’m gonna need a PhD you know, to get this down. And once we got into rookie camp and then we got into training camp and I saw the offense, it was likeThis is it Is this Flacco at the time?

01:06:03:05 – 01:06:04:10
Brandon Adams
Is this Flacco at the time.

01:06:04:12 – 01:06:30:20
Mark Clayton
This is Kyle Boller. My rookie year. Uh, but yeah, looking at the Dolphins was like, “Man, this is it. This is all, this is all we doing?” Like, okay. Hey, this is, uh, this is, I can, I got that. We we did this at Oklahoma. Like we- Same offense yeah, we had more than this at Oklahoma. Um, so it, it was just a easy transition, um, schematically and, you know, I could, I picked that up.

01:06:30:24 – 01:06:56:15
Mark Clayton
It was more so about, uh, getting a feel with Kyle just getting those reps with the offense and like fitting in and building the r- the relationships with the guys, and getting to know, you know, certain guys and bu- having, you know, fitting in the team. Um, apart from that, the game itself was just, it was, the offense was pretty basic in Baltimore. Run the ball, you know what I’m saying?

01:06:56:16 – 01:07:03:14
Mark Clayton
Like Baltimore wasn’t a prolific passing organization, so it was, it was, it was easy to pick up.

01:07:03:20 – 01:07:04:11
Brandon Adams
Who, who was running back then?

01:07:04:12 – 01:07:08:24
Mark Clayton
The running back was, uh, Jamal Lewis. Jamal Lewis.

01:07:09:01 – 01:07:15:07
Brandon Adams
I mean, that’s kinda been their staple for forever is like run it and toss it when needed, but- Yeah. That’s cool.

01:07:15:08 – 01:07:17:03
Mark Clayton
So- That was cool

01:07:17:05 – 01:07:22:20
Brandon Adams
so you, you, how, how well would you s- grade your, your, your rookie season?

01:07:22:22 – 01:07:59:11
Mark Clayton
Uh, rookie season, I would give myself a, I’d say B. Just a B. I think I, I was able to contribute well, um, espe- like run game and passing game. I played multiple positions. Um, and I did, I made the All-Rookie team that season, but I, I, I missed some big play. Like I, I c- I, I think I would’ve gave myself a A if I had a few more big play, like, you know, capitalizing plays in that season. Um, but apart from that, I, I, man, I did well 01:07:59:13 – 01:08:03:02
Mark Clayton
you know, as a rookie.

01:08:03:03 – 01:08:06:16
Brandon Adams
Going into your, you did better your, your sophomore year, your second year in the league.

01:08:06:17 – 01:08:37:09
Mark Clayton
Yeah, second year we had, uh, uh, we had signed Steve McNair. So we had Air McNair and that was amazing. Uh, it was just playing with a veteran, playing with somebody who, you know, is unshakable and just been successful and just knows, you know, everything, damn near. Um, but it, it, it, it’s just a, a whole different vibe when you’re in the huddle he calls a play. And we know what the play is, but he knows what they’re doing.

01:08:37:10 – 01:08:48:04
Mark Clayton
And so he just says, “Hey, just do this.” And you do that, and it works, and the coaches are not on, they weren’t involved in it. But we go back to the sideline and they don’t say nothing ’cause it’s Mack.

01:08:48:05 – 01:08:49:09
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

01:08:49:10 – 01:08:58:22
Mark Clayton
Just like, “All right. Good, good shit. Good shit. All right.” “Well, next time, you know, we’ll get a” But yeah, that was, that was awesome. Um, that was, that was such a great time.

01:08:58:23 – 01:09:00:17
Brandon Adams
How many years- Rest in peace did you play with him?

01:09:00:19 – 01:09:20:07
Mark Clayton
1 One year ’cause he got hurt the second. I thought, at that point, too, it was my second year. I was, it was like, uh, the closest season I’ve had to, like, 1,000. And in my mind, we had a connection and we’re- Built us up about to have, you know, a few years of just getting after it. And then he gets hurt, um, in his second year in Baltimore, and so he 0 he only plays, you know, I don’t know, 3 or 4, 4, 3 or 4 games.

01:09:20:09 – 01:09:43:13
Mark Clayton
Um, and then, uh, Troy Smith comes in. Then the guy- Ohio State we had signed. Ohio State. Um, a name Mark Bolger we had signed, and we had Anthony Wright around. Oh, cowboy. Cordell Stewart was around. Like we- Uh-huh we was just trying to patch, you know missing Mack, um- Those are all kind of the same quarterbacks.

01:09:43:14 – 01:09:45:06
Brandon Adams
Those are all kind of the same quarterbacks.

01:09:45:07 – 01:09:46:24
Mark Clayton
Right?

01:09:47:01 – 01:09:49:10
Brandon Adams
It’s Bolger- Kind of a run I mean, that’s kinda what they do anyways.

01:09:49:11 – 01:09:50:02
Mark Clayton
Ind- yeah.

01:09:50:06 – 01:09:52:15
Brandon Adams
Like a mix of- Like kinda got a scrambling quarterback with a runner.

01:09:52:16 – 01:10:15:15
Mark Clayton
With a runner, yep. Run the ball. And it wasn’t even that we Before their, they were before their time, which, you know, it, it could’ve had some of that stuff in there, which, you know, I think would’ve definitely worked, but it wasn’t in there. It was just a matter of he can escape if they need, need it to. ‘Cause we only throw it, you know, so few times that chances are you’re gonna have to be able to maximize that pass play.

01:10:15:16 – 01:10:29:21
Mark Clayton
Opportunity, yeah. And so maximizing it is having legs and you know, being able to buy time and find somebody down the field, which, you know, brought those guys in. But, um, yeah, man, it was, it was a, you know, quarterback carousel when Mack got hurt.

01:10:29:23 – 01:10:35:07
Brandon Adams
Then you go into third year. That picks up a little bit, too. That’s Is that your best year?

01:10:35:10 – 01:10:53:10
Mark Clayton
It was good. Your f- No, my best year- Your- was my second year. My third year was good. We were good. Um, we didn’t do great, but we were good. Like, we were, we were good. So my second year we were 13 and 3. We lost to the Colts that year. That was ’06. When they, they went to the Super Bowl that year. Um, and we had a home game 01:10:53:11 – 01:10:55:08
Mark Clayton
end of it. Like, it was, it was set up.

01:10:55:09 – 01:10:56:05
Brandon Adams
Still remember it.

01:10:56:06 – 01:11:10:21
Mark Clayton
It was like, “Oh, we’re gonna make it.” They didn’t even score a touchdown. I think the score was, like, 15 to 12, all field goal game. Crazy. Uh, but good, you know, that was a, it was a fun, a really good season, uh, to have as my second year in the NFL.

01:11:10:21 – 01:11:13:18
Brandon Adams
And then- Who was the quarterback for the Colts?

01:11:13:19 – 01:11:15:17
Mark Clayton
Peyton? It was Peyton.

01:11:15:19 – 01:11:17:05
Brandon Adams
Well, sad that- And Reggie and- he had left to go to Denver by then.

01:11:17:06 – 01:11:20:07
Mark Clayton
Not yet. It was ’06, he was still in there.

01:11:20:08 – 01:11:23:17
Brandon Adams
That’s kind of a cool thing to be on the, on the say, “I’ve been on the field with this guy.”

01:11:23:18 – 01:11:47:03
Mark Clayton
Hell yeah. You know? That was my, my f- our first, my f- rookie year first game was a Monday night game versus the Colts. And I was in la-la land like- staring at the 50, looking at them do their thing. And coach was like, “Clayton, get over here. Hey.” “Get in line.” I’m like, “All right. It’s Peyton, man.” Like, dude, Reggie Wayne, Peyton, Stoke. I was like, man, this is Dallas, Dallas Clark.

01:11:47:04 – 01:11:49:09
Mark Clayton
Like, it was yeah, it was cool.

01:11:49:10 – 01:11:59:24
Brandon Adams
That’s awesome. Uh, so and you started to deal with injuries at this point. Um, kinda had some up and downs. And then you, and then you got traded.

01:12:00:01 – 01:12:28:17
Mark Clayton
Got traded. Yeah, so third year was, I think I had a high ankle sprain that took, that had me out for quite a while. And then 4th year was, was decent. I think I played most of the season. Same thing 5th, most of the season. Um, and then I got traded my 6th, 6th season. Um, and what’s cool about that was I had went back to OU to finish getting my degree, and Sam Bradford was about to go into the draft and be drafted.

01:12:28:19 – 01:12:51:20
Mark Clayton
And my first time, you know, really getting to just meet him or whatnot and, uh, I told, like, I just was just like, “Man, it’d be cool, you know, if we got to play together.” And this is the spring going into 2010. And then sure enough, we get into, uh, preseason games and it’s, the word is out, they thinking about trading me. I was like, “Okay, cool.”

01:12:51:20 – 01:13:13:17
Mark Clayton
And then, um, the week before the first game, or I guess it was the weekend, excuse me, uh, Ozzie brought me into the, the office and was, was saying, “Hey, man, you know, this is the sit- si- this situation is what we’re thinking,” which is rare. Like, NFL teams don’t bring players in and, and lay it out for them. They hear it through the grapevine or their agent or something like that.

01:13:13:17 – 01:13:34:10
Mark Clayton
But that’s Ravens organization. They’re, I, I always say they, they do dirty business well. Like, it, football is, is, I mean, it’s business first and they gotta do what they gotta do to win and run the organization. Uh, but they do it and they do it as good as anybody in the, in the league, for sure. Um, but he brings me in and gives me the rundown, and I was like, “Man, you know, I think, uh”

01:13:34:10 – 01:13:53:18
Mark Clayton
Well, he, he said, “We’re thinking of trading, releasing you or trading you. And I said, “Who’s the options for trade?” And he said 2 teams, but one of them was the Rams. And I was like, “Send me to the Rams.” Like, Rams, like, let’s do it. And, uh, so he did. And I got there in St. Louis on Monday, I think it was.

01:13:53:19 – 01:14:19:13
Mark Clayton
And, uh, Pat Shurmur was the OC. He was like, “Man, you think you’ll be ready to, you know, you think you’ll know the playbook by Wednesday for practice?” I was like, “Yeah, absolutely.” Uh, got to practice, and it was Sam slinging it and threw me in the mix. And then, uh- Blow up Thursday, Friday. And then Monday, um, sorry, Sunday, uh, play, it was, like, 10 catch game for, like, 100 and something and, like, tu- like, it was- I, I think 160 something yards, right?

01:14:19:14 – 01:14:21:14
Brandon Adams
I think 160 something yards.

01:14:21:15 – 01:14:46:18
Mark Clayton
Some- yeah. Si- yeah. It was a hell of a game. And I’m like, man, this is week one. I’m already top 5 in NFL in receiving and we’re about to have a hell of a year. Uh and so it was, it was, like, uh, just night and day going from Baltimore to St. Louis. And now that w- I felt like I was in college again in that whole dynamic because we, shoot, there was like 55 pass attempts.

01:14:46:19 – 01:14:50:06
Mark Clayton
I’m like, “I’m, I’m familiar with this.” “This is gonna get good.”

01:14:50:08 – 01:14:53:09
Brandon Adams
Do you ever And, and you quickly got injured right after that.

01:14:53:09 – 01:15:17:01
Mark Clayton
Correct? So week 5 I ruptured my patellar tendon at Detroit. Um, and it was cra- like, nobody touched me, no, no nothing. Was just- No contact was running a go route and was reaching out. Um, but, you know, with that, it was just, like, over the course of all these years, I’ve had patellar tendonitis from junior high, middle school, junior high, high school, college, and it was just a matter of time.

01:15:17:03 – 01:15:21:18
Mark Clayton
And so it was, you know, in that moment trying to reach out for a ball and just snapped.

01:15:21:19 – 01:15:24:17
Brandon Adams
It’s kind of the end at that point?

01:15:24:18 – 01:15:47:11
Mark Clayton
It was. It wa- it wa- like, it was. In my mind, I was like, “Oh, you know, another injury.” I’ve already had, you know, 4 surgeries at that point. It was like, “Oh, I’ll have surgery and I’ll do the rehab and I’ll be back.” Um, and I went through all the rehab and everything and got back, signed, and they signed me back. Uh, played in a couple games later in the year.

01:15:47:13 – 01:16:11:18
Mark Clayton
And for me it was, I mean, it was just like, “I, I don’t feel good.” Like, I, I literally was on a punt return and had a incredible punt. Was like, “This is beautiful. Oh, this is a return ball.” And I had to fair catch because my knee was just sliding as I was moving around back there. And so I fair caught itCame to the sideline and just, you know, told, I was like, “Man, I, I, I can’t go no more.”

01:16:11:22 – 01:16:18:06
Mark Clayton
And after that, went into the off-season, had a couple of surgeries and essentially that was it.

01:16:18:08 – 01:16:21:14
Brandon Adams
So mentally- what’s that like?

01:16:21:17 – 01:16:59:14
Mark Clayton
It was, um, it was, uh, kinda surreal that it’s like, man, you know, that kinda setting in, that football as I knew it was, I was gonna be That was it for you know, the rest of your life. You’re not playing football as a, as a sport on a major stage or in a, a league at all. It was just, it was kinda surreal. Like, I, I mean, and, you know, going through, you know, waking up and trying to navigate what that was was just this kind of odd space.

01:16:59:15 – 01:17:03:11
Mark Clayton
Like I don’t know what to do with my hands. Ricky Bobby type stuff.

01:17:03:12 – 01:17:04:09
Brandon Adams
Like- What do I do next?

01:17:04:10 – 01:17:11:13
Mark Clayton
What, what I don’t know what to do next. I don’t know what to do when I wake up. Like should I go just go work out or coffee shop?

01:17:11:14 – 01:17:12:13
Brandon Adams
Or- Do I still have to watch what I eat?

01:17:12:13 – 01:17:15:07
Mark Clayton
Or, yeah. Like, what, you know, uh- Pizza, here I come

01:17:15:09 – 01:17:16:07
Brandon Adams
Pizza, here I come.

01:17:16:08 – 01:17:44:19
Mark Clayton
I don’t have a schedule. Yeah, I was always- Cold pizza Candy. I kept the candy stocked. a lot of people couldn’t believe what I ate while I played. Like, what? That’s, Jack in the Crack was a regular meal. Uh, yeah. But, uh, no, it, it was, yeah, just being in that space of not knowing left, right. I, no schedule anymore. No off-season to get to, no OTAs to get to, no nothing for, to prepare for.

01:17:44:20 – 01:17:51:01
Mark Clayton
And so it was just this blank space.

01:17:51:02 – 01:18:00:08
Brandon Adams
You had a lot of contracts up to this point. You’d made some, some good money. Did you stow that away and invest it, or did you just put it in the bank, or?

01:18:00:10 – 01:18:28:16
Mark Clayton
And so I had essentially had money in the bank. I had a, I actually had a financial situation that I had to have, get help from another financial advisor to get out, away from- another financial advisor. Um, fortunate to, you know, have that help at that time. Um, but I didn’t, you know, I was fortunate to not just spend a bunch of money like while I was playing.

01:18:28:18 – 01:18:54:16
Mark Clayton
Um, I mean, I definitely spent money and, and had a good time, and enjoyed what I made, but nothing compared to what was being spent at that time. And I’m grateful for, you know, God, I guess, making me more introverted and kinda, you know, cool with being away, and a gamer, so to speak um, which I think kept me out of a lot of trouble as well.

01:18:54:18 – 01:19:19:22
Mark Clayton
Um, but yeah, so to have the help early and that helped me kinda financially understand this is what you have, and this is it. You need to- In the short run yep, you need to cut everything. Like, you, I mean, just start cutting, cutting, cut ’cause you, you’re not gonna collect checks like this anymore. And so that, that was ridiculously valuable to hear that from them.

01:19:19:22 – 01:19:37:08
Mark Clayton
And then I think, you know, coming from where I come from was just like, I don’t, I don’t need this. Like, I don’t need that. I don’t need that. Like, that is, those are nice to have. That is not necessary. That’s not necessary. I’m, I could sleep on a cot and be just fine. Like, I’m cool with that. Um, and I remember, so I moved in with a, a buddy, some buddies.

01:19:37:09 – 01:19:51:12
Mark Clayton
We just, I just had roommates too, where it was just like, I don’t I’m gonna take my time, figure out what’s what. But in the meantime, I’m just not gonna be spending a bunch of money.

01:19:51:14 – 01:19:57:03
Brandon Adams
‘Cause like I- Just lock it down and, and do a little research. How long did that phase last?

01:19:57:05 – 01:20:26:00
Mark Clayton
Uh, a couple years. Um, and so prior to g- to, or as that was happening, I was actually, uh, going through a divorce at the time, and then I had, um, I had had the surgeries and so I went to Miami to do some rehab and, and all this stuff and, and this is 2012. ’11. End of ’11, ’12. Um, and so I’m doing the, you know, doing the rehab and just kinda being, so to speak, and I ended up, I was going there for 2 weeks.

01:20:26:00 – 01:20:57:18
Mark Clayton
I ended up staying there for a couple years. And I would say just in, in those 2 or 3 years was kind of this figuring it out. Like, no, no rhyme or rhythm to anything and, uh, you know, would go travel and, you know, meet with somebody on some, a, a deal or learn about this deal or just seeing what I could see and experience what I could experience and not knowing what was gonna come of it.

01:20:57:24 – 01:21:22:14
Mark Clayton
But, um, I ended up remarrying, uh, my ex at that time, and that moved me back to Texas. And I think getting back to Texas was a, was the beginning of kinda replanning and starting to move in a direction that was okay, I think I could see what life is like, you know, could be like after you know, playing football.

01:21:22:16 – 01:21:43:09
Brandon Adams
So that was a, that was a pretty good rebound, right? I mean, we kinda went through this whole thing. You didn’t say anything about, um, I got married, I had kids, I did this stuff. And it was like Yeah, so anyways, I, uh, you know, I was- I got divorced. We got married again. So, uh, is there any of that that, you know, what, how do how do you, how do you divorce someone and then remarry them?

01:21:43:09 – 01:21:44:11
Brandon Adams
Tell me about that.

01:21:44:17 – 01:22:17:13
Mark Clayton
I think learning, you know. Um, I mean, uh, shoot, for me, the thing was seeing how, uh, neglectful I was for the emotional aspects of life. Like, you know, part of being im- I guess, experiencing what I experienced and being built how I was built was like everything was w- essentially logic and a decision to be made, and it wasn’t a bunch of It didn’t have to have a bunch of emotion behind it to get things done, to execute on something, or be successful.

01:22:17:14 – 01:22:59:24
Mark Clayton
You just, you just do it. And but in a relationship, it’s different. Women are different. And, um, I learned that. I, I mean, uh, this I had to learn that. Um, and I think at, at that time, this mar- like our, this marriage was about a year. Uh, but over the course of, of that and the back and forth and even in, in the divorce, the communication that was and all that kinda led to, you know, me kinda seeing like, yo, like you, like you really don’t make room for anybody to have emotion. Like, you really have shu- like this person was with you, and all they wanna do is be with you, but you’re- You had a transaction

01:22:59:24 – 01:23:02:20
Brandon Adams
shutting them out. You didn’t have a relationship.

01:23:02:21 – 01:23:40:10
Mark Clayton
And, uh, you know, part of going back was identifying that and saying, you know, “Hey,” like, you know, “I’m sorry. I, this is what I see, and I think, you know, we can move on from here and work at this.” Uh, and so that, that led to going back and us trying again. Which ultimately was unsuccessful but it was the, the almost a, “Hey, you know what? Now, now with where you’re at and where I am and what I see, I think we are, like, better friends than spouses.”

01:23:40:12 – 01:23:44:19
Mark Clayton
Uh, and we could just talk through it, and it was just like, yeah, I think that makes sense.

01:23:44:19 – 01:23:46:05
Brandon Adams
You guys have gotten divorced again?

01:23:46:06 – 01:23:47:22
Mark Clayton
We did after that, so.

01:23:47:23 – 01:23:52:13
Brandon Adams
We’re married twice. Waiting for the, we’re waiting for the trifecta fe- people. Don’t worry. We’re gonna- Nah we’re gonna get in on this one.

01:23:52:14 – 01:23:53:21
Mark Clayton
Well, I’m married now.

01:23:54:01 – 01:23:54:20
Brandon Adams
Okay.

01:23:54:22 – 01:24:10:09
Mark Clayton
I’m married. I’m married now, so And then my wife, Li- Liz, Elizabeth, she’s, you know, she’s, uh, she’s, she’s a sweetheart. And, you know, she’s And it’s been cool for me to be able to be in this relationship. So, I mean, we’ve been married for 3 years now.

01:24:10:09 – 01:24:16:11
Brandon Adams
So tell me, there, was there just, you’ve mentally changed your outlook on relationships as you’ve gone through this?

01:24:16:12 – 01:24:43:16
Mark Clayton
I didn’t see the damage that I was, was doing from an emotional standpoint. I didn’t see, I didn’t I mean, and then, and at that time it didn’t matter ’cause only thing that mattered was, you know, me, me doing the job that I was doing. And then in my mind, you’re, I’m, like you’re, we’re in this relationship, but it’s like you sh- you’re just supposed to be let me do whatever I wanna do.

01:24:43:17 – 01:25:05:20
Mark Clayton
And then Um, it’s like you’re supposed to just let me do whatever I wanna do, and then when it’s time for relationship stuff we ha- we- Compartmentalize yep, we can have a relationship. It was like, no, I wanna be ingrained in everything. Like this is done, and you, with you, period. And it’s like, no. Like, uh, what? I don’t

01:25:05:22 – 01:25:07:04
Brandon Adams
Uh, there- That’s not what I signed up for

01:25:07:05 – 01:25:38:11
Mark Clayton
No, no, no, no. Um, and so yeah, it was, it was like 0 over the course of time, you know, it, like being able to see, no, that’s not what relationship is. That’s not, you know, what or how you are in a relationship with somebody who you, who you know is different from you and their needs are different from you. Um, how you love them in the way that they need to be loved versus, uh, what you want.

01:25:38:13 – 01:25:56:05
Brandon Adams
What you put out. That’s cool. Ho- honestly, like I, I respect that. You know, that to see you come full circle on, you know, introspective. And do you think some of that comes from the home you grew up in? And like, oh, I expect relationships are just transactional. They’re not- love. ‘Cause you didn’t have that.

01:25:56:06 – 01:26:29:11
Mark Clayton
Yeah, no, it, it is Yeah, it’s like re- re- a relationship or relationship is a, is a working partnership to get done what needs to get done- that day and have some fun when we have fun. Like, this is, this is, like, that’s, that’s it. Supporting or being there for somebody emotionally is a whole different world having, you know, not experienced somebody just being there and allowing me to be in a, you know, emotional, um, at the same time.

01:26:29:12 – 01:26:47:16
Mark Clayton
So yeah, it has, it has been a, an eye-opener and, you know, it’s still a learning, a learning process ’cause, you know, I’m still, I’m still like, m- well, you know, the logic. Here’s the, here’s what’s going on. How do we solve this, you know- like, man, you know.

01:26:47:16 – 01:26:48:10
Brandon Adams
Know, sometimes they don’t.

01:26:48:10 – 01:26:49:02
Mark Clayton
Sometimes they don’t want that. Missing.

01:26:49:03 – 01:26:52:12
Brandon Adams
Sometimes it ain’t about a solution. What’s the relationship like with the kids?

01:26:52:14 – 01:27:16:08
Mark Clayton
Our relationship is, is good. Like, I don’t, I l- I have a, so I have a 18-year-old son about to graduate and an 8-year-old daughter. Um, and then she has, uh, 10 and nine, and so together we’re blended. It’s 18, 10, 9, 8. And they’re awesome. Like, they, they l- they’re great with each other. Then my 18-year-old, he’s, you know, kinda stays over in his, has his own space.

01:27:16:10 – 01:27:54:09
Mark Clayton
But, uh, our relationship is, is good. He grew up in Florida, moved here a couple years ago, and so he got to spend the last couple years of his high school years with me, which has been awesome. Uh, and then, you know, with my daughter, like, that’s, that’s different. You know, just having a daughter just Though they’re completely different from the boys, and that emotional piece, you know, I’m, I’m glad I had her later in life, or I guess later, uh, than my boy because I know more so how to be around or engage with her and, and just loving her differently.

01:27:54:11 – 01:27:55:03
Mark Clayton
And then, uh- Do you think that changed you a little bit?

01:27:55:04 – 01:28:09:14
Brandon Adams
You know, seeing the perspective of- Yeah. Oh, yeah the other side of the coin, the, the soft side of the world and- Absolutely and the loving side of the world, right? And then allowed you to kind of put the pieces together for, you know, relationships.

01:28:09:15 – 01:28:10:03
Mark Clayton
Absolutely.

01:28:10:04 – 01:28:16:19
Brandon Adams
I want this for her. I want her to have X, Y, or Z you know, in, in her relationship. Why am I not doing that, you know?

01:28:16:21 – 01:28:54:01
Mark Clayton
That’s, I mean, i- it’s like I want, it’s like I want to, want to be able to, uh, just have a relationship with her, like in a way that she trusts me. And then, you know, and that, my wife is huge just in, in terms of being patient with me and at the same time, you know, helping me in our relationship be in our relationship. Um, which helps me be in relationship with the kids um, in a, in a different way than just, um, you know, making sure that they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing or, um, you know, working at whatever the craft or the thing is that you’re gonna be working at.

01:28:54:03 – 01:29:28:03
Mark Clayton
Um, but, but trying to, you know, do things like, like listen. Like, l- like really, like just listen with them um, or just, uh, be there. Uh, and it not be to be working at something or solving something, but just hanging out. You know? And, and that’s become And that’s grown in terms of, man, I, I enjoy spending that time where we’re just hanging out and we’re just doing nothing or maybe we are doing something. But it’s just, it’s something that you wanna do that you like and we- we’re doing that and I’m enjoying that because I absolutely see you enjoying that.

01:29:28:04 – 01:29:33:14
Mark Clayton
And we’re doing that. And I’m enjoying that because I absolutely see you enjoying that.

01:29:33:16 – 01:29:50:21
Brandon Adams
Um, you’ve gotten outside of this. You’ve spent some time with your family now. You’ve gotten a few years removed from, from football. You said it took you 2 or 3 years to kind of do that. You said entrepreneur at the beginning of this thing right? Like, what was the first step into new business and investments and growing?

01:29:50:22 – 01:30:01:21
Mark Clayton
Man, it was, uh, let’s say, I would say my education apart from University of Oklahoma has been ex- an expensive, uh, um, product development/sup- supply chain management education, um, with the headphone concept that I had while I was with the Rams.

01:30:01:23 – 01:30:32:21
Mark Clayton
Um, and at that time, you know, I di- I didn’t realize that it would turn into a, a business or the business that it is today. It was just, um, something that I thought, something that I wanted because my headphones were giving me issues with what I was trying to do, which was run in a, in a swimming pool that had a treadmill in it.

01:30:32:23 – 01:30:46:09
Mark Clayton
And so being a over-ear, like the, the big headphone guy, I didn’t wanna do in-ears, and then I just wanted a in-ear or over-ear that was more designed for athletes more designed for, you know, he- fitness and- Not falling

01:30:46:10 – 01:30:46:20
Brandon Adams
Not.

01:30:46:22 – 01:31:04:06
Mark Clayton
not falling and then, yep. So something that was more secure, and then something that was ultimately autonomous. Um, so I can grab my headphone, get in this water and train on this treadmill and not worry about any connections at all or the headphone falling in the water, and then the music being ridiculously loud.

01:31:04:07 – 01:31:05:16
Brandon Adams
Are they waterproof?

01:31:05:18 – 01:31:06:17
Mark Clayton
They’re, these are water-resistant.

01:31:06:17 – 01:31:07:13
Brandon Adams
Water-resistant, okay.

01:31:07:13 – 01:31:15:20
Mark Clayton
The initial concept was waterproof. Waterpro- the problem with waterproof is it seals everything 01:31:15:22 – 01:31:18:10
Brandon Adams
and so there’s- Sound included

01:31:18:12 – 01:31:21:15
Mark Clayton
Can’t breathe, you know? You gotta, you gotta move air, so that base- Sound needs air.

01:31:21:17 – 01:31:22:16
Brandon Adams
There.

01:31:22:18 – 01:31:23:18
Mark Clayton
Yeah. Yes, indeed.

01:31:23:23 – 01:31:40:18
Brandon Adams
Yes, indeed. Well, so as you go through that, I, I notice that you have a really unique, um, structure for the top band that goes over, and I know that it goes forward and then back up over. Is that because most of the times your heads are falling, your headphones are falling back and keeping a little bit of the gravity towards the front, so it just keeps it from-

01:31:40:18 – 01:31:42:02
Brandon Adams
So it just keeps it from.

01:31:42:08 – 01:32:18:09
Mark Clayton
And so it was, it was tr- a tr- attempting to offset weight essentially. Uh, the reason, another part, uh, for why I went back was the first, uh, couple headphones that I, that I did break was when I was running a curl route, and on a curl route you’re snapping out, and you snap your head forward, and the headphones flew forward. And so I thought if you took the traditional band and, you know, had the points of contact at your ears, but then you, you set the top half of the band back a little bit and just put that point of contact behind the, the crown of your head, and then those 3 would help secure it for running a curl route.

01:32:18:09 – 01:32:41:20
Mark Clayton
Um, and then Dale Lott, my partner on the design, was like, “Man, maybe, maybe we should bring the headband out of the front of the cup.” And so we go from the front and then to the back, and then you’re actually covering a larger surface area with your compression, and the counterbalance will probably help with the security of the headphone.

01:32:41:20 – 01:32:47:20
Mark Clayton
And then it, and it did.

01:32:47:21 – 01:33:00:17
Brandon Adams
Yeah, that’s kinda what I was looking at when I saw it. I thought, “Okay, I see what he’s done here. He’s taken it and, and moved it, and made it more like a, like it was more hugging your head as opposed to just like a, girl’s headband or something like that.” You know what I mean? So, um, how much back and forth did it take to start to understand this is the process of what I wanna make and how I wanna make it?

01:33:00:19 – 01:33:09:03
Brandon Adams
Uh, oh, man.

01:33:09:05 – 01:33:34:24
Mark Clayton
So that first iteration, we, we started, that started in, like, 2012, ’13 or so. When we were, I spent, I went, flew up to Nashville and just stayed with Dale for about a week and a half, and we would go down in his garage, and he had a, a awesome design studio, essentially, with a 3D printing machine. This is back in 2013.

01:33:35:01 – 01:33:36:13
Brandon Adams
That was- Now go run a route. How’s this do?

01:33:36:15 – 01:33:59:11
Mark Clayton
Literally. Do a back flip. Like yeah, I’ll do a back flip. Uh, but he had a 3D printer. Like, in 2013, there wasn’t many 3D printers. But he had one. And so we would, you know, work. You would design and then print overnight, and then design, then print some, you know, through the day and overnight, and then put some pieces together, and then try it. So it went- And so went through a couple iterations of that

01:33:59:13 – 01:34:01:24
Brandon Adams
he’s designing this with PLA or, or- Yes.

01:34:02:00 – 01:34:10:23
Mark Clayton
That’s, exactly. That’s cool. But, uh, yeah, it would, you know, work in CAD and then go into SolidWorks and throw some, you know, materials on it and color it.

01:34:10:23 – 01:34:14:05
Brandon Adams
I, I worked in a robotics company before this thing, so- Oh, yeah

01:34:14:09 – 01:34:14:15
Mark Clayton
Know.

01:34:14:15 – 01:34:31:06
Brandon Adams
you know. So you’re, you know it well. Seeing, seeing the process of how that kinda comes through is, is pretty cool. And the testing thing- Yeah, it is that goes with it, the iteration. And 3D printing, super fast iteration for people who are trying to create a concept and and test it without sending something over and somebody doing something and kicking it back or whatever. Like, you can iterate really quickly.

01:34:31:06 – 01:34:40:01
Mark Clayton
Save a lot of money, a lot of speed. Get something done l- way quicker and for a lot le- a lot cheaper or a lot less than it costs to go over there.

01:34:40:01 – 01:35:01:02
Brandon Adams
So as you’re- The prototype as you’re building something out, what are, what are the goals you’re trying to build out towards? Like- Hmm do you have a, a target, a price target you’re trying to hit? Like, when you set parameters, I have to build headphones that do X. I want Is there a price target? Is there a, uh, a quality that you wanna put into this? Is there a, I need to get this, it needs to look cool because of who I’m gonna put it in front of?

01:35:01:03 – 01:35:07:15
Brandon Adams
Like what what’s most important and, and how did you rank those things?

01:35:07:16 – 01:35:37:05
Mark Clayton
So m- the most important piece when addressing it was function. I need it to fit in a way that other over-ear headphones on the market do not. This, you know, and it grew into essentially, uh, considering other, the competitors from a business perspective versus a, I, the ones that I’ve tried are, they don’t stay put. I just want one that stays put.

01:35:37:07 – 01:35:58:02
Mark Clayton
Um, initially, and, I mean, now even today it’s, it’s, it’s about function. Like, it’s about here’s a market. There is a, uh, a market for our people who like to work out with over-ear headphones. Um, we need to be the best performance over-ear headphone on the market period.

01:35:58:03 – 01:35:59:16
Brandon Adams
Goal number one, solve a problem.

01:35:59:16 – 01:36:08:01
Mark Clayton
Solve the problem. After that, conti- continue to add premium pieces to your product offering.

01:36:08:03 – 01:36:11:20
Brandon Adams
What does that mean? Class? Does that mean equipment- The look

01:36:11:21 – 01:36:47:21
Mark Clayton
wires? Design, design- Okay lines. Um, cosmetic. Uh, whether it’s, it’s, it’s wrapped. Um, but look and feel are to be premium first. ‘Cause it was like, I’m a, you know, as a, pro athlete, like it’s You want In my mind, it was like I wanted something that was premium, which I was already wearing these, you know, 2 to $300 pair of headphones. And so premium in terms of function, sound, and just user experience.

01:36:47:23 – 01:37:20:13
Mark Clayton
Um, and then whatever comes after that, it takes in consideration that this is for somebody who’s gonna spend 300 to, you know, 450 bucks on a, on a headphone, that better add value. And so the function was first, then after that, premium finish followed. Um, then after that is additional, you know, product, uh, product, additional, uh, product lines that support the premium-ness of the brand.

01:37:20:14 – 01:37:46:06
Brandon Adams
When you started to build this brand out, did you think, “Where are the holes in the market?” Like, can get some- earbuds for 10 bucks. Or I can get some for 1,000 bucks. Or there’s a, about 2 or 3 brands out there, they’re about 300 bucks a piece. Did you think, “Well, no one’s doing anything awesome at 125,” or, “I’m looking ” And, and that’s where the masses are.

01:37:46:07 – 01:38:10:23
Brandon Adams
Or, or kinda like the Xbox routine, like I’m an old school guy, so PlayStation came out. Ruled the world. Xbox came out and did oh, $100 underneath theirs. Oh, yeah. Literally just to cut them out. Console was $400, they did theirs at $300. Boom, they took a chunk of the market, right? Did you go into your product thinking, “I need to undercut these guys by a bit so I, my function and sound and premium product will shine, but those people hold the market, so I need to do something to steal it”?

01:38:10:23 – 01:38:31:14
Brandon Adams
Or did you think, “I’ve already got people locked in on this thing, and I’m gonna go to some ambassadors and get like the crème de la crème”? Are you going for masses, or are you going for a s- a few select people?

01:38:31:16 – 01:39:09:14
Mark Clayton
So when it came to the, the thought of being the best performance workout headphone, I couldn’t, couldn’t go or get to the, you know, $100, 200 Say even $200 price point. It was like, if, if we’re gonna be pre- or if, if this is gonna be premium, it needs to be reflected in the price point. It’s like I don’t I n- I know what I’m gonna pay. If I’m, if I’m saying I’m, I’m gonna go look for the best headphone in this category, or the best car, or whatever that is, I know I’m gonna have to pay a pretty premium for something that’s gonna be well built and is gonna

01:39:09:14 – 01:39:52:02
Mark Clayton
Sometimes luxury, but is gonna, is gonna solve a problem or, or, or serve a need that, that I have, um, in a, in a, in a very either unique way or premium way that I hadn’t experienced before. And so it was always and it I won’t, I won’t say it was always, ’cause it was, it was really always just me trying to make a headphone that I had had for, you know, that was a 300-odd headphone, be a better functioning headphone. And that was a, a high e- end headphone.

01:39:52:04 – 01:40:15:22
Mark Clayton
Um, but now it’s like no, it, it I mean, it really is trying to create and take what is the best of an over-ear headphone experience, package it in a performance design, and move that as a, as a value add to somebody that also has a, a stylistic, kinda luxury touch to it 01:40:15:23 – 01:40:24:03
Brandon Adams
on top of that. Stay in line with the other headphones that are at this level. Make ours function better. Right? Period. And that, and that’s kind of the goal then. That’s where we’re at.

01:40:24:04 – 01:40:42:23
Mark Clayton
And that’s, to me, our g- I mean, and where the market is, you know, continuing to grow from a performance standpoint, um, with what we’ve done from a design and patent from our, you know, with our patent portfolio, is be the over-ear that is built from ground up for performance.

01:40:43:01 – 01:40:43:12
Brandon Adams
Athletes.

01:40:43:13 – 01:41:10:06
Mark Clayton
For athletes. And anybody that is into the f- is, that is the fitness, in the fitness category. Or we could say performance category. Um, and then after that, everything that will follow will reflect performance, performance. And so we do, I do have a, an in-ear concept. I do have a, even a speaker concept. Um, I also have iterations of what we have today already drawn out for years to come.

01:41:10:08 – 01:41:18:12
Mark Clayton
Um, and so but they all take in consideration being the number one performance audio company on the planet.

01:41:18:14 – 01:41:40:13
Brandon Adams
So quality, uh, we, we don’t give up on quality no matter what level. We don’t give up on quality. Right? So the cool thing is that you have a, a unique shape that, you know, the public is gonna notice there’s something different about these headphones. Right? So if you do get them to perform as well as you say they perform, or if they are performing as well as you say they perform and athletes start using this, they’re already on a large stage,

01:41:40:15 – 01:41:47:00
Brandon Adams
And so there’s gonna be a lot of marketing that’s going around. And by having a unique shape to this, people are gonna ask the questions automatically, “What’s that?”

01:41:47:00 – 01:41:49:00
Mark Clayton
What is that?

01:41:49:02 – 01:41:57:04
Brandon Adams
What’s that? Or, or, and so have you guys built out a, a marketing plan? Are you guys, are, are you in at this level on, on the plans and stuff that you’re building out?

01:41:57:04 – 01:42:32:13
Mark Clayton
Well, I’m getting in now. I’m not a, you know, my my thing was like, let me go sketch concepts. I’ll sketch them till the cows come home. Um, but yeah, now, yes, I’m, I’m I have a, a better understanding of marketing, just what marketing is, the value of marketing, and the fact that I don’t know it. I’m not great at marketing. Um, and so now with the marketing team that we do have, I see and I can feel, like, the difference of, you know, the strategy that’s, that is being put in place.

01:42:32:13 – 01:42:53:15
Mark Clayton
And I, I can see clearly, oh, wow, apart from any headliner athlete or major athlete I can see where we’re gonna speak to some people that will be like, “Oh my God,” like, “I’ve been looking for this.” Like, this is I’ve literally been looking for this. ‘Cause I wear these, but they don’t do that. And this is, I need that.

01:42:53:18 – 01:43:12:01
Brandon Adams
And you’re gonna, and those guys are gonna have some easy wins too because of the way that you guys have designed this, you know, to, to stand off, right? The hardest thing in the world would be if you had a me too product- Totally that was just, that performed better on the inside that people couldn’t visibly see that. Because you guys have something visible on the outside that actually perform makes it perform better.

01:43:12:02 – 01:43:15:24
Brandon Adams
People are going to ask the question- Yeah.

01:43:16:00 – 01:43:32:04
Mark Clayton
Without having You know? That, yeah, is like that, that, that fits the narrative. Like, wow, I’ve never seen a headband like that. Maybe that absolute maybe it does do what they say it does because we’ve never seen that design, that shape ever.

01:43:32:05 – 01:43:35:24
Brandon Adams
And it’s cool. I love, I love, uh, and the brand, do you wanna tell people where they can find the brand at?

01:43:36:00 – 01:43:50:01
Mark Clayton
And so it’s, uh, LIV Audio, L-I-V-V audio.com. Um, and we are, you know, the number one performance audio company, um, and continuing to build, you know, products that, that take performance to another level.

01:43:50:03 – 01:44:02:21
Brandon Adams
You guys did a great job on your, on your branding as well. The, the LA that’s on there- Oh, yeah really kinda follows suit with the shape of the headphones. It really has something kind of, uh, very similar in nature to it. So the, the branding you guys did a great job on.

01:44:02:23 – 01:44:26:03
Mark Clayton
Appreciate it. I, uh, was the one, I did that in Photoshop. Just like I It went from one, uh, logo to this one, and I wanted it to be a lot more streamlined simple- Cleaner sleek, a lot cleaner. Um, and, and modern at the same time. It looks like, you know, something, uh, like a tech company that’ll be around in, you know, 2099.

01:44:26:04 – 01:44:44:14
Brandon Adams
I mean, it’s very, uh, it’s very sporty. Uh, it has the same angles as what your, your headphones have, so it represents the brand very well. That’s good. Or the thing that separates your brand it, it, it shows a nod to. Uh, but it also is, is great- That’s good symbolism for the 2 letters that it represents as well, so. Uh, very good on that one.

01:44:44:14 – 01:44:58:19
Brandon Adams
So, um, yeah, but as, as you’re going through that and you’re starting to build this thing out, are you going to classes? Are you learning? Like, what are you doing to become a businessman now? Now you’ve got a product. You can’t just put all your trust into these other people that are telling you, “Oh, you should be doing that 01:44:58:19 – 01:45:00:03
Brandon Adams
you should be doing that,” right? Like, what are you doing?

01:45:00:05 – 01:45:46:16
Mark Clayton
So, I mean, I’m a individual, uh, consumer of information. And just like you were talking about SEO, I just, uh, read a s- it was like a little s- like a small book on SEO um, and the value of SEO. Um, I go to So we’ll, we’ll go to, you know, I’ll go to a conference every year. I listen to, um, you know, all the new, uh, software or all the new, um, audio, uh, whether it’s drivers, um, anything anything new from a invention standpoint in the audio space battery-wise, what’s now the standard, and so on and so forth, through our manufacturing partner.

01:45:46:18 – 01:46:22:14
Mark Clayton
Um, and then I just came back from a, a conference, uh, little, like a, a business, well, family office business, uh, marketing, essentially a little bit of everything conference, um, where I just kinda listen in and listen to, you know, what people are doing now and, um, you know, any new strategies or-Um, you know, how our con- consumer behavior, what’s, what’s going on in my space in particular, but other spaces, um, and, you know, listen to new technologies that are coming, uh, new technologies that exist.

01:46:22:14 – 01:46:53:24
Mark Clayton
But I just, I just try to consume what I consume. And, you know, especially, like, in my space, uh, I also have a mentor who is the CEO of JLab, uh- Okay Audio. So Wynn Kramer, he keeps me just, you know, on what’s going on, you know, with the 100 Million & Up- In the world need- & Up company. And, uh, so I can just have tabs on all that and, but at the same time know that for us, we gotta block and tackle well, we gotta do the basics.

01:46:53:24 – 01:47:17:09
Mark Clayton
And our marketing hasn’t been great, and so that’s has been the number one focus uh, this year. And, you know, so getting a good feel for what, what marketing, good marketing is from the team that we have now has been essentially what I’ve, what I’ve done this year. Um, at the same time, you know, staying in my design lane.

01:47:17:10 – 01:47:29:10
Mark Clayton
But, um, yeah, I mean, it’s try to consume information from all angles and at the same time stay focused on what, what I know matters for us now.

01:47:29:13 – 01:47:50:08
Brandon Adams
Finding people that, uh, have interest in seeing you do well without having to have their hand in your pocket to do it. Finding a mentor like that is very valuable. You know? Like, no matter what level we get to, no matter what we’re doing in life, like if we find somebody who is just interested in seeing us win without having to see money come back to their pocket to do it-

01:47:50:09 – 01:48:08:21
Brandon Adams
pretty cool, you know? And, uh, I think you called it earlier an unk, you know? You’re right. You know, like I’m being- It’s a good term an unk for these guys over here. I’m teaching them and and seeing what’s going on. But that’s basically what we got now. You know, we got these guys that have been ahead of us doing uh, doing this same role for us, you know, uh, they’ve been through this.

01:48:08:22 – 01:48:25:20
Brandon Adams
And now they’re looking down and going, patting us on the back and going, “Hey, man, you need to do this, you need to do that,” or “Check that out,” or whatever, right? All comes full circle and having those people in our life that can really just invest in us because they feel like investing and they’ve already won, they don’t have to worry about it. You know?

01:48:25:20 – 01:48:43:18
Brandon Adams
Make sure you have that. I will just say this for anybody who’s building businesses out there, make sure you have someone that you can use as a sounding board. That’s a huge deal. Yeah, it is. Um, so as you’ve gone through and you’ve built all this stuff, uh the next stages are it’s, it’s out as of November.

01:48:43:21 – 01:48:44:16
Mark Clayton
Right?

01:48:44:17 – 01:48:49:11
Brandon Adams
It’s out. Um- Are you guys in selling online only? Are you in- Correct any big boxes? Like, what are you doing?

01:48:49:12 – 01:49:33:22
Mark Clayton
No, we’re online only. Our, I mean, our For real, we, we have to, um, establish our online, uh, community online before we even, you know, attempt to move into a, a big box space. Um, and you know, we, we talked about, you know, having a, a big name or kind of a marquee person be a part of it. But, you know, for me it’s, it’s like more important to establish the brand in a way that we can resonate with a certain type of com- uh, person um, and build a community online that let- allows Liv to essentially live apart from, you know, any, any marquee 01:49:33:23 – 01:49:48:07
Mark Clayton
you know, person. Um, and so with that, our, our focus is to, you know, iron out and communicate our mission, um, and, and, you know, connect with who we connect with and just build a online community, uh, and then grow out of that.

01:49:48:08 – 01:49:51:06
Brandon Adams
Are you seeding ambassadors out there with your product?

01:49:51:08 – 01:49:52:10
Mark Clayton
Some we will.

01:49:52:11 – 01:49:52:19
Brandon Adams
Okay.

01:49:52:20 – 01:50:28:04
Mark Clayton
We’re, yeah, we’re on the verge. We’re having some, uh, conversations and so, you know, my, our My deal is, is, you know, middle market, kind of, you know, lower to people who are not even just athletes, but just, um, you know, health, fitness professionals um, um, or you know, the yoga you know, type instructor types. Um, just across the board when it comes to performance, not only athletes. Um, but, you know, having, have some athletes in there as well, but we really wanna push the performance piece of what Liv is.

01:50:28:04 – 01:50:34:21
Mark Clayton
But we really want to push the performance piece of what live is.

01:50:34:23 – 01:50:53:08
Brandon Adams
That’s cool. I mean, honestly, like, you know, finding those people that really kinda fit that vibe as well getting them out there so people can start asking questions, give them a few, seed the environment and say- Yeah, yeah “Hey, man, wear our headphones, and just if you like them, say something.” Whatever, right? And so, uh, you can really start to get people to start to notice them by putting them on the right heads.

01:50:53:09 – 01:50:54:11
Brandon Adams
Oh, yeah, yeah.

01:50:54:14 – 01:51:00:22
Mark Clayton
You know? Those are very cool. I mean, and we’ve had, uh, recently we had, um, um, a girl who, she would, I don’t know, 3 or 400,000 plus verified, you know, followers.

01:51:00:24 – 01:51:23:14
Mark Clayton
And she did a giveaway. And, you know, she did it, and it was great, and we could see the numbers spike on our side from that little engagement, and it was I was like, “Man, this is, this is cool.” And she was doing it, you know, on love ’cause we know her.

01:51:23:17 – 01:51:40:21
Mark Clayton
Um, but I was like, “Man, what if we could really maximize this?” True. Like, our SEO ain’t even- True you know, up to code or standard- Yeah. or whatever, you know? And, and we, we got this little bump, which was nice. But gosh, we could have, did so much more- It’s just the way even with the

01:51:40:22 – 01:51:59:01
Brandon Adams
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, all marketing is a multiplier in general, right? So you put this and this, it’s not a, it’s not a plus. It’s a multiplier, right? Multiplier, yeah. And so this one catapults the next one, and you do something else, and it catapults the next one, so um, yeah, I absolutely believe in, you know, putting this full force towards it, and so 01:51:59:02 – 01:52:04:18
Brandon Adams
are you So what you I guess what I’m saying I’m hear- or what I’m hearing from you is you have a soft launch 01:52:04:19 – 01:52:05:02
Mark Clayton
at the moment.

01:52:05:03 – 01:52:09:06
Brandon Adams
that’s correct. And so you’re gonna go for a full-fledged launch. Do you have a target date for that?

01:52:09:07 – 01:52:18:05
Mark Clayton
And so our, our target’s the end of July. So July, July 30th. My birthday’s July, and then- Okay I think, uh, right in, in that month would be good.

01:52:18:06 – 01:52:22:21
Brandon Adams
Well, that’s cool. I mean, we’ve gone a long way, talked about a lot of things today.

01:52:22:23 – 01:52:23:18
Mark Clayton
Yeah, we did. You know, uh- Yeah.

01:52:23:19 – 01:52:39:02
Brandon Adams
It’s been great, though 1, one other question I had as we go through this, as you’ve gone through and had the competition side of your life, what do you do now to fill that void? Is there a hobby that you’ve picked up? Is there a where do you what, what do you put that, that competition into?

01:52:39:03 – 01:53:02:08
Mark Clayton
Man, I, I shot a 89 yesterday. That was pretty cool on the golf course. Uh, so I, COVID, I started playing golf. Like, I was basketball. I was still playing a little flag football here and there. Uh, which was, you know, it’s fun. Um, man, I got the COVID hit, and the golf course was open. And, uh, I got invited out, and they’re like, “Man, you can come out and just, you know 01:53:02:10 – 01:53:19:15
Mark Clayton
we can just be outside.” “You don’t gotta wear no mask or nothing. We just be outside.” Like, all right, cool. So I started trying to play, like, couple times a month, and shoot, this year, last year, I started, I just got the bug and started trying to go once or twice a week.

01:53:19:17 – 01:53:27:13
Mark Clayton
And so now, uh, my goal is to shoot in the 70s regularly, and I’ve made it to the 80s.

01:53:27:15 – 01:53:40:16
Mark Clayton
Uh, and so, and TA, you know, shout out to TA and the Serviturt, which this is a Serviturt hat. Um, but TA has been, you know, instrumental in helping me kinda dial, dial it in to, you know, get my game up this- Does he play?

01:53:40:16 – 01:53:42:11
Brandon Adams
Up there. Does he play.

01:53:42:13 – 01:53:51:04
Mark Clayton
He, he every now and then. He’s, he’s r- retired, but- Uh-huh he’ll still, yeah, he’ll get out there. That’s good. He’s still good.

01:53:51:06 – 01:53:56:18
Brandon Adams
Well, that’s awesome, man. Thank you so much, and again, if you wanna just tell everybody where they can find you, find your business, find you-

01:53:56:20 – 01:54:08:14
Mark Clayton
check on you. Yeah, man. Um, so yeah, hit me up. Um, I mean, on Instagram, all of our platforms is Liv Audio, L-I-V-V Audio. Um, check us out. We’re the number one performance headphone on the market.

01:54:08:15 – 01:54:10:22
Brandon Adams
Thanks. It’s cool, man. Appreciate you being here.

01:54:10:23 – 01:54:12:18
Mark Clayton
Thank you.

01:54:12:19 – 01:54:14:10
Brandon Adams
Appreciate you having me. I’m glad to- Sorry about the long drive, buddy

01:54:14:13 – 01:54:19:08
Mark Clayton
It’s okay. I’m ready. Uh, the ride back, I know what to expect.

01:54:19:10 – 01:54:23:03
Brandon Adams
Awesome. Well, everybody, until next time, that’s The Blueprint.