BE A BALLER -"Building a lifelong legacy"

Motivational Speaker- Shawn Harper's Journey of Faith, Failure, and Transformation

• Coach Tim Brown, Uncommon Life • Season 5 • Episode 8

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 Shawn Harper shares his  journey from the south side of Columbus to seven seasons in the NFL carries powerful lessons about purpose, perseverance, and spiritual transformation. With remarkable vulnerability, he shares the exact moment his perspective shifted from external validation to internal purpose: "Sometimes, when we lack identity, we tend to want to develop an image. But God didn't call your image, God called your identity." What separates an image from an identity? Former NFL offensive lineman Shawn Harper reveals the transformative wisdom that changed his life after a devastating career injury threatened everything he'd built.

 For young people especially, Shawn offers transformative advice about the relationship between present moments and future momentum: "Focus on the moment, and the moment will generate the momentum." This wisdom helps prevent the common regret of sacrificing meaningful present experiences while blindly pursuing future goals.
 
As owner of American Services and Protection since 2004 and an international motivational speaker, Shawn has mastered the art of turning adversity into opportunity. His refreshing take on failure—viewing it as "tuition" rather than defeat—challenges conventional thinking. "The greatest teacher is life, and sometimes your greatest friend is failure," he explains, noting that even the most successful entrepreneurs typically face multiple bankruptcies before achieving lasting success.

Shawn introduces listeners to the concept of being a "Winologist"—someone who studies the distinctive mindset and habits of winners. Winners, he explains, learn early to be comfortable standing apart from systems designed for conformity: "I am built to change the system. I'm not built for the system."

What legacy will you leave? Shawn answer is refreshingly simple yet profound: "Live, give, and forgive." Join us for this inspiring conversation that will challenge you to build a legacy that transcends your lifetime and impacts generations to come.

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Speaker 1:

Lord, please don't leave me like this, because if you leave me like this, I'm not going to make it. See, sometimes, when we lack identity, we tend to want to develop an image. But God didn't call your image, god called your identity. And sometimes he gets you to the point where all you have is him. And I said please, god, invade my life, change me. And you know what he said. He said you are going to play again. They said you will never play again, but you're going to play again. But you're going to play for me. And since that day I've been playing for Christ.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to Be A Baller where we're building a lifelong legacy for our families, communities and the world. Your host, coach Tim Brown, is excited for you to join him on this journey On. Your host, coach Tim Brown, is excited for you to join him on this journey. On each episode, we'll be talking about how to be intentional, about building a lasting legacy. We'll be exploring what it means to leave a mark that goes beyond just our lives but has a positive impact on those around us and even generations to come. So if you're looking for inspiration, guidance and practical tips on how to build a lasting legacy that makes a difference, then you're in the right place. So grab your earbuds, get comfortable and let's dive in. It's time to be a baller.

Speaker 3:

Welcome to Be A Baller Podcast. I'm your host, Coach Tim Brown, and I'm excited about our guest today, Brother Sean Harper. Brother Sean is a former NFL offensive lineman who played a total of seven seasons with the Rams, the Oilers, the Colts and NFL Europe. Since 2004, he has owned and operated American Services and Protection, a security company headquartered here in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Most importantly, he uses many of his powerful lessons he learned in the NFL and strategically applies them to his business. He's also a gifted international motivational speaker. Sean has inspired countless individuals and corporations. But I know Sean as a man, a mighty man of God, who has impacted students throughout the years in a way that they have come to believe in themselves, you know, to understand that God created them for a purpose. So I'm excited for this podcast today. It'll be more than a podcast. It's a ministry opportunity to give Sean that opportunity. So thank you, Sean, for being a part of the show today.

Speaker 1:

You know what? Thank you so much for having me, and it's my prayer, it's my hope, it's my intention that this message will not only affect but it will infect, that it will grow in the lives of people for now and for years and generations to come.

Speaker 3:

Well, you're already dropping gems. We ain't even got started. You know I can't let you off the hook because I've heard this story before. The audience got to hear this story on how you and your wife connected. I know you went to high school together. In high school, How'd y'all connect?

Speaker 1:

So I first met my queen in the sixth grade. Believe it or not, we were in the same sixth grade class, sophomore, middle school. She was on one side of the room, I was on the other side of the room. We never spoke. We had two different worlds, like different tracks, right, and from the sixth grade to the twelfth grade we never spoke.

Speaker 1:

Maybe get out of my way, or something like that. I mean, you know, she was a straight-A student, she was a. I mean, she was the epitome of that student who didn't really socialize with people like me, who was in gym four and home ec five, and she was in like the secret society, right Cause she would always like catch the bus and and, uh, go to, like you know in roads and you know college tours. And it's like Sean, go back to home ec, he's like, well, bye, who's who's these people? And and so, uh, I'm off in Toronto. I'm off in Toronto, a different country, and around four in the morning I see this amazing, beautiful woman and I'm like I'm looking, I'm like I know her but I don't know her. It's like 20 something years later and then make a long, long story short. I saw her a little later on. I called her the wrong name, she graciously corrected me and then that's when I started the pursuit. God, that is my wife. And years later, ups and downs, it happened Wow.

Speaker 3:

That's a great story, Sixth grade huh.

Speaker 1:

Listen, she was the Valley Victorian and I graduated last in class Same year. Her picture's up there I just left Independence and her picture's right up there.

Speaker 3:

It's right there. Yeah, and where's your picture at Independence?

Speaker 4:

It's somewhere. I hope it's not in like the delinquent file somewhere, oh wow.

Speaker 3:

You know you have a great faith journey. You're a strong man of faith. Can you share with the audience about your journey?

Speaker 1:

Wow, you know what? I had a really unique drug problem growing up because my mom would drug me to church Wednesday, thursday, friday, all day, sunday. It was just a heart knowledge and rituals, but it was not—I'm sorry, it was a head knowledge, but it wasn't an actual heart knowledge, that actual information that leads to transformation in probably 1993. I was playing, I got drafted and I'm playing for the Rams. I'm excited, everything's on the outside. I'm that guy, tim, and I feel a pop in my right foot and the doctor was like son, stay down. And they took me to get x-rays and they determined that it was the fifth metatarsal Jones bone fracture. And in that moment, the clearance shields.

Speaker 1:

That doctor looked at me and he said, son, your season and possibly your career is over and everything that I had built on the outside was image. But God was after my identity. And now that I'm able to sit in isolation and just shed everything, shed my image, shed my. You know my brand. I'm big Sean Harper, I'm this and I'm that. No, I'm just Sean. Lord, please don't leave me like this, because if you leave me like this, I'm not going to make it. See, sometimes, when we lack identity, we tend to want to develop an image, but God didn't call your image, god called your identity. And sometimes he gets you to the point where all you have is him. And I said please, god, invade my life, change me. And you know what he said. You know what he said. He said you are going to play again. They said you will never play again, but you're going to play again. But you're going to play for me. And since that day I've been playing for Christ, amen.

Speaker 3:

Amen, that's powerful. That's powerful, you know, I know. Growing up, you grew up on the South side of Columbus, south side, south side, south side.

Speaker 4:

I'm Southfield now.

Speaker 3:

South side of Columbus. How'd you realize from being a? You talked about being a. Well, I would just say an average student. I'll give you the average student.

Speaker 4:

You'll give me average student. Thanks man. Thanks for the average man.

Speaker 3:

And then just an average football player.

Speaker 4:

Sub-average, sub-average, dude, dude Listen, wait, wait, wait Listen.

Speaker 1:

I wasn't even honorable mention on conference. Like this guy was all state, all city, all intergalactic universe, first team.

Speaker 4:

And then here's Harper you know that slow clap.

Speaker 1:

You know the slow clap I was so embarrassed I didn't even invite my parents and I just walked in and picked up the actual trophy, coach Marvin Bohannon. But the amazing thing about God is God rarely calls to qualify but he qualifies to call. And in that transformation process I can only give him the glory and he brought me from that, moved me all the way through that, into more things and bigger things and blessings, to this moment right here. But you know what? You get to the point where it's have, you know, maybe gotten to a car accident or some, and somehow you just made it out in in in your heart. You know it wasn't you. That means that you're here for a season and you're here for a reason. Let's go, let's win.

Speaker 3:

Hey, what was that moment when you realized that, hey, I can play this professional football, I can be a good football player? What was that moment when you realized that, hey, I can play this professional football, I can be a good football player? What was that moment?

Speaker 1:

I mean, it was a dream of mine at a certain point in junior college. But the actualization happened, believe it or not. Believe it or not, I'm getting in trouble for saying this my junior year, when we were playing Ohio State and I went up against a guy named his last name was Spillman Big boy. He was a big boy, big defensive end, and the next day I had a good game because this guy was good. The next day there were scouts in the training room and we have to check in. And I walked past and I said hi, I'm Sean. And two of the scouts were like we know exactly who you are. And that moment I was like uh-oh, there's an opportunity, wow.

Speaker 3:

That moment, and all it takes is one moment, one person to see you. One person to see you, wow, and on it takes is one moment. One person to see you, that's it. One person to see you, wow, and on that stage you're playing, on that big stage, this is Ohio State.

Speaker 3:

You know, as you went through all these challenges in your life I read your story with the learning disabilities, poverty, speech challenges and those things but you chose to rise above those obstacles and focus on your strengths. I heard you share this. Can you talk about what were some of those takeaways from those experiences that you learned?

Speaker 1:

Well, a lot of the takeaways that I've learned and that I'm learning is the power of humility, is learning how to be dadgone, it learning how to be teachable, and that life is always teaching. Class is always in session. Unfortunately, we're taught either after high school or college. That class is over, so that part of our brain shuts down. But I've just learned something here today, talking to you. I've just learned something this morning class and succession, and so having a humble and broken heart before God is essential, because if not, you're not going to grow and you're not going to learn.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, you shared some of your playing experiences. You know, there was a time when you got hit pretty hard. Can you share some of those moments where you start thinking now wait a minute. Now, this is for real.

Speaker 1:

You ever been hit so hard? I remember one time I got hit so hard. I'm playing Miami and there's a guy on there His last name is Cox, so I'm going to say his last name is Cox. He was a ferocious linebacker and he hit me so hard. I knew. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was about to order donuts at Seaside Donuts in Newport Beach, california. But I'm not in Newport Beach California. I'm playing Miami. For about three or four seconds I'm out and the ref almost hit the whistle to call that and then I woke back up but yeah, but in that it was never. I can't do this. It's like you know what You're in it. Let's go.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, that's part of your MO.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, in it.

Speaker 3:

Let's go. Yeah, yeah, that's part of your MO. Yeah, let's go. Let's go.

Speaker 1:

You're all the way in. I didn't want to hit him no more, but let's go.

Speaker 3:

You know there's a couple of powerful quotes that you say a lot. One is you're not born winners or losers. You're born a chooser. You also have shared this one A setback is a setup for a comeback. These are powerful messages. Can you share with the audience about how you apply these principles to your life and your career.

Speaker 1:

Let's focus on the second one first, if that's okay. You know, the greatest teacher is life, and sometimes your greatest friend is failure. We're taught that failure is your enemy. We're taught to run into fear failure. However, if you learn lessons in the adversity, you know the pain. At that moment it stops becoming failure and it actually turns into tuition, and this is the tuition that I have to pay. You know and in fact not saying that wealth is the actual barometer or measuring stick but if you go to Google right now and you type in millionaire and bankruptcy, you'll see that the average millionaire has fell for bankruptcy 3.2 or 3.5 times.

Speaker 1:

Failure is your friend. That's how you learn. We learn how to walk by falling. You learn how to ride a bike by falling, and it's the persistence through resistance that gets most people to where they need to be. I mean, can you imagine? I mean Tim, mr Tim, I'm sorry. I mean I hope I don't get in trouble with this, but can you imagine how many times Elon Musk failed? I mean, can you really take a rocket to space and let it come back and land on a launchpad?

Speaker 4:

I mean NASA couldn't do that. What makes you think that you could do that, mr Elon?

Speaker 1:

Boom, A car that drives by itself on electricity. Come on, Come on. Failure is your friend. I had to learn that and the first one I used to always say you're not born winners or losers, You're born choosers. Honestly and I believe in full transparency, I had to amend that. I believe that everyone is born a winner, but you're also born a chooser, because everyone has a God-given purpose, calling and destiny on your life. And what happens in our society is that they kind of hijack the win and they turn it into success. And God didn't call you to be successful. God called you to win, which is the fullest expression of who you are mentally, spiritually, socially, financially and legacy. God has called you to win this race. He talks about a race. We are born to win, but we have to make the choice to win.

Speaker 3:

Wow, whew, you on a roll today, bro, it's the coffee, it's the coffee, it's the coffee.

Speaker 4:

Hey, give me some of this coffee.

Speaker 3:

I'm just joking, you know, as you're sharing, I was thinking about knowing that you're a motivational speaker. How did that opportunity come about? How did you get that opportunity?

Speaker 1:

You know what? So I was playing with the Rams and the Colts and one thing that the NFL does it's a great job is that their outreach programs are absolutely phenomenal. So they'll say hey, you know, we would like for you to go. Who wants to go speak at the YMCA for $1,000? I'm like I'm going to speak.

Speaker 4:

Like who's this guy right? I'm just stumbling over myself and tripping over words.

Speaker 1:

But you know what? That's the actual start. The actual calling of that happened at Indiana University. And I'm speaking in sociology class and after class this young lady walks up to me. She said, sean, have you ever noticed how people look at you when you talk? I said no. She said watch next time. And that you know, sometimes it takes that one breath of encouragement and that's, and the rest is history. Wow.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, you know, you were part of John Jacobs and the power too. Yeah.

Speaker 4:

I was just looking at those old videos. I was like did I really run through all that ice? That was a great platform to learn because they just threw you out there, sean. I'm on a share testimony in front of 20,000 people. I'm just like good job, sean, sit back down. It's just the 10,000-hour rule, persistence and learning.

Speaker 1:

I learned so much about ministry and life from that organization. Yeah, it's a great organization.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I know you did quite a few of those feats of strength and all those kind of things. No, that was great. You know you have written two books Now you're an author now as well, so you're going from all these others, now you're an author. Can you share with us the vision behind those books? What inspired you?

Speaker 1:

to do. Well, because the average lifespan probably is like 75, 80 years. And what will be the legacy that you leave behind? In this world's operational system Like, what are you going to leave behind? Number one aside from your offspring, you get the kids. You get kids. What is the legacy that you leave?

Speaker 1:

I mean, I could work real hard, make money, put my name on the wall or somewhere. I mean that's great and that's in a space for that. But can I motivate people in the grave? Can I inspire people when I'm in heaven? Heaven that, to me, is so powerful, it's such a blessing, which is why I love things that you do, tim, because you're just grinding, pouring into people, ministering to people, encouraging people, and they're going to have kids, and they're going to have kids and they're going to.

Speaker 1:

You are changing the trajectory of people's lives, which is the win. Which is the win. The second reason real quick is because I I'm I'm getting in trouble with this one. I break rules. I'm not a follow, I'm not a program follow the rule guy, okay, but I don't break laws. You break laws. Laws will break you, and I've learned how to win by building my life on laws like sowing and reaping, laws of forgiveness, law of the 212, and looking for spiritual laws that are in this world system since the beginning of time, learning them and using them to my advantage to win.

Speaker 3:

That's good. And speaking of that win, you've got this little fancy nickname. Now You're the win-a-knowledges. See you, messed up.

Speaker 1:

You messed up. Come on, mick, no way, you know what? Because?

Speaker 4:

it's not a word. I just made up a word. I promise you I did that right, I'm playing with you. No, I made that word up. Look it up, I'm going to Google it. Google it it's called the winologist.

Speaker 1:

It's like it is the study of winning and the study of winners. Winners are different. Winners are set apart from birth. They do things differently. I mean, you can be, you know and this you know, and most people who are listening to me and you know, you got competitors and you got winners. Winners are different and they do things different. Like I would just throw something out there. We are taught at a young age to be conformist, to conform. In school we're taught to conform okay, but when we're older we celebrate people who are different. When we're young, we criticize people who are different, but the winners, when we get older, we celebrate. The winner has to make a decision at a young age. I am built to change the system. I'm not built for the system. I'm a winner. That's one of the things that separates a winner. You have to be able to be comfortable being separated. Mm-hmm, they train different Everything. Anyway.

Speaker 3:

That's good.

Speaker 4:

He was rolling there. I didn't want to cut you off. Now I see you picking up the cue card. I'm trying to learn your body language. The cue card is coming like that's the next question. Man, come on, let's go. I didn't want to cut you off because you was rolling, but since you asked for it, as a guest on a Beer Baller podcast.

Speaker 3:

We ask our guests to commit to what I call the wisdom pledge. Okay, it's to give away all your wisdom you know. Okay, Because a lot of things you know you were talking about. We got this down about money. You can't take it with you, but we also have to understand there's wisdom, there's a lot of wisdom, Right, so we actually so. Can you just tell us, tell the audience, you gave us so much wisdom already, but can you give us just one more piece of wisdom you gained through your career that you can share with our audience? Man, Particularly young people. Let's go to the young ones.

Speaker 1:

Okay, okay, okay, let's go to the young ones. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, the moment generates momentum. Sometimes when we're younger, you know, 18, 19, 20, in college, whatever we put all of our energy into our momentum. This is what I want to do, what I'm going to be in life, and blah blah that we miss the moments. We miss the very important moments to build relationships, moments to just really drill down and be the best that you can be, moments to just smell the roses and just eat in the moment. And if you put your energy in the moment, that will generate your momentum. But we are so focused on the momentum till we get to our late 40s and 50s and all we have is, because of the lack of momentum, all we have now is memories. And so then we run to our memories to see if we can generate the moment, to generate the momentum. Focus on the moment and the moment will generate the actual moment, will generate the momentum, and then you won't have those negative memories.

Speaker 3:

Wow, yeah, powerful, so true, especially for young people. Yeah, live in the moment, moment, live in the moment, get it, live in the moment, and that's going to create that momentum. Yes, yeah, that's going to push you forward. Yeah, you're in that moment.

Speaker 1:

I told my son man, I'm like son, look, you are a senior at the University of Kentucky. Okay, your LinkedIn profile should be you should have no less than a thousand people that you met at school in your LinkedIn, that you're communicating with, that you can network with later in life. They're all going to be graduating with degrees, that's good.

Speaker 3:

That's good as we come around the corner. You kind of alluded to this earlier, but what is the legacy of Sean Harper?

Speaker 1:

Live, give and forgive. I want that to be my legacy. I lived in the moment I gave. I gave till it hurts, there's nothing left. I want to die empty and to forgive and to release and to bless everyone on the way through. I don't even want them to even know. I mean, you can know, sean Harper, but I want you to know more about the lessons that I've taught, or that God taught me, that I share. It's not so much about me.

Speaker 3:

You know how many people who die every second, versus the legacy behind the people who die every second. Wow, yeah, boy, you're dropping the mic.

Speaker 4:

Well, that's all the time we have. I don't know if there's much more to be said. It's the coffee man.

Speaker 3:

I want to thank our special guest, sean Harper, for his encouragement of paying forward and being a blessing to the next generation. Sean, thank you for building that legacy in sports but also off the field the things you've done after using football as a platform you know to bless others. And don't forget to subscribe to our podcast so you can stay up to date with all our latest episodes. Our podcast guests are always willing to share wisdom and inspire others to build a legacy that lasts.

Speaker 2:

If you've enjoyed this episode, please share it with family and friends. The Be A Baller podcast is available on all major podcast platforms. This podcast was created by Coach Tim Brown and recorded and edited by the video production class of Worthington Christian High School. Be sure to come back next week as we continue to discuss on how to build a lifelong legacy. Until then, don't forget to be a baller.