Joe Hawley - NFL Life to Van Life to Dad Life

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In today’s episode, our guest is Joe Hawley, a former American football center who played for the</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Atlanta Falcons</span></em> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and the</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tampa Bay Buccaneers</span></em> <span style="font-weight: 400;">of the</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">National Football League</span></em> <span style="font-weight: 400;">(NFL). Hawley spent eight years in the NFL and retired after becoming a free agent in 2018 to pursue a passion project. He donated most of his belongings to Metropolitan Ministries of Tampa Bay and lived out of a custom diesel cargo van as he explores the country with his rescue dog. And today, he is going to share with us how he transitioned from being an NFL player to live out in a van and the journey to becoming a father. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[07:28]</span> <strong>Why should we listen to you?</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I try to practice being as present as possible. What I’ve learned a lot about is trusting. I learned to trust things when I was on the road. When I was playing football, I created this identity. I played football for 16 years, eight years in the NFL. And when the decision finally came for me, I felt this calling to walk away from the game. There’s so much that goes into performing at such a high level all the time. The physical trauma, emotional and mental stress, and then I finally decided to walk away, which led me to decide to give away all my things to charity. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[09:32] I bought a van, and I traveled the country trying to figure out who I was without the story that I’ve created for myself. These are the transitions and opportunities to reshape the story of who we are. I genuinely believe that courageous people step into their calling and dare to step into the unknown. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[11:06]</span> <strong>