On this week’s episode, we’re calling an audible and going from the griddle to the gridiron with former NFL all-pro offensive guard and Super Bowl champ Evan Mathis, friend of the show and a former fry cook under our own Chef Pete.
Evan grew up in Homewood, Alabama, where he worked part-time at age 13 for Johnny Ray’s BBQ and at 16 came down to Orange Beach where he got to work with Chef Pete as a fry cook and also as a server. How does the food world tie in with his football fame? That’s an easy answer for Mathis – it taught him how to grind and inspired him to think bigger. While he may not have been one of the most naturally talented football players (his words, not ours), the grit and gumption he took from the culinary careers helped him develop the skills he needed to work hard and make himself great.
After playing at the University of Alabama, his NFL career bounced him from team to team, but his career took off during his time with the Philadelphia Eagles when he was ranked No. 1 Guard in the NFL and that led to another important issue he discusses with Chef Pete – our egos. Evan has some impressive insights into how to make sure you don’t let your ego impede your progress to your goals.
And since he retired from the NFL in 2017, Evan has been big in the business world as well, but not without some bumps along the way. He’ll tell us about what he learned from a gym startup gone wrong and he’ll tell us the tricks of the trade for his latest and most prosperous venture – the trading card industry.
This episode is so good, it’ll make you want to have your friends over for a tailgate party to listen to it again, so ready, set, hut for this week’s Raw Ingredients.
Connect with Evan: Instagram, Twitter, TikTok
Evan’s Companies: Cardseer, Mathisit
Connect with Pete: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, The MessLords, PRFOUNDATION
Pete’s Restaurants: PaniniPetes, SunsetPointe, Ed’sSeafoodShed, Squidink,