Myles Garrett on NBA Ownership, Klutch Sports & What It Would Take To Become a Defensive NFL MVP

Let's try to build your perfect football player. Perfect football player? What position? We're gonna take the parts of the player. So, hands. Chris Carter. Let's go agility. What does that involve? Change of direction. Barry Sanders. Easy. Easy. Easy. You say those words, it's Barry. You just got your first defensive player of the year. Your first one. Yep. What do you think sets you apart from your contemporaries? Probably the attention that I get. You know, the ways they try to take me out of games and keep me from wrecking the game. It seems to be a little bit different than some of the other guys get. And I feel like I work better in spite of the conditions that they put in front of me. When did you feel like you were the best? Like without the trophy, but when did you feel like you were at the top of your game? Well, I always feel like I'm at the top of my game. I don't think that's gone anywhere. But when I felt like I was the best, probably 2019, 2020. I felt like I really caught my stride. Everything started to slow down. I really started to get a grasp of the NFL game. The last defensive player to win an MVP award for the regular season was Lawrence Taylor. 1986. Do you think that will ever happen again? Yeah. I think it's possible to happen again. I mean, it will take a bit of a down year for quarterbacks. But it would take also a monumental effort from a defensive player. And I think the passing game back then was a little less evolved than it is now. 20 plus sacks, forced fumbles, fumble recoveries. Maybe like a team success. It would be hard to take it away from a guy like that. Might be the guy. I'm not saying I'm not. There you go. So speaking of LT and past generations, our partners over at LIDS have debuted a NFL retro series. Okay. And they've got a gift for you. Oh, these are tough. Yeah, they're nice. You got your initials on the back. Yeah, with the M-G. Okay. Custom made. 46. You know what 46 stands for? What is that? The first year of the NFL? Yes, sir. That's it, right? Yes, sir. Won the championship not long after that. Yeah, that's right. Got there. They're all nice. Shout out to LIDS. Looking out. Appreciate y'all. Let's jump right into some of the moves that you've made in the past couple of years. You're a fixture in Cleveland, particularly with the Cavs. You've been seen in courtside. You were in the Celebrity All-Star game when it was in Cleveland. Yep. And then you suited up for the Cavs in Summer League. What has sparked your interest in the team so much? I've always had an interest in basketball. Obviously. I mean, that's been a love since day one. I've been surrounded by it with my brother playing ball, my dad playing ball. And it's just always been a passion. But being close to it was always going to be something that I was going to do. And coming in 2017, the Cavs had just won in 2016. One of the greatest comebacks we've ever seen in sports. And then making a run in 2017. I got to be a spectator for that. Going to some of the games and really falling in love with the fan base and the team. So I wanted to be a part of that journey. We just created a connection from there. And for those who don't know, you're now a part owner of the team. How did that opportunity come about? How did it all materialize? Just naturally. Them allowing us to stay in the suite sometimes. Being around some of the different owners. Being around Dan, being around Grant and Dan's other sons. Creating a nice relationship. They've been great hosts and friends to myself and my family. And it just materialized naturally over time. It's always better when it's face-to-face. It's personal and it means something. You also have ownership in a pickleball team? I do. Awesome. So do you have any other future aspirations in terms of owning teams? Of course. I'm just big on sports in general. And I know basketball is one of the ones that I really prioritize. But I'm also big into soccer as well. And I want to be a part of that world as well. And I've already seen some of my contemporaries, some of my peers. I'm breaking into the world. I believe JJ, Tom Brady, and LeBron as well. At Liverpool. That's right. Seeing them do that and getting advice from them on how to set myself up to get in those rooms and get into those meetings and create those relationships. I've been completely attentive and trying to be aware of everything that's in front of me. Did you come into the league with the mindset that you were going to become a businessman outside of football as well? I would say it changed over time. Yeah. I mean, I'm not big on creating goals too far into the future. I try to focus on what's right in front of me. And as soon as I entered the league and got into the Browns, I was thinking, how do we change this to a winning organization? How can I become better and lead this team? And everything that comes with it, that's great and it's dandy, but we've got to focus on the main goal, main mission. Everything else will fall in line. You met with Magic Johnson earlier this year, and he had this to say about you, that he was really impressed with all the work you've done so far and your desire to learn as much as you can. What was that like meeting Magic Johnson, and what did you take away from that meeting? I mean, that's the man. And in L.A., it doesn't really get bigger than that as far as royalty out there. And for him to say that, I'm really grateful for those words, and I'm really appreciative. And I'll continue to try to learn from him, from the moves that he makes and the way that he works with the people around him and the way he treats them. So I'm just trying to follow in his footsteps business-wise and hopefully career-wise as well. You also became an equity partner in Municipal Sports Gear with Mark Wahlberg. That's right. What was it like meeting him? He works his behind off like he has nothing, and that's how we should all carry ourselves. I also found out my man loves golf. If anyone didn't know him, he's obsessed and he's competitive as hell. And once I get into the golf game, he'll be the first guy I go after. Oh yeah. So you have all these connections to like the biggest names in this realm, including being signed to Clutch Sports. What drew you to Clutch Sports over other agencies? Some personal relationships that I'd already had there. Shea Lauscheviken, Nicole Lynn. It just seemed like the perfect opportunity, the perfect synergy. And so us being able to create this team, I think it was great timing. It is great timing because in recent years, Clutch Sports has expanded their, like they're mostly initially known for being in the basketball realm, but now they've expanded into football with you being one of the bigger names that they have under their umbrella. How do you feel like you contribute to like sort of a rebranding of Clutch Sports? I want to be that base of Clutch football. Being that guy who they look to is not only for advice, but it's like, no, he did it. He did it the right way. And he's really still continuing to pave the way. It's year eight and he's grinding like it's year two. On the topic of LeBron, how does his workout game measure up with yours? We worked out a couple of times, but we're on two different schedules. And so it's not like he doesn't work on those explosive workouts anymore. There's just more measure. He has to continue to have that explosiveness, getting up and down the court, exploding to the rim. That first step that few others can match or surpass. All those things he has to work in moderation. But he has to work more on the longevity now. Work on managing his body and maintaining his body. And during the time that we worked out, I'm in my off season, he's in his off season. But I'm just starting to ramp up and he's still in a time where things just cool down. Did y'all compete at all in the workouts? Who can hold a plank longest? I know he does some unorthodox workouts with the ladder joint. Yeah. Fortunately, there was no ladder where we were at. Because he doesn't like the ladder and neither do I. But I'm also not going to let him beat me on the ladder. But when we did do landmines or squats or stuff like that, he's an older man. I'm not going to let no one beat me on it. Whether it's doing weights or push-ups, I'm going to do a couple more. I'm going to do more weights, more reps, whatever it is. I can't let the elder statesman get me. You like to play basketball. Did y'all get on the court for a little bit? No court there. Have you played them at all? No. I hope to. I hope to soon. Don't tell my organization this. Hockey Pass has a chance to play with one of the greatest basketball players of all time. It's very well known how serious you are about taking care of your body. And it's only gotten more intense over the years. Can you talk about your approach to wellness specifically and what being healthy to you really means? Being healthy is a multitude of things. Getting the proper amount of sleep as far as nutrition. Being physically active, but also mental wellness as well. Being in the right state of mind. Positive self-talk. Keeping great company around you. And allowing them to elevate you and not detract from what you're aiming to do. Keeping like-minded people around you who can continue to progress you towards your goals. And you as a unit will flourish together. So do you impart that knowledge on your teammates as well? Absolutely. Always supposed to have one goal. It hasn't changed. Last year is gone. Whether we had success last year in this phase or this phase. Whether there's no defense. We're supposed to have a great year. A historic year. At the end of the day, we didn't leave the season with a chip. So we have to continue to find a way to be even better. I believe you said that you try to encourage people to be their best selves and live their best wellness lives. Can you speak to that about how that can be made accessible to everybody? Well, I believe that's the mission statement for me. Being your best self. And showing you that athletes aren't just the people you see running up and down the field of the court. There are athletes everywhere. Full nutrition. Wide care. Continue to fill your body with the right things. Make yourself feel better. Once you feel better, you start thinking better. That's the positive self-talk that continues to help you stack those days. But keep those progress reports. Keep those receipts. One month. Two months. Three months. And continue to check on them. You see how that positive self-talk takes stress off you. Helps you work harder. Eventually, you start to see those gains. Not only do you feel good, you start thinking better. You start feeling better. And you start to do better. Apparently, you didn't have a fully structured diet when you came to the league until a couple of years ago. Was that before or after your first All-Pro season? That was after. What would you say was the change that you felt in your body and your performance? I felt better more consistently. The diet I had before, it was just, you know, sometimes I felt great going into games. Other times, I didn't feel good at all. Instead of, you know, just having a balanced, consistent diet that I can rely on, that I know will get me into the game feeling at least good. Not always going to feel great, but at least good. So, you know, start to change all three things depending on, you know, different times in which we play and different times in which we eat and nutrition and sleep and get the most out of, you know, what we're trying to do. I saw a video that you did that sleeping better helps you to see everything. I mean, sleeping is very crucial to your recovery, but also you don't think how much of your reaction is limited and hindered by your lack of sleep. That ball in the air, you know, sometimes you act a little bit late. Or sometimes, you know, the ball being snapped, sometimes you act a little bit late. Or, you know, seeing that guy who's, you know, throwing subtle hints at you when you're pass rushing, you know, he's kicking a little bit different, he's throwing a different hand, maybe his eyes are looking down the line. And so you're tired, you're not thinking, you're not working through all these things that, you know, maybe you have a mental checklist of all these things you need to do before the snap, during the snap, and after. You know, create that moment of opportunity to make that big play. I just try to get as relaxed as possible. I know how to play the game in a relaxed state to think clearly. Once I'm relaxed, I can see it all for what it is. I can see, you know, whether his eyes are down or he's looking at me. I can see whether the quarterback's feet are, you know, a little bit further back. He's trying to receive the snap so he can, you know, three-step drop or five-step drop. Whether he's, you know, making a hand signal with his, you know, next to his helmet. You know, they're going to make a certain route. You know, all these things, you know, you sometimes miss if you're too keyed in. And if you get too relaxed, you know, then... It goes the other direction. Yeah, it goes the other direction. So you have to, you know, find that state that, you know, helps you get into the mode you need to lock in and go into that zone. Kobe, MJ, LT, DT, Reggie White. Yep. What is it about their game and their mentality that you take away from watching that before the game? You get to see the duality of it. You have LT, you have Kobe, you have MJ who have a killer instinct. It, like, exudes from them. They want to kill you. They want to take you out of the game. And then you have, like, you know, Reggie, you have Ali, you have DT who play the game. They're more relaxed. They want to enjoy it. They want to have fun. Like, they know their job and know what they want to do. But, like, this is, like, this is just like breathing. It's as easy as walking. And, you know, finding that middle ground, you know, between, you know, sharpening that killer instinct and then, you know, also just playing the game as freely as you can. You know, just trying to, you know, combine the two. And that's how I feel. Like, I walk on the field. It's like, you know, I walk on the field and I plan to destroy the game. But I plan to have fun doing it the whole time. Muhammad Ali, you have a bunch of pictures of him on your wall. What about him and his legacy that kind of, like, connects with you? What's funny is, you know, when I was a kid, you know, I grew attached to the trash talk and the poetry. And I still continue to write poetry to this day. But I'm not a trash talker when I go out there. I'll smile at you. I'll help you up. I'll ask if you're all right. But I won't trash talk you unless you start talking to me. And most of the time I just won't say anything back. I think that's more disturbing to most guys is when, you know, guys, you know, guys get nasty to you. And he doesn't say anything. Yeah. You're trying to get under his skin. You're trying to find a way to get him off his game. And he's just going about his business. And you can't do anything about it. Ali, you know, it was threatening because, call it, you know, second round, fourth round, sixth round. Yeah. And you knew those guys were dreading getting to that round. Because it's like, when is he going to turn it on? Yeah. Like, when is he going to find it? And, like, do I have enough left in the tank to even survive past this round? And once you start playing those mental games and doing that mental gymnastics, you're already defeated. Then he's got you right where he wants you. So, also on your walls we have signed jerseys from the likes of, like you said, Von Miller, Aaron Donald, Max Crosby. The Max Crosby, that one stood out to me because it said, you inspire me to be better every day. They're on the wall because I respect a lot of them. And, you know, they inspire me to be the very best I can. Because, you know, they are some of the best warriors we have today playing the game. We just want to continue to, you know, mash them and hopefully exceed them, you know, when the time calls. Defensive player of the year is kind of like exceeding everybody. But, yeah. That was last year. I got to do it again. Always looking forward. I like that. So, you obviously take football serious. You're wellness serious. You're business serious. Another thing you take serious is Halloween. Yes, sir. You've done the costumes. You had the graveyard. And speaking of the graveyard, how did you come up with that idea? Like, is just Miles being creative or? Somehow I came up with the graveyard just sitting in the car. Just, you know, sitting, listening to music and thinking. And then the sack reaper came up. Like, you know, just, you know, slam quarterbacks. And then, like, the graveyard came with it this year, which can't give you an idea yet. But it will be another, definitely another fun one. Is there anybody that you want to add to the graveyard, if you were to do it again, that you haven't gotten to, that you haven't sacked yet? No, one guy I didn't get. I only got one opportunity to get. It was Drew Brees. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I wanted to get him. I still believe it because I didn't have my headband that game. Speaking of your other interests, just looking at your house, you've got Dragon Ball Z figurines, a dinosaur head upstairs. Yeah. You have a love for anime, Stranger Things. So many varied interests. You're also learning Japanese. Having experience, though, being over there for a while, just the way they, their politeness and the mild mannerness. The other part of the culture, you know, once you see Tokyo, you see it's so, you know, so business oriented, and people are, you know, just, you know, grinding and working in blue collar. And then they also just know how to, you know, wind down and have some fun. You know, just unwind, just, you know, relax. But anime has been a part of my life since I was a child, even before I knew it was called anime. Yeah. Cowboy Bebop, Dragon Ball Z. Sailor Moon. Ruri Kenshin. Yeah. And Naruto. Even Power Rangers is Japanese. Nobody wants to say that they're watching it. Everybody's watching it. What's different about this? Yeah. You wore number 15 in high school. Mm-hmm. You wore number 15 in college. Yep. And the NFL loosened up restrictions on numbers. No 15? I feel like I had already made 95 my own. 15 was for the amount of sacks I wanted in high school. The amount of sacks I wanted in college. Did that. I've already had 15 in NFL. You got 95 yet? We're creeping up on 95 now. So we passed that, you know. Maybe we'll go back to 15 after 95, you know. You know, Kobe's situation with 8 and 24. 23 and 45. Yeah. All the greats have done it, yeah. All the greats have done it. LeBron, 23 to 6. Once we creep up on that and we surpass that, you know, maybe things will change. We're going to switch it up a little bit. Big NBA fan. All-time starting five. Go. Steph. MJ. Into two. Bryan. Bryan, three. First, I want to preface this. From Dallas. Yeah, I was going to say. I love dirt. Don't say. You got to stay loyal to your city. You can't. Well, my city is Cleveland now. Anderson, Virgil. I'm not going to be disloyal by going Timmy D. Okay. I'm going to go neutral by going Kevin G. Okay. Yes, sir. KG. And as a five, one of my favorite players of all time. Dream shake himself. Thank you. Hakeem. I'm from Houston, so I appreciate that. Okay. Yeah, let's go. I see you. Give me your five. Dream at five. Dream. I like the beauty of the game. Mm-hmm. Talk to me. So at the four, I would actually go Sean Kemp. Sean Kemp. Growing up. Tough. Loved watching the Rayman. He had the flash, the flare. He did. It was great. Okay. At the three, so my team is a little different. It's Dream top five. That'd be the best top five. That'd be the best team, but I would watch them run our test. Metal World Peace at the three. Metal at the three. I love the way he approaches the game. He's the dude that you hate to have to play against. But you love having him on your team. At the two, I have to go MJ. And then at the one, Steph Curry. Steph? Yeah, Steph Curry. Okay. Yeah. Hey, appreciate you, Magic. Take nothing away from our relationship. It might be a bit of recency bias. Yeah. Let's try to build your perfect football player. Perfect football player. What position? We're going to take the parts of the player. So, hands. Chris Carter. Yes. That's a... Chris Carter slash Lafayette Fitzgerald. Vision, in terms of running back. Running back? Just vision alone. Vision alone. Emmitt. Man, I guess I could have guessed that. Strength. Vita. Or Larry Allen. I'm going to go Vita. Yeah. He's a smaller guy. Strong as an ox. Let's go agility. What does that involve? Change of direction. Barry Sanders. Easy. You say those words, it's Barry. Mental. TB. Yeah? Have you met him? I mean, I picked him up off the ground. We could talk a little bit there. Yeah. I love his quote where guys ask him, what's your favorite ring? What's your favorite championship? That you have. He's like, the next one. He's not focused on any of those past ones. That's gone. Yeah, you got too many of them. That's past glory. We're working towards the next one. We don't have time to look at the roses. And that's a good segue into the next thing. What's a piece of advice that has stuck with you, you kind of take with you to this day? Well, there's two. Corny enough, I read one from a poetry book, and I read the other from a comic book. I try to live my life by both of them. Life loves those who live it, and every second is a gift. Last thing you want to do, what would you say are your three boardroom essentials? Basically, three things that you bring with you all the time when you mean business. I always have my backpack. It's like I'm a school kid. I know when I bring my backpack, I'm locked in. Second thing, which is my iPad. Taking notes. I'm listening to what you say, but once you write it down, it's like you can't forget it. You're locked in. I'm locked in. Student of the game, for real. You're a student. Whether that's in a business meeting, or it's a defensive meeting, I'm trying to write it down or type it down from my iPad in that setting. Third, try to have shade. Usually, a majority of those meetings, I have shade with me. He's my partner in crime. We work in tandem, and we're a dynamic duo when it comes to getting a right business plan. Well, Miles, I can't thank you enough. It's been an honor for me. I really appreciate it, man. Thank you. Sir, pleasure's all mine. Yes, sir. You just gave something in Japanese. My name is Gabriel. That's a good start. My brother was stationed in Okinawa for a long time, but he used to teach me a bunch of bullshit, so I appreciate that.