Catching Up With Former Player Rep: Ivory Sully

What inspired you to become a Player Rep?
I was a free agent from the University of Delaware, and I was the guy that nobody had heard of. I was a running back in college. When I got to the Rams I became a defensive back, Coach Ray Malavasi changed my position. I wanted to empower myself to be the best Ivory Sully that I could be. So, in doing that, the opportunity was there to be a Player Rep and represent the Rams, represent my brothers. Those are the days that it was kind of a little bit “should I or shouldn't I, I don't know I could be alienating myself if I'm the Player Rep, that I'm going to be looked down upon by management.” But no, I said this is definitely worth it because I could definitely be somebody that could take the message, invigorate the message, make the message meaningful by where I came from, because I'm going to benefit from this anyway because they're looking out for the players. It's the Players Association and I’m actually with the players. So that's the reason why I became a Player Rep, because I wanted to empower myself and along with that, empower the team and help them out. It's about service, that's what it is for me; service. I'm a guy that if I'm just sitting around and not doing anything, I'm not helping anybody. I have to do something for somebody else because that really is what my heart is built on.

What lessons were you able to take away from your time as a Player Rep?
First of all, it was a big part of learning early in my life at age 23. It was an opportunity that illuminated itself, it really did. I have to tell you that because Gene Upshaw and the guys around him, Andre Collins and all the guys that were at the PA at that time, they helped younger guys illuminate what they're doing and what they're doing it for. It really opened my eyes as to why this is what drives Ivory Sully. This is it, man. If I'm in the trenches and I'm doing something good for my brothers, for crying out loud, I'm doing something and it's worth it. I was part of two strikes in my nine years, so I was well aware of the risks that were to be taken, but it reaffirmed exactly who I am and what I'm all about and what drives me. So that's why I wake up every morning. That's why I do what I do. It was really powerful and I'm so thankful that I had that vehicle to take me to that next level and make me understand who I am.

What are you doing in your career now?
I coach. That's a big part of what I do. My profession has been working in the intellectual property business, or quote and unquote the branding business. And I worked in licensing and this sort and building small companies to big companies and helping them escalate what it is that they do. I've had a really great opportunity to help build companies like the Beverly Hills Polo Club or English Laundry. What I do is I go out and get licenses to fill the voids that these brands have in the categories of product, whether it be clothing or shoes. I'm mostly on the fashion side, but I'm also on the household side of things, the different categories within the household that people would utilize to build their brands. It’s been fulfilling, it really has. But if I didn't have the Lord and if I didn't have my coaching, because that's the reason that I coach, to get the kids to help the kids to see the light and they really see the light when they really get. That's the key point right there. I've hit a home run because for me, even though they might not have thought about Ivory Sully whatsoever, we all put pieces into them. And when it comes out like it does, that's what's special. It's cool when you get emails back from the players that you coached and they wrote and just said they were thinking about you, they're thankful for you, and they pay it back that way. It’s awesome. It lifts me, and it motivates me because we all need to motivate ourselves to get to the next level. I'm 66 years old but I'm still looking for the next level and I don't want to stop looking because if I stop looking for the next level, that's when it's over.

How have you applied the lessons you learned through football to your career now?
I'm a negotiator. I negotiate deals and I negotiate deals to enhance the brand that I represent in building that brand. Negotiating these contracts to determine where these brands will go and how they will be perceived in the market is highly important. That's how you build a big brand. So for me to do that and go in and negotiate, I carry these brands on my shoulder into those negotiations and I get it done. That's what I love about it. The comparison is stark because I remember going to New York when Gene called all the Player Reps in during the ‘87 strike, and we're all in there and we're putting things on the table and making sure that we have a game plan and how we're going to execute the game plan and all that stuff. When we met with the NFL, when we went to the NFL offices and negotiated, the negotiation piece is the piece that has lasted for me. I will never have another opportunity to negotiate like I did with the NFL and that was the beginning before I even started thinking about representing anything else. It was fantastic.

What does the NFLPA Fraternity mean to you?
When I go to the gym, through the years I've been sent NFLPA gear, which has the insignia on the left chest, sleeve, back, chest, or whatever, representing the PA. It's a source of pride that I actually was a Player Rep and it's empowering for me, and I love telling the story when people ask me about the NFLPA. “Were you part of the NFLPA?” Yes, I was. I played in the NFL. Not only did I do that but I represented NFL players. These guys are my brothers. To have an opportunity to do that and have somebody start that conversation, watch out what you do because when you turn that faucet on I might not turn it off until after I've told every story that there is that I have. It’s just gratifying. Have you ever just taken a deep breath and said, “Wow, I really did some stuff that meant something to people” It really mattered. I'm not really that interested in myself, but I'm interested in everybody around me because they make that experience that much more heightened and that much more unbelievable. I've had a great life and I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to represent my brothers during those strikes and during those times and to tell the story about it now to pass it on. That's why I'm so happy about that. I'm just proud to have been a member and proud to have been a Player Rep and proud to play as long as I did in the NFL. So, I'm grateful.

Why should more players get involved within the NFLPA?
Well, in a selfish manner, I had a little bit to do with what we have in place right now to take care of players because I was a Player Rep back in the day. We really set a sound foundation of benefits that would help players as they get older. I'm in the middle of finding out how effective that is because I'm 67 years old right now and I'm taking advantage of some of these benefits that we set aside. You would just be foolish to turn away from what's there for you because it is an extensive list of benefits: health insurance, the Gene Upshaw P.A.T. Fund. You have the ADA plan. There are so many things that have been put in place. I'll be honest with you, it's so much that I don't even feel like I've got a grasp of it right now and I'm still digging. You can basically support yourself and your family. My daughters are on health insurance too. It would be stupid for a guy to turn away that which has been fought for. When we were on strike, these were some of the things that we wanted to bring into the mix, and we did. It's just such a great benefit and it is a relief, quite frankly, for me.

What’s a piece of advice that you would give to players transitioning out of football?
Football is not the only passion that a guy can have in his life. My suggestion would be to follow your passion, whatever that passion might be. For me, I was brought up by my mother. My mother was a seamstress. My mother was into clothes. My mother was into style. My mother was into staying up to date on what was going on, and that rubbed off on me. And so what did I do when I retired from football? When I retired from football, I spent about a year and a half, two years just trying to figure it out. Then I said, it's right in front of me. It's right here smacking me in the face. I'm passionate about apparel. So I started digging, and I started finding out what it is about apparel that I truly like, and how I would like to be involved in it. Things seemed to just happen and I got involved in making this pair of pants. During this time in the gym, people were wearing these oversized, baggy printed pants, and I got into that market. I started making those pants and I made millions of those stupid pants. Those stupid pants put my butt into my next life, which was in apparel and then was in intellectual property for apparel and all the connective tissue of apparel. And that's what got me going. Was it fun? It was very fun. It didn't work for me because I was passionate about it and it actually earned me another living, and I was blessed. It was a very cool feeling through the years when you saw the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on TV wearing your shirt and stuff like that because of the marketing angles. That was my passion. It doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be somebody else's passion. Then I discovered that my next passion in the next phase of my life was I loved coaching. I love coaching kids. I love coaching high school kids. I love coaching them on how to be men. I love helping them. If I can help somebody, then that's a positive day and that's how I want to live my life. I want to live my life in a positive way.

What’s an accomplishment in your current career that you are most proud of?
That's a pretty easy one. You know, if I can help a kid, if I have an opportunity to tell my story to somebody that is young and is trying to find their way and they find something in it, not necessarily that it has to be football, but that it has to do with the way you look at life because that I think is the advantage that I had is that I did not look at everything in the world as just football. I wasn't even allowed to play football when I was a kid, and I didn't get the chance to play football until I was a junior in high school. My parents didn't let me play. You can't play football your whole life. I played for 9 years. I wish I had played for 300 years. The message of passing on my experience to these kids and when they actually start to get what I'm saying to them, and they start to actually apply what I'm saying to them, that's a huge up. That sends me to the sky. This kid's got a chance and I actually helped him get there. It makes me emotional because I'm so hungry for these kids to understand what I'm trying to say, and humility is a big piece of it. It's not all about me, me, me, it's about us. That's the benefit of being on a team. And that's the benefit of being one of the NFLPA Player Representatives for my team, for the Rams. I was supporting "We” and I look back at my life and I had a lot of things that I did that had to be for “We” for me to even do it. Being a Player Rep was one of them. I represented my brothers. That's the thing that gets me and motivates me, that there's going to be a living legacy of me with these kids because I instilled in them, I helped them see the future. I helped them understand how this thing works. I helped them see how to help your brother who's standing next to you on the football field. But what about helping somebody else other than yourself out in the world? That right there is the piece that I need to get across. When that kid says thank you, coach, that's the payoff. I've got this guy, Cody Fajardo. He played at Servite. He went on to be a UNLV Hall of Famer. He’s played in Canada for a long time. I saw a thing on Facebook that he was announcing that he had gotten into his college's Hall of Fame. And I too am in the University of Delaware Hall of Fame. I said, welcome to the club, Brother, and then he wrote back and he thanked me. Can you believe that? I can't believe that. It just makes me so proud.