Antonio Brown — Seven-time Pro Bowl NFL wide receiver and Super Bowl champion turned viral social-media personality. Known for his wild X presence, his 'CTESPN' brand, and post-football ventures in music with Kanye West.
The gist
A loose, fast-moving and frequently raunchy hang between Joe Rogan and Antonio Brown. They open on CTE and head trauma in football, the difficulty pro athletes face transitioning out of the game, and the importance of therapy and purpose. The conversation swings through Brown's 'CTESPN' brand and viral X comedy, his work with Kanye West, meme-coin culture and crypto scams, free speech and the post-Elon Twitter era, and a long stretch on combat sports (Alex Pereira's freakish punching power, the Tank Davis-Lamont Roach controversy, slap fighting). The back half turns into a detailed talk on athletic training, including foot and arch strengthening, rotational core work, and recovery. It closes on Brown's plans to give back to kids through flag football and basketball.
Big reveals
- Brown links the deaths of former teammates Demaryius Thomas and Vincent Jackson to CTE.
- Brown describes walking off the field and almost immediately linking up with Kanye West to make his album.
- Brown says Kanye holds 8 a.m. studio meetings every day, calling him a disciplined 'genius' rather than just a rapper.
- Brown claims his self-produced award show pulled nearly 200 million engagements on X.
- Recounts how teammate Rashard Mendenhall's 2011 Bin Laden tweets effectively ended his Steelers career.
- They watch Alex Pereira register 191 on a punch machine, more power than Francis Ngannou's reading.
- Rogan argues the Tank Davis vs Lamont Roach 'take a knee' should have been ruled a knockdown, making it a Roach win.
- Brown reveals Kanye made him president of Donda Sports and gifted him a Donda Sports chain.
Things worth remembering
- Brown cites the stat that roughly 85% of NFL players go bankrupt within a few years of retirement.
- They repeat the 'dating market' claim that 80% of women pursue 20% of men.
- Rogan recounts using Tony Robbins' cassette-and-workbook program at 21 while trying to break into comedy.
- Brown says Tony Robbins did manifestation/visualization sessions with him, introduced through Tom Brady, before his Super Bowl run.
- Pereira's punch-machine reading was 191 versus Ngannou's roughly 130, an unusually high figure.
- Rogan flags Terence Crawford walking around at 185 pounds while fighting near 154 ahead of the Canelo bout.
- Both rip on deadlifts as bad for the back and knees, citing strongman Robert Oberst's warning against them.
- Brown explains a towel/big-toe gripping drill to strengthen the foot arch, which he says made a major difference as a receiver.
- Brown describes learning explosive ab-wheel push-ups from light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira.
- Rogan and Brown reminisce about the early Sidekick phone and the Paris Hilton hack era.