Transcript

FROM BYU TO THE NFL TO BODYBUILDING | CORBIN KAUFUSI’S REINVENTION || CORBIN KAUFUSI || EPISODE 074

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· 43 min · 8,836 words · 149 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "FROM BYU TO THE NFL TO BODYBUILDING | CORBIN KAUFUSI’S REINVENTION || CORBIN KAUFUSI || EPISODE 074", an episode of Code To Winning published January 20, 2026 (43 min, about 8,836 words). It mentions 7 people, works and ideas, including NFL, Corbin Kusi, BYU, UFFL, Eagles.

What this episode is about

Corbin Kaufusi discusses the significant transition from college football to the NFL, highlighting the increased intellectual demands and play complexity that players face at the professional level. He emphasizes the emotional and physical challenges of injuries, including the stigma that can affect a player's career prospects, drawing from his personal experiences with surgeries and the impact of injury on his path in football and bodybuilding.

Key takeaways

  • The NFL is mental gymnastics; from five plays in college to twenty, it's a cognitive leap.
  • Injuries are like a scarlet letter; one bad break can blacklist an athlete’s entire career.
  • Fans equate passion with entitlement, but players often battle emotional pain we can’t comprehend.
  • Playing in the NFL is like studying for a PhD—it's less about brute strength, more about strategy and study.
  • Transitioning from football to bodybuilding highlights the elastic nature of identity; athletes continually redefine themselves post-career.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Corbin Kusi, BYU, Eagles, UFFL
  2. – 10:00: Tracy
  3. – 15:00: UFFL
  4. – 42:30: Corbin Kusi

Notable quotes from "FROM BYU TO THE NFL TO BODYBUILDING | CORBIN KAUFUSI’S REINVENTION || CORBIN KAUFUSI || EPISODE 074"

  • Almost the intellectual side at the next level. Like from high school to college, it's a jump, but I'd say from college to NFL was probably like three to five times bigger than…
    about NFL · at
  • The journey, faith, identity, all these different things as well. So, without further ado, the man has joined himself, him joined us in studio, Corbin Cow Fousey. How you doing, sir?
    about Corbin Kusi · at
  • So growing up that was kind of the team I always liked, but I was more of the nerd kid. I wasn't really the football kid. And my older brother, like he grew up knowing football inside and out.
    about Eagles · at
  • It's in between San Francisco and Sacramento, so it's literally Oh, okay. Yes.
    about Tracy · at
  • The UFFL. So the Is that the rocks one or he's Yeah, it's kind of like the XFL, USFL mixed together. So yeah, it was interesting. Like my agent's Hey, I you got drafted into this league and it's a two-year deal. And I was like,.
    about UFFL · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Corbin Kusi — Person · Main guest · 3 mentions · first at
    Primary interview subject sharing his path from BYU to multiple NFL teams, the mental/film-study demands of the league, injury economics, and his transition into bodybuilding and wellness work in Utah.

Companies & orgs

  • BYU — Company · Educational background · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as the college the guest attended before entering the NFL.
    Yeah, just quick summary. I grew up here in Utah. born and raised and then went to college at BYU. Played a little basketball and football. Came from a pretty big family and…
  • UFFL — Company · Referenced league · 2 mentions · first at
    Mentioned as the league the guest played in after his NFL career.
  • Eagles — Company · Referenced team · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as the team the guest's father played for and the team he supported growing up.
  • Denver Broncos — Company · Referenced team · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as the team the guest's older brother supported growing up.
    I always liked, but I was more of the nerd kid. I wasn't really the football kid. And my older brother, like he grew up knowing football inside and out.

Concepts & topics

  • NFL — Concept · Core topic · 4 mentions
    Central theme of the episode, discussing the transition from college to professional football and the challenges involved.

Places & events

  • Tracy — Place · Referenced location · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as a place in California the guest is familiar with.

Full transcript with timestamps

football players specifically don't understand the level of jump and like almost the intellectual side at the next level. Like from high school to college, it's a jump, but I'd say from college to NFL was probably like three to five times bigger than high school to college because you're literally in like, you know, your meeting room for hours a day going over stuff. So, for example, when I was in college, we had probably five plays we ran my senior year as a defensive guy. And then my first week in the NFL, we learned 20 plays. And so I was it was just like such a jump in volume, you know, I wasn't used to trying to understand that as quickly, but I was grateful for those that helped me to do it. You know, I had like a lot of whiteboard and stuff. You're making flashcards at night. Like you think it's all physical until you get there. Then everyone's like, "Oh my gosh, I got to study."

Sometimes as fans, we become entitled to the fact that yes, they are part of our team, but not fully understanding the concept that hey, these people are experiencing pain far greater emotionally compared to what we are and just missing anything. Can you add a bit more on that?

Yeah, I think a huge part of that, you know, professional players, that's your job. And so a lot of people think, oh, every professional player when they get injured is taken care of. It's like that is a huge red flag because now you're battling to not only come back from injury, but now you're basically blacklisted in a way from every team that says they've been injured. So it's almost like now your resume has a big old eye for injury on it if you've had a big injury. So for example, I I had a few surgeries. Part of the reason why I wasn't drafted, but I had I had three surgeries my senior year. And so going into that, like every team I had to go to, because of those three surgeries, they'd make me go to the hospital and get like an hour's worth of MRI on all those things that I had repaired. The code to winning insights we need today to seize the world tomorrow. Uh if you're curious in learning a bit more

about finding out about a story of a gentleman who is in football, you know, has also has his experience playing in the NFL, currently transitioning to bodybuilding as well. So, if you're interested in those fields, want to learn more about being a professional athlete, what it takes as well, this is the episode for you. We're going to just dive in a bit deep, discuss a bit more, talk about the entrepreneurial space, the journey, faith, um, identity, all these different things as well. So, without further ado, the man has joined himself, uh, him joined us in studio, um, Corbin Cow Fousey. How you doing, sir?

I am great, thank you so much. Awesome stuff. Yes, sir. So, yeah. Can you just um just tell us a bit more about yourself?

Yeah, just quick summary. I I grew up here in Utah. Uh born and raised and then went to college at BYU. Played a little basketball and football. Came from a pretty big family

and both like there's seven of seven total and then everyone's pretty big in general. I'm about 610 so I'm the tallest.

That's awesome. And then 6'8 brothers, 61 sister, little sister's the run. She's 5'7. But yeah, anyways, went to BYU and then after BYU played a little bit of professional ball in the NFL from started at the Saints, went to the Jets for a few years with a few years with my brother, which was super fun, and then ended at the Niners, then played a contract in that UFFL league, and then decided to come back to Utah and start something new, you know, move on to the next chapter. So, it's been fun.

And how has um those experiences? Obviously you've you've experienced three different camps and how how has that been for you?

It it was an incredible experience because you get to see just the differences between them. You know, you know, you don't try to compare, but you always do just because you experience them each differently.

And so the neat thing is everywhere there's great people. Like everywhere I got to play and I got to be around greatness which was really cool. I got to learn so much. And so I was really grateful for that.

No. And and so um did you before you joined any of these teams, did you have a football team you supported?

Not really. Like a little bit. My dad played at the Eagles for a little bit. So growing up that was kind of the team I always liked, but I was more of the nerd kid. I wasn't really the football kid. And my older brother, like he grew up knowing football inside and out. Loved the Denver Broncos was his team.

Football fantasy. Yeah, exactly. I I couldn't tell you a thing. You know, I I love to go to the games to eat the food and like yell loud. Did I know what was going on? Not really. But yeah, I was kind of the the nerdy kid for a while. So, didn't have a team specifically.

No, that's cuz the reason I like asking that question sometimes, you know, in sports, people might end up having a preference or teams that they supported before then. And obviously, you being a at least in three different teams, experience, three different camps, three different managers, three different cultures. Would you say that there was any one in specific you can obviously identify and say it or or not that kind of stood out for you specifically out of those three?

I really they all had very cool things but I guess I enjoyed the most and learned the most when I was at the Niners in San Francisco. Mhm.

And it was interesting cuz even just going to San Francisco at the time, it was during COVID and a lot of people were like, "Oh, it might be tough moving out there." You know, they had a lot of strict lockdowns and things like that. And I ended up loving it out there. And the people were awesome. It was the organization where I felt like there's the most alignment between the players, the coaches, and the front office organization and the owner. So, you know, sometimes you go to places and a couple of those things are aligned, but some aren't. And so the experience kind of waivers, but that was probably the more full experience where they all aligned and so you felt like everyone was on the same page.

Okay. No, I I lived in in the Bay Area for Okay. Yeah. I don't know if you know Tracy.

Tracy. I'm trying to think. It's in between San Francisco and Sacramento, so it's literally

Oh, okay. Yes. It's Bay in a way. So if you know like uh Pleasant Grove. Yeah. If you know like um

what's the place we've been golfing? Uh, Liverour. Okay. Yeah. Um, and then you go further a like towards Hayward and like

Oh, okay. I know what you're talking about. Yeah. So, that area as well. But how long were you there for?

3 4 years. Oh, okay. Yeah. So, you got to know the area well. Yeah. No, matter of fact, I think like my wallet, it still has my Tracy thing even though I live in Utah right now. But yeah.

Oh, yeah. No, that's that's it's I I like that part of of of California. I think sometimes LA can get a little crowded. LA is a little different, but like the Bay has got a different feel about it.

Oh, totally different. You know, and I grew up loving Southern California. That was like the family vacation drive place,

but I had never known Northern until I gone and lived there and I loved it. Yeah. Just I lived in Santa Clara. So, I just drove everywhere, you know, to see all the sides, all the parts of like nature that they had up there. It was beautiful.

Oh, Santa Clara. That's San Jose. That's where the stadium's at. Yeah, cuz the stadium's in San Jose, but it's Right.

Yeah. It's like right on the edge of San Jose and Santa Clara. So, it's like literally just right in the middle.

Okay. No, that's that's fascinating. How was the schedule like? How was training like on a on a on a weekly basis? How many times you guys go training?

Uh every day. Yeah. So, technically, and this is like in season because I guess we have a ton of different schedules depending on the time of the year. But when you're in season, everything is just very I think we start you start like your first meeting at about 7 a.m. and then you basically have meetings until you go to practice at around 11:00 and then practice lunch and then you have film and from probably like 1 till 5 or something like that.

And then there's always more film that could be had after that depending. But yeah, it was very a very strict schedule, but I kind of loved it. You know, it kind of you definitely felt like a professional with the amount of that was going on and you had to be there for it. You know, you had to earn your money's worth for sure.

No, that makes sense. So, even when you say every day, even on a Sunday, but Sunday, the the matches, right?

Yeah. Sunday is usually game day. Like usually Tuesday in the NFL is the off day, but the off day comes with like you can still go in and get treatment and whatnot, but that's like, okay, there's not exactly meetings. Like there might be a lift or something, but no meetings on that day.

Okay. No. Okay. That that makes perfect sense. I've always just been curious at like the day-to-day basis and stuff cuz I mean if you do every day, they try to make sure you get your money's worth, you know?

Oh, no. Absolutely. Like I did not know. I didn't study a ton of film in college as like I did, but not compared to the NFL where you know I could sit and study for an hour and think, "Oh man, I'm a good studier in college for for film, football film." NFL, they could they could watch the same play for an hour and before they move on to the next one and it's like what a totally different depth of looking at things. So

yeah, I mean you often see those when when I watch some some some sports movies like I don't know if it doesn't remember the titan whatever it may be sometimes you watch when they watch that but not just that like when you start seeing set plays and all these different stuff so much goes into like professional sports that people cuz as spectators are you like oh you should have gotten that but not knowing that like listen there's only one way when you are counter or when you're attacking but we sometimes you have to also try and read what the opponent's moves going to be. It's almost like playing game of chess.

Oh, exactly. How much of it is more like what they do and like what you do? Um, I guess every week they come up with a specific game plan for the team we're facing.

Really? Yeah. Every week brand new and a lot of it is just very specific. So if they have a player that's considered like,

you know, a really good player at on the defensive line, I was an offensive lineman. So, it's like someone like Aaron Donald, your whole game plan that week is around how are we going to stop Aaron Donald and like how are we going to help from this other position and this and all the plays we're going to call are going to be across from him and so everything is just meticulously planned out like a chess match thinking okay and if we do this then they're probably going to switch it like this so we have to have kind of a counter for that and so and how how do pe like uh football athletes are receptive to all this instruction cuz it can get overwhelming just listening to all this stuff. Like, oh, how good is it being in terms of being receptive?

It can be hard like because a lot of people, football players specifically, don't understand the level of jump and like almost the intellectual side at the next level. Like from high school to college, it's a jump, but I'd say from college to NFL was probably like

even bigger, three to five times bigger than high school to college because you're literally in like, you know, your meeting room for hours a day going over stuff. So, for example, when I was in college, we had probably five plays we ran my senior year as a defensive guy. And then my first year, my first week in the NFL, we learned 20 plays. And so I was it was just like such a jump in volume, you know, I wasn't used to trying to understand that as quickly, but I was grateful for those that helped me to do it. You know, I had like a bought a whiteboard and stuff. You're making flashcards at night. Like you think it's all physical until you get there, then everyone's like, "Oh my gosh, I got to study."

Yeah. No, I like that. I like that. And so obviously um the the transition in into that and which other league did you go play for after you were down in the NFL? Yeah, I uh went and played for that uh the UFFL. So the

Is that the the rocks one or he's Yeah, it's kind of like the XFL, USFL mixed together. So yeah, it was interesting. Like my agent's like, "Hey, I you got drafted into this league and it's a two-year deal." And I was like,

"I'll look into it." And it was actually really fun. Totally different than the NFL, but a good time.

In what way? definitely not as that professionalism level like wasn't to the same I'd say standard

where you'd still go to meetings and stuff but the meetings weren't to that same standard and part of it like

I guess reflects the size of the leagues you know like how much the leagues are worth moneywise so it's like okay the NFL is worth billions of dollars so the expectation is a lot higher where it's like okay this is a new league they're not making a ton of money but there is some money it is a professional level

and So there's not the exact same expectations that you'd expect from the NFL. Yeah.

Okay. And what's the closest team for the UFFL like to in in Utah's proximity? I I don't even know. That's a great question. I guess cuz they started putting them in a lot of like the Midwest cities. So there's some in like Michigan and I remember there was a bunch in Alabama and stuff like that. I I was on a team in Memphis for a little bit. Mhm.

But yeah, it was fun to see. I'd never seen that area of the United States. So,

a good time. No, that's awesome. That's awesome. So, now I want to talk about the transition. When when did you uh start to become like a bodybuilder? Are you are you also that a personal trainer or just a bodybuilder?

Uh I do some training and it kind of just varies. Like I do some training for uh for like youth and stuff that want to do like football specific or basketball specific

just because I I love being able to, you know, kind of pass on. It's like, oh, I spent all this time learning this skill set. You know, if I can pass it on to anyone, great. But then same thing with the bodybuilding. I grew up loving it. It was kind of my secret obsession because it was also my dad's and my dad immigrated from the islands. The bodybuilders were the like people that were nice to him, he said. So,

wow. Wow. Instead of staying out of trouble, getting into trouble, they're like, "Hey, come lift with us in the gym." And so they just took in the little island boy. And so my dad, you know, even in like his mission journal, he has a bunch of pictures of Arnold stickers like in it and stuff. So he loved that stuff and kind of handed it on to me.

Wow, that's awesome. No, no, that that's just fascinating. So are you do you compete at a at a professional level like in terms of like um Olympia stuff or do you just like bodybuild?

Um I definitely don't compete at the Olympia level. Uh they're definitely I don't know if that's still a dream but at one point it was where it's like I'd love to be a pro bodybuilder you know but definitely changing as you know as life changes but I do compete still. I competed in my first show last year and it was more of a bucket list thing. I didn't know if I'd do it again but I kind of fell in love with it. The whole process and pushing my body to that extent was something that I was like well I would love to try this again. So

no that's awesome. Uh, is that like your what's your current profession right now? Because I know you're bodybuilding right now, but like what field are you currently in?

Yeah, so I kind of do a few different things and so I work with uh kind of a sauna and cold plunge Nordic spa place called Loy that's down in Orum and then they're expanding to Salt Lake and stuff. And so I'm helping there kind of manage and then with the expansion and with events

because it's a part of I love sauna and cold plunge. Like I've been going to the river and the mountains all for like the winter since I was in high school type of thing. And so it's kind of like a lifestyle thing that I really have a passion for. So I do that and then I also work with a lot of like brands with ambassadorship programs and stuff like that.

No, we should we should talk about uh because we have um um like something called the winning store which is just focusing primarily on like athletes, influencers, proathletes and stuff like that. But yeah, we I'll I'll talk to you about that as well. Yeah. Um I wanted to mention, you know, when you said cold plunge um

I'm glad you mentioned that. Like I want to talk like how how dangerous is it though? Like when people just get in cold water, like is that a myth or is that a myth?

Totally. Yeah. Like I guess with anything can be dangerous with certain circumstances. Like if you're gonna just jump into the middle of a lake, a frozen lake, and you've never had cold exposure before, you know, like you're going to like freeze up. You know, you lose your breath and you don't know how to use it. And so it's like that could be dangerous, but that's also not the smartest time to do it. But I'd say to anyone, it is an incredible thing to like get into is kind of that cold exposure, cold plunging because of the way your body reacts to it. No, the reason I was asking you that um I've I've watched things in some videos or rails of people in Russia.

There'll be like a a big hole and then some guy just jumps under and then they try to take him out another thing but then because of the current and conditions they get swept away but then like even if they try to stop them like their body is frozen up and it's all these different stuff like the heart just like there's many different components but yet again it's like what you mentioned you preempted that you said literally like if you just jump in something without preparing because I think whole plunge you first like get your feet in kind of lay down it's not an instant shock right? Yeah, exactly.

And it's kind of like the intention of it, like okay, are you doing it for the physical like health benefits of it or is it more like

for an adrenaline type of thing with your friends, you know, cuz I've definitely done that where I'm like get with my buddies like let's go jump into frozen water, you know, and we're not thinking about how it's going to affect our health. We're just like, oh, let's do it for fun. But now it's more of a introspective like whenever I go to cold plunge, there's definitely an intention behind it and trying to get to my mind and body to a specific state. No, that's awesome. What are the benefits though of cold plunging?

There's a ton. And I guess some of the main ones that I look at, there's definitely like your parasympathetic system gets used to turning on type of thing. And so that kind of connects where that you get that shiver, right? And then it's almost like your body normalizes. So, and in the cold plunge, you start super cold and then you kind of get like shivery, but then all of a sudden it just goes blank. And it's like once your body your body knows what to do. The body's incredible. So when it gets put into those shocking situations, it teaches it to react. And a lot of times with that reaction, it releases growth hormone and other things to kind of get you to a point where you can handle it. And so training your body to that extreme teaches it to be okay with that type of stuff and it gives it a better reaction as well.

Interesting. Interesting. No. And and then um what's the recommended time that you'd say somebody should co-plunch? I I'm curious about those topics. No. Yeah. There's a see and stuff people just jump in and then they just take an Instagram video. I'm like, "Okay, like tell me more." You know?

Yeah. And it kind of varies for what you're looking for. And so there's times where I go before the gym and if I'm going to go before I work out, I'm going to do only like a 90-second plunge. So, I'm just going to go sit, get my body cold, and it just freezes over.

And then I don't heat up after that. I just go straight to the gym and get going. And that's where you get probably the I think it's the biggest like growth hormone response.

Oh, wow. Out of that kind of a plunge is just that quick one in and then out and then you go work out and it's pretty crazy how it feels. And then if I'm doing it more for recovery, I will get in the cold plunge and then go to the sauna and do about three rounds of that with three two to three minutes in the cold plunge. and then five plus minutes in the sada.

With that though, um with the whole cold plunging thing, um is it very similar? Because I often hear people and experts stress on the importance of taking daily night cold showers.

Yeah. Does it matter like how warm your body is? Cuz sometimes you're all sweaty, your body's extremely warm, and it can be a bit of a shock.

Um is cold plunging similar to cold showers or do they both serve different purposes or they're very similar? Oh, very similar. In fact, I'd say cold showers are like the precursor. Like the effects for a cold shower, it's like a 10% of the effects of what the cold plunge does type of thing, but it's on the same wavelength. So, it's like, okay, you know, the cold shower right before you sleep is supposed to help. If you do a cold plunge session before you sleep, it's crazy. It'll help you sleep a lot better. Your circadium rhythm becomes so much more ingrained.

There's a lot of health benefits to it and like every time I keep seeing these stuff like it's just important and so like do you guys sell the cold plunges or or how

so it's like a it's almost like a place you it's a spa so you go in and there's 12 cold plunges all different like temperatures and then there's saunas two big saunas one of them is like here in Orm we have like the biggest finished sauna in the whole US and it can hold up to 60 people but they keep them at around 195 degrees and so you just go back and forth And so yeah, you just kind of check in, you go do your session, and then you check out type of thing.

Okay. Isn't that extreme conditions from a sauna to a to a cold plunge? Yeah. But is that the whole purpose of it?

Exactly. It's to get just that nervous system to go back and forth like teaching it how to do it because it's like one of those things if you push your body, it's crazy how it react and it usually comes with a bunch of benefits. So going between those, you know, those extremes helps with that.

Can you can you share one of those benefits? I'm curious like what uh because 195 Fahrenheit, that's that's warm.

Yeah. Temperature. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And you're in there and they're just pouring, you know, water on the rocks and you're just breathing it in. But I'd say like it definitely helps with recovery, helps with, you know, muscle recovery. And that's why that's kind of the main reason I do it with the sauna a lot after like I won't cold plunge as much after a workout, but I'll sauna because it helps that blood flow. And as your blood flow keeps going, like that's what helps with the response to like muscle tears, injury, anything like that. Anything for growth involves blood flow.

Yeah, I like that. No, cuz um when I when I go to the gym and there's a sauna and there's a steam, I usually like the steam cuz I I prefer that level of sweating. very good for the pores and your skin a lot of different it's very very cleansing and then when it's just like when you just especially when you just feel it just burning through you I'm like oh yes and it's very relaxing for me I don't know what it is it's the sauna sometimes I find a little harder for me pre personally breathing whereas steam I can breathe in like that air and I can just like just relax I can literally be in a state of meditation and I just like think my problems away you know I'm just in there.

Exactly. You know, so do you guys have steam rooms there or is it just uh It's a sauna, but it's a Finnish sauna and so they take pride in the steam of it. So in a lot of places here, you know, traditional US saunas, they don't love when people throw water on the rocks and it's a dry sauna where theirs, even though it's a dry sauna, the rocks are meant to be thrown steam. So you can get up to over like 200 with the steam and sometimes there's some essential oils where you just feel that exactly what you were saying in the steam room where you can breathe it type of thing. you don't feel that dryness and it's more about that heat

and so I'm a huge fan of that. Yeah. Awesome. Now just about a bit on your on your heritage as well obviously having a Tongan um ancestry and like lineage as well. Um how has identity played a big role in in your life as well? Oo identity it's been huge because I think one of the greatest things we come to earth to find you know we come through birth is to who we are who you are that's the greatest adventure of life and that it's forever changing forever growing but your heritage definitely plays a piece of that and learning about that and what you know the history of you know your family and what they went through to bring to where you're at

definitely plays into your story you know it's kind of that background that lore of who you are, where you came from, where, you know, I I'm a big believer where the presence, the eternal present is the key. You know, if you can stay present, that's where you find a lot of happiness, success, all these great things. But learning from the past, you know, knowing it and learning from it is a huge part of finding a lot of joy in the presence, I feel like.

That's facts. No, that's for real. That's for real. And how did you go to Tonga? I've actually never been

really. I've always wanted to and it's it's kind of hard to get to. You have to take about it's like a full 24 hours of travel from here to New Zealand to Fiji, from Fiji to another place and then a boat ride from Tonga to whatever island you're on type of thing.

Oh, yeah. Cuz Tonga's multiple islands, right? Yeah. Yeah. It's like hundreds of little islands type of thing.

Okay. But I'm hoping to in the next few years, like me and my brothers, we've always put it on the places we got to go to. So,

no, that's awesome. And how many only one of your brothers was in the the NFL with you and your dad's got NFL experience. So, there is like a cultural like NFL like line within your family

a little bit. Yeah. What did your brother play for? Uh, he played he got drafted by the Ravens and then he ended up

my team. Oh, a Ravens guy. Okay. Yes. He was drafted to Baltimore and then after Baltimore he went he was there for three years. He was at the Jets and I was with him for two of his three years at the Jets and then he ended in Green Bay with the Packers.

Is that the one in the group chat with us? Yes. Yes. Yeah. And he's hilarious. Oh my gosh. He's he's my big brother and just he's the man.

Yeah. No. Uh yeah. know Ravens is uh well the reason why Ravens is my team when I first came to the US um I had I figured I had to like try and go for one team like you know just try and figure one out. I'm like uh you know I'll just watch whatever and then I saw this one like quarterback from Louisville. I'm like yo it's a cheat code. Who the hell is

Oh my gosh. I know, right? Like it's like one of those things you you see like the videos when he was younger and you're like that's the same guy. Like I it took me so long to remember that like Lamar Jackson's that kid in those videos crushing. I had no idea.

It's it's like magic what he does, you know, like when he just does the whole like spinning and all the things that he and he just keeps like bettering his game and so

so he when he was drafted there, was he drafted around the same time Lamar Jackson was there?

I'm I am trying to remember. Uh Lamar I think got drafted 2017 or 16 or so. Yeah, he might have. My brother might have barely missed him cuz he was there 20 he got drafted there in 2016 I believe. Yeah. And then he was there 2016. He got hurt. My brother was uh injured for the first two years cuz broke his leg.

And so yeah, he didn't even get to play like much the first year. He got drafted then got broke his leg.

Yeah. Before the season started, you know, and like camp before the season. That's so painful.

Oh yeah. Yeah. It What happened? Uh it was just one of his guys behind him rolled up on him, you know, just he was playing boom and then you know guy fell behind him and fell on his leg and Yeah. Just

kind of like the same thing that happened to that. Do you know who Cam Scataboo is? Same thing.

Yeah. Where his you know his dislocate your ankle so your foot's like sideways type of thing

cuz NFL players can be heavy sometimes. So like for s super like I I was really heavy when I played. I was about 365. So, that sounds painful. That sounds absolutely painful. What's What's your um How old are you right now?

30. How old am I? Yeah, I'm 32. Okay. So, we're roughly like the same age. And you don't ever plan on like going back into like obviously professional sports in terms of like one of the XL, UFFL and stuff like that, are you?

Yeah. You know, if I went into professional sports, it'd probably be a different sport. But yeah, I think the the door on football's closed because and I'm grateful for it. You know, it's one of those things I got to do as much as I wanted to, but I have other passions and I'm excited to follow those.

Which, huh? Um, bodybuilding is one of them, you know, and I guess like I don't know, it's just fun to figure out who you are. You know, for me, most of my life was on a football schedule. you know, even summers I couldn't do things because of football and I was used to just everything was around your training type of thing. And so it's fun to come back and be like, what do I like to do on my free time, you know, what do I enjoy? I love being outside nature. So I've gotten into hiking a ton, stuff like that, you know, snowboarding, longboarding, all these random things that I never did when I played because they're all, you know, exed off. You could get injured type of thing. But it's fun to kind of see life through a different lens now.

You know, we we we obviously we touched on the injury part. It's always so sad when professional athletes like get injured and we always look as fans look at in the spectrum of um my fantasy selection. Oh, we look at it like, oh, we need you for the team. But I I don't think we take for a moment to think about the actual athlete because of all the journey not just like in pro sports in the NFL. It's it's a whole journey. It's like from high school uh primary school, high school, college, all these things come down to those moments of playing those 17 games a season. And so being out is just a a hit a blow to all the effort that has been put in all the 10,000 hours accumulated over time.

And so I think sometimes as fans we become entitled to the fan that yes they are part of our team but not fully understanding the concept that hey these people

are experiencing pain far greater emotionally compared to what we are and dismissing in our fantasy. Can you add a bit more on that? Yeah, I think and I think a huge part of that is, you know, professional players, it's your job. And so a lot of people think, oh, every professional player when they get injured is taken care of. It's like that is a huge red flag because now you're battling to not only come back from injury, but now you're basically blacklisted in a way from every team that says they've been injured. So it's almost like now your resume has a big old eye for injury on it if you've had a big injury.

Mhm. So, for example, I I had a few surgeries, right? Part of the reason why I wasn't drafted, what I had I had three surgeries my senior year. Uh, and so going into that, like every team I had to go to, because of those three surgeries, they'd make me go to the hospital and get like an hour's worth of MRI on all those things that I had repaired because you're you're kind of like the piece of meat for them. And if it's not healthy, you know, then it's not going to produce what they want

type of thing. And so when guys get injured, like yes, it's so sad for them that they can't play, but I think a lot of the fans don't understand like their whole career is affected by the injury, like what they're looked at by teams and their coaches and stuff like that because it's almost like your value goes down. It's like, oh, it's almost like driving a car off the parking lot brand new. It's like the depreciation of it, boom, immediate. And so that's how an injury is. And so it's a huge more it's a more than a mental thing because it affects your livelihood. You know, I know plenty of players that hide their little injuries because they don't want the team to find out because if the team finds out you have a little injury, they're going to immediately start looking for someone to replace you.

That's so crazy. It's almost seems like you're just like a subject. Yeah. Yeah. You kind of are. And it's one of those things like I didn't get My brother and my dad used to tell me about it, but they're like you won't get it till you you're there. But you literally just have to be okay with whatever happens. Like if you overthink anything, you will drive yourself into just a crash in your mind because, you know, it's just so there's so many things that you could overanalyze or look negatively at. And so it's like you just do what you can and let let whatever happens happens and roll with it.

No, when you said that, it's so true. It's about value cuz obviously it's the same thing in all the sports that I end up watching because um and sometimes when when it's a big enough injury, it can have an impact where it opens up room for more injuries because it hasn't fully healed.

Exactly. The timing of coming back, the coaches want you back as fast as you can, but are you even healed enough to perform or will it cause another injury?

Especially in American sports where it's almost like you need to get back. You need to get back and if you're not, you get hounded by ESPN analysts. They're like, "Oh, he's useless. He's injuryprone. He's this thing. He's that thing."

Oh, exactly. That keeps dropping your value. Exactly. It's just the value like what you're valued as an athlete, you know, and a lot of times we only see the the athletic value of them. And so when they're injured, their athletic value just gets shot, you know.

What's the most common injury you felt like people were hiding? Oo, I'd say a lot of partial tears in your knees, stuff like that. like a partial MCL tear, partial ACL, partial MCL because

so painful, man. Yeah. Like you'll see guys in the locker rooms just in the stalls taping up as if like they're the doctors themselves and then they put pants over it so you can't see it so the coaches can't see but it's like they're secured a little bit better playing through injury.

Wow. Yeah. Because the last thing you want is these things occurring cuz I even heard that well in soccer it's very common European soccer where some players even play with injuries.

Yeah. Oh yeah. I would say in the NFL most guys are facing some sort of injury like most of them just because the nature of the sport.

Yeah. It's very physically demanding. Yeah. Like have some form of injury. They say that all NFL players when you leave are handicapped to some degree because of, you know, the injuries from the NFL.

That sounds bad. Sorry, I'm laughing. No, it's Yeah, it's hilarious, but it's true. It's like, wow, I never thought it like that's like as straight as my pinky goes. You know, there's just little things that I'm like, "Oh, playing definitely took its toll, I guess." But

yeah, I know that they've been speaking about those injuries. They've been very cautious and careful with head injuries especially as well.

Yeah. you know. So, um they also made a research and study that those that are doing boxing and those that take hits in the NFL, they could be potential like side effects in the long run with the brain injuries as well.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I totally believe it cuz it's just like it's just putting yourself through a little car crash every day, you know,

and there's some joy in it, but there's definitely consequence to it. Yeah. When you put it that way, it's crazy because that's exactly what it is. You get like 300, 400, 500 pound, 400 pound men that are attacking and you gota you keep getting it each time as well. So

yeah, you hit but you have to be careful of how you're being hit. Yeah. And it's almost like you have to get be ready for those hits. And so I actually used to start off my practice, I'm like the very first time I can hit my head as hard as I can on someone like a block or something and just ring myself up, I'll be good for the rest of the practice.

Interesting. Yeah. So, it's almost like it said I zing myself up with a nice hit to the head on someone on my first play so that the rest of practice I kind of had an even level of it where it's like sometimes if you get caught off guard by a big hit Oh, it can definitely just like take you out for a while.

Wow. Yeah. No, that's the thing. And I think with the whole like even when you say all these players are fake I mean are have got injuries and and experiencing that to some degree. I would assume it's so hard hearing analysts that keep talking about

you gotta toughen up. You got to toughen up like you know say oh the league is now soft and all these different stuff. Oh yeah.

Isn't that just very discouraging sometimes? Yeah. It's it's one of those things where but I I definitely understand you know from their perspective and I just I just always think in my mind well if they had seen you know what some of these other guys like if they were in their shoes and saw it then they'd probably have a totally different perspective. But it is interesting to see, you know, see people go after some of these players when they don't know the full circumstance of what it means. You know what I mean?

No, that that makes perfect sense. That makes perfect sense. So, when we look at Corbin like yourself right now, where do you see yourself in the next 10 years? I just see myself living an abundant life of just when I say happiness, I would describe it as I'm doing what I love with people I love.

And that's all that matters. And it's almost like even now I can live that way, like that kind of mindset, but I feel like in 10 years I'd love to see that more fully evolved, you know? No, that's legit, man. No, I think it's so hard because you see we say 10 years, but I'm afraid to blink cuz they'll be five and then I blink again, then it's 10 with how quick things have been going. Cuz when I think about 2015 just feels like yesterday, 2016 especially.

Um AI taking over, people obviously like really utilizing the tool as much as possible. Mhm.

Um, no, I'm grateful you got to mention that. I'm grateful you got to share your experience because I mean at the same time like I don't think people fully understand the competitive nature just to make it in the NFL. It is extremely competitive.

Yeah. Very like and I'm just grateful I was just a small piece in the puzzle for a little bit of it, but it was definitely just they're professionals for a reason, you know. It is the highest level of competition and that's why I loved it. I wouldn't I wouldn't exactly say like, you know, I grew up a nerdy kid. Football, I didn't love football,

but I loved competing. And that's what the NFL like taught me, how to compete at the highest level, to push yourself at the highest level to compete. And so, yeah, it was a neat experience for sure. And are you in any foundations and organizations to try and either help um kids get in the NFL or people that are like get connections agents in the NFL? Like what are you currently in right now that's involved in that department?

No. Yeah. And so my brother and I so our agent uh he just started like a part of an agency and we know people in other agencies as well. And so whenever there's kids that have questions and stuff, especially with the way NIL works now, and it's almost like, man, they're getting paid younger, so they're going to have a lot of good things when they're younger and a lot more problems come up, too. You know, a lot of those problems you don't face until you get paid. And so helping them whenever we can. That's our that's our biggest thing. Like I love when I can live in a way where I can just help others, you know, and there's nothing you don't have any intent on getting anything in return. It's just like how can I help someone else? And so that's what my brother and I try to do. Part of that too is we're involved with uh a financial program that does like family office work for, you know, athletes and

other business owners and entrepreneurs because, you know, taxes and things like that are things that athletes need to learn more about to help protect them, you know, in the future and to get everything that they've earned.

No, I I love that. And is your agent from Utah? Uh California. Okay. Yeah. Southern Cali, I would say.

Southern Southern California. Yep. Okay. But he grew up here in Utah. So, how did he get a hold of you? How did he get in contact with you?

So, uh just kind of family. It's one of those things. I have a cousin that's uh was playing. I guess he's technically a great uncle, but he was playing in the NFL. He was at the Niners and Seahawks and now he's a coach now. Uh awesome dude. But he was like, "Hey, this is my agent." And he's also an agent for a few other guys we know. And so, it was neat to meet with him and see that we aligned. You know, it's always just about finding the right people. If you can do that, you can find the people to build with, then that's most the problem solved.

Was he both your you and your brother's agent? Yeah. Yeah. Is he Are you guys Is he still your agent even though you guys are no longer in the league or

Yeah. Like technically he's still your agent type of thing. And I don't know when that. But to me, he's just like such a cool dude. Like he's he's more like family now. Like I love whenever we get to just connect with him on more than even more so outside of football. Like it's fun to get to connect him. We don't even talk about football, you know? We talk we talk about fishing a ton, you know, stuff like that.

No, that's that's legit, man. That's legit. Um, usually as we conclude, we always ask the question um what winning means cuz the codeinning is obviously insights they would need today to seize the world tomorrow. uh Corbin today with all your experience, expertise, example, um on and off the field, a different journey, all the stuff that you've accumulated and experience. What does your definition for winning mean? For me, winning is never quitting that if I look back on my entire career, anything in my life that was worthwhile, that means something to me, I didn't quit.

And I haven't quit a lot in my life because that was a family motto. Kussi's never quit. But I can see now looking back that man, not quitting was winning because you can't lose until you quit really. You know, nothing stops until you stop it. And so that's what quitting is. But if you're never going to stop it, then you're always going to be winning. No matter how the dips are low, you're still in an opportunity to win.

Love that so much. Um, Corbin, if you could let our our guests or viewers know where they could get a hold of you, if they want to reach out to you either through bodybuilding, learning advice, getting in contact with the stuff you guys do for your foundation. What's the best way to be able to contact you?

Uh, for me, it's just Instagram. Uh, I'm on there, Corbin_JK. And yeah, I'm on all the other things too as well. Uh, LinkedIn and whatnot, but I'd say Instagram is where I contact people the most.

The co-winning insights you need today to seize the world tomorrow. Corbin Kusi, great honor, sir.

Thank you, bro. Appreciate you, man. Thank you very

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "FROM BYU TO THE NFL TO BODYBUILDING | CORBIN KAUFUSI’S REINVENTION || CORBIN KAUFUSI || EPISODE 074"?

Corbin Kaufusi (Guest), Unknown Host (Host).

What is "FROM BYU TO THE NFL TO BODYBUILDING | CORBIN KAUFUSI’S REINVENTION || CORBIN KAUFUSI || EPISODE 074" about?

Corbin Kaufusi discusses the significant transition from college football to the NFL, highlighting the increased intellectual demands and play complexity that players face at the professional level. He emphasizes the emotional and physical challenges of injuries, including the stigma that can affect a player's career prospects, drawing from his personal experiences with surgeries and the impact…

What is mentioned in this Code To Winning episode?

7 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including NFL, Corbin Kusi, BYU, UFFL, Eagles, Denver Broncos. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "FROM BYU TO THE NFL TO BODYBUILDING | CORBIN KAUFUSI’S REINVENTION || CORBIN KAUFUSI || EPISODE 074"?

The episode runs 43 min; the transcript is about 8,836 words in 149 timestamped sections.

More from Code To Winning

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.