Shay Hodge became the first 1,000-yard receiver in Ole Miss history, finished with
173 catches, 2,646 yards and 22 touchdowns, made First Team All-SEC, and caught the
86-yard touchdown that beat Tim Tebow's Florida Gators in 2008. Then he went
undrafted.

In this conversation Shay tells the story he's rarely told in full: the acne
medication that quietly deteriorated the cartilage in his knee, playing his
record-breaking senior season unable to bend down, failing the physical with the
49ers, and the depression that followed when football walked away from him. He talks
openly about the suicidal thoughts, what his son meant in that stretch, and the years
he spent trying to fix a knee just to prove he was who he always said he was.

We also get into how a kid from Morton who didn't even like getting hit ended up in
the SEC, and why he asked the defensive back who was beating him every day in
practice to explain exactly how. Shay is now the wide receivers coach at Jones
College after running the offense for an 11-1 state championship team at Jackson
Academy, and he gets real about recruiting: why chasing the logo is the mistake he
sees most, why production beats potential in the portal era, and the biggest lie kids
and parents believe about how offers get handed out.

👉 Follow the Intangible Podcast for more stories of grit, resilience, and peak performance:

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James Townsend ran a 4.3 forty, benched 455, and had a 45 inch vertical. He started as a freshman at Iowa, transferred to Rutgers, and made it to the Chicago Bears. Then he walked away.

In this conversation he tells me why. About a year and a half before he left the league, James attempted to take his own life under the weight of custody battles, court dates, racism, and a version of success that had stopped meaning anything. He made the decision that he could not be great on the field until he was great in his own head. So he stepped away to heal.

Today he is a father of four, a former CrossFit and masters weightlifting record holder, the owner of The Brave One Gym, and a voice that hundreds of thousands of people turn to for fatherhood, fitness, and mindset.

We get into growing up in the South Bronx with three ways out. Having a daughter at 17 and the moment he decided being present mattered more than the money. Learning what it meant to be a Black man in sports with nobody there to teach him. Forgiving the father who was never there, and what holding that anger was actually costing him. And the day his ten month old daughter walked over to a dumbbell in his gym and started snatching it, which became the beginning of everything he shares publicly today.

If you have ever wondered whether the mental side really matters as much as the physical, James says it is 80 percent mental and 20 percent physical. This episode is the proof.

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can call or text 988 in the US to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, 24 hours a day.

Follow James Townsend
Instagram at thejamestownsend
TikTok at kinghumbleddaily
Training at tbotraining

The Intangible Podcast is where elite athletes and coaches break down the traits that actually got them there. The things that never show up in a stat line. Hosted by Chris Spencer, retired NFL center.

Subscribe so you never miss an episode.

This episode is brought to you by Team IQ. The recruiting process is one of the biggest decisions you will ever face for your child, and talent alone is not enough. Coaches are looking for composure, coachability, communication, and leadership. Team IQ measures those intangibles so your athlete stands out when it matters most.

👉 Follow the Intangible Podcast for more stories of grit, resilience, and peak performance:

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Jayson DiManche entered the NFL in 2013 as an undrafted free agent out of Southern Illinois and walked into one of the most stacked linebacker rooms in football, on camera, during a season of Hard Knocks. He was the eighth or ninth man on the depth chart. He was supposed to be a camp body. He played seven years across the Bengals, Chiefs, Browns, Lions and 49ers.

In this conversation he breaks down exactly how he did it, and none of it sounds like what you expect. He calls himself lazy. He says the undrafted label was a gift. He explains why a linebacker who got manhandled on national television decided that was the best thing that could have happened to him in Week 1.

We also get into the part of his story most people never hear. Growing up in Trenton, New Jersey, going back to Haiti as a kid and seeing what he actually had. Being bullied, then becoming a bully, and the exact moment he realized he was aiming his energy in the wrong direction. His parents divorcing while he was fifteen hours from home at Southern Illinois. The film session after his first NFL start where the entire defensive staff took him apart for forty five minutes, and why he now says that was the first time he was ever truly coached.

And then there is the John Muir Trail. Fourteen days on the trail in 2020 with two former college teammates, a group of men over sixty who would not stop passing them, and three words from a stranger that Jayson says he would tattoo on his forehead if he could.

Jayson now works as a private football and mental performance coach in Dallas, training athletes on the mental side of the game that most people leave to chance. If you are an athlete trying to make a roster, a parent trying to help your kid handle pressure, or anyone who has ever been told you were not the guy, this one is for you.

Subscribe for new episodes with elite athletes and coaches breaking down the intangibles that actually got them there.

👉 Follow the Intangible Podcast for more stories of grit, resilience, and peak performance:

Instagram: @Intangible_Podcast
YouTube: Intangible Pod