STANDARDS OVER SPOTLIGHT

STANDARDS OVER SPOTLIGHT
'Building a Legacy on Precess, Preparation & Leadership'
Exclusive Interview with Desmond Clark
​Conducted by Allié McGuire

​Desmond “Dez” Clark is a former NFL tight end turned visionary entrepreneur and motivational speaker who now leads Bear Down Logistics with the same relentlessness that defined his football career. Embracing a top‑1% mindset, Dez believes that true impact isn’t measured in applause—it’s forged through relentless preparation, process, and purpose.

ALLIÉ: Before we dive into where you are now, let’s start at the beginning. For someone who doesn’t know anything about your story, how would you describe your journey to the NFL—and then from the NFL to becoming a CEO, a speaker, and an author? Tell me about those journeys.

DESMOND: Yeah, it’s been quite a few journeys—from Lakeland, Florida, playing at Kathleen High School, to eventually earning a scholarship to play at Wake Forest University, switching positions at every level. I played quarterback in high school and then went on to play receiver at Wake Forest. After a pretty good college career, I was drafted into the NFL, where I spent 12 years: three years with the Denver Broncos, one year with the Miami Dolphins, and eight years with my Chicago Bears.

I would say that whole transition was something else. I played football from the age of six to the age of 34—consecutive years, never missing a season. And in my wildest dreams, I never thought I’d last 12 years in the NFL. Even when I made it my first year, I wasn’t thinking, Okay, I’m about to go on a 12-year run.

I was always just looking at the next step in front of me. I think one of the things that kept me focused was never looking too far down the road. The one time I did start looking ahead, I ended up getting cut from Denver—and that reminded me not to.

When I retired in 2011, it took me some time to find my place. Honestly, it took me 10 years, even though I did a lot of different things. I was in residential real estate, then transitioned into device sales, where another guy and I started a company together. I eventually stepped away from that—it just wasn’t the right fit. Then I spent the most time in the financial industry, working first at MassMutual, one of the big boys in insurance, before moving on to a smaller independent insurance company.

I think I really started to find myself around 2019–2020, when I decided I was going to write my book. I told myself, I’m going to leave all this corporate stuff behind. I’m going to go out and motivate the world. That was also when you, your husband, and I were gearing up to do some big things together. And then, all of a sudden, the world stopped. I wasn’t able to do the speaking I thought I would or build that part of my career the way I had planned.

Eventually, it came back around. But in the midst of having to stop, slow down, and reevaluate, I found logistics. At the time, I didn’t even know what logistics was—I had no clue. But when I was introduced to it and started to understand the concept, I kept digging for a couple of months. The guy who wanted me to come work with him, I told him, I don’t know if I want to work with you. I think I want to build my own company. And he actually helped me do it.

I officially started the company on October 27, 2021. On paper, it became real May 2, 2022. I started operations with just a computer and a phone, trying to get my first customers. Now, three and a half—almost four—years later, I can look back and say: from knowing nothing to where I am now, I’ve grown a lot. I’m not the kind of person who says I’m proud of myself often, but I do look at this and say, You know what, man? You should be proud of yourself—for learning something on the fly, taking a huge financial risk, betting on yourself, and going for it. There’s been a whole lot of progress and a whole lot of momentum building.

ALLIÉ: That is amazing. When most people think about success, they picture the spotlight. But you—I love what you do—you talk about the reward being in the work itself. Desmond, where did that mindset come from?

DESMOND: It’s probably more spiritual than anything. Just the other day, I was teaching my son that money isn’t real. And if you say that to people, they’re like, What? Money’s not real? But it’s not. You’ve got a dollar, right? People say it’s worth something. But then, when you do this to it [tears it], what’s it worth now?

ALLIÉ: Nothing.

DESMOND: Exactly. So what’s so real about it? It’s just the value we put on that piece of paper that’s real. The job doesn’t give you money. The job doesn’t make the money. It’s the person—it’s the value you bring to whoever you’re trying to help or serve—that’s real. That’s where the worth is. Between me and that person, or that company, we agree on what that value is. And even now, we don’t even use paper anymore. We use electricity. They send me electricity over here, representing a number we agreed on for what that value was. Money’s not real. The value we bring to the table as people—that’s what’s real. Then we come to an agreement on what that value is worth in that “unreal” stuff everybody thinks is real.
That’s why I focus on the process. How valuable can I build myself to be? How valuable can I be to as many people as possible? That’s the goal. If you can be valuable to a lot of people—whether doing one thing or many—that’s where it’s at.

​ALLIÉ: Yeah, the value—that’s the sign. And I think it says a lot about the journey. It’s not some end point. The value increases as you go. It’s not static or finite—it’s constantly evolving. That’s what makes it so powerful.

DESMOND: Right. Because that $80,000 job, that $100,000 job—whatever it pays—they’re paying for someone’s mindset and skillset. That company is saying, Hey, we value the mindset and skillset of this person enough to handle these responsibilities at this number. It’s all about creating a mindset and skillset worthy of someone agreeing to that value in you.

ALLIÉ: Yeah, I love that. And I love that visual you gave with the bill.

DESMOND: Yeah—it means nothing. Once you burn it, it’s nothing. We just agreed that it’s worth something. Me and you exchanging it—that’s arbitrary. I might not think it’s worth a dollar. I might say, No, you’ve got to give me ten. What’s the difference between this piece of paper and a $10 bill? Just the value we place on it.

ALLIÉ: Yes. And you have so many awesome phrases, but the one I want to talk about right now is: “The top 1% don’t need applause to keep going.” I feel like that says so much about discipline, but it speaks to other things too. What does this phrase mean to you?

DESMOND: It’s a mindset. Why am I doing this? I’m doing it to be the best I possibly can at it. “Top 1%” externally, sure, it’s a comparison. But internally—it’s about asking: are you performing at your best? Every day? Are you giving it everything you have? And—excuse my language—no bullshit. Don’t bullshit yourself. Don’t lie to yourself.

Like today—I had a hard morning. I was training my son, then we went to football practice. The day was 98 degrees. That was all this morning. Right before this interview, I was shutting it down. Then I get the ding ding—you have an interview. And I was like, Alright, I gotta get back at it.

So on days like this, I don’t lie to myself. I don’t say, Nah, you know what? I’m not doing it today. For me, that honesty matters. Some people rationalize, Well, I gave it a good go. I did enough. But if you didn’t do everything you said you would—and do it at the level you said you would—don’t give yourself a pass.

Now, everybody has those days. Nobody’s at 100% all the time. But greatness starts when you tell the truth—not just to yourself, but to the people counting on you. If me and you are working together and you keep dropping below the bar, and I keep calling it out—you’re not gonna want to keep hearing that. Same thing with yourself.

If you really want to be the best at what you do—and you’ve got purpose behind it—you won’t let too many days go by where you’re just like, I don’t have it today. Eventually, you’ll say, Enough. I’ve got to get up. I’ve got to get going. For me, it’s about: Can I be at that level on a consistent basis? It’s not about you, or him, or her. It’s about my standard. Am I hitting my standard every day? If I am, eventually people will notice—and that’s fine. But I feel good about myself every day. I feel good about what I’m doing for my family. I feel good about what I’m building with my team.

I feel good that I’m an entrepreneur—that I can go coach football, work out with my son, and still get back here to do what I need to do. I feel good that I can provide a home my family loves, a great school for my son. I feel good about that. But those are just the results. I’ve got to feel good about the process. And when I feel good about the process, the rest follows. Some days, I can’t even sleep because I’m excited to get after it. Like—let’s go. Sun, come up already. Quit messing around. Let’s go.

ALLIÉ: Yeah, I love that. I love speaking about the fact that it’s the standards that are more important than the spotlight. The spotlight can feel like an endpoint, but it’s the standards that really sustain you.

DESMOND: It’s the cause and effect. A lot of people focus on the effect—the money, the recognition, whatever it is. But when people get too caught up in the effect, they start falling short of what they really want to achieve, because they’re not looking at the cause. And the cause is you. Good or bad—the cause is always you.

​ALLIÉ: Well, let’s talk about something good in that. Let’s talk about giving back. Can you share a moment from working with youth that reminded you why you do this?

DESMOND: I’ve got two stories. Recently, one of my homeboys back in Chicago sent me a picture. He texted me and said, “You remember this kid? His mom gave me this photo and wanted me to tell you that you changed his life. To this day, he still talks about you.”

That kid was eight or nine years old back then. Now he’s about to graduate high school. His mom told my friend, “Tell him that to this day, my son still talks about when Desmond Clark showed up to camp.” That’s powerful—because you don’t always know what your words or your presence are going to mean to someone. Your job is just to put out that energy. To do and say the right thing, to be true to who you are, and to give it away.

Another one—this happened maybe 10 or 12 years ago. I was driving my truck, and I noticed this lady looking at me. I thought, I’m not making eye contact. But then she stayed right with me. When we got to the next light, she honked her horn and motioned for me to roll down my window. I thought, What is going on now? She pointed to her son in the passenger seat and said, “I just want you to know you changed his life. Ever since he went to your camp, he’s been a different young man.”

That’s the best. I even had a lawyer come back to me and say, “You helped change my life. I wasn’t playing that well in football, but you motivated me. You gave me confidence—not just in football, but in life. That’s why I went to law school and became a lawyer.” That stuff is wild.

ALLIÉ: That is wild. We think about sports and their importance in our society, but we don’t often think about the ripple effect—the opportunity to excel and show up in sports the way you did. It can create waves of impact that last a lifetime, across all kinds of people—not just athletes, but lawyers, teachers, even eight- and nine-year-olds who grow up to do incredible things, because someone helped them believe in themselves.

DESMOND: Honestly, I don’t even know why people listen to athletes. If you ask me, I don’t think people should be listening to us. They should be listening to teachers, doctors, philosophers. But they don’t have the same spotlight we do. We get seen on TV, and because of that visibility, people think, This guy must be important. I’ll listen to him. So now that you have that platform, that access, that attention—the real question is: what are you going to do with it?

ALLIÉ: Of all the many chapters of your life—football, business, mentorship, fatherhood—what do you know now about winning that you didn’t know then?

DESMOND: In a sense, I’m willing to die for it—because you brought up fatherhood. And it’s been a long time since we talked, right? In 2022, my son was kidnapped by his mom and taken to Africa—without me knowing, without any of her other kids knowing. My twins were with me; they had just graduated and were all down here in Florida. And boom—he was gone.

Over the course of months, I figured out where he was. He helped me find his location. And I flew over to Africa—just me. I tracked him down. Local authorities told me, “You can’t go get him, you’ll be charged with kidnapping.” At first, the U.S. Embassy was saying the same thing. But I went and found my son. I went and got him.

I went back to the police department—not knowing if they were going to arrest me for kidnapping, not knowing what she had planned. But once I had him, I told the police chief, “You can’t make me release him. There has to be another option, because that’s not happening.” I said it very respectfully, but I was firm. Long story short—they let me keep him that night. The next day we had to see the international police. They said, “This is an American issue—everybody here is an American citizen.” By then, the embassy had finally read through the paperwork I had sent months earlier.

​Flying over to Africa, only two people even knew I was there. When I finally rolled up on my son, he was walking to a soccer park. I said, “What’s up, little dude?” You should have seen his face—What? How? What are you…? I just said, “Get in the car, man.”

Then I asked him, “Do you still want to go home? I’m not making you go. But if you want to go home—we’re going home.” And he said, “I want to go home.” From there—we just made it happen.

I don’t know if people fully understand this—I was scared to death. I didn’t know where I was. I didn’t have phone service until I got back to the hotel. I was in a foreign land, getting lost over and over. But at the same time, I wasn’t scared at all—because I knew what I had to do, and I was willing to die for it.

When I got back home, that’s when it hit me. That’s when I finally broke down—because in my head, I realized I had truly been willing to die.

ALLIÉ: Yeah. Wow. Well, when we talk about wins—that’s certainly a big one.

DESMOND: Yeah. That’s my next book that I already started writing. It’s going to be called ‘The Greatest Catch’.

ALLIÉ: That is awesome. Desmond, thank you so much for sharing what you just did—for sharing all of what you have. Thank you for the work you do, for continuing to be of service to so many. And even when it’s ninety-some crazy degrees out—thank you for helping all of us become a little more aware now. Thank you so much.

DESMOND: Thank you for having me on. And thank you to everybody out there for uplifting me. It’s all about us—people—working together, lifting each other up. ∎

Find & follow Dez on Instagram:
​@dezclark88