Mike Hollis: The Case Against Long-Term Goals, Frequent Pivots, and Being a Yes-Man | E14

Mike Hollis (0:00)

Football and kicking was so incredibly passionate for me because of the level of success I had with it, plus the fact that I wasn't a great athlete or big or strong or freakishly athletic.

Sammy Peterson (0:09)

You're athletic.

Mike Hollis (0:10)

Well...

Sammy Peterson (0:11)

At 5'8 and 180 pounds, nobody thought my next guest could play in the NFL. His own head coach didn't think someone his size belonged on the roster.

Mike Hollis (0:19)

Even as a kid growing up in high school, I was always the little shrimp on the teams.

Sammy Peterson (0:24)

Mike Hollis went from community college to Division 1 AA school to signing as an undrafted free agent with the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars in their very first season.

Mike Hollis (0:33)

I just didn't take no for an answer because I knew what I could do to a football. I could kick it pretty well. The biggest problem I had was the fact that I wasn't really prepared to know what I wanted to do after my football career.

Sammy Peterson (0:43)

After nine years in the NFL, he built ProForm Kicking Academy into a nationwide coaching business, became a managing partner in a meal prep software company, and founded Zealous Wellness, a health and wellness platform. In 2022, nearly 20 years after retiring, you signed with the Jacksonville Sharks at age 49 What made you do that and what did it teach you about the competitive drive that never goes away?

Mike Hollis (1:06)

Yeah.

Sammy Peterson (1:09)

Mike Hollis, welcome to Business MVP.

Mike Hollis (1:11)

Well, thank you.

Sammy Peterson (1:12)

Mike, at every level, high school, college, the pros, someone told you that you were too small. Tom Coughlin couldn't believe a guy your size could kick the ball that far.

What was it like having to prove yourself over and over again?

Mike Hollis (1:26)

I just became part of the nature. Even as a kid growing up in high school and so forth, I was always the little shrimp on the teams.

I got made fun of a little bit, but I was a team player, so I went along with it and made fun of the big guys too, in any way I could, just to play around and be on their level. But it was very challenging because of the fact is, I knew what I could do to a football, I could kick it pretty well. And as a kicker, the size really doesn't matter with regards to like I'm like a receiver, I have to be tall and catch a ball or anything like that. I'm kicking a football, I'm using my feet. So that's the thing with me, I just didn't take no for an answer because I knew what my abilities were. And it fueled the fire. It made me try harder to prove people wrong. Honestly, that was really my goal is to really be as good as I could be. But in the second half of that would be to prove people wrong, that I was good enough to play.

Sammy Peterson (2:24)

You had a 59-year-old field goal, I think, pre-season, that you've called probably the most important kick of your life. Your roster spot was on the line. Walk me through that moment.

Mike Hollis (2:35)

Well, yeah, that was a pivotal moment for me because of the fact that I had missed a couple of field goals prior to that, and even one in that specific game, and we had what would have been a 54-yard field goal, but we had to delay a game. So I was thinking, well, crap.

Sammy Peterson (2:54)

So they gave you an extra five.

Mike Hollis (2:55)

I'm out there about to kick a field goal, we get to delay a game, and I'm thinking I might walk off and Brian Barker might punt, but we were at the end of the half. So I thought, well, okay, I think I'm going to stay on. So now it's like, okay, this is a make or break moment for me, and I happened to hit it really clean and made it. So from that point on, it boosted a lot of confidence in me, and I proved to the coaches I could do something as cool as that back then. Now they're kicking 60 yarders like no problem. So it was a cool experience.

It was something that really opened my eyes to my full potential, and I believe the coaches trusted me even more after that.

Sammy Peterson (3:32)

Yeah, that's awesome. So you went from community college to the University of Idaho, to learning from Pro Bowl kicker John Carney during a preseason with the Chargers. So what did each stop building you that the previous one didn't?