Name: Mike Lodish: Fourteen time champion and peanut brittle master
Uploaded: 2015-07-23
Duration: 5 min 22 s
Description: Fortune and Sports Illustrated sit down with the two-time Super Bowl winner to discuss his success on and off the field.

[ MUSIC ] Tell me about the record you share with Tom Brady. I'll tell you about the record Tom Brady shares with me. For 16 years I held the record of the only player in the history if the NFL to have played in the Superbowl Six times. Six. I played in the game more than anybody in the history of the world. At 6'3 ", 275 pounds, Mike Lodish spent his career in the trenches playing defensive line for some of the greatest teams in NFL history. The trend started immediately when Lodish was picked in the tenth round by the Buffalo Bills. Right before they were about to start a historical run. They called and they put me on speaker phone and they said hey, Mike we're the Buffalo Bills here. I think it was Marv Leavey that was on the phone with me at the time. They said we drafted you in the tenth round, what do you think? And the first thing out of my mouth was, what took you so long? And they started laughing. I could hear them They're, almost like, what's wrong with this guy, you know? There's nothing wrong with me. I'm here to win. And I'm here to make your team. When I knew that I made the football team, I called my parents and said, your son's an NFL player now. He went to camp in Buffalo his first year. And he said to me, Mother, I'm going to make this team. And he did. That probably was our proudest moment. That he had achieved his goal. My nickname is General Patton. I drive somewhat of a hard bargain at times and I raised my children to be responsible for what they do. Mom was the disciplinarian in And the that one that basically molded me and created a work ethic in me that I think has just been a blessing. Lodish ended up in the perfect situation when he was a rookie. In 1990, all of the pieces This fell into place for the Bills. Not only did they have the high- powered, no huddle offense led by Kelly, Thomas, and Reed, but their defense, with Lodish, was just as impressive. Mike Lodish walked into the Bills locker room and got to learn how to be a professional from some of the game's very best Like Pro Bowlers Tally, Conley, Bennett and of course, the legend Bruce Smith. I mad ethe team and the all of a sudden, we're going to the Super Bowl. Then, of course, that first run we went wide right. And so it was disappointing. And then we went again and we were like okay, second time we're back. We've got a chance We got beat pretty good by the Washington Redskins up in Minnesota. Third time's the charm, right? That old cliche. Not this time. And then we went back a fourth time. You know, we gotta win, this is ridiculous. Like the law of probability and statistics is gonna give us the win. Nope. And then I go to Denver, After making it to the Superbowl four times and suffering four devastating losses, Lodish ended up with another chance in tortured franchise Denver. This time, he wouldn't be denied. Led by John Elway and Terrell Davis, the Broncos would win back to back Super Bowls. Not only getting the monkey off Elway's back, but Lodish's as well. There they are. Two time Super Bowl champion. Lucky man. I've been to six Super Bowls, and they're always It's exciting. You cannot buy that experience. [ MUSIC ] But as unlikely as it is to playing six Super Bowls, perhaps Mike's most surprising act was what he chose to do off the field when playing days were over. And when I finish playing, I had a lengthy career, I had 11- year career and I thought, I think I wanna do my own thing. Prior to that for a few years, my family, my sisters and my mom and I, we talked, Mom we should bring your peanut brittle to market. Cuz everybody that tries her brittle absolutely loves it. The peanut brittle recipe is old family recipe Came from my mother, and was handed down generation to generation. So I've made it for many years, probably 40, 50 years. We've branded our candy Lodish's Champion Brittle. Lodish is our last name; my mom and I, and the word Champion comes from my mom being my champion and I've been a champion 14 times playing football. Now at the candy company named after his mom Lodish wears every hat there is. He oversees the books with an accountant. He makes sure operations run smoothly and he directs sales. He aims to elevate Pads from a regional business to a national candy brand. So ours is a hybrid between Conventional peanut brittle that could break your teeth, and it was hard candy, and it was solid, right? And what's called sea- foam candy, or foam candy. Perfecto, very good. Very good. He states the volume has doubled since their debut of the company, and now they're selling 700 to 1, 000 pounds Peanut brittle a week. While taking a gluten free vegan peanut brittle to a saturated candy market may seem like an extremely daunting task, Mike Lodish is probably the one guy that I wouldn't bet against. He's achieved his success due to his hard work and his tenacity and his responsibility. I think she's proud. I'm proud to say that I did it for her. And I'm proud to say that we've had some pretty good success.

Fortune and Sports Illustrated sit down with the two-time Super Bowl winner to discuss his success on and off the field.