"Left-Hand Man" A Conversation with Kansas City Chief's Coach Porter Ellett

In this episode of Rise and Grind, host Thurl Bailey sits down with Porter Ellett, the Assistant Special Teams Coach for the Kansas City Chiefs. Porter’s remarkable journey is one of resilience, determination, and an unwavering love for the game of football.

He shares his early experiences growing up with a passion for sports, but faced a life-changing obstacle when he lost a limb due to an accident. Instead of letting this setback define him, Porter demonstrated extraordinary courage, fighting to overcome adversity and return to the sport he loves.

Join us as Porter discusses the challenges he faced during his recovery journey, his transition into coaching, and the pivotal moments that have shaped his career path in the NFL. He highlights the importance of mental and physical health, the supportive role of family and friends, and why it’s crucial for young athletes to pursue their dreams, no matter the obstacles in their way.

This episode is filled with motivational insights that encourage listeners to rise above challenges and grind toward their goals. Tune in to hear Porter’s powerful story and the lessons learned from his journey in football!

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share your thoughts in the comments.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Rise and Grind! If you enjoyed Thurl Bailey's inspiring basketball journey and insights, be sure to subscribe to the podcast for more powerful stories and motivational conversations. 

Help us spread the word by leaving a review and sharing this episode with friends and fellow basketball enthusiasts. Connect with us on social media to join the conversation and stay updated on future episodes. 

Remember, your journey might have its challenges, but with grit and determination, you can rise above and achieve your dreams. Keep grinding, and we'll see you next time!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

And I had hit my head so hard that it had scalped me. So my dad, when he talks about the story, if he like can get him to talk about it, it's not something he likes to remember. But he says when he picked me up, he had to put my scalp was hanging over my face. So he had to grab my scalp and put it back on my head. Wow. And then they gave me a priesthood blessing right there on the mountain, you know? And I gained consciousness right after that blessing. And I started to talk. And my dad said the first thing that I started talking about was baseball.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

Porter Ellett learned early that life doesn't wait for perfect circumstances. Losing his right arm as a child and choosing amputation as a teen didn't slow him down. It sharpened his perspective, it sharpened his creativity, and it sharpened his grit. From a one-arm farm kid in Lower Utah to a missionary to a motivational speaker, and now Andy Reid's indispensable left-hand man with the Kansas City Chiefs, Ellot has built a life defined by problem solving, humor, and relentless hustle. Today he joins Rise and Grind to share how he turns setbacks into advantages, leads from the shadows of an NFL sideline and keeps grinding when the stakes are highest. You've already done that and more. And uh I mentioned you were from Lower Utah. Tell them what lower Utah was all about.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Yeah, so Lower Utah, you said at a farm town right on the farm boy of heart. Uh 400 people in Lowell when I was there. I think maybe 450 now. So still about the same. Grew up on the farm doing farm work, though. I mean, we had sheep and cows. Uh, grew a lot of alfalfa, um, some barley a little bit, but did a lot of farm work and then did all the normal farm things, you know, and then our only real uh outlet, or for me at least, my only um real time for fun was when I got to play sports. So uh baseball, basketball, tracking, cross-country, and then I enjoyed watching, you know, every sport. But those were kind of my outlets for fun, from aside from the farm work. It was always interesting because you were always dead by the end of the day after you did all your chores, and then it was like, oh, and basketball practice, then all of a sudden you're like, Oh, I have all the energy I need now. So you'd go play ball. Um, but my my life, just as he mentioned, and you brought up in the intro, it was very different from even all the other farm kids. You know, I'd I did do everything with one arm, uh thought of the truck at the age of four.

SPEAKER_02 3:22

Yeah, let's talk about that because I I met you when you were four, but talk about all those circumstances and and uh and that tragedy tragedy.

SPEAKER_01 3:36

Yeah, for sure. So I mean, and I wanted to bring that up too. You you came to my house when I was recovering from surgeries and stuff, still, you know, that was pretty special for me uh at that age. Uh, but so I I we would go out and move the sheet from like area to area on the mountain, and uh, we'd get in the truck, all of us, you know, we'd pile into one truck, and uh, we'd always have a motorcycle in the back, take a couple dogs, and all the kids would always want to ride in the back of the truck, you know, it's just kind of what we did going up. And my dad didn't like me riding in the back, so I had to beg him, you know, and eventually he's like, All right, yeah, go ahead, hop in the back. Um, and it was just like a normal farm morning, you know, we were going out to do work, and on the way out to the mountain to the herd, I fell out with the back of the truck. I think I was trying to get off the motorcycle, and you know, we hit a bump just at the wrong time, and I went out. But I mean, for me looking back now as an adult, that situation was probably terrifying because we're out in the middle of nowhere, yeah, and I had hit my head so hard that it had scalped me. So, my dad, when he talks about the story, if he like can get him to talk about it, it's not something he likes to remember. Um, but he says when he picked me up, he had to put my scalp was hanging over my face, so he had to grab my scalp and put it back on my head. Wow. And then I mean, you and I know, I mean, being members of uh the Church of Jesus Christ, the Latter-day Saints, the power of blessings and prayer. And they gave me a priesthood blessing right there on the mountain, you know, and uh I gained consciousness right after that blessing, and I started to talk. And my dad said the first thing that I started talking about was baseball, you know, like balling a bat. And then they drove me, they had to drive me into town while they were out there. They this was uh kind of a miracle in and of itself where I fell out was close enough to a forest service like station that they could call for air support from there. So the helicopter from Salt Lake City met us in Bignel, Utah, it's like 10 miles from Loa when we got to the hospital. And then they flew me to Salt Lake, and immediately the issues were all like head, you know, yeah, had a skull fracture, scalp, um, nearly cut one of the main arteries, you know, that was leading to my brain. I had a brain bleed. Um, so they did all that, and then they started to kind of test around and realized, oh, his arm, like his right arm's messed up here. So that's when they figured out that hey, this is gonna be more of an issue. Um, and what I had done is detach the nerves that controlled that arm. It happens with babies sometimes when they go through the birth can birth canal, yeah, is they get caught, and then yeah, it'll tear all those nerves out. So that's the injury I had. And then I had thorough thought he thought a lot growing up, but I had what we call the dead arm after that, you know, just kind of would hang there, uh, wouldn't grow. And uh and I think I mean, I tried to when I was young, I tried to kind of grab hold of a lot of really good influences. My wife, you know, good examples. My mom was a big Michael Jordan fan. So even from like even at four years old, I loved Michael Jordan. Um, I used to pray for Michael Jordan when we first learned how to pray, you know, like little things like that. But for me, it was interesting because you would you came to our house, you know, when I was still Vert, and I think that was a big deal for me because growing, I mean, you know, Loa, and I've heard you talk about you know, you married into a family that was from central Utah.

SPEAKER_02 7:07

Yeah, that was our connection, really.

SPEAKER_01 7:09

Yes, yeah, Craig Southwick and your brother-in-law, uh, one of my favorite people. But you had been there, and there's not a lot of people who look like you, where I'm from, yeah, right. Yeah, um, but all my heroes look like you mean tall, right? Tall, yeah, that's right. Tall, tall, dark, and handsome. For me, that was a big deal because all my heroes they looked like you, they didn't look like me, you know, like Michael Jordan was my hero, and uh you were one of them. And you walked into my house, and yeah, I just remember you were so tall, like you had to duck to get in and duck through the doors, and you had this big smile on your face. And for me, that was like a big deal, you know. Like this guy came from, you know, like Jimmy V won a national title, and here he is in lower Utah. Um, and he's at my house, you know, and you were so normal, like you were so nice to me and always so kind. And so thank you for that. I think you don't realize the kind of influence you had on little farm boys in lower Utah, you know. Like that was a big deal. So thank you for that.

SPEAKER_02 8:17

Well, uh, you know, you you always everyone has a platform, and uh, and that's why I wanted you on the show is because you have a big one, right? And and and whatever we can do to people who are in different circumstances or circumstances that we've gone through. But I want to I want to talk a little bit more about your family because you weren't an only child, right? Talk about your family, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:41

Yeah, so I'm uh I'm the only boy. Yeah, uh five sisters, uh three older. Yeah, I was bad. I was bad. You know, uh well, you know, they weren't easy on me, I'll tell you that much. And then every it felt like you were constantly being launched. So and then uh there was like a lot of added uh expectations because my sisters were all perfect, you know, valedictorians and great athletes, and uh they really held me along the way, but they were all uber competitive, like you know my sister uh Monique, the one just older than me, she did all the basketball games with me too. Um, but I couldn't beat Monique in any sport until I was like 14. And it was mostly because I got bigger and stronger. Um, but she competed with me in everything, and when we would go out to play basketball, my mom would always say, One of you's gonna come back in crying, or you know, something's gonna get broke. Um, but that's kind of the they were competitive. My oldest sister, who kind of set everything off, uh, she was an incredible runner. Uh she won a national champ, two national championships at BYU as a cross-country runner um from a small town like Loa. That was like what's going on, you know. And we traveled all over the country, all over the western US to go to these track meets when I was just little. Um, and I was, you know, a bleacher creature. You know, just on her bleachers, throwing rocks, like watching her succeed. Um, but that planted a big seed in me too, as well. Like my sister's going to California and she's just running against everyone who's the best in the Western US. Like, and they who cares where I'm from, you know. So that was cool for me, even though you know I was just throwing rocks or playing in the mud, but it was I got to see that.

SPEAKER_02 10:27

So let's jump back because when you have an accident like you had, uh, you mentioned your father not liking to discuss it, that changes lives, not just for you, but for your family. You're four years old, and adjustments have to be made. I mean, the loss of a limb. Talk about that transition. I mean, there's a period in there that had to be difficult for your whole family.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

Yeah. Oh yeah. My my family had kind of already been through it in Illinois. You know, my my oldest sister, she uh the one that ended up being the starter with the chin anorexia when she was really little. So they battled that and then they came off of that, and then I I tried to die, you know. So not a grey start. Um, but yeah, I mean, my my whole family had to adjust to like, well, okay, well, what do we do now? You know, how do we treat Porter or what can he do, or what can't he do? Yeah. And it's almost like you were, I was, you know, we have a little baby at our house right now. Uh he's only three weeks old, but it it completely changes the dynamics of your house. And I think that when I got hurt, it was almost like I was reborn. Like, oh, we have like a new kid again. Like, what do we do with this kid and how do we treat him? And so I think there was a lot of navigating of that, of like, okay, well, can he do this? Do we how much do we let him do? And when does it cross the line to like oh, is this abusive or is this just us letting him figure it out? Yeah, um, but and to my parents' credit, I think uh they ignored a lot of uh what maybe seemed like sound advice, you know, like hey, you should help him, like you should do this all the time, or you know, why aren't you helping him do this? And they just kind of said, like, no, he's gotta figure it out, he has to figure this out. Um, so I that's what I did. And then I grew up in a great community where they let me figure it out too, you know. Yes, like my parents, they didn't try to hide me or you know, protect me. And I remember the conversations I had with them where, you know, hey, these people are staring at me, or I hate that everywhere I go, people stare, people point, or and I remember them being like, Well, that it's just the way it is. That's not a you problem. Like, that's just the way it's gonna be. You know, not trying to hide me from it or oh, well, yeah, they're bad people. Like, no, like they're curious, they're gonna ask, you're different. That's the way it is. So little things like that.

SPEAKER_02 13:07

What about your dad? I I I feel like uh you know, obviously there's probably some guilt there on his part. Um how was he and your family able to kind of get through some of that as well?

SPEAKER_01 13:23

Yeah, I mean, I don't know if he has completely, to be honest. I think like when what when I make one-on-one jokes, everybody kind of laughs, except my dad. Except yeah, it's just kind of like, oh, you know. Um, so I don't know if he like completely has gone. I think a lot of it that has helped is like the successes that I have had. Yeah, yeah. You know, he's mentioned to me how proud he is of that. Of course. Um, kind of a cool story that my so my uncle, I went to have a surgery in Houston, Texas when I was five, and it was like an experimental surgery. They were gonna take nerves out of my leg and put them in my neck, and they were kind of hoping it would fix all this stuff. And he gave me a blessing too before I went there, and he blessed me that I would be healed, you know, like this surgery would work, you'd be healed. And then time went on, it didn't happen, and then in high school I had the arm cut off. So my uncle is like, Man, what is going on? You know, and we go to like I go on my mission, I come back, I'm giving my homecoming speech. He's at my homecoming speech, and during the the homecoming talk, he's like, Man, that prayer forever ago. Like, I said that, I felt it, like I knew it was gonna be true, you know, that he's gonna be healed. And then he said he I got he said to me, I got the most strong feeling of like, look at him, I healed him. Like, what did you want? You know. Um, so for me, and I think for my dad, I think that it was meant to be, you know, I think it was supposed to happen the way it did. And I think it's fun to look back and think, well, man, I'd hit a baseball this far with one arm, you know, could I hit it twice as far with two? You know, I was this good with one arm in basketball, could I have been this good with two? Um, that's fun to talk about, but there's so many things that I developed because I had one arm that I wouldn't, I don't know. I don't think I would have practiced this hard. I don't think I would have been as good a leader. Yeah, I don't think I would have pushed through a lot of the stuff I pushed through with two arms. So at the end of the day, you know, it's it's a blessing. I remember after we won the first Super Bowl team, like my dad came up and hugging me. Just like I bet. Yeah, I just like couldn't believe it, you know? And for me, that was yeah, that was like, you know, I I think for him, it's like, man, it's alright, you know, it's okay.

SPEAKER_02 15:44

So let's touch on your love for sports because when you mentioned at the age of 16, you decided to or you you guys collectively decided to just amputate the arm. Um when you live in a small town like you do, everybody does everything. They play everything, right? You don't have the capacity in high school to you know, but everybody's kind of a multi, you know, a multi-sport athlete. So take me through as you got older, you got into your teens, and you loved sports. What kind of adjustment was that? Was there any pushback from anybody? Um, you mentioned how you had a lot of support in the community. Take me through that sports journey. I mean, because I I've seen the videos, man. I've seen the basketball videos of you doing your thing, like with one arm like, wow. So take me through that journey.

SPEAKER_01 16:47

Yeah, I mean, first off, I mean, you mentioned my like love of sports. I I uh I mean, it's one of the few things that will make me cry, like I just did, you know, like I talk about sports and I start getting emotional. Um, but for me, it was like such a deliverer from you know every challenge in my life was like I found solace in sports. Yeah, like I was going through hard things, I'd go play ball, like I'd just go practice. Like that was where I found peace. So for me, I love sports because of that, and then I I found refuge in between the lines, you know, because it doesn't really matter uh in between the lines, all that matters is if you can play ball, and that's why it's such a unique, uniting thing in the world, you know. Like I love being part of like the Chiefs and our walker room because everybody's so different in there. Like, if you gave us a poll and had us like politically say like what we believed, we shouldn't be together. Like, there's no way that that group should work together, but football does it, you know. Like, football puts that group together. So for me, that's I love that about sports. Was like, hey man, this like one arm farm kid. Um, he can go to Salt Lake and he can play baseball against all these city kids, and what matters? Oh, he can hit, like he can field, he can pitch. Like, that's all that matters. Yeah, so I loved that. And there, I mean, there was some pushback. I actually credit um after your brother-in-law, uh Greg Southwick passed away. I thought a lot about like his influence on me because they were our neighbors, like your brother-in-law was our neighbor, that's how I got to know you. Um, and my dad was his like assistant coach in basketball. Um, we used to go to all the practices, but Greg, when he moved in, his son played a lot of basketball with me, and he just put together a three-on-three team, and we would go travel everywhere and play. And it was my first time like with one arm and like getting out and doing that. And I was just trying to play ball, you know. But the stuff all happened, like you said, you know, like what you're alluding to. I got stared at, I got pointed at every time before every game, the refs would have to like, so what do we do if this happens with this kid? Yeah, um, which is fair, it's fine. Um, you know, hold on. I try to I try to see, yeah, you know, but it's probably not fair, but it is what it is. Um, uh so they would have that whole discussion, then I'd go out and they I'd just play. And it was I think the kids that I played against hated me because I made everybody I played against look bad. Like, you know, it is what it is. I and I I love that, like that was what I wanted to do. Yeah, my goal was to beat you, and you know, if I made you look bad in front of you know your family, your girlfriend, everybody else, like that's that was icing on the cake for me, you know. So but it was it was interesting because it it did raise the level, I think, of competition amongst my friends and I. Yeah, but it also I think raised the level of who we competed against. I think that they no one wants to get beat by a kid with one arm, but also the kid with one arm doesn't want to allow you to beat him, you know. So that was always an interesting process. And baseball was interesting too because I pitched a little bit, you know, and I uh the way that I did my mitt, I didn't do the whole Jim Abbott thing. Yeah, you know, I didn't like tuck it under my arm and because I didn't have an arm after I got amputated, and my arm wasn't like a nub, I couldn't move it.

SPEAKER_02 20:21

Right. How'd you do it?

SPEAKER_01 20:22

So I when I yeah, when I pitched the mitt was just on the ground in front of me. So if they hit a line drive back to me, if it's fast enough, it's I either dodge it or I eat it, you know, it's there's no like, oh hey man, you might be able to fill this. It's like, no, he's he's uh cooked. So I uh they had that discussion all the time. Moms would say, like, man, are we gonna let this kid pitch? What if it gets big back to him? You know, yeah, yeah. But I've I've always felt like it. If you ask really good pitchers, they'll tell you a line drive back up the middle is the pitcher's fault. That's it's his fault, it's no one else's fault. So to me, I used to love the thrill of that. Like, I love the fact that I didn't have a mitt on my hand and it was like just me in the batter. Yeah, I used to joke with people, I was like, man, it's like looking down the barrel of a gun. Um, but it's that's the excitement and the rush of like, no, there's pressure for this, and that's sports. Um, so I I love that part of it. And then I when I did field the ball, I kind of didn't talk about how I did feel it. I played first base and then I pitched, and then before that I played catcher, but I would catch the ball, uh, flip the ball up, flip my mit off, then grab the ball is still in the air and throw it. So that was like all the mechanics, but it goes back to what you said about having a great community. That I'm I had coaches that had the patience to help me do that. You know, like I have little league coaches that said, All right, well, let's figure this out. And they will they took the time to help me do it. And then I I've spent a lot of extra hours trying to get that stuff right.

SPEAKER_02 21:56

It's interesting though, as I think about it, do you think you would have had that opportunity? Opportunity growing up in a bigger city that have had to have been some advantages to grow up where you grew up because the number of kids, I mean, sometimes when you're in bigger cities, you're just a number, and then there's just more people to pity you and and look for the next best kid. Yeah, yeah. Is that any truth to that?

SPEAKER_01 22:26

Yeah, oh a hundred percent. Yeah, I think so too. I think that my development with an athlete was because a large part of it was because of where I grew up. There weren't a lot of options, you know. That was yeah, you know, like who's gonna play catcher? Well, uh this doesn't make any sense, but this kid is. But to your point, that's exactly right. I think in a bigger city they'd say, Oh, you know, well, we could keep him involved, and then I'd end up being the water boy or you know, the bat boy or something. Because they needed me, and it's just what you said. Every athlete where I grew up was a multi-sport athlete. Yeah, we didn't have a kid that specialized in basketball or specialized in baseball. It was he played everything, so no, I I was given great opportunities because of where I lived. And I I think you figure out, you know, if you want to play at the next level when you want to play in college and stuff, they'll find you, yeah. You know, where you're at. Like people know good athletes, yeah, and they'll find you. I mean, even on our NFL rosters, like not every single player's not from Alabama, right? Every single player's not from Georgia, yeah. They're not from USC, you know, like our whole roster is not guys from even our Patrick Golmes is from Texas Tech, man. He didn't go to Texas. That's right. And he was a better pitcher maybe than he was quarterback in high school.

SPEAKER_02 23:51

So well, when we come back, we're gonna continue the discussion about Porter's love for sports, but we're also gonna talk about his faith and how that led him on a different journey. We'll be right back with Rise and Grind. Hey guys, time out. You know, you give your best to your work, your family, and your responsibilities. But to keep showing up strong, you've got to stay dialed in. At Game Day Men's Health, the nation's leading men's clinic, they help you get back in the game with a custom game plan built around your labs, your goals, and your performance. Testosterone, peptides, real optimization. Come in today for a free testosterone test and consult. Tell them Big T sent you, and you get 50% off your first year membership. Game Daymenshealth.com. Victory starts within. Welcome back to Rise and Grind. We're talking about the incredible story of Porter Ellot. And Porter, we've been talking a lot about sports. Um, I'd like to maybe get into how important your faith has been to you, a member of the LDS Church, and you served a mission. So let's let's let's start from there, that decision to go on a mission and and that experience as well.

SPEAKER_01 25:16

So before I kind of get into that, I think one of the great blessings of the church, like there are a lot of blessings that come from the church, but the structures that the church provides, like the fact that we can go on a mission is incredible. You know, like and I always as a kid thought, yeah, you know, I'd like to go do that. Uh my father uh he did not go on a mission, but he really encouraged me to go. Um and he was very supportive. But one of the very best things that he did for me before I left um was reminded me that it was my decision, it was my choice. Um, and I remember, you know, like a week leading up to my mission, he did. He we were kind of one-on-one out on the farm. And he said, just so you know, you're doing this because you want to do it. And I was like, Yeah, yeah, I'm going on mission because I want to go on a mission. And he was like, Yeah, you want to go. Like, this is because you want to go. And I was like, Yes. He said, Okay, then then go. And he said, Do the best you can and give it all you got. And I all like a great influences in my life, they had gone on missions, they had taught me about how great it was. But then oftentimes it was the people who didn't go that helped me go the most. Like, we had a a Cub Scout leader when I was younger. He ended up being our scouting leader all the way up, and then um he helped us later on when we were like deacons, teachers, like he was just with us the whole time. But I remember on a camp out one time around the fire, uh, we were talking about you know missions and what we wanted to do, and he got real quiet and he got real kind of humble and quiet. He said, I did not gale on a mission, and he's like, and I have regretted it ever since. And he said, and I want to make sure that all of you don't have the same regret as me. So out of that group, we had 22 missionaries out at the same time, uh, from Lowa, Utah, which is not there's not a lot of people, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:05

Um that's a third of that's a third of the city almost.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

It's yeah, that's uh that's all the help for all the funds. We were all yeah, it's funny.

SPEAKER_01 27:15

We all left and we came back, and all of a sudden all those frequent lines had wheels on them.

SPEAKER_02 27:19

So no no drawbacks, no no questionable uh decisions because of the arm.

SPEAKER_01 27:33

Uh not for me. You know, I I worried sometimes about it. I didn't want the church to feel limited or uninspired, you know. I I didn't want it to change inspiration.

SPEAKER_03 27:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:43

As far as like, oh, well, maybe we can't send him certain places, but I could do everything on my own, you know. My mom did a really great job, but she taught me how to iron clothes and do my own laundry, and you know, like I was ready for that kind of stuff. I cooked a little bit, she taught me how to cook. I so I I was ready for all those things, so there weren't really any drawbacks there. And you served. I think I was just ready to go. I served in Los Angeles, California. So, and one of the things about being a farm boy is you you get out on the mission and there's a lot of different stresses the mission provides, you know. Like I remember being in the missionary training center in the room like all day, and I didn't realize that I was uh, you know, I was kind of wired to be outside until that I felt like I was going crazy, you know. That was that was everything because that was like the hardest thing for me was like, oh, I gotta be in this room all day. Um, so that was hard. But when I went into the MTC the day I went in, um, I remember thinking, well, my dad will let me sleep in, you know, it's my last day at home. Um, I raised calves to pay for my mission, and by raising calves, I mean uh we got little calves and I would bottle feed them, and then I would raise them up and then we'd sell them, and that's how I paid for my mission. So at the time I was going in to be a missionary, I still had a bunch of these calves that I was you know milk, like feeding them milk, bottle feeding. So I woke, I woke up that morning and thought, well, my dad'll take care of that for you, you know. And uh uh he did you so I have the she got out of bed, uh, went out there, was doing this tours, and I had a downdoor science because I'd fed so many calves, but I had just the right amount of milk, just the right amount of bottles, like all these things were perfectly measured out because you know, you waste you waste money if you're wasting product, you know. So I I have everything ready to go, I'm out there, and all everything just falls apart. Bottles are spilling, calves are knocking them over, they're popping the tops off these bottles, and I'm in the middle of this, just like losing it in the krails, just throwing bottles, you know, just using farm language that's not appropriate for missionaries, and uh just it's like not doing well. And I remember as I was doing that, I was like, I will never miss this, I will never miss the farm, like I'll never miss doing this work. And uh anytime on the mission when things were going bad, or I was like, Man, I wish I was home right now, I would remember that morning, and the last morning I was home, and I was like, Nah, you're in a good spot, like you're where you need to be, you know. But uh it's funny because I'll all come thinking, like, oh my god, let me sleep in. I think my dad was a little inspired as well. Like, no, you're gonna go do this. So, and that was a little gift from God. Well, so Los Angeles was where I served. My very first area was Inglewood, okay, uh California, so from Lowa to Englewood, yeah. Um, and it was uh awesome. I loved it, I loved uh being a missionary, I loved the work. I went from Englewood, my very next ever area was Beverly Hills. So, like there was such an experience in Los Angeles, yeah, like rich and yeah, people who maybe don't have as much, you know, rich in spirit, yeah, rich financially, kind of thing, you know. I had one area I served in where there was one night, back-to-back nights we had dinners with members, and one night a butler served us, like we had people serve us, and the next night we ate pizza off the floor and ate it off chairs. So, like we were sitting on the f on the floor and we ate the pizza off the chairs, and that was the differences, you know. Yeah, but you like that you warn that uh finances have nothing to do with uh gospel living, like they really are not connected at all. Um, if anything, it is harder when you have the means uh to live the gospel than it is when you have nothing at all. And that was such a huge testament to me. Like people who had this they would feed us the day they got paid because that was the only time they could afford to feed us. And that's I mean, that's a whole nother level of dedication to people. So I I love my mission. I love the people I got to serve, the people I served with, and then every single uh decision I made since then, uh you can point right back to like my mission and the things I learned there.

SPEAKER_02 32:05

Um you served a full-time you've served a full-time mission. Um, and you know, I have two sons that served as well. So I know there's always a transition there of trying to decide what you're gonna do. So let's continue that journey that led you back into sports. I'm not sure you planned it that way or is something just happened in your life, but take us through that.

SPEAKER_01 32:31

Yeah. Um, so I as a missionary, I I loved, you know, the church, I love the gospel, obviously. And then you start to think about ways that you can be impactful in the world. When you get back, you know, it's you start thinking about well, well, how can I, you know, be this and provide for my family, but also how can I um be impactful in other ways. So I I got back to my mission. I went to BYU and I started right away. I actually left my mission uh two weeks early so I could start right into school. Yeah, um, I knew myself, right? I knew if I sat at home for eight months or whatever, six months and tried to figure it out, then I would lose a lot of momentum for my mission. So I just got straight off my mission and went straight to school. I went to BYU because my mom applied for me. I didn't apply to BYU. Actually, I applied to North Carolina, UNC, uh, Utah State. UNCOSAR, yeah, that's all right. That's all right.

SPEAKER_02 33:27

I wasn't gonna bring that up, but I know, but but you did, but that's okay. I forgive.

SPEAKER_01 33:34

I was uh I was gonna go to UNC, so I was like set, pretty set on that. And then my last call home on Mother's Day, my mom said, Well, hey, I applied to DYU. Uh you got in. And I was like, What? Like, what are we talking about, Lom? You know, and this was right after we had a conversation about like housing, yeah, North Carolina. Like, okay, well, we gotta figure that out. Um, she was like, Yeah, well, just pray about it, and that's that's how they get you, of course. So you know, I was afraid about it. Uh, ended up at at BYU, uh, which was great. Well, later on, I'm come to find out, yeah, your mother's not supposed to apply for you to get into BYU. So that's like you're not supposed to do that, but I'm glad it happened. And then I joke all the time about the only reason I got in was because my my mission president must have done something because academically I was good. Yeah, I was not as good as everyone that gets into BYU. So lucky to be there. Uh felt very fortunate. Um, I'm at BYU, I'm doing all my schooling. You know, I meet uh my wife doing fast offerings, so I was collecting fast offerings. Uh, she recognized me from a church magazine. So we we hit it off. Our first like 10 dates were you know, free dates to sporting events, so that's kind of when I knew. All right, this is the one, you know. And then my mom met her not like formally. We went to uh the Delta Center. I think then it was whatever, it's the Delta Center, it will always be the Delta Center. Always, yeah. So we went in there uh to a game that was when Jennifer was playing, and um, my mom saw my wife, Carly, kind of off to the side. I didn't really introduce her, and my mom said, Well, are you are why aren't you dating that girl? Why aren't you like what's going on here? And I said, Well, we are kind of like on a date. She said, Well, you should be dating that girl, and I was like, Okay, and I was like, So my mom knew pretty good coming from mom, yeah, and then Carly's grandpa knew as well. He uh had told Carly to look me up, and she was like, There's 32,000 kids, I'm not gonna just be able to find them. So, but uh we ended up dating and getting married, and that's the obviously the greatest blessing is that I met Carly at BYU, and that was like that was the reason I was at BYU. The education was great. Carly was far and way greater than the education opportunity. So how'd you get to Kansas City? Yeah, let's go there. So I uh I was at BYU, I read Moneyball, and I wanted to go into sports. So I read that book and thought, well, the guy in the book he studied economics and it got him to got to be a GM. So I thought, all right, well, I'll study economics and then I'll pursue that same path. So I studied economics at BYU. I get to my last semester and I'm like, man, I'm gonna go back and do a class with the same professor it started with. So I did like this higher-level law economics class, which ended up being a big mistake because it was way too challenging for a checked-out senior at BYU. I was like mentally checked out at the time. So I take this class, I end up uh I miss passing by like I don't know what was like 2% of a grade. Or yeah, 2%. And I miss it. I'm like, oh man, so I have to go back. And when I go back, I'm like, I gotta get a job. So I get a job in the equipment for BYU football, and I fell in love with football like immediately because of the team aspect. My favorite thing about sports was always the team, the team, the team, you know. And I had been coaching basketball a little bit, and then you know, I'd done a lot of baseball stuff, and when I went in that locker room, I was like, man, like I love this environment, I gotta be a part of this. So I was I immediately went home and told Carly, like, I need to work in football. She's like, How are you gonna do that? She's like, So man, we kind of worked it out. Whatever. I finished up school and took the best job, you know, available. I thought it was a great job. And I thought eventually, you know, I'll coach sports, high school, whatever. I end up at Goldman Sachs in the tax department. I'm there for like a year, and Carly goes, Well, this isn't gonna last, you know, like this isn't gonna work very well for us. So, what do you want to do? We had no kids at the time, and she said, You know, now's the time to take a risk. Like, let's go, let's go chase this dream. Wow, I love that. Yeah, yeah, so unbelievable by her. Um, so she says, Let's go, let's chase the dream. What do we have to do? And I said, Well, I gotta go to grad school. Um, so I started looking up grad programs, and there's a sports management program, and there weren't a lot of them in the country at the time. Um, San Francisco had a really good program, Baylor. I went down to Baylor. We were all set to go to San Francisco. We were all like, all right, family's kind of close out there. Her parents lived in northern California at the time. Went down to Baylor, came back up. We prayed about it, and Carly was like, ah, we're supposed to be a Baylor. And I was like, I think so. So we ended up in Texas, Baylor, and loved it. I had an awesome experience there. And uh, we came to Kansas City for a wedding, uh, the temple here. My brother-in-law was getting married to a girl from Missouri in the temple here in Kansas City, in Kansas City, Independence. And uh, while we're there, my buddy he is a spank coach for the Kansas City Chiefs, Devin Woodhouse is his name. And we had met at BYU, we were teaching Spanish at the missionary training center together, and we became good friends, and then he married Coach Reed's daughter, so that's one way to get in the door as well. But he's a great guy, he's smart, he's everything you want in a coach. Uh, also everything you'd probably want in a son of one. Yeah, so he's here and I connect with him and I'm saying, Hey, what do you got going on? You know, I'd like to meet up. And he says, Well, yeah, come meet up and then come to a game. So we go to a game, and then after the game, we end up at Coach Reed's house. Um, he's like, Hey, come over, you know. We met Tammy at the stadium, uh, the head coach, the head coach. Yeah. And she uh she liked us, so we started laughing and joking around, and then she said, Hey, just have him come over to the house. So we went over to the house, we were hanging out, was joking around, and then coach walked in, and it was like one of those moments like, holy cow, you know, carries a lot of weight, like kind of when you walked into my house as a kid, you know, like wow, this like this is a guy here, you know, this this is a big deal. Um, and he sat down and his daughter uh she started kind of like mock interviewing me. So, like, what do you want to do? You know, where do you want to end up? And what are you doing? What are you studying? And he hears the whole thing, and then as we're leaving, I basically begged for an opportunity as we were walking out of the door, you know. Hey, I paid money to come follow you around. Like, I just want to learn what you are, do and see how you build, you know, a great team and all this stuff. And he said, Well, yeah, we'll reach out after the season, we'll see what we can do. So I go back to Bay where and we're just you know doing school, looking for opportunities. And after the season ended, I called Devin and didn't know he'll hear back from him. And then uh Coach Reed he called me, I didn't recognize the number. So yeah, yeah, and I had I the only conversations I'd had with him were that night at his house, you know. So he calls me and I let go to voicemail because I don't know the number. Great, right? Right, right. So yeah, yeah, leave the voicemail, and then I call him back, you know, as soon as I can, and we have a good conversation. He said, There's this opportunity, it's for a job, and to me that was amazing because I was expecting maybe an internship or okay, you can come up here and just chat or yeah. So he explained it to me. There were a lot of different candidates that were better than me, you know, and I kind of thought, I don't know if I have a chance. And uh a few days went back and forth. And a little known fact about Coach Reed is his brother had one on uh from a motorcycle accident. So Coach Reed was like familiar, you know, and I think he kind of liked it that, and then Tammy uh apparently I had you know been positive with her enough that she eventually told Coach Reed, you know, you want to hire Porter, why don't you just hire him? You know, and so he did. He hired me, and I I sent a desperate text at one point the night before he hired me. I sent a text saying, uh, Coach, I don't know where you're thinking, you know, where you're at in this process, but if you hire me, I'll help you win a super blow.

SPEAKER_00 42:19

You know, yeah, crazy.

SPEAKER_02 42:25

Ballsy, ballsy, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:27

There you go. Yeah, looking back, I'm like, especially now, too, looking at things, I'm like, man, that was probably a really bad text.

SPEAKER_02 42:36

No, though. I mean, yeah, looking back on it, man, that's great.

SPEAKER_01 42:39

But I alright, and I think he are you know, I think he appreciated the gutsiness of it, you know. Like he said, hey, he's willing to at least he's thinking that way, you know. Yeah, so I send that test and he gave me the job. He said, Well, it's Friday, and he said, I need you here, and I need you to be working on I need you to work Sunday. I need you here by then. So I left my wife, she was like eight months pregnant in Waco, and then I came up here and started work. And uh ever since then, it's been an amazing ride. I spent three years as his assistant, so it by his assistant, that's why he calls me his left-hand man. Yeah, in the phone call initially, he had said, you know, you're basically gonna be my right-hand man, you're gonna do this, this, and this. And then he I said, Well, yeah, that's all sounds good, but are you okay with your right-hand man? I want to right hand. And he loved that. And he on the phone call, he said, You'll be my left-hand man, then that's all. And then from men on, anytime he introduced me to somebody, he'd say, This is my left-hand man, Porter Ellot.

SPEAKER_00 43:40

And they would always it was always so funny because you know, people don't know how to respond to that.

SPEAKER_03 43:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:44

Like, uh and then people all start laughing, then they'll start laughing, but uh uh, they love it.

SPEAKER_01 43:51

And I was with him for three years. I was legitimately, you know, in everything involved in every meeting, everything he was a part of. And that was an incredible learning experience for me. And then from then on after that, he asked me if I wanted to continue down the coaching path or if I wanted to go uh personnel, more front office. And I said I'd like to coach. So I spent I don't know what's the what in year 10 now. So I spent year 10 six years, yeah, set or five years being a quality control coach on offense and also assistant position coach. And then the last this year and last year assistant special teams. So I moved over to special teams.

SPEAKER_02 44:31

Well, when I saw you, uh the game I came to in California, you were passing uh the Patrick, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:39

And yes, yeah, and I uh I was assistant quarterbacks. Well, I was like helping with the quarterbacks for a year. Yeah. The funny thing about Patrick and my our relationship is he got drafted the year I got here. Yeah, so we came in together. Um, so we're I mean we're close, yeah. And I did that, I caught passes for him for years after I was not even like coaching with the quarterbacks at all. Yeah, um, because he's I mean he's a baseball player, so he's not he's not superstitious, but he's a little stitchio, you know, like he's he believes in that kind of so I I kept doing it, and um, I I've loved having that kind of relationship with him. And then just like you said, at the game, you can't till you get to see some of that stuff.

SPEAKER_02 45:24

It's amazing. So as we wind down here, um, how many Super Bowl rings do you have?

SPEAKER_00 45:31

Yeah, so that's that's been a fun, fun thing. So, yeah, three of them.

SPEAKER_01 45:35

So we ended up winning three, um, won two in a row, uh, which was incredible. But it's it's amazing how every year is its own adventure, and you know this from your basketball days, but like the roster changes, the coaches change, um, and you just feel so lucky to be a part of the whole process, so blessed, you know, yeah, to be uh here doing what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_02 46:00

And you know, you you speak as well. Uh you talk about your journey to youth as well as adults. Um what advice would you give young people right now? You know, there's so much going on in the world, so many different distractions they have, so many things that they go through, whether it's physical or mental. Um, and I'm sure you had to deal with both of those with your injuries. So what advice would you give, especially our youth right now, as as they try to figure out their journeys as well?

SPEAKER_01 46:40

Yeah. I I love the title of the podcast, you know, uh Rise and Grind thing, because I think it really is a grind, you know, it's not easy. Like life, you can pretend it's easy, you know. You can say, like, oh, you know, I I don't know, we don't have that many challenges, but we all have our own and they're all custom made for us, you know. Like I wouldn't take anybody else's, and I'm sure they wouldn't take mine. Uh so I I've thought about this quite often, especially what do you say to kids, you know. I had people who have had me, they've asked me to go talk to a kid at the hospital after they've had an amputation. Yeah. Or, you know, in those situations, I've always struggled because I I've I was in that situation, right? I was in the hospital and I was pissed. You know, like my mom told me after we had surgeries and stuff when I was little, she had to leave the room because I was so mean, um, that she was like, I was gonna beat you because you were so mean. Like, I would throw things at nurses and I would throw things at doctors, and I would just say things that were just mean as a four-year-old, you know. Yeah, um, so I think about these people that asked me to come see them, and I'm like, Man, what am I gonna say to like as a I would have thought if some dude walked in here with one arm with a smile on his face, I'm gonna lose it. Right? Like, I'm like, hey man, hey buddy, everything's gonna be okay. Yeah, you know, like I would have been like, get turn around and go back, go back out. Like, this is not what I need, you know. So I've I'm very cautious about those situations and like trying to tell people how to approach them. But I can tell you what I've been through, you know, and I've I went into a hospital when we played the Super Bowl in Vegas. I had I had multiple people reach out to me about a kid that had had an amputation. Um, and he was in the hospital in Vegas, and I hesitated and hesitated, and then we finally we got like an evening off, and I was like, all right, I'm just gonna go over there. So I went over there and I remember I walked walked into that room and I had no idea what I was gonna say. No idea, because that's tough, man. Like I went to some dark places growing up, you know. Mentally, I went I went to some dark places uh where I I didn't know what to do, you know. So I walked into that room and I felt that I felt the weight of the situation, and I remember I just I just talked with him, you know, hey, you know, tell me about what you love doing, let's talk about it, you know. And I wasn't a coach for the Chiefs, like I wasn't, I was just me, you know, and and to me, I think that that's the magical part of it is like you're enough. Yeah, but you don't need to be like you don't need to be Thor Bailey, uh a former jazz player. Like you're you're enough as you. Um and I sat there and talked with that that kid, and I showed him how to tie his shoe with one hand, you know, and I talked to him about like, hey man, you're gonna get stared at and it's gonna suck. Um, but you know, make it fun, make a joke out of it, or do whatever you gotta do or to get through it. But to me, you know, it's like you just got you just gotta keep going. Just yeah, just keep pushing and keep going, and then be smart about what you're doing. If something's hurting you or something's causing more problems than it's than it's creating uh good things in your life, just get rid of it and move on. Yeah, like just fear them and go. I had to on the way to where I've been here, I've had to cut out friends, I've had to cut out influences, I've had to cut out you know, things in my life that I knew weren't gonna help me. I've had to do that, and it's painful. No, and it is what it is, but you you have to do it, like and that's the grind part of it. The grind isn't like, oh, I get up as 5 a.m. every day. I think it's easy to say that, like, oh, that's the grind, you work long hours, you do this. No, the grind is having the mental capacity and physical capacity to eliminate all the things that are gonna hold you back or make you struggle. And then I think once you do get there, Matt Yeah, you'll be so grateful for the people who helped you along the way. That's that's always been huge for me, is like I I try to be so grateful and remember the people and the lessons that they taught me. Yeah, you know, and I and I lean on those because when you do have those dark times and you feel crazy alone, you know, you feel like there's no way out. Those are the people that get you through it, you know, and those are the memories that help you push through. So I think that there's a few things that way, but then the real answer at the end of the day is is uh is Christ, you know. Like that's the ultimate influence in anyone's life that that can help you get through those hard times. Because if he did, he's he faced it all, he felt it all, and no one can really like understand you like like he can. You know, you sit down and you pray and you can like feel that he feels what you're going through, and that's yeah, that at the end of the day um will help you as well. But I think you gotta get there. I don't think like yeah, I don't think you just jump right in and you're like, oh yeah, I have this relationship with God. Like you kind of got you got to get there. So really hold on to those influences that can help you get there, and then then grind it out and push through. But keep getting up every day, man. Just keep pushing. That's right. Yeah, that's right. Rise, just keep getting up every day, keep putting one foot in front of the other.

SPEAKER_02 52:17

Well, Porter, um, you said a couple of times how you you looked up to me. Uh that's that's your role now. I look up to you, man. I'm so glad we've had you on the show. Uh, your journey will inspire and help many, many people just listening to your journey and your story. You've got a beautiful family, you've got three super bowl rings with more to come. You know, my family, they they sometimes it I I'm the I'm the Chiefs fan in the house. So, you know, um it's been fun. It's been fun to watch you progress. So thank you so much for sharing your journey, sharing your story. Uh good luck uh with going for another ring this season. And and uh fans, let me remind you and tell you that Porter's story just reminds us that resilience is a practice, it's not a trait. A daily choice to adapt, to compete, to find the positive, even when sometimes the scoreboard isn't in your favor. Whether coaching for or and and being the left-hand man for one of football's brightest minds, or speaking to a room full of students, he carries the same message. Don't quit. Get creative, keep showing up. Thanks again, Porter, for sharing your journey and the practical mindset behind your success. Now, everybody out there, go do your grind. Until next time, this is Thor Bailey saying take care of each other. And we'll see you next time.