Derek Wolfe with Mike Glover
Becoming a Soldier; Becoming a Professional Athlete
Each service and branch in the military, Mike explains, has its special forces. As a technical recon expert in a low-vis squadron in the Green Berets and CAG, Mike had a number of opportunities to expand his knowledge and serve in impactful ways, including becoming a team Sergeant at age 20 and completing tomb guard service at the Tomb of the Unknown Solder, a prestigious station, at age 18.
Mike always knew he wanted to be a soldier. Derek and Mike discuss their backgrounds and how the need to adapt to difficult situations builds adaptability and tenacity in both sports and military service. “You need that grit to push you and to drive you,” says Mike. “The majority of the country that serves, at least in the military, and who grows up playing football, are just salt of the earth people who have gone through a lot. For me, I never looked at it as a bad thing. It was just the situation I was in.”
Derek and Mike dive into what it means to go through trauma and the choice not to see yourself as a victim. “I just made a choice where, okay, I might not be the most skilled player ever, but I’m going to work my ass off,” says Derek.
After leaving the special forces, he became a sniper recon expert and then worked in the CIA. “At the ground level, all of these organizations have really good people on the ground,” says Mike. He draws connections between the movie, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, and his own experience (although, he says, a lot of the details in the movie are nothing like real life). Working in the CIA, he felt confident that should the shit hit the fan, everyone would have one another’s back.
The best teams that he was a part of, including the Superbowl 50 Denver Broncos, Derek shares that he could always count on every single member of the team. That trust allows you to do your job with the peace of mind that everyone is doing their own job.
Transitioning after Professional Athletics and Military
While programs, healthcare, and finances are all set during an athlete’s time in professional sports, it’s a whole different world after that security is gone. Without financial literacy, that income can dry up nearly instantly. Healthcare services and more also disappear; Derek shares his journey with traumatic brain injury and the process of recovery. He shares immense gratitude for finding Abigail, his wife, who has that entrepreneurial spirit and money mindset that has allowed him to continue to follow his passions while caring for his family.
Derek and Mike talk about functional training for a purpose, as Derek trains for bowhunting and intensive treks with organizations and collaborators in Colorado and around the U.S.
This is, for Derek, a much better fit than a role in an office as he had with the radio station after retirement from the NFL.
Parenting for Mike has been the absolutely best thing to happen, and he is finding it so much more valuable than any day he had served. He shares the importance of committing to repairing and creating new connections after any length of time that has taken you away from your family.
While he did experience TBI and PTSD with TBI, the biggest challenge in transitioning out of the military into being a civilian for Mike was the drastic change to his routine (going from two hours working out per day to nearly nothing, for example), and the changes to his persona and what he was expected to be.
Mike says that he recovered his own identity through his company, FieldCraft. The camaraderie, routines, and mission of the company became his drivers. He has become an expert in preparedness and survivalism. “I wanted to create pillars and give people education, training, and equipment that’s going to help them be prepared for the worst-case scenarios.” Not for the zombie apocalypse, says Mike—but for your worst day.
