I didn't miss the game as much as I missed the guys.

I was a catcher. Four knee surgeries took my senior year of high school, so I went to IMG as a postgrad and spent college transferring — D1 to D2 and back — chasing the chance to play. My shoulder and my thumb had other plans. I finished my college career with 24 at-bats and five more surgeries.

Nobody hands you a playbook for what comes after — and for me, “after” meant building companies and standing next to my wife through some serious medical battles. What I've learned is that most of life comes down to one thing: holding your composure long enough to take the next step. And that is a whole lot easier to do with a team.

Here's the truth — I didn't miss the game as much as I missed the guys. The camaraderie. The accountability. Somebody expecting you to show up. I'm not a men's-softball-league guy; I just wanted to be around athletes again, talking about real life at the level we used to talk about the game. Guys still trying to be elite at their craft, their families, their lives.

So I built the room I was looking for. Get in it.