Scaling Up Success Podcast

Football, Family, and Foundations: The Thomas Reed III Story

• Ryan Van Ornum • Season 1 • Episode 15

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Meet Thomas Reed III – a football player, entrepreneur, and dedicated advocate for student-athletes often overlooked by traditional recruiting systems. In this powerful conversation, Reed shares his journey from Deer Park, New York, to professional football, including the life-altering decision to give up his own scholarship opportunities to care for his father during a medical crisis in Colorado. His story is not just about athletic talent but about resilience, sacrifice, and an unwavering commitment to helping others.

Through the Thomas Reed III Foundation, Reed has created an innovative model that goes beyond typical football camps. His TR3 camps blend elite athletic training with education, life skills, and community support—offering college credit courses, NCAA guidance, and access to mentors. His upcoming all-star game at Cowboy Stadium is a game-changer, spotlighting under-recruited or injured athletes for one last shot at college sports. With camps in seven cities from New York to Hawaii, Reed is opening doors for first-generation college athletes and redefining what support looks like. As he says, “Stay blessed and enjoy the adversity… appreciate it, understand it's a blessing to still be where you're at, and keep pushing forward.” Learn how to get involved at officialthomasreed.com.

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Speaker 1:

what's up everybody? This is brian van or. I'm back for another episode of scaling up success powered by synergist. Today I have a really good friend of mine, thomas reed, the third tr3. How are you, my friend?

Speaker 2:

doing good man, how you doing doing, doing excellent.

Speaker 1:

If I was any better, I'd be you, bro, and uh, your, your light is shining so bright. I just just wanted to be able to give your little shine to the rest of the world about what you're doing. What big things that you got popping off right now. First of all, let's take it a little old school man. You grew up a little bit differently on the East Coast, right?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, born and raised in New York.

Speaker 1:

Okay, Tell us a little bit about that. That is not a East Coast right. Yeah, born and raised in.

Speaker 2:

New York. Okay, Tell us a little bit about that. That is not a football haven, right? No, it's not. It's actually baseball turned into like a lacrosse hot spot for a while. But football definitely was like a thing for me growing up. My dad put me in it First time I popped somebody.

Speaker 1:

It was a good feeling and kind of just stuck with me ever since Right, and I mean you played all types of positions back in the day, right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I played tight end in high school. I learned how to long snap back then. That's where my forte and that came from. I was a defensive end. They even had me playing like offensive guard and I was pulling on like triple option and all that stuff back then and power plays.

Speaker 1:

So I played a little bit of everything and power plays, so I played a little bit of everything. What do you think that taught you along the way of being able to play multiple positions and being able to adapt to multiple situations?

Speaker 2:

First off, it taught me a lot that there's a lot of technique to everything. But it also taught me how to play the game of football in a chess way. You know you gotta. If you know your opponent's moves and you know the technique before it happens, it's easier for you to execute on the other side. So if I, like you know, if I, if a tackle is down blocking he's supposed to take a certain kind of step, you know to get down to the next level.

Speaker 1:

So then, from a defensive end standpoint, if I'm reading that and I see, it's really interesting because what you're doing now and we'll get to that very soon but what you're doing now, you're almost having to forecast how certain business options are going to come your way. So I kind of can see how, being able to read the play you can read the play in business, you can read the play in football, and I love what you're doing with stuff that you got going on. But tell me a little bit more. Like how did you get to Colorado, man? Like that's Deer Park? New York is a lot, a long way away from Colorado.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah. So I was in. I went to high school in Deer Park and then I went play my juco ball back in Brooklyn ASA college. My dad was dealing with some health issues at the time and it was a he needed a transplant. So at that time my dad got accepted on the transplant list here in Colorado or at UC health hospital um, for his transplant. And now so there's a possibility he can get it done on the East coast, he can get it done out here in Colorado.

Speaker 2:

And since we had no family out here, uh, that's when I started the process of helping kids get recruited. Because I was giving my scholarships that I was receiving to other kids and all of my other teammates, I knew I wasn't able to go to those schools. I had to bite the bullet to kind of make that sacrifice for my family. So I was giving my scholarships out to kids and I was just banking on the school to offer me in Colorado so if he gets a transplant here I could take care of him and still go to school, still play ball, like basically kill two birds with one stone. So once I finally got that figured out, sure enough, the last school to offer me was adam state, and that's how I ended up here man that is.

Speaker 1:

That's such a an amazing story. Man like there's, you know, with the world that it's all about me type of, especially in like you. You see it a lot in sports. People don't give up stuff like that, man, and like in business too, like you know, for you to have that, that type of heart, that servant's heart, to be able to help others, man, that that is so profound and and I know it, it serves you, you know more greatly than just you know what you do on the field. So thank you for what I mean. You know that obviously didn't come just from you. That came from your family too. You know like your upbringing brought a lot of that in, would you agree?

Speaker 2:

Oh, 100%, I think you know, shout out to Mr and Mrs Reed, you know, and the whole Reed family. But they definitely taught me a lot in the teachings you know of my life and also life had to teach me some things. I went through things the hard way just like any other child, you know, not listening to my parents when I should have Right, but they definitely showed me the ropes and the kind of for them to kind of instill a lot of the things in me.

Speaker 1:

It was a blessing to have and that is it's led into who you became, not just on the field, because now tell us a little bit about where you're at now, like, where are you playing ball?

Speaker 2:

So right now I signed to go play for a team in Alabama. It's called the Alabama Beavers. They're affiliated with the IFA, the International Football Alliance. They're very similar to the UFL, but they send players to Canada and other leagues and hopefully the NFL, UFL, CFL, stuff like that, just like the UFL process.

Speaker 1:

Um that's fantastic Yep.

Speaker 2:

So I just signed out there and I actually report for training camp in the next couple of weeks and our first game is May 31st man, man, and we can't watch.

Speaker 1:

Can't wait to watch you ball out. Man, Love, love, love seeing what you're doing on the field, but, uh, I know what you've got going on. This is what I wanted to get to. So now we we have that background of where you, where you came from, who you are, but, like you know, tell us about the foundation that you built.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So right now I have my football camps that I host around the country. The time is free to their football camps. I'll be hosting in the seventh city this year and the main purpose of it is that it is a lot of guys that I either played with, I trained with over my career. They're looking to kind of get back to the community. I'm looking to do the same. So we're kind of just giving that inspiration and that asset and that, you know, opportunity to learn from guys who have been there and walked their shoes and also been to places where they're trying to go. So we want to be able to provide that.

Speaker 2:

But in my camps as well, I understand the academic side is important. So I provide an opportunity for kids to get college credit courses so that way they can start their college academics early. I teach their families about the NCAA process, because anybody who has been through this process can tell you it is not easy, no matter if you're a JUCO product, if you're fresh out of high school. It is a totally different lifestyle, it's a totally different environment. It's a business first and foremost. So I teach families that the NIL deal process and all of that stuff.

Speaker 2:

Then with my foundation, the Thomas Reed III Foundation. It's a nonprofit that I started which is to create more opportunities for our student athletes to build an identity outside of sports as well. So I'll be hosting you know events from you know, thanksgiving food drives to give back to the community, to host my own high school all-star game, which is going to be in January of 2026. Giving all of the kids who are either injured during high school or just feel like they're under-recruited, I'm giving them their one last shot to kind of find that opportunity, whether it's a partial scholarship or walk-on or whatever the case may be. I'm just giving kids an opportunity to grow and learn and enjoy the game.

Speaker 1:

What's the response been? Because you do things in a much different way than most of these camps. Most of these camps that you see now are like, so commercialized and privatized. Now Yours is all about culture, man, and I love that. About what you do. You want to give back to your communities instead of just like, hey, come to our camp so we could get paid, type of cause. Like you can tell the difference with these camps, at least I can, and that's why that's why we love work you know to, to to promote what you do, because you have you have a servant's heart, man, and that's how, how did you? Is that? Is that just coming from your background, like just wanting to give back to your community that gave you what you grew up on?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I kind of went down an unorthodox road. I mean, everybody's career is obviously different, but my road was a little different. From health injuries to family life situations, to transferring credits, to all of that stuff, and honestly that's how I ended up with seven college degrees. I got my two bachelor's and five minors. So that was like I said. I kind of went down that road. And it's not and I mean this in no way.

Speaker 2:

But my parents it's not that they didn't, they just didn't know any better. You know, and most parents don't. I was the first college graduate in my family. I was the first college graduate in my family. I was the first college athlete in my family. They didn't know any better. And there's a lot of other kids that are dealing with that same situation.

Speaker 2:

I would hate to see the generation and seeing what it's turning into with NIL deals and social media and that whole lifestyle now, where there's kids who are super inflated egos because social media got to their head but they still have so much work to do and then there's kids who are super talented and super gifted and work hard.

Speaker 2:

They're just not getting the recognition because they don't feel that they're. It's such a drastic scale nowadays and a lot of these kids and these families don't know where to go. From that point on, I want to be able to make sure that those careers don't go to waste or those opportunities don't go to waste. I want to be able to provide that for them where another coach, like a friend of mine, who has the NFL, the UFL, the IFL experience if I can't connect with him, but he can and I can still give that kid the resources to better his career, then I feel like I did my job, you know, and that to me that's really what it's all about. I hate to see careers go to waste. I hate to see a lot of shoulda, woulda, couldas when in reality there's a lot of opportunities.

Speaker 1:

They just need that um with what you're building. Like you, you obviously have like a business plan because, like a lot of these, these camps that I've seen there, they come in one year. They they're you know, like how have you built this thing out that like you're? You're now expanding. I mean, tell me about, like I mean we've, we've had this discussion, but tell the masses you're gonna be at cowboy stadium with one of your camps, is that? Is that correct?

Speaker 2:

my all-star game. So, yeah, so my non-profit game, um, again, that like, and it could be something that small. But I think the aspiration of, like, a young kid who felt like he had no opportunity and in october and november will have the opportunity to walk into an nfl stadium and get a partial scholarship or get a walk-on opportunity to continue his college career, and it all started from the motivation of him walking into an NFL stadium, you know, and I want to make sure that those little things, like that little sense of detail, is what's going to make a mass difference for a child's motivation. So if he's like he walks in there and he sees the lights, he sees the stadium, he's like damn, like he walks in there and he sees the lights, he sees the stadium is like damn, I want to be here one day. Well, here's an opportunity for that to happen, and that that's my goal is to make sure that a lot of these kids have the opportunities to make things happen I absolutely love that, bro.

Speaker 1:

How did you build this culture so strong within your camps that you know like people are gravitating towards it?

Speaker 2:

um, honestly, I I think it's just, it's been word to mouth, um, but like again is is I gotta give credit and shout out to all my coaches in reality, um, like, I have a coach you know, delrick abrams, like you know you talked to. He played for the falcons mephist showboats. I got ricky sat, who played in the nfl for a bit. I have a whole bunch of guys who are coming out to help and get back to the community. Um, so that definitely helps in being able to do that. And then what I'm providing with coaches, um, and the academic side is just it's, that's, I think that's what's drawing them in now that's amazing.

Speaker 1:

how have you seen and you've been doing this for a minute now like, how have you seen, like the growth, like through, like social media and technology, change the way that, like, people are resonating with what you do?

Speaker 2:

I definitely have seen it, because I've gotten a lot of good responses and feedback and I've even had some parents reaching out to me like asking a lot of questions on, like you know what's this and what, how do we, how do we go about, you know, getting the kid registered or what's the process that is?

Speaker 2:

Or you know, I even have parents who never had a college athlete before. Like the kid is in sixth or seventh grade and they ask me about the college recruiting process and I'm not going to deny them that information and just tell them like, oh, like you know, you know he's not getting recruited right now. I still give them the information and I guide them all the way through until he gets to that point and I think that's what's building that culture, that dynamic of unity, with a lot of the parents who are now, hey, I think your kid, my kid, is going to sign up for this camp. They tell another parent and then they tell another parent or other businesses who I'm getting involved to provide the resources to those athletes and to those families outside of the athletic realm. I have gyms, I have acupuncturists, I have chiropractors, I even have like health and wellness founders, like anything, to pretty much help these kids find an identity outside of the sport, provide a resource to these families that are in the local communities, the local businesses. That's what it's all about.

Speaker 1:

Do you do you feel like um the way that NIL is changing the scope of college athletics? Do you do you feel like there's a shift in the way that it's changing the entire landscape of football itself?

Speaker 2:

I definitely think it plays a factor to some degree, but I think it just comes with the power of a lot more. When it comes to, like I said, social media and the level of attention you know everybody portrays to be something that they're not. Sometimes there's some people who are under the radar, who just don't get enough recognition. Nil does play a factor into the identity of what's affecting college sports right now to a degree, but, like I said, I think it plays a factor more with social media and I think if we just teach the education side of it, kids are going to their personalities and they're going to do what they want to do anyway. But as long as we're providing them with the information to change one set like one situation in their lives, then then that's OK.

Speaker 2:

I feel like we did enough. We can't, we can't make them do it Right, but we can give them enough information to be like, hey, if you go down this road, this is what the possibilities of this is and it's happening because of NIL deals, because of the college quarter, because of your scholarship. Here's how it would affect your degree program. Here's how it would affect your master's, if you want to get one in the next 40 years of your life. You know, I give them all that information and I'm very blunt, I'm very honest about it.

Speaker 1:

I love that. I love that. If there's one key piece of wisdom that you could impart to somebody that is interested on the road that you've been on, whether it's on the football side of things or the business entrepreneurial side of things what would that be?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Stay blessed and enjoy the adversity. Like a lot of people hit adversity and they kind of let their emotions take over and it kind of hits that downfall. You got to kind of just take it on the chin, no matter how hard it is, and just appreciate the adversity, because if you have a right sense of mind of how to figure things out, moving forward, everything will be okay at that point. You know it's just about how you figure it out from that point. But you can't let it consume you, you can't let it do none of that stuff. You just got to deal with it, appreciate the adversity and understand that it's a blessing to still be where you're at.

Speaker 2:

You know, not a lot of kids can go play in college. Not a lot of kids can go play professionally. Not a lot of people have ever signed a pro contract before If hit a little bump in your road, whether it's an injury or whether your business is flunking in some form or fashion, to figure out what the problem is, come up with a solution, appreciate the adversity and keep pushing.

Speaker 1:

I love that man, I love that. What? What's next for TR3? Well, I mean, you got all kinds of stuff happening, but you know, give us some. Give us some big things that are that are popping off for you, bro.

Speaker 2:

Right now, like I said, said just get my camp, you know, ready and situated for the kids we're going. We're doing a camp in iowa, we're doing one in alabama, three in colorado, one in greely, one in denver, one in pueblo. Uh, I got one going to new york and then we're heading out to hawaii for the last stop. I got my season coming up, so I'll finally get to suit up and play again and, uh, showcase, you know, to these kids that I've been mentoring over the last few years, what I'm capable of doing and why I teach what I teach, and that's pretty much it. And then just locking in and getting the kids ready, situated for the TR3 Foundation Rise Up All-Star game.

Speaker 1:

Love that, love that. How can people get a hold of you if they want to be involved with what you do, bro?

Speaker 2:

They can reach out to me through all social media platforms LinkedIn, instagram, facebook. I have all of that. My Instagram is thomasreid. The number three they can reach out to me through TR3 Foundation or TR3 Camps. I have both Instagram pages for that. But I also have my website, officialthomasreidcom, where, if these kids want to apply for my scholarship because I have a scholarship through my foundation you can apply for it there. I'll send a $1,000 check to whatever school you commit to once I help you with the recruiting process. My registration for my camp is on there. Everything is in my contact page, so you can all find me that way.

Speaker 1:

All that stuff is linked down below as well, on this podcast as well. Thomas Reid man, I appreciate you. You're my boy. Thomas Reid man, I appreciate you. You're my boy. I wish you nothing but success. I want to see you dominate again this year. Much love and stay healthy this season. My friend. We'll be talking to you very soon Once again, ryan Van Ornam, with the Scaling Up Success podcast powered by Synergist. Have a wonderful day. Thanks again, thomas.

Speaker 2:

Yes, sir, thank you.

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