Do you have that a DAWG in you?

Let's breakdown the meaning of a “DAWG Mentality”...

For all you elder folks that may not have heard of this gibberish phrase, let me explain what a “DAWG Mentality” means. And no, it’s not “dog”. A D-O-G is just a furry little friend. A D-A-W-G is a whole ‘nother animal.

The Urban Dictionary definition of a DAWG Mentality:

“An internal drive, confidence, and aggression that resides within certain people. These people go that extra mile to make a play. You are rarely full and always hungry. Regardless of how far you have made it throughout everyday life or your achievements, you should be that canine trusting that the food will hit the floor and when it doesn’t, find a way to eat anyways.”

It’s a stupid phrase that the internet made popular via memes over the last year, but the concept is REAL. The great ones have that DAWG in them.

List of Well-Known DAWGs

The word “GOAT” gets tossed around too much. While there are definitely some GOATs on the below list, these dudes are undisputed DAWGS.

• Kobe “DAWG” Bryant: “Mamba Mentality” is essentially a synonym for Dawg Mentality. Enough said.

• Tom “DAWG” Brady: 6^th round draft pick and after six Super Bowl rings with the Pats and he wasn’t satisfied. He went to the Bucs, a new franchise for him, winning his 7^th ring in his first season there. He’s still not satisfied and wants to take on the TV broadcasting world.

• Dana “DAWG” White: 20+ year rollercoaster of building the UFC into a multibillion-dollar business coming from legit nothin’. My 45-min interview with him was an inspirational one.

• Pat “DAWG” McAfee: Everyone told him he was an idiot for quitting the NFL to start his media career early and has since made himself into the biggest sports personality on the planet.

• Eldrick “DAWG” Woods: Tiger doesn’t need much explanation, but the biggest DAWG move he made was his 2019 Masters win after 10+ years without a major victory following injuries and scandals.

• Stephen “DAWG” Curry: Scrawny short guard with no love from NBA scouts brought four NBA titles to the Golden State Warriors. He also decided he wanted to be good at golf, hired a coach and won the ACC Celeb Golf Tourney last year (harder than you’d think).

• Patrick “DAWG” Beverly: 6’2’’ small guard with no offensive skill but absolutely ruthless on defense resulted in a decade+ career in the NBA.

The DAWG movement is gaining traction:

Like any 27-yeard-old that’s obsessed with sports, I listen to the sports podcast, Pardon My Take.

They recently had Celtics legend Danny “DAWG” Ainge on the show, and he said his favorite draft picks were Tony Allen, Delonte West and Avery Bradley because they “had the DAWG in them”. He actually used the word “DAWG”.

Now working in the front office for the Utah Jazz, they have scouts rank how much DAWG college players they have in them as part of their recruiting process for the NBA Draft.

Can I please throw a future on the Utah Jazz for 2025 NBA Champs?

The Origin of a DAWG

People are generally born with a DAWG Mentality, it’s an innate behavior.

BUT do not fear if you weren’t a chosen DAWG at birth. This is a mentality that can be learned.

I don’t think you can “teach” a DAWG Mentality to someone; it is specifically LEARNED.

A coach/mentor/me can’t just tell you how to become a DAWG. You must experience it.

Most of the time, people with this characteristic have often experienced failure, faced adversity or been in a traumatic situation where they learned to adapt with the DAWG Mentality being there only way through.

Remember what Urban Dictionary said, “they always find a way to eat.”

So, I am NOT saying, if you don’t have that DAWG Mentality, go purposefully fail or put your yourself in a traumatic situation.

BUT what you can do is go challenge yourself. Get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Try something new and scary and see how you react. Failure is alright. The DAWG in you will either bark or the cat in you will purr.

Let’s not get the “DAWG Mentality” confused with the “Hood Mentality” that Ice Cube preaches. Not saying O’Shea Jackson doesn’t have that DAWG in him, just completely different mindsets and wanted to clear that up.

You also don’t need to be a famous athlete/celebrity to have that DAWG in you.

List of non-Famous DAWGs

People I have personally encountered with that DAWG in ‘em…

• Noah Cartwright: I mentioned this DAWG in my Blitz farewell note, but I’ve never seen anybody work harder than this man. A 16-hour workday at an investment banking job straight into grinding 2am nights writing Morning Blitz. On top of the job responsibilities, he takes care of his youngest brother (a high schooler) as his legal guardian living in Manhattan and is helping him grow into a very fine young man.

• Gilad Haas: Turned a passion of videography into a very successful business (aka Shadow Lion) and has been operating as the CEO for 7+ years. One of his biggest DAWG traits is the way he navigates business sniffing out only the most valuable opportunities and has extreme expectations of high-quality. He sets the bar high and achieves it.

• My Mom: This sweet little lady is a straight DAWG. I played 17 different sports growing up and never missed a damn second of one because of her. She drove 10 hours every weekend of my college career just to watch some very average lacrosse. She had a 100% open rate of Morning Blitz and listened to every word of every interview I’ve ever conducted. All moms show up, but this DAWG went the extra mile to give her support.

• The Whole Foods Deli Guy in Charlestown, MA: This dude has no reason to go out of his way to add an extra chicken cutlet to my chicken club sandwich, but that thing is stacked without failure every single time. Plus, he hands it to me with a massive smile on his face. DAWG.

• My Neighbor Jack: A guy in my apartment I met in the gym (yeah, I lift it’s NBD), is working out every morning at 7am, then drives 45 minutes to his corporate desk job in traffic and provides for his wife and three kids. Nothing completely sexy about this life or his job, but he’s committed to the grind of providing for his family. He accepts the responsibility of being the DAWG for his loved ones and he is!

There are different levels to being a DAWG. Take the example of my neighbor Jack with a normal job. It all depends on your goals.

It’s not about being the greatest to ever do something. Not about becoming a millionaire. Not about being famous.

If you can set goals and then achieve them, you got that DAWG in you.

The status of DAWG is different for each person.

Do I have the DAWG in me?

LOL, no I’m not saying I’m MJ. I just thought it was an absolutely perfectly timed moment for a great “IDK” meme.

Because I am really not sure if I got the DAWG in me. I think time will tell. Right now, I’m just a puppy experiencing the world.

As I mentioned above, it’s about what YOUR goals are in life. I’d like to think I have an idea of what I want to accomplish in sports media but should certainly get more specific on that front.

Maybe I write a Diary posts about my goals soon??

Anyways, if I can set goals and then accomplish them, I’d say I got that DAWG in me. I’d like to think I have the traits of DAWG.

Wait NVM. I am pathetic. Look at these photos of me at the driving range Monday night… what do you notice?

Yeah, my driver head went further than the ball. How will I respond to this adversity? Do I PR this weekend or do I trickle back into the mid-90s?

All jokes aside, I just started a new role at a rocket ship of a sports media company. Shoutout Shadow Lion.

I’ve got a lot of room to grow. I lot of learning to do.

As Kobe “DAWG” Bryant once famously said in a press conference after going up 2-0 in an NBA Finals series, “job not finished.”

So, time will tell if I really got that DAWG in me.

Speaking of UnderDAWGS, I need to tell you about this newsletter I’ve been reading for years.

As you may know, I have worked in the newsletter industry for over five years now and have a good eye for the ones that do things the right way.

Well, one of my favorites fits PERFECTLY with today’s theme of the DAWG Mentality.

The Underdog Newsletter is a weekly newsletter highlighting the most inspiring underdog stories that the mainstream media overlooks.

Shame on you media! We need more newsletters like this.

Every Sunday morning you get a feel-good story sent to your email inbox that will either make you tear up or have you run through a brick wall.

Subscribe to one of my favorite newsletters here.

I wish the Underdog founder Tyler O’Shea was paying me to say this but he’s not. Another guy I should’ve added to the list of people with the DAWG Mentality. He’s got it.

Excited to share some more of my favorite newsletters that I read religiously each week in here for you guys to check out.

I’ve been loving writing these and loving the feedback. Keep it coming and shoot me a reply to this email on what you’d rate this email 1-10.

See you next week DAWGs!