Reggie Rivers

Former Denver Bronco, Leadership Coach, Expert on Team Building Strategies, Media Personality, Benefit Auctioneer, Master of Ceremonies, and Author

Topics: Inspirational & Motivational, Leadership, Teamwork, Moderator, Host & Emcee, Sports, Black History Month, Business, DE&I – Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, TED Speakers, Philanthropy, Elite Performance

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Biography

Reggie Rivers is a renaissance man whose talents and achievements have spanned many different disciplines. He’s a former NFL running back, a media personality, a business owner, an author, and a motivational speaker, master of ceremonies, and auctioneer.

Reggie entered the NFL as a classic underdog—an undrafted rookie free agent and a longshot to make a team. But he managed to win a roster spot with the Denver Broncos and stayed with the team for six seasons.

Along the way, he established himself as an upstanding citizen in the community, a talented commentator in the media and an absolute hustler on the field. He made Pro Football Weekly’s All Rookie Team as a special team’s player (1991), he was selected by his peers as Broncos Special Teams Player of the Year (1993), he was a two-time Broncos NFL Man of the Year (1993 & 1996). He was inducted into the Southland Conference Hall of Honor in 2002 and the Texas State University Hall of Honor in 2003.

In speeches, Reggie shares the lessons he’s learned from the NFL that translate perfectly to the business world and enable peak performance. His message will reinforce the ideas that organizations are already preaching to their teams – providing that “aha” moment by presenting these strategies in the context of football.

After his playing career, Reggie became a mainstay in the Denver media, writing newspaper columns for the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post, hosting radio talk shows on 850 KOA and 630 KHOW, doing sports commentary on CBS 4 TV, and the Mtn. Sports Network, and hosting a public affairs show called Global Agenda on Colorado Public Television.

He has published five books: The Vance: The Beginning & The End (1994), Power Shift (2000), 4th& Fixed (2004), My Wife’s Boyfriend & Our Feud with the Highlands Ranch Homeowners Association (2006), and the award-winning novel, The Colony: A Political Tale (2009).

Reggie’s professional variety ultimately led him to his find his true love in life – serving as a benefit auctioneer to help nonprofits achieve their fundraising goals. Reggie created The Gala Team and Auction Fundraising Academy out of this love for nonprofits’ fundraising success and continues to grow the impact these businesses have on the community year after year one event at a time. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Texas State University (1991) and a Master’s Degree in Global Studies from the University of Denver (2007).

Videos

Speech TopicsExpand each topic to learn more

The Business of Football: Strategies from the Gridiron That Will Grow Your Business.

When Reggie Rivers retired from the NFL, he was shocked to discover how different the business world was from the football world. But he also noticed something very interesting: The companies and individuals who performed best were those that acted most like football teams and/or football players. In this entertaining, informative, inspiring, and hilarious presentation, Rivers takes the audience deep inside the NFL to learn the habits that players, coaches, and teams use so effectively. Never before has an athlete so clearly connected the actions of football teams to the metrics of business – Rivers will help companies see their goals in a whole new light.

Leadership v. Authority: The Powerless Position Coach.

Getting young, egotistical millionaires to opt into guidance and advice is a unique challenge coaches in the NFL face. Though, it’s not very unique to the business world. Former Denver Bronco Reggie Rivers had a front row seat watching these position coaches lead young men without a high level of power. So how do they do it? By building trust and leading well. In this presentation, Reggie will relate this concept to the business world and explain how leaders of all types can effectively lead and earn the trust of their teams, even with little to no authority.

The Asymptomatic Spread of Racism, Sexism, and Other -isms.

Although we may not show overt symptoms of discrimination or privilege, we all have unconscious biases that can contribute to an asymptomatic spread. But what would happen if we started thinking: “what are the elements of my privilege, how do they give me advantages, and how can I be an advocate and help those who are at a disadvantage overcome and have access to the same opportunities as me?” In this speech, former Denver Bronco Reggie Rivers breaks down how to recognize our own privileges and shares his insights on how to stop being a part of the asymptomatic spread of racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, and other -isms.

You Will Get Tackled.

The reality of every job, whether you’re on the football field, in sales, or manage people, is that you will get tackled. But how much forward progress can you make before you get tackled? And how can you recover? In this talk, Reggie Rivers will draw on his business and football career lessons-learned to explore the answers to these questions.

Teammates Must Be Predictable.

Why is Tim Tebow not in the NFL? He wasn’t a predictable teammate. He would make amazing plays but squandered the coaches’ ability to do their jobs and his teammates’ ability to do theirs. Teammates must be predictable. In this presentation, Reggie Rivers will share actionable strategies to be a good, predictable teammate for overall team and business success.

Setting & Celebrating Incremental Gains.

Can you imagine a football game where teammates and fans waited to the very end to celebrate? Of course not! Every nice catch, every first down, every good drive is celebrated as if it were the winning touchdown. Reggie Rivers will share how the business world can incorporate this lesson from the Gridiron in celebrating incrementally to keep employees motivated and to avoid burnout.

Testimonials

As our luncheon speaker you provided a strong message of teamwork, accountability and attention to detail that aligned perfectly with our path forward. I have received enormous positive feedback. Simply put, your remarks, analogies and enthusiasm were spot on. More important, your message was impactful in a way that I believe will be sustaining. Since your presentation, I have heard employees use some of the phrases and repeat some of the messages as they work through issues and daily challenges.

– F. Dave Zanetell - Senior VP/COO // Kraemer North America

We surveyed everyone that attended and roughly 75% of folks responded. Reggie received a near perfect score on both his presentation as well as on the teambuilding activity, which has NEVER happened before and the comments people left were incredibly complimentary. He was, by far, the best keynote speaker we’ve ever had at this event.

– Megan Kennedy - Logistics Project Manager // Arrow Electronics

Reggie Rivers humor and ability to bring us into the NFL really added to the education we got from his presentation. The use of stories and specific examples really drove his point home. We got tremendous feedback and people asking us to bring him back.

– Kevin Amolsch - Pine Financial Group

More than 94% of our respondent rated your presentation as “fantastic.” Just for perspective, this is an unprecedented positive response in the history of our All Managers conferences. Several people have since written to me saying that you really energized them to “up their game” as managers. Your professionalism, candor and great sense of humor were the perfect mix to bring our day of strategy sessions to a close. You brought focus to the most important messages of the day: customer service, smart business decisions and team building.

– Tauna Lockhart - Chief Communications Officer // Colorado Governor’s Office of IT

Reggie’s ability to connect his experiences in football with the objectives of our meeting was refreshing. The way he can break down the complexities of navigating change and uncertainty (while maintaining a sense of humor) clearly resonated with the audience. It provided a new perspective on the way we do business.

– Robert Machado - VP Customer Supply Chain // MillerCoors

As a result of Reggie’s insights regarding inspiration and motivation, we are implementing a more robust team-based incentive program going into next year. Our business leaders are now referencing Reggie’s messaging in various internal forums as a means to achieve stronger, team-based performance.

– Bob Beiersdorf - Executive Director / Nelnet

Reggie was entertaining, inspiring and crafted his message in an exceptional manner to the theme of our meeting. Reggie’s presentation was easily understood and provided our employees with a fun, thought-provoking and memorable experience.

– Royal Lovell President - Flood & Peterson

We decided to kick it up a few notches by hiring Reggie Rivers for our VIP Luncheon. I wish we had more space for the luncheon, as we sold out all 330 seats and had members trying to get in. Reggie is a terrific presenter. The audience gave it great reviews, it was a captivating presentation and inspiring. I would also like to add how generous Reggie was with his time and the adoring fans. Having worked with athletes and celebrities in the past, these gentlemen were truly a delight to work with. Now we’ve set the bar so high, we have to figure out something as great for next year! It’s a tall task.

– Jim Clark - Executive Director // Colorado Mortgage Lenders Association