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For retired NFL pro Adewale Ogunleye, the key to his success both on and off the field has been his brotherhood with his agent Robert Bailey.

What began as a professional relationship in 2002, after Bailey signed Ogunleye, ultimately evolved into a friendship – and one of the most important relationships in both of their lives.

As part of HelloBeautiful’s People Behind The People series, Ogunleye decided to pay tribute to his friend and mentor by honoring his character and professionalism.

“The thing that I respected most about Robert is that he told it like it is,” Ogunleye told HelloBeautiful. “He didn’t make me feel like he was a ‘yes man.’ He kind of told me, ‘Hey, Wale, you need to work harder. If not, you’re not going to be in the league for long.’ And that type of honesty is what I think everyone needs.”

“He wasn’t just trying to get me to sign as his client, he was trying to get me to sign onto a lifestyle that was going to make me a better man,” he said.

Motivated in part by his friend and mentor, Ogunleye went on to get his MBA and achieve significant success as a businessman in his own right. So to pay his friend back, he recorded a special message for him.

Check out the touching (and funny) message in the video clip above.

People Behind The People: Adewale Ogunleye Shares The Keys To His Success  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com