Jason Ferguson is the author of the new memoir Nobody's Legend: Let Go of Who You Were, Rewrite Your Story, and Take Back Your Life. He is also a speaker, a consultant, and a former Division 1 athlete.
Q: What inspired you to write Nobody’s Legend?
A: I wrote Nobody’s Legend for the people who feel like they may have thrown their life away. The ones who think it is too late, or that they have messed it up beyond repair. Because I was that person. I went from being a star Division I athlete to a decade-long opioid addict, and it nearly killed me. I had lost everything and had to fight my way back from rock bottom.
Writing this book was my way of showing that even the ugliest parts of your story can become the most powerful if you are willing to face them head-on. I wanted to leave a blueprint for anyone who has felt stuck, lost, or underestimated, and show them that every passing second is a chance to turn it all around.
Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: The title was born out of one of the darkest chapters of my life. After losing my dream job, I was deep in addiction and completely disconnected from the man I used to be. One night, a friend invited me out to grab something to eat, and while we were there, we ran into two girls he knew from high school. He introduced me and said, “You guys know J. Ferg, the legend, right?”
That word, legend, stung. Without football and without the identity I had built my entire life around, I did not feel like a legend. My confidence was gone. My self-worth was shattered. And all I could think in that moment was, “I ain’t nobody’s legend.”
As I fought to rebuild my life piece by piece, that phrase began to mean something different. When I finally reclaimed my life, my sobriety, my purpose, and my sense of self, I realized I was a legend. Not for what I had done on the field, but for who I had become off it.
Today, I am a legend in my household for how I show up as a father and husband. A legend to my friends and community for how I love, lead, and serve. A legend in my professional life for helping scale a tech company from startup to a billion-dollar IPO.
Nobody’s Legend is not about fame or status. It is about ownership. It is about realizing that you do not need anyone else or any one thing to define your greatness. You become legendary the moment you rise again and recognize all the parts of yourself that make you whole.
Q: What do you think the book says about resilience?
A: Resilience is not loud. It is not cinematic. It rarely looks like a breakthrough moment and more often feels like a quiet refusal to give up. What Nobody’s Legend makes clear is that resilience is built in discomfort, not despite it. It is not about bouncing back to who you were. It is about becoming someone new through the process of enduring.
The kind of resilience I explore in this book is layered. It is emotional, mental, spiritual, and behavioral. It is the daily work of showing up when the results are not instant, when your confidence is shaky, and when no one is clapping for you.
Resilience is not something you find. It is something you build. And that building happens in moments that are often invisible to others, but life-changing to you.
Q: What impact did it have on you to write the book, and what do you hope readers take away from it?
A: Writing this book meant facing the darkest corners of my life. Not just the addiction, but the shame, the fear, and the identity loss that came when the dream fell apart.
It was emotional and exhausting, but it reconnected me with the fighter I had almost forgotten. The kid with the vision board above his bed. The athlete who never let his size define his ceiling. A beautiful reminder of the promise I once made to my future.
Writing this book showed me that transformation begins with honesty. Not just reflection, but radical accountability. My hope is that this book helps readers get honest and clear. Not just about what they want, but about what stands in the way.
I wrote it to be a mirror and a map. A reflection of what’s possible, and a guide for how to get there. Because transformation isn’t fate, it’s a decision.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I am a speaker, and right now I am stepping onto more stages to reach a wider audience. I speak to executive teams, leadership groups, sales and non-sales organizations, as well as universities and college athletes. My focus is on mindset, peak performance, and career readiness, helping people break through limiting beliefs and build lives that reflect their full potential.
My next project is a children’s book I will be co-authoring with my daughter, Zsa Zsa. She is brilliant, wildly creative, and unfiltered in the best way.
The concept grew out of the stories and ideas we share at home, and we are now shaping it into something special—something that speaks to kids with the same heart and hope this book brings to adults. I know it is going to be one of the most meaningful things I create.
Long term, I have more books on deck. Some are personal, others focused on performance, but all are grounded in the same mission: helping people own their story and live it with purpose.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Yes, just this. Nobody’s Legend is not just a memoir. It is a challenge. A challenge to look at the parts of your own story, the parts you usually skip over, and ask, what if this is not the setback, but the starting point?
It is about owning the pieces you once ran from or tried to forget and realizing they might be the foundation of your purpose.
It is for anyone who has been counted out, overlooked, or buried under the weight of their own potential.
I do not have it all figured out, but I know this: you are one decision away from a completely different life. I am living proof.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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