Pursue Your Strength: George Karlaftis

Note: This year marks a decade since REP hired our first employee. It’s time to tell our story in a different way than we ever have before -- the real reason we’ve dedicated our lives to bringing high-quality, innovative gym equipment to the world.

Our purpose is to empower people to improve and own their lives.

We created Pursue Your Strength to share real stories about how strength training can change the world, one life at a time. Because when you start to feel strong on the outside, it changes you on the inside, too. That opens more options in life. In that, strength is a type of freedom. That's why we do what we do.

We do this for you.

Now here are your stories.

From his childhood in Athens, Greece, George Karlaftis and his family bonded over sports. In fact, as a baby, the first outfit George ever wore depicted his father’s favorite Greek sports team: Panathinaikos – a team George later competed for and the first soccer team George’s father brought him to watch.  

From a young age, George’s father and grandfather instilled in him the mindset of an elite athlete. This mindset proved successful early on, as George became an elite water polo goalie representing Greece’s national team.  

This mindset helped George grow from starting a new sport in a new country at age 15 to becoming a first-round NFL draft pick and winning two Super Bowls back-to-back. The mindset still fuels George today. 

Although his father, Matt, has since passed, his memory lives on in George’s successes, triumphs, and attitude.  

At age 13, George and his family moved from the Balkans to the American Midwest (West Lafayette, Indiana). Needless to say, moving from one of the world’s top vacation destinations surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to a landlocked state in a country almost 75 times bigger was a big change.  

Add to that learning a new language, adjusting to different food, learning a new culture, having to make friends at a new school, learning new sports, and adapting to a different education system. Despite all these changes, George was able to find stability in athletics.  

At the heart of it all: George’s relentless pursuit of strength, running deeper every year.  

A Discovery of Strength 

Unable to play water polo in the United States, George decided to learn how to play “American football” instead. He started as a freshman in high school, largely as a way to spend more time with his friends. 

Despite being new to the sport, George’s raw athleticism gave him an advantage over others. His strength, size, speed, power, and explosiveness easily transferred from water polo to football. Most importantly, his mentality allowed him to excel. Although he spent his freshman year as a kicker on the JV football team, he wanted more. He decided that he would become a professional football player.  

George quickly fell in love with everything about football. 

“It was a fun escape. When I am playing, I don’t think about anything else – only the game,” he says. 

The Pursuit of Strength 

The next year, George made varsity. The summer after that, he got his first college offer from Indiana University. By the end of his junior year, he had his pick of the top football programs in the country. By the end of his senior year, he was a high-school graduate, All-American, five-star recruit, and committed to play at Purdue University. 

George decided to graduate from high school a semester early so he could participate in spring ball and be ready for his first season of college football.  

“In high school, I was naturally bigger and stronger than everyone else, so I didn’t feel the need to push myself,” he says. “But I knew that in college, everyone was going to be just as big, strong, and fast. I had to find my advantage to achieve my dream.”  

To find that edge, George hit the weight room. He began to focus on his diet, sleep, and routine to maximize the effectiveness of his training. This was a big change and challenge for a 17-year-old, but he took it in stride. George’s elite mindset allowed him to persevere through the ups and downs of training. The result: George starting at Purdue University as a freshman. 

“I made massive gains. The weight room took my game to the next level. I credit the vast majority of this improvement to what I did in the weight room. It became something I had to do to get to where I wanted to be,” says George.  

A Deeper Strength 

In December 2021, after playing only three seasons at Purdue, George declared early for the NFL draft and graduated from Purdue University. Five months later, the Kansas City Chiefs selected George in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft. He had finally achieved his dream. But he knew there was still more to do. 

It was time for George to make the biggest move of his athletic career.  

“Every professional football player is a physical force. In the NFL, the main distinguishing factor is deeper. It’s the mental side that separates people,” he says. 

Many say the NFL is 20% physical and 80% mental. George knew that at this level, it wasn’t as simple as rising to the occasion. He knew that on the big stage, you sink to the level of your preparation. He dug deeper into his strength, speed, skill, and that mentality instilled from his father. 

In 2023, George and the Kansas City Chiefs won their first Super Bowl, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles. The next year in 2024, the Chiefs were back. George recovered a fumble early in the game to give the Chiefs a strong start. The game went into overtime. Final score: 25-22. George and the Chiefs came out with another Super Bowl victory, this time against the San Francisco 49ers.  

George says his journey from playing water polo in Greece to becoming a two-time Super Bowl champion is “a dream come true,” because it reflects the work he put into achieving his goals. But amid all the athletic achievements, George’s defines true success as finding happiness in life. 

George believes athletics have helped him become the man he is today. His journey has blessed him with lifelong friends, the ability to persevere, and elite mental and physical stamina. Through pursuing athletic success, he has turned life’s challenges into happiness. True success.