Sage Steele joins Allen Jackson to discuss current events.
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Allen Jackson NOW | Allen Jackson: Courage Awakened | Allen Jackson Now | November 3, 2025
- We have a special guest today, sage steele.
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- Welcome to murfreesboro. thank you.
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- I have never been to murfreesboro, pastor.
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- And your life is incomplete.
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- Glad to be here. thank you.
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- I got to know you on sports center.
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- So maybe we start there with.
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- Yeah, because, i mean, there were some unexpected.
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- Well, i mean, first, a lot of success.
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- I won't say really early.
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- I'm sure you worked really hard.
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- But for those of us on the outside it you showed up.
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- It's a how it tends to happen.
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- You just kind of appear you know.
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- But yeah it was a childhood dream.
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- Sports journalism. yes.
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- To be a sportscaster.
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- Yep. you an athlete?
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- And, in my own mind,
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- I was a pretty good high school volleyball player,
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- But that's as far as it goes.
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- In the
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- 80s, i was 11 or 12 years old watching the la olympics in 84.
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- And knew at that moment that that's what i wanted to do. wow.
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- Because i knew i wasn't going to be a good enough
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- Athlete to play anything past high school.
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- So what's the second best thing is to talk about it?
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- And to get to know the why
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- Behind athletes, coaches like what makes them great.
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- And it's funny i look back now.
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- I felt at a young age how sport brought people together.
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- And you are at a football game,
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- A basketball game,
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- And you might not know who you're sitting next to,
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- But you're high fiving them
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- When your team's doing well, aren't you? absolutely.
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- And so for three hours on a sunday,
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- Everybody's friends, the world is at peace.
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- At least in that stadium.
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- And i remember wanting to be a part of that.
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- So that's where the dream began. and then it was.
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- Yeah.
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- 11 or 12 year journey through local tv, regional tv
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- Before getting to espn and then 16.5 years there.
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- Sportscenter was my ultimate dream,
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- And i'll never forget that first day.
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- And even even though you know the ending of my time
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- There was not great, i wouldn't change a thing.
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- I loved it.
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- I've met you around some turning point
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- Usa events, and i think we've got to talk about that.
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- That's the obvious part of the day. our friend charlie
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- Got promoted.
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- But i that's where i saw you at some of those events.
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- And how did you get to know charlie.
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- He reached out to me on twitter several years back.
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- I can believe that.
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- Yeah.
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- And just had some nice words to say.
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- And i thought, charlie kirk knows who i am.
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- I was still at espn and yeah, being muzzled at the time
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- And i think he probably i mean, he's quite intuitive, right?
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- I think you probably felt it.
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- And then i'd pull back because i'd get in trouble.
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- But our country, you just kept
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- You felt it boiling.
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- And he just said some kind, encouraging things.
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- Obviously, in the last year leading up to the election.
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- And i'd been gone for me for about a year at the time
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- And less than who knew
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- The last thing i ever imagine was me on a campaign trail
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- For anybody, much less donald trump.
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- And, i it was it was amazing.
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- And it was so inspiring to then be able to sit
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- Next to charlie and pick his brain a little bit,
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- And derive some of the courage that he displayed.
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- I just, i just wanted a little tiny piece of it.
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- And then when he asked me, summer of 20, was it 23?
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- I guess the turning point, he would say
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- The fifth event and west palm.
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- Yeah, that's.
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- I mean, i was so scared
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- Because i knew the importance of what he was doing.
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- Right?
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- And i had never talked openly about my faith.
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- Scary.
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- You i've watched that part of your story kind of unfold a bit.
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- You're doing well. yeah, you really are.
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- Thank you.
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- It's every time i do it.
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- I i'm always so grateful for the opportunity,
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- And i feel
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- Like i receive so many gifts from that because of what i hear
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- From others who are like, okay, if she can do it, i can.
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- Someone who's who didn't grow up that way. right?
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- So there's so many blessings from just being out there
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- And being vulnerable and that's what charlie.
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- That's what erica taught me.
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- I only met erica in person one time, and we stayed in touch.
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- But that was at amp fest last year.
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- And what we spoke about and then after that, really,
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- Really changed me.
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- And for me, to me, i mean, i'm, i'm 20 plus years
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- Older than charlie was when he died, you know?
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- And so at first i'm like, these are kids.
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- They could be my kids. and they're teaching me.
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- So it's been a real it's been an honor to be able to say that.
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- I got to do a couple of things with him.
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- Now it feels like we've gotten the baton.
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- We can't be, charlie.
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- But we have to be a voice for truth in the arenas
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- Where we are.
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- But he had you.
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- The lord had already started you on that path.
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- You said it a minute ago.
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- Something about,
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- Your bosses would pull you back.
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- What's that mean?
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- I thought we have free speech and,
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- That the networks are champions of inclusivity and openness.
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- University?
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- Yes. inclusion?
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- Not so much. not so much.
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- You know, i think a lot has changed
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- Since i left that world two years ago.
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- And it's amazing what can happen when someone else is
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- In the white house, someone who actually believes
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- In that leadership really matters.
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- Yeah, it actually does.
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- That's why your vote matters.
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- You know, i don't
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- I don't disagree with in my case,
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- Espn, disney at the time saying,
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- I mean, this let's actually go back ten years ago.
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- And when donald trump decided to run down
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- That golden escalator in 2015 and then 2016,
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- I mean, we were told very clearly and explicitly,
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- No politics, not on our airwaves, but on social media.
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- And most of us listened
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- Until donald trump won in 2016.
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- And, when our leadership, when our vice presidents
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- Were tweeting terrible things about him,
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- It was so confusing.
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- I'm a rule follower. i really, believe it or not.
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- Try to never stir the pot and just
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- Make sure everybody likes me.
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- I know people are like, really?
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- Trust me. i asked my mom. i was such a good kid.
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- I don't know what happened.
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- And and that's when everything kind of got crazy.
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- And the problem is, are a lot of our, a lot of our leadership
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- Didn't like donald trump.
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- And so therefore they said it was okay
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- For certain people to say those things
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- Because they agreed, which is not leadership.
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- It's bad business is what that is.
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- And so that's where it began.
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- And then it ramped up in 2020 with covid etc..
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- And i just never understood the double standard.
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- And that's when i started to inadvertently
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- At first to speak up.
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- It was not intentional.
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- Again, i had a job, a job that i loved,
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- Three kids to support by myself, like, i need
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- I needed that job too.
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- So i'm going to stay in line, right?
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- And when i ended up standing up and actually suing
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- Disney and espn, it was only because of that.
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- Because they punished me, suspended me,
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- Took assignments away, etc..
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- For saying what i said about
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- Being forced to take a covid shot
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- On a separate podcast away from espn,
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- While my peers were allowed to talk about how devastated
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- They were that roe versus wade was overturned,
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- Or the don't say gay bill in florida on espn airwaves.
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- And so the double standard is where
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- When i after you punish me but then allow that because
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- As a leader you agree with those views,
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- That's when it wasn't okay.
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- So it makes me sad that they allowed it
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- To get to that point. right.
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- But as a leader,
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- You have to be as a parent, you have to be consistent.
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- And then, once the toothpaste is out of the tube
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- In many ways with
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- With those people on the left and the
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- And everything turned woke, everything turned political.
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- Again, bad business decision.
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- And i am
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- I firmly believe i would tell my bosses
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- This people are not coming to watch espn to hear our opinions
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- On politics.
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- They're coming for highlights and interviews
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- And to yell about their team losing or whatever it is.
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- But we are an escape and we're ruining that.
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- And i think that's what happened.
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- I think it's more complicated than that
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- Because people would say the same thing about church.
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- They'll say they don't come to church to hear politics.
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- They come to hear a bible story.
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- You know,
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- They want to talk about
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- The pharisees and sadducees in first century culture.
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- They come for an escape from the combativeness of our culture.
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- But i think the whether it's the media or the church,
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- We are presenting something.
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- We are presenting a moral viewpoint,
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- We are presenting a worldview, we are advocating for something.
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- And i think we've used that
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- Language to hide from things we didn't want to address.
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- You know, i agree, i think sports is about sports,
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- But i've watched my share of it
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- And you get a sense of worldview as you watch it.
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- And i respect you for standing up and saying
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- This perspective needs to be a part of the dialog,
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- Or at least allow both. right.
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- I call it was what?
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- I can't stand the diversity of opinions.
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- Let me sort it out.
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- Absolutely.
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- But when you punish one side, either side,
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- That's not actually what you're preaching.
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- And so that was the that was the rub.
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- And listen, i think their numbers have been
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- Affected.
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- Ratings advertising has been affected greatly by it.
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- And it's and it's unfortunate.
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- So listen,
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- Yes, there are lines that have been crossed
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- And i'm okay with it.
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- Back several years ago, it was, you know, laura ingraham
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- Famously or infamously said, shut up and dribble.
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- And that we're past that.
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- That's a sound, right?
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- And i guess not, but and
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- You have to allow all the athletes to do it that and
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- And so you're going to get on patrick mahomes or josh allen,
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- Or whoever it might be for
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- Being upset that charlie kirk was murdered the way he was.
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- And these athletes are getting crushed for just
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- Recognizing how horrible that was. why?
- 00:10:06.955 --> 00:10:12.227
- So i think it's it's an all or nothing thing.
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- You cannot
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- I mean, you can, but i think there are repercussions.
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- And that's what we're seeing a lot
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- Now that there's repercussions
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- When you only allow the voices that you agree with.
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- When you only allow the voices that you agree with.
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- I think we have to go back into those corporate boardrooms.
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- From my vantage point, i'm older than you.
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- And for several decades we were told if someone said
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- They were offended by our faith we should be quiet and retreat.
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- If one solitary person raised their hand
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- And said i'm offended, then we should withdraw completely.
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- And we complied. we did.
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- I mean,
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- We did, we, we took our stories and we stepped out.
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- And now we find ourselves
- 00:10:57.167 --> 00:10:58.402
- When those corporate boardrooms are dominated by worldviews.
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- And if i raise my hand and say
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- I am offended, they tell me to shut up.
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- Exactly.
- 00:11:04.408 --> 00:11:05.809
- So now i'm embarrassed.
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- I'm like i surrendered the field
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- And i'm going to have to invest the effort, the energy,
- 00:11:10.380 --> 00:11:13.050
- The focus,
- 00:11:13.050 --> 00:11:14.184
- Make the sacrifices to retake some of that territory.
- 00:11:14.184 --> 00:11:17.621
- Because my faith belongs
- 00:11:17.621 --> 00:11:18.722
- In the public square as much as as their faith does.
- 00:11:18.722 --> 00:11:21.759
- And so it's why i appreciate your courage.
- 00:11:22.626 --> 00:11:26.663
- You had you had gained everythin
- 00:11:27.297 --> 00:11:31.702
- Overlooking.
- 00:11:32.035 --> 00:11:33.771
- And you chose not to do that.
- 00:11:33.771 --> 00:11:35.839
- So thank you.
- 00:11:35.839 --> 00:11:37.407
- Thank you.
- 00:11:37.407 --> 00:11:38.142
- I did for a long time, and i.
- 00:11:38.142 --> 00:11:40.210
- I'm trying not to regret it
- 00:11:40.210 --> 00:11:41.678
- Because that's where i was at that time.
- 00:11:41.678 --> 00:11:44.248
- Yeah, but i took what it took to to find it.
- 00:11:44.248 --> 00:11:46.717
- And that formation, it's a journey. yeah.
- 00:11:46.717 --> 00:11:48.886
- You know, those muscles
- 00:11:48.886 --> 00:11:50.687
- We have, physical muscles we develop as.
- 00:11:50.687 --> 00:11:52.289
- We have spiritual muscles and character muscles,
- 00:11:52.289 --> 00:11:55.058
- And all of those have to be developed as well.
- 00:11:55.058 --> 00:11:58.028
- And you had the
- 00:11:58.028 --> 00:12:01.598
- I don't think you'd be a world class athlete without having
- 00:12:02.733 --> 00:12:04.835
- A certain amount of genetic advantage.
- 00:12:04.835 --> 00:12:07.004
- Then you have to put in the work and god gave you the character
- 00:12:07.004 --> 00:12:11.475
- And you put in the work to let that character be expressed,
- 00:12:11.475 --> 00:12:15.579
- Which makes me think the best is still ahead of you.
- 00:12:15.579 --> 00:12:18.515
- He didn't bring you through that season to diminish your voice.
- 00:12:18.515 --> 00:12:21.685
- It may take a different.
- 00:12:22.219 --> 00:12:23.720
- I'm curious so post espn. yeah.
- 00:12:23.720 --> 00:12:26.523
- You've been on a journey.
- 00:12:26.523 --> 00:12:27.591
- I have. it's crazy.
- 00:12:27.591 --> 00:12:29.426
- It is. tell us a little bit.
- 00:12:29.426 --> 00:12:31.094
- It's been so
- 00:12:31.094 --> 00:12:34.097
- Fun and
- 00:12:34.331 --> 00:12:35.599
- Scary and completely unpredictable and oh my god.
- 00:12:35.599 --> 00:12:39.436
- And devastating it. yes. all. all of it. yeah.
- 00:12:39.436 --> 00:12:42.372
- And i get so emotional when i think about it.
- 00:12:42.372 --> 00:12:46.577
- And think about how i felt that day that,
- 00:12:46.577 --> 00:12:50.547
- I settled out of court with disney and i was in a,
- 00:12:50.547 --> 00:12:54.084
- A law firm in los angeles
- 00:12:54.651 --> 00:12:57.254
- With a mediator and my attorneys.
- 00:12:57.254 --> 00:12:59.957
- I'd never hired an attorney for anything in my life.
- 00:12:59.957 --> 00:13:02.192
- Probably should have proposed things and hadn't.
- 00:13:02.192 --> 00:13:04.795
- And the big disney powerful people
- 00:13:04.795 --> 00:13:07.664
- Are in the room next to me.
- 00:13:07.664 --> 00:13:09.299
- And when we agreed to it,
- 00:13:09.299 --> 00:13:10.934
- And i put my head on the table, i just sobbed
- 00:13:10.934 --> 00:13:14.004
- Because it took so long to get there
- 00:13:14.771 --> 00:13:16.506
- And a dream that came to an end
- 00:13:16.506 --> 00:13:18.609
- In a way that i thought was just so unnecessary.
- 00:13:18.609 --> 00:13:21.378
- And from that moment on,
- 00:13:21.378 --> 00:13:22.379
- I remember getting on that plane the next day
- 00:13:22.379 --> 00:13:24.815
- And pushing sand on my tweet to my public statement that
- 00:13:24.815 --> 00:13:28.685
- We had agreed to,
- 00:13:28.685 --> 00:13:29.820
- And realizing that when i landed,
- 00:13:30.587 --> 00:13:33.290
- I didn't know what that was going to look like.
- 00:13:33.290 --> 00:13:36.393
- And for a long time and i started to speak up
- 00:13:36.393 --> 00:13:39.162
- And fox news
- 00:13:39.162 --> 00:13:40.230
- And other networks would have me on, and i remember
- 00:13:40.230 --> 00:13:41.965
- They would ask me a question and i'd get scared.
- 00:13:41.965 --> 00:13:44.434
- And i remember having this constant vision
- 00:13:44.434 --> 00:13:47.671
- That disney ceo bob iger was going to come up behind my chair
- 00:13:47.671 --> 00:13:50.974
- And grab me by the throat and say, no, you're suspended again.
- 00:13:50.974 --> 00:13:53.911
- Like, i had this almost ptsd.
- 00:13:53.911 --> 00:13:55.746
- And i joke about it now, but it was a
- 00:13:55.746 --> 00:13:57.814
- I realized how much i had just
- 00:13:57.814 --> 00:13:59.716
- Been trained to be silent and to live in fear.
- 00:13:59.716 --> 00:14:03.620
- And it was beautiful to take some time.
- 00:14:03.620 --> 00:14:07.791
- I didn't really take time off
- 00:14:07.791 --> 00:14:08.792
- Because it's like, well, what's next?
- 00:14:08.792 --> 00:14:10.193
- What do you i have to make a living.
- 00:14:10.193 --> 00:14:11.828
- I have to feed my kids. i have to do something.
- 00:14:11.828 --> 00:14:14.398
- But to take some time and to reflect
- 00:14:14.398 --> 00:14:16.633
- And to realize that by speaking up,
- 00:14:16.633 --> 00:14:19.736
- It was so much bigger than me.
- 00:14:20.337 --> 00:14:22.339
- And the number of people,
- 00:14:22.339 --> 00:14:24.041
- The thousands of dms and notes and emails
- 00:14:24.041 --> 00:14:28.045
- That i would get from people, i feel terrible.
- 00:14:28.045 --> 00:14:30.080
- I never was able to respond to all of them.
- 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:32.716
- But that's when i began to realize why i was on this earth,
- 00:14:32.716 --> 00:14:36.286
- Not just for my three kids.
- 00:14:36.887 --> 00:14:39.556
- That's number one, i believe.
- 00:14:39.556 --> 00:14:41.158
- You know, as a mother, to raise them.
- 00:14:41.158 --> 00:14:44.361
- But right there as important
- 00:14:44.361 --> 00:14:46.496
- Was to be a voice for so many people
- 00:14:46.496 --> 00:14:48.265
- Who've been afraid for so long, just like i was,
- 00:14:48.265 --> 00:14:50.701
- Because the fear is real and it's legitimate.
- 00:14:50.701 --> 00:14:52.602
- Yeah.
- 00:14:52.602 --> 00:14:53.804
- Especially a couple years ago, i mean, and my friend roseanne
- 00:14:53.804 --> 00:14:56.606
- And my friend gina
- 00:14:56.606 --> 00:14:57.708
- Carano and jillian michaels and all these people,
- 00:14:57.708 --> 00:14:59.910
- Especially disney, former disney employees
- 00:14:59.910 --> 00:15:01.778
- Who were shut down and silenced and canceled and celebrated
- 00:15:01.778 --> 00:15:05.015
- The celebration that was out there when we got canceled.
- 00:15:05.015 --> 00:15:07.985
- So the fear
- 00:15:08.318 --> 00:15:08.952
- Is real and weird to me.
- 00:15:08.952 --> 00:15:12.089
- They celebrate.
- 00:15:12.089 --> 00:15:13.457
- Oh, i mean, celebrate, celebrate.
- 00:15:13.457 --> 00:15:16.126
- And, i mean, and as that pleaser that i told you about who?
- 00:15:16.126 --> 00:15:20.263
- I just wanted to
- 00:15:20.263 --> 00:15:21.298
- Do the right thing and be like that was a process
- 00:15:21.298 --> 00:15:24.768
- Has been a process to let go of that
- 00:15:24.768 --> 00:15:26.536
- And realize that it's okay.
- 00:15:26.536 --> 00:15:28.605
- It's probably the biggest,
- 00:15:28.605 --> 00:15:32.109
- Transformation i've had.
- 00:15:32.642 --> 00:15:34.845
- Aside from my faith and being outward with
- 00:15:34.845 --> 00:15:36.613
- That is to be okay being disliked.
- 00:15:36.613 --> 00:15:39.916
- But i, i, i think of it in my life differently.
- 00:15:39.916 --> 00:15:43.086
- The fear of god to me,
- 00:15:43.086 --> 00:15:44.354
- The respect, the reverence for god
- 00:15:44.354 --> 00:15:46.690
- Means because i have a little bit of that in me.
- 00:15:46.690 --> 00:15:48.525
- But i want to please him.
- 00:15:48.525 --> 00:15:50.027
- Yes, well, that's where it is now.
- 00:15:50.027 --> 00:15:51.795
- And if it makes everybody else uncomfortable and he's pleased,
- 00:15:51.795 --> 00:15:54.698
- I'm like, liberal. yeah. it's
- 00:15:54.698 --> 00:15:57.267
- Taken so long for me to get there,
- 00:15:58.035 --> 00:15:59.770
- But that's part of his journey and it's fine.
- 00:15:59.770 --> 00:16:02.205
- But that's what that's why it's okay now.
- 00:16:02.205 --> 00:16:03.974
- Because i know he's okay with me.
- 00:16:03.974 --> 00:16:05.675
- And to continue to say it.
- 00:16:05.675 --> 00:16:08.211
- I have never it's it's funny in the sports world, i,
- 00:16:08.211 --> 00:16:11.148
- I just had this dream to tell stories.
- 00:16:11.148 --> 00:16:12.549
- I didn't know it would turn into what it did.
- 00:16:12.549 --> 00:16:13.917
- I didn't know,
- 00:16:13.917 --> 00:16:15.018
- I mean, there was no internet when i started that.
- 00:16:15.018 --> 00:16:16.553
- So you don't realize you're going to be famous
- 00:16:16.553 --> 00:16:18.455
- Or there was life before the internet.
- 00:16:18.455 --> 00:16:19.689
- There was, apparently.
- 00:16:19.689 --> 00:16:20.891
- And i miss it, darn it.
- 00:16:20.891 --> 00:16:23.226
- But i i'm blown away and humbled at
- 00:16:23.226 --> 00:16:28.498
- What people say to me,
- 00:16:28.965 --> 00:16:30.200
- Strangers, when they come up, especially with,
- 00:16:30.200 --> 00:16:33.403
- You know, keeping women's sports safe for women with that topic
- 00:16:33.403 --> 00:16:36.740
- And the number of men and fathers who come up to me
- 00:16:36.740 --> 00:16:39.276
- With tears in their eyes at airports
- 00:16:39.276 --> 00:16:40.710
- Because they wanted to speak up for their daughters,
- 00:16:40.710 --> 00:16:42.412
- But they would lose their $50,000 a year job.
- 00:16:42.412 --> 00:16:45.015
- And that's all they had. like they it's real.
- 00:16:45.015 --> 00:16:47.717
- And so that's the beauty of this, of my cancellation
- 00:16:47.717 --> 00:16:50.954
- And all the chaos and the fear pushing through it,
- 00:16:50.954 --> 00:16:53.557
- Is that i can be
- 00:16:53.557 --> 00:16:55.425
- One of many voices i've gotten to be friends
- 00:16:55.425 --> 00:16:57.327
- With riley gaines and so many strong young women.
- 00:16:57.327 --> 00:16:59.729
- I mean, she's 25 years old,
- 00:16:59.729 --> 00:17:01.565
- I'm twice her age, and she's teaching me things.
- 00:17:01.565 --> 00:17:04.568
- When we realized that it is not about us
- 00:17:04.568 --> 00:17:07.737
- And that our big mouth and my case, i guess, can help others
- 00:17:07.737 --> 00:17:12.476
- Or at least be their voice because they can't.
- 00:17:12.476 --> 00:17:14.177
- Today, maybe tomorrow.
- 00:17:14.177 --> 00:17:15.645
- What a gift.
- 00:17:15.645 --> 00:17:17.147
- And that is, i i'd say probably
- 00:17:17.147 --> 00:17:19.749
- Again, another huge blessing of the last two years
- 00:17:20.750 --> 00:17:23.587
- Where i had no clue and no idea.
- 00:17:23.587 --> 00:17:28.058
- And now i can look back at so many moments through the years
- 00:17:28.058 --> 00:17:31.528
- Before espn where i had this fear.
- 00:17:31.528 --> 00:17:35.665
- But god was right next to me the entire time, and it's so.
- 00:17:35.665 --> 00:17:40.170
- I'm just grateful that i see it now that i even though again,
- 00:17:40.170 --> 00:17:43.773
- I wish it had happened 25 years ago.
- 00:17:43.773 --> 00:17:46.109
- I see it now, and now i have a voice to be able
- 00:17:46.109 --> 00:17:49.513
- To share it and hope others don't wait as long as i did.
- 00:17:49.513 --> 00:17:58.994
- To share it and hope others don't wait as long as i did.
- 00:17:58.994 --> 00:18:03.499
- On my most consistent
- 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:04.934
- Complaint with god is about his timing.
- 00:18:04.934 --> 00:18:08.237
- But i have to say, from this vantage point in my life,
- 00:18:08.237 --> 00:18:10.406
- His timing has always been perfect. always.
- 00:18:10.406 --> 00:18:13.009
- And i think we put us in those places.
- 00:18:13.009 --> 00:18:14.744
- When he knows we're ready to do it,
- 00:18:14.744 --> 00:18:16.112
- He truly is a loving parent.
- 00:18:16.112 --> 00:18:18.281
- And i think, well, if you'd have given me
- 00:18:19.148 --> 00:18:20.616
- That opportunity before, but i would have fumbled it.
- 00:18:20.616 --> 00:18:23.719
- Yeah.
- 00:18:23.719 --> 00:18:25.221
- And so i think the timing in your life was perfect.
- 00:18:25.221 --> 00:18:28.591
- It's overwhelming some it is, but it's exciting.
- 00:18:28.591 --> 00:18:31.794
- This notion that cooperating with god
- 00:18:31.794 --> 00:18:34.063
- Or yielding to god will diminish.
- 00:18:34.063 --> 00:18:35.464
- You will take something away, that it's sacrificial.
- 00:18:35.464 --> 00:18:38.968
- What a bunch of garbage.
- 00:18:39.502 --> 00:18:41.170
- Everything i have relinquished to the lord.
- 00:18:41.170 --> 00:18:42.672
- I've gotten back better
- 00:18:42.672 --> 00:18:45.041
- Not maybe in the moment i've done it in the moment.
- 00:18:45.041 --> 00:18:46.909
- It's frightening. makes me uncomfortable.
- 00:18:46.909 --> 00:18:49.579
- You make you kind of set apart from your peer group.
- 00:18:49.579 --> 00:18:52.815
- And you think, dear god, i'm going
- 00:18:52.815 --> 00:18:53.816
- To look like the village idiot.
- 00:18:53.816 --> 00:18:55.818
- But then god does what god does.
- 00:18:55.818 --> 00:18:58.621
- And you think, why did i ever
- 00:18:58.621 --> 00:19:00.957
- Why did i but i do, i still do that.
- 00:19:00.957 --> 00:19:02.658
- I still face you still do it.
- 00:19:02.658 --> 00:19:04.460
- And i'm not going to beat myself up as much.
- 00:19:04.460 --> 00:19:06.796
- You know, i was real quick. i think you'll love this.
- 00:19:06.796 --> 00:19:08.564
- When i was in college,
- 00:19:08.564 --> 00:19:09.532
- I went through a really, really tough time
- 00:19:09.532 --> 00:19:11.667
- And didn't know which way my life was going to go.
- 00:19:11.667 --> 00:19:14.170
- And my mom and dad, got on a plane.
- 00:19:14.170 --> 00:19:17.773
- They lived in kansas.
- 00:19:17.773 --> 00:19:18.741
- I went to school at indiana university,
- 00:19:18.741 --> 00:19:20.543
- And they got in a plane and came to me.
- 00:19:20.543 --> 00:19:22.011
- When they left, they left a framed picture
- 00:19:22.011 --> 00:19:24.847
- And it said,
- 00:19:24.847 --> 00:19:26.449
- If you want to give god a good laugh, tell him your plans.
- 00:19:26.449 --> 00:19:29.919
- But that was so true.
- 00:19:30.419 --> 00:19:31.420
- Like, i had this whole grand plan for my life,
- 00:19:31.420 --> 00:19:33.623
- And i was going to,
- 00:19:33.623 --> 00:19:35.358
- You know, do this, this and this and this
- 00:19:35.358 --> 00:19:37.093
- To get to espn and eventually have
- 00:19:37.093 --> 00:19:38.794
- Sports center and have some kids along,
- 00:19:38.794 --> 00:19:40.129
- Like i had it planned out at age 18, 19 until that moment.
- 00:19:40.129 --> 00:19:43.966
- And so i'm so glad.
- 00:19:43.966 --> 00:19:45.601
- And it's all beat up now in this ugly frame.
- 00:19:45.601 --> 00:19:48.204
- And it's peeling.
- 00:19:48.204 --> 00:19:49.872
- And i look at it all the time and he has his plans for us.
- 00:19:49.872 --> 00:19:55.311
- You do just need to wait.
- 00:19:55.311 --> 00:19:57.346
- He gave you the grace to chase yours
- 00:19:57.346 --> 00:19:59.548
- Through, you know, with a great deal of success.
- 00:19:59.548 --> 00:20:02.251
- And then he showed you something even better,
- 00:20:02.251 --> 00:20:04.854
- Which that is so cool to me.
- 00:20:04.854 --> 00:20:12.995
- Which that is so cool to me.
- 00:20:12.995 --> 00:20:17.373
- One of the outcomes to me of
- 00:20:17.974 --> 00:20:19.709
- Covid was forced us to acknowledge some things.
- 00:20:19.709 --> 00:20:24.647
- The degree to which we participated with the deception,
- 00:20:24.647 --> 00:20:28.051
- And he was unsettling for me.
- 00:20:28.051 --> 00:20:29.719
- Before covid, i trusted the cdc.
- 00:20:29.719 --> 00:20:31.688
- I trusted the fbi,
- 00:20:31.688 --> 00:20:33.990
- I trusted that science would cross state lines,
- 00:20:33.990 --> 00:20:37.627
- You know?
- 00:20:37.927 --> 00:20:39.095
- And a few weeks into that, i thought, this is bizarre.
- 00:20:39.095 --> 00:20:41.664
- Yeah.
- 00:20:41.664 --> 00:20:42.732
- And it's continued right up until today.
- 00:20:42.732 --> 00:20:46.002
- And i that's the spirit of god moving us.
- 00:20:46.002 --> 00:20:49.572
- So i'm very grateful for your courage
- 00:20:49.572 --> 00:20:51.908
- And your willingness to share your story.
- 00:20:51.908 --> 00:20:54.010
- Thank you so much.
- 00:20:54.010 --> 00:20:54.010