Allen Jackson: Courage Awakened | Allen Jackson Now

November 3, 2025 | 22:32

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?
  • 00:04:03.392 --> 00:04:05.828
  • 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.
  • 00:08:15.010 --> 00:08:17.746
  • 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
  • 00:08:33.996 --> 00:08:35.164
  • 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.
  • 00:08:53.816 --> 00:08:57.620
  • You know, i agree, i think sports is about sports,
  • 00:08:57.620 --> 00:09:00.356
  • 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
  • 00:09:06.295 --> 00:09:08.864
  • This perspective needs to be a part of the dialog,
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  • Or at least allow both. right.
  • 00:09:11.166 --> 00:09:13.969
  • I call it was what?
  • 00:09:13.969 --> 00:09:15.104
  • 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.
  • 00:09:21.110 --> 00:09:24.013
  • And so that was the that was the rub.
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  • And listen, i think their numbers have been
  • 00:09:25.814 --> 00:09:28.651
  • 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
  • 00:09:37.092 --> 00:09:39.962
  • 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
  • 00:09:49.638 --> 00:09:52.775
  • And so you're going to get on patrick mahomes or josh allen,
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  • Or whoever it might be for
  • 00:09:56.779 --> 00:10:00.082
  • Being upset that charlie kirk was murdered the way he was.
  • 00:10:00.082 --> 00:10:04.319
  • And these athletes are getting crushed for just
  • 00:10:04.319 --> 00:10:06.955
  • 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
  • 00:10:15.531 --> 00:10:16.632
  • I mean, you can, but i think there are repercussions.
  • 00:10:16.632 --> 00:10:18.400
  • And that's what we're seeing a lot
  • 00:10:18.400 --> 00:10:19.935
  • Now that there's repercussions
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  • When you only allow the voices that you agree with.
  • 00:10:21.070 --> 00:10:29.995
  • When you only allow the voices that you agree with.
  • 00:10:29.995 --> 00:10:34.011
  • I think we have to go back into those corporate boardrooms.
  • 00:10:35.145 --> 00:10:38.015
  • From my vantage point, i'm older than you.
  • 00:10:38.015 --> 00:10:40.851
  • And for several decades we were told if someone said
  • 00:10:40.851 --> 00:10:43.087
  • They were offended by our faith we should be quiet and retreat.
  • 00:10:43.087 --> 00:10:45.656
  • If one solitary person raised their hand
  • 00:10:46.490 --> 00:10:48.492
  • And said i'm offended, then we should withdraw completely.
  • 00:10:48.492 --> 00:10:51.729
  • And we complied. we did.
  • 00:10:51.729 --> 00:10:53.797
  • I mean,
  • 00:10:53.797 --> 00:10:54.898
  • We did, we, we took our stories and we stepped out.
  • 00:10:54.898 --> 00:10:57.167
  • And now we find ourselves
  • 00:10:57.167 --> 00:10:58.402
  • When those corporate boardrooms are dominated by worldviews.
  • 00:10:58.402 --> 00:11:01.605
  • And if i raise my hand and say
  • 00:11:01.605 --> 00:11:02.806
  • I am offended, they tell me to shut up.
  • 00:11:02.806 --> 00:11:04.408
  • Exactly.
  • 00:11:04.408 --> 00:11:05.809
  • So now i'm embarrassed.
  • 00:11:05.809 --> 00:11:07.411
  • I'm like i surrendered the field
  • 00:11:07.411 --> 00:11:10.380
  • 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