Sports Spectrum Podcast

Episode 219 Benjamin Watson has played 15 NFL seasons as a tight end with the Patriots, Browns, Saints and Ravens. After an all-SEC senior campaign with Georgia, he was drafted in the 1st round of the 2004 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. As a Patriot, Benjamin received a Super Bowl ring in his rookie season of 2004 as well as appearing in another Super Bowl in 2007. He also play with Cleveland, New Orleans, Baltimore and then returning to New Orleans in 2018 for what would be his final NFL season.  Watson announced he was retiring from the NFL in late December after playing 15 years as a tight end. The 38-year-old caught 35 passes for 400 yards and 2 touchdowns this year as New Orleans received a bye and now has home field advantage throughout the 2018 playoffs as they look to make a Super Bowl appearance in Atlanta in early February. On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Benjamin about his decision to retire, preparing for a final playoff run, his wife and he expecting twins, faith in the Saints

Episode 218 On January 1, 2019, Tyler Trent passed away after a courageous battle with bone cancer. The 20-year old Purdue superfan's faith in Jesus Christ was strong and he lived that faith out during his last few months as the Boilermaker's honorary team captain. David Blough is Tyler's friend as well as the quarterback of the Purdue Boilermakers.  From 2015-2018, Blough started 36 games for Purdue and led them to the Motor City Bowl this season. His biggest win came in October, when he threw for 378 yards and 3 touchdowns in the upset of the undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes.  On this episode of the podcast, David joins us to remember his friend Tyler Trent and talked about the special bond that they had together.  "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Episode 217 Lavall Jordan was named the head coach of the Butler men's basketball team on June 14, 2017. He came to Butler after a one year stint as head coach with Milwaukee. Prior to that, he spent 6 seasons as an assistant coach with the University of Michigan, where he was a part of 2 Final Fours and a National Championship appearance in 2013. As a player, Jordan was part of the resurgence of Butler basketball from 1997-2001, where he helped the Bulldogs to 3 NCAA tournament appearances, and in 2001, their first tournament win in nearly 40 years. On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Lavall Jordan about the Butler Bulldogs culture, how he came to Butler back in 1997, where his faith took shape, how he brings that faith to coaching, and the toughest lesson he's learned from the game of basketball. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 216 Luke Swan is the co-creator of FaithFit, a platform helps Christians experience the Gospel while they workout. On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Luke about New Years Resolutions, getting fit physically and spiritually in 2019, how the two are essential for believers to reach their maximum potential for Christ and how faith and fitness can impact other areas of our lives. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 215 Dansby Swanson was the first overall selection in the 2015 MLB Amateur Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks. In December 2015, he was traded to the Atlanta Braves.  He played his college ball at Vanderbilt where he was named the 2014 College World Series Most Valuable Player after helping lead his club to the title.  He made his MLB debut on August 17,2016 and became the Braves every day shortstop in 2017. Last year, he hit a career-high 14 home runs and played great defense with a .981 fielding percentage in 133 games. On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Dansby about the wrist injury he suffered at the end of 2018, get an update on how his recovery is going, learn about his faith journey, why prayer is essential to his spiritual life, and great stories on one of his heroes Derek Jeter, and the day he made his MLB debut.  For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 214 Rich Wingo played linebacker for the Alabama Crimson Tide from 1976-78. He was selected in the 7th round of the 1979 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers, where he would play 6 seasons at Lambeau Field from 1979-1984.  A former assistant coach with the Crimson Tide from 1987-89, Wingo was part of that 1978 Alabama national championship team that won the Sugar Bowl on January 1, 1979 and famously stopped Penn State in a fourth quarter goal line stand to ultimately prevail 14-7.  On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Rich about this current Alabama team of 2018 and how good they really are. We also hear Rich's powerful testimony of coming to faith in Christ while he was playing in the NFL with the Packers. Wingo also shares the story of his college coach "Bear" Bryant kicking him off the 1977 team and the amazing lesson he learned from that incident.  For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Every Sunday during Autumn, millions tune into the NFL Red Zone Channel to watch the National Football League. The man who leads the charge on that show is Scott Hanson from the NFL Network. The Syracuse graduate has been with the NFL Network since 2006. In this #ThrowbackThursday edition of the podcast, we hear the i amazing story of how he came to faith in Christ, the movie that he rented that changed his life and why he believes his faith is the greatest fact in his life. You can listen to the entire interview with Scott on Episode 37 here. 

Episode 213 Jacie Hoyt is in her second season as the head coach of the University of Missouri-Kansas City women's basketball team. She is the youngest Division One coach in women's basketball.  From 2014-2017, Jacie was an assistant coach with Kansas State. Prior to that, from 2011-2014, she was an assistant coach at the University of Nevada.  Her basketball career began in Kansas, playing for her mother, legendary high school coach Shelly Hoyt, where she scored 2,016 career points in just 3 seasons for Hoxie High School and was a 3-time all-state performer.   She earned a scholarship to Wichita State where she was a team captain point guard from 2006-2009. On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Jacie about her basketball journey, what she learned from the successes and failures, becoming the head coach at UMKC, the biggest differences in being a head coach from being an assistant, and and how her faith in Christ has shaped it all.  For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 212 D'Brickashaw Ferguson played 10 seasons in the NFL from 2006-2015, all with the New York Jets. He was selected 4th overall in the 2005 draft after playing college football at the University of Virginia. He announced his retirement from football in April of 2016 at the age of 33. In his decade of football, Ferguson played and started in every game of his career. He played in 10,707 out of 10,708 offensive snaps and was named to 3 Pro Bowls. Married to his wife Kirsten, the couple has 2 daughters. In part 2 of our two-part podcast, D'Brickashaw and Kirsten share the difficulties they walked through trying to become parents, what they learned from God in that process, how they bring faith now into parenting their 2 little girls, and what Sundays now look like after retiring from football. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 211 D'Brickashaw Ferguson played 10 seasons in the NFL from 2006-2015, all with the New York Jets. He was selected 4th overall in the 2005 draft after playing college football at the University of Virginia. He announced his retirement from football in April of 2016 at the age of 33. In his decade of football, Ferguson played and started in every game of his career. He played in 10,707 out of 10,708 offensive snaps and was named to 3 Pro Bowls. Married to his wife Kirsten, the couple has 2 daughters. In part 1 of our two-part podcast, D'Brickashaw and Kirsten share what life in retirement is like and where their faith journey began. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 210 Dave Frey is the lead singer for the band Sidewalk Prophets since 2001. Since then, the band has released three major studio albums and five #1 hits including "You Love Me Anyway," "The Words I Would Say," "Live Like That" and "Come to the Table." A die-hard sports fan, Frey carries allegiances to the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Cubs. Dave was able to celebrate his team's 2016 World Series championship at Wrigley Field attending Game 6 in person. On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Dave about touring on the road, hearing his music on the radio for the first time, his love for sports, attending the 2016 World Series and what his ultimate sports meets music moment was for him. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 209 Tommy Kyle is the Executive Director of the Nations of Coaches in Alabama. Tommy has served with Nations of Coaches since 2008. As executive director, he oversees the implementation of Nations of Coaches’ core vision: to help coaches achieve their higher calling of shaping the character of the next generation of young men. Kyle played basketball collegiately at Tennessee Temple University, where he first began working with SCORE International – a global sports ministry that reaches the nations for Christ through short-term mission trips. Kyle later worked full-time with SCORE as the national college basketball director. Between 1996 and 2007, Kyle served as the head boys basketball coach at Decatur Heritage Christian Academy, where he led the Golden Eagles to three trips to the state basketball’s final four and won five area titles. The Nations of Coaches works with 3,500+ basketball coaches by helping their players make the connection between character and sport – equipping and encouraging them w

Episode 208 Dan Naulty pitched for 4 seasons in Major League Baseball with the Twins and Yankees from 1996-1999. He was a member of the 1999 World Series championship team with the Bronx Bombers. He was selected in the 14th round of the 1992 MLB Draft by the Twins out of Cal State Fullerton where he played in the 1992 College World Series. Naulty was part of the steroid era of baseball and admittedly chose to use steroids, which helped him bulk up from 180 pounds in college to 245 pounds when he reached the Big Leagues. Ironically after winning the World Series, Naulty reached his lowest point and began to have thoughts of suicide. Not long after, Dan turned to his faith and found new purpose in ministry. He's now the pastor of Faith Presbyterian Church in Jenison, Michigan.   In part 2, Dan shares his testimony, how he came to Christ, the moment he stopped using steroids, and how a celebration after winning the 1999 World Series with the Yankees led him to a place of desperation and ultimately how the switch

Episode 207 Dan Naulty pitched for 4 seasons in Major League Baseball with the Twins and Yankees from 1996-1999. He was a member of the 1999 World Series championship team with the Bronx Bombers. He was selected in the 14th round of the 1992 MLB Draft by the Twins out of Cal State Fullerton where he played in the 1992 College World Series. Naulty was part of the steroid era of baseball and admittedly chose to use steroids, which helped him bulk up from 180 pounds in college to 245 pounds when he reached the Big Leagues. Ironically after winning the World Series, Naulty reached his lowest point and began to have thoughts of suicide. Not long after, Dan turned to his faith and found new purpose in ministry. He's now the pastor of Faith Presbyterian Church in Jenison, Michigan. In part 1 of our two part conversation, Naulty shares about becoming a pastor, abuse that he suffered growing up, how that shaped him as a person and an athlete, turning to steroids to help him reach the Majors, and how he views elite pla

Episode 206 Jeff Saturday played 13 seasons in the NFL with the Colts (1999-2011) and Packers (2012). After retirement, Saturday joined ESPN as an NFL analyst in 2013 where he remains today providing analysis for shows such as NFL LIVE and SportsCenter. Though he entered the league as an undrafted free agent, Saturday was a fixture on the Colts teams that won Super Bowl XLI and represented the AFC in Super Bowl XLIV. The Sporting News named him to the NFL All-Decade Team (2000-09) and he achieved first-team All-Pro honors twice (2005, 2007). Over a decade-long period with the Colts, Saturday anchored an offensive line that allowed the fewest sacks in the league (242), and his 132 career wins as a Colt are second only to Peyton Manning (141) in franchise history. Together, Saturday and Manning started an NFL record 172 games as a center-quarterback duo. In January of 2017, Jeff added "coach" to his impressive resume, becoming the head man for Hebron Christian Academy's high school football team in Dacula, Geor

Episode 205 Trinea Gonczar is a former gymnast and a longtime family friend of Dr. Larry Nassar. Nasser, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor and osteopathic physician at Michigan State University, committed criminal acts of sexual assault, that were the basis of the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal, in which he was accused of molesting at least 250 girls and young women and 1 young man including a number of well-known Olympic gymnasts, dating as far back as 1992. Trinea was one of those gymnasts, and came forward to share her emotional testimony in January of 2018 at Nassar's sentencing. On January 24, Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina sentenced Nassar to 40 to 175 years in prison for the sexual assault of minor. Gonczar is now working with WC Safe, an organization that provides those affected by sexual assault with immediate and ongoing comprehensive services, at no cost, that encourage survivor healing and empowerment and provides compassionate and trauma-informed care to survivors of s

Hunter Renfrow plays wide receiver for the Clemson Tigers football team. In January of 2017, Renfrow caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Deshaun Watson to lift the Tigers to the National Championship, beating Alabama 35-31.  Last season, Renfrow as named Third-Team All-ACC after catching 60 passes for 602 yards and three touchdowns in leading Clemson back to the College Football playoff.  On this #ThrowbackThursday edition of the podcast, we hear Hunter's faith testimony and when he made Christ the Lord of his life. We also hear a great story that Hunter shares on Coach Dabo Swinney and the example he is as a Christian head coach.  You can listen to the entire interview with Hunter Renfrow in Episode 9 of our podcast here.   

Episode 204 Ted Scott is the caddy to PGA Tour Bubba Watson. He's been a caddy for 18 years on the PGA Tour working with golfers such as Fred Funk, Grant Waite, John Cook and Paul Azinger. In 2006, Ted and Bubba began working together and they've been together ever since. On this episode of the podcast, Ted shares what life as a caddy on the PGA Tour is like, how he came to work with Bubba Watson, where his faith in Christ began, what it was like to be a part of two Masters titles, what faith looks like on the PGA Tour and how he stays grounded in the Lord.  For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 203 Bobby Robins is a retired professional ice hockey player who finished his career with the Boston Bruins Organization. He played professionally in many leagues across the world including the National Hockey League, American Hockey League, East Coast Hockey League, and stints in the Elite Ice Hockey League in the United Kingdom and the Erste Bank Ice Hockey League in Austria. He retired in 2015 after a concussion forced him out of the game. Robins skated in over 500 professional hockey games and have over 150 professional fights. Robins holds a place in the history books as the oldest rookie to make an NHL Opening Day Roster with the Boston Bruins at age 32, after 8 seasons in the minor leagues.   In part 2 of our podcast, Bobby shares his incredible story of depression, drugs and coming to faith in Christ. He also tells us why he decided to use his Twitter page as a place to share his faith by reading the Bible in a year LIVE online. The story he tells here is powerful. For more, log on to http:/

Episode 202 Bobby Robins is a retired professional ice hockey player who finished his career with the Boston Bruins Organization. He played professionally in many leagues across the world including the National Hockey League, American Hockey League, East Coast Hockey League, and stints in the Elite Ice Hockey League in the United Kingdom and the Erste Bank Ice Hockey League in Austria.  He retired in 2015 after a concussion forced him out of the game. Robins skated in over 500 professional hockey games and have over 150 professional fights. Robins holds a place in the history books as the oldest rookie to make an NHL Opening Day Roster with the Boston Bruins at age 32, after 8 seasons in the minor leagues.  In part 1 of our podcast, Bobby shares how he became a pro hockey player, fighting in hockey, the worst fight he had been in, making his NHL debut at age 32 and why his faith began to fade during his hockey career.  For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com