Spiraled
Former Green Bay Packers star Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila was a stand-up guy in the Green Bay community after he retired from his football career. But in December 2019, his reputation changed when two of his friends were arrested at a Christmas program at his children’s school because they trespassed and carried guns without a license, and Kabeer was the one who sent them. The incident was all over the news. But how did this happen to such a respected figure? What does he believe now? And how many other ex-NFL players have gone down the same spiral?
Episodes
Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila is a retired Green Bay Packer. He lives with his wife, Eileen, and their beautiful family. He had a successful NFL career and after he retired he stayed active in Green Bay. But behind the smiling dad and doting husband facade, Kabeer was changing. He had discovered a group that held his attention. It was a group that would alter the course of his family’s life.
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He’s big, he’s bold and he’s brash. People flock to him. What is it about Pastor Charles Dowell that intrigued Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila and now, two more NFL players that Kalyn learned about? Before the NFL players found him, Dowell still pulled people in - was it the man, his religious doctrine or the lifestyle? If you were tapped by Dowell to move to one of his properties, what would you do?
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Before there was Pastor Charles Dowell, there was R.G. Stair. Kalyn traces the origins of Straitway Truth Ministry to a group founded and led by the raspy-voiced Last Day Prophet of God. Following these men isn’t a part-time gig. For many followers, it required giving up their belongings, their money, their family. And some are still unpacking what happened to them today.
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Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila creates a scene at the traditional Christmas program at his children’s school. Two of Kabeer’s followers are arrested and the news spreads through Green Bay and further afield. It all seems so strange. Kalyn looks into why religion and the NFL are undeniably linked. Plus, when Kalyn receives a strange text, her investigation takes another turn.
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What happened after two of Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila’s ‘brothers’ were arrested? Kalyn ties up the loose ends in this final episode. She also tries to answer some of the unanswerable questions about Straitway Truth Ministry. Plus, she finds out how Eileen Noyes (formerly Gbaja-Biamila) and Christiana Cooke (formerly Clemmings) are doing today.
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Reporter Kalyn Kahler talks to producer Buffy Gorrilla about the twists and turns of reporting her Sports Illustrated story, Pray for Kabeer and the challenges of doing more investigating and turning old and new information into a podcast. What happens when your main character refuses to go on the record? And what does Kalyn think is next for Straitway Truth Ministry?
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Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, Robert Mathis, Daniel Muir and T.J. Clemmings were all searching for something after their NFL careers, and they chose to follow Pastor Charles Dowell. We talked to other former NFL players about their lives after the game, and their own search for meaning when their all-consuming sport was finished. Many NFL careers end before the player has even turned 30, and players have to figure out, what’s next?
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