Bradie Ewing 11-2-25

Badger and former NFL fullback. Speaker & Motivator

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Faith in the Zone on Fox Sports nine
twenty and your iHeart Radio app by Mike mcgibrin flying
solo this week. Pastor Ken Keltner from Brookside Baptist Church
will be back in studio with me hopefully next week
coming from the Donovan and Jorgansten Heating and Coolian Studios.
So our special guest for the entire hour. I'm such

(00:20):
a fan of watching him play football years ago up
at Camp Randall, playing for the Badgers, playing in the NFL,
and the fact that he was a walk on from
Richland Center was a big deal for a guy like me, right,
and no offense to our guest, But when you think
about some of those pure unbelievable athletes and what it

(00:42):
takes to play in the Big Ten, Brady Ewing was
didn't jump off the charts with you as far as
his athletic ability. He was a great athlete, but at
that level, what I loved about him is he was
as tough as nails and he always seemed to be
in the right spot. And as a former basketball coach,
when you watch a kid like this who is a

(01:03):
walk gun preferred walk on, it Wisconsin urges a scholarship
and is a captain, and he's playing for other guys
in the locker room and not just playing for himself.
I loved watching this kid play, and he's not a
kid anymore. He all kicked his coverage by a mile.
His wife's way too good looking for him. I can
tell you that our special guest for the entire hour

(01:26):
is Brady Ewing, former Wisconsin Badger, former NFL player. Brady,
how you been.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
I'm doing great, mind, Thanks for having me, and I've
enjoyed here as we've connected in the past couple of weeks, listening,
listening to some shows and and everything you guys are
doing to spread spread the message on as man.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
I appreciate that. Brady, Hey, please, no offense taken when
when I talked about your athletic ability, it was great.
But but look, there are some some some pure athletes
playing into the Big ten, and that you'd have to
admit what might be a little bit more gifted athletically
than you were.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
One hundred percent. I will not dispute that at all.
I'm no doubt the Good Lord had blessed me with
certain talents and attributes. But you look at some of
the people that I got the opportunity to play with
and play against guys that were way better athletes than
I was, better football players in a lot of regard,
and I tried to just do everything in my power

(02:28):
to do the things that took no skill or no
talent to differentiate myself. And you know, from trying to
block to the whistle every play and being a great teammate,
not worrying about the name on the back of my
jersey as much as you know, honor and serving God
through my actions, but also just you know Wisconsin, you know,
and growing up in the state. That was something that

(02:51):
was super special to me to get the opportunity to
be a part of the Badger program. And I think
you saw that back in the day with a lot
of the different walk Ons and folks from the state
that have that pride, that passion for the program, something
bigger than themselves that allows them to kind of exceed
what you know, their general talent might just bring to
the table.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
Hey, we're gonna get into a lot of this, but
but I have to in this first segment. I am
a die hard Badger fan, whether whether it's football or
it's basketball. If they are women's volleyball teams playing on TV,
I'm watching. If they're hockey teams watching, I'm on TV,
I'm watching, and and look, I'm I'm struggling, Brady, I'm

(03:33):
really struggling watching this football team play. And I don't
want you to say anything that's gonna get you in
any trouble with with with the people up at Camp Randall.
But boy o, boy, it's got to be tough to
play at an era when you played and how you
guys played, to watch where they're where they are right now,

(03:53):
I don't know who they are, and and that's hard
for me. I knew what they were. I knew what
that team was. Though I was not in the locker
room with you guys. I knew what to expect every
single week. Right you were gonna you were gonna punch
people in the mouth. You were gonna try to you know,
three three yards in a cloud, a dust kind of thing.

(04:13):
And then all of a sudden, you'd have a back
who would break one. You'd have you know, you'd fake
a hand off and throw a boma like I'd be
wide open because they'd have seven eight guys in the box.
And I just I'm really struggling right now, Brady. The
Iowa game was the turning point for me. I was
still holding hope. I was still saying, they're gonna turn
this thing around, and I just and I'm struggling with it.

(04:36):
And I'm wondering this alumni that was there at a
playing football at a really good time to be a Badger,
how you're feeling about about where this team is at
right now.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
It's really tough to watch, you know. It's I like
I had said here earlier, like I'm I'm a Badger
fan through and through. And then to compound that by
having the opportunity to play there and wear the motion
w and be a part of that program, and so
many people before I was there invested to get that
program to the point where it was and had been.

(05:09):
And we felt an obligation as a team to uphold that.
And I know that because we struggled a little bit
my freshman year. We were I think seven and six
my freshman year, and that was that was like, you know,
the death sentence at that time, you know, as Wisconsin football,
that was something they hadn't seen at that time. So

(05:31):
I know how tough it is to uphold that but
I also know how many people invested in that to
get the program to that point. So to see, you know,
the program struggling from a football perspective, and some of
the players and coaches struggling, I know, and I believe
in my heart they're putting everything that they can into it.

(05:51):
But I would have to agree with you, Mike, it's tough.
I don't see that identity and that culture piece, which
a lot of people talked about that, but I just
don't see that in the current team. And you're right,
like we had pre decided when I was playing that
we were going to be a run first, physical offense
that pounded the rock. And maybe in the first second

(06:13):
quarter you're not popping those long runs. But as the
game goes on and you wear a defense down and
you're able to pull out some different plays and play
action passes things like that, you're able to put a
great game together, control the ball and the time of possession,
and that allows you to kind of systematically win games.

(06:34):
And that was our identity and that's who we were,
and I just I don't see that now. Not that
it needs to be the same identity, but I just
don't see much of an identity, and so I'm hopeful that,
you know, big picture, they can get that back on track,
and I'm confident they will. Whether that's you know, with
Sickle or not, I'm not sure.

Speaker 1 (06:55):
You know our special guests for your entire hours. Brady
Ewing former was Josin Badger, former Jacksonville Jaguar, Atlanta Falcon.
He played in the NFL. Kid from Richland Center and
doing doing a little research, Frank Lloyd Wright grew up
in Richland Center and a lot of politicians. As I'm
looking at some of the big names that have come

(07:15):
out of Richland Center and one right in the middle
of the Wikipedia page is Brady Ewing football player, and
I just started laughing. I thought, that's awesome. He you know,
Frank Lloyd Wright and Brady Ewing, and then you know
a lot of politicians and people that have made some
great things happened to the state of Wisconsin. But for

(07:36):
a sports guy like me, Brady Ewing's name just jumped
off the off the page. Hey, early when you talked
about look playing for what's on the front of my
jersey and on the back and doing whatever I had
to do to be a really good teammate. I was
reading on your on your website, and we're gonna get
to that. It's Bradyewing dot com. Bradyewing dot com, the

(07:57):
blog about your father and where it's as look, if
you were always waiting for the perfect time, there will
never be one. And and so I'm wondering if if
you learned those lessons about how to be a good teammate,
how to be as tough as you can, how to
understand what the culture is and be part of the
culture and not worry about what's on the back of

(08:18):
your jersey, did that come from from your father? You think.

Speaker 2 (08:24):
A lot of it, did you know? I think I
think a lot of it came from him and my parents.
I mean, my my father is still one of my
biggest earthly role models, and I'm just blessed to have
him in my life. That's something he did not have,
you know, as he grew up. You know, after his
teenage years, his dad passed away from lou Garritt's disease.

(08:49):
And so to have my dad there, my mom, just
a great family upbringing, three siblings that taught me a lot.
So I think I think my dad and my upbringing
were such a big part of that. Uh and really,
you know, that was probably compounded by the fact that
I was going you know, somewhere like Wisconsin and playing
for something that was so you know, deeply embedded in

(09:11):
our in our family to begin with. But definitely my
dad played a huge role in establishing that. And yeah,
has talked me through and mentored me through some of
those big decisions in life that I wrote about there
on that blog that you're referencing of, you know, marrying
my high school sweetheart, starting to starting to have you know, kids,

(09:31):
when that time started to come in our lives. And
I'm just so thankful to I get a chance to
work alongside him now in kind of my quote unquote
day job. So it's just we're so blessed.

Speaker 1 (09:43):
Like guys when when when you get a chance Bradyewing
dot com And look, he's got a full time job,
but he is going out and and he's a public speaker,
motivational speaker, and he's speaking at a lot of different
places throughout the country. If if you are a owner
of a company, if you're looking for somebody to come

(10:04):
in and speak to your team, to speak to your group,
if you're a pastor at a church. This guy, when
you listen to his testimony, contact him and have him
come out and speak to your men's group. There are
so many good things. And his blog page, you bet
I got to tell you, the one that got me

(10:25):
was don't wait for that perfect time because my dad,
and my dad's been gone a long time. He passed
away three months before I got married, and we've been
married forty years, so he's been gone a long time.
But he used to say, look, don't wait until you're
financially ready to have children, because you'll never have them.
It's always like, well, we need to buy that new car,

(10:46):
we need to get the house painted, we really need
a new dishwasher, so before we have kids, because if
you do that, you're never going to have children. And
so when I read and I read a number of
these blogs on his website, Growth through Discomfort, I really
liked right Place, Right Time. These are all really good
and and they're quick reads, but you're going to learn

(11:07):
a lot from them, and and a lot of coaches
listen to this this uh this Faith in the Zone show.
I would highly recommend that you go on this this
uh this website again Bradyewing dot com and take a
look at some of these blogs and spend a few
minutes reading them. Goldfish and Ted lasso that that was

(11:28):
a really good one for me. I just laughed at
that because I just thought, man, that's awesome, and take
a look at this beautiful family and these kids. Brady,
where are you living nowadays? Are you backing in the
Richland Center area?

Speaker 2 (11:43):
Yeah, thanks Mike, Yes we are.

Speaker 1 (11:45):
So.

Speaker 2 (11:45):
We moved back to Ersual Center from the Madison area
about three years ago, and my parents are still here
in town. A couple of my siblings, my wife Rachel's
parents are still in the general Richmal Center area. And
as our family started to grow and we experience you know,
at lantat A Jacksonville back to Madison for a handful

(12:07):
of years, you know, we just felt a call in
to get back home and closer to family in a
little bit of a smaller community and just an absolute blessing.
And I just want to stay in regards to the
blog posts and things that you had referenced there, I
think it's healthy for me to process process a lot
of that stuff because a lot of that stuff is
coming from either stories I have from my life or

(12:29):
my athletic experiences or coaching experiences, and really trying to
share some of the things that I typically wasn't always
good at, but I've tried to learn to be very
intentional about applying in my life, and hopefully, you know,
through that blog, I do a newsletter with some of
the schools and athletic programs that I've worked with as well,

(12:50):
and really the hope is there to allow student athletes,
business leaders, coaches just be the best that they can
be and be mindful and how they're coaching athletes. And
I think a lot of them have this underlying tone
of you know, I'll get into it with my testimony,
but can you know control? I want to try to,
you know, control everything in my life, and a lot

(13:12):
of it, you know, whether it's having kids, getting married,
it's like letting go of that control in a position
of faith. Hopefully you'll see a position of faith that
not always directly called out in those blogs and in
some of the things I do, but there's a huge
undertone of that and basically every aspect of my life
of just having faith and trusting that there's a bigger

(13:34):
plan and trying to control what I can but also
letting go of that control at the same time.

Speaker 1 (13:39):
Do you know Brady on your website and look this
this website, it's is secular. Business is great. You know what.
I like the website because guys like me that when
you read some of these quotes and some of the
things you say, I understand where you're going on this
and what you're talking about. And there are people that
are pastors at churches that when they read you know,

(14:02):
Brady delivers powerful lessons that inspire discipline. Right, A clarity
of purpose that to me fits right in with with
with a guest speaker and a keynote speaker at a
men's group at a church. Right, what's our clarity of
purpose within our local churches? And I keep harping on

(14:22):
we need men to be more active. You know. I
had a guy on Faith in the Zone number of
months ago that said, look, if if you're part of
the teen group in your local church or the women's group,
you guys are really active and you're meeting, you know,
every week, and you're going out on you're playing soccer together,
you're going out to lunch together, having coffee and doing

(14:43):
Bible studies and then on Father's Day, they point at
guys like me and go, you need to be a
better father, and be better in the church and be
more active. And then they go, we'll see you next year.
Good luck with that, And it's like he was right.
And when I'm reading some of the stuff that you
do and that you talk about, and you talk about,
you know, delivering a message of disciplining, clarity of purpose, man,

(15:07):
it's needed. I think more today, Brady, in our local
churches in the state of Wisconsin throughout the country than
at any other time in my life. And I'm an
old grandfather of six, so I've seen a lot, Brady,
And I think having a guy like you to come
out and in a larger a small group or one
on one sessions and workshops and being a keynote, uh

(15:29):
presentation guy, I just think that I thank you for
your willingness to do this and to have that. If
it is at a company, you can you can take
your message and you can have your faith kind of
showing on your sleeve, but talk about the discipline and
clarity of purpose for that company. But it's going to
be a little bit different message when you get into

(15:51):
our local churches.

Speaker 2 (15:55):
And yeah, thank you. Thanks, Thanks for uh talking about
the website so much. There's something we we literally just
got done here a couple of months ago, and it's
been it's been so fun to just be able to
use that in addition to some of the social media stuff,
just to give people a look into some of the

(16:15):
things that I might be able to help them with,
whether that be like you said, group meetings, small group,
keynote style, one on one and really you're exactly right,
whether it's you know, more of a faith based group
or you know, working in businesses. A big part of
my purpose is that faith aspect. So whether I'm directly

(16:38):
talking about that or just sharing my own experience of okay,
my purpose is my faith, Like that is a foundational
part of who I am and what motivates me and
every day. And I get a chance to share that
in schools, in businesses, and you know, in in church
environments as well, and hopefully help point people to start

(17:00):
exploring that more and supporting that journey along the way too.

Speaker 1 (17:04):
Hey. One other part of the people that listen to
this show, we get a lot of principals and people
that are an administration in high schools. I do a
high school sports show on Saturday mornings from nine to
eleven Brady, but the amount of high schools and some
of the quotes from some of the people at different
high schools from Kickapoo and Wisconsin Dells and Riverdale and
Sun Prairie. Look, we need to get him in our

(17:26):
neck of the woods, southeast Wisconsin. So you guys, you
guys hear at you know, Milwaukee Lutheran, Greendale, Martin luther
and Lake Country Lutheran and Arrowhead, and you guys that
listen to the show, and I hear from you that say, look,
I love that show and I appreciate that. Now I'm
asking you go to Bradyewing dot com and let's get him.

(17:46):
If we can get him four or five books, you
know here appointments in this area, we can do it
in a couple of days. Right. He's not going to
spend four days at your high school, but he'll give
you a good hour and you get your you know,
your students together in the gym or in the cafeteria,
in you know, the theater and let him go and
do what he does. I just highly recommend it really

(18:09):
easy way to get a hold of him. Bradyewing dot
com Bradyewing dot com or to get to a break
other side of the break will ask Brady to share
his testimony. This is Faith in the Zone on Fox
Sports nine twenty and your iHeart Radio App. Welcome back
to Faith in the Zone on Fox Sports ninety twenty
and your iHeartRadio App. Again, this is Mike mcgiffern flying

(18:31):
solo this week Pastor Ken Keltner from Brookside Baptist Church.
Hopefully we'll be back in studio with me next week.
Coming from the Donovan to Jorgensen Heating and Cooling Studios.
Any issues you have with your HVAC system, any issues,
go to Donovan Jorgenson dot com, the largest employee owned
HVAC company in the state of Wisconsin. And I'm and

(18:52):
I say this a lot every time I'm at that office.
I do the mcgiffern agency, we do a lot of
their marketing. And every time I walk into the New
Berlin office, somebody thanks me for Faith in his Zone
and I'm like, no, no, thank you for sponsoring Faith
in his Zone. Because companies like you and Pick and
Save are certainly the reasons, and certainly Brookside Baptist Church

(19:16):
who's the major sponsor of Faith in His Zone. The
reason we get to do this show week in and
week out, not only on Fox Sports nine twenty, but
the iHeartRadio app is because of the sponsors that have
been with us for over ten years. They just they
every year I send him a contract and they go, Yep,
we're in Faith in His Zone. We love that show,
so I want to thank them. Our special guest this

(19:37):
week he is Brady Ewing, former Wisconsin Badger. He was
a preferred walk on that Ernest scholarship, was a captain
of that team, played in the NFL a couple of years,
and he's doing great work. He's back in town, back
in Richmond Center area, and I love that. I know
his parents love that. And they've got some babysitters that

(19:57):
are fairly close like my kids. Brady Brady, we got six.
My daughter's got four boys and they live about ten
minutes from us. A sophomore who runs a cross country
at Lake Country Lutheran. A freshman who played got a
few snaps on varsity and still playing. In fact right
now they're level two of the playoffs. And then a

(20:18):
sixth grader and a three year old and my son, Matthew,
played a little college basketball at me or an Atha
Baptist Bible College. He's got a six year old son,
and then they finally two years ago, had our first granddaughter.
And she runs the roose Brady. She's two years old
and she walks into my house. Is I want to
watch Bluie? I go, We're not watching blue. I got
watching a ballgame. And she looks me right in the

(20:40):
eye and she goes, no, Blue, And I'm like, all right,
we're watching blue Blue it is man, I gotta get
I gotta go to the different room to watch a
ball game. Hey. The second segment, Brady, for this show
is the one we get the most response on when
we ask our guests to share their testimony. And if
you would be so.

Speaker 2 (21:00):
Kind, absolutely, yeah, thank you, thank you for the opportunity.
I mentioned a little bit bits and pieces there in
segment one. But I grew up in a great family
in Richinal Center, Mom, dad, around ree siblings, just a loving,
supportive family. And we grew up in the church, you know,
going to Sunday School and had a great, I would say,

(21:22):
knowledgeable foundation about you know, what Stace meant and who
God was and but in all reality, I didn't really
know what at the time, but kind of just went
through the motions and the traditions of you know, what
faith could be. And you know, most days I mentioned
it earlier, but most days I felt like everything was

(21:45):
kind of in my control or my parents' control. Like
if something went wrong or something you know bad happened, yeah,
I could figure it out, or you know, my parents,
I could call on them and they could come help
me and support me and get through certain situations. And
so really my relationship with God just fell back to
Sundays really, and you know that all changed. You know,

(22:09):
a rainy day and when I was in middle school
and my dad would pick me up from school and
they're from basketball practice at the time, and usually, you know,
he would be all excited to be picking me up,
and he's a big sports nun and coaches all through
growing up, so especially when he's picking me up from practice,
a lot of excitement there to hear how did the
day go, what'd you learn? How was practice? And you know,

(22:31):
how did X, Y and Z do it practice? And
this day was just different and it was interesting because
the weather almost premooted the conversation. We were going to have.
It was just a cold, dreary, kind of damp day,
and my dad proceeded to tell me that my sister, Brittany,
who was a junior in high school at the time,
was diagnosed with cancer. And it absolutely, you know, rocked

(22:56):
my world personally about our families world. And it was
really the first time that I felt like that control
was kind of like pulled away from us just in
an instant when my dad told me, And that led
to a lot of different questions of you know, what
type of cancer, what does this mean, what's the treatment

(23:17):
look like, and what are the next steps, what's the
survivor rate, and all of those things just led led
to a ton of conversation there. But that was really
the first time, like I said, that that control was
ripped away, and it started to change my perspective and
change my relationship with God. And in a good way.

(23:38):
It was it was me relying on something bigger than
myself or bigger than my family, and truly putting my
trust and commitment into Him. And I can still remember,
you know, sitting in class, you know, those weeks and
months after you know, we found out my sister was
diagnosed and she started her treatments and everything, and just

(24:00):
probably not the best student thing to do, but writing
out prayers and in class in my notebook and praying,
praying all throughout the school day, and you know, through
the evenings and practice and like truly you know, not
worrying as much about myself, you know, car through my
sister and caring through her, but just relying on God

(24:21):
and knowing that His will be done and that it
would be good even if it didn't turn out necessarily
you know how I thought it might might e or
should have, but just truly giving over that control and
that trust, and that was really the start of it
for me, one of the most challenging moments in my life.
Also one of you know, the other side of the point,

(24:44):
one of the biggest blessings in my life is truly
putting my trust in and Jesus as my Lord and savior.
Hear that, and and starting you know, that process and
more of that personal relationship of letting go. And that
doesn't mean everything was perfect throughout my school for me
or as I transitioned into college or the NFL, but

(25:04):
it gave me a foundation and something bigger than myself.
To you know, play for, to live for, to work for,
and try to honor and spread that message to other
people throughout the process. So I could go into a
bunch of different examples of ways that was challenged, you know,

(25:26):
in the future and even to this day. And I'm
not and I'm not perfect, but I'm but I'm striving
to be my best and to honor God along the
way and hopefully shining His light to others through my
speaking through just the way I live. And I think
most impactfully right in front of me my family certainly.

Speaker 1 (25:47):
And then has your sister Brittany, did she beat cancer?

Speaker 2 (25:51):
She did, Mike, Yeah, for asking, Yeah she did. So
She's been in remission for for many years, you know,
still going for check up. I think she's on six
month interval now, but she Yeah. She was diagnosed with
melanoma when she was a junior, like I said, and
a lot of different treatments. And I think it's just

(26:11):
so amazing, whether that be the relationship that me and
my family developed because of that challenge, or our faith
continuing to grow and develop as a family, there's so
one of the it's just amazing how challenges and setbacks
can also be such a big blessing to see the
way our community rallied to help get brit need to

(26:33):
treatments and bring meals over for our families and new
fundraisers to help out our family, and the way it
brought our family together in our faith. Like I mentioned,
it's just amazing how some of the biggest challenges can
also be some of the biggest blessings in life as well.

Speaker 1 (26:47):
Man, I agree with that. And growing up Brittany in
a town like Richmond Center, I think six thousand people
maybe something like that. Yeah, and for you, you know,
you're a big man on campus right in a small
you're in a small community, and you didn't know any better, right,
that's where you grew up, that's your hometown. But early on,

(27:09):
I would assume people realized that that you were a
big time multi sport athlete. And I would assume that
walking down the street maybe getting free haircuts and free
popcorn because you were Brady Ewing. All of a sudden,
all of that has got to like like just you
got to take a second, a second fiddle kind of thing,

(27:29):
like I don't really care about that right now. I
got to worry about my sister and my family and
you know you're walking on ten feet off the ground
until things like this happen. And the fact when when
you said, hey, listen, you know that that really affected
my journey and my relationship with God. And I'm in class,
I'm writing prayers down for her, and you said, probably

(27:52):
not the best thing to be doing. But let's be honest.
You know you were academic all big ten. You're junior
and senior year, so it didn't affect you too much
in that area. But but it does it all of
a sudden. It's kind of like you got sucker punch
right blindsided a little bit. Yeah, and now you've got
to figure out, Okay, what do we do as a family.
I love the fact when you said, look all the

(28:13):
meals and all the prayers and all the people in
our community that that helped us and put their arms
around us, I think is so important and that teaches
us such valuable lessons. And the fact that Brittany was
able to get through this, you know when you look
back at it and go, man, because of her, because
what she was struggling with this is how it affected

(28:33):
my life, I think is such an important message.

Speaker 2 (28:36):
Brady, Yep, thanks, It's it definitely like you said, it
feels like he gets sucker punched and just gives you
perspective on what really matters in life. You know you're going.
I'm sure a lot of people can relate to this
in their own way of you know, going about their
business their day to day and then something just totally

(28:57):
catches you off guard that you didn't effect or want
or want to try to figure out how to navigate.
But yet those are opportunities to just reset, reset your priorities,
whether that be you know, hopefully a faith background, and
start to develop that relationship with God and Jesus, but

(29:18):
also those around you on this earthly world. Like the way,
like you said, people came around put their arms around
us as a family. Those are relationships that run deep
still to this day, and I think for us like
it motivates us to pay that forward in other ways,
like how can we like we are so you know,
so fortunate and blessed with some amazing opportunities or platforms,

(29:40):
and to just trying to pay that forward to others
that are might be going through trialing times or difficult
situations and hopefully shine you know, God's light during that times.
Then as well through prayer and just that support that
they feel.

Speaker 1 (29:56):
Amen, guys, when you go to their we when you
go to his website, if again, if you're looking to
have somebody come in and be a motivational speaker to
your school, to your church, to your place of business.
The front the top of his website, chase your dreams
with a purpose, Chase your dreams with a purpose. I

(30:17):
love the fact that he put with a purpose on
there because a lot of people are like, no, I'm
chasing my dreams. Well are you doing it with a purpose?
And chase your dreams with a purpose. For me, as again,
a grandfather of six and a former basketball coach and
the guy just trying to make a difference in this world.
When you're chasing your dreams with a purpose, is different

(30:38):
than just chasing your dreams. And to have Brady Ewing
come out and you can hire him to come out,
and I would recommend that you go to that website
and people in southeast Wisconsin, we can figure out a
time to get him here for three days to do
six of these and I can be your contact. But
they're really easy. Way to get a hold of him

(31:00):
is on his website. Bradyewing dot com. Bradyewing dot com.
And let's see if we can't get him in a market,
and I'll even buy him lunch. How about that. I'll
throw that out there.

Speaker 2 (31:10):
Hey all right, hey.

Speaker 1 (31:12):
Youing that, and we're not going to some steak and lobster.
We're going to like chick Fila or something. Pal.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
I can tell you that that.

Speaker 1 (31:19):
We're gonna get to a break. Other side of the break,
we'll continue our conversation again. Brady Ewing, former Wisconsin Badger,
former Atlanta Falcon, got drafted in the fifth round of
the Falcons and injury. He got signed by Jacksonville and
he's now back in Richmond Center area. He's a Wisconsin
kid through and through. You want to talk about somebody

(31:40):
that you would expect to have him walk in the
meeting with a chieese head on, That's who this guy is.
We'll get to a break. Other side of the break,
we'll continue our conversation again, Bradyewing dot com. This is
Faith in the Zone on Fox Sports nine twenty and
your iHeart Radio app. Welcome back to Faith in the
Zone on Fox Sports nine twenty and your iHeartRadio app

(32:02):
again and Mike mcgiffern flying solo this week our special guest.
He's a good one, Guys. I've had so much fun
spending some time with him on the phone, looking forward
to buying him lunch one day. He is Brady Ewing.
I was a huge fan of watching him play up
at Wisconsin and again, he wasn't that kid that at
the end of the game, you know, he'd have, you know,

(32:24):
thirty one carries. He wasn't Melvin Gordon. How's that? Melvin
Gordon was super athletic. He was the guy opening the
holes for these guys and when they needed a fourth
and one, that's who they gave the ball to. And
I loved watching him play and the fact that he
was from Richland Center, and I didn't know a lot
about Richland Center, and I once I found out he

(32:46):
was from there, I started looking at where it was
and how many people at the school and some of
the other athletes that have come through there, a lot
of politicians. Frank lord Wright grew up in Richland Center.
And Brady Ewing is our Specials for the entire hour.
He is a guy that goes out and speaks quite
a bit and he's trying to do more of that,

(33:07):
and that part I really like. When I talked to
him a week ago, he said, Mike, I love doing
what I what I do for a living, but but
I really love giving back and meeting people around the
state at high schools, at churches, at at companies. And
what I bring to them is a story of somebody
who was a walkout at Wisconsin and and when I

(33:28):
was given that gift, I didn't just, you know, say hey,
look at me. I'm a big ten football player. I
got in the weight room, I got in the classroom,
and and I did everything I could to get on
the field, started out in special teams and got on
the field, and then was a scholarship player, a captain,
and got drafted in the NFL. And he's trying to
give back and teach lessons that he learned not only

(33:50):
from from his parents and his siblings, but from the
people that that that spent all this time and put
in to him to make him the the young man
that he is right now. And go to Bradyewing dot
com and reach out to him if you want to
hire him to come into this area. And when I'm
looking at some of the places that he you know,

(34:10):
he has spoken at it's throughout the state, but not
great here in our area, and we need to get
him here for a church, for a company, or for
a school. Hey Brady, when when you were a senior
in high school at Richland Center, I'm sure that there
are a lot of scholarship opportunities available to you. What
made you make the decision to be a preferred walk

(34:32):
on up at Wisconsin.

Speaker 2 (34:35):
Yeah, great question. I wish the scholarship offers were growing
on trees. But the reality is that I had an
offer from from North Dakota to play football and that
was they were going to be going from Division two
to Division one. Had you know, a bunch of Division
two offers and then have the chance to either walk

(34:57):
on to Wisconsin as on the football team, and I
actually had a walk on offer to be a part
of the basketball team as well at Wisconsin at the time.
And for me, it was, you know, things I touched
on earlier. It was to be a part of something
bigger than myself, a program that I grew up watching,
that I believed in, I had always wanted to be

(35:18):
a part of, and I had the chance to do that.
Whether it was you know, my goal was. You know,
one of the goals I had at that time was
to get a scholarship to be a part of that,
to ease the burden on myself and our family. And
you know, that was one of those landmarks that I
kind of wanted to hit on my journey and but
but at the time it was it was as a
walk on. I got that opportunity, so I jumped at it,

(35:39):
knowing that if you know, a couple of years down
the road, things didn't go out, and I still wanted
to go compete and try to place somewhere I can
I can transfer down and do that, but just wanted
to be a part of something that I had grown
up watching and loved watching. And Coach Bielma gave me
the opportunity to do that as a walk on running
back and came in and without two other scholarship guys

(36:02):
and started that journey of battling to for my own position,
but more so to help the team, and that started
out his running back and special teams there. In the
first first year.

Speaker 1 (36:12):
Well his uh, look, if you wonder what his numbers
are like at Richland Center, he rushed for just under
four thousand yards forty one touchdowns. Senior year, rushed for
two thousand, one hundred and sixteen yards two hundred and
fifty eight carries, twenty four touchdowns. Brady, I got to
believe that the coaches in that conference are so happy

(36:33):
when you were out of there, like, you know what,
get him, you know what, We'll be a fan when
he gets on the field of Camp Rand, But right now,
get him out of this conference. Man, I don't want
any part of this kid anymore. Hey, Brady, when you
talk about being a multi sport athlete basketball, you ran
track part of the football program in today's world in
the high school show that I do, and I coached

(36:56):
basketball thirty six years, so I saw it first hand
high school that kids are really starting to focus on
one sport and they're doing it earlier and earlier seventh grade.
Now I'm going to just concentrate on playing volleyball or
swim or whatever it is. And I have to be
honest with you, I think that being a multi sport

(37:17):
athlete is so important, not only at the school, but
for you as to develop. You know that competitiveness in
different sports. And I'm wondering, would you do you recommend
to your kids that they are multi sport athletes.

Speaker 2 (37:34):
Absolutely. I mean as long as as they're especially at
a small school, I feel like you almost have to
be by you have to do that by default. But
absolutely my kids they driving my wife Rachel and I
a little bit nasty. Right now. They're doing soccer and football.
They just finish that up. They'll be doing both wrestling
and basketball here in the winter and in the spring

(37:58):
some baseball and a little bit of track stuff and
potentially spring flight football as well. So it's just it
drives us a little crazy because this is the first
year here where we started to divide and conquer and
I help do some coaching as well, so it just
makes our world a little bit chaotic. But the kids
absolutely love it. And I agree with you, Mike, I

(38:19):
think I think having that diversity both from an athletic
development standpoint and different stimulus and you know, continuing to
develop your talent I think is great. You know, not
focusing in on some of a specific sport that might
lead to certain types of repetitive use type injuries or

(38:39):
exposures that way. Yeah, I think there's a ton of
value in that. And let's I'm not a dream slasher
by any means, because I had the same dreams. But
the reality is like a lot of kids won't play
their student athletes won't play sports after high school. And
so I think maximizing that experience for what it is
and absolutely work to try to be your best, like

(39:01):
I'm all for that, try to optimize your performance like
that is a great journey to be on, and you
can learn so much from that that applies to other
areas of your life. But have fun with it, enjoy it.

Speaker 1 (39:14):
I agree. So I coaching my son in high school
basketball his sophomore year at a small school, Calvary Baptist Brady.
It was not the best relationship between him and I.
I was the adult in the room, and I recommend
to guys that coach their kids. There was a coach
tank in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, wrote a basketball coach a long

(39:36):
time ago wrote a book called Coaching Our Sons that
I would highly recommend. It still on Amazon, and I
learned so much from that book, and I promote that
book a lot on the shows I do. Because I
was not his coach twenty four to seven, I was
his father, and I you know, he'd wake up on
a Saturday morning, I'd say, how come you had four
turnovers last night? Let's break down this film and he'd

(39:58):
be like, Dad, you know, can I just be your
son here for a little while? And after reading that book,
I had to change because again I was the adult
in the room, and I would recommend coaching our sons
from coach Tank in Dodgeville. Guys, we got to get
you a break. Other side of the break, Brady Ewing,
our special guest, that same question we ask at the

(40:19):
end of Faith in the zone every week. All the
uniforms this guy's put out yet a lot of uniforms,
every uniform he's ever put on, from litle league baseball,
the peewee football, the basketball to all of it. We're
gonna ask him what uniform he would pick out of
the closet to get one more game with that team?
Who's he gonna play against? And why? And we'll get
that answer on the other side of the break again.

(40:40):
Bradyewing dot com if you want to talk to him
about hiring him to come in and speak to your
men's group, to speak to your team, or to your school,
or to your company. And I cannot recommend this guy enough.
Right on the website. Chase your dreams with a purpose,
which means a lot to somebody like me. Not just
chase your dreams, but do it with a purpose. This

(41:02):
is Faith and Zone on Fox Sports nine twenty and
your iHeart Radio App. Welcome back to Faith in the
Zone on Fox Sports nine twenty and your iHeart Radio App.
Coming live from the Donovan and Jorganson Heating and Cooling Studios.
Brady Ewing, our special guest. Go to Bradyewing dot com.
I've asked you this about ten times throughout the show

(41:23):
and I cannot recommend it enough. And even if you're
not looking to bring him in to speak to your
your church, or to your company, or to your school,
go to that blog page. I've had so much fun
reading these blogs and it's a short read, and there's
a lot of lessons in each of these and you'll
get the You'll learn a lot of things about Brady

(41:44):
and his life and what he's feeling that day through
some of the blogs that he's written. Brady are This
is a throwaway question a number of years ago, and
we keep asking it because the answers are incredible. All
the uniforms you've ever put on in your entire life.
You put them in a closet and you pick one
uniform out to get one more game with that team.

(42:06):
What you what uniform do you pick out? Who do
you play against? And why?

Speaker 2 (42:12):
Oh man, great, great question. I wish that was the
reality of what we could we could try to do.
Sometimes that'd be great, But for me, it would have
to be putting on my senior year jersey and richmal
Center here, the orange and the white and the black,
putting that on, going out there with the teammates that

(42:35):
I grew up alongside, my best buddies growing up here
in Richmond Center, going out there and playing, you know,
whether it be a regular season game or maybe getting
another chance at our playoff loss at the end of
that year together and trying to end things on a
little bit different note as a team. But really it
would come down to some of the best times I've had.

(42:58):
I mean, don't get me around. Like college was amazing,
awesome experience. The relationships you developed with guys from around
the world, around the country, and coming together as a
team and playing with the Cardinal and white on like
that was an amazing experience. The NFL was an amazing experience.
In and of itself, living out a dream, meeting some
amazing people and experiencing some awesome things. But still some

(43:21):
of my favorite times playing the game are back in
Richinal Center with my friends that you know we we
were playing picked up football out on the playground or
basketball at the playground, growing up in first, second, third
grade and being able to play in front of a
community that was so supportive, which I talked about earlier
with some of the things my sister went through, and

(43:42):
so I think that would be why to I'd go
back to Richmal Center and play another game there, just
to experience that with them and really soak it in.
A lot of times throughout my career I was looking
forward to the next and that goal that I had
and you know, how could I work hard to help
my team and then put myself in a position to
reach this next blame? And I think just savoring in
that moment underneath the Friday night lights one more time

(44:04):
would be absolutely amazing.

Speaker 1 (44:06):
Brady. If you watched the the The Song Boys of Fall,
there's a video that that coach Payton man that what
you just talked about, and I have goosebumps in my
arms because the amount of times I have set to
kids that are seniors in high school, look, do not
look past, don't look what's next, because what you have

(44:27):
right now might be the best that you that you
will ever get. And whether you're a big time Division
one football player or going to Whitewater going to lacrosse
to play, this might be And they would look at
me like you're crazy. Oh man, you don't know what
it's talking about. If it's this good here, it's going
to be even better at the next level. And sometimes
it's not. It becomes a job a little bit at

(44:49):
the next level. But when you're playing in front of
your community, with the kids you go to school with,
walk down the hall with, there are times I don't
think it gets any better than that. Hey, Brady, we
gotta get we gotta you lose. This has been awesome.
I really appreciate you. I look forward to shaking your
hand and buying you lunch. One day. You go to
Bradyewing dot com to get more information on some of

(45:10):
the things this young man is doing and some of
the things he's trying to accomplish with chase your dreams
with a purpose. Brady, thanks a lot, sir, have a
great day.

Speaker 2 (45:20):
Thanks Mike. Awesome to connect with you. Appreciate you having me.

Speaker 1 (45:23):
You got it, guys, thanks for listening. This is Faith
in the Zone on Fox Sports ninety twenty and your
iHeart radio app.