Rich Wingo 8-3-25

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Faith in the Zone on Fox Sports nine
twenty in your iHeart Radio app. I'm Mike mcgiffrin flying
solo this week. Pastor Ken Keltner from Brookside Baptist Church
will hopefully be back in studio with us next week,
coming from the Donovan and Jorgensen Heating and Cooling Studios.
So this time of year, right Berds are playing really well,

(00:23):
feel pretty good about where they're at. But every sports
catch they start with what's going on up in Green
Back And there's not a ton going on right now,
but man, everybody still wants talk right now about what's
going on with the Packers. How you know, how does
the punter look and listen to sports shows in this market?
It's very funny to me because you know, everybody wants

(00:44):
their their packer hit and they give it to them.
And when we have a chance to have a former
Green Bay Packer on Faith in the Zone, man, we
jump at the chance. And I want to thank Rick Burgess.
Rick Burgess, author Men Don't Run in the Rain, and
he he the founder of the Man Church, asked us
when he was on the show, Hey are you fans

(01:06):
of Rich Wingo? And I go linebacker Rich Wingo. He goes, yeah,
I go absolutely. I have been a Packer fan my
whole life, and I know a little bit about Rich Wingo.
He said he's very involved in the Man Church. And
I said, please please introduce us and let me find
out if I can get a few minutes with him.
Our special guest for the entire hour. Former Green Bay Packer,

(01:29):
Alabama Crimson Tide. He man roll tied. I guess I
can't say war Eagle to this guy. He is Rich Wingo. Hey, Rich,
how you been, Mike.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
I'm doing good. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yeah, thank you. You know this time of year, you know,
back in look, I'm one hundred years old. I think
I got six grandkids, and I talk about playing high
school football. And back then, Rich, we you know, there
was no problem with doing you know, bull in the
ring and all that nutcracker drills and no water breaks.

(02:00):
You would say you would get water, you would get saltpills,
and I'd be like, man that. Nowadays you'd go to
jail for doing that to kids. And people wonder why
I can't remember what my nieces and nephew's names are. Well,
here let me tell you why. Hey, Rich do you
remember those those days and it's hot in the summertime
in Alabama. I know you played football in Indiana high

(02:22):
school football, and we're going to get to that in
the third segment because you're a Hall of Fame member
there and we'll talk about that. But playing for Alabama,
and I would assume that those days were long and
hot before the season started.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
Well, brother, this time of year, I mean like right now,
and it's brutal down here. And I remember we didn't
get water. Seriously, we were not allowed to drink water
during practice until my junior year. Coach Bryant. I played
for Paul Bryant and he he was you know, he

(02:59):
was a drill sergeant and he came to us one
day in a meeting before practice and he said, man,
he goes. One of my good friends came to me
and said to me, Bear, you let him drink water
during a game because you want them to be at
peak performance. Why in the world once you let him
drink water during practice so that they could be at

(03:20):
peak performance level? And Coach Bryant said, you know, I
couldn't answer him, so he said, we're going to start
drinking water. That was my junior year.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
Unbelievable. People say to me, now, you're not telling the truth.
I go, I am, and we you know, at the
high school level, you would do these two a days
and you would do you know, man in the ring
or bulling the ring and the nutcracker in the morning session,
and then you can get some water and you'd bring
a bag lunch, and you'd sit on the sidelines and
an hour later he'd be back at it. And they've

(03:51):
done a lot, especially at the younger ages. I think
rich to teach kids, first of all, how to tackle correctly,
and second, take a lot out of the hitting out
of practice. And I have grandsons that play, and I
think it's a good thing. I think it's safer for
kids to play tackle football than it's safer now than
it's ever been. And it's a violent sports, so you're

(04:13):
going to have some injuries. But I think they've done
a pretty good job of trying to teach kids, first
of all, how to tackle and keep your head out
of the game. And then two, they don't do nearly
as much hitting is they did when when you and
I were back and playing a little you know, high
school football.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
That's right, My son, my oldest son, Jake, is a
high school football coach here in Birmingham at Leeds High School.
And so I've seen all the changes in how to
tackle practice and how they handle things, and they do
such a good job compared to what we went you
and I went through back in the day.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
Yeah, I agree. Hey, can we talk a little bit
about getting recruited by Bear Bryant? Like what was it?
You're a kid from Indiana and you get a chance
to go play at Alabama for Bear Bryant. What was
that like for you as far as the recruiting process.

Speaker 2 (05:04):
Well, Mike, I was. I'm from Elkhart, so it's right
next to South Bend Notre Dame, and played for a
great high school coach, one of the winning his high
school coaches in Indiana history, coach Tom kerth And at Elkhart.
And I just always wanted when I started being recruited,

(05:27):
I wanted to play for a national championship. I just
wanted to play for a team. I didn't know if
I was good enough. I didn't know if i'd make
the team or even be the practice squad. I had
no idea, but I wanted to and so at that
time in the seventy three, seventy four, seventy five. That time,
I Alabama and Notre Dame seemed to be fighting for

(05:49):
the national championship every year, and I had committed to
Notre Dame. Air Parsisan was there and I had committed.
Back then, you would sign a letter of intent, but
you could still get out of it at a national
signing date. And Coach Bryant knew my high school coach.

(06:09):
Coach Bryant flew up to Elkhart and came to my
house one night. Some of my friends were hiding in
the bushes so they could see Coach Bryant, and he
came in my house and my dad and I we
had our tie on and our sport coats and we
had our hands out, and he walked right past us
and he went straight to my We had a farmhouse,

(06:32):
just a very humble home, and my mom was on
the other side of the kitchen table, and he walked
around to her and shook her hand and said, missus Wingo,
my name's Paul Bryant, represent the University of Alabama's in
honor to be in your home and always give my
mom a hard time about Oh when she got up
off the floor.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
You know, yeah, it was you were going to Alabama
at that moment, weren't you.

Speaker 2 (06:58):
Really? But you know I went down there the next week.
It was seventy degrees in February, and coach didn't waste
any time. He said, listen, he took me to a
workout to watch the team work out and what they
called the lower gym, and he stood there with me
and he said, listen, these guys were just getting after it.

(07:21):
I mean they I mean fast, quick, I mean agility.
They had like eight groups going on and it was
just a hot box. And Coach Bryant looked at me
and said, hey, if you want to be a part
of something like this, he said, we'd love to have you.
He said. If you don't, he said, tell me now,
and I'll put you on a plane and send you
home tonight. And that's how, I mean, that's how I

(07:43):
got to Alabama. I mean, I just felt like that's
where I belonged. And we won a couple of national
championships and it was an honor played for the championship
every year, so I mean, it was a dream come true.
Had tremendous teammates, wonderful coaches, and so yeah.

Speaker 1 (08:02):
Hey, can we talk a little bit about them getting drafted,
uh from the Green Bay Packers. And did you know,
being from Indiana, obviously you knew where where Green Bay
and where Wisconsin was. But but coming back to the
Midwest and getting drafted by by the Packers, was that
when you look back at that time, was that was

(08:22):
that a good move for you? And and did how
did you enjoy living in in such a big town
like Green Bay?

Speaker 2 (08:31):
Ye, well there's a lot there, Mike. Uh, growing up
in Elcarts. You you'll understand this. Either you watch the
Bears or you watch the Packers. Right, I was watching
Ray Nitsky or I was watching Dick Buckets, and both
of them were my heroes. We we would watch the

(08:53):
game and then we'd go out in the sideyard and
use my dad's plow and uh snowplow, and we pushed
the the field off, pushed the snow up, and we'd
play football on the frozen ground. We were the Green
Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. Man, I mean every Sunday,
that's what we did.

Speaker 1 (09:09):
And that rookie, that rookie year, you go from playing
for Bear Bryant to playing for Bart Starr. Right, yeah,
you got to You got to Alabama tized there, don't you.

Speaker 2 (09:22):
Well see, there's the story. That's what I'll tell you
real quick. Four years into the league, we were flying
back from San Francisco one Sunday night and Coach Starr
sits next to me on the plane and he leans
over to me says, did I ever tell you how

(09:43):
you ended how we ended up drafting you? I said no, sir,
and he began to tell me the story, Mike, about
how coach I was hurting a good bit of my
senior year at Alabama. I was hurt. I had a
herniated disc and I didn't play but probably half the year,
and so I didn't I thought my football days were over.

(10:03):
And he told me that Coach Bryant called him my
senior spring and said there's a guy that's been hurt
the senior year, but you need to draft him. His
name's rich Window and he said Rich's and then they
sent they sent John Myers down to Tuscaloos and he
worked me out. But that's how I got my chance
at Green Bay was because of Chris.

Speaker 1 (10:24):
You know that stories like that almost bring tears in
my eyes. And I'll tell you why. I coached basketball
for a long time here in this area at the
high school level. And there are some high school coaches
that work hard for their players if they feel like
they they are, you know, good enough academically and on
the court and in the community to play somewhere at

(10:46):
the next level. And if those kids deserve that that look,
you know, as coaches, we we should help them and
assist them at at getting some looks. And I love
the fact that a guy like like Berck Bryant and
realized and had so much love for you as one
of his players to be able to call Bart Starr
and say, look, this guy's flying on the radar stream

(11:08):
because he's been injured. But he would be perfect for
what you guys do up in Green Bay. He would
fit into the community, he'd fit. Look, if you were
a guy that was out in the bars all night long,
he would not have made that call, correct, correct? I
love that.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
Hey.

Speaker 1 (11:22):
The difference between playing at Alabama and playing for the
Packers a huge difference. Certainly from high school to to
to play at Alabama is a huge jump. But when
you're playing at a place like Alabama. What was the
difference as far as speed and player talent playing at
Alabama to then go into the to the Green Bay Packers.

Speaker 2 (11:46):
Well, my rookie year at Green Bay played a four
to three defense, a true four to three defense. Dave
hann Or Hoghnner was my defensive coordinator and put so
I played the mic linebacker and it's a great position,

(12:11):
I mean, true middle linebacker like Buckets and Nichki. You
can get six yards deep and you just go to
the ball and it is It's a dream position for
a guy like myself. That's what I played. And so
the transition for me between Alabama and playing Sugar Bowls
and national championships and things like that, it really wasn't

(12:33):
that much. It was easier for me to play at
Green Bay in the true four to three defense than
it was to play in the old seventy five where
you know, linebackers would line up over the guards versus
the center. Yeah, it wasn't that big of a difference
for me.

Speaker 1 (12:51):
To answer your question, Yeah, have you were you a
multi sport athlete when you were in high school at Elkhart.

Speaker 2 (12:57):
I was, Yeah, I played every sport that I could.
I wasn't very good at him, but I you know,
I gave it my bed.

Speaker 1 (13:05):
You know, it's funny, rich I had a chance. I
also do a high school sports show on Fox Sports
nine twenty every Saturday morning from nine to eleven. And
a year ago, maybe a year and a half ago,
I had a linebacker for the Eagles, Zach Bond. He
had a really good year last year they just resigned him.
And he was a multi sport athlete here at Brown

(13:25):
Deer High School, and he was everything on the football field.
And then he was probably the third or fourth option
on a state champion basketball team. And I had him
on to talk about that and he said I loved basketball,
and I go really, and he goes, yeah, there was
no pressure for me. I was third, fourth, sometimes fifth option.

(13:48):
I had to play defense. I had a rebound, and
I had a dunk. And the guy's a freak athlete,
and he said I would cheat. I would try to
cherry pick a little bit to get a couple of dunks.
But you are so good at every position that there
was no no chance I was going to get We're
down one with eight seconds ago. The ball's not coming

(14:09):
my way. All I've got to do is try to
get up on the class and tip it. In football,
I never came off the field. I punted, I kicked off.
I played quarterback, running backers here, whatever they needed I did.
And then come basketball season, it was so relaxing just
to go out and have fun with my guys. Was
that similar to you playing multiple sports at Elkhart?

Speaker 2 (14:30):
Yeah? Oh, I wrestled and played baseball, and being from Elkhart, Indiana,
you got to be pretty good to be on the
basketball team. And I love basketball. If I listen, if
I was a footballer and an athlete, I had have
played basketball. I mean, I love basketball. But I think

(14:51):
these young people today I hate to see. I hate
to see these guys and gals, but especially the young
to isolate themselves to just one sport to try to
in high school. Man, go play every single sport you can,
and it just makes you a better athlete and and
it makes you better rounded as well.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
I agree with that. Hey, one quick question before we
get to a break. So not only is he a
former you know, linebacker at Alabama and Green Bay, but
he spent a little time in politics. And my question
for you is, at the bottom of the the pile
for a fumble. Is that dirtier or is it being

(15:33):
in politics? Because I just I got to believe, like you,
you've seen a lot and being part of the House
of Representatives for Alabama, you ran twice, run twice year.
You were involved in that for a number of years,
and I'm wondering what was dirty or being trying to
get a fumble recovery in the NFL or being part
of the House of Representatives.

Speaker 2 (15:53):
That's awesome, That's a great question, but that's a tough one.
I'd probably say the House of Representatives by far dirtier
than But hey, I did, I ran two terms. I
agreed to run for two four year terms and then
get out, step out. I'd always believe that we should

(16:14):
be term limit. I believe every politician should be term
limit to this day. Yeah, and so I self composed
two term limit for myself.

Speaker 1 (16:22):
I agree with you to make sure we're going to
get to a break other side of the break we are.
Ask our special guest. He is Rich Wingo again, former
Green Bay packer. He is in the Hall of Famer.
We'll get to this. Elkhart High School in Indiana played
for Alabama and Barret Bryant and we probably won't talk
politics much anymore, but I had to ask that question.

(16:44):
We'll get to a break. Other side of the break,
Rich will share his testimony with us. This is Faith
in the Zone on Fox Sports ninety twenty and your
iHeart Radio App. Welcome back to Faith in the Zone
on Fox Sports ninet twenty and your iHeart Radio App. Again.
This Mike mcifrin flying solo this week, Pastor Ken Keltner
from Brookside Baptist Church. We'll be back in very soon

(17:08):
in studio coming from the Donovan and Jorgensen Heating and
Cooling Studios. Any issues you have for your HVAC system
Donovan Jorgenson dot com. They're the largest employee owned HVAC
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(17:31):
So make sure that your furnace hits. Back to school
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to kick in. Go to Donovan Jorgenson dot com our
special guest for the entire hour. Former green Bay Packer.
I could stop right there, because anybody listened to this show,
for the most part, everybody listening to the show is
a huge Greeny gold fan. He is Rich Wingo played

(17:53):
for the Green Bay Packers, and before we ask for
his testimony doing research for the show, he is the
only player in Green Bay Packer history to have scored
his total points for the Packers one point. On September sixth,
nineteen eighty one against the Bears, he caught a pass
in the end zone for a successful point after touchdown

(18:14):
after a botched place placekick attempt. And at the time
that was that was one point. And so he is
the only guy in history. If you look up all
the all the points scored by any Packers in history,
he's got one. Good for him. Man, that's a Rich Wingo.
Any surprise that you caught that ball?

Speaker 2 (18:33):
Rich oh Man, I'll tell you that's something to be
remembered for.

Speaker 1 (18:39):
I'm just yeah, you would you had good hands for
a linebacker, huh. I.

Speaker 2 (18:44):
I was on the I was a wingman on the
extra point team, and I remember it was botched, and
so I went into the end zone and and I
caught the ball and I thought, you know, I'm gonna
spike this ball. I've never had the chance to spike
it in the NFL. You know I'm gonna. But then
I thought, you know what, Coach Bryant, he could be
watching this game and he would be so disappointed if

(19:05):
I spiked it. So he always would tell us, you know,
hand the ball of the official, act like you've been
there before, and act like you're coming back there again.
So I thought, well, I'm not going to spike it,
so I gave it to the official.

Speaker 1 (19:15):
Good for you, because you know your phone would have
rang that night at home. You know, Coach Bryant would
have been like, Hey, what are you doing. Remember you're
an ambassador for Alabama football. Don't do that again. I
love that, Hey, Rich, second segment for us is our favorite.
And we say this each week, but I get more
response from the second segment of the show than any

(19:37):
other thing that we as far as response from this
or any of the shows that I do. And when
we ask our guests to share their testimony, and if
you would be so kind.

Speaker 2 (19:47):
I'd love to. I'm honored. Thank you for asking me.
I just that I was raised in a and whether
we talked about in el Cart and a very strict
Baptist church, two sisters and my parents. But I'll just
be honest. Football sports was my God. And football is

(20:07):
a great game, but it's a lousy god. And went
to college, got away from my walk with Christ, went
into the pros. And it was about my fourth year
at green Bay, about halfway through the season, where I
came to a place to where, I mean, I was

(20:27):
living the dream from the world's standpoint, Mike, if you
were to look at my life, I mean, I was
the MVP of the Green Bay Packers in nineteen seven,
NFL Man of the Year in nineteen eighty four. I
had done, led the team in tackles, on and on,
and I came to a place in my fourth year

(20:48):
to where I don't know how to explain it other
than just tell you that there has to be more
than this. It was such a feeling of unfulfillment. I'd
always thought that if I could play NFL ball, if
I could be a leader on the team, if I
could do this, if I could do that, that I
would I would like be at the top, you know,
and that would be life's fulfillment. And I got there,

(21:09):
and it was empty. And that's the only way I
know how to explain it. And God stationed a man
in my life. How he does that. And his name
was John Anderson. And Andy was there from Waukeshaw. I mean,
Andy played at Michigan, was an All American at Michigan,

(21:30):
and he was a godly is a godly Christian man.
Andy was my roommate. And Andy would always ask me
could come to chapel service. We'd fly into town on
away games and he would set up a chaplain or
another sports figure that would come and share their testimony.
Andy would always ask me, but I would never go mine.

(21:51):
And because I knew I was a hypocrite. I mean,
I knew I was a fake. I knew what was right,
but I chose to do what was wrong. And so Andy,
we were playing the New York Jets in New York
and Andy, I'll never forget it, he said, rich famous
baseball player is coming to share his testimony. Just come

(22:13):
and listen. Well, I'm searching, and so I go and
I sit and I listen to this guy. And I
don't even remember his name, and I don't remember anything else,
he said. I just remember this. He said that I
envisioned judgment day one day where it's a turnstyle and
there's a long line and behind me and in front

(22:33):
of me. I stepped through this turnstyle and there is
Jesus Christ seated to the right, and there's Satan seated
to the left. And he said, in front of me
is God on this throne, the almighty God. He said,
just the light and I can't look at him, just
the awe of God. And he said, when it was
my turn, he said, all of a sudden, he heard
this semi truck back up, and he said, Satan stood

(22:55):
up and he opened these tractor trailer doors. And this
tractor trailer was packed full of computer print out paper,
all connected and the smallest prince you could imagine. And
Satan grabbed the very end of it and he started reading.
And he said, I realized he's reading every sin that
I've ever committed. I'm sitting on my edge of my

(23:16):
chair in this meeting room in New York, and I'm
listening to this guy. And he said, and he goes
on and on the sins of the flesh, the sins
of the eyes, the sins of the mouth, he said,
and he said, it's gross and he said, it just
goes on and finally Satan's loving it, and he finally,
God's a perfect God. And he interrupted Satan and he

(23:36):
looked right at him and said, what about it? And
this guy said, before I could, before I could say,
Father just cast me to hell, because that's what I deserved,
he said. Jesus stood up, he put his hand to
the Father, and he put his hand to him and
he said, Father, he's with me. It's okay. He's with me.

(23:58):
And I remember sitting there in that chair in that
New York hotel saying to myself, Jesus Christ would never
stand up for me. I'm a fake. Oh. I intellectually
believed that Jesus Christ was the son of God. I
was baptized as a twelve year old. I walked the
aisle when I was twelve years old. I intellectually believed

(24:18):
that the Bible says that the evidence, the evidence of
your salvation is by the fruit that you bear. And
then there's no fruit in my life. I was married
to my college sweetheart and we've been married forty five years.
But there, I was a good person mine. I did
good things. I wasn't I didn't do drugs or I

(24:42):
didn't cheat on my wife, at least not yet. But
there was no fruit, there was no evidence of my salvation. Man.
I couldn't when they prayed, I couldn't wait to get
out of there. I literally left and I couldn't wait
to get out of and I ran from God. Three
weeks of my life. I mean they were the darkest

(25:03):
three weeks of my life. And playing football and until finally,
one day after practice. I don't know how this happened,
but the locker room was empty, and I just remember
putting my head in my hands in my locker saying, Father, Father, God,
if you're real, I'm begging you to come into my life,
take control of my life. This, this football, this this other,

(25:25):
this world is it's not it's not fulfilling. It's empty,
and I need you and I begged him and he did.
That's the beautiful thing. That's why I know that he lives,
because he lived.

Speaker 1 (25:36):
He'll meet you right where you're at, Amen.

Speaker 2 (25:39):
And who is ever listening to this. There's people that
will hear this and they'll they'll say, I know exactly
what you're talking about. There's got to be more to
life than this. There is and his name is Jesus,
and he's real. He's the real deal. He changed my
life forever.

Speaker 1 (25:57):
Oh no, what a great testimony. Our special guess is
Rich Wingo again, former Green Bay packer Rich Wingo. Rich
years ago, we had Pastor Darryl Strawberry on faith in
his own and he talked about he grew up in
a Christian home and but baseball was his guy. And
what he wanted was he wanted to be the best
player in the world. Wanted to have the most money.

(26:19):
He wanted to have a beautiful wife, beautiful girlfriends, all
the drugs, all the alcohol. And he was then you
know what was that he had that and his life
was empty. And he ended up having to go to
jail for a while, and there was a Bible in
his jail cell and he opened it up and he
rededicated himself and he fell to his knees and he said, look,

(26:42):
I had literally everything I thought I wanted. It was
the best, you know, one of the best baseball players
in the world. I had all the money, the cars,
the houses. I had beautiful girlfriends, a beautiful wife. I
could get drugs any drugs I wanted. And I was
sad I was depressed and I couldn't figure out why,
and here's why. And it was amazing, similar to you

(27:04):
where it was like, look when I commend John Anderson
that he didn't ask you once and then stop. He
kept asking you, and I thought, I just I love
the fact that a guy from Waukeshaw, Wisconsin, right, one
of the best bad football players ever to come out
of this area, and for him to just keep saying, hey,

(27:24):
come on. We had Don Bibian and he was roomed
with Frank Reich and Frank was getting ready to go
speak at a church and Don was like, where are
you going? He said, well, I have to speak at
this church. Why don't you get dressed come with me?
And he goes, no, no, no, I don't do that,
and Frank said what he said, I don't like getting
up in front of people and speaking, so no, and

(27:47):
Frank Rake said, well you think this is about you?
And Don Bieby's like what, He goes, you said, this
isn't about you. Put your big boy pants and so
what if you're uncomfortable. This is what we're doing tonight
and you're coming with me. Don Beebe was like, I
never say no at this point like, I'll go speak
to men's grooves because I keep hearing Frank's voice in
saying this isn't about you. And what I love about

(28:09):
these stories Rich is to have men in her lives
that will try to hold us accountable and just be
able to lead us and help us and say, listen,
maybe you need to come to this with me. And
who knows what's going to come of it, but we
just were planting seeds, right, that's right. Yeah. I love

(28:30):
the fact that John Anderson is one of the first
guests we've ever had on faith in his own So
I love that. Hey, when you talked about you and
your wife been married a long time faith wise, was
was she a Christian when you guys started dating and
how was she doing with that?

Speaker 2 (28:48):
No? No, she wasn't. And she was raised in a
Church of Christ, but she she in the South. That's
just she just never really bought in it. And Serry
and I long story short, God was working on her
heart when he was working on my heart. And we
were baptized together in one of the only Baptist churches

(29:11):
there in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and it was beautiful. And
now she's sold out for Jesus Christ, and we are
and have been forever involved in every program you could
imagine down here in Tuscaloosa.

Speaker 1 (29:30):
Hey, rich, I used to ask this question, and I
apologize if this is putting you on the spot, because
I should have given you a heads up. Was it
easier for you once you've rededicated yourself? Was it easier
for you to walk worthy inside the locker room or
outside of the locker room? And the reason for the question.

(29:52):
When I talked to baseball guys, it seems like almost
ninety percent will say outside of the locker room, especially
in minor leagues were traveling, there's nobody really holding this accountable.
Where adult men and we're you know, doing this and
that football, it seems to be different. The answer has
been for the most part in the locker room because
I have other players holding me accountable. And the two teams,

(30:16):
the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers, are the
two that for the majority of the people we've had
on will answer that question inside the locker room. And
I'm wondering how you would answer that.

Speaker 2 (30:28):
Yeah, No, I agree, and I think you ought to
look at maybe who the team chaplain was at that time.
I mean we had a I give a ton of
credit to my acceptance of Christ in Christ and then
my growth to a guy named Steve Newman. Steve Newman
was the team chaplain in the seven years that I
was at Green Bay, and he had a huge part

(30:51):
in my walk. I mean I used to was I was.
I was terrible, man, I mean I interrupted their Bible
studies at times. I'd walk right through the middle of
the room. They had a rookie locker room in the back.
They would meet once or twice a week, and if
I had to go through there, I'd walk right through it.
You know, I was terrible. And Steve would always tell me, brother,
I love you, and I hated him. I hated him

(31:13):
for it, and he loved me despite of myself. And
so I would, I would say, within the locker room,
because you had brothers like Mark Murphy for me, and
John Anderson and Ken Rutgers and people like that that
were there and unashamed of the Gospel, and we would

(31:35):
meet and we would invite other guys, and so I
would say, definitely. And so it'd be interesting to find
out who the Pittsburgh Steelers team chaplin was, because I
give a lot of credit to Steve Newman Man.

Speaker 1 (31:47):
That's awesome. He is Rich Wingo again, former linebacker at
Alabama with our Green Bay Packers. We're going to get
to a break. I just had the break. We're going
to start the next segment. We're going to talk a
little bit about the Man Church, and again I thank
Rick Burgess for the introduction to Rich Wingo. We're also
going to talk a little bit about, you know, going
into the Hall of Fame and Elkhart Indiana. I love

(32:09):
that and again I'm a big high school fan and
I love the fact that Rich Wingo is in the
Hall of Fame for elk Cahrt Lake Elkhart High School
in Indiana. And we'll talk to him a little bit
about that. On the other side. This is Faith in
the Zone on Fox Sports nine twenty in your iHeart
Radio App. Welcome back to Faith in the Zone on

(32:30):
Fox Sports nine twenty in your iHeart Radio app. Coming
from the Donovan and Jorgans and Heating and Cooling Studios.
Our special guest. Look, he's done a lot in his life.
I can tell you that college football player, big time
college football player, big time player with the Green Bay Packers.
He was in politics for a while. But I want
to talk to Rich Wingo, our special guest, a little

(32:52):
bit about the Man Church and something that Rick Burgess
started and people have asked me about it, and the
way I'm rich. The way I tell is you guys
talk about this, and I agree with that. A lot
of our local churches very have very active youth groups
and really active women's groups and men's groups. Day on
Father's Day, they point at us and say, be a

(33:13):
better father, be a better husband, and get more active
in the church. We'll see you next year at Father's Day.
And I'm like, you know what we need? The things
that Rich and Rick are doing with the Man Church.
I think there's a lot of churches in our country
that need that. And on your website the Man Church,
there's so much good information. Can you talk a little

(33:34):
bit about being involved in the Man Church?

Speaker 2 (33:37):
Well, I will. I love it. That's a passion of
mine is men. And you're exactly right. You know, I'll
go to ask me to come speak to the church.
I'll sit with the pastor maybe in just small talk,
and I'll ask him, I say, Pastor, tell me about
your men's ministry and it's amazing, mind how many churches,
how many churches? Just what you said, have a great youth.

(34:00):
We know, always say rich, well, we ought to let
me tell you about our youth. Let me tell you
about our women's ministry. And number no, no, tell me
about your your men's ministry. You know, pastors. And the
Word of God tells us that men were supposed to lead.
We're supposed to lead our family. We're supposed to be watchful,
we're supposed to be firm in our faith. And Paul
said in Corinthians, we're supposed to be act like men.

(34:22):
The Bible says be strong in that one verse verse
sixteen of Corinthians sixteen thirteen and fourteen. I mean it
challenges us as men. But yet it's amazing that we
don't minister. We don't have men's ministries in churches. And
I don't know why. And because when a man catches

(34:44):
fire for Jesus Christ, I promise you, because the Word
of God says this, that his wife and his children
they will run to be get in alignment behind their
dad when a man gets on fire for Jesus Christ.
And so the man church is a God gave this

(35:05):
to Rick Burgess. Rick is a brother of mine and
uh he he has started this ministry and it's caught
on across the country and if there's men listening, you
can get online at Man Church and you can see
the curriculum. It's a high challenge. It's I mean, just
to be honest with you, it's not for the week.

(35:28):
It's not for the passive, timid guy, Mike, It's it's God.
You know, Satan loves weak and timid and passive men.
And this is for men that that are seeking God
and that that have come to a place in their
life that realize that it's only in Jesus Christ. It's
only in him. And to be the man, the father,

(35:51):
the husband that God has called me to be, it's
only in Him. And so it's a high challenge, but
it's got excellent, excellent. There's so many times where speakers
will come into a church and hit guys right between
the eyes and then then then then what do they do?
But after that, this has tremendous, tremendous curriculum that you

(36:16):
can do in a small group, a life group of men,
and or a large group. And I challenge every man
to plug in and check.

Speaker 1 (36:26):
It out well, go to Themanchurch dot com. Go to
the I'm on that right now, and I've been on
this website a lot because there's really really good information
on here. If you go to the Man Church, go
to the store. There is men's ministry leader. There's one
segment small group leaders and another individuals, and then there
is a subscribe and watch ricks a weekly Bible study.

(36:49):
You can click there get Man Church apparel if you want.
I've been on the individual one quite a bit and
I've recommended. I got a couple of calls from from
guys that are pretty active in churches in southeast Wisconsin
after Rick Burgess was on asking me more about the
Man Church, and I keep sending them to the website,
and I think, what we have to do, either here

(37:11):
at Brookside or one of the pastors that listens to
the faith in the zone that I know because we talk,
we got to bring either Rick and or Rich we
go in or have somebody from the Man Church come
and speak to one of our men's groups or speak
to the stakeouts that we do here in this area
to be able to talk a little bit about how

(37:32):
the Man Church was founded, why it was founded in
the great work they're doing throughout the country. And I
really commend Rich and I commend Rick Burgess a lot
for this, and I think he's there. They're onto something
that if we can keep talking about guys like me
with a microphone like this, keep talking about the Man Church,
be a man follow Jesus. That's their slogan, be a

(37:53):
man follow Jesus. And I think I just think they're
onto something that we need more now that we ever
have in our country. Again, Themanchurch dot Com and any questions,
there's an easy way for you to contact them. You
can reach out to me and I can try to
get in contact with these guys if you need that.
But go online and spend a good half hour going

(38:15):
through the things that they do and why they do
what they're doing. And I'm telling you I agree with
these guys one hundred percent. We need this more now
than ever. And that idea of on Father's Day pointing
at us saying be a better father, be a better husband,
get more involved in the church. We'll see you next year.
That's got to stop, guys. It's got to stop. And

(38:35):
I think what Rick Burgess and Rich Wingo and the
rest of these people at the Man Church are doing
is very, very needed. And trust me, if you go
on the website, you'll be like me, you're not going
to leave after five minutes to go grocery shopping because
you're going to start reading some of this and going,
we need this, I need this. And I thank these
guys for allowing me to talk about the Man Church

(38:57):
and the great work that they're doing. Hey, Rich, talk
to me a little bit about getting put into the
Hall of Fame elk Cart. That's gotta be awesome. Do
you still have family back in Indiana?

Speaker 2 (39:08):
By the way, I do, my ninety six year old mother.
He lives in Indianapolis, my two sisters and their husbands
and families and big families, and I was just with
them a week or so ago, and so I do.
And yeah, it was an honor to be a part
of the Indiana Hall of Fame and tremendous honor and

(39:32):
so thankful. But yeah, Indiana is it's awesome.

Speaker 1 (39:38):
Well, the Indiana Football Hall of Fame from Elkhart Central.
And I love the fact that your family is still there.
And I'm sure they were all at that at that event.
Speaking of the family, look, all of the things that
you do as far as giving back to our community,
giving back to the people in Alabama. Yeah, you have

(39:59):
a long list of volunteers, things that you've done, being
part of Red Cross, in March of Dimes, special Olympics,
and Rich. A question that I have for people like
you that give back a lot is we're not born
with a servant leadership heart. Right, That's a learned behavior.
And I'm wondering where in your life and who in

(40:20):
your life taught you that part of giving back to
people in our community.

Speaker 2 (40:27):
You know, I wasn't like this when I was lost.
I mean, I was all about Rich. I loved Rich,
I loved me. So, Mike, I've never been asked that question,
but I can tell you that if I were living
in the flesh, I would have no desire to help
other people.

Speaker 1 (40:46):
Amen, I agree with that.

Speaker 2 (40:49):
You know. So I give all the credit to our
Lord and Savior. And He's changed me. Listen, I was
a filthy, pathetic, filthy mouth, healthy minded, middle ego maniac
middle linebacker. And he changed me. Only he could change me. Yes,
I mean that does that happen now?

Speaker 1 (41:10):
And you had said during your testimony said he met
you where you were at and I agree that happened
with me, Rich and if I kept thinking I had
to get myself cleaned up before I presented myself to him.
And that's not the case, brother, it's not the case.
We're gonna get to a break the other side of the break.
That last question we always ask Faith in the Zone.

(41:30):
We've been doing it three years now because the answers
are just very interesting to not only me, but our
to our listeners and our audience. Every uniform he's ever
put on, he gets to pull one out and get
one more game. Which uniform does he pull out? Who
does he play against? And why? And we'll get that
answer from Rich Wingo on the other side. This is

(41:50):
Faith in the Zone on Fox Sports nine twenty in
your iHeart Radio app. Welcome back to Faith in the
Zone on Fox Sports nine twenty in your iHeart Radio app.
As I was coming live from the Donovan and Jorgansen
Heating and Cooling Studios. Our special guest, former Green Bay
packer and very involved with the Manchurch. We talked a
lot about the Man Church's last segment. Go to the

(42:12):
Manschurts dot com and get all the information you need
on this work. That these men are doing all over
the country. Themanchurch dot com so rich. You've put a
lot of uniforms on in your life, my friend, A
lot of them. And if we put them all in
a closet and said you can pick one uniform out
to get one more game with that team, what uniform

(42:33):
do you pick? Who do you play against? And why?

Speaker 2 (42:39):
You know I'm sitting here and Mike, you asked me
this question a week couple of weeks ago when you
talked about getting on the show, and my answer, I'm
still debating back and forth. Love. I mean, you're terrible
for asking this question.

Speaker 1 (42:56):
Thank you appreciate that.

Speaker 2 (42:58):
Just creating anxiety. But I know I can't have too
but one of them. But the one, the two. The
one would be that I went to Monger O. N G. E. R.
Manger Elementary School and Elkhart on the south side. I

(43:18):
mean we were the south side kids, typical, and we
played the city amongst the elementary schools had two hand
touch football like flag football today, but it was two
hand touchs. We had officials and we would play. We
got to play the Manger. We got a jersey and

(43:41):
it had Munger on the front. It was blue and gold,
and we won the city championship. And so if I
could go back and put any uniform back on, I
would put that on because that's where I fell in
love with the game. I keep thinking about.

Speaker 1 (44:00):
I think about this first you played, you won national
championships at Alabama, you played for bart Starr and the
Green Bay Packers. I love the fact that you go
back to manger and go That's where I fell in
love with it. I put that uniform on. I just
like I have goosebumps on my When people ask me
why have you spent so much time in high school athletics,

(44:23):
I tell them stories like this, right, these are memories
we have and I love it. What was the second one?
And we only have about a minute left, Well, what's
the second one?

Speaker 2 (44:33):
Yeah? Well, you know, shame on you for asking this question.

Speaker 1 (44:36):
I know, I know you're terrible.

Speaker 2 (44:40):
But the second one is Green Bay and it's in
nineteen seventy nine, my rookie year, playing the true four
to three defense, playing on Monday Night. We played the
New England Patriots and we were so much of an underdog.
I mean, they didn't and give us a chance in

(45:00):
warm up, and uh, we beat him with Howard Cosell
and Dandy Don and we played him in Lambeau and uh,
God gave me an opportunity to make some tackles. And
it was a great night. It was my rookie year.
And that was one night that I'll I'll always hold
special in my life more than the nice lit championship games.

(45:21):
And that that was. That was a special night with
a group of guys that we became family that night.
That was special.

Speaker 1 (45:28):
Well, I thought you were going to come the gold
Line stand. That's where I thought you were going with
this his Sugar Bowl victory over Penn State. I love
that you went through the Packers. Do you still dislike
the Chicago Bears as much as I do?

Speaker 2 (45:40):
Or hate them?

Speaker 1 (45:42):
Hate them me too?

Speaker 2 (45:43):
Hate them, hate them, hate them?

Speaker 1 (45:45):
I love it. I love that. And I look during
the draft. I loved when when the former linebacker for
the Packers got up and said he got a letter
from President Trump and the Bears still sucked. And I
just laughed for like a half hour, and I man
that a boy rich. Thank you so much, and please
thank Rick Burgess for the introduction, and thank you so

(46:06):
much for this time. He is Rick again. Rich Wingo. Look,
you can look up all his stats and go and
watch video of him plan. But if you're listening to
this show, please go to Themanchurch dot com. And I
want this Manchurch thing to get red hot all over
the country like it is in different states. And I
hope that the state of Wisconsin can get more involved

(46:27):
in this and anything I can do to help you
in the state of Wisconsin with the Manchurch, Rich, please
let me know and let Rick know that as well. Guys, thanks,
thanks for listening. This is Faith in the Zone on
Fox Sports ninet twenty in your iHeart radio app.