September 18, 2025 • 26 mins
What if Rudy grew up and went back to play college football at 59? Meet Mike Flynt, the real-life inspiration for Angel Studios’ new movie The Senior, hitting theaters September 19.
In this powerful episode of the Covenant Eyes Podcast, host Karen Potter sits down with Mike Flynt to unpack the extraordinary true story that inspired The Senior—a film about second chances, redemption, and faith on and off the football field.
At age 59, Mike returned to play college football, chasing the dream he thought was lost forever. His journey touches on faith, fatherhood, forgiveness, and the power of never giving up.
🎥 The Senior Movie (Angel Studios) releases nationwide in theaters on September 19, 2025.
⭐ Don’t miss Mike’s testimony of overcoming regret and discovering new purpose in Christ.
🔗 Resources & Links:
Learn more about Covenant Eyes: https://cvnteyes.co/4gb6xme
Get tickets for The Senior: https://www.angel.com/movies/senior
Subscribe for more inspiring interviews: https://youtube.com/@covenanteyes
#TheSeniorMovie #MikeFlynt #AngelStudios #FaithAndFootball #CovenantEyesPodcast #RedemptionStory #ChristianFilm #MichaelChiklis #SecondChances
Timestamps:
00:00 – Welcome & intro to The Senior
01:00 – Movie trailer audio clip
03:29 – Meet Mike Flynt: his story of redemption
06:33 – Friday Night Lights connection
09:44 – From coaching to comeback at age 59
12:24 – Playing with faith and a new purpose
15:21 – Family reactions & support
18:15 – How the film came to be
21:14 – Cast: Michael Chiklis, Mary Stuart Masterson & more
23:01 – Redemption, forgiveness, and faith through film
25:35 – Why The Senior matters today
26:21 – Closing encouragement
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey everybody, welcome backto The Covenant Eyes Podast.
It is so good to have youjoining us today.
We are interviewinga very special guest
who is the feature of a new filmcoming out by our friends
over at Angel Studios.
If you like football,if you like Faith and you
love a story of redemption,you are going to love this film.
(00:23):
It basically is.
If Rudy grewup, raised a family,
and went through a seriesof personal failures in life,
but then at the age of 59,decided to go back
and play college football,what would happen?
This film is incredible.
You are going to love it.
And today we are interviewingMike Flynt, who is
(00:45):
actually the personthe film is all about.
Angel Studios put togetheran incredible film.
We're going to show youa clip of that film,
and then we are goingto roll right into an interview
with Mike Flynt.
You are going to lovethis conversation.
Stay tuned.
Football.
The greatest game in the historyof mankind.
(01:06):
It's more than that.
It's a shot.
Hello at immortality.
I never finishedmy senior year. Why not?
I got thrown out for fighting.
And you're done.
What kind of a captaingets kicked off his own team?
I wish I could go back and do itall over again.
(01:27):
I'm eligible.
Eligible for what?
To play.
Every one of you is goingto have to earn a spot
on this team.
Just to be clear, there's nohidden camera somewhere.
No one's going to run over me.
I'll guarantee you that.
(01:48):
Okay, okay.
Yo, yo, yo, what's listeningto, man? Music?
Well, we used to listento what I say.
Now, wait, I like this.
That's something to say.
So, man, you ready for me?
By the time you're out of towndrunk, you go red and die hard.
(02:09):
But how are you doing thisat your age, man?
He's like a 59.
year old Rudy.
Oh. He's my father.
I'm coming for you, old man.
I don't want to watch himbreak his neck.
If you got hurt, it would.
Destroy every soul on this team.
What's this one?
I have to be a win.
(02:30):
It's not about winning.
I know why you have to do this.
And I'm with you.
This game, it's a second chance.
We're not definedby our successes.
We're defined by our regrets.
I've had a tonas a teammate, great
as a husband, as a dad.
I still suck.
(02:52):
What?
I don't let tonight be.
That first regret.
Will Mike Flyntfinally get his name
in the history books.
Let's make this a gamethey'll always remember.
That's you. Flynt.
We want Mike.
(03:29):
Hey, everybody.
We are so honored to haveMike Flynt joining us
to talk about his filmthat is coming out
called The Senior.
Mike, welcome to the show.
Thank you. Karen.
Thanks for having me.
I'm excited about being here.
Yeah.
So the film is kind ofabout your life story
and I want to hear all about it.
(03:50):
So share with our listenersa little bit about who you are,
what your story is,and how that inspired the film.
Well, you know, my my story is,about two different men,
one up to age, 34 was justpart of the world.
(04:10):
The man from age34 to today at 77.
Is a born again Christian.
And, you know, part of,another world.
And so, the overlap of those,those two lives, is reflected,
in the film and, my,my dad, you know, I had,
(04:36):
actually the formerCEO of K-Love radio stations.
Oh, my God, so many yearsand years ago, he said this,
this is going to be a movie,one of these days.
His name was Bill Reeves.
He said this.
This will be a movie because,it's about daddy issues.
Yeah.
And he said everybody has them.
And, so that for me,it was, I was I was raised
(05:00):
by a man thatlove me very much, but,
he brought his past experiencesfrom World War two
and the D-Day invasionand the battle of the bulge,
into his ideal, training of,of a young man
and how he felt likehe should act
(05:21):
and react in West Texaswhere, where I grew up.
And so, I had a very violentupbringing and, the, you know,
train up a child, that verse,has is a double edged sword.
You know, it, depending onhow you train him
up as they get older,they're not going to depart
(05:42):
from that.
And so, I, I was a good person.
I was not a troublemaker,but I became a trouble seeker
because, I was very good at,at fighting, and I didn't mind
getting here.
I didn't think anybodywould hit me as hard
as my dad did.
And so, in, in West Texas,you've got the roughnecks
(06:05):
of the oil field,you've got cowboys, and then you
got football.
And so if you don'tmind fighting, there'll be a lot
of opportunitiesout there. And so,
that was how my life,started out as, as a young man,
my senior year in high school,at, Permian High School, we
won state championshipat the larger schools in Texas.
(06:29):
And it was the first timethat Permian won,
a state championship.
But it startedthat winning tradition
and inspired the bookin the subsequent movie,
Friday Night Lights.
And so, then I, receiveda full football
scholarship to Sul RossState University.
(06:50):
And school is shortfor Sullivan.
Sullivan Ross was a formergovernor of Texas,
so Ross was about 100 milesfrom the Mexican border
down in deep southwest Texas.
And I was onfull scholarship there.
Sul Ross played in the LoneStar Conference,
which was one of thepremier conferences at that time
in the nation.
(07:10):
And, my sophomoreand junior years,
I had over 100 tackleseach of those years.
I had 24 tackles in one game.
And my junior year, I was an allconference linebacker.
I was, the, leading tackleron my team.
(07:31):
And I was voted team captain.
And so, coming back formy senior year, the coaches
appointed me as,to monitor the rooms
to make sure everyonewas in at curfew
as team captain.
I would confront themif they weren't.
And a couple of freshmentook exception to me
(07:52):
telling them when they couldand couldn't come and go. And,
it got physical and one of themgot hurt.
And so, the presidentof the college was called, Dr.
McNeill, called the headcoach, and,
he had me in his officethe next morning,
and he told me,he said, I've received
a call from, doctor McNeill.
(08:14):
And he said that he's heard mylast name for the last time.
He told me, he said, coach,that you are my player.
Who's going to be.
And he.
So he said, Mike,I've got to ask you,
not to be partof our team this year.
And, all the players,they already had them out
on the field.
They didn't want me interactingwith them.
And so I asked him,I said, coach have.
(08:36):
And he asked my teammateshow they feel about this.
And he said, I don't haveto ask them.
He said, I know howthey feel about it.
He said, but that's whythey're out there.
I don't want you interactingwith them either.
We've got assistant head coachesin your room
packing your things.
We want you out of townwithin the hour
and, call my dad.
(08:58):
He said, you've got to call him.
And having made us onthe highway, we'll take you
half way to Odessa.
And my dad said,you've been kicked out.
For what?
And I said, dad,I got in a fight, and,
he startedhe jumped in and started
cheering me out, and I justinterrupted him.
I said, daddy, I am exactlywhat you made me.
(09:18):
And he never brought itup again.
After that, after that day,I went on with my life,
received, my degree and,met a beautiful young coed
going to theUniversity of Texas.
We fell in love,got married, and
(09:38):
we're almost 53 yearsnow that we've been married.
And, Eileen changedmy whole life.
She led me to faith in Christ.
I became a strengthand conditioning coach
at the University of Nebraska,the University
of Oregon, Texas A&M.
And I always hada philosophy about my
my coaching that I wouldnever ask one of my athletes
(10:00):
to do something that I wasn'twilling to do myself.
So I stayed in great shape,helping other people.
And, I got out of coaching,found out that I still had
a semester of eligibility left.
Getting kicked off that teamhad come become my
greatest regret in life.
That team that hadso much potential, they went 8-3
the year before,when I was a junior,
(10:22):
we had everybody back.
We were picked to win the LoneStar Conference.
They went 4-6-1 afterI was kicked out.
So I shoulderedthat responsibility
and I never shared itwith anyone.
I just, it becamemy greatest regret in life.
And so, through happenstance,I found out that
(10:44):
I still had a semesterof eligibility left.
And all those yearsafter I quit coaching,
I tell people that notnot every journey has to have
a destination.
You know, if you've got a dream,move in that direction,
do something.
And I never quitrunning sprints.
I didn't quit lifting.
And, going throughall the athletic things
(11:07):
that I taught athletes to dowhen I was a strength coach.
And so all of a sudden,I get an opportunity to try out
for a team at 59 yearsold, I. Was like, gosh.
Yeah, I was ready.
And so by the grace of God,I was able to meet
with the head coach.
(11:28):
He listened to my story.
And then I told him, I said,I'd like to walk onto this team
as a as a linebackerbecause I feel like
if I can make this teamas a linebacker,
I can help a bunch of young menthat I don't even know.
But for me, it makes upfor those guys I let down
all those years ago.
(11:49):
And so I justneed a chance to try.
And so, I got that chance.
And by the grace of God,I was able to make that team.
Oh my gosh, what anincredible journey.
I want to justkind of pause there for a minute
because that's incredible.
I mean, oftentimes in lifewe we do have these regrets.
(12:09):
You know, we've, you know,before Christ,
our life was different.
And oftentimeswe don't get that chance
to go back and to maybe undo or,you know, redo those moments
that we were carryingso much shame and guilt about.
So this is incredible.
So you got to playafter all these years.
And at the age of 59,that's incredible.
(12:32):
So talk to us about the season.
What was it like to beback on that field and having
the love of Christin your heart?
How did that changehow you played
and how you interactedwith your teammates?
Well, the the, interaction withmy teammates was it was really,
it was something special becausethey had read
(12:53):
all of the publicity.
I mean, initially I thought,you know, who cares
about an old man going backto play college football?
Oh, man, how wrongI was about that.
And, so the media showed up in,in force and the my,
my teammates becameso defensive of me,
they got real upset when peoplewould call me
(13:13):
an old man, you know, you know,how young you play it.
So was, is that where that oldman's playing? Oh, man.
They they gotdefensive about that.
And, and so my, my timewith them was, was super special
because I had played the gameat a very high level
when I was young.
(13:34):
And I've been blessedin that I never
I was never hurt.
And so I didn't have any baggageto bring back with me.
And so when we putthose helmets on,
I went after them.
And I don't expect themto cut me any slack either.
And I did not, I didn't thinkthere was going to be enough ice
in Alpine, Texas to getthrough two-a-days.
(13:55):
I see I never played footballin a 59 year old body before.
And oh my gosh, the soreness.
I just I, you know,I just didn't think
there was any way and and as theseason wore on and the weather
got colder I couldn't stop.
I had to keep moving.
And so, but they, they interactactually with my teammates
that they couldshare things with me
(14:15):
that they wouldn'tshare with anyone else.
And then they beginto research my past,
you know, theythey begin to look back
at when I was it saw us before.
And, you know, one of themfound out that I was a Lone Star
player of the weekand that I'd made
24 tackles in one game.
And he said,how did you do that?
What would you do?
And so I was ableto share with them
(14:37):
the mind games that Ilearned from my dad,
and things that I didthat helped me in football.
And so I was able to pass that,to pass that on to them.
And it was, I would get callsfrom them on Sunday to come over
at so-and-so's house,you know, to, to watch
the game of the week,the NFL game of the week
(14:59):
or something.
They wanted me tobe there with them and so,
it was it was so rewarding.
And, and just it was everythingthat I, I prayed
that it might beif God would give me
that opportunity.
And he did, and I maximized it.
I just, I didn't wasteany of it.
(15:21):
That's incredible.
And during that time,you know, you were
you were married,you had a family.
What was it like for your familyas they watched you kind of
go through this, and relivethis experience?
What was it like for them?
Eileen, our youngest daughteris just graduating
(15:42):
from high school.
She's going to the Universityof Tennessee in Knoxville,
so Eileen’s getting readyfor orientation.
Our two oldest children married,they're gone from home.
And so we're empty nesters.
We said we're going to downsizeand we're gonna put our house
on the market, you know?
And we immediatelyhad a contract on our house.
We had 30 days.
We had to get out.
Eileen isinvolved in all of that.
(16:03):
Yeah, she's ignoring me.
She's thinking, well, the NCAAis going to tell him
he's ineligibleand he's going to
get other coaches goinglaughing out of his office.
Well, I come back from alpineand she's got a list of houses
for us to go look at.
And I said, Eileen, see,I had never shared with her.
I had never told anyonethe depth of regret
that I had over the lossof, that senior year
(16:26):
and letting those guys down and,she, she said we, we got
we got to be out in three days.
Michael, we, you know,this is serious.
And I said, Eileen, we're goingback to Texas.
I'm going back to college,you know, or I'm
going to play football.
And she just she said,I cannot believe at 59 years old
(16:47):
that you want to go backand try to play
college football, she said,I feel like I'm
married to Peter Panand then I realized
I never shared it with her.
And I said her downand I said, you know,
I've lived over half my lifewith regret over
something that I did,and now coach is going to
give me a chance to rewrite thatlast chapter
(17:08):
in my athletic career.
And I said,I may not make the team,
I may not make it,but I've got to try for me
to have the opportunityand not try.
For me, that'd be worsethan getting kicked out
the first time.
And to live the rest of my lifewondering what if?
What if I could have madethat team?
I've got to try?
And she said, okay, wow,I never knew.
(17:30):
She said, if the she was onthe other foot.
I know that,you do the same for me,
so let's go play football.
So, you know, she got on boardour children, my daughters,
they were, you know,my biggest cheerleaders,
my son, not so much.
He was more practical.
He was saying, you know, dad,you know, you just
(17:52):
you can't get risk this.
You can't.
What if.
What if you endup in a wheelchair or worse?
What about mom?
You know, and so, you know,we had to deal with that.
But he came on board.
And so, you know, my family was,they were 100% behind me, and,
you know,I couldn't have done it
(18:13):
without them, but,they were there.
That is incredible, I love that.
So how did thishow did your story end up
becoming this filmthat Angel Studios and all the
rest are involved in?
Like, how did ithow did you make that leap
to getting thison the big screen?
Well, it was, you know,it was one of those things that,
(18:36):
I was told again and again,this is going to be a movie.
There's going to be a bookand a movie.
And I thought,no, there's no way that that's
just not going to happen.
And that was never on my radar.
You know, for me,it was all about
helping those young man,you know, to make up for
those guys that I let downand so feeling.
(18:57):
And I have to just tellthis part of it because it's
not in the movie.
26 of my formerteammates from that 1971
team came back to watch meplay at home. Wow.
And we met on the 50 yardline, had a group hug, and,
they told me, we keep hearingwhere you said
(19:18):
that you've let us down.
All those years ago,we knew that
it wasn't your faultand we never blamed you
for that.
And besides, look, because youcame back to play,
we're all back together again.
And so God, in his mercy,allowed me to receive
that forgiveness that I neededfrom those former teammates to
to overcomethat greatest regret.
And so when the when the moviepeople started coming
(19:41):
in March you already,Secretariat, Miracle on Ice,
The Rookie, Invincible,you know, all those
great sports movies.
He came back and he told me,he said this, this is,
this has got to beon the big screen.
And so that started a journeythat you know, again,
it's been 18 years, but,it's one of those things where
(20:06):
when you've never prayedfor something like that,
you never ask Godfor something like that,
and it just comes along.
It's kind of a bonusfor the other things that he's
answered for you.
Then you embrace it.
And so I wanted to do everythingI could.
And so, but I one thing I didwhen the studio sent me
the contract, my attorney said,this is great, this looks good.
(20:28):
I said, okay, I want you toadd a clause in this contract
that they will not takethe Lord's name in vain,
and they will not usethe name of Jesus
in a disrespectfulmanner. And he said,
he said, Mike, you'regoing to blow this deal.
And I said, why?
And he said, because thisis Hollywood.
You're taking awaytheir creative license
when you do that.
(20:49):
And I said, well, put itput that in the contract.
He called me back and he said,they signed it.
He's the one who signed it.
They're ready to go.
So you know that,we it's it's a PG film.
There is no language in it.
And, for the most part,it's, it's true.
There are some things in therethat are Hollywood, but,
(21:09):
you know, you know,for the most part, it's,
it's a true story.
That is incredible.
I love that, and you've got somepretty incredible
actors and actressesthat are in the film.
So who, who is actually castas you in this film?
Well, Michael Chiklis,Oh my goodness.
(21:29):
Yes. Yeah.
The Thing, or The Shield,the TV series, you know.
And hey, this guy was, amazing.
Oh my gosh. Yeah.
I just, you know,I couldn't believe we were there
for the whole filming.
Eileen and I were there for the,you know, the 52 days
that they filmed forthe movie and, lot of
(21:51):
interaction withso many of the people.
There were probably 150or 180 people total all around
during this process moving.
And it was filmedduring football season.
And so we had fivedifferent stadiums that we had,
jockeyed between because,you know, games
and things were going onpractices.
So, but, that whole,the whole group, Mary Stuart
(22:15):
Masterson playing Eileen,and she was incredible.
Rob Corddry plays, the coach,you know, and, you know,
the whole cast we have,we have so many
young actors thatMichael Chiklis was mentoring
these young actors.
But you, you're just thethe performance
(22:38):
that these young actors make.
It's incredible.
We were so impressed.
Oh, my gosh, he was just,he was just amazing.
And so we are so pleased with,Angel Studios, everything
that they've done, the actorsthat were involved
and the effort that they putforth, it was, for us,
(22:59):
it was a God thing,the whole thing.
That is incredible.
And I love the factthat this movie
is really a story that so manyare going to relate to,
and maybe even be ableto see the story of redemption
and the story of forgiveness andand our Lord and Savior
through the film,because, I mean, people
(23:21):
that are not Christiansmay go see this film,
and it is so moving thatthey're going to walk away
feeling something.
And I'm sure your hopeis to lead people to Christ
that don't havea relationship with him.
And how does ithow does it feel to know
that you may havethat kind of impact
through this film,through your story
and being willing to share thatwith the world?
(23:42):
Oh, that, that would be, a dreamcome true.
You know, when I wentback to play, there were
there was so much publicityand men would walk up to me.
It was mostly menand sometimes women,
and they would recognize me,and the men would offer to shake
hands and say, are you Mike?
And, I said, yeah,and I'd have to ask them
their name,then tell me their age.
(24:04):
I'm 62 or I'm 57.
And so they start telling meabout things
that they were doingbecause I was following my dream
and my heart.
And so they were tryingthey were thinking, hey,
if Mike can do that, so can I.
And so at every opportunityI would try to share
my faith and,you know, I just wanted
(24:25):
people to know becauseso many people
have regrets in life.
And say, you can'tchange the past.
I knew that I couldn't go backand undo what I had done,
but for me, I could changethe meaning of that past
by doing something positivefor those young men
(24:45):
that I didn't knowand helping them.
For me, it was a substitutefor those guys that I let down,
and so I was able tofocus on helping someone
right now, today,to make up for what
I've done in the past.
And God honored that.
And as I said, I receivedthe forgiveness
(25:05):
from those formerteammates that,
they just put it overthe top. And so.
Yeah, it, the whole story,you know, is, is Christ centered
and it's but it's donein such a way that I hope
millions of non-Christiansgo see it,
because everybody lovesfootball. Yes.
(25:26):
Yeah. And.
And so, it's just a greata great backdrop.
And, you're going to lovethe acting in it.
It's amazing.
It's incredible.
When does the film come outso people can get their tickets
and, preview the film?
September 19th and,thousands of theaters
all over the nation.
(25:47):
So awesome.
September 19th.
The Senior.
The Senior.
Awesome.
Well, thank you so much, Mike,for sharing your story,
your testimony.
I know so many aregoing to be reached
with this filmand hopefully inspired,
led to the Lord and justleaving the film like a good
wholesome storythat really just, you know,
(26:08):
I think is going to movepeople's hearts and maybe,
you know, give some peoplesome inspiration
that they need toto do something.
Maybe they thoughtthey never could do.
I just I'm so excitedfor this film to come out.
Thank you for joining us today.
Oh, Karen, thank you so muchfor having me.
Of course, of course.
Thank youto all of our listeners
for joining this episodeof The Covenant Eyes Podast.
(26:29):
Take care. God bless.
Hey everybody, welcome backto The Covenant Eyes Podast.
It is so good to have youjoining us today.
We are interviewinga very special guest
who is the feature of a new filmcoming out by our friends
over at Angel Studios.
If you like football,if you like Faith and you
love a story of redemption,you are going to love this film.
(00:23):
It basically is.
If Rudy grewup, raised a family,
and went through a seriesof personal failures in life,
but then at the age of 59,decided to go back
and play college football,what would happen?
This film is incredible.
You are going to love it.
And today we are interviewingMike Flynt, who is
(00:45):
actually the personthe film is all about.
Angel Studios put togetheran incredible film.
We're going to show youa clip of that film,
and then we are goingto roll right into an interview
with Mike Flynt.
You are going to lovethis conversation.
Stay tuned.
Football.
The greatest game in the historyof mankind.
(01:06):
It's more than that.
It's a shot.
Hello at immortality.
I never finishedmy senior year. Why not?
I got thrown out for fighting.
And you're done.
What kind of a captaingets kicked off his own team?
I wish I could go back and do itall over again.
(01:27):
I'm eligible.
Eligible for what?
To play.
Every one of you is goingto have to earn a spot
on this team.
Just to be clear, there's nohidden camera somewhere.
No one's going to run over me.
I'll guarantee you that.
(01:48):
Okay, okay.
Yo, yo, yo, what's listeningto, man? Music?
Well, we used to listento what I say.
Now, wait, I like this.
That's something to say.
So, man, you ready for me?
By the time you're out of towndrunk, you go red and die hard.
(02:09):
But how are you doing thisat your age, man?
He's like a 59.
year old Rudy.
Oh. He's my father.
I'm coming for you, old man.
I don't want to watch himbreak his neck.
If you got hurt, it would.
Destroy every soul on this team.
What's this one?
I have to be a win.
(02:30):
It's not about winning.
I know why you have to do this.
And I'm with you.
This game, it's a second chance.
We're not definedby our successes.
We're defined by our regrets.
I've had a tonas a teammate, great
as a husband, as a dad.
I still suck.
(02:52):
What?
I don't let tonight be.
That first regret.
Will Mike Flyntfinally get his name
in the history books.
Let's make this a gamethey'll always remember.
That's you. Flynt.
We want Mike.
(03:29):
Hey, everybody.
We are so honored to haveMike Flynt joining us
to talk about his filmthat is coming out
called The Senior.
Mike, welcome to the show.
Thank you. Karen.
Thanks for having me.
I'm excited about being here.
Yeah.
So the film is kind ofabout your life story
and I want to hear all about it.
(03:50):
So share with our listenersa little bit about who you are,
what your story is,and how that inspired the film.
Well, you know, my my story is,about two different men,
one up to age, 34 was justpart of the world.
(04:10):
The man from age34 to today at 77.
Is a born again Christian.
And, you know, part of,another world.
And so, the overlap of those,those two lives, is reflected,
in the film and, my,my dad, you know, I had,
(04:36):
actually the formerCEO of K-Love radio stations.
Oh, my God, so many yearsand years ago, he said this,
this is going to be a movie,one of these days.
His name was Bill Reeves.
He said this.
This will be a movie because,it's about daddy issues.
Yeah.
And he said everybody has them.
And, so that for me,it was, I was I was raised
(05:00):
by a man thatlove me very much, but,
he brought his past experiencesfrom World War two
and the D-Day invasionand the battle of the bulge,
into his ideal, training of,of a young man
and how he felt likehe should act
(05:21):
and react in West Texaswhere, where I grew up.
And so, I had a very violentupbringing and, the, you know,
train up a child, that verse,has is a double edged sword.
You know, it, depending onhow you train him
up as they get older,they're not going to depart
(05:42):
from that.
And so, I, I was a good person.
I was not a troublemaker,but I became a trouble seeker
because, I was very good at,at fighting, and I didn't mind
getting here.
I didn't think anybodywould hit me as hard
as my dad did.
And so, in, in West Texas,you've got the roughnecks
(06:05):
of the oil field,you've got cowboys, and then you
got football.
And so if you don'tmind fighting, there'll be a lot
of opportunitiesout there. And so,
that was how my life,started out as, as a young man,
my senior year in high school,at, Permian High School, we
won state championshipat the larger schools in Texas.
(06:29):
And it was the first timethat Permian won,
a state championship.
But it startedthat winning tradition
and inspired the bookin the subsequent movie,
Friday Night Lights.
And so, then I, receiveda full football
scholarship to Sul RossState University.
(06:50):
And school is shortfor Sullivan.
Sullivan Ross was a formergovernor of Texas,
so Ross was about 100 milesfrom the Mexican border
down in deep southwest Texas.
And I was onfull scholarship there.
Sul Ross played in the LoneStar Conference,
which was one of thepremier conferences at that time
in the nation.
(07:10):
And, my sophomoreand junior years,
I had over 100 tackleseach of those years.
I had 24 tackles in one game.
And my junior year, I was an allconference linebacker.
I was, the, leading tackleron my team.
(07:31):
And I was voted team captain.
And so, coming back formy senior year, the coaches
appointed me as,to monitor the rooms
to make sure everyonewas in at curfew
as team captain.
I would confront themif they weren't.
And a couple of freshmentook exception to me
(07:52):
telling them when they couldand couldn't come and go. And,
it got physical and one of themgot hurt.
And so, the presidentof the college was called, Dr.
McNeill, called the headcoach, and,
he had me in his officethe next morning,
and he told me,he said, I've received
a call from, doctor McNeill.
(08:14):
And he said that he's heard mylast name for the last time.
He told me, he said, coach,that you are my player.
Who's going to be.
And he.
So he said, Mike,I've got to ask you,
not to be partof our team this year.
And, all the players,they already had them out
on the field.
They didn't want me interactingwith them.
And so I asked him,I said, coach have.
(08:36):
And he asked my teammateshow they feel about this.
And he said, I don't haveto ask them.
He said, I know howthey feel about it.
He said, but that's whythey're out there.
I don't want you interactingwith them either.
We've got assistant head coachesin your room
packing your things.
We want you out of townwithin the hour
and, call my dad.
(08:58):
He said, you've got to call him.
And having made us onthe highway, we'll take you
half way to Odessa.
And my dad said,you've been kicked out.
For what?
And I said, dad,I got in a fight, and,
he startedhe jumped in and started
cheering me out, and I justinterrupted him.
I said, daddy, I am exactlywhat you made me.
(09:18):
And he never brought itup again.
After that, after that day,I went on with my life,
received, my degree and,met a beautiful young coed
going to theUniversity of Texas.
We fell in love,got married, and
(09:38):
we're almost 53 yearsnow that we've been married.
And, Eileen changedmy whole life.
She led me to faith in Christ.
I became a strengthand conditioning coach
at the University of Nebraska,the University
of Oregon, Texas A&M.
And I always hada philosophy about my
my coaching that I wouldnever ask one of my athletes
(10:00):
to do something that I wasn'twilling to do myself.
So I stayed in great shape,helping other people.
And, I got out of coaching,found out that I still had
a semester of eligibility left.
Getting kicked off that teamhad come become my
greatest regret in life.
That team that hadso much potential, they went 8-3
the year before,when I was a junior,
(10:22):
we had everybody back.
We were picked to win the LoneStar Conference.
They went 4-6-1 afterI was kicked out.
So I shoulderedthat responsibility
and I never shared itwith anyone.
I just, it becamemy greatest regret in life.
And so, through happenstance,I found out that
(10:44):
I still had a semesterof eligibility left.
And all those yearsafter I quit coaching,
I tell people that notnot every journey has to have
a destination.
You know, if you've got a dream,move in that direction,
do something.
And I never quitrunning sprints.
I didn't quit lifting.
And, going throughall the athletic things
(11:07):
that I taught athletes to dowhen I was a strength coach.
And so all of a sudden,I get an opportunity to try out
for a team at 59 yearsold, I. Was like, gosh.
Yeah, I was ready.
And so by the grace of God,I was able to meet
with the head coach.
(11:28):
He listened to my story.
And then I told him, I said,I'd like to walk onto this team
as a as a linebackerbecause I feel like
if I can make this teamas a linebacker,
I can help a bunch of young menthat I don't even know.
But for me, it makes upfor those guys I let down
all those years ago.
(11:49):
And so I justneed a chance to try.
And so, I got that chance.
And by the grace of God,I was able to make that team.
Oh my gosh, what anincredible journey.
I want to justkind of pause there for a minute
because that's incredible.
I mean, oftentimes in lifewe we do have these regrets.
(12:09):
You know, we've, you know,before Christ,
our life was different.
And oftentimeswe don't get that chance
to go back and to maybe undo or,you know, redo those moments
that we were carryingso much shame and guilt about.
So this is incredible.
So you got to playafter all these years.
And at the age of 59,that's incredible.
(12:32):
So talk to us about the season.
What was it like to beback on that field and having
the love of Christin your heart?
How did that changehow you played
and how you interactedwith your teammates?
Well, the the, interaction withmy teammates was it was really,
it was something special becausethey had read
(12:53):
all of the publicity.
I mean, initially I thought,you know, who cares
about an old man going backto play college football?
Oh, man, how wrongI was about that.
And, so the media showed up in,in force and the my,
my teammates becameso defensive of me,
they got real upset when peoplewould call me
(13:13):
an old man, you know, you know,how young you play it.
So was, is that where that oldman's playing? Oh, man.
They they gotdefensive about that.
And, and so my, my timewith them was, was super special
because I had played the gameat a very high level
when I was young.
(13:34):
And I've been blessedin that I never
I was never hurt.
And so I didn't have any baggageto bring back with me.
And so when we putthose helmets on,
I went after them.
And I don't expect themto cut me any slack either.
And I did not, I didn't thinkthere was going to be enough ice
in Alpine, Texas to getthrough two-a-days.
(13:55):
I see I never played footballin a 59 year old body before.
And oh my gosh, the soreness.
I just I, you know,I just didn't think
there was any way and and as theseason wore on and the weather
got colder I couldn't stop.
I had to keep moving.
And so, but they, they interactactually with my teammates
that they couldshare things with me
(14:15):
that they wouldn'tshare with anyone else.
And then they beginto research my past,
you know, theythey begin to look back
at when I was it saw us before.
And, you know, one of themfound out that I was a Lone Star
player of the weekand that I'd made
24 tackles in one game.
And he said,how did you do that?
What would you do?
And so I was ableto share with them
(14:37):
the mind games that Ilearned from my dad,
and things that I didthat helped me in football.
And so I was able to pass that,to pass that on to them.
And it was, I would get callsfrom them on Sunday to come over
at so-and-so's house,you know, to, to watch
the game of the week,the NFL game of the week
(14:59):
or something.
They wanted me tobe there with them and so,
it was it was so rewarding.
And, and just it was everythingthat I, I prayed
that it might beif God would give me
that opportunity.
And he did, and I maximized it.
I just, I didn't wasteany of it.
(15:21):
That's incredible.
And during that time,you know, you were
you were married,you had a family.
What was it like for your familyas they watched you kind of
go through this, and relivethis experience?
What was it like for them?
Eileen, our youngest daughteris just graduating
(15:42):
from high school.
She's going to the Universityof Tennessee in Knoxville,
so Eileen’s getting readyfor orientation.
Our two oldest children married,they're gone from home.
And so we're empty nesters.
We said we're going to downsizeand we're gonna put our house
on the market, you know?
And we immediatelyhad a contract on our house.
We had 30 days.
We had to get out.
Eileen isinvolved in all of that.
(16:03):
Yeah, she's ignoring me.
She's thinking, well, the NCAAis going to tell him
he's ineligibleand he's going to
get other coaches goinglaughing out of his office.
Well, I come back from alpineand she's got a list of houses
for us to go look at.
And I said, Eileen, see,I had never shared with her.
I had never told anyonethe depth of regret
that I had over the lossof, that senior year
(16:26):
and letting those guys down and,she, she said we, we got
we got to be out in three days.
Michael, we, you know,this is serious.
And I said, Eileen, we're goingback to Texas.
I'm going back to college,you know, or I'm
going to play football.
And she just she said,I cannot believe at 59 years old
(16:47):
that you want to go backand try to play
college football, she said,I feel like I'm
married to Peter Panand then I realized
I never shared it with her.
And I said her downand I said, you know,
I've lived over half my lifewith regret over
something that I did,and now coach is going to
give me a chance to rewrite thatlast chapter
(17:08):
in my athletic career.
And I said,I may not make the team,
I may not make it,but I've got to try for me
to have the opportunityand not try.
For me, that'd be worsethan getting kicked out
the first time.
And to live the rest of my lifewondering what if?
What if I could have madethat team?
I've got to try?
And she said, okay, wow,I never knew.
(17:30):
She said, if the she was onthe other foot.
I know that,you do the same for me,
so let's go play football.
So, you know, she got on boardour children, my daughters,
they were, you know,my biggest cheerleaders,
my son, not so much.
He was more practical.
He was saying, you know, dad,you know, you just
(17:52):
you can't get risk this.
You can't.
What if.
What if you endup in a wheelchair or worse?
What about mom?
You know, and so, you know,we had to deal with that.
But he came on board.
And so, you know, my family was,they were 100% behind me, and,
you know,I couldn't have done it
(18:13):
without them, but,they were there.
That is incredible, I love that.
So how did thishow did your story end up
becoming this filmthat Angel Studios and all the
rest are involved in?
Like, how did ithow did you make that leap
to getting thison the big screen?
Well, it was, you know,it was one of those things that,
(18:36):
I was told again and again,this is going to be a movie.
There's going to be a bookand a movie.
And I thought,no, there's no way that that's
just not going to happen.
And that was never on my radar.
You know, for me,it was all about
helping those young man,you know, to make up for
those guys that I let downand so feeling.
(18:57):
And I have to just tellthis part of it because it's
not in the movie.
26 of my formerteammates from that 1971
team came back to watch meplay at home. Wow.
And we met on the 50 yardline, had a group hug, and,
they told me, we keep hearingwhere you said
(19:18):
that you've let us down.
All those years ago,we knew that
it wasn't your faultand we never blamed you
for that.
And besides, look, because youcame back to play,
we're all back together again.
And so God, in his mercy,allowed me to receive
that forgiveness that I neededfrom those former teammates to
to overcomethat greatest regret.
And so when the when the moviepeople started coming
(19:41):
in March you already,Secretariat, Miracle on Ice,
The Rookie, Invincible,you know, all those
great sports movies.
He came back and he told me,he said this, this is,
this has got to beon the big screen.
And so that started a journeythat you know, again,
it's been 18 years, but,it's one of those things where
(20:06):
when you've never prayedfor something like that,
you never ask Godfor something like that,
and it just comes along.
It's kind of a bonusfor the other things that he's
answered for you.
Then you embrace it.
And so I wanted to do everythingI could.
And so, but I one thing I didwhen the studio sent me
the contract, my attorney said,this is great, this looks good.
(20:28):
I said, okay, I want you toadd a clause in this contract
that they will not takethe Lord's name in vain,
and they will not usethe name of Jesus
in a disrespectfulmanner. And he said,
he said, Mike, you'regoing to blow this deal.
And I said, why?
And he said, because thisis Hollywood.
You're taking awaytheir creative license
when you do that.
(20:49):
And I said, well, put itput that in the contract.
He called me back and he said,they signed it.
He's the one who signed it.
They're ready to go.
So you know that,we it's it's a PG film.
There is no language in it.
And, for the most part,it's, it's true.
There are some things in therethat are Hollywood, but,
(21:09):
you know, you know,for the most part, it's,
it's a true story.
That is incredible.
I love that, and you've got somepretty incredible
actors and actressesthat are in the film.
So who, who is actually castas you in this film?
Well, Michael Chiklis,Oh my goodness.
(21:29):
Yes. Yeah.
The Thing, or The Shield,the TV series, you know.
And hey, this guy was, amazing.
Oh my gosh. Yeah.
I just, you know,I couldn't believe we were there
for the whole filming.
Eileen and I were there for the,you know, the 52 days
that they filmed forthe movie and, lot of
(21:51):
interaction withso many of the people.
There were probably 150or 180 people total all around
during this process moving.
And it was filmedduring football season.
And so we had fivedifferent stadiums that we had,
jockeyed between because,you know, games
and things were going onpractices.
So, but, that whole,the whole group, Mary Stuart
(22:15):
Masterson playing Eileen,and she was incredible.
Rob Corddry plays, the coach,you know, and, you know,
the whole cast we have,we have so many
young actors thatMichael Chiklis was mentoring
these young actors.
But you, you're just thethe performance
(22:38):
that these young actors make.
It's incredible.
We were so impressed.
Oh, my gosh, he was just,he was just amazing.
And so we are so pleased with,Angel Studios, everything
that they've done, the actorsthat were involved
and the effort that they putforth, it was, for us,
(22:59):
it was a God thing,the whole thing.
That is incredible.
And I love the factthat this movie
is really a story that so manyare going to relate to,
and maybe even be ableto see the story of redemption
and the story of forgiveness andand our Lord and Savior
through the film,because, I mean, people
(23:21):
that are not Christiansmay go see this film,
and it is so moving thatthey're going to walk away
feeling something.
And I'm sure your hopeis to lead people to Christ
that don't havea relationship with him.
And how does ithow does it feel to know
that you may havethat kind of impact
through this film,through your story
and being willing to share thatwith the world?
(23:42):
Oh, that, that would be, a dreamcome true.
You know, when I wentback to play, there were
there was so much publicityand men would walk up to me.
It was mostly menand sometimes women,
and they would recognize me,and the men would offer to shake
hands and say, are you Mike?
And, I said, yeah,and I'd have to ask them
their name,then tell me their age.
(24:04):
I'm 62 or I'm 57.
And so they start telling meabout things
that they were doingbecause I was following my dream
and my heart.
And so they were tryingthey were thinking, hey,
if Mike can do that, so can I.
And so at every opportunityI would try to share
my faith and,you know, I just wanted
(24:25):
people to know becauseso many people
have regrets in life.
And say, you can'tchange the past.
I knew that I couldn't go backand undo what I had done,
but for me, I could changethe meaning of that past
by doing something positivefor those young men
(24:45):
that I didn't knowand helping them.
For me, it was a substitutefor those guys that I let down,
and so I was able tofocus on helping someone
right now, today,to make up for what
I've done in the past.
And God honored that.
And as I said, I receivedthe forgiveness
(25:05):
from those formerteammates that,
they just put it overthe top. And so.
Yeah, it, the whole story,you know, is, is Christ centered
and it's but it's donein such a way that I hope
millions of non-Christiansgo see it,
because everybody lovesfootball. Yes.
(25:26):
Yeah. And.
And so, it's just a greata great backdrop.
And, you're going to lovethe acting in it.
It's amazing.
It's incredible.
When does the film come outso people can get their tickets
and, preview the film?
September 19th and,thousands of theaters
all over the nation.
(25:47):
So awesome.
September 19th.
The Senior.
The Senior.
Awesome.
Well, thank you so much, Mike,for sharing your story,
your testimony.
I know so many aregoing to be reached
with this filmand hopefully inspired,
led to the Lord and justleaving the film like a good
wholesome storythat really just, you know,
(26:08):
I think is going to movepeople's hearts and maybe,
you know, give some peoplesome inspiration
that they need toto do something.
Maybe they thoughtthey never could do.
I just I'm so excitedfor this film to come out.
Thank you for joining us today.
Oh, Karen, thank you so muchfor having me.
Of course, of course.
Thank youto all of our listeners
for joining this episodeof The Covenant Eyes Podast.
(26:29):
Take care. God bless.
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