Episode 051: Faith on the Field with Tyler Sapit and Clayton Birdsall

This week on the podcast, Pastor Eric sits down to chat with Tyler Sapit and Clayton Birdsall, two members of the Bemidji State University football team, about how their faith impacts their lives as student athletes.

Stock Media provided by MaxRazumov / Pond5

Episode Transcript

(00:18):
Hey folks, you're listening to episode 51 of the deeply devoted
podcast A Ministry of the E FreeChurch of Bemidji, MN.
My name is Eric Nygren. I'm one of the pastors on staff
here at E Free Bemidji. And today on our podcast, I've
invited two members of our own Bemidji State University
football team who have been joining us for worship this fall

(00:41):
at our church to join me on thisepisode.
And so with me today in the sortof makeshift, deeply devoted
podcast studio are Tyler Sapitt.Am I saying that right?
OK. And then Clayton Birdsall, am I
saying that right? OK Well, I'm excited to have you
guys here with me today so our church family can kind of get to
know you guys. We're going to just have a

(01:02):
conversation, hear a little bit even about your face story
today. So Tyler Clayton, welcome to
our. Podcast, thanks for having us.
Yeah, it's we were just saying that as soon as you put the
headphones on and you get in front of the microphone, it
sounds official. It sounds like you're on the
radio or on a podcast here. So, but guys, let's let's just

(01:24):
kind of jump in here. We want to kind of start by just
getting to know both of you a little bit.
Would you guys just mind tellingus a little bit of who you are,
where you from and what's your studying at BSU and you guys can
arm wrestle over who goes first?All right, I'm Clayton.
I'm from small town in just Westof Alexandria, Hoffman, MN.

(01:49):
I I'm studying finance, businessfinance at Bemidji State.
Yeah. What else?
What were the questions? Yeah, so, okay, so what's your?
So there's a lot there. When you graduate, what are you
hoping to do with that degree orhow did you even decide that was
the degree for you? Well.
I was originally a PE major and then, I don't know, I just heard

(02:12):
some stories from professors andsome other teachers I know back
home and I, I, I don't think it was for me.
So I switched it up, right. I went to a field that was a
little more broad. So because I wasn't 100% sure
what I wanted to do since I wentaway from teaching.
So I'm not 100% sure yet what I want to do, but I know of
something in the business field and and yeah, so hopefully I can

(02:33):
find something in that area. Yeah, I I don't think most
college students have any idea what they want to do.
I I switched my major in my fifth year of college, so ended
up taking six years. I don't recommend it, but yeah,
you never know what you're goingto, what you're going to end up
with. Tyler, how about you?
Yeah, well I might be going intomy 6th year too, just based on

(02:54):
injuries what not, But I I'm from Batavia, IL.
It's like 4550 minutes from Chicago.
And so yeah, I came up here, play some football and go to
school. I'm studying project management
with a emphasis in construction.So not really sure what I want
to do with that either. If I do want to be a project

(03:16):
manager, I know we got to do internships.
They offer a great opportunity for that up here, which is
awesome to really get you into the field to see how it is.
But I kind of just grew up and wanted to be an operator, like a
heavy equipment operator. So we'll see if that's that's an
opportunity. I know there's a lot of that in
the Chicagoland area. Good opportunity.
So, but it all comes down to where I want to live and all

(03:38):
that stuff. So I just have, you know, just
giving it to God, you know, and letting him work.
But yeah, we'll see what happens.
You see yourself ending up back in the Chicagoland area if you
can, or wherever God has you. Yeah, I don't know.
I just know that I hear a lot ofparents complaining about the
taxes and everything like that and in Illinois and how it's,

(03:59):
it's just not, not necessarily the most ideal place to live,
but it's, you know, I do love Illinois.
Illinois, it's kind of home. But you know, it's, I don't
know. We'll see.
Yeah, when I was in seminary, I went to Trinity in the
Chicagoland area. So my wife and I were there for
about 6 years and lived in the in the burbs of of Chicago and

(04:22):
we loved it. There's a lot of things we miss
about it, and then there's a lotlike the traffic and the crazy
busyness of it that we don't miss at all.
So yeah. So does that mean are you a
Chicago sports fan? Yeah, I would say so.
The Bears are doing actually pretty good this.
Year they they are. They're not too bad, yeah.
Yeah, I enjoy it. And I haven't really watched
much hockey or basketball, but Ido stick to a lot of the

(04:44):
football, so I know baseball. The Cubs are doing pretty good,
I think from the last time I checked.
But. Yeah, they made it to the
layoffs. They they got bounced but but
hey making it to the post seasonis better than nothing.
Yeah, exactly. Right.
Well, what, what brought you guys to BSU?
So you, you came from Chicago and you came from Minnesota
here. So what What brought you to BSU

(05:04):
and how did you know that this was the school for you?
I think what brought me here mostly was just football.
That's kind of was my whole goalwas to play college football.
Yeah. And that's ultimately Bemidji
State gave me a good opportunityand I wasn't Harmison sure when
they when they gave me the offerthat I was going to come here.
But I took my official visit andmy family loved it.

(05:27):
I loved it. And I remember we were in the
car and we prayed about it. And we're like, if this is like
the right spot, like make it evident.
And after, like the last meeting, we walked out and my
mom was like, well, what do you think?
And I was like, I really, I really liked it.
And yeah, so then I was like, I think I'm just going to commit.

(05:47):
So we walked back inside and I committed on the spot.
So it was. It was pretty cool.
OK. Have you ever heard, I mean,
you're you're from Minnesota. Were you familiar with Bemidji
before you got up here or? So I was familiar with Bemidji
because I played them in high school.
I played the high school and, and on like social media and
stuff. I was following a lot of the D2
schools. So I saw that Bemidji was on the

(06:07):
rise and they're, they're havinga lot of good seasons right in a
row. So I, I, I knew about them and
it was just kind of fun to come up here and see what the culture
was about. And yeah, and the coaching, the
coaching staff is great. So yeah, that was a big part of.
It and it was the right fit for sure.
And you knew great, great. Tyler, what about you?
What what, what do you think brought you to BSU?
Well, I, it was kind of AI don'tknow a series of events that

(06:32):
unfolded. I, I didn't really have much
looks in high school up until mysenior year and then I didn't
get my first offer until maybe like the third game of the
season, which is just kind of rare.
And I went throughout the whole season.
My buddy's dad, my buddy was a really good wrestler in high
school and his dad helped me in the recruiting process.
He has like a little side gig onthe side.

(06:53):
So he was sending out my film, sending out some emails to all
these coaches and stuff and thenhad a bunch of schools reach out
and a bunch from the NSIC. And I'd never heard of these
schools before my life. I was like, I was like Bemidji,
Mankato, who are these guys? You know, it's like, but yeah,
so I, I was like, well, I don't know, it's kind of just judging

(07:14):
a book by its cover, but yeah, Idon't know.
I Bemidji just for some reason stuck out and I took an official
visit here and I came up with a buddy from high school and it
was just, it was awesome up here.
You know, I mean, like, how manyschools do you get to go to that
are right in the lake and in theNorthwoods?
It's, it's just, it's beautiful up here.
Opportunities to fish and hunt that I haven't had.

(07:34):
And Illinois. So I was like, well, and then I
looked it up and I'm like, well,you know, Bemidji seems like a
pretty good team. And yeah, it's it's just, it's
been awesome, so. Yeah, depending on what time of
year you come up here, it can bepretty incredible.
I mean, and and it's that kind of first impression.
I know the first time we came upto Bemidji, it was like late
spring, March or April or something.

(07:56):
And it was one of those unusual like 70° days in March for some
reason. So we were, we were a little
spoiled, probably a little unusual for, for spring or
something like that. But they, they, I know they,
they do a lot of official visitsright in the middle of like
January. Yeah, that's, that's, that's
when I took mine was right in January.
It was cold, but it was it was super cool.

(08:17):
And yeah. Yeah, it'll get you up here
right when it's freezing cold. So you're like, oh man, I really
don't want to go here, but you know, it's suck it.
Out So this is reality. Take it or leave it.
Yeah, exactly. So they give it to you all right
when you come up for an official.
Visit. There you go.
Yeah. Cool.
Well, Tyler, let's kind of go more personal here.
Would you mind just kind of telling us a little bit about

(08:37):
your, your spiritual background,you know, just even how you came
to, to where you are in your faith today?
Yeah, I guess I grew up, I'm notsure how much detail you want or
how personally you want to get, but I grew up kind of on the
Catholic side of things. My grandma was a super

(08:58):
practicing Catholic. She still is.
And then my mom kind of, it kindof just deteriorated a little
bit. You know, she wasn't as much as
my grandma, but like, I grew up going to a private Catholic
school to like in 3rd grade, went to CCD, Sunday school, all
that, and then ended up transferring to a public school
just because the private school was an insane amount of money.

(09:22):
Yeah, no kidding. Well, I don't know what the
point of going there is, but public schools, I mean, it was
fun, but obviously you get into a lot of like, you know, people
pleasing and class clown and, you know, you're not there for
school. You're there to make friends and
do all the dumb stuff that, you know, young kids do.
So that was a lot of me. I was a very, very, very

(09:42):
troubled kid. Like, I don't even know how many
babysitters I went through, but a ton.
And, you know, just in and out of the principal's office,
Dean's office all the way up till high school, getting in
fights, doing stupid stuff out of school, just, you know, all
this. But if you talk to my family,
like, they would have been like,well, you know, like, he was

(10:03):
definitely like on fire for God.Because at that point, like in
school, there's always like a grade level where kids start to
like, fall apart. And they were like, my mom was
always telling me how like, I would kind of stick with it, you
know what I mean? Like, I'd always be interested.
But then I kind of just ended upgetting to that point where I
was like, well, you know, I don't care about this anymore.
I'm just here to have fun. But yeah, then middle school was

(10:26):
rough. Same thing.
High school, it was until about maybe I think start of junior
year, I don't know what. It wasn't anything crazy.
I just started getting back in the word a little bit, reading
the Bible a little bit more. No one told me.
I just kind of got back into it.I'm still going to like a
Catholic Church. My grandma just cuz I didn't
know anything about the church. Yeah, I was like, well, it's a

(10:47):
building. Someone else is going that I
know. So I'm just going to, you know,
tag along there and then got involved, I'm not sure how, with
this little church in Saint Charles, which is the town 15
minutes where my grandma actually lives.
Oh, that's what it was. A couple players I was with, a
couple students went to this Bible study like a youth group
on Wednesdays. So I really got involved with a

(11:08):
bunch of people there. It was awesome.
Met some very, very spiritual people who had definitely some
gifts from God. And one of them's over in, I
think, Oregon or England right now, sharing the gospel with
people. But he's an awesome guy.
And so, yeah, that was that. And then senior year just kind
of went through a very, very tough time.
Like, mentally, yeah. I don't know how much detail you

(11:31):
want, but just super like, you know, it was like this guy I
haven't really met. I was dating this girl at the
time and it was her friend's boyfriend.
He was very kind of ill, kind ofmessed up, wanted to do a bunch
of drugs and stuff and try and find a way out.
But he ended up, they ended up breaking up because it was just

(11:53):
kind of getting too deep. And then he ended up taking his
life. And then I talked to this guy
maybe twice. You know, I mean, growing up,
I've seen so many bad things. I've, you know, heard so many
bad things. None of it ever affected me.
For some reason this did. And it was the weirdest thing.
And I sit down and I'm like going down this spiral of like,
am I thinking like, what was he thinking like before he did
this? Like what happened?

(12:14):
You know, like, why was he doingthis?
You know, just kind of, it just kind of shocked me that he would
just, you know, take his life one day.
And then me just being the overthinker I am started
thinking like, oh, shoot, am I thinking like that now?
You know, am I, am I going down this path?
Like, am I acting like this? Didn't tell anybody.
Didn't even tell my girlfriend at the time, you know, then tell
family. And I was like, wow, this is

(12:36):
actually very scary. So I'd go to work, I'd go to
practice, I'd come home, I'd do all these family gatherings, you
know, and just down this rabbit hole of, you know, like, like
suicidal thoughts pretty much. And I was like, wow, this is
this is scary because I'm like, I've never had to deal with
this. And I'm like, you know, the
scariest thought was probably like, is this really what people
think about before, You know, Yeah, they take their life and

(12:57):
I'm like, wow, this is nuts. And I was, I was at the point
where I'm just now starting to get back in the word.
So I was kind of being a hypocrite about it and being
like, why I'm not And am I not going to God?
Yeah. That's where, like Bemidji
actually came into play, too. It was awesome.
I come up here still going through this, but I had my own
room, my own dorm room. Yeah.
And I'm like, let's just, you know, let's just lock in and,

(13:19):
you know, like, deal with this with the Lord, you know, I mean.
And I come up here in my own dorm room and I spent a lot of
nights like finding out what it means to have a relationship
with God and praying constantly.I had my own room so I could
play worship music on the TV andjust get down on my knees and
just worship God and get in Scripture a lot.
And I was doing all this like through fall camp and stuff like

(13:39):
that. It was, it was just an amazing
opportunity. And it wasn't an instant flip,
but it was within a couple months, it started like
dwindling down. And I'd set days where I'd be
like, wow, like I didn't even think about any of that stuff.
Yeah. The first time.
Yeah. And I'm like, this is amazing.
God is real. And I'm like, he's definitely
helping me. So that's what I, that's what I
found out when I just realized, like, you know, this is amazing.

(14:02):
I wasn't going to church for like a year.
And then Clayton mentioned E Free and he's been going here
for a little bit longer than I have.
But this has just been, you know, E Free has been an
amazing, like, family atmosphereand church family.
So I got to realize what it means to be, like, part of the
church family instead of a church building.
Yeah. And so, yeah, it's a little bit

(14:22):
about my faith. Amen, Amen.
Well, that and that's what I love just kind of asking people
that that question is, is, you know, each of us just has a
different story. And one of the things I I say a
lot is, you know, we, we think about our story and then we
think about our ourselves as themain character in our story.
But but ultimately God is the main character of our story.

(14:44):
And so it's just a matter of when, when those two come
together and how God works and does some of that transforming
work in your life and whether it's quick and instant or it's a
long drawn out process. So thanks for sharing that,
Tyler. Just it gives us a little
picture of kind of how God's been been working in your life
up to here, Clayton, how about you?

(15:04):
Would you consider yourself a, you know what, what sort of
your, your spiritual background?Tell us a little bit about it.
Yeah, you got to where you are in your faith.
Yeah, so I, I grew up in a church.
Both my parents took me to church ever since as long as I
can remember. And I'd say I'd, I got, let's
see, I got baptized at like 12 or 13, I believe.

(15:27):
And I'd say I, I, I had a, had adecent, decent relationship with
the Lord. And like, kind of like Tyler
said, once you get to like that middle school, high school time,
it like the people pleasing the,the like finding other things.
And I don't know, I'd say, and Ididn't have in, especially in

(15:47):
high school and middle school, Ididn't have like the strongest
community. And not a lot of my friends went
to church or none of their families really went to church.
A lot of those friends came frombaseball, football, basketball,
all those things. So those are the people I was
around all year long. Yeah.
But yeah, no, I, I, I would say I, I still, I still kept my

(16:10):
faith, but it wasn't, it wasn't where it should have been or
needed to be at the time. I'd say, yeah, I still attended
church. I still went to Wednesday nights
at church and. Yeah, all the things.
And what's crazy was so we lived, we lived in Big Lake, MN
from I mean, I, I went to schoolthere from kindergarten to 10th

(16:32):
grade and then we moved out to the Alexandria area.
And so once we moved out, once we moved, it was kind of a when
my parents first started talkingabout moving, it was I was very
sceptical like these, like I have all my friends here.
Yeah, all the things like established in the school, like
I know all the teachers and I know all the, all the people in

(16:53):
the town and, and everybody knows me just from all the all
my different, all different sports and all the things.
And it was just kind of weird toleave at that time in my life
just because it was, it was so late in my high school career.
Yeah, I, I was already kind of established in the community.
But yeah, I know my, it was super cool.

(17:13):
My, we got the opportunity to take over my great grandma's
land out in Hoffman, MN and my parents prayed hard and long and
hard about it. And that's where they felt they
were called to be. And so we moved out there and it
couldn't have been a better move.
It was, it was honestly really great.

(17:34):
So we got there in the summer and I started lifting and stuff
at the high school and still kind of my, my faith was still
kind of, I'd say it was still there, but it was, it wasn't, it
wasn't the main focus in my life.
Yeah. I was just focused on sports
really. And but so we moved out there

(17:55):
and I got to get started knowingsome people and obviously I was
still the new the new kid, whichwas weird.
You always, you go, you go. When you go to school for so
long and you see all the new kids come in and it's not, you
don't ever think you'd be the new kid.
Yeah, that that's you. Yeah, right.
Yeah. Yeah, it was super weird so, but
it was, it was good. It was a good transition.
A lot of those people welcomed me in and it was, it was super

(18:18):
good. That was.
So then football season started and I was supposed to, I was
supposed to start right away andthat was super cool.
They were a little bit bigger school.
And yeah, I know it was, it was exciting.
And the, the Monday before the first game, I ended up tearing
my knee. So I tore my meniscus.
And at the time I'd say my, my identity was definitely in

(18:41):
sports, in football, 'cause that's, that's what I was good
at. That's especially with moving
like that's how people knew me like because that's what I like.
That's when I came and I that was, I played football and
that's yeah. So that was that was a big part
of that. It was my identity was in sports
and and stuff. And so that was kind of a a
shocker when all of a sudden it just kind of all got taken away

(19:03):
and I couldn't play that year. Fast forward a couple weeks
after that, I, we, let's see, weended up, we ended up having a
house fire. So the house we, we moved into,
we ended up and ended up burningdown and most of our stuff was
in there and it was pretty crazy.
Praise God that none of my family members or my dog or no

(19:24):
one was in there. We were at the, we were at the
rental at the time because we were going to, we were going to
remodel, But so everything around me just kind of was
crumbling. It was, it was crazy.
And it's like, it was like, why did we move?
Like it was like asking God like, why, why did we move for
me to come and get hurt and our and our new house to be to, to
burn down because of the electrical fire.

(19:46):
And yeah, it was just a lot of asking God why.
And I feel like that was kind ofthe first time, not first time,
but like, I truly like went to God, like like seriously.
And and that that next week I had a teammate ask me if I want
to come to Bible study with them.
And that was like looking back on it, such a God thing.
It was. It was super cool.

(20:08):
But yeah, so I ended up going toBible study with them and it
started off as a small group andwe we grew it pretty big all the
way through my senior year. So we had it going for a while
and had some different people lead it.
And it was, it was super cool. But I think that's really where
my faith journey kind of took off.
It was kind of kind of stagnant and, and kind of plateaued for a
while, I'd say through middle school and high school and just

(20:30):
kind of stayed there. And which, yeah, but as if
you're not growing it, obviouslyit's going the other direction,
right? It just it, it, Yeah.
So it, I was kind of back and forth through there.
And finally when I, when we moved and had all that stuff
happen, I really the only other option was Selena I got and I
felt like that was a big thing for me.
And that's kind of where it tookoff.

(20:51):
And then coming up here, got involved in FCA, in FCA with
Tyler and, and Derek Thompson. But, and then obviously I
didn't, I didn't come here the first semester.
I think, I don't think I can thefirst semester just kind of
getting my bearing set in schooland just kind of figuring it all
out. And I didn't really, there's a

(21:12):
lot of churches in the area. I was like, I don't, I'm not
really sure, but my aunt and uncle went to school at Oak
Hills and they actually know Jim, they know Jim Hodgson.
So so they recommended, they recommended E free.
And so then I started coming here, I think in the winter,
either either December of 22 or January of 23.

(21:35):
So OK. Yeah, no, that's kind of where
it's been and it's, yeah, it's been, it's been awesome ever
since. Nice, nice.
Well, and you and you both kind of mentioned that along along
your journey, you know, whether getting connected with a Bible
study or something like that or finding a church, you know, that
that those were opportunities where God brought about some
growth when you were yeah, with just with other believers

(21:58):
encouraging your faith. But I'm kind of curious, just
even at Bemidji State, you know,sometimes you can really feel
like you're on an island spiritually.
I'm kind of curious guys, like how would you describe the, the
spiritual atmosphere on campus? Do you think students at at BSU,
are they, are they open to spiritual things?

(22:21):
Are they open to the gospel? What, what, what kind of a sense
of, if I can just say general spirituality on campus.
Do you do you see there? Yeah, I don't know.
It's it's a little bit tougher just because, I mean, now you
say that I feel a little bit convicted because I haven't

(22:41):
really. I've talked to a handful of
students on campus about the gospel, but more of it's just
with the football team, you know?
What I mean? But in the, in the sense of
students, I would say that the students who I've talked to, and
a lot of it is like, yeah, they're, they're pretty open to
it. You know, they're, they're,
yeah, let me hear about this. You know, who's Jesus and what

(23:02):
is the gospel or, or they have like a different sense of the
gospel or a different religion maybe, or something like that.
I'm like, well, hey, can I sharewhat, what I've learned or what
I think? And they're always open to like,
yeah, you know, what is it? And as far as the football team
goes, because that's where a lotof I think Clayton and his
ministry is. Yeah.
Is yeah, they're pretty open to it.

(23:23):
Yeah. I mean, if they might, I think
they might close the door prettyquick at times, But they, you
know, they'll sit back and they'll hear what, what I have
to say or what Clayton has to say or what other guys on the
team has to say. And it's, it's pretty awesome to
see just they'll always be open to hear.
It's just getting them to like kind of act on it, you know what

(23:44):
I mean? Like, hey, come to church or me
or hey, come to Bible study, come to FCA.
It's, you know, that's where it kind of struggles a little bit,
but that's not saying that they might be, you know, growing on
their own first at their home orsomething like that where I'm
not there, you know what I mean?Right.
So it's like, yeah. But I'd say yeah, they're pretty
open. And it's awesome to talk about
Jesus with a team cuz I had thatin high school so.

(24:07):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Clayton, anything you, Dan?
Yeah, I'd agree with Tyler. Not a lot of our especially me,
I don't have, I don't have any in person classes at the school
right now. It's all it's all online with
the business major. It's such a different world from
what I had. Yeah, it's really, it's really
weird. I wish I had some more in person
classes. I feel like it's a lot easier to
learn. But yeah, so I'm not, I'm not

(24:28):
really on campus a whole lot of most time I'm at my house or at
football. So it's it's kind of limited to
that. But like Tyler said, with the
football team, I think that's where our biggest ministry is at
and just talking with the guys on the team.
And one of the coolest things islike when I, when I first got up
here, I didn't really, I didn't really seem like many guys had a

(24:50):
faith. And it was kind of like my
freshman year especially, no onewas too open about it, I'd say.
But this, like just this fall camp, we had a lot of new guys
come in and we started doing a A-Team prayer before each
practice during fall camp, whichwas super cool.
And you just talk about like guys being open to it.

(25:11):
It started off as, I don't know,Tyler, what would you say?
Like 10, 1015 guys, maybe less, maybe less than that, maybe 10
to 15 guys or less. On the first, first day we
started the prayer and it just each day it grew and it was, it
was super cool to see 'cause I don't know, one, one day we had
to have had close to half or 2/3of the team, yeah, in a circle

(25:34):
out there at the 50 yard line just praying before practice.
And I just thought that was super cool to see 'cause like
that kind of goes back to our guys open to it.
And it seems like a lot of guys are.
And whether they always show it or act on it, it's they're
definitely their hearts are opentoo.
And we just have to keep pouringinto guys and just continue that

(25:54):
going. Yeah, yeah.
Maybe just to kind of piggyback off that a little bit, how do
you guys see your faith shaping you as an athlete?
And, and just even when you hearmaybe the term Christian
athlete, what, what comes to mind?

(26:15):
How? How do you think faith shapes
you as as an athlete? That's a good question.
How does it, how does faith shape me as an athlete?
One of the biggest things I've seen is that I just ever since
the first injury, I've basicallylike, I've just let go and let

(26:35):
God basically it's, it's not, it's not ultimately nothing.
Nothing is anything. Nothing is worth what I have in
eternal life with Jesus is. And nothing's as big of a deal
as like being with the Lord. So like, I got, I got hurt again

(26:55):
this spring, tore my meniscus again and had surgery on it
again. And like, I was just, as soon as
it happened, I, I pretty much knew.
I pretty much knew what it was before they even told me what it
was. And I, I just had so much peace
because I know at the end of theday that God's got a plan for
me. Yeah.
And I just made it 1000 times easier.
I knew I was going to, I was going to have surgery and I was
going to rehab it back and, and,and God willing, I was going to

(27:18):
be back to playing football in the fall again.
And, and that's where I'm at nowis getting to play football,
which is amazing. And thank God for that.
And it's just, it's just it you get your, you have so much more
of a sense of peace and, and purpose.
Like it's and guys, guys that like when I didn't play like
first couple of years, it's it made it, it made it easier

(27:41):
because I knew that when my time, when like when God wanted
me there to play, like I'd, I'd be playing and yeah.
And glorifying him in that and, and the season of not playing, I
was there to glorify him in that.
And yeah, it's just, it makes iteasier to trust the process.
I think some guys kind of get lost in the process and, and
just want outcomes, just want outcomes 'cause then they're

(28:02):
working hard. And all of us, all of us put in
so much work towards this. But in reality, God's, God's
timing is perfect. That's, that's what I've learned
over the years. And his timing is absolutely
perfect. And yeah, it's just that's
what's made it so much. That's what's made it such great
to play football and have a relationship with Jesus.
That's just the biggest thing. Yeah, Yeah.

(28:22):
It gives a little bit better perspective on, yeah, as you're
just saying, what's ultimately important, not that the things
that you're doing now aren't important, but what is what is
ultimately important and how does that factor in?
Yeah, yeah, exactly. You know, And so you guys, I
know you guys have had connections with fellowship with
Christian athletes. So Tyler, just that idea of of

(28:45):
Christian athlete, what, what does that mean to you and how do
you see maybe faith shaping your, your athletics?
Yeah, that was well said, Clear.But for me, it's, I mean, I, I
got to injury my sophomore year of college at Hermione too.
I was out for the season. And that was kind of like the
moment where I realized like, oh, shoot, like I'm, I'm

(29:07):
idolizing it too, You know, I mean, like, I'm, I'm very sport
oriented right now too, even after like overcoming this huge
spiritual warfare battle, you know, I mean, with Christ.
And it's like, I'm still in football.
So it was like it took me a couple weeks to realize, OK,
hey, my season's done. So now it's like, what am I
going to do now? But also as an opportunity to be

(29:28):
like to just kind of overlook where I'm at in my sport and
faith, faith and sport journey. And it, it allowed me to be
like, I want the, I want the Lord over this all.
And so, yeah, it was, it was eyeopening and it was a great
opportunity, I think to overcomethat with the Lord.

(29:48):
And then just going on from there on out, I was like, well,
you know, not every practice is guaranteed and not every game is
guaranteed. So it's like, let me just go out
there and, you know, play as if it's my last, which changed my
sport outlook on it. But also it was like, OK, well
now it doesn't really matter what happens, you know what I
mean? It's like whatever happens,
happens if, yeah, if I play good, if I don't play good, if

(30:10):
we win, if we lose, it doesn't matter.
You know what I mean? It's like I'm here to have fun.
I'm here to share the gospel with teammates.
I'm here to represent Jesus Christ to the guys who have
maybe never heard it. Yeah, which I'm not perfect at,
but it's it's just been amazing to have that mindset to go out
there and it takes a lot of the stress off because college

(30:31):
football's a very, I'd say business oriented sport now.
And it's not like high school football where it's like you go
out there Friday night, have funwith the brothers and, you know,
play in front of a town now. It's like, you know, everything
is watched, everything is everything you do is monitored.
And it's like it's very get stressful at times.
But if you just, you know, let go and let go like kind of

(30:52):
Clayton said, it's just like, you know, it takes a lot of the
stress off and it takes a lot ofthe pressure off.
And, you know, you can just go out there and, you know, have
fun and play a sport that God's placed you in and, you know,
just do it all for the glory of God.
Colossians 317. So it's, yeah, it's, yeah.
It's definitely the epitome of my sports journey now so.

(31:12):
Yeah, well, I and I appreciate how you you both kind of said it
in a different way. Just you know, how God can use
something difficult like an injury for his glory and for
your spiritual growth. Tyler, you, you mentioned, you
know that you recognize maybe that that it there was an idol
in your life. Clayton, you you mentioned that,

(31:34):
you know, it was kind of connected to your identity.
It makes me think Tim Keller always used to say, you know,
you can identify an idol in yourlife when if something is taken
away from you and you start to say, is my life over?
Is, I mean, is, is that it, you know, and, and do you feel like
you're, you know, my, my whole world is built around this

(31:57):
thing. And then if it's taken away from
me, who am I? Yeah.
Loss of identity or, you know, something like that.
So it's not that we wish those things on us.
I mean, nobody wants an injury. Nobody wants to go through
suffering and trials and things like that.
But how God can use those thingsto grow us.
Yeah, in our, in our faith and, and, and to mature us there.

(32:18):
So, yeah, so I mean, obviously with athletics and you know,
it's always a good reminder you guys are student athletes and
and you've got life even outsideof that.
So how do you guys find balance in in your studies in athletics,
in just everyday life and your spiritual life?

(32:39):
How do you how do you get into rhythms of balance?
What what works for you? Guys, it's it's not always easy.
I'll start with that. It's, it's, it's, it's not
always the easiest thing. It's yeah, I mean, wake up, do
some homework and you go to practice and got work after

(32:59):
practice. And, and and it sounds, it
sounds bad to say, but you got to, you got to find time for God
too and all of that. And it, it sometimes, sometimes
it always doesn't happen, which I've been really working out
lately. It's you get so caught up in the
busyness of, of work, school, football.

(33:19):
Yeah. And like, why, why is it so hard
to make time for, for what I should ultimately be focusing on
is God. So I just, I've been working on
that a lot lately. It's like picking up my Bible
each and every day and, and setting aside time to, to read
the Bible and pray has been a big part of, of trying to fit,
trying to, trying to be intentional with my time with

(33:43):
God and not just fly through a, a passage or, or read a couple
verses in the morning or, or just just pray before meals.
Like just setting aside time to actually intentional time to, to
spend with him. What I like to do is wait in the
mornings. Sometimes I'll just, I'll read
like just a little bit just to, just to get started in the day,

(34:05):
just 'cause I feel like that's agood way to get started.
I want to start, I want to startreading a little bit more in the
morning, like waking up a littleearly, because sometimes it's
hard to sacrifice sleep. But Yep, it's, it's something I,
I want to try to get better AT. And, but, and then at night is a
big thing. I always, I always read my Bible
and I, I write in a journal every night.

(34:27):
And I think that's, that's really helped me stay focused on
God, especially in the midst of busyness.
It's just kind of my time with him and just it, it makes it,
it, it makes life so much better.
Like there's, you have so much more peace 'cause there's times
that I'll go a little while without reading my Bible and I'm
like, oh, why? Like why am I like anxious about

(34:47):
this or why am I, why am I stressing about this?
And, and I'm like, wait, I haven't read my Bible in a
couple days. Like it's just, it's, it's just
staying consistent is the best thing you can do just to do
that. And just always, yeah, the
biggest thing is just finding time and set aside time to be
intentional with the Lord. Yeah, yeah.

(35:08):
Heather, how about you? How do you find that that
balance between everything that you all your responsibilities
and and you even your relationship with the Lord?
Yeah, there's, I heard this, this analogy from a pastor and I
love this analogy. I shared it with quite a few
people. But if you think of your life as
a dresser and all the drawers are like major things in your

(35:29):
life. So like you start off like God's
like the first drawer, it's the top drawer.
And then you get into a relationship and other
relationships, number one. And God moves down a drawer and
it's like, and then you get married and then you have a kid
and God's just slowly working. It's his way down.
It's like God doesn't want to bea drawer.
He wants to be the entire dresser.
So like whatever, whatever drawers at the top, God's a part

(35:51):
of that the whole way. God's the center of your
marriage is the center of your, your childhood.
And it's like God's the center of football for us.
Or maybe it's school or work andit's, and I've been thinking
about that. I'm like, that's awesome.
Because if I go out there for every practice and I'm like, and
I try and pray before every liketeam session or something like
that. And I'm like, Lord, just let's,
let's just go out there and let's have some fun.
Let's do it for you. Lord.

(36:12):
It's like that's, that's huge. And then if I, you know, in my
school work, whatever the case is, it's like same thing in a
relationship. It's the same thing having got
at the center, then it's like God is the entirety of my life
instead of just being like, you know, a drawer.
Yeah, in the midst of a bunch ofdifferent other stuff, which so

(36:34):
yeah, I think that's a huge thing that's been helping me a
lot because on those days we like you can't find time to get
in the in the in the word or something like that or have some
time. Not that it's like a workspace
righteousness, but it's like I want, I want because I know the
days that if I miss out on spending some quality intimate
time with the Lord, it's like it's like shoot, like I wanted

(36:55):
to like it just makes me feel sobad.
Not because like I'm like great,I just lost favor in God's eyes.
It's just I want to spend a relationship with God and and I
know I don't do it enough. You know, I mean, like when you
think about eternity with God, you're thinking about every
single day, all day, even thoughthere's not like necessarily
days. It's just an endless amount of
time praising the Lord. It's like, and I'm here trying

(37:17):
to find half an hour, 45 minutes, an hour, right?
I mean, it's like, right, I needto do that.
I could do so much more to spendtime with the Lord.
Again, not like a. More right?
Not to earn it, but exactly. Yeah, a missed opportunity.
Exactly right. Yep.
Yeah. So I think that's, I love that
drawer analogy. Yeah.
I may have to borrow that sometime.
I'll use that as a sermon illustration, but I'll give you

(37:38):
credit if I ever do. So that was that was a good one.
That's a good picture there. And I think that's true.
I mean, we we it's easy to kind of compartmentalize all of the
areas of our life. And I think that's what a good
picture that is that how God just, you know, integrates into
all of these areas. And so I think that's that, you
know, that's where it is helpfulto think through, you know,

(37:58):
being a Christian athlete or a, a Christian student or a
Christian and you know, and you start getting into your
relationships and things like that.
You know, that that that shapes who you are.
The gospel shapes every part of you and not just a, a component.
And it's not just one, one particular day of the week.

(38:19):
So, you know, I, I kind of thinkback to my high school days, I
was by no means an athlete. The closest I got to the
football field was I was in the marching band.
So I was not, I was not a football player.
I wrestled in high school not very well, but I try to think
back to some of those days as asa student athlete.
And so, so guys, I'm kind of curious if you wouldn't mind

(38:41):
sharing, what do you pray for before a game?
Yeah, I can go. I So for me, the biggest thing
is I would just start off by just praising him and thanking
him for the opportunity he's blessed me with to, to play the
game that I love. And no, I just, I just, I just

(39:01):
go into, I just the next thing Ipray for is for my safety and
everybody on the field safety. I don't want, honestly, I've
been through some injuries. Yeah.
I don't want to get injured and I don't want anyone else out
there to get injured. So that's one of my biggest
things. And I just, yeah, I just pray
for a sound mind because I, I make a lot of calls as a, as a

(39:22):
centre. So I, yeah, just pray for a
sound mind that I can just see the field and that the game
would just slow down so I could just play to the best of my
abilities. And, and I just, I just pray
that whatever happens, I just glorify him in, in, in it,
whether it's a win or a loss. And I just can, can glorify him
and all that I do. And, and I always finish with

(39:45):
selfishly, Lord, I pray for a win.
But Lord, I know, I know it's your will be done.
And, and, and I praise you for that.
So I just that's, that's one of that's kind of how I finish it.
And yeah, I just, I sit there, Isit there on the turf pregame
and for a while and pray and yeah, yeah, that's kind of,
that's kind of how I start my pregame warm up and all the
things. Yeah, yeah.

(40:05):
How about you, Tyler? Yeah, I think we have this
Beaver walking, that's what it'scalled, where we walk down from
the locker room all the way downin the field and it's it's
quiet, you know, it's time to just reflect and pray.
So it's one of the many prayers I think that I'm a part of
before the game. But I think that's where most of
it takes place. And it's just like, I'm just
praying. I'm like, and all things

(40:27):
glorify, you know, God. And I'm like, what better way to
do that as a, as a like a Christian athlete who like is
like someone who leaves a Bible study, someone who's a leader in
FCA. It's like, how do, how do you do
that? And it's like you play like you
play well, you know, I mean, youplay good football.
Yeah. And I think like, it's obviously
not for me. I don't want any credit of it.
I don't want any righteousness of my own.

(40:48):
But it's like if I play good football and then I come off the
field and I and I stay humble, which is tough to do at times,
of course. And it's like, like, that's a
great opportunity to, you know, show other players like you can
be, you can be a good football player and you can be a devoted
follower of Christ, you know, and you don't have to bash the
two together. You know, you can have Christ

(41:10):
1st and then look what comes from it, You know what I mean?
You glorify God and, you know, now your football play is, you
know, up to par. And it's it's it's awesome.
But also it's just like, that's just slowing the game down.
Like Clayton said, like just, yeah, God, like just, you know
what I mean? This doesn't really mean
anything, you know what I mean? It's like, I love the sport.
It's a good hobby of mine. And, you know, it's like, let's

(41:31):
just, I mean, just go out there and have fun for your glory.
You know what I mean? It's you blessed with the
opportunity. You've given me strength.
You give me the great termination to go through all
the workouts and the practices and stuff.
It's just like now it's just just go out there and have fun
and, and play for you. And yeah, when the game slows
down, it helps a lot. Yeah.
And obviously the safety is a huge thing too, that you pray

(41:53):
for, for your team and for the other team.
Yeah. Because injuries suck.
And it's all part of it. And yeah, then the last one
obviously is just Lord, if it isin your will grant us a win.
But yeah, and I think that's a natural thing, you know, so
whether you're the athlete or you're the one watching your
team, I I mean, who doesn't pray, find them some kind of

(42:15):
praying for a win. So this this may be a kind of a
a not real deep theological question, maybe a little more
silly, but does God care about sports?
I'd say I'd say yes, because they can bring him glory.
Yeah, they can. People can, we can use sports to
glorify God. Yeah.
But I also think sometimes sports become people's idols

(42:37):
and, and, and kind of rule over their lives.
And yeah, like, I've, I've seen,I've seen fans of NFL teams that
they lose and their team loses and it affects their whole week.
Like, yes, it's like it's to an extent.
I think I, I do believe he, he, he, he cares about sports.
And I just think it just has to be, people have to be using it

(42:58):
in the right way. Yeah, yeah.
I mean, I agree. It's just.
And if it brings God glory, you know, I mean, I don't know why
he wouldn't want to be a part ofit.
Yeah. And so it's, but it's sports is
such an easy way to fall into idolization or yeah, or pride
or, you know, self boast. It's just, it can get pretty

(43:19):
evil pretty quick. And we see obviously see a lot
of that with our football team and, and other teams and
whatnot. But yeah, being humble and
remaining humble and glorifying God in it.
Like it's just a great opportunity to do more FCA Bible
studies and, you know, everything.
I think I don't necessarily think God cares about if we win
or lose, right? Or how well we play.
Yeah, but you know, if it bringshim glory and if we're, if

(43:42):
we're, if our goal is not to winor lose, but to bring him glory,
then I think a lot of good can come out of it and a lot of a
lot of God will be seen so. Amen.
Yeah, Yeah, I'm, I'm kind of curious guys, did you, when,
when you're growing up, did you have any sports heroes back in
the day? And, and like, if somebody were

(44:03):
to say, yeah, who, who are your sports heroes even today, how
would you answer that? I mean, I kind of was a big
Patriots fan growing up, so I got a lot of a lot of critiques
on being a bandwagon. This is when they were like, in
their prime. Yeah.
But I really did like the Patriots and I liked, I love Tom

(44:24):
Brady. I love Rob Gronkowski.
The whole roster was just amazing.
And I don't know, I just felt like they were some cool guys.
So I had a big old poster of RobGronkowski and everyone and
stuff like that. My dad would always tell me how
he did ballet lessons or whatever.
I don't know if it's true or not, but to work on his balance
and whatnot. So, but yeah, well, Gronkowski
was a he was a cool guy, not necessarily the best faith.

(44:49):
Right, right. Yeah, yeah.
But yeah, he was a he's a good athlete.
He was fun to watch so. For me, there's no there's no
names that completely stand out.I grew up a big Gophers fan.
Me and me and my dad would go toa lot of games when I was
younger and those are always those are always fun.
I always looked up to all those guys and we go we go to their
spring game and afterwards you can go walk around and get

(45:11):
autographs from those guys and yeah, just seeing them in their
pads and stuff after watching them and and kind of falling
along and hear my dad talk aboutcertain guys like it's it was it
was super cool to see. And then another one non
football related growing up, I love to play basketball.
So and I wore the number 35 S Kevin Durant.
Kevin Durant back in the day on the Oklahoma City Thunder was

(45:34):
was kind of my guy. And so, yeah, that was that was
that was probably the that's probably the only name that can
come to my mind. But otherwise, a lot of those
all those go for football players back in the day, That's
that's that's why I wanted to play football.
That was yeah, yeah, that's a big thing.
Well. It's funny how that kind of
shapes us even, especially when we're a kid.
Whoever you're, you're whether, yeah, you had a specific person

(45:57):
or a team or something like that, 'cause when you're a kid,
you know, a football player looks like a giant to you or
just any athlete does, right? Or they look like, you know,
this is, this is a person I see on TV or in pictures or
something like that. Now I'm actually seeing the real
physical person in front of me and it's.
It's pretty amazing. Yeah, there's, there's something
about it. So.

(46:17):
And. What's crazy was I learned how
to spell Minnesota at Gophers games.
That's when I was younger. That's that's how I learned how
to spell Minnesota. That was your heads.
Up. Yeah, that's how I learned how
to spell Minnesota. So.
See, we, we had an easier time. I'm from Ohio, so it's a lot,
it's a lot easier. Exactly.
Well, guys, this has been a lot of fun just kind of getting to
know you and, and talking and hearing a little bit more about
your faith. But one of the things that we

(46:39):
like to do on this podcast before we wrap up is is on every
episode at the end, like to ask my guests, you know, we're we're
a church that says frequently that we are becoming deeply
devoted followers of Jesus together.
And kind of curious guys, What'sone thing that that you have

(47:03):
been blessed by lately that you find is deepening your devotion
to Jesus? Definitely conviction.
It's just something I've been, I've been trying to work on for
a while now because especially Imean, it's more or less like in
our position rooms for football,we are with each other every

(47:24):
single day we meet with each other and you know, that's like
the guys you're probably closestwith.
So it's also the guys who you represent Jesus to the most.
And so it's easy to slip up or, you know, to, to get aggravated
because like in my position, there's some guys who we
sometimes bash heads a little bit and it's tough to control

(47:47):
like my temper control my, my words or my, you know what I
say? Like not that it's anything
horrible, but it's more or less like I'm just called to turn the
other cheek. And it's tough to just turn the
other cheek when something is constantly happens.
But like conviction on that is just like, am I am I leading or
am I representing Jesus well to these guys?

(48:09):
You know what I mean? Yeah.
So having that conviction, it's just like, OK, no, it's again,
it's bigger than football. It's bigger than this.
It's bigger than my own pride. It's like, let me just represent
Jesus to these guys. Sorry, but yeah, it's been it's
been awesome. And also just the like we talked

(48:32):
about earlier, the like get in the word and spending intimate
time with the Lord when if you miss an opportunity on that,
it's just like my relationship with the Lord is it's on fire.
You know what I mean? I want all the time I can get
with the Lord. So that conviction almost too,
not that necessarily it's conviction, but it's more or
less just like I want to spend as much time as I can get with

(48:53):
the Lord. And so having that, that mindset
of like, you know, when's the next time I get to hop in the
word or pray? Yeah.
And it's just like, yeah, I think that's super, super
awesome right now. That's happening in my life.
Just deepening my relationship is like the conviction of
representing Jesus well, yeah. And just spending intimate,

(49:15):
intimate time with the Lord. Yeah, Amen.
Amen. Clayton, how about you?
What's one thing that maybe beenblessing you lately in deepening
your devotion to Jesus? I'd say my, my girlfriend, we,
we've been, we've been dating now for five months.
Yeah. So nothing too long, nothing too
crazy. But this, the five months that

(49:38):
we've been dating have been super intentional and we've been
really focusing on glorifying the Lord in it.
And I just think like she, she always is encouraging me on my
faith And and I, I do the same for her.
And it's we, we just, we both have the common goal of, of
growing closer to the Lord 1st and, and growing closer to each

(50:03):
other after that like this, because we know that the closer
we get to the Lord, the closer we get to each other.
And I just think that's been super big.
Maybe when I maybe when I don't read my Bible.
And I shall ask, like, did you read your Bible?
And it's, it's like, no, I, I didn't and I, I should
accountability there. Yeah, there's good
accountability there. And we just have super great

(50:25):
conversations. She, she goes to school down at
GCU, down at Grand Canyon University, Christian College.
And it's just, it's cool to, to talk to her about different
things like 'cause she, she goesto Bible studies and I go to
Bible studies and it kind of just, we kind of just talk about
the different things that we've learned at each of those.

(50:46):
So I, I might not have been at that Bible study with her, but I
get, I get the notes and I get the, I get all the things.
And I think that's been a big part of just growing with the
Lord lately. I think I did a lot of growing
on my own before that. And I think we kind of met Paz
at a great time. And it's just kind of, it's just

(51:07):
excelled from there. And it's, it's, it's kind of new
territory to like in a relationship.
Like it's because now that we talked about school work and,
and football, and then where arewe fitting God in?
And now there's a relationship and yeah, it's been, I think I
had a pretty good routine. And then you had the
relationship and it's just, it'sbeen new to, to navigate and to

(51:33):
find time to squeeze the Lord in.
And yeah, I just like obviously it's long distance right now
with, with her down in Arizona and it's, it's over.
We talk every night on the phoneand all of our, all of our
conversations are just, are justso good.
And we just are always trying toglorify the Lord and what we do.
And we do a great job at encouraging each other.
And she she, she helps me out somuch at that.

(51:55):
And it's yeah, I just praise Godfor that all the time and thank
him. Yeah, that's that's been the
biggest thing for me. Fantastic.
Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, Praise the
Lord. But this has been an
encouragement to me. I hope it's been an
encouragement to our our church family as they listen.
Guys, who does BSU have on the schedule next?
Jamestown on Saturday. OK, at home, all right.

(52:17):
Well, thanks for taking time outof your, your week here to join
me and to to chat. We'll we'll get this online here
pretty soon. And, you know, millions and
millions of listeners will, willbe on.
Yeah, something like that. So folks, that's going to do it
for this episode of the deeply devoted podcast.
My thanks again to Clayton and Tyler for joining me today.

(52:38):
We will be back in two weeks with another episode, but until
then folks, have a great week and thanks for listening.