December 11, 2025 • 50 mins
In this episode, Lara speaks with retired police lieutenant and founder of The Wounded Blue, Randy Sutton. They discuss the mission of his organization to support wounded and disabled police officers, his decades of service with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and the near-death experience while stopping a mass shooter that inspired him to take action. Randy also breaks down the alarming rise in attacks on police officers since 2020 and what it means for law enforcement nationwide.
Later in the show, Lara welcomes three-time World Series champion and author Jeremy Affeldt to discuss his new book, Built for the Storm: Weathering the Storms of Life with Grit, Faith, and Determination. Jeremy shares stories from his baseball career, how he was recruited, his advice for parents putting kids into youth sports, why failure is an essential part of success, and the role faith plays in shaping his life.
Support the show: https://www.therightview.com
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And oh all back down.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
May May.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
There. Hey, everybody, thanks so much for joining us right
here on the right view tonight, we're joined by retired
police lieutenant and founder of the Wounded Blue Randy Sutton. Randy,
Welcome to the show. I'm always so excited to talk
to people who have served our country in whatever capacity,
whether in the military, police and law enforcement. Thank you
(00:32):
so much for all you've done and continue to do.
You rose to lieutenant and one of the toughest departments
in the country, Las Vegas Metro. So tell me about
that and tell me about maybe what it was that
you learned ultimately during all the time you spent out
on the streets there, and as I said, you know,
(00:52):
kind of becoming lieutenant and one of the toughest departments.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Well, I appreciate so much you have me on the show.
Trajectory to Las Vegas was a little different. I was
a police officer in Princeton, New Jersey for ten years,
and I was detective. When I decided I couldn't work
in a small town any longer. I needed some action,
so I started my career all over again. I tested
with the Las Vegas Metro Police Department, which is the
(01:18):
ninth largest apartment in the country and had to go
through the academy all over again, start my career all
over again. But I never looked back because that was
where I got exactly what I was looking for the
challenges of a major department. And I'd never looked back
on that decision. But with it came, you know, be
careful what you wish for. So as a police officer
(01:41):
in New Jersey, I don't think I even drew my
firearm more than a handful of times. But I was
still on probation when I was in my first shooting
in Las Vegas, and that's when you realize you're not
in Kansas anymore, Toto, when a fifteen year old gang
banger tried to take me out.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Oh my gosh. I mean, yeah, that it is quite
a change, for sure.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
And I assume it gave you the action that you
said you were looking for.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Did it teach you something about yourself?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Though it sounds like maybe even just listening to you
talk about it, you know you were you wanted more
and you wanted to do more and be more involved.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Oh, the challenges that that Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
gave me was unlike anything I could have experienced anywhere else.
Speaker 5 (02:25):
And yes, I had life changing.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Experiences which changed the trajectory of my life. One of
those life changing experiences was surviving a gunfight that by
all rights I never should have survived. We were literally
toe to toe inches apart when when we were this
is an active shooter, was a guy that was shooting
at kids at a high school dance, and I wound
(02:50):
up confronting him. We were literally our gun muzzles were
almost touching when we both fired simultaneously, and my gun
jammed after the second round, leaving me defenseless. And how
I survived that is still a mystery to me today.
He did not survive it, but the fact that from
(03:13):
a distance of that closely, you know.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
Being fired upon, was life changing for me.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
But he gave me what I call a lot of
I call it the question of why why didn't I
die that night? Why did I survive and he not?
And I believe that that has led to the trajectory
of where my life is now as surviving that. Years later,
I became, you know, the founder of an organization it's
(03:44):
held more than sixteen thousand American law enforcement officers, who've
been injured in the line of duty. If I had
not survived that night, then of course all these men
and women would never have been helped. So it's depends
on what you believe. But I believe that I was
saved for a reason.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Well, I will tell you are not the only person
who believes that things like that happen for a reason.
I think you can talk to our President Donald Trump,
who also survives something that a lot of people say
maybe he shouldn't have, and it is a miracle certainly
that he did.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
And I do believe that God.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Puts us in positions and kind of leads us down
paths and gives us these life altering moments for reasons. Absolutely,
And I do want to talk to you about the
Wounded Blue Foundation that you started that you just referenced,
but in hearing you talk about, you know what you've
been through and sort of what you were willing to do.
(04:39):
I know that you have said policing is a calling,
not just a job, and honestly, I kind of feel
like it has to be that way, Randy for people
to really embrace a job like that. You know, our
men and women in blue are among the most incredible
people in our country. To go out every single day
and not know whether or not you're going to come
home for sure, to your life on the line every
(05:01):
day is amazing. When did you first realize that distinction
between it being a job versus a calling.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
Well, I consider myself very fortunate. From the time I
was a child, I knew what I was going to
do with my life. My grandfather was a deputy sheriff
who was shot in the line of duty, and he
was kind of my hero. And I grew up with
parents who were both involved in the court system, and
I always knew what direction I was I was going
(05:31):
to take. And I became involved in law enforcement even
at a very early age, at the age of seventeen,
when I became a cadet for my local police department.
And I can tell you this that there is no
more noble a profession than that of the American law
enforcement officer. And I've been so fortunate in my career
to have been a trainer of American law enforcement literally
(05:53):
for decades. One of the positions that I held was
Advanced Training Director of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department,
and I've been able to interact with police officers from
around the nation, and I can tell you this that
that you know, they're much maligned by the by the
mainstream media. The lies told about them and their motivations
are are legion. But the reality is this that most
(06:17):
most police officers become become officers because they truly care
about their community. Now, are we adrenaline junkies, Yeah, pretty
much so. But with that because they are warriors, they
believe in protecting others, and that is that is that's
the distinction, that's what makes the job so different than
(06:39):
anything else out there. And so I feel very fortunate
that I've been able not only to work with some
of the finest men and women, but also to lead them.
Speaker 5 (06:48):
You know, as a law enforcement.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Leader, you take that job very very seriously, because not
only are you protecting the citizens, you're also playing a
role in developing the men and women who will serve
for the future of this country. And that is not
something that I take lightly. I was able to create
a training course during my time with Metro. I wrote
(07:12):
an article that was called Policing with Honor, How to
survive your career ethically as well as physically and emotionally,
and I wrote an article and got picked up very
widely in the law enforcement community, and so departments reached
out and said, Randy, do you do you actually speak
on this topic. And so I developed a training regimen
(07:34):
to go along with that. And I can tell you
this that men and women who decide to serve, who
decide to put that badge on, do so because of
motivations that are much larger than themselves.
Speaker 5 (07:48):
They want to play a role.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
In protecting others and also at the same time protecting
each other. And that is a noble, noble profession.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
I love it that.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
I totally agree with you, and I have members of
my own family who were in law enforcement, and I
think they would echo those sentiments that it's so much
bigger than them, It's so much bigger than anything about them.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
It's it's just it's.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
A job where you know that without people who were
willing to do it, our society would fall apart. And Randy,
you know you said something that I want to ask
you about. We saw back during the twenty twenty kind
of Summer of Love, as they called it, riots, how
demonized police officers became in the wake of the whole
(08:32):
George Floyd incident, and it was kind of building up
to that point. Where do you think things stand right now?
Because you know, I feel like you've had so many
people on you know, within the legacy media, you're right,
kind of trying to malign our law enforcement officers and
paint them with this broad brush that is completely you know,
(08:53):
off of who they really are.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
These are great men and women.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
But we have also had a great president who is
incredibly supportive of our law enforcement. There are so many people,
certainly in my family, but I would say within the
conservative space who really try to go out of our
way to prop up our law enforcement because again, this
is the foundation of our country.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
I really believe that.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
But where do you think things stand right now? Do
you think that people within your community, the law enforcement community,
are feeling the support that does exist out there. Does
it feel like it did back in twenty twenty still
or do you Where do you think things stand.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
On that front?
Speaker 4 (09:32):
Well, I definitely see there's a there's been a major
change in how law enforcement officers feel about their government
because under the Biden administration, under the Abottom administration before that,
they were the Department of Justice was weaponized against law
enforcement there was never a time when police officers had
(09:54):
been more afraid of their own government prosecuting them for
legiti amid acts of self defense in most cases and
used to force incidents that were appropriate in the most cases.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
And yet they were they were not only.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
Demonized in the in the media, but by the politicians themselves,
the leaders of their own cities and states and country
under the Biden administration. So there's been a major change
since since President Trump took over. You know, I was
I had one of the greatest honors of my life
when I spoke at the Republican National Convention about law
(10:34):
enforcement and I got to I got the opportunity to
salute my president at the Republican National Convention, which was
an honor I'll never ever forget, and be able to
play a role in telling all of those millions of
people about law enforcement, about the men and women who
truly care about their communities. And also I got the
(10:55):
opportunity to talk about the wounded blue at that time
as well. But our cops have faced so many more
challenges than ever before. I mean, this statistic is going
to is going to frighten everybody that hears it, and
they should because last year more than eighty five thousand
American law enforcement officers were physically assaulted in the.
Speaker 5 (11:16):
Line of duty.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
Now, why is that significant Because you mentioned a date
that changed American law enforcement. That was twenty twenty, the
Summer of Love. Of course we're using that in air quotes,
but that shanged that the law enforcement community forever, because
(11:38):
since then, there was about fifty thousand osers that were
physically assault in the line of duty twenty nineteen. Now
we're at eighty five thousand. Well, that is a massive change.
These officers have been shot, they have been stabbed, they've
been beaten, they've been hit with bricks, they've been kicked,
they've been punched, and yet they still continue to go
to work and still continue to put their lives on
(12:00):
the line. But those are only the physical attacks. When
you look at the injuries of our officers, the psychological
and emotional toll has been dramatic. We have a suicide
rate that is rarely talked about, and and that is
some of that. A lot of that is because of
the way that the leadership has treated these men and women.
Speaker 5 (12:23):
Not only the leadership, but the media.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
The media has played a massive role in the demeaning
and demoralization of our American police officers.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Well, that's why I think what you've done with the
Wounded Blue is so important.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Obviously you mentioned it earlier. It's to help injured and.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Disabled officers who really feel, Randy, that they've just been forgotten.
So I imagine that there was something that prompted you to
do this.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Was there one case or.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
One situation, maybe an officer you knew personally that got
you to say, listen, I've got to start this. Somebody
has to do something and stand up for these people.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
Well, once again, this is not the trajectory of my
life that I thought I would be at. But I
suffered a stroke in my police car and it ended
my police career, and then my own agency turned its
back on me.
Speaker 5 (13:13):
So I knew what it felt like.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
But then because of my visibility in the law enforcement community,
police officers started reaching out to me.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
Randy.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
I know you don't know me, but I was shot
in the line of duty and my chief never even
visited me in the hospital. They're not paying my medical bills, Randy,
I was paralyzed when a drunk hit my police car.
They've thrown me away and these terrible stories from all
over the nation. Laura and I realized that these men
and women who I could understand because the same thing
(13:42):
happened to me, needed a resource, someone to talk to,
someone could be their benefactor, someone who they knew would
not forget them. And that's why the wounded bleue ar
motto has never forgotten, never alone. We've held more than
sixteen thousand American law enforcement officers injured either physically or
emotionally and psychologically. In fact, I am right now from
(14:05):
where I'm speaking to you. I was able to honor
a police officer in Elmira, New York who was severely
injured in the line of duty and is still trying
to recover and go back to work. He wants to
go back to work even after suffering a traumatic brain
injury and many other injuries. And we were able to
(14:26):
afford him the award that we give to injured and
disabled officers, the Order of the Blue Heart. We've created
the Purple Heart for the police. And I can tell
you this last night, when his wife draped him with
that metal, and his fellow officers saw it, and his
family saw it, there wasn't a dry eye in the house,
(14:48):
and this officer is a true hero. As many of
our cops who get injured in the line of duty,
what they really want or is to go back to work,
to go back and be with their brothers and sisters
and protect their people. And so this is why it's
such a great honor for me to be able to
play a role that I do.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
It's amazing.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Thank you for doing that so much, you know, it's
I can only imagine having this job and feeling not
only proud of yourself, but you're part of a team.
Whenever you're in law enforcement, right and then you get injured,
something happens that takes you out, it must be pretty tough.
(15:28):
And I can totally understand why these men and women
want to get back on the job, want to get
back to work.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
So thank you for honoring them in the way you do.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
You have a Guitars for Heroes Christmas auction. Tell us
about that because that's going to help raise funds to
support these men and women as well.
Speaker 5 (15:47):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
You know, the Wound of Blue is a national charity,
and it's important that people know that I don't take
a salary.
Speaker 5 (15:55):
I live on my police pension.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
Because everything that we get in goes to help police
officers who have been injured in the line of duty,
and it's tough raising money. Well, country music stars they're
a whole different breed and they believe in their country,
they believe in their law enforcement. And so I've had
a tremendous amount of country stars like Mark Wills and
(16:17):
Darryl Worley and Vince Gill and Tanya Tucker, They've all
a whole bunch more have signed guitars to help the
Wound to Blue raise funds to help injured officers. So
we've got a guitars the number four Heroes dot Com
Guitars Forhroes dot Com and people can go onto that
(16:38):
website and bid on a guitar or purchase a guitar
for one thousand dollars from their favorite country star and
it's personalized, you know, with the name of each of
those those country music amazing stars. In fact, we were
just in Nashville where Vince Gill and Mark Wills and
Daryl Worley and a bunch of others put a benefit
(17:00):
on for the Wounded Blue just about six weeks ago,
and they signed a bunch of guitars for US. So
if you're a country music fan, you want to go
to Guitarsfurhroes dot com and uh buy a guitar for
one thousand bucks a bit on the guitar. But this
is only until Christmas time, so make sure you get
a Christmas gift for somebody that is your country music fan.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
I was gonna say, this is actually the perfect Christmas
gift because not only are you getting something cool for someone.
I mean, we all struggle out there, what do I
get for this person? But then there's a story to
go with it, and you say, you know, not only
am I giving you this great gift, but listen to
what it's going to go to do, listen to how
it's gonna help. And if people just want to donate,
you know, to Wounded Blue, Randy, where can.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
They go to do that?
Speaker 4 (17:44):
Well, our website is though Wounded Blue dot org and
we're doing our nine one one campaign. You know what
we say is when people need help, they call nine
to one one. When the police need help, they call
the Wounded Blue. So we're asking people to donate not
just nine dollars and eleven cents a month to the
Wounded Blue. And while it doesn't sound like much. It's
(18:07):
about the same price as a coffee and a donut.
If we're gonna be stereotypical, you know.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
But not that I was gonna go there, Randy.
Speaker 5 (18:14):
But you can't, of course not.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
But if enough people do that, we can literally that
nine dollars and eleven cents might save the life ward
the career of a police officer. So by simply doing that,
and by the way, the first thousand people to do it,
we'll get a signed copy of my latest book, Rescuing
nine to one to one, The Fight for America's Safety,
(18:37):
which is all about how we got into this criminal
justice crisis and how we need to unite as a
nation in order to get out of it.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
So great, well, gosh, it's a win win for everybody. Listen,
before we let you go, the last little thing I
got to ask you. You also have had the honor
of being the most featured.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Cop on Cops. Randy, Is that right? Tell me about that,
because I mean, that's so iconic. I don't even know
what to say.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Wow, you know what, Like I said, everything in my
life has been an accident, including you know, and I'm
going to date myself. But I was featured on the
TV show Cops literally the first year that it came out. Wow,
And of course I don't even want to talk about
how many years ago that was. But then again, I
was featured in multiple seasons, multiple episodes, and I got
(19:26):
something very exciting.
Speaker 5 (19:27):
I wasn't going to talk about it, but you led
me here.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
The people from the producer of the show Cops, Morgan Langley,
is the owner of the show. He is such a
supporter of the Wounded Blue that he has this is amazing.
He's given the Wounded Blue the license to use their
intellectual property and their logo. And we are about to
(19:52):
launch Cops Coffee Company. That the sole reason that will
exist providing amazing coffee, but it will go to help
injured disabled officers around this nation. That's going to be
launched probably February or March of next year, and that
will be Cops Coffee Company. I can't wait for it. Well,
(20:13):
I'm going to I'll tell you the first The first
brew is Bad Boys Brew.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Of course it is, what else would it be.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
That's I mean, how amazing, just great stuff all around.
And Randy, listen, thank you for your service, thank you
for all that you've done you continue to do as
I know I already said, but I don't know that
we can say it enough because it's easy to kind of.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Ignore this sort of stuff.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
But you've really taken it head on and you've said,
you know what, I want to make a difference, and
you're spreading the word and you're getting more people involved,
and you're doing right by our incredible men and women
in blue. So thanks for all you do, Randy Sutton,
Thanks for joining us here on the Right View today.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
We appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
It's my pleasure and thank you for supporting the men
and women of this nation's law enforcement community.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Absolutely right, we'll get right back to the show.
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time World Series champion and author of the new book
Built for the Storm, Weathering the Storms of Life with grit,
faith and determination, Jeremy Alpha. Jeremy, thank you so much
for joining us. Take us back to the beginning. You
(23:30):
grew up in Spokane, and I guess there became a
point where you realize that baseball was more than just
like kind of going out and having fun and just
a game for you, right.
Speaker 6 (23:40):
Yeah, you know, I think I always enjoyed the game
of baseball. I loved sports in general. I enjoyed you
know what, basketball, I actually played soccer, I was a goalkeeper.
I love that I didn't get to play football. My
mom was actually thinking I was too skinny. She was
afraid of break in half when I played, so I
didn't get to play that. But baseball was kind of
my thing man sport. It's kind of it came very
(24:01):
natural for me. I had to work really hard at basketball.
I'd work really hard at soccer. I just didn't have
to work as hard at baseball. For whatever reason, I
had a lot of raw talent, but I really didn't
understand what I had. I just went out and threw
the ball real hard. And I like to play first base,
and I like to hit and run around the bases.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
I think my.
Speaker 6 (24:18):
Junior year was when I was actually playing for a
summer ball team and just having a good time. I
was just, I was just I just enjoyed playing baseball.
And I got done pitching against a guy that was
playing shortstop for another team that I guess there were
scouts there watching him.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
I had no.
Speaker 6 (24:36):
Idea, and so I just pitched against him. And after
the game, the scouts came up to me and they
asked my name. That's where I went to school, and
I kind of was a little taken back because that's
a weird thing to ask kids right after they get
done playing a game.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Random stranger was coming up and asking that.
Speaker 6 (24:50):
But then he asked me to take a psychoval and
I was a little bit weirded out by it. And
then they just said, I'm a scout for some baseball
teams and we're kind of in the area.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
And then I was just excited.
Speaker 5 (25:02):
I was.
Speaker 6 (25:02):
I was just like, Wow, that's pretty cool. And so
I took these psychic valves. Didn't think much of it
because I just loved playing the game. And then I
think it was probably my first high school game after
Summer Ball of my senior year, and all of a sudden,
there's thirty scouts at the game, all with these radar guns.
And I went to a really small school, so I
went through to Northwest Christian. I mean it was k
through twelve five hundred people. I mean it was it
(25:24):
was not big, and so I think there's more scouts
than fans at the game. And then it kind of
got real for me, you know, And and then colleges
started coming in, and then I got offered a really
good scholarship from Gonzaga, which is in my hometown a Spokane,
and then I got drafted in the third round.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
So it was kind of not one of those things
where I knew it.
Speaker 6 (25:44):
It was just all happened, and I just didn't really
understand exactly what I was getting into, except for the
chance I got to go play professional baseball for a
professional team. And it was the Kansas City Royals, and
at that time I didn't really know much about them.
You know, we heard the Yankees and the Dodgers and
the Giants and all these teams. But the Royals drafted me,
and I kind of was just so green. I just
(26:05):
said I'll try it, and I went after it and
I had a good time, and next thing I know,
it was in the big leagues four years later.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
It is kind of crazy.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Yeah, no, it certainly seems like it all worked out
for you.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
I want to ask you this, though, at what age
did you first start playing baseball?
Speaker 1 (26:19):
How old were you young?
Speaker 6 (26:20):
I was probably five or six when my first t ball,
and I did not have a summer off until I
was thirty seven years old.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
My first summer was when I retired. It was thirty seven.
Speaker 6 (26:30):
I actually, like, man, this is what it's like to
be able to go to a lake and not have to,
you know, just enjoy it and not have to go
anywhere or be at a baseball field. It definitely was
very interesting retiring, But I started really early.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Well, so my kids are six and eight. My son
is eight, and he's really into a lot of sports too.
He'll tell you he's going to be It vacillates between
whether he's going to the NBA or the NFL, but
he hasn't done that. Baseball is like the only only
thing he hasn't really played, but he kind of seems
like he wants to. So I feel like we still
(27:01):
got a chance to get him in there and have
some success at eight years old. But I noticed that
the kids I feel like, start so young who end
up kind of on that trajectory, And as a mom,
I feel like it stresses me out because I'm like, well,
what if I decide he should hone in on this
or that, and he actually should have gone the other way.
But from what you've said, it kind of seems like
(27:22):
you went towards where it kind of like your heart
wasn't naturally you were just that much, you know, it
was just easy for you to play baseball. So maybe
I've got to start thinking about that. What advice do
you have for a mom out there struggling.
Speaker 6 (27:34):
I think that you go through exactly what every parent
goes through.
Speaker 5 (27:37):
You know, I go through it.
Speaker 6 (27:38):
I mean I have an eighteen year old, a fifteen
year old, and a thirteen year old, and.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
My wife and I talked about this all the time.
Speaker 5 (27:45):
You know.
Speaker 6 (27:46):
Our eighteen year old is six foot five, two hundred
and fifty pounds. He's a strong kid. He played football,
did not play baseball. Never picked up a baseball really.
I think he played one year. Yeah, never played big
None of my sons played baseball, none of them.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
Oh my god.
Speaker 6 (28:00):
And our our and he could be a really good
football player in college. And he's just like dad, I
want to be in business. I want to focus on that.
I don't want to focus on football. And you're like, okay, great.
My fifteen year old plays golf for his golf team,
and our thirteen year old is is football and basketball,
and none of them play baseball.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
I never pushed them.
Speaker 6 (28:21):
I just say, hey, the only thing I've told them
is once you start something, you cannot quit that year.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Yes, yep, we have the same rule.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
In my house, same exact rule, and they fight you
on it, but you got to stick with it.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
I think it's very importing.
Speaker 6 (28:34):
That's right, that's right, because team you got, you have
to do it. You can't quit if it gets tough.
It just doesn't work that way. And parents out here
they're putting so much money, I mean tens of thousands
of dollars into their kids' sports programs and traveling. And
every every guy I've talked to, I mean in my
era of baseball, we all laugh and man, we're like,
(28:54):
you could put all the money you want into it.
You either are aren't a baseball but you are going
to be a big leader. You're not Like, yes you
need to develop, Yes you need to try to get
with people that can help with skills and teaching skills,
but you can't spend all this money and expect they'll
still get there.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
They won't.
Speaker 6 (29:11):
And a lot of these kids are burning out because
parents are so stressed. They're getting them into everything, and
then we got to go here, We're gonna go there
somewhere to sport, Like I gotta go to soccer practice
and then I got to go to baseball practice after that.
And these kids just get warm out and at sixteen
they're just like, I don't want to play anymore, and
the parents are devastated.
Speaker 5 (29:28):
You know.
Speaker 6 (29:29):
So I think what you're doing is a mom I
think you don't don't overstress it.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
I think you just met out.
Speaker 6 (29:34):
Hey, give me, give me, give me one thing, one
hundred percent when you go out there, give me a
hundred percent of practice, one hundred percent on the field,
give everything you got, and then we'll let's see where
the cards follow when you're eighteen. Either you go to
college and play sports, you don't get you get drafted,
or you don't like it's okay. Just make sure you
give one hundred percent. And I think it takes a
lot of stress off families when you think of it
(29:55):
that way.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
It's so true.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
And I feel like everyone is in competition with one another,
like here's how much stuff that this kid does and
that kid does and mine does this, and it's crazy.
Jeremy right, It's like, yeah, no, I know, well that's
just good advice.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
I'm glad.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
I'm glad we talked about this, because, yeah, I feel
like we're all dealing with the same stuff, no matter
where we live, no matter our last names, like, your
kids are your kids, and you want them to be successful.
And you know, some of the greatest lessons I ever
had as a kid and growing up came from actually
failures of mine within different sports that I played. And
nothing was a better lesson for me than not winning,
(30:32):
than losing, than not making the team. Look at Michael Jordan,
who didn't who got cut from the basketball team, and
he came back to be the greatest of all time.
So I mean, you know, we got all those all
those things, but for you, listen, it really worked out.
You've played for four organizations and one three World Series
with the Giants. That's pretty that's pretty solid, Jeremy, I
gotta be honest, Yeah, is there one of the rings
(30:53):
that means the most to you?
Speaker 5 (30:55):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (30:56):
You know, actually the third one, And there's a reason
for that. Some people always STI would say the first one.
So I actually was a part of a World Series
in two thousand and seven with the Rockies when the
Boston Red Sox beat US.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
So I was a part of four and the very
first one I lost.
Speaker 6 (31:12):
And for most ballplayers, they'll tell you if you get
to one and lose, that's it. There's not really this.
You don't bank on the fact that you're going to
be a part of another World Series. You just don't.
It's just a very rare thing. I mean, I put
with Griffy. You know, Ken Griffy Junior is one of
my favorite teammates in Cincinnati. He never got to a
World Series and that guy is one of the greatest
(31:32):
baseball players of all time. Right, so you can't you
don't know what team you're gonna be on. And I
lost the first one. And the interesting thing is the
each one of my sons was born on a World
Series year, I believe it or not. So in two
thousand and seven, my oldest was born, in twenty ten,
my middle son was born in twenty twelve, was our
(31:53):
youngest was born, and so everything is a World Series year. Well,
my middle son and our youngest son is they used
get ring World Series rings. That's what I So I'm
gonna gift them in their life, like that's something that
you're that's gonna be yours. Well, my youngest, my oldest
gets a loser ring. You get a loser ring when
you lose the World Series too, and so it's like
he gets the National League Championship Series, and I'm like, man,
(32:16):
these boys, I just know how they're gonna be when
they're older.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
They're just gonna be like, oh, how what's your ring
look like?
Speaker 5 (32:21):
Walker?
Speaker 6 (32:23):
I just knew it, you know, And so in the
back of my head, I was like, man, it would
be nice. And so when we won the third World Championship,
I got interviewed after the game and many that's the
same thing, and said what does this mean to you?
And I said, it means my son, all three of
my sons get a representation of this championship. And I
(32:43):
said my and and so now they all three get one.
And the other reason why it was super important was
I got drafted by Kansas City. I went through some
of my worst storms in Kansas City, wanted to quit
baseball while I played in Kansas City before I got
traded to Colorado. And the next time I was on
that field was in twenty fourteen when I walked off
(33:04):
a champion, and it was like a full circle of
life of like getting brought up by this team, feeling
like a loser and just hated the game of baseball,
to now I leave that same exact field that I
grew up that I got to the big leagues on
as a champion. It was for a different team, but
it was like a circle of life for me, and
I actually retired a year later because I said, that's it.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
I don't need anything else. This is something better. And
so that was why that's probably my favorite.
Speaker 6 (33:29):
And I still wear it when I speak and stuff
like that. I wear that one when I'm out speaking.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
That's so cool.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Well, that's a good reason I like that. And listen,
who doesn't love a great comeback story. And I feel
like if you're paying attention out there when you have
those full circle moments, like you know that God set
it up for you, Jeremy, like in this perfect way.
I mean, I've seen it in my life. I certainly
think I can look at my father in law in
a lot of respects and see it in his life.
(33:56):
It's kind of amazing when you take it in and
you realize, like, oh my gosh, this first thing happens
so that I could get here, and without that, you know,
failure or that thing that I didn't get that I
thought was going to be the end, I wouldn't have
gotten to where I am today. And so I love
all of those moments, But you talk about a storm.
The title of your book is built for the storm.
(34:18):
So what's kind of the central message, what's the takeaway
for everybody after they finish the book.
Speaker 6 (34:24):
You mentioned something earlier about sports and like some of
those failures teaching you and I've always called I don't
like the word failure. I really don't. I think it's
a It is a shameful word. It do just to
say the word fail makes you feel somewhat shamed or embarrassed, right,
just the word. And I tell people that they're teachable moments.
Speaker 5 (34:44):
That's all they are.
Speaker 6 (34:45):
You succeed or you have teachable moments. It's one or
the other. Because there's always a reason you go through something.
And that's what I want people to get to get
through my book. In the center, in the core message,
you are not meant to run from storms when they
come at you. You just are not. They're not meant
to Life is not meant to break you. It's not
meant to break you. There's things you go through in life,
(35:05):
whether they're the most extreme crazy health issues to fail marriages,
to loss of jobs to whatever it is, it's not
meant to break you. It's meant to build you. It's
meant to it's meant to prepare you because you have
a purpose in your life. And I said this the
other day when I told you, I was talking to
some guys. I'm like, you have a purpose, and these
storms are not meant to break you. They're meant to
(35:25):
actually train you. It's like a membership he really didn't
sign up for, right, like a gym membership.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (35:31):
Yeah, you literally, it's literally meant to train you, to
get you ready for the purpose that for the reason
that you're on that you walk this earth. And I
think that God sits there and he weeps with you,
He laughs with you, he cries with you.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
He understands them.
Speaker 6 (35:45):
He's just not going to rescue you from them because
he knows if I can get you through this, it'll
prepare you for what's ahead. Because if I let you
go through what's ahead, I'm prepared.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
It can end you. It can.
Speaker 5 (35:57):
I mean.
Speaker 6 (35:58):
And you see people when they run from storms, they
literally they mentally, emotionally or physically die suicide to just
mentally just give up or emotionally just like cave in
and become numb, and they get addicted to all kinds
of stuff because they don't understand that the storm was
not meant to be against you. It's meant to train
you and to charge that storm. And that's why I
(36:20):
talk about the buffalo mentality. They're the only animals in
North America that when storms come over the rocky mountains
that run right at it. The rest run away from it.
And they run at it for a reason, and that's
so they can get out of it. And they're built
for it. And that's what when I sign all my books,
every one of them says, you're built for it.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
You are built for storms. It is you're.
Speaker 6 (36:38):
Supposed to go through them, and you're supposed to go
at them, and you're supposed to dig in and charge them.
And that's very important that that's the message I really
want people to understand in life.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
By the way, amen to all of that. I couldn't
agree with you more. And it's so hard when you're
in whatever it is you're struggling with, right no one
wants to be in that moment. But if you think
about the fact that, look, life is about peaks and valleys.
Life is not supposed to be just a flat line.
You're supposed to go through the things that suck, so
(37:11):
they prepare you, as you said, and then how much
more enjoyable are the things that are great. I think
of about a lot of it, like almost like working
out a muscle, right, You're never gonna get anything out
of just going into the gym and like not feeling
anything when you work out.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
You work out.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
It kind of sucks, It hurts, it's painful to go
through some of it. You come out stronger on the
other side of that. That's It's like a metaphor for life.
And I love that you wrote a book about this.
You talked about a second ago two facing the storms.
You talk about literal storms you face in this book tornadoes,
you know, surviving a near fatal accident as a kid.
(37:50):
I mean, tell me about the hardest storm, so to speak,
that you had to go through and how it shaped
you and really played into this book.
Speaker 6 (38:00):
Yeah, you know, I didn't understand storms for the longest time,
you know, I kind of you got frustrated with them,
and I didn't really necessarily have huge storms until a fuser, Yes,
being attacked almost literally almost that hammerhead coming over the
reef and I had to get swiped up and then
head on and I had a head on car collision
(38:20):
that I walked away from. I'm a way to spring training.
A girl hit me up fifty five miles an hour
and I walked out of the car. I didn't I
just walked away from it. And too so many different
scenarios in life, and I had a lot of storms
in baseball, and so you think of all these things
and you're like, yeah, but I wouldn't say that that is.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
Something where you could look at in life.
Speaker 6 (38:42):
And I always thought about it as like, oh, I'm
gonna say this, and people are gonna be like, oh man,
it's super sad or like poor, you know, like there
wasn't that extreme situation for me until about in twenty twenty.
So I had been married for twenty two years and
we had three boys.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
We lost.
Speaker 6 (39:00):
I lost the marriage and it was terrible. And I'm
against divorce. I'm against it. I'm a family guy. I man,
I believe man that got it.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
I believe it.
Speaker 6 (39:10):
What he brings together, no man should separate. I mean,
I believe all of that. And so when when when
the marriage ended, I was so devastated and scared and
lost and trying to protect my sons, because it wasn't
trying to let them know nothing to do with you,
nothing to do this is.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
Not your fault.
Speaker 6 (39:27):
Uh, you know like your mom and I love you
like so that that was a huge storm for me
and I had to walk that out and and it
was not in my decision and so it was a
terrible thing and a scary thing to go through. And
that's when I actually started understanding the buffalo mentality. Is
my therapist who was walking me through my life and
(39:49):
breaking down a thing called a trauma egg where she
was like, I'm going to show you why you are
a certain way or act a certain way when things happen,
because it's all about life, right, like how you what
what happened in family history stuff, and it's going through
all of it. And she finally said, have you ever
read about the buffalo mentality? And I said no, Man,
she said, I want you to read that article and
(40:09):
it was about an article written is very well done.
Speaker 2 (40:13):
I think it was in the nation.
Speaker 6 (40:14):
It was in like the Tennessee and I think and
he wrote about what buffalo do and why they charged,
why cow's run away, and why buffalo's charge storms. Hence
life when storms come at you. Why you should charge them?
And I was going home to read it and my
ex my teammate, my ex teammate Matt Cain, who was
still playing for the Giants at the time, had called
(40:34):
me and said, I know you're going through something really
rough man, and you're not talking to me because I
wouldn't talk to anybody about the situation.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
I was super scared.
Speaker 6 (40:42):
And he said, but our sports psychologists and our team
just gave us an article today.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
I want you to read it. It was the same article.
It was the same on the same day.
Speaker 6 (40:50):
And I'm like, well, God, I guess, yeah, I guess
I should read it. And when I read it it
something happened in me of like, like, this is the
situation I'm in. I'm not gonna run from it what
it is. I'm gonna take this on. And God, I
don't know what you have for me in this. I'm
super I was super angry at God. I was super
(41:11):
angry at I mean, I was mad. I was like,
this is not okay. Like I literally did everything I
could and serve my family. I didn't do it perfect
all the time, but I did. I wanted to be
a part of it, and I charged it and I
went at it, and I kept my sons, and my
sons are sick. My oldest lives with me with my wife.
I've been Mary Reed married for three years to a
(41:31):
beautiful woman who loves my boys and me a tremendous amount.
I mean, she's just amazing woman helps me in my
business now. And he presented her to in my life,
believe or not. She owned it herd of Buffalo when
I met her, which was like awesome. So there was
so much good. And my oldest lives with this full
(41:52):
time or other. Two boys go back and forth, but
it's really become good. And what I've learned about myself,
what I've learned about I'm a better husband, I'm a
better father, I'm a better friend, all from the storm
that I went through and learning to take that storm on.
I mean, it's just it's been incredible. And I don't
wish upon everybody what I went through, but I can
say I really wouldn't change it. Uh And and to
(42:16):
this day, I still do not believe in divorce and
and so and and I've told my wife, Kennedy, and
my kid and she's my best friend, Like this is
it like I could promise you I'm not going anywhere
You're gonna have to kill me.
Speaker 2 (42:30):
But I mean, I'm not going anywhere. Like I'm in it.
I don't care how bad it gets. I'm in it.
Speaker 6 (42:35):
And and and there's nothing go to change that, and
and so that's such an important thing for me. So
I just thought I wanted to write to people to
get them to understand that I don't.
Speaker 2 (42:44):
I don't know what you're going through.
Speaker 6 (42:45):
But I went through a lot, and I and and
it was not a it was a two year deal.
It was not good, and I just weathered it and
stayed good character, honored God. I mean I even told
my lawyer, I said, I will own whatever I need
to own. I will not lie, and I will let
God deal with the consequences. I said, if you fib
about anything, if you try to sugarcoat anything, I'll call
(43:07):
you out right in the middle of the court.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
I will not lie.
Speaker 6 (43:10):
I will I will whatever they want to say if
I and I did it, and I did it well,
and I think I came out really really, I think
I came out so much better on the other side
of just like, this is who I am, and I
know I'm loved by God, and I know I'm a
good person and I'm a good father to my sons
and now and it shows my sons are great and
(43:31):
Kendice Snyer are or really thankful that our boys are
turning out the way.
Speaker 1 (43:35):
They are amazing, I mean, just so amazing.
Speaker 3 (43:38):
I love to hear you say, Jeremy, that you wouldn't
change anything you went through, because I think, one, it's
a life defining thing, right, and you're not the same
person you were prior to having to go through all
of that, and it made you stronger, it made you better,
it made you who you are today. Before I let
you go, I do want to talk to you about
your faith. I've heard you mentioned God several times in
(44:01):
your whole story, but faith does play a huge role
in your story.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
I think.
Speaker 3 (44:05):
So when did religion go from being sort of something
that was like a Sunday thing for you to what
very clearly looks like it's the center of your everyday life.
Speaker 6 (44:15):
Yeah, you know, that's a good question, you know. I mean,
I was raised in a Christian home. My family, you know,
my dad was came from a line of Lutheran pastors.
Actually they're German and In fact, I have a Bible
from sixteen ten in German that's pretty close to the Gutenberg, right,
So like that's that was passed down into my family
and it was just it was a really cool deal
(44:37):
and it's.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
Been in my family for years.
Speaker 6 (44:39):
My mom came from a Baptist background, so you got
Lutheran and Baptist, so you got an interesting mix when
you deal with that. But you know what, we went
to Evangelical free church or a non denomination most of
my life. But it was my parents, Like I got
up went to church with them, Like that's what you did.
Like I went to Ilwana, I went to church on Sunday,
(45:00):
youth group on Wednesday, like you just did.
Speaker 2 (45:02):
That was the family rhythm that we had.
Speaker 6 (45:05):
And when I when I when I remember when I
left to play professional baseball. That was one thing that
some that I had a coach, Jim Moore, who was
a basketball coach and also our athlete director at our school,
who was a good who is a mentor for me,
and he knew I had gone through a lot and
he said he looked at me and said, your faith
now is going to be who you are when you're
away from your family. Like now that your mom and
(45:27):
dad aren't getting you up to go to church on Sunday,
not and you don't have the role the expectation of
the family. Now, who are you Because I got when
I got drafted, I got sent to Fort Myers, Florida,
like and now living in Spokane, Washington. So we're talking,
that's is far away from the you can get. Yeah,
And I remember I did I we in rookie ball.
We had church on we didn't have we didn't have
(45:49):
to go to the field on Sundays. That was our
built in day off in rookie ball. When I signed
as a kid and I went to church. I found
a church and I went and I enjoyed it, and
I read my Bible every day, and I broke down
the New Testament, and I remember, I, you know, somebody
was probably be a little bit scared of being on
your own at eighteen. I've never been on my own
in my life, and I'm on my own. And and
(46:09):
but I started reading it, and I think the Bible
finally came alive to the point of I had my
relationship with Jesus, not my mom and dad's relationship with Jesus.
My relationship. I don't see scripture the same way that
my parents do to a tea. We don't. I don't
see it. We don't, you know, And they know that
and nothing wrong with it. I just look at it differently,
and I see life differently. And but it's my life,
(46:32):
it's my personal relationship, and I stay close to that,
and it helped me through everything. Uh and and I'm
so thankful for that, and I'm unapologetic about it.
Speaker 5 (46:42):
Was all.
Speaker 6 (46:43):
I was unapologetic in the in the game I helped.
I was very vocal about it. Then I'm not a
Bible thumper. I I do not do that. I I
don't just smack you on the head. I'll go have
a beer with you. I own a brewery. I have
a Bible study in my brewery on Thursdays, which in
the Bible Belt people are like, can you do that?
Speaker 2 (47:01):
I'm like, I'm pretty sure I can. I own the place,
you know.
Speaker 6 (47:05):
And So I loved everything about who Jesus is in
my life and what in the journey He's taken me on.
And it started literally when I started to understand that
when I left home, it wasn't about fire insurance, it
wasn't about I just got saved because I saw you're
probably in the same era of life. I don't want
(47:26):
to aid you that'd be insulting, So I don't know
where you're at, but I'm I used to watch all
the we get pulled in the Sunday school class and
we watch all the Revelation movies where like guillotines and
people are leaving the earth and disappearing, and.
Speaker 2 (47:39):
You got super scared.
Speaker 6 (47:41):
You were like, I'm just gonna become a Christian because
I'm scared of all that happening, you know, like they
literally scared the hell out of you, you know, so
like for me, it was it was one of those
things where I learned to move on from that and
be like, it's not about that. It's about who Jesus
is and the relationship we have with him, and how
important it is that we know that our life is
short here, but we can make a big impact for
(48:03):
the kingdom, and we can love people like Jesus wants
us to love our neighbor as ourself, and that's kind
of what our matre is in our home. I have
a tattoo on my forum that says, no man shall
live for himself that is my message to our family
that I don't want you living for yourself. I want
you to understand who Jesus wants you to live for.
And so that's super important and that's where I'm at right.
Speaker 3 (48:25):
So great, Well, Jeremy, tell everybody where they can find
your book, and anyone who's interested in learning about how
to get through whatever you're going through, because everybody goes
through stuff all on their own.
Speaker 6 (48:37):
Yeah, jeremyfl dot com is where you know where I
send people. Because all the books if you go to
my website, any book bought off my website, I signed personally,
and so I sign every book and my wife actually
makes me sign a personal note and she says, I
don't care how long it takes you.
Speaker 2 (48:55):
You owe that to the people by so I do that.
It is available on Amazon.
Speaker 6 (48:59):
You don't get it signed on Amazon, and then it's
available on Audible as well, and I read it. I
personally did the odd so it's on all audible venues.
However you get your audible books or listen to your books,
and I did. I personally read it because I felt
like that message should come from me. So I read
the book for Audible as well. So you can get
them on all those things.
Speaker 3 (49:18):
It's been great, amazing, amazing, Well, Jeremy, thank you for
thank you for being willing to put your story out there.
It's not easy a lot of times, I think, especially
in these very personal moments, to kind.
Speaker 1 (49:30):
Of share that with the world.
Speaker 3 (49:32):
But I think you doing it is probably helping a
lot of people and making people realize that you're always
going to go through things that are tough, that are challenging.
It's meant to happen that way. That is, that is
how life is designed to prepare you for what is
coming next. So thank you for sharing your story, and
thank you so much for spending.
Speaker 1 (49:51):
A little bit of time with us as well today.
We appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (49:54):
No, it was great.
Speaker 2 (49:55):
Thank you for having me on. I appreciate the conversation absolutely.
Speaker 1 (49:58):
Best of luck with everything. Everybody.
Speaker 3 (49:59):
Go by Jeremy's book and as always, make sure you like, subscribe, share,
and follow. We'll see you back here next time for
more of the Right View and wom back down, baby man.
Speaker 1 (50:16):
There ain't no way any way out.
And oh all back down.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
May May.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
There. Hey, everybody, thanks so much for joining us right
here on the right view tonight, we're joined by retired
police lieutenant and founder of the Wounded Blue Randy Sutton. Randy,
Welcome to the show. I'm always so excited to talk
to people who have served our country in whatever capacity,
whether in the military, police and law enforcement. Thank you
(00:32):
so much for all you've done and continue to do.
You rose to lieutenant and one of the toughest departments
in the country, Las Vegas Metro. So tell me about
that and tell me about maybe what it was that
you learned ultimately during all the time you spent out
on the streets there, and as I said, you know,
(00:52):
kind of becoming lieutenant and one of the toughest departments.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Well, I appreciate so much you have me on the show.
Trajectory to Las Vegas was a little different. I was
a police officer in Princeton, New Jersey for ten years,
and I was detective. When I decided I couldn't work
in a small town any longer. I needed some action,
so I started my career all over again. I tested
with the Las Vegas Metro Police Department, which is the
(01:18):
ninth largest apartment in the country and had to go
through the academy all over again, start my career all
over again. But I never looked back because that was
where I got exactly what I was looking for the
challenges of a major department. And I'd never looked back
on that decision. But with it came, you know, be
careful what you wish for. So as a police officer
(01:41):
in New Jersey, I don't think I even drew my
firearm more than a handful of times. But I was
still on probation when I was in my first shooting
in Las Vegas, and that's when you realize you're not
in Kansas anymore, Toto, when a fifteen year old gang
banger tried to take me out.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Oh my gosh. I mean, yeah, that it is quite
a change, for sure.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
And I assume it gave you the action that you
said you were looking for.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Did it teach you something about yourself?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Though it sounds like maybe even just listening to you
talk about it, you know you were you wanted more
and you wanted to do more and be more involved.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Oh, the challenges that that Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
gave me was unlike anything I could have experienced anywhere else.
Speaker 5 (02:25):
And yes, I had life changing.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Experiences which changed the trajectory of my life. One of
those life changing experiences was surviving a gunfight that by
all rights I never should have survived. We were literally
toe to toe inches apart when when we were this
is an active shooter, was a guy that was shooting
at kids at a high school dance, and I wound
(02:50):
up confronting him. We were literally our gun muzzles were
almost touching when we both fired simultaneously, and my gun
jammed after the second round, leaving me defenseless. And how
I survived that is still a mystery to me today.
He did not survive it, but the fact that from
(03:13):
a distance of that closely, you know.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
Being fired upon, was life changing for me.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
But he gave me what I call a lot of
I call it the question of why why didn't I
die that night? Why did I survive and he not?
And I believe that that has led to the trajectory
of where my life is now as surviving that. Years later,
I became, you know, the founder of an organization it's
(03:44):
held more than sixteen thousand American law enforcement officers, who've
been injured in the line of duty. If I had
not survived that night, then of course all these men
and women would never have been helped. So it's depends
on what you believe. But I believe that I was
saved for a reason.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Well, I will tell you are not the only person
who believes that things like that happen for a reason.
I think you can talk to our President Donald Trump,
who also survives something that a lot of people say
maybe he shouldn't have, and it is a miracle certainly
that he did.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
And I do believe that God.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Puts us in positions and kind of leads us down
paths and gives us these life altering moments for reasons. Absolutely,
And I do want to talk to you about the
Wounded Blue Foundation that you started that you just referenced,
but in hearing you talk about, you know what you've
been through and sort of what you were willing to do.
(04:39):
I know that you have said policing is a calling,
not just a job, and honestly, I kind of feel
like it has to be that way, Randy for people
to really embrace a job like that. You know, our
men and women in blue are among the most incredible
people in our country. To go out every single day
and not know whether or not you're going to come
home for sure, to your life on the line every
(05:01):
day is amazing. When did you first realize that distinction
between it being a job versus a calling.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
Well, I consider myself very fortunate. From the time I
was a child, I knew what I was going to
do with my life. My grandfather was a deputy sheriff
who was shot in the line of duty, and he
was kind of my hero. And I grew up with
parents who were both involved in the court system, and
I always knew what direction I was I was going
(05:31):
to take. And I became involved in law enforcement even
at a very early age, at the age of seventeen,
when I became a cadet for my local police department.
And I can tell you this that there is no
more noble a profession than that of the American law
enforcement officer. And I've been so fortunate in my career
to have been a trainer of American law enforcement literally
(05:53):
for decades. One of the positions that I held was
Advanced Training Director of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department,
and I've been able to interact with police officers from
around the nation, and I can tell you this that
that you know, they're much maligned by the by the
mainstream media. The lies told about them and their motivations
are are legion. But the reality is this that most
(06:17):
most police officers become become officers because they truly care
about their community. Now, are we adrenaline junkies, Yeah, pretty
much so. But with that because they are warriors, they
believe in protecting others, and that is that is that's
the distinction, that's what makes the job so different than
(06:39):
anything else out there. And so I feel very fortunate
that I've been able not only to work with some
of the finest men and women, but also to lead them.
Speaker 5 (06:48):
You know, as a law enforcement.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Leader, you take that job very very seriously, because not
only are you protecting the citizens, you're also playing a
role in developing the men and women who will serve
for the future of this country. And that is not
something that I take lightly. I was able to create
a training course during my time with Metro. I wrote
(07:12):
an article that was called Policing with Honor, How to
survive your career ethically as well as physically and emotionally,
and I wrote an article and got picked up very
widely in the law enforcement community, and so departments reached
out and said, Randy, do you do you actually speak
on this topic. And so I developed a training regimen
(07:34):
to go along with that. And I can tell you
this that men and women who decide to serve, who
decide to put that badge on, do so because of
motivations that are much larger than themselves.
Speaker 5 (07:48):
They want to play a role.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
In protecting others and also at the same time protecting
each other. And that is a noble, noble profession.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
I love it that.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
I totally agree with you, and I have members of
my own family who were in law enforcement, and I
think they would echo those sentiments that it's so much
bigger than them, It's so much bigger than anything about them.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
It's it's just it's.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
A job where you know that without people who were
willing to do it, our society would fall apart. And Randy,
you know you said something that I want to ask
you about. We saw back during the twenty twenty kind
of Summer of Love, as they called it, riots, how
demonized police officers became in the wake of the whole
(08:32):
George Floyd incident, and it was kind of building up
to that point. Where do you think things stand right now?
Because you know, I feel like you've had so many
people on you know, within the legacy media, you're right,
kind of trying to malign our law enforcement officers and
paint them with this broad brush that is completely you know,
(08:53):
off of who they really are.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
These are great men and women.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
But we have also had a great president who is
incredibly supportive of our law enforcement. There are so many people,
certainly in my family, but I would say within the
conservative space who really try to go out of our
way to prop up our law enforcement because again, this
is the foundation of our country.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
I really believe that.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
But where do you think things stand right now? Do
you think that people within your community, the law enforcement community,
are feeling the support that does exist out there. Does
it feel like it did back in twenty twenty still
or do you Where do you think things stand.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
On that front?
Speaker 4 (09:32):
Well, I definitely see there's a there's been a major
change in how law enforcement officers feel about their government
because under the Biden administration, under the Abottom administration before that,
they were the Department of Justice was weaponized against law
enforcement there was never a time when police officers had
(09:54):
been more afraid of their own government prosecuting them for
legiti amid acts of self defense in most cases and
used to force incidents that were appropriate in the most cases.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
And yet they were they were not only.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
Demonized in the in the media, but by the politicians themselves,
the leaders of their own cities and states and country
under the Biden administration. So there's been a major change
since since President Trump took over. You know, I was
I had one of the greatest honors of my life
when I spoke at the Republican National Convention about law
(10:34):
enforcement and I got to I got the opportunity to
salute my president at the Republican National Convention, which was
an honor I'll never ever forget, and be able to
play a role in telling all of those millions of
people about law enforcement, about the men and women who
truly care about their communities. And also I got the
(10:55):
opportunity to talk about the wounded blue at that time
as well. But our cops have faced so many more
challenges than ever before. I mean, this statistic is going
to is going to frighten everybody that hears it, and
they should because last year more than eighty five thousand
American law enforcement officers were physically assaulted in the.
Speaker 5 (11:16):
Line of duty.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
Now, why is that significant Because you mentioned a date
that changed American law enforcement. That was twenty twenty, the
Summer of Love. Of course we're using that in air quotes,
but that shanged that the law enforcement community forever, because
(11:38):
since then, there was about fifty thousand osers that were
physically assault in the line of duty twenty nineteen. Now
we're at eighty five thousand. Well, that is a massive change.
These officers have been shot, they have been stabbed, they've
been beaten, they've been hit with bricks, they've been kicked,
they've been punched, and yet they still continue to go
to work and still continue to put their lives on
(12:00):
the line. But those are only the physical attacks. When
you look at the injuries of our officers, the psychological
and emotional toll has been dramatic. We have a suicide
rate that is rarely talked about, and and that is
some of that. A lot of that is because of
the way that the leadership has treated these men and women.
Speaker 5 (12:23):
Not only the leadership, but the media.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
The media has played a massive role in the demeaning
and demoralization of our American police officers.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Well, that's why I think what you've done with the
Wounded Blue is so important.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Obviously you mentioned it earlier. It's to help injured and.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Disabled officers who really feel, Randy, that they've just been forgotten.
So I imagine that there was something that prompted you to
do this.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Was there one case or.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
One situation, maybe an officer you knew personally that got
you to say, listen, I've got to start this. Somebody
has to do something and stand up for these people.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
Well, once again, this is not the trajectory of my
life that I thought I would be at. But I
suffered a stroke in my police car and it ended
my police career, and then my own agency turned its
back on me.
Speaker 5 (13:13):
So I knew what it felt like.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
But then because of my visibility in the law enforcement community,
police officers started reaching out to me.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
Randy.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
I know you don't know me, but I was shot
in the line of duty and my chief never even
visited me in the hospital. They're not paying my medical bills, Randy,
I was paralyzed when a drunk hit my police car.
They've thrown me away and these terrible stories from all
over the nation. Laura and I realized that these men
and women who I could understand because the same thing
(13:42):
happened to me, needed a resource, someone to talk to,
someone could be their benefactor, someone who they knew would
not forget them. And that's why the wounded bleue ar
motto has never forgotten, never alone. We've held more than
sixteen thousand American law enforcement officers injured either physically or
emotionally and psychologically. In fact, I am right now from
(14:05):
where I'm speaking to you. I was able to honor
a police officer in Elmira, New York who was severely
injured in the line of duty and is still trying
to recover and go back to work. He wants to
go back to work even after suffering a traumatic brain
injury and many other injuries. And we were able to
(14:26):
afford him the award that we give to injured and
disabled officers, the Order of the Blue Heart. We've created
the Purple Heart for the police. And I can tell
you this last night, when his wife draped him with
that metal, and his fellow officers saw it, and his
family saw it, there wasn't a dry eye in the house,
(14:48):
and this officer is a true hero. As many of
our cops who get injured in the line of duty,
what they really want or is to go back to work,
to go back and be with their brothers and sisters
and protect their people. And so this is why it's
such a great honor for me to be able to
play a role that I do.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
It's amazing.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Thank you for doing that so much, you know, it's
I can only imagine having this job and feeling not
only proud of yourself, but you're part of a team.
Whenever you're in law enforcement, right and then you get injured,
something happens that takes you out, it must be pretty tough.
(15:28):
And I can totally understand why these men and women
want to get back on the job, want to get
back to work.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
So thank you for honoring them in the way you do.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
You have a Guitars for Heroes Christmas auction. Tell us
about that because that's going to help raise funds to
support these men and women as well.
Speaker 5 (15:47):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
You know, the Wound of Blue is a national charity,
and it's important that people know that I don't take
a salary.
Speaker 5 (15:55):
I live on my police pension.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
Because everything that we get in goes to help police
officers who have been injured in the line of duty,
and it's tough raising money. Well, country music stars they're
a whole different breed and they believe in their country,
they believe in their law enforcement. And so I've had
a tremendous amount of country stars like Mark Wills and
(16:17):
Darryl Worley and Vince Gill and Tanya Tucker, They've all
a whole bunch more have signed guitars to help the
Wound to Blue raise funds to help injured officers. So
we've got a guitars the number four Heroes dot Com
Guitars Forhroes dot Com and people can go onto that
(16:38):
website and bid on a guitar or purchase a guitar
for one thousand dollars from their favorite country star and
it's personalized, you know, with the name of each of
those those country music amazing stars. In fact, we were
just in Nashville where Vince Gill and Mark Wills and
Daryl Worley and a bunch of others put a benefit
(17:00):
on for the Wounded Blue just about six weeks ago,
and they signed a bunch of guitars for US. So
if you're a country music fan, you want to go
to Guitarsfurhroes dot com and uh buy a guitar for
one thousand bucks a bit on the guitar. But this
is only until Christmas time, so make sure you get
a Christmas gift for somebody that is your country music fan.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
I was gonna say, this is actually the perfect Christmas
gift because not only are you getting something cool for someone.
I mean, we all struggle out there, what do I
get for this person? But then there's a story to
go with it, and you say, you know, not only
am I giving you this great gift, but listen to
what it's going to go to do, listen to how
it's gonna help. And if people just want to donate,
you know, to Wounded Blue, Randy, where can.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
They go to do that?
Speaker 4 (17:44):
Well, our website is though Wounded Blue dot org and
we're doing our nine one one campaign. You know what
we say is when people need help, they call nine
to one one. When the police need help, they call
the Wounded Blue. So we're asking people to donate not
just nine dollars and eleven cents a month to the
Wounded Blue. And while it doesn't sound like much. It's
(18:07):
about the same price as a coffee and a donut.
If we're gonna be stereotypical, you know.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
But not that I was gonna go there, Randy.
Speaker 5 (18:14):
But you can't, of course not.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
But if enough people do that, we can literally that
nine dollars and eleven cents might save the life ward
the career of a police officer. So by simply doing that,
and by the way, the first thousand people to do it,
we'll get a signed copy of my latest book, Rescuing
nine to one to one, The Fight for America's Safety,
(18:37):
which is all about how we got into this criminal
justice crisis and how we need to unite as a
nation in order to get out of it.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
So great, well, gosh, it's a win win for everybody. Listen,
before we let you go, the last little thing I
got to ask you. You also have had the honor
of being the most featured.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Cop on Cops. Randy, Is that right? Tell me about that,
because I mean, that's so iconic. I don't even know
what to say.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Wow, you know what, Like I said, everything in my
life has been an accident, including you know, and I'm
going to date myself. But I was featured on the
TV show Cops literally the first year that it came out. Wow,
And of course I don't even want to talk about
how many years ago that was. But then again, I
was featured in multiple seasons, multiple episodes, and I got
(19:26):
something very exciting.
Speaker 5 (19:27):
I wasn't going to talk about it, but you led
me here.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
The people from the producer of the show Cops, Morgan Langley,
is the owner of the show. He is such a
supporter of the Wounded Blue that he has this is amazing.
He's given the Wounded Blue the license to use their
intellectual property and their logo. And we are about to
(19:52):
launch Cops Coffee Company. That the sole reason that will
exist providing amazing coffee, but it will go to help
injured disabled officers around this nation. That's going to be
launched probably February or March of next year, and that
will be Cops Coffee Company. I can't wait for it. Well,
(20:13):
I'm going to I'll tell you the first The first
brew is Bad Boys Brew.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Of course it is, what else would it be.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
That's I mean, how amazing, just great stuff all around.
And Randy, listen, thank you for your service, thank you
for all that you've done you continue to do as
I know I already said, but I don't know that
we can say it enough because it's easy to kind of.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Ignore this sort of stuff.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
But you've really taken it head on and you've said,
you know what, I want to make a difference, and
you're spreading the word and you're getting more people involved,
and you're doing right by our incredible men and women
in blue. So thanks for all you do, Randy Sutton,
Thanks for joining us here on the Right View today.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
We appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
It's my pleasure and thank you for supporting the men
and women of this nation's law enforcement community.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Absolutely right, we'll get right back to the show.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
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order now. That's promo code Trump. Were joined by three
time World Series champion and author of the new book
Built for the Storm, Weathering the Storms of Life with grit,
faith and determination, Jeremy Alpha. Jeremy, thank you so much
for joining us. Take us back to the beginning. You
(23:30):
grew up in Spokane, and I guess there became a
point where you realize that baseball was more than just
like kind of going out and having fun and just
a game for you, right.
Speaker 6 (23:40):
Yeah, you know, I think I always enjoyed the game
of baseball. I loved sports in general. I enjoyed you
know what, basketball, I actually played soccer, I was a goalkeeper.
I love that I didn't get to play football. My
mom was actually thinking I was too skinny. She was
afraid of break in half when I played, so I
didn't get to play that. But baseball was kind of
my thing man sport. It's kind of it came very
(24:01):
natural for me. I had to work really hard at basketball.
I'd work really hard at soccer. I just didn't have
to work as hard at baseball. For whatever reason, I
had a lot of raw talent, but I really didn't
understand what I had. I just went out and threw
the ball real hard. And I like to play first base,
and I like to hit and run around the bases.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
I think my.
Speaker 6 (24:18):
Junior year was when I was actually playing for a
summer ball team and just having a good time. I
was just, I was just I just enjoyed playing baseball.
And I got done pitching against a guy that was
playing shortstop for another team that I guess there were
scouts there watching him.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
I had no.
Speaker 6 (24:36):
Idea, and so I just pitched against him. And after
the game, the scouts came up to me and they
asked my name. That's where I went to school, and
I kind of was a little taken back because that's
a weird thing to ask kids right after they get
done playing a game.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Random stranger was coming up and asking that.
Speaker 6 (24:50):
But then he asked me to take a psychoval and
I was a little bit weirded out by it. And
then they just said, I'm a scout for some baseball
teams and we're kind of in the area.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
And then I was just excited.
Speaker 5 (25:02):
I was.
Speaker 6 (25:02):
I was just like, Wow, that's pretty cool. And so
I took these psychic valves. Didn't think much of it
because I just loved playing the game. And then I
think it was probably my first high school game after
Summer Ball of my senior year, and all of a sudden,
there's thirty scouts at the game, all with these radar guns.
And I went to a really small school, so I
went through to Northwest Christian. I mean it was k
through twelve five hundred people. I mean it was it
(25:24):
was not big, and so I think there's more scouts
than fans at the game. And then it kind of
got real for me, you know, And and then colleges
started coming in, and then I got offered a really
good scholarship from Gonzaga, which is in my hometown a Spokane,
and then I got drafted in the third round.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
So it was kind of not one of those things
where I knew it.
Speaker 6 (25:44):
It was just all happened, and I just didn't really
understand exactly what I was getting into, except for the
chance I got to go play professional baseball for a
professional team. And it was the Kansas City Royals, and
at that time I didn't really know much about them.
You know, we heard the Yankees and the Dodgers and
the Giants and all these teams. But the Royals drafted me,
and I kind of was just so green. I just
(26:05):
said I'll try it, and I went after it and
I had a good time, and next thing I know,
it was in the big leagues four years later.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
It is kind of crazy.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Yeah, no, it certainly seems like it all worked out
for you.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
I want to ask you this, though, at what age
did you first start playing baseball?
Speaker 1 (26:19):
How old were you young?
Speaker 6 (26:20):
I was probably five or six when my first t ball,
and I did not have a summer off until I
was thirty seven years old.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
My first summer was when I retired. It was thirty seven.
Speaker 6 (26:30):
I actually, like, man, this is what it's like to
be able to go to a lake and not have to,
you know, just enjoy it and not have to go
anywhere or be at a baseball field. It definitely was
very interesting retiring, But I started really early.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Well, so my kids are six and eight. My son
is eight, and he's really into a lot of sports too.
He'll tell you he's going to be It vacillates between
whether he's going to the NBA or the NFL, but
he hasn't done that. Baseball is like the only only
thing he hasn't really played, but he kind of seems
like he wants to. So I feel like we still
(27:01):
got a chance to get him in there and have
some success at eight years old. But I noticed that
the kids I feel like, start so young who end
up kind of on that trajectory, And as a mom,
I feel like it stresses me out because I'm like, well,
what if I decide he should hone in on this
or that, and he actually should have gone the other way.
But from what you've said, it kind of seems like
(27:22):
you went towards where it kind of like your heart
wasn't naturally you were just that much, you know, it
was just easy for you to play baseball. So maybe
I've got to start thinking about that. What advice do
you have for a mom out there struggling.
Speaker 6 (27:34):
I think that you go through exactly what every parent
goes through.
Speaker 5 (27:37):
You know, I go through it.
Speaker 6 (27:38):
I mean I have an eighteen year old, a fifteen
year old, and a thirteen year old, and.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
My wife and I talked about this all the time.
Speaker 5 (27:45):
You know.
Speaker 6 (27:46):
Our eighteen year old is six foot five, two hundred
and fifty pounds. He's a strong kid. He played football,
did not play baseball. Never picked up a baseball really.
I think he played one year. Yeah, never played big
None of my sons played baseball, none of them.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
Oh my god.
Speaker 6 (28:00):
And our our and he could be a really good
football player in college. And he's just like dad, I
want to be in business. I want to focus on that.
I don't want to focus on football. And you're like, okay, great.
My fifteen year old plays golf for his golf team,
and our thirteen year old is is football and basketball,
and none of them play baseball.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
I never pushed them.
Speaker 6 (28:21):
I just say, hey, the only thing I've told them
is once you start something, you cannot quit that year.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Yes, yep, we have the same rule.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
In my house, same exact rule, and they fight you
on it, but you got to stick with it.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
I think it's very importing.
Speaker 6 (28:34):
That's right, that's right, because team you got, you have
to do it. You can't quit if it gets tough.
It just doesn't work that way. And parents out here
they're putting so much money, I mean tens of thousands
of dollars into their kids' sports programs and traveling. And
every every guy I've talked to, I mean in my
era of baseball, we all laugh and man, we're like,
(28:54):
you could put all the money you want into it.
You either are aren't a baseball but you are going
to be a big leader. You're not Like, yes you
need to develop, Yes you need to try to get
with people that can help with skills and teaching skills,
but you can't spend all this money and expect they'll
still get there.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
They won't.
Speaker 6 (29:11):
And a lot of these kids are burning out because
parents are so stressed. They're getting them into everything, and
then we got to go here, We're gonna go there
somewhere to sport, Like I gotta go to soccer practice
and then I got to go to baseball practice after that.
And these kids just get warm out and at sixteen
they're just like, I don't want to play anymore, and
the parents are devastated.
Speaker 5 (29:28):
You know.
Speaker 6 (29:29):
So I think what you're doing is a mom I
think you don't don't overstress it.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
I think you just met out.
Speaker 6 (29:34):
Hey, give me, give me, give me one thing, one
hundred percent when you go out there, give me a
hundred percent of practice, one hundred percent on the field,
give everything you got, and then we'll let's see where
the cards follow when you're eighteen. Either you go to
college and play sports, you don't get you get drafted,
or you don't like it's okay. Just make sure you
give one hundred percent. And I think it takes a
lot of stress off families when you think of it
(29:55):
that way.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
It's so true.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
And I feel like everyone is in competition with one another,
like here's how much stuff that this kid does and
that kid does and mine does this, and it's crazy.
Jeremy right, It's like, yeah, no, I know, well that's
just good advice.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
I'm glad.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
I'm glad we talked about this, because, yeah, I feel
like we're all dealing with the same stuff, no matter
where we live, no matter our last names, like, your
kids are your kids, and you want them to be successful.
And you know, some of the greatest lessons I ever
had as a kid and growing up came from actually
failures of mine within different sports that I played. And
nothing was a better lesson for me than not winning,
(30:32):
than losing, than not making the team. Look at Michael Jordan,
who didn't who got cut from the basketball team, and
he came back to be the greatest of all time.
So I mean, you know, we got all those all
those things, but for you, listen, it really worked out.
You've played for four organizations and one three World Series
with the Giants. That's pretty that's pretty solid, Jeremy, I
gotta be honest, Yeah, is there one of the rings
(30:53):
that means the most to you?
Speaker 5 (30:55):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (30:56):
You know, actually the third one, And there's a reason
for that. Some people always STI would say the first one.
So I actually was a part of a World Series
in two thousand and seven with the Rockies when the
Boston Red Sox beat US.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
So I was a part of four and the very
first one I lost.
Speaker 6 (31:12):
And for most ballplayers, they'll tell you if you get
to one and lose, that's it. There's not really this.
You don't bank on the fact that you're going to
be a part of another World Series. You just don't.
It's just a very rare thing. I mean, I put
with Griffy. You know, Ken Griffy Junior is one of
my favorite teammates in Cincinnati. He never got to a
World Series and that guy is one of the greatest
(31:32):
baseball players of all time. Right, so you can't you
don't know what team you're gonna be on. And I
lost the first one. And the interesting thing is the
each one of my sons was born on a World
Series year, I believe it or not. So in two
thousand and seven, my oldest was born, in twenty ten,
my middle son was born in twenty twelve, was our
(31:53):
youngest was born, and so everything is a World Series year. Well,
my middle son and our youngest son is they used
get ring World Series rings. That's what I So I'm
gonna gift them in their life, like that's something that
you're that's gonna be yours. Well, my youngest, my oldest
gets a loser ring. You get a loser ring when
you lose the World Series too, and so it's like
he gets the National League Championship Series, and I'm like, man,
(32:16):
these boys, I just know how they're gonna be when
they're older.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
They're just gonna be like, oh, how what's your ring
look like?
Speaker 5 (32:21):
Walker?
Speaker 6 (32:23):
I just knew it, you know, And so in the
back of my head, I was like, man, it would
be nice. And so when we won the third World Championship,
I got interviewed after the game and many that's the
same thing, and said what does this mean to you?
And I said, it means my son, all three of
my sons get a representation of this championship. And I
(32:43):
said my and and so now they all three get one.
And the other reason why it was super important was
I got drafted by Kansas City. I went through some
of my worst storms in Kansas City, wanted to quit
baseball while I played in Kansas City before I got
traded to Colorado. And the next time I was on
that field was in twenty fourteen when I walked off
(33:04):
a champion, and it was like a full circle of
life of like getting brought up by this team, feeling
like a loser and just hated the game of baseball,
to now I leave that same exact field that I
grew up that I got to the big leagues on
as a champion. It was for a different team, but
it was like a circle of life for me, and
I actually retired a year later because I said, that's it.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
I don't need anything else. This is something better. And
so that was why that's probably my favorite.
Speaker 6 (33:29):
And I still wear it when I speak and stuff
like that. I wear that one when I'm out speaking.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
That's so cool.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Well, that's a good reason I like that. And listen,
who doesn't love a great comeback story. And I feel
like if you're paying attention out there when you have
those full circle moments, like you know that God set
it up for you, Jeremy, like in this perfect way.
I mean, I've seen it in my life. I certainly
think I can look at my father in law in
a lot of respects and see it in his life.
(33:56):
It's kind of amazing when you take it in and
you realize, like, oh my gosh, this first thing happens
so that I could get here, and without that, you know,
failure or that thing that I didn't get that I
thought was going to be the end, I wouldn't have
gotten to where I am today. And so I love
all of those moments, But you talk about a storm.
The title of your book is built for the storm.
(34:18):
So what's kind of the central message, what's the takeaway
for everybody after they finish the book.
Speaker 6 (34:24):
You mentioned something earlier about sports and like some of
those failures teaching you and I've always called I don't
like the word failure. I really don't. I think it's
a It is a shameful word. It do just to
say the word fail makes you feel somewhat shamed or embarrassed, right,
just the word. And I tell people that they're teachable moments.
Speaker 5 (34:44):
That's all they are.
Speaker 6 (34:45):
You succeed or you have teachable moments. It's one or
the other. Because there's always a reason you go through something.
And that's what I want people to get to get
through my book. In the center, in the core message,
you are not meant to run from storms when they
come at you. You just are not. They're not meant
to Life is not meant to break you. It's not
meant to break you. There's things you go through in life,
(35:05):
whether they're the most extreme crazy health issues to fail marriages,
to loss of jobs to whatever it is, it's not
meant to break you. It's meant to build you. It's
meant to it's meant to prepare you because you have
a purpose in your life. And I said this the
other day when I told you, I was talking to
some guys. I'm like, you have a purpose, and these
storms are not meant to break you. They're meant to
(35:25):
actually train you. It's like a membership he really didn't
sign up for, right, like a gym membership.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (35:31):
Yeah, you literally, it's literally meant to train you, to
get you ready for the purpose that for the reason
that you're on that you walk this earth. And I
think that God sits there and he weeps with you,
He laughs with you, he cries with you.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
He understands them.
Speaker 6 (35:45):
He's just not going to rescue you from them because
he knows if I can get you through this, it'll
prepare you for what's ahead. Because if I let you
go through what's ahead, I'm prepared.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
It can end you. It can.
Speaker 5 (35:57):
I mean.
Speaker 6 (35:58):
And you see people when they run from storms, they
literally they mentally, emotionally or physically die suicide to just
mentally just give up or emotionally just like cave in
and become numb, and they get addicted to all kinds
of stuff because they don't understand that the storm was
not meant to be against you. It's meant to train
you and to charge that storm. And that's why I
(36:20):
talk about the buffalo mentality. They're the only animals in
North America that when storms come over the rocky mountains
that run right at it. The rest run away from it.
And they run at it for a reason, and that's
so they can get out of it. And they're built
for it. And that's what when I sign all my books,
every one of them says, you're built for it.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
You are built for storms. It is you're.
Speaker 6 (36:38):
Supposed to go through them, and you're supposed to go
at them, and you're supposed to dig in and charge them.
And that's very important that that's the message I really
want people to understand in life.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
By the way, amen to all of that. I couldn't
agree with you more. And it's so hard when you're
in whatever it is you're struggling with, right no one
wants to be in that moment. But if you think
about the fact that, look, life is about peaks and valleys.
Life is not supposed to be just a flat line.
You're supposed to go through the things that suck, so
(37:11):
they prepare you, as you said, and then how much
more enjoyable are the things that are great. I think
of about a lot of it, like almost like working
out a muscle, right, You're never gonna get anything out
of just going into the gym and like not feeling
anything when you work out.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
You work out.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
It kind of sucks, It hurts, it's painful to go
through some of it. You come out stronger on the
other side of that. That's It's like a metaphor for life.
And I love that you wrote a book about this.
You talked about a second ago two facing the storms.
You talk about literal storms you face in this book tornadoes,
you know, surviving a near fatal accident as a kid.
(37:50):
I mean, tell me about the hardest storm, so to speak,
that you had to go through and how it shaped
you and really played into this book.
Speaker 6 (38:00):
Yeah, you know, I didn't understand storms for the longest time,
you know, I kind of you got frustrated with them,
and I didn't really necessarily have huge storms until a fuser, Yes,
being attacked almost literally almost that hammerhead coming over the
reef and I had to get swiped up and then
head on and I had a head on car collision
(38:20):
that I walked away from. I'm a way to spring training.
A girl hit me up fifty five miles an hour
and I walked out of the car. I didn't I
just walked away from it. And too so many different
scenarios in life, and I had a lot of storms
in baseball, and so you think of all these things
and you're like, yeah, but I wouldn't say that that is.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
Something where you could look at in life.
Speaker 6 (38:42):
And I always thought about it as like, oh, I'm
gonna say this, and people are gonna be like, oh man,
it's super sad or like poor, you know, like there
wasn't that extreme situation for me until about in twenty twenty.
So I had been married for twenty two years and
we had three boys.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
We lost.
Speaker 6 (39:00):
I lost the marriage and it was terrible. And I'm
against divorce. I'm against it. I'm a family guy. I man,
I believe man that got it.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
I believe it.
Speaker 6 (39:10):
What he brings together, no man should separate. I mean,
I believe all of that. And so when when when
the marriage ended, I was so devastated and scared and
lost and trying to protect my sons, because it wasn't
trying to let them know nothing to do with you,
nothing to do this is.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
Not your fault.
Speaker 6 (39:27):
Uh, you know like your mom and I love you
like so that that was a huge storm for me
and I had to walk that out and and it
was not in my decision and so it was a
terrible thing and a scary thing to go through. And
that's when I actually started understanding the buffalo mentality. Is
my therapist who was walking me through my life and
(39:49):
breaking down a thing called a trauma egg where she
was like, I'm going to show you why you are
a certain way or act a certain way when things happen,
because it's all about life, right, like how you what
what happened in family history stuff, and it's going through
all of it. And she finally said, have you ever
read about the buffalo mentality? And I said no, Man,
she said, I want you to read that article and
(40:09):
it was about an article written is very well done.
Speaker 2 (40:13):
I think it was in the nation.
Speaker 6 (40:14):
It was in like the Tennessee and I think and
he wrote about what buffalo do and why they charged,
why cow's run away, and why buffalo's charge storms. Hence
life when storms come at you. Why you should charge them?
And I was going home to read it and my
ex my teammate, my ex teammate Matt Cain, who was
still playing for the Giants at the time, had called
(40:34):
me and said, I know you're going through something really
rough man, and you're not talking to me because I
wouldn't talk to anybody about the situation.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
I was super scared.
Speaker 6 (40:42):
And he said, but our sports psychologists and our team
just gave us an article today.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
I want you to read it. It was the same article.
It was the same on the same day.
Speaker 6 (40:50):
And I'm like, well, God, I guess, yeah, I guess
I should read it. And when I read it it
something happened in me of like, like, this is the
situation I'm in. I'm not gonna run from it what
it is. I'm gonna take this on. And God, I
don't know what you have for me in this. I'm
super I was super angry at God. I was super
(41:11):
angry at I mean, I was mad. I was like,
this is not okay. Like I literally did everything I
could and serve my family. I didn't do it perfect
all the time, but I did. I wanted to be
a part of it, and I charged it and I
went at it, and I kept my sons, and my
sons are sick. My oldest lives with me with my wife.
I've been Mary Reed married for three years to a
(41:31):
beautiful woman who loves my boys and me a tremendous amount.
I mean, she's just amazing woman helps me in my
business now. And he presented her to in my life,
believe or not. She owned it herd of Buffalo when
I met her, which was like awesome. So there was
so much good. And my oldest lives with this full
(41:52):
time or other. Two boys go back and forth, but
it's really become good. And what I've learned about myself,
what I've learned about I'm a better husband, I'm a
better father, I'm a better friend, all from the storm
that I went through and learning to take that storm on.
I mean, it's just it's been incredible. And I don't
wish upon everybody what I went through, but I can
say I really wouldn't change it. Uh And and to
(42:16):
this day, I still do not believe in divorce and
and so and and I've told my wife, Kennedy, and
my kid and she's my best friend, Like this is
it like I could promise you I'm not going anywhere
You're gonna have to kill me.
Speaker 2 (42:30):
But I mean, I'm not going anywhere. Like I'm in it.
I don't care how bad it gets. I'm in it.
Speaker 6 (42:35):
And and and there's nothing go to change that, and
and so that's such an important thing for me. So
I just thought I wanted to write to people to
get them to understand that I don't.
Speaker 2 (42:44):
I don't know what you're going through.
Speaker 6 (42:45):
But I went through a lot, and I and and
it was not a it was a two year deal.
It was not good, and I just weathered it and
stayed good character, honored God. I mean I even told
my lawyer, I said, I will own whatever I need
to own. I will not lie, and I will let
God deal with the consequences. I said, if you fib
about anything, if you try to sugarcoat anything, I'll call
(43:07):
you out right in the middle of the court.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
I will not lie.
Speaker 6 (43:10):
I will I will whatever they want to say if
I and I did it, and I did it well,
and I think I came out really really, I think
I came out so much better on the other side
of just like, this is who I am, and I
know I'm loved by God, and I know I'm a
good person and I'm a good father to my sons
and now and it shows my sons are great and
(43:31):
Kendice Snyer are or really thankful that our boys are
turning out the way.
Speaker 1 (43:35):
They are amazing, I mean, just so amazing.
Speaker 3 (43:38):
I love to hear you say, Jeremy, that you wouldn't
change anything you went through, because I think, one, it's
a life defining thing, right, and you're not the same
person you were prior to having to go through all
of that, and it made you stronger, it made you better,
it made you who you are today. Before I let
you go, I do want to talk to you about
your faith. I've heard you mentioned God several times in
(44:01):
your whole story, but faith does play a huge role
in your story.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
I think.
Speaker 3 (44:05):
So when did religion go from being sort of something
that was like a Sunday thing for you to what
very clearly looks like it's the center of your everyday life.
Speaker 6 (44:15):
Yeah, you know, that's a good question, you know. I mean,
I was raised in a Christian home. My family, you know,
my dad was came from a line of Lutheran pastors.
Actually they're German and In fact, I have a Bible
from sixteen ten in German that's pretty close to the Gutenberg, right,
So like that's that was passed down into my family
and it was just it was a really cool deal
(44:37):
and it's.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
Been in my family for years.
Speaker 6 (44:39):
My mom came from a Baptist background, so you got
Lutheran and Baptist, so you got an interesting mix when
you deal with that. But you know what, we went
to Evangelical free church or a non denomination most of
my life. But it was my parents, Like I got
up went to church with them, Like that's what you did.
Like I went to Ilwana, I went to church on Sunday,
(45:00):
youth group on Wednesday, like you just did.
Speaker 2 (45:02):
That was the family rhythm that we had.
Speaker 6 (45:05):
And when I when I when I remember when I
left to play professional baseball. That was one thing that
some that I had a coach, Jim Moore, who was
a basketball coach and also our athlete director at our school,
who was a good who is a mentor for me,
and he knew I had gone through a lot and
he said he looked at me and said, your faith
now is going to be who you are when you're
away from your family. Like now that your mom and
(45:27):
dad aren't getting you up to go to church on Sunday,
not and you don't have the role the expectation of
the family. Now, who are you Because I got when
I got drafted, I got sent to Fort Myers, Florida,
like and now living in Spokane, Washington. So we're talking,
that's is far away from the you can get. Yeah,
And I remember I did I we in rookie ball.
We had church on we didn't have we didn't have
(45:49):
to go to the field on Sundays. That was our
built in day off in rookie ball. When I signed
as a kid and I went to church. I found
a church and I went and I enjoyed it, and
I read my Bible every day, and I broke down
the New Testament, and I remember, I, you know, somebody
was probably be a little bit scared of being on
your own at eighteen. I've never been on my own
in my life, and I'm on my own. And and
(46:09):
but I started reading it, and I think the Bible
finally came alive to the point of I had my
relationship with Jesus, not my mom and dad's relationship with Jesus.
My relationship. I don't see scripture the same way that
my parents do to a tea. We don't. I don't
see it. We don't, you know, And they know that
and nothing wrong with it. I just look at it differently,
and I see life differently. And but it's my life,
(46:32):
it's my personal relationship, and I stay close to that,
and it helped me through everything. Uh and and I'm
so thankful for that, and I'm unapologetic about it.
Speaker 5 (46:42):
Was all.
Speaker 6 (46:43):
I was unapologetic in the in the game I helped.
I was very vocal about it. Then I'm not a
Bible thumper. I I do not do that. I I
don't just smack you on the head. I'll go have
a beer with you. I own a brewery. I have
a Bible study in my brewery on Thursdays, which in
the Bible Belt people are like, can you do that?
Speaker 2 (47:01):
I'm like, I'm pretty sure I can. I own the place,
you know.
Speaker 6 (47:05):
And So I loved everything about who Jesus is in
my life and what in the journey He's taken me on.
And it started literally when I started to understand that
when I left home, it wasn't about fire insurance, it
wasn't about I just got saved because I saw you're
probably in the same era of life. I don't want
(47:26):
to aid you that'd be insulting, So I don't know
where you're at, but I'm I used to watch all
the we get pulled in the Sunday school class and
we watch all the Revelation movies where like guillotines and
people are leaving the earth and disappearing, and.
Speaker 2 (47:39):
You got super scared.
Speaker 6 (47:41):
You were like, I'm just gonna become a Christian because
I'm scared of all that happening, you know, like they
literally scared the hell out of you, you know, so
like for me, it was it was one of those
things where I learned to move on from that and
be like, it's not about that. It's about who Jesus
is and the relationship we have with him, and how
important it is that we know that our life is
short here, but we can make a big impact for
(48:03):
the kingdom, and we can love people like Jesus wants
us to love our neighbor as ourself, and that's kind
of what our matre is in our home. I have
a tattoo on my forum that says, no man shall
live for himself that is my message to our family
that I don't want you living for yourself. I want
you to understand who Jesus wants you to live for.
And so that's super important and that's where I'm at right.
Speaker 3 (48:25):
So great, Well, Jeremy, tell everybody where they can find
your book, and anyone who's interested in learning about how
to get through whatever you're going through, because everybody goes
through stuff all on their own.
Speaker 6 (48:37):
Yeah, jeremyfl dot com is where you know where I
send people. Because all the books if you go to
my website, any book bought off my website, I signed personally,
and so I sign every book and my wife actually
makes me sign a personal note and she says, I
don't care how long it takes you.
Speaker 2 (48:55):
You owe that to the people by so I do that.
It is available on Amazon.
Speaker 6 (48:59):
You don't get it signed on Amazon, and then it's
available on Audible as well, and I read it. I
personally did the odd so it's on all audible venues.
However you get your audible books or listen to your books,
and I did. I personally read it because I felt
like that message should come from me. So I read
the book for Audible as well. So you can get
them on all those things.
Speaker 3 (49:18):
It's been great, amazing, amazing, Well, Jeremy, thank you for
thank you for being willing to put your story out there.
It's not easy a lot of times, I think, especially
in these very personal moments, to kind.
Speaker 1 (49:30):
Of share that with the world.
Speaker 3 (49:32):
But I think you doing it is probably helping a
lot of people and making people realize that you're always
going to go through things that are tough, that are challenging.
It's meant to happen that way. That is, that is
how life is designed to prepare you for what is
coming next. So thank you for sharing your story, and
thank you so much for spending.
Speaker 1 (49:51):
A little bit of time with us as well today.
We appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (49:54):
No, it was great.
Speaker 2 (49:55):
Thank you for having me on. I appreciate the conversation absolutely.
Speaker 1 (49:58):
Best of luck with everything. Everybody.
Speaker 3 (49:59):
Go by Jeremy's book and as always, make sure you like, subscribe, share,
and follow. We'll see you back here next time for
more of the Right View and wom back down, baby man.
Speaker 1 (50:16):
There ain't no way any way out.
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