Tim Tebow: Journey from Heisman glory to fighting human trafficking

Graham travels to Jacksonville, Florida to sit down with Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow. In their conversation, the former star quarterback reflects on his time at the University of Florida, his journey to the NFL, and the lessons he’s carried with him along the way. Tebow also shares his deep passion for serving others and discusses the inspiration behind the Tim Tebow Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting and protecting victims of human trafficking.

Episode Transcript

(00:10):
All right, everybody good and settled go.
Ahead and get. Slayed out.
So you want to take one marker. You first think about if the nil
existed when you were flying. Not really.
Oh, come on. I loved my time there.
You're with the Broncos, they give you the ability to get

(00:32):
traded to kind of wherever you want.
Why not come home? Besides the ownership, nobody
wanted me here. Aaron Hernandez, why is it so
important to you to not say anything negative?
Why would it be important to me too?

(00:54):
I don't think it's wise and I don't think it's helpful.
What stands out most to you fromthe human trafficking stats?
When you talk about purchasing of live streaming, we're the
worst in the world. And that's live streaming rate.
Yes, we have to step up and stand up, and it's not going to
go away if we act like it's not real.
A night to shine. What makes it your favorite

(01:17):
event of the year? My mom ran up to me and she
grabbed me pretty intensely and she said my daughter, she'll
never get married, she'll never have kids.
But tonight, she felt like a Princess.
So how did the idea for the bookcome about?

(01:40):
This has really been inspired byso many of the heroes that we
have gotten to serve, and if society would have first looked
again, many of them wouldn't have been in that situation.
If we would really look at people and we would really
recognize their worth, it would renew our hope and we would be
able to run with the confidence.You know, we are talking right

(02:03):
now in one of our most isolated societies we've ever been in and
one of our loneliest societies we've most ever been in.
Where the suicide rate for youngpeople is so high, yet we're
somewhat connected over devices for to people all over the
place. But yet actually real personal

(02:25):
interpersonal communication and fellowship is so lacking where
we are comparing ourselves to other people's fake best days on
Instagram and all these other devices.
And the heart of luck again, is to truly challenge people first
to themselves that I'm not what the world labels or says I am.

(02:48):
But then it's also when I truly recognize who and whose I am.
It changes then my eyes to how Isee other people.
Maybe now I won't just walk by them the same.
Maybe I won't look past them thesame.
Maybe I'll really stop to see not just what they can do for
me, but who they truly are and what I can do for them.
And that might change my actionsfor them, my kindness towards

(03:13):
them. And then ultimately, I think
that it's changes everything. Well said.
Thanks brother. So I I wanted to start off by
talking about the wife, actuallyKurt.
Can we get to talk about one of my favorite things?
Well, you. Knew after your first

(03:34):
conversation with her that you wanted to marry her.
Yeah, I had a really good feeling like that.
She's the one. And thankfully she had a feeling
like that too. That first phone call that was
just supposed to be a, a 5 minute phone call just with more
information about kind of night to shine and the way we serve

(03:57):
people with special needs and some of those things because her
sister with special needs. And then it lasted 2 hours, 24
minutes and 6 seconds. Now did you know going into it
you had interest in her or? Of course.
OK. So give a little of the back
story. There, so I got into to see her

(04:22):
talk about her sister with special needs.
And so we were for the first time serving in South Africa,
individuals with special needs for a night to shine.
And then I saw that and I said, well, you know, we sent her an
invitation so we could serve herfamily.
And then she was like what Hey, this looks awesome, but I need
to look into this a little bit more like being a protective big

(04:44):
sister. And she was like, so we emailed
back and forth a few times and, you know, hoping to be able to
serve her family and her sister,but at the same time, you know,
had some ulterior motors of like, she seems awesome.
And so we emailed back and forthand she's like, hey, we set up a
quick phone call so I can learn more.

(05:04):
And that phone call and I think we were both afterwards, we're
like, I think we're probably going to get married.
And I would not have been that like type of person.
And then was the first date right after that.
The first date was a little while after because.
Like Erie, Erie, PA. Yes, Come on, you've done some
research. That's right, because she was

(05:28):
traveling all over. I think that year she had 22
international trips as Miss Universe.
So she was like all over the place.
And I was playing minor League Baseball, so I was all over the
place. And then she was actually not
far from there. I was finishing a baseball game.
And so that's where we met. And that was both right before

(05:49):
she went on A7 week 7 country trip.
And I was like, oh, man, we really need to have a date.
Because I think when she leaves on this trip, she's going to go
and she's going to get like swept off her feet by like the
Prince of Wales or something, you know, like, you know, you
know. Because when you find somebody
you're interested in, that's allyou get.

(06:11):
Right. But we've never actually met in
person. And so so we finally met and
then it was. The rest of history?
How did the long distance work? Facetime's helpful, and when
you're playing minor League Baseball, there's a lot of time

(06:33):
on buses. So a lot.
A lot. And so we, it was honestly not
that much in person for most of our dating phase.
And I'm so grateful for Facetimes 'cause that really
helped. And she was all over the
country, all over the world. But honestly, I feel like part

(06:54):
of that actually was helpful because it gave us more time to
really like communicate and talkabout passions and cares and
hopes and dreams and like reallyimportant stuff that sometimes
when you're in person, just talkabout where's the next place you
want to eat type thing. And that let us get in some good
conversations. And then in between all her
trips and baseball, then we would try to have some dates

(07:17):
here there. But then when baseball season
ended and got more into like TV stuff, then we were able to
spend a little bit more time together, but it was still a lot
of time for both of us on the road.
What's this I hear about microphones in haystacks during
a proposal? Yeah, I just wanted the proposal

(07:38):
to be as meaningful and sincere and thoughtful as I could.
So for the proposal, we just hadso many surprises and when I was
thinking she was catching on, then we'd go back and create
another lie to throw her. Off.
OK, wait, wait. We'd explain that.

(07:58):
So we had set it up for a long time that the Tebow family
always has Christmas dinner at my parents house and it's a
really nice deal. We don't, but that was to be
able to get her dressed up over at my parents house.
Like we call it the farm and. Correct me if I'm wrong, the

(08:19):
family house is where you. Grew up, yes.
You moved from Sherry? Lane Sherry, That's right.
When you were a kid. Yeah, technically we were there.
We moved to the Philippines for five years, then we moved back
and then we got a piece of property on the West side of
Jacksonville, 44 acres were. It was awesome for a boy.

(08:39):
Time to. Grew a heck of a place to grow.
Up it was. It was awesome.
And so for the proposal, I want to do something meaningful in a
meaningful place. And that pond out there is very
meaningful. It's many days I sat out there
and thought and prayed and buried our two dogs.
It's just very meaningful. So we had created an arch and we

(09:01):
had a a really bench and we had flowers out there and all these
surprises. And the minute I feel like she's
catching on, I would like try tocreate another lion.
So I was like, as we're leading up to it, we had Christmas with
our family at our our house overhere.
And so we all did that. But then we were changing,
getting ready to go drive to themy parents house for Christmas

(09:24):
dinner. And so we made-up this big lie
that it's a really fancy big deal because she wanted a couple
things she wanted to have done for their proposal is she wanted
someone to capture it and videosand and photography and she
wanted her nails done. And so I was like, OK, so my
sister, we're like, yeah, we're getting our nails done
everything. So he got her dressed up, got

(09:45):
her nails done, everything. And then?
How are how are your nerves? There was a lot of adrenaline, a
lot of dopamine going for sure, especially because I had to keep
all these lies and in order. And so then I was thinking she
was catching on to it and I toldher we had another surprise that

(10:05):
I got my dad a truck for Christmas.
And so I had a friend here who has a dealership drop off a a
truck with the big bow on it. And I was like, OK, we're going
to ride in this over to mom and dad's and I'm going to give him
the truck because I thought she's going to think if you're
giving your dad a truck for Christmas, then you're really

(10:27):
making it about your dad. It wouldn't be about me.
So I did that just to throw her off.
So we we got in the truck. But meanwhile, what she didn't
know is I had already had all these people, her best friends
and her family all flew in from South Africa.
And she's like, why aren't we get, I can't give my mom.
I can't get her in text my dad, you know, because they were

(10:47):
flying 16 hours over here. And so we drove over to the
house and before we went in, I said, Hey, we, I have something
out here I want you to see. We walked out there and I wanted
her to know this is kind of what's happening.
And so she sees the flowers, she's getting emotional walking
closer. And then I stopped and I
proposed to her and she said yes.

(11:10):
And and then I I said hey it. It touches you now even.
Oh yeah, and I. Said hey, let's play our
favorite. It's just a special memory.
It's the best. And I said, hey, let's play one
of our favorite songs. It's a song by Matthew Mole
called The Wedding Song. It's one of her favorite artists
from South Africa. We play it, and then as we're

(11:33):
playing it, he walks around fromone of the hay bales and then
he's playing it acoustically. And she's like, what?
And meanwhile, the whole time, we had different cameras and
mics and the hay bales that werearound there, so they could hear
what we were saying and they could hear the cue.
So I gave a cue and I turned heraround as we're dancing to the

(11:55):
song. And then she turns back around
and her parents are there from South Africa.
And she's shocked. And then my parents are there
and her and then her, four of her best friends were there.
And so it was just a night of full surprises.
And she's like, wait, so are youreally giving your dad the
truck? And I'm like, no.
And so she goes up to my dad andshe's like you, you know, I'm

(12:17):
sorry you're not getting a truck, but you're getting a
daughter. And that was one of my favorite
lines of the night. That's a lot of coordination
that. It was a lot.
It was very aggressive. Yeah, and did she didn't know.
She had no idea. Good for you.
I also gave her a ring earlier that day to throw her off as
well. What?

(12:38):
It was an engagement ring. It was just a nice like ring for
Christmas and but 'cause I thought, you know, she's going
to think if she gets a ring, she's not getting the ring.
Oh, you are all in and then you get married and then COVID hits
right after which probably had to blow up whatever early, you

(12:59):
know, marriage. So when we were we, we go on our
honeymoon and there are even a few people there in the Maldives
that are like mentioning this thing called coronavirus and we
don't pay much attention to it. And then we fly night to shine a

(13:20):
bunch of places and we come backhere and I go to spring training
for baseball and they shut it down.
And then we come back here and, and it was a big adjustment when
kind of your honeymoon period intime is in the middle of a a
pandemic. And so that was a big adjustment

(13:41):
and it definitely gave us more time to communicate early on.
And presumably a move happened at some point then from other
end of the world to, Oh yeah, Jacksonville and.
Oh yeah. And well, thankfully a lot of
that was done right beforehand. We got married January 2020.
And so a lot of that got done before kind of that end of

(14:04):
February, March period. So I'm glad we got that done
done beforehand. OK, so from what I understand,
when you were growing up, your dad kind of had a tight grip on
the the social life, right? Oh yeah.
How how did that impact things for for you?

(14:26):
I think one of the the great things that we had was from a
very early age, my parents took us with us to a bunch of places.
So we got to communicate a lot. But a lot of it was also to
adults growing up for the first five years overseas, but then
coming back and, you know, goingwith my four other siblings who

(14:49):
were 369 and 12 years and then my mom and dad, it really forces
you to have to learn how to talkto adults.
And I think that was something Iwas really helpful in a lot of
areas. What about when it came to
dating? Though what about it?

(15:11):
Oh, I I mean, it probably tampered that, right?
Well, I think that my it's probably different with all of
the siblings. Oh really?
Yeah, I think it was different for every relationship.
And I think one of the things that my parents always just did

(15:36):
a great job of was just trying to to always learn and grow.
And they're never the same parent yesterday as they were
today and be able to to watch that.
Although at the same time they were always this loving and kind
and thoughtful, but just trying to always do what was best for
us. And they always did that and.

(15:58):
And your sister Katie kind of served as like a second mom.
Oh, yeah, She got a hernia from,I think it was a double hernia
because she was carrying me around so much when I was a
baby. So really.
Yeah. But so she kind of served as a
second mom. Christy would also say my oldest
sister, they were just amazing big siblings to me that were 9

(16:22):
and 12 years older. And so it wasn't just like a,
like a, a brother, sister relationship.
It was also like a role model. Like I want to make them proud.
I remember a very pivotal momentfor me was we went to church one

(16:45):
week, a whole family was back together.
I can't remember if I was in like 3rd, 4th, 5th grade and
we're all getting ready to go out to lunch with some other
families and I said something tosome of their friends that was
just, I can't remember. It was arrogant and stupid and,

(17:06):
and they didn't say anything. They just looked at me and it
was so disappointed. And I was like, it's just one of
the worst moments. And I was like, I'm I'm going to
do everything I can to never disappoint you.
You even recognize that in the moment.

(17:27):
Oh yeah. It was debilitating and it was
super humbling. And that's what I mean, that it
wasn't just brother sisters. Like I wanted to please them.
I wanted them to be proud of me.And I when that was the
opposite, it was like a dagger. And sometimes good things can

(17:50):
come from disappointment. And that was something I really
felt like inspired me to never want to have them say, oh, I'm
I'm ashamed of Timmy. Is everybody close by today?
No, they're all over. They've been all over the world,

(18:10):
so. Yeah, could you see a time when
everybody's back? I would love, I think it's so
hard with the just extended family now and more and more
extended family and people are having more and more kids.
There's just so much so it's makes it all hard to get in the
same place. But when we can, gosh becomes

(18:31):
really, really special. How many kids do you want?
I don't know, I would. And you say the perfect world.
I'd love to have a big family, but obviously Timmy has a lot to
say about that. And, and ultimately I am so
blessed and incredibly thankful for this incredible daughter

(18:55):
that we have been so fortunate to have for the last 8 1/2
weeks. And it's surreal and life
changing. And if we get the blessing of
having more than that would be awesome.
So. OK.
What's been the biggest adjustment there?
You know, people say a lot. They say, did you ever know you

(19:18):
could love something so much? And I, I think I don't think
that's been the biggest adjustment.
I think from the time that I wasright here and Demi surprised me
when I got home with the news, Ididn't need to know if she was a
boy or a girl or what her face looked like.
I just, I instantly knew that I loved this little baby.

(19:42):
But then I think once she was here with us, it was like the
level of responsibility went up to where the feeling like I was
like, OK, when we walk in, that's the all these corners.
We got to fix them on the steps.Like so you're looking at every
place she could fall or bump a knee or fun.

(20:03):
Fun place to baby. Proof, it's done a fun place to
baby proof. And so I think that level of
responsibility, like I remember driving home and I was 10 and
two like crazy and Timmy's like,why?
Like, why are you driving so slow?
And it's just that level of responsibility.
I think that's the thing that isreally that I've noticed is

(20:24):
really amped out. If you guys figured out a
schedule. I think this schedule is
constantly changing, yeah. Fun, fun times.
They honestly, they've been someof the best times, some of our
most enjoyable times, I would say of our life like.

(20:45):
What do you mean? I I have a five week old that's
my first and. Congratulations.
They eat, they sleep, they poop,and repeat right now.
But it's this you're carrying this baby that can do nothing
for you but you just. Which is crazy.
Pounding out of your chest and you're like, but I would do

(21:07):
anything and everything for themand to watch Daphne smile or
it's, I mean, it's just been thebest.
And I kind of like it because she also likes my voice too.
So even when I'm not with Demi and Daphne and I'll call on
FaceTime, she'll I'll talk to her and she'll smile at my voice

(21:28):
and. Because the whole time she was
pregnant, she could hear. She could hear and IA lot of
nights I would talk to her in the womb and we would read and
read scripture and pray and do so many things and it was really
special. Right after the delivery and the

(21:49):
baby, the doctor puts Daphne on on Demi's chest for skin to skin
time. She's crying a little bit and I
go around there and I just startto sing to her so.
You, you have some skills from what I understand.
Horrible. Wait, what about these?
It's. Horrible what?
About these? It is the worst.
What about these summer musicalsback in the day?

(22:11):
Yes, and it was terrible. My voice, it was awful.
There's honestly, there's prettymuch only two people I think
I've ever heard that might have a worse voice than me.
One is my dad and the other is my wife.
Oh, but it's a cute thing. Oh, she would.
She would tell you that 100%. So what?
What are you saying? I just kind of make up little

(22:35):
lullabies and sing them to her. And, and so I started singing to
her and she just stopped crying and like looked over it like
I've heard that voice. I knew that voice has been
around. It was really, really sweet
moment. Tell about this color blind
gender reveal. That was right, literally right

(22:57):
here. So we're doing our, our gender
reveal a a few months ago and Demi had it all set up and she's
thought through it and she's gotthis beautiful canvas and she
thinks, OK, well, we're going tobe blindfolded.
And some of our, our team knows whether it's a boy or a girl.
And they hand us the paint. And so we're, we're painting on
this canvas. And I say, OK, you guys are

(23:19):
done. And, and here you go.
We're going to we're going to give you a we're going to take
the paintbrush and we're going to close your eyes.
We're going to take off the blindfold.
And all right, when we say open,open your eyes and find out if
your first child's a boy or a girl, they're like, OK, here we
go 321, open your eyes. And I open my eyes.

(23:43):
But what, what Demi and the teamforgot to remember is that I'm
colorblind. And I thought it was going to be
obvious, though I didn't think, I thought it was going to be
like a bright blue or like a bright pink like you see for
most gender reveals. But my, my wife and her awesome
creativity decided to pick like a, a mauve pink.

(24:03):
I, I don't know what mauve pink is, but to me, when I opened my
eyes, it just looked brown. And so I'm like, yay.
But I'm thinking, is brown a boyor is brown a girl?
It's like that, like lightish brown.
And so I'm like, oh, no. And she's like, yeah, it's a
girl. And I'm like, yeah, it's a girl
because I don't want to ruin themoment for her.

(24:25):
And it's just, it is really funny.
And so after we we finished in celebration, I went over and I
said, you know, I had no idea, right?
And she's like, what I say, baby, I'm color blind.
And she's like, you couldn't tell.
And I was like, no, not. She said it's a girl, so.

(24:46):
How? How color blind are you?
I actually didn't even know I was colorblind until I was
playing for the Eagles. And we were going through
testing one day and the doctor was like, so tell me how long
you been colorblind? And I'm like, how long have I
been what? And he's like, oh, you didn't
know? And I was like, you know what?
That I'm colorblind. He's like, oh, yeah.

(25:06):
And that was the first time I found.
Out how did 2015 how did he. We were just going through all
their testings of, you know, I go through hearing sight eyes
like, you know, all the ones where you like flip your eyes.
You know, the Eagles would do with Coach Kelly a lot of
extensive testing on all sorts of different things, which I

(25:27):
really loved and thought was really cool.
But then one of the days when wewere doing it, they were like,
you're colour blind. And I'm like, because how do you
know you're colour blind until someone tells you you should?
You just see it the way you see it?
And so it's actually a big, big shock to me.
Well, for being color blind you did good designing.
I didn't do a ping. Well, you still have to look at

(25:50):
the stuff. I mean, you did something, all
right? So if one kid want more, would
you homeschool the kids? I think that we want to do what
is ever whatever is best. If that means homeschooling,
we're totally open to it. What's your gut tell you?
I I think that there is different types of education

(26:15):
that fit different families better.
I think for some areas in some schools, public schools can be
great. I think that, you know, private
schools, I think the university models can be great.
I think homeschooling can be great.
There's so many different modelsbecause I think, you know what
the, the structure for so many families is a little different.

(26:37):
And you know, for us, we were sofortunate to be able to have a
dad that when he was there during, you know, school days,
he could pour into us with so much Greek and Hebrew and all
sorts of other things. But then, mom was he.
Was travelling all over the. World he was travelling also all

(26:58):
over the world and so but mom was, you know, able to really be
a good teacher and patient and also for me with dyslexia, that
really was a blessing when I finally got diagnosed with it
and understood how I learned andbut mom was equipped and able to

(27:18):
handle it. So I think that homeschooling
can be really, really special for certain families, but it
can, but it's not also right forevery family.
What was your parents reasoning for homeschooling you and your
siblings? It's a good question.
I think probably one of the first things that they would say
is because they wanted to make the things that were most

(27:45):
important, most important, and that would be relationship with
God, relationship with each other, things that are going to
last for eternity. The focus 1st.
And also there are big believersin education and focusing on
that. But if you know all of these

(28:12):
grammar words, and you can writeessays and you can crush
calculus, but you don't love Godand love people, what's it for?
Your mom had a bit of a tough goinitially, like suppliers
wouldn't provide or sell materials.
Oh, back in the day, it used to be really hard to be home
schooled. There was such a stigma to it.

(28:34):
I even know that when I was growing up, so many people would
criticize them or criticize us or teams I would play on and you
would have to hear so much chirping.
And, you know, there, oh, there's the weird homeschoolers
type. Really.
Oh yeah. It wasn't even unique early on.

(28:57):
I I gathered from reading your first book that it seemed like
there were elements of it that were that that was hard for you.
Like you, you questioned if you were missing out on totally,
totally. How so?
Oh. I think there's a balance,
right? I think it's like, I know what
I, I love what I'm doing, but maybe am I missing out on

(29:20):
something, right. You have that fear of it that
that FOMO, you know, like that'sour whole family.
We get FOMO if like the whole family's together, we're like,
Dang it, I'm missing out. I want to be with everybody.
And I just think it's that in that same way, you think, well,
what am I missing out on? What do I not know?
What if I not experienced, you know, And so there's that.
How did your parents explain it to you at the time?

(29:45):
I don't know that they probably did.
I think that. Was just how it was.
Yeah, but I also, I was not likeI was ever ungrateful.
I loved it. I was so grateful.
I loved my homeschooling experience.
I But it doesn't mean even when you love something, you still,
you know, know, when you do one thing usually means you're

(30:09):
sacrificing and giving up something else.
And that was involved in massiveyouth groups.
We're involved in mission trips every summer.
We are involved in science fairsin in history fairs.
We're involved in in year round sports for so much.
So we're still around a whole lot of people.

(30:30):
It wasn't kind of like, oh, they're homeschooling and you're
like socially awkward and isolated and, you know, maybe
smart but can't talk, you know? Well, but it can be for some.
Probably it's a credit to your parents for.
Creating their families different, right?
Yeah. What do you emphasize and what
are you making a part of? I think one of the things that
we did that was so special and I'm so grateful is we got to

(30:54):
make learning about life a priority and the reality of the
world. Like I can't tell you how many
countries I was in before I was 5 and getting to see the world
and not just kind of have a, a bubble over you, but being told
about the world. We got to see it and experience
so many cultures and backgroundsand ethnicities and, and

(31:20):
different places around the world.
That really helped. And then my parents would
explain more and share more and,and This is why we live here and
this is what we're doing. And then you fall in love with
the people, different countries around the world and, and we got
to experience so much of that. And I felt like that was so much

(31:40):
more of a. Unique but special education
than just like hey, this is whatthis book says.
Right. And I believe those
opportunities were created in part because of your dad's work,
I think. But you can, I mean, you can be

(32:01):
the best student ever and never have the opportunity to
experience any of that. And that's kind of some of the
richest learning. It is, I think, yeah, I think
really being able to experience the world.
And then also the blessings thatwe have in in the States here.

(32:23):
And you talk about gratitude, that shifts and perspective that
shifts. And it's so easy to complain or
think that we have things hard. And then that's like, hey, come
on, I'm going to go show you what hard looks like.
Right, that quiets the complaints about not getting the

(32:44):
newest pair of sneakers. So on my dad's mission trips,
big part because of this, there was really only one rule, no
complaining. And still to this day, one of
the people that I've heard the least amount of complaining in,
and just anybody that I really know, is my dad.

(33:06):
OK, give some color to that. It's so easy for us to complain,
to say what we don't have, to look at it negative.
And it's, in my opinion, it is almost impossible to be grateful
and bitter at the same time. You don't get to have both.

(33:27):
You got to pick or choose, right?
So am I going to be, am I going to fight to have the perspective
of being grateful and get rid of, let go of the bitterness or
the frustration or the disappointments?
And it's really hard to have both of these coincide at the
same time. And so one of the reasons that
dad would have this motto on allthe trips of no complaining is

(33:50):
because, man, when we're sittingthere complaining, it also
limits our ability to be grateful, limits our willingness
to be grateful and get rid of all those disappointments
because we will always have them.
I'm not saying those things aren't real, but even the
disappointments, we have so muchto be grateful for.
And I think he was just really making a statement on we're not

(34:11):
going to complain because look at everything that we have to be
grateful for. So in 1985, your parents moved
to the Philippines for your dad's work.
I believe they opened up ministry there.
And while there, your mom contracts dysentery, falls into

(34:34):
a coma. Yeah.
Give a little background on whatwas going on with her then.
So my dad was out preaching one night and felt it on his heart,
just really agonizing over so many of the babies that weren't

(35:00):
being given a chance around the world and came really felt like
he was supposed to have another baby and came back.
So my mom and she, they already had four at the time.
And he was like, I really felt like we're supposed to have
another baby. Like God's calling us heaven.
And she's like, well, I don't know, you know, I don't know if
God's calling me to having her baby, right?
Like, and so then not long after, she really felt compelled

(35:25):
to have another baby as well. And so not long after that, she
became pregnant. At least they thought she was
pregnant, but then they thought that it was just a massive fetal
tissue, a tumor. And so actually, my first
nickname was Timmy the Tumor. So I have that going for me.
That's pretty creative. Yeah.

(35:45):
I don't know if it's that creative.
And so my siblings like throwingthat one on me.
And and then after that, I can'tremember every period of it, but
my mom had a Biba dysentery and she fell into a coma.
And then when the Doctor Who hadbeen, who had helped deliver
thousands and thousands of babies, helped my mom deliver

(36:07):
this baby, they told my mom, he said.
It's the greatest miracle I've ever seen in my life because I
don't know how your baby's stillalive.
The placenta only has a tiny attachment so I don't know how
your baby has enough nutrients to survive.
They they were concerned that she could have died, right?
Yeah, and I'm just so grateful that my mom trusted God and gave

(36:32):
me a chance when a lot of the doctors were telling her to get
rid of me. What did she tell you about
that? Just that how much she loved me
and told me that every single day.
And my, and I kind of mean that like most days of my life, my
parents would tell me, Hey, we want you to know God spared you

(36:55):
for a reason and God wants to use you and he loves you like
crazy. And just do you know what
happens when you hear that over and over and over again?
You start to believe in. How did knowing that story
impact your view of the pro-life, pro-choice

(37:18):
conversation? Why I just think that one such a
gratitude and love for my mom togive me my chance to see her
heart and hear my dad tell a story.

(37:39):
My siblings tell the story from their perspective and praying
for me that I would make it and the love and the support and
then just studying the truth of how every life is so loved and
so valuable, infinitely valuablein my opinion.

(38:02):
And we have to treat every life of every place of everywhere
with that infinite value and worth.
What do you do in the cases where there's a medical issue
or, you know, some sort of criminal activity connected to
the pregnancy? Well, I think that we have to

(38:24):
first love. Well, so many people when they
talk about this, it's just pro unborn.
But I believe the pro-life movement needs to be pro-life
all the time. Everyone, no matter where, no
matter what, all the time. Because I believe that the God

(38:47):
that we serve loves life and came to give us life and life
abundantly. And we need to be willing to
stand and truly and fight for inthe way that we fight is with
faith, open love. It's with kindness, it is with
truth, but it's also in love. And we need to do that all of

(39:10):
the time. And there can be some really,
really hard circumstances. And it needs to be met with
kindness, compassion and love. And mixed in all of those needs
to be truth. It's not just we're going to
pick and choose one. It needs to be all.
Do you think legislation should be changed, you know, nationwide

(39:34):
to align with that? I believe that we should stand
for life, and every life I believe is fearfully and
wonderfully made, is one of one is created in love, by love, and
for love was made on purpose andfor purpose.
And when you believe all of those biblical truths, like I

(40:01):
would believe them about you. I would believe them about every
single person here. Therefore, if I believe that you
have infinite value and worth that God when created you in
love, by love and for love. When I see you that way, what

(40:27):
should I do? I should value you.
It's part of the, the heart of look again.
The, the book that I just finished writing is that we
would look again. Because how many times in my
life have I looked and I haven'tseen something the way that it
was or I haven't seen something the way that I should.

(40:50):
And I think our heart as a society should be to fight to
see people with a love and a value.
I'll, I'll tell you a story to illustrate this.
A few years ago, we were at a night to shine.
And this was in the middle of COVID.
So we had something called shinethroughs where they could stay

(41:11):
in their car, but still drive through a red carpet and all
people were were cheering on theoutside and it was just so
special. And we were in Arizona for this
one, and they're was this Corvette that was coming around
very slowly. And all these people are
cheering from the outside. And there's a young girl in the
back seat standing up with pom poms and she's cheering and

(41:34):
she's just going crazy. And she's absorbing it and it's
pulling through. And I'm just looking at her face
and the joy because she's being celebrated and loved and valued
and treated as the queen. And then it pulls by and I am
just already emotional watching this.
And as the Corvette pulls by, see on the back, it says royalty

(41:58):
on board. And I thought, man, that's it.
I don't know how to explain it, but that's that's it.
And so many times our society has not treated her like there
was royalty on board. You were quoted some point

(42:21):
during the latter portion of your playing days as saying I've
never found my identity in who Iwas as a football player.
I found my identity in who I am in Christ.
And when you find your identity as a Christian, then regardless
of your status or your fame or your popularity or your
position, that never changes. So the roller coaster that the

(42:42):
world has always looked at my life and viewed, I'm very
thankful that I didn't have to live it.
Yeah, I would. I would probably tweak that and
say I believe that to be part ofwhat I was pursuing, but I also
believe I would miss the mark onthat too many times too well

(43:02):
the. Truth, because you're a human.
But I I try to do that, but I have too many times.
I know it's not a satisfying identity, but I've still placed
it there so many times anyways. I would say I've missed the mark
on that a whole lot more than I would like to admit.

(43:23):
But good for you for acknowledging it and recognizing
that, because it's funny. I'm reading that.
I'm like, come on. Still, so many times, even after
you know it, I still lose sight of it.
Why? So I have a portrait in that
room because that's our TV room where I'll go ahead and we'll

(43:46):
watch for most part a lot of games, right?
Do you know how easy it is for me to go in there, watch a game
and lose perspective? In losing perspective to.
Just on what? Just on what really matters.
Lose perspective on how I'm supposed to see the world, How
I'm supposed to see people. And how does that come out in

(44:07):
you when you're in those moments?
It's easy. You could watch Florida use Lose
last weekend and you can be, youknow, so frustrated and loose
perspective. You can get caught up in in just
so many things that just don't matter.
But why I tell that story is because there's a portrait right
when you walk in and you have tosee it when you walk in and you

(44:28):
have to see it when you walk out.
And I put it there for a reason,because I know that I have a
tendency to lose perspective on things that just don't matter.
It doesn't mean that we can't care about him.
It just means when they're not in their proper position, then
I'm out of whack. And it's a portrait of a young

(44:51):
boy named Fronsky. Fronsky is from Haiti.
And to make a Long story short, that Fronsky was abandoned as a
baby with special needs and a whole bunch of issues that he
had to fight. And Fronsky was taken into the
care of of our partners. And many days when I would be in

(45:15):
Haiti, I would get to carry Fronsky.
And Fronsky never had the ability to speak and never had
the ability to walk. But several years ago, Fronsky
got sick. As we're in raining
Jacksonville, right? Now, and we had to rush him to a
medical clinic that wouldn't take him because they viewed him

(45:37):
as cursed and insignificant because they believe because he
was born with special needs. And so to make a Long story
short, rushed him to a hospital,another hospital, another
hospital. They wouldn't take him.
They wouldn't take him, they wouldn't take him.
And then by the time they got him into a hospital that would
admit him within a few minutes, he ended up passing away and.

(46:05):
When I walk in and out of there,I need to see that portrait of
Fronsky because it reminds me ofthe things that are more
important. And it's a portrait of Fronsky
wearing a crown, smiling. Because when I would carry him
around, even though he couldn't talk, every room that you'd

(46:27):
bring him in, that you'd carry him in, he would light up the
room with his smile. And so I wanted to see him the
way I'm supposed to see him as royalty with the crown, not as
the way that too many people that saw him as insignificant or
less than and viewed him as cursed.

(46:48):
And we think, well, we don't actually view people like that.
Well, maybe not all the time, but we don't view people with
worth in value. We look by them, we look past
them, we look around them. Why?
Most of the time because we think they're not important

(47:09):
enough to stop for. How did the idea for the
Foundation come about? I was 15 years old and I met a
boy in the jungles of the Philippines.
He was born with his feet on backwards and he was treated as
less than insignificant and cursed.
But I knew he wasn't less than to God.
And I knew that God was prickingmy heart saying, yeah, to me,

(47:32):
but what are you going to do about it?
Not what do you just feel about it?
What are you going to do about it?
And that was when I was 15. I didn't, I don't didn't know.
I couldn't have verbalized it like that.
I didn't know what this mean. I just knew.
This is why I have a such an. You knew you wanted to do
something. I knew I had to do something for

(47:55):
those that were at least the last of lost, treated as less
than and all the boys and girls like him.
And I didn't know what that looked like.
I didn't even really know how toarticulate it.
I still have my like my testimony coming back where I'm
first telling that story and I'mtrying to find the words that
was, that was ripping at my heart and I didn't know what it

(48:20):
looked like. How are you going to, how do I
go live that out? I'm, I don't know.
And so that was in my last few years of high school and then
into college and most of those years still getting to go back
to a lot of those different islands and villages.
But then to get to your, your question about the student

(48:41):
government overrun organizationsand stuff, we, we thought, man,
we have to be able to find a wayto do something to make a
difference. And back then it was a little
bit different with the rules in NCAA.
And so we, we appealed to them and asked him if we could have
like a charity event. And after a few times they give

(49:01):
us a yes. We had a powder puff football
tournament. I think the first year we raised
maybe like $15,000 for orphans in several countries.
And then the last year going in my senior year, we asked to do
it on a bigger stage and, and get all the football players
involved and all sorts of things.
And I said no and no and no. And we appealed and appealed and

(49:23):
appealed and eventually we won. And then we had a whole week of
charity events where we had powder puff football.
Every female organization would sign up.
And so there was all the sororities and the other
organizations. And then they'd would draft
football players as their coaches.
And then we had, yeah, it was awesome.

(49:44):
And then we had ice cream parties in the hospital with all
the kids. We took all the kids to Disney
World, loaded up buses and took them there to be able to serve
them at Disney. We ultimately had the powder
puff football tournament that weended up having thousands and
thousands of people buy tickets to.

(50:05):
And that was an awesome tournament that ended up having
the championship game in the Swamp with 60,000 people before
we played the orange and blue game.
And ultimately through all of that and then being able to use
some of our the different gear that we wore for games, jerseys
and stuff like that to be able to sell it as well for the

(50:28):
orphans, we are able, the NCAA allowed us to do that and we
raised over half $1,000,000 in aweek for for orphanages.
And so it's really special. How much money do you think
you've raised today? I don't know.
OK, if you had to guess. I have no idea.
That would be too hard, too hardto guess, but we are.

(50:51):
We are so grateful for all the people that have artnered to.
Hey wait, your your dad told yougrowing up you're allowed to
brag about your achievements if somebody asks?
It's only when. It's only when.
Not really in that same way. Not in that.
Same way that's if there's ever something to brag about, that's
a a pretty good one. But it's it's, you know, it's

(51:13):
not bragging on anything that we've done, just what we could
get to be a part of. And who we brag on is the
special lives that we get to serve that are really are many
of the greatest heroes that I'veever met in my life.
What do you do each year with your Heisman Trophy?
We auction it off for different ministries and we've never
auctioned it off for for Tim Teoh Foundation.

(51:36):
We've auctioned it off for a lotof other friends ministries.
What do you think that's broughtin?
It's brought in a good amount, Idon't know the exact number, but
well over a million. How?
About your long term goals with your foundation.
To get to as many hurting boys and girls and women and those

(52:02):
that are suffering and those that have been abandoned or
abused or exploited or trafficked or viewed as less
than as many as we can possibly get for as long as we possibly
can. And, Lord willing, it'll still
be serving a lot of people long after I'm gone.

(52:23):
The Cure Hospital in the Philippines.
Tell a little bit about that. It's a very near and dear place
to my heart because we're able to care for many of the boys and
girls that were just like that boy that I met when I was 15
years old. And many of them from all over
the country get carried in or wheeled in, rolled in, and they

(52:50):
get to walk out. And it's not just a the surgery
that changes their life. It's also the way that people
see them and treat them and the love that they experience.
Because one of the things in theStates that we don't always get
to see and understand is what happens in a lot of honor shame

(53:13):
cultures when they view you witha stigma or they view you with a
disability or they view you as you're less than, you're
insignificant. And we'd hear them just more
kind of ignore certain people orwalk around them.
But some too many countries still view people as truly less

(53:34):
than. And for so many of those lives
that have been viewed that way, but then to be operated on and
cared for and love not only changes their life, but their
family's life, but then also so many times the way they're
viewed afterwards. And it's just one of why it's
one of my favorite places in allof the earth.
A night to shine. I think this past year there was

(53:56):
something like 820, something like.
That 100 and 28122, something like that. 822 There you go.
What makes it your favorite event of the year?
We're getting ready for our fifth year anniversary of the
foundation and our president at the time came to me and they
said, Timmy, what about for our five year anniversary?

(54:19):
Since we serve people with special needs and several
countries around the world, Whatif we did a a prom night feel
for all of the these kings and Queens and we treated them as
kings and Queens? What if we did something like
that? Because we knew of two churches
that that did a Jesus prom eventand we thought, man, that was

(54:40):
really cool. I said, So what if our five year
anniversary we did something? I said, man, that sounds
awesome. He said, OK, where do you want
to host it? Like Florida and New York,
Texas, California, Philippines, Mexico, where would you want to?
And I said, I think we need to do it everywhere.
He's like, no, for real, what are you talking about?
And I said, I think we need to do it everywhere.
For every single boy or girl, man or woman that hasn't been

(55:07):
celebrated and loved and treasured.
We need to try to do it for all of them.
He wasn't super happy with me, but we pitched the idea to our
board and our very, very small staff at the time and and we
prayed about it and thought how could we do this?
And so we came up with like it was maybe a 70 page manual that

(55:30):
first year of all of the things.And we thought, man, this is who
we need to partner with is churches because we want the
best night of a boy, girl, man or woman, hopefully their year
of their life to be with the church.
And that first year, I believe we are in 44 locations in 26

(55:53):
States and three countries 11 years ago.
And Mary flew to North Carolina for the first one.
And I said, hey, before we walk up, let's let's stand outside.
I want to watch for a little bitbefore I get up close to
everyone. And I saw some of the boys and

(56:15):
girls going down the red carpet and got to just see the joy in
them from afar. And I thought it's something
that's pretty special. What about it still chokes you
up? A lot, but it's watching their,

(56:42):
the people that love the kings and Queens light up when their
boys and girls light up. And then we flew from North
Carolina to South Carolina. And before I walked in the arena
that it was in, a mom ran up to me and she grabbed me pretty

(57:02):
intensely. And she said my daughter, she'll
never get married, she'll never have kids.
But tonight, she felt like a Princess.
There was a funny moment with the Pope not too long ago,
right? Can't believe I'm telling this
story. This is unreal.

(57:23):
So my wife's showing the Pope videos and translating to see,
you know, the the boys and girlsand men and women, the
celebrations. And then we're talking about
that. And then one of our team members
who is just awesome, she is introduced to the Pope and she a

(57:45):
lot of times will say, you know,we love and we're honored to
fight for individuals with special needs, but it doesn't
come out that way. She looks at the Pope and says,
yeah, we fight people with special needs.
I was like, what? And so you could see the Pope's
translator is like, do you want me to tell him that, Like, is

(58:10):
this, is this a real story? Like you want me to answer in
that I was like, no, no, no, no,no, that's it didn't come out
the right way. And she, she is amazing.
So we still laugh at that, and we'll never let her live it
down. So you have used this night to
shine event, those kind of a, a launching off point for leaning

(58:31):
in more in a particular region like take Guatemala and you
start it off with one and now you have I, I think 6 schools.
They're explained that. Well, it's just, it's really
been such a catalyst for us in so many areas that night to
shine has opened the door in a country and built relations,
friendships and also built kindness.

(58:51):
And and so where a lot of peoplewould have opened the door to
say, hey, you know, the more that you could be here, we'd
love it, the more that you couldopen doors for you.
It's really been life changing and door opening and just things
that we could have never possibly imagined.

(59:12):
It's, you know, we were at your office and we saw, you know, the
amount of staff between foundation and you know, your,
your company. I think it's easy to listen to
somebody talk about it in general terms, but just give
some colour, if you don't mind, to the scale of what you're

(59:33):
doing. Well, it's, it's hard calling
and it's our passion and it's what we wake up and think first
and foremost every day. How can we care for the MVP and
most vulnerable people? And today we've been able to
serve in just over 110 countriesaround the world from inception.

(59:53):
And we're trying to get it to asmany hurting and as many ways
and have as many good strategiesand logistics and team members
and as we possibly can to fight for those that can't fight for
themselves. So when I first came up with the
mission statement, I. I was just thinking about that

(01:00:16):
boy that I met when I was 15 years old and I just graduated
from Florida and I thought, whatdoes he need?
What does every boy or girl likehim need?
And then I thought that our mission statement is to bring
faith, hope and love to those needing a brighter day in their
darkest hour of needs. So what we wake up every day is

(01:00:37):
how can we best fight back against the evil in the darkest
places and make as big of a dentin it as possible against those
that are being treated as lastlyan insignificant curse through
devalued, exploited or traffic. Like those are people, and
that's who we try to show up forevery day.
I want to ask about human trafficking.

(01:01:00):
And then afterwards get into, you know, move on from here and
get into the athletics and, you know, some of your career that
just kind of helped in allowing you to create positive change.
But explain your wife's role in getting you involved in this.
My wife's role in getting me involved in what?

(01:01:22):
Human. Trafficking, well it we had been
fighting in the space for a little while before me and Demi
had ever met. But what was special is when we
connected that a few of the things that were really near and

(01:01:44):
dear to my heart was, you know, caring for those with special
needs and those that are being trafficked or exploited was also
near and dear to her heart because of her sister with
severe special needs. And she got held at gunpoint by
several men and, and a very scary moment.
And thankfully that she was ableto get away.

(01:02:06):
But that led her to a, a fear that led to a, a wanting to
learn to fight, to help protect the vulnerable.
And so is 2 areas that she really cared a lot about.
And so when we got together, it was just it was two of the areas
that we spent the most time talking about.

(01:02:29):
What stands out most to you fromthe human trafficking stats?
It would be that we think it happens over there, meaning over
in another city, in another state, in another country, but
that's not true. It's happening here.
It's happening in our neighborhood, in your
neighborhood, in everybody's neighborhood.

(01:02:49):
And it's happening right under our noses.
When we talk about like the distribution of of CCM, we're
third worst in the world. When we talk about purchasing of
live streaming, we're the worst in the world.
And that's live stream. Live streaming rape.
Yes, yeah, yeah. If we talk about like the red

(01:03:16):
dot map that just for a screenshot of the month of of
April that were just under 112,000 IP addresses that were
seen downloading distributing child rape images under the age
of 12. Like that's the screenshot of
the evil that's taking place. How?

(01:03:38):
Do you combat it? Every day with partnerships,
with strategy, with care, with legislation, with fighting on as
many battlefronts, with caring for as many survivors, with
rallying as many people in any and every area that we can, we

(01:03:59):
have to step up and stand up. And it's not going to go away if
we act like it's not real. We have to be able to look at
it, strategize, create a strategy, and then step forward
and and fight against it. Because in my opinion, it's one
of the worst evils in the world today.
What do you think has to be doneto actually get as close as

(01:04:21):
possible to riding the problem from existence?
I don't you, I try, I try not tosay anything like I think we can
end it because I don't know thatwe can.
It's been a problem for a reallylong time, the abuse and
exploitation of, of, of each other.

(01:04:45):
But I do believe wholeheartedly that we can put a massive dent
in it. And I think there's a few things
that are really important to putting a dent in it.
One is working together. It's one of our non negotiables
that there's power when we come together, that we would actually
care more about the mission thanwe do about the credit.
And that we would put down all of the, the things that stand in

(01:05:06):
the way that we would rally, that we would partner together.
That this can't be just a this organization or this or
organization or this three letter organization or law
enforcement. It has to be.
It's one of the fastest growing business.
It's one of the worst evils in the world.
It is happening at an incrediblerate.
One of the, the, the, the, the things that is most disturbing.

(01:05:37):
I wouldn't say that. One of the disappointing things
to me and all of it is even sometimes when we talk about it
and we share, Do you know how many times people have said to
me, don't tell me, I don't want to know?

(01:05:59):
And it hurts because if we can'ttalk about it, how could we even
be on the same team to fight against it?
The enemy wins. When this stays in the dark, it
comes to the light and we talk and we rally and we create
armies and teams. And I don't mean like an army.
I mean all of us working together as an army of people

(01:06:22):
that want to stand for good, That want to stand for faith,
hope and love. That want to stand for the value
of every single person on every single day and every single
place. If we do that, I believe we can
put it in it, man. And this is a billions of
dollars we're talking about thatchanges hands.

(01:06:43):
What do you want the government to do?
Well, we're working with them ina lot of ways, but we're trying
to get a lot of different legislation.
Operation Renewed Hope. Yeah, that's one of the big ones
that we're working on. And that's specifically for
victim identification. It's a database, which is a
database. And at Interpol they can be

(01:07:07):
able, they're able to see well over 5, oh, oh, oh, oh, boys and
girls that they can see their rape and abuse images.
You can look at their crime scene videos, but you have yet
to identify those boys and girls.
So at C3, the Cyber Crime Center, right now, there's only
7 victim identification specialists that are there that

(01:07:27):
every day they're going through this material trying to identify
these boys and girls. Could you imagine if there were
seven of you and your goal was you had to get to over 50,000
boys and girls and being able toidentify them?
And so a big heart of this is we're going to push that from
7:00 to 200 victim identification specialist, that
every day are identifying these boys and girls.

(01:07:49):
And then after we're able to identify them, then we can try
to safeguard them and bring theminto a place where they can't
get the true care that they need.
But it's a city of boys and girls that have yet to be
identified. And many of them are continuing
to get abused and rape over and over again.
And law enforcement can watch that rape video, but I've yet to
identify them. And that is why this Renewed

(01:08:11):
Hope Act is so important. Where does it stand?
In the in the process so slow. What I see a look what it just.
Some some things that we want tomake urgent sometimes don't
always feel urgent to everybody.And so we're trying to, every

(01:08:31):
one of these is urgent to us because it's not just another
video, it's another boy or girl that are suffering on the other
end of that lens that we can't wait.
So part of your ability to create positive change and have
this platform started with your athletic success, or at least

(01:08:57):
that played a role in it. And I want to take you back to
college. You go over the course of a year
from being a backup to winning the Heisman.
Ever have a period of your life that changed more than that?
That's a good question. Definitely been some ups and

(01:09:19):
downs in short periods, that's for sure.
But I think one of the things that was really helpful in my
freshman year was even though I was a backup that I got a lot of
really significant, meaningful playing downs.
Just one to handle big moments and pressure.
And so then when you kind of take over, you're like, I've

(01:09:41):
already been in a lot of really big situations and a lot of the
biggest games. And so I think it really helped
from a belief I can do this. I I've been in some of these
situations and I think that really helped where it didn't
feel like, oh, this is, is overwhelming, even though there
is that those nerves and that like that pressure and that

(01:10:01):
overwhelming. And I mean that not just in the
sense of from the media, just the sense of how much also you
care about it, right? For me, being at Florida wasn't
just a a college experience. It was also it's my parents
first date was a Florida Georgiagame.
My grandfather and my mom's side's dream was to see Florida

(01:10:24):
win an SEC championship game. He passed away before that could
happen. Wait, and to think you almost
didn't go to Florida. That's true.
What was that like 20-30 minutesbefore you're going to make the?
Announcement the last second. Closer than that.
Yeah, closer than that and. Because it was between Florida
and Alabama. Yeah, and talked to both

(01:10:52):
countries really did try to truly make not what was best for
the fan that I was, but for the the player and young man that I
was, which is really hard to kind of compartmentalize that
too. And my parents did a great job

(01:11:12):
of just not swaying me and just letting it be my decision and.
OK, take me to those, like, final moments before you
announced it and what's going through your head.
Well, I've been agonizing about it for several days and trying
to figure it out, nearing it down and narrow it down to
Florida and Alabama. And I loved both schools and it

(01:11:34):
was like literally came down to the last second.
And even when I said University of Florida, there was still a
part of me that regretted it. I didn't know if I made the best
decision. And when I we got in the car
afterwards, I asked my mom for atrash bag because I think I'm
going to throw up. I was just so close with so many

(01:11:55):
of the players and staff at Alabama.
And I think it's really hard that you feel like you regret it
because you also hurt people. The disappointment in that.
And I carried some of that weight.
It wasn't that I didn't love Florida.
It's just man you to hurt people.
It's hard. And I'm not good at sometimes
having some of those hard conversations.

(01:12:16):
No, no, they're, I'm a people pleaser by nature and that makes
it difficult. And I honestly think just
because of being a people pleaser, it's you want to please
people, you want to make people happy.
And sometimes it makes it even harder.

(01:12:38):
And I think sometimes I missed the mark because they, because I
don't want to have sometimes a conversation, you know,
confrontational conversation. And maybe it was needed.
Maybe that would have been better.
I don't believe that niceness isthe same as kindness.
Is there an example with regardsto your athletic career where

(01:13:00):
you feel like it would have madea difference?
Yeah, I'm sure there's probably a lot of examples of just
whether it's a conversation thatI'd have up front with a coach
or a teammate, or maybe you handle something or maybe they
give you feedback. And I should have responded one
way, but I just said, yeah, that's no problem.
When I really could say, well, but I'm questioning this.
I'm trying to figure you know what?

(01:13:21):
It's just one most notable example of that that comes to
mind. You're like, how much do I
reveal here? No I didn't.
There's not one that really comes to mind of a specific

(01:13:42):
story, but that's something. My whole life I've and to this
day I have to work on every day.But by the way, Speaking of
college, you ever think about ifthe NIL existed when you were
playing? Not really.
Oh, come on, people, people mention that, but it's just, you

(01:14:05):
know, I loved beyond loved my time there and I I wouldn't
trade it. My teammates, the friends, the
family, I wouldn't trade it for anything.
And not only did you have a great time there, you went back
for your senior year, you graduated, you know, did did

(01:14:27):
everything right. Here's a tough one for you.
Aaron Hernandez, what was he like back then?
He was a teammate that was extremely competitive that I
think had a different sides. And a lot of how the media just

(01:14:50):
portrays it and it's basically ahouse to.
I think just trying to sensationalize something isn't
always doesn't make it accurate or good.
And I think there's been too much of that that has been
sensationalized rather than justkind of tell the root of the

(01:15:15):
story. What do you think gets lost in
the media coverage of him? I just, I think telling the
other some of the other side of what he came through.
And what do you work through? It's working on and it's just in

(01:15:38):
every area you know. Which was what for him?
Because to your point, what you see in media is just headlines,
right? Yeah.
And I think it's just, it's justsad for a whole lot of people.
You know, it's why it's hard forme to even answer your questions

(01:16:01):
because I don't want to be a part of just talking about it.
I don't want to. It's, it's not really my place.
And I don't, you know, want to because there's, you know, still
family then. And so many people are affected
in other ways. And it's just, it's hard to know

(01:16:21):
what to say, when to say, why tosay it because it affects so
many people. And it's, it's hard.
Like it's hard, you know, for a lot of people, for victims, for
his family, for so many people. It's just, you know, try to be,

(01:16:47):
try to be tender to all of that.OK, so I guess my only other
question without getting into specifics, and I know you had
exposure to an incident with him, but at the swamp even back
in the day. But when you see the news of
just what happened with him, like just take me through what

(01:17:11):
you go through in your head. I.
Think every bit of it's just sadand heartbreaking.
And I also think that all of us need to remember that we need to
be in good community, good fellowship, that we're if we

(01:17:32):
need to be in relationships withpeople that can, that can love
us and care for us. I think it should also be a,
something that can fix us that if we aren't careful, we can all

(01:17:53):
go down different roads and we're never immune from, you
know, going down a road that isn't a good one for us to go
down. And I think it should be a, a
challenge to all of us. Like, man, I, I, I know that I
so quickly can get full of a whole bunch of bad things and

(01:18:15):
lose the miss the mark and lose perspective.
And we're not immune from those things.
And I hope we look at some of them and we learn from different
situations that are gone before us.
So we don't sometimes step into some of them.
Because you know how many times I could have learned, but I
still did it because I was just stubborn or prouder and I

(01:18:36):
wouldn't learn or wouldn't grow before it got to a place where I
should have. And it hurt too much to scar me.
And then I learned from the scar.
Why is it so important to you tonot say anything negative about
him? Why would it be important to me
to what does that help? He's got family.
The victims have families. Who am I to think I can speak

(01:18:59):
into that? Like, I don't want it.
I mean, I, I fight against that type of pride and arrogance.
I don't want to have it. And I also cared very, very much
for him and his family. And it hurts.
Every bit of it hurts. And so I don't want to join that

(01:19:23):
side of just jumping on and saying stuff.
It's not my heart and I don't think it's wise and I don't
think it's helpful. I want to completely shift gears
and talking about the NFL and wecan, I mean, start with a team
you both played for the the the Patriots.

(01:19:44):
I heard this story and was kind of floored by it.
You, to your credit, rightly getoffered $1,000,000 endorsement
deal for a day of work. Take me to that conversation you

(01:20:04):
had with Bill Belichick. Yeah, it just is an awesome
opportunity from a a really goodcompany and stood for really
amazing things and they really wanted me to be a part of it was
during an off day and. Not a bad deal, right?
But I was asked to by him when Ijoined the team to do my best of
going under the radar and not bringing too much attention.

(01:20:26):
I said, yes, Sir, I'll do my best.
And, and he was just always so honest and forthright and
honestly really kind in a lot ofareas to me.
And we had a great relationship since I was in college, him and
coach Myra close and there's been a lot of times I got to
know him early on in college. And so I called him and said,
Hey, this is opportunity. And he was just very

(01:20:50):
straightforward, like he always is, but kind of about, he said
to me, I, I'd really appreciate it if you turned it down and,
and. What What was your contract with
the Patriots at the time? I don't think it was like a even
a contract. I'm just trying to make the team
and I turned it down. Maybe I should have said yes
because I got cut a few days later.

(01:21:11):
But that day of service would have been twice as much as I
would have made if I would have made the team for the entire
season. But I think, you know, a few
times how I've used the story and talking with people is that
man, if I would be willing to dothat to just try to give myself
a 1% of 1% of 1% greater chance to make a team, right, as a

(01:21:36):
backup, then what should I be willing to do for the things
that really matter to me? Like if I would do that to make
a team what I have, what I have done that for the things that I
would say matter more. OK, now was that a situation
though, when talking to coach, where you should have actually

(01:21:56):
stood up for yourself? And no, I don't know.
I. Don't know, I don't know.
I think every situation is just takes discernment figuring out
and I I don't know it's a it's agood question.
So you had, as you said, no job,no car, no home after the
Patriots cut you. What was your lowest point
during that period? That's a good question.

(01:22:20):
I'm not sure if it would have been then or it would have been
the year before or after The Jets season.
Both of those were were pretty low points.
How? How so?
I think just disappointment justdidn't go the way that we wanted
it. Also the feeling of I wish I

(01:22:42):
would have like handled certain things differently.
In what way? I think from even certain things
to like some of the when I landed and landed there in in
New York like press conference, I did like I wish that I
wouldn't have done some of that.I wish I would have just

(01:23:03):
probably handled a few things differently.
And then I think but the obviously for it just wasn't a
way we don't win and a disappointing season and I think
there was not just regret of theoutcome, but there was.
I just wish I would have handledsome things differently.

(01:23:25):
What about when Urban cut you? That was very disappointing.
I but I don't necessarily even really blame him.
But they give color to the disappointment, if you don't
mind. I think more of the
disappointment was actually a pride issue because I got to

(01:23:48):
play one pre season game and it didn't go the way that I wanted.
And I think I got cut the next day or the day after that and
goes maybe a day or two after mybirthday too or something like
that. And when I coach Meyer and and
Trent Bakke, the GM handled it so kindly and nicely when they,
you know, let me go. But I think what stung was the

(01:24:12):
thought that is this my last go round.
Is this how will be remembered? Because if you turn on any TV,
it was all of my worst plays being repeated over and over and
over again on probably every sports dog channel.

(01:24:33):
And it was that that fighting ofthe pride that it was about my
ego. And Demi was doing such a good
job of encouraging me in the middle of it, but I was still
fighting it because it was a lotof my ego that I was fighting.

(01:24:54):
And right about that time is when our military evacuated
Afghanistan and we had team members that were serving there.
And then I got a chance to fly to a location in the Middle
East. And the location that we landed
and we're serving, there were people fighting for their lives
that were sick, that were stamped, that were hurt, that

(01:25:17):
were certain people were bleeding out.
It was a really chaotic, crisis filled situation and we got to
serve and after a little while we got to leave from that
country and fly to another one. And it's the first one since
being cut a few days earlier that I said, God, thank you.
I could really say that mean it.God, thank you.

(01:25:39):
Thank you for letting me get cut.
Because if I wouldn't have been playing for the Jaguars and then
I wouldn't have got cut at this time.
I wouldn't have actually been here to be reminded of what I
was called to do. You see, what I view was set
back was really a set up becauseI would have had something
planned and doing something and,you know, playing baseball or
have TV or something else. Then I wouldn't have been able

(01:26:02):
to just fly to the Middle East to go serve.
And it was such a reminder to mein a disappointing moment, in a
low moment. And when you thinking, man, is
my sports career over? Is this it?
Is this how it be remembered? All of my worst, all of my
worst, all of my worst. It's not like there is anything
that was remotely close to a peak.
It was like low points and but I'm so grateful God wasn't like,

(01:26:26):
I know you feel like this, but Iuse this and I'm reminding you I
that you're called for somethingthat's different.
It's more important than a game and that was so meaningful and I
was so grateful for. It backing up momentarily,
you're with the Broncos, you have as good of a season as you

(01:26:49):
could hope for in your first season starting and then I think
they give you the ability to gettraded to kind of wherever you
want. The Jags owner has said he
offered more money and a higher draft pick.
What was the thinking at the time in your mind?

(01:27:10):
Why not to come home? Well, I would have loved it, but
we were all told that besides the ownership that nobody wanted
me here And so you, it's really makes it really hard when the
ownership wants you but the staff doesn't.

(01:27:32):
How do you think through that atthe time?
That's hard. It's obviously a dream come
true. I would love it.
I mean, are you kidding me? I love Jacksonville, I loved it,
but you also, I think most people would get this.
It's important to go to a place you think you're wanted, right?

(01:27:57):
That's just changes so much. Well, and the reports about it
at the time weren't that it was that, you know, they were
interested and for whatever reason you, you know, didn't
come obviously missing a key part of the color to the story.
Because it's not really my placeto even like, you know, just

(01:28:20):
bring that up. It's not about, you know.
You think you should have gottenanother starting opportunity?
I think I should have done better with the opportunities
that I had. Do you?
Yeah, I think I just could have handled it better.
I mean, I got an opportunity with The Jets and could have,

(01:28:40):
should have performed better with the Patriots, should have
performed better. Eagles should have performed
better. What would you've done
differently? That get into certain types of
training and focus and just all of it but.
You think so? I mean, didn't you?
You were busting your you know what?

(01:29:02):
Yeah. I mean, I'm try to work hard,
but obviously there's a lot of things I wish I would have just
done better, improved on. I don't want to make it about I
should have got another shot. No, I should have made more with
my shot. There's a big difference.
What's the take away from those experiences?

(01:29:25):
I think everyone is different. Everyone was learning.
Everyone. I still have special
relationships, everyone. I still root for so many of the
people. I'd say something that I learned
from every one of those stops I'm and stuff that I wish I
would have done different. Every one of those stops and a

(01:29:46):
lot of the things that I learnedwere also because some of the
things that I wish I would have done different.
How do you view the time you spent in baseball?
I loved it. I enjoyed every bit of it.
Maybe the game slightly more than the bus rides, but it was
just an awesome process. I even in the setbacks and the

(01:30:07):
injuries and somehow frustratingand disappointing some of those
were, I'm just, I loved it. I think there really is
something special about being able to look back and say, OK,
you know, I have a lot of regrets about a lot of things,
but I don't have many about thisbecause I really pursued it
hard. Did it.
It ticked me off when I read this quote when I was preparing

(01:30:29):
for this because the Mets GM hadcome out, you know, this is
forever ago now. And he's was talking about, you
know, signing you. And he's like, it's part talent
and then part because of Barnum and Bailey.
And I'm like, you know, here this guy is sacrificing kind of
a lot to pursue this. And I, I don't know, I'm sure

(01:30:52):
you saw that back then. I don't know that idea, but I I
tell you, I had a such a good relationship with everyone at
the Mets. I still feel like I do.
I loved it. They just treated me so first
class and so many teammates and coaches.
I I do not have anything but about my time with them.

(01:31:17):
And you said before you made thedecision to go all in on
football, one of the hardest decisions I ever made was
choosing football over baseball.It was really hard.
Really. Yeah.
I love baseball, loved it. And it was really hard to figure
out because I either had to go to, I didn't have to, but I was

(01:31:38):
either going to go to college early and start in January, go
play football or stay play baseball that spring and GoPro
for baseball out of high school.And that was agonizing.
And I feel like my, my mom especially was pretty
influential in that. Never not forceful at all, but

(01:31:59):
just sharing how important college education was to her
too. And so bad.
And I think probably the biggestthing was if I look back and I
said I don't get to experience one, which one am I going to
look back and say, I wonder whatthat would have been like the
most. And that was never playing in

(01:32:22):
the Swamp and all those SEC stadiums.
And so I it's kind of the way I tried to look at it a little bit
and I've tried to do some thingsin my life.
Which one, if I look back, wouldI regret the least?
So I it's funny, I want to ask you about your decision making
process and and broadcasting in the just remaining moments we
have with you. I wanted to start with

(01:32:44):
broadcasting though. What do you enjoy about it?
I love being part of the game. I love the passion, I love the
contagious atmosphere. I love that we get to be on
campuses. It's, it's such a been a part of
my life. Like I really from the, my first
memories, I have loved, loved, loved all football, but

(01:33:04):
especially college football. The passion, the pageantry, the
traditions, the rivalries. I just, I've always loved it.
I have been so passionate about it.
It just, it feels like if you cut me open, hopefully there's
hopefully there's a few good qualities, but one of the, the

(01:33:24):
first thing I think is going to bleed out after hopefully love
for people and for the Lord would be me.
And I love the game. I love the passion and
pageantry. It's just very, very near and
dear to my heart. It's, I don't know, it's hard to
explain. It's just been such a part of my
life for so long. What interests you in business?

(01:33:49):
A lot, but especially business for ministry using it, being
able, like when we talk about the the fight against
trafficking and you talk about what are all the areas where
it's not just enough to fight itin the nonprofit space or in the
safeguarding in our safe homes or it has to be fought in the

(01:34:09):
business sector. It has to be fought in the
technology sector. It has to be fought with funds,
has to be fought in so many areas because it's infiltrating
all of these areas and we have to be able to fight back.
So that's like an area that we're heavily invested with
Eagle Freedom Fund and building up technology companies that are
fighting to either safeguard or care for or fight against these

(01:34:33):
evils that are taking place. Because if they're using
technology to do it, we have to also be able to fight back with
technology against it as well. And and that's just one example
of a lot. You're on the boards of what
companies? Not many, but I'm AGP and that
and I very grateful. We're so, so grateful for that.

(01:34:55):
I sit on the the board at at TTFand I'm very passionate about
that. It's one of the callings,
greatest callings I feel like inmy life, but not not many other
boards, only a couple. Tell about the sports teams
you're part of. Yeah, well, I love I've just

(01:35:16):
been able to see how cool sportscan impact the community and so
get to be part of a couple of ECHL hockey teams and Tahoe and
and coming soon in Augusta. And I love that also sporting
Jacks here in Jacksonville. I really have such a love for so
many sports. But if I'm being totally honest,

(01:35:38):
I love even more of what those sports can do.
The role models and communities,the way it rallies people
together, the way that it gives family something to do around
meals or holidays or care for, get dressed up for.
It can do so much in your community to bring people that
might not talk to communicate, to do special things.
And I just, I love it. What do you see as the business

(01:36:01):
opportunity there? Oh, I think that some of these
minor league teams can be a really special, a good business.
They bring in good partners and good people that really care
about it and you do things a certain way.
Hopefully we can do good and forpeople and also, you know, have

(01:36:24):
a, a, a return on investment with it as well.
Best financial decision you evermade?
That's a good question. It's probably the first time
anyone's ever asked me that. I can tell you that.
One of the worst investments I ever made, I got a call and we

(01:36:45):
invested in a company and it wasa disaster and it was big loss.
And it was a very interesting few moments because I got a call
about it and then I got a call 2minutes later from our team

(01:37:11):
where we just got the chance to safeguard out of a terrible
situation, 26 kids. You just had the biggest loss
ever and and one investment or one day or one event and such an
impactful and I was so convictedabout which one am I going to

(01:37:36):
care about more? And I really hope it was those
26 precious lives. Have a best financial advice you
ever received? To invest in things that are
going to last forever. And and then another more
practical piece of advice that was a good piece of advice was

(01:37:57):
to you only have so much time. So how can you invest in things
that there's an ROI when you're asleep?
And it was said to me by a very successful businessman, but it
impacted me in a different way. I thought, you know, he's right,

(01:38:19):
you only have so much time, so many days.
But then I actually took that toheart for TTF.
How can we have strategies that are multiplying even when we are
aren't physically there. So it's really to have that same
mindset that he was talking about for for business, but have
it for people, that multiplication factor.

(01:38:43):
Then lastly, in the decision making front, explain what you
were talking about a moment ago about making decisions from the
standpoint of what you think youwill least regret.
I think a lot of times when you chase dreams in life, you have

(01:39:03):
the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.
Both hurt, but the pain of discipline feels a lot better
very quickly when you finish a workout.
During that workout, it sucked for a little bit.
Right afterwards, man, it feels good, you know, and you're
grateful you that you push yourself and then there's a

(01:39:24):
recovery phase and you improve from it.
The pain of regret last a whole lot longer and feels a whole lot
worse and too many things in life that I regret.
And so I don't want to try to think about things in life that,
OK, if I make this decision, I'mgoing to regret this the least.
If I pursue this, I'm going to regret this the least.

(01:39:47):
Ultimately, to have things that are more important, things of
significance and meaning and purpose.
And then lastly, as the columnist once pointed out, you
have a level of optimism that borders on irrationality.
The genesis of that is what? I don't know if I'm optimistic

(01:40:12):
or I just, I don't believe that when I say some of these things
about humanity and people, that's optimism.
That's a belief, that's a beliefin every life.
That's a belief in who our creator is and how he created us
and what he's created us for. I think optimism is you're

(01:40:33):
saying I'm optimistic things will turn out a certain way.
I don't know about that, but I totally want to believe in the
worth of who you are and the worth of who God created you to
be and the value in which you have and the meaning and the
significance. And I hope I see you that way,
and therefore I hope I treat youthat way.
That's very different than I'm optimistic.
No. Hopefully it's a conviction of a

(01:40:56):
deeply held set of beliefs versus just turning out a
certain way. Thanks for doing this.
If that makes sense. Sure.
OK. Yeah, Thank you, Graham.
I appreciate it man. Thanks for listening to this
week's podcast. Don't forget to leave a rating
and review and for more in depthinterviews visit

(01:41:17):
grahambetzinger.com.