October 15, 2025 • 40 mins
Former pro sports media host Jon Root joins David “Rut” Rutherford to talk about the explosive rise of Christianity in athletics. From NFL locker rooms to college fields, faith is transforming teams and redefining what it means to be a true competitor.
Jon opens up about being canceled for his beliefs, rediscovering his mission, and the growing movement of athletes putting Christ before the scoreboard. Rut and Jon discuss leadership, mentorship, and how faith creates warriors built for more than just victory.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Since the time I was four years old.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I've been an athlete all the way up through high school,
postgraduate year playing football, lacrosse, playing lacrosse at Penn State,
working with professional sports teams as a motivational performance coach.
You know, I have just come to realize that athletics
is the greatest way that we can influence our young
(00:32):
people to becoming healthy, mature, productive adults in society. Now
here's the kicker to this. In the last several years,
I have seen something I haven't seen.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
In a long time. Now. It was there, but it
was kind of hidden, and that is the explosion in
Christianity amongst athletes across every single level, from little league.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Travel all the way up to pro athletes to college athletes.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
And it's overwhelming.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
And so I wanted to discuss this with somebody that
I believe has genuine insight and has been paying attention
to this for a long.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Time now, mister John Root.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
And John has been worked with the San Jose Sharks
and other athletic organizations from minor leagues all the way
up through the pros and has a real understanding because
of his own faith and his own athletic background and
playing D two sports in his life. But man, I thought,
this is the guy that can give anybody who's listening
(01:33):
why it's so pertinent to have christ involved in.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Our sports programs. Mister Root, thank you for coming on
the show.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
I'm looking forward to chatting about this and I appreciate
you having me.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
All right, perfect, so tell me, let's just talk. When
did you first start playing sports?
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Man, I'd love to say, pretty much right out the womb,
I was playing sports. I had an older brother as
about three year years older, so I'm sure he was
pushing me like once I was able to crawl like
let's ball. But man, I played pretty much every sport
you can imagine, football, basketball, baseball, tennis, ran track, did
some cross country stuff like it's I love sports. I
(02:17):
obviously follow sports on my platform and cover it, you know,
pretty much for a living ever since being canceled from
working to pro sports and working in sports media. But
I played D two football, like you said, and I
think sports has the ability to bring us together better
than anything else. It is a driver for establishing life
(02:38):
skills and building up men, maybe better than any other
institution other than the church. So I love sports. It's
a joy to cover it, even though there's been you know,
falling by the wayside with some you know, left wing politics.
But I think sports are absolutely incredible and amazing outlet
and I can't get enough.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, do you remember like the first team when you
were a kid paying attention that all of a sudden,
like the athletes or the players that you were.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Following, you just you're like, oh my god, that is
that is it. That's the place.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
For me. It was Rocky blier Man on the Pittsburgh Steelers,
and I'll never forget, Like I learned that he was
a Vietnam VETT, he'd been blown up, he had come back,
you know, he had left the team, and then Art
Rooney said, please come back.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
You're the heartbeat of the team.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
And then that faithful you know time where he and
frank O Harris got the stare.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
It changed the whole course of the Steelers.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
And you know, and so and I had this incredible
opportunity to meet him a couple of times, we did
a couple speaking events together, and and and just you know,
the power of those influences are so overwhelming. Who was
it for you when you were a kid where you
recognize this is bigger than anything else.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Right, I'm going to throw out a name that probably
a lot of your listeners and viewers have no idea.
Ben Greave. Ben Greave was the AL Rookie of the
Year when I was a very little kid. I was
born in the San Francisco area, born in the East
Bay in Walnut Creek, and I have always loved the
Oakland A's. Obviously to a fault. It's not an easy
(04:21):
team in the roof. For now they're the Sacramento As,
and then they're gonna be the Vegas A's and you know,
all your all your favorite players throughout life, you know,
they just get traded. But Ben Greave was just and
that's the best part about being a kid. You know,
I don't essentially know like what's his plate approach and
you know, really who is he? I was just like,
I like this guy. He plays well, and my babysitter
(04:43):
had a huge crush on him, and he was just
the like he was a rock star in my world.
I got to meet him, and I got to meet
Tye LaRussa and a few other people associated with the
Oklon A's organization when I was a kid. I'm about
to go to my first a's in Sacramento as I'm
usiting my parents up here tomorrow, Like I'm I loved
(05:05):
Ben Greeve and I collected his cards as a kid,
and I mean he dropped off after being Ale Rookie
of the Year, but I loved that guy. He made
me fall in love with baseball. And that was the
first of just many players that made a huge impact
on me.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
And it's interesting, It's funny you brought up Tony, you know.
When I was I worked with the Red Sox for
three years and was a coach for him, you know,
in eighteen specifically when they won and they brought Tony
in to help Alex Korra that year as like a
mentor whatever to his first year managing.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
And and I got to.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Know Tony and and and actually was at Walnart Creek
for his his he does a big charity for animals.
And was was able to get on stage a few
years ago with him and and but I remember just
sitting with him, you know, he would I'd be like, hey,
you know, coach, can I I ask you questions?
Speaker 1 (06:01):
He's like, all right, here's the deal, right, you.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Can ask me questions if we are at if I'm
at dinner, and you can ask me questions as long
as I'm eating or drinking.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
And I was like, check rotch. I think our first
one went four hours long. I just kept feed them drinks.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
And the whole thing was just like I wanted to know, right,
what about those players jose Conseko right, Mark McGuire, Dennis Eckerlesy,
Ricky Henderson.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
I go, you know, what is it about?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
You know, how do you bring those personalities together and
get them to focus on things? And and and you know,
he the one thing he was that he always said
is he said, you know, uh, it's it was. It
took me a little while, but when I first started coaching,
it was when I realized that the whole thing was
to let, you know, the natural order of the individual
(06:54):
integrate with their teammates, not to try and push them
towards something or force them in some kind of mindset whatever,
To let them be themselves, to let them develop those
friendships or whatever that camaraderie was, and then to support
them as individuals to come to become the collective nature
of the organization.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
And I remember going, my god, man, that's genius.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Like it's like you're not forcing anybody into one thing,
and so I you know, for for me, like as
an athlete, I always felt that that piece as as
I got older, especially now as i've I've been doing
what I've been doing, is like coaches kind of forget that.
They don't they don't get the sense of of what
(07:41):
can bring the teams together.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Have you noticed that as you've been.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Involved in being really as an analyst within the sports world,
that teams will be filled with great players and great individuals,
but somehow there's a barrier between their ability to come together.
And why do you think that is?
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Well, I'll do two different examples. So you see a
team like the Miami Heat, and we're not saying that
those are you know, Christian guys or you know, some
of the best examples of what men should be. But
they're a good example of the best basketball players at
that time creating a super team. And in a lot
(08:24):
of ways, people would say they fell short, they didn't
live up to the hype. Lebron James said, you know,
we're not gonna win two, We're gonna go three or four,
you know. And then I look at the other hand,
you got a team like the Boise State Broncos. Last year,
they didn't have the best athletes in the country. They
had one of the best athletes in the country, Ashton Genty,
(08:45):
but actually a former teammate of mine, Spencer Danielson, the
head coach of Boise State football, brought them together really
under the banner of Christ. There were players that were
saved throughout that and they had an amazing run. Obviously
they ran into a juggernaut Penn State. But I think
(09:07):
there's times where you can bring a team together under
something that's just bigger than a bunch of great athletes,
because you can put the best athletes on one team
and I know I'm preaching to the choir, They're not
necessarily gonna win. There's egos involved, there's not the ability
to actually compliment each other's play. There's a sense of
(09:31):
selflessness that you need, and there's more than anything, a
sense of buying. We've both been around sports and we've
seen some like I wasn't a great athlete. I was
blessed enough to play D two football, but and you know,
be a captain on the basketball team and football team
in high school and everything. But I saw so many
(09:52):
guys that were twenty five times more athletic than me,
and I just ended up being better because I bought in.
I just worked harder, And maybe that was a part
of me that just knew that, you know, I'm just
some lanky, goofy, tall, white, blondhaired guy that needs to
actually maybe put in a little bit more work. And
(10:13):
I wasn't blessed with the most athletic ability. But you know,
we see that over and over again. And you know,
I think something that was really instilled in me is
when I played it as Zusa Pacific. If people are
familiar with Christian Nakoye the Nigeria Nightmare, that's basically our
claim to fame. I to Zusa Pacific. They were building
warrior men for christ We were really good at uh
(10:34):
while I was playing out a Zusa Pacific. But it
was about who you are as a man, and we're
building you up as men because ninety nine point nine
percent of you guys aren't even going to sniff the NFL.
You're going to go pro in something other than sports.
So how do we build up men that understand how
to be good leaders in the home, in society, and
in the workplace.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
You know, one of the coolest things is about this
is like, I just interviewed this incredible coach who really
is amazing at building up men the way he does it.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
But before I.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
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Speaker 1 (11:45):
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(13:16):
all right, here's the deal.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
John. I met this coach, Coach Swider.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
He is having a profound impact on his the people
that have played for him, because that was his whole thing.
He's like, I'm building warriors for Christ and I'm gonna
use the tool of football.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
And it's funny.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
You know, in the firm I work with for my
day job, you know, there's like fifteen guys that played
for him and for three years.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Before they'd be like, rut, you gotta meet coach Schweider.
You gotta listen to what he says.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
And I'm like, okay, And you know, he's got this
great YouTube video where he gives these five things that
you know will make you a better player, and it's
all about your your relationship to Christ and to God,
you know.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
And near very distinct things.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
And you know, I think what's interesting, you know, the
one that I really kind of felt like the turn happened.
Remember when the Eagles won a few years ago and
they were doing baptisms in their locker room, like the
head coach was really into it, And that felt like
that was the moment things kind of broke through where
(14:24):
now Christianity was going to be, where it's now commonplace.
I mean, last weekend we saw a great game Michigan
versus Nebraska. After the game, almost both the entire teams
are in the middle of the field praying with each other, right,
and the spiritual leader of Nebraska's team, the wonderful guy,
spent some time I know, Matt real Well spent some
(14:46):
time with them a couple of years ago. And the guy,
this wonderful coach there, just amazing guy and really preaches
the word better name. But like now it's like these
kids are starting to realize, oh wow, this is the
framework that I've never had before. When did you first
utilize the framework of your faith in your development as
(15:10):
an athlete?
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Well, the thing you start to realize as a Christian
is is christ a priority? And you know, so many
times throughout my life I can look back and be like,
you know what, I didn't have a reverence for the
Lord like I should have when I was young. Obviously
there's a sanctification process that we go through, and you know,
I didn't really understand aspects of theology, theology and the
(15:35):
authority of scripture and why church is so important. And
I knew that my faith was a foundation, but was
I leaning on it as much as I should. I
don't think it really clicked. And so college, and you know,
it's really a testament to head coach Victor Santa Cruz,
(15:55):
the Special Teams coach gave Hirard over it Azusa Pacific
and a lot of my teammates, like I mentioned before,
like Spencer Danielson, like great, great leaders, and we did
things like it's called life classes. So you're learning about
what it means to be a man. You're learning scripturally,
it's like you're called to be leaders. You know, we
(16:17):
live in a hyper feminine and feminized society where you know,
you need to diminish yourself as a man and just
kind of let the females take the shine. It's like
we're supposed to be protectors, providers and leaders. We're not
supposed to be authoritarians. But here's how you go about that.
As you date, Here's how you go about it. As
(16:37):
you're married. Here's when you go about it. You know,
when you're trying to buy a home and a car
and as a teammate, those are the kind of things
that just really started to click. And you know, part
of my testimony, I could have been saved before, but
I do say that I was saved my freshman year
at college. And you know, I got baptized and that
(16:59):
was one of the best days of my life really
other than getting married. And I started to just really
understand that this needs to be the foundation, and you
need mentors, you need good people around you, and accountability
partners because as men, we're idiots. We are not going
to figure it out on our own. We would love
to be like im, a sole survivor in this situation.
(17:21):
I'm the lone ranger. I can go through this. And
you know, really the only person that would be able
to go through these forty days in the desert alone
and come out better is Jesus Christ. So we need
we need others around us. And it's I mean, so
many skills, life skills and values that were incorporated in
(17:42):
the ZUSA specific football program I still incorporate in the
way that you know, I go about my work now
covering Christian athletes, covering sports, pushing back against the nonsense
that we see within sports media and so on.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
What what made you decide, hey, listen, this is something
that it needs a voice attached to it, right Obviously
you could, uh, you know, go in get into the
world of athletics.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Your you know, your commentary's great. I've watched it.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
You're good looking, dude, like you've got a great background,
you know what you're talking about, Like you could have
just you know, gone towards you got that great ESPN
job or you know, Fox Sports News job or whatever.
What made you want to just start saying no, no, man,
this as a Christian, we need to bring a voice
to you know, uh, this space. Right. What was the
(18:38):
kind of catalyst for you to want to begin to
start to react to that stuff?
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Well, I just realized there's so many important things that
we need to cover and people that we need to highlight,
and that Jesus needs to be proclaimed. For me a
little bit more of my backstories. Like you said, I
worked in minor league baseball first season that I moved
up to the Bay Area after that and work for
(19:04):
the Sharks for five seasons, work for the Golden State
Warriors G League team, did some work with NBC Sports
up there. Man, I'm working my way up and I
want to you know, I want to be the next
Stuart Scott, be the white Stuart Scott, have my own
little lingo and catch phrase and work for a major
sports media outlet. And you know a part of that
is God slammed that door. I got canceled. I went
(19:25):
I during the pandemic. I moved out to Phoenix for
a time, went to the gym without a mask, and
then that was it. You know, I was working for
a company called Fanatics at the time, and you know,
God has you know, a way of saying, oh, you're
really trying to not like saying I was a Jonah
like figure where he was calling me somewhere, and I'm
just really going the other way. I think it's more
of a you know, here's a trial, and you've talked about,
(19:50):
you know, highlighting Christian athletes and what's going on with
faith and sports, like dive into it, and you know
at times you need to die to yourself and be like, well,
you know, is that necessarily going to be the thing
that you know, I could build a career on. And
it's like forget it. Like these people are helping make disciples,
They're inspiring people to be more bold about their faith.
(20:12):
And obviously now we're in a time you know, obviously
what happened to Charlie was horrific, but what was evil
it has been turned for good. And how people are
bold about their faith, and I think I started to see, Wow,
a lot of these athletes need to be highlighted more.
You might never have heard of this athlete, but look
(20:34):
at what they just said, even after they lost a game.
Like you you talk about, oh gosh, I'm going blank
on his name. Played for the Texas Longhorns. Obviously they
lost in the college football quarterfinal, and oh no last year, yeah,
(20:54):
last year. And you know he's given praise and glory
to Jesus Christ. And then you're seeing teams like you know,
I'm talking about almost a revival that was going on
in college football Ohio State. Ohio State had so many
bold Christians from g Scott Junior to Treveon Henderson to
(21:16):
Will Howard. And for me, I've just seen so many
posts go viral just simply resharing what an athlete has
said proclaiming their faith. Those are my favorite things that
go viral on social media because for so long people
are like sports are woke, athletes are just egotistical. I
(21:38):
don't care about sports anymore. And it's like, well, you know,
I can understand your frustration. I've been frustrated myself as
someone that's wanted to work in sports ever since he
was a kid. But here's some athletes you should support.
Here's some things that you should share, and it's such
an amazing outlet to share the gospel. And they're just
little little nuggets, and I try to do whatever I
(22:00):
can to find those clips people sending to me. At times,
I'm watching sports all day long, so at times it's
not crazy that I don't miss some of these. But
it's been so cool to see it resonate with so
many people and encourage other athletes and coaches to be
bold in their faith.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Well, I agree.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
I mean I've even now, like my oldest daughter's big
soccer player wants to play in college, and you know,
she's part.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Of a group at her high school, you know, the.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Christian Athletes Club, right, and it's like yeah, and it's like,
all right, this is really.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Cool that you know.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
But I think the thing is is, you know, is
I think you know, if young people are listening, you know.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
How do I what do I do?
Speaker 2 (22:43):
How do I bring my faith to my team in
a way that it's not pushing it on anybody in
a way that's not you know, overwhelming, that's you know
for those that are reluctant or resistance or don't want
it integrated. You know, what are some things you've seen
or somebody ideas that you experience on your team in college?
Speaker 1 (23:04):
What works? How does an individual.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Who's devout in their faith to Christ, how do they
interject or not interject?
Speaker 1 (23:12):
How do they offer it right? How do they offer.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
That that that blessing, that sense of deeper faith into
what sport can do for people in our development and
and you know, our our passionate love for Christ.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Yeah, Number one, you need to humble yourself. You know,
why do you want to talk about this? Are you
trying to win an argument? Are you trying to just
post Bible versus online to just try to get a
few likes? Like are you really living for Christ? And
I think one of the best places to start, and
probably the place you should start, is you need to
be under a biblical church. You need to be at church,
(23:49):
and especially if you got college athletes out there, whether
you're in high school, you need to be at church.
You need to become a member of that church so
you can be held accountable to that church. And just
like I need a discipleship when I was younger and
still need it today, you need to be disciple through
(24:10):
that church. You need to serve at that church and
you need a mentor maybe that's through discipleship, and maybe
it's both to make sure that you can really build
upon the foundation that you have in Christ. And that's
a part of the sanctification process that I was talking
about earlier. You want to become more and more like Christ.
You want God to speak to you, maybe open up
(24:33):
God's word and that's how He'll speak to you. Because
if you really want to share your faith and be
bold and so it's so important to do that and
not shy away just because you're like, well, I don't
know if I necessarily have a defense for the hope
that I have for Speter three fifteen, I don't know
if I have good apologetics. So AKA, just like defense
of the faith, it's okay. You know, no one's saying
(24:56):
that you have to have it all figured out in
order to share it. But you need to be in church.
You need to be disciples, you need to be mentored,
and you need to be serving at church. And I
think that is such an amazing place as we gather
as a body of believers to build each other up
and go out from there on Sundays and Wednesdays and
(25:16):
other events throughout the week. To make disciples and hopefully
from there there's a greater understanding of the authority of Scripture,
what the gospel really is. And that's what I think somebody,
as I finish up this long ramp before you, David,
is if someone asked you number one, why do you
believe what you believe? And giving an explanation of the gospel,
(25:39):
you should probably have that in your back pocket, not
just so you look good. But I think of somebody
like a friend like Pastor Costi Hen. He's got a
church out in Phoenix, Arizona. He was just on the
Charlie Kirk Show with Ali Bethstucky and he gave an amazing,
amazing breakdown of the gospel. The things we need to
(26:00):
think about is we need to be prepared for those
things because you just need to be a leader on
your team. Don't put your light underneath the lamp stands,
and be bold and be unashamed of the gospel.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
I one of a young man that I've been mentoring
for about seven years now. He you know, he started
as a freshman at Penn State lacrosse and he just,
you know.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Was I'm not playing this sucks. I hate it. You know,
I wish what can I do?
Speaker 2 (26:28):
And we just stuck to you know, focus on what
really you know, gave him the strength to keep fighting
for that role. Ends up you know, becoming a starter,
ends up becoming captain of the team, and then you know,
starts a Bible study within the team that grows from
like three to twelve to eighteen. They're doing prayers after
(26:51):
games and you know, and I was just like, you know,
and I never once was like, hey, man, you should
do this on the team. He was like, hey, you
think this would have a positive impact. And I go, well,
I'll tell you what, man, As a you know, coming
from my background and special operations where you know, it
was almost like can we be faithful?
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Can we integrate this in or is it too much
of a dichotomy?
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Right? You know, I'm out there learning how to kill people,
and can I also be a Christian? And you know,
you're wrapped up into this whole thing. And I think
that was the fundamentally the worst decision I could have
ever made. Was not allowed because it was right next
to me all the time, like one or two guys
that would be like, you know, hey, rut Man, do
you believe or do you believe? Or nah, man, I can't.
(27:39):
I'm not going to bear that weight with.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
All this too.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
And and I thought of it as in the completely
wrong context.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
And I think, you know, having those.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Individuals that are believers be able to step into the
breach right and really say, hey, man, you know you
want to talk about your faith and how that can
then impact your performance in sport. That's an important thing.
What would you recommend to those kids that are faithful
that want to bring their faith into their teams?
Speaker 1 (28:11):
How should they start and what should they do?
Speaker 3 (28:14):
I think number one too, there's an aspect of respect,
you know, there's a sense of you know, how do
you maybe not just like grandstand with this. I mean,
there's a way to approach these things that I'm not
saying just because the coach tells you that you can't
talk about your faith, that you should just like, oh,
I just respect my coach. I'm not going to talk
(28:36):
about faith. I think, just especially even during let's relate it,
during this time, people are so bold about their faith
because they've seen how bold Charlie Kirk was and a
lot of people they'll think, man, but I don't have
a platform like Charlie. I don't have a platform like
David or John, and I don't really have a social
(28:58):
media following. You can make way more of a difference
just having an individual conversation with one teammate. There is
one teammate that you have that is curious about faith
or is going down the wrong path, like I think,
I'm gonna try to pull this up real quick. There's
(29:18):
a player on the Carolina Hurricanes and his Jacob Slaven
He's helped guide one of his teammates, Jalen Chatfield, to
Christ and he said this, in my whole career, I
never win the Cup or anything, but Jalen Chatfield came
to know the Lord. That's a successful career. That's what
(29:39):
every single young listening right now should think about. You
want accolades, you want to win. We're doing everything to
the glory of Christ. If you help lead one teammate
to Church and the Holy Spirit does the Holy Spirit
(29:59):
then and changes that heart of stone to a heart
of flesh, that is a successful career, and that is
being the best teammates and best Christian you possibly can.
Don't feel like you need to have some amazing raw
ras speeches. There's individuals on your team at your school,
in your classrooms that you can make a difference with.
(30:21):
And it's simply sharing the Gospel and taking the time
to listen to questions and be in the hands of
feeder Christ.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
And man, that's beautiful, John, That's absolutely the best advice
that I've heard someone give to a person that's in
that space who wants to be that mentor who wants.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
To share the gospel.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
What about the person on the other side, you know,
what about the person that's you know, the kid is
probably grew up in tough area, tough time, difficult to
believe that you know, Christ is out there waiting for
them their salvation, you know, through that sacrifice. You know
they just like, man, that stuff never got me through.
Only being tough got me through. That's what it is.
(31:04):
What do you say to those people or or the
people that are like, man, I wonder why that dude
loves Christ so much? Like, what what is it about?
What do you say to those guys that are kind
of wondering and they're not sure.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
I would start with the idea that if you follow Christ,
it's going to be an easy life. Let's go through
Scripture together. Let's talk about the disciples that were all
brutally murdered for sharing the gospel, for building christ Church
and just time and time again their struggle. And it's
(31:42):
one of the only things that we're guaranteed is Christians,
is that we're going to struggle on this side of eternity.
And life is really hard. And if you see another
Christian staying faithful during tough times, whether it's as simple
as the story like you just shared, you feel like
(32:02):
you're getting the raw end of the deal and you're
not getting playing time. You're better than the person that's
in front of you. Politics are being played by your
coaches and athletic department. There's other really horrific things that
have happened. We've been around plenty of you guys that
don't have fathers, and they're looking for spiritual guidance, they're
(32:24):
looking for solid friendship, and I think what we'd need
to do is just constantly remind them that the value,
peace fulfillment and joy that you're looking for can only
be found in Christ. You can be with the hottest
chicks on campus and just be the most sought after
(32:44):
playboy on campus. You're left empty if you're willing to
admit it. You getting all these accolades, getting playing time,
everybody knows you on campus, you're a star on national television.
You know, you could be a Heisman nominee. And without Christ,
(33:05):
essentially you're nothing. You're doing it maybe for your family
and some you know, maybe some you know, of your
own conjured ideas of what good morals are. There would
be nothing like doing everything for the glory of Christ.
And that's where I hope when there's somebody listening and
they're like, you know what I'm and again it's it's
(33:25):
just I have to mention it with like the explosion
of I don't use the term revival much, but it
feels like almost on the cusp of that, and people
are hearing about, you know, their government officials are talking
about Christ, their teammates, their neighbors, their family, like, there's
discussions happening, and I'd say, just be willing to have
(33:47):
an open heart and ask questions and really dive deep
into why that person in your life is a Christ follower.
And then again that comes down to what, like Eric
Kirk said it Charlie Kirk's memorial. You know, there's an
amazing opportunity and job that we need to live into
(34:08):
as Christians is discipling those that are interested in christ.
They're curious about what it means to go to church,
They're curious what it means to be a Christian. They're
trying to make sense of all.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
This wonderful That is such a phenomenal answer.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
Now, I know you spend a little time over at
tp USA and New Charlie and you know him being
a great athlete himself. I love the video of him
chucking that football fifty meters like it was nothing.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
Man.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
You know, he had cannon for an arm and as
a quarterback, I know a great arm when I see it, right,
And you know what, I'm sure the last few weeks
has been difficult, and you know, can you just summarize
a little reflection of you know, what Charlie represents to
you and then and as it relates also for being
(35:00):
to you know, like you said, that revival that's taking
place in building, maybe just a few minutes on that
would be great.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
Yeah, Like number one, what people are seeing about Charlie
and they might just be finding out about Charlie over
the last couple of weeks. They're like, yeah, maybe I
kind of heard that name before when you're like, whoa,
he had an incredible defense for the faith. And then
you see, you know, going back to what should Christians
be doing is finding a mentor and being disciple. He's
(35:29):
got someone like doctor Frank Turk by his side, a
great friend of mine that knew how to build up
Charlie in apologetics and giving a defense of the faith.
And Charlie was bold, and he wasn't just bold. He
lived into First Peter three fourteen through seventeen. He had
a defense for the hope that he had. He did
(35:50):
it with gentleness and respect. He was meek, but that
doesn't mean that he was weak. He displayed Christ in
so many inner actions and having civil discourse with people
that hate him and threatened him. And obviously these people
kill them for it. And that's where I hope people are.
(36:13):
They get a revitalization of their faith that you don't
need to be having conversations on college campuses in front
of thousands of college students. Again, you can make such
a difference with your coworker that you've decided I just
don't know if I want to have that conversation. What
(36:34):
if they think I'm weird and I don't want to
be a Bible thumper. You know what about that family
member that you haven't had that conversation with. Those can
make such a massive impact. And if more people decide
I'm going to be bold and try to have that conversation,
sometimes they're not going to be open to it, and
that's okay, that is fine. You're still going to do
(36:56):
it with gentleness and respect. There's plenty of times where
we need to stand firm in the faith and you know,
maybe raise our voice and say what our whole chest.
There's plenty of times we need to do that, especially
as warrior men. You know, we're not always going to
be you know, wielding the sword while we're defending the faith.
But someone like Charlie, I think, gave a great example
(37:19):
of what it means to have proper civil discourse around
disagreements with people that don't follow Christ. And I hope
more than anything that people if you're curious about going
to church, the Christian faith, the authority of scripture, why
David and I believe what we believe, We're open for
(37:41):
those conversations. We want to talk about that, and at
the same time, like please find a Bible believing Christian
church in your community. I guarantee you they will welcome
you with open arms. They got people there that can
pray for you, They got people there that can answer questions.
(38:01):
There are countless churches throughout the country. Give it a try,
and at the same time, open.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
Up the Bible.
Speaker 3 (38:10):
You know, there's there's so many great ways to go
through it. You got the Bible app They can give
you reading plans. And I just hope that people are
encouraged during this time to again not put your light
underneath the lampstand, be unashamed of the gospel, be unapologetic
as you share about your faith and the work that
(38:32):
Jesus Christ has done. Not the work that we've done
that saves us. The only thing that saves us is
the grace through faith in Christ alone.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
Hey man, John, that was beautiful brother, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
I appreciate your thoughts, and you know my prayers for
you and all your friends that are are still grave
and all that.
Speaker 1 (38:52):
Right now, man, where.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
Can people follow you? How can they pay attention to
what you're doing? And then what do you got next
coming along?
Speaker 3 (39:02):
You can follow me on Instagram TikTok and X. It's
at Johnny Root Underscore and then what's next. It's it's
interesting to, you know, try to figure out, you know,
what I'm really going to be doing other than spending
more time on YouTube. There's a lot of people that say,
I like your short form content. I enjoy what you're
(39:23):
putting out there on X, but you know, kind of
learning the YouTube game a little bit more, having long
form discussions, providing some clarity to things, because Lord knows,
when we try to do something in sixty to ninety seconds,
there's gonna be things that we missed. People are gonna
misconstrue it. I'm maybe not going to be presenting something
maybe with the tone and clarity that it probably should.
(39:45):
So I want to provide some more of those and
then hopefully do somemorial man of Street content. You know,
interact with some people because if people aren't aware, Like
I was outside the Supreme Court when Roby Wade was overturned,
I was covering the Leah Thomas story at Georgia Tech.
I enjoy interacting with people, especially on the other side
of the aisle, and I really want to have more
(40:06):
conversations with people like that and Charlie's definitely inspired that
quite a bit.
Speaker 2 (40:11):
Awesome, John Well, I wish you all the best, man.
I think you're awesome at what you do. I'd love
to see you go around the country and just highlight
these programs that have just allowed faith to take center
stage and really just turning, like you said, young athletes
into real followers of Christ.
Speaker 1 (40:27):
Man.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
I just commend you on what you're doing and thanks
for coming on and I just God bless you and
everything you're doing.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
Brother, God bless you, brother. Thank you.
Since the time I was four years old.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I've been an athlete all the way up through high school,
postgraduate year playing football, lacrosse, playing lacrosse at Penn State,
working with professional sports teams as a motivational performance coach.
You know, I have just come to realize that athletics
is the greatest way that we can influence our young
(00:32):
people to becoming healthy, mature, productive adults in society. Now
here's the kicker to this. In the last several years,
I have seen something I haven't seen.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
In a long time. Now. It was there, but it
was kind of hidden, and that is the explosion in
Christianity amongst athletes across every single level, from little league.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Travel all the way up to pro athletes to college athletes.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
And it's overwhelming.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
And so I wanted to discuss this with somebody that
I believe has genuine insight and has been paying attention
to this for a long.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Time now, mister John Root.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
And John has been worked with the San Jose Sharks
and other athletic organizations from minor leagues all the way
up through the pros and has a real understanding because
of his own faith and his own athletic background and
playing D two sports in his life. But man, I thought,
this is the guy that can give anybody who's listening
(01:33):
why it's so pertinent to have christ involved in.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Our sports programs. Mister Root, thank you for coming on
the show.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
I'm looking forward to chatting about this and I appreciate
you having me.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
All right, perfect, so tell me, let's just talk. When
did you first start playing sports?
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Man, I'd love to say, pretty much right out the womb,
I was playing sports. I had an older brother as
about three year years older, so I'm sure he was
pushing me like once I was able to crawl like
let's ball. But man, I played pretty much every sport
you can imagine, football, basketball, baseball, tennis, ran track, did
some cross country stuff like it's I love sports. I
(02:17):
obviously follow sports on my platform and cover it, you know,
pretty much for a living ever since being canceled from
working to pro sports and working in sports media. But
I played D two football, like you said, and I
think sports has the ability to bring us together better
than anything else. It is a driver for establishing life
(02:38):
skills and building up men, maybe better than any other
institution other than the church. So I love sports. It's
a joy to cover it, even though there's been you know,
falling by the wayside with some you know, left wing politics.
But I think sports are absolutely incredible and amazing outlet
and I can't get enough.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, do you remember like the first team when you
were a kid paying attention that all of a sudden,
like the athletes or the players that you were.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Following, you just you're like, oh my god, that is
that is it. That's the place.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
For me. It was Rocky blier Man on the Pittsburgh Steelers,
and I'll never forget, Like I learned that he was
a Vietnam VETT, he'd been blown up, he had come back,
you know, he had left the team, and then Art
Rooney said, please come back.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
You're the heartbeat of the team.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
And then that faithful you know time where he and
frank O Harris got the stare.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
It changed the whole course of the Steelers.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
And you know, and so and I had this incredible
opportunity to meet him a couple of times, we did
a couple speaking events together, and and and just you know,
the power of those influences are so overwhelming. Who was
it for you when you were a kid where you
recognize this is bigger than anything else.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Right, I'm going to throw out a name that probably
a lot of your listeners and viewers have no idea.
Ben Greave. Ben Greave was the AL Rookie of the
Year when I was a very little kid. I was
born in the San Francisco area, born in the East
Bay in Walnut Creek, and I have always loved the
Oakland A's. Obviously to a fault. It's not an easy
(04:21):
team in the roof. For now they're the Sacramento As,
and then they're gonna be the Vegas A's and you know,
all your all your favorite players throughout life, you know,
they just get traded. But Ben Greave was just and
that's the best part about being a kid. You know,
I don't essentially know like what's his plate approach and
you know, really who is he? I was just like,
I like this guy. He plays well, and my babysitter
(04:43):
had a huge crush on him, and he was just
the like he was a rock star in my world.
I got to meet him, and I got to meet
Tye LaRussa and a few other people associated with the
Oklon A's organization when I was a kid. I'm about
to go to my first a's in Sacramento as I'm
usiting my parents up here tomorrow, Like I'm I loved
(05:05):
Ben Greeve and I collected his cards as a kid,
and I mean he dropped off after being Ale Rookie
of the Year, but I loved that guy. He made
me fall in love with baseball. And that was the
first of just many players that made a huge impact
on me.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
And it's interesting, It's funny you brought up Tony, you know.
When I was I worked with the Red Sox for
three years and was a coach for him, you know,
in eighteen specifically when they won and they brought Tony
in to help Alex Korra that year as like a
mentor whatever to his first year managing.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
And and I got to.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Know Tony and and and actually was at Walnart Creek
for his his he does a big charity for animals.
And was was able to get on stage a few
years ago with him and and but I remember just
sitting with him, you know, he would I'd be like, hey,
you know, coach, can I I ask you questions?
Speaker 1 (06:01):
He's like, all right, here's the deal, right, you.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Can ask me questions if we are at if I'm
at dinner, and you can ask me questions as long
as I'm eating or drinking.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
And I was like, check rotch. I think our first
one went four hours long. I just kept feed them drinks.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
And the whole thing was just like I wanted to know, right,
what about those players jose Conseko right, Mark McGuire, Dennis Eckerlesy,
Ricky Henderson.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
I go, you know, what is it about?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
You know, how do you bring those personalities together and
get them to focus on things? And and and you know,
he the one thing he was that he always said
is he said, you know, uh, it's it was. It
took me a little while, but when I first started coaching,
it was when I realized that the whole thing was
to let, you know, the natural order of the individual
(06:54):
integrate with their teammates, not to try and push them
towards something or force them in some kind of mindset whatever,
To let them be themselves, to let them develop those
friendships or whatever that camaraderie was, and then to support
them as individuals to come to become the collective nature
of the organization.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
And I remember going, my god, man, that's genius.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Like it's like you're not forcing anybody into one thing,
and so I you know, for for me, like as
an athlete, I always felt that that piece as as
I got older, especially now as i've I've been doing
what I've been doing, is like coaches kind of forget that.
They don't they don't get the sense of of what
(07:41):
can bring the teams together.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Have you noticed that as you've been.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Involved in being really as an analyst within the sports world,
that teams will be filled with great players and great individuals,
but somehow there's a barrier between their ability to come together.
And why do you think that is?
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Well, I'll do two different examples. So you see a
team like the Miami Heat, and we're not saying that
those are you know, Christian guys or you know, some
of the best examples of what men should be. But
they're a good example of the best basketball players at
that time creating a super team. And in a lot
(08:24):
of ways, people would say they fell short, they didn't
live up to the hype. Lebron James said, you know,
we're not gonna win two, We're gonna go three or four,
you know. And then I look at the other hand,
you got a team like the Boise State Broncos. Last year,
they didn't have the best athletes in the country. They
had one of the best athletes in the country, Ashton Genty,
(08:45):
but actually a former teammate of mine, Spencer Danielson, the
head coach of Boise State football, brought them together really
under the banner of Christ. There were players that were
saved throughout that and they had an amazing run. Obviously
they ran into a juggernaut Penn State. But I think
(09:07):
there's times where you can bring a team together under
something that's just bigger than a bunch of great athletes,
because you can put the best athletes on one team
and I know I'm preaching to the choir, They're not
necessarily gonna win. There's egos involved, there's not the ability
to actually compliment each other's play. There's a sense of
(09:31):
selflessness that you need, and there's more than anything, a
sense of buying. We've both been around sports and we've
seen some like I wasn't a great athlete. I was
blessed enough to play D two football, but and you know,
be a captain on the basketball team and football team
in high school and everything. But I saw so many
(09:52):
guys that were twenty five times more athletic than me,
and I just ended up being better because I bought in.
I just worked harder, And maybe that was a part
of me that just knew that, you know, I'm just
some lanky, goofy, tall, white, blondhaired guy that needs to
actually maybe put in a little bit more work. And
(10:13):
I wasn't blessed with the most athletic ability. But you know,
we see that over and over again. And you know,
I think something that was really instilled in me is
when I played it as Zusa Pacific. If people are
familiar with Christian Nakoye the Nigeria Nightmare, that's basically our
claim to fame. I to Zusa Pacific. They were building
warrior men for christ We were really good at uh
(10:34):
while I was playing out a Zusa Pacific. But it
was about who you are as a man, and we're
building you up as men because ninety nine point nine
percent of you guys aren't even going to sniff the NFL.
You're going to go pro in something other than sports.
So how do we build up men that understand how
to be good leaders in the home, in society, and
in the workplace.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
You know, one of the coolest things is about this
is like, I just interviewed this incredible coach who really
is amazing at building up men the way he does it.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
But before I.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Get into that, I gotta give some time to our
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(13:16):
all right, here's the deal.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
John. I met this coach, Coach Swider.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
He is having a profound impact on his the people
that have played for him, because that was his whole thing.
He's like, I'm building warriors for Christ and I'm gonna
use the tool of football.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
And it's funny.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
You know, in the firm I work with for my
day job, you know, there's like fifteen guys that played
for him and for three years.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Before they'd be like, rut, you gotta meet coach Schweider.
You gotta listen to what he says.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
And I'm like, okay, And you know, he's got this
great YouTube video where he gives these five things that
you know will make you a better player, and it's
all about your your relationship to Christ and to God,
you know.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
And near very distinct things.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
And you know, I think what's interesting, you know, the
one that I really kind of felt like the turn happened.
Remember when the Eagles won a few years ago and
they were doing baptisms in their locker room, like the
head coach was really into it, And that felt like
that was the moment things kind of broke through where
(14:24):
now Christianity was going to be, where it's now commonplace.
I mean, last weekend we saw a great game Michigan
versus Nebraska. After the game, almost both the entire teams
are in the middle of the field praying with each other, right,
and the spiritual leader of Nebraska's team, the wonderful guy,
spent some time I know, Matt real Well spent some
(14:46):
time with them a couple of years ago. And the guy,
this wonderful coach there, just amazing guy and really preaches
the word better name. But like now it's like these
kids are starting to realize, oh wow, this is the
framework that I've never had before. When did you first
utilize the framework of your faith in your development as
(15:10):
an athlete?
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Well, the thing you start to realize as a Christian
is is christ a priority? And you know, so many
times throughout my life I can look back and be like,
you know what, I didn't have a reverence for the
Lord like I should have when I was young. Obviously
there's a sanctification process that we go through, and you know,
I didn't really understand aspects of theology, theology and the
(15:35):
authority of scripture and why church is so important. And
I knew that my faith was a foundation, but was
I leaning on it as much as I should. I
don't think it really clicked. And so college, and you know,
it's really a testament to head coach Victor Santa Cruz,
(15:55):
the Special Teams coach gave Hirard over it Azusa Pacific
and a lot of my teammates, like I mentioned before,
like Spencer Danielson, like great, great leaders, and we did
things like it's called life classes. So you're learning about
what it means to be a man. You're learning scripturally,
it's like you're called to be leaders. You know, we
(16:17):
live in a hyper feminine and feminized society where you know,
you need to diminish yourself as a man and just
kind of let the females take the shine. It's like
we're supposed to be protectors, providers and leaders. We're not
supposed to be authoritarians. But here's how you go about that.
As you date, Here's how you go about it. As
(16:37):
you're married. Here's when you go about it. You know,
when you're trying to buy a home and a car
and as a teammate, those are the kind of things
that just really started to click. And you know, part
of my testimony, I could have been saved before, but
I do say that I was saved my freshman year
at college. And you know, I got baptized and that
(16:59):
was one of the best days of my life really
other than getting married. And I started to just really
understand that this needs to be the foundation, and you
need mentors, you need good people around you, and accountability
partners because as men, we're idiots. We are not going
to figure it out on our own. We would love
to be like im, a sole survivor in this situation.
(17:21):
I'm the lone ranger. I can go through this. And
you know, really the only person that would be able
to go through these forty days in the desert alone
and come out better is Jesus Christ. So we need
we need others around us. And it's I mean, so
many skills, life skills and values that were incorporated in
(17:42):
the ZUSA specific football program I still incorporate in the
way that you know, I go about my work now
covering Christian athletes, covering sports, pushing back against the nonsense
that we see within sports media and so on.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
What what made you decide, hey, listen, this is something
that it needs a voice attached to it, right Obviously
you could, uh, you know, go in get into the
world of athletics.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Your you know, your commentary's great. I've watched it.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
You're good looking, dude, like you've got a great background,
you know what you're talking about, Like you could have
just you know, gone towards you got that great ESPN
job or you know, Fox Sports News job or whatever.
What made you want to just start saying no, no, man,
this as a Christian, we need to bring a voice
to you know, uh, this space. Right. What was the
(18:38):
kind of catalyst for you to want to begin to
start to react to that stuff?
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Well, I just realized there's so many important things that
we need to cover and people that we need to highlight,
and that Jesus needs to be proclaimed. For me a
little bit more of my backstories. Like you said, I
worked in minor league baseball first season that I moved
up to the Bay Area after that and work for
(19:04):
the Sharks for five seasons, work for the Golden State
Warriors G League team, did some work with NBC Sports
up there. Man, I'm working my way up and I
want to you know, I want to be the next
Stuart Scott, be the white Stuart Scott, have my own
little lingo and catch phrase and work for a major
sports media outlet. And you know a part of that
is God slammed that door. I got canceled. I went
(19:25):
I during the pandemic. I moved out to Phoenix for
a time, went to the gym without a mask, and
then that was it. You know, I was working for
a company called Fanatics at the time, and you know,
God has you know, a way of saying, oh, you're
really trying to not like saying I was a Jonah
like figure where he was calling me somewhere, and I'm
just really going the other way. I think it's more
of a you know, here's a trial, and you've talked about,
(19:50):
you know, highlighting Christian athletes and what's going on with
faith and sports, like dive into it, and you know
at times you need to die to yourself and be like, well,
you know, is that necessarily going to be the thing
that you know, I could build a career on. And
it's like forget it. Like these people are helping make disciples,
They're inspiring people to be more bold about their faith.
(20:12):
And obviously now we're in a time you know, obviously
what happened to Charlie was horrific, but what was evil
it has been turned for good. And how people are
bold about their faith, and I think I started to see, Wow,
a lot of these athletes need to be highlighted more.
You might never have heard of this athlete, but look
(20:34):
at what they just said, even after they lost a game.
Like you you talk about, oh gosh, I'm going blank
on his name. Played for the Texas Longhorns. Obviously they
lost in the college football quarterfinal, and oh no last year, yeah,
(20:54):
last year. And you know he's given praise and glory
to Jesus Christ. And then you're seeing teams like you know,
I'm talking about almost a revival that was going on
in college football Ohio State. Ohio State had so many
bold Christians from g Scott Junior to Treveon Henderson to
(21:16):
Will Howard. And for me, I've just seen so many
posts go viral just simply resharing what an athlete has
said proclaiming their faith. Those are my favorite things that
go viral on social media because for so long people
are like sports are woke, athletes are just egotistical. I
(21:38):
don't care about sports anymore. And it's like, well, you know,
I can understand your frustration. I've been frustrated myself as
someone that's wanted to work in sports ever since he
was a kid. But here's some athletes you should support.
Here's some things that you should share, and it's such
an amazing outlet to share the gospel. And they're just
little little nuggets, and I try to do whatever I
(22:00):
can to find those clips people sending to me. At times,
I'm watching sports all day long, so at times it's
not crazy that I don't miss some of these. But
it's been so cool to see it resonate with so
many people and encourage other athletes and coaches to be
bold in their faith.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Well, I agree.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
I mean I've even now, like my oldest daughter's big
soccer player wants to play in college, and you know,
she's part.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Of a group at her high school, you know, the.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Christian Athletes Club, right, and it's like yeah, and it's like,
all right, this is really.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Cool that you know.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
But I think the thing is is, you know, is
I think you know, if young people are listening, you know.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
How do I what do I do?
Speaker 2 (22:43):
How do I bring my faith to my team in
a way that it's not pushing it on anybody in
a way that's not you know, overwhelming, that's you know
for those that are reluctant or resistance or don't want
it integrated. You know, what are some things you've seen
or somebody ideas that you experience on your team in college?
Speaker 1 (23:04):
What works? How does an individual.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Who's devout in their faith to Christ, how do they
interject or not interject?
Speaker 1 (23:12):
How do they offer it right? How do they offer.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
That that that blessing, that sense of deeper faith into
what sport can do for people in our development and
and you know, our our passionate love for Christ.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Yeah, Number one, you need to humble yourself. You know,
why do you want to talk about this? Are you
trying to win an argument? Are you trying to just
post Bible versus online to just try to get a
few likes? Like are you really living for Christ? And
I think one of the best places to start, and
probably the place you should start, is you need to
be under a biblical church. You need to be at church,
(23:49):
and especially if you got college athletes out there, whether
you're in high school, you need to be at church.
You need to become a member of that church so
you can be held accountable to that church. And just
like I need a discipleship when I was younger and
still need it today, you need to be disciple through
(24:10):
that church. You need to serve at that church and
you need a mentor maybe that's through discipleship, and maybe
it's both to make sure that you can really build
upon the foundation that you have in Christ. And that's
a part of the sanctification process that I was talking
about earlier. You want to become more and more like Christ.
You want God to speak to you, maybe open up
(24:33):
God's word and that's how He'll speak to you. Because
if you really want to share your faith and be
bold and so it's so important to do that and
not shy away just because you're like, well, I don't
know if I necessarily have a defense for the hope
that I have for Speter three fifteen, I don't know
if I have good apologetics. So AKA, just like defense
of the faith, it's okay. You know, no one's saying
(24:56):
that you have to have it all figured out in
order to share it. But you need to be in church.
You need to be disciples, you need to be mentored,
and you need to be serving at church. And I
think that is such an amazing place as we gather
as a body of believers to build each other up
and go out from there on Sundays and Wednesdays and
(25:16):
other events throughout the week. To make disciples and hopefully
from there there's a greater understanding of the authority of Scripture,
what the gospel really is. And that's what I think somebody,
as I finish up this long ramp before you, David,
is if someone asked you number one, why do you
believe what you believe? And giving an explanation of the gospel,
(25:39):
you should probably have that in your back pocket, not
just so you look good. But I think of somebody
like a friend like Pastor Costi Hen. He's got a
church out in Phoenix, Arizona. He was just on the
Charlie Kirk Show with Ali Bethstucky and he gave an amazing,
amazing breakdown of the gospel. The things we need to
(26:00):
think about is we need to be prepared for those
things because you just need to be a leader on
your team. Don't put your light underneath the lamp stands,
and be bold and be unashamed of the gospel.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
I one of a young man that I've been mentoring
for about seven years now. He you know, he started
as a freshman at Penn State lacrosse and he just,
you know.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Was I'm not playing this sucks. I hate it. You know,
I wish what can I do?
Speaker 2 (26:28):
And we just stuck to you know, focus on what
really you know, gave him the strength to keep fighting
for that role. Ends up you know, becoming a starter,
ends up becoming captain of the team, and then you know,
starts a Bible study within the team that grows from
like three to twelve to eighteen. They're doing prayers after
(26:51):
games and you know, and I was just like, you know,
and I never once was like, hey, man, you should
do this on the team. He was like, hey, you
think this would have a positive impact. And I go, well,
I'll tell you what, man, As a you know, coming
from my background and special operations where you know, it
was almost like can we be faithful?
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Can we integrate this in or is it too much
of a dichotomy?
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Right? You know, I'm out there learning how to kill people,
and can I also be a Christian? And you know,
you're wrapped up into this whole thing. And I think
that was the fundamentally the worst decision I could have
ever made. Was not allowed because it was right next
to me all the time, like one or two guys
that would be like, you know, hey, rut Man, do
you believe or do you believe? Or nah, man, I can't.
(27:39):
I'm not going to bear that weight with.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
All this too.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
And and I thought of it as in the completely
wrong context.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
And I think, you know, having those.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Individuals that are believers be able to step into the
breach right and really say, hey, man, you know you
want to talk about your faith and how that can
then impact your performance in sport. That's an important thing.
What would you recommend to those kids that are faithful
that want to bring their faith into their teams?
Speaker 1 (28:11):
How should they start and what should they do?
Speaker 3 (28:14):
I think number one too, there's an aspect of respect,
you know, there's a sense of you know, how do
you maybe not just like grandstand with this. I mean,
there's a way to approach these things that I'm not
saying just because the coach tells you that you can't
talk about your faith, that you should just like, oh,
I just respect my coach. I'm not going to talk
(28:36):
about faith. I think, just especially even during let's relate it,
during this time, people are so bold about their faith
because they've seen how bold Charlie Kirk was and a
lot of people they'll think, man, but I don't have
a platform like Charlie. I don't have a platform like
David or John, and I don't really have a social
(28:58):
media following. You can make way more of a difference
just having an individual conversation with one teammate. There is
one teammate that you have that is curious about faith
or is going down the wrong path, like I think,
I'm gonna try to pull this up real quick. There's
(29:18):
a player on the Carolina Hurricanes and his Jacob Slaven
He's helped guide one of his teammates, Jalen Chatfield, to
Christ and he said this, in my whole career, I
never win the Cup or anything, but Jalen Chatfield came
to know the Lord. That's a successful career. That's what
(29:39):
every single young listening right now should think about. You
want accolades, you want to win. We're doing everything to
the glory of Christ. If you help lead one teammate
to Church and the Holy Spirit does the Holy Spirit
(29:59):
then and changes that heart of stone to a heart
of flesh, that is a successful career, and that is
being the best teammates and best Christian you possibly can.
Don't feel like you need to have some amazing raw
ras speeches. There's individuals on your team at your school,
in your classrooms that you can make a difference with.
(30:21):
And it's simply sharing the Gospel and taking the time
to listen to questions and be in the hands of
feeder Christ.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
And man, that's beautiful, John, That's absolutely the best advice
that I've heard someone give to a person that's in
that space who wants to be that mentor who wants.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
To share the gospel.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
What about the person on the other side, you know,
what about the person that's you know, the kid is
probably grew up in tough area, tough time, difficult to
believe that you know, Christ is out there waiting for
them their salvation, you know, through that sacrifice. You know
they just like, man, that stuff never got me through.
Only being tough got me through. That's what it is.
(31:04):
What do you say to those people or or the
people that are like, man, I wonder why that dude
loves Christ so much? Like, what what is it about?
What do you say to those guys that are kind
of wondering and they're not sure.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
I would start with the idea that if you follow Christ,
it's going to be an easy life. Let's go through
Scripture together. Let's talk about the disciples that were all
brutally murdered for sharing the gospel, for building christ Church
and just time and time again their struggle. And it's
(31:42):
one of the only things that we're guaranteed is Christians,
is that we're going to struggle on this side of eternity.
And life is really hard. And if you see another
Christian staying faithful during tough times, whether it's as simple
as the story like you just shared, you feel like
(32:02):
you're getting the raw end of the deal and you're
not getting playing time. You're better than the person that's
in front of you. Politics are being played by your
coaches and athletic department. There's other really horrific things that
have happened. We've been around plenty of you guys that
don't have fathers, and they're looking for spiritual guidance, they're
(32:24):
looking for solid friendship, and I think what we'd need
to do is just constantly remind them that the value,
peace fulfillment and joy that you're looking for can only
be found in Christ. You can be with the hottest
chicks on campus and just be the most sought after
(32:44):
playboy on campus. You're left empty if you're willing to
admit it. You getting all these accolades, getting playing time,
everybody knows you on campus, you're a star on national television.
You know, you could be a Heisman nominee. And without Christ,
(33:05):
essentially you're nothing. You're doing it maybe for your family
and some you know, maybe some you know, of your
own conjured ideas of what good morals are. There would
be nothing like doing everything for the glory of Christ.
And that's where I hope when there's somebody listening and
they're like, you know what I'm and again it's it's
(33:25):
just I have to mention it with like the explosion
of I don't use the term revival much, but it
feels like almost on the cusp of that, and people
are hearing about, you know, their government officials are talking
about Christ, their teammates, their neighbors, their family, like, there's
discussions happening, and I'd say, just be willing to have
(33:47):
an open heart and ask questions and really dive deep
into why that person in your life is a Christ follower.
And then again that comes down to what, like Eric
Kirk said it Charlie Kirk's memorial. You know, there's an
amazing opportunity and job that we need to live into
(34:08):
as Christians is discipling those that are interested in christ.
They're curious about what it means to go to church,
They're curious what it means to be a Christian. They're
trying to make sense of all.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
This wonderful That is such a phenomenal answer.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
Now, I know you spend a little time over at
tp USA and New Charlie and you know him being
a great athlete himself. I love the video of him
chucking that football fifty meters like it was nothing.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
Man.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
You know, he had cannon for an arm and as
a quarterback, I know a great arm when I see it, right,
And you know what, I'm sure the last few weeks
has been difficult, and you know, can you just summarize
a little reflection of you know, what Charlie represents to
you and then and as it relates also for being
(35:00):
to you know, like you said, that revival that's taking
place in building, maybe just a few minutes on that
would be great.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
Yeah, Like number one, what people are seeing about Charlie
and they might just be finding out about Charlie over
the last couple of weeks. They're like, yeah, maybe I
kind of heard that name before when you're like, whoa,
he had an incredible defense for the faith. And then
you see, you know, going back to what should Christians
be doing is finding a mentor and being disciple. He's
(35:29):
got someone like doctor Frank Turk by his side, a
great friend of mine that knew how to build up
Charlie in apologetics and giving a defense of the faith.
And Charlie was bold, and he wasn't just bold. He
lived into First Peter three fourteen through seventeen. He had
a defense for the hope that he had. He did
(35:50):
it with gentleness and respect. He was meek, but that
doesn't mean that he was weak. He displayed Christ in
so many inner actions and having civil discourse with people
that hate him and threatened him. And obviously these people
kill them for it. And that's where I hope people are.
(36:13):
They get a revitalization of their faith that you don't
need to be having conversations on college campuses in front
of thousands of college students. Again, you can make such
a difference with your coworker that you've decided I just
don't know if I want to have that conversation. What
(36:34):
if they think I'm weird and I don't want to
be a Bible thumper. You know what about that family
member that you haven't had that conversation with. Those can
make such a massive impact. And if more people decide
I'm going to be bold and try to have that conversation,
sometimes they're not going to be open to it, and
that's okay, that is fine. You're still going to do
(36:56):
it with gentleness and respect. There's plenty of times where
we need to stand firm in the faith and you know,
maybe raise our voice and say what our whole chest.
There's plenty of times we need to do that, especially
as warrior men. You know, we're not always going to
be you know, wielding the sword while we're defending the faith.
But someone like Charlie, I think, gave a great example
(37:19):
of what it means to have proper civil discourse around
disagreements with people that don't follow Christ. And I hope
more than anything that people if you're curious about going
to church, the Christian faith, the authority of scripture, why
David and I believe what we believe, We're open for
(37:41):
those conversations. We want to talk about that, and at
the same time, like please find a Bible believing Christian
church in your community. I guarantee you they will welcome
you with open arms. They got people there that can
pray for you, They got people there that can answer questions.
(38:01):
There are countless churches throughout the country. Give it a try,
and at the same time, open.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
Up the Bible.
Speaker 3 (38:10):
You know, there's there's so many great ways to go
through it. You got the Bible app They can give
you reading plans. And I just hope that people are
encouraged during this time to again not put your light
underneath the lampstand, be unashamed of the gospel, be unapologetic
as you share about your faith and the work that
(38:32):
Jesus Christ has done. Not the work that we've done
that saves us. The only thing that saves us is
the grace through faith in Christ alone.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
Hey man, John, that was beautiful brother, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
I appreciate your thoughts, and you know my prayers for
you and all your friends that are are still grave
and all that.
Speaker 1 (38:52):
Right now, man, where.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
Can people follow you? How can they pay attention to
what you're doing? And then what do you got next
coming along?
Speaker 3 (39:02):
You can follow me on Instagram TikTok and X. It's
at Johnny Root Underscore and then what's next. It's it's
interesting to, you know, try to figure out, you know,
what I'm really going to be doing other than spending
more time on YouTube. There's a lot of people that say,
I like your short form content. I enjoy what you're
(39:23):
putting out there on X, but you know, kind of
learning the YouTube game a little bit more, having long
form discussions, providing some clarity to things, because Lord knows,
when we try to do something in sixty to ninety seconds,
there's gonna be things that we missed. People are gonna
misconstrue it. I'm maybe not going to be presenting something
maybe with the tone and clarity that it probably should.
(39:45):
So I want to provide some more of those and
then hopefully do somemorial man of Street content. You know,
interact with some people because if people aren't aware, Like
I was outside the Supreme Court when Roby Wade was overturned,
I was covering the Leah Thomas story at Georgia Tech.
I enjoy interacting with people, especially on the other side
of the aisle, and I really want to have more
(40:06):
conversations with people like that and Charlie's definitely inspired that
quite a bit.
Speaker 2 (40:11):
Awesome, John Well, I wish you all the best, man.
I think you're awesome at what you do. I'd love
to see you go around the country and just highlight
these programs that have just allowed faith to take center
stage and really just turning, like you said, young athletes
into real followers of Christ.
Speaker 1 (40:27):
Man.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
I just commend you on what you're doing and thanks
for coming on and I just God bless you and
everything you're doing.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
Brother, God bless you, brother. Thank you.
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