John Paul Raiger
Episode 367
16 FEB 2026
He was a free safety on the football team at the College of the Holy Cross, where he was selected to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll. That followed a high school career during which he served as captain of the football team during his senior season, when he helped his team to an 8-3 record after having gone 10-2 with a trip to the regional finals as a junior. During his time at St. John Neumann Catholic High School in Naples, Florida, he was also a member of the track and field team, earning all-area honors and setting a school record in the 200-meter dash.
Notable guest quotes:
“Grew up going to Mass every day and … altar serving was almost expected in a town like Ave Maria… very close knit and I had the honor of serving just the regular Mass and then the extraordinary form as well. So, through that I was able to deepen my understanding of the Catholic faith, and it was just awesome.”
“I was … fixated on football and fixated on myself and, looking back now, especially during my time at Holy Cross, I realized that I did not pursue my faith and that really stemmed from focusing only on myself and what I could do to make myself look better, make myself more popular.”
“Where it all clicked for me was focusing on others and bringing others along with you. So, you can work towards being as good as you possibly can be, but are you really doing good unless you are building other people up?”
“If you’re a high school student looking to grow your faith while also focusing on sports, look towards others and look towards building up the people around you because at the end of the day that is the most important thing you can do and it’ll bring other people towards God and you’ll bring yourself closer towards God through love for your fellow man.”
“I was always in a Catholic school either homeschooled or Catholic school and the structures that they have in place and the opportunities that they have in place are really unmatched in my opinion. I think that’s the whole point is, the opportunity is there to grow in your faith if you grab a hold of it.”
“My first official visit was actually to Bucknell at that time I still hadn’t received the offer from Holy Cross, but I went over to Bucknell … and … spent a weekend there. At the end of the weekend, they offered me a scholarship. I got this funny feeling that it just wasn’t the right spot.”
“I really came to the realization that I’m here for others and to bring others closer towards God in any possible way. And the way I saw it was participate with the team, stay involved, and do whatever you possibly can to help the team.”
“I really made the connection with the faith, and I realized that we’re called to bring others towards the light, we’re called to bring others towards God.”
“God lives in all of us and sometimes we just need others to help us bring it to the surface.”
“The injury really just put me in a spot where I had to consider why I was there … and I almost started viewing the Catholic faith as like a team sport, like football, where your friend might fall short one day. Who’s there to pick him up? The guy next to him. And who’s there to pick up that guy? The guy next to him. And so on and so forth.”
“These were my brothers on the field and now they get to be my brothers in Christ.”