Drew Haddad
Episode 331
2 JUNE 2025
He was a wide receiver chosen by Buffalo in the National Football League Draft and went on to play not only for the Bills but with the Indianapolis Colts and then the San Diego Chargers. This all followed a collegiate career playing for the University of Buffalo, where he was the most prolific pass receiver in program history with 240 receptions for over 3,400 yards and eighteen 100-yard games. In 2019 he was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, where, present day, he is the wide receivers coach. He also coached football and basketball for 13 years in CYO for Saint Raphael’s parish. LISTEN FOR THE TESTIMONY HE SAYS HE OTHERWISE DOESN’T USUALLY TALK ABOUT!
Notable guest quotes:
“The Catholic faith was always present and that was passed down from my grandparents to my parents and then on to us and whether it was Sunday Mass and going to Catholic grade school and going to our parish or it was saying prayers before dinner, before bed, God always had a presence in our life in the Haddad house.”
“Sports was an integral part of me being raised on the west side of Cleveland. It’s very competitive in the sports world over there and it’s a very large Catholic base of people on the west side of Cleveland and I think that that just allowed a competitive environment for us.”
“Going to St. Ignatius High School, all boys Jesuit school on the west side of Cleveland, walking in there as a wide eyed young man and leaving as a, what I think, ‘a man for others,’ is what the Jesuits preach, in those four years that was a very good forming period for me in my faith journey, having the presence every day of my faith.”
“I had talked with my coaches about Mass before games… if I wasn’t able to make it to a parish in Buffalo… I would go to the Newman Center’s Mass on Sunday nights and that was something that was very important to me.”
“When I had a successful sophomore campaign, so to speak, that’s where I started kind of thinking. I had some people reaching out to me and some conversations were happening that, hey, you know what, I broke a couple records at University of Buffalo. I was getting on some people’s radar. There was All-American watch lists and all this type of stuff. And … I think that’s where it kind of clicked for me that I would possibly have an opportunity to make it to that next level if I put in the work to get there.”
“Growing up, wanting to be a professional athlete was something that was always on my mind and I wanted to understand the work and the path that I had to get there and understanding and also trusting God’s path for me.”
“God put me on that path, I truly believe, for a reason. I met my wife there. I got to be a captain of a football team there. I got on the radar to live out my dream in the NFL. So, trusting God’s plan, I’ve really, I’ve put that all in His hands since day one and that’s why I’m at where I’m at today.”
“There was ever changing environment all around me but my faith and my relationship with God kept me stable.”
“We woke up on that Sunday morning, went to the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church on Main Street in Buffalo … and we went to Mass and I got right with God, as I told my dad, and then came home and sat in our family room of my apartment and watched the draft … with friends and family, had some teammates that came over and we waited patiently. And in the seventh round I knew I was possibly going to go to either the Colts or the Bills.”
“We would always get together and do Bible studies. So, I think that was something that was a little bit different for me in the NFL and then it propelled me to want to do a little bit more.”
“Make each day count. Tell the people that you love you love them. Be there for people. Live each day to its fullest. It was a very eye-opening experience for us to kind of go through that, not just one time but two times, and to be there for our children it was just a powerful testimony for us.”