Hale Hentges
Episode 86
21 SEP 2020
A pro football player who made his NFL debut last year as a tight end for the 2019 Washington Redskins team after initially having been with the Indianapolis Colts. In college he had played for four years and won a national championship at Alabama after having been a top prospect following his high school football days.
Notable guest quotes:
“I grew up in Jefferson City, Missouri, awesome town, right in the capital of Missouri, a really, really fun place to grow up. My family was a big family. My dad was Catholic. My mom was a convert to Catholicism. And I have three sisters, one who’s older and two who are younger.”
“I went to Immaculate Conception grade school, which is in Jefferson City. It’s kindergarten through eighth grade… Great teachers, great faith formation, and they really did a good job of helping me understand the building blocks of the Catholic faith and helping me grow in the faith from a young age. And I think the world needs more Catholic schools and that was a real gem in my development.”
“I went to Helias Catholic (high school), which is in Jefferson City… Another great opportunity to grow in my faith, and more great teachers and priests and people who really helped me grow in the faith.”
“I think another extremely big part (of choosing Alabama) was just talking to my dad. I mean, we spent a lot of time on the road driving to different (colleges)… He was almost like a spiritual advisor for me… Along with prayer I think that ultimately made me come to a decision that was extremely easy and clear at the end of it.”
“Head Coach Nick Saban… I was so fortunate and blessed to play for him, not just because he’s a great coach but because he is a strong Catholic man.”
“I wasn’t sure if I was good enough or big enough or fast enough to play in the NFL and it took a big leap of faith to just tell myself and, through a lot of prayer was, with God, and just trying to look for that validation that I am good enough to give the NFL a fair and honest chance and I should, if God has put this in my heart, I really should explore it to the best of my ability and give it my best shot.”
“I just thank God every day that that young kid didn’t give up and that God gave me the strength to persevere and pursue this goal.”
“I think God gives us those opportunities to overcome and lean on Him and trust in Him.”
“If you have an injury… that forces you to miss time, my best advice would be to just pray to Him, just go to Him and ask, ‘God, I don’t know what you’re doing, but I trust in Your plan and Your plan is better than mine. Let Your will be done, not mine’.”
“God has given me this talent and ability and all of the glory goes back to Him… I obviously have to train and do all those things, but God gives me the desire to train, He gave me the ability to train, this body that He’s given me – all these things are His.”
“At the end of the day, it’s still just a game. It’s not heaven. It’s not the end goal. It’s not everything you’ve ever dreamed of, because everything we ever should be dreaming of is eternal life with God.”
“The only thing that can fully satisfy you is a relationship with Jesus.”
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