Episodes

Abraham Lucas

He was chosen one year ago this month in the third round of the National Football League Draft, 72nd overall by the Seattle Seahawks. He is an offensive tackle who appeared in all but one of Seattle’s 17 games this past season and was named to the All-Rookie Team. He also played his college football there in the Pacific Northwest, having been a four-year starter at right tackle for Washington State, starting 42 consecutive games. He was the first Cougars offensive lineman in program history to earn All-Pac-12 Conference honors four times and would go on to play in the Senior Bowl. During his student-athlete days in high school he was named All-USA Washington second-team by USA Today.

Notable guest quotes:

“Two weeks after I was born, I was baptized on All Saints Day, which is kind of a way to kick off my ministry, I guess, being Catholic.”

“I did my Montessori school at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Bothell, Washington… And then I went to St. Thomas More in Linwood, Washington, for kindergarten through eighth grade, and then I went to Archbishop Murphy from ninth to twelfth (grade).”

“I’m a cradle Catholic… and… our family was the Catholic family, that’s what we did, it’s who we were, it’s who we are still to this day.”

“Those retreats that I went to, they were always times where I really connected and had great experiences just being in front of the Blessed Sacrament and hearing from priests, hearing from the bishop, about, just, the faith and deepening my understanding of it and the Catholic religion as a whole, and I think it was very formative for me in my youth.”

“It really kind of put things into perspective for me of, like, yeah, (Confirmation) is just the start and if I’m going to do it, which I am, then I have to be as committed as I can be and essentially be in line with it.”

“Looking back at it now I can see that that obstacle was God calling me to push myself to the limit and maximize my potential and be who I’m supposed to be through football, and football, in a way, has become like a ministry for me.  And, granted, being a football player is not my identity, it’s just what I do to glorify God – it’s one of the things that I do to glorify God.”

“I lost people in my life.  That was really where, kind of the faith-based stuff really, really came into play and where I really, really relied on it more.”

“If you want to get spiritually stronger, well you lift heavy spiritual weights and that involves heavier adversity.”

“Ask the Lord to prepare you for the challenges that He has in store for you, and that you may meet them with grace and trust in Him fully.”

“I try to be active in my church community back home as much as I can.”

“I was heavily involved in the Newman Center for the later half of my college career… It was great.  The priest up there, Father Paul, is fantastic… we did a lot of one-on-one work together.  And I could call him any time of the week.  If I needed to go to confession twice I week I could call him, and he’d make it happen.”

Related link:

Abe’s bio on Seahawks website

(This episode contains a prayer by Gregg Easterbrook from the NFL.com and ESPN.com column “Monday Morning Quarterback,” as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Seth DeMoor

He has been a professional mountain runner, winning the Pikes Peak Marathon in back-to-back years (2020 and 2021). He also competed for the United States at the World Mountain Running Championships in Argentina in 2019. And he continues to train for road marathons and ultra marathons, with the hopes of qualifying for the 2024 marathon Olympic Trials. Collegiately he had competed for the University of Colorado and helped contribute to National Championships in cross country. After graduating from there he went on to start a Catholic apostolate after graduation called “One Billion Stories,” which he talks about here.

Notable guest quotes:

“I’m a cradle Catholic, baptized in Colorado Springs and received all my sacraments in the Diocese of Colorado Springs.”

“A big part of my journey growing up was attending World Youth Day.  I was able to go to three or four World Youth Days, starting with Paris in 1997.”

“For all the youngsters… if you might be a little on the smaller side, it’s okay, God has a sport for you and it just might take you a little while to discover it.”

“Because of those injuries, it allowed me more time to pray, to go to daily Mass, to discover Adoration, and honestly just to figure out and ask the Lord, ‘Why am I getting so many injuries and what’s going on here,’ so it was, as they always say, a blessing in disguise actually, all these running injuries.”

“Pope Benedict XVI said, ‘It falls in particular to young people who have an almost spontaneous affinity for the new means of communication to take on the responsibility for the evangelization of this digital continent’… I read those words and I thought to myself, ‘Ya’ know what… I’m going to get out there in the world and… interview some of the one billion Catholics on earth’.”

“My life was forever changed because of the students and the priests that were willing to share their story with me about the faith and their personal journey.”

“If you watch any major marathon, whether it’s New York City or London, and you watch the elites cross the finish line, most of them – not all of them, but many of them – will make the sign of the cross when they are finishing because it’s so difficult and I think they turn their race into a prayer.”

“The Catholic journey that we’re all on, it’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint, it’s a long-term investment into our spiritual lives whether it’s weekly confession or the rosary or spiritual direction.”

“Through the YouTube channel a lot of people always notice my scapular that’s flying in the wind when I’m out running or I’ll often have rosary beads in my hand as I’m out running.”

“I will actually, before all my big races, I’ll especially write on my wrist with a marker, two or three people I want to basically pray for through the suffering of the race.”

Related link:

2023 DeMoor Global Running Distance Classic

Tim McCormick

He was drafted in the first round, twelfth overall, by the Cleveland Cavaliers and went on to play ten seasons in the NBA, playing for Washington, Seattle, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Houston, Atlanta, and the New York Knicks. He had been on the NIT Champion University of Michigan basketball team and was named the NIT MVP. Earlier he had been a McDonalds All-American. In addition to being a longtime color analyst on ESPN, he has worked as a consultant with NBA players over the last two decades teaching strategies to improve performance and achieve greatness. He also runs the NBA Players Association’s TOP 100 Basketball Camp for the elite 100 high school players in the nation.

Notable guest quotes:

“I… went to school at Guardian Angels, which is a Catholic school in Detroit and each time we moved my parents prioritized getting us into a Catholic school.”

“I grew up Catholic and my faith was very important to me.  My parents taught me that as a Catholic that every Sunday my job was to be in church and to pray and ask forgiveness.”

“My whole life I had been in church on Sundays.  I felt like I knew God.  I prayed every night when I went to bed and I needed more.”

“There was no fellowship in my life, and this really opened up a whole new belief system for me.”

“I remember in that first meeting I read my favorite verse, and it’s Romans 8:28; In all things God works for those who love Him, who’ve been called according to His purpose.”

“I kept asking God, ‘What is my purpose? What am I here to do?  I have all this ability.  I have this size and I’m not using it.  I need help.’  And so that was a real turning point in my life and I’m very thankful for that.”

“I waited almost three months until I was able to get an answer from God.  And I remember Proverbs 16 says, Commit your actions to the Lord and your plans will succeed.”

“Really for the first time I started to gain hope and I felt like this was a message from God.”

“That was a real turning point for me.  And it gave me hope and it gave me confidence.  And I kept thinking about Luke 12 where it says, To whom much is given, much is required.”

“Psalm 118 says, This is the day the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad.  And I think that I did a pretty good job of always telling myself that, ‘You’re in the NBA.  And you have it made.  Focus on what you can control and just do the best you can’.”

“I believe that when I tell people I believe in God, that Jesus is at the center of my life, that somewhere God is smiling.  He likes that.”

Related link:

Tim’s official website

(This episode contains a prayer originally excerpted and adapted from Day By Day: The Notre Dame Prayerbook for Students by Thomas McNally, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Ted Karras

He is an offensive lineman who has played seven seasons in the NFL, most recently with the Cincinnati Bengals. He was a sixth-round pick by the New England Patriots in the 2016 National Football League Draft and spent five of his first six seasons with New England, including being on two Super Bowl-winning teams with the Patriots. In 2020 he appeared in all 16 games as a member of the Miami Dolphins. As a student-athlete he had started 43 games during a career at the University of Illinois, including being team captain in his senior year, 2015, and in high school he helped his team to two state titles. On the faith side, he will be a speaker this coming weekend at the National Men’s Conference in Cincinnati.

Notable guest quotes:

“Comparison is the thief of joy… expending any energy on things that aren’t productive.”

“I attended Catholic school all the way up through high school… My father has been a football coach at both the high school and collegiate levels, mostly for Catholic programs… We played a lot of Catholic football and I’ve had a lot of amazing teachers, (and) a lot of amazing priests.”

“I have had a very fun life with a lot of great people, but I’ve always found time to pray and give thanks and be very thankful and grateful.”

“At that point in my life (NFL Draft) I actually had just gotten confirmed.”

“There is a Catholic church that is on campus, and they have actually a large Catholic community, they have a Catholic dorm.  University of Illinois is a humongous school, and it was an amazing opportunity to see, there’s all sorts of different organizations and they had a strong Catholic presence on campus.”

“My family and I, personally, we’ve said the Prayer of Jabez now for 20 years, almost every day, I say it every day.  I think my family does as well.  I do find time in the morning to pray every day.”

“I’m turning 30 in two weeks, still playing football, that’s never lost on me that that’s a blessing.”

“Athletics also brings communities together, a lot of good fellowship.”

“The Damar Hamlin situation this year united the country in prayer, which I thought was extraordinary.”

“I walk to the 50 (yard line) and back on our side, probably about four or five times, in prayer, and then I warm up and (then) it’s time to play the game.”

Related links:

Ted’s page on Cincinnati Bengals’ website
National Men’s Conference

(This episode contains a prayer adapted from one by an unknown Confederate Soldier, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Dr Kevin Vost

He has competed in a variety of strength sports including Olympic weightlifting, bodybuilding, powerlifting, Highland Games Heavy Athletics, and team tug-of-war competitions.  He worked as a weightlifting and fitness instructor in college and has written several articles for fitness magazines and four books on strength training. His most recent book from 2022 is “You Are That Temple! A Catholic Guide to Health and Holiness,” and in total he has written twenty-seven books for Catholic publishers on a variety of topics.  Although retired, he continues to do heavy strength training almost every day.

Notable guest quotes:

“My middle name is Gerard, after St. Gerard Majella, the patron saint of expecting mothers.”

“It was there in the beginning from an Irish-Catholic mother.  My dad had converted to the faith when they got married… We went to church every Sunday… I went to Catholic grade school, taught by some wonderful Dominican sisters (and) a Catholic all-boys high school.”

“I thought, ‘Boy, if all this stuff I’ve been taught about Jesus is really true, then there’s nothing more important in the world and I should really kind of make sure I try to live my life according to the faith’.”

“I never wanted to go out and try to rob anyone of their faith… I might just vaguely say I’m Catholic, or I was raised Catholic.”

“I took this teaching course on natural law, which I was interested in, and it was actually taught by a Catholic priest… and he was talking about the ancient Greeks I really admired and respected.  Then he moves into St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas.  Now these, of course, were names I knew by being raised Catholic.”

“When I read St. Thomas Aquinas in particular, I was just kind of shocked to find that the specific arguments that modern atheists would use against God, I thought wow, Thomas, boom, blew those away over 700 years ago, using arguments from church fathers and philosophers who lived before him.”

“Faith does not have to go against reason, it can fulfill reason.  But you don’t have to give up your mind, you don’t have to give up your reasoning and critical thinking to follow Christ and to become a Catholic.”

“God permits evil only that from it a greater good may come.”

“I also intertwine the theme of the relationship between virtues and health and fitness.”

Related link:

Kevin’s official website

Mark Duffner

He has been a coach in the National Football League for 26 seasons, including serving as Senior Defensive Assistant with the Cincinnati Bengals for the last four seasons.  Previously he was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for three seasons, which had been preceded by two years on the coaching staff of the Miami Dolphins, after having spent eight years with the Jacksonville Jaguars.  He also worked with the Green Bay Packers and has come full circle as his NFL coaching career started with Cincinnati in 1997.  Prior to the NFL, he coached 22 years in the college ranks, including 11 as a head coach.  Back in his days as a student-athlete he played college football at William & Mary and would later be inducted into the school’s hall of fame.  On the faith side, he will be a speaker later this month at the National Men’s Conference.  LISTEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW FOR WHAT AT ONE TIME HE WANTED TO BE AT SOME POINT IN HIS LIFE!

Notable guest quotes:

“We were regular Sunday Mass goers and – now that we’re in Lent – we would generally get together in the evening as a family and say the rosary.”

“We all went to Catholic school… a very active family growing up.”

“My father’s brother, Uncle Paul, was a Dominican priest and a very strong advocate for the rosary.”

“As a young man I was influenced very much by my uncle and then by other priests in our parish… and also, frankly, the influence I had from my teachers, which happened to be the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

“I had a great exposure to religious life, what that would be like, and certainly was looking at that strongly as a possible option for me as a career.”

“I have… become a Eucharistic Minister and sometimes utilize that responsibility in our Masses that we have for our team here with the Bengals.”

“I became the head coach at Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts.  That’s a Jesuit school.”

“I absolutely know for a fact that I was touched and led and guided by the Holy Spirit as we moved forward to bring the (Holy Cross football) program back on its feet a little bit.”

“The Catholic influence and certainly the Jesuit presence were extremely strong and instrumental in the recon(struction) of the (Holy Cross football) program.”

“All the teams in the NFL have a Catholic chaplain.”

“I’m talking (about) both the religious and personal character of your team and how they interact and how much they care about one another.  And that sounds like coach speak, but it’s the truth.  I think that any success that this team has had for the last two years – which has been strong, a Super Bowl competitor and an AFC Championship team competitor – has been evidenced because of the genuine relationships that have been formed, and certainly with Christ at the center of it all.”

“Every team that I’ve had the privilege to be a part of clearly has not only sometimes the on the field post-game prayer, but certainly has the – in the locker room – pre- AND post-game prayer and so that’s been a very integral part of gameday, if you will, for teams.”

Related link:

Mark’s bio on Bengals’ website
National Men’s Conference

(This episode contains a prayer from the National Catholic Coaches Association’s “The Leadership Papers,” although originally credited in there to The Coach’s Bible.)

Alan Webb

He is one of the greatest middle-distance runners in American history and currently serves as the Head Coach for Track & Field/Cross Country at Ave Maria University.  He is a three-time United States champion in the 1500-meter run and represented the United States in the event in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.  Prior to his current role he made coaching stops at the University of Virginia, Portland State University, and the University of Arkansas Little Rock.  Following his retirement from competitive running, he became a successful triathlete, ranking in the top 100 in the world in the International Triathlon Union World Triathlon Series in 2015.  In his early days he was even a successful youth swimmer.

Notable guest quotes:

“I guess it hadn’t really been revealed to me how important and really, truly, deeply that should be the number one thing.”

“I was sucked into sort of the secular system and sort of the idol of sports, I would call it, which I believe is a very dangerous thing.”

“That was like a lifetime goal of mine, was to be an Olympian.  I didn’t compete as well as I would’ve liked, at the Games themselves, but I certainly learned a lot from it and it is still just in the top three things that I accomplished throughout my running career, was, to be an Olympian.”

“It was a long time in the making… God was kind of whittling me slowly.”

“I knew it was something that should be around in terms of faith and pursuing the Lord.”

“Once I took a step back from my running career, my athletic career, there was a void there that needed to be filled and I really felt that.”

“It kind of led me from, well, what is the truth, does God exist, who is God, and where do you go to find Him right now?”

“From that point on, every time I took a step forward into, like, deeper into the church, the more I was sucked into it, kind of like a magnet.”

“Because I didn’t have the sports side taking over me, I wanted to take all of the gifts that I had been given and realizing that those were gifts from God, I didn’t earn that.  I didn’t earn those things.”

“The most rewarding part is being able to openly express that side of my own personal journey and being able to encourage a group of student-athletes in their own faith.”

“The saints are real people that existed and do exist, and I want to be one of them.”

Related link:

Alan’s bio on Ave Maria website

(This episode contains a prayer from the National Catholic Coaches Association’s “The Leadership Papers,” although originally credited in there to The Coach’s Bible.)