Episodes

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.)

Father Sean Loomis

He is three months shy of the ten-year anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.  He is Parochial Administrator at Annunciation BVM Parish in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.  Back in his days as a student-athlete he attended Kutztown University on an athletic scholarship and, as a pole vaulter, won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship.  In high school he had been an All-State pole vaulting champion when he graduated in 2003.

Notable guest quotes:

“I was baptized Episcopalian, but I wasn’t actually raised in any kind of faith tradition.  So, I have no memory of entering into a church or learning about Christianity or really even about God in general.”

“Most importantly, what set me apart from other people, was this talent I had in track and field, but in particular with pole vaulting.”

“If pole vault is not God, if sports are not the end game, and if there is more about our story and our narrative, especially in the mind of God, then naturally we should expect that none of this is going to fill the void.”

“If my entire identity, if my whole life, is wrapped up in this, then that means two things.  Number one, I’m not going to be happy and I’m going to go through a massive identity crisis sometime in the near future.  But number two, I’m putting my own sense of self worth in the minds of other people because all of this is about comparing myself to others and that’s just never going to satisfy.”

“I looked up to God in the sky and I said, ‘If you are there, I really need help.  I need to know if you are real, if you gave me a purpose, and if you gave me a purpose, what that purpose is’.”

“I transferred universities where I could really full-time step into my identity as a disciple of Jesus Christ.  So, I did that at Franciscan University.”

“I am to find my identity only in the person of Jesus Christ and nowhere else.”

“The God of my faith is truly all powerful and He’s the source for me to understand anything in any moment and to return to at all times.”

“I know that God’s plan is not only about me.  He’s got a plan that includes everybody and wraps everybody into it.”

Joe Condit

He is the founder of the largest Catholic-focused talent agency in the world. The clients he works with are men and women across numerous sports, with him having started the company back in 2006.  He is also the founder of the National Catholic Men’s Conference.  Back in his days as a student athlete he played basketball at La Salle High School in the Greater Catholic League South, which ESPN has called the most competitive high school sports league in the country.  Since his playing days he has done both refereeing and coaching in basketball.  Stay to the end to hear about his connection to a game that is a historic moment in Major League Baseball history.

Notable guest quotes:

“I was blessed to be born to a Catholic family… I was given everything growing up from a faith perspective.”

“I went to a school called St. Gertrude… there we were taught our faith and were very blessed to have gone to that.  It was just an incredible experience growing up, the way that the faith was a big part of our life.  My parents made sure that was the case so when we became older it was ingrained in us.”

“I grew up, was taught how to serve Latin Mass from a very young age, probably first grade… It became a big part of me… It changes you.”

“It was a very well-rounded background in Catholicism that my parents afforded me, which I’ll always be grateful for.”

“I played soccer, baseball, and basketball growing up.  I had a very short stint, not even a full season, in football.”

“That’s God’s work and He works through fools, and I was lucky enough to be one of ‘em.”

“(the work he has done through Catholic Speakers) is more rewarding than anything I’ve ever done secularly… Our mission statement is, ‘Promoting the word of God through those that do it best’.”

“The amount of network of pro athletes that we’ve been able to build over the last 16 years has just been phenomenal.  And I could not be more blessed having people like that in my life to help me sharpen my faith.”

Related links:

Joe’s talent agency
National Men’s Conference website

Dr Pat Castle

He has raced in 25 marathons since 1990. Over a twenty-ONE-year span, he was the fastest person on every base he was stationed — nine assignments — based on the Air Force aerobic fitness test (1.5 miles), and in 2010 he was the Scott Air Force Base Athlete of the Year, chosen out of 3,500 airmen.  From 2007-2009 at the U.S. Air Force Academy, he coached the cadet marathon team and competed.  Previously at the Academy, as a cadet athlete, he coached the squadron boxing and cross-country teams to the Academy championship. Back in his high school days he was captain of the track and cross-country team AND top distance runner. He is the President and Founder of LIFE Runners, the world’s largest Pro-Life team.

Notable guest quotes:

“I did have a traditional Catholic upbringing.  I… graduated from O’Gorman Catholic High School.”

“I just kind of found that I had – ya’ know, the parable of the talents – that I had a talent for distance running.”

“It’s redemptive; I found that there was a lot of character building in the suffering of, most athletes, running is a punishment for their sport or something they have to do to get conditioned.  And so there really is a lot of sacrifice, especially with distance running and I found it to be very spiritual.  I have great prayer time… I found it to be very character building and faith enhancing.”

“And I thought, ‘Geez, that’s what Jesus preached: integrity first, service before self, excellence in all we do.’  And so that really threaded nicely into my heart for serving the Lord.”

“I label that redemptive suffering.  It’s not suffering just for suffering’s sake.  It’s not suffering for just, ‘Oh, let me see if I can get one more second off my personal best.’  It’s suffering for redemption, that you are making this holy.  That you are tying prayer intentions to that suffering and just offering it up.”

“We were prayerful… we prayed before our events.”

“What is inspiration?  It’s in spirit, in holy spirit.  It’s powerful when you tap into the real meaning of being INspired in spirit.”

“The values of the LIFE Runners ministry that I lead, our apostolate is God first, life always, teammates forever.”

“I had two audible encounters with (St. Padre Pio).  I finished the race.  And, of course, I’m sure listeners are wondering, ‘Wow, did you see him?’  Did not (see) – heard him!”

“All things holy involve encouragement.  You think about it, any miracles, any holy encounter, it’s encouraging.  People are encouraged when they’re in spirit, when they’re with God.”

Related link:

LIFE Runners website

(The closing prayer at the end of this episode is the LIFE Runners creed that the guest mentions.)