Episodes

Juan Cotto

He has spent many years working in sports, from being the Head Football Coach at two different high schools in Washington state to having been an assistant football coach at a third. In addition, he developed a program with the Washington Officials Association and the Pacific Ten Conference in tribute to a high school football coach who passed away from cancer. His work in sports also extends to having been a part of two Major League Baseball front offices, the Atlanta Braves and then the Seattle Mariners. On the faith side, he was Director of Development at the largest Catholic elementary school in the Pacific Northwest.

Notable guest quotes:

“It was very much a Catholic household… I was baptized at St. George Church on Beacon Hill… And we did attend Catholic school.  I attended St. Edward’s Catholic school in Columbia City in the South Seattle area… And I attended O’Dea High School in downtown Seattle… that’s an all-boys Catholic high school.”

“By the time I got to high school, I participated in the sport of football, but my personal favorite sport was baseball; ended up taking it and going to a small school in Oregon after two years of community college here in the Seattle area, I went to a small school in Western Oregon… It’s now Western Oregon University… I had a nice little decent baseball career on the side.”

“He was the one that connected me with the Chicago Cubs organization.  And they flew me out for an interview.  And the interview went very well.  And Miss Lewis offered me the position.”

“When I was in Chicago… it was the Catholic community – I would go to Mass on Sunday nights – they would have meals at the Mass, and I would eat and get to know the community there and share with them.”

“In Seattle, the African American community, we have St. Therese Church.  But the Black community is very, very small in the Catholic Church in Seattle.  I just found it was really refreshing to be in a Catholic community that was much larger in Chicago and to be able to exercise that part of my faith with people who looked like me, which was something that was just a little bit different from the community which I grew up in.  So, my Catholic faith certainly served me there.”

“That to me was an opportunity to really reconnect myself, not only with God and my faith, but also with myself, and to figure out, to kind of redefine myself.”

“You spend a bulk of your life trying to be somebody, and I realized through my Catholic faith, I am somebody… You start to realize that being a child of God and being connected to this faith and then the teachings of Jesus Christ and the relationships you build through that, that is ultimately what makes you the person you are.”

“By golly we won football games too.  We didn’t win as many as we wanted to but when I had got to the high school there were 68 kids in the program out of 80 were academically ineligible.  So, I knew that we had to connect with them on an academic level.  What I found out was that a lot of the kids were raising themselves.  They had family situations where the parents were either not involved or in many cases had problems with the authorities and then were incarcerated.  So, a number of them had been emancipated to different family members and you really were a father figure.”

“A lot of gospel singers over the last decade have built a connection to my Catholic faith through a lot of Christian music because I feel like I had to kind of immerse myself in it to make sure that my mind was right because when your mind is right then your body and your spirit can be right.  When your spirit is right, then you can really impact people.”

(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.)

Bob Katz

He independently produces faith-based films. His most current film, “Average Joe,” releases exclusively in theaters nationwide this Friday, October 11th, and is based on the true story of a high school football coach, Joe Kennedy, whose fight for religious freedom — the right to pray on the field following games — went all the way to the Supreme Court, where he won his case. This guest was also executive producer of the film “God’s Not Dead.” He played on his high school golf team and went on to be an avid racquetball player for most of his life. He also has a story of conversion to the Catholic faith, which he shares during this interview.

Notable guest quotes:

“I was born, actually, and raised – ‘til I was about 13 – Jewish, and I think we were reformed Jews… the equivalent would be Christians who go to (church on) Easter and Christmas and that’s about it.”

“I went over to join the Marine Corps, was an officer, went to Vietnam for a year, came back.  It was, I don’t know that I was necessarily that aware of it and they didn’t have PTSD back then, I just was angry.  I was in grad school but just always on the verge of exploding and didn’t know what was wrong.  And one day I came home from school and I’m flipping through the channels and Pat Robertson’s on, and we weren’t allowed to watch Christian TV as kids and I was watching him… and then I noticed I’d rush home the next day to watch him.”

“A incredible bright light went off in my room.  I don’t know how I got from laying in bed to standing straight up in the floor.  There were no voices, no angels, but something happened.”

“It was just one of those milestones, one of the most important milestones of my life, was just giving my life to Christ.”

“Ever since I was in the Marine Corps, I’ve known you have to work out.  So, I’ve always worked out, exercised, played some sport.  I’m 73 now, I still work out four days a week, and racquetball is just a great, great sport.  I mean it’s an intense cardiovascular workout, balance, coordination, and you don’t realize you’re working out because you’re having so much fun playing.”

“If you’d have told me five years ago that I would be a devout Catholic I would have told you there’s just about as much chance that I will walk on the moon.”

“The saint of that day happened to be Saint Faustina, and they started talking about this lady who died when she was just 33 years old, she had this stigmata… she was walking – literally seeing and walking and talking to Jesus almost every day – talking to the Holy Mother and predicting things that came to pass and still had predictions yet to come and I was just mesmerized by it.”

“I was confirmed and became Catholic, and … I immediately knew I was home … just a peace came over me to this day that I’ve never really truly had before.  The Eucharist came alive.  The living presence became alive… sacred scripture and God’s Word, it all just came alive.”

“My life is just kind of, I’ve learned to jump in the middle of the stream and let the stream take me where God wants.”

Related link:

“Average Joe” trailer

Jessica Cox

She is an author and motivational speaker who has been featured on TV shows like “Ellen” and “FOX and Friends,” and on networks such as CNN, BBC News, and National Geographic. Despite being born without arms, she is a fourth-degree black belt in taekwondo. She has participated in numerous other sports – either competitively or recreationally – including cycling, scuba diving, surfing, golf, horseback riding, and Philippines martial arts arnis / escrima. In 2011 she received the Guinness World Record for being the first person certified to fly an airplane with only their feet. She not only met Pope Benedict XVI but gave him her Guinness World Record Medal.

Notable guest quotes:

“There was no other way for us children.  We were in a very profoundly Catholic household.  Every Sunday, no question about it, we were in church.  We said rosaries every night… It became my rock in the midst of any adversity in life.”

“It was definitely a choice at the beginning, whether I was going to be a victim of being born without both arms or whether it was just going to be something that made me different.  And I think my parents really helped create that understanding that I am not a victim of anything.”

“There was always that doubt of people telling me you can’t do it, you don’t have arms, there’s no way.  And sure enough, I developed this, ‘Yes I can, and I’ll prove it,’ that I can do this.  With God all things are possible.”

“I had gone to the priest and asked that the priest pray to God that I be given arms.  So, I did know that I was seeking out support from my own Catholic community for the understanding of why am I in this situation.”

“This is something that can be used for the greater glory of God and has continued to do that every single day of my life.  And that acceptance and that really cherishing it and understanding that it may not be the way we all think of things, but it’s amazing how God will see through the challenges that we’re facing and turn them into our greatest dreams.”

“I’m a fourth-degree black belt.  At one point in time, I was a state champion.”

“The circumstances again, a lot of intervention from above to make it possible for this meeting of Pope Benedict.  First off, I was invited to go to Milan, Italy, to get a Guinness World Record medal for becoming a sport pilot and the first sport pilot to do so without the use of arms.”

“Afterward, the Pope meets with everyone individually and the last two people to meet him after that papal blessing is myself and my sister.”

“You have something so special and a faith so profound that you can’t help but change people around you.”

“Most recently in Kazakhstan, we found the only Roman Catholic parish in the capital… And we went in there and it was so beautiful to be able to do Mass… it was so beautiful to be a part of that.  And that was just two months ago.”

Related link:

Jessica’s official website

Dr Max Engel

He has a long résumé in sports as an athlete, coach, and educator. After being a varsity soccer captain and varsity basketball captain in high school, he went on to compete in rowing at Boston College. Next, he became a boys basketball coach at St. Jude High School in Montgomery, Alabama, and then a girls basketball coach at Mercy High School in Omaha, Nebraska, and now for the last ten years he has been youth soccer and basketball coach at St. Pius X / St. Leo School. He is a life-long bicyclist and from 2007-2013 was a recreational triathlete. Two years ago, he co-authored a book called, “On the Eighth Day: A Catholic Theology of Sport,” and teaches in the Theology department at Creighton University.

Notable guest quotes:

“My parents were both Catholic-educated, and my father had studied for the priesthood, and so he had discerned out as a young man, but it was a key part of his life from then to this day.  So the Catholic faith was a big part of our household.”

“When we would travel, we would always make sure that we would find a place to go to Mass, because that was part of our family tradition.  That was part of what made our family who we were.”

“We pray as a family, before meals, we pray liturgy together, we attend Mass.  Unfortunately, with our schedules a little bit today as my kids have gotten older, sports being a big part of that, sometimes Father will tease us, like he saw one of my daughters the other night before, saw two of my sons at the 7:30, and my wife and I, and my other daughter will be at the 9:30, that kind of thing.  But it’s part of our life.”

“My interest in cycling started when I was cycling with my dad … we would do some … triathlons … It was a really important way to connect with my dad as I became a man, was just becoming a father.”

“Sports bring families together in meaningful ways, and that certainly is true for my family.”

“Boston College and the Jesuits and the education that I received there really opened those doors with a sacramental worldview, seeing that sports very much can be part of a life of faith, that I can encounter God through the community of sports, or I can encounter God through those moments of transcendence that made me say, wow.”

“As a 18, 19, 20, 22 year old undergrad who encountered the gospels, I encountered the Old Testament as a story of God encountering God’s people, God encountering me and how I could find myself within those narratives.”

“I could really explore my own faith as I was helping young men and women – the high school students that I had the privilege of teaching – helping them sort of have that same encounter with the scriptures, encounter with the stories, encounter with the God who loves them through all things, including sports.”

“It’s the camaraderie or those moments that just defy explanation, you know the transcendent, and then boom, okay, let’s talk camaraderie, let’s talk about love of others, let’s talk about God as love and the Trinity as community.  And suddenly we’re talking theology; that any experience of authentic love, which often, you know, teams at their best always have, is an experience of God’s love for us.”

“The soccer club or the basketball program, it’s an apostolate of the Catholic church.  It’s, the uniform says St. Pius St. Leo, like, what are we doing?  You know, we have to be different because we’re rooted in the gospel.”

Related links:

(Use code 8day30 for 30% off) “On the Eighth Day: A Catholic Theology of Sport”

Max’s bio on Creighton University website

Megan Harrington

She played volleyball, tennis, and basketball in high school and then went on to be a decorated athlete in college, playing Division I basketball, including being co-captain, getting named to the Holiday Classic All-Tournament Team, and her team having four NCAA appearances. She is the producer of many films, including last year’s “Native Ball: Legacy of a Trailblazer,” about a Native American female basketball player, and the documentary, “Playing Like a Girl: The House That Rob Built,” which will be available to PBS stations nationwide and the PBS Amazon Prime documentary channel starting November 1st.

Notable guest quotes:

“We had daily rosary before school, and it was non-negotiable.”

“To be able to just stay home and play for family, for friends, for my university, that’s all I ever wanted since I was a very, very little girl.”

“(The University of Montana is) not a Catholic university.  My faith still, though, was very important to me and to try to keep that faith dialed in, I’m sure I did it imperfectly, but it was a very important aspect along with the studies, along with school, basketball, you know, faith, (I) tried to keep that at the forefront.”

“I remember seeing the Pope, Pope John Paul II, Saint Pope John Paul II, and it was like he was glowing.  I mean, there was just something… when I think about that, I think about just the holiness; just the way that seeing him made me feel was like, wow, there is something divine here… seeing him was profound.”

“You’re looking for a story that’s out there… and I was like, ‘This story’s right in my backyard and it needs to be told,’ and by the grace of God and Family Theater Productions we were able to finish the film.”

“She talked about her grandma saying if God gives you something He’ll help you through it.  If He gives you this, it’s a privilege and an honor.”

“We have a Catholic series for Catechism, Catechesis, and we have that also in Spanish.  So, there’s a lot of different things.  We’re not a sports company, but these are two sports stories.”

“I’ve done the total consecration to Mary a number of times, Saint Louis de Montfort’s… and then the total consecration to Saint Joseph.  And that consecration to Saint Joseph was such a game changer in my life on fatherhood and has inspired some thoughts even on productions or ideas that we’re going to do, for within our company.”

Related link:

Website for “Playing Like a Girl: The House That Rob Built” documentary

(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)

Kevin Reilly

He was drafted by the NFL’s Miami Dolphins and went on to play for both the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots after having played college football at Villanova University on a full athletic scholarship. He is a member of three halls of fame, went on to become a radio announcer for the Philadelphia Eagles, and has even run five half-marathons. Also an inspirational speaker, he has an amazing story of being a cancer survivor and amputee. He is currently writing a book about his Catholic journey, which follows a book he previously wrote, called, “Tackling Life: How Faith, Family, Friends, and Fortitude Kept an NFL Linebacker in the Game.”

Notable guest quotes:

“I went to Catholic preschool. I went to Catholic kindergarten at St. Anthony’s. And then I did 16 years of Catholic education starting in first grade.”

“I went to an all-boys high school… which was really instrumental in me finding a deeper faith. And then on to Villanova University where I played football for four years, which was also Catholic. So, I got to see the oblates of St. Francis de Sales in action, and I got to see the Augustinians up at Villanova in action; two different clerical organizations, but very, very good people and very, very deeply religious in God.”

“I guess the mojo and the energy that both basketball and football played, because it was so fast, really built a camaraderie that I think is only next to being in civil service or being in the Army or Navy or Air Force.”

“I don’t know who played third string, second string, but as long as they were playing on my football team, they were my brother.”

“So, you think about things and what God has in plan for you. I did a lot of praying and a lot of my prayers were answered. That’s all I can tell you.”

“I came back to the team that I was thinking about, in my dreams, of possibly playing for… the first game I played, I remember checking my jersey to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. There I was Kevin Reilly, number 52, in an Eagles uniform. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

“He said, ‘You have a very dangerous life-threatening tumor in your shoulder, and I can already see that it’s going to be a problem getting (it) out and you’ll be lucky if I can save your arm, but I’m going to try’.”

“He said, ‘I’m going to have to do a four-quarter amputation if I’m going to save your life. I’m going to have to take your arm, your shoulder and at least four or five ribs’.”

“Every time I played against the Steelers, or he played against the Eagles, we would visit each other in a locker room, and you know, we just shared our Catholic faith.”

“He said to me… ‘I’m going to pray for you and I’m going to have other guys pray for you and you’re going to get through this’.”

“I can’t say that a day goes by that I don’t pray. I’m a lector, I do daily Mass twice a week, sometimes three times a week. And I’m big into the Eucharist. I believe that when I get the Eucharist, I have a better day.”

“After ten years of roaming around and wondering if I actually should make a chance of maybe getting into the priesthood, I met somebody that was really, really terrific, and we’ve been married for 13 years now.”

Related link:

Kevin’s official website

(This episode contains a prayer seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Greg McMahon

He has won both a Super Bowl and college football national championship. He is entering his second season as Tulane University’s special teams coordinator after having spent the 2022 season coordinating special teams for the USFL’s Houston Gamblers and XFL’s Houston Roughnecks. Prior to 2022, he spent five seasons with LSU, where he joined the staff as an analyst in 2017 and later took over as special teams coordinator. That followed his having spent eleven years with the NFL’s New Orleans Saints, the first two as assistant special teams coordinator followed by nine seasons as special teams coordinator.  During his time there the team won the Super Bowl in February 2010 over the Indianapolis Colts. He has spent decades around the game, first as a safety at Eastern Illinois and then as a coach at eight different schools over a 25-year period.

Notable guest quotes:

“My father was Catholic.  When they were married in the late 50s my mother converted to Catholicism and we were raised in a very, very traditional Catholic family.  We went to Mass every Sunday… all four of us kids went to Catholic school.”

“I loved and I feel very comfortable with my Catholic faith and so it really drove me to, like, when I was at University of Illinois, I never missed daily Mass.”

“When I went to LSU, I had to really find a church that has a 6 a.m. Mass because if it’s not 6 a.m. I can’t attend because I have to work.  I have to do a good job, like all of us in our profession.”

“At Tulane we practice in the mornings, so our meetings start at seven, but I am very, the tougher things get the more I go to my faith.”

“I fell in love with the church on campus at the University of Illinois, the priests and going to daily Mass and so no it never ever affected me to not go to a Catholic university or work at one.”

“We have a staff meeting at four and I told coach I won’t be able to attend because I’m going to Mass.”

“To go to Mass weekly?  My gosh, I mean that’s the way I was raised, I mean, when you went on vacation you always knew you were gonna go to Mass in Pennsylvania because we’re traveling or we’re gonna go to Mass, like, going to Colorado to see the Grand Canyon; well, we’re gonna go to, like, it’s just, you know, and our adult children, our grandkids, they know that Mass is a priority so it’s, I want to say it’s non-negotiable – we don’t even have to negotiate.  It’s just the most important thing we’re gonna do.”

“I’ve got a very peaceful heart because I’ve always enjoyed people, I’ve always enjoyed relationships, I’m sure I get it from my mother and my father.”

“I got to constantly go back to my faith and stay connected and stay grounded because to me each day is driven by my faith.”

Related link:

Greg’s bio on Tulane 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.)