Episodes

Thomas Morstead

He is the punter for the New York Jets, entering his 17th season in the NFL.  He was chosen in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints and went on to play his first twelve seasons with them before playing for both the Jets and the Atlanta Falcons in 2021, then the Miami Dolphins in 2022, and back to the Jets last season. He is coming off a 2023 season during which he set four New York Jets franchise punting records.  He had played collegiately at Southern Methodist University, and on the faith side has a conversion story that involves a familiar name from this show’s guest list.

Notable guest quotes:

“I went to church every Sunday.  My mom was very active in Sunday school, and it wasn’t a sometimes thing, it was an every week thing, and it was a very serious part of my upbringing and I’m very grateful to my mom, specifically, for always making it a priority.”

“I played basketball, did karate.  And really soccer was always my main thing.  I just loved soccer.  It was my favorite sport growing up and I was very good at it, scored a lot of goals.  And football, I did seventh and eighth grade.  I broke my leg at the start of ninth grade in a scrimmage and then didn’t really play after that ‘til I went out for the team my senior year of high school.”

“My dad was actually a professional cyclist and very easily could have pushed me into the cycling world and never ever did that. I’m sure he would have loved for me to pick up cycling and then all to do that with him.  But he just let me do my thing and at the same time, I would say both my parents were extraordinarily encouraging and continue to be to this day.”

“I almost quit football after the first three or four weeks of my freshman year.”

“I almost transferred after my first year to another school close at home… not getting opportunities on the team that I felt like were deserved.”

“We did our marriage prep with Monsignor Christopher Nalty down in uptown New Orleans.  And he really was the first person that got me persuaded, intrigued, curious.  He answered some questions for me about some of my hiccups with the Catholic faith that were never answered until I had that conversation with him.”

“NFL life is kind of a preparation for the aging process in life.  And I think when you get towards the end of your time in the NFL, probably just the same as in life, it’s an encouragement to let people know that they’ve positively influenced the direction of your life and your family’s life and how you do things.”

“We were able to go underneath the Vatican on a scavi tour and get a look at St. Peter’s remains.”

“I find that game day can be a spiritual experience for me.”

“And a lot of times, I’m in my own space – kind of like when you should pray quietly by yourself and not for everybody to see – a lot of times during the game, that’s kind of how I pass my time, is, just what’s kind of little prayers throughout the game.”

“I feel like God’s put me there that day to do a job.  And I’ve done all the preparation.  I did all the work, the rest, the recovery, the nutrition, all the things that are required for me to be my best.  And I almost feel like the results are not up to me.”

Related link:

Thomas Morstead bio on nfl.com

(This episode contains a prayer attributed to a blog published by the National Catholic Register, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Fr Jason Nioka

A former judo champion who has walked the path from seminarian to the diaconate to – 48 HOURS BEFORE THIS INTERVIEW – ordination, while being in charge of the largest contingent of Olympic chaplains, about 40 Catholic priests, nuns, and lay faithful. This role of service to the world’s elite athletes is under the banner of the Holy Games, a project led by the Conference of Bishops of France. Holy Games is the programme of the Catholic Church to spiritually accompany the world of sport and major sporting events.

Notable guest quotes:

“Effectively, I was raised in a Catholic family, and I did not go to Catholic school, but I attended public schools through my entire schooling… and I was baptized when I was 14 years old.”

“I went with my family every year on pilgrimage in Lourdes.  It is for sure from that moment that something started to happen regarding my relationship with God.”

“I started judo when I was 3 years old.  This sport was recommended to my parents by my psychologists in order for me to express myself and for being self-confident.  This sport offers also great values.”

“I competed last November with my club.  We had the Paris Championship and we won with my club, so, I am a Parisian champion.”

“I was in such peace in Lourdes when I was there with my family, and I started to wonder how could I serve Him.  I did not know how, but I always felt in peace and that is why I started to ask myself why not become a priest.”

“Sports give me values which are the same that we also need as a Christian, like perseverance, self-control, orderliness and sovereignty – many qualities we need to give the best of ourselves.”

(for athletes at the upcoming Olympics) “There will be Mass in many languages such as French, English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese.  It will depend on the demand we have.  We will try our best to offer the possibility to attend Mass in all languages that we can.”

“We did realize that following athletes in a spiritual way is very important.  This program will last and get developed in the future.  It could even be a source of inspiration for the Olympics in LA in 2028.”

“When I was an athlete, a judo champion, my faith helped me to be the best… Faith always helped me to give the best… plus for me faith was very useful during my defeats.”

“For me it was very important to have, like, 30 minutes with the blessed sacrament and just to pray (to) God and to ask me, to give me the strength, to give me the peace, and just to trust Him in what He wants for me.”

Related link:

Holy Games website

Robbie Mouton

He was a pitcher on his high school baseball team, including being All-State AND having thrown a no-hitter at a tournament where he made the All-Tournament squad. He went on to college baseball at both Bradley University and the University of Minnesota-Duluth.  He also played in the Northwoods League for the Alexandria Blue Anchors.  Almost immediately after his baseball career he delved into the world of skiing, with notable runs such as Jackson Hole and Big Sky, among others. He even combined skiing with faith, as he talks about here, plus he also served as an adaptive ski instructor.

Notable guest quotes:

“I was born and raised Catholic, grew up going to Saint Ambrose … in Woodbury, Minnesota… went to Mass there pretty regularly with my family … received all the sacraments through school.  Obviously being a Catholic school, we had religion class and learned about our faith in that way.”

“My big faith influence, or, model of faith, was my grandma… just a woman of very, very deep, beautiful faith, who has inspired me to pursue that same faith and find the joy that she finds through her faith and her relationship with Christ.”

“Pitching, just being on the mound felt like a sacred place to me and had that confidence when I took the mound that I would be able to do what I needed to do to help the team at the end of the day.”

“I fell back on my faith, and I remember something my dad always said growing up is, ‘An hour spent with God is never an hour wasted.’  And so, I found a lot of solace and comfort in going to Mass.  Bradley (University) had an 8 p.m. student Mass on Sunday night so I was able to go after Sunday evening lifts and just started to get, I guess, more plugged in with the Catholic community there.”

“We, at the time, had FOCUS missionaries and a Newman Center there as well and, yeah, there were several people that took me under their wing, and, I would say, viewed me as a child of God and not just the baseball player and I found comfort in that as well.”

“(I) remember Adoration at that retreat and just how beautiful that was to be in God’s presence and fully realizing that this is God’s presence, and that’s where I began to gravitate towards being with the Eucharist especially in times of great need and finding so much comfort in God’s physical presence.”

“Going into Bradley (University) as a baseball player who, somebody who fully identified themselves as a baseball player and that was where my worth laid, coming out of that retreat and recognizing that I am a son of God and that’s where my identity lies, and that completely changed my perspective on life and where I put my worth.”

“We met up with other college athletes and FOCUS missionaries at the Houston airport and, for the next four or five days, were in Puerto Rico working with the kids, I would say of some very impoverished areas on the west side of the island, and it was … life changing.”

“I, quite frankly, think that all of us athletes and missionaries got so much more out of that trip than the baseball skills or the volleyball skills that we imparted on the kids there.”

“As hard as it was in that moment to go back to my apartment and be in tears and be confused, I just continued to pray, ‘Lord, if this is Your Will, like, I don’t, I don’t understand it, but I’m okay with it, and help me to see Your plan for me through this’.”

“By the way, we’re sneaking in Saturday night Mass at 5 p.m. at the Utah Newman Center and driving 40 minutes from the mountain in our ski gear to make sure we hit Mass over there.”

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

Jared Veldheer

He is a veteran of 12 years in the NFL as an offensive tackle, including having come out of retirement three times – as recently as this past December!  He was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft and, in addition to that team, went on to also play for the Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers, and Indianapolis Colts, appearing in a combined total of close to 130 games, counting regular season and playoffs. He even spent time in the New England Patriots organization. He had been a First Team All-American in college and is a fitness and health enthusiast who just launched the “Big Serious Show,” which he is releasing weekly on his YouTube channel.

Notable guest quotes:

“I grew up… Catholic… I attended Holy Spirit Elementary School.”

“I was able to earn a scholarship in football and went to Hillsdale College and that’s really where my love for football started to grow and I continued to get stronger, faster, was around a great group of guys, and it just really started to take off from there.”

“I did not show up my freshman day, reporting day, with NFL anywhere in my radar.  It was the furthest thing from my mind. I got there I wanted to become a doctor or some kind of medical professional.”

“As I matured in my (NFL) career, my prayer life definitely matured.”

“There was this trickle effect, and it was probably just God nudging me towards Him, like, ‘Hey, I’m here, like, I’m here for you.  Let’s do this together.  You don’t have to do this by yourself’.”

“I remember my year with the Denver Broncos… it was amazing how just having that active prayer life and being able to communicate and talk with God, it just took a lot of the burden off, took a lot of that load off my shoulders and I was really able to enjoy my time more.”

“I want to express all this gratitude that I have for this amazing life that He’s blessed me with and (I) just really got into a great routine of whenever I would feel that overwhelming gratitude within me or just, you know, if it was being thankful for a sunny day with birds chirping, to just stop in that moment and say thank you and just be grateful for the life that He’s blessed me with.”

“I was the lunch lady for our kids’ elementary school, for St Paul the Apostle Elementary School in Grand Rapids, Michigan… and it was a lot of fun.  I wanted to try to take my love for cooking and nutrition and apply it to how I would want to feed my kids and a whole school.  So, (I) went in there and we really created a program.  I was able to take real whole foods, cook them, and provide a healthy balanced lunch for the kids.”

“Waking up in the morning I throw on some coffee and put my phone open and first thing I try to do is go into that app and read the readings and Psalms and say a prayer and be able to start my day like that.”

Related link:

Jared’s official YouTube channel

(This episode contains a prayer by Fort Worth Christian Football League parent Linda Fleshman, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Larry Tucker

He was chosen by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the eighth round of the 1983 NBA Draft. He has been enshrined in both the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the Great Lakes Valley Conference Hall of Fame. He is the Lewis University men’s basketball all-time scoring leader and helped the program to its first conference championship and to their first two NCAA Tournament berths. Present day he is the president of Marist High School, a Catholic institution in Chicago where the SportsPlex was named after him this past December, having been their principal for 22 years and a basketball player back in his days as a student-athlete there.

Notable guest quotes:

“We went to church on a regular basis every Sunday, holy days as well.  My mom would have us say novenas sometimes at home when there was a family member who maybe had an illness or something and just those values were placed in us.  Church was always something we did as a family.”

“I started to get on the radar.  I was growing to 6’6” and I was on the radar of some division one basketball scouts.”

“I remember thinking, ‘I’m going to do the best that I possibly can with the God given talents I’ve been given, to try and make something of this’.”

“Eloise Saperstein… was my agent and her father, Abe Saperstein, had started the Harlem Globetrotters.  I was pretty excited that out of the blue, this woman came in with a pretty good basketball pedigree, I would say, and wanted to represent me with the potential that I might get drafted.”

“I was depressed.  I think that depression lasted for months and when you don’t think there’s a plan, I mean, God has a plan for you.”

“I came to Marist and that was kind of, you know, a pretty pivotal moment in my life that sent me on what I would say is a pretty good career path and again I think God just puts people in your path.”

“I’m sitting in the car and I’m driving an hour each way to school, and the morning I spent an hour in prayer, and it just calmed me by the time I got to school I felt confident… and I think just put me on a good path to start my day each morning.”

“The important part is paying attention to what God is doing and who God is putting in your life to help you make some of the decisions that you need to make, and you’re not alone, and there is a plan.”

“(My son) had a couple of coaches at U of I, one of them was Lovie Smith, who we knew from coaching the Chicago Bears, and Ryan had a unique relationship with Lovie Smith.  They would have conversations where Coach Smith would call Ryan into his office and just say to him, ‘Ryan, you just need to tell me, is the Holy Spirit alive in this locker room?’”

(This episode contains a prayer originally from blaa.bishopleiboldeagles.com, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Taylor Kemp

He is a former Major League Soccer player with over 100 MLS appearances throughout a six-year career that took him to four continents and more than ten countries. He spent ten years in locker rooms of the highest level, from the University of Maryland, to D.C. United, to the U.S. Men’s National team.  On the faith side, after living a life apart from God for many years, he experienced the unique challenges of converting from within a professional locker room. Nowadays he is the Vice President of Content at the Augustine Institute and is co-host of the catechetical series “Symbolon,” which has a new version launching on the Formed app on July 17th.

Notable guest quotes:

“I played lots of sports growing up, like many, so, played baseball for a little bit, tried basketball, which didn’t work, because I’m not that tall, played soccer, obviously.  I loved golf.  I loved tennis.  My oldest sister played D1 soccer at Wake Forest.  My middle sister swam and did volleyball.  So, we had a super active family.  We love sports.  So, I played lots of sports growing up.”

“Maryland was a wonderful college.  They have a great soccer program.  I went there in 2009.  And in 2008, they had won the national championship.  I was the number two ranked recruit nationally.  I was an all-American.  And I was the number one recruit to come into Maryland.  And so, I was coming into the reigning national champions.  We were going into that season ranked number two in the country.”

“A huge part of my conversion was discovering that there was a better way of being human and facing the challenges that we all face.”

“One of the fundamental things to being a follower of Christ is humility.  It’s the door into the spiritual life, as a lot of the saints say, and the Beatitudes open with ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit,’ which is essentially a call to humility.”

“One of the great challenges that I’ve noticed… is when you’ve attained success at any level, but for this example in sports, you’ve learned to very much rely on yourself a lot of the time.  You’ve discovered that you are good at something.  You’ve been able to persevere through the pressure.  You’ve been able to perform on big stages.  And so, you grow very comfortable being self-reliant.  And so, then when you come up against Christianity and you’re being told, ‘Everything you have you’ve received.  Everything you have is gift… Your true happiness is found in true worship and giving over your life to God,’ it’s very challenging for people.”

“I was doing it all.  I was ordering every book that I could.  I started a Bible study in my locker room.  I was making trips up to the Basilica in DC.”

“In the American Catholic history, there are now a lot of amazing examples of God’s providence, of people finding true, authentic sanctity on American soil.  And we decided it’s time to tell that story.”

“We had the great opportunity to go do the full French way of the Camino.  I had had three surgeries from soccer.  I knew I was retiring.  We were going to move back home to Colorado from Washington, D.C. and my wife and I didn’t have kids yet.  And we were like, ‘Well, when else are we going to get two months to go hike across Europe?’  So, we did that.  It was an amazing experience.  I’d recommend to anybody who is thinking of a great pilgrimage to do.  It is challenging, of course.”

Related link:

“Symbolon” on the Augustine Institute website

(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)

Matt Hoven

This is something of a special edition. This guest was on the show before, more than a year-and-a-half ago, back on Episode 190 in September 2022.  He is a professor and Kule Chair at St. Joseph’s College, a Catholic college at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Canada.  And since we met him then – and you can go back and hear his story on that episode – this conversation instead gives us all the chance to learn all about a fascinating individual from the world of sports and our Catholic faith, because this guest just last month had a book come out that is a Number 1 New Release on Amazon in Canadian Historical Biographies, a book called, “Hockey Priest: Father David Bauer and the Spirit of the Canadian Game,” published by The Catholic University of America Press.

Notable guest quotes:

“Father David Bauer was born in 1924.  He passed away in 1988.  His brother played for the Boston Bruins of the NHL, and David Bauer wanted to be an NHL hockey player, but over time he instead became a priest.”

“This is a priest that had a national standing, even an international standing in the sport.”

“I might have been nine years old; I was just kind of shocked.  Computing my experiences of priests as a kid, a Catholic kid, you know, I probably just received first holy communion.  And what?  This priest is involved in hockey at the highest level?”

“Christians have been involved in sport for centuries, but really quite heavily since the modern sports in the middle of the 19th century.  And with Bauer, he provides such an excellent example of a religious person trying to make sport good for young people, trying to make it better for adults.”

“On one hand, he’s Catholic and he’s drawn from his Catholic values in his beliefs, but at the same time, he’s using that to build up sport for the common good.”

“He was very devout, praying his rosary, and he finally said – like many soldiers – he said, ‘Ya’ know, God, can you please just make me not go to war?  I don’t want to go.  Can you make something happen?’  He says, ‘If you do, I will become a priest.  But I need this answer in the next month before I ship out’.”

“Throughout all this, Bauer finds a place where he starts to see and he really believes that he can make a difference in young people’s lives… all the ways that sport can be a benefit.”

“He believed in, I guess in the power of sport, I guess in some larger sense that God is present, wherever you go.  And he believed in Christians being involved in sport over the centuries and he wanted to promote that… one phrase that he spoke about, he got it from Pope Pius XII, was, ‘Make use of technique but let the spirit prevail’.”

Related link:

Matt’s book on Amazon

[This episode contains a prayer from the Play Like A Champion Today Coaches Manual (University of Notre Dame), as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport]