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Welcome to the podcast of Empower You.

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We're so fired up to have Leo Goas with us today and he's become a really good friend.

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As many of you know, I'm a pastor here in Colorado Springs called The Road at Chapel

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Hills and Leo is one of our elders here at The Road.

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He is also part of the men's ministry, which has really blossomed and taken off as kind

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of one of the key leaders of that.

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We have this breakfast that we do on Tuesday mornings called Wholehearted Men and we have

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about 400 men that come to that and Leo's been a table leader, a key leader of that.

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But Leo's interesting in that he played seven years in the NFL from 1990 to 1997.

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He played on three NFL teams and he's pretty humble about it.

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I don't know that I knew that about Leo.

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Leo, I don't know if I knew that about you for like the first four or five times that

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I met you.

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I just thought you were really, really big and really massive.

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As many of you know, I was a gymnast in college and high school, so I'm not massive and I'm

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not big.

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But I met Leo and he's from Hawaii and he kind of has that look about him.

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Like if you're in a dark alley and it's a full moon night, you might avoid that if you

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saw him walking through the alley.

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Now what's interesting is that Kathy, his wife, is this diminutive little thing.

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So they're, what is she like, 5'2"?

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No, she's about 5'5".

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She's 5'5"?

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Don't let that kid you.

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Oh man, I would have never thought that.

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She packs a big punch.

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When she's next to this guy, what are you 6'3 or 6'4"?

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I'm 6'4".

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6'4".

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And when you, what was your playing weight?

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I played at about 315.

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Man.

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Now you're less than that now.

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What are you at?

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285 now?

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I'm trying to get back down there.

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Okay.

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Are you over 300 right now?

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I'm around 300, yeah.

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So he was at my fire pit last night at our house for a party and he, one thing, like

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when I walk into a situation, I'm always looking for the food, okay?

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That's what I think about.

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I think when you walk into a situation, you look at the caliber of the chairs.

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Yes.

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Because he came over to the fire pit and he's just standing there and I'm thinking, okay,

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he's looking at my plastic Adirondack chairs and I wonder if he's going to crush them.

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So anyway, he's got an interesting perspective.

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But anyway, I wanted to have Leo on because he has such a unique and powerful story of

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being a believer in Christ in the NFL.

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And I'm going to let him tell the story more than me.

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But why don't we begin with your life in Hawaii where you're born and raised, your dad being

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a police officer.

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I mean, just everything's super interesting to me.

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I just find it all captivating.

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So take us back.

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You start playing football a little bit as a kid.

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You're not even that good.

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And then kind of how that evolution occurred.

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And I think it's cool to talk about your relationship with your father, too.

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Anything you want to share on that, Leo?

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All right.

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So I'm a baby of eight kids, five boys, three girls, I was the last.

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Four older brothers who all excelled in youth sports, baseball, basketball, and football

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from a young age.

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And then went on to play high school and college.

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The last two above me played college at the University of Hawaii.

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So there was a lot of kind of expectation put on me as a young boy to follow suit.

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But I was a real kind of a laid back, had no interest in really in sports.

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It wasn't, I kind of grew into it just as I got older and the influence of my dad had

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a lot to do with it.

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But I struggled athletically early on.

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Like you said, I started playing football at the age of 12, Pop Warner.

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And if I were to show you a picture of the 12-year-old me, you would not say that guy

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is going to be an NFL player.

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But through, I would say, just a lot of patience from my dad and encouragement through the

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years and some key men that came across my path while I was trying to or developing as

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an athlete that made a huge impact to that effect.

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It wasn't pretty in the beginning, but as I grew older, it just...

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everything kind of flipped on its head

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to where the guys that were dominating me

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as a 12, 13-year-old, I was literally crushing

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as a sophomore, junior, and senior in high school.

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I grew six inches from sixth grade to eighth grade.

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So when I showed up as a freshman,

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I was already about 6'3",

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about 215 pounds as a tight end.

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So getting back to my dad, though,

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he was clearly the one person,

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and all my brothers would say the same,

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he was just an incredible, dedicated,

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all-in, 100% father.

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Even when I was struggling,

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he saw something in me that I didn't even see in myself.

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And he nurtured that through the years.

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I could remember as a young boy watching Sunday football,

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that would be probably in the late 70s,

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and he would tell me, that's gonna be you one day.

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And I was like, okay.

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And he kept doing that throughout the years,

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just instilling that in me.

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That was really his dream for himself,

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to have one of his five boys play in the NFL.

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That was clearly his dream for himself.

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Went into high school, and things,

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from an athletic standpoint, really changed.

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From prior to that, I got a lot stronger,

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my skills began to develop.

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I think, to sum it up,

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my brain and my body kind of was syncing together,

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to where signs of athleticism were starting to show,

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and I just, at that point, wanted to make my dad happy.

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And so I worked my tail off.

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I was a workout maniac.

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I met a gentleman who had a gym

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not far from where we lived on Oahu,

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and that one individual instilled a lot of confidence in me

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through weights, through strength training,

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and through development in my body,

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to where, and I bought into it 100%.

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And so when I showed up in high school,

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at the private school that I got into,

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I was stronger than all the offensive linemen,

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and I was only a tight end.

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I was just really strong, just from working out so hard,

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and for those couple of years with this gentleman.

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And high school was a great experience,

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although there were other parts in my life that were a mess.

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Athletics was something that everybody began to know

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or associate me with, was my ability to do well at football

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and to play and do really well at basketball.

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I was a basketball player as well.

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As far as athletically over on,

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it was a process much kind of instilled by my dad

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and nurtured by my dad.

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My brothers would always kid early on

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that they had big doubts about me early on.

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And so when I finally got into college and beyond,

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we still laugh about that till today.

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And I'm in my mid-50s, so it was,

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the athletic part was definitely a thing of just persistence

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and having an internal drive to want to do very well.

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Now you said your older brothers played,

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everybody was very athletic, sounds like the family.

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Was there a teasing, a kidding that went on

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as kind of the caboose, sort of the last one

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that maybe even spurred you on some?

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Not really directly to my face,

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but I could hear it amongst, you know,

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chatter amongst the older,

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my older two brothers right above me.

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And then what's the age span?

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So the one, the middle brother is seven years older than me.

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He's the one I'm really close with.

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And then the one below him is five years older than me.

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Then we have a sister in between that brother and me.

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So there was nothing like hazing at home

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because my dad wouldn't have tolerated it.

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But Dave, so the middle brother

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was the best man at my wedding.

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And he even shared that with his speech at my wedding

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that they all had their doubts about me.

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And I was at that time, when I got married,

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I was in college already about to, you know,

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look like I was gonna go to the NFL or had a chance to.

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And so that's something that even.

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yeah, they still get around with. But I think it was just a matter of me, you know, I'm the tallest.

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Everyone in my family, the brothers are like 6'1", 6'2". And then I was, you know, 6'4".

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And so, my dad actually wanted 10 kids. But my mom said, Nope, that's it. You got eight,

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shut it down. So, yeah, athletically, it was a huge thing in our family.

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My dad was just, he was at every practice. He came to the practices?

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Literally every practice. All the brothers or just you?

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Everybody. How did he do that with his job?

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So, he was a sergeant, you know, so he just made, found a way to, at some point he was going to show

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up. I mean, I was a dedicated dad to all my kids, baseball and ballet and all the stuff that they

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did. But I didn't go to the practices. Yeah, he was pretty much at every practice.

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And he just had this way of, I mean, he was a pretty reserved guy. He didn't really say much.

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But when he did, there was volumes behind what he said. And he set a really high bar for us.

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And he didn't lower it. And we would hear about it if we were, in his mind, slacking or just not

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giving effort. Effort on the football field for him was everything. You just played to the whistle.

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And that was something that was ingrained in me. And I think really something that

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years later, the NFL scouts saw that really had me just jump off the film.

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And when they watched me play, because I literally would play to the whistle.

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And some of the highlights that they show today, back in Hawaii, is my senior year,

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me escorting on a screenplay, running like 80 yards, leading, outrunning the running back

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into the end zone against BYU. That's a reoccurring film clip that they always show

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when it comes to the University of Hawaii sports, is that one clip.

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But it was just a part of me. It was just something that I didn't even have to think

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about. Just something that I just did. Yeah. So let's talk about Kathy a little

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bit and how you guys met. And then she was sort of part of your spiritual journey.

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Very much so. So we met going into our senior year in high school,

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the summer going into our senior year. She was a cheerleader for our rival school,

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all-boys Catholic school. She was at an all-girls Catholic school, cheered for this

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all-boys Catholic school who, in the state of Hawaii, has put more guys in the NFL than I,

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they would rival any big high school. They've got 25 guys through the years in the NFL,

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Marcus Mariota, Tua Tonga Wailoa, are the more recent ones. But anyway, so we met in high school.

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I was instantly fell in love. And we dated our senior year and got married,

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actually our sophomore year in college at University of Hawaii. She was going to go away

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to a mainland school in Oregon. And luckily her father threw in a new car if she stayed home

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because he didn't have to deal with out-of-state tuition. I thanked him for that because I'd

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already committed to stay home and not go away. I said no to some big schools that I had offers

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from, but that decision, my decision to stay home was a five-minute conversation with dad at home.

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Your dad wanted you to stay in Hawaii? There was no question. And the way he

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communicated that to me, which made a lot of sense, was he used my two older brothers who had already

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gone through the University of Hawaii and how that led to just opportunities in the community.

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How the local fans never forget the guys that play for the University of Hawaii. And it's true.

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So when I go home today, having played in the NFL, they don't want to talk UH football. They don't

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want to talk NFL. They want to talk about the days in the early 80s of me being a

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UH player, which all those guys were just diehard fans. It's like a mini version of the SEC

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where these guys would tailgate from as soon as they could get in the parking lot, which I think

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they opened up the gates at like one o'clock in the afternoon and kickoff was until 7 30.

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And so these guys are like tailgating all day going so was this a

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electric atmosphere back then

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Well, you know University of Georgia is still the same way and I mean, I think

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90% of the fans in Athens would know more about Herschel Walker's

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college career the three years he was there then the

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12 or 15 years that he was playing pro ball. Yeah, and it's true like everything revolves around in a in a

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atmosphere like small town

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Kind of small state like Hawaii small town like Athens

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Everything revolves around college football. Yep

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Yeah, so getting back to Kathy

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Athletic standpoint everything was great. Again. I was a popular guy because of that but spiritually

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That was something that

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Was not evident

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Mainly by my actions and just the way we grew up. We grew up Catholic, but it was like we barely attended

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we barely even went so because of that and

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because my dad was a

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He didn't really

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Then it didn't really supervise us really well. So we were up to no good

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with just

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For me it was girls

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Early on in high school. So by the time I met Kathy, I guess I you could say I kind of had a

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Reputation of that which I'm not proud of

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But so but Kathy was different and that's what attracted me to her. She was very strong and very

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She knew exactly and she wouldn't back down

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And she knew exactly what she wanted and that

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To me

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Combined with my dad was the reason why I think I

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made it because there's many times in the process of getting from A to B that I I

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Just wanted to quit give up and go do something else

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but she kind of

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Kept me focused and kept me. I could you should say I should say engaged in in

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What was ahead of me again that I really

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Couldn't see so she

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So we got married. Like I said in college

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We had our child our first oldest son in college, but it wasn't until our senior year

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Really at the end of my senior year

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That we had this

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God-ordained

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Thing happened to the both of us on March the 3rd

250
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So our marriage was pretty shaky

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Mainly because of me. I was just a idiot. I was just you know

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selfish and didn't know how to treat her and

253
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Wanting to just do my own thing

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And so I got a phone call from my brother my older brother's pastor my older brother the middle brother that I'm close with

255
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He was a strong

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Christian

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Christian

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Leading a huge youth Bible study and

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Anyway, this this pastor called me. I

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Had in college got it really heavily into breeding and showing and raising German Shepherd dogs

261
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Said this pastor knew that so he had brought this black lab puppy

262
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And he he called me out of the blue and said I bought I got this puppy. I know you raised dogs

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I need some help

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Can you come over and kind of just get me started like food and how to care for it?

265
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And so I spent the day with him

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We went shopping about whatever he needed and then he invited Kathy and I over for dinner at their house

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He and his wife had a barbecue and then we were sitting around in their little living room

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After dinner just talking

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About a whole bunch of different stuff mainly about you know, the draft because this was like a month

270
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Before the draft the NFL draft and by that point, I don't know a senior

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Why and it's Kathy's same age. Yes. Well, she's actually no

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She's actually a year about nine months younger than me

273
00:19:26.660 --> 00:19:31.260
so I'd already finished my senior year and really went to the NFL combine and

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Did really well there?

275
00:19:34.140 --> 00:19:36.140
to where my my

276
00:19:36.700 --> 00:19:39.460
That tension toward me was just going like this

277
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Leading up to the draft like the 49ers flew me out a week and a half to two weeks before the draft

278
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They flew eight guys up

279
00:19:47.580 --> 00:19:52.780
I was one of the eight and they said you eight are gonna be our first three picks and that was true

280
00:19:52.780 --> 00:19:54.780
And I wasn't one of those three

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00:19:55.420 --> 00:19:56.900
but this

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All that was all in the media constantly

283
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:03.440
The pastor knew all that because he watched the news, he read the papers,

284
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but he wanted the conversation shifted at some point to how is our marriage and how is,

285
00:20:14.800 --> 00:20:20.480
was mainly about our marriage. And through that, I think he was able to kind of figure out that

286
00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:27.440
we had no Jesus in the middle of it. And so at about 9.30, 10 o'clock at night,

287
00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:34.240
he systematically kind of walked us through the, the salvation message, what it means,

288
00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:43.040
and clearly laid it out. Clearly laid it out just to, by the end of, end of all that,

289
00:20:43.040 --> 00:20:47.840
Kathy and I looked at each other and we said, wow, we were just blown away. And this,

290
00:20:47.840 --> 00:20:55.120
this is what we exactly what we're missing in his home in Hawaii. And about 11 PM at night,

291
00:20:55.120 --> 00:21:05.120
by that point, he led us through a prayer to where we confess with our mouth, Jesus is Lord,

292
00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:15.040
and truly believe that in our heart as Romans 10 says, and gave him our future, put it in his hands

293
00:21:15.040 --> 00:21:24.720
because we were making a mess of it and how that led to, so that was just amazing. It was a special,

294
00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:30.160
amazing time. And then for the weeks following leading up to the draft, I literally almost met

295
00:21:30.160 --> 00:21:37.680
with him daily, this pastor, who I still stay in contact with till today, just to give me a

296
00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:43.680
foundation of the Bible, like in parts, like the first five books, and there's different parts of

297
00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:49.360
the Bible. So I, knowing that if I do get drafted, and if I get drafted, like they're saying, which

298
00:21:49.360 --> 00:21:55.280
is going to be pretty high, that I'll probably be gone right away. And so he didn't want me leaving

299
00:21:55.280 --> 00:22:02.960
without that. So I committed to him to meet with him. Sure enough, the draft comes, draft day was

300
00:22:03.760 --> 00:22:10.640
at her house, her parents house on Oahu, my pretty much my whole family, which is a big family,

301
00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:18.480
and her family all in this big, huge family room. And we're watching the first round.

302
00:22:19.280 --> 00:22:24.960
I wasn't expected to go first, but there were a lot of teams that were talking to my agent saying

303
00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:30.240
that I could very well be anywhere from an early second, but I was definitely gonna be a first day

304
00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:36.400
guy. And they were looking more and more in the second round, which is what ended up happening.

305
00:22:37.280 --> 00:22:47.040
So right as the telecast went out on pick 58, ESPN went out, they closed up the coverage,

306
00:22:47.040 --> 00:22:53.200
and my phone rang, literally as the TV coverage was going down, because they had 60 picks.

307
00:22:55.360 --> 00:23:03.840
And I was the number 60th pick. And so the phone rang, it was the chargers. They basically said,

308
00:23:03.840 --> 00:23:10.960
how would you like to be a charger? I said, I would love to be a charger. And the room exploded.

309
00:23:11.840 --> 00:23:15.520
And they had already picked me. Literally, I was on a plane that night.

310
00:23:16.560 --> 00:23:21.920
They flew me out. We had a quick little party at my dad's at our home that we grew up in.

311
00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:28.320
And then I was off to the airport, I had to get on a plane and do a bunch of media stuff back in San

312
00:23:28.320 --> 00:23:34.720
Diego. Everything, my whole life just changed overnight. I'm glad I had that time with

313
00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:43.040
Pastor Dave Ellion back in Hawaii to just ground me in that, because I didn't know what was about

314
00:23:43.040 --> 00:23:50.080
to happen in the months to come, but I really needed that. So I leave, I have a mini camp

315
00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:57.280
that same week, like a rookie mini camp, which I do well. And then we have a full-blown mini

316
00:23:57.280 --> 00:24:02.560
camp with the veterans, do really well there. We think we had three mini camps leading up to

317
00:24:02.560 --> 00:24:07.920
training camp. I did well in all of them to the extent where they named me going into training

318
00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:12.000
camp as their starter at left tackle. Wow. That's amazing.

319
00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:18.880
Basically said, that's my job to lose. That was in the press, in the papers. I was obviously

320
00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:28.240
pretty stoked about that. So first day of training camp, all those mini camps are in shorts,

321
00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:34.400
which mean nothing in football, other than you're quick and you're fast and you're athletic.

322
00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:41.120
But that's all you really get. You don't get the other stuff that involve go with linemen.

323
00:24:42.080 --> 00:24:47.600
And so first day of camp, I leave the locker room, there's all the media, they want to

324
00:24:48.320 --> 00:24:52.640
talk. So I talked to them and go down to the field where everyone is

325
00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:59.760
practice is about to get started. We get warmed up, split up into individual groups.

326
00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:06.000
And then about 40 minutes into it, they blow the horn,

327
00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:11.240
meaning that we're going to, the first time the offense,

328
00:25:11.240 --> 00:25:14.880
number one offense, against number one defense,

329
00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:17.800
are going to go at each other.

330
00:25:17.800 --> 00:25:18.920
It's a running drill.

331
00:25:18.920 --> 00:25:20.320
All the plays are running.

332
00:25:20.320 --> 00:25:21.680
There's no passing in this drill.

333
00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:22.800
It's called nine on seven.

334
00:25:22.800 --> 00:25:28.920
So there's nine defensive guys against seven offensive guys.

335
00:25:28.920 --> 00:25:32.560
Every team does it, college, high school, pros,

336
00:25:32.560 --> 00:25:35.720
it's the same.

337
00:25:35.720 --> 00:25:38.880
Run of play, I think it was either the second

338
00:25:38.880 --> 00:25:43.840
or the third play of this first drill in full pads

339
00:25:43.840 --> 00:25:46.880
as a charger started left tackle.

340
00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:48.760
I'm at the left tackle position.

341
00:25:48.760 --> 00:25:51.000
This is like a, it's a very common play

342
00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:54.760
where the guard and the tackle on the opposite end

343
00:25:54.760 --> 00:25:56.240
are going to pull down the line.

344
00:25:56.240 --> 00:25:59.640
All the other linemen are going to be blocking back.

345
00:25:59.640 --> 00:26:01.600
And the guard is going to kick out

346
00:26:01.600 --> 00:26:03.280
the defensive end on the far side.

347
00:26:03.280 --> 00:26:05.360
And the tackle is going to lead up the hole.

348
00:26:05.360 --> 00:26:07.680
And the running back is literally right behind that guy.

349
00:26:07.680 --> 00:26:08.960
That's me.

350
00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:13.040
So I'm leading up the hole.

351
00:26:13.040 --> 00:26:14.500
I ain't my guy.

352
00:26:14.500 --> 00:26:16.960
And the linebacker tries to shoot underneath me.

353
00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:21.600
I plant in a split second to try to get my hands on him.

354
00:26:21.600 --> 00:26:28.440
And I feel a tear in my foot, like a pop, tear, something

355
00:26:28.440 --> 00:26:29.520
break.

356
00:26:29.520 --> 00:26:32.320
It just, I actually heard it.

357
00:26:32.320 --> 00:26:34.240
So I immediately go to the ground.

358
00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:40.720
And trainers come to my aid to see what's going on.

359
00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:43.680
They moved the drill down like 10 more yards

360
00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:46.240
and kept practice going while I'm being

361
00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:48.240
looked at by the trainers.

362
00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:51.400
And I couldn't move my foot at all.

363
00:26:51.400 --> 00:26:53.600
It felt like something was broken.

364
00:26:53.600 --> 00:26:55.320
And I couldn't put any weight on it.

365
00:26:55.320 --> 00:26:59.560
So they cart me off, put me on a big flatbed cart,

366
00:26:59.560 --> 00:27:03.320
and cart me off to the locker room to where I'm all by myself.

367
00:27:03.320 --> 00:27:06.120
They pack it with ice, put it on a pad,

368
00:27:06.120 --> 00:27:07.960
shut the lights off in the training room,

369
00:27:07.960 --> 00:27:10.160
and said, we'll see you when practice is done.

370
00:27:10.160 --> 00:27:13.920
And I'm there in this training room all by myself.

371
00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:21.720
And just all kind of emotions running through my body,

372
00:27:21.720 --> 00:27:28.440
through my mind, like anger, frustration, disappointment.

373
00:27:28.440 --> 00:27:29.320
Why, God?

374
00:27:29.320 --> 00:27:29.920
Why is this?

375
00:27:29.920 --> 00:27:30.420
Of course.

376
00:27:30.420 --> 00:27:30.920
Yeah.

377
00:27:30.920 --> 00:27:32.320
Why this?

378
00:27:32.320 --> 00:27:36.200
So they take an x-ray right after practice

379
00:27:36.200 --> 00:27:40.480
where they could clearly see that something was definitely

380
00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:41.840
wrong.

381
00:27:41.840 --> 00:27:46.560
So what it was is it's called the posterior tibula tendon

382
00:27:46.560 --> 00:27:50.240
that runs down the inside of your thigh, goes on your calf.

383
00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:53.400
It attaches to your arch, on the inside

384
00:27:53.400 --> 00:27:54.520
of your arch of your foot.

385
00:27:54.520 --> 00:27:56.720
And it kind of is really important

386
00:27:56.720 --> 00:27:58.360
with the movement of your toes.

387
00:27:58.360 --> 00:28:01.920
Without that, that had detached from the bone.

388
00:28:01.920 --> 00:28:03.520
It ripped right off the bone.

389
00:28:03.520 --> 00:28:09.000
So they immediately said, well, they already

390
00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:11.200
knew or thought that I wasn't going to be able to play

391
00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:12.880
that year, but they were already looking

392
00:28:12.880 --> 00:28:19.320
for a replacement guy for me.

393
00:28:19.320 --> 00:28:24.640
And they needed to do an MRI to rule out

394
00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:26.720
because they thought maybe even the tendon might

395
00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:28.840
have been compromised.

396
00:28:28.840 --> 00:28:31.000
And if that was the case, I was totally done.

397
00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:32.480
We didn't be able to play on it.

398
00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:37.080
I was on the injury roller coaster ride,

399
00:28:37.080 --> 00:28:41.080
emotional roller coaster ride for a day and a half

400
00:28:41.080 --> 00:28:43.880
where none of my teammates, none of my coaches

401
00:28:43.880 --> 00:28:45.640
could even engage with me.

402
00:28:45.640 --> 00:28:48.400
It was like I was a walking dead man.

403
00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:49.240
Yeah.

404
00:28:49.240 --> 00:28:51.400
And you don't even know these people well.

405
00:28:51.400 --> 00:28:52.760
I mean, you just got there.

406
00:28:52.760 --> 00:28:54.000
Not really that well.

407
00:28:54.000 --> 00:28:55.880
I mean, I know the lineman pretty well,

408
00:28:55.880 --> 00:28:59.360
but it was just such a, there was so much hype built up

409
00:28:59.360 --> 00:29:03.440
about me that I was going to be this young guy

410
00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:07.480
to come in at left tackle to now I'm done.

411
00:29:07.480 --> 00:29:10.800
So you're thinking about your career being over.

412
00:29:10.840 --> 00:29:12.080
That's what they were saying.

413
00:29:12.080 --> 00:29:12.920
Wow.

414
00:29:12.920 --> 00:29:14.760
And so the thoughts running through my head

415
00:29:14.760 --> 00:29:17.280
at that point were pretty intense.

416
00:29:18.560 --> 00:29:22.400
So the following days is when the MRI was scheduled.

417
00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:24.960
So they gave me a golf cart to get around on.

418
00:29:24.960 --> 00:29:28.280
I was immobilized in a walking boot with crutches.

419
00:29:30.920 --> 00:29:33.920
I'm watching the afternoon practice.

420
00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:38.000
It's about 2.30, three o'clock in the afternoon in San Diego.

421
00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:39.720
I was just really discouraged.

422
00:29:39.720 --> 00:29:42.040
Just like, this sucks.

423
00:29:42.040 --> 00:29:45.520
And I got in my,

424
00:29:45.520 --> 00:29:47.560
well, I was already in the cart watching practice.

425
00:29:47.560 --> 00:29:50.240
I just drove my cart back to my dorm room.

426
00:29:51.320 --> 00:29:54.680
Wanted to call Kathy and see what she was doing.

427
00:29:54.680 --> 00:29:56.280
I just didn't even want to watch football.

428
00:29:56.280 --> 00:29:59.440
I was just so messed up.

429
00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.160
side emotionally. Kathy was there at the practice. She saw the whole thing happen. She was there

430
00:30:04.160 --> 00:30:11.840
with some other friends. She had instantly called back home on a rotary phone, because we didn't

431
00:30:11.840 --> 00:30:16.480
have cell phones yet, saying, Hey, something's really bad has happened to Leo. I don't know what

432
00:30:16.480 --> 00:30:23.520
it is, but they carded him off the field, that we need to start praying for him. So got a whole

433
00:30:23.520 --> 00:30:29.920
bunch of people back home praying for me. So that next day, when I leave to go back to the

434
00:30:31.520 --> 00:30:39.360
dorm room, I call her from the rotary phone in my dorm room. And she's like super upbeat.

435
00:30:40.800 --> 00:30:47.920
She's like, actually happy. And she's sharing all this stuff that the Lord has been showing her.

436
00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:56.560
She was immersing herself in the word with miracles and with faith. Anything to do with

437
00:30:56.560 --> 00:31:04.400
faith or miracles, she was reading it and she was proclaiming it. And so she wanted to share some

438
00:31:04.400 --> 00:31:12.080
of that with me. And so I in the dorm room, I'm sitting on a couch. It's not a fancy dorm room,

439
00:31:12.080 --> 00:31:16.960
pretty basic. I'm laying down. She starts reading some scriptures. Then she gets to

440
00:31:18.080 --> 00:31:23.680
Ephesians chapter six, starting in verse 10 through 17, where it talks about the armor,

441
00:31:24.320 --> 00:31:29.440
the armor of God. But before that, how it's not a battle of flesh and blood, but of principalities

442
00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:37.120
and powers in the heavenly places. And so she's reading it to me. I'm laying prone on the couch.

443
00:31:37.840 --> 00:31:45.120
And I literally feel in my left leg, which was the injured leg. I feel like you know how when your

444
00:31:45.120 --> 00:31:51.120
foot loses circulation and it goes numb and then the circulation comes back and you get that

445
00:31:51.120 --> 00:31:59.440
tingly feeling. That's the feeling I felt as she's reading Ephesians six to me. I was like, what is

446
00:31:59.440 --> 00:32:05.680
what? And I'm just closing my eyes, listening to her voice. I had to read it a second time.

447
00:32:06.560 --> 00:32:13.040
She got all the way to the end. I said, can you read it again? By that time I was buckling off

448
00:32:13.040 --> 00:32:20.640
the buckles of the brace, the big boot. I felt prompting to try and move my foot. I could move

449
00:32:20.640 --> 00:32:30.240
my foot forward, backwards, turn it around with zero pain. And I just started weeping, bawling.

450
00:32:30.800 --> 00:32:37.680
My goodness. And Kathy's like, worried, like, are you okay? I explained to her what was going on,

451
00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:45.840
what was happening. God literally on the spot, put that tendon back together. That night,

452
00:32:47.120 --> 00:32:54.400
so when I shared it with her, yeah, it was a great time of just rejoicing and thanksgiving.

453
00:32:55.280 --> 00:33:00.800
But I had still had this MRI scheduled at like seven o'clock. Trainer picks me up,

454
00:33:00.800 --> 00:33:07.360
takes me down to the place where they're going to do the image. And for the whole time I'm in that

455
00:33:07.360 --> 00:33:14.160
little tube, the MRI tube, the enemy is taunting me, crazy stuff. Like God didn't heal your foot.

456
00:33:14.160 --> 00:33:22.720
You're going back to Hawaii and be working the sugar cane. It's just crazy. You're going to be

457
00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:32.240
a security guard or whatever. And so I am being a kind of a fairly new baby in Christ. I didn't

458
00:33:32.240 --> 00:33:37.840
know a whole lot of scripture by memory, but I knew a couple. And the two that jumped out to

459
00:33:37.840 --> 00:33:42.640
me during that time in the tube was greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.

460
00:33:42.640 --> 00:33:48.160
And I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. So for 55 minutes or so, I'm

461
00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:54.480
literally audibly saying that pretty loud and they have a microphone in it. So you're kind of,

462
00:33:54.480 --> 00:34:00.080
you're speaking out over myself for 55 minutes. I'm doing it. The trainer,

463
00:34:02.080 --> 00:34:07.520
when I'm done, the trainer's waiting for me. He takes me back to the, to the college where we're

464
00:34:07.520 --> 00:34:15.679
at and I sleep soundly, wake up the next morning, go to the training room and the trainer sees me

465
00:34:15.679 --> 00:34:22.800
coming in and he like weighs me and like, like, get over here. I go back there. I put the boot

466
00:34:22.800 --> 00:34:29.520
back on, but I didn't really need it. I put the boot back on and I'm going in there and he goes,

467
00:34:30.239 --> 00:34:34.719
and he's from Hawaii. He's a local guy. So he has a little local kind of, we had that

468
00:34:34.719 --> 00:34:39.440
local way of talking to each other. He goes, brother, I don't know what happened, but

469
00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:45.440
the MRI is absolutely clean. They can't see anything wrong with your tendon. Everything is

470
00:34:45.440 --> 00:34:53.760
fine. And yeah, so looking back and Kathy and I often talk about it and every time I share it,

471
00:34:53.760 --> 00:34:59.280
I believe that God allowed that, that whole thing to play out and to happen.

472
00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:05.240
Kind of like a memorial stone for us where he had the Israelites go back into where they

473
00:35:05.240 --> 00:35:09.600
crossed and get these stones to remember.

474
00:35:09.600 --> 00:35:15.200
I think that was meant for us to walk through that really dark period.

475
00:35:15.200 --> 00:35:21.440
God was going to heal me of it and that we would always be able to, that was like a stake

476
00:35:21.440 --> 00:35:27.320
in the ground in our faith and that we could always go back to and remember when, and we

477
00:35:27.320 --> 00:35:30.840
still do to today and we have throughout the years.

478
00:35:30.840 --> 00:35:41.240
I ended up playing my whole rookie year and God's sense of humor allowed me to be a consensus

479
00:35:41.240 --> 00:35:42.240
all-rookie.

480
00:35:42.240 --> 00:35:45.840
I made every single one of the all-rookie teams, played a left tackle, played against

481
00:35:45.840 --> 00:35:49.400
some really talented, good players my first year out of the gate.

482
00:35:49.400 --> 00:36:00.640
I was all within, see I got saved in March and this was now September of the same year.

483
00:36:00.640 --> 00:36:06.040
All that had happened, I got injured, got healed, and then ended up playing the whole

484
00:36:06.040 --> 00:36:08.800
year out at left tackle and was on my way.

485
00:36:08.800 --> 00:36:13.560
Did you ever have an injury in that foot again?

486
00:36:13.560 --> 00:36:14.560
Did not.

487
00:36:14.560 --> 00:36:15.560
My goodness.

488
00:36:15.560 --> 00:36:16.560
No problems.

489
00:36:16.560 --> 00:36:19.680
It was completely, supernaturally healed.

490
00:36:19.680 --> 00:36:22.240
Zero problems ever with that foot.

491
00:36:22.240 --> 00:36:27.600
So what did that do to you and Kathy's faith and trust in God as you moved into the NFL?

492
00:36:27.600 --> 00:36:30.200
It's like being shot out of a canyon, man.

493
00:36:30.200 --> 00:36:32.040
It would just skyrocketed our faith.

494
00:36:32.040 --> 00:36:41.480
I don't put any limitations on what God wants to do and obviously we leave as to the timing

495
00:36:41.480 --> 00:36:48.760
to Him because maybe He needs to work things out in individuals and He's waiting for certain

496
00:36:48.760 --> 00:36:50.400
things to happen.

497
00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:58.560
But as far as Him being able to do the supernatural, no one can tell me otherwise because I lived

498
00:36:58.560 --> 00:36:59.680
through it myself.

499
00:36:59.680 --> 00:37:06.560
So Leo, what would you say after that would be, I mean that's a pretty big highlight,

500
00:37:06.560 --> 00:37:07.560
that right there.

501
00:37:08.040 --> 00:37:13.400
Is there anything else that you would say as you walked out your career as a Christian

502
00:37:13.400 --> 00:37:17.720
NFL player that stands out spiritually?

503
00:37:17.720 --> 00:37:25.600
I think it was just all the many guys and gals, the couples that we met over the years.

504
00:37:25.600 --> 00:37:32.720
We were all in from day one and like for instance, my rookie year, God knowing that I needed

505
00:37:32.720 --> 00:37:40.560
someone in the locker room to hold me accountable, a teammate that is walking the same thing.

506
00:37:40.560 --> 00:37:45.920
He partnered me up with this, I think at that point he was probably in his 11th year veteran,

507
00:37:45.920 --> 00:37:51.680
but he was a cornerback, small little guy, but knew the Word.

508
00:37:51.680 --> 00:37:54.760
He was just so grounded in the Bible, in the Word.

509
00:37:54.760 --> 00:38:00.240
And he really challenged me with scripture memorization.

510
00:38:00.240 --> 00:38:06.600
And so we became really, really close, he and I, his name is Gilbert, he's still alive.

511
00:38:06.600 --> 00:38:08.200
He's in the Chargers Hall of Fame.

512
00:38:08.200 --> 00:38:14.280
But just certain ones that God has brought up across our path, those are the special

513
00:38:14.280 --> 00:38:21.840
memories that I have from that point of view in the NFL, is walking out.

514
00:38:21.840 --> 00:38:31.000
Because the NFL in itself is so phony, it's so superficial, it's so shallow.

515
00:38:31.000 --> 00:38:34.960
You see people showing up to games.

516
00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:39.320
We still laugh, Kathy and I still laugh about this, and they're wearing like these ridiculous

517
00:38:39.320 --> 00:38:43.640
like mink coats to a football game.

518
00:38:43.640 --> 00:38:46.640
Earrings, diamond earrings.

519
00:38:46.640 --> 00:38:51.680
It's the posing capital of the epitome of it.

520
00:38:52.520 --> 00:38:55.760
It's like, who's got the nicest cars, who's got this and that.

521
00:38:55.760 --> 00:38:59.800
Kathy would show up in a sweatsuit.

522
00:38:59.800 --> 00:39:06.320
She refused to succumb to that type of stuff.

523
00:39:06.320 --> 00:39:11.800
And she would bring all our kids to every game, home game, away games, they'd just stay

524
00:39:11.800 --> 00:39:15.240
in them because it was just too much involved with travel and all that.

525
00:39:15.240 --> 00:39:20.680
So I'm just glad that we had all that happened to us early, that we never had to deal with

526
00:39:20.680 --> 00:39:28.200
a lot of the traps that so many deal with, especially after they're done playing.

527
00:39:28.200 --> 00:39:30.640
The divorce rate in the NFL is astronomical.

528
00:39:30.640 --> 00:39:35.160
I think it's like in the high 80s or 90% like after you're done playing.

529
00:39:35.160 --> 00:39:36.160
It's pretty dismal.

530
00:39:36.160 --> 00:39:39.080
So did you guys like have Bible studies and things like that?

531
00:39:39.080 --> 00:39:40.080
So we did.

532
00:39:40.080 --> 00:39:41.920
Did they help keep you strong?

533
00:39:41.920 --> 00:39:45.760
We always had a core group on every team.

534
00:39:45.880 --> 00:39:51.600
For the most part, we always, aside from one or two years, we hosted it at our house where

535
00:39:51.600 --> 00:39:58.600
we'd have a dozen or so guys with their spouses come over and we would just have some amazing,

536
00:39:58.600 --> 00:39:59.920
amazing times, man.

537
00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:06.560
break bread. So usually every team has a chaplain. So the chaplain usually would

538
00:40:06.560 --> 00:40:11.640
facilitate that. We had a great one in the Rams in LA. He was really

539
00:40:11.640 --> 00:40:16.840
involved. We became really close friends with that guy. His name was Chuck

540
00:40:16.840 --> 00:40:23.640
Obrimsky. So but with every team, the chaplain would kind of facilitate

541
00:40:23.640 --> 00:40:29.200
that for the believers. So he would do the service on Sunday before the game,

542
00:40:29.200 --> 00:40:35.640
but he also do the just the weekly stuff. Just the needs of people on the

543
00:40:35.640 --> 00:40:38.920
team. He was always there in the locker room. And then we'd always have a night.

544
00:40:38.920 --> 00:40:44.160
Usually it would usually be on Monday nights because Tuesday's the day off.

545
00:40:44.160 --> 00:40:49.880
Would either be on Monday or Tuesday. Would be a full-blown Bible study for

546
00:40:49.880 --> 00:40:54.360
our group. So how many guys, you know, you played on three teams. What would you say

547
00:40:54.360 --> 00:41:01.320
kind of, if you could estimate, how many guys are really solid, fired up for the

548
00:41:01.320 --> 00:41:07.600
Lord on any given NFL team, in your opinion? I would say there's a probably

549
00:41:07.600 --> 00:41:13.520
usually a minimum of 10. I'm talking really solid guys. Because there's

550
00:41:13.520 --> 00:41:18.960
not that many on the team. Yeah. So that's, I mean, you know, college is

551
00:41:18.960 --> 00:41:24.240
huge, but pros, they really narrow it down. How many guys on a team? So now it's

552
00:41:24.240 --> 00:41:27.720
53 active, but then you have the practice squad guys. We would include

553
00:41:27.720 --> 00:41:37.640
them too in Bible studies and such. But active players now are 53. When I played

554
00:41:37.640 --> 00:41:43.360
it was 50. It was a little more. I think it was like 57. Closer to 60. But they've

555
00:41:43.360 --> 00:41:48.600
narrowed it down since over the years to 53. So Leo, changing the subject a little

556
00:41:48.600 --> 00:41:53.480
bit. What would be a highlight of your NFL career? Like is there something

557
00:41:53.520 --> 00:41:59.400
that stands out as amazing and a special memory for you? By far, probably be my

558
00:41:59.400 --> 00:42:06.440
first, my rookie year when my dad first got to see me play. That's great. I was

559
00:42:06.440 --> 00:42:09.920
going to ask you about that. So I was starting, we were playing the Raiders at

560
00:42:09.920 --> 00:42:15.400
home in San Diego. They were announcing the offense. I got announced out. I knew

561
00:42:15.400 --> 00:42:19.120
where they were sitting. And me and my dad over the years, all my brothers kind

562
00:42:19.120 --> 00:42:24.160
of did it. And I kind of followed suit is we would always kind of know where he

563
00:42:24.160 --> 00:42:30.600
was sitting in the stadium. Nice. And we would always, I even did it. I did it all

564
00:42:30.600 --> 00:42:34.600
throughout college. And I even found myself doing it. I'm a professional player

565
00:42:34.600 --> 00:42:43.400
now. It's getting this from him, that sign of, yes. That was it. It was just

566
00:42:43.400 --> 00:42:50.120
this, but this, this communicated so much. And so here I am, we're playing as

567
00:42:50.120 --> 00:42:57.080
the Raiders. I had a great game. We won the game. I bring my mom and dad on the

568
00:42:57.080 --> 00:43:02.080
field. We take this picture that all the family has. We have it back at our house.

569
00:43:02.080 --> 00:43:09.240
My, all my brothers have it. Me and mom and dad, our first game. To me, and it

570
00:43:09.240 --> 00:43:16.680
wasn't really the game itself. It's what happened after the game. So we just were

571
00:43:16.680 --> 00:43:21.760
about to close on our first home. We bought a home in Rancho Bernardo, which

572
00:43:21.760 --> 00:43:29.600
is a, was at that time a pretty new community. It's a bustling community now.

573
00:43:29.600 --> 00:43:36.120
But it was our first home. We had, out of the gate, we rented an apartment near the

574
00:43:36.120 --> 00:43:40.040
stadium because we just wanted to figure things out and not make a rash

575
00:43:40.040 --> 00:43:44.200
decision right away. So we didn't buy a big home. We just rented a apartment so

576
00:43:44.200 --> 00:43:48.760
we had time to kind of sort things out. But we ended up doing that right before

577
00:43:48.760 --> 00:43:53.000
the end of the season. We had this time where, well, we were actually showing them

578
00:43:53.000 --> 00:43:57.080
the house. The house was being finished. They're putting in carpet and just the

579
00:43:57.080 --> 00:44:03.040
finishing touches on the home. And it was on a Monday. The game was on Sunday. And

580
00:44:03.480 --> 00:44:09.280
usually, you have to go back to the stadium on Monday for a film review and a

581
00:44:09.280 --> 00:44:14.520
short little workout. So we had like a brunch. We showed them the house. And

582
00:44:14.520 --> 00:44:18.120
then I'm looking at my watch, I gotta get going already because I had to drive

583
00:44:18.120 --> 00:44:22.560
into back to the stadium, which is like a half an hour drive. So I kissed my mom,

584
00:44:22.600 --> 00:44:28.080
Kathy, goodbye. My dad overheard that. And so I opened the garage door and there he

585
00:44:28.080 --> 00:44:37.160
is. He's like waiting for me. And he just broke down. How proud and what just

586
00:44:37.160 --> 00:44:41.040
the whole it was, he verified that Yeah, this was definitely his dream for

587
00:44:41.040 --> 00:44:46.960
himself. He basically said you made all my dreams come true. Just just watching

588
00:44:47.000 --> 00:44:52.880
your dad being there and watching everything in real life. He was not bad

589
00:44:52.880 --> 00:44:57.840
going back in his mind when I was a little guy. And kind of rehashing that

590
00:44:57.840 --> 00:44:59.960
with me. Yeah. And so we both kind

591
00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:06.320
lost it. I gave him a hug. I kind of wish now that I kind of cherish it, but I was really

592
00:45:06.320 --> 00:45:12.000
pushing up against the clock that I needed to leave. But just having that time with him was

593
00:45:12.720 --> 00:45:19.440
super special. Yeah, super special. And then how many more games did he get to see before he died?

594
00:45:20.320 --> 00:45:26.880
So I think just a couple. Yeah, because he died going into my second year.

595
00:45:27.600 --> 00:45:36.240
Yeah. He was young wasn't he? He was 62. Wow. So even that, that's a pretty cool,

596
00:45:36.240 --> 00:45:41.440
not a cool story, but it's a good one to mention in that. So we just had our second child,

597
00:45:41.440 --> 00:45:51.280
our daughter, Allie, who's now 31. So this is, she's born on July 1st. Training camp was starting

598
00:45:51.280 --> 00:45:56.400
in a couple of weeks. We just bought her home from the hospital, bringing an infant home. You know,

599
00:45:56.480 --> 00:46:02.880
I wasn't, she was, I was still in full blown working out mode. Kathy calls my sister back

600
00:46:02.880 --> 00:46:07.520
home to get addresses to mail out baby announcements to the family and different ones.

601
00:46:08.720 --> 00:46:14.560
And then my dad happens to be right around there, hears them talking, says, I want to talk to Leo

602
00:46:14.560 --> 00:46:19.840
when you're done. And I, and I could hear Kathy say, Oh, I think he's around here. Let me go look

603
00:46:19.840 --> 00:46:24.800
where he's at. And I knew with that bet that he wanted, that dad wanted to talk to me. And I was

604
00:46:24.800 --> 00:46:31.360
like, this was like late at night already. And I was tired. I was beat tired. I wanted to go to bed

605
00:46:31.360 --> 00:46:36.480
and I told Kathy, tell him I'll call him tomorrow morning. And he goes, no, no, hold on. He's right

606
00:46:36.480 --> 00:46:42.080
here. And she gives me the phone. We ended up talking, we ended up talking for like an hour

607
00:46:42.080 --> 00:46:46.480
and a half, hour and a half. It was long, man. It was all about football. What was going on with

608
00:46:46.480 --> 00:46:51.680
the holdouts and camp and all this stuff. And as we're wrapping up the conversation, he tells me

609
00:46:52.560 --> 00:46:58.560
how proud he was again, and that he's going to call me in a few days when I actually do report

610
00:46:58.560 --> 00:47:06.720
before I report to camp and that the whole family is, is praying for me. And then the last thing he

611
00:47:06.720 --> 00:47:11.200
says is to take care of that little girl, meaning our daughter that we just bought off from the

612
00:47:11.200 --> 00:47:18.560
hospital. They hang up, I'm fast asleep, get off. My phone is ringing. It's like two 30, three o'clock

613
00:47:19.520 --> 00:47:26.960
in the morning. I pick it up. It's my brother. His voice is all kind of, I can barely make out

614
00:47:26.960 --> 00:47:33.360
what he's saying. Cause he's, his voice is all kind of choked up. And he basically breaks the

615
00:47:33.360 --> 00:47:39.760
news that dad passed away right at home from a massive heart attack. Just dropped like literally

616
00:47:39.760 --> 00:47:45.840
four hours after I had that conversation with him, four or five hours, he was gone.

617
00:47:45.920 --> 00:47:53.120
Wow. That's so cool. You had like a whole hour and a half just to talk and chat and be yourself.

618
00:47:53.120 --> 00:47:58.720
Just a normal conversation with dad. Yeah. Yeah. And, and it was your last one.

619
00:47:58.720 --> 00:48:02.560
The last one. That's the last one. So that whole process was pretty,

620
00:48:04.960 --> 00:48:09.600
pretty stressful. I had to come home, Kathy and I flew home. Luckily our,

621
00:48:09.600 --> 00:48:13.760
my in-laws were already in San Diego, so they stayed with the young ones

622
00:48:13.760 --> 00:48:16.480
while Kathy and I just hopped on a plane the next morning, flew home,

623
00:48:17.760 --> 00:48:23.360
stayed home at the plan, all the services and all that training camp had started,

624
00:48:24.640 --> 00:48:27.920
worked it out with the team. They knew what was going on. They were fine. Just say,

625
00:48:27.920 --> 00:48:32.560
take whatever time you need. So I ended up missing the first couple, two days of camp

626
00:48:33.680 --> 00:48:39.920
and, um, had the services flew right back that night. And I was right in the grind, man, like

627
00:48:39.920 --> 00:48:44.080
instantly didn't have any time to grieve or nothing. Just like got to go earn my job again.

628
00:48:45.120 --> 00:48:52.640
And, um, it was kind of cool in that every night, pretty much, I was having dreams of my childhood

629
00:48:53.440 --> 00:48:59.120
with my dad in it for like during that whole, like for, for a couple of weeks, I would have

630
00:48:59.120 --> 00:49:07.520
these dreams, like vivid dreams. But one in particular was, um, it shook me up so much

631
00:49:07.520 --> 00:49:14.320
that I was like, wow, what was that all about? Um, it was basically when I went back to the

632
00:49:14.320 --> 00:49:22.800
Lord with it, um, to kind of piece it together, he was showing me that all my life, since I started

633
00:49:22.800 --> 00:49:29.200
playing, since I was 12 years old, I played for the sole purpose to honor my earthly dad.

634
00:49:29.760 --> 00:49:37.120
Hmm. And then that broke his heart. Yeah. And I needed to repent of that. And then I did on the

635
00:49:37.120 --> 00:49:43.600
spot. Wow. And from that point, when I did that to where every time I stepped on the field, from

636
00:49:43.600 --> 00:49:50.400
that point forward, everything was different. I played it. I would, I would venture to say I

637
00:49:50.400 --> 00:49:56.000
played my best football then. My goodness. Is when I was playing for the one and only.

638
00:49:56.000 --> 00:49:59.760
Wow. So you not only don't have.

639
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:03.000
any kind of a father wound.

640
00:50:03.000 --> 00:50:07.000
It's the complete opposite of a father wound.

641
00:50:07.000 --> 00:50:09.000
It's a father idol ship.

642
00:50:09.000 --> 00:50:11.000
That's what it was.

643
00:50:11.000 --> 00:50:13.000
I needed to repent of that.

644
00:50:13.000 --> 00:50:14.000
Yeah.

645
00:50:14.000 --> 00:50:16.000
Wow.

646
00:50:16.000 --> 00:50:18.000
Well, you know, that's just so rare.

647
00:50:18.000 --> 00:50:19.000
It is.

648
00:50:19.000 --> 00:50:21.000
It's rare, man, that you had a dad that was that involved,

649
00:50:21.000 --> 00:50:26.000
cared that much, and was actually that verbal about it.

650
00:50:26.000 --> 00:50:28.000
I hear these stories all the time from men.

651
00:50:28.000 --> 00:50:31.000
That's what we do around here is with men's ministry.

652
00:50:31.000 --> 00:50:34.000
And they say things like, well, I know my dad loved me, but...

653
00:50:34.000 --> 00:50:35.000
Yeah.

654
00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:37.000
...or I know my dad cared about me, but...

655
00:50:37.000 --> 00:50:41.000
And so there's very little interaction...

656
00:50:41.000 --> 00:50:42.000
Right.

657
00:50:42.000 --> 00:50:45.000
...between sons or even daughters and their dads

658
00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:48.000
because men are just not as good verbally.

659
00:50:48.000 --> 00:50:49.000
Yeah.

660
00:50:49.000 --> 00:50:50.000
We're just not as emotional.

661
00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:51.000
Yeah.

662
00:50:51.000 --> 00:50:54.000
And, I mean, my dad, I have a great relationship with my dad,

663
00:50:54.000 --> 00:50:56.000
but it wouldn't even be on that part either,

664
00:50:56.000 --> 00:50:58.000
like you're talking about.

665
00:50:58.000 --> 00:51:01.000
So what a great blessing for you, Leo.

666
00:51:01.000 --> 00:51:02.000
Yeah.

667
00:51:02.000 --> 00:51:07.000
It was truly a blessing to at least have that revelation of...

668
00:51:07.000 --> 00:51:09.000
Because the last thing, and I didn't even realize it,

669
00:51:09.000 --> 00:51:15.000
but through these dreams I was having, that's what was coming forth.

670
00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:16.000
That was the end result of it.

671
00:51:16.000 --> 00:51:22.000
I wonder if that was a little of a catharsis, a grieving, in a positive way.

672
00:51:22.000 --> 00:51:23.000
It most likely was.

673
00:51:23.000 --> 00:51:26.000
You know, some people have dreams and they have memories

674
00:51:26.000 --> 00:51:29.000
that are just totally etched upon their heart that are super negative.

675
00:51:29.000 --> 00:51:30.000
Right.

676
00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:31.000
Mine was the complete opposite.

677
00:51:31.000 --> 00:51:32.000
Yeah.

678
00:51:32.000 --> 00:51:33.000
Yeah.

679
00:51:33.000 --> 00:51:34.000
That's so awesome.

680
00:51:34.000 --> 00:51:35.000
How long were your parents married?

681
00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:39.000
They were married, I think they were already in their closing in on 40 years

682
00:51:39.000 --> 00:51:40.000
or close to it.

683
00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:41.000
So they married young.

684
00:51:41.000 --> 00:51:42.000
Really young.

685
00:51:42.000 --> 00:51:43.000
Yeah.

686
00:51:43.000 --> 00:51:44.000
Yeah.

687
00:51:44.000 --> 00:51:49.000
So what's your background as far as your ethnicity?

688
00:51:49.000 --> 00:51:52.000
So both sides, I have Portuguese.

689
00:51:52.000 --> 00:51:54.000
So for mom and dad.

690
00:51:54.000 --> 00:51:57.000
So mom was half Portuguese, half Hawaiian.

691
00:51:57.000 --> 00:52:00.000
Her mom was pure Hawaiian.

692
00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:05.000
And then my dad's side is half Portuguese

693
00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:10.000
and the other half is European, like English.

694
00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:12.000
Now was he big?

695
00:52:12.000 --> 00:52:13.000
Was he a big guy?

696
00:52:13.000 --> 00:52:14.000
Wide.

697
00:52:14.000 --> 00:52:15.000
How tall?

698
00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:18.000
He was probably six foot.

699
00:52:18.000 --> 00:52:19.000
Okay.

700
00:52:19.000 --> 00:52:20.000
So that's the thing, right?

701
00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:24.000
All the boys, if you were to stack us all up from the oldest to me, it was like this.

702
00:52:24.000 --> 00:52:27.000
So that's why dad wanted a couple more.

703
00:52:27.000 --> 00:52:29.000
He was projected out so that I could have.

704
00:52:29.000 --> 00:52:32.000
So that's why he wanted 10 kids.

705
00:52:32.000 --> 00:52:34.000
Yeah, because he just seen them getting bigger and bigger.

706
00:52:34.000 --> 00:52:38.000
He just figured if that eighth one, that Leo doesn't make it,

707
00:52:38.000 --> 00:52:40.000
I need two more to get a shot in the NFL.

708
00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:41.000
Yeah.

709
00:52:41.000 --> 00:52:42.000
That's a cool story.

710
00:52:42.000 --> 00:52:45.000
Well, bless you, Leo.

711
00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:47.000
I mean, this is really good.

712
00:52:48.000 --> 00:52:52.000
I didn't know the last part about.

713
00:52:52.000 --> 00:52:54.000
And you told me about the phone call.

714
00:52:54.000 --> 00:52:59.000
I do know about that, but I didn't know the dreams and the stuff that happened later.

715
00:52:59.000 --> 00:53:02.000
God is good.

716
00:53:02.000 --> 00:53:08.000
You finished out your whole career as a believer.

717
00:53:08.000 --> 00:53:10.000
I mean, you never wavered.

718
00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:14.000
You actually got more fired up, it seems like, as the years went by.

719
00:53:14.000 --> 00:53:18.000
And you told me even about some of the, which we don't have time to go into now,

720
00:53:18.000 --> 00:53:22.000
but just some of the disappointments with some of the people who called themselves Christians

721
00:53:22.000 --> 00:53:25.000
and kind of took advantage, tried to take advantage of you.

722
00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:30.000
But you didn't seem to let that scar you or build up any bitterness.

723
00:53:30.000 --> 00:53:33.000
You were still going to follow Christ.

724
00:53:33.000 --> 00:53:34.000
Well, that's the thing.

725
00:53:34.000 --> 00:53:40.000
That's the big takeaway for everyone is what I would want them to get is that.

726
00:53:41.000 --> 00:53:44.000
He allows us, God allows us to go through things.

727
00:53:44.000 --> 00:53:48.000
I think a lot of times for our growth, because that's where we truly,

728
00:53:48.000 --> 00:53:51.000
it's like in the NFL or in any sports you have walkthroughs, right?

729
00:53:51.000 --> 00:53:56.000
You go through and the true test is in the game.

730
00:53:56.000 --> 00:53:58.000
But it's all the preparation leading up to that.

731
00:53:58.000 --> 00:54:04.000
I think God allows us to go through a similar type of thing where he shows us things.

732
00:54:04.000 --> 00:54:07.000
Then he'll have us go through it.

733
00:54:07.000 --> 00:54:15.000
Sometimes it's very difficult, but it's to get us to another place in faith,

734
00:54:15.000 --> 00:54:21.000
in understanding, and he's done that so many times with us.

735
00:54:21.000 --> 00:54:25.000
You don't really understand it all, but when you get on the other side of it,

736
00:54:25.000 --> 00:54:29.000
it all seems to make sense why you had to go through what you went through.

737
00:54:29.000 --> 00:54:30.000
That's right.

738
00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:35.000
Well, men and women, you that are listening to this or watching this,

739
00:54:35.000 --> 00:54:42.000
there's really not any difference in your job and what you do than what Leo has done or I do.

740
00:54:42.000 --> 00:54:44.000
Some people get more notoriety for it,

741
00:54:44.000 --> 00:54:48.000
but the reality is that being a witness for Christ,

742
00:54:48.000 --> 00:54:53.000
continuing to walk with him is really the answer and the solution for everything.

743
00:54:53.000 --> 00:54:54.000
We're going to go through disappointments.

744
00:54:54.000 --> 00:54:56.000
We're going to get injured.

745
00:54:56.000 --> 00:54:58.000
We might get injured emotionally.

746
00:54:58.000 --> 00:55:00.000
We might get injured spiritually.

747
00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:03.520
spiritually, we might get injured mentally. And I want to

748
00:55:03.520 --> 00:55:07.240
just challenge you guys from Leo's story, that you hang in

749
00:55:07.240 --> 00:55:10.520
there, don't quit, you're gonna get knocked down, you're gonna

750
00:55:10.520 --> 00:55:14.920
get faked out, you're gonna go and some of you carry scars from

751
00:55:14.920 --> 00:55:21.000
your past. And I think Leo, you would say that everybody has

752
00:55:21.000 --> 00:55:25.400
something, right? And then you got to just kind of put the

753
00:55:25.400 --> 00:55:28.240
uniform back on every day. That's right. And go back out on

754
00:55:28.240 --> 00:55:34.040
the field in the arena. Exactly right. So yeah, so I have, I've

755
00:55:34.040 --> 00:55:39.000
had nine surgeries. Hello, in my playing career, a bunch of

756
00:55:39.000 --> 00:55:43.160
knees, you got to go through that whole process of dealing

757
00:55:43.160 --> 00:55:46.880
with that, and then strengthening yourself to get

758
00:55:46.880 --> 00:55:51.680
back to a level to where you can compete. And it's, it's something

759
00:55:51.680 --> 00:55:57.440
that I've had to do nine different times. Why so many? I

760
00:55:57.440 --> 00:56:01.480
don't know. But, but what came out of it is just a resilience.

761
00:56:01.520 --> 00:56:08.280
Yeah. A resilience of Okay, this is a problem, but I can get

762
00:56:08.280 --> 00:56:14.360
through it. And God is gonna be with me through it. And through

763
00:56:14.360 --> 00:56:18.000
that, I think just became incremental pieces of added

764
00:56:18.000 --> 00:56:23.000
strength given to me, or capacity that I probably

765
00:56:23.000 --> 00:56:25.080
wouldn't have had if I hadn't gone through it. Yeah,

766
00:56:25.120 --> 00:56:28.920
everything was as peachy. Yeah, peachy, rosy. Yeah, that's so

767
00:56:28.920 --> 00:56:35.360
good. That's so good. Well, thanks, Leo. I just I feel like

768
00:56:35.360 --> 00:56:38.720
I could just talk to you for another couple hours. But thanks

769
00:56:38.720 --> 00:56:42.040
for giving your time to this. And thanks for being a friend, a

770
00:56:42.040 --> 00:56:48.720
blood stained ally, for me and for my family. And thanks for I

771
00:56:48.720 --> 00:56:53.120
mean, for all of you out there. If you can imagine going

772
00:56:53.120 --> 00:56:57.880
whitewater rafting with one of the people in the boat being

773
00:56:57.880 --> 00:57:03.320
around 300. You can realize that we were a little low in the

774
00:57:03.320 --> 00:57:09.280
water. But it was still a lot of fun. It was a blast. Yes. All

775
00:57:09.280 --> 00:57:12.560
right, bro. Thank you. God bless you guys. Thanks for the next

776
00:57:12.560 --> 00:57:17.040
podcast. Come check it out. We were constantly putting out new

777
00:57:17.040 --> 00:57:21.440
stuff. And great to have you watching it. And thank you.

778
00:57:21.840 --> 00:57:22.320
Thank you.

779
00:57:23.120 --> 00:57:25.320
Transcribed by https://otter.ai