Welcome to the podcast of Empower You.
We're so fired up to have Leo Goas with us today and he's become a really good friend.
As many of you know, I'm a pastor here in Colorado Springs called The Road at Chapel
Hills and Leo is one of our elders here at The Road.
He is also part of the men's ministry, which has really blossomed and taken off as kind
of one of the key leaders of that.
We have this breakfast that we do on Tuesday mornings called Wholehearted Men and we have
about 400 men that come to that and Leo's been a table leader, a key leader of that.
But Leo's interesting in that he played seven years in the NFL from 1990 to 1997.
He played on three NFL teams and he's pretty humble about it.
I don't know that I knew that about Leo.
Leo, I don't know if I knew that about you for like the first four or five times that
I met you.
I just thought you were really, really big and really massive.
As many of you know, I was a gymnast in college and high school, so I'm not massive and I'm
not big.
But I met Leo and he's from Hawaii and he kind of has that look about him.
Like if you're in a dark alley and it's a full moon night, you might avoid that if you
saw him walking through the alley.
Now what's interesting is that Kathy, his wife, is this diminutive little thing.
So they're, what is she like, 5'2"?
No, she's about 5'5".
She's 5'5"?
Don't let that kid you.
Oh man, I would have never thought that.
She packs a big punch.
When she's next to this guy, what are you 6'3 or 6'4"?
I'm 6'4".
6'4".
And when you, what was your playing weight?
I played at about 315.
Man.
Now you're less than that now.
What are you at?
285 now?
I'm trying to get back down there.
Okay.
Are you over 300 right now?
I'm around 300, yeah.
So he was at my fire pit last night at our house for a party and he, one thing, like
when I walk into a situation, I'm always looking for the food, okay?
That's what I think about.
I think when you walk into a situation, you look at the caliber of the chairs.
Yes.
Because he came over to the fire pit and he's just standing there and I'm thinking, okay,
he's looking at my plastic Adirondack chairs and I wonder if he's going to crush them.
So anyway, he's got an interesting perspective.
But anyway, I wanted to have Leo on because he has such a unique and powerful story of
being a believer in Christ in the NFL.
And I'm going to let him tell the story more than me.
But why don't we begin with your life in Hawaii where you're born and raised, your dad being
a police officer.
I mean, just everything's super interesting to me.
I just find it all captivating.
So take us back.
You start playing football a little bit as a kid.
You're not even that good.
And then kind of how that evolution occurred.
And I think it's cool to talk about your relationship with your father, too.
Anything you want to share on that, Leo?
All right.
So I'm a baby of eight kids, five boys, three girls, I was the last.
Four older brothers who all excelled in youth sports, baseball, basketball, and football
from a young age.
And then went on to play high school and college.
The last two above me played college at the University of Hawaii.
So there was a lot of kind of expectation put on me as a young boy to follow suit.
But I was a real kind of a laid back, had no interest in really in sports.
It wasn't, I kind of grew into it just as I got older and the influence of my dad had
a lot to do with it.
But I struggled athletically early on.
Like you said, I started playing football at the age of 12, Pop Warner.
And if I were to show you a picture of the 12-year-old me, you would not say that guy
is going to be an NFL player.
But through, I would say, just a lot of patience from my dad and encouragement through the
years and some key men that came across my path while I was trying to or developing as
an athlete that made a huge impact to that effect.
It wasn't pretty in the beginning, but as I grew older, it just...
everything kind of flipped on its head
to where the guys that were dominating me
as a 12, 13-year-old, I was literally crushing
as a sophomore, junior, and senior in high school.
I grew six inches from sixth grade to eighth grade.
So when I showed up as a freshman,
I was already about 6'3",
about 215 pounds as a tight end.
So getting back to my dad, though,
he was clearly the one person,
and all my brothers would say the same,
he was just an incredible, dedicated,
all-in, 100% father.
Even when I was struggling,
he saw something in me that I didn't even see in myself.
And he nurtured that through the years.
I could remember as a young boy watching Sunday football,
that would be probably in the late 70s,
and he would tell me, that's gonna be you one day.
And I was like, okay.
And he kept doing that throughout the years,
just instilling that in me.
That was really his dream for himself,
to have one of his five boys play in the NFL.
That was clearly his dream for himself.
Went into high school, and things,
from an athletic standpoint, really changed.
From prior to that, I got a lot stronger,
my skills began to develop.
I think, to sum it up,
my brain and my body kind of was syncing together,
to where signs of athleticism were starting to show,
and I just, at that point, wanted to make my dad happy.
And so I worked my tail off.
I was a workout maniac.
I met a gentleman who had a gym
not far from where we lived on Oahu,
and that one individual instilled a lot of confidence in me
through weights, through strength training,
and through development in my body,
to where, and I bought into it 100%.
And so when I showed up in high school,
at the private school that I got into,
I was stronger than all the offensive linemen,
and I was only a tight end.
I was just really strong, just from working out so hard,
and for those couple of years with this gentleman.
And high school was a great experience,
although there were other parts in my life that were a mess.
Athletics was something that everybody began to know
or associate me with, was my ability to do well at football
and to play and do really well at basketball.
I was a basketball player as well.
As far as athletically over on,
it was a process much kind of instilled by my dad
and nurtured by my dad.
My brothers would always kid early on
that they had big doubts about me early on.
And so when I finally got into college and beyond,
we still laugh about that till today.
And I'm in my mid-50s, so it was,
the athletic part was definitely a thing of just persistence
and having an internal drive to want to do very well.
Now you said your older brothers played,
everybody was very athletic, sounds like the family.
Was there a teasing, a kidding that went on
as kind of the caboose, sort of the last one
that maybe even spurred you on some?
Not really directly to my face,
but I could hear it amongst, you know,
chatter amongst the older,
my older two brothers right above me.
And then what's the age span?
So the one, the middle brother is seven years older than me.
He's the one I'm really close with.
And then the one below him is five years older than me.
Then we have a sister in between that brother and me.
So there was nothing like hazing at home
because my dad wouldn't have tolerated it.
But Dave, so the middle brother
was the best man at my wedding.
And he even shared that with his speech at my wedding
that they all had their doubts about me.
And I was at that time, when I got married,
I was in college already about to, you know,
look like I was gonna go to the NFL or had a chance to.
And so that's something that even.
yeah, they still get around with. But I think it was just a matter of me, you know, I'm the tallest.
Everyone in my family, the brothers are like 6'1", 6'2". And then I was, you know, 6'4".
And so, my dad actually wanted 10 kids. But my mom said, Nope, that's it. You got eight,
shut it down. So, yeah, athletically, it was a huge thing in our family.
My dad was just, he was at every practice. He came to the practices?
Literally every practice. All the brothers or just you?
Everybody. How did he do that with his job?
So, he was a sergeant, you know, so he just made, found a way to, at some point he was going to show
up. I mean, I was a dedicated dad to all my kids, baseball and ballet and all the stuff that they
did. But I didn't go to the practices. Yeah, he was pretty much at every practice.
And he just had this way of, I mean, he was a pretty reserved guy. He didn't really say much.
But when he did, there was volumes behind what he said. And he set a really high bar for us.
And he didn't lower it. And we would hear about it if we were, in his mind, slacking or just not
giving effort. Effort on the football field for him was everything. You just played to the whistle.
And that was something that was ingrained in me. And I think really something that
years later, the NFL scouts saw that really had me just jump off the film.
And when they watched me play, because I literally would play to the whistle.
And some of the highlights that they show today, back in Hawaii, is my senior year,
me escorting on a screenplay, running like 80 yards, leading, outrunning the running back
into the end zone against BYU. That's a reoccurring film clip that they always show
when it comes to the University of Hawaii sports, is that one clip.
But it was just a part of me. It was just something that I didn't even have to think
about. Just something that I just did. Yeah. So let's talk about Kathy a little
bit and how you guys met. And then she was sort of part of your spiritual journey.
Very much so. So we met going into our senior year in high school,
the summer going into our senior year. She was a cheerleader for our rival school,
all-boys Catholic school. She was at an all-girls Catholic school, cheered for this
all-boys Catholic school who, in the state of Hawaii, has put more guys in the NFL than I,
they would rival any big high school. They've got 25 guys through the years in the NFL,
Marcus Mariota, Tua Tonga Wailoa, are the more recent ones. But anyway, so we met in high school.
I was instantly fell in love. And we dated our senior year and got married,
actually our sophomore year in college at University of Hawaii. She was going to go away
to a mainland school in Oregon. And luckily her father threw in a new car if she stayed home
because he didn't have to deal with out-of-state tuition. I thanked him for that because I'd
already committed to stay home and not go away. I said no to some big schools that I had offers
from, but that decision, my decision to stay home was a five-minute conversation with dad at home.
Your dad wanted you to stay in Hawaii? There was no question. And the way he
communicated that to me, which made a lot of sense, was he used my two older brothers who had already
gone through the University of Hawaii and how that led to just opportunities in the community.
How the local fans never forget the guys that play for the University of Hawaii. And it's true.
So when I go home today, having played in the NFL, they don't want to talk UH football. They don't
want to talk NFL. They want to talk about the days in the early 80s of me being a
UH player, which all those guys were just diehard fans. It's like a mini version of the SEC
where these guys would tailgate from as soon as they could get in the parking lot, which I think
they opened up the gates at like one o'clock in the afternoon and kickoff was until 7 30.
And so these guys are like tailgating all day going so was this a
electric atmosphere back then
Well, you know University of Georgia is still the same way and I mean, I think
90% of the fans in Athens would know more about Herschel Walker's
college career the three years he was there then the
12 or 15 years that he was playing pro ball. Yeah, and it's true like everything revolves around in a in a
atmosphere like small town
Kind of small state like Hawaii small town like Athens
Everything revolves around college football. Yep
Yeah, so getting back to Kathy
Athletic standpoint everything was great. Again. I was a popular guy because of that but spiritually
That was something that
Was not evident
Mainly by my actions and just the way we grew up. We grew up Catholic, but it was like we barely attended
we barely even went so because of that and
because my dad was a
He didn't really
Then it didn't really supervise us really well. So we were up to no good
with just
For me it was girls
Early on in high school. So by the time I met Kathy, I guess I you could say I kind of had a
Reputation of that which I'm not proud of
But so but Kathy was different and that's what attracted me to her. She was very strong and very
She knew exactly and she wouldn't back down
And she knew exactly what she wanted and that
To me
Combined with my dad was the reason why I think I
made it because there's many times in the process of getting from A to B that I I
Just wanted to quit give up and go do something else
but she kind of
Kept me focused and kept me. I could you should say I should say engaged in in
What was ahead of me again that I really
Couldn't see so she
So we got married. Like I said in college
We had our child our first oldest son in college, but it wasn't until our senior year
Really at the end of my senior year
That we had this
God-ordained
Thing happened to the both of us on March the 3rd
So our marriage was pretty shaky
Mainly because of me. I was just a idiot. I was just you know
selfish and didn't know how to treat her and
Wanting to just do my own thing
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
He was a strong
Christian
Leading a huge youth Bible study and
Anyway, this this pastor called me. I
Had in college got it really heavily into breeding and showing and raising German Shepherd dogs
Said this pastor knew that so he had brought this black lab puppy
And he he called me out of the blue and said I bought I got this puppy. I know you raised dogs
I need some help
Can you come over and kind of just get me started like food and how to care for it?
And so I spent the day with him
We went shopping about whatever he needed and then he invited Kathy and I over for dinner at their house
He and his wife had a barbecue and then we were sitting around in their little living room
After dinner just talking
About a whole bunch of different stuff mainly about you know, the draft because this was like a month
Before the draft the NFL draft and by that point, I don't know a senior
Why and it's Kathy's same age. Yes. Well, she's actually no
She's actually a year about nine months younger than me
so I'd already finished my senior year and really went to the NFL combine and
Did really well there?
to where my my
That tension toward me was just going like this
Leading up to the draft like the 49ers flew me out a week and a half to two weeks before the draft
They flew eight guys up
I was one of the eight and they said you eight are gonna be our first three picks and that was true
And I wasn't one of those three
but this
All that was all in the media constantly
The pastor knew all that because he watched the news, he read the papers,
but he wanted the conversation shifted at some point to how is our marriage and how is,
was mainly about our marriage. And through that, I think he was able to kind of figure out that
we had no Jesus in the middle of it. And so at about 9.30, 10 o'clock at night,
he systematically kind of walked us through the, the salvation message, what it means,
and clearly laid it out. Clearly laid it out just to, by the end of, end of all that,
Kathy and I looked at each other and we said, wow, we were just blown away. And this,
this is what we exactly what we're missing in his home in Hawaii. And about 11 PM at night,
by that point, he led us through a prayer to where we confess with our mouth, Jesus is Lord,
and truly believe that in our heart as Romans 10 says, and gave him our future, put it in his hands
because we were making a mess of it and how that led to, so that was just amazing. It was a special,
amazing time. And then for the weeks following leading up to the draft, I literally almost met
with him daily, this pastor, who I still stay in contact with till today, just to give me a
foundation of the Bible, like in parts, like the first five books, and there's different parts of
the Bible. So I, knowing that if I do get drafted, and if I get drafted, like they're saying, which
is going to be pretty high, that I'll probably be gone right away. And so he didn't want me leaving
without that. So I committed to him to meet with him. Sure enough, the draft comes, draft day was
at her house, her parents house on Oahu, my pretty much my whole family, which is a big family,
and her family all in this big, huge family room. And we're watching the first round.
I wasn't expected to go first, but there were a lot of teams that were talking to my agent saying
that I could very well be anywhere from an early second, but I was definitely gonna be a first day
guy. And they were looking more and more in the second round, which is what ended up happening.
So right as the telecast went out on pick 58, ESPN went out, they closed up the coverage,
and my phone rang, literally as the TV coverage was going down, because they had 60 picks.
And I was the number 60th pick. And so the phone rang, it was the chargers. They basically said,
how would you like to be a charger? I said, I would love to be a charger. And the room exploded.
And they had already picked me. Literally, I was on a plane that night.
They flew me out. We had a quick little party at my dad's at our home that we grew up in.
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
Diego. Everything, my whole life just changed overnight. I'm glad I had that time with
Pastor Dave Ellion back in Hawaii to just ground me in that, because I didn't know what was about
to happen in the months to come, but I really needed that. So I leave, I have a mini camp
that same week, like a rookie mini camp, which I do well. And then we have a full-blown mini
camp with the veterans, do really well there. We think we had three mini camps leading up to
training camp. I did well in all of them to the extent where they named me going into training
camp as their starter at left tackle. Wow. That's amazing.
Basically said, that's my job to lose. That was in the press, in the papers. I was obviously
pretty stoked about that. So first day of training camp, all those mini camps are in shorts,
which mean nothing in football, other than you're quick and you're fast and you're athletic.
But that's all you really get. You don't get the other stuff that involve go with linemen.
And so first day of camp, I leave the locker room, there's all the media, they want to
talk. So I talked to them and go down to the field where everyone is
practice is about to get started. We get warmed up, split up into individual groups.
And then about 40 minutes into it, they blow the horn,
meaning that we're going to, the first time the offense,
number one offense, against number one defense,
are going to go at each other.
It's a running drill.
All the plays are running.
There's no passing in this drill.
It's called nine on seven.
So there's nine defensive guys against seven offensive guys.
Every team does it, college, high school, pros,
it's the same.
Run of play, I think it was either the second
or the third play of this first drill in full pads
as a charger started left tackle.
I'm at the left tackle position.
This is like a, it's a very common play
where the guard and the tackle on the opposite end
are going to pull down the line.
All the other linemen are going to be blocking back.
And the guard is going to kick out
the defensive end on the far side.
And the tackle is going to lead up the hole.
And the running back is literally right behind that guy.
That's me.
So I'm leading up the hole.
I ain't my guy.
And the linebacker tries to shoot underneath me.
I plant in a split second to try to get my hands on him.
And I feel a tear in my foot, like a pop, tear, something
break.
It just, I actually heard it.
So I immediately go to the ground.
And trainers come to my aid to see what's going on.
They moved the drill down like 10 more yards
and kept practice going while I'm being
looked at by the trainers.
And I couldn't move my foot at all.
It felt like something was broken.
And I couldn't put any weight on it.
So they cart me off, put me on a big flatbed cart,
and cart me off to the locker room to where I'm all by myself.
They pack it with ice, put it on a pad,
shut the lights off in the training room,
and said, we'll see you when practice is done.
And I'm there in this training room all by myself.
And just all kind of emotions running through my body,
through my mind, like anger, frustration, disappointment.
Why, God?
Why is this?
Of course.
Yeah.
Why this?
So they take an x-ray right after practice
where they could clearly see that something was definitely
wrong.
So what it was is it's called the posterior tibula tendon
that runs down the inside of your thigh, goes on your calf.
It attaches to your arch, on the inside
of your arch of your foot.
And it kind of is really important
with the movement of your toes.
Without that, that had detached from the bone.
It ripped right off the bone.
So they immediately said, well, they already
knew or thought that I wasn't going to be able to play
that year, but they were already looking
for a replacement guy for me.
And they needed to do an MRI to rule out
because they thought maybe even the tendon might
have been compromised.
And if that was the case, I was totally done.
We didn't be able to play on it.
I was on the injury roller coaster ride,
emotional roller coaster ride for a day and a half
where none of my teammates, none of my coaches
could even engage with me.
It was like I was a walking dead man.
Yeah.
And you don't even know these people well.
I mean, you just got there.
Not really that well.
I mean, I know the lineman pretty well,
but it was just such a, there was so much hype built up
about me that I was going to be this young guy
to come in at left tackle to now I'm done.
So you're thinking about your career being over.
That's what they were saying.
Wow.
And so the thoughts running through my head
at that point were pretty intense.
So the following days is when the MRI was scheduled.
So they gave me a golf cart to get around on.
I was immobilized in a walking boot with crutches.
I'm watching the afternoon practice.
It's about 2.30, three o'clock in the afternoon in San Diego.
I was just really discouraged.
Just like, this sucks.
And I got in my,
well, I was already in the cart watching practice.
I just drove my cart back to my dorm room.
Wanted to call Kathy and see what she was doing.
I just didn't even want to watch football.
I was just so messed up.
side emotionally. Kathy was there at the practice. She saw the whole thing happen. She was there
with some other friends. She had instantly called back home on a rotary phone, because we didn't
have cell phones yet, saying, Hey, something's really bad has happened to Leo. I don't know what
it is, but they carded him off the field, that we need to start praying for him. So got a whole
bunch of people back home praying for me. So that next day, when I leave to go back to the
dorm room, I call her from the rotary phone in my dorm room. And she's like super upbeat.
She's like, actually happy. And she's sharing all this stuff that the Lord has been showing her.
She was immersing herself in the word with miracles and with faith. Anything to do with
faith or miracles, she was reading it and she was proclaiming it. And so she wanted to share some
of that with me. And so I in the dorm room, I'm sitting on a couch. It's not a fancy dorm room,
pretty basic. I'm laying down. She starts reading some scriptures. Then she gets to
Ephesians chapter six, starting in verse 10 through 17, where it talks about the armor,
the armor of God. But before that, how it's not a battle of flesh and blood, but of principalities
and powers in the heavenly places. And so she's reading it to me. I'm laying prone on the couch.
And I literally feel in my left leg, which was the injured leg. I feel like you know how when your
foot loses circulation and it goes numb and then the circulation comes back and you get that
tingly feeling. That's the feeling I felt as she's reading Ephesians six to me. I was like, what is
what? And I'm just closing my eyes, listening to her voice. I had to read it a second time.
She got all the way to the end. I said, can you read it again? By that time I was buckling off
the buckles of the brace, the big boot. I felt prompting to try and move my foot. I could move
my foot forward, backwards, turn it around with zero pain. And I just started weeping, bawling.
My goodness. And Kathy's like, worried, like, are you okay? I explained to her what was going on,
what was happening. God literally on the spot, put that tendon back together. That night,
so when I shared it with her, yeah, it was a great time of just rejoicing and thanksgiving.
But I had still had this MRI scheduled at like seven o'clock. Trainer picks me up,
takes me down to the place where they're going to do the image. And for the whole time I'm in that
little tube, the MRI tube, the enemy is taunting me, crazy stuff. Like God didn't heal your foot.
You're going back to Hawaii and be working the sugar cane. It's just crazy. You're going to be
a security guard or whatever. And so I am being a kind of a fairly new baby in Christ. I didn't
know a whole lot of scripture by memory, but I knew a couple. And the two that jumped out to
me during that time in the tube was greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.
And I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. So for 55 minutes or so, I'm
literally audibly saying that pretty loud and they have a microphone in it. So you're kind of,
you're speaking out over myself for 55 minutes. I'm doing it. The trainer,
when I'm done, the trainer's waiting for me. He takes me back to the, to the college where we're
at and I sleep soundly, wake up the next morning, go to the training room and the trainer sees me
coming in and he like weighs me and like, like, get over here. I go back there. I put the boot
back on, but I didn't really need it. I put the boot back on and I'm going in there and he goes,
and he's from Hawaii. He's a local guy. So he has a little local kind of, we had that
local way of talking to each other. He goes, brother, I don't know what happened, but
the MRI is absolutely clean. They can't see anything wrong with your tendon. Everything is
fine. And yeah, so looking back and Kathy and I often talk about it and every time I share it,
I believe that God allowed that, that whole thing to play out and to happen.
Kind of like a memorial stone for us where he had the Israelites go back into where they
crossed and get these stones to remember.
I think that was meant for us to walk through that really dark period.
God was going to heal me of it and that we would always be able to, that was like a stake
in the ground in our faith and that we could always go back to and remember when, and we
still do to today and we have throughout the years.
I ended up playing my whole rookie year and God's sense of humor allowed me to be a consensus
all-rookie.
I made every single one of the all-rookie teams, played a left tackle, played against
some really talented, good players my first year out of the gate.
I was all within, see I got saved in March and this was now September of the same year.
All that had happened, I got injured, got healed, and then ended up playing the whole
year out at left tackle and was on my way.
Did you ever have an injury in that foot again?
Did not.
My goodness.
No problems.
It was completely, supernaturally healed.
Zero problems ever with that foot.
So what did that do to you and Kathy's faith and trust in God as you moved into the NFL?
It's like being shot out of a canyon, man.
It would just skyrocketed our faith.
I don't put any limitations on what God wants to do and obviously we leave as to the timing
to Him because maybe He needs to work things out in individuals and He's waiting for certain
things to happen.
But as far as Him being able to do the supernatural, no one can tell me otherwise because I lived
through it myself.
So Leo, what would you say after that would be, I mean that's a pretty big highlight,
that right there.
Is there anything else that you would say as you walked out your career as a Christian
NFL player that stands out spiritually?
I think it was just all the many guys and gals, the couples that we met over the years.
We were all in from day one and like for instance, my rookie year, God knowing that I needed
someone in the locker room to hold me accountable, a teammate that is walking the same thing.
He partnered me up with this, I think at that point he was probably in his 11th year veteran,
but he was a cornerback, small little guy, but knew the Word.
He was just so grounded in the Bible, in the Word.
And he really challenged me with scripture memorization.
And so we became really, really close, he and I, his name is Gilbert, he's still alive.
He's in the Chargers Hall of Fame.
But just certain ones that God has brought up across our path, those are the special
memories that I have from that point of view in the NFL, is walking out.
Because the NFL in itself is so phony, it's so superficial, it's so shallow.
You see people showing up to games.
We still laugh, Kathy and I still laugh about this, and they're wearing like these ridiculous
like mink coats to a football game.
Earrings, diamond earrings.
It's the posing capital of the epitome of it.
It's like, who's got the nicest cars, who's got this and that.
Kathy would show up in a sweatsuit.
She refused to succumb to that type of stuff.
And she would bring all our kids to every game, home game, away games, they'd just stay
in them because it was just too much involved with travel and all that.
So I'm just glad that we had all that happened to us early, that we never had to deal with
a lot of the traps that so many deal with, especially after they're done playing.
The divorce rate in the NFL is astronomical.
I think it's like in the high 80s or 90% like after you're done playing.
It's pretty dismal.
So did you guys like have Bible studies and things like that?
So we did.
Did they help keep you strong?
We always had a core group on every team.
For the most part, we always, aside from one or two years, we hosted it at our house where
we'd have a dozen or so guys with their spouses come over and we would just have some amazing,
amazing times, man.
break bread. So usually every team has a chaplain. So the chaplain usually would
facilitate that. We had a great one in the Rams in LA. He was really
involved. We became really close friends with that guy. His name was Chuck
Obrimsky. So but with every team, the chaplain would kind of facilitate
that for the believers. So he would do the service on Sunday before the game,
but he also do the just the weekly stuff. Just the needs of people on the
team. He was always there in the locker room. And then we'd always have a night.
Usually it would usually be on Monday nights because Tuesday's the day off.
Would either be on Monday or Tuesday. Would be a full-blown Bible study for
our group. So how many guys, you know, you played on three teams. What would you say
kind of, if you could estimate, how many guys are really solid, fired up for the
Lord on any given NFL team, in your opinion? I would say there's a probably
usually a minimum of 10. I'm talking really solid guys. Because there's
not that many on the team. Yeah. So that's, I mean, you know, college is
huge, but pros, they really narrow it down. How many guys on a team? So now it's
53 active, but then you have the practice squad guys. We would include
them too in Bible studies and such. But active players now are 53. When I played
it was 50. It was a little more. I think it was like 57. Closer to 60. But they've
narrowed it down since over the years to 53. So Leo, changing the subject a little
bit. What would be a highlight of your NFL career? Like is there something
that stands out as amazing and a special memory for you? By far, probably be my
first, my rookie year when my dad first got to see me play. That's great. I was
going to ask you about that. So I was starting, we were playing the Raiders at
home in San Diego. They were announcing the offense. I got announced out. I knew
where they were sitting. And me and my dad over the years, all my brothers kind
of did it. And I kind of followed suit is we would always kind of know where he
was sitting in the stadium. Nice. And we would always, I even did it. I did it all
throughout college. And I even found myself doing it. I'm a professional player
now. It's getting this from him, that sign of, yes. That was it. It was just
this, but this, this communicated so much. And so here I am, we're playing as
the Raiders. I had a great game. We won the game. I bring my mom and dad on the
field. We take this picture that all the family has. We have it back at our house.
My, all my brothers have it. Me and mom and dad, our first game. To me, and it
wasn't really the game itself. It's what happened after the game. So we just were
about to close on our first home. We bought a home in Rancho Bernardo, which
is a, was at that time a pretty new community. It's a bustling community now.
But it was our first home. We had, out of the gate, we rented an apartment near the
stadium because we just wanted to figure things out and not make a rash
decision right away. So we didn't buy a big home. We just rented a apartment so
we had time to kind of sort things out. But we ended up doing that right before
the end of the season. We had this time where, well, we were actually showing them
the house. The house was being finished. They're putting in carpet and just the
finishing touches on the home. And it was on a Monday. The game was on Sunday. And
usually, you have to go back to the stadium on Monday for a film review and a
short little workout. So we had like a brunch. We showed them the house. And
then I'm looking at my watch, I gotta get going already because I had to drive
into back to the stadium, which is like a half an hour drive. So I kissed my mom,
Kathy, goodbye. My dad overheard that. And so I opened the garage door and there he
is. He's like waiting for me. And he just broke down. How proud and what just
the whole it was, he verified that Yeah, this was definitely his dream for
himself. He basically said you made all my dreams come true. Just just watching
your dad being there and watching everything in real life. He was not bad
going back in his mind when I was a little guy. And kind of rehashing that
with me. Yeah. And so we both kind
lost it. I gave him a hug. I kind of wish now that I kind of cherish it, but I was really
pushing up against the clock that I needed to leave. But just having that time with him was
super special. Yeah, super special. And then how many more games did he get to see before he died?
So I think just a couple. Yeah, because he died going into my second year.
Yeah. He was young wasn't he? He was 62. Wow. So even that, that's a pretty cool,
not a cool story, but it's a good one to mention in that. So we just had our second child,
our daughter, Allie, who's now 31. So this is, she's born on July 1st. Training camp was starting
in a couple of weeks. We just bought her home from the hospital, bringing an infant home. You know,
I wasn't, she was, I was still in full blown working out mode. Kathy calls my sister back
home to get addresses to mail out baby announcements to the family and different ones.
And then my dad happens to be right around there, hears them talking, says, I want to talk to Leo
when you're done. And I, and I could hear Kathy say, Oh, I think he's around here. Let me go look
where he's at. And I knew with that bet that he wanted, that dad wanted to talk to me. And I was
like, this was like late at night already. And I was tired. I was beat tired. I wanted to go to bed
and I told Kathy, tell him I'll call him tomorrow morning. And he goes, no, no, hold on. He's right
here. And she gives me the phone. We ended up talking, we ended up talking for like an hour
and a half, hour and a half. It was long, man. It was all about football. What was going on with
the holdouts and camp and all this stuff. And as we're wrapping up the conversation, he tells me
how proud he was again, and that he's going to call me in a few days when I actually do report
before I report to camp and that the whole family is, is praying for me. And then the last thing he
says is to take care of that little girl, meaning our daughter that we just bought off from the
hospital. They hang up, I'm fast asleep, get off. My phone is ringing. It's like two 30, three o'clock
in the morning. I pick it up. It's my brother. His voice is all kind of, I can barely make out
what he's saying. Cause he's, his voice is all kind of choked up. And he basically breaks the
news that dad passed away right at home from a massive heart attack. Just dropped like literally
four hours after I had that conversation with him, four or five hours, he was gone.
Wow. That's so cool. You had like a whole hour and a half just to talk and chat and be yourself.
Just a normal conversation with dad. Yeah. Yeah. And, and it was your last one.
The last one. That's the last one. So that whole process was pretty,
pretty stressful. I had to come home, Kathy and I flew home. Luckily our,
my in-laws were already in San Diego, so they stayed with the young ones
while Kathy and I just hopped on a plane the next morning, flew home,
stayed home at the plan, all the services and all that training camp had started,
worked it out with the team. They knew what was going on. They were fine. Just say,
take whatever time you need. So I ended up missing the first couple, two days of camp
and, um, had the services flew right back that night. And I was right in the grind, man, like
instantly didn't have any time to grieve or nothing. Just like got to go earn my job again.
And, um, it was kind of cool in that every night, pretty much, I was having dreams of my childhood
with my dad in it for like during that whole, like for, for a couple of weeks, I would have
these dreams, like vivid dreams. But one in particular was, um, it shook me up so much
that I was like, wow, what was that all about? Um, it was basically when I went back to the
Lord with it, um, to kind of piece it together, he was showing me that all my life, since I started
playing, since I was 12 years old, I played for the sole purpose to honor my earthly dad.
Hmm. And then that broke his heart. Yeah. And I needed to repent of that. And then I did on the
spot. Wow. And from that point, when I did that to where every time I stepped on the field, from
that point forward, everything was different. I played it. I would, I would venture to say I
played my best football then. My goodness. Is when I was playing for the one and only.
Wow. So you not only don't have.
any kind of a father wound.
It's the complete opposite of a father wound.
It's a father idol ship.
That's what it was.
I needed to repent of that.
Yeah.
Wow.
Well, you know, that's just so rare.
It is.
It's rare, man, that you had a dad that was that involved,
cared that much, and was actually that verbal about it.
I hear these stories all the time from men.
That's what we do around here is with men's ministry.
And they say things like, well, I know my dad loved me, but...
Yeah.
...or I know my dad cared about me, but...
And so there's very little interaction...
Right.
...between sons or even daughters and their dads
because men are just not as good verbally.
Yeah.
We're just not as emotional.
Yeah.
And, I mean, my dad, I have a great relationship with my dad,
but it wouldn't even be on that part either,
like you're talking about.
So what a great blessing for you, Leo.
Yeah.
It was truly a blessing to at least have that revelation of...
Because the last thing, and I didn't even realize it,
but through these dreams I was having, that's what was coming forth.
That was the end result of it.
I wonder if that was a little of a catharsis, a grieving, in a positive way.
It most likely was.
You know, some people have dreams and they have memories
that are just totally etched upon their heart that are super negative.
Right.
Mine was the complete opposite.
Yeah.
That's so awesome.
How long were your parents married?
They were married, I think they were already in their closing in on 40 years
or close to it.
So they married young.
Really young.
Yeah.
So what's your background as far as your ethnicity?
So both sides, I have Portuguese.
So for mom and dad.
So mom was half Portuguese, half Hawaiian.
Her mom was pure Hawaiian.
And then my dad's side is half Portuguese
and the other half is European, like English.
Now was he big?
Was he a big guy?
Wide.
How tall?
He was probably six foot.
Okay.
So that's the thing, right?
All the boys, if you were to stack us all up from the oldest to me, it was like this.
So that's why dad wanted a couple more.
He was projected out so that I could have.
So that's why he wanted 10 kids.
Yeah, because he just seen them getting bigger and bigger.
He just figured if that eighth one, that Leo doesn't make it,
I need two more to get a shot in the NFL.
Yeah.
That's a cool story.
Well, bless you, Leo.
I mean, this is really good.
I didn't know the last part about.
And you told me about the phone call.
I do know about that, but I didn't know the dreams and the stuff that happened later.
God is good.
You finished out your whole career as a believer.
I mean, you never wavered.
You actually got more fired up, it seems like, as the years went by.
And you told me even about some of the, which we don't have time to go into now,
but just some of the disappointments with some of the people who called themselves Christians
and kind of took advantage, tried to take advantage of you.
But you didn't seem to let that scar you or build up any bitterness.
You were still going to follow Christ.
Well, that's the thing.
That's the big takeaway for everyone is what I would want them to get is that.
He allows us, God allows us to go through things.
I think a lot of times for our growth, because that's where we truly,
it's like in the NFL or in any sports you have walkthroughs, right?
You go through and the true test is in the game.
But it's all the preparation leading up to that.
I think God allows us to go through a similar type of thing where he shows us things.
Then he'll have us go through it.
Sometimes it's very difficult, but it's to get us to another place in faith,
in understanding, and he's done that so many times with us.
You don't really understand it all, but when you get on the other side of it,
it all seems to make sense why you had to go through what you went through.
That's right.
Well, men and women, you that are listening to this or watching this,
there's really not any difference in your job and what you do than what Leo has done or I do.
Some people get more notoriety for it,
but the reality is that being a witness for Christ,
continuing to walk with him is really the answer and the solution for everything.
We're going to go through disappointments.
We're going to get injured.
We might get injured emotionally.
We might get injured spiritually.
spiritually, we might get injured mentally. And I want to
just challenge you guys from Leo's story, that you hang in
there, don't quit, you're gonna get knocked down, you're gonna
get faked out, you're gonna go and some of you carry scars from
your past. And I think Leo, you would say that everybody has
something, right? And then you got to just kind of put the
uniform back on every day. That's right. And go back out on
the field in the arena. Exactly right. So yeah, so I have, I've
had nine surgeries. Hello, in my playing career, a bunch of
knees, you got to go through that whole process of dealing
with that, and then strengthening yourself to get
back to a level to where you can compete. And it's, it's something
that I've had to do nine different times. Why so many? I
don't know. But, but what came out of it is just a resilience.
Yeah. A resilience of Okay, this is a problem, but I can get
through it. And God is gonna be with me through it. And through
that, I think just became incremental pieces of added
strength given to me, or capacity that I probably
wouldn't have had if I hadn't gone through it. Yeah,
everything was as peachy. Yeah, peachy, rosy. Yeah, that's so
good. That's so good. Well, thanks, Leo. I just I feel like
I could just talk to you for another couple hours. But thanks
for giving your time to this. And thanks for being a friend, a
blood stained ally, for me and for my family. And thanks for I
mean, for all of you out there. If you can imagine going
whitewater rafting with one of the people in the boat being
around 300. You can realize that we were a little low in the
water. But it was still a lot of fun. It was a blast. Yes. All
right, bro. Thank you. God bless you guys. Thanks for the next
podcast. Come check it out. We were constantly putting out new
stuff. And great to have you watching it. And thank you.
Thank you.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai