("Ahead of My Time" by Oliver Grey)

- Hello, and welcome to the first edition

of Going the Distance, where we talk

everything faith and sports,

featuring stories of players and coaches

about their pursuit of excellence

day in and day out.

I'm Shawn Brown, and whatbetter way to kick off

this first episode than with a story

about a small sports media company

that explains the relevanceof faith and sports.

From CBN News, here's Caitlin Burke.

- A small, faith-based media organization

is beating out major networks like ESPN

when it comes to Christian athletes

with a story to tell.

It's called Sports Spectrum.

- [Announcer] Welcome tothe Sports Spectrum Podcast,

where faith and sports collide.

Here's your host, Jason Romano.

- In the world of ESPN

and the world of Fox and the world of CNN

or any other large network,

they're doing their best, in my opinion,

to keep the name of Jesus out.

'Cause they wanna be, youknow, politically correct.

But with us, we're actuallybringing the name of Jesus

back into the conversation.

We want it there.

- [Caitlin] And so do the athletes.

They go to Sports Spectrumso the most important

part of their story gets out to the fans.

- These athletes are coming to us

and saying "We wanna tell this story"

"but Jesus is a part of who we are.

"That's the center of what we are,

"and we wanna make surethat's in the conversation."

So when an NFL playercomes to us and wants to

announce his retirement,

and does it through Sports Spectrum,

the reasoning is

because he wants that faithelement left in there,

not taken out.

- [Caitlin] While itsmagazine is often described

as a Christian Sports Illustrated,

Sports Spectrum serveda rather small audience.

In order to change that,

the 30 year old company looked to ESPN

and recruited Romano to expand the brand

through a new podcast.

- I had a lot of great relationships

with a bunch of differentathletes at ESPN,

many who are Christians.

And so when I left, Iwas able to tell them

about this thing called Sports Spectrum

and what we were doing.

- Romano interviews professional athletes

on a regular basis,sharing their faith stories

with the world.

He knows the type ofvulnerability he's asking of them,

because he's gone publicwith his own journey.

- In 2014, for the very first time,

I was asked to speak to a men's group

about 30 minutes from my house

here in Bristol, Connecticut.

That was the very first time

that I ever shared,

and from that,

a couple other smallspeaking things opened up.

Through those couple things,

I started to share stories,

including the story of myfather and forgiveness.

- [Caitlin] In talking about his own life,

Romano realized the gift

of true story telling.

- When we share our stories,

it allows other people to

to feel and understand and relate.

It allows them to kindof enter into this place

where they can start to healin their own brokenness.

- [Caitlin] It's a concepthe tries to get across

when interviewing athletes.

- Wanna talk about yourfaith for a minute,

where that started.

When you can pull that out of them,

or ask the right question,

or get them to open up,

it really leads to adeeper level of discussion

that is powerful.

And I can't tell you the amount of people

that have listened to ourinterviews and our podcast

and then tweeted at meor e-mailed me and said

"Listen, you don't knowhow this has helped me,

this is amazing."

- [Caitlin] Romano feltcalled to take his own story

one step further.

From speaker, to author.

- God had something bigger planned

than just me sharing alittle story about my dad.

And through that, opportunities came

to speak more.

But then an opportunity towrite a book came about.

- [Caitlin] The book iscalled Live to Forgive,

which chronicles his lifewith an alcoholic father.

- My dad and I had a brokenrelationship for 40 years.

Then I became a Christian in 2001,

I gave my life to Christ andI started walking with him.

But even after that, and I knewwhat forgiveness was about,

I knew that's the crux ofwhat Jesus did on the cross,

forgiving us of our sins,

and yet I told people aboutthat, I wanted people to hear

about the message ofsalvation through Christ

and yet, in my own personalrelationship with my dad,

I couldn't extend that forgiveness to him.

- [Caitlin] Until his fatherreached a point so low

he attempted suicide.

It was then Romano saw Godand his dad in a new light.

- God looks at my dad onthe same playing field,

even, loves him justthe same as he loves me.

And that was the moment whenI had this empathy towards

him and saw how Christ truly does love

every single one of us,

when I had to forgive him.

- [Caitlin] That set Romano free.

And he sees people undergoa similar experience

after they hear his story,

and those of the athletes he interviews.

- [Athlete] And to be ableto share that faith together,

it's what you want.

- [Caitlin] While Romano never felt called

to be a story teller,

God clearly had other plans.

Caitlin Burke, CBN News,Bristol, Connecticut.

- Great piece, Caitlin.

Well, big up to our friends over there

at Sports Spectrum.

I worked with them for years,

and like Jason said, Christian athletes,

whether they'reprofessional or in college,

they wanna share their faith.

They want that side of their story told

along with their athletic prowess.

It makes sense, because they

are more than just athletes.

Well, coming up, heshocked the football world

with an upset over Virginia Tech.

But the biggest shock cameat the end of the season.

Stay with us.

(upbeat music)

Welcome back to Going the Distance.

Old Dominion Universityquarterback Blake LaRussa

rocked the college football world

when he lead the Monarchs toan upset over Virginia Tech.

When the 2018 season was over,

he announced that he was goingto forego his senior year

to enroll in seminary school.

Talk about having yourpriorities in order.

Let's take a look.

It's the game that Old DominionUniversity football fans

are going to be talkingabout for years to come.

The day the Monarchs upset the top ranked

Virginia Tech Hokies 49 to 35.

But the underlying story is that of

quarterback Blake LaRussa,

who came in off the benchto lead his team to victory.

As a walk on in 2015, hiscareer started out a bit rocky.

He won the starting jobin 2017 only to lose it

after just two weeks.

But during the game against Virginia Tech,

his number was called once again.

He recalls what happenedleading up to the game,

starting with a sermonhe heard from a pastor.

- And what he was sayingwas, talking about David,

he said "I didn't come thisfar not to throw my rock."

Talking about David andGoliath here, which,

a day before, Sunday morning,I wake up thinking about

our chances to beat Tech, like 1%.

I remember thinking to myself,I bet that's what David's

odds were to beat Goliath,pretty much nothing.

And now it's like, whoa, God,you speaking to me right now?

Just thinking to myself,if I get in, I'm gonna

throw that rock.

- On the second drive of the game,

Blake went in and the rest is history.

He threw for 495 yards

and four touchdowns.

You threw a whole lotof stones, my friend.

And they caught them,and brought them down.

- I really can't take all that credit.

Those guys are incredible,

Travis Fulghan, John Duhart,they played their tails off.

Jeremy Cox, I mean, we literally had

all the cylinders rolling that game,

it wasn't just me.

- ODU quarterback Blake LaRussa

stunned the college football world

when he lead the Monarchs to a victory

over Virginia Tech.

But the biggest surprise came at

the end of the 2018 season

when he dropped abombshell on his coaches,

letting them know that he was

switching from reading defenses

to studying the Bible.

- And I remember I was inthe library here at ODU

and I was doing my reading for the day.

I had my Bible and I was reading through

Acts chapter 18.

But the second I was done reading

within me, I heard this "Iwant you to go place to place."

Those were the words the Lord spoke to me

and I had this new calling

that was nothing what I expected.

- [Shawn] Blake neveranticipated ministry being

added to his playbook.

He wasn't sure what thatmeant for his football future.

- I remember talkingto some close friends,

close pastors of mine,and I remember speaking

with them about it,

and they all gave me thesame but wise advice of,

"Right now you're here.Just focus on the here.

"God will show you the pathdown the road when He needs to."

- [Shawn] Blake's performanceduring the 2018 season

ensured that the startingjob was his to lose.

Once the season was over,

he felt a shift in his heart.

- I noticed withinmyself, all I want to do

is go into ministry right now.

Yes, do I love football?

Did I love football the whole season?

Absolutely.

I still love football so much.

But as far as my passions going forward,

it's all into ministry.

- [Shawn] Blake began searchingfor a degree that matched

his desired area of ministry.

- I come across a degree in exactly

what the Lord had called me to.

The degree was itinerant evangelism.

And itinerant, meaningtraveling from place to place.

- [Shawn] It was then that Blake decided

to forego his senior season

to enroll in seminary to pursue

his Masters of Divinity.

Of course the biggest questionon everyone's mind was

"Why now?"

- What I can say

to try to be as most clearas I can about it is,

when you know, you know.

And so it was somethingwhere I just, I knew

with everything in me.

And I didn't need everybodyto fully understand it either

because, you know,something that God taught me

throughout this process in December

was, whose voice are yougoing to listen to more?

You gonna listen to my voice more?

You gonna listen to people more?

And obviously God givesus people in our lives

to give us good, Godly advice.

For sure.

But I came to a point where Iknew that I knew that I knew

this is where God's taking me.

I know that from what I'm hearing from him

and I know that frommy own heart's desires.

- [Shawn] When Blake told his coaches,

they were in full support.

- Your natural reaction, selfishly,

and I'll admit, I think allof us coaches I'll just admit,

selfishly, is, how do I getthis kid to change his mind?

Once I knew that he was comfortable,

that he would never have regret,

then I was fine on my end.

- I said "Blake you're 23 years old.

"You're gonna live til you're 90.

"I know you are.

"You're gonna live til you're 90.

"So you've got 67 years to serve."

And I said "Just take a week to reflect.

"And let's come back andlet's visit again next week."

And when he came back the next week,

he was still very muchstrong in his conviction

of what he wanted to do.

And I respected that, I appreciate that.

I don't have any remorseor any negative feelings

toward his decision,because he's doing something

for the right reason.

- Now with the support ofhis teammates and coaches,

Blake is focused ongraduating in spring of 2019.

Though he hasn't announceda seminary school yet,

his eyes are set on the routethe Lord has for him to run.

- My passion, my greatest desire,

is to tell people about Jesus,

to preach the gospel,

to let people know who this Jesus is,

that loves them, who diedfor them on the cross,

and then, you know, put their faith in him

and that's my greatest desire

and I want people to know that.

- Man, that takes thephrase "Put God first" to

a whole new level, wow.

Now Blake will announcewhere he will enroll

for seminary some time in the spring.

So be sure to keep tabs on that.

Right now though, wehave someone who knows

a little bit about the decision Blake made

because he made a similar one

when he decided to leave the NFL

simply because he didn't feel it was

God's call on his life.

My good friend, former NFLrunning back Glen Coffee

joins us now via Skype.

Glen, it's good to be with you, brother.

What's going on, man?

- Nothing much, it's good to be here.

Thanks for having me.

- Now I know you can relate to this story,

what Blake is going through.

At one time you were top running back

out of Alabama, drafted in the third round

to the 49ers.

Great rookie season

but heading into your sophomore season,

or your second season in the league,

you went through some changes.

Can you describe whatthe changes were for you

and why you decided notto continue your career?

- You know, when people ask me about that,

that time in my life,

they feel like I did itfor a specific reason,

you know, one of thosereasons being the ministry,

another reason being

to join the military.

But really it was adecision that I had been

struggling with for years.

When I first got to Alabama,

I questioned whether I was

I guess, meant to play in the NFL.

But my whole life I hadworked toward that goal

and my whole life peopleexpected me to do that.

So it was somethingthat I would always put

in the back of my mind

and just try not to revisit.

But after my first year in the league

it just surfaced again.

As I said, it was somethingI had to deal with

for a number of years.

So at that particular time, itwas just one of those things

where I just said "Alright,God, I'm not happy,

"I'm depressed, the money isn't helping.

"The fame is definitely making it worse."

So I decided to leave the sport.

- Now, I know a lot ofthis had to do with you,

at some point, you reallyjust wanted to obey God,

I mean, there was sucha burden placed on you.

What advise do you havefor Blake or anyone

that's going through a similar situation

whether they're either going to the NFL

or whatever it is that God has for them,

just being obedient.

Can you speak to that?

- Yeah,

that's the hard part.

Because a lot of people know scripture.

A lot of people go to church.

A lot of people have a personalrelationship with Jesus.

But being obedient is likemore than half the battle.

I feel that once you'reobedient to God that

the Bible says that ifyou chase after him,

it'll show you the truedesires of your heart.

And that was the thing with me,

I had a bunch of desires andwants and stuff like that,

but I never really understoodwhat my true desires were

because I was always thinking"What does Glen Coffee want?

"What does Glen Coffee want?"

instead of just beingsilent and being still.

And I sit here as a 31 year old today and

I'm just now getting to the point to where

I can kind of be still andsay "Lord, where do you

"want me to be?"

- Hey, well, I wanna thankyou for joining us, man.

Thanks so much for taking time out, man.

God bless you, brother.

And we'll talk soon, okay?

- Okay, thank you, Shawn.

- Alright, brother.

Well coming up, he's one of the smallest

offensive linemen in the NFL.

And he's gonna show us howto be successful on the field

and in life.

After this.

(R&B music)

Welcome back to Going the Distance.

Now we're gonna switch gears a little bit

to a segment I call Positions that Teach,

where we talk to players and ask them,

in every sport, every position,

what they've learned aboutplaying their position.

So let's head out to Texas

to a town just south ofDallas called Mahaya,

home to one of thesmallest offensive linemen

in the NFL, New York Jetsleft tackle Kelvin Beachum.

I caught up with Kelvin after one of his

annual football camps

to talk about how he's been so successful

against bigger, faster,sometimes stronger guys.

And he says it's all about foundation.

Smallest offensive lineman,smallest left tackle,

whatever you wanna say,

a lot of times you're facing

bigger,

just big guys.

- Correct.

- Most guys 6'5, 315 or more.

- 315 or more.

- Okay.

Those offensive linemenbut those defensive ends,

linebackers, a littlemore agile, you've gotta

keep everybody out, keepeverybody off the quarterback.

- That's true.

- And so, tell me, how are you successful?

Your foundation has to be key.

- Correct.

- Tell me about that.

- It is, the foundation iswhere everything starts.

If your feet not right, ifyour stance is not right,

if the beginning of your play,the foundation of any play,

is not right, that playwon't be successful.

But it all starts in yourfoundation, your feet.

And making sure thosethings are in the right

position

to get you where you need to go.

- A lot of times, people always say,

when you're an offensivelineman and you wanna block,

on your toes,

and after talking earlier,I know you mentioned,

you said "No, you don'tnecessarily wanna be on your toes."

- Well, look, if I'm onmy toes and you push me,

I don't have much.

Push me.

I don't have much.

- You all saw that right?

- But I got my feet in theground, try to push me.

- Got a little morebal--little more sturdy.

- I'm a little bit more sturdy.

But if I'm on my toes, again, go again.

- Right.

- I don't have much.- Right.

- And you cannot play onyour toes in the game.

You play on your toes,you can be on your toes

and lean forward, and that can be bad.

You can be on your toesand get rocked back.

And that can be bad and can cause you to

lose too much ground.

So you have to haveyour feet in the ground.

A solid foundation, a good base.

And with that good base comes power.

When you got power,

you can distribute power from your body

and stop another man's power.

You're able to do that, you're able

to be successful in this game.

- There's a spiritual parallel.

(laughing)

You see what's happening?

Just show me one drill that you do

to prepare yourself.

So we're on the fieldand you're up against

those bigger guys, how you're gonna

have a strong foundation.

- The thing is, if you'rea defensive lineman.

- Okay, I'm gonna go here.

- You gonna go there.

So I'm playing left tackle,you're the defensive end.

Just first of all, Iwanna make sure that I'm

in a good stance.

I got a little behind on me,man, so I gotta, you know,

back it up just a little bit,

and then get in your stance.

And then you wanna square up

and then you can fight from there.

Your hands can be whereveryou want them to be.

Do whatever you need to do.

But first it starts with that

you know, that foundation.

And then you talk aboutdrills that you do.

There's no drill that you can mimic that

is what game like tempo willbe, or what the game will be.

So all you can do is work on patterns

that you need to work on that will put you

in a position

to do the things that you need to do.

Patterns and habit.

- Mm.

- Mm, we're going somewhere.

Patterns and habits thatwill put you in position

to make it successful.

So, from offensive lineman standpoint,

we always wanna drive and catch,

you know,

with our stance.

Drive.

Catch.

Drive.

Catch.

Drive.

Catch.

You know, and when you dothat over and over and over

all it does is put,

ingrain good habits, all the time.

And even then, I felt

I wasn't in the best position just then.

My feet have to be right.

Have to be right.

Have to be right.

Every time.

Come back in, come back in.

It gotta be right.

It has to be right every single time.

And in those practice sessions,

you know you talk aboutpractice makes perfect,

but in those practice sessions

is when you build

a solid foundation.

Good habits on top of good habits.

Good reps on top of good reps.

And that's what we're trying to do here

with the camp.

- Yes.

- You talk about that rock that is Jesus

what do you,

you stand on the rock?

It's your feet that arestanding on the rock.

If your feet ain't right on the rock,

what's gravity do?

- Now that we know whathappens when we're not

planted on solid ground,

let's take a look back at what Kelvin said

helps him perform with excellence.

First, foundation iswhere everything starts.

So if your feet aren't set andplanted from the beginning,

you probably won't be successful.

Number two.

Playing on your toes maycause you to lose ground.

As he put it, you can be rocked backwards,

making it that muchharder to reach your goal.

Third.

With a good base comes power.

So when you're workingfrom a solid foundation

you have support

to press against.

And that can be something

or someone to lean on.

Number four.

There is no drill that can match real game

or life situations.

Which leads us to number five.

Develop good habits.

All you can do to prepare forwhat's being thrown your way

is to practice good habits.

The best athletes masterthe basic fundamentals

of their position.

They go over it and over it and over it

until it becomes natural.

So when opposition comes

you'll always find your ground.

You know, Kelvin gave us great insight

on how foundation helpswith success on the field.

And all of those thingshe spoke about translate

into having a spiritualfoundation in Jesus Christ.

So I wanna ask you,

where are your feet planted?

Check out this passagefrom Matthew chapter seven

verses 24 and 25.

"Therefore everyone whohears these words of mine

"and puts them into practice

"is like a man who buildshis house on the rock.

"The rain came down, thewinds blew and beat against

"the house, yet it did not fall

"because it had itsfoundation on the rock.

We'll be right back after this.

(upbeat music)

Welcome back to Going to Distance.

Be sure to tune in next week.

Check this out.

New England Patriots'Matthew Slater shares

how he almost left the game.

- I was prepared to transition

away from the game of football

'cause I didn't know what my opportunity

would be at the next level.

- Also, we caught upwith New England Patriots

safety Devin McCourty.

- It's like, man, I'mnot a good enough person

to be in Bible study.

- You thought that?

- Yeah, I just, that guilty feeling.

- And, with concussions on the rise,

how is the NFL making thegame safer for players?

Next week on Going the Distance.

Thank you for joiningus on Going the Distance

and remember, life is short.

Go the distance.

See you next time.

(upbeat music)