(upbeat music)

- Well, in the 11th roundof the 1988 NFL Draft,

the Dallas Cowboys picked an Air Force

All-American named Chad Hennings,

but the Cowboys had to wait,as Chad deployed to Iraq twice.

Finally, four years after being drafted,

Captain Chad Henningshad arrived in the NFL,

and soon, he helped his team

win three Super Bowls in just four years.

- [Narrator] Chad Henningsplayed nine seasons

as the defensive linemanfor the Dallas Cowboys.

And before that, he attendedthe US Air Force Academy,

and was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame.

Chad believed his own work ethic

was the reason for his success,

but when his two-year-old son

was suddenly fighting for his life,

Chad could no longerrely on his own strength.

- And Chad Hennings joins us now,

Chad, welcome back to the 700 Club.

I understand, it's been about 10 years.

- It has been 10 years,

a long time in the past.- Yes, way too long.

Well, let's start with the Cowboys.

Were you surprised when yougot drafted by the Cowboys?

- Yes I was, and that was predominantly

because of my military commitment,

I had a minimum of five years,

but I chose to up thatcommitment time to eight years

because I wanted to bea pilot and fly jets.

- So, Desert Storm broke out,

and now you have thischance to play in the NFL,

but you decide to staytrue to your first calling

to go into the Air Force.

Why did you do that?

- It was a sense of myintegrity, my commitment.

It's one of the things that I grew up

that to be a man ofintegrity and commitment,

you had to follow through with your word.

So I gave the Air Force my word,

after my sophomore yearat the Air Force Academy,

you have the opportunity,prior to that, to leave,

but if you stay, as I said, youowe a minimum of five years.

So, I gave my word, I wasgonna follow through with that,

the NFL would have to wait.

- Did some people sayyou're crazy for doing that?

- Oh, a lot of people did,why're you turning your back?

I was an Outland Trophywinner my senior year,

All-American academic,

All-American projectedfirst-round draft pick,

but I wanted to be that man of integrity.

- Absolutely, you did the right thing,

I'm sure you feel that you did.

Well, how does the experienceof playing in the Super Bowl,

and winning Super Bowls, compareto flying combat missions?

- A lot of times they do analogies

to, it's a battle in thetrenches, it's an air war,

it's an air campaign, butflying missions in combat,

of course, you're puttingyour true life at risk,

and I guess I could saythat (laughs) same thing

when I'm lining up against320-pound offensive linemen.

Sometimes it seems like you'reputting your life at risk.

But a lot of the lessons that I learned

flying jets in combat I wasable to carry over to the NFL

as far as my mental preparation,

the aspects and theimportance of teamwork,

the importance of overcoming the odds,

how do you thinktactically, strategically.

So there was a lot ofcommonality between the two.

- Well, what are some of those lessons

that you took from the frontlines,

and from flying in combatmissions, to the gridiron?

- Well, it's not just to the gridiron,

but it's also to life.

The whole aspect for me ofliving a life of excellence,

it's not a destination, it's a journey,

and it's taking each day forwhat it gives you for that day,

to try to be your best self every day,

to encourage others to live,to be their best selves,

and then, the organizationsthat I'm affiliated with

to rise to that higher,noble purpose or cause.

- Well Chad, between the Super Bowl rings,

and I just got to see yours and hold it,

let me tell you, this is heavy,

this is a beautiful, heavy ring.

Between the three rings,

and the combat honors that you received,

you said none of that mattered

when your two-year-old son fell ill.

What happened to him?

- My son, Chase,

just a couple weeks afterwe won Super Bowl XXX,

the third Super Bowl in four years,

he got sick and we had noidea at the time what it was,

but it ended up beingan autoimmune illness

where his body was attacking itself.

And it was that sense of unknown for us,

because, my life upuntil that point in time,

any adversity that I had facedI was always able to overcome

by my own work ethic, my own abilities.

And it was at this point in time

where I couldn't fixit, I couldn't cure it,

and for men, that's where we struggle.

When we can't fix it, we can't overcome,

we ask those questions, who am I?

What is my purpose, my identity?

And that's where I truly, Ithink, came to the end of myself

and realized that what I diddid not define who I was.

And it was to that aspectthat I discovered who God was,

and I'm continuing to discover who God is,

and His character, and His nature.

- So, what happened with your son?

- My son, we went through years,for the next several years,

of seeking differentmodalities of treatment,

but it ended up being, as Isaid, an autoimmune illness

where we discovered where hisbody was attacking itself,

but we were able to stopthe inflammation process,

and to stop the disease process.

But, Chase, today has graduated

from the University of NorthTexas several years ago,

he's gainfully employed,

he's off the payroll, yay.(laughing)

But he's doing a phenomenal job

and he's a great youngman and loves the Lord.

- There he is right there.

But you said you got throughthat by reaching out,

getting out of your comfort zone

and actually reaching out to other men,

because you talk about a disconnect

that many men feel, and that you felt,

what is that disconnectthat men suffer from?

- Well, our culture builds this myth

that, for men to be a man, you have to be,

depending upon your demographic,

Gary Cooper in the movie HighNoon, or Rambo, or whoever,

that you cannot show any type

of weakness or chinks in your armor.

And that's where we try,

either through my men's ministry Wingmen,

or through Promise Keepers,

which I'm now a part of,on the Board of Directors,

is to encourage men thatwe do need other men,

you need to form thosetransparent cry center

masculine relationshipswhere you can be real.

- You've said before thatthat was unnatural for you,

you actually kind offelt isolated and alone

a lot of your growing up years.

- It was, because you don't want to admit

that you can't accomplish something,

at least that was for me,and to break that facade,

to actually take that riskto reach out to another man

and say, hey man, Idon't have it together,

I need help, would you pray for me?

Help me walk through this.

It was like God shining a light on that,

well, it was a character flaw for me,

and shining that light onthat, it's not about you,

it's about what I have done for you

by sending my Son, JesusChrist, into this world

to take care of yoursin, just trust in Me.

- Yeah.- That was the relief factor.

- And that's whereWingmen Ministries grew,

and how long has that been?- Wingmen Ministries,

we've been going for over on 15 years,

and is just encouraging men

on discipleship and encouraging others,

and this is what I'm excited

to actually join the Boardof Promise Keepers also,

where we have our next event

is July 31st of 2020 at AT&T Stadium.

We had to have it, as a Dallas Cowboy,

home of America's team,don't get mad with me

(laughing)other NFL fans.

But that's the big kickoff for us.

- Yeah, and Wingmen Ministries,so that's your baby now.

How can other men find out more about it?

- They can find more aboutWingmen at wingmen.org,

and then also, for thePromise Keepers .org too,

for both men's ministries.

- Okay, and you have a book,

I know you're an author,and you have a book,

and you can promote thatright now if you wanted to.

- I have several books out,

one book called It Takes Commitment

that I wrote about thisconcept of commitment

during my time with the Cowboys.

I had another book that I promoted

last time when I was herecalled Rules of Engagement:

Finding Faith and Purposein a Disconnected World.

And my newest book is called,god, I just forgot it.

- (laughs) Sorry to put you on the spot.

- Forces of Character, I'm sorry,

I just had a football moment.(laughing)

But Forces of Character.

- We can all relate to that.- Amen.

- All right, well, thank youso much, Chad, it's a pleasure.

And you can find out more about Chad

in the Wingmen Ministriesby going to cbn.com.