(upbeat music)

- Well, nobody likes wearing a mask,

but during this COVIDcrisis, most of us have to.

Well, for years, Sam Achochose to wear a mask,

but not the cloth kind.

So what was he hiding?

Take a look.

- [Reporter] Sam Acho is anNFL player, author, speaker,

and humanitarian.

Sam believes that it's time to stop hiding

behind an emotional maskand instead allow the world

to see the real you.

- How do you handle emotionand what are you hiding?

And what are you keepingfrom everyone else?

- [Reporter] In his book,"Let the World See You,"

Sam shares lessons from his life,

helping you overcome yourfears and allowing God

to use your gifts tohelp those around you.

- Please welcome to the"700 club," Sam Acho.

Sam is great to have you with us.

- So glad to be with you, Wendy.

- Well Sam, you started maskingyour true self early on.

Tell us why.

- Yeah well, I remember being 13 years old

at this youth service we went to

and I remember gettingmade fun of as a little kid

for the clothes I was wearing,I guess the way I dressed

and I remember just feeling alittle bit of sense of shame.

Like, man, I thought that I was,

I don't understand what peoplewere laughing and joking

and I remember they turned around

and looked back up atthe front of the room

and as they looked up, Igot up and I walked over

and I went to the 25 yardwalk to the restroom stall

and I just sat there.

Sat there and I hid, right?

I thought it would be a onetime thing,

but it seemed like every single week.

The 13-year old kid, I wentback to that youth service

and I didn't wanna betalked about, made fun of,

so I would go sit and I would hide.

Well, fast forward now,I'm a 31, 32 year old

NFL linebacker and I wouldstill find myself hiding.

I find myself not hidingin restroom stalls,

but hiding within myself.

I wouldn't show people the real me.

And so, I feel like oftentimeswe hide our emotions,

our fears, our doubt,our shame, (indistinct)

our passions, the thingsthat make us who we are

and my book is essentially what it means.

It's about what it meansto let the world see you,

the real you, 'cause Ifeel like when you're you,

God gets the glory, thepeople around you benefit

and the world around you thrives.

- Yeah, tell us whatyou were hiding and why.

I know your parents are bothfrom tell me again, Nigeria?

- Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, for me, Wendy, it was a,

people know I'm an outspoken Christian,

I'm a follower of Jesusand you're in this field,

right in the NFL.

It's the biggest, the baddest, the best

and the most competitive andI'm highly competitive, highly.

That's how I got to where I got to.

Passionate as well, butthat people would see me

on the football field andI would get in a fight

with a teammate or get angry or something,

they'd say, "Oh Sam,well, you're a Christian

"and Christians aren'tsupposed to get mad.

"Was that a curse word I just heard it?"

And all of a sudden,

I made me to be a fiery competitor,

a fierce fighter on that ball

and it made me passionate.

And so one of the thingsI would hide would be

my anger or my emotion.

I didn't want people to see me and say,

"Well, that's not what a Christian

"was supposed to look likeand what they could do."

- Sam okay.

What was the turning point for you

when you allowed peopleto see the real Sam

and how did that change your life?

- Yeah well, I remember it wasa week before training camp

in the 2018 season and I'd justsigned a multiyear contract

with the Chicago Bears

and I was goin' on myfourth year with the team

and I remember on the outside,things looked really good,

but on the inside I was struggling.

And I remember sittingwith a friend and said,

"Man, I don't know what'sgoing on with my marriage.

"Get back to the seasononce the season starts,

"everything will be okay."

And he looked at me and he said,

"Sam, that's how you feel right now,

"I'm afraid of whathappens when football ends,

"for when you retire."

And as he's talking, I'm starting to cry,

'cause I'm just thinkingof all that's going on.

And he looks at me and mytears snot, bubbles and all

and he says, "It's nice to see you, Sam."

And I'm sitting like, "What do you mean,

"it's nice to see me?"

He said, "All I've seenfor the last 10 years

"I've known you, has beenthis put together smile,

"everything, you have it all together,

"but it's good to see that you are human."

And so he actually recommended,

that I go talk to a counselor.

My dad is a therapist aswell a marriage counselor.

At a counselor's officeand he asked me a question.

He said, "Sam, what do youdo when you get angry?"

And my response was, "Well,I just don't get angry."

And he said, "Well Sam,everybody gets angry.

"So what do you do when you get angry?"

And after he asked me that question, Wendy

I started to cry again.

And he looks at me and heputs his hand on my shoulder

and he says, "It's nice to see you, Sam."

And so the turning point for me,

was this idea of showing my emotions,

whether it's fear, anger,sadness, joy and people saying,

"Oh, wow, it is really, really,really nice to see you."

- Amen, well, it is indeed nice to see you

and we love your new book.

Sam's book is called,"Let the World See You"

and it's availablewherever books are sold.

Sam Acho, thank you so muchfor sharing your story.

God bless you.

- Thank you, Wendy.