Speaker 1:
Great to be here today, man. What a great crowd. What a, what a joy. It’s already been an unbelievable morning for us over in the chapel service. I will say you got QR codes faster than the chapel service. Got QR codes. That’s all I’m saying about that. I’m just leaving it there. You can, you can do it. That what you want, but we are excited. And just if you’d like this helmet ruined, Patrick and I will both sign it. Yes. at the end of the service.

Speaker 2:
Devalue it quickly

Speaker 1:
For you if you would like, but we are, we’re fired up for, to have my friend Patrick Nicks here. And we are grateful that you are here this morning. And there’s a lot we’re gonna cover. And you and we, we will probably pick up conversations that we’ve already had. So I’ll tell you the same advice I told the other one. I may just wanna stick around for the next service too. ’cause It’s probably just this meandering conversation that will take place all morning. But we love talking football, but we love talking Jesus. But for Patrick, I, there’s, there’s where I want to start is this, if you, if you don’t know Patrick, very accomplished in his own right, was a college quarterback and coach, successful high school coach. But I’m just curious, ’cause I imagine there was a shift in your life that has taken place kind of rapidly as you went from being Patrick Nicks to being Bo’s dad, <laugh>. So maybe talk about that a little bit as we get started and what that’s been like.

Speaker 2:
And you’re right. It was you know, obviously Bo grew up in the state of Alabama. Me being from the state of Alabama playing at Auburn people knew who I was for the most part. ’cause If you play quarterback and jokingly, the, the joke is in the state of Alabama the five most popular people in the state are the head coach in Alabama, the head coach in Auburn, the quarterback at Alabama, the quarterback at Auburn, then the, the governor. And it is in that order. And let’s don’t, let’s don’t get it out of order. And so was fortunate enough to play a quarterback at Auburn. And and so growing up, whenever we would go anywhere in the state, generally somebody somewhere at some point would recognize me because for graduating at the same time I did from Auburn.

Speaker 2:
And so Bo was, you know, that’s Patrick Nixon’s son. And it did not take long. It’s sort of like, you know, in, in the, in one Samuel 17, you know, with David and Goliath when you, when you first start reading the story it says that David was the son of Jesse. So you know who his dad is, you know, hey, this is Jesse’s son, this is, this is David Jesse’s son you know, Jesse. Then all of a sudden at the end of the chapter in verse 58 king Saul sends Abner to the battlefield. I realize same chapter. Sends him to the battlefield and says, Hey, whose son is that young man? Already forgotten. Jesse. Jesse’s already out of the, out of the picture. It just, you know, from, from one battle, one chapter, he is already forgotten. And so that’s sort of the way I feel like my life has been is for the most part it was, you know, hey, this is, you know Patrick’s son, now all of a sudden hi, I’m Patrick Nicks, and they sort of look and then say, I’m Bo’s dad, you’re Bo’s dad.

Speaker 2:
And it’s like, yes, I’m Bo’s dad, and so it doesn’t matter where we go. That’s the way it is. And so even my own locker room at my own players, you know, I’m Bo’s dad more than anything. So, but very, very proud of that. I imagine Jesse was the same way with David. Very proud that, you know, yeah, that’s my son down there fighting Goliath. So very proud you know, moment. Very proud of Bo and, and what he’s done and, and where he is at.

Speaker 1:
Yeah. And we’re, we’re, it’s a, it’s amazing the humble, how, how quick the Lord can humble us <laugh> in our life. And we’re, we’re, we’re grateful that Bo is here, right. Broncos fans we’re grateful. Yeah. Yeah. It’s it’s been nice to win. And he’s, he’s held to do that. Those probably many of them don’t know you and Bo were actually here. It’s crazy how God worked that out. July, right before the draft Bo and Patrick were here. We did an event in the atrium. My daughter, I think was the only person on planet Earth convinced Bo was going to the Broncos. So much so she bet her mom a jersey that Bo would go. And so she’s in her jersey today. But we are fired up that he’s here. But I just, I, I know how proud you are of him and for us, we see first round pick getting the Broncos to the playoffs any year no one expected. We see that side of it, but I wonder if you talk a little bit about that back story, that process of getting to what we get to see, knowing that there’s a lot more to, to Bo’s journey and you guys’ journey together. How’s it been to see him have the success he has, knowing what he went through?

Speaker 2:
Yeah. And, and so true. Most of the time we only see you know, it’s just the iceberg principle, right? You only see the 10% that’s above the water but 90% of the iceberg is below the water that you never see. But it’s, it’s what below the, the water that sinks ship. And so I think that that most people see the, the good things and, and how you know, yeah, you’re a first round pick. You’re starting NFL quarterback and you know, all these kind of things. You were a Heisman finalist. And but people don’t realize the the struggles that it went in all the way back. We can go all the way back to, to childhood, you know, and growing up. And you know, and Luke, it talks about building the foundation on Christ. But the di the deeper you dig, the higher that you can build.

Speaker 2:
And, and all the way back to, to my dad who’s a high school coach of pouring in and digging deep with Bo and his mom and his siblings and myself and coaches that he had of just the, the battle and the struggle and the constant pursuit of, of being as great as you can. And, you know, just the failures that you have along the way and, and those kind of things as a kid, you know, just growing up and just going through it. And and then you, you live out your dream by being able to go to, to Auburn, which was his dream school, just, just like it was mine. All of a sudden, you’re, you know, starting your first year, you know, freshman game is against Oregon, you know, in Dallas, and everybody’s watching in the country, and you bring your team back to the win.

Speaker 2:
You’re the superstar and the hero and how quickly that can go away and how quickly it just sort of fell apart on him at Auburn. And and how quickly you’re standing in the, the stands as a dad or you’re playing the game and all of a sudden these same people that were just cheering you just a few weeks ago are now booing you. And, and I don’t mean this in a bad way, but it’s the same way here. And that’s what he realizes that, you know, you can be, I mean, Jesus was booed in his hometown. I mean, I mean, you’re going to be only as good as what you do on the field sometimes if you’re not careful. And so he had to battle through that of, of just being booed by what he considered his own family at Auburn.

Speaker 2:
And, you know, and who would’ve ever guessed that you go to Oregon, you go to Eugene, Oregon to get peace, and you go and find who you are a little bit and go and get to play. And you know, on Exodus 13, seven reading through that, you know, here recently of, you know, how when the Israelites left Egypt there was a straight and easy path they could have taken. And that, that God could have led ’em through that path. Now, they’d had to do some, some battling through there and go through a few trials and that kinda stuff, but they could’ve made it, it would’ve been a lot easier, a lot smoother, and a lot straighter just to go that path. But now God took ’em around a different way and took ’em to the Red Sea, which they saw as an obstacle.

Speaker 2:
And, and a lot of times what we see as ob obstacles, God sees as a miracle. And so who would’ve ever guessed that Eugene, Oregon would kind of be our miracle? Who would’ve ever guessed that, that God, you know, he doesn’t always take you the way you think is the easiest way and the straight way. No, God’s gonna take you his path if you allow him to. And so that’s sort of Bo’s story is that everybody sees, you know, the good but on the backside of the curtain, you realize the struggles that it’s been to get there, the the fate that you’ve had to go. And could you imagine the Israelites at the Red Sea standing there looking and, and Moses says, Hey, walk. And they’re like, really? Like, you want me to walk through this right here with water? I mean, it had to be as big as really you want me to walk?

Speaker 2:
So at some point, you just gotta have faith, you know? And, and that’s where faith in Christ comes in, that really, you want me to go to Eugene, Oregon? I’ll never forget the phone call from Kenny Dillingham. We’re driving to Bo’s graduation with Izzy in the backseat. And I’ll never forget hearing Izzy saying, Eugene, Oregon, like, really, I’m about to have to move to Eugene, Oregon. But you just never know what God is doing. You never know. And, and Eugene, Oregon was as good as anything could ever be for those two. And so just if we’re faithful and we allow God to work in our lives, God is always faithful and never lets us down.

Speaker 1:
Yeah, I mean, I’m just, I’m grateful for the, the example we talked about this just this morning, the example we get, I think of those of us who live right here in Colorado, that we can look out this window, we can see these mountains and and those of you who’ve been up top and you see those sweeping views, but you know, how did you get there? You got there through a valley, through the tunnel to get up to the top. There is a, a journey process. And I remember Bo talking just about the importance of determining ahead of time, ahead of hard situations that he was gonna rely on. Lord, if I remember the story correctly, he didn’t even visit Oregon. No. He trusted the Lord blindly. Just may, maybe just the process of helping your kids get to that spot. I mean, certainly you’re involved in that decision, but instilling that foundation that you just talked about of being able to dig deep so that when your kid needed it the most there was a, there was a faith and a foundation there to trust the Lord in a really tough time for them.

Speaker 2:
And I think that’s the key. I think that we as parents we as people, we’ve got to be willing to dig deep. It’s, it’s hard. You know, parenting Bo was not easy at all. As great as

Speaker 1:
He’s not here to defend himself so

Speaker 2:
Well, but, but as great as he is, as a player, as great as he is, as a person you still had, and quite honestly, that made it a little bit more difficult because he was very talented. He was a great kid. He did all, it was more difficult to challenge him even more to go deeper and to go deeper and to go deeper so that you can go higher and higher. And, and so yes, that’s, to me, that’s probably as much of a challenge as anything as a parent is to constantly, and guess what, if we’re gonna take our kids deep, what do we have to do? We have to be willing to go deep. And I think too many times they see, and, and, and I’m proud, God, I think my dad, I’ve watched him go deep, deep, deep with his relationship with Jesus Christ.

Speaker 2:
Therefore, it was very easy for me to go deep with Jesus Christ. Therefore, it’s been easy for my children to go deep. Therefore, it’s gonna be easy for their children to go deep. ’cause They see it modeled. And so I think that’s the, the, you know, a very important part of the process is they have to see us be willing to go deep so they can go deep. ’cause Sooner or later the storm’s gonna come in life. I don’t care who you are, I don’t care where you are, the storms are going to come. And if you don’t have that foundation built on Christ, it’s you, you are gonna wash away. But if our foundation is built on Christ, we’re going to, he’s faithful, we’re gonna stand. It might not be easy, it might not be what we want, but we’re going to stand through it if our faith is in Jesus Christ.

Speaker 1:
Yeah. And, and that, that isn’t something that you picked up in the last couple years. I mean, that was something that through the relationship with your dad then God opens the door for you to go to Auburn to be the quarterback at Auburn, which is your, your dream. You go to Auburn, there’s a, there’s a time in that as God opens that door to go there, that I think when I hear you speak, God did a huge work. What we’re seeing the fruit of in the life of your kids got what is, is the result of a huge journey. And, and you didn’t even touch on Teez who’s getting ready for the draft in la Caleb who’s playing at Clemson. It’s not just Bo you, your daughter’s both walking with the Lord. I mean, there’s a huge legacy of faith but there’s some cool mile markers along the way where God really did a work. Could you just talk about the time at Auburn getting there and, and especially the moment where God really, really moved and solidified some things in your life? Yeah,

Speaker 2:
You know, growing up in the state of Alabama, you’re either Auburn or Alabama. There’s no other options. You’re either an Auburn fan of Alabama fan. My, both my parents went to Auburn. So naturally I was an Auburn fan. And naturally I only had one goal, you know, really in, in life almost. And that was to play at Auburn and to beat Alabama. That was it. Nothing else mattered in life. And so so I was very fortunate was able to, to go on scholarship to Auburn and play quarterback. And when I went to Auburn, you know, Auburn was coming off of three straight SEC championships. A lot of success had been really good there for, for a a time period of about eight to 10 years. We coach Di And I walk in, next thing I know, my freshman year, I don’t play.

Speaker 2:
I sit the bench the whole year. We go five, five and one, my, my second year red shirt freshman year. We, I sit the bench again, we go five and six, and I’m kind of miserable. I’m like, God, what, what are we doing here? You know, I I’m, I wanna play number one and I wanna win. I don’t, I don’t like to lose. So what’s going on? And so we have a coaching change and Terry Bowden comes in and I think, okay, this is my chance. I’m going to actually, you know, get a chance to start. And and don’t, I’m gonna back up again. My third year there, I’m gonna back up again. And it’s and I sort of have a decision to make. Am I going to sort of so about it, sorry for myself, or am I gonna be the best I can be?

Speaker 2:
So I consciously that summer decided I’m gonna be the absolute best backup quarterback in the country, gonna do everything I can to prepare the starter and make sure I’m ready and, and all those things. So we go through the season and next thing you know we start winning and, and we just win. And we win and we win. And we come down to the, the last game of the season, and it’s against Alabama. We happen to be 10 and oh, and they happen to be nine and one. They’re coming off a, a perfect season in 1992 of winning a national championship. So you got like, arguably the game of the year and arguably the biggest game in Auburn, Alabama history, you know, type of thing. ’cause Both teams are so good. And it’s at Auburn, it’s the, the only, the second time in the history that Alabama had come to Auburn to play.

Speaker 2:
So there was a lot at stake that game. And so for me, being a fan, it was like, this is the best thing ever. I was gonna get a front row seat standing there and being able to watch this game. And so was super excited just to be a fan watching the game. Quite honestly, going in, never thought I would really play and, and have much of a role. And third quarter we’re getting 14 to five and we’ve got a drive going and our quarterback, Stan White gets hurt. On third down he gets sacked and he gets hurt and just, you sort of know as a backup quarterback he’s not getting up, you know, like he’s legit hurt and he got hit a lot, but he always got up. But you just knew he wasn’t, was a backup quarterback.

Speaker 2:
You always know where your helmet is. And so I knew where my helmet was, I went and grabbed it, got back, it was fourth down and Terry Bowden was our head coach. Jimbo Fisher was a coach, Terry Tommy Bowden was on the staff. And so very obviously successful coaches. And I’ll never forget, I got my helmet on, hadn’t taken a snap, hadn’t thrown a pass, and I go and I start talking in Terry’s microphone. ’cause Jimbo and and Tommy were in the, on the press box and I just was trying to convince them that we’ve gotta go for it here. We’re too close to to punt. ’cause The ball’s gonna go in the end zone. We’re too far to kick a field goal. We gotta go for it, we gotta go for it. And finally, it’s fourth down in 15, 17, whatever it was, they’re like, we’re going for it.

Speaker 2:
And so I go in first meaningful play of, of really that season and really my career I’d, I’d played some mop up roles and stuff like that, but never really in this kind of a situation. And sure enough, first play, I I go on the field, throw a touchdown pass like place goes crazy. I’m going crazy. And, and I’d always dreamed most of my dreams was I wanted to throw a touchdown pass against Alabama and dance on the 50 yard line. Well, I happened to be standing at about the 43 yard line when I threw the pass. And I thought literally, I remember thinking to myself, God, you’re unbelievable. And so I just made a circle around the, in those days, we all knew each other. There wasn’t national recruiting. I mean, we all went to high school together. We all knew each other.

Speaker 2:
Coach Stalin was on the sideline. I knew Coach Stallings, he had recruited me. And you talking about a fun trip down the sideline of looking at all those guys, as I win of realizing, man, you just threw a touchdown pass against Alabama in the iron ball. Are you kidding me? And so I’m going crazy. And then I get the sideline realiz, man, we’re still losing this game. And so so we end up, we we end up winning. And and after the game you know, obviously we just beat Alabama. And, and it’s like, wow, that’s incredible. And I’d never been to the media trailer before and the media actually wanted to talk to me. And then you come out, there’s all these fans standing out there wanting you to get your autograph. I hadn’t had that happen before. They all kind of knew who I was, but I was the backup.

Speaker 2:
Nobody wants to backup quarterback’s autograph. And so here I am signing autographs and everybody’s wanting to, you know, there was no such thing, believe it or not, there was no such thing as selfies in those days. So people actually had cameras taking pictures of it. And have some of those pictures today. But, but just, you couldn’t walk five feet without somebody yelling, Patrick, great throw. Yeah, we won, blah, blah, blah. And it was, it was incredible. And so I’ll never forget though, my wife now is my girlfriend then when it was all, everything settled down, it was just she and I I told her, I said, I want two things. I wanna go to McDonald’s. I’m starving, I wanna Big Mac and number two, I wanna go back to the stadium. And I just wanted to go back. I didn’t want the night to end, you know?

Speaker 2:
And I mean, it was incredible. So, so I went to the stadium and went to the spot that I threw the pass and was like, yeah, manly, what a, what a play. Went to the end zone where Frank caught the pass and, you know, even walked up into the student section and walked up there thinking, man, they were going crazy. But then it hit like a ton of bricks. And I feel it to this day of sitting in that student section, the loneliest I’ve ever been in my life. A stadium, that seat seated, 90,000 people dead empty. Nobody there, nobody cheering. It’s just me. Now, I’ll never forget thinking and praise the Lord that, that I had had a relationship with Jesus Christ that was, you know, far largely through my dad. But I had a relationship with Jesus Christ. And I was able to sit there and, and basically I just said, God, if this is all there is to this game and to life, I don’t want it.

Speaker 2:
This is miserable. This is like, you know, like Solomon says, this is a chasing of the wind. There’s no satisfaction in this ’cause it’s over. I, I just accomplished my lifelong dream. I just accomplished it. And I was miserable. I was so lonely. And it was at that moment that I realized, and my wife says it all the time, football is what we do. It’s not who we are. And I realized that in a real way, that this is what I do. This is not who I am. And my relationship with Christ had been very good. But from that point on, you talking about knowing that no, you’re why I live, you are my foundation. You are my rock. Because I did not want to have that empty feeling. And a lot of you are sitting here today with that empty feeling ’cause you’re chasing after the wrong thing.

Speaker 2:
And as soon as you get it, it’s gone. You know? I mean the only thing that is that continual, you know, bread of life, the living water that we can have as a relationship with Christ. And so, thank goodness for, for me, and I think for my family, and the boys and the girls have heard this story many a times. My grandkids will hear this story many times as I wanna make sure they understand that it is nothing that we accomplish. It’s no matter how much money you make, no matter how much jewelry you have, you know, you can put a grill in your mouth, you can put tattoos on your body, you can do whatever you want to and try to fulfill all this stuff out there. Nothing will ever fulfill you except for relationship with Jesus Christ. And so because of that, he absolutely deserves a hand for that. Jesus does. But because of that, I have been able to instill in my, my children, I believe through them seeing it, that my life is nothing without Jesus Christ. It’s only through him that my life is anything in theirs too. Yeah.

Speaker 1:
And don’t you love that story? Isn’t that a powerful story? And, and I, I think what’s unique, and I know you guys are just getting bits and pieces of the story, and that’s what makes the abbreviated time so, so tough. But what is really cool to see is how that story plays out. And what I can tell you is that when, when you see the Nicks family, when you see the kids, when you see that legacy play out, it’s a guy who’s practicing what he preaches. And, and what I’m, I’m curious to hear, hear you just share a little bit, is, is God then opens a door for what’s next opportunity in the NFL, is it coaching? He, he opened so many doors. You get to be a college coach. He’s a reigning state champ, high school player or high school coach right now has had so much success at that level. But, but there was a work in there in those days, even as you were chasing the pinnacle of being a college coach, where, where God again reminds you there’s a greater priority in life, and just talk about how that landed, that what we get to see from the next family is because you take being the head of your home and raising up your kids very, very serious. Let’s talk about how God worked in that process.

Speaker 2:
Yeah. Yo when I got finished playing, had a chance to sign for your agency in NFL and I wasn’t good enough. I would’ve been cut real quick. Boys get mad at me now, but dad, you could have at least said that you played in the NFL. No, no. I would’ve signed a contract with NFL. I would not have played a snap. I would’ve been sitting home real quick. And so just decided I wanted to go into coaching. You know, coaching was, I felt like it was my calling. It was ministry. That’s what I wanted to do. And so immediately went into college coaching and was able to do that for a long time, for 18 years, was in college coaching. And we were at the University of Miami as the offensive coordinator. And I felt like, you know, I was on the track.

Speaker 2:
I was going to be the head coach at Auburn. That’s where I wanted to be. That’s what I wanted to do. And, and felt like I was on the track for it, you know, as offensive coordinator at the University of Miami. And there’s, there’s two kinds of offensive coordinators at Miami, those that had been hired and those that had been fired. And so I was, that I was hired and I was fired. And it’s still the truth. This to this day at the University of Miami, you always, you know, there, there’s a lot of turnover. And so I was fired at the University of Miami. And so we as a family, you’re not going to just live in Miami just for the fun of it. A little bit too expensive. So we moved back to Birmingham, Alabama, and I’ll never forget that summer my oldest daughter, Emma Grace, who’s she was probably in the sixth grade at that time.

Speaker 2:
She and I took a trip to Atlanta. And so I was going over to see some friends, was taking her over. She was gonna just, she and I and I’ll never forget the drive over. And she starts talking about all of her teachers that she’s had from preschool to kindergarten and elementary. And and mind you, we had been in, you know, like four different places from, you know, Adelphia, Arkansas, to Birmingham, to Atlanta, to Miami. And she’s talking about all these people. And as she’s talking about these teachers, I cannot picture that teacher’s face in my mind. I cannot picture them. I don’t know what they look like. I’ve heard the name, but I don’t know what they look like. And I’ll never forget as we’re driving, just weeping in the car as we’re driving, just thinking of how much I’d I’d missed. And we were close and we still are. And I was a good dad was there as much as I could. But I realized then that God sort of opened my eyes that and, and it was during that time that I was reading through the story of David and Goliath and, and and realizing that you know, I’d always wanted to be David. I’d always wanted to be the man after God’s own heart. But it started changing that, no, Patrick, I want you to be Jesse. I want you to be,

Speaker 2:
I want you to raise men and women after God’s own heart. And so it started hitting me hard that I don’t know if I wanna pursue this anymore. And God literally took the desire to call coaching college completely outta my heart and started putting a desire that I wanna be in high school. I want to impact those kids. I want those kids to kind of be my kids. I wanna be around my kids every day. I want to see my daughter in the hallway every day. I want to let her see who her dad is. I want to let them see me share the gospel in the locker room. I want them to let me see them, them see me pray with kids in the hallway. I want them to see that. I don’t wanna just talk about it. I want them to see that.

Speaker 2:
And so I got out of college and went into high school. And the greatest investment I’ve ever made in my kids who would do it again tomorrow, umm, very thankful for it. And without a doubt, you know, I, I believe that, you know, you gotta know God’s voice to be able to hear it. You gotta be close to it. You just gotta be willing. There’s nothing special to it. I’m no different than anybody sitting in here. It’s not like God’s, you know, blessed me more than it. No, no. I’m just thankful and blessed that, that God has broken my heart several times to what breaks his. And that, that he has slowed me down enough at times by getting me fired to say, oh, open your eyes for a minute. I’ve got something different for you.

Speaker 2:
Would’ve never guessed going into high school, was in the plans, never was in the plans to go to high school coaching, just like going to Eugene, Oregon was never in the plans, you know, going to, quite honestly, my youngest Caleb not playing quarterback, was never in the plans. And now he’s a safety at Clemson. Yo so our plans are not always God’s plans, but God’s plans are perfect if we’ll just be willing to slow down and listen to him and let him work through those things. And, and it’s not always easy. Like I said earlier, sometimes you get up against the Red Sea and you’re sitting there looking at an obstacle, and God’s just saying, just be patient. Everything’s gonna be okay. And now, now fast forward all these years later, looking back and man, seeing where my kids are, it’s like, thank you, God, I’m so undeserving of what he allowed, has allowed us to do and how he’s blessed us.

Speaker 1:
Yeah, what a statement. David had a dad. Many of you are a dad or a mom or a grandparent. Don’t don’t sell yourself short. The impact that you have in the life of those ones and the responsibility you have so many times, I, I even am convicted my own self. Am I home or am I present? And there’s a lot of times I have been home and not present with my kids. And, and that story from Patrick really resonates with me. I want to just jump in real quick. ’cause I think there, there’s a connection overlay for those of us who, who all work somewhere. Can you, can you just share some encouragement about how you see yourself as a Christian who happens to coach for those of us who are, who are in lines of work versus, Hey, I’m, I’m a coach who just happens to know Christ. But that, hey, that opportunity or that occupation is your mission filled, and maybe the encouragement for wherever God has these people that, hey, I’m a follower of Christ, that God has placed in, fill in the blank. And how, how you’ve really been able to maximize that, that space.

Speaker 2:
I think that’s the struggle for all of us. I mean, I think the struggle for everybody that’s ever walked all the way back to, you know, to Adam, to can and Abel, to, to everybody is our purpose in life. You know, why did God create me? What is my purpose? I think we all struggle with purpose. And we all struggle with I’m a Christian and I’m a this, I’m a Christian and I’m a that no, I’m just a Christian and I just, I’m a Christian that just happens to coach. I would be a Christian if I was in the workforce. I would be a Christian if I was a pastor. It doesn’t matter. I’m a Christian and everything else flows from that. It just, I just happened to be a coach. But I’m a Christian that coaches. And so I think that when we find our purpose and our purpose is very clear in the Bible, our purpose is to love God with all of our heart, all of our soul, and all of our mind.

Speaker 2:
And God wants us to love others. He wants us to share the good news. He wants us to share who he is with others. And I love the, the, you know, the quote of people use all the time you know, share Christ with others. And if you have to speak, then speak. But I want it to be through how I act. I want it to be through my, just my fiber of my being of who I am. That’s just who I am. It’s just what I do. It doesn’t matter where I’m at. I love Jesus Christ. And that’s the most important thing to me, is my relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s more important to me than my relationship with my wife, my relationship with my kids, my relationship with all my coworkers, my team, my players. But if Jesus Christ is the most important relationship that I have, every other relationship is easy After that, every other relationship will be very strong and very healthy.

Speaker 2:
My marriage is extremely healthy because my relationship with Jesus Christ is healthy. My relationship with my kids is healthy because my relationship with Jesus Christ is healthy. You know? So I don’t, I don’t know. Like I said too, we, we try to compartmentalize those things because we’re, in a way, we’re either scared to take Jesus into the workplace, or we’re scared to take Jesus into the high school. We’re scared to take Jesus. But you know you know, the Lord is my shepherd. I love Psalm 23. Love it. And the Lord is my shepherd. And y’all, y’all do, do you realize what you say when you, the, the Lord, the creator of the heavens and earth, the Lord, the ones that knows every star in the sky, the Lord that knows every her on my head, the Lord that knows my, my future, has already got a plan for my future.

Speaker 2:
The Lord that knew me before I was born, the Lord, that is my salvation. The Lord is my banner of victory. The Lord is that is my bread of life. The Lord is my living water. That’s my shepherd. And so you think I’m going to walk in and think the board has anything to do with me or a principal. Has anything to do with me or superintendent has anything to do with me? No. No, no, no. The Lord is my shepherd. I I’m not worried about. And I, maybe I sh but I, I’m not politically correct. I’ll be the first to tell you part of it. It’s good to live in the state of Alabama. It is. But what you’re going to learn, I hate to tell you what you’re going to learn, is that nses aren’t politically correct. You’re going to learn from another Ns out here that the Lord is my shepherd.

Speaker 2:
You know? And I don’t care about what a fan thinks. I don’t care about what media thinks. I don’t care if I win or lose. I don’t care if I throw a touchdown pass, throw an interception. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord will take care of me. The Lord will do it. ’cause As soon as I start trying to do it myself, boy I’m in trouble. I mean, as soon as I start relying on my, my workplace, I’m in trouble. The Lord, the creator of all things, is my shepherd. That he can do whatever he wants to with me, through me, however he wants to do it, because he is the great shepherd. And so I think that finding that purpose and, you know, and, and, and I we’re chasing rabbits holes. Now I literally, I text bo this morning that and all my kids this morning that we all wanna be the goat, right? That’s the new thing. Everybody wants to be the goat goat. Well, the Bible tells me in Matthew that Jesus is gonna separate the goats from the sheep

Speaker 1:
<Laugh>.

Speaker 2:
Just don’t, don’t, don’t forget that. And we all think it’s funny, but that’s the, you wanna be a goat. Now, I already know the goat, the goat’s, my Lord, he’s the greatest of all time. So just be a sheep. Just do what he tells you to do. And don’t worry about being the goat. You are, you serve the goat.

Speaker 1:
That’s good. I, I think that there’s this piece, I, I talk a lot. Most people don’t listen to me, but I, I think they should. I think I have good, I think I have good ideas. So I, I I can’t help if, if you’re, if you’re not a sports fan, maybe, maybe they’re not aware. But I, I’m just curious ’cause you just hit on something right there that I’m just very curious to get your perspective. Because if you watch the national championship game, if you watch college football if you just look around the landscape of the NFL you mentioned a few earlier, CJ Stroud Bryce Young, Tua Bo is in there. Whereas there used to be, when Tim Tebow was playing here, he was like the lone, outspoken follower of Jesus. And we look across the college landscape today and the pro landscape today, and it, it feels like to me, God is up to something. And he just happened to choose a bunch of athletes to push the truth of the gospel. From, from your perspective, how are you seeing that play out? And do you, do you think, do you think that’s happening? I,

Speaker 2:
I, absolutely. I’m with you. And, and I love kind of being on the front line of it. I truly believe, without a doubt, God is using and we’ll just take quarterback specifically. You know, it was fun being at the Heisman and listening to, to Jayden Daniels, give faith to Jesus Christ. You know, give hear Michael Phoenix, give, give credit to Jesus Christ here bo give faith to Jesus Christ that, you know and then you have the CJ Strouds and the, the Bryce Youngs, the Kirk Cousins of the world all these quarterbacks right now in the NFL that are sort of unashamed of the gospel. You know, CJ Stroud took a beating for crying on the field because guy that he loves just got hurt. And he watched it. And he truly loves this guy. You know, he has a relationship and loves this guy in Jesus Christ.

Speaker 2:
And to see his interviews are like, man, how powerful is that? And, and I mean, you’re looking at a playoff, a guy in the, you know, that is in a massively big game, but his teammate means more to him than anything. So then you look at the, the, the national championship and you see all the, the revival that happened at Ohio State and the baptisms that happened and, and how the Holy Spirit was moving on that team and then know Riley Leonard well, and, and know his relationship with Jesus Christ. And what was going on on that team at Notre Dame. And, and just seeing how God is, is using so many of these quarterbacks. And, you know, I don’t think it’s a coincidence, you know, that the NFL is starting to expand around the world. I think it, you know, I think God is absolutely hilarious at times to, to be like, yeah, let’s take this game of, of NFL.

Speaker 2:
Let’s go ahead. Yeah. Take it down to Australia, take it over to London, take it over to Germany. You know, let’s let these quarterbacks go in there and, and mention the name Jesus Christ. And, and I, without a doubt, I think that, that you’re seeing many more. And I think guys like Tim Tebow kinda led the way, you know, ’cause that was one of Bo’s guys that he just loved him. And so seeing his, you know, him and, and how strong he was, and we talked about it earlier for me, you know, to at VOA about seven, eight years ago the church that, that we attended in Birmingham, his family had moved to Birmingham. And it was a, it’s a very large church. And we have 21 days of prayer in January and in August. And literally during that 21 days of prayer in August, I’m sitting there with my youngest son and we’re praying at 6:00 AM and I look down two, literally this row to that row.

Speaker 2:
And there’s to his dad, mom sitting there. And I’m just thinking to myself at that time, I remember thinking, God, you’re incredible that you’ve got, Tua is the starting quarterback at Alabama. Bo’s gonna be the starting quarterback at Auburn. And here we are praying right here together. And it’s, it’s, it’s sort of funny how, you know, now you look at ’em and you got two starting NFL quarterbacks, Bryce Young, same thing, you know, has been in that church and, and Bo has been around, you know, just, it’s, it’s amazing how God is raising up leaders, I think for such a time as this. And and I, and I love the fact that it’s quarterbacks and I love the fact that, you know, like I said, we’re sort of on the front lines of it, that these guys are not of ashamed to say the name of Jesus Christ. And I love that.

Speaker 1:
And, and I, yeah, absolutely. And I, I think the takeaway for you and me from that is that, you know, it’s, it’s tough. I get it as a fan. We, we want these guys to, to never have a mistake. We want them to never have a setback. And most of them feel that most of them have grown up in a world where their entire value and their entire worth is defined by, by some metric yards, touchdowns, wins. And, and, and and thank goodness that the general population doesn’t come watch our job with the same way, right, <laugh>. But, but what I think what you see is when you see an athlete experience the freedom found in Christ, the reason that that emotion comes flowing out is because for most of them, for the very first time in their life that encounter with Christ, they are experiencing a release from all of this stuff.

Speaker 1:
And I think that would be just our greatest encouragement, is that if that’s you today, that as we look around that landscape to say, Hey, if you’ve never experienced the ultimate freedom found in Jesus, that allows all the worldly metrics and the worldly pieces coach had said earlier, the reality though is if you, if you chase the things of the world, you never, you never stop chasing. You never stop needing more wins or a bigger house or more money. But there is hope found in Jesus. And, and I think the hardest part sometimes is when you watch interviews like this, or you watch an athlete on a major stage, you think, man, that we are worlds apart. But the reality is, you have a hectic life and you’re trying to balance your home and your work and your faith. And coach has a hectic life, and he’s trying to balance his home and his work and his faith. And so just an encouragement to those. If there’s someone here who doesn’t know the hope of Jesus, the freedom found in Jesus, what would that just encouragement to them be? As we wrap up,

Speaker 2:
I think you hit it. You know, in Galatians six one, it tells us that that Christ, that our freedom, that Christ died so that we could experience freedom so that we’re no longer bound as to the yoke of slavery. That that’s why he died. And it’s, it’s the relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s the acknowledgement that I’m a sinner. I’m, I’m not any good. And you know, in John three 16 says that, that, that God so loved the world, that whosoever believes in Jesus, whosoever I am a whosoever maybe some of you in here who maybe some of you’re a lot better than me, and I’m a whosoever. Praise the Lord th thank God every day that he sent Jesus to die for me. I know he died for you too, but hey, he, I’m thankfully died for me. ’cause Without him, I would be nothing with him I can, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Speaker 2:
Without him, I’m nothing. So I would just encourage you to know so that you can, you can know that, you know, that, you know that through a relationship with Jesus. The Bible tells me that I find freedom through Jesus Christ. That’s where true freedom is found. Freedom is in Jesus Christ. It’s not by my words, it’s not how good I can be. It’s not how much money I can make. It’s not, no, it is one thing and one thing only. And it’s a relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s the acknowledgement that I’m a sinner, but he died for my sin. He is the, he is the fulfillment of all those Old Testament things that we read about. He is the fulfillment of it. He is my death penalty Him Jesus Christ. That’s my Lord. That’s who I serve is Jesus Christ. Because he can do all things through me. I can’t do it by myself, but I do it through Jesus. So I just encourage anybody in here that you’re struggling right now, freedom is found through a relationship with Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ. Only it’s the only way to true freedom.

Speaker 1:
And if you don’t know that freedom today, there’s a group of pastors and counselors who would love to talk to you. I think so often, as you’ve heard Patrick’s story unfold, how many times were we on a path that God had a different plan? And maybe today you showed up because there was donuts or fun or whatever, or you just wanted to hear me talk and you were like, that sounds fun. And so you you are here today, but God might have had a different plan for your life. And I would just encourage you that if you don’t know that freedom that Patrick can speak of just so boldly that you see played out all across our TV screens, then just stop by trail head right back here, my left back here in this corner to your right. Just a group of pastors and counselors. If we do all of this and you miss Jesus, then we, we, we missed it today. And so we hope that everything that we did and said and brought glory to him. Were you blessed by Patrick’s testimony? Yeah. I told you a few weeks ago. It’s a cool story that so many don’t know. And hopefully we get to have him back. We’ll tell it even more. And we have some, some opportunities hopefully to have him back. Here, we’ll tease that. We’ll just say, we’ll just tease that we’ll have the Nick’s family back. And so coach would, would you close us in prayer? Would you prayer? And then I’ve just got a few announcements,

Speaker 2:
Absolutely dear, we just come to you. I just so humbled that, Lord, you are a shepherd so humbled that, that the creator of the universe loves me so much that he would send his own son for me. The creator of the universe wants a relationship with me. I’m so thankful for that. And we just thank you so much for your love for us.

Speaker 2:
Just pray that, that you’ll Holy Spirit, that you’ll just allow us to find freedom through the name of Jesus Christ. I pray that you’ll let us find our purpose through the name of Jesus Christ, that we will not just continue to chase and to do this and to do that, but know we will build our lives and our foundation on the foundation of Jesus Christ. And that we will dig deeper and continue to dig deeper, knowing that you’ll take us farther, but it will all be based on you, Lord, not what our, what we can do. Not by human standards, not by human hands, not by what we do, but totally through you. Jesus, we praise you. We love you. Thank you for loving us in your, let me pray. Amen.