What’s up, Champion Center? It’s good to be here with y’all today. I think they’re pretty excited to have you here. Okay, you all can grab your seat. We got some talking to do here.

Okay. So, I know we’re going to learn about your story and we’re so excited to hear what God has done for you, but can we just talk about that Super Bowl for just like a little bit? Just a minute. I I I I’m thinking there’s some fan I mean, I see a jersey out here and I know there’s some fans that that just want to hear a little bit about the Super Bowl.

So, talk to us, Brady. Tell us. Yeah, I think uh one of the big things Mike was saying to us and kind of I don’t know about preaching, but preaching to the team afterwards um that just felt so true in my heart is he talked about after the game when we were in the locker room, he said that it felt like justice was served, like we were justly rewarded for the work we’d put in and the things we’d done and the connection we’d built. Um love it.

So that’s one of the really cool things I think. Um and then it was it was such an honor to be a captain. Like that was cool to get that kind of recognition as a like I’m a bottom I don’t know if I’d call I’d call myself bottom of the roster kind of guy like a long shot to make the team like I’m not I don’t have a bunch of statistics on offense and defense but um for the coaches to kind of recognize the work I put in and the things I’ve done to get to that point and and the leadership I have it was it was really cool to be a captain in the Super Bowl. Captain of the Super Bowl in front of you today folks.

Okay. You you uh you you had some you had to overcome some things even in Super Bowl because as we all know in athletics things don’t always go as planned even for your physical body. Tell us what happened in the NFC Championship game was it? Yeah.

Yeah. So in the NFC Championship it was kind of crazy. I think it was the end of the third quarter. Uh we were on kick return. And it was right after, well, it was pretty quick after we had a punt return touchdown to kind of um or no, sorry, wrong game, not after a punt return touchdown. They I was blending the two Rams games together. Anyways, NFC Championship game. We’re on kick return. Um and right when I went to make my block, my hand kind of got caught at the wrong angle and just snapped right on contact and and had a spiral fracture in my hand. So, um, it’s weird going to the side or going to the locker room getting X-rays and then it’s just like, “All right, you’re done.” Like, “Go watch your team play for the rest of the game and hope you guys win.” So, I’m just standing on the sideline. I’m cheering. Um, but you have a little bit of mixed emotions. So, that like I mean, I’m aching. I’m hurting on the sideline with my hand feels like it’s moving around. I feel popping and clicking and uh anyways, it was crazy cuz we win the game. Obviously, I’m celebrating with everybody. And then before I leave the locker room that night, uh I have a surgery scheduled at 11:00 a.m. The next morning in Los Angeles, I was on a plane at 5:00 a.m. getting my hand fixed and a big plate put in my hand. So,

wow. So, you I guess all that happened so I could play in the Super Bowl. Yeah. Play in the Super Bowl. Six days later. Worth it. Worth it all. Absolutely. Worth it all. Worth it all. I love that.

Hey, you didn’t come here by yourself today. I want to make sure that we introduce your beautiful wife Annie is here with you and you have some friends with you as well. Thank you also.

Okay. How was this the Ellensburg rodeo there? The Ellensburg rodeo. Oh yeah. We love it there. It is like that’s a thing. Oh yeah. It has a big deal. It’s a huge deal. It’s a big deal. And so you have you How long have you and Annie been married? Um we celebrated a year March 29th. So I don’t know what is. Yay. Congratulations. Not long. Not long. But we feel experienced. Seasoned at this point.

Seasoned at this point. You’re celebrating something else as well, right? Oh, we have a daughter on the way. Daughter on the way. Training camp baby. That’s exciting. Incredible. Incredible timing. Right. When I’m living in a hotel for a few weeks, we’ll have a baby born. So, hey, that’s okay. God’s God brings babies when he brings babies, right? That’s it. That’s it. Amen. Well, um, what about team culture? there’s some things that you’ve mentioned about Seahawk team culture, Mike McDonald, what he’s done with the team, some values you guys have. What are some standouts for you?

Yeah, so I think um one of the biggest things I think of cuz non-stop like a lot of Hawks fans, if you see the interviews and you watch the postgame stuff, then guys are always talking about how connected we are and uh that’s absolutely pivotal and it’s huge. But then one step further than that, I think the selflessness of our team. Um, is like far and away so much bigger and better than anything I’ve ever been on any other team. Um, and I think that goes right back to it’s in Philippians chapter 2. It says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” And uh, like you can see it even directly like with Jackson. He’s our star wide receiver and he could be a diva if he wanted to. He could cause issues like most other star receivers in the league talking to the media, but like a game where he might not have the most statistics or whatever, the the media might be trying to pull an answer out of him that can get some clicks, but um he just points it right back to the fact that we won the game and it doesn’t matter that he had 40 yards receiving or whatever instead of the typical 150 that he has. So our stars even, they just care about winning. They don’t care about statistics or personal accolades. And I think it was pretty clear why we won the Super Bowl. So teaming, teaming, teaming, teaming.

You just said um Brady just said a word pivotal, and Super Bowl obviously is a peak moment in your career, your life, and all that, but so much u made up like to get to that moment. There was a lot of struggle. There were injuries along the way. There were life experiences. And life is made up of pivotal moments. And we’re describing a pivotal moment as a moment in your life where everything shifts or everything changes. And that could go for the good, that could also go for the bad in our life. And why don’t you just talk about some pivotal moments in your football journey as um because you didn’t just get to the Super Bowl. There were some things that happened along the way. Bring us back.

Yeah, I can I think where I have to take you back to for my football journey is all the way back to kindergarten with Mrs. Clark. Um I it was my first year living in Colorado. I’m in kindergarten and it’s Valentine’s Day and we’re making Valentine cards. I’d imagine for our moms or for our families or something and I don’t know if y’all remember having to fold the paper in half and cut the little arch and you cut a heart out. Uh I was atrociously bad at it and I couldn’t figure it out and I was the teacher could tell I was really upset. Miss Clark was worried about me. She came up and she was trying to help me and I’m trying and I can’t figure it out. And I said, “Miss Clark, I was made for football and nothing else.” And she was super concerned and she called home and uh she called home. She called home and told my mom what I said cuz she was concerned about it. And I’m sure my mom might have acted concerned on the phone, but she was laughing about it when I got home. Uh, so that was kind of I’ve had this football vision for me.

You’ve like been prophetic since kindergarten, I guess. So I didn’t know it, but I don’t know the weight that would carry the rest of my life, but that’s great. Um, so anyways, and and then in comes to middle school. And um, one of the things I told people, which like I had no clue the weight this would carry, but I said I wanted to have a bigger platform to tell people about God. Uh, and lo and behold, here we here you are telling a whole lot of people about God this morning.

Um but then I get to high school u middle school and beginning of high school is when everybody kind of caught up to me in size and was even like bigger and stronger and faster than me. I was falling behind pretty quick. Um so I was real small but I still just had this innate belief that football was the the thing I was going to be doing forever. And I don’t really know why but I did. Um, so then fast forward a little more, junior and senior year, I was in the weight room non-stop. I I end up winning the MVP of my team junior year, senior year. But, uh, despite some like recruiting and stuff, I never got any offers. So, it was just between walking on to a few different schools, whether it was Wyoming, Colorado State, or Colorado. Uh, and I wanted to go to Wyoming, but they wanted me to weigh 300 lb and play defensive tackle, so I didn’t do that. Um, shout out Coach Cooper. He told me I was too slow to play defensive end in the Mountain West. Wow. So, now I play tight end in the NFL instead. Well, there you go. That’s how you answer that.

Yeah. Yeah. So, anyways, I walked on at Colorado. I got a scholarship the beginning of my second year. Um, I was kind of plagued by injuries, so I ended up having to spend six years. I was one of those guys in college. Um, and the NFL looked really slim at that point. But uh I had one team that wanted to sign me out after the draft as an undrafted free agent and that was the San Francisco 49ers. Bless their hearts. Those poor guys, those poor souls. Um but then about 30 So I told my family like, “Go Niners, whatever.” And then about 30 minutes later, I get a call from my uncle who’s in the front office with the Philadelphia Eagles. Um and he’s like, “Brady, we’re going to steal you from the 49ers.” And I was like, “All right, what’s that mean?” And so, uh, ended up going to the Eagles as an undrafted free agent and, um, it’s all then it’s worked out to where I’m here now.

And so, here you are. And we’re going to hear more in just a little bit about how you made it from how the Eagles had you for a moment, but they don’t have you anymore. And we’re going to talk about that. But let’s go back to maybe even just high school because it’s wonderful to hear about all the one the ways that God worked through you um in your football career. And I think listening to you say you had a lot of opportunities to be um disappointed, to give into thoughts that say, “Hey, you’re not you’re never going to make it. You’re they’re they’re bigger, faster, stronger. You’re getting passed over. The coach um from the team said you’d never make it.” Blah blah blah. You have to listen to it. You have to deny a lot of voices and keep hanging on to the the voice inside of you that says, “No, you you got what it takes. You’re going to be okay.” In the midst of all that though, you have a lot more going on than just a football experience. You got real life stuff happening, too. Maybe talk to us a little bit because we have a we have amazing students here at Champion Center and we got world changers legac they’re going to leave uh they’re going to blaze a trail and leave a legacy. We believe in them. We often speak about uh think three here at Champion Center. We’re thinking about three generations beyond us. We’re building up the next generation. So maybe you could share a little bit about your high school experience. You know, things didn’t go perfectly in high school as well either. So you have this you’re walking these dual paths. You got your family experience, you got this high school experience. Maybe share a little bit about what God’s doing in your heart while you’re trying to be the best you can on the field.

Yeah, I think so. in high school is when I got a little more troubled, if you will. Um, and I think in spite of that, God was still tugging at my heart and he always had a hold on my heart, but uh, I got pretty lost along the way. Um, we had some family issues and stuff, we we looked really great from the outside and everything. Um, in my sophomore year, I think my oldest brother, he’s doing pretty well in the oil fields by then, and he was married to his high school sweetheart. My middle brother’s at the Naval Academy, and he’s getting an aerospace degree. Um, my dad’s really successful in the military. He’s but he’s living in Florida while we’re in Colorado. Um, just so that I didn’t have to move in high school, which was super selfless of him. Um, but uh, anyways, so my brothers are out of the house. It’s just me and my mom. Um, and I feel like I could say these things now because of where she’s at now, and she’s so recovered and doing so well, and she’s the best grandma in the world. And I challenge any of you other grandmas to try and be better. But uh I think I think she and she would admit to this too. I think she covered some some past trauma um and kind of idolizing her kids and being a parent when we were in the house when all of us were in the house. But then all of a sudden sophomore year I’m driving, both my brothers are gone. Um rather than giving all of that weight of her past trauma that she’d hidden in parenting, she u she didn’t just give it all to Jesus. Uh, I’d say she was she was always walking with Jesus cuz she’s always had that relationship, right? Um, but she just fell short in some of her own ways where she um started struggling with alcohol some. So, I’m at home by myself with my mom who was struggling with alcohol, my dad who’s across the country. So, like I kind of have this like I can do whatever I want, right?

And so that’s when I get into like partying. I kind of discover sexual sin. and I’d um start drinking with my buddies cuz I feel like whatever the world’s doing is what I’m going to do. So like why wouldn’t I go have my fun, no one’s going to catch me. No one’s going to um get me in trouble. I don’t know. But at the same time, I’m still an FCA leader. Um I’m still having youth group at our house. FCA, what for those who don’t know what that is? Oh, sorry. Fellowship of Christian Athletes. So I’m leading Bible studies. Yeah, it’s a great organization. Great organization. But I I uh unfortunately was kind of living a two-faced life while I was trying to be the good kid in Bible study and youth group in church. Um I was out had a whole another side of me that nobody knew about too except for my boys. So um I didn’t realize that I really had no relationship with God and that’s the whole purpose, right? I just had a this religion that I went and celebrated on Sundays and Tuesday nights or Wednesday nights or whatever it is. Um, and then the other nights I was off celebrating the works of the devil, if you will, cuz that’s what it is. Uh, but it is interesting like you said, I don’t think God was just absent from my life. like in this lack of fruit, he was still tugging at my heart and moving in my life and and um like throughout high school, there’s no reason why even though I’m doing all these bad things and and I’m living a poor life, like he still instilled that work ethic in me that allowed me to go be a walk-on at Colorado and gain 100 pounds in high school. I was like a 5 foot 10 slot receiver my freshman year and then I was a 6’3 240lb DN my senior year. So, um, that’s not like a God’s there in all that. Even if I wasn’t leaning into him, he was leaning into me and he was pursuing me and preparing you, preparing you for what was next. Absolutely.

So, high school, there’s some wrestle, there’s some God’s pursuing me, but I’m kind of maybe compromising some things in my life. But in college, second year of college, I believe, you had this moment where things begin to shift in your life. Talk about that.

Yeah, absolutely. So, I just kind of want to re-emphasize how great it looked from the outside. So, at this point, my brother’s like I think he might have been an executive in the oil fields by the time I was in college. He’s but he’s working his way up the chain fast. He’s doing great. Um my middle brother is now graduated with an aerospace inderee aerospace degree from the Naval Academy. So, no pressure on you at all, right? Yeah. Not at all. Both of them marry their high school sweethearts. Then I’m just like this lousy college kid that’s party and single. Uh but it is crazy. The aerospace degree brother, he like couldn’t read in third grade and now he’s like a world class genius. Anyways, anyways, uh not to brag on him too much. Don’t want to blow his head up. Um so it looked great from the outside, but then uh I go home one weekend before our last game of the season is week 11 going into week 12. And uh um I get sat down in this chair. I can still remember the chair. And I start getting this talk and and my parents are telling me they’re getting divorced. And uh I just I learned a lot. I learned a lot about the trauma that my mom had experienced. And that brought like kind of an immense amount of guilt on me cuz I I all these years it’s like, “Oh, mom’s drinking again. Mom’s doing this. Mom’s doing that.” And it’s like, “Well, shoot. If I’d been through that, I might have been drinking too.” like I might have been. It was terrible. And so, but I didn’t show any of that emotion on the couch. At least I don’t think I did. I just I kind of just sat there stoic like acting like nothing was happening. Um, and then I leave like they finish telling me the divorce stuff. They’re crying. I’m just sitting there and then I just So, is that it? And they’re like, “Yep.” And I get up. I give him Buff a hug. I’m like, “All right, I love you both.” Then I left and uh started driving down the road and I mean like maybe 30 seconds down the road from my house, I pull over, it was a stick shift, so I put it in neutral, didn’t put it in park. Uh and just started crying and was kind of losing it. Um uh but yeah, I I couldn’t really handle myself and it made me question so much about my life and my faith and um I just had this thought. It was like whatever they have, I I I don’t want that in my marriage. I don’t want that in my life. I don’t want whatever’s going on there. And I know that’s not what Jesus has. And then I kind of had this thought. I was like, I don’t I don’t know if I know what Jesus has cuz I think I’m living this life for Jesus. I’m going to Bible study. I’m telling people about Jesus. But then like I’m living the life that’s probably going to lead to divorce and lead to all these things if I don’t change. Right. Um, and that’s when I realized I was like, I can’t just go to church on Sundays, like I have to dive into my word or I’m never going to know what I’m talking about. Right. Yeah.

Um, so I started diving into the word and one of the big scriptures that helped me a lot, um, it’s Romans 5 3-5. It says, “We rejoice in our sufferings because suffering produces,” sorry, doesn’t say because knowing that suffering produces endurance. Endurance produces character and character produces hope. And hope does not put us to shame because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who’s been given to us. Um Amen. Amen. Yeah.

So I I think the I didn’t realize like how deep that scripture necessarily was the first time I read it, but I was like, “Oh, that’s cool. I rejoice in my sufferings.” But now like I just realize like I can carry joy into those moments and I can carry joy through the miserable times in life and and it can God’s going to carry me through that. Yeah.

I think every believer hits a moment where you realize there’s two things that can coincide at the same time and that’s good and that’s bad. We have great things happening in our life and we would call them bad or hard things. good and hard coincide at the same time. And you were experiencing that like God was opening up your eyes to a different way of following him in the middle of something that was actually really hard. So good’s happening, hard’s happening, and maybe talk to us a little bit more about you. You shared something about fruitless faith. Tell us about that.

Yeah, I just I had that realization living the way I was living. I was there was no fruit to what I was doing. Um I think Paul, I don’t remember where it is. says it might I don’t think it’s Galatians, might be Galatians. He says that you can show me or you can tell me um your faith by what you say I’m going to show you with my works. Um and I realized like my works did not reflect anything that I claimed to believe. And I realized how much the word believe had been kind of wrecked in America. Um like the meaning of what it means to believe in something. We think like believing in something just means that it exists. Like if I believe in Jesus, I’m saved. That just means that I believe that Jesus Christ existed. But like the demons believe that Jesus Christ existed. So that doesn’t carry you anywhere. And what is the difference between like how do you know if someone believes or doesn’t believe is by the fruit that they’re bearing, right? So I believe God saved me, but I believed that I was the God of my own life. Like I was going to go make my own decisions. I was going to go have my fun. I was going to go live my life. But God was going to save me at the end of my life. Even though I don’t know him. I don’t talk to him. I don’t whatever. None of that. I had no fruit of that. So, um I think the word So, in John 3:16 kind of everybody knows that verse, right? It says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” And that the Greek for the word believe there is pisto. Um and it means to trust in or to have faith. And so I realized that I had to I couldn’t just believe God existed. that I had to trust in what he said. And the way that I knew I was trusting in what he said was if my life beed the fruit that he claimed to have. The love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Um, yeah. Okay. So, you you he had to trust. You had to trust. Yeah.

And you had a trust moment with God at Colorado. You wanted to you didn’t really want to stay. things weren’t going very well, but you had this God moment where God’s like, “No, I need you to stay here because he has more work for you to do when you’re playing at Colorado.” Talk about that moment. Yeah. Tell us what was happening in Colorado for you. Like, why didn’t you want to stay?

That’s a great question. Uh, if you just go look at the records from 2017 to 2022, you might have an idea, but we were five and seven, five and seven, five and seven, four and eight, 1 and 11. So, we weren’t very successful. Uh, and during the my second to last year, um, like halfway through the season, I’m like, “This season’s over. I’m transferring. I’m out of here. I’m going to It was right when NIL started, so I was like, I’m going to go get paid. I’m going to go do my thing. I’m going to go win some games. I’m going to have fun.” My last year of college football. Um, and then we get to the end of that year and I I started praying and it was I was really walking in step with the spirit, I think, at that time. and I’m praying and uh I just had this impression on my heart. It was like be where your feet are. You’re right where you need to be. And it was like oh all right well I guess I’m staying here. So it’s funny I start getting essentially recruiting calls from my own new coaching staff at Colorado that’s like Brady we love you. We want you to stay. Like we’re going to be throwing you the ball. This is going to be happening. And I’m kind of sitting there and I’m laughing in my own head cuz I’m like, “God already told me I’m here, so like you don’t have to do this.” Uh, but I don’t think I told him that either cuz I didn’t want him to think I’m crazy that I’m sitting there like hearing voices in my head. And so anyways, um, I stayed at Colorado. Uh, we proceeded to go 1 and 11 that season.

Um, week three of that season, I had a ankle injury. Um, and this was after the previous two years, 2021, when I thought I was going to maybe leave for the NFL, I tore my ankle up and had a season ending surgery. The next year, the medical situation got screwed up. I played the whole season on a very hurt ankle and then had to have a second surgery on that same ankle. And then this last year, which is also my sixth year of college football, um, I get a high ankle sprain on my other ankle in week three. And it’s like, holy crap. Like, and at that point, I’m like, God, like, this I think I heard you wrong. I don’t think you were right about stay. I don’t think you’re right about being where your feet are. Maybe Mrs. Clark was right after all in that moment. Yeah, Miss Clark knew what she was talking about. She knew what she was talking about.

Um, so I uh um where was that? We proceeded to go one and 11. Um I also after my ankle injury I missed the next game and then next six games I’m not practicing and I just play on Saturdays and that’s extremely difficult. I don’t know if anybody has ever tried that but uh like I’m definitely not playing a high level of football that I’d like to be playing that I think could help me get to the NFL. So the NFL is looking extremely slim at this point. Um, it’s week 11 going into week 12 again. That’s kind of funny. I just put that together. And I had eaten at our team dinner uh the night before our last game and we’re 1 and 10 at that point. So, but I had all these questions for God in my head. And this kid comes up and sits down next to me and uh he was one of our like five starting quarterbacks I think that year, which is crazy. Um, and he said, “Uh, Brady, like if it wasn’t for you, I don’t think my relationship with Jesus would be anywhere near what it is right now. From you inviting me to church, from you taking me to Bible study this year, from those type of things.” And I was like, like had this epiphany in my head. I was like, “Oh, like like all this adversity, all this losing, all this injuries, all these things literally don’t matter at all.” Cuz the weight of that person’s eternal life was on me. Um, like so if I don’t go to the NFL, like who cares? He’s walking with Jesus. Uh, so it was like a huge eye opener. I’m like, “Oh, I’m so worried about myself. I don’t even see everything going on around me.” Uh, luckily it worked out and I made it to the NFL anyways. But at that time, it was a very bleak moment.

So you I mean, you have all this in your heart, NFL, dreaming big. And did you just hear what he said? He said one person came up to him. one person met him at a team dinner and said, “If it was not for you, what if we live our life that way, church?” Like, what if that’s just the posture of our every single day, we’re God’s sending people an opportunity. We’re chasing opportunity and God is sending opportunity to us every single day. That’s powerful what you just said.

You had a moment in your life um in college, too, where uh you had some opportunity that maybe compromised some purity in your life, but you had a friend step in. Will you just talk about that? I thought that was powerful when you shared that with us.

Yeah, absolutely. Um I think that’s such a lost thing in our world now it feels like is is a community and having people you’re close to that are holding you accountable and making a difference in your life. So I’m walking this path by myself or I think I’m being a Christian. This is going into that fall when I find out my parents are getting divorced. So I’m not living very well. Um, and I’m talking to this girl and I’d got to the point like with all the people that I’d surrounded myself with, don’t surround yourself with bad company. I was like that there’s no such thing as virgins anymore. Like I might as well go lose it. Like what am I doing? Why am I holding on to this title? That’s because that’s what it had become to me. It wasn’t a faith thing. It become like a something I was I think I was just doing out of my own self-will. Um, and I’m probably like within a month of I I would have lost my virginity, but I meet this my buddy named Joey. He’s an intern um on the football team. And it’s funny too looking back cuz he’s I think he was 23 years old and I was 20. So it’s not like that big of an age difference, but he was a intern on our staff. So he seemed like a co a coach and I put him through the ringer with all these faith questions. But he anyways he invited me to breakfast and we were going to breakfast every week every week for the rest of the year. Um and it just he instilled a value in me of valuing my own purity but more so valu valuing um God’s daughter’s purity and how important that is. And um it’s just such a like it’s so cool looking back at that cuz Joey saved me in that moment and then it allowed me to look at my wife Annie when we got married and both of us be virgins and and um just have a beautiful union the way God created it to be. God honored that. And it’s all because I had community that came in and surrounded me and it’s because God put people in my life right when I needed them. Um it wasn’t my own doing at all. It was cuz God like I just feel so blessed in that way cuz I didn’t choose for someone to come and and show me what God was doing. God put that person in my life and he spoke life into me.

I love that. Okay, as we start I want to say rounding third and headed towards home, but that’s baseball. But so I don’t Anyways, okay, let’s talk fourth quarter. Fourth quarter. Yeah, but football minutes are not real minutes. We all know that. So, uh, how did we you you we started the story talking about the Eagles and you were on the team playing for the Eagles. Uh, and then how did you get from the Eagles to the Hawks? Tell us a little bit about that because that was also another God moment for you. And then we’re then we’re just we’re going to cruise right through and I want to I because I really want you to be able to share at the close about how much your relationship with Christ has meant to you that you could share with others. But tell us about how you got from the Eagles.

Yeah, I can try and be pretty quick with it. Uh, I get to Philadelphia. I felt like I kind of understood my place um in the pecking order that I wasn’t going to get a bunch of reps every day. I wasn’t going to get a bunch of glory practice or time or or really nobody was going to be watching me that closely. So, um, I got to Philadelphia and, uh, I just had this scripture. It’s kind of long, but I’m going to read it fast. Read it. You go ahead and read it. So, um, Matthew 6:25-27 is what I’m going to start with. It says, “Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” And then I’m going to skip to verse 33. It says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own worries.” So, um, I was able to carry that scripture. I think a lot of us might know it in our head really. It’s pretty popular scripture, but it doesn’t mean it’s heart knowledge. But when I was at Philadelphia, like it was total heart knowledge. when I went into practice and I I mean I had got maybe two to four reps a day in practice so like next to nothing and I’d go in and do something that was almost worthless and didn’t affect the play. Um but they like I’d get home from practice and I’d be like awesome those two reps went great or those two reps went terrible but I had no weight attached to them because I knew where my eternal glory was and God already knew what that was going to happen that day anyways. Um so I just had this freedom from failure um in Philadelphia. So, I ended up I had a really good um training camp and well, I wasn’t doing much in training camp, but then the first preseason game rolled around and um and I was begging the special teams coach to get put in uh to just a can I cover a punt, can I cover a kick, can I do something? And finally, it was the end of the third quarter of my first preseason game and I hadn’t touched the field. I snit the field. Like I was just standing on the sideline doing nothing. And finally he said he’s like, “Brady, you can go in at right guard. Next punt.” So the next punt I go in at right guard. Um and uh they punt the ball and I just start I just fly down the field and me and the personal protector are running down next to each other. Um the returner kind of jukes the personal protector, but he gets his hand out and strips the ball. And then right when he strobed the ball, I smoked the returner and tackled him. And then we recovered the ball inside the five. Um, and all of a sudden, like everyone on the team is like, “Oh my gosh, Brady, you can run.” And it was like, “Yeah, you guys haven’t even let me run yet this whole training camp.” So, um, if you give him a little bit more opportunity, you could have shown him these things, right?

Yeah. No opportunity. But then the opportunity that came, right, I seized it. Um, and so I think it’s just it’s cool looking back cuz I can look back to that one play and when I came to Yeah. So what happens though? So not the people on your team, Eagles see you do this, but so does so the Hawks, right? Yeah. So then week three, fast forward a few weeks, I end up having a great rest of the preseason cuz after that play, they started letting me play a little bit, which was fun. Um, and then week three, Pete Carol calls on a Tuesday night and he’s like, “Hey, this is Brady or this Pete.” And I was like, “Oh, how how’s it going? What are you doing? What are you up to?” Yeah. Um, and uh, I was actually in the Eagles locker room and he said, “Can you play Sunday?” And I was like, “Uh, yeah. What does that mean?” Like, “How does that go?” Like, “Do I?” He’s like, “I don’t know. You we’ll have our lady call you and she’ll set up a flight for you.” So, so he basically You’re in the Eagles locker room and he’s saying, “Hey, can you come play for us next week?” Okay. But I’m on the Eagles practice squad and in order to go to Seattle, they have to sign me to the active roster for a minimum of three games. Fun rule, I guess. Um, so like if some if a coach team calls you to do that, you’re going to say yes cuz it’s like a it triples your pay out of nowhere. So it’s like, okay, yeah, I’ll come. Okay. Um, so Wednesday morning I was on a flight to Seattle and I was the Seattle Seahawk. I was playing Saturday or Sunday and the rest crazy. Yeah. And we’re glad to have you. Yes, we are.

I think let’s let’s close this up. We got we got a couple minutes left here. If someone is new to Christ, this is a question we have for you. If they’re new to Christ, maybe share with them how teaming with Jesus and his church has been has been a great decision for you and would be the best decision they could make.

Yeah. Um I think I can I can say a lot of things, but I feel like I could just use scripture really to answer this question. So I think we have an enemy. Um, and he what Jesus actually says in John 10:10, he says, “The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” So, the God of the universe acknowledges that there’s an enemy, and he claims to have something better than the enemy. Um, like there’s only two sides to this war. There’s no middle ground. You can’t live for God and be living with the enemy. Um, in James 4:4, it says, “Friendship with the world is enmity, and enmity is a deep-seated, intense hatred.” Says, “Friendship with the world is enmity with God. Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” So, I could say in my own life, like I I thought I could do both. I thought I could be like the fun Christian. That’s and I think I am still a fun Christian, but in different ways. Uh, I didn’t have to be drinking and partying and do acting crazy to be the fun Christian. Um, I thought I could do both. I’m here to confirm to you that is not a thing. That’s not possible. Um, and also there’s a guy in the Bible named Solomon and he uh, if y’all don’t know who he is, that’s King David’s son, but he can confirm pretty well also that you can’t do both. He wrote some of the Bible. Um, and God goes to Solomon and he he offers to Solomon um, whatever he wants. He gives him like whatever request that he has. Um, and Solomon had the boldness and uh, I mean, he had to have some sort of wisdom already because if God offered me whatever I wanted, I don’t think this is the first first thing I’d ask for. But Solomon asked for an understanding mind. And like that’s deep in itself. Why would you I don’t know why you would think of that. But um then God says um because of those things, God said, “I give you a wise and discerning mind so that none like you has been before and none like you shall arise after you.” Yeah. I give you also what you have not asked for, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you all your days. So Solomon, according to God himself, is the wisest man of all time. Um and that guy wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. And in Ecclesiastes 3:1, Solomon says um talking about God, he says, “He has put eternity into man’s heart.” Yes. Um and to me that just means there’s there’s a void in in your heart that longs for eternity, that longs for God, that longs for a relationship with him, right? Um and if you try to fill that void with anything else, it’s not going to go well. I tried filling that void with other things. If you trust Jesus, you won’t try and fill that void with other things because if you actually believe in him and you believe on him and what he told you um then you’re going to live the way he said you’re not going to go pursue um anything else. Solomon, he tried with money. He tried with alcohol. He tried with women. He had all the possessions in the world. He literally was the richest, wisest man of all time. And he tried every other avenue to to fill his eternity sized hole in his heart. And none of them worked. Um, so I guess my prayer for you all today is that that you wouldn’t try the world, that if you have tried the world, that you’d come back to Jesus and you’d and you’d turn to him and and just understand that he’s the author and the perfector of your faith. Like he he’s the one that’s going to write your story if you let him. You just have to submit. You have to surrender to him. Um, surrender is just is one of the most active forms of worship. It’s constant. Like you have to surrender every hour, every minute. those thoughts that you have that aren’t right, you have to give those to God. Everything you have, you have to give to God. So, if I could pray one thing over y’all, it’s that you would get in your word and come to know God yourself and make your faith your own. Um, and that you’d seek first the kingdom of God. So,

God did a great work in your life and he’s still doing a great work. And we are we are so incredibly blessed by the words that you shared with us today. Thankful. I believe that there are people in our room today who maybe your heart has been nudged. We would call that a nudge from the Holy Spirit. Maybe you’re receiving what Brady said and either you’re far away from God or maybe you’ve serve because you’ve served him in the past and you’re not there now and you think, “Okay, I’ve tried you try to do the double thing, the double life thing and it’s not working for you. It’ll never work for you.” Or maybe you’ve been brought by a friend today and you’ve never had a moment where you’ve said, “I I want to follow Jesus for myself.” We’re going to give you that opportunity and it looks really simple. It it’s literally just the Bible says in Romans 10:9 that if you believe in your heart that Jesus died and rose again and you confess with your mouth, you are saved. So, we’re going to give you that opportunity to believe. We belief is on you. Faith is on you. Partner with God for that. But the confession, the speaking out your mouth, we’re going to do that in the form of a prayer this morning. So, if everybody would bow their heads across this room right now,

God, we thank you for this moment. We thank you for what you’re doing. There’s people here in this room right now, Father, that are receiving the word, the seed that was planted in the soil of their heart. And God, we just ask God that you would give us this opportunity to speak out of our mouth, God, a prayer to you to receive the gift you’ve given us with salvation. And if you’re in the room today and that’s you say, “I want to pray that prayer of salvation.” Would you just No one’s looking around. It’s just me. Boldly lift your hand up in the air. I want to know who’s who I’m praying for this morning. And just say, “That’s me, Nicole. Include me in this prayer this morning.” I see hands going up all around this room. Include me in this prayer. Well, here’s what we’re going to do. As an act of solidarity, I’m going to speak out a prayer. You’re going to repeat after me. And this whole room is going to pray with you. Why? Because we know it’s the best decision and the best prayer we’ve ever prayed. So, if you would just repeat after me, just say, “Lord Jesus, welcome to my world. Today, I invite you to be the leader and the Lord of my life. I ask you to forgive me of all of my sin. and I boldly declare that I will never be the same again in Jesus name.

Everybody shout a great big amen. Can we celebrate those who prayed that prayer this morning? If you’ll stay right where you are, I’m going to ask Brady to stand. Can we thank Brady for coming and being a part of our world today? You can stand to your feet. Okay. Okay, you want to do it? C. There it is. C.