Sports Spectrum Podcast

Episode 421 Mike DeVito played nine seasons in the NFL with the Jets and the Chiefs. He was undrafted coming into the league in 2007 from the University of Maine, where he was a First-Team Atlantic 10 selection his senior year.  During Mike's career, he played in two AFC Championship games with the New York Jets in 2009 and 2010 and retired from the NFL in April of 2016 at the age of 32.  Mike is currently back in college studying theology and philosophy and also is the co-host of his 3-Point Stance podcast.  On this episode of the Sports Spectrum, we talk to Mike about the difficult adjustment to NFL retirement, enrolling back full-time into college, coming to Christ in 2007 and managing pain as an NFL defensive lineman. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 420 Bill Curry is a football treasure. He is a former NFL player with the Packers, Colts, Oilers and Rams. During his playing career, he was a member of three NFL championship teams and two Super Bowl winning teams. After his playing career, he moved on to coaching and after a few seasons in the NFL as an assistant, he moved to the college ranks, where he was a head coach with Georgia Tech, Alabama, Kentucky and Georgia State before retiring after the 2012 season. He is a 2-time SEC Coach of the Year (1987,89) and the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year in 1989. Bill is now a highly sought out speaker who travels across the country encouraging audiences with his motivational stories of football and life. On this episode of the podcast, Bill Curry returns to the podcast to talk about the six characteristics of being a great leader, the importance of learning and growing at the age of 77, adversity as a teacher, his favorite Bart Starr story and the disciplines that he's instilled to stay connected to God. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

BONUS EPISODE James Hurst is an offensive lineman with the Baltimore Ravens. Hurst was undrafted in 2014 out of North Carolina but made the Ravens squad out of training camp and has been with the team ever since. As he worked his way up through the ranks, Hurst found himself a valuable member of the Ravens team because of his versatility in being able to play multiple positions on the offensive line. In 2018, Baltimore rewarded Hurst with a four-year contract extension. On this episode of the podcast, we talk to James about the 2019 Ravens, blocking for Lamar Jackson, leading team Bible studies, baptizing his teammate at the Ravens facility and how the influence Benjamin Watson had on James' faith journey. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 419 Clay Scroggins is a pastor of Buckhead Church in Atlanta and the author of two books, How to Lead When You're Not in Charge and his latest, How to Lead in a World of Distraction. On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Clay about leadership within the world of sports, moving forward after failure, how to lead like Jesus, choosing positivity and rejecting passivity.  For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 418 George Barber is the head basketball coach at Greenville University, a Division III school in Greenville, Ilinois. Prior to his time with Greenville, George was an assistant coach at Bradley University as well as with the University of Kentucky under Rick Pitino, where he was part of a national championship team in 1996.  Competing in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, George's Greenville club in 2018-19 set the NCAA Division III record in scoring offense (135.1 ppg) and led the country in assists per game, steals per game, turnover margin, total assists, three-point field goal attempts, and three-point field goals made. On February 2, 2019, Greenville scored 200 points in a regulation game. Besides his job as a head coach, Barber is also a professor Kinesiology and Sport for Greenville University.  On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Dr. George Barber about his high scoring offense, his time at Kentucky, winning a national championship, scoring 200 points in a game, keeping Christ at the center of his life and why humility is so important to him.  For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 417 Jason Hanson played 21 seasons in the NFL, all with the Detroit Lions from 1992-2012. He was selected in the second round of the 1992 NFL Draft by Detroit (56th overall) out of Washington State and would go on to be one of the greatest kickers in NFL history. He was a 2-time Pro Bowl selection and currently ranks fourth on the NFL's All-Time points scored career list with 2,150. He holds multiple NFL records including most field goals of 40 or more years, most consecutive field goals of 40 or more yards and most career games with one NFL team (327). Hanson was inducted into the Detroit Lions Ring of Honor in the Fall of 2013 at Ford Field following his retirement from the NFL in April of 2013.  On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Jason about the memory of his first NFL kick, how his faith in Christ was shaped, the hope and encouragement he has for Lions fans, bringing his faith to the NFL and the spiritual mentors that helped shape him as a player and a man. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 416 Charlie Ernst is the men’s basketball head coach at Findlay University in Ohio. He is a two-time GMAC Coach of the Year in 2018 and 2019. Since becoming head coach on March 30, 2011, Ernst has led his program to a pair of Sweet 16 appearances, six NCAA Division II National Tournament appearances, two Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) titles. On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Charlie about the different hats he wears as coach at the NCAA Division II level, why he chose the coaching profession, how his faith has taken shape more recently and the awesome story of Charlie and his wife adopting a young boy in Africa just a few months ago. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Today we listen to a portion of our inspiring interview with former Tennessee Volunteers football player Inky Johnson. With a dream of playing in the NFL, Johnson rose from a life of poverty and drugs in the ghetto of Atlanta to play college football with the Volunteers. In 2006, his dream was shattered when he suffered a life-altering injury on the football field that would take him from starting defensive back to sitting in a hospital wondering if his life would ever be the same. Today, Johnson travels the country sharing his story and encouraging others as a motivational speaker. He’s a mentor to many athletes and teams both in college and professional sports. On this Throwback edition of the podcast, we turn it back to May of 2018, Episode 112 with Inky sharing his story of faith and how an accident on the football field changed his life forever. You can listen to the entire interview with Inky from May of 2018 here. 

Episode 415 Harvey Pendleton is one of three chaplains for the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA. He came to the Spurs in 1996 and has served as a chaplain, ministering to players and coaches before select NBA games.  He was a former platoon leader in the 173rd Army Brigade in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal along with other awards for his service in the United States military. On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Harvey about his amazing journey from serving in the military and Vietnam to serving Jesus in the world of the NBA For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 414 Chris Marlow is the founder of "Help One Now." Last year, Help One Now partnered with Big League Impact and MLB players to build a secondary school in Haiti. MLB players Kyle Gibson, Zach Duke, Brian Dozier and Logan Morrison partnered with BLI to invite fans and supporters to work together to make the school become a reality. Marlow started "Help One Now" after meeting a starving young orphan at an abandoned gas station in Zimbabwe. At that moment, he was compelled to dedicate his life to seeking justice by empowering high-capacity local leaders to care for orphans and vulnerable children, and to help them see their communities transform. His passion is organizing tribes of everyday people—people like you!—to partner with global movements that do good.  In 2016, Chris wrote the book "Doing Good is Simple." On this episode of the podcast, Chris shares the incredible story of starting "Help One Now," his love for sports at a young age, his broken relationship with his father and how God has helped him overcome fears to move past regret.  For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com