Sports Spectrum Podcast

Episode 304 Jeremiah Sirles plays offensive lineman for the Buffalo Bills in the NFL. He played his college football at the University of Nebraska, where he earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors as a senior and second-team All-Big Ten as a junior, along with Academic All-Big Ten honors his senior year. After going undrafted in 2014, he signed with the Chargers where he would make his NFL debut on December 20, 2014 against the 49ers. In September of 2015, Sirles was traded to the Vikings where he would play the next two seasons. In 2017, he signed a contract with the Carolina Panthers before being released in September. A few weeks later, Buffalo signed him and after completing the 2018 season with the Bills, he would sign a new 1-year contract this past January to continue playing for Bills Mafia. On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Jeremiah about life as an undrafted player and the less than glamorous journey he's taken to achieve his goal of playing in the NFL. We also hear from Sirles about his faith journey and living that out everyday as a professional football player. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 303 Clay Martin is entering his fifth season as an NFL official, and his second as a referee. The former college point guard at Oklahoma Baptist University, is also a high school basketball coach at Jenks High School in Oklahoma.  Martin bias also a former NCAA Division 1 assistant basketball coach with Texas Pan-American under Bob Hoffman. His football officiating career began in 2005. He began his college career in 2007 with Conference USA as a line judge where he worked the 2011 Conference USA championship, the 2011 Outback Bowl, the 2012 Holiday Bowl, the 2014 Conference USA championship and the 2015 East-West Shrine Game.    During his time as a college basketball player with OBU, his team reach the NAIA championship game in 1997 and the quarterfinals in 1999. He was a third-team All-American in 1999 and an honorable mention All-American in 1998. Martin holds the OBU records for career assists and steals and scored 1,126 points in 122 games.  On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Clay about life as an NFL referee, how he became a football official after playing college basketball, what it looks like to incorporate his faith into his job, and his awesome story of coming to know Jesus as Lord. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Lee Strobel joins us on this THROWBACK edition of the podcast. Lee is the former award-winning legal editor of the Chicago Tribune and best-selling author of more than 20 books. His classic, The Case for Christ, is a perennial favorite which details his conversion to Christianity. For the last 25 years, his life’s work has been to share the evidence that supports the truth and claims of Christianity, and to equip believers to share their faith with the people they know and love. Strobel’s life story is depicted in the recent release from Pure Flix: “The Case for Christ” and is available now on DVD, Blu-Ray and digital download. On this episode from September 2017, Lee shares his connection to sports and wonderful stories on Cubs legend Ernie Banks and Basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabaar.  Listen to the entire interview with Lee from Episode 36 here. 

Episode 302 Rob Likens is the offensive coordinator and QB coach at Arizona State. During his 25 year coaching career, Likens has made stops at Kansas, Cal, Louisiana Tech, Central Connecticut State, Temple and North Alabama. He joined Arizona State as their Wide Receivers coach in 2016 before taking over the offensive reigns in 2017. Likens currently has seven former players in the NFL at the wide receiver position, including Bryce Treggs (Philadelphia Eagles/California), Kenny Lawler (Seattle Seahawks/California), Chris Harper (San Francisco 49ers/California), Maurice Harris (Washington Redskins/California), Trevor Davis (Green Bay Packers/California), Quinton Patton (San Francisco 49ers/Louisiana Tech) and Myles White (Tampa Bay Buccaneers/Louisiana Tech). On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Coach Likens about working for Herm Edwards, living the life of a college coach, staying grounded in his faith, and why Jeremiah 17:5-8 is listed in his Twitter bio. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 301 Bruce Pearl is the head men's basketball coach for the Auburn Tigers. His coaching career has spanned over 30 years and has included stops at Stanford, Iowa, Southern Indiana, Milwaukee, Tennessee and now Auburn.  In 1995, he was named Division II Coach of the Year at Southern Indiana and in 2006, during his time at Tennessee, was named Sporting News Coach of the Year.  In 2019, he led the Tigers to their first ever appearance at the NCAA Final Four before losing to eventual champion Virginia in the National Semi-Finals.  On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Coach Pearl about that Final Four appearance, why he was able to keep his poise and integrity after their difficult loss to Virginia, how his faith has evolved and transformed in his life over the past few years and why he's become more open about his relationship with God. 

Episode 300 Tony Trent is our guest on the podcast today. He's the Dad to Purdue super-fanTyler Trent. And today on the show, we talk to Tony about Tyler's courageous battle with cancer, Tyler's new book "The Upset," and how the strong faith that the entire Trent family has in Jesus Christ has helped them during this difficult season of life and the loss of their beloved son Tyler back in January of 2019.  For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 299 Patty Gasso is the head softball coach of the Oklahoma Sooners. In a word, she's a legend. Gasso came to the Sooners in 1995 and since then, has led her clubs to 12 Women's College World Series and is a 4-time WCWS champion.  She was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 2019 and is a 12-time Big 12 Coach of the Year. In 2019, the Sooners have won an NCAA record 39 consecutive games and entering the NCAA Division 1 Softball Championship, they are the number one seed after winning an incredible 49 of 51 games.  Gasso was inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Hall of Fame in 2012. On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Patty about the Sooners' success achieved thus far in 2019, dealing with adversity in the midst of winning, her awesome testimony of coming to faith in the Lord on a softball field in Long Beach, California, being open about her faith as a coach, and why her husband is her spiritual leader.  For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Today we throw it back to Episode 65 of the podcast with former NFL QB and current ESPN broadcaster Brock Huard.  Brock covers the NFL and College Football for ESPN. He’s also the co-host of the Brock and Salk show on 710 ESPN in Seattle and is the host of the “Above and Beyond” podcast. Brock was selected in the 3rd round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks out of the University of Washington. He played 6 seasons in the NFL, including 2 as Peyton Manning’s backup in Indianapolis. You can listen to the entire interview with Brock from December 2017, here. 

Episode 298 Austin Hatch is an inspiration. His story has been seen and told by places like ESPN, NBC Nightly News, People Magazine and many others. On September 1, 2003, at the age of 8, Austin survived a plane crash that took the lives of his mom, sister and brother. On June 24, 2011, 9 days after making his commitment to play college basketball at the University of Michigan, Austin was the only survivor in a second plane crash that took the lives of his father and his step-mother. Hatch had suffered brain trauma, fractured ribs, a fractured sternum, a fractured hip, two broken collarbones, and holes in his lung. He was also in a six-week-long induced coma. He had to relearn how to walk and talk. Austin would make a full recovery and return to Michigan in 2014, achieving his dream of playing basketball for the Wolverines. On this powerful episode of the podcast, we talk to Austin about surviving 2 plane crashes, how he's been able to turn something to tragic into something good, leaning on his faith in God, what coach John Beilein and the Michigan Wolverines has meant to him, and how his recovery after the second plane crash helped him grieve and even more, drew him closer to the Lord.  For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 297 Jonny Reid works for "Christians in Sport," a site dedicated to telling the stories of sports and faith in the United Kingdom. He is the Communications Team Leader. In his spare time, Jonny also plays hockey for Bicester HC and cricket for Westcott CC and is one of the leaders of Town Church, Bicester. On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Jonny about faith in the United Kingdom, and the challenges Christian athletes face in sharing their faith in England. Jonny also shares about how Christians in Sport is providing resources in working with elite athletes to equip them with the tools to spread the Gospel of Christ within their spheres of influence. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com