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American Family Radio thanks sponsor, Preborn for supporting pro life advocacy

Dr. Jessica Peck: We would like to take a moment to thank our sponsor, PreBorn. When a mother meets her baby on ultrasound and hears their heartbeat, it's a divine connection. And the majority of the time she will choose life. But they can't do it without our help. Preborn needs us, the pro life community, to come alongside them. One ultrasound is just $28. To donate, dial pound 250 and say the keyword BABY or visit preborn.com/AFR hello

David Pollack: and welcome to the Dr. Nurse Mama show prescribing Hope for healthy families here on American Family Radio. Here's your host, professor, pediatric nurse practitioner and mom of four, Dr. Jessica Peck.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, hey there friends and welcome to my favorite time of day, getting to spend time with you prescribing Hope for Healthy Families. And listen, I'm so excited about today's show. We are talking about sports and I don't know about you, but my family absolutely loves sports. But even more than that, we're talking about every day counts. We live in a culture that is obsessed with performance. We're talking about social media. Ready? Highlight reels. Championships, nil. And how that has changed the landscape of youth sports. We look at platform and we all celebrate those visible wins. But we often don't know what to do when life takes an unexpected turn. What happens when the dream that you built your identity on disappears overnight? What happens when success isn't enough or suffering just shows up anyway in spite of your success? It is not an absolute protector from experiencing hardship in life. And today's guest knows that tension firsthand. I'm really glad to introduce to you, someone who probably needs no introduction for many of you. We're talking today to David Pollack. He rose to the top of college football world at the University of Georgia as a three time all American and the nation's top defensive player. In 2004, inducted into the College Football hall of Fame, which my family has taken me there to see. He became a first round NFL draft pick for the Cincinnati Bengals and he built a national platform with espn. But his story didn't follow the script. He had a career ending injury. He had an unexpected job loss, a devastating cancer diagnosis in his family. And yet through it all, he didn't lose his purpose. He found it. And in his new book, every Day Counts. Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. David challenges us to rethink success not as what we achieve, but as how we live, who we trust and whether we're faithful. With today, this conversation isn't just about Football, it's about identity and suffering and discipline and family and what it really means to live for something greater. David, thank you so much for dropping by today and spending some time with us. I'm really grateful for your time and I'm looking forward to this conversation.

David Pollack: Absolutely. Thank you, Ms. Jessica, for having me on.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, David, I have to tell you first that my family, they love sports, and they have a group family text message that they have named the Sports Literate. And they've taken me out of it. So

David Pollack: that's amazing.

Dr. Jessica Peck: I know. So let me tell you, there's some pressure to make every day count. I've got to make this next hour count, or dinner is going to be real awkward for me. So I have done my homework and I. I really am so inspired by your story. So for those who may be there who are also sports illiterate, although I do love football, can you tell us just a little bit about your story and your football story and how. Give us a little preview on how your life changed. We'll. We'll talk about all that in detail.

David Pollack: Yes, ma'.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Am.

David Pollack: No. When I, when I was four years old, Jessica, my dream was to play in the NFL. And I got plenty of little pats on the head, like, that's really cool, bro. So does everybody else. And, it didn't deter me. And I was definitely motivated and even as an eighth grader, like to give you a little insight into my personality. I remember watching the World cup, and I remember they talked about on the broadcast how the athletes stopped drinking carbonation because it hurt their conditioning. That's the last time I've ever touched a carbonated beverage in my life.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Wow.

David Pollack: I knew. Well, I knew if I wanted to get to X, I had, like, I had to give stuff up along the way. And so that was something. Like, I was driven, I was motivated, I worked really, really hard. And, you know, in 2005, my dream got to come true. I was the 17th pick in the draft and started, my NFL career. I told my wife, we're not going to Hawaii until I make it to a Pro Bowl. That's where you take you when you're, you know, basically an all star, you know, in the NFL and my second season, second game. And, one of my big goals was to get more physical. And so I came in and tried to make a hard tackle. And when I did, it was the first time I couldn't move after I hit somebody. And a lot of times you get stingers going through your upper body. and that's just like a shooting pain down your shoulder. And, But this was different. This. This was all over my whole upper body. And, it was, It was a new feeling. They took me under. They took me inside the stadium, and underneath, they strapped me to a gurney. They did an mri. They came back out, and they're like, hey, man, you fractured your C6, C7. Jessica, I'm not the brightest in the world. So I was like, cool. What does that mean? A couple weeks, I'm out. And they're like, it means you broke your neck. And I was like, ooh, okay, that's a little bit more serious. Yeah, that sound. I was like, can we stick to the fractured C6, C7? That sounds a lot cooler than when you tell me I broke my neck. And I remember being in the back of the ambulance, and my baby doll was in the ambulance with me, and it was just, You know, we were both in tears, and it was like, okay, this. This. This might be it, and this could be the end. And it was. It was serious. And, But you know what, man? It was so cool because, like, you know, we. We go through these things that are very hard in life and very difficult in life. And obviously, at 23 years old, this was the hardest challenge that I'd ever faced. And for the next two years, Jessica, I got to rehab. And you know what? It's amazing. I had a very transactional relationship with God. Like, got up in the morning, boom. I hit my prayer. You know, I holler at him before meals. but. But I was pursuing greatness in football. Football was my number one, you know, and so when. When I had to slow down. The Bible says, be still and know that I am God. I've never done that. I have so many people in my life that all the time, like, hey, how I want to hear from God, especially young people. And I'm like, are you creating space for God? And, like, what do you mean by that? I was like, in any relationship you have, if, And I obviously meet with a lot of men, I'm like, hey, you know, if you want a girlfriend, if you only talk to them when you want to, how do you think that relationship's going to end, buddy? And he was like, not well. And, so it was awesome because God slowed me down, and I started to talk to him more, and I started to hear from him more. And so at the age, like I said, in my early 20s, at 23, man, did I get more life experience. And Learn more about struggle and hardship and how to lose a dream and keep going and how to, how to, Like here's the one thing, here's the most important thing. Sport makes a horrible God and occupation makes a horrible God. Like those identities make a horrible God. There is one God to turn to. And if you're going through something man in your life that's really, really hard right now, I promise you, it might not fix it right away, but I promise you it'll make it better. It'll make it easier to walk through because you won't do it alone. And so to get that at 23, with my bride, you know, first year of marriage, I wouldn't trade it for a gold jacket. And Jessica, I know you don't know what a gold jacket is, but that's a hall of fame jacket. You don't as not sports person. That's when they, when you're really, really good, you go in the hall of fame and they give you a jacket for it. And I take, I take the broken neck 10 out of 10 times, David.

Dr. Jessica Peck: That's a really powerful statement. And you know, it's interesting for me because I am sports illiterate, but I am a pediatric nurse and I have sat at the bedside of so many kids who have had a career ending injury, who have dreams of being of reach the achievements that you did, David, and having those dreams. And just even this week our pastor was saying, you know how he was kind of talking from the pulpit and saying, hey, your kids aren't going to go pro. And some of pro athlete coming up and saying, yeah, some of us are going to go pro. Like there are some people who go pro. And David, I would love for you just to speak to those families right now because I, I have such a vivid memory of standing by the bed of this one particular boy in particular who was a basketball player. And of course their only question is, when can I play? When can I play? When can I play? Because so much of their identity is wrapped up in that. How do you balance the tension of that, of, you know, there's some good things about sports and there's some character that can build, but you've talked about just having such a balanced view of your identity in Christ. Can you speak to those families who are in those youth sports right now and may have aspirations and are even listening to you right now and thinking, man, I want to be like that guy? what would you say to them right now? What did you wish you had known when you were There.

David Pollack: Well, Jessica, they ain't going to like it. I can promise you that. you're probably not going to like this. A lot of the dads that I spend time with and moms that I spend time with, they don't like what I, what I have to say about this. First of all, I want to take something, you know, off the table. When your kid's really good, when they're young, there's one reason why whoever the most aggressive player on the field is, wins, okay? So when you get to middle school, I'm going to tell you what wins. Whoever's hit puberty, like, if they got hair into their arms in football, they're going to kill everybody in middle school. And then when you get to be in high school, you know what wins? Genetics. Like, that's, that's a, that's a very easy way to break it down and get you to understand. So many dads out there, so many moms out there are so interested in sport, and they're going to make sure their kid can throw, they're going to make sure their kid can pitch, they're going to make sure their kid can catch, but they're not going to teach them the word of God. Like, I, I, I don't, I don't understand that. They're not going to go to church. We have so many people in our church that I'm like, hey, do you still go to our church? Oh, it's baseball season. Oh. Oh, my bad. My bad. I didn't, I didn't, I didn't know we took breaks from God. I thought, I thought we went to church every Sunday. And it's, it's an interesting conversation because I think everybody thinks they got to keep up with the Joneses. Keep up with the Joneses. It has nothing to do with whether your kid's gonna go pro. The team they play on, it doesn't matter whether they're going to go pro, but we have an awesome opportunity as parents to teach them what the most important thing is. Jessica, I see better than I hear. Your kids see better than they hear. They're watching every single thing you do. There is nothing better. My daughter's a sophomore. She wants to play college basketball. More than anything in this world, she wants to pursue that. She's going to chase it. Well, guess what? If we got a Sunday conflict, Church wins.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Wow.

David Pollack: And it's not going to affect her. It's not going to affect her future. It's not going to affect her future at all. But, but you Know what I can show her, man? I can show her. And because again, they see better than they hear. If, if I consistently skip church every Sunday to go to baseball, to go to basketball, to go to football, I'm showing my kids that sport is more important than God. That's what I'm showing them. I can tell them different, but that's what I'm showing them. Then missing out on some opportunities on Sunday, I, I think we can teach them more about what the priorities are and show them more of what our priorities are in life than anything else. If you're really serious about sport, you can play local and you can play up, if you want to play up, play them up a couple age groups. My, my daughter is an eighth grader, played high school basketball, you know, in the local travel circuit right near us. And so you can absolutely do that if you're serious about it. But, like, I, I think create some standards for your household and make some decisions, Jessica, before you make choices. And when I say that, like, what do we stand for? What are the non negotiables? What are the things that our family. This is what our heartbeat of our family is. This is who we are. So now when we get in a really tough spot and there's a little bit of, okay, it's Sunday morning, we stayed up late on Saturday night. What are we going to do? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. The decision's been made. We're going to church. Now. Your choices have kind of put you maybe in a spot where I might have a little more temptation to sleep in, or I might have a little more temptation to do something else. But we got to revert back to, what are we? Who are we? What is our heart beating for? And, so that's something with us, man. It's a non negotiable, and it's something we're going to continue to do in our household.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, David, those are some tough words. I mean, people got to put on their tough suit to get the, to hear that message. But I'm saying say it louder for the people in the back. I mean, I can say that. But, you know, I'm not a preacher, I'm a nurse. But people will say, oh, oh, that sounds preachy. And it's easy for you to say. And of course, you know, you want kids to be balanced and all of that, but you're a guy with a gold jacket who is still saying that.

David Pollack says sports can help character development, but also prioritize faith formation

And David, I'd love for you to expound more on the importance of character. Development. Because so often what I see in youth sports today is that parents are really tempted to look at their kid as a product to be produced and marketed, especially with the earning potential now, that's in college. Instead of looking them as a person to be shaped and raised in the image of God. What. What can. Can we leverage sports to help character development, but also prioritize, like you said, prioritize that faith formation.

David Pollack: Jessica, sports are pivotal. And I know you, you might not be a sport person, but I bet you. I bet you very much support discipline.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Absolutely. Absolutely.

David Pollack: I bet you support winning because someone else did good or losing because someone else did bad. Like, these are all lessons. But. But, but here. Here's the problem, and here's where I've seen a lot of parents, like, we can't reward outcomes if outcomes, Jessica, are the most important thing. Well, then when your kid hits a home run and you go get ice cream, it's like, sweet. Heck, yeah, I got ice cream. Well, the next time they don't hit a home run, they don't get ice cream. Well, that means they failed. No, no, no, no. That's not failure. That's not success. What you do and how you perform isn't failure and success. Because guess what? You're not going to be good enough sometimes, and you're not going to win. But that doesn't mean you failed. If you did your best, you still succeeded. So there is so many lessons that are so good parents have gotten out of control. Like when you go to a game, Jessica, I'm going to. I'm going to give you three things. When you go to a game, you got three boxes, and you get to stay in one box, okay? And here are the three boxes.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Okay?

David Pollack: You can be a ref if you want to. Okay? You can be a ref. You can be. You can call balls and strikes. You can talk about the calls all you want. Hey, you can be a, coach if you want to. You can be a coach. You want to coach all the kids. Coach them up. Coach them up left and right. Or you can be a parent. You can be a parent. That's an encourager. That's like, hey, you're doing your best. I love you. Like, the car rides can't be miserable, man. Like, when we get in the car, the kids want to go get.

Dr. Jessica Peck: I'm going to hold you right there. I'm going to hold you right there because we're up against our first break, but I want to pick up there when we get back because that is a message that people need to hear from someone like you. I mean, really, it hits different when you're saying that because you've been there and you know. We'll be right back with more from David Pollack. You won't want to miss it. Every day counts and it counts. We'll see you on the other side of this break.

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How Great Thou Art (Until That Day) by Matt Redman: my soul, my savior, God to Thee how great thou art. how great thou art Then sings my soul, my savior God to Thee how great thou art how great thou art.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is how great thou art until that day by Matt Redman

David Pollack talks about balancing identity and balancing sports with Christian values

And today we are talking about making every day count. When your identity is rooted in performance, loss can feel like a devastating end. Like what is after that? But when your identity is rooted in Christ, even loss can become a beginning. And so I'd ask you, where have you tied your identity to something temporary? Because I think we all do that in today's culture, whether it's sports or some other form of accomplishment or some other function of the American dream. But what might it look like to surrender that to the Lord? We're talking to somebody who has done that. Today. I'm having a great conversation with David Pollack. He has a new book, Every day counts. Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. If you have a student athlete, I would encourage you to put this book in their hands and. And to have them read from someone who has been tremendously successful in the world of professional sports, but who's here today giving us some pretty great messages about balancing that identity and balancing sports also with making sure you're anchored on your identity in Christ. And David, right before the break, you were saying, ah, as parents you can be three things. You can be a ref, you can be a coach, you can be a parent. And you were just starting need to talk about the miserable car ride home after a sports game. So I'm gonna let you pick it up there.

David Pollack: Yeah, I think when, you know, I learned this as my. My son was 10 and we beat everybody where we're at, and we went to get a challenging game like a couple counties over, and we go get stomped out. Like, we get beat up. And I was so mad, I was ill on the ride home, so I didn't say a word. And my baby doll looked at me, is like, you made the car ride miserable. I'm like, babe, I didn't say anything. And she was like, exactly, you made it miserable. And my son's in the backseat and he's like, can we go get ice cream? You know, and it's just, why do we care so much? Why do we care? We can't care more than them about anything. We can't make them care. Right? Like, so I think those are struggles. Like, here's the thing, a couple things to think about when you get in the car. I love you. That can be a great starting point. Whether you scored 20, whether you scored 0, whether you hit a home run, whether you struck out. I don't care. I can't love you anymore. Like, it's not, my. My love is not conditional. It is not depending on the way you perform. Like, that doesn't matter to me. I love watching you compete. Okay, that's. That's one thing I think that you can do. Did you have fun? That's a great question. Did you have fun and were you a great teammate? I can control that. I can't control whether I win or lose. Sometimes people are better than me, but I can control, did I have fun and was I a great teammate? And the last one is where it gets a little bit blurry. Jessica, did m. You try as hard as you can, and here's what we've got to understand. Like, trying for an 8 year old. A 10 year old looks a heck of a lot different than a 40 year old. And we've got to give them that grace. We can't be like, hey, I need you to read Spanish. Like, what is the word? What is this word? What is this word? Put. Conjugate those verbs. Like, we can't ask them to do something they don't know how to do. You know, it's just like with their faith, we can't ask them to. To look at scripture in a way that breaking it down, like, and really understanding it inside and out at an age of 8 or an age of 10. So I think a lot of parents use that like, you're not trying hard enough. You need to go do more as, as a, as a way to try to push their kids. And it's something that really bothers them. They're not a reflection of you. Their, their, their athletic ability isn't a reflection of you. Like, once you let. Just let them adapt their own journey, have a lot of fun with it. Like when. And here's the thing. If you want your kid to be great, the best, the best thing you can hand them is the lack of fear of failure. Because when you're parenting and, to an outcome, there's going to be fear that I didn't meet that standard and because I didn't mean that standard. Mom and dad are going to be mad when you're parenting to, like, things that they can control, not outcomes. Like, like when you're parenting to practices and things that you, that you can tangibly measure about being a great teammate, working hard, having, like, those things, they can meet that standard. They can be successful. So it's not about the outcomes. And then I think now what happens is when they mess up. Okay, I mean, I love. And this is the last thing. I promise I'll shut up. Jessica.

Dr. Jessica Peck: That's, okay.

David Pollack: As a coach, I coach high school football and I coach girls basketball. And I'll be like, all the time, hey, who's going to mess up today? And I got my hand raised. And none of, in the beginning, none of them had their hand raised. I'm like, wait a minute. We're all going to mess up today. Like, we're all going to make some mistakes and it's going to be okay. Like, mistakes are a part of the process.

Failure is a part of the process. Let's let kids learn that failure leads to success

Failure is a part of the process. Let's let them learn that failure leads to success. That one a no doesn't mean I'm not good enough. no is just leading to my next yes. Right when it comes to sales or an occupation. And I, I think if we can learn those things and teach ourselves and work on those things and get better with those things, our kids will have more success.

Dr. Jessica Peck: I hope parents are listening because your words are so encouraging. And really this is something that's accessible for all families because every family, no matter you are, no matter what sport you're playing, no matter what access to resources you have, when your kid gets in the car, you can Say I love you. And then praise a character attribute because, yeah, it's one thing to say, yeah, you had a home run, let's go get ice cream. But to say, hey, you struck out three times in a row, but you still went back up to the plate. You didn't throw your helmet in the dugout, you didn't throw your bat, you didn't cuss out the ref. You know, you cheered your teammates on. Yes. You showed self control. You showed character. I think that's worth celebrating even more than a home run. And you know, David, I think there's a lot of families out here who maybe feel intimidated because of the change that's happened in youth sports. You just shared with me during the break that your parents did not hire you a specialty coach. You know, you rode your bike and those kinds of things. You really built your success on, perseverance and habits. And I think that's another thing that's accessible for all parents, regardless of whether you can afford, you know, some, some specialty coach or specialty equipment or that kind of thing. What does it practically look to make every day count through those perseverance and habits and that character formation?

David Pollack: Well, those are, these, all these football lessons were so good for me because you start to learn and you read it when you read the book. Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. This isn't just to do with sports, like, but, but in life, what do we have? Like, let's start today. So many people, man, I want to lose weight. I want to lose weight. That's awesome. That's a great goal. I want to lose 30 pounds. We got to lose one first, right? Like, and so our alignment, our alignment directly reflects our assignment. And if I want to be the greatest, like, pitcher on the planet, to use a pitching analogy, like your husband, like you love. okay, I'm m gonna do a different one. If I want to be the best writer in the history of mankind, okay, I gotta write. I need a pencil, I need a pen. I gotta sit down and get still. If I'm only writing when I'm running, it's not gonna go real well, right? But like, like shooting, I gotta aim towards a goal. I gotta aim towards a goal to shoot at if I want to be great. If I'm aiming somewhere else, it's not going to happen. So how do we make our alignment every day? How do we use what we have right now? To use a car analogy, A lot of us likes to, like to drive in the car. And we're looking out the front windshield all the time. All the time. What's next? What's next? What's next? And that's awesome. But a lot of people are looking in that rear view mirror. Guilt, shame, failure, all those things. But how do we make it today where today matters? Like, I'm driving in the car right now. Let's, let's make the next right decision, the next right move. Let's work really, really hard, right? Let's enjoy today for what it is. Tomorrow's gone and yesterday's irrelevant, right? Like, yes, it does it like tomorrow hasn't come yet. Excuse me. And yesterday is irrelevant. So, yeah, like, how do we adopt that mindset of starting where we're at? Like, when I was in college in football and I had a position, like, I had to start with the very basic stuff and get that before I got to the next stuff, to the next stuff, to the next stuff. And it's no different in any avenue of life. We've got to start with where we are right now, and we got to use the things that God's given us to do what we can.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, I can definitely see you carrying that perseverance, that character trait, because, you know, you talk about just reaching just the, the pinnacle of success in college football, getting that gold jacket, all of the accolades that you carry. And then you described in the first segment, laying on that field and hearing you broke your neck and realizing football is going to look different from you, for you from now on, but you were able to be a successful broadcaster then. You know, I mean, there are, there's so many things that people look up to about that, and even that didn't go the way that you thought it would, and that was a little bit of a roller coaster. How did you take that professional roller coaster but still have the steadying influence and foundation of your faith?

David Pollack: Well, I remember when, I remember when I lost football and my baby doll was asking me questions and we were talking back and forth, and I was like, you know, I, I can't imagine where God's going to take us next. I was like, he took us to here, to the NFL, and this was amazing. And, and now it's gone. I, I can't imagine how great the next opportunity is going to be now. I never thought it was media. I never liked the media, to be honest. I thought it was. I did not like how everybody, said things a certain way and, and like, I just didn't. I didn't care for it as much as I would I would like. And so I never thought it'd be an option. But then football's gone and I knew I wanted football in my life. And I was like, all right, what's next? And, and here's the reality. Everybody talks about, you know, being a first round pick. You don't talk about the practices, right? And then everybody talks about being on college game day for 15 years and going all over the place. Well, I started on ESPNU making twelve hundred dollars a month.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Wow.

David Pollack: Like, Rich, let me tell you, right? Like, living the dream, baby.

Dr. Jessica Peck: That's not gonna pay for coaching lessons for sure.

David Pollack: I mean, right? It was, it was 12am to 2am My mama didn't watch Jessica, so I know nobody else was watching. Like, it was, it was the recaps, but I remember literally talking to myself and I'm like, hey, man, you're a freshman in college. Like, you got to go earn it. And I think that's what's fun about. That's what's fun. If you can get the right attitude, like, you can understand, sometimes you're going to get pulled back down and sometimes you're going to get fired. And sometimes you're going to get told, you're going to get told no. but that doesn't mean you stop working. That doesn't mean we don't stop moving forward. That doesn't mean we don't stop trying to incorporate daily disciplines and try to find those gray areas. I, I listen, I call it the 50, 40, 10 rule. And I'm gonna be very brief with this, Jessica. like 50% of people in this world, you can outwork by showing up. Like, think about that. You can leave 50% of the people behind in this world by just showing up and outworking them. That is a major portion of the population. Obviously, I'm ahead of them. 40, you can out detail 40%. You can out organize 40%. Your attitude, the way you study, the way you approach things. what you're willing to, to give up, what you're willing to do. you can leave 40 of the people behind. And then now you've got the people that have done all of the hard stuff, Shown up with a good attitude, organized, detailed. Now it's who can handle failure the best. Like, now it's who can. It's like the Terminator who can get shot and keep moving forward. Like, failure is absolutely going to happen. How are you going to handle it? Are you willing to learn from it? Because if you fail a course in school, you take it again. If you keep failing something in your life and you're not looking at the situation going, how am I going to make a decision to change something? How do I grow? How do I get better? How do I learn? Like all of those circumstances, we serve a God in heaven that is for us, not against us. We serve a God in heaven that says, I want you to be prosperous and successful. So guess what? Sometimes that means we have to fail, we have to hurt, we have to go to a place that we don't necessarily care for, but we're there for a reason. And a lot of times, if we'll look around, if we'll take inventory and we're ask ourselves some questions of the how do we get here? How do we get out? God will give us the blessing now of taking something that was really, really bad and turning it into one of the best things that will ever happen to you because you won't make the mistake again. You've developed more compassion, sympathy and empathy than you've ever developed in your life. Now you can go relate to all kinds of people in all different walks.

Dr. Jessica Peck: David, sports or not, I'm thinking about parents raising kids today and thinking about how failure is something to be avoided at all cost. Failure is shameful. Failure is to be feared. And instead, I'm, just thinking about this mindset that you're saying to flip. And instead of failure is something to be feared, to be avoided at all costs. It's something to be prepared for, and that is really going to produce resilient kids. Whether you're talking about sports or academics or just general life skills. Where did that foundation of faith and confidence come from? You. Because you talk about how everyday goal. It's not about making goals. Every day counts, although goals are great. It's also about glorifying God. Where did you get that fire in your soul about that?

David Pollack: Well, a couple things happened to me. You know, one thing, the best thing that happened to me was I had a neighbor across the street and he was like, hey, man, you want to come to a lock in? I was like, like, what's the lock in? He was like, you come to the church, by the way, I'm going to my senior year of high school. Never heard of church, never been to a church. He's like, you come to the church and we lock you in all night and you stay up all night. I was like, no. What? Absolutely not. Why would I want to go to a church and get locked in? And then I went. I went. It was the first time I'D ever heard about Jesus. First time I ever heard about Jesus. Second thing that happened was I had a teacher in a public school whose name was Mark Watson. Mark Watson had a Jesus sticker on his computer. I thought I called him Hm, a Jesus freak. Listen to praise and worship music in between classes. But Mark Watson, I have a. One of my spiritual gifts, Jessica, is, being really annoying. It's. It's. It's. It's a really big gift. And I'm loud and obnoxious and add. And so I'm always getting into something. And, I could not annoy him. And so, literally, I'll never forget, I went to my English teacher for, for outside reading because I had to read 200 pages before my senior year. And I was like, hey, I want to read the Bible. And she was like, no, absolutely not. I was like, why not? She's like, because I can't sit down and make sure you read that. I said, Mr. Watson will. She's like, did you ask him? I was like, no, but I bet he will. And I sat down with Mr. Watson, and instead of having Instagram faith or X Faith or Facebook Faith, I sat down with him and I got to ask him some questions. Some really good questions, man. Like, I don't believe you. How do I know that Jesus was a real person? You're telling me this? I think this was written for religious people to have hope of something. He said, how do you know that George Washington was the first president? I was like, the history books. He said, it's exactly what the Bible is. And I was like, oh, okay. And I kept asking questions and why? Who wrote this? Like, he started me with the Gospels. Who wrote Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Jon? Like, tell me about it. Wait a minute. Then you get to Acts, and you're like, wait a minute. All of these folks that spent time with Jesus are now building his church, and they're getting killed in horrible ways when all they have to do is just be like, nah, bro, I'm out. Like, I. I'm good. That's all they have to do. If. If it was a lie, they wouldn't die for it. If you came to me, Jessica, and you're like, you lied to me. I'd be like, no, I didn't. And then you said, I'll kill you. I'll be like, all right, I'm out, bro. I'm out. Like, I'm out. I'm good. but to watch these guys continue to get persecuted and. And so you continue to read and build this history. And I'm like, man, oh, man, like, there's a God in heaven that loves me. There's a God in heaven that sent his son for me. And so reading that, like, changed my world as a senior in high school. And then I go to the University of Georgia with Coach Richt who's one of the best men you'll ever meet. Now I had a man to emulate, which was, life changing for me.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Amazing. And really, we are just getting started because we've talked about your life changing through football, through your job, as an announcement. But probably the biggest challenge of your life was still yet to come. We'll talk about that when we come back with David Pollack. Every day Counts. Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. Get a copy of the book and join us back on the other side of this break.

One of the remarkable things about the Bible is that God is a God who speaks

Here's Dr. John Oswalt from the American Family Studios documentary, the God who Speaks.

Dr. John Oswalt: One of the remarkable things about the God of the Bible is that he is a God who speaks. The writers of the Bible again and again talk of him as the living God. And when they do, they include. This idea that the idols are dumb, they cannot speak language, is an incredible mystery, really. What is it that makes human beings able to communicate in word? Personally, I think that is the image of God in us, because God speaks. Right at the beginning of the Bible, God spoke the world into existence. It did not somehow evolve from his body. It was something that he spoke.

Good God Almighty by Crowder: Visit thegodwhospeaks.org Good God Almighty I hope you'll find me praising your name no matter what comes. Cause I know where I be without your mercy. So I keep praising your name at the top of my lungs Is he good? He's good. Tell me, is he God? He's God. He is Good God Almighty.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is Good God Almighty by David Crowder. And that's exactly what we're talking about today. The goodness of God and the story of one extraordinary athlete, a talented NFL player. We're talking about David Pollack and his new book, Every Day Counts. Start where you Are. Use what you have. Do what you Can. I really encourage you to get a copy of this. And he is talking about his journey through the NFL to the College Football hall of Fame and then playing but having his neck broken, becoming an announcer. That road changing. And David, right before the break, you were just talking about your extra. The extraordinary way that you came to Christ through your neighbor and through a coach, a teacher. At your school, sharing the gospel with you and looking back at that, how do you see the goodness, the providence of God and gifting you with that faith? Seeing the platform that you were having, seeing the. The obstacles that you were going to have, how has that changed the trajectory of your life?

David Pollack: Well, here's one thing that's. I want to encourage everybody. Like, I think everybody kind of gets in the world where they.

Dr. Jessica Peck: They.

David Pollack: I don't. I can't do this. Like, I can't share the gospel, that. That the preacher's better than me at it. Okay, well, I want you to take my story real quick. A simple invitation is what led me to Jesus. All he did was invite me. You can invite somebody to a men's conference. You can invite somebody to church. You can invite somebody to something. Everybody has the ability to do that. And then the second thing that happened with Mr. Watson was a life worth. A life lived, worth emulating. We all can do that. We don't have to be able to quote Scripture inside and out. Are you living a life that looks different? And what are those things in your life that take you away from that life? For example, those that are in traffic, does that. How fast do you lose your witness in traffic, right? Like where I'm going nuts or I'm going bananas, right? And some of y' all listening in the car are probably doing that as we speak, because it happens, right? You get frustrated. And so, you know, we all have the ability to do that. And it wasn't the great, It wasn't a great suggestion. It's the Great Commission, right? Like, it wasn't a suggestion. We're all commanded to share our faith. It's not all going to look the same way, but I think God put inside of me. It was really, really cool. He knew I was about to go on this journey, and I was going to take on some hard things, and there was going to be some obstacles in the way. And I think for him to show me how good he is and that he's in control, and for me to continue to remember that, because when I got to college, it was awesome because I started to meet with our team chaplain, and I started to put Scripture in here. And guess what? When I put it in here, it came out of here consistently. The more we get in the Word, the more that word gets in us, and the more we'll start to live it out, it will start to come out of our mouth. So it was pivotal for me to get faith at that age. And then. Listen, Jessica, that Doesn't mean my life was easy. Breaking my neck wasn't easy. You know, getting fired from ESPN wasn't easy. but I can tell you those challenges when you understand that God's for you, when you understand those are, this is a part of a greater plan, you'll find it out. And I think when we take that, when we take the bad off the table, like we take the negative off the table, like, what would happen in this country if we took divorce off the table? Like we took divorce off the table. People would fight for their marriage. Marriages would be way more successful. It wasn't an option. Right. So let's take the bad off the table. Let's take the negative off the table. This isn't, this isn't of someone else. Like, let's realize that everything that in this life we have, God has given it to us and giving us the ability to handle it.

Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, David, it's one thing to say that about the professional challenges that you encountered and the football injury that you had, and even, you know, getting fired from, from your job at espn, but the challenge that you've recently faced is very deeply personal. You've talked about your beautiful wife. You've called her your baby doll. She faced a, cancer diagnosis. And David, that has a way of stripping away all of the resources, the fame, the accolades, the accomplishments that you have. Yet you're still sitting here saying, the goodness of God, the faithfulness of God, and you're still holding on to your faith. How do you hold on to that in the face of something as devastating as a cancer diagnosis?

David Pollack: You know, it's interesting. When we talked about my neck, it was me. When you talk about firing, it was me. when you talk about brain cancer and you hear that and it's not you, it hits you different. It definitely hits you different. That's my baby doll. Like, I'm supposed to protect her, right? Like I'm supposed to be the one that can take care of her. And so it's very, it was very humbling. It's been a humbling experience for our family of having to learn to do things again for her to use her left hand and her left side, for her to be able to speak, again, and all the stuff that came, you know, comes with it. I will say this. Here's what I learned a little bit. I learned that I wrestled with God a little bit more. And I learned when I wrestle with God that I end up with a broken back and a, dislocated shoulder. And it's just a waste of my time, like, worrying about that and trying to get answers. So how I started to work. And so if you're going through something that's.

There's three ways to define identity, David says

That's really, really difficult, man, I put sticky notes all over the house. I got sticky notes on my bedside table, on my mirror. And it's just, like. It's just truths and affirmations. And I know you've heard that before, but, like, what does God say about us? Like, it's. There's three ways to define identity. It's outside in what does everybody else say about me? Which, let me tell you something, Jessica, that's going to be a rocky ride. Because some people don't like happy people, some people don't like sad people, some people don't like rich people, some people don't like poor people, and some people don't like people. Like, y' all know those people. There are some people. Some people just don't like people. No matter what you do.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Yeah.

David Pollack: So you'll always be up and down and then inside out. And that's just as volatile because sometimes y' all know, y' all walk by the mirror and you're like, dang, I look pretty good today. And sometimes you're like, God, I'm ugly. Right? Like, and sometimes the thoughts you think in a day, you're like, like, there's so many thoughts that I'll think. I'll be like, man, like, how do I have that thought in my head? And I'm like, well, I know why. Because I'm. I'm an inherently sinful person. I'm not a great person. And then there's a third way to define identity, and that's top down. What does God say about me? God says, I'm chosen. I'm loved, I'm adopted. I'm a saint that sins. Like, I was made on purpose for only a purpose that I can fulfill. Like, think about that. When you look in the mirror and you say, I don't like my eye color, you really want to tell God he made a mistake? Really? Like, I don't think we want to do that. But, like, you. You were made with your personality, and your impact can be so great. It's not going to be what everybody else's, is. And I would encourage everybody not to look around and compare yourself all the time to other people, because that's not going to bring you joy. But when we can tell ourselves, like, that God is for me, what God says about me. So we just. We're just reminded in this storm, you know, because that's what it is. And it's been a storm for us. But man, it's been so awesome to watch God work. Like to watch God work in a 17 and a 15 year old our kids like, because there's some rough days in there and there's some days when my son had to keep my wife and force her to take her pills and she's like I'm not taking them. And how do you handle that? And my daughter being 15 and being selfish as can be and how do we realize this life ain't about you, honey. Like not everything revolves around you, but like God's already started my wife's ministry and she's walked four people through craniotomies, you know, and so you're watching it. But, but we're leaving this storm with more compassion than ever, with more empathy than ever, with more humility than ever because we don't deserve healing. We don't deserve that. We don't deserve for I don't deserve for my wife to be healed from cancer. That's not what we deserve. But I do know one thing, that God is always going to continue to meet us. He's going to continue to give us things that we know that we can handle. And as long as we're here and as long as we're doing his work, we're doing what we're supposed to do. Do we understand it? No. Do we want it? No. you know there's a verse in Scripture, Jessica, that I've read for years and years and years and it's never meant anything to me. And it was Mark 15:21 and it was Simon of Serene and he and he was forced to carry the cross. And that's really all the verse says. It's in the Bible twice. And so all of us are going to be forced to carry across. We didn't earn, we didn't deserve and we don't want to. We don't want to. Like it's not very much fun and we've been carrying a cross that we haven't m necessarily enjoyed. But you know what, like my 17 year old jumped in and helped me carry the cross. Our community jumped in and helped us carry the cross. But let's not always forget what's on that cross and what was done on that cross. When Simon Serene carried that cross. The blood of Jesus was on that cross and he is always close to us. He's close to the brokenhearted and he'll continue to use all things for good in our lives. And so we've seen him continue to work and do great things, through my wife's brain cancer.

Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, I want to ask you about your kids and all of that, David, because, you know, I'm sure there's people who are listening, who are well aware of your accomplishments and are starstruck and just thinking, you know, oh, you've done all of this and, and so somehow, you know, that amplifies what you do. And, and you know, I'm sure that when people meet you in public, you have, you know, that little bit of star factor. But kids have a way of humbling us. They don't care about that. I'm going to guess that your kids don't care about the fact that you're on tv. They probably are going to roll their eyes if they go to the College Football hall of Fame, like, yeah, that's my dad. What they really care about is the attitude that you get in the car with after their game or how you take care of their mama when she's sick. How has all of this strengthened the faith of your kids? How has it changed who you are as a dad?

David Pollack: Well, it's been, it's been rewarding because like I said, to watch them have to step up, that's been really, really awesome to watch them step up. It's been, it's been really, really awesome. But you know, the most important thing I can give my kids is a strong marriage. That's the most important, I think I can give my kids to show them like what it looks like to love a woman. Like my son, 17 year old, he thinks he's in love and he thinks he's going to marry this girl. Like I love me and my wife talk about all the time. I love watching him and the way he treats her. Like, I love it. Now I have to remind him. I'm like, bud, you're not married. You don't have to do all these things. He was like, but you do. And I was like, yeah, because we're married, right? But like, I love to watch that. And so, so they're always going to be watching, right? Like they're going to be watching you and they're going to be emulating what you do. And so I think the parenting component of this has been really, really good because we've prayed, me and my wife have prayed specifically for hard, like how do we create more hard in our kids lives? We live in a bubble. We're so thankful we got great Friends, they got great circumstances. Well, we got a big dose of hard. And my kids have looked at me, you're right. My kids have looked at me at times like a superhero. And then sometimes they hate me just like every other parent. But like, it was really fun to watch them. They looked at their mom now and they're like, okay, Mom's a stud. Like, that's really, really fun to watch because they're like, okay, mom had a horrible diagnosis and mom didn't blink. Like, mom sat us down and said, I have cancer. I'm going to have surgery, surgeries. We're going to go through some really hard stuff. God wasn't surprised by this. God didn't say, man, that one caught me off guard. Like to watch your wife sit down and do that. And she even said, took it a step further with me. She was like, I think God chose me to have this. And she was like, I know a lot of my friends, this would have crippled, but I know we can, I can handle this. She was like, and that's a lot of the sticky notes I got in the house too is we're built for this, you know, and we have other verses and stuff too. But, it's been, it's been something as a family that we never could create without the challenges, that came with it. We could have never created some of the outcomes that, that God's continued to pour into our kids lives.

Your family's doing charitable work through the Pollack Family Foundation

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, it's easy to share your success, but it is definitely more challenging to be so transparent to share your challenges and your hardships and your trials. But your family's doing that through the Pollock Family Foundation. Can you tell us about the work that your family is doing through that effort?

David Pollack: This is probably our, one of our favorite topics. you know, one of my favorite things we do. And listen, this is changing too because now we realize, like my wife takes an, oral medication every day, you know, kind of like an oral chemo. And we see the price of this thing and you're like, holy cow. I mean, you know good and well, there's a lot of people that can't afford it. We're like, how are we going to fix that? Like we gonna do something about this? You know, like, so it's always changing. But my favorite thing the Pollack family Foundation does is the banquet of blessings in November every year. We bring in the homeless in the surrounding area and we throw a throw, and the underprivileged and we throw a Thanksgiving feast. Jessica. And I'm talking about a feast with A capital F. Like, we got the pies, we got the collard greens, we got everything. Well, to do one better, like, after you get fed, you walk through these lines on the outside. You get a brand new toboggan, you know, ski cap.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Oh, yeah.

David Pollack: You get brand new gloves, socks, wool socks. You get a brand new book bag. You get baby wipes. You get books, you get toys, you get diapers. You walk over to the one stand and it's nothing but coats. And you pick out whatever coat you want. And, you know, we. We circle. It's funny because I have so many high school kids that I coach, and we circle up to start, and I'm like, hey, man, listen to me. This is an important night. But I want you to look at all these kids that you're surrounded by, and I want you to realize the only difference between you and them is you were born to a different mama and daddy. That's the difference. Like, you could be them very, very easily. You're not to blame, but if you don't do something about it, you are to blame. So how are we going to change other people's lives and to watch the kids come in and serve? My buddy, who was the first year we did this, like, four years ago, my buddy was 46 years old, Jessica. 46. So very stuck in his ways. He called me after the feast, after the Thanksgiving throwdown, he called me and he had. He had tears in his eyes, and he was barely getting through it. He was like. He goes, I just went through Popeyes. And he said, there's a guy holding a sign that said, I just want food. I don't want money. And he said, every time I've ever driven by somebody like that, I've never stopped and I've never bought him something. And he said, I went through and I bought him a meal and I brought it to him. And I was like, it's exactly why we're doing it, man, because some people just need a hand. They just need a little bit of help. and I think the coolest thing about Jesus's ministry is he flipped the world on its ear, right? Like, just completely turned. Like, when you didn't have money, you were looked at as a plague. When you didn't have health, you were looked at it like you were less than nothing. Women had no m. No value, right? Like, no value at all. Like, but to come into the earth and then. And that. That's why we have non profits and hospitals. Like, that's exactly why we have all of that stuff is because of Jesus and the way he came and said, this is how we love, this is how we live. And so I think challenging the next generation to do that. Listen, we. We need to do that because we've been given a lot to whom much is given and much is much is required.

Dr. Jessica Peck: We are already out of time, and I know there's remaining questions, but if you have questions, get a copy of David's book. Every day counts. And every day counts not because of what we accomplished, but because of who God is and who he is making us along the way. May the Lord bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and make every day count. We'll see you, right here tomorrow.

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Jeff Chamblee: opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.