Season 2 Episode 1: Sam Acho with Clif Marshal Podcast show

In this episode of The Sam Acho  Podcast, Sam and Clif dive deep into what’s been happening in their lives lately.

Sam shares about his recent experiences, his ongoing philanthropy work in Nigeria through Mission Hope, and how he’s seen the goodness of God in every season.

Clif opens up about his new role as Director with D1 Training, his passion for developing athletes, and how faith continues to guide him through new opportunities.

Together, they talk faith, family, football, and finance — and celebrate the power of purpose and gratitude.

✨ Topics Covered:

• Mission Hope in Nigeria and serving others
• Faith and gratitude through transitions
• D1 Training and empowering athletes
• Seeing God’s goodness in everyday life

🎧 Listen, share, and join the conversation with the Sam Acho community!

#Faith #Family #Football #Finance #MissionHope #Podcast #SamAcho #D1Training

Creators and Guests

Host

Clif Marshall

Coach Clif Marshall enters his ninth year as the Performance Director at Ignition where he is responsible for the design and implementation of both the strength and speed programs. Marshall works as a Fitness Ambassador for the NFL. With 15 years of professional experience, Marshall has trained more than 400 pro football players, including first round NFL draft picks, Super Bowl Champions and Pro Bowlers. Luke Kuechly, AJ Green, Geno Atkins and Devin McCourty have been some of Marshall's most notable clients over the years. Under Marshall's Direction Ignition has trained over 40+ NFL Combine Top Performers and a number of NFL Players who hold all time combine records for their position groups. Currently Ignition and Coach Marshall have at least one player that they have trained on all 32 NFL Clubs.

Host

Sam Acho

Financial Professional and ESPN Analyst

What is The Sam Acho Podcast?

The Sam Acho Podcast, featuring Clif Marshall, helps athletes learn how to win without losing it all. By going first, giving space, and growing hope, Sam and Clif talk authentically about faith, family, football, and finance to win at more than sports.

Season 2 Episode 1 Sam Acho W Clif Marshall podacast.1
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sam: [00:00:00] Welcome back to the Sam Acho podcast featuring Cliff Marshall, also known as Cliff Notes, where we talk about faith, family, football, and finances. We go first. We give space. And we grow hope and we've just finished season one, so now we're opening up season two of the Sam Acho podcast.

Speaker 2: Absolutely. Sam, today I'm so fired up 'cause you and I just get to talk.

Speaker 2: It's just me and you. Today, we don't have a guest, but this is gonna be a great podcast because we're gonna talk about things that we've been able to experience during season one. Many of our special guests. We'll have some cliff notes from season one, but we also want to catch up just personally and professionally.

Speaker 2: So Sam, I just want to start out and ask you, you know, over the last few weeks you've [00:01:00] had a lot of amazing things that have happened to you and your family, and I just wanna see if you'd give us an update kind of where you're at personally and then also professionally.

sam: Personally, it's been great, cliff.

sam: So I'm not gonna go back a few weeks. I'll go back a few months to early summer, right around when we were getting ready to start. This podcast, I took a trip to Nigeria, so every summer, my family and I, we go to Nigeria. We do medical mission work. We bring doctors and nurses and surgeons and dentists, ophthalmologists and pharmacists.

sam: Pediatricians. And my parents started this ministry. When I was like in the womb, so they've been doing it for 30, some, 36 years maybe when I was one, so 36, 37 years. But I've been going on this trip since I was about 15 and this year my goal or hope or prayer was that I really wanted God to meet me there.

sam: There were a few things that I wanted to grow in and wanted to just really believe more, and I'm like, man, God, I want you to meet me there. I understand you don't have to go to a different country or all these things, or a mission trip. For God to meet you, but I was really praying that he would do a work and man, a lot of specifically, like there's some people who just spoke some truth over my life [00:02:00] during that trip.

sam: People who came from America and saw what I was doing and saw what we were doing, and they just breathe a new sense of life and purpose into me regarding that side of what I do. People know that. Work at ESPN. I work at a family office. I'm a father, I'm a husband, but this philanthropy is a huge part of who I am and giving back and trying to be a light and shine a light and speaking up for those who can't speak up for themselves.

sam: So, being in Nigeria and getting a chance to, ~I mean, there was a chance we, we, ~one of my buddies came over. ~He, we were gonna give out some clothes and ~he had some clothes that he brought and he's like, how do I do this? I was like, well, there's a couple different ways, right? Because it's a lot of people, hundreds of people, maybe even thousand, over a thousand people in the crowd.

sam: So people could try to just, you know, just it'll be, could, could be pretty hectic for us to try to give out those clothes. He said, man, whatever you think is best, do it. And so ~I said, ~I said, all right, great. ~Well just gimme, ~we'll do it in like three, five minutes. ~Right? ~So I thought I had a system, but not reality.

sam: An hour later I'm still out there like giving out shirts, but also like having hearing kids share their favorite Bible verse, hearing parents give their testimony. We were doing praise and [00:03:00] worship out in the middle of the field, in the middle of a village in Nigeria. So personally, that was one of the huge highlights for me.

Speaker 2: Wow. Sam, I just thought, ~uh, ~as you're explaining that, you know the world, ask us who is serving you. I want you to think about this. The world will ask you who is serving you. In other words, you're, you're at the top right? You're the CEO, you're the executive, you're the king, so to speak. But God will ask you, who are you serving?

Speaker 2: And the fact that you went over to Nigeria and you served these people and you showed God's love, it is an incredible, incredible mission that you're on. And I know that even when I was recruiting you, uh, 15 years ago to come train with me for the NFL combine, I remember you went on this mission trip to Nigeria before you started combine training.

Speaker 2: So how many years have you actually been had? Going over there and doing this work.

sam: So over 20 years. So I was 15 years old when I first started. I'm 37 now, and there's been a year or two, maybe COVID where I didn't go. But to your point, when you were recruiting me, cliff, I had just finished up ~my college year, ~my senior year in college.

sam: [00:04:00] Junior year we went to a national championship. Senior year we struggled as a team, but individually, ~I, ~I performed pretty well and I was trying to figure out where was I going to train ~and, ~and where was I was gonna be my agent or my financial advisor. All those decisions. I hadn't made any of those yet.

sam: And I was in my house, my parents' house, on the phone with you, and we were talking and talking and talking. And the next day, I believe I was gonna go over to Nigeria at ~18 years old to do one of these, no, excuse me, ~22 years old at that time. To do one of these medical mission trips. And though I didn't know who my agent was gonna be, who my financial advisor was gonna be, as a guy who was hoping to go pro, at that point, I said, I'm gonna, I know I'm gonna train with you because of the character that you have and the faith that ~you, you want, ~you, you are walking after Jesus, but you're also saying, man, I'm wanna be the best in the world.

sam: I'm gonna help you be the best in the world. ~So I'll ask you Cliff, personally and professionally. ~What are the updates from you over the last few weeks or even month or so since we started this podcast?

Speaker 2: Well, actually that's a perfect segue since you're talking about NFL Combine training. That is the, the world that I'm heading back into, and so I did that for 10 years in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Naples, Florida with a company called Ignition, [00:05:00] and so I just accepted.

Speaker 2: Recently the director of Pro athlete training for a company called D one Sports. Super excited. I'm working on the corporate team or at the home office, which is in Nashville, Tennessee, but we actually have 160 facilities nationwide. So I pray a prayer every morning, it's called the Prayer of J Bz, and it says, oh Lord, you would bless me and enlarge my territory.

Speaker 2: And in saying that every morning, I've seen God enlarge my territory through this opportunity with D one because I can have impact not only on athletes. But strength coaches at 160 different facilities. So I'm super fired up about that. It's an answered prayer. As you know, Sam, ~uh, ~I've been with Indiana University on the men's basketball coaching staff for the last eight years, and our coach, Mike Woodson, ~uh, ~resigned his position there this past season.

Speaker 2: He's back in the NBA now. I didn't want to go into the NBA and be a strength coach. My prayer is that God would allow my family to stay in Indiana and my kids to be able to stay in their school and with their [00:06:00] sport teams and with their friend groups. I didn't wanna have to uproot my family and man, God answered this prayer with the job opportunity at D one because I'm able to work remote.

Speaker 2: I'm still in Indiana. But I'm traveling to all these different D one facilities, but my family is still in a great spot. So, man, God is good, and God answers prayers.

sam: That's so good. Cliff. We talk about it, faith, family, football, finances. We also say that, what does it profit a man? This is in the Bible as well.

sam: ~This. ~To gain the whole world and lose his soul. And to you, you've been a basketball strength coach, you've been at Ignition, there have been different opportunities. You talked about some other professional opportunities in the NBA that could have happened, and you're thinking more about your family.

sam: You're saying, okay, what about my daughter and my son who are, ~you know, let's say ~on the verge of high school or middle school or all these things. And my wife, we've been in one place for so long and that was a decision. I think a lot of people maybe find it hard to make. I remember when I was. Getting ready to start this podcast as well.

sam: I was trying to make a decision at ESPN, so professionally. I had been at [00:07:00] ESPN for four years and I was trying to figure out what was going to be next. I've been calling games, I've been in studio, and so I got another chance. I found out this is, you know, not too long ago, that I'm going into another year at ESPN, so I signed another contract, couldn't be more excited.

sam: But one really cool thing about this opportunity is that I get a chance to be on the road announcing games for college football. I've done some United Football League stuff. I did college football last year. But I was really hopeful and excited to be able to be a, an analyst, not just in the studio, which I love doing, but also going beyond just the studio and going to be able to go announce games.

sam: ~That's, ~that's one thing that. Has professionally been a big benefit for me.

Speaker 2: Yeah. Let me ask you, Sam, I got to watch you in your element this past weekend. 'cause I traveled down to Cincinnati, Ohio and I've watched you call the Cincinnati Bearcats versus the Iowa State Cyclones game. And man, the work that you put in behind the scenes to get ready to call a game on ESPN, it is just incredible.

Speaker 2: So I know this is a busy time of year for you. When I turn on ESPN, I see you on [00:08:00] college football live. NFL Live. I see you on SportsCenter. I know you have a segment on Saturdays called Gear Up that we love watching. My, my son included. So can you walk me through kind of your weekly schedule? 'cause man, you're not at ESPN headquarters full-time, so kind of gimme your travel schedule.

sam: So the travel schedule is usually on, I'll start, I'll start backwards. So I'll start on Saturday. Saturday is the day that I announced the games and I'll kind of make a loop. So announce the game on Saturday. ~And some people know, ~in addition to what I do at ESPN, I love working with athletes. I want people to understand that there is a way to gain the world and still keep your soul.

sam: I want people to see. That there's a game plan, not just for your football, but also for your finances. So I work ~at a, ~at a family office called the Athlete Family Office, a WM Capital Athletes who are trying to build multi-generational, wealthy, flourishing families. And one of the things I get a chance to do there is to be present with the players.

sam: So on Saturday, oftentimes I'll be announcing games, and then let's say after the game, I might go and connect with a guy who we want to serve or [00:09:00] we're currently serving, and just break bread with that person on Sundays. I may fly back from the game. 'cause usually Saturday's also college football. So as soon as my game ends, I'm probably going somewhere and I'm watching the rest of the game.

sam: So that's part of it. Sunday morning, fly home, get a chance to have that be my Sabbath. So rest be with family, go to church, fellowship, all those things. Monday is, I'm not on TV on Monday. So Monday's really a day at the beginning of the week to get everything set for ~the, ~the work I do with the athletes at a WM or also maybe there's some prep I need to do for the game I'm going to announce or prep I need to do for the shows on Tuesday.

sam: So Monday I'm at home. On Tuesday I'm at home as well. But also I'll do a show that college football live show. I can do that from home oftentimes on Tuesdays, so I'll do college football, live. There's prep, there's all these things. I'm also doing calls and meetings for with the athletes that we serve at a WM Capital ~and then, ~and then usually pick up and drop off, which I love to do for my kids.

sam: Wednesday's very similar. I'll be at home, do a show from home, but then Wednesday night I travel to Bristol, Connecticut. On Thursday I get a chance to [00:10:00] do a lot of shows. SportsCenter College football live. College football. The halftime shows for Thursday night from Bristol. Friday morning, I'll fly, usually first flight out to wherever the game is.

sam: So last week it was Cincinnati, flew the first flight out to Cincinnati, meet with coaches Prep, try to get a workout in based off of you coach Cliff Marshall. Right. We're trying to get my. Lifts in on Friday at the team facility, and then Saturday we'll announce the game and it'll start over again. So that's usually my weekly schedule.

sam: But I wanna ask you, what does your week look like now that you are at D one, but it seems like you haven't moved fully. You said some of it you can work remote.

Speaker 2: Well, yeah, ~it's, um, ~it's very similar in terms of travel. Like I, I, I've. Been able over the last just three weeks. I've been out to la, I've been to Nashville, I've been to Cincinnati, Indianapolis.

Speaker 2: I'm traveling quite a bit, which is awesome. I'm getting to meet a lot of people, but I've really taken your advice in terms of when you're on the road. You know, you're on the road, but when you're at home, you've gotta be home, you gotta be present, you gotta be with your children, your wife. So I'm trying to be mindful of that [00:11:00] as I'm traveling more and when I am home to fully be invested, ~uh, ~with my feet planted inside my house with my kids and my wife.

Speaker 2: I did wanna backtrack a little bit, Sam, and talk to you about tv. Because I got into tv, ~uh, ~a couple months ago without really even planning it. And I would say this, I never took an acting class in high school or college, but God put me in Hollywood last week. And as I reflect on that, and one of my favorite quotes, and I've used it on our podcast, is God doesn't call the qualified.

Speaker 2: He qualifies the. And so as I mentioned, I was in Hollywood. I was actually in a movie called Speed Goes Pro. Back in May. I had a producer in Hollywood reach out to me and say, would you be interested in working in this film with an influencer and a streamer called, I show speed. Now, forgive me, I'm 44 years old, and I had no idea who I show speed was.

Speaker 2: So I asked my kids and they were like, wow, he's, he's a celebrity. So I look him up online. He's got a hundred [00:12:00] million followers across all of his social media platforms. He's 20 years old. He got famous in 2020 for streaming his video games on Fortnite. ~Anyway, ~he's doing a film, a documentary, so to speak, where he goes and he's trying to prove that he's good enough as an athlete to play in the NFL and the NBA.

Speaker 2: So in this movie, I'm hired to be his personal trainer, so to speak, and I'm preparing him for a workout with Tom Brady and that up. That movie was launched on YouTube on Speed's YouTube page last week, and I was in Hollywood for the premiere, which was cool because I got to meet like a lot of celebrities, you know, this setting there in Hollywood, there's, you know, Kim Kardashians there, Justin Bieber, Randy Orton, I'm a huge WWE ~e ~fan, so I was able to talk to him, but as I, I was sitting there, I just thought to myself like, Lord, how and why did you bring me here?

Speaker 2: And it. Reminded me of ~that, ~that quote again, you know, the Lord doesn't call the qualified. ~He, he qualified, he, ~he qualifies the call. So I was super excited to be there and I'm [00:13:00] super excited to just, uh, be a part of something cool like that. And my video with a show speed and Kevin Durant comes out in November, so I'm super excited for that film as well.

sam: So, coach, I gotta, I gotta backtrack there. What was it like in Hollywood, knowing where you come from and your roots?

Speaker 2: It was, ~uh, ~surreal, to be honest with you. ~The, ~the premier was ~actually ~at the LA Memorial Coliseum, which is where the USC Trojan's football team plays. So just walking in that historic venue, walking on the red carpet, walking alongside of some Hollywood celebrities.

Speaker 2: It was really surreal and when we sat down for the movie Premier Sam, I happened to sit right next to, I show speed, and so it was just watching that for the first time. I don't like watching myself on camera. I don't even like hearing myself on camera. And like as the movie starts, I'm the first five minutes, right?

Speaker 2: Because he's going through what we call training camp. So I'm his trainer and I'm taking him through, here's how you run the 40 yard dash and here's how you do the vertical jump. And [00:14:00] so just watching that, I was a little uneasy at the same time. I was just kind of in awe and it ended up being a great film.

Speaker 2: ~And ~the coolest part was, is like speed is a great athlete. He jumped a 40 inch standing vertical jump without really even training. He ran a 4, 4 9. 40 yard dash on the laser without really even training. ~Right. ~I trained him for like 48 hours for this film, but he is just a natural athlete. And then of course he went out and Tom Brady put him through a workout one-on-ones with like Danny Meola and.

Speaker 2: ~Um, it, ~it really turned out great. And if you haven't watched the film yet, just go to speed's. YouTube channel, it's on there. I think the first 24 hours, it's got over ~like ~3 million views. So a lot of people have tuned in and, you know, ~super, ~super excited about what's to come. And again, the video with Kevin Durant,

sam: but beyond that Cliff, when we talked, 'cause you told, we were talking throughout the whole process and you're like, Hey man, I got this opportunity.

sam: Then it was like, man, ~you know, ~I did this thing with ~speed and ~Kevin Durant and Tom Brady that we can't share ~it ~yet. But then it went to, ~Hey man, there's ~a movie premiere in [00:15:00] Hollywood, ~man. I'm, I'm, I'm gonna go, or I might go all these things. But ~after the premiere, you and I had a conversation and you had given, I show speed a gift or something.

sam: What did you give to Asho? Speed.

Speaker 2: Yeah, that's, that's great. Sam, I'm glad you brought that up. My prayer was like, Hey, if I could just get like five minutes with, with speed, you know, just me and him talking, you know, I think he's got such an influence on the youth on the next generation. I mean, he's, he's got so many people tuning in, watching him on his streams.

Speaker 2: I noticed that he wears like God strong. I'm sorry, I noticed that he wears bands like wristbands. So I have these Gods strong wristbands with a Bible verse on 'em, and I put some in my bag and I was able to get that alone time with him. So I gave him the. The Gods strong bands, and it's pretty cool to see that he's actually still wearing 'em to this day.

Speaker 2: I actually gave him a Gods Strong shirt as well. That he really liked. And then I had a, I happened to have a FCA Athlete's Bible in my backpack and I was able to give him that as well. You know, that was an answered prayer. It was like that [00:16:00] opportunity came for me and him to talk. ~And it's pretty cool that, you know, we, we did have that opportunity ~and I was able to share that with him.

Speaker 2: ~That's ~

sam: ~amazing. ~I think about it, you said a hundred million followers over all the different platforms. 20 years old. I didn't realize he was 20 years old. I didn't even know who much about a show. Speed. Until we started having that conversation. But impact, there's different ways to make an impact.

Speaker 2: Absolutely. Sam and I believe that ~our, ~our podcast in season one made an impact. And I want to kind of go there now. I want to kind of talk about, we had 18 episodes, right? ~And um, ~I never forget, our first episode was with Devin McCordy and I was a little nervous for that 'cause I've never done like a podcast or been a co-host on the podcast.

Speaker 2: But it was so cool just hearing Devin share his story. And that's what this podcast is all about. We want our guests to be able to share their story for God's glory. We want to share with the world all of these athletes, these celebrity, uh, entertainers, these pastors, we want them to use this platform to share their testimony.

Speaker 2: And I mean, it was great hearing Devin talk about his [00:17:00] journey through the NFL and winning multiple Super Bowl titles and being a 13 time. Team captain for the Patriots. But I wanna ask you, and I know we had a lot of great guests, but who were some of the guests that you really enjoyed talking to in season one?

sam: The first one that stands out, cliff is Priscilla Shire. And part of the reason why is even how that episode came about, we were about 10 or so episodes in, ~and. We like to plan it out before, ask people, you know, weeks and months beforehand ~and we were talking about Priscilla and we were like, man, we'd love to have Priscilla on that podcast.

sam: And obviously we're running around and you're working, I'm working, we're doing different things. ~And so I I, ~I hadn't reached out to her and I, I dunno if it was the spirit of God or what, I was like, lemme just reach out. I happen to be at Big 12 no SEC Media Day. And had a little bit of break in my schedule.

sam: I said, lemme just reach out and I don't know when she's gonna be available. I know she's in movies and she's writing books and all the things. And I reached out and like two minutes later got a response and the response was, Hey, I've got availability tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, like six months from now or something like that.

sam: And funny enough, you and I had, we were supposed to record that next day, ~and I don't know what happened. Maybe it was just gonna be an episode with you and I, that's what it was. ~And [00:18:00] so we reached back out and we did that episode. And so I'd encourage people to go back and listen, but it wasn't just what was said on the podcast.

sam: Usually we pray with our guests ~either before, you know, usually ~before we hit record, and then sometimes when the podcast ends, we'll press end thinking the podcast is over. So we pressed end, but I had one more question, or better yet, the conversation continued to go ~and. ~It was what was said off of the podcast about making decisions that are not necessarily like a good decision, but she said, think about how to make the best decision.

sam: ~And, and the, ~the quote was something to the effect of like, it needs to be like a hundred percent yes or no. If it's like 80% or 60%. Don't try to be a people pleaser. Your time is so limited. So that episode, but also the off platform conversation was really impactful.

Speaker 2: It really was. Sam, one of the things that I remember she said is after we had finished filming and I was like, man, I wrote this down as a cliff note, but I think it was.

Speaker 2: More or less you asking, you know, how did you know what your purpose was like, what [00:19:00] is the job, what is your calling? And she said, whatever you would do for free, whatever you would do as a career without getting paid. And I was like, man, that is so impactful. I wrote that down. I'll never forget that. And I'm so grateful for, for my career as a strength and conditioning coachs because I truly feel like I am in my calling and I would do this.

Speaker 2: Free of charge, ~uh, ~even if I wasn't getting paid. Sam, I gotta tell you man, we had so many great ones. ~Uh, ~but the most impactful for me was probably Kurt Hester when he said death is undefeated, but I'll take it to triple overtime. Kurt is battling stage four cancer, and he was told that he only had a few months to live.

Speaker 2: He was actually told by his oncologist to go home, call hospice, and prepare your will. And now he's like six or seven months beyond that and he's like proving that you can't lay down when you have cancer and quit and give up. He's lifting weights every day. He's walking. He's still the head strengthening conditioning coach for the Houston [00:20:00] Cougars football team.

Speaker 2: He's working. 14, 15 hours a day and him sharing his testimony was so impactful. And what was even cooler is that somebody at ESPN College Game Day watched our podcast. They thought so much of that story that they, this past weekend had a full feature on Kurt Hester on ~um, ~ESPN College Game Day. So that was one of my favorite podcasts that we had.

Speaker 2: But I've gotta ask you, Sam, we had your college football coach on Matt Brown, your college football coach at Texas, who won a national championship there. Can you tell me what that was like interviewing your former football coach?

sam: It was a blast. And the reason why is that Mack Brown is honest. One of the first questions I asked Coach Brown was, why did you recruit me and my family?

sam: 'cause Coach Brown always says he doesn't just recruit an individual, he recruits ~the family. Oftentimes with marriage, you're not, I heard my dad, who's a marriage counselor, he is a doctor of mental health. He says, you're not just marrying that person, you're marrying ~the family. So I asked him, why did you recruit me and my family?

sam: And he talked a lot about my parents and all the things, but ~what he stood out, ~what stood out more to me was he said, Sam, you weren't a finished [00:21:00] product when I recruited you, but we saw opportunity and availability for you to grow. ~And ~it was almost ~this humbling, ~this humbling learning opportunity. I was thinking, man, ~I'm missing, I'm that.~

sam: I'm getting recruited by Texas and I'm the best. He said you actually weren't that good. At least not then, but we knew that there was potential for growth. So we believed enough in you that we didn't see you for where you were. We saw you for where you were going to be. He said not everybody's gonna be a five star and fully developed.

sam: Some people might be two stars, three stars, zero stars. Look at Josh. Josh Island outta Wyoming. He was emailing coaches, begging them for an opportunity to give him a scholarship. Now he's an N-F-L-M-V-P, so that was a great reminder that even where I'm at right now at ESPN, ~even where I'm at right now, ~working with athletes at the Athlete Family Office, I may not be a finished product.

sam: So I need people who believe in me and I need to believe in myself and believe in what God put in me. To go where he wants me to go. We live in a society where everybody wants to microwave success based off of social media and TikTok and followers and all these things. Yet success is not microwaveable.[00:22:00]

sam: Success takes time, success takes care. It's almost like being a gardener. It's almost like slow baking something in the oven or maybe on the grill. You're not just gonna do it overnight. So hearing Mack Brown say that truth to me from a guy who's coached for four decades, college ~football Hall of Fame, four plus decades.~

sam: Football Hall of Fame won national championships, yet still cares about his people. That was one of the biggest lessons for me,

Speaker 2: man. Sam, I'll never forget about five years ago, I asked you what, what is success, right? Because I've worked with thousands of athletes, thousands. NFL players on all 32 rosters, right?

Speaker 2: NBA lottery picks, major league baseball, all stars. Many of these we've had on our, on our show as guests, but when I'm talking to youth athletes, you know, the chance of them making that or getting to that level like you did ~as a, ~as an All American and playing in the NFL for nine years, like it, it's tough.

Speaker 2: And so I don't ever want them to feel like they're a failure if they don't make it at D one or if they don't make it to A NFL [00:23:00] or NBA team. So when I ask you what is success, you told me it's doing the best with the talent God has given you. So if we have any listeners out there, and I don't care if you're in the workforce, if you're in the in business, in coaching and playing, as long as you do your best with the talent God's given you, you're not a failure.

Speaker 2: Right. That is success. And Sam told me that many years ago when I had just got on board at Indiana University with the men's basketball program and I needed to be uplifted and I needed to be encouraged. Sam gave me that word, and that has been a cliff note ever since. Success looks different for everybody, but success is doing the best with your God-given ability.

Speaker 2: ~Wherever that may take you.~

sam: Well,

Speaker 2: cliff,

sam: one person who's on that trajectory and on that path is a person who was a guest on this episode who you have a relationship with Jalen Hood Shino, and we talked about impactful episodes, but his story has been impactful for me. Why [00:24:00] has Jalen Hood Shino been such an integral part?

sam: In your life?

Speaker 2: Well, because he's 18, 19 years old ~and, and, ~and watching him and how he carried himself, you know, at Indiana where he was the Big 10 freshman of the year, he was a NBA first round pick to the LA Lakers. But how he's learned that basketball isn't his God. That's what's most encouraging to me.

Speaker 2: Most athletes that I deal with, they deal with the sport right. That is their idol. We call it the idol of performance. We can even make our own jobs, our idol of performance, whether that's you working at ESPN or whether I'm working at D one, like our job can become our God and most professional athletes that I have worked with, at some level, their job is their God.

Speaker 2: And what I've learned from Jalen Sino is that he. Has figured out that I'm not gonna put this basketball above my relationship with God. And being 19, 20 years old doing that, [00:25:00] that's how he's impacted me at a very, very high level. We've had a lot of athletes on our show that have impacted me, to be honest with you.

Speaker 2: One of them was David Pollock, ~and he was an early guest on our show as well. ~He was going through some adversity in his own personal life and he shared that and how he and his wife are, are walking out this, ~uh, ~adversity together. Can you talk about, ~uh, ~the Pollock episode and how impactful that was?

sam: That was huge. Cliff. ~That was, so ~David Pollock, I got a chance to meet, I watched him on ESPN and then I joined ESPN. ~You know, ~he was on college game day. One of the main faces sitting down on the number one show for ESPN or one of the number one shows for ESPN. ~And ~I remember my first week or month ~or whatever ~at ESPN, ~at least, when.~

sam: Regular season started. I was doing a couple shows and I got a chance to be on a show with him. ~This is probably really towards the end of the season in full disclosure. ~Like we were on a show, we were virtual, and he said my last name wrong. He called me OCHO and I'm like, Ocho, it is ocho. You know? And I don't know if it was on air or not, but there was something like, he was like, ah, Ocho.

sam: ~And I was, ~and I felt I first, I was offended. But then I felt like I was back in the locker room again. 'cause locker room was like, Hey man, like you gotta prove to me that you take this job [00:26:00] seriously.

Speaker 3: Mm-hmm. ~Right?~

sam: And it wasn't just your last name, it was just the fact of, hey man, like, what I thought it was, was, Hey man, I've worked for this and I'm this and I'm that, and you're not just gonna come in here and, and just, you know, lolly G through, show me that you've got this level of, of respect for the job.

sam: But as we've built a relationship over the last several years, I remember calling David Pollock after he left ESPN. ~And said, Hey, man. ~And when I was thinking through ESPN contract things and asking him for wisdom and advice in his opinion, and he said, every day you get there is a gift, like you don't deserve any of it.

sam: Like you don't, you're not owed any of it. Like it's a gift from God and the Lord gives the Lord takes away. So maximize the gift, but don't think that that needs to be your idol. He said ~he, ~he was saying now he's fortunate that he got a chance to be doing college game day all those years. So just getting a chance to know him from a personal level.

sam: Was extremely impactful, but also getting a chance to hear his story. The neck injury, which ~you had a, ~you had you knew, 'cause you with the Cincinnati Bengals, hearing his story with his wife and some of her health issues. And seeing her worshiping God and [00:27:00] him talking about marriage in a way, and family and fatherhood and faith in a way that is actually tangible and real.

sam: A guy who was paralyzed couldn't move and his wife was bathing him, and then he said, I think it was 20 years later now his wife was in the hospital and now he's taking care of her. How life can be full circle in that way. So what stood out to me more than anything was this guy who I thought was this.

sam: Big, bad, brash, you know, football player and analyst and in your face, that's who he is. That's always, not always who he's gonna be, but that's who he is been. But he still has a side of him that really cares. That listens, ~that is, ~that is walking. Out what it means to love and serve your wife. The Bible talks about husbands love your wives the way that Christ loved the church.

sam: And what did Jesus do? He died for his people. The church is his people, ~and this guy is modeling it, ~and his wife modeled it first for him.

Speaker 2: Wow. ~Uh, ~Sam, I'll tell you, if you haven. Anybody listening to this podcast, if you have not listen to the Sam Acho [00:28:00] podcast with the special guest, David Pollock. Please take 30 minutes and listen to that episode this morning.

Speaker 2: In my quiet time, I read a quote from a w Taser that says, listen to no man who has not listened to God. And I want our listeners to understand if we have a guest on this podcast, if Sam is ~talking or if I'm ~talking, or if I'm talking. We've listened to God. This podcast is a ministry. We want it to be a ministry.

Speaker 2: We want people who listen to this podcast to be uplifted, entertained, ~of course, you know, ~with stories that are shared and everything else. But more than anything else, we want this podcast. Share the gospel, right? And to uplift people. That's what we're doing it for. And so if you haven't listened to some of these podcasts with guys like Devin McCordy, Cody Zeller, Jalen Hood Shino, David Pollock, please go back and visit sam ocho.com.

Speaker 2: Every podcast is there. You can hear it on Apple, Spotify, YouTube. Just take. [00:29:00] 30 minutes and check out one episode a week, and I promise you you'll be uplifted. So Sam, I wanna ask you, as we're finishing up here, what is your goal as we launch season two in the coming weeks here?

sam: So obviously these last couple weeks and months have been hectic for a lot of people and one of my friends challenged, not just me, but a group of us and said, man.

sam: It seems as if we need to start living more courageously. So he said, he asked this group of, of us at dinner, he said, if there's one thing you could do right now to live courageously, like that thing, you could just, if you just do it, just, just to do that, you've been waiting on what would it be? And some people were saying, well, you know, in 15 years and 20 years.

sam: And he was like, no, no, no, not 15 and 20 years. Like what is a thing right now that you would do? And mind you, we were on our, you know, we had edit season one. We were on our hiatus from the San Macho podcast. And in my mind, I dunno if I wrote it down on my phone or my mind, but I was like. Dude, it would be, it would be, go back to that Sam Macho podcast like asap.

sam: I know the season one ended and we've been running and doing NFL season started and college football season. Started swapping on the road, but doing the [00:30:00] podcast to answer your question of what is my hopes and goals for the podcast. I want people to be inspired and encouraged and to get real hope. And real guidance and to feel seen and known and loved.

sam: And love isn't just an idea. Love is a verb. Love is an action. Love moves. So the guests that you're going to hear on this podcast are people who have been through some stuff, people who aren't just like, Hey, I'm happy to be here. It's like, no, I'm gonna give you some wisdom, some guidance, ~almost like a Sherpa, ~someone who's gone up the mountain and come back down.

sam: Everyone who wants to climb Mount Everest knows. You don't go by yourself, you go with a Sherpa. And that Sherpa is someone who's been up the mountain time and time again. They've scaled Everest, so you're not gonna hear just from people who are like, oh, I'm happy to be, you're gonna hear from people who have scaled Everest when it comes to adversity.

sam: David Pollock, right, has been through adversity, couldn't play football first round, pick one of the best to ever do it, all of a sudden couldn't play. And now his wife. Going through adversity. They have kids. You're ~gonna hear about it, they're ~gonna hear from Cody Zeller, Audrey, pick from the NBA, but had injury after injury, after injury.

sam: Priscilla s Shire, [00:31:00] who's, ~uh, ~who's, ~uh, ~speaker and author. Women are following her, men are following her, loves Jesus. You're gonna hear. And be inspired and encouraged, but it's gonna be love. But love is not just going to be, Hey, I love you by words. I have ~a ~a 7-year-old son. I have four kids, but my 7-year-old, he's not really the touchy-feely type.

sam: So I'll tell him, I say, Hey, his name is Kelechi. I'll say, Kelechi, I love you. And look at me. I'll say,

Speaker 3: okay.

sam: And I'm like, no, ~I love you. ~I love you. Says,

Speaker 3: okay.

sam: But the way that he receives love isn't just by a verbal how I love you. He's a, ~uh, ~gifts person. So he'll give you a gift. He wants to write book.

sam: Daddy, I wanna write a book for you. I wrote this letter for you, your daddy. I made this gift for you. Or maybe if I bring. Something back for Kelechi, like that's when I finally get that little bit of a hug. So what you're gonna get from this podcast is a little bit of a hug, a little bit of a hug, but a little bit of an encouragement and an admonition, meaning, hey, an exhortation, like we're going to push you.

sam: By the grace of God to know the truth of who God is, what he has done, but the truth of what you are going to be able to do and what you're gonna be able to understand, even just from an understanding perspective of [00:32:00] what matters, what doesn't, what does success look like? ~What does failure failure look like and ~what does hope look like?

sam: But also, most importantly, what does it look like to love? And so that's what the Sam Macho Podcast. It's all about,

Speaker 2: wow. Thank you, Sam. Let me say this as we finish ~podcast out there, right? A lot of them are obviously about how many viewers, how many listeners, ~if we have one person that tunes into this podcast that grows in their relationship with Jesus Christ, ~and ~it's been worth ~everything, ~everything that we've invested into this platform, I would love a million that God will bless us with ~that ~in his timing.

Speaker 2: But if we just have one. That could grow in their faith and be encouraged, then it's worth everything. So Sam, I'm pumped and I can't wait for season two, and I just want to thank you, brother for allowing me to be your co-host on the Sam Tcho podcast.

sam: I appreciate it, cliff, and I'm glad to be doing this journey with you.

sam: This is Love. We talked about it. You had just finished at Indiana. I was hoping to do a podcast. You had been asking me. ~For two years about doing a podcast together and ~God had worked it out to where this would be a perfect time for us to co-labor in this podcast. So Cliff, I want to thank you for [00:33:00] season one, but also thank you for coming back for season two of the Sam Macho Podcast and anybody listening, number one, we love you.

sam: We are for you. So don't just listen to this episode. Go back like Cliff said, and listen to the Jalen Hood Shino episode. Listen to David Pollock, Priscilla Shire. Cody Zeller, Kurt Hester, the list goes ~on and ~on and on. Bailey Wheat, ~the list goes on and on, ~and get all those [e-mail]. We'll see y'all soon.