On Saturday morning, I stood among some 5000 others in what they call the runners corral waiting to run a local half marathon. Trying to stay warm in near freezing temperatures, my mind wandered to the last time I had stood in a similar crowd waiting to run my first “half” over thirty years ago.
Recently we held a Be There Dad workshop at a local elementary school. The audience was a group of dads whose kids all attended this school where there is an active Be There Dad group. Most of these dads had already been involved with service to the school at car rider line and other events.
After watching the recent interview on Charlotte Today, a long time Be There Dad supporter sent me the following email. I was immediately touched. His message is simple, but it captures the essence of Be There Dad.
This week Bryce Johnson from the UNPACKIN’ it radio show shares a few thoughts about the recent comments made by rapper Snoop Dogg’s son. Cordell Broadus posted on social media his motivation to play football and explains the words that he heard from his dad that meant so much. His comments should challenge us this week.
Tony Bennett is the head basketball coach at the University of Virginia. He’s been there since 2009 and his teams have been the ACC regular season champions the last two seasons. He joins us to share his thoughts on balancing his coaching responsibilities and being a dad to his two children.
Spencer Tillman was a running back who spent 8 seasons in the NFL and won a Super Bowl with the 49ers. He played his college football at Oklahoma. After 16 years of being a college football studio analyst for CBS, he has moved to the booth for Fox Sports’ college football coverage this fall.
Watch our own Coach Jeff as he describes Be There Dad to the hosts of NBC’s Charlotte Today.
Check out this 6-minute clip from NFL agent and former college coach and NFL personnel executive Mike McCartney. He is the son of former Colorado (1990 National Champs) head coach Bill McCartney. Mike talks with us about his decision to leave his NFL front-office executive job with the Eagles and how being a dad was…
“Check out this 4-minute clip from the son of legendary Bears running back Walter Payton as he openly speaks about his father. Jarrett talks about being in the spotlight throughout his life and shares about the impact his dad had on the type of man he is today.”
In a reflective moment, I remembered that this is how baseball is supposed to be. I could hear the words of James Earl Jones’ description of the Field of Dreams as if he was speaking to me about Wrigley, “America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers… But baseball has marked the time.