An Army of Normal Folks - The Football Players I Lost

Episode Date: September 20, 2024

For our latest "Shop Talk", Coach Bill talks about losing some of his players to the streets. And the necessity of accepting failure like this. Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey everybody, it's Bill Courtney with An Army of Normal Folks and this is Shop Talk number 24, ding, ding, ding, Alex. Ding, ding, ding, bell? Number 22, number 23, and number 24 were all recorded in the same 30 minute period. You're time stamping this and I don't think that's appropriate for our listeners. That's what happens when you call me out like this that's appropriate for our listeners. Fine. Guys today shop talk is going to be a brief discussion of accepting failure when you do hard work because it's gonna come. I got a story about it in my own life so I guess we could say this is on perseverance, but more it's about just understanding the

realities of the hard work that we as normal folk need to go do right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors. I'm Jess Casaveto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series, Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me for I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and LA-based Shekinah Church, an alleged cult that has impacted members for over two decades. Jessica and I will delve into the hidden truths between high-control groups and interview

dancers, church members, and others whose lives and careers have been impacted, just like mine. Through powerful, in-depth interviews with former members and new chilling firsthand accounts The series will illuminate untold and extremely necessary Perspectives forgive me for I have followed will be more than an exploration It's a vital revelation aimed at ensuring these types of abuses never happen again Listen to forgive me for I have followed on the app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

It was December 2019 when the story blew up. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, former Packer star Kabir Vajabiamila caught up in a bizarre situation. Hey, GB, explaining what he believes led to the arrest of his friends at a children's Christmas play. A family man, former NFL player, devout Christian, now cut off from his family and connected to a strange arrest. I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. I got swept up in Kabir's journey, but this was only the beginning in a story about faith

and football, the search for meaning away from the gridiron, and the consequences for everyone involved. You mix homesteading with guns and church and a little bit of the spice of conspiracy theories that we liked, voila! You got straight away. I felt like I was living in North Korea, but worse, if that's possible. Listen to Spiral'd on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you ever wonder where your favorite foods come from? Like what's the history behind bacon wrapped hot dogs?

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Saying that the most popular cocktail is the Margarita, followed by the Mojito from Cuba, and the Pinyo Colada from Puerto Rico. So all of these, we have, we thank Latin culture. There's a mention of blood sausage in Homer's Odyssey that dates back to the ninth century BC. BC? I didn't realize how old the hot dog was.

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there's areas of need that our army of normal folks need to go in and fill the reason there's need is because it's wrought with issues sometimes it's poverty sometimes it's loss sometimes a sickness I think of the people at St. Jude that every day go to work with a smile on their face and battle childhood cancer full well knowing that many of the little young innocent patients that they're serving will perish and how how you have to just keep going even knowing failure is just part of the mission. But if you weren't doing that work, despite the failures as part of the mission, the successes wouldn't happen. Consider this, that 50 years ago, kids that got cancer had a 96% death rate. Today, because of St. Jude, it has completely inverted to

96% success rate. In only 60 years, because of the research that St. Jude has done, the work they've done, and the research and data they've shared with the world. Children now with leukemia, once only 4 in 100 lived, now only 4 in 100 die. Now, that could have never happened without an acceptance of failure. Understanding that when you go into tough situations, you have to understand there's going to be failure, but the successes are worth it.

A clear but maybe disturbing example of this involved a kid who was talented enough to become one of my starting linebackers. He wasn't the biggest guy on the team, but he was quick and extremely determined and tough. We were in the middle of practice one afternoon my third year at Manassas when a member of his family pulled up next to the field and like waved her arms and urgently motioned him toward the sideline. I had no idea what they were saying but the middle practice he just ran off the field. But I could see that the conversation was really animated. A few minutes later, he came over to me and said, coach, I gotta go.

And I said, what do you mean? You gotta go, dude. You just don't leave practice. He said, um, coach, I have to, my sister was picked on in the neighborhood. I said, fine. Is she hurt? He said, no. I said, where is she now? He said, she's back at the neighborhood. I said fine is she hurt? He said no. I said where is she now? He said she's back at the house. I said well then you don't need to go finish practice then you can go deal with it. He said I can't coach this is my sister I have to take care of this right now. I was it. He ran to the locker room put his stuff up and left. I need to tell y'all, this is a good

kid. Always had a smile on his face. Always yes or no sir. I never had a bit of trouble out of him. Always at practice, always on time, excited to be on the football team. But I'll never forget the look in his eyes. He was fully aware that he shouldn't leave. But a football coach he'd known for only a couple years was no match for the world he knew so much better. The only world he'd known. And certainly not his mom. Off he went.

And I remember having a knot in my gut. I knew all too well what could happen in these situations. And yet there was nothing I could do about it. I was really concerned the rest of practice and I remember going home and telling Lisa that you know I don't know what this kid's being pulled into but it just didn't feel good. The call came at 7am. This kid was in the hospital with two bullets in his stomach.

The same guys who caused trouble for his sister jumped out of the vehicle and shot at him several times while he was playing basketball in the park. He thought he'd resolve the matter by warning them and told them to stay away from her. But all he'd done was kind of made him angrier. Of course I went to the hospital and when I got there, I walked in and he just started

balling and he said coach I shouldn't have left practice. His voice was weak, he was weak, barely above a wrist or not. I said man there's nothing you can do about it now. I mean what else could I say? The part I had the most difficulty with was that it was an adult who dragged him into the fray. Someone who should have shown more sense. The kid ended up with a colostomy bag, could never play football again and had to move

out of the neighborhood. And last last thing I knew is he moved with some other family down to Florida. Y'all, these are the kind of obstacles we're up against when trying to work in disadvantaged communities. In many cases, the adults are no more mature than the kids. If anything, envisioning no real future for themselves, they're more bound to the code on the streets than the children are. We have to have an army of normal folks that are willing to employ their passion and their abilities

in areas of need. And many times those areas of need are wrought with people who are surrounded by danger and sadness and disenfranchisement. And we have to go in with the full knowledge knowing that there are going to be setbacks. We have to go in with the full knowledge knowing that there's going to be trials. We have to go in with full knowledge knowing you're never going to save everybody. And the full knowledge knowing that there is going to save everybody, and full knowledge knowing that there is evil on the other side of the good work you are trying to do that is working just as hard as you are to win the hearts and minds of the people you seek to serve. But, nonetheless, one life changed is worth the effort. St. Jude went from a 4% survival rate to a 96% survival rate in

three generations. What could we do to poverty in this world if we had an army of normal folks for three generations willing to accept the defeats that are there for the good of the cause and working across our world to fill voids in areas that need it. It's worth the risk. It's worth the setbacks. It's worth the effort to persevere It's worth the effort to persevere because we can change lives and we can change this country. That's ShopDoc number 24. I hope you go to work. I hope you go in with your eyes wide open.

I hope you'll have the good sense to accept the losses and keep on trudging through and persevere. Because at the end of the day, that's how we change. I'm Bill Courtney. Thanks to our producer, Ironlight Labs. If you have any ideas of stuff to talk about, email me at Bill at NormalFolks.us. And if I think I have some value to add, we'll have a chat about it.

I'll see you next week. and we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What happens when a professional football player's career ends and the applause fades and the screaming fans move on. I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. For some former NFL players a new faith provides answers. You mix homesteading with guns in church voila you got straight away. They try to save everybody. Listen to Spiral on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. pound universe in our heads. Join me weekly to explore the relationship between your brain

and your life because the more we know about what's running under the hood, better we can steer our lives. Listen to Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. There's so much beauty in Mexican culture, like mariachis, delicious cuisine, and even Lucha Libre. Join us for the new podcast, Lucha Libre, Behind the Mask, a 12 episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of Lucha Libre. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar,

emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. Listen to Lucha Libre, Behind the Mask on theantam! Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or whatever you stream podcasts. Do you ever wonder where your favorite foods come from? And like what's the history behind bacon wrapped hot dogs? Hi, I'm Eva Longoria. Hi, I'm Maite Gomez-Rejon.

Our podcast Hungry for History is back. And this season we're taking an even bigger bite out of the most delicious food and its history. Seeing that the most popular cocktail is the Margarita followed by the Mojito from Cuba and the Piñuco Lada from Puerto Rico. Listen to Hungry for History on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.