#6 - David Pollack on supporting your kids' journey, not controlling it

David Pollack (00:04):

The more you facilitate fun, the more you facilitate, uh, effort, you know, attitude and effort. That's always what we focused on is attitude and effort. Like, you have a good attitude, you're working really hard. Like, you know, it it, the couple things that I try to say to my kids, you know, after every single game, and it has, I never mentioned home runs, I never mentioned hits, I never mentioned touchdowns. I don't mention, I try not to mention shots. I'm like, did you have fun? Yeah. Did you give everything you had? And I love you regardless.

Joey Odom (00:33):

Welcome back to The Aro Podcast or welcome for the first time, whether you're an old friend or a new friend. We're really glad you're here and you're probably not here for me. You are here for David Pollack, co-host of ESPN's College game day, former NFL player and super intentional dad and husband. You're gonna love this conversation that David and I had. I took up way too much of his time, but you're gonna, you're gonna be glad we did. We talk a lot about him growing up, the competitiveness that was in him, the little bit of craziness that was in him that got him to where he was and, and the career ending injury that happened in his second season in the NFL, how that changed him and, and still the reverberating effects from that. And we talk a bunch about being a dad, an intentional dad, and the things that he has, learning the things that he's learned.

(01:21)
It's so good. I felt like I was looking in a mirror there for a little bit and I really, uh, really benefited from that personally. We do talk a little bit of Nick Saban, their conversation they had at the national championship game this year. That's worth a listen and stick around to the end cuz we have some dirt on Kirk Herbstreit. You're gonna want to hear that. That's not really dirt. He loves Kirk Herbstreit, but he does have a great story about Kirk. So thank you for joining us. Please sit back, relax, and enjoy my great conversation with David Pollack. So one question to start, I wanna see if you can name the person who said this, this is a quote.

David Pollack (01:58):

Okay.

Joey Odom (01:59):

Who said I play football and I'm nuts. Who said that? Me <laugh>. Of course it was you <laugh>.

David Pollack (02:06):

Yep. And by the way, if you, if you, if you use that clip and you hear my accent, ain't nobody ever thought that dude was gonna be on television. <laugh>. I can tell you that much. That was more like the first interviews I think I ever did. And I, I always reremember, I played football. I'm nuts. I mean, I just had a horrible, horrible, uh, I was not good with the cam. I actually despised the media pretty, pretty strongly. Um, I was not a big media fan just because of the, I think, uh, more of the false narratives, more of the Yeah. You know, not paying attention stuff that would, that would drive you kind of nuts. I, if you'd ask me in college, if I'd ever been in the media, I'd be like, absolutely not.

Joey Odom (02:45):

And that was a good inter and it was. I mean, your voice has evolved. I heard a lot more Snellville, Georgia than I heard in New Jersey in that, in that interview. Even though you're born in New Jersey, I heard some Snellville in there.

David Pollack (02:55):

You dang Skippy bro.

Joey Odom (02:56):

<laugh>

David Pollack (02:57):

Thank, thank God my dad, Hey, growing up, my dad, when he, when I was, we moved down here when I was four and my dad would always, he's like, Hey, you're gonna be a Scarlet Knight. I'm like, what the heck's a Scarlet Knight? He's like, go to Rutgers. I was like, no, absolutely not. Not going to Rutgers. Like he was a big giant fan too, cuz we were from up north because he was from up north. Right. But I was like, nah bro.

Joey Odom (03:19):

I mean that's gotta be a hard thing for them. I, I'm not asking to start, you know, some controversy here, but that's gotta be a hard recruiting thing. When people say, Hey, you're now a Scarlet Knight. Like that doesn't really, that doesn't really seem to appeal to, to an 18 year

David Pollack (03:32):

Old. That doesn't embolden you. Yeah,

Joey Odom (03:33):

I wouldn't,

David Pollack (03:34):

It doesn't. No, I, I think, I think they've got plenty of the, the weather. My, uh, my official visit to Ohio State was a really quick one. I, i first time on an airplane, uh, me and my mom and my daddy got off the plane and literally I remember like, what is that white stuff on the ground? I'm like, that's what is that crap? And they're like, kidding? Yeah, that's snow. And I was like, yeah, I'm not coming here like that. That's way too cold. And it just proves that God has a great sense of humor cuz I get drafted by an Ohio Bengals, Cincinnati Bengals team. So get to go back. But literally, I, I'll never forget that on the recruiting trip. Like that's a, that's a real thing when you're a southern boy coming up north,

Joey Odom (04:11):

Man. No kidding. That's gotta be brutal. So, so did your dad, so he is he, he was from, was he from New Jersey originally? He was up, up from that area. So how's he, how did he take to, to the south? I mean, he, he raised a good southern boy, so he did a pretty good job. But how did he take to the south? Was, did he immediately love it and it fit him?

David Pollack (04:28):

Yeah, my grandparents moved down, um, first and then, so we kind of, my dad and my mom kind of followed, um, just got, got a job and came down south. But yeah, I think it was, I think it was easy, man. I think it was, once you've been to the South, you realize it's kind of easy to live here. I mean it's, it's a lot of fun. Um, people with really good manners, um Right. Life kind of slows down a little bit. So it's definitely, uh, it takes some time probably to get used to for a lot of people, but no, they definitely, obviously loved it and, and haven't thought about moving back up north again. I can promise you that.

Joey Odom (04:58):

Well, you mentioned good manners. I can tell. I mean, you, you respect your elders. You respect me even though I'm about 18 months older. I appreciate you, you treating your elders with some respect. Calling me, sir. That's very nice.

David Pollack (05:07):

You gotta respect your Hey mama went upside my dome when I didn't. So it was pretty simple. Like it's the same thing now. My kids say, yes sir, no sir, you know? Yes ma'am. No ma'am. And it's just, it's the way it is. It's ingrained in you once you've been down here long enough. I do remember going to Ohio though, and I'd be like, yes ma'am, I'm not old. Do not call me ma'am. I'm like, listen, my mama hits harder than you <laugh>, so I ain't real worried about you, mama p would go beside me, y'all. I ain't worried about you getting upset with me. But that's how we do it in the south.

Joey Odom (05:34):

My my wife is from Buffalo and she people, when they call her, ma'am she does, she gets mad. She doesn't like that. And I mean, Oklahoma, that's how we grew up. Same thing. We, we, we say Sir and ma'am, but she gets offended by it. So that, that's a real thing.

David Pollack (05:47):

I can't wait to we her meet her and say, yes ma'am.

Joey Odom (05:49):

<laugh>, she'll love that. She will love that. Um, what did your dad do? I'm curious, uh, you know, looking at you coming up and you just had this, I mean, you got the, you got two speeds, you got sleeping and then all out did was how much of that was born in you? You talked, and actually I'm gonna jump in, interrupt myself. Did you really play tackle football on the streets? Did you guys, were you guys really I saw that in that same interview. Did you guys really do that?

David Pollack (06:16):

Of course we did. You didn't do that?

Joey Odom (06:18):

I didn't man. I was, I was destined for the Scarlet Nights, man, we

David Pollack (06:22):

<laugh>, we shoulda, shoulda have changed families. Um, no, I mean I remember we would play tackle ba we would play basketball. No pals, no rules. I remember that on concrete. That always led to concrete. Yeah, you didn't wanna leave your feet very much <laugh>. You try to run through people, you didn't wanna do that, but of course, no, we did my, I had two, I had an older brother who was uh, three grades above me and um, he was not as near as as crazy cuz he graduated high school. He was about six feet, he was about one 13. Wow. I was 6 3, 2 75. So it couldn't have been more opposite. It was kinda like one of those things like, you can pick up my brother, but, or I can pick up my brother, but you can't. And that it was like that for me, like as a freshman I had to defend my brother <laugh> because I was so, so big.

(07:08)
So yeah, we grew up with a couple, a bunch of buddies. We just played a ton and tackled and knocked the crowd out of each other. And my parents liked to tell a story. I've never told the story before. My parents always to tell a story between me and Max Miller, one of my buddies growing up and we're about to play a 10 year championship game. And at Shallow, we played on a, on a field that didn't even have a stadium. It was just a big hill. And me and Max got in a fight before the game and we're rolling down the hill throwing punches and they're like, the other team was scared, crapless cuz y'all were fighting each other, you know, at 10 years old just throwing blows. So they knew they were in for it. So that was definitely, we definitely did a lot of that growing up.

Joey Odom (07:44):

Hey, that's a pretty good move to just an intimidation to the other team. Just like your own team just beating the crap out of each other before the game.

David Pollack (07:51):

That's, yeah. As just long as you, long as you keep your helmet off. Don't, don't throw punches and hit helmets. Yeah. That's not very bright.

Joey Odom (07:56):

Did uh, so what did your dad do when he, in, in terms of raising you into, I mean, did he see early, said this, this guy's got it, like he's just crazy enough and he's got the physical talent and you know, the physical size enough and the talent. How did, what did, looking back, what did he do to engender? And this is a question for myself, like with having a son to develop that but not burn you out. That whole balance of encouraging and pushing you without, without just totally discouraging you.

David Pollack (08:27):

I don't, I don't think Norm ever once really, uh, I don't think Norm looked at it from a view of trying to always like, get you to a point. I think my dad was, my dad was really, really good. My dad has, uh, unbelievable patience. Like you talk about one of the fruits of the spirit for him, he's just, he's got it in spades and it's, it's very hard to, to ruffle his feathers. And I, I was rambunctious and I had so much energy and I was all over the, but, but dad didn't get upset very often. Um, I could probably count on one hand how many times I've ever seen him lose his cooler or lose his temper. And, um, both of my parents, man, they just let me play. Yeah. They just let me be me. And, um, I didn't have a personal trainer.

(09:11)
I didn't have a, a personal uh, uh, workout person. I didn't have all this crap that a lot of these people think are super important. They let me be a kid. I rode my bike all over the place. I played in the yard, I had friends. Um, and, and so I think that's, that's a big message when I talk to parents a lot of times is, you know, like, it, there's a, there's absolutely a time to grind in your athletic career. Yeah. It's just not at 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. Like I just 13, 14. I just don't think those are the ages. I think the more you facilitate fun, the more you facilitate, uh, effort, you know, attitude and effort. That's always what we focused on is attitude and effort. Yeah. Like you have a good attitude. You're working really hard. Like, you know, it, it is a couple things that I try to say to my kids, you know, after every single game.

(10:00)
And it has, I never mentioned home runs, I never mentioned hits, I never mentioned touchdowns. I don't mention, I try not to mention shots. I'm like, did you have fun? Yeah. Did you give everything you had? And I love you regardless. Like if you suck, I love you. If you missed 30 shots, are you scored 40 points? I love you. Like, it doesn't, doesn't matter. So I think my dad, you know, I don't know if he intentionally did that. I think that's who he was and what he was. He just, my dad was my head coach and he did an unbelievable job. And we won six or seven championships in a row. We had some really good talent. He was super, super duper organized, but he just let me be me and let me be a kid and encouraged and loved and made us love it.

(10:39)
We did bonfires, you know, as in youth league football, we did goody bags and highlight tapes and just all kinds of awesome things to, to make me love it. And I gotta, and I got news for you when you love it, man, it's something you want to do when you don't, it's not something you want to do. The difference between me and everybody that I was around in University of Georgia, there was so many five star kids. I'm a three-star kid. There's so many guys with, you know, strength, speed, all this stuff to put it together. But I had a genuine love. Like I love to work, I love, but I also wasn't grinding as a kid. I wasn't past that stage of, man, this sucks because I've been doing this for 5, 6, 7 years. I was like, this is awesome. Yeah, this is great. Like, I get to go work out. I get to go do this. And so I think, I think that's what my dad did a really good job of.

Joey Odom (11:26):

So he didn't ever, you didn't need motivation. Like when, at, at some point both of you must have seen that you were different, right? You must have known. And maybe what, what was that point where you said where whether he or you said, okay, I'm, I'm different from the other kids.

David Pollack (11:42):

I hit puberty my sophomore year of high school. Wow. And I, and I grew like six inches in game, like 60 pounds. But, but here's the, here's the, here's when that's, that's when it kind of turned for me. But we didn't know. We didn't know before that point anything about anything. But, um, my sophomore year I did. I was, I was, I was on jv, but I couldn't play JV because I was a backup on varsity and I needed to rotate in and they saved my quarters. So I was kind of stuck between varsity and JV and didn't end up playing really at all or hardly any. And, um, so I, I went to my coach and I was like, man, this stinks, dude. This is awful. Like I'm putting in all this work and not playing. I, I just, I quit. I don't wanna do this anymore.

(12:23)
And, and I had a coach, Eddie Shaddock who um, he was like, Hey man, just come work out with me and just come work with me a little bit. And I don't think Eddie had any preconceived notions that I was gonna be something great. I think he just liked being around me and wanted me around the program, running me around the team and didn't want me to quit. And, you know, then I started just growing and growing and growing and then I started gaining weight and we started working out and, and what changed me was, was, was the weight room. I was a good athlete and I tell people that all the time. I was a good athlete. I became a great athlete when I could squat 650 pounds <laugh>. You know, like I, I just, God gave me a great legs and a great chunk and once I started training, I could really, I really developed it.

(13:04)
And then another thing that was big happened going into my senior year, I have scholarship offers from, you know, Georgia, Florida, Ohio State, Georgia Tech, Clemson. Um, I got a new coach that came into Shallow high school. And I'll never forget this, and this is a daily reminder for me and parents because parents are always like, they need to push, they need to do this, they need to do this. Well, it's just like with your faith, your kid's gonna see it when they see it. Yeah. Like, you can't force it into action. You can't force things onto people and make them work. My Bob Krieger, our new coach calls me in his office and he is like, Hey man, if we're gonna win the state championship, I'm gonna need you to, I'm gonna need you to work harder and play harder. So I'm the only player on the team going to college.

(13:47)
I'm by far the best player on the team. I'm like, this dude's crazy. Like I'm your best player and you're telling me I got a play harder. And he turns on a clip and for the first time he turns on clip after clip after clip. And I'm watching, I'm like, he ain't wrong. Hmm. And I started to, I I, I went into spring ball. He, that was right before spring ball. I went into spring ball and I started flying around like a mad man <laugh>. I mean, I started flying around all over the place and practicing really hard. And what it translated it to is playing really hard. And once I learned how to practice my habits carried over to the game. And, and it only intensified when I got to Georgia and I had John Fres as my defensive line coach who was ye ye on edge all the time, always getting me to play with your hair on fire and Brian Van Gorder.

(14:31)
So, you know, they just, they intensified that flame more and pour more gas on it. But, um, but it started by, I, I didn't see that till going into my senior year. And you just can't make people see things and you can't really Yeah. See the potential and, and, and you can't make people see their potential in themselves. You know, just by saying, you, you do this or you can do that. It just, it's not that they have to see it at some point, there's an aha moment for everybody. It's just a matter of when it hits.

Joey Odom (14:57):

If your dad would've said that to you, would you have received it as well, do you think? Or was it because you'd heard your dad's voice all your life? I think about this with my son who's almost 15 as tennis player. And I think, how do you know? And I think he's getting immune to me saying some of that stuff to him and it takes that third party voice. Was it because it was a third party and he showed you? And then what would the effect have been if it would've been your dad who said that?

David Pollack (15:19):

Uh, norm didn't say things to me like that. Yeah. Norm didn't, norm didn't push the envelope. Norm didn't sit me down and have a conversation. I've had 10 times more conversations with my 14 year old than my dad ever did with me. Yeah. Um, you know, I just, I I would say I'm probably more of an intentional parent and, um, and, and I'm, and I'm, and and also my kid is very different, which, which was really cool. God gave me, God maybe gave me a kid that, like he wants to know the rules of everything. And I'm like, you're playing defense. Yeah. Tackle the guy with the football <laugh>, but, but how many players are there? 11. Tackle the guy with the football. How long is the field? I'm like, oh my lord, have mercy kids shut up and go tackle the guy with the football.

(16:00)
And, and I and I and I tell you, I can tell you this, just some of y'all that are screwing it up, I was screwing it up bad. Hmm. I mean, I, I was, I I was just intense and I'm, and I go from being an n NFL player and being so competitive and I compete and I fight and everything. Yeah. And then I have a kid like this, it, it was very different man. And it, it, it had me calling into question like, dude, what are you, what are you, what are you trying to get out of this? Hmm. Like, wh why is this, why is his performance affecting how you look at yourself? Because he ain't got nothing to do with you. Is is this about you or are you just being selfish and you want your kid to be the best because you got a reputation to uphold?

(16:35)
And man, I had to do some self searching and, and it's really cuz I didn't understand kids in college that didn't work hard. Yeah. Like, I had roommates that I would be like, I gotta key to the wait room. Let's go to the work wait room. They're like, we worked out this afternoon, why would I go work out again? I'm like, we ain't done, we got be, we gotta get better bro. Yeah. Like, we can get a lot better. And, and I've never really understood those people, but God gave me a kid that was like that and it was way easier to understand because I naturally separated myself from people like that. And, um, I didn't have that choice with my son. And so it's been, it's been really cool along his journey to, to watch the small victories, um, to watch his personality change, his temperament, change his, his competitiveness changed.

(17:17)
And I'll say this, testosterone changes everything. Yeah. And, and, and if you'll see that with your kids man, like keep it fun. Keep it light, enjoy it, blah, blah. And when they get testosterone, you'll see man, my kid went from being quasi competi to like, oh gosh, I care about everything now. And, and, and so then I kind of knew. And then just like, you know, seventh grade basketball for Nicholas, I said, Hey buddy, I'm not coaching you. You made, he made the eighth grade team. I said, this is the first year I'm not coaching you. I said, it, it, I'm not gonna offer my advice unless ask. And I coached him since he was four years old in, in all the sports, all the things. And Nicholas asked me one question all year long

Joey Odom (17:58):

Hmm.

David Pollack (17:59):

One question. And it was about playing time, blah blah blah. I was like, but that, but that just showed me like, dude, you're talking to hear your voice. Yeah. If, if he, he doesn't want your advice now, now here's, here's what's really cool. Fast forward a year and Joey, here's what I got this year. Eighth grade basketball. Hey, keep talking to me. Keep telling me what you see because it helps me. Okay. That's this year. Here's what I don't know. Ninth grade might be different. Yeah. And we might go back to shutting up again, so be it. But, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna let him take the reins on on what he wants from me in those, in those capacities. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna go crazy with any, and, and I, I can't care more about his journey than him. Yeah. And so that's, that's all I'm trying to do, is I'm trying to support, um, that's not the most important thing in our household anyways.

(18:43)
Sports are a part of our household. Uh, but it's not the most important thing. But if, if, if my son wa and my or my daughter wants to play or wants to practice something, they a hundred percent know daddy's in. Yeah. But daddy's not gonna tell you, you have to go practice. Daddy's not gonna make you get up and go do things. Daddy's not gonna be your driving force. I'm your dad. I love you. I'm your dad. I'm gonna be here for you all the time. But I, I'm not your, I'm not your, I'm not your motivator for sports. I'm not your motivator. I'm not your work. I'm not your motivator for your work ethic. I'm, that's, that's a you decision. You have to decide if you wanna work. And if you do, I'll meet you anytime you want.

Joey Odom (19:20):

That's such a hard, I feel like I'm, I have a mirror in front of me. You tell me this, it's stuff that I need to be, it's stuff I need to hear as my son is about to turn 15 great tennis player. And, but you see inside like, no, you don't understand. I start superimposing my experience on him, which I'm six five, I was a pretty good basketball player and I could have been a lot better had I had, I put in a little bit more and I didn't push myself. And so I'm, and so I'm, you know, he's an eighth grade playing on the varsity tennis team. And, and so I'm, I'm looking at myself saying, well I gotta, I gotta make sure he understands the possible future. So there's that balance. But at the same time, like he doesn't give a rip about, cuz I don't play tennis.

(19:57)
And when I give him, when I tell him what he's doing on his forehead, even though I may be right, he's just looking at me. I can see like, dad, you're an idiot. You don't know what you're talking about. And he's probably right. He really is. But, but so the balance, the the question embedded in that is there's a balance between, you know, what it takes because you did it, you know what it requires. But you gotta hold yourself back from saying, here, here's the stuff that you have to do. How that, that's gotta be a hard balance.

David Pollack (20:23):

Well here's the thing though. If, if we say it's their journey Yeah. And you stop trying to control their journey, it, it's, it's more freeing. And that's, and listen, I'm not saying I'm perfect at this all the time, but it's not my journey. So you learned in a certain capac. I just told you. And here's the thing, Joey, I bet this is, you didn't get it at all. You're saying you didn't really get it at all. Yeah. But you're trying force him to get it at eighth grade or I'm trying to force Nicholas to get it at eighth grade. Yeah, I got it as a junior in high school. Yeah. I can't, I can't force it into them. I I can't make them to get it. And I, and honest to God, I think you're way more inclined to drive them away than you are to drive them to what you want them to be.

(21:03)
Dude, I think you're way more inclined to, they're way more inclined to go, you know what, this sucks because you're always on me. I always gotta handle this. I always gotta do that. I'm gonna go the other direction, bump that. Um, but I, I think when we find the balance between being an encourager, um, here's, here's one thing, Joey, that I think will really help you if you choose to do it, what's your son's name? Harrison. Okay. So sit down with Harrison. I've done this with Nicholas Amber, with Leah. Sit down with Harrison. I sat down with Nicholas. I was like, Nicholas. All right buddy. What are your spiritual goals?

(21:39)
I wanna read my devotional every day. Yeah. Bam. Okay. I wanna, I wanna debil that habit. What else? I wanna go to church every Sunday. Every Wednesday. Boom. Awesome goals. Love it. All right. My job as the dad to try to help take those goals, help 'em get focused on those goals. Maybe try to help 'em accomplish those goals. What are your academic goals? Wanna get straight a's. Okay. Do you want to go to college? Yeah. Okay. If you wanna go to college, it takes good grades, blah, blah, blah. It's hard. Hard. Okay. What are your, what are your, what are your sports goals? I want to play in the nba. That's what Nicholas told me as a 12 year old. Yep. Two years ago. He said, I wanna play in the nba. I said, awesome. He said, okay. So now how do we make little goals to try to accomplish that big goals?

(22:18)
Cause it's gonna take that, I wanna shoot two, I wanna shoot 200 shots every day. 365 days outta the year. Okay. I think a lot of parents go, that's really awesome. That's great. Let's start tomorrow. Hmm. That's not what I said. I said, Hey, I think you could do that three days a week and be really good. I don't think you have to do that five days a week. Yeah. I don't think I I don't think you have to go five days a week, 365 as a 12 year old. I just don't. And and I don't think you're gonna succeed. But, but here's, here's my favorite quotes from parents. My favorite quotes from parents, but my kid wants to do it. My kid wants to do it. Okay. If your kid wants to be a professional gamer, you gonna let him play video games all day?

(22:58)
<laugh>, my kid wants to be a competitive eater. He really wants it. Okay. Go eat all day long. <laugh>. You know what I'm saying? Like, it, it's funny. But, but so he said that. So now my job as a parent is to come alongside of them and help them for make small goals. So he's talked about shooting, we talked about these other things. But here's the most important part, Joey. Now when I go to Harrison Yep. And I talk to Harrison when I've sat down with Harrison and go, Harrison, these are your goals. These are your dreams. Okay? I need you and my life to be an accountability partner for me. I'm gonna be accountability partner for you, but here's what the accountability looks like and here's what I've found to get the most success. All I do to with Nicholas says, Hey bud, have you shot lately?

(23:40)
Hmm. I don't say, Hey bud, you said you wanted to shoot. You said this was your goal, but hey, all I have to do is go give it a little prick. Yeah. Have you shot lately? Yeah. Have you been working on your goals? Have you been working on your devotion? Those are his dreams. Those are his goals that I'm just coming beside. So now it's it's coming beside them and, and they're going, this is theirs. Not, not dad's. This is dad trying to help, not dad trying to push. Right. So I, it helped me with my relationship with my son big time. It helped me come alongside and support the journey as opposed to try to drive the journey because I had a tendency to wanna schedule, schedule, schedule, schedule. Yeah. And try to get you to do this, this, and this. And, and again, I'm not saying you don't grind.

(24:25)
I think there is a time when you grind. But what I've noticed about baseball, basketball, football, hockey, lacrosse, whatever, everybody's got so much grind in them and then they're grinded out and they're done. And they might still play it, they might still do it because they're good at it, but the, the love, the passion and the want to work seems to subside. So that's, I think, you know, that's, and by the way, I, I just did this. So listen to this man. This, this is pretty cool. So I got a 12 year old daughter now, Leah, man, me, me and her had a great conversation the other night. The, the, the genesis of the conversation came from me screwing up. By the way, <laugh>, just to be clear, like we're at dinner, I made a comment to her about basketball and I was talking as her coach instead of her dad.

(25:07)
Yeah. And, and, and I failed at dinner because I coach her and she went up to her room and, and I went up there for 45 minutes and we sat on her bed and, and, and we just talked and, and I apologize for what I said. And, and I was like, listen, this is what I mean by that. You, you have some girls on your team who are very, very talented. You aren't as talented as ex Okay. Like, just being real with you, God-given ability. You don't have as much talent as her, but you do have other talents. Like she play, she's the best teammate on our team. Like she is cheering for everybody. I was like, that's a huge skill. Yeah. Like, that's a great skill to be a great teammate. I said, you play with great effort, you play better defense than anybody on our squad.

(25:45)
And I pointed out some good things, um, that, that she was doing. But I also said, Hey, like you don't ha you don't put the ball in the bucket. Like you don't score at a good clip. And, you know, scoring is a big part of it. But what, when we sat down, so after that conversation, 45 minutes back and forth, best conversation we've ever had, I told her I was a three star going into college because there were people that were bigger, faster, stronger, had more natural ability. But I worked myself to a five star. Yeah. And, and so I told her that. And then, you know, we sat down the next day, actually that night, I'm sorry it was that night, late that night. We were still up that night. And we went through some of her goals and now being hurt did that. So now same thing with her. I get to come alongside Leah and support and, and and, and uh, create accountability with her and just try to help her not not be sarcastic. Yeah. Not be in their face, but like try to help them reasonably see that like, you, you have these goals, it's gonna take work, but I'm gonna come support you in these goals. I'm not gonna be the driving force in these goals.

Joey Odom (26:51):

Dude, that's so good. It's uh, it's so perfect because our kids are, are, are right about the same age as boy and girl. Same order. And it <laugh> it's, I made a very similar mistake as a, uh, talking to my daughter about her volleyball team. And it would took about 45 minutes for me to talk my way out of it. Um, kinda the same thing. And it's funny how that relationship is so much different, but the key there is coming alongside their goals and not creating, I think one the biggest things here is just, it's their journey. It's their journey. I gotta keep remembering that. That's so good. And it, and it's, you know, it, it's, who knows how, who knows if there's much deviation. I think you're, what you said there is like, there's so everybody's got so much grind in 'em until they grind out and you're gonna grind them out. One thing my dad did absolutely best. There was a, there's a line, I forget exactly what it is in the New testament of verse that says like, don't exasperate your children. And and that's what he did. And, and I know that I, as a dad, I have a tendency to do that with my kids. It's just exasperating, which is something my dad never did. He was just always there alongside me. Um,

David Pollack (27:50):

But but that comes from a place Joey of good. Yeah. It doesn't come from a place of bad. Yeah. But it also comes from a place of selfishness. Of course. And it also comes from a place of there's, there's a reason you're trying to make them something that's true. And, and, and we've got, and and listen, this parlay is directly cuz I, I'll I'll, I'll be glad to pop some people right in the mouth right now with some of this other stuff too. Because this also parlays into what are you, what, what is the priority of your family? What is, what is, what are you focusing on? What is your family's mission? What is your family put first? What is your family gonna be known for? What is your identity with your kids? And sports are amazing, but like sports have gotten outta control on weekends where we don't go to church.

Joey Odom (28:34):

That's so true.

David Pollack (28:35):

Sports has gotten outta control on Wednesday nights where we don't go to church and listen, I'm not gonna sit here and tell you we don't Ms. Church, but my kids know church is the priority. Yeah. And we will, we we'll miss occasionally, but we're gonna be in church a heck of a lot more than we're gonna be out of it. Yeah. And if that makes means we gotta skip stuff. It's okay. Like skip skip stuff that we can control. Like it's, it's interesting the older they get, the harder that becomes. Right. Because high school sports. But if you're at a youth youth league, like Nicholas, the last couple years you've had a a u basketball Wednesday night they practice in our gym outside. We have a gym in the backyard outside. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> Nicholas was at, was at church on Wednesday nights because, and and the cool part is he wanted to go to church.

(29:15)
He made that decision to go to church. We, we definitely have guided him along the way that church is more important than sports. But it's really fun when they start to Yeah. To make those own own decisions. But I, I just, I I don't think it comes from a bad place all the time where we're coming from. But again, if you choose to play travel ball and you're at the ball field every Sunday and that's what you choose and you're at tournaments every Sunday, your priority, your priority is ball over church. Yeah. Your priority is ball over God. That's what you're showing your kids. Yeah. Like you can, you can use different words. All you want to Morris called than taught. Our actions are what they're catching. They're not catching, they'll catch some of our words, but they're gonna model what you model. You, you need something, you need, you need clarity of that.

(29:58)
Or you, you don't believe me. Go find an anxious parent. You'll find an anxious kid. Yeah. Go find an anxious kid. You'll find an anxious, anxious parent. Like tho those are all things that that, that go together. So what you model, what you show them, you know, modeling your walk with God. Like are you modeling that? Are you modeling the different seasons of life or are you praying with your kids? And um, you know, those, those are all things that, you know, we, we just, we got, we got sports in a, in a, in a box in this world right now. That's what we don't realize is all these people that continue to make these tournaments, they're just making BCUs and money. Yeah. And that's what it's about. This isn't right. Like the, your kids, if your kids are good enough, by the way, they're good enough.

(30:40)
I, I'm from Gwinnett County. I told you about mama and daddy, like how they raised me. Like I didn't go to camps, I didn't do anything. I, I, god, god blessed me with good genetics. Yeah. And in the end I was able to capitalize on it. Like, you're, you're not gonna just all of a sudden freakishly change genetics. Like if, if they're good enough when they get to high school, they'll, they'll start to develop and they'll develop at a fast rate. But, but, but you are responsible for their soul and you are responsible for Wow. The, them learning the word and living in the word and living through and and experiencing church. And those things are, dude, everybody's gonna hang their, their, their basketball shoes up or their cleats up. Um, but but you're not gonna hang your in life. You're gonna keep running the race and you're gonna keep living. So

Joey Odom (31:24):

I read Matthew six this morning where your treasure is there, your heart will be also. And I made a note in my, have a note taking Bible. And I just said, I just, it was just a question for myself. Where is, where is my heart? Where is my tr because I think I'm storing up a bunch of earthly treasures right now. I think we are playing a bunch of Sunday tennis tournaments. I think we are doing a, a bunch of, of weekend volleyball tournaments with my daughter. And it's, there was no question in my mind when we were growing up what the priority was cuz we were there three times a week. I'm not saying church attendance is the barometer necessarily, but even to your point, are we getting in the word together? Are we praying together? Are we, although, and, and I think you would, if you were to look at the evidence of what I'm doing, it would say like, you got a pretty good treasure storing up here on this side versus on the other side.

David Pollack (32:04):

But when you can see that you can change it.

Joey Odom (32:06):

Yeah, that's right.

David Pollack (32:06):

If you, if you don't see it, you, you can't change it. And listen, I I told you, I i I messed it up. I I messed it up when we were younger. I mean I just, I did it with my kids. And as we've gotten older, um, I mean, and if I could go back, I would do it different bro. Like if I could go back and do it with, with young kids, man, I'm, I'm not sure how much we would play sports, but we would play it at a very small level. Like I'm not sure we'd have jumped into travel baseball as much as we did. And we found a great situation and God put us in an unreal situation where we didn't play a lot of baseball, we didn't play a lot of tournaments. We just didn't do that. But I just think I, I think we're gonna run the race and we're gonna do all these things and we're gonna look back and our kid's not even gonna play baseball in high school.

(32:45)
And you're gonna be like, man, I wasted a lot of weekends. Yeah. And, and you don't waste it when you're with your family and you get to spend time together. If you used it right, you can still capitalize on it. But the bottom line is, you know, these kids like five minutes after the game's over, they don't care. Yeah. They just won ice cream. Right. You know, like, why do we care? That was a big slap in the face for me after games. I, I vividly remembered riding home from Gainesville and, and I didn't say a word the whole time cuz we, we were undefeated all year and then we, we won the championship and then I, I scheduled a team from Gainesville, um, for like a a, an extra game. It meant nothing, bro. It was an exhibition game that meant nothing. And I vividly remember being so pissed the whole way home and just so mad that we lost and Nicholas is in the backseat like, Hey, let's get some ice cream <laugh>.

(33:29)
Like, and, and, and it, and it ticked me off then. But I'm like, you know what, who's got the right perspective here, man, it ain't me. It's him. Yeah. It's the, it's the eight year old that's showing me that he's got the right perspective actually. Like let it go. Move on and listen. A a part of that's what made me great and a and a part of that that now is what makes me successful in my, in my life of what things, because I care and I'm competitive. But, um, you know, our our, our journey with our kids, I mean, we've gotta show them what's really, really important and, and back to what, how we started this. We gotta model it. Yeah. It's not do as I say, not as I do. If if you wanna raise kids that don't do as you say, then do that. Yeah, exactly. Then don't do it and then

Joey Odom (34:13):

Probably won't like it do it. Yeah.

David Pollack (34:14):

Yeah. If you do it, like if you do it, they're gonna do it. Like my son and daughter, just to watch them in some of the spiritual things they're doing now. I'm not gonna cry. I am a crier. I'm not gonna cry. But like, it, it just, it, it blows my mind and it makes me so happy and it makes me way happier when they're in worship this past weekend at Surge weekend and, and they got their hands up and they're praising God. I'm like, dude, all right, I'm doing something right. Like something's, something's clicking. Like all that other crap, man. That, that's good. That's all, that's all who cares? Like they, they got a relationship with, with God. They got a relationship with Jesus. Dude. That's what I'm talking about.

Joey Odom (34:52):

So good. It really is. I mean this is, this is a, this is a, as timely a conversation as I've had. This is, this is good because it's, it just helps you refocus, recenter. I I played out a scenario in my mind the other day. If I, if I knew that I were gonna die, like what, what am I saying to my kids? What am I looking back on that that'll change your perspective right there. Just think, okay, well how do I, how do I live today? You know what I mean?

David Pollack (35:14):

I've asked my kids the same thing. Like, if, if you, if you were gonna die, you had three days left, what would you do? And it's just interesting to hear the answers, you know, along those lines. Like, I think, I think asking your kids those questions are really good ways to start planting seeds in their heart. Yeah. Of, of who they want to be around it. Who they want to hang around. Like I think one of the smartest things I did in the car and I just started doing it, I don't, I don't know why, I'm sure I heard something somewhere, but I was like, Hey, you know, who's y'all's wisest friend? Like what do you

Joey Odom (35:42):

Mean? That's a great question.

David Pollack (35:43):

He's like, who's your wisest friend? Who's your, who's your, uh, who's a friend that you know, they got your back no matter what. Hmm. And start asking those questions. And so Joey, what happens is they start seeing that now. Yeah. And, and he, my buddy, my my son will name a couple of his buddies and he'll be like, yeah, this, he's got my bag. Like, they'll notice that, like, who doesn't make you feel uncomfortable? Like some, I was like, some people will call you out in front of your buddies and make you feel uncomfortable. Like, put you on the spot. Say what crazy things say wacky things. I was like, some people are inappropriate. But when we, when we start prodding with those questions, I think they start an internal di dialogue cuz they, they gotta think about it. And then when somebody does something, they're like, bam.

(36:23)
Remember when my dad asked me that? Like, oh, I'll say, who's your best friend? Who's, who do you have the most fun with? Like, other questions like that too. But, um, again, you know, getting that little bit of those seeds just planning in their heart and so they hopefully start to realize who they're hanging out with, how important it is. And, and as they get older, it only gets more and more fun, man. I mean, just get to see it. You get to see it come to harvest and you get to see 'em start making good choices. And, and they're gonna make bad choices too. They're gonna mess up.

Joey Odom (36:49):

Yeah. For sure.

Aro Team Member (36:50):

We hope you're enjoying the show. Let's take a quick moment to hear from one of our members about how Aro is impacting their life.

Aro Member (36:56):

Top three things that I like about Aro - the number one is just intentionality. It really empowers, um, a high degree of intentionality in how I engage with my phone. Second things that it has created, this family awareness of healthy phone use. And the third is simply that the, the device itself is beautiful and I don't wanna put things in my house that are ugly, period. It makes it much easier to keep it around and not hide it in an office or in a closet or in a drawer. It feels like it belongs in the aesthetic, uh, of our home. And I have found that to be a very empowering attribute of Aro.

Joey Odom (37:33):

I wanna go back to your college career. Was was, can I say illustrious? I think we could say that it's illustrious. I mean the people, I mean one of the top three defensive players ever in the s e c. And you were out there and, and, um, and did some amazing things. A bunch of, a bunch of awards you won and then you get, you go to the Bengals, you mentioned that

David Pollack (37:53):

Hmm.

Joey Odom (37:54):

Started game six of the first season and then from then on you were starting. And then game two, the second season, um, a big hit put you down. And I want to hear about that. And that which ultimately ended your career. Uh, I want, I don't wanna lead too much there. Will you talk through that? I know you've done it a thousand times. Will you talk through that moment, that process, what that was like to be a, to be sidelined and then what came from it?

David Pollack (38:21):

Well, from, from that time I was six years old. I didn't tell you, I, I told you a little bit about my dad's stuff, but the time I was six years old, I always told my parents I was gonna play in the nfl. Yeah. And, um, I got more looks from everybody else that were just like, yeah, that's cute. Patchy on the head, things like that. And, and along the journey obviously. Um, but uh, so I, I finally made my dream come true. You know, I, I had been successful. I was the first round draft pick and um, I was living out my dream. And then, uh, second year, second play, second season or or second game just go in, one of my goals was to hit to be more physical because I played defensive end in college and I moved back to linebacker. So more space between plays, you can deliver bigger blows and back then you actually could tackle people without getting fined and, and, and getting kicked outta football games.

(39:09)
Back then it was actually a physical, really physical game, <laugh>. Um, and, uh, and so I came up and I hit Rubin drums and it was just different. It, it was a different hit. Um, first time ever I was numb from my waist up and, and couldn't get up and was kind of stuck there. I've had stingers, but this was different. So they strapped me to the gurney and then they took me underneath the, the, the facility. And, uh, there's a, there's a CT scan in there and all that stuff. And they doctor comes out and he is like, Hey man, you fractured your C 67. I'm like, sweet. You know? Was that a couple weeks? He was like, that means you broke your neck. Mm. I was like, but this was onsite when this was onsite. Oh yeah, this was in the stadium. Wow.

(39:47)
And, and I, I was like, can we stick to fractured C6 seven? Cause that sounds a heck of a lot better than Broken Neck. Broken neck sounds like a real deal. Um, but I, I'll never forget, man, the, the journey from that point on is what, what I embrace and what I love is because it goes from that to me and my wife in the back of an ambulance and both tears flooding our eyes. Um, just knowing that everything I had worked for and fought for since, since I was six and dreamed for that, there's a good chance it could be gone. Wow. And, and it was gone. And, and, and, and I started to, um, you know, I started, I got, I always, I got the halo, you know, the, the halo, they drill into your skull. And I've always been, I tell everybody, I've always been an angel.

(40:25)
I just finally got the halo to go with it. <laugh>. Um, so I got the halo and, and and started my, my new journey, man. And, and the journey to, to trying to be healthy, to trying to get back to being able to use your arms and legs at a, at a high rate to get some strength back because, you know, throughout the process that you're just sitting there and you're just trying to develop. But, but man, the, the Bible says be still and know that I am God and day. I didn't do that. That wasn't something that I did well. I didn't be still, I, if I had an extra five minutes, I was playing, I was running. If I had extra five minutes, I was playing something. I was playing video games. I was doing x I was doing, I was gonna get into something.

(41:03)
I was gonna turn the TV on, watch tv. But I had never done that. So I had, I never got the chance to sit down and listen to God and what he had for my life and what he had for me and, and what he had for people in my life and relationships that I had and stuff. So, I mean the, the, the singular like this on the hand of, you know, one through five and I, and I gotta say obviously my wife and my kids being, you know, the greatest things to happen to me. I, I put that right up there on that hand. Wow. Um, because now life goes from about me and my goals and my dreams to now I'm, I'm, you know, I get cleared to work out my first day out, out of my neck brace and I beed 4 55 in college.

(41:44)
Um, which is, that sounds great. But by the way, that was like 30th on the team probably cuz you got a bunch of freak shows, <laugh>. But, um, I beed 1 35 twice and I was like this wow. And so shaken. I was like, dude, you gotta suck it up. You gotta shut up and you gotta realize today I gotta get better today. And I started to develop that, you know, just a everyday counts mentality. And that's where it came my everyday counts challenge that I do in yeah. November every year. But, um, just change my mindset, change my friend group. It changed the way I looked at, um, my wife. It, it, it it has made me, um, yeah, I had a bunch of friends that were great friends that, you know, when you're not playing football and you're not making big money a lot of times, you know, you don't necessarily hear from it as much.

(42:26)
You're not as of a cool of a person to visit then, you know. Yeah. Um, but, but it was just, it's, it's, it was so great because it taught me patience. It taught me what it was like to handle adversity. It taught me what it was like to look myself in the mirror through hard times and realize God's gonna provide. And, and to, and to stand on that faith that I had that, that I did have faith. You know, I found faith, thank goodness before I went to college and I strong strengthened my faith with Coach Rickett at Georgia. Um, but, but I got to walk it out and prove it. And, and here's the thing. Now, still till this day, man, you know, a lot of times my, my prayer this year has been very, um, specific for me. My, my prayer has been are like, you go and speak to all these places, Pollock, you go on Jodi's podcast right now and, and you talk and, and you say all these things.

(43:14)
My, my prayer has been, God, I want to be the same person that is on that podcast, that's on tv that's speaking at churches that, that's with Lindsay that goes to bed with Lindsay and wakes up with Nickels and Leah and, and, and I think going through some real stuff, man. Um, you know, you look at the Bible, nobody, everybody in there went through real stuff, right? Those are really flawed humans that went through real stuff that God used to do amazing things. And I think God showed me like, listen bro, football ain't your identity. Football is something you did. I'm your identity. And it's, it's strengthened my identity and God has strengthened my relationship with God has strengthened my adversity. It strengthened everything about me, got better except for my neck and except for my playing career, that that came to an end.

Joey Odom (43:59):

Do you look at, since then, that has to, seems to me like it would provide a framework, like you're going through something tough, be like, hold on, I broke my neck. God took me through it. I mean, is that, is that, is that kind of like the lens you look through everything with now you just say, well, look what, look what I've been through. Right.

David Pollack (44:14):

Well, I, I think, you know, all of us, you know, some of you that worry a lot, um, that worry about outcomes, that worry about job, worry about family, worry about kids, worry about relationships. Like worry in's a rocking chair. It'll give you something to do. Ain't we get you nowhere <laugh>, right. Like, it, it, it's, it's, it's, it's a waste of time. And, and what I think, and I already had a lot of that in me anyways, Joey, but I think what it did was it showed me that God's in control of outcomes. So I have an every, I have a choice every day and, and I can choose to surrender and just let it be whatever it is. Like I'm at this season in life because God, God wants me there. I'm at this season in life because God wants me there. Here's the thing, I I told my middle school group, this, my group of eighth grade kids at this, this church weekend, they all spent the night. I had eight 19 of 'em at my house. And we spent the night, couple nights in a row. And, um, we went through a couple of the questions we had and I was like, listen. I said, when you complain about your height, when you complain about your eye color or your personality, I was like, you're basically complaining to God about how he made you

Joey Odom (45:21):

What he did. Yeah.

David Pollack (45:22):

He's the one who made you, so there's a reason. You're, you were made on purpose for a purpose. Like, and, and he made you only this way. Could you fulfill the, the mission you have in your life. And so when you complain, you're complaining to him. And I think this world would be, uh, so much of a, a better place, a safer place. People will be so much healthier if they realize God's in control. All I can do is my very best. All I can do is surrender daily, pick up my cross, realize he's in control, realize that I'm living my life. But ultimately, if if today it changes, it, it could change today and I could be gone. And, and I think one of the biggest lessons from my halo and from my neck and from that thing that from that instance you're talking about is no matter what I'm going through, someone's always got it worse. Like, there, there, there's, there's, there's mothers that buried their children today that shouldn't happen. Like there's spouses of 30 years that are, they're burying their spouse. Like there's so many things in this world that happen if you look around, you're like, man, I don't have it that bad. Yeah, it could be a lot worse, but it's just perspective a lot of times that we don't, we don't wanna take, we want to dwell on our stuff and dwell in the moment itself when we gotta realize that ultimately we ain't in control anyone.

Joey Odom (46:35):

Well, yeah. And you had that perspective in the moment. That's what's cool. I mean, you can go like, go back and watch the game film. You were in your halo visiting kids in the hospital saying the exact same line. There are other people who have it worse. There are other people. So why would I not, I mean, you're, it, that, that was, I shot you a text yesterday with it. Like I was mo moved inspired by that in the moment. Here's a 24, 25 year old kid, you in your halo going to see kids in the hospital.

David Pollack (47:01):

Well, the thing that was cool about that man was, um, I thought it was really cool because I got to go show them that I was beat up too. Hmm. You know, like, and, and, and here's the thing. We all got scars, whether they're, whether you can see 'em and I got plenty of scars from football, but we, a lot of us got emotional scars you can't see. Yeah. You know, a lot of us are going through stuff that people don't know about. That's very difficult on us. But I, I think when, when you can show up in a hospital with kids that are hurting and going through different, um, diseases, going through different fights, and you can show up like this in a halo and you can't really move and say, I got a broken neck, bro. But, um, it's gonna be all right.

(47:39)
You know, I I think it's a, i I think it's very powerful. Um, but listen, I I, you know, I'm not, I'm not perfect like anybody else, man. And, and we're all gonna have those moments of, we're all gonna have those moments of doubt. And, and I think when you can arm yourself with the right stuff, and to me the right stuff is when you can arm yourself with some scripture. Yeah. And, and you can know that when I, when I experience fear, God doesn't gimme the spirit of fear. God gives me power, love, sound, mind. Like when we can do that stuff, man. Like what, when, when we realized that, what does God say about me? God says, I'm adopted. God says I'm loved. God says I'm chosen. Like when we can adopt those things as opposed to what the world says about us. Because if you listen to the world, man, you're gonna be in a dark place. Yeah. I mean, cuz the world's gonna say some bad things about you. Uh, but when you can listen to, to what God says about you and arm yourself with that, I think, I think it makes us stronger, man. I think it makes us better. It makes us less anxious. It makes us, um, our vulnerable moment, moment a lot less vulnerable. And our painful moments a lot less painful.

Joey Odom (48:42):

We had, uh, Scott Hamilton, if you remember Scott Hamilton, he is the, uh, Olympic gold medalist skater, um, had a conversation with him last week on the podcast. And he was, he had a, when he was very young, he had a disease that they thought was going to kill him. And it ended up being the thing that got him into figure skating. It stunted his growth for a long time that kept him short that at five three, which would, which made him an effective skater and all the stuff. And he said a line that I love, he said, we're drawing conclusions about our current situations without all the context. And so I like that too. And so think about that. Of course, your your, your dream has ended as you lay on that field. But you've said that's the greatest thing you just said it's the greatest thing outside of your family that's, that's happened to you. You didn't have all the context. But, but those, and if you would've look at that circumstance, of course you would've gotten down in the dumps and could've gotten a depression, could've gotten into substances. But instead you, you turned to something else and understood. You had there, there probably just wasn't context. You didn't know yet.

David Pollack (49:36):

Well, and, and what if we, what if we said when circumstances like that come like, man, this has been awesome. This has been a really good ride. I've love this. Can't wait to see what God has next. Yeah. Like what if, what if we could, what if we could adopt that? What if we could say, Hey man, that came to an end. It was a good run. That company was, was a blessing. But I got fired, man, I, what, what's God got for me next? Because like to me it was like football was amazing. It was my dream is everything I wanted. I was like, and, and I thought I was born to be a football player. Yeah. I thought with my, my big bo my big lower half, my energy level, the aggressiveness, like all that, like it paid off. And I was, that's what I was made to do.

(50:14)
Well now you going into I go into commentating. Yeah. I'm doing college game day. And um, I'll tell you a quick story of how I got into, uh, <laugh> the media, which is good. I'm sitting there watching 2000 thousand and six, I think, uh, uh, Georgia's playing lsu, or no, we're comparing Georgia and lsu. But LSU won the SEC, Georgia didn't. Um, and so, and Kirk Herbstreit is on television saying, if you don't win the conference, you can't play for the national title. Um, and I'm sitting there on the, I'm sitting there on the couch yelling and I'm yelling at the TV screen. I'm like, what is this humpy talking about? Like, shut up man. Just ticked off. And um, and I'll never forget the next day I called my, uh, my agent. I was like, Hey, if I can't do football again, which I was pretty sure I wasn't, um, could, could, I think I could do the TV thing.

(51:04)
And he was like, well, why do you say that? I was like, well, I think I checked, you know, a lot of the boxes. I'm, I'm loud, I'm opinionated, I'm obnoxious <laugh>. Like, I think I got a lot of things that will tick people off and, and draw people in. Um, so, uh, that's kind of how I got into to broadcasting. But by that, but like, I, now people tell me, like, this man, I feel like you were made to be a broadcaster. Yeah. And what, what I was made to do was to live every day and glorify God. And what I was made to do was work hardly unto the Lord. Right. Colossians work hardly unto the Lord and chase every day work hard, like every day. Give my best. And and then God's gonna see different areas in my, I mean, I'll be, I'll be the first to tell you, I I, there's a big part of me that wants to coach.

(51:46)
Why, why would you give up? You know, not working as hard on television, getting paid a shoot ton of money and, and I, and I, I would like to get paid. I I would like to do high school football. Hmm. Which you're not gonna get paid hardly anything. Right. But, but again, I, I get a da I, in my head, I'm like, I get a daily impact with these kids. And I did, I coached last year on at the same time, which was unbelievable. And it was rewarding. Like, so I'm, I'm still going through those things. Like, and, and I think everybody asked themselves that question. Is this what God made me to do? Is this, what, is this really what I am supposed to be doing? Like I think that's a normal question that everybody has daily and, and probably reassesses yearly because at 40 you ain't what you were at 30 and your, your your your goals and ambition and intuition, all that stuff has changed. But, but if we get a daily mindset of I'm I'm, I'm gonna be great today. Yeah. Today is gonna be a day that I'm gonna work hard and, and I'm gonna do everything I can and I'm gonna honor and glorify God and, and I'm gonna let the chips fall where they may like, it's amazing. You look up, you know, and, and you could do a lot more, uh, things than probably you thought you could. Yeah.

Joey Odom (52:48):

Well when you look at, when you change that perspective and you say like, well, you, you're that you're here to glorify God no matter what you're doing. There's a line that I've heard, I don't know if it's true, but it's really good. But it says the root of the term profession is that your profession is the means by which you profess Christ. So whatever you're doing. So that, so that's, that's how you do it. That's just your ve your current vehicle. So whether you are a football player or you're a broadcaster, you're a high school football coach, all of those are just your means by which you profess Christ.

David Pollack (53:18):

Nah, I like that. I've never heard that before either.

Joey Odom (53:20):

Again, I don't know if it's true, but it it sounds good, right, <laugh>.

David Pollack (53:23):

Well, its true. True. It sounds, if it, if it sounds good, we can use

Joey Odom (53:26):

It. Right. Just say it. Yeah, exactly. <laugh>, <laugh>. Hey, can we keep cranking? I know you got, I know you got some capra bicep girls. Girls. So, so we, uh, we <laugh> we uh, alright, so you talked about that. I want to jump ahead to something. And this was, this was just a fun thing. You said you're loud and obnoxious and you're opinionated. You were, you were a little, a little obnoxious and opinionated in front of, uh, in front of the goat, uh, Nick Saban. Not long ago when you <laugh> when you said you're sitting, which, but this is just great. For those who have not seen it, it's wonderful. You gotta see it. Pretty innocuous comment, honestly. You're sitting there national championship game and you said, I'm gonna read it. Georgia, obviously, you know, we've seen from the past couple of seasons now, really, they've taken hold of college football. Hey, innocuous line, not a bad line, but you got Nick Saban 18 inches to your right and there are gifts and they're just him just shooting darts at you with his eyes. <laugh>, were you, do you guys have any off, off camera? Uh, we could edit this if we needed to. Do you guys have any off camera? Did he argue and be like, dude, really like while I'm sitting here?

David Pollack (54:29):

No, no. He, he never said a word. Um, never showed any emotion. I, I did. Um, I did text him, uh, the next day and I just said, Hey man, this is getting blown up like crazy cuz I saw it was getting hit everywhere and I was just, you know, do you have a second to talk? And uh, I called him that night and, and, and I just, I I wanted to clarify. Yeah. My heart and my intentions. I just told him, I was like, listen, I looked at you as an analyst. Like I never once thought about you as the coach of Alabama. Like I, I just literally, they were talking about Stetson and I just furthered the conversation and I said, I wasn't trying to, to make you look some kind of way or make you feel some kind of way. And, and he was like, the fact that you're calling me shows me that. Yeah. He was like, so he said, I didn't take it that way. And so, and I'm not surprised. I wouldn't have thought Nick would've, but yeah, the people that made memes and slowed motion and put music behind it and, um, it was crazy how much, and, and by the way I left the site, I never thought about it twice. And then the next morning I do get up and I'm on get up and, and they show the clip and I'm like, oh crap,

Joey Odom (55:31):

<laugh>. Oh no, what was that

David Pollack (55:32):

Done? Was like, geez, maybe this is kind of a, I didn't, I didn't realize this was gonna be a big deal. Um, never, never thought about it. But yeah, it was definitely, I mean, I didn't say anything that I, I didn't apologize to Nick because I didn't say anything that was wrong. I just did. I just wanted him to know that I wasn't trying to make him look some kinda way and I wasn't doing it maliciously. But when you win back to back national championships, you're the king of college football, whether you like it or not.

Joey Odom (55:56):

A hundred percent. And I, I think if you would've, I haven't looked at this, but if you looked at all the other guys' expressions, they probably would've been the same. I, and I think Nick, he's such a professional, is, I, my my assumption is he didn't think a thing about it. And I thought for, he probably thought his role was as an analyst and you can't put guys at the desk and then water down what you're gonna say. You still have to talk as an analyst. So I think that your take on that was very, very fair. And, and I, I assume it's not, it's like you can't, it's like you don't hold back on talking about Ohio State when you're next to Herb Street, just cuz he played there. Right? I mean, you gotta, you gotta, that's

David Pollack (56:27):

A good point. You gotta never

Joey Odom (56:28):

Thought about that. Give your opinion as an analyst. Yeah, so I, I wasn't, I uh, I just think if we could stir up some controversy here on the r podcast, you know, get some more listeners or something. Oh yeah, it's interesting. <laugh>. Um, man, I wanna hear about, um, the, the way we connected you, you put out a tweet, which was, I, which I ended up, I told you this, I've, I got six people who sent it to me over lunch. You said, I have a phone problem. I said I'm a horrible example for my two kids. Recently. We, when we, when we go places as a family, I start leaving me and my son's phone in the car. Amazing. And not surprising results. Better husband and dad leave that phone behind some this holiday season. So you are an intentional dad. And it's, um, that was inspiring to me and it, it's, it's been an interesting, I I'd love to hear a little bit about that journey, how you all have, have prioritized that within your family. Um, this is not me asking for any kind of plug, I'm just asking the actual principle of you putting that down and focusing on each other and how transformational that's been.

David Pollack (57:27):

Well, I, I think, um, I, I don't think I know, man. You, you, you see, you see the control of the phones on this country now. And I see 'em on kids. You know, I, I talked to you about the church retreat this weekend and like, you know, I took all their phones and um, but like, I wanna say around 10 o'clock on Saturday night when we had our, you know, at our house and it was amazing to watch the kids connect and like to watch them play games and to watch them communicate and to watch them find things to do. But we just get so disconnected cuz listen, we're the, we're the most, we're probably the, the smartest, I guess the generat, this generation is the most inquisitive and probably smartest generation because they have access to so much information at their fingertips all the time that we had to look up in an encyclopedia back in the day, you know, like, or online.

(58:18)
So I, I, I think this generation is super smart because of that, but it's also the most secluded and it's also the most depressed. And it's just, it's just interesting how much that screen can change your interactions and that screen. And when you remove it, it takes away distractions and how much conversations comes about. But, um, you know, again, back to back to earlier, Moore is caught and taught the what you, what you model is what you're gonna make. Um, and if, if, if phones are something that you're always on again, don't tell 'em to get off the phone. You get off your phone. And, and that's what I had to do. I had to get off my phone and, and I had to find a way to get rid of it. And I had to find a way to not make it, um, make it something that I'm always, it's always attached to me.

(59:02)
It's, I I had to make it where I could literally get my text messages and, and I get it through my car and, and I'd make sure that it was plugged up because I want 'em to see that I got it. And because you can't read it, you know, it just says text, but I don't have to check it either. Like when you get a check message or, or, uh, when you get a message, it doesn't mean you have to check it right now, <laugh> and answer right now. I'm like, I'll get back to him later. Or somebody calls me, I can get back to him later. So I think the genesis of that was I needed to do a better job modeling it because I was asking for it from my son who just got a phone. You know, he's got a, he just got a phone in eighth grade, um, and, and we're going through this phone phase with him now, but I realized if I don't model it, I I can't accept it or I can't or I, I can't say really say anything about it if I'm gonna continue to do that.

(59:48)
Um, so once we started to model that more as a family, and then we took it obviously to the next le level with the R box and um, you know, like last week me and my son are battling it out for, and it was hilarious because we're both over the box to keep our session going. <laugh>, we're texting so we can keep our phone in there to, to battle each other to see who has the most time. Um, amazing. It, we just took it to the next level and, and beside our box we have a framed picture and we, we sat down as a family and we came up with cell phone rules. These are our non-negotiable rules. These, this is how the box are gonna handle cell phones. Like when we're in somebody's card and we're interacting with people, our phone's gonna be down and we're gonna be talking.

(01:00:28)
Yeah. Like those, that, that's a rule. Like we, we we're gonna have conversation, you know, when you get home from school, you can be on your phone for, you know, 15 minutes. You can, you can take the time, catch up with all the things you need to catch up. Now your phone goes in the box and we're gonna do homework. Yeah. Like nine o'clock the phone's go in the box, like, you're done, you're done with your phone at nine o'clock. You don't, you don't need to answer anybody's text. They'll be there in the morning. Yep. They'll be waiting for you and you won't miss anything. Like, but, but I think, you know, it's funny because now guess what Nicholas and Leah do. They come home from school and I'm in the car, Joe, and they're like, man, you should like, and this is where it's hard because you know, you, you, you, you're trying to raise, raise kids in the gospel and gospel and not judgmental, but they'll be like, man, you're right.

(01:01:11)
These phones, I've seen my friends, they're in 'em all the time. They're just, they're engulfing 'em. And it's, and it's con it's con it's consuming them. And, and I'm like, yeah. I was like, listen, it happens to all of us. You know, we go through those moments where it consumes 'em and um, you know, but trying to not be judgemental, like that's something that they probably can work on too, you know, and that they're gonna continue to work on. And once you, once the new wears off, a lot of times with people they get, you know, they get less enthralled with it. But there's just, you know, social media and, and you've, if you've seen, um, the, uh, social dilemma, the social dilemma and how they continue to, you know, send out things to make you're close to people and to connect people to people and it's just a constant connection.

(01:01:50)
And and what, and what does this story go back to? For me, this story goes back to when I was still, I found God and God met me when I was still, I could listen to God if I'm not still, I can't do that. Yeah. If I'm always got a phone, I'm always getting my dopamine, I'm always getting a response. I don't, I don't have that opportunity to really have that. And, and my son, he loves to read. Like, and, and I think if we, if we let him stay on his phone all the time, it'd probably something he'd stay on his phone and he wouldn't read as much. And he crushes books like nobody's, I mean, he's done with, he, he read two already this week. <laugh>, you know, one was 400 pages, one was three 50,

Joey Odom (01:02:26):

It's Thursday and he's read two.

David Pollack (01:02:27):

I'm like, it's Thursday. I'm like, what the heck else have you done this week? Like, he was like, well in class, as soon as we're done, he was like, I break out my book. He was like, I love my books. And actually, I actually said to him the other day, I'm like, Hey bud, you read all these books. And he has, and he's probably read, you know, this summer he went through like, you know, 10, 15 books and during a week he goes through several books and we get books every week in the mail. Um, but I, I said, I said, buddy, what if you read your Bible like that? I said, what if you just, and, and, and so yesterday he started, he, he was in Matthew and he's, he's on Matthew four already. Like, um, but he started last night and he was like, I'm taking it to school.

(01:03:02)
He said, I'm just gonna, he said, I said, buddy, you could go, you could rip through the New Testament like that. I was like, it is be unbelievable what kind of scripture you could start to put in your heart and, and how you could arm yourself for, for war that's coming throughout, throughout your way. Because he, if you're not going through a storm, it's coming. That's right. So, so you better be, you better be storing up and arming yourself and, and getting ready for it coming. So, um, you know, I I just think when we, we eliminate distractions when we eliminate the phone. Um, we choose family more. Yeah. We choose more things that I think are, are way healthier than screen time. We choose relationship. We choose communication. I think I, I don't think you're gonna find very many things that we choose that are negative when we put our phones up. But, but again, it it, back to your original comment, it's gotta be intentional. Yeah. And it requires intentionality from mom, dad, and kids. Because if you don't intentionally put your phone in there and you don't lead by example, you're not gonna, you're not gonna model, you're not gonna make it. You're not gonna make what you want from them because you didn't model it.

Joey Odom (01:04:04):

Yeah. They, I was reading a study the other day about teenage unhappiness. It's at an all time high. You know, their unhappiness is at high, happiness is at a low. They were talking about this, it aligns with as, as phones continue to become impro to get in prominence. But it, as I read it, I read, of course kids are on social media, they're comparing themselves. Of course that's gonna bring you down. But this is a generation of kids who's so used to their parents looking at a screen instead of their faces. And so what, what does that do to a kid and their sense of value when their parents won't even look at 'em cause they're looking at a screen. So I think this tie in to unhappiness is even, even more so begins with us as dads, as moms and putting that down and looking at 'em in the face. Cuz you value what you look at. And so I think this unhappiness epidemic is begins with that. Let's just look at our kids in the face and know that they're important. That's it. Just that act in and of itself.

David Pollack (01:04:54):

Yeah. You can't, you people wanna spend quality time with their kids and wanna spend time with their kids, you know, everybody on their phone ain't quality time. Yeah, that's

Joey Odom (01:05:01):

Right.

David Pollack (01:05:02):

I mean, I, I think this, I I think this device is 100%, um, the, uh, the, the, the greatest, Satan's greatest invention. I mean, I, I think it's done more for dividing us and individualizing us and causing more depression and angst and, um, more comparison, which is, what does the Bible say? It's the, it's the enemy of joy, right? Like it's, it's not, you're not gonna get joy because we compare. And that's, that's the hard thing as a dad is how do I, how do I navigate that? Like do we, do we get him a phone? When do we get him a phone? Um, those, those are things that, that every family has to deem, you know, important at what time you do it. But a dang sure doesn't have to be when they're young because they're not messing, they're not missing out on any, i i, my kids were one of the only ones in sixth and seventh grade that didn't have cell phones.

(01:05:50)
I, I get it, but it didn't change their life. And my son got one this year in eighth grade and um, it's, it's still the same. His life's not any worse off or any different. We just gotta, we gotta make that decision, you know, we gotta prioritize like social media, right, right now, and I say right now because my kids are in eighth and seventh grade, like right now, it's not negotiable. And, and my, my my son and daughter will tell you I don't want social media. And they tell you that now because they've been brainwashed by us, obviously. And they're like, what? Like, you know, it's not good. It's not good, it's not good, it's not good. But you know, there's also gonna come to a point when they're in ninth, 10th, or 11th grade when everybody's on it. It's the way people communicate.

(01:06:29)
Yeah. How do I do this? But you know, I I would argue this, your brain continues to develop as you get older. As you get older, it develops more and more. So the more we can hold off, the more strength they have in who they are, in what they are, the more developed their mind is where they can control some of the comparison game. But when you give it to 'em in their 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, that's their first reaction. Because again, you you, you've parented an 11 year old versus a 14 year old. There's a big difference in what they can get. So I, I think everybody needs to do a good job of, of pushing that back as long as possible. And, and, and you know what, it's not enough, Joey. The answer is not good enough because everybody else does it.

Joey Odom (01:07:15):

So Right.

David Pollack (01:07:16):

It's not good enough, man. Not a, not if you want your family to be exceptional. Like, if you want your family to be different and, and you wanna stand on different principles, it's really good to be different. Yeah. It's really good to do things different. And guess what? We're all created differently. We're not all created the same. We're all created, like we talked about for our own purpose. But like, I can't, I can't say you get a phone because they got a phone. That's not the way I, that's not the, that's not the way we're gonna do it. Let me tell you why. But na let Nicholas lemme tell you why. Like Lee, lemme tell you why. Like, because I have a relationship with my phone that I don't like. And I don't want you to have that relationship right now because I want you to be a kid and not have worries, not have to worry about X, y, and z. And, and I think when we do that and we, we level with them really well, I think you'd be surprised how well received you'll get from your kids if you could have those conversations,

Joey Odom (01:08:08):

Bro. That's so true. Uh, people are shocked. We hear stories all the time. We don't, we just don't give our kids enough credit. Our kids can, our kids can absolutely adapt and they will love it and we just don't give enough credit. Well, no, no, this just a no, they're gonna, oh, they're gonna have withdrawals. No, they're not. They're gonna be fine. About five minutes after they're gonna be, they're gonna be just fine and they're gonna love it and they're gonna appreciate it. Just like you, they're gonna recognize us and recognize it in others. So it's, it's a gift for sure. Um, alright, I got just a couple more minutes. I've, I asked you at the beginning when you had to go and you said about 30 minutes ago, but I'm just gonna keep going while I have you <laugh>.

David Pollack (01:08:41):

Well, at least that means it's probably good. So that's, it's real good. Least release. Otherwise you told me Get the heck on.

Joey Odom (01:08:47):

Oh yeah. 15 minutes. We gotta roll. No, that,

David Pollack (01:08:49):

Oh, okay. Go bro.

Joey Odom (01:08:51):

All right. This is impromptu, I've not prepped you for this, but off the cuff, can I get an upcoming season report on two teams that are important to me? My Oklahoma Sooners, I'm sooner born and sooner bred when I die, I'm sooner dead and <laugh> the 10, the Tennessee volunteers. I'm, I'm here in Rocky Top. I live in Knoxville. So can you get, can you gimme a little preview of both teams?

David Pollack (01:09:11):

Well, I, I think, uh, Oklahoma, they did a really good job recruiting, which was good because there was a lot of negativity once they started going downhill. But if you watched Oklahoma last year when Dylan Gabriel played, they were a pretty dang good team. Yeah, yeah. But he got banged up and, and that changed the whole course of their season and you know, and the course of their offense and the way they played fast and, and the way everything they wanted to do got kind of sidetracked. Kind of like Tennessee by the way, when him and Hooker went out and kinda, it got a little bit sidetracked, um, for them. But I, I think Oklahoma's gonna be just fine. I, I think Venables is a great coach. I like what he kind of said late in the years, he is like, listen, you don't wanna be here, go somewhere else.

(01:09:48)
Like, pretty simple. I I you don't have to come here. I don't care if you come here, if you don't or if you don't wanna be here, he goes somewhere else. Like if, if, if this isn't, if you don't wanna come fight, then then go somewhere else. So I, I think, I think they'll be good. I, they're not gonna be back to being dominant yet or where they were with Kyle Murray and Mayfield and those guys, but I think they'll be one of the better teams in the Big 12 next year and then Tennessee. I think they're gonna be super interesting. Um, because you know, they went all in with transfer portal and bringing guys in. They did, they did a lot of that. And I think him and Hooker was special. I think they hit lightning. Uh, they hit lightning in a bottle and the way he developed in his maturity and his age, um, you know, really did well in that offense.

(01:10:27)
Obviously they're bringing in, you know, young gun quarterback. It was, it was all world. Everything. Which I think will take time. I think we'll take time to get him where he was losing high, losing Tillman, losing Wright, their right tackle. They had the best right tackle in sports last year. Nobody talked about item as much because it was so high flying. Uh, but their offensive line was actually pretty decent. So I think how Heif can follow this season up will go a long way to see if this Tennessee teams got staying power because I think they were really good but they kind of had a good situation come to fruition. Um, can they recruit and stay at a high level now? You know, just mixing his, is he the next quarterback? Can he do hit with hand and hooker type stuff? Did he's got an elite arm, he can throw it over a mountain for god's sakes.

(01:11:07)
Like he can chuck it. He might throw, no, excuse me. Yeah, Milton, excuse me. Um, I mean he could throw the, the mess of it, but I'm very interested to see what they do for an encore. I'm not ready to say they're gonna be, you know, a 10 win team again or anything like that. But I think, you know, Tennessee, if they can, if they can prove another good year and recruit well and yeah. Um, not have to go all transfer portal type esque, I think, uh, it could start building something. But I do like hype. Well I think he's a, does a great

Joey Odom (01:11:32):

Coach. Yeah, he's got a great offensive mind. Um, Milton might put a hole through somebody's chest this year. I mean that, that he is, and if he could reign that cannon in, I mean he could, he could be, he could be pretty nasty.

David Pollack (01:11:43):

Strengths, weaknesses, um, arm strength is not an issue where it's gonna go <laugh>, it's gonna be an issue sometimes, but uh, but you can, but if, if he can just learn to take something off of it occasionally. Yes. Yes. And just how to put some air underneath the ball and let your guy run underneath it. I, I think either way in that system here, here's what Tennessee has, Tennessee has a unique system in the s e c that as long as they keep getting fast guys on the outside, if they can get some good line it and they get that quarterback, they're gonna be fun to watch. Yeah. Like they're gonna be really fun team, uh, with a lot of un unbelievable, uh, scoring power every year. I think their teams are gonna be good offenses and score. But can you get the defensive side of the ball rolling? Yeah. Can you get those guys? Can you get, can you recruit well on that side of the ball? You, I think you can get transfers on offense, but can you get some dudes on defense and develop 'em and make them a decent defense and not have to beat Alabama, you know, 50 to 48, you know, I mean, you, you can beat him a, a close score, 51 48, whatever it was. Yeah.

Joey Odom (01:12:39):

I, back to Oklahoma real quick. Venables is, I just want him to succeed so much cuz he is just, he's such a good man. I mean his story is great and he's just a good, good man and I really hope he just got so much good intensity. I think the players love each other. Um, and I know we've lost like all of our listeners cause I'm talking about Oklahoma football here, but he's just, he's just, he's just such a good man. He's just such a good dude. I really, really hope they succeed. Not, not, obviously cuz I'm a homer and I'm biased, but hoping a lot for him. He's just the real deal.

David Pollack (01:13:07):

He is the real dude. He's a good dude.

Joey Odom (01:13:09):

Um, alright, we've taken up way too much of your time. I have, um, I, I do want to hear, well, let me ask a que let me ask the question first. The question we ask everybody, and you clearly, I think you've said it for the last hour or so, basically you've, you've, uh, illustrated it. But what we ask this question, it's intentionally broad, it's intentionally vague. The RO podcast is all about intentionality. What, what does that term, what does intentionality mean mean to David Pollock?

David Pollack (01:13:33):

Uh, purposeful, it means, it means, uh, making choices, uh, with a purpose. Yeah. And I think that would be the, how I'd describe it is, and, and I, and I think it, I think intentionality is making choices, choices with a purpose, um, every day. You know, like being intention, intentionality requires a, an everyday pursuit like intentionality in everything you do. Ev intentionality isn't everything. I mean, if you wanna be great at anything, you're gonna need a large helping of intentionality. Yeah. You wanna be a great football player, you gotta be intentional in the way you work in the weight room. You gotta, you wanna be a great commentator. You gotta be intentionally in the way you watch tape. I mean, anything you do is gonna take a, a, a, a large, a large keeping spoon of, of intentionality. But it, I think it also, parenting takes intentionality. Yeah. I mean, or a walk takes intention. Everything in life, you gotta have that intentionality of a goal of what you're going for. Parents, you need a, a mission statement for your family, like what you're pursuing, like what it is that is what are the important things for the pilots? What are the important things for your family? So, um, so I think intentionality is everywhere and in everything.

Joey Odom (01:14:44):

That's so good. It's so true. And you show it every, I mean, and the thing I like about that, it's maybe different from what we've heard from others, is the everyday element of it. It is an everyday thing. It's not just, it's not just that you intend to do something well, you gotta put some purpose behind it every single day. I love

David Pollack (01:15:00):

That. Everybody's got great intentions. Yeah. Everybody, everybody want, and, and that's what I told my daughter when I sat on the bed with her. I was like, everybody wants to be great. I could throw a wide net across everybody that everyone wants to be great, but very few is gonna cast it in and and dial it in and be intentional in their pursuit of being great. Like, it's, it's easy to have great intentions. Yeah. But intentionality is the opposite. I'm going to get this thing done. Like I'm, I'm gonna make sure I don't go to bed tonight without getting X, y, and Z done. Yeah. You know, that's, that, that's a totally different animal.

Joey Odom (01:15:31):

They're two things I've people know where to reach you in the fall. They, they just tune into, tune in to p n in the mornings and on Thursday nights when you're commentating. But, but two places I wanna direct people. Um, one is the Pollock Family Foundation. Um, I know you, y'all have a big event coming up. Um, and it's a great, great, um, foundation, the way you guys support families and, um, being healthy and that's not just physically but also emotionally, spiritually. So, um, I want people to, to go there where, what's the, what's the website for the Pollack Family Foundation?

David Pollack (01:15:59):

The pollackfamilyfoundation.com.

Joey Odom (01:16:01):

Look at that. Lock that one down. Yeah, maybe. And then, uh, and then the other one that everybody should listen to, this has to be a must listen, um, is your podcast Family Goals podcast, um, with you and Pastor J It is awesome. Can you give us a, a little commercial for the Family Goals Podcast?

David Pollack (01:16:16):

Man is, I tell you what I I didn't think it would ever turn to where it's been and I think it'll still grow, but like, um, the amount of people that that, um, have hit me up about it is, is crazy because, you know, like for example, Dansby Swanson, who's in Chicago playing for the Cubs, he was texting me, he was like, dude, I just, I found your podcast through somebody and dude, it's helping me with my marriage. That's awesome.

Joey Odom (01:16:41):

He's newly married too. Yeah. That's cool.

David Pollack (01:16:43):

Yeah, he's like, I'm newly married, I don't have kids yet. I, he's like, I think this is gonna help me with the kids big time too. But wow. Like the Family Goals podcast was, is is me and my pastor and dude, we're gonna go over different things that help you become better, a better husband, a better, uh, a better mother, a better father. Um, it, it's gonna be very practical stuff. Like we just went through the five Love languages book so good. And it was really cool because, you know, how do your kids feel love? Like we talk about from our spouse standpoint all the time when you get married and, and you start to plug in like, oh, I know my wife likes this. I need to do this. I know this is important to my wife. Well, your kids are the same way.

(01:17:19)
And you know, like last, you know, one of the last ones we had, it's simple questions like, uh, simple question to ask your daughter or your son. How do you know Daddy loves you right away? You know exactly what their love language is. My daughter's like, you hug me and kiss me. There it is. Well, my daughter, my daughter needs hugs and kisses, bro. Like, I need to make sure that I'm touching her. I'm giving her hugs. I'm, I'm making sure that that I fulfill, you know, her love language. And, um, you know, Scott drew out in Baylor. Yeah. Uh, he's the head coach of Baylor basketball. He hit me up, was like, dude, I, I'm using this with my two boys who were 14 and 11. He was like, he was like, this stuff is awesome. Keep doing it. And so it's been a, uh, a, a closet. We started in a closet,

Joey Odom (01:17:58):

<laugh> <laugh>

David Pollack (01:17:59):

And, and we just started kind of putting things out to, to try to help marriages and, and, and we focused big time in the beginning on youth league sports. A lot of the stuff I talked about. Yeah. Uh, to start the podcast and then it's morphed. And we've had Tony Dungy and John Gordon and Herbstreit and um, we've had, uh, so many Mark Richt, so many good guests too that have shared their stories of parenting and faith and failure and success.

Joey Odom (01:18:23):

It's, you said it right? It is so practical. I mean, it's stuff, it's aspirational, it's all the stuff we wanna do, but then it is like, to that, what's the question you need to ask? It's so good. And I will attest to it. Anybody who's listening to this needs to listen to the ad. You gotta, you subscribe to it. It's so, so good. Um, so it's awesome. Thank you for that. Um, give us a little beef on Herb Street. Let's, let's just, just let's close out with some controversy. Like what's, what's some Herbie stuff we could start circulating around? It doesn't have to be true, let's just say something.

Joey Odom (01:18:52):

It doesn't have to be true. Yeah. We, it doesn't have to be true. We just wanna get click. That's

Joey Odom (01:18:56):

All we Yeah. That's all we're looking for. Right? Just, just a little teaser.

David Pollack (01:18:58):

I'll, I'll tell you a quick story about Streit. Um, so I, I'm doing CBS college sports. No, I'm doing Fox. SEC Grid Iron Line. Ever heard of that?

Joey Odom (01:19:11):

I don't think so.

David Pollack (01:19:12):

Absolutely not. No. <laugh> uh, you sure haven't. And we do our shows late on, I wanna say Tuesday nights. Okay. I'm in Atlanta, still doing radio in Atlanta. And um, and, uh, I get a phone call and I knew Kirk when I was in Ohio with the Bengals. He was Ohio guy. He lived in Ohio. And I get a phone call after the show and I, he was like, dude, this is Herbie. Hey man, I I just found you on the tube and you're good. Like, I think you should do this. I think you should come be. I'm like, yeah bro. Of course <laugh>. And so like, he should, he's like, you should do a segment with us on college game day. I'm like, where's it at? And he is like, we're at Oregon this weekend. I was like, I'll fly, I'm in. He was like, I meant record like you from where you're at.

(01:19:49)
And he's like, not really like come. I was like, oh crap. Um, but he got me set up with ESPN and um, so it was really, really cool. Uh, it's a good story on Kirk. He, he saw me, he believed in me, he poured in me. And um, you know, just like Eddie Shaddocks believed in me back in the day in high school and you know, we always have that to, to believe in folks and to give 'em a chance and to try to help 'em succeed. And I think, uh, I'll, I'll be eternally great. I tell 'em every year I'll make sure I let 'em know every year how thankful I am. Cuz I would not be on television if it wasn't for Kirk seeing that and doing something about it.

Joey Odom (01:20:22):

Man, that's awesome. That's not quite as bad. Wasn't quite the dirt. Yeah, I was looking for a little bit of dirt. Yeah, no, I was looking for a little bit, little bit of like something like he does. No, he seems like the real deal. Dude, you've been far, far, far too generous with your time. Thank you very, very much. This is amazing. This may have to be like a three parter. I mean, it's, this is good stuff. So thank you. Thank you for, uh, what you're doing, man. Thank you for being bold about encouraging people and, and being bold with your faith. Um, and using that platform again, using that profession. You have to profess Christ and um, and to be a light man. Thank you.

David Pollack (01:20:54):

Appreciate it brother.

Joey Odom (01:20:55):

That was such an easy conversation to have and you can tell why David Pollack does what he does. He, to his words, not my words, he's a little bit loud, he's a little bit opinionated and that's what makes him great. He has hot takes on stuff and he does on parenting as well. He is super, super intentional as a parent and in everything he does. And, and I like what he said about intentionality. He said it's making choices with purpose every single day. I think that last part is probably the most important. It's an everyday thing and he's a living example of that. He's quick to apologize likthe e he did with his daughter. He's quick to look for ways that he can be better and correct. So I liked that conversation a bunch. And what a great guy. Please do go check out his podcast Family Goals podcast. It's great. It's worth a listen for sure. It's worth subscribing to give you a lot of practical stuff to, uh, to focus on within your family. So very grateful for David Pollack for joining us. Thank you for joining us. We can't wait to see you next time. On the next episode of The Aro Podcast. The Aro Podcast is produced and edited by the team at Palm Tree Podcast. Special thanks to Emily Miles for video and digital support.

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