Are You Ready for Some Football…and Good News?

Real Life presents the Jack Hibbs Podcast. With intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints, and impact our culture. Today, if this podcast lifts you up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled life in Christ, then make sure you leave us one of those five-star ratings. To us, that's like saying amen or yes. Then that rating will encourage others to listen. Now open your hearts to what God's Word has to say to you. Here is Jack Hibbs. Well, hey, everybody. Welcome to our podcast. And we've got a pretty special guest today that's going to resonate with so many people outside of the normal or traditional Bible teaching type of topics that we normally handle here. Michelle Tafoya, you may or may not recognize her name, but you will absolutely recognize her voice and her face because for some 25 years, she has been that go-to person on the sidelines at these NFL games that we all love and watch. It would be the one bringing you the report from the quarterback, from the running back, from the receiver, or the coach regarding the dynamics of NFL play. And so, Michelle, it's awesome to have you on this program. Thanks for having me. Yeah, you bet. And I'm excited to have you for a lot of reasons. Is it true that you live in Minnesota, which is not a crime. It's okay. But what's odd is that you are a SoCal girl. You're a Southern California girl. I am. I was born and raised in Manhattan Beach, California. I went to college up in California, grad school in Southern California at USC. And here I am in Minnesota for the better part of 30 years now. And yeah, it's a little crazy. I get it. But it's here that I found my husband and I've been raising my family. I don't think I'm going to make it much longer though, Pastor. I don't like being cold. Yeah, it hurts. I was born in San Diego and migrated this far north to Orange County area. Oh wow, you've made a long journey. Yeah. You know what, we're kind of freaking out today, Michelle, because it's 62 degrees outside. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with myself. I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm about a state of panic here. But hey, listen, first of all, let's talk about the success of your program that we're talking about, Sideline Sanity. Tell us how you got that title. That's my phone. I apologize. No, no. How I got that title? Yeah. How did you get the title? What inspired you to even do this? Just speak to us. We want to hear from you. So for the last many years, really since 9-11, my values have been changing. My vision of the world has altered. I love my country. I was raised by parents that were Depression era parents who were dirt poor growing up. My dad was Hispanic and faced a good level of prejudice. My mom wasn't supposed to marry him, but she did anyway. And so I grew up understanding the opportunity that America gave to my parents and that they took it and followed it, grabbed it by the horns and created a wonderful life for themselves and myself and my three other siblings. And I believe in the American dream and I believe in this country and I accept it for its past stains and sins. And I know we're better than that now and have completely progressed. But there's this movement of foot it feels to tear it down from the inside. And I'm just I just can't let that I can't stand by and let that happen. And here I had this amazing job on Sunday Night Football, most recently for the last 11 years, where the number one rated show in primetime for 11 straight years. Al Michaels, Chris Collinsworth, myself as the announcers and a phenomenal production crew. But I couldn't do it anymore, Pastor. I just I couldn't do it anymore because I in that role, I could not really speak out against the things I was seeing and disagreed with and felt strongly about without inviting a little bit of controversy to Sunday Night Football. And I didn't want to do that. And I respected that. And I knew that that was part of my job to to just remain on the outside of the controversy. But I could I couldn't do it anymore. I needed to be able to to be part of the conversation and bring some sanity and back to the to the conversation and to civilization here in America, try to bring some civil conversation back to America. And so I left on my own accord. I said, I got to go. I've got to do other things while I still got the the energy to do it. I'm blown away. First of all, I want to I want to thank you for obviously not knowing your parents. I want to I want to I just want to thank God for your parents, because that's a very similar story to how I was raised. A love for country. Of course, America's got its problems. Every nation in the world has its problems. But this is the best. This is the best messed up place in the world. Yeah. And what our founding fathers gave us. I mean, listening to you speak, there's a depth to what you're saying and a true passion that all of us can can detect and pick up from you. And so you're a woman of convictions, I can tell. I mean, this is the first time we've met, but I can tell you're a woman of convictions. You said earlier that you're in Minnesota because you met your husband there and you have children there, which means that there is a desire in your heart regarding the future. You, I assume, yes, want to leave your kids a better America than what you and I are going through right now. Absolutely. And I've traveled the world. My daughter, we adopted her from Bogota, Colombia, and our son is our biological son. That's a whole other podcast to have. But we adopted our daughter. I've seen I've been all over the world covering the Olympic Games, covering sport. There are stories I've done that would probably surprise people that don't seem like sports stories, but they've taken me to Athens, to Croatia, to Sarajevo, to all over. And so I've seen the world. I've seen how other countries operate. I've seen what's there. I've seen the poverty that my daughter would have grown up in. And I do believe this is the last best hope on earth, the United States of America and what we stand for, what the founders put on paper for us. And I look at my kids. I love them so much. And I know other parents love their kids just as much. And I don't want to leave them in a situation that I didn't fight for. They can't yet fight for that future. I've got to do it. I've got to participate. So in in your industry, in your world, now, granted, it's not exactly Hollywood, but I mean, it's in that genre, though, right, of spirit. Was there a lot of pressure for you and on you to adopt the woke invasion or the take a knee thing when when you say it was time for you to get out of it? Is that what you're referring to or a whole lot more? Well, you know what? Honestly, it was look, believe me, there were a lot of like minded people on our show on Sunday Night Football in front of the camera behind the camera. And there were a lot of people who disagreed, too. We had we had really interesting conversations when the cameras were off and we were just in our meetings and so forth. But that wasn't. But look, when you're NBC's number one commodity, you're their prized possession, right? The show that rate garners them the highest rating every single year. What you don't want to do is be a place that people go, oh, man, she's saying this and that. And I got to turn this off. So. So that's that was the and I and I, I accepted that. Listen, I accepted that I could have quit earlier. And I and I but we kept on going on one more Super Bowl, you know, and so but I never also never felt the pressure to succumb to any kind of woke beliefs. And listen, I I talked to a lot of athletes who knelt for the anthem. And and I had really interesting conversations with athletes who I wanted to hear their side. And I am a huge I'm like a free speech absolutist. I stand by their right to kneel for the flag if they want to do that. The league never you know, the league did ultimately impose some rules, and I'm not sure they took the wisest course. And that's again, another conversation, but I will stand by the ability of any American citizen to say what they believe and to act in their belief. But I also stand by my ability to disagree with them. And I think it's just so important. And unfortunately, I sense this, this change, that you're only allowed in America to say one kind of thing right now, or you get quote, unquote, cancel. Well, they can try to cancel me now. I'm sure some people wish that I would just go away. But I'm past that. And I'm not going to allow it. I'm going to continue to, to speak what I in what I believe in. But I'm also willing to listen to people that I disagree with. And I think that therein lies a lot of the solution, rather than just cutting people off, and shouting them down or calling them names, right, to get them to shut up, which is a real tool of the left right now, just just call them homophobes, yes, call them racist, call them anything fob. And you'll get them to shut up because they don't want to be called those names. And they'll just shut up. I'm sorry, that's not the way it works. And if you can't beat me with an argument with a logical debate, a point, a truth, a belief of value, then I'm not going to take you seriously anyway. Yeah, that's awesome. Listen, what are you? What can you share with us? Or what have you contemplated? What's your future? What's Michelle's vision now? Where do you go from here? You obviously have such an incredibly recognizable voice and face. And there's a lot of influence that you can now have. And you do have moving into different areas. Can I ask you or is it is it to be quiet? What are those possible areas? Well, I mean, a lot of people have asked me to run for office. And believe me, I've contemplated that I, you know, I would like to see some really strong leadership that's based on values and convictions and not just on politics. You know, policy matters more than politics. And sadly, that's, that's not where we are right now. However, I've got kids whose lives I have missed much of because I was traveling so much. And so now they're in high school and junior high, and I'd like to watch them grow up a little bit more closely. And I'd like to continue with this podcast to try to get a voice out there that is sane. That is that that encourages I hope other people to to find their own voice. One of the things pastor that really bothered me was when some one of my friends came to me and said, I'd love to repost what you just posted on Facebook. But I'm afraid. I'm afraid of my colleagues. I'm afraid of my friends. And I thought this is not how it's supposed to be. So you know what, I'll post it. You don't have to repost it. I'll post double. I'll do whatever. I'm just not really afraid of being canceled. And I want other people to be unapologetic for their values. And to be feel strong enough to speak out again. That doesn't mean you have to be vicious. That's right. Doesn't mean you have to be evil or vile. It just means you can say things and if someone disagrees with you and just calls you a name because of it, that's not a real get great argument. And you can laugh that off have the courage to laugh off that sort of Twitter mob and stick to your guns. So true what you just said. Why is it? Why is it that so many people and what kind of a culture have we created that when? Yeah. When some stranger makes a comment on your social media posts that it bothers you. And it's look, call me old school. But if that's going to bother you, don't be on social media. Well, right. I mean, that's the first part. So if you want to be on social media, it comes with some, some, some, you know, if you want to post something, it comes with some responsibility. And I, I think we have enabled our kids to be soft and to be a little bit weak, and we've protected them too much. The best thing, the best thing we can teach our kids is how to be resilient, how to be strong, how to overcome obstacles, how to see an obstacle and go, huh, this really stinks. But I believe that I have the capability to go around it over it through it, I'm going to figure out a way rather than running into a corner, curling up in a ball and saying, I'm scared, I'm scared. I want kids to feel empowered. I want them to feel strong and confident enough in themselves that they can look somebody in the eye and say, I know you just called me a name. This is what I was taught, Pastor Hibbs. Maybe you remember this. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me. And, and so just laugh it off. Move on. Believe in your convictions. Believe in your values. Wow. Yes, absolutely. Isn't it amazing what you're saying? And yes, I do resonate with that. I did grow up with that saying. What's amazing to me is, you know, recently we saw it's all over the media. It's, it's huge, but it's sad. And that is, there was a, a Starbucks employee that was crying in the corner, having a meltdown because somebody misgendered, identified them wrong. They had, they had been working eight hours. They got some orders wrong and they got yelled at. And, and I was, I was watching this and it wasn't so much that I was upset with the person as much as I was upset with somehow the direction that we have taken our, our young generation where, this is going to sound crazy, but we've not taught them, you use the word resilient because you're a diplomat. That's very good. I, I would say the word, we have not taught our kids well how to suffer. That's suffering. A friend of mine, for example, a dear friend of mine was born and raised in Lebanon, born and raised in a war zone and survived, fought in battles. And then the Lebanese army said, listen, you got to get out of Lebanon because the terrorists are going to kill you. You got to leave this country. So he came to the United States with that famous old story. He had 200 US dollars in his pocket. Now the guy is the owner of the largest industry in the nation with what he does. Multi-millionaire, super blessed. Here's the deal. I said, what's up with you? Nothing bothers you. He said, it's because I've gone through everything already. He said, I don't care if I have the money. I don't care because he said, listen, and this is so great. He said, learn how to be comfortable when everyone else around you is uncomfortable. He said, learn how to embrace the problem instead of running from it. Exactly. Oh my goodness. This is what mom and dad should be indoctrinating our kids with instead of other things. It's stoicism. And we can say that from your neck of the woods, that's the wrong way of putting it. But Jesus was a stoic. There's a lot of stoicism in the Bible. Stoicism is all about the obstacle is the way. Getting through this, becoming the Phoenix out of the ashes is the way to grow, to improve, to thrive in whatever you're doing. And there are so many amazing examples of people who have done it. And that's given me a lot of courage to know that I can do it too. Gosh, the obstacles I've faced relative to others are fairly small. There've been some personal ones that have been grueling, agonizing, absolute torture, but I've survived them. And at times when I didn't think I would, I have. And so yes, we need to teach our kids that it's okay to be uncomfortable. It's okay to suffer some pain that they can overcome it. No, Johnny doesn't have to apologize to you because he called you a name. You have to understand that Johnny was being a dope and you're better than that. And you are not the name he called you. And you believe that for yourself and you'll be okay. Or you skinned your knee. We're going to clean it up. It's going to sting a little bit, but you're going to get through this because you're tough and you're strong. That's how we need to raise our kids. And I don't know where the breakdown came. Maybe we just got too comfortable in the United States. I'm sure our comfort and affluence has a lot to do with it, but somehow, I mean, what you're saying is something that is so needed today. And I want to encourage you because where I'm at in Southern California, we happen to be a large church and we happen to be a church that for whatever reason is heavily law enforcement populated and military populated. Having said that, there is an incredible loving spirit that we have seen happen here over these decades where men are being servant leaders to their wives and to their kids. And it's a beautiful thing to see. And when you see this happen, I love seeing, for example, we have a large courtyard and on a Sunday morning, junior, you know, might be running down the courtyard and fall and tumble and skin up his nose and knees. And you're so right. It's so great for mom and or dad to say, Hey buddy, that was crazy. Too bad I didn't get that on film. But in the meantime, let's put a bandaid on your nose. That's going to look great by the way, when you grow up, that's awesome. And those knees, very cool. You're okay. You're not going to break. You're good. Instead of, Oh, this, you know, this helicopter freak out mentality that, um, so, so yeah. Um, you mentioned, you mentioned hardship and setbacks and challenges and things. Um, now those who obviously view my program, they already know this, but you're causing me to remember now why I have the positions I often take, uh, and stick with them as I do. Uh, I'm a failed, uh, product of an abortion. I didn't find that out until I was a junior in high school. But when I found it out as a junior in high school, when I heard my mom talking to a woman about the whole thing, she didn't know I was hearing it, hearing all of this as a, as a, as a guy in junior and a junior in high school, I heard that I went, Whoa, that's weird. And I kept eating my sandwich and went back to football practice. It didn't traumatize me. In fact, when I first heard the gospel that God loves me and he's got a plan for my life and that, and he, he, he cleared up the sin issue by going to the cross. So, Hey, Jack, I want, I want to give you the opportunity to reboot your life. That's what I do. I'm Jesus. And I restart people. It was like, well, that's amazing. And only then Michelle, after I became a Christian started reading the Bible, I came to Jeremiah chapter one and there, the Bible says, God's speaking to Jeremiah and he says, Jeremiah, by the way, Jeremiah rabbis, Hebrew scholars tell us he's somewhere between 12 to 15 years of age that God said to him, listen, before, before I knew you, I knew you in your mother's womb. I knew you before you were fashioned together. And before you came into this world and I have a plan for your life. When I read that, it was like, I mean, no pun intended, but it was a touchdown for me. Wait a minute. This God had an answer. When my mom and dad tried to abort me, God had a plan. And Michelle, when I realized that I have to tell you from that moment on at the age of 19, I actually believe my life in many ways became invincible. At that point, when I say invincible, I don't mean like an action figure. What I mean is it didn't matter what anybody said to me anymore. I survived an abortion. It doesn't matter what people, I mean, I, I was physically abused and that's another story. When I found out what God thought about me, that stuff from the past didn't matter anymore. I was set free. So today I can post and say, there are two genders. We need to help and pray for those who are confused. And pro-life is awesome. And if you don't want your baby, let it go up for adoption. But, and then people say, how can you say that you're a terrible person? Michelle, it doesn't matter because I know what's right and true. And I'm not intending to hurt anybody, but truth is the only way that people can get their answers firmly given to them. And so it's, it's refreshing to hear what you're saying. Can I ask you a question? I'm, I'm, I'm sure that there's people yelling at the screen right now saying, Jack, ask her about, like, who was the most, the most Christian, the most amazing, the most whatever NFL player, who comes to mind or what guys come to mind on the field, off the field that you would say, wow, they were the real deal. Derek Carr is the first name that I'm thinking of right now. He's the quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders. What a guy, what an amazing guy, what an amazing friend. One of his teammates was his best friend in Vegas, Khalil Mack, who was a defensive lineman, big guy who wanted to kneel for the flag for the Anthem. And so what did Derek do? He stood next to him. He stood for the Anthem, put his right hand on his heart, put his left hand on Khalil's shoulder. And they were, and I get chills every time I think about it, because those two were such fast friends. I'm sure they still are, even though they're not on the same team any longer. You don't break a friendship like that. But that, that's the kind of person that Derek is. And he, he walks the walk every single day. And he is someone I can put in front of my son as an example. And so he's the first one that I would think of and say to everyone, follow, you know, follow him in whatever way you like to, whether you just watch him during games or see what he's all about. He's a, he's a great, great man. That's so refreshing to hear and exciting to hear. And there are many like him. Really? He's just the first one that came to mind. Yes, yes. More than you think. So good to hear. Well, what can we expect to see from you in the future? What do you want us to see from you in the future? I want everyone to go to Sideline Sanity, my podcast, and subscribe. We want to keep this going. We bring you interesting guests from a lot of different walks of life to talk about. I like to amplify voices like yours who are positive, who have a message, who have interesting things to say about the world around us. We cover a lot of different topics. And I will also talk to people with whom I disagree and we'll challenge each other. And I think that's important to do in a civil way and demonstrate that it can be done. And maybe we can even find agreement on some things. So that's that for now. And, you know, I do some appearances on Gutfeld and Outnumbered on Fox News Channel every now and then. And so hopefully people will tune in for those as well. Well, listen, I'm not saying this because we're on the air. I would say this if we were off the air. And that is, I personally believe because of what you've experienced, because of your notoriety, because of your commitment and convictions, I mean, I'm honestly expecting to see some incredible things come from you. And whatever that might be, if you choose to do, you know, media programming and your own show or whatever it might be, I think God's going to bless that. If you take the route of politics, I think God's going to bless that. It is refreshing, Michelle, to talk to you, a woman of conviction. I hope you take this as a compliment. I have a dear friend, Michelle Bachman. She used to be true to her convictions. I was talking with her last night. There's such a need for, oh, I hope this comes across well. Please take this the right way. There's such a need for not only women to be strong, reasonable, logical, intellectual, and passionate about what they believe, but we need more men to be like that. We need more men to be like you. Speaking truth, speaking it reasonably. You know what? If I could put a word on you, if I could label you, it's winsome. You can articulate, you can state your case, and it's winsome. And that's a very rare virtue to have in this day and age. Thank you. That's a huge compliment. Thank you so much. Well, thank you. We're going to be keeping our eye on you. I want everybody to make sure that you guys go to her podcast site. In fact, guys, let's do what we normally do. Let's make sure, Michelle, it's Sideline Sanity. That's how they'll find you? Right. Yep. You can find it anywhere you download your podcast. You can also go to michelletafoya.com. It's Michelle with one L, M-I-C-H-E-L-E, Tafoya, T-A-F-O-Y-A.com, and you can find the podcast there. Okay. So let's do this, everybody. Right now, make sure you hit subscribe. I want to see a gigantic bump in her numbers. And let's do that. That would be awesome. Listen, I know it works, Michelle, because Charlie Kirk, we did that with him. It went crazy. Eric Metaxas did the same thing. Everybody, listen, let's do the same thing for Michelle. Let's magnify her voice. She's doing a good thing. And I want to end with prayer. Lord, we thank you for Michelle. We thank you, Father, that you have preserved for her marriage and her children. And Lord, your Bible tells us that when things have consumed us, in your word, it says when the moth or when rust consumes, you're able to restore. So Lord, it's not that her career and time and globe travel was moth or rust by no means, but Lord, her desire is to make up time now with her kids. So God, we pray that you would cause, as it were, a day, a month, a year with her kids now to be, as it were, 10 years or 20 years. Magnify her presence, Lord. We know that you can do that. Bless her life and lead her along the way. You've got amazing plans for her. We're going to be excited to see what happens. And so, Father, thank you for this time together. We thank you for Jesus who loves us. We thank you for the cross. Most importantly, we thank you for the empty tomb. Lord, we just give it all to you in Jesus' name. Amen. God bless you, Michelle. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. It's been a pleasure. This Jack Hibbs podcast, as well as all the broadcast outreach opportunities, are listener-supported. Will you consider partnering with us through a special gift? Go to jackhibbs.com to learn more and stay connected.