NFL Panel at The Arena Men's Conference (with Carson Wentz and C.J. Ham)

Awesome. I'm so excited for a couple of guests that we have with us today, and I'm going to give them, they asked for really proper, incredible introductions. And so I just really wanted to talk them up a lot. I'm just kidding. They didn't ask for that, but they're going to get it. But Carson is here. Carson Wentz is one of the most accomplished athletes in North Dakota history. He's the highest draft picked ever in the FCS history. He's committed to his family and to his faith. He's a man of character. He's married to Maddie, has four girls. We're believing for four more on the way. And Hadley Hudson, Hazen Hunter. He founded the AO1 Foundation with his wife, Maddie, to serve underprivileged youth individuals with disabilities and humanitarian initiatives. He's just doing a lot for a lot of people. He's an NDSU Bison. He's a Minnesota Viking, and he's just a good stinking guy. So you welcome Carson Wentz as he comes today. All right. All right. Okay. Sit down because you got to do it again. Also here wearing his arena merch is CJ Hamm. And CJ is a native of Duluth, Minnesota. He played college football at Augustana. Two Dakota college athletes, Dakotas. He went on drafted in 2016, but was picked up by the Vikings, walked on, became an elite fullback. He received the rare honor of going to the Pro Bowl as a fullback more than once. Was it twice? Two times. And he is known for his elite blocking and ability to make clutch plays, but he's even known more for his elite character, his humility, his servant heartedness, the person that he is off the field. It goes before him. And he and his wife, Stephanie, founded the Hamm Family Scholarship Fund to serve underprivileged youth and multiple outlets, including Pamper Her Purple, to support cancer patients and their families. His kids are Skyler, Stella, and Tripp. And would you give a warm North Dakota welcome to CJ Hamm. Every year when the season is almost over, I text Carson and talk about the arena. And I'm like, hey, is there anybody that you want to bring? And he goes, what would you think about CJ Hamm? I was like, that would work. That would be awesome. Huge mistake. Yeah. But so thankfully, you guys are here. And I mean, it's cool that you're pro athletes, but it's been really cool to see both of your, what you guys are really all about off the field. I watch you on social media. We have somewhat of a relationship, you know, and just getting to see who you are in real life. And the little bit I've seen today,

it's just such an example. I know there's a ton of kids in the room, you know, and they're watching you guys. And thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And even what Pastor Kevin was talking about, all the things that the world has probably put in front of you that you've chosen to honor the Lord, honor your wife, honor your family, honor your church in the way that you've lived. So I just want to commend you for that. Can you appreciate them for being men of character? And what I really want to do is every year, I want you to introduce each other. I want to, I want CJ, you to talk about Carson. Carson, you can talk about CJ and why you respect each other and the character that you have. Yeah, I can go first. And I think, but Josh mentioned it, you know, last, the last couple of years, he reaches out and asks, you know, who would you want to come with? Is there anybody you'd suggest? And I immediately was like CJ, you know, and it's every year, my career, I've bounced around time after time after time after time, not like this guy who was 10 years in one spot. But every year I make a connection with somebody on each team that you could just tell immediately that they truly genuinely walk faithfully with the Lord. And, you know, I can say there's not a ton of those guys on every team. There's a lot of really good guys, but immediately from, you know, we've, we've crossed paths over the years coming in at the same time. But really never really got to know him deeply until this year. And even this year, we were both injured so much. We didn't even get in the huddle together a whole lot. But just seeing how he carried out his faith in the locker room, in meeting rooms, and just the respect when he would speak to younger guys, to other guys on the team. I mean, everybody just looked at him with the utmost respect and it was clear as day. Then we go to team Bible studies and just the wisdom that he would offer to the group. It meant a lot to me, it meant a lot to everybody else. And so he's a man that just leads

and walks faithfully with the Lord. I've seen it time after time throughout this year, throughout his career. Walter Payton Man of the Year twice for the team, I believe. So, just, I mean he's an... He's an awesome man. So I'm glad he's still in Minnesota. I wish he was still in the locker room with me, not gonna lie, but an awesome man of God and an awesome teammate. So it's been fun getting to know him. You should have let me go first. I appreciate you, brother. I mean, we all know this is the Bismarck, North Dakota man right here. Give it up for Carson Wentz one more time, for sure. You know, there probably isn't anything I could tell you about his athletic career that you don't already know, but us coming into the NFL at the same time, 2016, both being from smaller schools, even though NDSU is like the Alabama of the Midwest. So I wouldn't say his school was the smallest mine, but in him being a quarterback, obviously he's in the limelight, he's up front. And I was able to see him, see his career and see what he stood for, you know, firsthand and from afar, really. And to see this man and who he is and how he leads his family, you know, the AO1 Foundation, you know, that blew up.

Everyone around us had an audience of one. And like, sometimes I feel like you're able to look and say like, man, is that man truly who he claims to be? And the couple of times we've crossed paths together, I knew about him. I don't think he knew about me, but I knew about him. And we got to be teammates last year and he is the real deal. He is the real deal in who he is and how he leads and loves. And, you know, from the moment he stepped into our Bible study, it was like, that was a man who was after God's heart. And that was a man who knew the word and that was a man who was trying to live it out to the best of his ability. And just so many guys respected that man. And I appreciate you inviting me here. I didn't deserve anything you said about me. I appreciate you. I'm on your home turf right now. So I appreciate you, man. Thank you. Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo!

Woo! Give us a peek into your walk with the Lord. Like, what is God doing in your life right now? What's he speaking to you about? Yeah, great question. I'm obviously in a new season of life right now. Some place that I've never, never been. Feels kind of good, to be honest with you. But, you know, I get asked the question a lot of, what's next? What are you going to do next? What are you going to get into? And like right now, man, I feel the Lord is really just calling me to be present. To be present where I'm at. You know, for the last 10 years, I've tried to be the best husband and father and follower of Jesus and friend and brother that I could be. But subconsciously, football still had a little part of me. So I feel like I wasn't able to fully, fully give that. And now that I'm able to fully give that, I mean, it's not so much pressure to find out what's next. It's, hey, what's already in front of you? You know, maximize what's already in front of you in being a husband and a father. And really just diving into my walk with the Lord with no distractions, getting uncomfortable, you know, being in men's Bible studies for the first time,

you know, doing more events like this, discipleship, mentorship, really just being present. And I was given the advice to, you know, take one month for every year that you played in the NFL to just, you know, not have any, you know, obligations. And, you know, so 10 months to a year, might as well make it a year as I'm just going to hone in and just focus on what's in front of me and just be the best version of myself. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Mine's every year seems like God's teaching me pretty much the same thing, just in a different way. You know, as I get older in this league, now I'm officially guys like CJ. A lot of guys on this team are gone veteran guys. And so I look around the locker room and I'm one of the oldest guys now. And so I'm just getting a different lens and different viewpoint from a mentorship standpoint.

You know, I still want to be the same competitor on the field. I still want to give it everything I got and be the guy out there. But at the same time, I see a lot of hurt. I see a lot of guys coming in just lost spiritually. A lot of really good guys get quite frankly feel like kids coming in to the league But they just they need somebody to point them to the right thing and so I just feel that kind of even building more and more over the years and just this last couple weeks being there I look around the locker room like where's all the guys where's all the guys and it's like I just feel that That calling so to speak that purpose How you said the word present I feel that too just for me even in a different way being present when I'm in that locker room When I'm going about my business in the training room in the cafeteria I usually don't even eat in the cafeteria but I'm trying to sit down and actually just engage with whoever it is and see where guys are at and so God's working in a unique way. We got we just had our fourth little girl So we're six months in with with her now And so I'm learning a lot at home to about selfishness and just the chaos that it is with four little girls so I'm learning and growing but I think just The ministry side of being present and being Living on purpose for him and not making it about myself as which I've learned year and year and year and year It just is being magnified the older I get And I'm embracing it You kind of You watch professional athletes, and I think you just think of them as older than they are You know and I'm always just kind of struck with like these are guys that are in their 20s You know or early 30s with family, you know cursing you have four six and under right? and so raising a family and trying to prioritize all the right things and Like a lot on your plate So it's it's pretty incredible what you guys are balancing and and how you're prioritizing your family in the midst of it

Serious really important question here. That's on everybody's minds and I need you to both answer on the record In your professional opinions, how close are the Vikings to a Super Bowl? Are We recording Well, I'm still on the team so CJ's now has the the former viewpoint I guess but I've learned the NFL is weird and and every year is is a different. It's a different year and they all bring So many different things. I mean who would have sat in here last year and been like the Seahawks are winning the Super Bowl Truthfully, you know what I mean? And it's I think it's just we got one it's That's why but that's the that's the whole thing is I just think the NFL is so unique and Things can snowball in a positive way or in a negative way so fast in a given season And so this time of year, I mean, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it literally anybody could win the Super Bowl And that's the the boring answer. I know but I do believe in our team. I believe in our head coach I believe in the pieces that we have and It's just it takes time. It takes building it together it takes time to work together and to kind of go through the hard stuff and then see how it snowballs quite frankly and Hopefully it snowballs positively Yeah, that was the very political answer right there Now not now that I'm a fan I can be truthful I guess No, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I I'm What everything Carson said is 100% true like man, I've been a part of teams that you know Have great rosters and you're like man We got some really really good players And then we underachieve and don't even make the playoffs and I've been a part of some teams where our roster isn't that good and We somehow play together and you know go to the NFC Championship and get whooped by the Eagles Still still hurts a little bit but To that point like in anybody anybody can win, you know, it's really it's nothing about what we say It's about what guys like this do You know when September starts and how they play and I hope that the Vikings are ready to win a Super Bowl I think they can

And I'm gonna be there too. I'm gonna be there to watch It's great. I I Got one more question for both of you and then I'm gonna split it up a little bit But have you had a moment where your faith, you know, we've talked about your faith and being grounded in your faith Have you ever had a moment where publicly or privately was really? Tested and how did you respond to that? Yeah, you just jump right off the deep end engine Yeah, yeah About six it'd be six years at the end of May when I lost my mother to from when I lost my mother to pancreatic cancer and that was the hardest thing I've had to deal with in in my lifetime up until this point and There was a lot of pain a lot of suffering a lot of questioning of God You know, I I thought I did everything right? I grew up in the church I prayed, I fasted, I trusted in the Lord, did all the things that all my pastors and people of influence told me to do, but yet I still lost my mom. So for about a year and a half to two years, I felt myself not being who I was, making decisions, thinking about things that I normally don't do, I normally don't think about. And thankfully God was just so graceful and was still working on me as I'm trying to pray these right prayers, I'm trying to say the right things, but realistically I put a boundary up. I put a wall up between me and God.

I was praying, but I wasn't truly allowing Him to come into my life. And just one night I called one of my pastor friends, Adam Weber out in Sioux Falls, who pastors Embrace Church, a great friend of mine, and he gave me the advice. He says, CJ, just be honest with God, cry out to Him, yell, question. God's a big boy, He can handle it. And I took his advice and I did that. And I felt this peace, this freedom come over me, that boundary, that wall kind of left, it dissipated. And I stumbled upon, I mean, I've read the Beatitudes many times, but Matthew 5, 4, this time, after being free of so much pain, it just hit me right in the heart. Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. And I was just like, God, I haven't been allowing you to comfort me. You've been there the whole time with your arms open wide, trying to give me a hug, trying to comfort me. And I haven't let you do it. And now I'm gonna do that. And that feeling of that questioning of why did this happen, that left, it wasn't about why, it was about trusting Him. It was about giving it to Him that everything was gonna be okay. And He reminded me that if I truly believe

what I think all of us in here believe, that to die is gain as well. That now my mother is with the Father, a place that we all hope to be someday. And I can have joy in that, I can have peace in that, and I can live with that. And God works everything for the good. Even when we don't feel it, we don't see it, He's working and He works everything for the good. And through this, over the years, I've been able to walk alongside many people who have experienced this, who have experienced loss. And yeah, I mean, it's just been so good. It's been so freeing. And it's just changed my outlook on life, going through that dark time, which I wouldn't wish upon anybody, but I know it's all purposeful if I point it to the Lord. Man, so well said, so well said. I know there's a, like, people deal with suffering and with loss and the problem of evil in our world, you know, and there's an answer to all of that and why God allows it. But I love that you shared, it wasn't even about answering that question logically, it was about God meeting you, exactly where you needed Him to meet you and you showed up in that way. So well said, thank you for sharing that. Yeah, you know, by the grace of God,

I don't sit up here with any life tragedies or anything like that. So praise God for that. But we all walk through our own trials in different ways, you know, and some are big, some are small, but we all deal with them. And at the time, they're often the biggest thing to us, you know, and I always think back to just some of the injuries I've had over my career. I even think back to my fifth year with the Eagles, it was COVID, it was all those things, just had my daughter, and we have a slow start to the season. Next thing you know, it's week 12 and I'm benched. And for me, for five years, like I got drafted by the Eagles second overall, like I'm the quote, face of the franchise. Like I have this vision, like, hey, I'm gonna play here for 15, 20 years, retire right off to the sunset. Like I have this plan, I'm like, all right, God, here's what we're gonna do together. Like, you're gonna help me do this and I'm gonna tell people about Jesus and we're gonna win the city of Philadelphia for you and a lot of Super Bowls along the way. Like, truthfully, that's like this vision I had, but next thing you know, I'm on the bench and I'm like, I'm truly wrestling with God. Like, what are you doing here?

Why is this happening? COVID just threw a whole wrench in the whole thing. Like there's no real community to kind of live with. And there's borderline a season of depression that I was just like walking through. I had my daughter, I had like, still like had all the blessings, you know, tangibly, but I'm just like struggling with what does this mean? And this thing that I've held tightly to of just face the franchise, Philadelphia Eagles, playing here for so long, not to mention I just signed a contract. contract the year prior. So like things are in one way going like this and then boom, they just crashed like in my career, so to speak. And I was just kind of like shook by that. So I can say that's probably between that and my knee injury, which I think I've talked about extensively in the past, just have really made me kind of put into practice what I know is in God's word. And not just have a behead knowledge to consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds. And to believe that God works all things together for his good, instead of making that head knowledge to actually believing that and walking it out, definitely had to wrestle with that. And quite frankly, every off season, I wrestled with that again, just cause I have this vision of how it could be,

of what could be next and then things go a certain way and here we are again. And so that's just a daily surrender and it's a daily thing I've had to wrestle with God and by the grace of God, it's getting a little easier because I've walked through little things through my professional career, time and time again, a lot of things that aren't out there in the public and things that behind the scenes that can really just frustrate and cause me to be bitter or cause me to do different things. And that's where I think people in this career, people in all careers without faith in Christ and being rooted in his word, I totally understand why people turn to drugs, alcohol, chasing the wrong things because it's hard. Life is hard and it's hard for so many people in so many different ways and we all navigated differently, but without being rooted in the word and that foundation of Christ, this life will chew you up and spit you out. And so by the grace of God, he's walked with me through all of these things and we're still trucking along. Carson, if you were to, if the Carson Wentz that had just gotten benched, fifth year at the Eagles was standing here, what would you say to him today? Yeah, I would just challenge myself to just lean in and lean in and just say, God's going to use this for good.

And just like the same things I knew at the time, but just really just pray those and believe those. You know, prayer life was really hard and weird at the time because it's like, I don't really want to talk to God because I want to do this. I want to do it myself. You know, the same thing Pastor Kevin was talking about, Joseph, like, I got this. And it was like, okay, you know, I got this. Like, I might be on the bench, but I got this. What's gonna happen next? It's like, I can do it. I can do it. I can do it. And that's how we're wired as men. And so for me, it was just like the first time really in my career to just be like, no, you don't got this. Like between that and my knee injury, it's like, you don't got this. And I got this. And so I would just challenge myself to continue to lean in and keep wrestling with God through those prayers and be real and authentic. And, you know, I did that the best I could. It just took a little longer than I maybe wanted it to. Yeah, it's like dealing with tragedy is really difficult and dealing with disappointment of what you thought was gonna be can be equally as difficult. You know, like we, pain is universal.

Everybody has pain, everybody in this room. And it doesn't, it's not that one person's is worse than the other, but it's like, we all experience it. And sometimes it's in the form of disappointment. Sometimes it's in the form of tragedy. One thing that I like about both of you guys is I don't think you walk in and you're the loudest, most charismatic voice in the room. And I'm curious, how do you lead when you're not the loudest voice in the room? How do you, because there's guys here today who are like, well, I'm not in charge or I'm not the most charismatic or I don't have the wisest words to speak. How have you demonstrated leadership even when you're not the loudest voice? Yeah, I think it's just, for one, I've never been the loudest voice. I'm usually the more introverted kind of introspective and that's even caused me to be more uncomfortable as I've gotten older, because I try to be a little more vocal in those things. But I think it's just your work ethic and how you show up, how you meet people where they are. I think for me, it's a lot of one-on-one conversations with people. I see, hey, there may be struggling, whether it's on the field, off the field, like, hey, pull a rookie to the side and be like,

hey, they're out here running, do something like this instead. And their eyes light up, like, why are you taking the time to talk to me? And it's like, no, I just want you to be the best version. Excuse me, the best version of yourself. And that can translate to the next time you're sitting in the cafeteria, they're opening up about something they're walking through with their girlfriend or their child or whatever. And it's just like, all of a sudden, there's a place to speak life into their life. And so for me, it's just how I go about my business, how I handle my conversations. When there's things that people are discussing that are maybe inappropriate or shouldn't be, you speak up and just walk faithfully through those things. And you'd be shocked at how many doors that'll open when the time comes for somebody that's maybe struggling with something or at rock bottom. There's been times I've had guys come up to me and I'm like, I barely even know your name, which I should be better about that. But it's like, I don't know why, but they see something different and they know there's potential. at least something different in that person to ask this deeper question or whatever. And so it's been fun to kind of see that translate,

but there is for sure a time to speak. There's always a time to speak up and to carry that mantle, so to speak, and then speak up and be authentic. And so trying to navigate that as best as I can, but as an introvert, it can be a little harder naturally to always want to do that, but trying my best. We all, men are all looking around going, who has gotten through the season that I'm in right now that I can learn from? You know, like looking around the room, who raised these kids? You know, who stayed strong in their faith through adversity? And if you make yourself available, it's like, yeah, people are gonna come and they're gonna ask you questions about how did you make it through? Or why do you live the way that you live? How about you, CJ? Yeah, I mean, I agree with everything Carson said, and I've always been a lead by example type of guy. I mean, I grew up with a stutter, so speaking is something that I don't like to do, I don't want to do, even being on stage right now is still something that I struggle with, my flesh all struggles with. So yeah, leading by example is always something I've done, but over the years I've learned by seeing so many leaders is that what you do is always gonna speak so much louder than the things that you say, you know? And just being consistent in all situations,

you know, whether it's high, whether it's low, being that same person that people can lean on, like that's what people gravitate towards. And you know, Jesus said a lot of things, you know, he used a lot of words, but I think what's even more important is what he did, how he serves with humility, how he saw people, how he met people where they were at, those are like, those are the things that I think speak louder than anything that you'll ever say. So just trying to live a life and lead in humility like Jesus. Great, CJ, you recently retired. I did. Yeah. And you're gonna be present in this next season, I love that. And you're showing a video of your son running his first touchdown, right? Back in the back room and just getting to enjoy those moments. And what is the top moment from your playing career that sticks out to you? Like, what is the memory you go to? That's a great question. I've got to play in some really, really cool games, man, like Minneapolis Miracle, the largest comeback in NFL history, JJ's fourth and 18 catch first the bills, you know, just so many, so many cool things. But the moment that has really been sticking out to me the most is my last moment.

My last moment, my last game, the Vikings did a phenomenal job of honoring me. Definitely didn't need to, I didn't even want them to. I was given the advice that I should probably tell somebody this is gonna be my last game because I was just gonna let it ride out, let it ride out and tell them on Monday and say, hey, y'all, I'm out. But I was given the advice to let them know so they can do something cool. And boy, did they. And just the reaction, first off, for my family, I mean, to have those memories from my family, but the love that I got from the fans, my teammates, my coaches, as a guy who is broken, you know, a guy who's insecure and just trying to figure it out. I don't think I'm anything special at all, but to hear all the things that were said to me about me, I was just so thankful and so humbled that God still chose to use me and my family to shine light on him and didn't deserve it at all. But it was just so good to feel that and to see that. And it was, there's no pride in it. It's just like true worship. Just thank you, Lord, for allowing me to be here these last 10 years and to experience life and to impact people's life and have people impact my life the way that you have.

And it was something, it's something I'll never forget. I love you. Just sitting with you earlier, I just kept thinking, even listening to Kevin speak, and I thought, God has something in front of you. You know, like, I know you want to be present and I know your hands aren't going to go idle, but I'm excited to see where your quiet, steady leadership and humility puts you in the next season. Because I just feel like you're not done, you know? And I'm excited. Maybe you have an idea of what that is. I don't, but. I don't either. Yeah. But just to reassure you, you know, I've just sensed that the whole time I've been with you is God wants to use you. you, you know, going forward for his glory. You know, God's not a user of men. We give ourselves to him and he empowers us. And yeah, I'm excited to see. Thank you, brother. Yeah, where it goes, where it goes. Carson, you're going into a full quarterback room coming up this next season. And JJ and Kyler, both there. What has your mentality been as, you know, you're going into camps and everything is starting to develop?

Yeah, great question. Very different room, very different, a couple of different, and we got another guy named Max Brosmer in there who played a little bit last year. And so there's four guys that are all entirely different off the field and on the field. And CJ can attest to that. And so for me being the old guy that's been around the block a minute, just trying to just be present and be available, but compete in a healthy way, you know, and try and set the standard of what that looks like and be the mature one, so to speak. Cause I mean, there ain't, there's no hiding. All four of us want to be playing. You know, at the end of the day, if you don't come to this league to sit on the sideline, hold a clipboard, like that's, we're all competitors. And so there's no denying that, but there's a way to compete healthfully and there's a way to compete unhealthily. And I've seen, I've seen both sadly. And so for me, I want to be the one that can kind of set the standard of, this is what it looks like to compete in a healthy way and to still encourage each other, to still, you know, I want to be able to offer advice and be a mentor and what the X's and O's and all the things that I've accumulated from my experience.

Cause at the end of the day, I want the team to win. You know, we all want to be out there, but I want the team to win. Cause when the team wins, everybody's happy at the end of the day. And so the goal is for everybody to get better and to win. And so for me to trying to set the standard of what that looks like in a healthy way to the best of my ability. CJ, just from being in the room for a little bit today, from being around, can you, we're going to wrap it up in a minute, but can you give an encouragement to all the guys that are here? Just anything that you sense or that God would speak to your heart that you just want to encourage them in? Yeah. Yeah, what's actually been on my heart. I mean, I was thinking about something earlier, but this is kind of what just came to me. And if you follow me at all, you might've heard this at another event I did not too long ago, but I'll just encourage every man in here and women. I see a handful of women in here as well. To just truly look into your own life. If you have been a follower of Christ for a long time, or if you are making that decision here recently, no, very recently,

to look into your life and say, is there something that I am holding onto that Jesus wants? And I believe Jesus wants every single ounce of who you are and your being. To be 99% known is still to be unknown. It's said that there are Roman soldiers who would get baptized with their right hand out of the water, their sword hand out of the water because you can cleanse everything else, but I still need this right hand to kill, to go into war. And I think for a lot of us men in here, that right hand might be our phones. It might be our laptop. It might be our relationship at work. It might be our job in and of itself. That the Lord wants all of you. And there was a story that I heard a handful of years back about a farmer, a farmer who had hundreds of acres, beautiful home, and he was looking to sell his house and his property. And these buyers came in and they said, like, hey, you're selling it for this super cheap price? Like, it's a no brainer. Like, we want this, we want this property, we want this land. But the seller said, hey, there's one caveat. I wanna own this one nail on this front door. And they're like, oh, easy.

That's easy. I'll take everything else. You can have this one nail. This one nail won't bother us one bit. It's a little nail in this huge house and all this land. And every single day, as the buyers are living in this house every single day, the seller comes back and hangs a dead animal, on that nail. And it's rotting and it's smelly. I know it's kind of graphic, y'all. It's rotting and it's smelly. And the family that's living in the house is like, hey, it's okay. Like, we can let that go. We're good. We still have so much beauty. Like, we have this beautiful home. And then day after day, week after week, month after month, the smell gets too much for them to bear. And they end up selling the house and getting out of the house. And that nail is what the enemy is holding on to you in order to drive you out of what, the beauty that God has for you. So that nail is that one. Percent what are you holding on to? Giving giving the devil that that that that stronghold on your life that will eventually drive you away So yeah, I just encourage you to look inward as you go into this year as you go into the next chapter of your life What am I still holding on to?

What am I not giving to the Lord? And just an encouragement that he wants every single bit of you and he will use you in the ways that he sees fit Thank you guys Hey If you're like under 16 years old in the room, will you just stand up for a second? Carson I want you to speak to all these guys just an encouragement or what you would say to them That there's a lot of kids a lot of kids here with their friends or with their dads and you guys can sit back down We just wanted to see you What'd you say to those guys first of all, I'm glad you guys are here and shout out to the dads that brought their kids here I think I have girls so I can't fully relate to having a son But I think that's what it looks like to be a man and lead Well, it's just bringing your kid bringing your son to things like this to grow I just challenge you kids like being a man is about living life on your knees living life in surrender I think you grew up in this world and especially I was in your shoes. I grew up right here in Bismarck And I was the kid that worked hard and like this the North Dakota Values that were instilled in me and work hard work hard hard work I think all of that and you'll get what you're you know, you'll reach for your goal And I'm grateful that I had those those values and those work ethics However, I think I missed in my younger days the part of dependence upon God and that it wasn't about myself I can work on it with everything I have but like Kevin said that's an additive of Praying and believing that it is all God's and so I think there's there's this This point of my life that I was just always trying to do everything I was always I was living in the shadow so to speak of for those of you that know my older brother who went on to play college baseball and I was always just trying so hard to do everything and to earn everything and By the grace of God he used that but I can look back and reflect at how much struggle mentally I put myself through trying to do it all myself And so I would just from a young age start the discipline of just living life For God and just giving it to him work out everything you can with all your heart You know God calls us to excel in everything as best we can But at the end of the day just trust that he's writing your story

He's writing your plan and be a man and it's gonna look different. You're gonna go to school. There's gonna be kids There's gonna be kids making the wrong decisions Kids chasing after women and doing the wrong things and you might feel like you are the oddball You might feel like you are living countercultural and you are living You're the different different one. But one day they're gonna all look at you and be like, why didn't I choose that? Why didn't I choose that? Why didn't I make that life decision because you're gonna be the old one Looking down and and thinking thanking God thanking your parents For raising you the way they did because there will be life mistakes that will happen at 16 That'll change the projection of every other kid's life that aren't following Christ the right way. So I would truly challenge you guys To look look to him and be okay being the one that might look and act and be a little bit different as long as You know who you are and whose you are That's all that matters You We're out of time But I just have this one other question in my heart and I can't help but ask it cuz CJ you're walking away from football And you seem okay You know And I was thinking about how many of us get our identity wrapped up like I have to be careful not to get my identity Wrapped up in this job or get your identity wrapped up in football or get your identity wrapped up in your business How did you like how are you? Okay, and how are you keeping your identity intact even without this major part of how people perceive you yeah, um Honestly, I was talking to my wife about this not too long ago Someone asked me the same question and I was I was trying to say when did that switch cuz I mean Earlier in my career like it's so hard to not make what you do your identity I mean you do it every single day you spend so much time doing it It's what you're known for like it's so hard to not You know to not let that be your identity, right and like for me it was after I lost my mom I think I just realized that man life is just too short Life is too short to worry so much about what other people think what other people say I mean, I want to I want to I want to live. I want to live a life of

Significance. I don't want to be significant, you know, and Thank you Think I think that's really what it is I mean It's just realized that there are just so much more important things in life Than than football in and of itself and I think when I when I realized that I was able to give more to football I was able to be very present when I was in my job But I knew when I stepped out of that building I was still I was still who I was You know it didn't it didn't engulf me and golf everything around me too much, and I think that's just kind of Where where where I landed yeah? Thank you for saying yes when Carson and no when he reached out to you He got back to me so fast like you give a quick Yes And I think that's I don't actually know the total motivation if it was to be with him or to be with these men or All of the things but it said a lot about you that you were willing to step away You know and come and speak at a men's conference, so thank you for yes Carson. Thanks for being a friend Thanks for being a friend to our church. Thank you both for what you do for underprivileged kids and Making it bigger than just your name and yourselves Part of what we do at the arena is we give and we give outside the four walls of the church we give To other causes that are in our communities or around our region, and we call it legacy makers But it's just giving that goes beyond us and the focus area that we wanted to take this week This weekend was to focus on people that are experiencing hardship Which I think is represented and causes that you guys care about as well I was talking to some pastors this last week And I said you know supporting missionaries is a godly biblical thing and we should do that and churches do that But supporting and caring for the poor in your community is the gospel But you cannot follow Jesus and not care about the poor. It's so Jesus speaks to it so much the crowds of people that surrounded him when he was teaching the Beatitudes where the The down-and-out those that have been cast aside You know they flock to Jesus

And so we want to put a an emphasis on people who are experiencing hardship and so for us as a church that means supporting the work that God has allowed us to do as a church at the North Dakota State Penitentiary and All the men that are there at the Dream Center here in Bismarck heavens helpers Hip-hop and hope which goes into our correctional facilities the al1 foundation and supporting what you guys are doing global neighbors convoy of hope who helps people who are Going through crisis and tragedy and part of that this year is the ham family Scholarship as well and supporting the work that you guys are doing and I know you guys are here to support those causes In part two as well as just sharing about Jesus in your own lives and so Our goal for 2026 for those causes as a church is to raise $160,000 that will go not to this church, but outside the walls to causes like that and Supporting them and so I am unashamed to ask you to give because it's so central to the gospel It's the same as me asking you to raise your hand and accept Jesus to take care of the poor and those that are in need and so It's not about how much you give it's about everybody doing their part It's not out of compulsion the Bible says give us the Spirit leads you you know give us He prompts your heart, and I think these things are close to Jesus's heart and my wife and I realized when we adopted that that Adoption is close to God's heart, and he provided so much so we know that he's gonna take care of every need So the ways to give are on the screen. I do believe you can use The tag on the seat back in front of you to give as well I know you paid to be here And I thank you for helping us pay for the conference And I'm just asking you if you're able and if the Holy Spirit prompts your heart to give above and beyond that to all these Different needs for people that are experiencing hardship Right now can we do that is that all right? All right