An Army of Normal Folks - HIGHLIGHTS: What Playing Softball With Murderers Taught Him About Fatherhood | Rob Maaddi

Episode Date: September 29, 2026

In this episode, Bill sits down with Rob Maaddi, senior NFL writer for the Associated Press and host of Faith on the Field, who partied with the athletes he covered and was divorced by 30, empty, broke and broken. After 36 straight days of drinking, a woman who told him she wasn't meant for him walked him to the front of Times Square Church. Today he plays softball in prison yards with the Deacons Prison Ministry, where an inmate who threatened to shank him came back to thank him. That opens a bigger conversation about where purpose comes from: why Super Bowl champions ask "now what" two days after the parade, why a pastor told him to take Jesus to his marketplace instead of quitting the AP, and what John Harbaugh's 95-5 rule teaches anyone raising kids. Plus Tony Dungy, the Hall of Fame coach who ushers at his church. — ARMY ACTIONS Sign up for the newsletter: https://normalfolks.org/#newsletter-cta Join or start a service club: https://normalfolks.org/service-clubs/ Take the 10 Level Challenge, "the hero's journey for service": https://normalfolks.org/10-level-challenge/ Listen to Rob's show, Faith on the Field: https://faithonthefieldshow.com/ Have an idea for a Shop Talk or a guest for the show? Write Bill anytime at [e-mail] — Follow us on all socials: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/armyofnormalfolks/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@armyofnormalfolks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArmyofNormalFolks X: https://x.com/armynormalfolks LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/an-army-of-normal-folks/  Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/#joinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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No subscription. Always free. Grab the free app. IHard radio. Every. Download the free IHard Radio app today. My name is. I'm a Josey Duffy Rice.

I'm a journalist who covers the criminal legal system. And over my career, I've heard account after account of prosecutorial misconduct, story after story of injustice. But I've never heard a story quite like this. The more I kept reading this stuff, I thought, man, there's more red flags that just kept coming up over and over. We'll hypnotize him to strengthen that memory. So he went into a good France. I really didn't believe any of it was real.

And I was like, well, they're going to figure out this is not me. They're going to do their police job. Listen to Examine the Backfire Effect on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, it's Alec Baldwin this season on my podcast. Here's the thing I'm speaking with more artists, policymakers, and performers like actor Stephen Root. I think for me to be any good or for any character act to be any good, you've got to put enough of yourself and your empathy for people in it. I'm a people watcher. You see that guy going down the dream and go, yeah, I can use that.

Open Igloo co-founder, Alia Mohamed. I love staying on top of what is going on in our city, what is going on in city politics, what is on renter's minds, and taking all of that knowledge to build a platform that hopefully is going to make New York City better in the long run. And actress and singer Melissa Eriko. Partnership took on a whole other meaning when I started making my own work. It's like you with a great actress or actor. It was best to come out of your trailer, full of life, and just face another person who's full of life. And don't talk. Listen to Here's the Thing on the IHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, what's up y'all? It's Questlove. and on the Questlove show, I've been sitting down with some really interesting people, and I've got two recent episodes you should check out. I caught up with my good friend Jojo to talk about her music, her career, and what she's been up to. Don't invite me to karaoke. I'm going to make it weird. Someone's going to try to sing, leave get out, or too little, too late, or baby to you.

Oh, no. And I'm going to be like, okay, cool. I also caught up with Wildo 267 for a conversation that covered his story, his perspective, and plenty more. I don't even call it cheat day. That's a life day. I'm not doing nothing. Don't try to be slick and just go Sunday. Go Wednesday.

This is what you do. Sleep later. Make a reservation for the rest of a round later. Just chill. Listen to the music you want to listen to. Just enjoy it. It's going to be all right. Nothing's going to have you.

You're going to wake up Wednesday. I'm like, ah, and you're going to feel better. And those are just two of the many recent episodes of the Questlove show. Listen to the Questlove show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, wherever. You get your podcast. Peace. Hi, I'm Michael and Perioli. I want to tell you about my new podcast, Underground Zero.

It's about what happened in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. We're looking at the opportunity of a lifetime for us and the other families. While the world was mourning, five powerful New York families saw an opportunity. The debris is supposed to go to the city-owned salvage yard, and some of it will. They would go on to make millions. millions of dollars. What's in the tunnels? Gold bars, Sylvaingetz.

It could be worth half a billion. And they would have made more if it hadn't been for one courageous cop. No, Dad, don't. You're going to need all of us. I'll call you when I can. Frank, be careful. Underground Zero, starring Steve Sharipa,

Ray Abruzzo, and me, Michael Imperioly. Would you be willing to see your family go to pieces? Some ways it already has. Listen to Underground Zero on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever. wherever you get your podcasts. Rob Mottie is a senior NFL writer, the Associated Press. He's a host of the syndicated radio show, Faith on the Field.

You do a lot of things, and we're going to get into all of them. One of the ones I found most interesting when I was first talking to you that I want to start with is you've spent a lot of time walking into prisons. And, you know, a dude in the NFL. sports writing world and everything else, but you spent a lot of time walking into prisons to play softball. Yeah. Sometimes playing murderers. What happens on those fields?

And what has that ministry done, obviously, for the people you're playing ball with, but more specifically for you? It's transformed my life. Has it really? Yeah. And it kind of helped me, coach, it kind of helped. me find my purpose because I started out doing this as a way of trying to give back, right? When did you start? How long ago? So I joined the Deacon's Prison Ministry in 2014, and at the time, I didn't know what this was

going to be all about. One of the guys who knew me, I like to say there was an old rob and there's a new rob. So there was a guy on that team who knew the old Rob, the guy who partied like a rock star who was like going out with athletes and lived a whole different life hanging out. I used to party with athletes and now I pray with athletes and I'm talking about the professional act. We're going to definitely get into that. So he knew the old Rob, but he saw, his name's Billy McGrath and he saw something in me, right? We played softball together, just a little slow pitch soft. I played baseball all the way through high school, through college, and beyond that, I played baseball. And at some point you obviously realize, like I'm not going to be able to do that.

anymore. So you turn a slow pitch softball. And he invited me to join his team because he knew there was something more that I had to give, right? He knew that there was that within me. So 2014, I joined this team and we go into prisons. And man, I'm looking at these guys and I don't know what they did to get there. Some of the most hardened criminals that, you know, tough and the environment can be overwhelming because there are guys who, Don't, who resent you, who resent you being there. And then there are guys who are so excited that you're there because nobody comes to same.

Nobody. They don't have family. They don't have anybody. But it's a way for us to get in the door. And it's a way for us to sit down. And, yeah, we play softball. That's the vehicle to get in there. But we play softball.

And then we talk to these men. And we share testimony. We share gospel presentation. And we try and help them change their life and start anew because it's never too late. And you know this. It's never too late. No matter what you've done in life, I think this is, it's so important for people who are hurting, who are suffering,

who've gone through some of the worst-case scenarios. No matter where you are in life, it's never too late to turn that switch and start anew. When I've read a little bit about this, the things called the Deacons Prison Ministry, I think. Yeah. Yeah. you were shocked when you first got there. Some of the bats are tethered to a fence for security. It's the real deal, right?

And you're playing softball with these guys. I'm curious, does the atmosphere change from first pitch to last pitch? In most cases, it certainly can be like a complete, dramatic turn. So there was one particular instance where we were, at a prison in, I believe it was Chester, PA. We've been all around the country, right? And we do these crusades. Crusade is like, we call it a five-day trip, and we'll go into 10, 20 prisons and speak to

a thousand, a minute. But we were in this particular- You'll go 10-20 prisons in five days and play softball and then hangar. And play about 30 games, 30, like, in, you know, at the time I was doing, I started doing this in my early 40s. I'm beat up, I'm banged up. I've got so many injuries. I'm dragging by the end.

I've got rotator cuff this and that. But this one particular incident that stands out to me, we're in this prison. And I'm playing center field at the time. And at this yard, there are inmates behind a chain-linked fence, right? And it's beyond the outfield. And I'm chasing a ball over my head. And I get to go pick up the ball on a warning track. And I hear one of the inmates say, I should shank him right through this.

And I was like, dang. I don't know what they have or what's happening. I picked up the ball. I threw it in the infield, and then I ran back to my position in the center field. I was hoping nobody hits the ball over my head again because I didn't want to come any closer to him. So it happened to be a day that I got to share and I got to speak.

So after the first, we play a doubleheader, sometimes three games, whatever it is. Are you serious? Yeah. And it's about as much time as they allow us, right? As much time as they allow us to be there. And sometimes you'll see guys. who are way out in the outfield or way out in the prison yard,

and they're not paying attention, but you know that they're listening, but they're trying to do something else. And this is one of those guys, and he's threatened me, threatened to shank me. I get to speak that day, and I shared and I shared everything that I had gone through in my life, where I was, the highs, the lows,

and how I turned my life around and how I came out of that. And when I went back out there for the next game, that dude thanked me for being there. So he goes from... Same dude that wanted to shank me. He's now thanking me for being open and honest and sharing.

And he was very appreciative of the message and he was appreciative of our taking the time out to be there. So you can... you can meet men. And we've met guys who, we've met a guy in there who was, who hired someone to kill his wife because he, he was sleeping around on her.

And this man completely transformed his life. And I know there's a price to pay, right? And there's consequences for your action. He's going to be, he's never going to see the light of day. He's only going to be in prison. There's a difference in forgiveness and a pardon. Right. We can forgive, but society says you don't necessarily

always get a pardon. And they've changed. They've changed their lives dramatically from within because there are some of those guys in there who are going to come out, right? And they're going to be back in society. And we don't want them to go back in society and come back to prison. We want them to go and be members of society who can contribute, who can serve, who can be guys who are leaders, who can, if they have children, be good fathers and good husbands. And it's all about that. And it's about trying to see the good in people, right? You were an AP sports writer living a professional athlete's lifestyle.

You had access, parties, money. I think people have an idea of what an NBA, a major league baseball star, a guy in the NFL, what, at least there's been enough social media and stories out there that you get an idea. Now, yeah, now. of what that world can be. Yeah. And how it can take your life off rails. And certainly, you know, there's far too many stories of a 22, 23-year-old kid that gets some multimillion-dollar contract and by 35 is broke.

But a lot of what leads to that is that professional athlete's lifestyle. What was interesting to me is that the people in the circle surrounding them, like you, a sports writer, you have some of the same access to all of that world. And going back to first talk about, you know, your story, what was that life really like? Give us a true glimpse into that world. And then candidly, what it broke in you. Yeah. That's going back to what we had said earlier about old Rob and new Rob. The old Rob was...

Yeah, this is Old Rob, I guess. This is, this is, old Rob's got some stories. I grew up in, as I had said earlier, grew up in South Philly, very provincial, but never felt like I fit in. Never felt like I fit in with the people and the kids in the school and my parents are immigrants from the Middle East and my name's a little funny and I was called different things here and there and where's your camel and all that.

No kidding. Yeah. Where are your parents from? My mom was born in Jordan. But Catholic. Yeah. My dad actually was in a monastery to be a priest. Your kid.

And he lived. So his funny story, my grandmother had, I think it would, that, both. parents come from like families of between nine, 10, 11, 12. And my, my grandmother on my dad's side, she wanted, she had all these kids and she's like, I want what she, all, the old, my only memory of her is praying the rosary. I met her for three months. And she every day, she's sitting there praying the rosary, praying a rosary. So she wanted a son to be a priest. So she sent my dad off to a monastery. Spent a couple of years. And then you end up in South Philly, which is kind of, it's Italian. Yeah. It's heavy.

very Italian. I got a vow at the end of my name. So they... It worked. It worked, but I'm not. So, although there may be some, a quarter, an eighth, a nine, whatever it may be. And my dad eventually left a monastery, of course, married my mom, and only for weddings and funerals that he ever come back to church. I was the one going to church. So, but I was called in grade, in grade school, one of the things that stuck out to me was a kid

and I'll never forget, called me a sand n-I-G-E-R. And that's come up again later on. Somebody said that to me at the gym one year. And I decided that I'm not going to fit in with these kids. I'm going to try and rise above them. And I, to me, as a 12, 13, 14-year-old, what to me look like rising above being better than, be better than them in sports,

be better as a student, be better looking and get all the girls. To me, those were the priorities in life. So now at 14, 15, 16, my priorities in life are be great at sports. I played baseball, went through college and played very well, couldn't make it to the majors, obviously. Was top of my class in grade school, finished top five in high school. spent a lot of time working on my body, try and look good. And I realized to me it was like, all right, baseball's not there. Smart has got so far.

Like, what can I do now? I'm going to get all the ladies. That was my mentality, right? And that mentality took me into a place where once I grew into, I'm hired by the AP. I'm covering sports. I'm young at the day. I'm in my early 20s. I'm in these locker rooms.

settings. I'm meeting these guys. Now, I'm going out to clubs. I'm partying with that. Are you making friends with them? Yeah. So you're hanging with like, I'm hanging out with these guys. People we know. Right. Oh, yeah. And now a few messages from our generous sponsors. But first, thanks for tuning into an army of normal folks where our mission is to make service easier for all of us and together can change the country. Today, I want to share with you. you an email received from an army member named Hunter Cowan. Hunter wrote, Good morning, Bill.

I've listened to all of your episodes since the very beginning. They are our light and all of the bad news that comes our way every day. By listening to your shows, y'all have inspired me to try to take part to make a difference in my community. I have started a Sleep and Heavenly Peace chapter. y'all have inspired me and i know y'all have inspired many others at some point that inspiration becomes exponential and when we're emailing with hunter he told us his sleep in heavenly peace chapter already has 60 beds built for kids without them in the richmond area of virginia i am inspired myself

that episodes that we share can inspire someone like hunter to engage and do good work. I'm inspired that there are 60 kids today that are sleeping in beds rather than piles on clothes because Hunter listened to an episode of an Army of Normal Folks and decided to act. We always say, together, we can change this country. And Hunter is metaphorically what one member of a massive Army of normal folks can do to make better lives for other people. We'll be right back.

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Stream Miley's new album, Bass Persuades, today. My name is Josie Duffy Rice. I'm a journalist who covers the criminal legal system. And over my career, I've heard a count after account of prosecutorial misconduct, story after story of injustice. But I've never heard a story quite like this. The more I kept reading that stuff, I thought, man, there's more red flags that just kept coming up over and over. We'll hypnotize him to strengthen that memory. So he went into a good france.

I really didn't believe any of it was real. And I was like, well, they're going to figure out this is not me. They're going to do their police job. Listen to Examine the Backfire Effect on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's Questlove. And on the Questlove show, I've been sitting down with some really interesting people. And I've got two recent episodes you should check out.

I caught up with my good friend Jojo to talk about her music, her career, and what she's been up to. Don't invite me to karaoke. I'm going to make it weird. Someone's going to try to sing, leave get out, or too little, too late, or baby to you. Oh, no. And I'm going to be like, okay, cool. I also caught up with Wally-267 for a conversation that covered his story, his perspective, and plenty more. I don't even call it cheat day.

That's a life day. I'm not doing nothing. Don't try to be slick and just go Sunday. Go Wednesday. This what you do. Sleep leader. make a reservation for the rest of the round later. Just chill.

Listen to the music you want to listen to. Just enjoy it. It's going to be all right. Nothing's going to have you. You're going to wake up Wednesday. I'm like, ah, and you're going to feel better. And those are just two of the many recent episodes of the Questlove show. Listen to the Questlove show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast,

wherever you get your podcast. Peace. Hi, it's Alec Baldwin this season on my podcast. Here's the thing I'm speaking with more artists. policymakers and performers like actor Stephen Root. I think for me to be any good or for any character actor to be any good, you've got to put enough of yourself and your empathy for people in it. I'm a people watcher.

You see that guy going down the dream and go, yeah, I can use that. Open Igloo co-founder, Alia Mohamed. I love staying on top of what is going on in our city, what is going on in city politics, what is on renter's minds, and taking all of that knowledge to build a platform that hopefully is going to make New York City better in the long run. And actress and singer Melissa Eriko. Partnership took on a whole other meaning when I started making my own work.

It's like you with a great actress or actor. It was best to come out of your trailer, full of life, and just face another person who's full of life and don't talk. Listen to Here's the Thing on the IHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Michael Imperioly. I want to tell you about my new podcast, Underground Zero. It's about what happened in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. We're looking at the opportunity of a lifetime for us and the other families.

While the world was mourning, five powerful New York families saw an opportunity. The debris is supposed to go to the city-owned salvage yard, and some of it will. They would go on to make millions of dollars. What's in the tunnels? Go boss of Ingez. It could be worth half a billion. And they would have made more if it hadn't been for one courageous cop. No, Dad, don't.

You're going to need all of us. I'll call you when I can. Frank, be careful. Underground Zero, starring Steve Sharipa, Ray Abruzzo, and me, Michael Imperioly. Would you be willing to see your family go to pieces? Some ways it already has. Listen to Underground Zero on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I couldn't sustain that lifestyle. Can anybody?

Nobody can. But from a financial standpoint, let's start there. I'm not making what these guys are making, right? I'm a sports writer. I'm not signing a seven-figure deal coming. So I can't do bottle service like they do. Yet I'm trying, right? I can't do all these things, but I'm fitting in.

I'm mixing in. I'm hanging out. And what I tried to tell myself, Coach, is I tried to justify it like this. I tried to say, well, like, I'm building relationships with these guys because it'll help me, I'll help me in my job. I'll break news, right? Yeah. But never one time, while we're out at the bar or at the club or hanging out with the ladies,

never one time that we talk about anything sports-related. It was never about the game. It was never about the interception or the route or the past or the pitch. It was never about that. It was about, oh, you see that blonde over there or you see that brunette over there. So that was the lifestyle that I lived in. Was that lifestyle intoxicating and addicting? It was exhilarating, yeah.

It was certainly addicting. It was very much so because I... You get swooned over. And I always took care of my body, so I don't really like alcohol, so I didn't drink. I would be the guy in that group drinking bottles of Evian. Right? That was me. I mean, the players, the athletes,

So I'm not, I never smoked. I never did anything, never did any drugs, none of that stuff. So for me, that addiction was the thrill of the chase. Yeah. It was the thrill of the chase. It was, I can't compete with this guy on the baseball field. I can't throw a football like that one or catch a football or run a route or do any of that. But if we don't tell these ladies we're athletes, right, because that was part of the game,

that was part of the, you got to be a normal. Now, of course, some of these guys are very recognizable, but sometimes they're not. They blend in or you never know. Let's compete and see who ends up with more action tonight. So that's what the lifestyle was like, and it just led me into a dark, dark place. Did it give you street cred with that plates? Yeah. Which is also addicting.

I mean, the very guys you're covering and are, quote, Sports heroes. Heroes is an interesting word there, but that's what we call them. I mean, all of a sudden, you're getting credibility with them with being a dude. I got to believe that's addicting and intoxicating too. I think everybody wants to be liked, appreciated, looked up to, and when you're walking in the locker room and guys are, you know, hey, where you're headed to tonight? or that girl that you were with, does she have a sister? Does she have, like, that kind of, those questions were very much, you could say that's

addicting. And in a weird way affirming, but a very non-positive information. And it takes me back to the priorities that I set for myself at a young age from some words that a stupid kid said to me that we should never let, we should never allow someone's words to have that much power over us. I took comments that kids made, whether it was about a camel or a sand or whatever it was, and formulated this identity, this persona, this person that I wanted to be, and carried that out throughout into my 20s and into my early 30s. And I had relationships. I was, I was married and divorced in three years because I was absolutely a sh-h-hits of a husband.

I was a heart. I met a, it was like a childhood high school sweetheart, met at seven. She was 17. I was 19. And we dated for seven years, got married at 27. She was 24. And I was divorced by 30 because, and I was obviously didn't live like a great husband. And at first, we were going out together.

And athletes are seeing me with her beautiful woman and her friends. Like, hey, let's all get together pretty soon. She's going out with her friends. I'm going out with my friends. I'm doing that. And that ended up leading to divorce. And then what I did was tell myself, I'll never do that again. I'll never do that again.

Next relationship, cycle repeated itself. Next relationship, cycle repeated itself. All the way up until that moment in that church at Times Square on August 29, 2010. Let's go to the precipice of what created new, Rob. ironically a woman yeah that you met I love what she said to you tell us that story about what y'all did together what she said to you and and how it ultimately led to you having an awakening that led to the work you're doing now so this is 2010 and um may of 2010 one of my my third long my third big relationship ends and I'm now finally because of you yeah because of because of

everything because of old rob because of old rob so I'm finally for the first time in 19 years coach I'm finally single and able to do everything that I had been doing without the guilt of doing it yeah you're so guess what I did for 36 straight days I went out and I I partied like a rock star I had and I told you earlier, I don't like alcohol, I don't drink. I had at least one drink for 36 straight days from May into June of 2010. I tried to break Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak by drinking instead of getting a hit every day. I feel like that's beginning of an unraveling. It's, I was on a path of self-destruction. Yeah. I was on a path, and I met this, I met a woman, ironically, who is from Egypt. She's Egyptian, and the irony,

comes into play later. And she, you know, we started talking. I shared with her my whole story. And she entered the conversation and the relationship thinking perhaps we can have a relationship. And then she tells me after a few dates and hanging out and going out and doing this and that, she's like, God put me here to prepare you for your next relationship. I'm not meant to be with you. So I left that night. Wow. Yeah. So I left that night thinking. thinking, all right, let me go, let me go hook up with somebody. And I did. I did. That night,

I went somewhere and I hooked up with somebody else. And because I'm like, okay, this is going nowhere. But she insisted on taking me to church. And she took me to that Times Square Church a couple times. And the first two times, you know, I heard things, I saw things. And it was different, for me, it was different from anything I saw in Catholic Church. It was completely, I was like, what is this? I was like, I tell people I was a Catholic snob to, me, I knew nothing else. All I knew was the Catholic Church. And I go into Times Square Church and it's different and it's moving and I'm feeling now as I look back, I'm like, that was the Holy Spirit working. That was the Holy Spirit working within me. And that led me to the third visit

there on August 29, 2010 where I heard the testimony of a drug dealer and that drug dealer talked about having a stash of cocaine and there was a big bust and a cop took it and threw it down the sewer and told him, I'm going to give you a second chance at life. I'm not going to arrest you right now. And he said he took off, that drug dealer took off, never sold drugs, never did drugs again. And to him, that cop was Jesus in disguise. And he turned his life around. He changed his life around. He was up there preaching and sharing that day. And that was when the pastor did the invitation. I walked down from, I was sitting in a nosebleed section at Times Square Church, and I still got the time. I'm like, yeah, I'm not, why? But she held my hand and she walked me down,

and that's where I surrendered everything to the Lord. And people are cheering for me. I'm like, what is this? Turn around. People are cheering for me. People I never met in my life are hugging me because I guess I don't know if anyone else walked down to the front of, and went for that altar call. I don't know if anyone else was there or if I was the one most dramatically crying and doing whatever I was doing in that moment. But people were cheering me on. People were hugging me. They were encouraging me. And I felt like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders in that moment because I felt like I'm no longer in this fight, in this battle by myself. I am no longer going through life alone because what I finally did was I invited the Lord into my heart.

And rather than praying one day a week and then doing my thing for six days, I'm going to carry him in hear and have him guide me and lead me and help me. So I walked out of there that day completely changed. It's not, it's not a dramatic turn where like, okay, the next day, you're, you're, I'm a new man and a new person, but I had to ease into it. And I had to continually grow. And I had to surround myself now with different influences. And that's where I started meeting and, and reaching. Now I start gravitating in the locker room towards, you know, all those players who are saying, I give all the glory and praise to Jesus Christ or posting about a Bible verse on their Instagram or their Twitter or wherever. Now I'm gravitating towards them in a locker room because I want to listen

to them speak. And then they found an appreciation for me wanting to be there because most microphones and cameras walk away. Right. And now I'm the one guy standing there and I'm listening. And now I'm talking to them, hey, about that Bible verse. What did that mean to you? And what did this mean to you. And in life, outside the locker room, off the field, a couple different people who saw a little bit of a change in me started inviting me, Billy to the Deacon's prison ministry. Another guy, Timmy DeMoss, invited me to play on his Christian softball team and surrounded myself with better influences. And that relationship with that woman who held my hand and walked me down to the front of that church quickly ended as she predicted. God put her there to

prepare me for the next one. Three months later, I met Remy, who also, what I said, ironically, is from Egypt, and we ended up getting engaged 10, 11 months later, married, six months after that, and then a year after that, God blessed us with twin daughters. So it's a magical, incredible transformation, and I feel like everybody along the way played a role. We'll be right back. Everyone's talking about all in one place. And it's free. My heart radio.

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No subscription. Always free. Grab the free app. My name is Josie Duffy Rice. I'm a journalist who covers the criminal legal system. And over my career, I've heard account after account of prosecutorial misconduct, story after story of injustice. but I've never heard a story quite like this.

The more I kept reading that stuff, I thought, man, there's more red flags that just kept coming up over and over. We'll hypnotize him to strengthen that memory. So he went into a good france. I really didn't believe any of it was real. And I was like, well, they're going to figure out this is not me. They're going to do their police job. Listen to Examined the Backfire Effect on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's up y'all? It's Questlove. And on the Questlove show, I've been sitting down with some really interesting people.

And I've got two recent episodes you should check out. I caught up with my good friend Jojo to talk about her music, her career, and what she's been up to. Don't invite me to karaoke. I'm going to make it weird. Someone's going to try to sing, leave get out, or too little, too late, or baby to you. Oh, no. and I'm going to be like, okay, cool. I also caught up with Wally-2-667 for a conversation that covered his story, his perspective, and plenty more.

I don't even call it Cheat Day. That's a life day. I'm not doing nothing. Don't try to be slick and just go Sunday. Go Wednesday. This is what you do. Sleep later. Make a reservation for the rest of a little later.

Just chill. Listen to the music you want to listen to. Just enjoy it. It's going to be all right. Nothing's going to have you. You're going to wake up Wednesday. I'm like, ah, and you're going to feel better. And those are just two of the many recent episodes of the Questlove show.

Listen to the Questlove show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, wherever you get your podcast. Peace. Hi, it's Alec Baldwin. This season on my podcast, here's the thing I'm speaking with more artists, policymakers, and performers like actor Stephen Root. I think for me to be any good or for any character act to be any good,

you've got to put enough of yourself and your empathy for people in it. I'm a people watcher. You see that guy going down the dream? Yeah, I can use that. Open Igloo co-founder, Alia Mohammed. I love staying on top of what is going on in our city, what is going on in city politics,

what is on renter's minds, and taking all of that knowledge to build a platform that hopefully is going to make New York City better in the long run. And actress and singer Melissa Eriko. Partnership took on a whole other meaning when I started making my own work.

It's like you with a great actress or actor. It was best to come out of your trailer, full of life, and just face another person who's full of life and don't talk. Listen to Here's the Thing on the IHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Michael Imperioli. I want to tell you about my new podcast, Underground Zero. It's about what happened in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks

on the World Trade Center in New York. We're looking at the opportunity of a lifetime for us and the other families. While the world was mourning, five powerful New York families saw an opportunity. The debris supposed to go to the city-owned salvage yard, and some of it will. They would go on to make millions of dollars. What's in the tunnels? Gold bars, silver ingots. It could be worth half a billion.

And they would have made more if it hadn't been for one courageous cop. No, Dad, don't. You're going to need all of us. I'll call you when I can. Frank, be careful. Underground Zero. Starring Steve Sharippa, Ray Abruzzo, and me, Michael Imperioly. Would you be willing to see your family go to pieces? Some ways it already has.

Listen to Underground Zero on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Now is where we come full circle to the prison ministry and all of us stuff. And you came home from a five-day prison crusade. ready to quit sports journalism and going to ministry full-time. Then a pastor told you, nah, dude,

almost like the Egyptian girl that said, I'm here to prepare you for someone else. You and I are not meant to be together. Then a pastor almost said to you, nah, that's not get carried away. Yeah. So, you told me this at the table when we first met.

I thought this was a great story. This was 2016. So now it's two years in the Deacons Prison Ministry. And I'm two years into it, a couple of crusades. This time we go, that year we went to Ohio. And we went to Ohio, and I was on fire, man. We played some great teams, and we got our butts whipped by some. You can ask you something.

These prison guys actually play ball. Yeah. There's some good ball players in there. Oh, my goodness. So you can tell when you walk into prison, some of them, we'll walk into some prisons, and they're wearing prison garb. And they've got to borrow our glove. then we'll walk into some prisons where they've got a league set up.

They're in full uniform. They, I mean, they look better. You know you're about to place a ball. They look better than, they look better than us, right? We walk in there. They've got equipment. They've got, you know, they've got their swag, their wristbands, and they've got every, they've got some of that.

Some might have some sunglasses or whatever. We're about to face, so we face some teams where guys are hitting bombs off of us, right? And we went to, we went to Ohio. I can't remember the name of this prison, but I saw some home runs hit further than I've ever seen a ball hit in my life. But it was such a great impactful trip that time because I had an opportunity. It was like we all rotated and took turns, but I think after the first or second time that I spoke, our leaders kind of felt like this might be Rob's week. Let's just like let's ride him a little bit. So I'm preaching in maybe six or seven of those, and I saw thousands of guys except in Christ.

That was the trip where I saw we're baptizing guy here, bottles of water, home plate, and we're baptizing these guys. And I came home from that trip, I'm like, I am meant to do this. Like, this is what I have to do. I come home. My wife and I had just bought a new house in New Jersey where taxes are ridiculous. and I would, if you live in Jersey, don't. It's just, I mean, taxed it for what, you know?

And our daughters are two and a half at the time. And I sit down there and I tell Remy, babe, this trip was like, it's just eye-opening. I got to go in a full-time ministry. And Remy being a great wife that she is, like, you know, honey, I love, I appreciate your heart, right? I appreciate your heart. I want you to pray on it. And I think you and I probably both know, pray. on it from a wife means, I hope God tells you don't do this, because I don't want to be the

reason you didn't do it. So I didn't want to tell you not to do it. I want God to tell you. So, honey, take your time and go pray on it. So rather than pray on it, this is me. I reach out to a pastor who had mentored several of the Eagles players, Pastor Kaah Horner. And he played, he was a quarterback at Tennessee before Peyton Manning. Yeah, he was a high school legend in South Jersey, great quarterback, and went out to Tennessee, played there before Peyton, ended up transferring to Richmond. Never got that story if it was because of Peyton or not. But anyway. Probably. Yeah, I would too. So we needed a Starbucks, and we're sitting there, and I tell them this grand plan I have of leaving this job that it's hard to come by, right?

It's a good gig. Right? I'm the lead sports writer for the AP covering all the Philly teams, Phillies, Flyers, Sixers, Eagles. I've got all this. We talked about all the access and all the stuff and everything that led to where I am. And at the time, I'm also doing radio and I'm doing different things. And he says to me, that's great, right? But I think, Rob, you're thinking of it the wrong way. Rather than league, God gave you skill, talent, and ability for a reason, rather than quit and go in a full-time ministry where we have enough people doing full-time ministry, we need more people doing marketplace ministry. And he said, take Jesus to your marketplace. And that clicked for me. I was like, wow. Take Jesus to your market. To your marketplace, which is each one of us,

wherever we are, if we're a man of faith, right, wherever we are, whatever we're doing, we can take the Lord into our marketplace and impact. We all have a circle of influence. It could be as small as our house. It could be a school. It could be a coaching position. Wherever it is. And you don't have to do. So I took those words. I went back. I told Remy, and she's like, I wasn't going to let you quit anyway. And at the time, I had written two books, two devotionals, baseball faith with baseball players, football faith with NFL players. So I was taking Jesus to my marketplace and didn't even understand it. They didn't even realize like, hey, I can do this. I can stay here, continue what I'm doing, use these relationships and this platform and turn it into something good.

And that's how faith on the field came about. Within six, seven months, we launched Faith on the Field Show is a radio show initially on ESPN Philly in April 2017, and we are now going into our 10th season. We're nine years running. We at one point, we're on 17 different radio stations across the country. They're syndicated, right? Yeah. And now we've launched a ministry, a nonprofit, and we're all about connecting people to

Christ, helping people through mental health and prioritizing that and mental wellness. What is your encouragement to the people listening to us right now about redemption, about old Rob, new Rob, good rap, bodrope, Rob, and in what you want to say to the people listening to now, how they join the ranks of the Army and normal folks and have impact in our society? Well, first, it's an honor to be considered. a member of the army of normal folks, and I love to be considered somebody who's looked upon as one of the army of normal folks. It starts with this. Whatever we've done in our past,

any issues that we're dealing with now, all of that can't take control of us. It can't overtake us. Everything that has troubled us, any issues, all of it, we can always start fresh, we can always start new. So we are redeemed. We are forgiven.

If we seek it, if we forgive ourselves, we are forgiven. And sometimes the hardest part is forgiving yourself and moving on. And then taking the lessons you've learned to make someone else's life better. Because if you have all the answers to the test and you keep them to yourself, life is just one big major challenge. And I'm going to keep everything to myself. Why wouldn't I share to help make your life better? or to help make your life better.

Why would I exist to keep everything to myself? Why would I stop it being follower? Okay, I'm a follow. So many people stop at that because they're afraid to take that next step. You're a follower, you know what to do. You're living, but I'm going to keep it to myself. I'm intimidated.

I don't want to stand in front of crowds. I don't want to speak. It's not about that. It's not about the microphone. It's about how can you impact people by the way you live your life. And you don't need a major platform. You don't have to have a radio show or anything syndicated or a TV show or any of that stuff.

You impact people by the way you treat them. If you're loving on people, if you're treating people with respect and you have character and you have integrity, other people will notice that how you deal with adversity, how you handle a tough situation. If you're dealing with that and flipping out and freaking out or are you calm and knowing people will notice and ask you, Where do you get that from? How can I be like that? How can I help that? So I want people to know it's never too late. You're always, there's an opportunity for you to be forgiven.

No matter what you've done in life, I taught prison ministry. I've gone into prison and seen what people would consider the worst members of society, right? Who've committed heinous acts. It's never too late for them. Why can't it not be too late for you to change your life to find, your joy to find your peace to find your purpose. And what is your purpose to be an accumulator of things? Or is your purpose to be a changer of the world?

To make a difference and be a blessing in people's lives. That's well said, Rob. How do people find faith on the field? Just anywhere you get your podcast, Faith onafield Show.com too as well. We launched on FaithPoints TV. So now people get to see my mug as long, not just listen to me.

Yeah, we went on YouTube, and our viewership has dropped precipitously when they saw what I looked like. So I hope it works out better for you. Yeah, it's everywhere. That's it. Everybody from an interesting happenstance meeting at a table, it's stand together to my show here in Memphis, Rob. Thanks so much for coming and join us. Thanks for being so transparent about your story. And thanks for all that you do in our society to try to make it the best place it can be.

I appreciate you, brother. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you for the hospitality. And it's an absolute honor and a pleasure to be here. And thank you for joining us this week. If Rob Motty has inspired you in general or better yet to take action by being transparent about your own life to help others transform theirs, becoming a coach, or something else entirely. let me know about it. I really do want to hear about it.

You can write me anytime at bill at normalfolks.org, and I promise you, I'll respond. If you enjoyed this episode, share our friends on on social, subscribe to the podcast, wherever you're watching or listening to it. Rate it, review it.

Join the army at normalfolks.org. Join or start one of our local service clubs. Take the 10-level challenge. Buy our merch, any and all of these things. that will help us grow an army of normal folks. I'm Bill Courtney. Until next time, do it you can.

In 1986, a man named Scott Macklam was killed in broad daylight. Police quickly found their suspect. Prosecutors convicted him. But now, almost 40 years later, I'm re-examining this case. I really didn't believe any of it was real. And I was like, well, they're going to figure out this is not me. They're going to do their police job. Has the wrong man been in prison this whole time?

Listen to Examine the backfire effect on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On recent episodes of the Questlove show, I chatted with Jojo about her music and Wallo 267 about his story, everything in between. Don't invite me to karaoke. I'm going to make it weird. Someone's going to try to sing, leave it out, or too little too late, or baby, it's you. Oh, no. And I'm going to be like, okay, cool. Check out my conversation with JoJo, Wilo 267, and more on the Questlove show.

Listen to the Questlove show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Peace. Hey, it's Alec Baldwin. This season on my podcast, Here's the Thing. I talk to actor Stephen Root. I'm a people watcher. You see that guy going down to the ring though. Yeah, I can use that.

And Open Igloo co-founder, Alia Muhammad. I love staying on top of what is going on. in our city, what is on renter's minds, and taking all of that knowledge to build a platform that hopefully is going to make New York City better in the long run. Listen to Here's the Thing on the IHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I believe that whoever was in that room and did that was a murderer. A new podcast series, Faultline Haditha, tells the story of a shocking crime and a cover-up at the highest levels of the United States Marine Corps.

If you've got five players and you'll have. offer immunity to four, you better be right about the fifth. Because if you're not, then you've just given immunity to your killer. Listen to Faultline Haditha on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We've all heard the phrase all things in moderation, but that's clearly not us. That's why we're celebrating 300 episodes of That's Messed Up, our Law & Order SVU podcast, where we cover the real crimes behind the stories and interview actors from the show. We're doing it big for the 300th episode. We've got Icon, Heartthrob, and SVU guest start. John Stamos, and we're best friends now.

In waiting for Guffman, Chris... Are you serious? It's like her favorite movie. That's like my favorite movie of all the time. I've seen it like 150 times. Me too. Oh my God. New episodes of That's Messed Up,

drop Tuesdays. Listen to That's Messed Up on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Back to School is here and you know what that means. Dirty Rush is on. As campuses come back to life and Rush Week kicks into high gear, we're taking you inside the mysterious journey of a sorority girl. from pledging to initiation and just about everything in between.

Join me, Gia Judice, Daisy Kent, and Jen Fessler. Dirty Rush takes you deep inside Greek life. Let's get dirty. Listen to Dirty Rush on the IHRRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Every case has a story. Every victim has a voice, but will it be heard? I mean, it's He Grace. On crime stories, we go beyond headlines to examine.

evidence, challenge the story we're fed, and pursue justice for victims and their families. Please join us at Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you find your podcasts. Hope you join us. I'll see you there, friend.