Show notes
Subscribe to this podcast so you can be alerted to conversations like this one with 3-time champion arena league football coach Jason Gibson, who also was a star wide receiver in college football and the CFL. He talks about being off the field during the COVID-19 pandemic.Before introducing our guest for this week's episode of Run The Race, (1:25) I talk about signing up for The Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee. More than 18,000+ around the world are taking part in an event organized by "Laz." The challenge: run or walk 632 miles over the next 4 months. Let's do this!(5:14) We start our interview with getting to know Jason Gibson, who is in his 14th season as head coach and director of football operations for the Columbus Lions football team in Georgia. He's led the arena league team to the playoffs all but 1 of those years, winning 3 championships so far.(8:00) We talk about life without sports right now. How are players and coaches and fans handling it? Coach Gibson says God is telling us to slow down. The Columbus Lions were supposed to start their season 3 weeks ago but instead, his football players are getting creative with workouts while social distancing. Everyone is finding ways to stay fit while at home.The big question is, (12:15) when will sports return? The coach gives his insight as people look forward to Nascar, PGA, baseball, football and more. He says playing arena football with no fans in the stands would be "weird."Then there's faith. (14:15) We chat about the disconnect when you're not attending church in person and how Coach Gibson's daily routine is changing, especially as a father who's homeschooling 2 of their 3 kids. It's more time with his family, but how much does he miss coaching? And how will COVID-19 change our world and sports forever?(20;01) We look back at his football playing days, as a QB-turned-star WR for Fairmont State University (WV) then going pro, playing in the Canadian Football League and in Europe. He misses the grind of workouts, even in "strength shoes" and talks about life lessons learned from being benched his senior year of college football.(24:36) We talk about how faith and football mix on the high school and semi-pro levels. Coach Gibson says it's vital to learn how to come back after failing. He teaches faith, family and football - in that order.We close our conversation (29:01) with a look ahead to arena league football possibly returning in June and the NFL season not being in danger as much as other sports.(33:18) The "Food for Thought" segment focuses on Alabama alum-now Miami Dolphins QB Tua's faith foundation and some college football players' "farm boy workouts." We close out the podcast in prayer.Thanks for listening! And please share it with your friends using #RunTheRacePodcast. Also, write a quick review about it. For more info, go to www.wtvm.com/podcast/.