Florida State University quarterback Charlie Ward (17) in the 1994 Orange Bowl. (AP Photo/Doug Mills)
THIS IS EPISODE 176 OF THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST
Charlie Ward played 11 seasons in the NBA with the Knicks, Spurs and Rockets. He was selected in the first round of the 1994 NBA Draft by New York (26th overall) after a stellar college career that saw him also shine as a football player.
In 1993, Ward won the Heisman Trophy as college football’s most outstanding player and led Florida State to the national championship. Thirteen years later, he would be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Ward is the only Heisman Trophy winner to ever play in the NBA, and he was a member of the Knicks team in 1999 that made it all the way to the NBA Finals before losing to San Antonio.
On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Ward about the 25th anniversary of that 1993 college football season, deciding to play pro basketball instead of football, what Florida State coach Bobby Bowden taught him about faith, how he lived his life in the NBA as an outspoken follower of Christ, and why he decided to start the Charlie Ward Family Foundation.
You can follow Charlie on Instagram @charliewardofficial and Twitter @RealCharlieWard. You can also order his new book, “The Athlete: Greatness, Grace and the Unprecedented life of Charlie Ward,” here.
THIS IS THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST, FEATURING JORDAN STAAL
Jordan Staal is a veteran NHL center and captain of the reigning Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. Selected No. 2 overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2006, Staal has played more than 1,500 NHL games over 21 seasons, recording more than 800 points, and he’s won two Stanley Cups — one with Pittsburgh in 2009 and with Carolina in 2026. Last season, he also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after leading Carolina to the championship.
Today on the podcast, Jordan Staal talks to Scott Linebrink about his strong faith in Jesus, winning his second Stanley Cup, sharing his faith in the NHL, winning the Conn Smythe Trophy, and the importance of a Godly teammate in Jaccob Slavin.
San Antonio Spurs center Tarris Reed Jr. (10), Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
It’s been quite the week for Tarris Reed Jr.
Last Tuesday, the San Antonio Spurs rookie center fulfilled a lifelong dream when he made his NBA debut in a 116-104 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, logging one minute of game action. He received a DNP on Friday, but on Saturday against the Dallas Mavericks, he played seven minutes, grabbed three rebounds and scored the first two points of his career as his team won, 122-106.
However, basketball milestones weren’t the only things on Reed’s plate. The morning following his first bucket, the 23-year-old underwent the sacrament of baptism at Community Bible Church in San Antonio. Reed shared the joyous news with the world by posting a video on Instagram.
“It’s been on my heart for a while now to be baptized,” Reed captioned his post in part. “I wanted to publicly signify my union with Christ and what it means to walk in His grace, mercy, and NEWNESS OF LIFE!
“The Lord has placed me in a unique position to help others come to know Christ and experience His life changing power. To think that I went from wanting nothing to do with the Lord to now desiring to live for Him is something I never could have imagined. I never would have thought my life would look like this.
“I thank the Lord for His grace and mercy, and for placing me in a position where I can share the Gospel, reach others, and hopefully make an eternal impact on their lives. All glory to God!”
He frequently praises God in posts on Instagram, where he writes “Through Christ alone” in his bio. One such post came in the aftermath of losing the college basketball national championship game to Michigan as a member of the UConn Huskies last April. On the flight back to Storrs, Connecticut, Reed was inspired to speak at an Athletes in Action campus ministry meeting less than 24 hours after the final buzzer sounded in Indianapolis.
And not only did Reed speak about the pain of losing the title game, he also shared his testimony of faith in Jesus. It began as many do. He was introduced to Christ at a young age and frequently attended church, yet he lacked a deep personal relationship with Jesus. His passion was basketball, not the glory of God.
The St. Louis native drifted from the faith as a freshman at Michigan in 2022-23, the very same program that would defeat him on the biggest stage three years later. But a convicting conversation with his strength and conditioning coach led him to truly and intentionally begin reading the Bible, starting with the Book of Matthew.
“It was my first time really learning about Jesus — who He was, how He walked, how He taught, who He helped,” Reed said in his speech. “… From there, that fire was lit. I started to understand who Jesus was and really build a relationship. It put everything into perspective — not making basketball an idol, but seeing it as worship.”
Reed also played the 2023-24 season at Michigan before transferring to UConn, where he blossomed, winning Big East Sixth Man of the Year in 2025 and being named first-team All-Big East in 2026. He was selected with the 26th overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets and immediately traded to the Spurs.
Reed has continued to testify to his faith in Christ on social media and elsewhere during his short time in the NBA, a practice he began while still in college. Amid the pain and disappointment of losing the national championship game, Reed praised the Lord during his postgame press conference.
“I’m filled with gratitude just looking around, just so thankful for it all,” he said on the podcast. “It’s crazy how I’m at my last year, going into my last semester, and now I’m realizing, ‘Wow, look at the Lord. Look what the Lord has blessed me with.’ I wish I could have known this in my freshman year. … Be grateful for it, man, because this is it for me.”
Later in the podcast, he talked about being born again in Christ.
“Jesus just wiped my eyes clean,” he said. “I got to see the world through a whole new lens. That’s really where my journey began. That’s where the seed — my whole life — just grew and it started to blossom from there.”
Reed is now baptized, playing with gratitude for who Jesus is, and worshiping Him with his basketball abilities. Secure in his union with Christ, Reed will continue to try to carve out minutes for himself and help the Spurs in their quest to return to the NBA Finals.
Next up, San Antonio hosts the Sacramento Kings (0-3) on Tuesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
Falcons rookie LB Kendal Daniels returns his interception, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
The San Francisco 49ers fell from the dwindling ranks of unbeaten NFL teams on Sunday when they were clipped in Atlanta by the previously 2-4 Falcons, 29-20.
What makes the story even more notable is that Kendal Daniels, the Falcons rookie linebacker who helped seal the win with an interception of Niners QB Brock Purdy late in the fourth quarter, was lying motionless on a stretcher just one week ago.
With Atlanta leading by six and the 49ers near midfield with just under three minutes to go in the game, Purdy fired a pass over the middle. Daniels rose up, deflected the pass, caught the ball, and scampered 29 yards the other way.
@AtlantaFalcons rookie Kendal Daniels gets his first career interception in the clutch
Following the interception, Atlanta would tack on a field goal to go ahead by two scores. On the ensuing possession, San Francisco fumbled in Falcons territory and Daniels hopped on the ball. Daniels’ interception was the first of his young NFL career, as was his fumble recovery. The 23-year-old also recorded a team-leading and career-high 11 combined tackles on the day.
All the while, Daniels wore the green dot on his helmet, given to the player receiving communications from the defensive coordinator and responsible for relaying the play calls to his teammates. That’s typically veteran linebacker Divine Deablo’s job, but he was out with an injury, so the tall task went to Daniels. The Falcons defense held San Fransisco, the league’s No. 1 scoring team, to a season-low 20 points.
Daniels — who has started all seven games of his NFL career, including on Sunday — looked no worse for the wear after his frightening injury seven days before.
In last week’s 31-23 loss to the Chicago Bears, Daniels stayed down after making an awkward tackle in the third quarter. As both teams gathered around him, he was loaded on a stretcher, carted off the field, and taken to a nearby hospital. Positive reports began to emerge about Daniels’ condition later in the day, and by the evening he was back with his team.
“That’s remarkable, truly,” Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski said Sunday in his postgame press conference. “What a great kid. We just gave him a game ball, and he deserves it, because what a week. What a seven days that was. Seven days ago, we’re in here talking about him being at the hospital and talking to his family and all the emotional stuff that he went through.
“And then, oh by the way, go play in a game against (49ers head coach) Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy and put the green dot on and call the defense. That’s unbelievable to just do that. And then, to make a play at the end? Man, really proud of that kid.”
In an on-field interview with a Falcons team reporter moments after Sunday’s game, Daniels said he was “blessed to be able to come back a week after a scary fall. Just all thanks, glory to God. He put me back out here, so all the plays I made today was Him.”
Later, he was asked what went into forcing his two game-clinching turnovers.
“God,” he said. “He put me in a position to make the plays.”
Daniels starred for Oklahoma State from 2021-24 before transferring to Oklahoma ahead of the 2025 campaign. Following a season in which he moved from safety to linebacker, Daniels was drafted in the fourth round by the Falcons in April’s NFL Draft.
The Beggs, Oklahoma, native continued to praise God in the locker room after Sunday’s victory.
“I’m blessed, man,” he told the media. “I just thanked God all week. … I was just sore all week, but I’ve played through worse pain than that. So, I knew God was telling me that I needed to play. He guided me to play this week and helped me and guided me to play well for my team.”
Later, Daniels thanked all those who prayed for him.
“The power of prayer is strong,” he said, “and I felt like the Atlanta Falcons fan base really took care of me and prayed for me.”
Daniels writes “Give It To God” with a praying hands emoji in his Instagram bio, and the young father has been known to express his gratitude to God in posts on the social media site.
In a week that Daniels described as “the craziest week of my life,” he saw like never before the protective power of God on full display.
Daniels and the Falcons are now just a half-game out of first place in the NFC South with another divisional matchup up next. They will travel to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-5) on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
THIS IS THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST, FEATURING RYAN JOHANSEN
Ryan Johansen played 13 seasons in the NHL, spanning from 2011 through 2024. He was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2010 and made his NHL debut in 2011. After five seasons with the Blue Jackets, he was traded to the Nashville Predators and helped them to their first-ever Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 2017. After seven seasons with Nashville, he was traded to Colorado in 2023 and spent one season with the Avalanche. He officially announced his retirement in March 2026 after a 905-game career.
Today on the podcast, Ryan Johansen joins former NHL player Nate Prosser for a conversation on faith, hockey and marriage. Ryan shares his incredible story of coming to faith in Jesus and why it’s never too late to give your life over to God.
