Mike Fisher (left) and Matt Hasselbeck (right) in June 2019 (Photo by Sports Spectrum)
THIS IS EPISODE 367 OF THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST
Mike Fisher played 19 seasons in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators and Nashville Predators from 1999-2018, retiring after the 2018 season. He’s married to country singer Carrie Underwood and has two children.
Matt Hasselbeck played 17 seasons in the NFL with the Packers, Seahawks, Titans and Colts from 1999-2015, retiring after the 2015 season. He’s currently an analyst with ESPN, is married to Sarah and has three children.
On this episode of the podcast, Hasselbeck takes the mic to interview Fisher about their friendship, faith in sports, social media, retirement, role models and daily spiritual disciplines.
Nick and Marcus Foligno have built long NHL careers on toughness, leadership and a willingness to rise in big moments. But this season, perhaps the moment that matters most won’t show up in a box score.
Though the two brothers play on separate teams, they’re teaming up to raise money for breast cancer research in honor of their late mother, Janis, who died in 2009. Through a partnership with the Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild, NHL, NHLPA and the V Foundation via Hockey Fights Cancer, the Foligno Face-Off has become one of the most meaningful initiatives of their careers.
“It’s really special,” Nick, the Blackhawks captain, recently told NHL.com. “Obviously, it’s something that’s near and dear to us with our mother and losing her to breast cancer. But the fight continues and that’s something Marcus and I have always said we would do in her honor is to continue to fight and continue to find ways to make it a better outcome for somebody else. I think she’d be proud of that.”
This year’s campaign invites fans to donate $17 — a nod to the number both brothers wear — or whatever they can give. One hundred percent of every donation goes directly to the V Foundation for breast cancer research, expanding the impact of the Janis Foligno Foundation, which has raised more than $1.2 million for research and patient care.
For the brothers, this is more than a cause. It’s a continuation of the life their mother helped shape. Her voice, her presence and her joy still echo in the memories that shaped them. While their dad, Mike, played in the NHL, Janis was often the one driving them to their own games and practices, which were often several hours away.
She made plenty of sacrifices to help both brothers reach their dreams of playing professional hockey.
“Our dad played hockey, and we listened to him for advice on how to play,” Marcus, a forward for the Wild, told The Athletic in 2023. “But if it wasn’t for our mom getting us where we needed to go, being such a supporter and booster of our confidence, I don’t think we would have made it.”
“She was the drill sergeant in the family, the motivator, the everything, really,” Nick told The Athletic. “She was the rock — which is why it really rocked our family when we lost her.”
Though she never saw the full arc of their NHL careers, she did see both boys get drafted and saw the start of Nick’s career after he was drafted in 2006 and made his debut in 2007. Marcus was drafted in June 2009 — by the Buffalo Sabres, one of the teams his father played for — and Janis passed away in July.
“It was emotional,” Marcus told The Athletic. “You think your mother hung on for that day, to see you get drafted. It was weird how full circle it was. Buffalo. It could have been anywhere in the NHL. She knew I’d be going home with a lot of family and friends there. She knew I’d be good. I’d be safe. It was a crazy, crazy, special moment.”
The lessons she instilled carry forward in both men’s lives, now shaping the way both brothers parent their own kids and the way they lead in their locker rooms.
Their faith in God also plays a central role in how they move through grief, success and every season in between. Both are actively involved with Hockey Ministries International.
Nick often returns to the clarity of Romans 12:12, which says, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
“I just love how simple and direct a message it is,” he once told HMI. “I think it perfectly describes the journey we go on in our faith in Christ. Always be hopeful because without it, I firmly believe we are lost. When hard times come, be patient and strong and know it won’t last. And lastly be constantly in dialogue with Jesus because to me that’s how you stay connected.”
Marcus said he’s fortunate to be able to play the game he loves “with Christ guiding me through all the ups and downs.”
“Attending team chapels throughout the season also helps me,” he once told HMI. “Our schedule is demanding and it’s easy to get caught up in uncontrollable events. Chapel provides a place for me and some of my teammates to sit down, reflect and grow our faith together. It helps us see the bigger picture and ease the stresses that come with our job — and to let go and focus on Jesus.”
Nick missed the first of his face-offs with Marcus (Nov. 26) due to injury, but the brothers are scheduled to meet three more times this season (Jan. 27, March 17 and March 19). Each time, fans can choose between Team Nick or Team Marcus, and each donor will be entered to win a Hockey Fights Cancer jersey signed by both brothers, as well as a signed puck from one of the teams.
Stories of life transformation from the pro sports world
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Though Alex Highsmith grew up going to church, God was never real to him. In college, he tried out the party scene as a way to fit in, but ultimately found that lifestyle to be unfulfilling. Then when some friends introduced him to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, he joined them. Soon thereafter at a larger conference, God opened Alex’s eyes and heart — he realized for first time that he’s a sinner in need of a Savior. With his heart thumping in his chest, Alex felt the Holy Spirit drawing him to the Lord. That night, Jesus became real.
Watch the video above to hear Alex Highsmith tell his “I Once Was” story.
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We’re all in the middle of a story, and whether we admit it or not, we want our stories to matter. It’s those stories of deep and lasting impact that come to life when a person encounters Jesus, and responds to Him by faith. “I Once Was” invites those in the pro sports world to share their own transformational stories, describing the very moment that changed their lives forever.
Seattle Seahawks LB Ernest Jones IV celebrates one of his 12 tackles, Nov. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Seattle Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV played one of the best games of his five-year career — and one of the best individual defensive performances of the NFL season — on Sunday in his team’s 26-0 victory against the Minnesota Vikings.
The 26-year-old Jones recorded 12 combined tackles (seven solo), two passes defended, and two interceptions during the contest. He took his first interception 85 yards the other way for Seattle’s first touchdown of the game.
“That was my first ever defensive touchdown,” Jones said about his pick-six in his postgame press conference. “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen the end zone, so it was great.”
Jones’ second interception of the day came in Minnesota territory and set up Seattle’s second score, a 17-yard scamper from running back Zach Charbonnet in the fourth quarter.
The dominant win marked Seattle’s first shutout since 2015, when the “Legion of Boom” roamed Seattle’s Lumen Field, and it moved the Seahawks (9-3) into a tie with the Los Angeles Rams for first place in the NFC West (L.A. currently holds the tiebreaker thanks to a head-to-head win on Nov. 16). The teams will match up again in Seattle on Thursday, Dec. 18, with the division title hanging in the balance.
Jones, who was drafted by those Rams in the third round out of South Carolina in 2021, won Super Bowl LVI with Los Angeles as a rookie. He spent two more seasons with the franchise before getting traded to the Tennessee Titans just ahead of the 2024 season. Jones’ stint with the Titans lasted only six games, however, because he was sent back west to join the Seahawks that October.
“For me, being traded twice, that was a little shocker at first,” Jones said after the second trade, via HeraldNet.com. “But honestly, I’m thankful for the opportunity that God has given me. I’m getting to come to an organization that wants to win — loves to win — and has got the pieces now to win.”
His arrival helped to revamp the team’s run defense mid-season as the team finished 10-7 last year. Then in March, Seattle rewarded Jones with a lucrative three-year contract extension, and it has paid off nicely. Including Sunday’s numbers, Jones has now amassed a team-leading 83 combined tackles, along with seven passes defended and five interceptions (both career highs; his interception total ranks second in the NFL) this fall.
Yet for the Waycross, Georgia, native, he doesn’t want his life to be remembered for how much money he made or how many ballcarriers he tackled.
“Once football is over with, you know, not too many people are going to remember the football player,” Jones said in Sunday’s press conference. “I want everybody to remember the person.”
He later explained what he hopes people do remember when they think of him.
“At the end of the day when we leave this earth,” he said, “what type of person were you? Can people count on you? Can people trust you?”
For Jones, his answers to those questions ultimately stem from his relationship with Jesus. He said he was convicted this week that it was a relationship he has been neglecting.
“I told the guys that I feel like I’ve been missing something,” Jones said in his press conference. “I wear this cross around my neck, but I haven’t really been living like it. So for me, I took this time this week and just gave my life back to my Lord and [Savior], Jesus Christ. Got back on my knees, started praying. … I got that peace that I was missing, and it’s gonna help me.”
Jones occasionally posts about his faith on Instagram and X, and he wore specially designed cleats during Sunday’s game for the NFL’s “My Cause My Cleats” initiative. The cleats highlighted Wings for Ewing, a nonprofit dedicated to finding a cure for Ewing Sarcoma. Jones’ father passed away in July after battling the cancer.
Jones knows that the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, blessings and trials intermingle throughout a life lived for Christ. His ending, however, is secure.
“I’m a big believer in Jesus Christ,” he said in April 2024, via the Rams’ team website. “So I know at the end of the day, I’m taken care of.”
Jones and the Seahawks hope to replicate their impressive performance and keep pace in the competitive NFC West next week in Atlanta against the Falcons (4-8). Kickoff is set for Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
New England Patriots tight end Hunter Henry runs after a catch, Nov. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Joneleit)
Stop us if you’ve heard this before: The New England Patriots are the best team in the AFC.
After an incredible run spanning 21 years in which New England made the playoffs 18 times with six Super Bowls (a stretch that included 17 consecutive seasons with 10 or more wins), the team had finished below .500 and out of the playoffs for the past three seasons. But that postseason drought will come to a screeching halt in 2025.
With a come-from-behind 26-20 win at Cincinnati on Sunday, this year’s Patriots have won nine straight games and seized sole possession of first place in the AFC with a 10-2 record.
The Patriots fell behind 10-0 in the second quarter on Sunday, but responded with a 28-yard touchdown to Henry on the next drive. New England grabbed the lead with a touchdown less than two minutes later and never relinquished it on the way to a hard-fought road win. For the day, Henry snagged seven receptions for a career-high 115 receiving yards and his crucial second-quarter touchdown.
“I put a lot of work in,” Henry said in the press conference. “I’ve been incredibly blessed in this profession to be where I am. God has extraordinarily blessed me — I couldn’t do it without Him. To be here, with this team, I take a lot of pride in it. It’s been a fun ride, and I’m excited for the journey ahead.”
Henry’s previous career high in single-game receiving yards was 109, which came in Week 2 a year ago. Including Sunday’s performance, only three times in his 10-year career has the vet eclipsed the 100-yard receiving plateau. The 2025 campaign as a whole is shaping up to be the soon-to-be-31-year-old’s best to date; he’s on pace to set a new single-season career high in receiving yards (currently 674, also set last season). The Arkansas native and former Razorback already has 537 receiving yards with five games remaining.
It appears Henry’s fifth season in a Patriots uniform will also end in the playoffs, a place he’s only been twice before. In 2018 with the Los Angeles Chargers, the team that drafted him 35th overall in 2016, Henry lost (to the Patriots) and he did not record a catch. In 2021 with New England, his team lost to the Buffalo Bills and he caught only one pass for 30 yards.
Despite dealing with a rash of injuries and a string of losing seasons throughout his time in the NFL, Henry has been public about his steadfast faith in Christ. As the son of a pastor, Henry grew up in the church and became a believer when he was 9 or 10. His faith deepened in college, and now as an NFL star he seeks to share the Good News of the Gospel with millions of adoring fans.
In September 2022, Henry joined the Sports Spectrum Podcast to talk about his NFL career, his faith in Christ, and being a father (he has two children with another on the way).
“I’m out there to glorify God,” Henry said on the podcast about being in the NFL. “He gave me these abilities, and this is a way for me to go out there and worship Him. I always say I apply it to everything, but really on the football field, I’m out there playing for one reason, and that’s the Creator that gave me these abilities.”
Henry — who was baptized in the Jordan River in 2020 along with his wife, Parker — has also been involved in the work of International Justice Mission for much of his professional career, including showcasing the organization during the NFL’s “My Cause My Cleats” initiative. IJM works to protect people in poverty from violence and human trafficking.
This past September, the Henrys hosted Rally for Rescue, an event that featured fast-paced ping-pong matches and a silent auction, all to support IJM’s mission.
“We are excited to bring people together for a cause that matters deeply to us,” Henry said ahead of Rally for Rescue. “After traveling to the IJM Kenya office this spring, Parker and I knew we wanted to continue doing what we could to support IJM. Through Rally for Rescue, we hope to inspire action, raise critical funds, and amplify the fight for justice around the globe.”
Henry spoke with Sports Spectrum in 2020 about how his faith in Jesus led him to get involved with IJM.
“[IJM’s] values behind when they’re able to save these people, and what’s behind them going to do all this, is Christ,” he said. “And just sharing that, sharing the Gospel with people at the same time, but also using [the Gospel] for all their work and that’s what’s behind everything … that’s what drew me to them more than any other organization.”
With IJM, Henry is busy combating injustices in the world that grieve God’s heart. With the Patriots, Henry has helped his team accumulate the NFL’s longest current win streak. He and his teammates will have an opportunity to extend that streak to 10 next week at home against the New York Giants (2-10) on “Monday Night Football.” Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. ET.
