THIS IS EPISODE 545 OF THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST
Steve Palazzolo is a former pro baseball pitcher who is currently a senior analyst with Pro Football Focus, a football analytics website.
He played his college baseball at UMass-Lowell and wasn’t drafted, but signed to play independent-league ball with the Florence Freedom in Kentucky. He was able to turn that opportunity into an eight-year pro baseball career that saw him reach as high as Triple-A with the Brewers, Giants and Mariners organizations.
After his baseball career came to an end in 2011, he pursued his passion to work in pro football, joining Cris Collinsworth and the team from Pro Football Focus. Palazzolo currently lives in Cincinnati with his wife and four children, and serves in the local church and with a local addiction program called “Heritage House.”
On today’s podcast, we talk to Palazzolo about his pro baseball career, his unique job with Pro Football Focus, coming to faith on a baseball road trip in Nashville, and his desire to serve those who are stuck in addiction.
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.
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
It’s fitting that pitcher Drew Rasmussen will start at some point for the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series against the Milwaukee Brewers. After the season and postseason he’s had, he’s become Tampa’s ace. But for him, the reasons for why this is so meaningful go far deeper than just baseball.
He credits his strong faith in God for enduring the arduous, injury-riddled, somewhat roundabout journey between both organizations.
The Rays drafted him in the first round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of Oregon State, but he failed his physical and never signed. He suffered an elbow injury in 2016 that required Tommy John surgery, but returned in 2017 to pitch in eight games and make four starts.
That was enough to convince the Rays to select him, but a subsequent physical revealed that his elbow wasn’t quite fully healthy. Instead of starting his pro career, he needed another Tommy John surgery, which he underwent in September 2017. He missed the entire 2018 season while rehabbing and didn’t have a chance to pitch again to help his draft stock.
“I would say 2017 was when it really hit me that everything the world promises to you is temporary. It’s fleeting,” Rasmussen said recently in a video with Travel Chapel. “There’s no long-term joy. When you lean on the things of this earth, you’re just going to find empty promises. They might bring you momentary happiness, but it’s not everlasting joy.”
He was crushed when he had to go back to school, but the next two years allowed him to mature in his faith.
Even though he grew up going to church and youth group every week, he wouldn’t have considered himself a “man of faith” or someone “searching after God” when he arrived at Oregon State. One of the campus leaders for Fellowship of Christian Athletes started pouring into Rasmussen regularly during his freshman year, inviting him to his house and other events, but Rasmussen said he doesn’t remember taking him up on an offer even one time.
But during his sophomore year, Rasmussen got more curious about God and started digging into the Bible at the “ground level.” Then the first injury came.
“I do think God does a lot of His best work in your life when things are going poorly,” Rasmussen told Travel Chapel.
That injury and the second elbow surgery, along with the disappointment about not being able to make the jump to the pros, is what led him to dive even deeper into his faith.
Despite the injury and time away from the mound, the Brewers drafted Rasmussen in the sixth round of the 2018 draft. He returned to the mound and spent all of 2019 in the minor leagues. He then made his MLB debut in August 2020 during the COVID-shortened season, appearing in 12 games and posting a 5.87 ERA with 21 strikeouts across 15.1 innings pitched.
He started the 2021 season in the bullpen, but the Brewers traded him to the Rays in May 2021. It was disorienting for both him and his wife, Stevie, whom he married in 2020. The Brewers were all they knew in pro ball, and they loved the people in the organization.
“It’s funny looking back on things. What can seem so hard in a moment, God is actually using for something significantly better,” Rasmussen said.
He’s since found a home with the Rays. He’s been selected to the American League All-Star team the last two seasons, and this year he’s been Tampa Bay’s ace all year long. He led the team with 16 wins and 174 strikeouts in the regular season — both career highs — and posted a 2.67 ERA. In the postseason, he leads the team with 21.0 innings pitched and 23 strikeouts to go with two wins and a 1.29 ERA. He won’t pitch Game 1, but will be plenty rested for Game 2 or 3.
But baseball aside, he’s also felt at home in the clubhouse and has connected deeply with team chaplains and his teammates.
“The guys in the clubhouse were exactly what I needed, and God knew He had to put me in the Tampa Bay organization to be surrounded by guys like Ryan Thompson, Jalen Beeks, the year later Jason Adam,” Rasmussen told Travel Chapel. “These are all great men of faith and people I aspire to be like. Although they’re teammates, they’re friends. They’re further on in their walk than I am, so He’s put me in a place where I’ve had great role models and people that are living out their faith on a daily basis.
“He took something my wife and I thought was so negative and He’s turned it into the biggest blessing and the biggest positive in our lives.”
Rasmussen pitched well in 2022 and was off to a good start in 2023 until an elbow injury required him to undergo an internal brace procedure, which ended his season after just eight starts. Before that, he could tell he was starting to “drift” spiritually. The forced slowdown of recovering from surgery allowed him and Stevie to grow even stronger in their faith.
“I think God truly used that time to just say, ‘Hey, look, I’m always here,'” Rasmussen said. “I’m not perfect. I’m nowhere near it. Thank God, because He’s accepting, and the gift of salvation is something I don’t deserve. As I started to drift, I think He put some guardrails in my life, and I think He’s done it two or three other times.”
Stevie even got baptized while he was rehabbing.
“Seeing her evolve is also one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen,” he said. “Being here in Tampa has been unbelievable. And just the people we’ve been surrounded by here, it truly has been amazing. It’s been a blessing. Compared to the miracles of the Bible, I don’t know if you could call it that, but it’s a miracle for Stevie and I.”
Rasmussen and the Rays are on the road to start the World Series. Game 1 is set for 8 p.m. ET Friday on Fox.
Ohio State football players (L-R) T.J. Alford, Luke Montgomery and Epi Sitanilei at the "Fall Kickoff" event, Oct. 19, 2026. (Photo by Lucas Cochran/@lucascochranmedia)
Fresh off of Saturday’s win over defending national champion Indiana, members of the Ohio State football team were back on campus Monday to spread the Gospel and participate in what has become an annual campus-wide worship night. “Fall Kickoff: an Invitation to Jesus” is now in its third year hosted by Ohio State players, and included worship, athletes sharing their testimonies, and ended with a mass baptism.
Nearly 1,000 people were in attendance and 35 baptisms took place, according to Mairin O’Brien, a former OSU swimmer who helped organize this year’s event.
Current football players Beau Atkinson, T.J. Alford, Epi Sitanilei and Carson Hinzman were four of the six student-athletes who shared their testimonies, as field hockey player Katie Fichtner and dance team member Chloe Cerreto also spoke. Numerous athletes wore “Jesus Won” T-shirts.
Former football players Gee Scott Jr., Master Teague and Kamryn Babb also spoke and have been leaders in keeping the event going since helping plan the inaugural event in 2024. That night drew nearly 2,000 people, and since then each subsequent event has brought a spotlight on Jesus around campus and the sports world at large.
Other former players like wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, running back TreVeyon Henderson, defensive back Caleb Downs and linebacker Sonny Styles have participated in previous years, but currently are busy with their respective NFL teams.
“Just for two hours, three hours, however [long] we’re here for, just put [all stressors] to the side,” Babb said, according to The Lantern, Ohio State’s independent student newspaper. “And I promise you, He wants to meet you. So if you just give Him your heart, you’ll be so surprised on what He can do.”
Hinzman, a fifth-year center, shared his testimony of growing up in rural western Wisconsin, where he regularly attended church with his family but couldn’t quite discern God’s meaning for his life. He didn’t play a snap as a freshman and started to contemplate if he should transfer elsewhere.
His father encouraged him to pray about it.
“I just cried and praised the Lord,” Hinzman told the crowd. “[I thought,] ‘I don’t know what to do anymore, I have no other way to go. I feel like I’m just an embarrassment. I feel like I can’t do this right.'”
Looking back, he can see how he was putting a lot of unnecessary pressure on himself thinking about people back home who he wanted to “do good for.”
“I felt that my validation came through what I did in my sport,” he said.
He eventually went on to earn a starting role and help lead the Buckeyes to the 2024-25 national championship, and he now has a more mature and tested faith to share with others. One student told The Lantern that it was the faith of the Ohio State football players that led her to attend school there.
Ohio State’s 2024 event sparked a wave of similar events on college campuses across the country. Last month, nearly 400 people showed up to an athlete-led worship event at the University of Toledo, where 50 people were baptized. Last year at the University of Pittsburgh, athletes hosted an event called “Pitt for Jesus” that featured baptisms, live worship music, prayer and athlete testimonies. They hosted another event this year.
Current NFL stars like C.J. Stroud and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who regularly proclaim their faith in Christ, were eternally impacted while at Ohio State. That was largely because of teammates like Babb, Scott and Teague, who continue to pour into the athletes in Columbus, Ohio.
“Over the last couple years we’ve really seen the Lord start a revival on our team,” Egbuka said in 2024. That revival continues.
On the football field, Ohio State is 5-1 and ranked No. 3 in the most recent AP top-25 poll after beating Indiana. The Buckeyes have a bye this week and will play again Oct. 31 on the road against USC.
Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young points Heavenward, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
If the Carolina Panthers are to repeat as NFC South champions in 2026-27, leaving Philadelphia on Sunday with a victory over the Eagles — who were playing without starting QB Jalen Hurts and starting RB Saquon Barkley — was essential. And that’s just what Carolina did after its workmanlike 25-14 win, which improved the Panthers to 3-2 on the season and gave them a two-game lead in the loss column in the divisional race.
Carolina was led once again by quarterback Bryce Young, who continued his spectacular start to the season with 281 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and no turnovers. In the process, he set a franchise record for touchdown passes through five games with 11, and he leads the entire NFL in passing yards per game (309.8).
“First and foremost, all glory to God,” Young told CBS in an on-field interview moments after the final whistle. “I’m nothing without my Lord and Savior.”
His postgame comments were not the first time Young had publicly acknowledged his Father in Heaven on the field on Sunday; he also bowed his head in prayer when he saw an Eagles defender on the ground injured in the second quarter.
“First and foremost, I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” he said. “Without Him I couldn’t be here. And through Him all things are possible.”
Then immediately after being selected No. 1 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft by Carolina, Young told ESPN, “I’m blessed. I want to thank God for allowing me to be here.”
Now 25 and an early-season contender for 2026 NFL MVP, Young is on a career trajectory that has almost completely turned around. He struggled as a rookie as his team went 2-15 in 2023-24. The next season didn’t start any better, as Young threw three interceptions without a touchdown and the Panthers started 0-2. Young was benched before the third game, with no timetable for his return. He did eventually return to the starting lineup later that season.
He was asked about his 2024 benching on “The Pivot Podcast” this past February, and he described that time as a “blessing.”
“That was one of the first times in a professional sense that I had no choice,” Young said on the podcast. “I think that wasn’t an accident. I think God put me there to know that faith is real, for me to strengthen my faith. Really, for me to be able to experience God in a different way.”
Young knows the adversity he faced early in his NFL career was simply one step in a lifelong journey of God drawing the quarterback into a deeper relationship with Himself.
“I’m based in faith,” Young said on the Sports Spectrum Podcast while at Alabama in 2022. “I’m blessed to have the family that I do that introduced me [to Christ] when I was young. Throughout my life, my relationship has grown with the Lord and my faith has improved.
“Through that, I work to be the best version of myself that I can be, and to embody Christ in all that I do.”
On the field, Young will seek to continue his hot start next week against the division-rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-5). Kickoff is set for Charlotte on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
