THIS IS THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST WITH MATT FORTE & JASON ROMANO, FEATURING TOMMY EDMAN
Tommy Edman is a Gold Glove infielder and outfielder with the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2024, he was named MVP of the National League Championship Series and helped the Dodgers to a World Series championship over the New York Yankees.
Today on the podcast, Tommy Edman reflects on his whirlwind 2024 of injuries, being traded, winning NLCS MVP and the World Series championship.
Andy Pettitte in March 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
THIS IS THE GET IN THE GAME PODCAST
HOSTED BY SCOTT LINEBRINK
Our guest today is Andy Pettitte, a New York Yankees legend who played 18 years in the majors — 15 with New York and three with Houston. He was a five-time World Series champion and three-time All-Star.
Booger McFarland in November 2022. (AP Photo/Tyler Kaufman)
THIS IS THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST HOSTED BY MATT FORTE, FEATURING BOOGER MCFARLAND
Anthony “Booger” McFarland is a former NFL player, two-time Super Bowl champion, and current college and NFL analyst for ESPN.
After becoming a first-team All-American in 1998 with LSU, McFarland was selected in the first round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He played eight seasons with Tampa and won a Super Bowl ring in 2002 before being traded to Indianapolis in October 2006. He spent two seasons with the Colts and won another Super Bowl ring in ’06 before retiring after the 2007 season.
In 2014, McFarland began his broadcasting journey when he joined the SEC Network and ESPN. In 2018, he joined ESPN as an NFL and college football analyst.
Today on the podcast, Booger McFarland talks with Matt Forte about his NFL career, trusting in God’s plan, lessons learned from Tony Dungy, and his broadcast journey.
NEW PODCAST: Monday Night Football analyst Booger McFarland @ESPNBooger shares his amazing football journey from player to broadcaster and how his faith has guided him through all of the hills and valleys.
From left: Dodgers players Tommy Edman, Mookie Betts, Blake Treinen, Justin Wrobleski, Evan Phillips and Alex Call at Faith Day, Sept. 20, 2026. (Photo via Instagram/@acad_8)
The Los Angeles Dodgers have already clinched their fifth straight National League Division championship and now have their sights set on October, where they hope to become just the third franchise to win three consecutive World Series titles. There’s loads of talent up and down the roster, and there’s also a strong core of believers who are vocal about their faith in God.
Six players — utility man Tommy Edman, star outfielder Mookie Betts, reliever Blake Treinen, starting pitcher Justin Wrobleski, reliever Evan Phillips and outfielder Alex Call — joined team chaplain Brandon Cash for Faith and Family Day on Sunday, where they shared their testimonies and how their faith guides them as professional baseball players. It’s an annual event many teams hold, like the Cleveland Guardians and Pittsburgh Pirates.
All six are regular attendees of team chapels and seen as leaders in the clubhouse as much as they are on the field. Call, for example, was traded from the Washington Nationals to L.A. at the trade deadline last season. Cash said he was excited because he heard Call was the spiritual leader in the Washington clubhouse, and he’s since carried that over to the Dodgers.
His testimony mirrored many of his teammates’ in a lot of ways in that he grew up in church with parents who modeled what it looked like to have a strong faith. Like a lot of believers, once he was on his own in college and then as a professional player, he had to decide if his faith was his own or just something he believed because his parents did.
“That’s where it kind of became real for me,” Call said. “I went from, ‘Yeah, I don’t do this or this because I’m a Christian’ to ‘God calls us all to be disciple makers. He calls us all to love and to be a blessing.’ That’s where I turned it up a notch and try not to be ashamed of the Gospel or anything else — just glorify Jesus in my daily life and on the field.”
Wrobleski had a similar upbringing thanks to a mother who set an example and raised him in the faith.
“It’s been a journey for me,” he said. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say there were ups and downs with my faith and God trying to show me things and get me back to where I need to be. Every time I feel like I’ve been down in my life or I feel like things aren’t going the way that I want, it’s just God showing me I need to get back to the Word and pray.”
A first-time All-Star this year, Wrobleski has been a pleasant surprise for the Dodgers and a mainstay in the rotation, making 22 starts with a 3.70 ERA. The Dodgers could use him either in the rotation or as a long reliever in the postseason like last year.
He shared that a verse that’s stuck with him lately is Romans 12:12, which says, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
“That’s something I’m trying to live out right now,” he said. “It’s a journey. Knowing Jesus obviously gives you that peace when you’re out there. For me, it’s big before the game. It’s a super big blessing to pitch for the Dodgers, but there’s a lot of pressure that comes with it. Just knowing that the results aren’t always what matters; it’s just giving your performance to the Lord, good or bad, and that’s kind of been something I’m trying to do this year.”
That pressure is felt by all the players. They know the expectations that come with playing in L.A. They know their team is loaded with talent and high-priced players.
Edman — who shared that his faith grew substantially when he was in college at Stanford thanks to faith mentors and involvement in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes — said he handles the scrutiny of playing pro baseball by remembering that his identity is in Christ.
“As a baseball player, one of the big struggles that we have is our identity being tied up in our performance on the field or being just a baseball player,” Edman said. “Baseball is such a crazy long season and a rollercoaster of emotions that you can go up and down like crazy.
“I have my identity rooted in my role as a son of God and a follower of Jesus Christ. I always have that in my foundation. Not to say that helps me perform on the field, but it definitely allows me to have that inner peace regardless of how I’ve done on the baseball field.”
Each player has a different background that led them to where they are personally and professionally, and that’s something that makes the chapel dynamic unique, Cash said. For example, Betts didn’t really grow up in the church like some of his teammates did. He spent most of his weekends playing baseball, and going to church just wasn’t much of a priority.
“As I got a little older playing ball, I kind of wanted the sense of purpose, because ball is just an avenue to show what God has given me and given all of us,” said Betts, an eight-time All-Star. “Once I wanted to learn my purpose, I think going to chapel, getting to know Cash, getting to know these guys has really changed my life completely. These are literally like my brothers. Obviously we’ve grown playing baseball and winning together, but I think we’ve grown the most in our Bible studies and our chapels on Sundays.”
He said he just read through 1 and 2 Kings, where he read about King Soloman and how he was wise and felt on top of the world. Betts saw some similarities to pro baseball.
“When you’re on top of the world and everything’s going great, but you lose what’s important, which is God, you kind of lose everything,” he said. “No matter how good or bad I do, I make sure to give glory to God and I make sure that every day I pray and give glory to Him because everything we have here is for Him.”
Treinen, who’s now in his seventh season with the Dodgers, shared that he sort of begrudgingly attended church growing up. His mother was a member of the worship team, which meant he often spent all morning and part of the afternoon at church when he would’ve rather been home watching football.
“As I’ve gotten older, I’ve greatly appreciated the stubbornness and consistency that my mom put in my life for me and my brother to take us to church on Sunday,” he said. “It was a lot as a kid, but it built a structure of faith and a standard of worship in life.”
He recalled a moment at a youth conference at the University of Tennessee where he said he “felt the tangible presence of the Holy Spirit just rock me and put me in my seat.” He recounted how Christians should always be able to give an answer for the hope they have in Jesus, and that experience is what he goes back to when explaining where he first believed.
“We all have the right to believe what we want,” he said. “But when you see the truth and the facts and the tangible hand of God in your life, it separates just wanting to be a good person and knowing Jesus is real, to ‘this is absolute.’ I’ve experienced the presence of the Father and I will forever with my life.”
Sam Acho in January 2026. (Photo by Allen Kee/ESPN Images)
THIS IS THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST HOSTED BY MATT FORTE, FEATURING SAM ACHO
Sam Acho played nine seasons in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was selected in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL Draft by Arizona after a stellar collegiate career with the Texas Longhorns. He is currently an ESPN analyst, author of two books, and the host of “The Sam Acho Podcast.”
Today, Sam Acho returns to the show to talk with his former teammate, Matt Forte, about their days with the Chicago Bears, what life is like now as a broadcaster, what it means to have limits and tradeoffs, and his love for the country of Nigeria.
