THIS IS THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST WITH MATT FORTE, FEATURING ALEX HIGHSMITH
Alex Highsmith is a linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was selected in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft after a stellar college career with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte 49ers.
In 2022, Highsmith led the Steelers with a career-high 14.5 sacks and tied for the NFL lead with five forced fumbles. He was rewarded in July 2023 with a four-year contract extension. He will be entering his seventh season with Pittsburgh in 2026.
Today on the podcast, we talk to Alex Highsmith about representing Christ as a football player, growing in his faith, the pressure of performing on the field, and giving back to his community
Wide receiver Jordyn Tyson cries while standing with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after being drafted by the New Orleans Saints, April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Moments later, overcome with emotion after being selected No. 8 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Arizona State star receiver embraced commissioner Roger Goodell on stage as tears streamed down his face.
Speaking with ESPN after his selection, he said his joy comes from the Lord.
“I’m just so thankful, so blessed,” he said. “The Lord’s doing work on me and He’s not done. We’re going to keep this thing rolling. I’m going to give Him my all, and that’s all I can do.”
"So thankful. So blessed. the Lord is doing work on me, and he's not done!" – @tyson_jordyn
After starting his career at Colorado, Tyson broke out at Arizona State, where he was twice named a first-team All-Big 12 selection. His best season statistically came in 2024 when he caught 75 passes for 1,101 yards and 10 touchdowns. He followed that up with 61 catches for 711 yards and eight touchdowns in 2025.
He did all of that while battling a litany of injuries that sidelined him for 15 games throughout his three years of college ball. A season-ending knee injury ended his freshman season in 2022, and then he transferred to ASU, where he continued to rehab the injury while redshirting the 2023 season.
He played 12 games for Arizona State in 2024 before suffering a broken collarbone that kept him off the field for the team’s College Football Playoff run. He entered the 2025 season still with a high draft stock, but a hamstring injury in October ended up keeping him out for three weeks and lingered for the rest of the season.
When healthy, scouts still see an incredibly high ceiling. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. rated him as the No. 7 prospect entering the draft, and despite being the second wide receiver taken — Ohio State’s Carnell Tate was drafted by the Tennessee Titans at No. 4 — ESPN analyst Louis Riddick said Tyson was the best wide receiver in the draft.
When asked about those injuries by ESPN, Tyson once again pointed to God.
“The Lord said it’s going to be hard and you have to persevere,” he said. “Life is not easy. Keep going. You’ve got it. You’re strong — I promise you, you’re so strong. Just keep going. You’ve got it.”
His injuries are part of his testimony, he shared while on “The Walk” podcast this past fall.
“I feel like God truly put all these trials and tribulations in my life to better me,” Tyson said, while wearing a “Jesus Won” t-shirt. “He talks about that all throughout the Bible of trials and maturity. You’ve got to learn from it and become better.”
For example, when he injured his collarbone, he didn’t really feel too down about it.
“That’s just because of my faith,” he said on the podcast. “I truly believe, so I think that God put that in my life just to see how much I’ve grown, to see how much I’ve learned, to see how much I’ve trusted in Him. I truly believe if I hadn’t had those injuries, I would not be in this position.”
The son of military parents, Tyson grew up in Allen, Texas, in a disciplined household. He attended church occasionally, but he never spent time reading the Bible for himself. A lot of his growth, both on and off the field, happened at Arizona State. He met some guys involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), and his understanding of God grew deeper.
“I didn’t realize Jesus really had His hand on me my whole life,” he told “The Walk.” “I was so lost in the things of the world and just living life trying to make it through years. But Jesus really had His hand on me the whole time, and I was just so naive to it. … I didn’t give all the credit to Him at first, but now I give all the credit to Him.”
Reflecting on that time of his life, he also recently shared with CBN Sports that he saw someone on campus who was living a Christian life and decided he wanted that for his life as well.
“I wonder where his strength is coming from. I wonder what he’s got going on,” Tyson said. “They told me the Good News of Jesus and that’s when my heart was just completely changed. I got baptized and now it’s my everything. It’s what I lay my life on. It’s my foundation. I just continue to lean on Him every day knowing He has a plan, knowing He has my best interests and knowing that this world isn’t my end-all-be-all.
He posted on Instagram to celebrate getting baptized in April 2025. The caption read in part, “I serve a perfect and amazing God and I am nothing without him.” Tyson calls himself “God’s Soldier” in his Instagram bio, where he also lists the Bible verse 2 Timothy 2:3.
Now in the NFL, the competition is only going to get tougher. Injuries are sure to be part of the journey. But Tyson told “The Walk” that he has full trust in God’s plans for his life.
“I feel like regardless of what happens in my life, I’m still going to be a follower, still going to have that faith,” Tyson said. “There’s obviously some stuff that I want to happen, but it doesn’t work like that all the time.”
Sam Acho warms up before a game, Dec. 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
If you’re preparing for the NFL Draft weekend, I know exactly how you feel. Here’s what I wish I’d known.
I wish I knew that it was all going to be OK. That I would go to the right team, at the right time. I wish I knew how to tune out the noise. The agents, the friends, even the family. I wish I had truly trusted God with the outcome. Because He had me covered.
My draft story was 15 years ago. I was coming out of the University of Texas as an All-American on the field and in the classroom. I had trained for the NFL Combine, visited teams, sat down with coaches and general managers. I had dominated the Senior Bowl. I had done everything my agent said I needed to do. I’d checked every box. All that was left was the wait. And that’s where I made my first mistake: I thought I was in control.
Teams will tell you they are going to draft you. They will not. They have plans, but plans change on the clock. So don’t get your hopes up. But also, keep your pride down.
My pride was out of control by Day 2. So much so that God had to humble me by putting a huge pimple right in the center of my forehead. One of those deep ones that didn’t go away for a week. In hindsight, that pimple was hilarious. At the time? I was furious, or more accurately, puffed up.
I was sure I’d hear my name on Day 2. My agent told me. The coaches told me. Everyone told me — except God. I had a draft party planned for Day 1 and Day 2. Nothing planned for Day 3. Those rounds were reserved for other people, or so I thought.
None of it happened on my timeline. All of it happened on His. You don’t have to be what anyone says you need to be. Be faithful. God will provide.
I didn’t feel sick when my name wasn’t called; I felt betrayed. I felt duped. I felt like I had been lied to. I went to my room and cried. And then I did something I wish I’d done from the start: I cried out to God.
“God,” I pleaded. “You know my heart. You know I’m not in it for the fame, the women, or the money. God, I just want to make Your name famous. Lord, please give me a chance. I don’t care if I get drafted, just give me a chance.”
God heard my prayer. He had stripped the pride out of me. “Humble yourselves before the Lord,” Scripture says, “and he will lift you up.”
The next morning, I slept in. I wasn’t even sure when Day 3 started, but I was somber. I knew that if God gave me a chance, I would be grateful. He had burned away my pride in my heart and let me start from ground zero. There is no better place to start.
I want you to hear this: Every good and perfect gift comes from God. Getting drafted was a gift. “Falling” to the fourth round was a gift — the one I needed. That fall launched a nine-year NFL career, and it’s the reason I’m still in the game today, working in media and helping athletes build wealth. None of it happened on my timeline. All of it happened on His. You don’t have to be what anyone says you need to be. Be faithful. God will provide.
So, if you’re reading this right now, have hope. You’ve already done more than 99% of your peers. You’ve done your best — trust God with the rest.
Sam Acho is a former NFL linebacker, current ESPN analyst, author, and Family Office Advisor at AWM Capital. He played nine seasons in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson runs a drill at the NFL Combine on Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Ty Simpson doesn’t know where he’ll be playing football next season. The former Alabama star is projected to be the second quarterback chosen — behind Indiana QB and Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza — when the 2026 NFL Draft kicks off Thursday from Pittsburgh.
Soon, Simpson will have a new city he’ll call home, a new playbook to study, and a new coaching staff to begin learning under.
What he’s 100% sure of, however, is his salvation through his faith in Jesus Christ.
“I know where I’m going,” he said in December on “The Walk” podcast. “I have full confidence knowing where I’m going. That’s how I see it. We’re His children and we’re here to spread His Word because of what He did. But at the same time, if the Lord Jesus comes back tomorrow, like in Revelation and the earth dissolves like that, I know what’s going to happen.
“The question is, do you?”
After starring at Westview High School in Martin, Tennessee — where he led his team to Class 2A state championship his senior year — he signed with Alabama as a five-star recruit. Despite being a highly touted prospect in 2022, he served primarily as a backup until earning the starting job as a junior this past season.
A second-team All-SEC selection, he started 15 games and threw for 3,567 yards, 28 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He led Alabama to a College Football Playoff berth, where it lost in the quarterfinals to eventual national-champion Indiana in the Rose Bowl.
Sitting the bench and not playing regularly was admittedly difficult for him, Simpson said. His identity had become wrapped up in his football performance and success.
“It just got no fun,” he said an interview with CBN Sports. “I just dreaded coming into the building every day, going to practice, going to meetings, because it just wasn’t very fun to me. I saw myself as a certain type of figure, and that was just football.”
He remembers a scrimmage going poorly, and when he got back to his apartment, his father, Jason, was there. Ty began tearing up and getting emotional. Jason has been the head football coach at the University of Tennessee-Martin since 2006, so he’s a resource for Ty when the young QB needs to discuss football. But his father is also a major source of encouragement in his walk with God.
Jason sends Ty scriptures over text messages each morning, and that day in the apartment Jason challenged his son about his faith — whether he was in the Word, involved in a local church, and praying regularly to seek guidance from God.
“It really kind of opened my eyes because I was like, ‘No, I’m not,'” Ty told CBN Sports. “I was more focused on how people saw me as a football player and how people perceived me as an athlete instead of how people saw me as a Christian and a person. I was living a type of way that I knew was wrong, but it was the one that I wanted to do.”
Jason has been there from the beginning of both Ty’s football career as well as his faith journey. Ty remembers being 7 or 8 years old sitting in a pew at church asking his father questions about the Christian faith. He asked what it meant to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Jason, who served as a deacon at the church, led him through the basics of what it meant to be a Christian, and how accepting Jesus as his Savior would secure eternal life in Heaven.
“It’s the greatest feeling in the world,” Ty told “The Walk” podcast. “Throwing a touchdown pass, getting married, none of that really matters compared to giving your life to Christ.
“I remember that pew that day. I tugged my dad’s khakis and I was like, ‘Yeah, I want to go up and talk to my pastor.’ We went up to talk to the pastor, took the steps forward, got saved and baptized later in the next couple of weeks. I remember it like it was yesterday just because it was a big step in my life and means a lot to me and that’s kind of how I am the person [that I am] today because of that.”
.@ty_simpson06 is ready to do whatever it takes to get his team the W 😎
That conversation with his dad in his apartment had a similar effect, but this time he was much older and more mature with an even better understanding of what his dad was saying. Later that night, Ty rededicated his life to the Lord.
“I kind of just sat back and prayed,” he told CBN Sports. “It was just a big sigh of relief off my shoulders — no anxiety, just felt free, honestly.”
That spiritual freedom allowed Simpson to play more free on the field with more peace in his heart and mind. His favorite verse is Micah 5:5, which says, “And he will be our peace when the Assyrians invade our land and march through our fortresses. We will raise against them seven shepherds, even eight commanders.”
Simpson’s faith has allowed him to have peace in big games in front of large crowds, which won’t change as he moves on to the NFL.
“It just gave me a different perspective of, like, ‘Why would I be upset over how people look at me or how I played when knowing there’s such a bigger purpose?’ There’s a reason why I’m playing this game,” he told CBN Sports. “It’s not just because I’m good and whatever. There’s a reason why it’s working out the way it’s working out, and it’s not up to me.”
That reason?
“To use my platform to give the glory to the Lord,” he told CBN Sports. “We say this all the time — I want people to see me more as a Christian than as a football player.”
Tony Dungy (left) and Cooper Kupp. (Photo courtesy of X/@TonyDungy)
The first four months of 2026 have been good to Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp.
In February, the 32-year-old won his second Super Bowl title when the Seahawks took down the New England Patriots, 29-13, in Super Bowl LX. Then on Friday at Grace Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, he was presented with the 2026 Uncommon Award by legendary Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy.
Dungy presents the Uncommon Award annually to someone who, according to the event website, isn’t “afraid to take the tough road, to follow a higher calling or set a higher standard.” Dungy’s passion for living an uncommon life and calling others to do the same came from his father, his collegiate coach at Minnesota, Cal Stoll, and Jesus’ words in the Bible passage Matthew 7:13-14.
We’re at our 13th annual Uncommon Award dinner and this year we are honoring Cooper Kupp. Cooper is a 2 time Super Bowl champ and an amazing man as well. He’s been a great leader for the Rams & the Seahawks and a true community servant. Cooper has shown that you can be at the top… pic.twitter.com/GqiQKXdzJV
The presentation of the Uncommon Award to Kupp was followed Saturday morning by the Arise with the Guys men’s event, which was attended by nearly 4,000 men. The event seeks to prepare men to create meaningful change and live an uncommon life. Recently-retired Minnesota Vikings fullback C.J. Ham was one of the speakers, and the event concluded with a Gospel presentation.
The morning centered on Kupp and Dungy as they participated in a Q&A, where they talked about football and their shared faith in Christ.
“I was made to play the game of football,” Kupp said on the stage. “Not to go do great football things or to win Super Bowls. I was made to play football to be on a stage to be able to point to Jesus, to be able to call people to Him, to be able to live a life that reflects Jesus in every way. I know that I would not be here without Him.”
Kupp was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams out of Eastern Washington in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft and made an immediate splash in L.A. with 869 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie. He continued to develop over the next few years, culminating in a historic 2021 campaign.
That season, he earned the NFL’s receiving “triple crown” in which he led the league in receptions (145), yards (1,947) and touchdowns (16). Kupp was named a Pro Bowler, a first-team All-Pro, and the NFL Offensive Player of the Year, and he capped the season by leading his team to a 23-20 victory in Super Bowl LVI. He was the game’s MVP.
After three more seasons with the Rams, he was released and quickly re-signed by Seattle, where he continued to be a starter. His consistency and veteran leadership proved invaluable on the team’s journey to a Super Bowl title; he caught six passes for 61 yards in the big game.
Kupp’s full Q&A was featured in this week’s “Tuesday Morning RB” on the Sports Spectrum Podcast, and when asked about his release from the Rams only to be signed by the Seahawks and win a Super Bowl, he talked about trusting God’s goodness in the uncertainty.
“God has a plan for you that isn’t always going to be in alignment with what you want for yourself,” Kupp said. “But His plan is better. I promise you, it’s better. You know, I’ve lived that out. This year was a great example.”
Later, Kupp revealed that he signs autographs with one of his favorite Bible verses, 1 Corinthians 9:25, which says, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” After Kupp quoted it, he reflected on its significance to him.
“I’m working out at 7:00 in the morning. I’m here not because I’m getting ready for a game. I’m here because I’m representing Jesus on earth,” he said. “That is a mindset that is going to give you everything you need, all the motivation you need, to go out and be the best football player that you can possibly be. More than enough motivation.
“We should be the hardest workers in the world, because we’re working for an eternal prize.”
Kupp was asked about what the Lord taught him in the past year, from the low of being released to the high of winning a Super Bowl with his favorite childhood team.
“What God taught me is that He’s there,” Kupp said. “He’s there for us, and when you pursue Him, He’s going to answer the bell. He will answer the bell, I promise you. Do not leave. Just stay on the path that He has for you because He is there for you and He has a great plan for you.”
Whatever 2026-27 holds for Kupp, this year’s Uncommon Award winner will seek to continue to live the uncommon life God has called him to.
