You think in today's kind of crazy college football world, we don't tell enough good stories about people doing good work off the field.

I think there's so much benefit in sharing good.

And thank you so much for having me.

So the Allstate ASCA Good Works team is a team that I got a chance to be a part of back in 2010 during my playing career at Texas.

And what it is, it's a team that recognizes the good work that players do off of the field.

And so don't get me wrong, these are some of the best players in college football athletically, but they're also players who are donating their time, their talent, and their treasures off the field as well and so i think about players like uh edwin spillman who's a linebacker at tennessee who was born in sierra leone and adopted and moved to tennessee to nashville and now he still goes back and does work to help people back in sierra leone think about guys like michael allen who's a safety at baylor who raises money and donates his own money for rare disease research even uh this year there's the first female collegiate athlete recipient or, you know, member of the team named Gianna Bennett, who she's a kicker at Northwestern college in Iowa.

And she's a part of a program called every kick counts and she raises money for stillbirth prevention.

So while there's so much attention on what might be the negative side of NIL, there is this other side of people that are using the platform and money to do good things.

And to have you as the ambassador, I love it.

No, it's awesome.

Well, thank you all so much for having me.

And to your point, you see so much about the negative, but you very rarely hear about the positive and the good that athletes are doing in the community.

And so for me, it's an honor to be an ambassador for the Allstate AFCA Good Works team, which is a member of 20, which means it's 22 student athletes and one honorary coach who were recognized not just for the work they do on the football field, but also for the work that they do off of the football field.

So these are people who are raising money for stillbirth prevention, people who are going to different countries and volunteering their time.

Some of these student athletes are collecting other students to go and serve in their communities.

That's going to be a tough one.

And to have you as the ambassador, I love it.

No, it's awesome.

Well, thank you all so much for having me.

And to your point, you see so much about the negative, but you very rarely hear about the positive and the good that athletes are doing in the community.

And so for me, it's an honor to be an ambassador for the Allstate AFCA Good Works team, which is a member of which means it's 22 student athletes and one honorary coach who were recognized not just for the work they do on the football field, but also for the work that they do off of the football field.

So these are people who are raising money for stillbirth prevention, people who are going to different countries and volunteering their time.

Some of these student athletes are collecting other students to go and serve in their communities.

That's going to be a tough one.

And to have you as the ambassador, I love it.

No, it's awesome.

Well, thank you all so much for having me.

And to your point, you see so much about the negative, but you very rarely hear about the positive and the good that athletes are doing in the community.

And so for me, it's an honor to be an ambassador for the Allstate AFCA Good Works team, which means it's 22 student athletes and one honorary coach who are recognized not just for the work they do on the football field, but also for the work that they do off of the football field.

So these are people who are raising money for stillbirth prevention, people who are going to different countries and volunteering their time.

Some people are, some of these student athletes are collecting other students to go and serve in their communities.

That's going to be a tough one.

So if you're David Blau, the offense coordinator, you don't have to tweak your offense too much, but they're definitely, Sam, going to miss Jaden Daniels

being out there behind center.

He's similar, but he's not the same.

I understand that Marcus Mariota has the ability to be elusive, but Jaden Daniels, what makes him special is what he does with his legs.

You think about it, over his career, he's missed about a third.

of his team's games.

And his team is really successful when he's not on the field.

So

Is that what's been missing in Austin, you think?

I think that's going to be a major piece that we'll have a chance to be able to add.

I go back to the times that Texas has played Georgia, whether it's SEC championship game, things like that.

You look at the pass rush.

I mean, it was like, man, the Georgia pass rush was dominant in those games.

Texas almost didn't really know what to do.

Well, who did Will Muschamp recruit? Some of those guys who were at Georgia, who did Will Muschamp see every single day? And so there's a mindset, there's a mentality.

I think that's really cool.

Kiffin

saga? Oh, well, I got a chance to cover the, was it the Tulane Ole Miss game? Yeah.

The first round playoff game.

So I got a chance to just be a part of some of that.

And it's definitely, you could see some of the divisions there, but the players who decided to stay and even Pete Golding, I mean, people get really excited about Ole Miss, even the entire SEC, right? Like that's, we talked about it being deep from top to bottom.

Ole Miss is a school that it's like, man, they could win.

Tennessee is another school that I think, you know, a guy named Edwin Spillman.

What do you make of the state of college football right now? Obviously, we're talking about some of the great players and the great work that they're doing, but just as this wide open, wild, wild west thing, transfer portal, NIL, all that, what do you make of

It's been incredible to watch these guys and, you know, these young people in all the sports of Texas invest their money that they're making now, rightfully, into things that are benefiting their communities.

It's been unbelievable.

So think about a guy like Colin Simmons, right? Led the SEC in sacks, right? Going to be a first round pick.

Well, his younger brother has autism and Colin Simmons is a nominee for the Allstate AFCA Good Works team.

And Colin started a nonprofit, a 501c3, right? He's using his NIL money, all this stuff.

called Clay's Color Crew because his younger brother, Clayton, has autism.

And he's like, man, there's not enough resources.

When these players get off to the NFL, you guys will still support them and help them once they're getting pro money

So like, what are the biggest mistakes that you see?

Some of the biggest mistakes I see are trying to put everything in a silo, like living in silos rather than systems.

What do I mean by that? I get a chance to run a podcast as well.

It's not just me.

There's a team behind me.

I have people who are helping produce it and edit it and publish it and all these things, right? I have a partner who I co-host.

If I try to do it by myself, I may not be be as successful.

Because

So Sam, when did you start to realize you wanted to get involved in communication as far as being on television? after or during football, when did you decide that?

I think it was decided for me, if that makes any sense.

So my dad is a pastor, pastors a church in Dallas.

And he also is a doctor in mental health and missionary, all this stuff.

But so we would do stuff with the missionary work in Nigeria and we'd be doing events and fundraisers or we'd have like a charity event.

And I remember like 12, 13 years old, hey son, come up here and talk to this audience.

And I'm like, wait, what? And I'd be over there, hey, guys, this is what we do in Nigeria.

And God has opened up that big door for me to help people to find God.