Speaker 1: 0:14

Hello Mike. I'm so excited you got to join me on the podcast today. How are you doing?

Speaker 2: 0:19

sir, hey George, I'm doing great, I'm doing outstanding. Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1: 0:25

Man, you're very welcome. I'm excited to chat about the movie that's coming out, the Senior about your story, and I want to talk about the book that you wrote that kind of preceded that. But your story in and of itself, I think we need to dive in and give listeners and viewers an appreciation of kind of where you come from in the story and then we'll kind of dive through there. So why don't you kind of bring us back to you know how you kind of got involved? You know living here in Texas and then eventually you know playing football and then Sul Ross State? I mean, there's a lot of twists and turns through there. So we'll kind of cover those too. But I'd love to kind of get a little bit of your origin story before we kind of dive into things.

Speaker 2: 1:03

Okay, I grew up in West Texas, in Odessa, was raised by a father that loved me very much, but he was a veteran of World War II D-Day and Battle of the Bulge and was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge, and he brought that military mindset in training me. You know, when I was young there in West Texas and he was looking at the environment there, the excuse me the football cowboys and then roughnecks in the oil field, and so he thought he might need to make me tough and so, uh, when I was six years old, he handed me a pair of boxing gloves and we started, uh that day that, what became a uh a weekly ritual that went on for uh seven years and he, he called it boxing. I was pretty sure what we were doing was fighting. But he told me at age 13, I caught him watching the baseball game of the week and he had his guard up and he'd look over at the TV and he'd separate his hands, and so I unloaded on him and he got up and he said okay, you're not big enough to box with standing up. You're still too small to box with standing up. You know, you're still too small. You know I mean to box with standing up, and I can't do this on my knees anymore. So he said I've got three rules that if I ever hear you starting to fight, there's going to be trouble when you get home. If somebody starts to fight with you and you don't fight, there's going to be trouble. And if you fight and don't fight, there's going to be trouble. And if you fight and don't win, there's going to be trouble. So that was, those were daddy's rules. And again, I was a good person. I was not a troublemaker but I became a trouble seeker. I anytime I saw someone that I felt like needed my help, I'd jump in at a heartbeat.

Speaker 2: 3:02

Well, my senior year in high school, we won state championship in the state of Texas in big schools in the state of Texas, and it was the first state championship at Permian High School that started that winning tradition that inspired the book and the subsequent movie Friday Night Lights. And it was, and I was, a very good football player when I was young. I had multiple full football scholarship offers and I ended up at Sol Ross down in Alpine, texas. And for many of your listeners to make sure they understand, sol is short for Sullivan. Sullivan Ross was a former governor of the state of Texas, so Saul Ross was named after him and it's part of the University of Texas school system.

Speaker 2: 3:51

But I was on full football scholarship my sophomore year. I had over 100 tackles for the year. My junior year I had over 100 tackles again. I had 24 tackles in one game. I was an all-conference linebacker.

Speaker 2: 4:11

I was voted team captain by my teammates and I came back. I needed six hours to graduate going into my senior year. I wanted to come back because we'd gone 8 and three a year before and we had everybody back and I I knew we were picked to win the conference and I knew we could win it. I knew we could win it all and so I just decided you know, I'm not going to take those six hours this summer and graduate. I'm going to come back and play my senior year well. I had a stellar reputation with my teammates. The administration, however, didn't share that same opinion of me. I had had 10 off the field fistfights over a two year time period, and so the administration had taken a very dim view of that and, regardless of my good reasons for why I did those things, they weren't happy about it Two days going into my senior year in 1971, the coaches as team captain.

Speaker 2: 5:18

They appointed me to check curfew to make sure everybody was in. A couple of freshmen weren't in. They'd been drinking. One of them took exception to me telling them when they couldn't come and go. It got physical and he got hurt. They called Dr McNeil, the president of the college. He called the head coach and said I've heard Mike Flint's name for the last time. It's you or Mike Flint, who's it going to be? He had me in his office the next morning, bright and early.

Speaker 2: 5:56

The whole football team was out on the field. He already had them up and out on the field and he did that specifically so that I would not be able to communicate with him. And he told me. He said, mike, I've got to ask you not to be part of our team. And I said have you asked those guys how they feel about this? He said I don't have to ask them. He said and you're not talking to them either. He said that's why they're out there. He said I want you out of town within an hour. He said we've got two assistant coaches in your room right now packing your things. He said I need you to call your dad and have him meet us on the highway between here and Odessa. And you know we've got to get you out of town. Because he knew the impact that I would have on that team, and so I called my dad. I began to explain to him that he needed to meet us on the highway. He said, wait, whoa, whoa, what's going on? You've been kicked out for what? And I said, dad, I got in a fight and he jumped in, started chewing me out and I just interrupted him and I said, daddy, I am exactly what you made me. And he never brought it up again, ever again.

Speaker 2: 7:11

After that conversation I went on with my life, met this beautiful young co-ed in Austin, texas. We started dating, fell in love. That was Eileen, and she changed my whole life. She introduced me to Christ. But I went into the fitness business, became a strength and conditioning coach at University of Nebraska, oregon, texas, a&m, and I always had a philosophy about my coaching that I would never ask one of my athletes to do something that I wasn't willing to do myself. And so I stayed in great shape and then got out of coaching. I continued, and I've said for years that not every journey has to have a destination, you know, just go, move forward, do something positive, do something towards what it is that you're dreaming about. And so I stayed in great shape. I never quit. Running sprints was the main thing, and when I was in my late 40s or early 50s, guys would ask me man, why are you running those sprints like that? And I just, I enjoyed doing it. I just enjoyed running sprints. Well, I resigned from coaching. We moved to Franklin, tennessee.

Speaker 2: 8:27

2007 rolls around and our youngest daughter, lily, has just graduated from high school. She is going to University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Our two oldest children have already left the home. They've gotten married and they're out on their own, and so we're going to be empty Excuse me, we're going to be empty nesters. We decided we'd just, you know, check the market out and put our house on the market. We had a contract almost immediately. Well, eileen is busy with all this. She's looking at orientation for Lily. You know. She's starting to look for houses for us to go look at.

Speaker 2: 9:12

And I'm getting all these calls about a reunion, you know, and it's not a football reunion, it's a college reunion down in San Antonio for the class in 1971. And there's no way that I'm going. I just, you know, I tell these guys they call, and I said, look, I'm too busy, there's no way I can get off and go do that. Well, they kept calling and kept calling. Eileen finally said look, I don't know what's going on with you. I know that you want to go see those guys. You just need to go down there and have a good time, you know. And you know I don't know what's up, but you need to go.

Speaker 2: 9:49

And I had never shared with anyone the depth of that regret in my life. She had no idea. And so you know I had finally learned to manage that regret. I'd gotten to a point after a couple of decades where I didn't sit and think about it, you know, from time to time, and just get caught up in those mind games. And so I thought, you know, I go back, uh, somebody's going to bring it up and I'll be back where I was. And so I did. That's why I wasn't going to go back to the reunion. Eileen talks me into it. I go down to San Antonio. It wasn't 30 minutes, you know.

Speaker 2: 10:32

We're all there in the lobby, one area of the lobby, the football players have all congregated and you know, everybody's getting caught up on everybody's lives. And you know, one of the guys walked over and he said Flint lives. And you know, one of the guys walked over and he said Flint, what was it about that one fight that got you kicked out when you had so many fights? And I said it was the straw that broke the camel's back. And you know, I said I just made a lot of poor decisions when I was a young man. And I said upsetting that season and letting you guys down has become my greatest regret in life. And I said what gets me more than anything is I still think I can play.

Speaker 2: 11:17

They started laughing at me and with this one individual, stan Williamson. He looked at me and he said why don't you? And I looked at him and I said what do you mean? Why don't I? After 37 years, there's no way I have eligibility. And he said hey, listen, if that's the greatest regret you've got in life, if you think you can run with those guys, if you think you can take the hits, you need to check it out. Now it's Division III three. Now it's a whole new set of rules.

Speaker 2: 11:45

Well, I couldn't think about anything else. The rest of the week it was all I could think about. I found out, call ncaa, found out that I still had a semester of eligibility left. That was all I needed was one semester. And um, the lady that I was talking to. She said now, mr flint, when did you say you played, uh, uh, the last time? And I said, well, it was 19, 1971. And she said how old are you? And I said, well, I'm 59. She said, well, not only are you eligible, but I will come watch you play that was amy carlton right?

Speaker 1: 12:22

yes, it was yes.

Speaker 2: 12:23

Yeah, that was Amy Carlton, and so you know. Then I go down and meet with the coach. That was a complete you know circus. That started out Because I started calling by phone and then it hit me I can't do this by phone. I mean, there's no way. If I'm a head coach and a 59-year-old guy calls me up and wants to come try out for my team, I'll hang up on that deal real quick. So I went down, I flew down to Midland Odessa, drove to Alpine and I had checked with his secretary to make sure he was going to be in. And so I knew he was there to make sure he was going to be in. And so I knew he was there. He was sitting at his desk. I knock on the door and he invited me in. I told him who I was when I'd played at Saul Ross before, the kind of player that I was, that I'd been kicked out and why, and then what I'd done with my life, the major universities where I coached. And then I told him I said I want to walk on to your team as a linebacker Because I feel like if I can make this team as a linebacker for me, it makes up for those guys I let down all those years ago. And he said you want to play, because he told me later he thought I wanted to be a volunteer coach. I said yes, sir, I want to play linebacker. And he said now, how old did you say you are? I said I'm 59. He said oh my gosh.

Speaker 2: 13:58

And the assistant head coach, drew Brees, stuck his head in the door and said Coach, you've got a bunch of freshmen down on the field waiting on you. So he said Mike, I got to get out of the field. I forgot. He said I got some kids here for orientation. You know, I want to see what kind of shape they're in. And I told him to meet me down on the field. And so he said I said well, can I go with you? And he said, yeah, sure, he said you can ride down there with me. So we jump in his van, go down to the field.

Speaker 2: 14:25

13 freshmen, he tells them I want you to get stretched out, I want you to pick teams and then go play touch football. So no patterns, less than 15 yards, no walking back to the line of scrimmage. I want to see what kind of shape you're in, what kind of speed you've got. So I get stressed out. I looked at him. I said can I join them? And he looked over at the assistant head coach and he just shrugged his shoulders and he said, yeah, you can join them. I'd worn some nylon baggy jeans and a T-shirt.

Speaker 2: 14:58

So we got out there, got stretched, they picked teams I was the last one picked and um and so, uh, we lined up, got ready to start. He blew the whistle. He said wait a minute. He said this is going to be uh, this is going to be total confusion. He said, um, you guys on this side take your shirts off, y'all be skins. And then you guys on this side will be shirts. And so I was on the skins, had to take my shirt off. So we lined up.

Speaker 2: 15:26

He blew the whistle and we ran and we ran, I mean, and it's 95 degrees, of course, we're 100 miles from the Mexican border and it's, you know, it's in June, and so it was, it was serious hot, and we ran for an hour and he finally blew the whistle, called us up and he told those guys he said y'all get to orientation. Mike, come on, I'll take you back to your car. We got in his van and he told me. He said this is a good thing you did, coming down here in person. He said I got a million things going through my mind. He said be in my office at nine o'clock in the morning, I'll give you an answer about walking onto his team. Well, I mean, I was there bright and early, he, you know. He told me. He said look, you know, you know, I just had three questions in my mind I had to have an answer for before I could give you an answer to your question.

Speaker 2: 16:22

Number one physically. Could a 59-year-old guy physically play college football? He said you know, watching you run with those guys yesterday. He said you can run with them, you just blend it. And he said there was no doubt in my mind that you could play college football. And don't you ever take your shirt off around me again. He was 52.

Speaker 2: 16:49

And the second thing he said was a reason, he said, for you to come back at your age, to jeopardize your health, to play your senior year of college football. You would have to have an incredible reason, he said. But I got to tell you I can't think of a better reason than the one you've given me to help a bunch of young men that you don't even know to make up for those guys you let down all those years ago. He said I think it's an incredible reason. And he said the third thing. The third question was passion, desire. He said to go through what we're going to put you through in two days to make this team, you are going to have to have a tremendous amount of desire. And he said but you know, I can see it in your eyes, I can hear it in your voice. You've probably got more desire than any kid we got on this team. You be here August 14th. I'm going to give you a chance to make this team. So that was how the whole thing started. It was nothing planned about it. It was shooting from the hip the whole way. It was shooting from the hip the whole way. But that thought that I feel like that God had put in my mind about playing again and sharing it with that teammate, and then that challenge that he gave me, and then it's just everything. It was like a domino effect. After that, everything just started falling in place, and so it was like a domino effect. After that, everything just started falling in place, and so it was incredible.

Speaker 2: 18:14

Now I come back from that trip and Eileen's got a list of houses for us to go look at and she knows that the NCAA is going to tell me there's no way I have eligibility. Then she knows I'm going to get down there and that coach is going to laugh me out of his office. So I told her. I said Eileen, man, we're going back to college, we're going back down to Texas and coach is going to give me a chance. And she said I cannot believe at 59 years old, you want to go back and try to play college football? She said I feel like I'm married to peter pan. She said we've got a lot of things we got to get done. And I I realized that I had never shared it with her. She had no idea. And, um, I told her.

Speaker 2: 19:03

I said I have lived over half my life with a regret over something that I did, a mistake that I made. And I said now coach is going to give me an opportunity to rewrite that last chapter in my athletic career. And yeah, I've got to try. I said I may not make the team, I may not be good enough to make the team. I said, but for me to have a chance and not go and try for me? That'd be worse than getting kicked out the first time and then have to live the rest of my life asking myself what if, what if I could have made that team? I've got to go try. And she said I had no idea. He said I know you'd do it for me, so let's go play football. So you know it. Just it was. The whole thing was just. It's like how do you script this? You know, for all of this to fall in place the way that it did, it was just a God thing from day one.

Speaker 1: 20:09

Well, you kind of talked about that too, like here you're about to be empty nesters. You know, your company at the time, power Base Fitness, had been switching production to another area, so there was some time off, like everything lined up perfectly for this. And then, whenever you, you know, you, came back on, you tried it for the team, you make the team. And then the coach kind of had a little bit of difference, because he was saying I don't want you to talk to media, I don't want this to get out. He did not want a circus around him, but the circus ensued and the word got out and I mean, every major news network was talking about this and people were on pins and needles waiting to see you come out.

Speaker 1: 20:50

But one of the things that you had to overcome, too, was a string of injuries right Throughout that season, because if it I mean there was the whole season there was things that you were going through, um, and it looked like there was a time when you might not be able to actually take the field which I can only imagine using your eligibility. That must have been a very devastating thought. Talk to me about that idea of what that was going. What was going on physically with your body and how you ended up kind of coming to be able to, you know, get on the field during the game.

Speaker 2: 21:22

Well, the, you know coach was. He was 100% behind it once he had seen me run with those freshmen. And what he wasn't counting on, because Alpine is a remote area it's 150, 160 miles to the closest airport, so he was insulated in that regard from a lot of outside interference. But there happened to be an AP writer there in Alpine on another story, when I came back to play and he jumped all over it, his name was Jamie Aaron and it hit, you know, it hit nationwide, worldwide, and all of a sudden Coach's program was under a microscope and he hadn't planned on that. That wasn't part of me coming back, going through two days to make this team, and so he was getting all kinds of calls, all kinds of outside interference that had nothing to do with his responsibility and field in that football team, and so that created a rift between us. He didn't blame me, necessarily, but he knew had I not, you know, been on that team, had I not been there, none of this would be happening. So there was that to deal with. Not been there, none of this would be happening. So there was that to deal with.

Speaker 2: 22:53

And then, you know, it's like I've said before uh, playing football, uh, college football and a 59 year old body is, is a whole new that's. That's a different area. I mean, uh, the recovery time. You know, I don't care how great a shape you're in which I I was, I was in great shape. But you know, after two days of pounding because he had everything, coach Wright had everything set up. The first day of practice he told us we had over 100 guys, you know, coming out. He wanted to run off as many as he could. So he had everything set up in a circuit fashion and we had six stations around the field and he told us, he said I'm gonna find out what color your blood is, is it yellow or is it red, and if we don't know through station one, by the time you get to station six we're gonna know. So it was just hard nose football and I loved it. I I mean that you know that's what I played, that's what I was around coaching and all of that. But again, the recovery time, I mean it was, it was, it was unbelievable. And one thing one breakdown in one area led to over-exercising another area to compensate for that, and so it was a balancing act constantly, but I was getting it, I was getting to the point where I could manage it without having problems. And then I made a head-on-the-numbers tackle right towards the end of two-a-days getting close to the end of two-a-days, and balls, two-disc in my neck.

Speaker 2: 24:36

And what was really concerning about this, more than just the obvious, was a young guy by the name of Kevin Everett playing for the Buffalo Bills. He ruptured those same two discs and they didn't know, you know, whether he was going to live or not and they thought surely he'd be a quadriplegic. But by the grace of God, they had cryogenics. They froze his neck on the field and he, you know he's lived a normal life. He never played another down a football, but he's been able to live a normal life.

Speaker 2: 25:12

And so we were dealing with that, my age, and that injury, and the orthopedist told me he said this is over. He said there's man. He said he's, you know, reminded me about Kevin Everett, and he said it's your age. He said Mike. He said he's, you know, reminded me about Kevin Everett, and he said it's your age. He said Mike. He said there's no way. And I told him. I said I've got a PhD in Mike Flint. I know my body. I said you tell me what I have to accomplish physically for you to release me to where I can play. I can play, and it was at this juncture of the journey that I received a lot of pushback from my family.

Speaker 2: 26:02

But for me, I truly felt like and this was not something that I was being egotistical about or trying to just prove something to someone, it was something in my heart.

Speaker 2: 26:15

I knew that if they would give me a benchmark and if I couldn't meet it, if I couldn't physically do what the doctors asked me to do, then I'd walk away. But let me have that opportunity, give me the chance to do that. And they did, and I did. But I promised Eileen, I promised my children, that Mike Flint would no longer stick his head in there like he did when he was young, because I wasn't young anymore and I could still use my shoulders, my arms, anything else that I could to make tackles and do what I needed to do, but I just couldn't use my head. And so that's when, coach Wright, it was really funny we had an open date. I missed the first five games of the season because of that injury and some other things that I was recovering from. We had like 10 or 11 guys on the field that missed several games because they were injured.

Speaker 1: 27:29

You know young guys, that's sports, yeah.

Speaker 2: 27:33

And so we had an open date before our next game against Texas Lutheran, and Coach Wright's family had moved to California. His wife had a very prestigious position that she was offered and so she took that and they were in California. His wife had a very prestigious position that she was offered and so she took that and they were in California. He flew out to California to see them. He was getting off the plane in San Francisco, I think, and you know how the pilot will walk out of the cockpit and you know, you know, thank everybody. And then Coach Wright was walking, getting ready to exit the plane and he had a Saul Ross hat on and that pilot said Saul Ross? He said is that that college where that old man's playing football? And he said yeah, it is. And he said what's up with that crazy coach that won't let him play?

Speaker 2: 28:28

Coach Wright told me that story and so he told me. He said you know. He said you tell me, tell me what you can do. And he said I'm putting you on the field for the next game. He said but I, he said I, I have to know that that you know you're not going to get hurt. And I said you know, coach. I said you put me at that blocking back and I can keep it, I can shut it down and I you know I'm not going to get my neck hurt. And so he said okay. Then he said you can talk to the media and you can tell them you're starting um on saturday. So you know, uh, that's um.

Speaker 2: 29:13

And then I was able to play in the last five games of the season. The very last game of the season I was able to play at linebacker, but again it was um. You know, I was in on a couple of tackles, gang tackles, and went through my assignments and things like that. I wasn't out there less than five minutes, but it was a great opportunity to once again get on the field as a linebacker. There was absolutely nothing about that season, because I had a reporter ask me if I regretted not getting to play more at linebacker and I told him I said absolutely not. I said there was not one minute about this season that I regretted about anything. It was absolutely amazing.

Speaker 1: 30:03

Well, you became the oldest football college player ever to suit up and play, at 59 years old. And following this and your string of different struggles and perseverance and redemption, you know you finally kind of got a piece that that had been there for many years you were struggling with. You got to accomplish your goals. You became, across the nation, across the world, an inspiration to so many different people. You then write your book. Lebron James is inspired, does the forward?

Speaker 1: 30:36

The book has great success and just to turntale, and I think everyone should go and check out that book and all the links below. But I wanted to turn to the idea of how, then, did this become picked up as a movie option and how was that uh process for you? Obviously, uh, michael Chiklis, who is an outstanding actor, plays you and does a phenomenal job. Everyone's going to love this movie, um, but I was just curious like how that came to be and what was like. What was that like for you to then, you know, see this progressing up to where you know, September 19th it's going to be in theaters worldwide.

Speaker 2: 31:11

Yeah, well it's. You know, I think it really started from a Hollywood standpoint. When Mark Ciardi that's made all those great sports movies Secretariat Miracle on Ice, the Rookie Game Plan Invincible. You know all those great sports movies Secretariat Miracle on Ice, the Rookie Game Plan Invincible, you know all those great sports movies.

Speaker 2: 31:28

He came back to watch me play and it was at homecoming and 26 of my former teammates and coaches came back at homecoming that same time and the president of the college had called me and told me that all those teammates former teammates were there and he was going to introduce me before the game and give me a plaque from the governor. But he wanted to introduce them first and then introduce me. And he said look, they don't know. I'm going to introduce you. I want you to hide around the side of the building. I want you to be suited out and I'll I'll call you out. So I'm there, I'm waiting around the side of the building. He's calling all these names that I haven't heard in decades uh, those former teammates. And then he said uh, number 49, mike flint, linebacker. And I started out on the field and all those guys turned and we met in the middle of the field and had a group hug and um randy grabbed me and he said uh, we keep reading where you said that you let us down all those years ago. We knew that fight wasn't your fault and we never blamed you for that. And besides, look, because you came back to play, we're all back together again. And so God, in his mercy, allowed me to receive the forgiveness that I needed from those former teammates to overcome that greatest regret in my life.

Speaker 2: 32:58

And Mark Ciardi, he witnessed all this. And then from that day forward, I mean, it's it's. It's taken 18 years, but you know, it's like I tell people, you know, where would we be in our faith that every time we called out to God he showed up immediately, you know. And so you know it's, it's, you know. So it's just, it's been a faith journey and it's, you know, in his perfect timing and the perfect actors. You know the perfect location, all of that.

Speaker 2: 33:30

And so Mark was a driving force behind that working with Chickliss, his commitment, all the actors you know they were just Mary Stewart Masterson, all the actors. You know, they were just Mary Stewart Masterson. Oh gosh, you know it was her input that had a great. Had Eileen receive a greater role in the script. And then Bob Isley, the script writer, had never written a script on spec, but we got on the phone and started talking prior to the release of my book, and we talked for a few days, several hours a day, and he finally he said, okay, I'm going to do this. And so he, he started writing, and none of none of this happens without a script, you know. And so that's so important, and so all of that was working together to to finally reach the point where we're there.

Speaker 2: 34:28

And we're there in Fort Worth, the filming's taking place and the whole atmosphere is electric from a standpoint of excitement. Everybody's so excited about the story and it's typical Hollywood, I mean, it's language here, language there. It's every other breath. And then it was so funny because some of the people started saying you know, mike and Eileen, they don't want you to do that, I don't want to talk like that. It changed everything and we weren't prudes. I mean, you know, we weren't saying to anybody like I wish you wouldn't talk like that. They, just out of courtesy for us and our faith, they embraced it and the whole atmosphere changed and there were over 100, 120, 140 people there at times and everybody was getting along, laughing, cutting up, having a great time, and it was just, it was the most incredible experience, it was just, you know, a God thing.

Speaker 1: 35:35

Yeah, well, it sounds like everything with the timing, everything was put in place, the right people. It's just incredible that you and you're incredible and everything that you did and persevered to push through here. I love that now people are going to be able to see your story on the big screen Again. That comes out September 19th through Angel Studios worldwide. I will have all the links down below for the trailers and everything. And you know, I just can't wait for everyone to check out this story and kind of get to know you a little bit better through that lens of and that medium. You know, before we leave.

Speaker 1: 36:10

I did have a question too, because here we are. It's your movie, you've had a book, you've had your story, you're, you've been a public figure this idea of legacy and what you're leaving behind and you know I'll let you answer it as you wish, but what do you hope that you're helping to instill in others? Um, what are you hoping that people are left with as they leave? This movie and that what you know, your story, is as far as a legacy for others? And is that something that you know, as you've been kind of making this movie and you know or or been a part of it. Uh, has that been something that you've thought about? And yeah, just kind of want to get your thoughts on that.

Speaker 2: 36:49

Yeah, george, you know, whenever I announced at our church that I was going to be leaving Franklin and my pastor freaked out. He said you've got to tell the congregation out. He said you got to tell the congregation. So I got up and made that announcement and these people were coming up saying there's going to be a book, there's going to be a movie, and I was thinking who cares about an old man going back to play college football?

Speaker 2: 37:14

But none of that was on my radar, absolutely none of it. I had tunnel vision and it was to help a bunch of young guys. I saw it as an opportunity. I knew that I couldn't change the past, but maybe I could change the meaning of the past. If I could help those young guys and substitute that for that regret that I'd carried all those years, it would change my life. For that regret that I'd carried all those years, it would change my life. And God, in his mercy, enabled me to do that and receive that forgiveness that I needed.

Speaker 2: 37:55

And so all this other stuff that's come along the book, the movie and the notoriety that that's created, and stuff, notoriety that that's created and stuff God's leading me step by step, because this was nothing that I ever, ever dreamed would ever happen, and so I just want to glorify him through that and um and and tell people young people in particular, but everyone that has a dream, and I hope everyone, everyone has a dream that you need to write that dream down in pencil because it's going to evolve, it's going to change, but it's still your dream, and so you know you just have to. You have to continue to push forward. You have to always be thinking about it's. Like you know, being real with myself about the past is past. I can't do anything about it, but I can help somebody right now, today, and I can substitute that for that regret that I made and the peace that I received from that. It was worth everything.

Speaker 2: 39:03

I dreamed about going back to play college football, literally having dreams at night for years. I have not had one dream about playing college football since I went back to play because that dream was answered and so but yeah, you know it's just people have to. You know I just believe in not giving up on yourself and who you are in Christ and you know and stepping out. Like I said, you know, just move forward. You don't have to have a destination. You do the things that you know that you need to be doing, that are right and good for you, both physically, emotionally, spiritually. You just do them and keep moving forward, trusting God to give you the direction you need to get to where it is that you're going.

Speaker 1: 39:57

Mike, another amazing thing that's coming out is there's going to be another edition of your book, the Senior, and it has a couple extra parts in it there with Harper's Collins and that's like on the way it should be dropped at any day. Can you go ahead and let us know what's special about this new edition? That will kind of be timing of you know, with the movie coming out as well.

Speaker 2: 40:16

Well, yeah, the thing about football and life. And I begin to look at over the last, you know, decades, the popularity of football, not only here in America but around the world, and it's starting to expand and I realized that there is no game out there more like the game of football than life. And you know, and I started, I started going through in my mind, you know, all those similarities and the things that we go through in football are the same things that we had, you know, deal with in life. And it's like, um, getting penalized for something that you didn't do. You did your responsibility exactly as you were instructed, somebody else met up and you get penalized for that.

Speaker 2: 41:06

And the thought of momentum and the impact that momentum has going for you or against you, and how you have to deal with that. And then there are so many things that are, you know, similarities are incredible and I begin to realize people don't really understand why they're so attracted to football. But it's because it's. It's like life and the. The actual time on the field during a game, when a player is on the field, is about 11 minutes and yet they're out there this whole time. And you know, you talk about the loyalty, the team aspect of everything and how involved all that is, and it's the same thing in life with our families and, you know, in our corporate areas, and you know that team, that camaraderie that needs to be there and the impact that that can have. And so all of that is, you know, added into the book and I think it's something that will really be enjoyable for the readers.

Speaker 1: 42:15

Amen to that man. Thank you so much, mike, for sharing your story with everyone, for being an inspiration, and I cannot wait Again September 19th. The Senior starring Michael Chiklis, mary Stewart Matheson. There's so many amazing actors and actresses involved in this. What a great crew. And, yeah, it's a great story, mike. It really is.

Speaker 2: 42:39

And they can go to mikeflintcom it's F-L-Y-N-T. Mikeflintcom and get a lot of information. Watch the trailer, look at some of the promotional stuff. It's a lot of fun stuff there.

Speaker 1: 42:55

And the book is not only available in print, there's an audiobook version, which is phenomenal too. So, everybody, I'll have all the links below Head over to MikeFlintcom. And yeah, thank you once again for joining me, Mike. I really appreciate you, sir.

Speaker 2: 43:07

George, it's my honor and privilege. I appreciate so much you having me.

Speaker 1: 43:13

Well, looking forward to touching base again soon, and can't wait, man, you take care.

Speaker 2: 43:17

Okay, thank you, you as well, god bless, god bless.