Tim Tebow Gave A Speech Last Weekend That Will Give Your Goosebumps Goosebumps
(Scroll down for the video. I purposely didn't put it at the top so you have to read about the Brett Boyer Foundation before watching it)
I wrote a blog last week about seeing Chappelle live, and mentioned being lucky enough to be in Nashville that weekend for a truly remarkable charity event.
p.s. - As I mentioned earlier, I was in Nashville for an incredible charity event. This was the third year of the “Red Bird Games” which benefits the Brett Boyer Foundation- a cause near and dear to Luke’s family, and more people than you think, as 1 in every 100 children born are affected by Congenital Heart Disease. Luke’s niece Brett, was born with CHD, underwent dozens of surgeries, and fought like a warrior, before tragically succumbing to it. Her family set up the foundation in her honor and has raised millions of dollars to fund CHD research amongst some of the best cardiologists and hospitals on the planet. It’s amazing.
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Donors and participants this weekend got to fish with Bill Dance, and Chris and Cory Johnston. Fire custom-made Daniel Defense AR’s, and bid on getting to have Tim Tebow’s Heisman trophy for a year, in addition to a ton of other things on the down-low before Luke took the stage and performed.
After Luke and his friends got done putting on a full-blown concert for attendees, I got to take the stage and attempted to follow it up and keep people partying.
This was the third year doing the event, and my third year helping out. After missing it last year due to COVID, it was really great getting to see everybody again and come together for a cause that's really come to mean so much to us. Not just because of all the great friends we've made through the organization - people like Ellen and Bo Boyer and their best friends Jim and Allison Willis, some of the most genuinely good people I've ever met - but also people like Dr. Brett Mettler. A real-life Super Man.
Dr. Brett was the doctor who performed the surgeries on little Brett before she passed. He's made it his life's work to find a cure for this disease and he's recruited the best doctors in the world, from all the best hospitals on the planet to help the fight. He's one of the most humble, smart, dedicated, and nice guys you could ever meet. And he just so happens to be one of the best cardiologists on planet earth.
He brought a handful of some of the best cardiologists from around the country to the event which was great because we got to not only meet them, but they got a much-deserved break from their high-intensity jobs, got to kick back and take in the days activities and the nights music, but also got to see who and where the money to fund the research was coming from.
A lot of times there's this giant disconnect between making donations and where the money ends up. And vice versa. Being able to see the faces of the people doing the donating, and receiving the donations goes such a long way.
We also get to see and meet the families the organization helps.
They call these kids warriors and it's honestly not enough because I don't think there's a word in the English language that does them justice.
The hell these children go through, along with their families, is unspeakable. Yet you will never see anybody that smiles more. It's incredible.
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I got the chance to introduce my friend Chris Nikic to the Boyer's and Bryant's earlier this year and they invited him to be one of their "Warriors" aka guests of honor.
He must have given out 500 hugs throughout the day. He was front and center for the concert. And he was on stage behind me dancing (and taking off his jacket and shirt) while I played.
I think Chris stole the show at this year's event, but there was a tie.
And the man that tied his performance was none other than Tim Tebow.
Tim Tebow needs no introduction.
He's one of the greatest college football players of all time. Heisman winner. National Champion. All American, all around great guy and outstanding individual.
Now full disclosure, I was never a huge fan. I respected his talent, thought he was a hell of a QB and tough as nails. I've always hated Florida and thought Urban Meyer was what he is so I think I held that against Tebow all this time.
Between seeing just how generous and genuine the man is at 2019's event, and now at this year's, that has all changed.
He isn't as amazing as advertised. He's even better.
In 2019, during the silent auction, the auctioneer announced they were auctioning off his Heisman Trophy to a lucky winner who could keep it for a year and do whatever they wanted with it except melt it down. (Something you need to specify on a farm full of SEC maniac fans.)
Caroline Bryant, Luke's wife, ended up being the winning bidder.
This year, before introducing Tim, Luke took the mic and recounted story after story about the events this trophy witnessed over the past year, and all the different uses he found for it. My favorite being to anchor his fishing boat in his bass lake. (Luke is a huge GA fan and hates the Gators).
He brought Tebow up on stage and below is the speech he gave.
I remember then, as I do now just rewatching it, that "now I get it." I get why so many people rallied around this guy and he got the absolute best out of all his teammates, his coaches, and why everybody who knows him seems to love him so much.
I immediately wished I had recorded it because of how moving it was. I was thrilled this week when party planner extraordinaire Erin Creighton sent me this recording from their event's videographer. I asked permission to post it and they ran it up the ladder to Tebow and the Bryan’s and got the ok.
How could you listen to that and not want to go run through a wall and do something significant with your time?
It was such an eye-opener and put so much in perspective. A reminder I think we all could use.
Significance over success.
If you're able to help out, in anyway, there's billions of people who need it. If you can give money great. If you can give your time even better. There's no more rewarding feeling in the world.
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If you're looking for a cause to start with here you go-
The Brett Boyer foundation was started after Luke and Caroline Bryan’s niece, Sadie Brett Boyer, passed away in 2017.
From TheBrettBoyerFoundation.org:
The Brett Boyer Foundation was created in loving memory and in honor of our beloved daughter Brett. Brett is our first child who was diagnosed prenatally with Down Syndrome and a congenital heart defect (CHD). Brett battled this heart disease (atrioventricular septal defect ) for her 7 inspiring and incredible months of life.
p.s. - just to give a glimpse into how good of a guy Luke Bryan is behind the scenes, the morning after hosting 200 people at his farm, he woke up at the crack of dawn to take his two sons hunting. On their way home, they saw a car pulled over almost to the side of the road with a blown tire, and a women behind the wheel sobbing. He pulled over to help move her out of traffic and fix her tire. While fixing it he got to asking her why she was so upset. Turned out she was leaving an abusive relationship, on her way to her mom's and stepdad's with her kids when her tire blew. It was just too much and she had a breakdown in front of her kids. Luke fixed her tire, and got her Venmo and sent her some money to get back on her feet. No press, no cameras. Just a good person helping somebody out who needed it. I guess Luke's kids told their mom, who told her sister, who told us this real life Good Samaritan story.