The Quarterback DadCast
I’m Casey Jacox, the host of the Quarterback Dadcast. As fathers, we want to help prepare our kids—not only to enter the professional world but to thrive in each stage of their lives. Guests of this show include teachers, coaches, professional athletes, consultants, business owners, authors—and stay-at-home dads. Just like you! They share openly about failure, success, laughter, and even sadness so that we can all learn from each other—as we strive to become the best leaders of our homes! You will learn each week, and I am confident you will leave each episode with actionable tasks that you can apply to your life to become that ultimate Quarterback and leader of your household. Together, we will learn from the successes and failures of dads who are doing their best every day. So, sit back, relax and subscribe now to receive each episode weekly on The Quarterback Dadcast.
The Quarterback DadCast
From Blocked Punts To Augusta: A Dad’s Journey Of Grit, Grace, And The Golden Bear
A putter on a garage shelf became a doorway to memory, legacy, and what it means to lead at home. Coach and author Joe Wessel joins us to trace a winding path from a disciplined Miami childhood and Catholic schools to a walk-on grind at Florida State, summers learning from Miami Dolphins legends, and the day Jack Nicklaus confirmed the “lost” blade in Joe’s bag was White Fang—the putter that won the 1967 U.S. Open. Instead of asking for a shiny new set, Joe asked for something better: a father–son round at Augusta.
We talk about what built him: a mother who showed up at every game, a father who enforced persistence and faith, and a military prep school that hardened habits after loss. Joe shares the reality of earning a scholarship the hard way, becoming a special teams difference-maker, and absorbing leadership from many mentors in his life. The athletic details are rich—technique, timing, depth charts—but the bigger arc lands on fatherhood: discovering that the hero you searched for might have been at your own dinner table all along.
Parents and coaches will find practical wisdom here: don’t specialize your kids at 10, grow athletes, not resumes, protect the joy of play, and let your children write their own story. Say I’m sorry. Say I love you. Keep faith as a daily practice, not a performance.
We close with the heart of Joe’s book, White Fang and the Golden Bear—a father–son journey that culminates at Augusta and proves that the best trophies are moments shared. If this conversation moved you, tap follow, share it with a friend who needs encouragement today, and leave a quick review so more families can find it.
Please don't forget to leave us a review wherever you consume your podcasts! Please help us get more dads to listen weekly and become the ultimate leader of their homes!
Hi, I'm Riley.
SPEAKER_01:And I'm Ryder. And this is my dad's Joe. Hey everybody, it's Casey J. Cox with the Quarterback Dadcast. Welcome to season six. And I cannot be more excited to have you join me for another year of fantastic episodes and conversations with unscripted and raw and authentic conversations with dads. If you're new to this podcast, really it's simple. It's a podcast where we interview dads, we learn about how they were raised, we learn about the life lessons that were important to them, we learn about the values that are important to them, and really we learn about how we can work hard to become a better quarterback or leader of our home. So let's sit back, relax, and listen to today's episode of the Quarterback Deckcast. Well, hey everybody, it is KC J. Cox with the Quarterback Dakast. We are in the tail end of season six, and I'm I'm grateful for our next guest uh for many fronts. One, I'm actually grateful for a former guest, and one only Steve Gardy, who was a previous guest recently, I'm sure you hopefully know, and he's the author of the great book called Great Fruit. And it was fun to hear a story. And he uh he said, I got a great guest for you, and and so that's why we're talking to Joe Wessel, who is a Florida native. He's a seminal. Uh he he has, I will fact check this one, I think he has an NCAA NCAA record for two block tunts, two block punts for touchdowns in a game. We're gonna hear about that. He's an executive, he coached college in NFL. Um, he is the author of a fantastic book called Um White Fang and the Golden Bear. If you're a golfer, if you're a dad, if you're a football fan, you will absolutely love this book. But with all that said, that's not why we're having Joe on. We're having Joe on to talk about Joe the Dad and how he has or continues to work hard to become that ultimate quarterback or leader of his household. So without further ado, Mr. Wessel, welcome to the quarterback dad cast.
SPEAKER_02:I appreciate your invite and uh glad, glad to be here.
SPEAKER_01:Um you bet. Well, I was actually, believe it or not, I I I mentioned we had some nice fall weather and I snuck out in the golf course this afternoon, which doesn't always happen midweek, but I I made it happen and I was telling my buddy about you, who's a he's a big diehard golf guy too. And I said I told him a story, which we'll we'll get into later, but he's like, Man, I can't wait to read it. So hopefully you just picked up another another book sale out of out of today.
SPEAKER_02:So as I as I tell everybody, uh I hope they enjoy the read and and bring a box of Kleenex with you, just in case.
SPEAKER_01:Well, Joe, we always start out each episode with gratitude. So tell me, what are you most grateful for as a dad today?
SPEAKER_02:I am so grateful for just life in general. Uh and uh grateful to be on this podcast. Uh but uh my my life has been such a uh an up and down roller coaster. It's kind of like the stock market goes up, down, and just hoping that my uh my my life and my faith patterns they go up and down, but as long as it keeps going up, that's all I care about. But uh I'm just thankful for the Lord and thankful for all the He's given me, and I couldn't do it without my wife and my kids and my family. So uh that's what I'm grateful for.
SPEAKER_01:Great answer. Well, I'm I'm grateful for we're we're recording everybody in uh uh late October, and it was a somber night in Seattle last night as my beloved Seattle Mariners uh lost to the Blue Jays, and it was just so painful. So we're um we're coming off that, but I'm grateful for the the run that we had, that the family time it brought us together. It definitely brought rage out of my son. Uh I was like, bro, take a deep breath. He reminded me about me when I was in my 20s rooting for the the Hawks and Mariners and such, but uh I'm grateful for that. And I'm also grateful that I actually had a meeting early right before this, but it got moved, which allowed me to go outside and help uh my my wife rebound for my daughter, which I love. I love rebounding. And um uh she's a senior, so I'm just grateful that we get that time because when she's gone next year, I'll be I might have to convince my wife to work on her jump shot so I can go rebound for her, which I don't think she's gonna do, but um well, cool. Well, bring me inside uh the the the family huddle per se, and um tell us how you and your wife met.
SPEAKER_02:Um I was coaching at LSU in uh uh the last season, 1990. Um we went uh we won a couple SEC championships from 85 to 90, and the last two years and 80, 89 and 90, we went four and seven. And so uh they decided to uh let Mike Archer and the staff go, uh, like they do. And so uh I was a professional golfer at that point in time because what's the definition of a professional golfer? He gets to play golf and he gets paid while doing it. Well, I was still under contract and I was playing golf every day. So I was a professional golfer. But uh a buddy of mine was at a Mexican restaurant and we were um we were there after playing one day, and um, you know, this woman walks by and I was like, whoa, who's that? Because she had stopped and said hello to him, and he told me the story. They went to high school together, and so he let's go sit at the table. And I said, sure. And so uh so that's how it kicked off. Uh, she was there at a table with about six, seven other friends of hers. And uh there's a uh a fine story in my book that uh she was she was getting mad. It it kind of she was one of those uh uh men were were creeps at the time, you know. Uh she had some some things that uh probably some experiences that didn't go go well. And uh so I I kind of showed her that chivalry was not dead. So uh you'll have to read the book to get the rest of the story. Love it. And then talk about your boys. Um oldest one is uh 29, uh Trent, and uh Parker is out in California. Uh Trent lives here in Tampa, and Parker's out in California, and he is uh 27. And um you want to have your birthday present. You don't want your son to be born on your own birthday because it's no longer your birthday, and Parker's born on January 5th, same as I was. So uh we celebrate Parker's birthday now.
SPEAKER_01:Wow. Well I wonder how often that actually happens for families. I don't know. That's that it's it's a jeopardy question.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that is. And the day before, it was 15 minutes. I was like born in 115, and uh an hour and 15 minutes earlier, I would have been born on my parents' anniversary.
SPEAKER_01:So that was kind of kind of weird too. And what keeps Trent and Parker busy these days?
SPEAKER_02:Uh Trent is uh working for an insurance brokerage company out of Chicago, RT specialty group. And uh and Parker is uh under um he's working for Third Bridge, which is a uh uh expert uh they they get people uh experts, they recruit uh experts to help hedge funds and uh private equity groups when they go into different um arenas, they want experts and so they link them together. It's a really interesting company, global company out of England.
SPEAKER_01:Wow. Yeah, that intrigues me. I'm gonna I'm gonna study that one up. I'm always in I'm always intrigued just by when I run across people who got into the private equity game and you know, buying companies, and it's definitely a different world, and um sometimes you get in some large lot of zeros in some of those transactions.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Um, well, take me back to what was life like uh growing up for you. Uh Joe, I'd love to learn more about what was that like, what was that like like for you, and talk about the impact mom and dad had on you.
SPEAKER_02:Well, Miami, uh I was born in 1962, and uh you know the 60s, uh Miami was um it wasn't what it is now, let's put it that way. And it wasn't as uh as um it it was a it was growing out of its area of downtown and of this of the Miami Beach and the local areas of of downtown Miami. Um we grew up in Carroll City. I have an older sister that's two years older than I am, and then I had uh a sister that's seven years younger than I am, and um eight, excuse me. And uh so we lived in Carroll City. It was a suburb. Uh my dad was the oldest of ten. Uh and my grandmother was you know uh the wonderful German woman that uh could cook and and play the piano, and uh it was just unbelievable. My grandfather on uh my dad's side passed away long before they even got married. And then my mother was born in New York and moved down to uh South Florida when she was about 10 or 11 years old. So basically, my uh mom and dad were from Miami. They were, you know, were raised there in Miami. And uh so we lived in Carroll City and life was great. Uh typical suburb of uh of any major city. Uh played football, played baseball, played basketball, played any sport we could play. Uh my older sister was a volleyball player in high school and in college. My younger sister did the same. Uh and the neighbors, my friends, they used to come and knock on the door and ask for my older sister to come play football with them instead of me. So uh you could tell who was probably the better athlete, at least at that point. But uh it was good. It was really uh uh raised in a Catholic family of uh uh at St. Monica's. It was an elementary school there, and then went on to Pace High School, which is a Catholic school right there. And it was a really good uh environment. Uh I was able to play football, basketball, and baseball pretty much all three, all four years of high school. Had a couple injuries, but uh it um it gave a really uh by location, it was a launching point for the rest of my life uh because Pace High School sat right next to the Miami Dolphins training camp at Biscayne College. It is now called St. Thomas University, but that's where my whole life kind of opened up and the connections uh that got me uh into football and coaching football and uh in in another ways, you know, it gave me a uh a different side of life.
SPEAKER_01:What um so dad so your your dad was oldest of 10, did I hear that right?
SPEAKER_02:He was, he was. He had a uh had a uh uh brother that was born before him, but he died at birth. And uh my grandmother, when she got pregnant again, she had they had heard that there was a hurricane. Again, you're talking 1926, and you they hear there's a hurricane. So she got skittish and she jumped on a train and went back to Dubuque, Iowa to have my dad. So my dad was really born in Dubuque, but he was they went right back six months later or four months later. But uh yeah, the he was a spice salesman. Uh he was he he went in the war and in in seven when he was 17 years, 16 turning 17. Uh, not only did he lie, but his dad or her his mother lied for him. And you know, he got out and went, he was a a singer, he was a professional singer, uh and he got his degree in music. Uh, but and he had a three-year stint on Broadway. And he used to always say, I asked him, I said, Well, why didn't you, you know, why didn't you make it? He said, Well, because I was cooking more than I was singing. And uh, so he was he was doing the the travel shows, the stock, stock shows, you know. Uh, and uh so he got tired of doing that and he moved to Miami. Uh my mom was uh she was the athlete. It's kind of funny, you know, you think of your mom being the the uh a vocal or the artsy, and my dad was the artsy, and my mom, my mom was the athletic. Uh she played basketball and field hockey at Florida College for Women. It was Florida State back in the day. Uh, and then in 1950, what was it, 1948, I guess, 48, 49, they opened up Florida State for guys, and then they opened up Florida for women uh right after the war. So uh very athletic family. And the our number one, you I can tell, you know, you're you're Seattle. We're the Miami Dolphins growing up. True blue aqua, you know. It was every every weekend. Uh it was we had season tickets. It was it was a great, great, great time of of of of course, 1970 was 72 was the perfect season. The first Super Bowl was in 70, won the 71, perfect season in 72. And uh it was a great time.
SPEAKER_01:Wow. Now, did you ever have you ever talked to your mom about like because being an athlete, a female athlete at that time, this was pre-Title IX, so she must have been a beast.
SPEAKER_02:Well, she uh she was a big um, I wouldn't say she was big in the state of Florida. She was a uh um an assistant principal at Highly Mimelate American High School in New Orleans, and she was president of the teachers' guild. She was very uh um, and she was a she got her PhD when I think she started in her late 50s to get it, mid mid to late 50s, and her dissertation was on uh female sports, and she was a big, big fighter for Title IX. She was one of the first people that really in the state of Florida pushed it, uh met with legislatures, did all of the different things that you have to do when you're starting, you know, something like that. And uh uh although she, you know, she had two girls that that that uh that went on to college, Clemson and Florida State to play uh university, but she always she always dreamed that she would have a basketball game, a women's basketball game, that the uh gymnasium would be sold out. And she never really got, she saw, you know, it it got a little bit that way, but now it's you know uh needless to say, heck, I can turn on the TV and I'm watching girls' volleyball and the gymnasium sold out Penn State against Wisconsin or Penn State against, you know. So uh she'd be happy about that. Are are mom and dad with us still? Nope, nope. Dad uh uh dad died in uh tra blah blah he died uh nine months short of his 90th birthday. So 2016, February, and my mom uh died two years later in May.
SPEAKER_01:My dad just passed away just short of his 80th birthday uh in 2021. So unfortunately I know what it's like to lose a parent, not not fun, but hopefully, hopefully if they have access to headphones up in heaven, they they'll they'll listen to to dad, uh and to Joe rave about them. So now do you have a musical background?
SPEAKER_02:A little bit. I sang in some uh in grammar school. I um they wanted me to try out for the Miami Boys Choir, uh, but I my voice changed very drastically in like fourth or fifth grade, and uh it it didn't hold up, let's put it that way. I still love singing. Uh did some stuff in in church uh uh church theater uh back at St. James uh Elementary and eight St. James Church, should I say, in uh North Miami. But other than that, no. Uh it was uh football was it for me.
SPEAKER_01:Now who so who pushed well maybe you probably pushed yourself in sports, but was was mom more encouraging to get into sports or dad more encouraging you to get into sports?
SPEAKER_02:My dad was always supportive. My mom was push, you know. Mom, mom, mom, you won't you gotta do something. You gotta get out. You can't, you know, sit and watch TV. Everybody, you know, it's uh and she was. She was very, she never missed a game. I can remember her, you know, if she didn't get home early enough, she'd, you know, take put shorts on, she'd have a robe on, she'd sit in the car, you know, watching the game through the fence. She was she was the ultimate parent. She didn't helicopter at all. Uh, and neither did my dad, but they tried to be there. Uh, my dad was a traveling salesman, so he wasn't able to do as much. But uh mom was there for all of us from that standpoint. And maybe sometimes she had a doubleheader. Sometimes she was at the gym with my sister and she caught me with a baseball game at night. You never she was always there.
SPEAKER_01:Wow. What um before we get into mom real quick, I want to just think about like if as you reflect back, as we're talking about this, talk about the the values, maybe two or three values that really were um not only taught, but maybe if there's a story on how they held you accountable, um that that that we might like to learn about. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:It was um my dad had a saying that uh as he walked by me, he would punch me in the leg and that he would frog my leg. And he says, you know, he'd grab underneath my hamstring, he says, that's a horse bite. And then if he would pinch me, he says, that's a mouse bite. But he would he'd punch me and he said, Hey, that's for nothing. Wait till you do something. So he had he instilled the fear of God in us. Uh that was his way of uh he didn't want his son to grow up as he grew up. Uh as I said, he at 16, his mother stood in the kitchen. He was not going to school. The nuns were chasing him to try to keep him in school. And she finally told him, It says, You're going in the war or you're gonna stay in school. Now you choose. And he said, Okay, I'll go into war. And so it's 17, that's eighth grade, 16 years old, turning 17. That's eighth grade. And but that's what was going on back then. You know, if you were probably 14, 15 and above, that's what you did. You know, you saw the bombs, you saw all of that, and and the American uh experiment was under siege. And so uh there was a lot that did that. And uh, so he was, you know, he he always he always wanted to make sure that you knew and that you were on the edge if you were getting there on the edge. And uh, you know, and again, of course, growing up in a staunch Catholic church, uh Catholic family, uh, you know, the nuns kind of helped that out too. My second grade uh nun, she used to have the old, remember the the ball with the rubber band with the paddle? Well, she would take the ball off and she would use the paddle and uh wrap you on the knuckles, bend bend over, spank you, whatever you whatever they needed to do, they did. It was different, it was a different upbringing than anybody nowadays. They'd probably throw the nuns in jail.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, right. So hard work. Um I'm hearing was uh was probably a core of you know a lesson. Like I think something you got taught. Tell me what else were big, big lessons for you.
SPEAKER_02:Persistence. Persistence. We couldn't quit. See it out. There's nothing if you try it, even you see it out. Uh there was many times that I wanted to uh like winter league baseball of going back to football, and uh I only did it once. And I I I made a poor decision in trying to do winter baseball, and I missed playing football and they needed a quarterback. And so uh I I I quit the baseball team and then went over there. But uh it was always about that, you know, finish what you what you start. And he instilled my dad and and my mom instilled that uh in our school work, in our every everywhere around, finish finish the finish the task.
SPEAKER_01:Um did you get a chance to meet your your spend time with your grandparents much when you're growing up?
SPEAKER_02:Uh my mom's side, my my grandfather was alive. I only remember him sitting in his lap. He smelt like a cigar. He uh he smoked cigars the whole time. Uh but my grandmother died when I was in like seventh grade, sixth grade, and my grandmother died uh with my godfather at his two-person funeral in 1990. Uh she died at uh at 100 years old. She was born in night in uh 1900, and she uh she died at 90, excuse me, uh in 1990. So uh yeah, it was uh we had a it it was good. I mean, it really was. My like I said, my dad 10 kids. We had 24 cousins on that one side of 10 kids, and uh my mom had a brother and they had five kids. Uh so we had a lot of lot of family around.
SPEAKER_01:Lots of it. That's something you don't see as much like big, big, big families, it seems like. It's like people used to stop get to get man defense, and but I don't even know what kind of trapping defense you'd have to go at 10.
SPEAKER_02:Let's put this way, it was it was 10 and it was really 11 in 13 years, if you had if you think of Patrick, because he he died at birth, but my dad, and then uh there's a uh boy and girl twin in the middle. Uh there was two attorneys, uh uh financial advisor, a uh general commander in the Air Force. He uh was the commander of the RTC at Georgia Tech, and uh he died of cancer in '89. And uh, but uh uh really uh a teacher and a um uh a guy that worked service for the um oh gosh, uh what's that uh youth group that uh he he he was he was in different types of ministries over his life, David was.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. So dad was former singer turned spice salesman, and then mom, um, she was in an education.
SPEAKER_02:Education, Dade County School System, yep.
SPEAKER_01:And then talk about her job she had.
SPEAKER_02:She uh started uh at Hyalea elementary school, I guess. She worked all the way up through, and then she was at Hylea Junior Col uh junior high, and then they opened up Miami Lakes, uh Hyalea Miami Lakes uh in 1970, and she went over there and opened up the school. And that was another person that uh or another decision that that basically laid the pavement for the rest of my life. Uh as the school opened up, uh there's this guy called Don Shula that moved down from Baltimore, and there uh uh Dorothy Shula walked into the school and met my mom. And from that that on, they were friends. They used to play cards together, they struck up a friendship until she died. And I don't I forgot when she passed away, but early in in life, uh she had cancer. And uh, but uh part of the part of the cards and and the social networking in and around um Dorothy Schula was Bill Arnsbarger's wife, Betty Jane, was Beverly Schnellenberger, Howard Schnellenberger's wife. And so all their kids went to the Catholic high school too. And so we all not only was the high school close to the training camp and where the dolphins practiced, but you know, our the social networking worked through too. And uh, you know, my tight end in high school was Howard Schnellerberger's uh middle son, and he was uh, you know, he he injected the whole offense my senior year. We went from a uh wishbone in my junior year to uh throwing being all state my senior year, and uh it it helped his son get a scholarship at Duke. That's where he went. Then Howard got the Miami job, and then he transferred down to Miami for his last two years. Howard uh Stewart did. So that was it. It was it was really uh uh it's just one of those things, you know, you meet one person, you know, and it's like God prunes the tree, you know, cuts you off of all of these other people, but the blossoming that it is by cutting off that one, and you just march down that road, my whole life was was changed at that one moment in you know, 69 or 70 when Dorothy Shula walked into my my mom's office.
SPEAKER_01:And for those that aren't following the so Don Schuler, everybody was obviously one of the most famous coaches for Miami Dolphins. Um so when you when you were in high school, Shulas move in, you meet meet the kids, you meet the Schellenbergers, but were you like were you guys just typical naive kids playing sports? And like, yeah, that's what my dad does and didn't didn't care what you know.
SPEAKER_02:Nah, not at all. I mean, yeah, again, we just we went about our business. Um Howard was was Schnellenberger was very much like my father. He uh he sized you up and he had an unbelievable harsh voice, and he always had a pipe, you know, he was a pipe smoker, and uh, but uh you know, he sized you up as you came in. Uh are you here because you're friends, or are you here because I'm you know the offensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins type? You know, I always felt that with him. He's always, you know, but uh but Miss Schnellberg, Beverly was was super nice, and you know, they were they had just moved down there, you know, they were living the football life, you know, and I had the opportunity to do that 13 years. We'll get into that. But you know, it it I didn't know what it was like back then, but I had an understanding of what it would be like, and I I I yearned for that uh because I you know I was looking for my heroes, and the heroes were over the over the fence. I could see them every day practicing when we were practicing. And uh, and then there's there were some opportunities later on for me to uh to be working out and and and and on the field with some of those heroes that I grew up with.
SPEAKER_01:So before we get into that, so you you you have a great senior year, and now you're trying to figure out where am I gonna go play sports?
SPEAKER_02:I was like my dad. I was six, I was uh January 5th, like I said, I I uh was born in 1962 in January. So I was a uh a middle baby, and my mom threw me in kindergarten at four years old and just said to the nuns, hey, you know, you gotta keep them because I've I've got to go, I've got to go to school, I'll be back. And so uh I was I didn't turn 17, I was 16 years old in my senior year. And as I look back, I wouldn't recruit me either if I don't, even if I was all state, uh, because I wasn't mature enough. And so Duke, the coaches at Duke and uh Howard, who was a head coach at Miami at the time, they convinced me into going to a prep school instead of a junior college because then you wouldn't uh use up two years of your eligibility. Back then, the junior college, you know, if you go junior college or out, that's two years of college, and then you only had two left. So I went to Forkingham Military Academy, and I get more discipline and I Get more military, and I just uh it was a really, really a great eight months that I spent at a military school. I wasn't there like some of the other kids were there, but uh they were need some discipline. But Fork Union was a great, great um place to be in 1979 and 1980. Uh we had uh uh Ralph Sampson was on campus every once in a while. Uh his cousin Vincent Washington was playing football. All of the basketball and and football players that were on the campus, they were there trying to get better for the SAT. They couldn't change their GPA because they graduated. So it wasn't legal for you to, you know, get alter your GPA. But most of them that were there were trying to get better at their SAT because they had, you know, they didn't have all of the rule, the lenient rules back then. Uh you if you were Prop 48, you know, uh you were prop. And so uh, but you could try to get your SAT or your um uh what was the other one?
SPEAKER_01:Um ACT.
SPEAKER_02:ACT. Uh you could do better with that. So uh so I was there to get mature and they were there to get smarter. Um but uh but I had again so many people that I met through there, I was able to play six, no, not six, five different sports. Uh I played football, I played baseball, I ran indoor track, I ran outdoor track, and it and I dove because every time you were on on a team, you got off campus. You clamored for the away games because you wanted to get and see the normal normal life. So it was uh it was really a good time. I look back and um it was torture going through it, uh, had some personal uh things happen uh with my best friend John Stack. Uh he died of leukemia on December 8th of 79. And he was my best friend uh in high school. And uh so uh so that kind of it was good that I was there at that point because it made me go back to school, it made the discipline, and God knows if I wasn't there what what I would have done or where I would be if I wasn't there during that time.
SPEAKER_00:Hello, everybody. My name's Craig Coe, and I'm the senior vice president of relationship management for Beeline. For more than 20 years, we've been helping Fortune 1000 companies drive a competitive advantage with their external workforce. In fact, Beeline's history of first-to-market innovations has become today's industry standards. I get asked all the time, what did Casey do for your organization? And I say this, it's simple. The guy Flat Out gets it, relationships matter. His down-to-earth presentation, his real-world experience apply to every area of our business. In fact, his book, Win the Relationship and Not the Deal, has become required reading for all new members of the Global Relationship Management Team. If you'd like to know more about me or about Beeline, please reach out to me on LinkedIn. And if you don't know Casey Jacks, go to caseyjcox.com and learn more about how he can help your organization. Now, let's get back to today's episode.
SPEAKER_01:Did you would you say you learned more about discipline from your your that prep school experience or more through growing up for your mom and dad?
SPEAKER_02:I think it's a mixture of both. And and you know what? It it never stopped. God disciplines me, has been disciplining me for many, many years now. And uh, you know, we're we're all sinners and we're all uh failing at this thing called called life and faith. But we know that he's there and we know that he's he's given us his son for forgiveness, but he's display, he's he's he's just got me in the in the fire. He's just he's sharpening me every day.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Well, that's I always tell people the one thing we have in common is we're all flawed. Um no question. You know, I've yet to meet that perfect person, and usually when the perfect person comes around, it's that means our massive egos right in the way, they just don't see it.
SPEAKER_02:Exactly.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. Okay, so then from prep school, we go. This is where you go make it, we get on full with Florida State.
SPEAKER_02:Yep. Uh I was waiting for the scholarship, but it never came. But uh Bill Dawkins was my uh was the head coach at the school of where my mom was uh the assistant principal at Norland High School in North Miami, North Miami Beach, really, and it's a little microcosm of a of a community uh in the Norland area. And uh he was the first little all-American at Florida State, and he got me an opportunity to uh my sister was playing volleyball, and so my dad drove uh me and my sister back up to Florida State to drop her off. And I got an interview with Coach Bowden, and they had just gotten uh off the 1980 season. They played Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. They lost, I think it was like 20 to 3 or 21 to 3. Uh and you know, they had a whole defense coming back that next year, but uh in the defensive backfield, they had like four to five quarterback, high school, high school quarterbacks now playing uh defensive back, and they were taking these quarterbacks and making them into defensive backs, and they had a lot of success. The defensive coordinator and DB coach was a guy named Jack Stanton, and Monk Bonasort was the guy that walked on. He was from Pittsburgh, he was an all-American uh that year, and then my freshman year, he he was still there. That was his senior year. So I walked on, and you know, I had to earn earn my keep. And it was torture, it was brutal, uh, but you know, again, the the the sharpening and the and the and the steel was was hot for four and a half years.
SPEAKER_01:And did you when did you finally uh achieve your scholarship?
SPEAKER_02:Uh after my sophomore year, uh, or excuse me, after yeah, my sophomore year, um I had played a little bit um and I had red-shirted, so I was already through three three seasons, but traveled that whole season. But they told me that I had to come back to spring practice and prove that I was supposed to be there. And so I was a backup going into my seat my uh junior year, and uh, and lo and behold, they gave me a scholarship, and uh I started the first game against East Terra East Carolina in my junior year, uh, and it was kind of uh uh another sharpening uh ball over my head. Uh I had Ernest Biner on the three-yard line, and he walked in. And it was just me and him, and I fell flat on my face. So the coach told me to sit my butt on the bench, and if I moved from the bench, I'll never play here again. Well, he had he got fired the next that that year. Uh, and Mickey Andrews came in on my senior year, and um thank God, because uh I don't know where, you know, I probably they wouldn't have let me come back my senior year, but Mickey let me back, and I was the 15-free safety after spring practice. Yes, five, not four, not six, but five. My number was five.
SPEAKER_01:There we go.
SPEAKER_02:And we come back and we start training training. One guy flunked out, another guy came in out of shape, another guy got hurt, and here I was. Um, you know, the 15 free safety. Now I'm the backup, and we started blocking punts, and I was the main person to do it. And we blocked nine that year. Uh it as you said, we I blocked two in a game against Arizona, and I blocked it and picked it up for 36 yards and ran it in. Uh, we've Van Raphorst scored 50 on us, and we've scored 55 on him. So it was uh it was a shootout out in Arizona.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_02:But yeah, it was it's it's kind of sums up a little bit of my life. Uh it just is, you know, uh it I just uh picked up pieces, you know. I found a way to do things, I found a way to get on the field, I found a way to, you know, help the team out. Uh found a way in my life, found a way uh with my kids, found a way in business, in my coaching career. Um it's just, you know, the persistence, and I think that gets back to what you asked me earlier, you know, with my dad and my mom. Uh it he finished the task. And so, you know, uh I'm still fighting every day and uh uh looking forward to retirement here in the next couple years and see what's next.
SPEAKER_01:I I want to go back as we kind of tease it. So you when you in college, you go back and work out and you and you had an opportunity to work out some of your your idols you mentioned. Talk about that real quick.
SPEAKER_02:I did. Uh that was the most unbelievable because in my junior year, um like I said, Howard Schnellberger's son was my tight end. And so we became, you know, peanut butter and jelly, and we used that that we used to say it. And uh so we worked at the dolphin training camp in the summer. Uh we were cleaning uh dorm rooms, we were waxing floors, we were doing all kinds of different stuff. It was all maintenance stuff for the university, but we would work until three o'clock, and then we were able to work out and work out in the weight room, and and then that's where all of the friendships really blossomed. Because uh Jerry Sandusky, John Sandusky's son, and that's Jerry with a G, not a J. We'll get to that in a minute, too. But uh David Shula, Mike Shula, uh, you know, all of the all of the kids from the parents of the coaches, they were playing football or basketball or whatever, and they would be working out. And so that's where we kind of all huddled up, and that's where our friendships and relationships, you know, began to uh to to blossom from that uh that opportunity. And then when I went to school at Florida State, they opened up uh, you know, I could come back and work out there in the offseason. And I had the great opportunity to go cover Mark Duper, Mark Clayton, uh Joe Rose, catch balls from Dan Marino and David Woodley. Uh Tim Foley is really one of the first people to really show me what a defensive back does as far as footwork, as far as backpedaling. Uh I loved his, he was one of the unbelievable leaders. Uh, you know, he was a very big leader in uh fellowship of Christian athletes, and he was one of the top three people in Amway, uh, the pyramid company. But Tim always, always said, he said, you know what? My job, my job is to get 10 people to tackle and to get the guy down. That means I don't have to do it. And so he was the quarterback. He was a hidden gem in that defense uh of 72 and 71, 70, all through that area era and even in the late 70s. And uh it was just a fun time. And so uh, you know, I uh I was around all of my heroes growing up. And it was as I look back, and what more could you ask for in a in a child's life?
SPEAKER_01:Wow. So as when you talked to your kids about this when they were growing up, did they were they like, what? No way, dad. How'd you do that? Did they were like maybe not believe you at first?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I you know, it would come up once in a while, you know, but they had to get old enough to understand who these people were. You know, I say, and I'm glad you made the comment, you know, some of these people that are listening here, they don't know who Don Schuel is unless they were uh comparing his record against Andy Reed's record or or uh Belichick's record. Uh, you know, uh Don Schuel is the only one to have an undefeated season. It it was just a it was a magical, magical four or five years, you know, going through. Now, there was trouble and there was, you know, some some hard times going through that. But uh it was really, really a great opportunity, and we took advantage of the opportunities.
SPEAKER_01:So cool. So in college now, we we have a i I want to kind of try to make this transition because you you you you end up coaching when you're done. But before we get that, like you you had a roommate that people might name might may resonate with a few folks who knew who golf before.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, well, yeah, it's all about relationships, right? I know a guy that wrote a book about that. And uh if I come back my junior year and uh my uh my roommate uh dropped out of school and they paired me up with Steve Nicholas, and Steve was a wide receiver for us, and of course, his dad is Jack Nicholas. He was the uh third child, uh second son, and uh we got paired up together. Uh, and we had a great time. I mean, he was you know good roommate, and he uh, you know, he's he was talk trash. I talked trash a little bit, and uh he uh he was he was the wide receiver and I was a DB, so it was uh it was fun. And uh I'll I'll you want me to go into the uh briefly the story that that led to this book that I I wrote, and uh I had had a club that uh was given to me to go uh go play golf one day. I broke my putter and I said, crap, I don't have a putter. And so he threw me this putter. He said, Here, use this one. I don't use it anymore. It it kind of it wasn't the technology. And so uh I had it and I didn't like it very much, but it, you know, I used it a few times and I put it on the shelf, you know, with like all golfers, you know, they have a garage, and if you're an avid golfer, you have a lot more uh golf clubs than you than you need. And fast forward to 2003, uh Steve's 40th birthday, uh my dad was up helping me. Uh he was just up visiting and he was helping me in the garage, and he made the comment. He says, You ought to take this down to Steve's party, because Steve was turning 40 and they were having a uh a birthday party for him. So I did. And uh I stood there in the middle of the party and I said, Jack, I said, I think I may have a uh a club of yours. He says, Well, go get it and we'll talk about it. So my wife went out and she had to get her purse anyway. So she brought it back in and I give it to him, and he starts looking at it, and he looks at me, he says, Where've you did where's this been? And I said, You know, I've been coaching for the last 13 years. It was up on her on the shelf, and I just found it. My my dad said, Hey, I made that there's a story behind this. He just shook his head, and so he just closes his eyes. He's going back in time. And so finally he uh he turned to me, he says, You know how much this is worth? I said, Nah, but by the tone of your voice, a couple hundred grand. He said, Times five. I won the U.S. Open at Baltistral in 1967. So everybody's coming by now, and all of his friends, Jim Montgomery walks by, he says, Hey, that's White Fang, where'd you get that? Barber walks by, hey, I used to spray paint that in the parking lots. That's White Fang, where'd you get that? So the whole night was all about Jack getting his putter back. And there's some, I won't steal the whole story, but there were some markings and different things about the putter that confirmed that it was his putter. And so he's standing there, and uh uh I just thanked the dear Lord that he he he was sprinkling what I was going to say next. Uh and Jack said, turned to me and said, Uh, hey, you know, send me your specs and I'll I'll send you a set of clubs. And I said, You ain't getting off that easy. And he looked at me with this pensive look, and I said, You get my dad, I'll get you get Steve, and let's go up to Augusta and we'll call it even. So he turned to Steve and he says, Book it. And so October 22nd, 2003, we went up and uh we met him in the in Atlanta, and we went and stayed in the cottage, played the part three. He was so gracious to my dad. He was just absolutely wonderful. But the gist of the whole story is uh uh of the book is a father-son journey through life that it culminates at Augusta. Uh, there's some spiritual things that transpire. Uh, there's some unbelievable things that transpire uh uh that you you know it's not coincidence. Uh uh it's it's it's uh it it it's the man upstairs putting these people in into my life. And so uh it's been fun. It's been a really good uh uh it's been a good book for for a lot of different people. And uh I get uh females to uh that absolutely love it because you know that's what they want for their dad, for their husband and their son to have that special bond. And and one of the biggest things that I tell people that I learned from writing, you know, everybody, you know, okay, you write a book, so what? Uh what did you learn by writing the book? And one of the biggest things that I learned, and it it it's and I try to tell people this, I didn't know my dad's story. And when and the story is about my dad and me. And uh here I was in the Miami Dolphins trying to find my heroes and trying to look for my heroes and thinking who my heroes were. But when it's all said and done in my real life, I was living with my hero. The guy was a hero. Not many people have enough gumption, fear, non-fear, and right out guts and balls to go into World War II when you're 16, just turning 17 years old.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_02:And so uh it showed me that I was living with my hero, but I just it took me a few years to realize it.
SPEAKER_01:So when you called your your pops and said, Hey, what are you doing? You want to go to Augusta? Did he like ha ha good one?
SPEAKER_02:But yeah, that's uh that's exactly. I said, Hey, we're we're gonna go play uh we're gonna go play some golf up uh up up in Georgia. Where where are we going? What are you doing for that? And he kind of put two and two together, you know, and then I told him the story, obviously, because he was just there that week. And I told him the story, and of course, you know, I told him what what it was. So I I told and during that, it's back to your baseball. It was uh it was the first week in it was October 22nd, it was the last week of it was the final game of the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins because when we flew back, we kind of flew over um uh the uh baseball park there uh and in in Miami. And so it was uh it was pretty interesting.
SPEAKER_01:So wow. So I when you um I I I want to save some of the uh the the thunder of this book, everybody. Please go get it. It's um I read the book literally in two and a half days. I could not put it down. It's um such a good story on the father-son relationship. Uh, if I mean for I mean, there's a lot of sports fans listening to this podcast. It's an amazing story of golf, that the journey that Gus said was father and son, the the journey of um you know, Joe as a as a coach in the collegiate level and then to getting the NFL and and and making the decision to, hey, what what where do I want to how do I want to transition my life? And so you'll you'll learn about that. Um did at what at what stage did you say, I gotta write a book about this?
SPEAKER_02:I had a friend of mine that lived across the street, and uh unfortunately he got glioblastomin. He's been uh passed away about uh four years ago, five years ago. And uh he he was constant. I mean, it it was like once a week, Joe, you gotta write a book. Joe, you gotta write a book. You know, he was he loved golf. Uh he didn't play a lot, but he followed it, and uh he was just Ralph Barber is his name. And uh and so it it happens, and then once the story was out, every time you know you go play golf and you're sitting up at uh up in the 19th hole, and somebody, you know, says, Hey, tell that story. Hey, Joe, tell that story. So I told it, and then one time Doug Shields, this guy named Bill Chastain, walked by, and he was the beat writer for the uh the Tampa Bay race here. And um they were talking because it was baseball, and Doug was an all-American at at the University of Miami and uh played a little bit in in the minor leagues, and so he did it. He said, Bill, hey, you need to hear this story. So I told him the story, and I told him that, you know, this neighbor's trying to get me to write a book. Well, that night I go home and he called me the next day, and Bill Chastain did. He says, You got me. I said, What do you mean you got me? He said, I've read about I've read about you, I know about Steve, I mean, I know about Jack Nicholas, I read about Steve, but no one has read anything about your dad being able to play Augusta National with the guy that won it six times. And that's what kind of, you know, uh, and then we found a recording uh of my dad talking about his war uh um endeavors, and that's when the the book kind of just kind of the the motor was going, you know, the the locomotive was out on the tracks and and we were off and running. And uh and Bill was was my co-writer and he kind of guided me through it. So it I I have a lot to um I I have a lot to uh to honor him uh as far as helping me through this. I don't think I could have ever done it. He did such a great job of of pulling like you're doing now of okay, all right, you were 15. What'd your dad say? Yeah, what'd your mom say? He made me go back there. You know, John Stack, when he died of leukemia, he was just all right, what did you feel? What you know, I and it was an emotional ride because you know, you go through that stuff again, and some of that has been buried for years, and you know, it's it it it it all comes out, and uh, but uh that's how that's how it came about. And he also had a had a uh uh an agent, you know, book agent, and then uh we finally got a publisher and it and it and it worked out. And by the way, why the reason why you're able to read it so quick is because I wrote it. I wanted to make sure that ex-athletes could read it quickly.
SPEAKER_01:I found the Scratch and Sniff page, so thank you for making it really easy for me to do it.
SPEAKER_02:We put we put pictures, we put pictures in there for the gay, for the Florida graduates and the Washington graduates.
SPEAKER_01:Hey, it worked. It worked. There's also a story uh about the first. I'm not we don't need to tell because I want to tease people to go get the book. It's where you actually tried to go to Gus the first time and the cards it wasn't ready. You weren't ready to go yet. The guy upstairs said, Not not quite yet, my man. We got you wait a little bit.
SPEAKER_02:Yep, yep. It was uh and and that's probably why the seeds transpired. I had uh I had wrote uh Jack a letter uh probably five or six years prior to the prior two. And um I you know, I begged him. I was like, you know, my dad's golf fan, avid golfer and golf fan would love the opportunity. And I got the letter back and he says, now I can't do that, you know, this, that, and the other. So uh the C's were laid in my own brain, I guess, five or six years. But you applied. Thank God they got spewed out on uh on March, what's his birthday? I think uh drawing a blank now. It's in March, March 30th, I think.
SPEAKER_01:Um but you applied the lesson Mama Dad taught you of persistence. You didn't quit. No, not quit, didn't do it.
SPEAKER_02:Subliminally, I did not quit.
SPEAKER_01:You're exactly right. You're exactly as you think back to all this journey you've been on, and then you apply it to like raising your own boys. Um what what were like the core themes that were like things you really wanted to instill in in your in your boys after going through all this amazing journey so far in your life?
SPEAKER_02:Oh my word. Uh you know, there it it it it's one of the things you you don't want to impose on your kids, you know, your life. They got to live their own life. And again, I didn't know that. I I can see that now. I mean, I can understand. Uh uh, we lost a child at Notre Dame at birth. Um and you know, we were just so lucky. Uh, we were older um in our marriage when we had kids. Uh, and so we didn't even think we'd have uh the next two. Um and so we were very, very um cautious. Uh and and I I wanted to give them and I wanted to be there for them. One of the things my dad uh he loved me, I knew it in the bottom of my heart. He never really showed it. He was a man of of stoicism and uh hard discipline. And uh, but I always promised myself that if I discipline or if I I'm gonna walk up and I'm gonna say that I love you before they went to bed. And that was one of the things that I knew my dad did, and but he never really shed those words until later in life when we were both adults. And so that was maybe one of the biggest things that I wanted to make sure that, you know, uh if I was to die early or or tomorrow, uh, I wanted I wanted those two kids to know that, you know, that they're the they're they're the the the air that I breathe, you know, as as a parent. So uh it uh it I I just wanted them to good be good people, you know, and get get around good people. We tried to discipline them, uh, gave them enough leeway. Uh, but you know, uh if if they could follow in their in their faith, they went to uh uh St. Mary's uh Episcopal Day School here in Tampa, and then they both went to Jesuit High School, which is a Catholic high school here. So they had the foundations for it, but you know, like everything, you have to go do it yourself, you know, at some point in time. You've you've got to go uh carry the torch. Yeah. And uh, but I think that uh a lot of their mother is in both of them. Um the uh opening and the willingness to uh uh to to to look at the uh the the poor and the and the unbridled, the the the people that don't have what we have. Uh we live here in South Tampa, it's a very upscale south uh portion of Tampa. Uh and it's not your everyday neighborhood. Uh it's uh so they they they have a a little bit of roots in them and and they have a good base, and uh I hope that you know helps them in the rest of their life. Love it.
SPEAKER_01:If you um if you reflect, well, well, actually, before I before I ask this question, we've I've done many episodes now, season six, we've got 300 and something episodes. We've a lot of times youth sports has got brought up. And even what the power of I love you, the power of saying I'm sorry for dads. Um, see you you've you've seen a lot. You've seen it from a coach at the college level, the NFL level, from raising your own kids, coach level, maybe in a in In a few words, a few few minutes, t talk about what what advice would you give the the you know the 30-year-old parent that's raising kids into sports um so they could you know let them live their life but also in enjoy it? Tell me tell me what comes to mind.
SPEAKER_02:People ask me this a lot, and this the second question is how how do you how would you treat your kids uh in nowadays? Uh would you let them play football, would you let them play baseball, if hockey, whatever? I tell all of my parents, I said, do not let them pick a sport at 10 years old and be the only sport that they ever play. It just is it it inhibits the person physically, I think, and especially some of the other that are sedentary type uh sports, uh baseball, you know, soccer, you can stand, you know, but soccer's a great sport with the drills and everything. Do as much as you can, be a kid, go do Boy Scouts, go do do uh the homeless shelter, football, baseball, do all that you can do. Don't do one because there's so many people that I have seen, including my own son, my younger son, that got burnt out with baseball, had a chance to walk on at Florida State, and he was just spent. He was he was tired of it. And so that's what I try to impose. Now, once they get to a level, if they get to that elite level at their age group, then you could, but I'd still, if you have a golfer, make him go play basketball, let him go play, because it's only gonna make him a better athlete. And if you're a swimmer, then go go play tennis because you know you're gonna want to compete in you can compete in tennis. You're uh you can compete in pickleball, you can compete in golf. Uh do as much as you can because you never know when it's gonna get taken away from you.
SPEAKER_01:It eventually will. Does all of us. I don't I can't remember if I if we met Joe and I told the story about um my my daughter, did I tell you she's gonna go play basketball in college? Yes. Okay, yeah. So she's going where I played football, which is like a Disney moment. And so uh she was she was a soccer kid growing up a little bit that didn't like way too aggressive. She get you know, pretty much getting yellow cards at like eight years old when it gets over. And and she just always loved hoop and she's played hoop her, she loves it, just eat loves it. And um, but the first time she played golf was she saw her brother play at like you know 12, 10 years old, whatever, and shoots 51 from the red tees, takes second, qualifies for district. She's like, Dad, I'm done. I'm like, What? No, you aren't. Too easy. Well, I just didn't and I wanted to push her so bad, but I didn't want to, and I'm hoping eventually she realizes it's again we can do it together as a family, it's get you outside, but she'll even like one of her good friends plays on the high school golf team, and they went to the top golf maybe a year ago, and Riley grabs you know, driver and just flies at like 140, 150 for like, and she's only 5'4, just um, but she doesn't have the passion like me or my son do for golf. And so it's you know, I have to like just really watch myself, like it's her journey. I hope that she comes around and and and like wants to play because it's I said, honey, when you get if you get into business, if you're a female golfer and a stick, you're gonna be the dream, you'll be in the best fortune possible.
SPEAKER_02:My dad used to make the comment back then. Uh, obviously, you I'm talking about the uh 70s now, 70s and early 80s, he always thought that an athletic female, if they played other sports and then go played golf, they would kill it, you know, back then. Because when you looked at, you know, babe's dehere I'm mispronouncing babe Zaharias, um, you know, um uh Judy Rankin, uh all of those, they weren't really athletic, they were learned golf, they learned how to hit the golf ball. And you know, he always thought that they'd have an upper hand, and he tried to get my older sister, but you know, they they got caught up in the volleyball and uh they won the state championship for junior year. And uh so uh it it and it followed in the same footsteps of my my younger sister. But uh, but that's that's I I it's it it's just well rounded, you know. You don't it's it's uh my dad always used to say that too, the single single-minded person, you know, it's single focus. Um, you know, uh it's it it there's there's a good good for that because you're focused and you're on the flight and you're playing, but guess what? There's a socialization that gets missed sometimes, and you have to be able to turn it off. It can't be just that.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Uh you know, it's it's not one thing in your faith, it's not one thing in your sports, it's not one thing in your academics or your work or your relationships. It's encompassing. We've we've got to keep keep it. Uh it's a it's a melting pot, it's not steak and potatoes.
SPEAKER_01:Wise advice, everybody. Hope you're taking notes like I am, page full of notes here. Um, before we can, uh I want to make sure that we make it really easy for people to find the book, but before I go there, one question I always love asking dads. And since you're you you got some wisdom to you've been delivering this to us all day here, what would be an area your dad game that as you reflect back, you're like, man, I wish I could go back and do this a little differently that that might help a younger dad or maybe a dad that's later that um, you know, because I think we as we joked earlier, we're all flawed. Um, you know, as a competitive person, I this podcast has helped me become more patient without a doubt. Um, so that's something I have to always be careful of, is just lose, you know, making sure I'm hey, is this that big a deal? What do you you know, do you need to freak out about this? And usually the answer is no. Um, but for you, Joe, tell me what would be an area of your dad game that you should reflect back. You're like, man, that'd be an area I probably could have got a little bit better.
SPEAKER_02:Uh it it patience is probably one of them from from that the just to throw the word out there. But I it he gave me such a uh a round outlook on life. Uh, here's a singer that loves ath athletics. He wasn't a great athlete, he was a diver, literally scuba diver. Uh he swam his whole life. Um and my mom was the athlete, you know. Uh, and they were able to do a lot of different things. You know, my dad, we had boats, we were lobstering in in the keys every summer. Um, you know, the most my mother and father probably made in a in a single year is probably 40,000,$50,000. Uh and so, but we we didn't have we didn't grow up in a in a life of of luxury. Uh, we got everything we needed, not everything we wanted. Uh and it led to my my mantra of my own life. And I tell people that that my mission statement is to help people get what they want, and then I'll get what I need. And so it's it's not the wants of the world, it's taking care of the needs, and then it's blany, and then all the rest is extra. So it just really it it the my my upbringing with the man and the discipline. My mother was a strict discipline. I mean, she had a paddle sitting behind her desk, and every kid that came in when she was uh the assistant principal of of uh uh of conduct, and they saw that paddle. That was the first thing that they saw. So she was she was as hard as my dad was. Uh, but uh, you know, they the the two together gave me a a great platform. Uh it wasn't easy, uh, but it was attainable, and and and we got there.
SPEAKER_01:Love it. Okay. How can people learn more about Joe? And how can they find this book that I absolutely am a huge fan of? I continue to tell people all the time, and I hope that uh tons of people will get this book because it's it is such a good story. So how can we make it easy for them?
SPEAKER_02:It is. It's uh it's on it's in Amazon. Uh it is called White Fang and the Golden Bear. Uh, it is a father-son journey through life that culminates at Gusta. And uh there's a whole bunch in between. And um yeah, you it's uh it's it's a good read. It's an easy read. But as I said before, uh bring a bring a little box of tissues too, because uh if if if you don't cry, then you you you don't have emotion. So uh I did.
SPEAKER_01:I and for the we should make sure just in case there's a a gullible gullible listener out there, there's not a scratch and sniff page, everybody. I just want to make sure I make that clear. That was just me being sarcastic and making fun of myself. Um okay, I will make sure this is all linked in the show notes. Thank you again, Steve Geerty, uh, for making this episode possible. Before I let you go, Joe, now it's time to go into what I call the lightning round. All right. And this is where I'm gonna show you the hits of taking too many hits in college, not bong hits, but football hits.
SPEAKER_03:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:And your job is to answer these questions as quickly as you can. My job is to get uh get you to giggle.
unknown:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:Are you ready? And I don't know. I'm I don't I'm gonna show you. I have no idea I'm gonna ask you. It's gonna we're gonna read the defense and just let them fly. Here we go. Okay. Uh true or false, your first hole at Augusta, you made a quad. False. Okay. Uh true or false, you hooked one out of bounds on one unnamed hole and hit a car. False. I just laughed at that dumb joke myself, which makes no sense. If we went into your your phone right now. Okay, here we go. That's the Nicholas. He fades it too. Uh if we went into your phone right now, what would be one genre of music that your your colleagues uh might be surprised you listen to?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, they hate it. It's it's it's a slow rock 80s, 70s, and 80s.
SPEAKER_01:I'm down with that. Have you ever listened to Yacht Rock?
SPEAKER_02:Yacht Rock, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Great station. Great station. Um uh favorite book you've ever read?
SPEAKER_02:Oh. Uh I've read so many. I'm listening to one right now, uh, Washington, Roy Schernow's um book on Washington, and it's fascinating yesterday. Uh I didn't know that Washington and Jefferson and Hamilton, it's the politics back then are exactly the politics that we're going through right now. It is the most talking about tariffs, talking about France and England, and France is going to they're fighting England. It just I just I don't I was laughing yesterday.
SPEAKER_01:You think we'd learn, right?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you would think, right? Brian, Brian's song would be a uh one one of the uh yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Uh favorite comedy movie of all time is uh Caddyshack, of course. Solid, solid. I I uh actually, so I know that movie probably way too well. And I just ordered golf balls and it was like a free logo. And so the first line says, uh, do you take drugs, Danny? And then right below it is good. I mean every day and then blows up good. I gotta go to Nebraska. What? Nebraska? What is it? Like 250? I can't foot the bill for everything, Danny. If I came to house your house for dinner tomorrow, tell me what we'd have. Tomorrow?
SPEAKER_02:Uh probably probably fillets or steaks on the grill. Um, gotta have grilled onions, uh oil oil in the in the onions and mushroom, and uh probably ice cream for dessert.
SPEAKER_01:There we go. I'm getting hungry. It's so it's dinner time here in Seattle. Um if you were to take your wife on vacation right now, sorry boys, you're staying home. Uh tell me where you take her.
SPEAKER_02:Oh my gosh. I I I I'd have to answer it in two different places. Okay. Okay. I have to take her back to Axe, Provence and Provence, France. We just went this summer. It was her um her lifelong. Uh we want to go and spend three, four weeks there and and and and enjoy it. Uh I always wanted to go to um Polynesia and Kauai, and uh my dad kind of you know, he teed that up for me. Uh he told us about uh I'll never forget going into the World War II Museum in New Orleans, and I had my two boys with me, and the boys were like maybe 12 and 10, probably. And uh they had this huge map, and it showed you where everybody was fighting and where the tanks were and all of the cities and all of this. And here's my dad telling us where they landed, this, and he he's marking where he was going. And I turned and I looked, my wife crying, my son crying, my other son crying, and I'm like balling because it it got emotional. That here's my grandfather, my father, the two kids wouldn't be here, I wouldn't be here, you know. It it it just it was one of those life moments crazy.
SPEAKER_01:That museum is one of the coolest. I'm not a big museum guy, but I spent four and a half hours there. Could have spent eight. Yep, could have spent eight. Um, I know you we wrote a book, but I'm gonna give you a chance to write a second book. If there was to be a book written about your life, tell me the title.
SPEAKER_02:Faith, perseverance, and love. My way.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. So now that book, um uh Amazon, we we called them because we want to order a copy. It they can't, they've printed too many copies. It's they're just selling out. They go, I say, I'll go to the airport and get one. It's sold out there. I tried to get TPA and International, sold out. Try to get a Barnes Noble, sold out. So now uh Netflix has found out about this, Joe, and they're gonna make a movie. You are now the casting director. I need to know who's gonna star Joe Wells in this critically acclaimed hit new movie that's gonna just ravish Hollywood.
SPEAKER_02:Uh it it some people say Damon, some people uh if he was still alive, I'd have my cousin Michael Landon do it. He was my second cousin. And uh on my mom's side. Uh I wish he was, I wish he didn't pass away of of of cancer so early because it it was uh I I met him a few times, but that wasn't in the book. The publisher wouldn't let me put it in there because it didn't have anything to do with golf, but uh, but it was kind of cool. I'd like one of the Wahlbergs. Okay. Tough Boston guy. Either one, because again, um I just matter of fact, I just saw the Donny's, uh, the one that it was in the uh uh New York Blue or whatever it was, and uh um because they kind of grew up like I did, you know. Uh Miami was a tough place back in the 70s. Uh, you know, uh there was and I didn't really know it. You don't realize that while you're growing up, and then you get out and you're like, whoa, I grew up in that, you know. ESPN 30 on 30. You know, it was like all those drugs back then. Uh I didn't know that. It wasn't my scene.
SPEAKER_01:So I thought you might with a caddy shock, you might surprise me with like a Rodney Dangerfield or something, but you didn't. You you kept it you kept it tough and serious.
SPEAKER_02:I don't I don't know the stars. I mean, it's kind of like COVID has just eliminated, you know, movies and stars now, you know, for me. It's uh I I don't I don't I don't know them as much. I see them and I can place them, but um, but uh I honestly I'd love to do it myself, but that ain't gonna happen.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, and last question, the most important one. Tell me two words that would describe your wife.
SPEAKER_02:Oh gosh. Devoted and and loving.
SPEAKER_01:Boom. Lightning rounds complete. Uh thank you for spending. Uh I know we went a little long, everybody, but it's it's so worth it. Uh Joe is the man, um, the one of the most humble people I've met and who's lived a f who continues to live it just an amazing life. And Steve Gardi again, thank you again for making today happen. Uh the White Fang and the Golden Bear, go get it today, everybody. It's um, I actually might read the thing again just because uh I read it maybe a couple months ago, but now I'm like, and I'm gonna make sure I'm gonna I will commit to this, I'm gonna follow my son. If he's got some trips coming up, I'm like, bro, you better read this thing, and there better be a thank you card, Mr. Wessel.
SPEAKER_03:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:So um I'm grateful for your for your time. Thank you for everybody at home who continues to listen. If you're a dad that loved this episode and you think uh a friend or family member might be inspired to to hear this story or go pick a book, please just share the episode, make it really, really easy for them. Um and if you're not currently following it, just hit subscribe so you can make sure you get all uh every episode comes out every Thursday. And if you've not taken time to leave us a review wherever you consume your podcast, um that would mean the world to us so we can keep this thing going. But Joe, appreciate your time, man. Grateful and I and I hope that our past will meet, uh, we'll have we'll cross again in person so we can play golf together.
SPEAKER_02:They will definitely do that. We're gonna make that happen.
SPEAKER_01:Let's go. All right, have a great night. You too. Thanks.