Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson on unconditional love, kicking in the NFL and being all in on Jesus

hey guys today on Sports Spectrum Daniel Carlson Las Vegas Raiders kicker his brother's in the NFL as well with the Green Bay Packers but we're GNA focus on Daniel today and his story his journey of faith and football and putting his trust in Jesus it's a great conversation can't wait for you to hear it it's coming up in just a moment here today on Sports Spectrum first I want to remind you about our friends at Compassion International you can go to compassion.com sportspectrum and you'll see a list of children there waiting to be released from poverty that's what compassion is all about releasing kids from poverty in jesus' name this is a great ministry I sew into this we have two sponsored children I've gotten to go on trips with compassion to the Dominican Republic and see the program in action and it's dynamite it's awesome and I cannot recommend them more if you're looking for a charity to sew into and to donate to but you're also really helping a child and their family with hope and coming out of poverty food and education and medical care and vocational training it's all done in Jesus name they get to go through the church program as well Compassion International is the real deal go to compassion.com sportspectrum compassion.com sportsspectrum and pray about sponsoring a child today [Music] here's Daniel Carlson with the Las Vegas Raiders welcome to sports Spectrum Daniel so good to be here good uh um excited to get in this conversation and I mean I've been following y'all's platform for a little while and um excited to get connected and you know hopefully share my some of my story on the Sports World and obviously on the Jesus world as well yeah let's stay on the Jesus world to start I like to do that because I think it's it's it it centers our conversation around who should be worshiped not you or me but him um so tell me about Christ tell me about Jesus and who he is to Daniel Carlson right now yeah I mean he's he's everything obviously he's my Foundation um you know it's it was fun going through this Easter season um you know it's just always a reminder of you know the sacrificial love he poured out and uh I have little ones now uh I just had a third and we we talked about this briefly beforehand but you know I think when you when you have a kid it's easy to kind of it's a little easier to understand uh that unconditional love of a father to a son or a daughter um and just you know when I had we got a 10 year-old 10day old baby um in the house now and going through Easter season it it was just a fun reminder of wow like seeing that baby being born and then thinking of there nothing in the world that this baby could do that would stop me from loving it and that's how you know Christ and God loves us and sees us as sons and daughters and no matter how far we step away from you know his purpose and his plan in our life and we just screw up and mess up over and over again he still just looks at us and says I love you I'm gonna take the first step I'm going to go to the Cross die for you um with that Easter season and you know it's just it's such a cool I don't know way to kind of comprehend that unconditional love a little better I think um and so that that's been really fun with Easter and you know just been something that's front of Mind here recently of just that hey that sacrificial unconditional love that he just no matter what he loves his sons and daughters he paid the price ultimate he saved us redeemed us and um there's nothing we can do to earn it uh it's just a Grace it's a gift and I mean that's everything and if you if you accept that build your life around it there's hope there's Freedom um and so you know just choosing that and continuing to remind myself of that daily and dying to myself I mean it's it's a daily process as we all know um but just continue to take a take a step in that Journey um and I'm I'm learning and you know hopefully getting better and better at it uh day by day yeah I think you know we all are flawed people obviously but when you have a child and how old are your older kids so I got three and a half two and 10 day old and brand new yeah three and a half and two so these are perfect ages to to realize that sin is rampant in our lives and that we're born into it right um because you don't have to teach a child to say no or to be defiant that's when you know that that sin is like you know fresh inside of you but I think you don't love them any differently if they do go mess up and they do talk back or whatever might be you don't love them any differently there's discipline but there's love and I don't know about you but when that happened with my daughter it really gave me a clear view on the Father's Love You know the The Prodigal Son and The Prodigal dad in the uh in the in the the story that Jesus tells in the parable that becomes real life right absolutely absolutely and yeah like it's just because there's so many relationships we have you know there is a certain amount of trust and you know conditions put on on a relationship and I mean even you know a husband and wife you have to choose a covenant but as soon as the baby's born you know it's just hey no matter what you're always going to be my son you're always going to be my daughter I'm always gonna love you and so you know with our latest baby being born right before Easter and then go to you know Easter Service and just you know celebrating that reading books about it with reading the Bible with our younger kids and trying to explain the Easter story and be like Jesus went to the Cross because he loves us even though we you know were messed up we we left him we didn't you know we betrayed him all that stuff he still just loved us no matter what um and just really always understanding that daily and just uh appreciating that being grateful for that um and then living out in the freedom and you know the hope we have from that yeah that's awesome he's Daniel Carlson with the Las Vegas Raiders when did the decision to make Christ Lord and Savior for you take shape I mean I had a great Foundation I grew up in a Christian household in Colorado Springs and my parents had a gave me a great Foundation um and then it wasn't until college at Auburn that I really you know finally took took that as my own faith uh for a long time it was my parents' faith and you know I was trying to do the right things not to disappoint my family and my parents but it wasn't there there was no thought of my own of hey what do I actually believe and so obviously college is high school college that is kind of the time where you know most young young adults will start to question those things and um I was just really blessed to be surrounded by great resources great churches great people that poured into me um and so that's when I really started to understand and I mean there's it's obviously a continuous Journey but that's where I started to really pick up my own faith and deciding hey this is what I'm you know building my life around building building you know my decisions around uh building my hopes and dreams and whether it be sports or family whatever it is um you know this has got got to be my Foundation because otherwise I'm just counting on myself and uh that's that's a tough place to be all other ground is sinking sand right I think is how the song goes um if I'm talking to Daniel Carlson at 10 years old who is that version of of Daniel Carlson what was he into what was who were his Heroes who was that version um I was not much has Chang I mean I was into sports I I was a soccer player I always dreamed of being the next great I'm half Swedish half American so my dad was from Sweden and obviously soccer's huge over there and so I was dreaming to be the next great Swedish soccer player or American because I had dual citizenship but um and then yeah somewhere along the journey that that kind of switched to football but I'm still kicking the ball so it's it's similar but um yeah growing up in Colorado Springs with a younger brother who's he played at Auburn and is now in the NFL Anders Carlson and then an older brother who's living in Sweden uh and he was a soccer goalie so me and younger brother would just practice shooting soccer balls on him all day uh that was kind of our form of daycare I guess uh when we weren't in school and so uh we would we would just do that and that I guess paid off and helped us learn how to kick a soccer ball which turned into a football later on yeah I was going to ask you about kicking you know obviously soccer propelling you into football what's the pivot that takes shape when you go from soccer to football yeah I mean it it's instead of kicking a different kick every time it's kicking the same kick over and over again um you know you have limited amount of steps just because guys are trying to block the kick um but it you know it does get a little more boring in some ways but uh for me who I I always kind of like the individual sports I like the control aspect of you know hey if I mess up it's on me I don't have to necessarily I mean I do count on other guys don't get me wrong but you know it's more hey I can make or break it myself um and I like that individual sport aspect while also being on a team um and so it it was unique where you know I could push myself as much and get the results I wanted out of it um at least thought I could um sometimes it's not always how it goes you know we're not always in control um and that's been a fun lesson to learn through this sport but uh yeah I've just really fallen in love with transitioning from soccer and you know it's a it's a great team sport a beautiful game still love it but into football uh which is just a whole another sport of there's so many moving parts so many people doing different positions and you know I I think think my position is very unique in especially the football world uh but it all adds up into this awesome awesome team sport that I've grown to love why Auburn what was it about Auburn because you were Colorado Springs Colorado Au Alabama's not right exactly yeah I I wanted to get you know I wanted to get out my parents you know taught us to be very independent they actually went to Alabama so um they Ro Tide family and I grew up Che shocking was even more yeah that was that was a bit of a interesting choice to break to uh my my family that lives in Alabama but I mean I did have just familiarity with the state of Alabama from I had grandparents and cousins and stuff spread out throughout the state um so you know i' I'd spent some time there and then I just fell in love with the campus and um you know I thought it was a great balance of school and being able to you know pursue the degrees and you know I wanted red shirt which was kind of a unique situation but I just was like I mean I played high school ball at a school that maybe had like 200 100 people at a game tops to you know I was like a little nervous to step out into okay 100,000 and Bryant Denny or wherever it is like maybe the extra year to kind of figure it out it wouldn't be so bad and and then I could get an extra year of school um because I just I never really had dreams of the NFL I was just kind of I came to football so late I was just kind of figuring out one day at a time I was like I just want to make the high school team and then after I kind of made the high school team I was like well maybe I could you know try and playing college football instead of college soccer and then kind of surprised myself with that and then you know the next step didn't happen till later but you know I I felt like there was no big master plan it was just kind of go to school get a degree go do my best play football um and then just God had a lot more in store for me I guess well it's really interesting that you say that you know in terms of the desires to play in the NFL because there's this highs and lows of 2018 right so yeah you're a fifth round pick by Minnesota which is phenomenal for a kicker to be in the fifth round um let's let's stop stop right there for a second and have you share your Draft Day experience because then I want to get into all that took place in 2018 and how you ended up with the Raiders but take me to the draft day experience Daniel Carlson yeah it was it was fun it was you know I had an idea from just the pre-draft process that I was probably headed to either Minnesota or Miami unless some you know smaller chance came out from you know nowhere but you know two very different places and you know so I just recently been married I think uh probably I guess three months we had been married and so we're in Colorado with friends and family um you know just seeing where where we're going next and uh yeah I I think you know there is some still ignorance to the process but it was just I mean it it was such a great day it still is just such a great day even though it it was quick uh once we got there but Minnesota gave us a call after couple prank phone calls from friends which was much appreciated throughout that very nervous day you say much appreciated is that a good thing or a bad thing it did break the ice a little and loosened you up when you're you know waiting and waiting and waiting um because yeah if you're if you're not one of those early guys I mean and a kicker I mean you're not expected to go early anyways um but it is a you know no matter what it's a long day until it happens and then it's a great day kind of um but yeah I got the phone call from Minnesota and very excited had never been to Minnesota so you know excited to see what that was like and um really enjoyed it when I got up there but I mean as we'll get into it later it was it was a short stay well that's what I want to get too because you go through camp and by the way if you're a fifth round pick there's never a guarantee you're going to make the team obviously and there's always competition because you need more than one for most positions uh in the NFL much less a kicker um so you go through camp and you make the team welcome to the NFL right because it's just what two games later and you think you're pretty set here and you're living out a dream that you didn't even have and all of a sudden you're released so I want to ask you take me to the time in being released by Minnesota and signing with the Raiders and what that was like for you was there doubt was there fear was there questioning this whole decision of going to the NFL what was that time like yeah I mean there was definitely all of it doubt and fear and there I mean we're all human and there's all moments of that but I I was it was funny because a few weeks before that while I was in Camp still kind of competing for the job and I mean it was going well but I mean like you said there's there's just no guarantees in the NFL especially for a rookie and so I remember having a conversation with my mentor and the the coach that actually got me into kicking uh that went to our local uh Church in Colorado and he was the one that was like hey we need a kicker do you want to come try it out he you know it's funny how God used that little conversation and that connection into you know really changing my life um but we were having a conversation in Minnesota he came to visit and it was like Hey if God you know took this all away from me and you know I was cut never played football again you know like I'd still be so thankful like I you know got a degree paid for got school paid for got a master's paid for then my wife you know really set myself up for the next step and phase of life um and if you know it's all gone tomorrow like I have so many great memories so much appreciation for my time like it's going to be okay and I mean it's easy to say that when you're still in it but then a few weeks down the road I've been cut and I'm fired and I'm like is it really going to be okay um and like I said the the flesh wants you know me to panic and worry and you know I had moments but there was so much you know support and people reminding me like hey it's it's not about your plans it's not about you know you didn't plan this out anyways this has all been God's design on your life like let's wait and see what he has next so just while you're waiting while you're figuring it out yeah keep keep working keep hoping but you know let's just see what God has in store for this next chapter um and so there was four or five weeks which at times felt like an eternity um but it was just sitting and waiting and training and you know obviously going to workouts and talking with teams and stuff like that as well but it was really like there were so many days where I was like I I don't know if I'm good enough I don't know if I you know I was still in the NFL I very young and naive and I just I really didn't have a gauge for whether I measured up or not or if I just would have the right opportunity because so much is opportunity uh but sure enough the Oakland Raiders at the time were able to give me a call and I was able to work out with them and you know the rest is kind of history but um there was just a moment of you're kind of waiting in the middle of the storm and you're not really sure like what's next doesn't see seem like it's working out like you you know maybe thought it would or you plan it to but I mean God's plans are so much greater than ours and you know just trusting in Him um that's you know you can find that piece that surpasses all understanding um and so it was fun in hindsight because there were definitely moments of that with I mean my wife and I were married for five six months at that point and so you know we're were just in Minnesota like what do what do we do what's what's life look like now um but just rest in that and being like all right God like we're trusting in you let's you know let's just wait and sit with you be still know that you're God know that you have plans for us and there good plans plans for us to prosper not to harm us and it it was fun to kind of put all that into test like I said in hindsight it wasn't always fun at the time um I'm not gonna act like that is how it is but um you know in hindsight I'm very thankful that I got to experience that I think it strengthen me as a man as as a marriage as a football player um in just so many ways yeah it it um it refines you you know I mean there's all sorts of stories in in God's word that look through considering in all joy when we Face trials or you know it's okay I'm you know the Apostle Paul saying I'm stuck in Chains here but man my trust is in Jesus and I put my faith in him no matter what I'm going through um obviously you weren't in Chains you were just without a job for 5 weeks but you got the job with the Raiders I'm curious what it was like to find your confidence again because there's so much that goes into all of sports with confidence but for the kickers that we watch in the NFL it feels like if you miss two or three and you let it get to you mentally your confidence is shaken and it doesn't matter what kind of talent you have how quickly was it for you to be able to find that that confidence once he even even even before the Raiders called but you know once you get to Oakland Oakland yeah that's a that's a I mean it's a great question um because like you said there I think it is such a big part of the job the mental side and I think the mental side can be summed up in hey you have confidence in the kick you're about to take and for me especially after that I mean you know I didn't have a whole lot of confidence in Daniel Carlson uh but and that's where you know like we were talking about earlier with a foundation what Foundation are you on are you on sinking sand on your own plans and your own hard work and I mean I I think there's obviously value and working hard but I think I've learned to find my confidence in hey God has a plan I can play freely because if I get cut or not if I have the best game of my life or have the worst game of my life today like that's part of God's plan and I've seen it before and he's been faithful and he'll continue to be faithful and playing from that spot gives me so much more confidence and I mean I literally every game I'm reading Bible Bible verses before that are just filling me with confidence in not in me but in God's faithfulness and in his promises because if it were up to me like I'm not the most confident person just naturally like I I know I work hard and I know I you know have some abilities that you know should one plus one should equal two and I should have some you know success from that but when I show up on game day and I I'll know how it is for everybody else but I definitely you know have doubts every time um and so that's where hey I don't want to put my faith and my confidence just in Daniel Carlson I want to put it in you know someone that I know will sustain me through the storms through the good through the bad no matter how it's going no matter what season I'm in um whether I'm a rookie whether I'm in my seventh year and you know things are going well I don't want to ever you know think I've got it all figured out and I'm in control um I want to you know really heavily rely on God um because that's where I get my confidence from looking back on the last six seasons um what's your favorite God moment as an NFL player as a member of the Raiders oh that's a good question um I would just say seeing seeing guys on the team seeing them take steps um you know we've had it it's fun being you know going into year seven now you obviously meet so many different guys and you know you start as the young guy and know I'm kind of one of the older guys on the team and you know I started as a guy joining a Bible study and now I'm starting one of the guys like leading Bible study and you know helping out with chaplain stuff like that um and it's fun seeing different guys Journeys from the young guys to because it's such a you know a league that there's so much transition guys coming in guys coming out guys moving young guys old guys retiring all this stuff and so you meet so many different players so many different walks of life um but just seeing like the individual curiosity of somebody being like all right like let me think about this Faith thing let me think about this Jesus thing a little more seriously and then seeing them start taking steps and then I mean even hearing later on like we had one teammate that he started asking some questions it was very casual he had some conversations he came to a couple chapels stuff like that it was very casual though and then later on hear from another teammate hey so and so was you know just baptized and you know you would have never expected it from where he started to where he was with his next team but it's you know all those little seeds are planted and those relationships are built and you know just being able to share your faith with different people of different walks different you know lives that we've all gotten to come together through football and then uh you know hopefully glorify God through that yeah and you know you mentioned Bible studies you mentioned chapels it makes me think about the rhythms and disciplines that so many of the guys that we talk to put in place to stay connected to Christ so we're out of season right now while we're recording this and you're in Alabama you're in Auburn and we were just talking about a Bible study that you said you attended this morning with our mutual friend Ren Aaron who was leading it uh who's just an amazing guy and a pastor in Auburn um but what does the disciplines look like for you in and out of season let's start in season you know with Chapel with Bible study but even that time alone with God how are you able to kind of manage all that and what's that look like yeah I think I think it's you know prioritizing your time it's easy to you know think to priorities football especially in season um but you know just figuring out hey you know whether it's reading the word in the hot tub or reading the word you know like before you get up for those early workouts or whatever you know you you got to prioritize and set aside time because if you don't set aside that time you'll you'll find other ways to get busy really quickly um with you know your other priorities and so um in season I mean it's great and I found a great structure and Rhythm of Life I guess uh where you know I found a church in Las Vegas Hope Church that goes we go to on Thursday nights it has a Thursday night service like which is great for someone who works on Sunday morning and then I mean for seven years six years now I've been listening online to Sunday morning messages at my home church here in Alabama Church of the Highland so like it's it's been nice to have those resources and I mean not everybody is fortunate to have a set up like that but then you know team chapels team Bible studies that's such an important relational aspect because it it is a unique position and it's hard to sometimes make friends and feel like you're in a community uh in these NFL cities or through this job and so to be able to you know talk about things with other guys and you know go through life together outside of just the football side of it um is so important and then yeah obviously the daily daily personal time with with the Lord um that's that's the really one that that's really the one that's going to help you grow and feed into you daily um so that you can hopefully you know live out what Christ is calling us to do totally that's awesome um let's have some fun on the way out here what's the best kick that you've ever you felt like you've ever made as an NFL player and it may even been in practice but like let's say in a game situation when you just you just hit that thing and you knew it it was good there was it was actually one in pre-season uh two years ago where I right after I kicked it I turned around to my punter who's very good friend and I was like I just crushed that and I didn't even you know it was one of those like a lot of times you kick it and you kind of know but that one was like I turned so fast and it was so like like there was just no doubt like I just was one of those perfect feelings um and that that was fun because I mean it cracked him up pretty good before the ball was even through uprights my favorite kick um was definitely when we sent the Raiders to the playoffs in uh 2021 um and just had a wild year and a lot of ups and downs and then um you know to we had that situation where if we tied the game us and the Chargers were going to the playoffs uh but if either of us won it we would obviously go at a better seed and someone else would come in uh the Steelers and so yeah we're two seconds left and the game was and you know all week we had been joking about what if you know what if we just decide to tie it and you know agree to that just to assure that both of us get in the playoffs but it was kind of a no consequence kick it felt like but we kicked it made it to playoffs the first time in my career and uh it was just you know pretty surreal moment and you know fun to see all the ups and downs and trials of that year especially um and it was just a great group in the locker room um to see us be able to go have a shot playoffs and stuff was really special I remember that game I remember that kick it was a Sunday night game and I also remember about four months later sitting in a room with Ben rothberger interviewing him he had just retired and I had to ask him because he posted I don't know if you saw this on Instagram some video I think he was wearing a Raiders helmet if I'm not mistaken that's funny and it was hilarious and Ben was like listen I want to get in the playoffs and if I got a root for another team to do that whatever it takes whatever it takes I'm wondering did you get a bunch of texts from any of the Steelers players it was it was actually really cool uh a lot of the Steelers fans were donating money to a charity that I had I guess posted about or something you know on my social media awes and I partnered with you know and so all of a sudden I'm getting texts from these organizations like we don't know what's happening but we're getting a bunch of like small donations from Pittsburgh and all this stuff and I was like this is this is really cool and you know it was really cool to just see the Steelers fans so happy about the Raiders win there's that's becoming a trend with with those passionate fan bases we saw it with Buffalo a few years back with the bills they do that uh Kansas City's got great fans so it's really fascinating to see that describe as we wind down here describe the Raider fan because you talk about passionate fans that's about as passionate as you can find yeah and I I was fortunate enough to play in Oakland and see kind of that history and that side of it too um but I mean they just they love Raiders football I mean I I played football in Alabama in college so like yeah I've I've been around passionate fans for a while now but I mean it it's just such a fun atmosphere on game day with Raiders fans and I mean they do they do just good and bad and you know unfortunately for the Raiders unfortunately there's been some bad years in the last 20 30 years but we're looking to turn that around but I mean just through it through they're just die hard no matter what um and so it's it's a fun you know environment on Sundays or whatever night we're playing um but yeah I've been very very thankful to be end up in Las Vegas and be a part of this journey from Oakland to Vegas um and hopefully we'll get some more wins here yeah well he is Daniel Carlson you got some wins as a dad too now that you got three children congrats you're playing a zone defense now bro zone defense we're we're figuring it out slowly it'll take it shape it'll take shape properly I'm sure I mean I I see my brother with four kids my other brother with five and I'm like I have one and I think of anybody with multiple kids it's got to be a challenge so you got three now and uh you and your wife it's going to be awesome watching uh watching that situation take shape so congratulations and uh congrats on all the success thus far and we'll be talking to you again down the road for sure awesome thank you Jason and many thanks to Daniel Carlson for being our guest today on Sports Spectrum he was awesome can't wait to watch football return in the fall and watch Daniel Carlson do his thing with the Las Vegas Raiders he's a stud like he's one of the Main Stays and when you see his journey and the fact that he was cut by the team that drafted him just two games into the season and the fact that he was not only picked up by the Raiders but he's now entering year seven with the Raiders that's pretty awesome and he signed that contract extension a couple years ago he's got a few years left and it's really been fun to watch Daniel Carlson do his thing as one of the great kickers in the NFL I mean he led the NFL in field goals made in 2021 with 40 40 out of 43 field goals he's a two-time All Pro kicker he was a first team allpro in 2022 he set the NFL record for most 50 plus yard field goals made in a season with 11 so that's Daniel Carlson in a nutshell but you can hear in his answers and the way that he thinks the way that he wants to live his life is focused on Christ he must increase Jesus I must decrease that's what Daniel Carlson exuded for me when I'm talking to him here on Sports Spectrum just love his heart for the Lord and shout out to Auburn University shout out to all the Raider fans shout out to my friend Ren Aaron who connected him and I Daniel Carlson and I that is and just a shout out to all of you for tuning in to Today's show you can find us at our website Sports spectrum.com for all of our content 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