Show Summary
I met Chas at the Hughes unit several years ago and if you had told me then that I’d be interviewing him on the Kyle unit for a podcast that is listened to all over the world, I would’ve laughed.
I watched Chas play and he was pretty good. Then I watched the behavior of the players on the court, especially when a call didn’t go their way. It was remarkable. Then after the game I watched as the players went into a room to recover, got something to drink, and heard a devotional. Then I had heard that some of the spurs organization was involved.
David Robinson sent these guys a video message about the tournament. That’s awesome.
I knew then that God had a huge call on Chas’s life.
Then one day out here I ran into two guys at a conference and one of them was Chas’s father. Incredible. Chas was also instrumental in bringing a CrossFit competition to the Hughes unit. Tim Tebow also visited and was going to compete against Chas in a push up contest but Chas offered another guy in his place.
Chas’s story is a tragic one, but as you’ll hear in the interview, God has and still is turning it into something beautiful. His young life was torn apart by divorce, then he was driving home one day and hit someone. He lost his mother to cancer while in prison, BUT God.
When I heard Chas was part of a unique inmate counselor program and was placed a the Kyle unit and wanted some speakers, I jumped. Then I asked permission from Warden Luna if could interview Kyle for the podcast. He said yes.
This interview takes place in the visitation room at the Kyle unit. There’s absolutely no sound absorbing areas in there so the audio is as good as we could get it. You’ll hear prison doors opening and closing in the background. And right after the interview I got to witness something amazing. I got to see Chas present a certificate to men who had completed the Pillars class and were about to be free men. Some of them may already be out but I wanted to shout out to some of the men who I had the honor of meeting that day.
Big thanks to Warden Luna and his staff at the Kyle unit as well as MTC for making this happen.
Chas, you impressed me when I first me you man and you’re still going strong. Prison isn’t breaking you like it does some, it is absolutely making you. Making you into the man of God you were always meant to be. It was an honor to interview you and hear your story. I know we didn’t get to talk about everything but we will do a round two. I love they way you honor God and all the people in your life like your mom, your kids, their mother, your dad, your aunt. I’m proud to know you and be your friend bro. It was fun breaking bread (cookies) with you guys and It was great getting stuck in count with y’all at the end. Stay strong my friend.
And oh, you caught me off guard with your presentation to me. I wasn’t expecting that. Y’all, I’m a sports fan. I love my teams, but I’m a sports fan first. Chas was given three game nets from the Spurs playoffs. He gave one to his son, the other to his daughter, and then that day he gave the third one to me. It was on the east goal against the Grizzlies in 2016. Craziest best gift I’ve ever received. I’ll post of pic on the show page. Thank you Chas. It’ll be proudly displayed on my sports wall in my gym.
Check out the videos below of Tim Tebow’s push up contest, the winning shot from the basketball tournament against some of the Spurs players, and the Brute Strength CrossFit competition.
Resources Mentioned in the Show:
Tim Tebow’s Push Up Contest at the Hughes Unit: https://people.com/sports/tim-tebow-push-up-contest-inmates-texas-prison/
Brute Strength’s CrossFit at the Hughes Unit: https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&ei=UTF-8&p=brute+strength+prison+crossfit+games+youtube&type=E211US1079G91649#id=1&vid=69a7e5d305fb83fc872a2f4002b67542&action=click
The Winning Shot, Chariots of Fire Tournament: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=24692881595183
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https://therokuchannel.roku.com/details/7abf5e84134e54a394b5b42544c08caa/forgiven-felons/season-1
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