GOD, FAMILY, AND FOOTBALL

Rick Burgess grew up in a loving Christian home. His tough-as-nails father, William “Bill” Burgess, was a championship-winning football coach. 

As a Second-Team All-State player at Jones Valley High School in Birmingham, Bill went on to play fullback at Auburn University in 1958, where he lettered in 1961 and 1962. He took the head coaching job at Woodlawn High School in Birmingham in 1966, at the age of 25, and spent five seasons there before taking the head coaching position at Oxford High School in Oxford, Alabama. He would stay there for 14 seasons before becoming the head coach at Jacksonville State in 1985 until his retirement after the 1996 season. Bill became a sports icon. Rick and his brother, Greg, played football at Oxford High School, where their father was the head coach. In 1982, Rick was recognized as an All-Star and All-State defensive lineman. 

Rick’s latest book, Men Don't Run in the Rain, is a tribute to his father. More than just a sports figure, Bill Burgess was a devoted father who loved God and prioritized his family. As much as Bill liked football, Rick says he loved hunting and fishing more. Most of their time together was spent outdoors. This had a profound impact on Rick, his brother Greg, and his sister Anne. 

The title of the book was taken from a day when Rick was 13 years old. It was pouring down rain in Alabama, and as he began to run, his dad looked him in the eyes and said, “Son, men don’t run in the rain.” Rick never forgot it. It was one of many lessons Bill would pass on not only to his children but also to the players he coached. 

LESSONS LEARNED 

With a front row seat watching his father teach him how to follow Christ, how to become a man, and how to stand strong when things got tough, Rick shares a few lessons he learned along the way, such as: 

• The importance of honoring your parents regardless of their actions:
He emphasizes the biblical command to honor your parents, noting that this commandment is about how you choose to live, not a commentary on whether your parents are perfect. He explains that honoring your father means living in such a way that your actions bring honor to your parents, even if they fall short in their own lives. This includes striving to be the kind of spouse, parent, or grandparent your father may not be, and breaking cycles of dysfunction or absence.

Rick shares, “If your dad was a terrible husband, then you be a great husband. If your dad left you, don’t leave. Be an honorable man or woman. If your dad didn’t follow Jesus, be the spiritual leader he never was. Finally, forgive your dad. Your love for Jesus is enough not to deny the grace and forgiveness to your dad that Jesus so freely gives you.”

• Your upbringing shapes you, but you can choose your path:
Rick teaches that while the environment and people who raised you influence your worldview, you are not bound by their mistakes. You can learn from both the good and the bad, using those lessons to build a better life and legacy.             

• Gratitude helps you overcome being overwhelmed:
He stresses the importance of gratitude, not as a way to ignore past pain, but as a tool to orient your life toward a hopeful future. Practicing gratitude can help you move beyond being overwhelmed and focus on what is possible, regardless of past hardships.

• True manhood is defined by character and faithfulness:
In 2008, while Rick was traveling, his two-year-old son, Bronner, accidentally drowned in their pool. Overcome with grief, Rick and his wife Sheri were facing their worst nightmare. Yet, they had to continue to be there for their other children. Rick conducted his son’s eulogy. He shares, “I remember a huge picture of Bronner on the screen when we walked into the church. It rattled me to my core, and I was nearly overwhelmed with grief… When it came time to speak, I said I wasn’t sure I could get up… At that very moment, I felt the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit lift me from the pew and walk me to the stage. I was wholly and completely dependent on God.” After the funeral service, his father looked at Rick, pointed his finger at him, and said, “Now that’s a man,” recognizing that true manhood is shown in moments of courage, integrity, and faith—especially in the face of adversity and pain. 

• The power of influence and legacy:
Rick highlights the value of being “influenceable”—open to learning from others, especially those who demonstrate wisdom and faith. He encourages readers to recognize the impact of their own lives and to strive to leave a legacy of faith, integrity, and purpose.

• Every lesson connects to biblical truth:
Throughout his reflections, Rick ties his father’s sayings and life lessons back to Scripture, showing that the foundation of his father’s wisdom was a deep faith in God and a commitment to biblical principles.

BATTLE WITH ALZHEIMER’S

Bill was a fighter and always said there wasn’t anyone alive who could whip him. He also fought while battling Alzheimer’s. He wanted to remain independent, and as the disease progressed, he fought it every step of the way. However, the Burgess family used humor to help soften the blow.

When Bill’s short-term memory recycled every few seconds, he would ask Rick questions like, “Where’s my truck?” Rick had to come up with something, so he decided to say that his brother Greg had it. When Bill couldn’t find his hunting rifle and asked where it was, Rick would continue, “Oh, Greg has it.” Bill would scoff and say, “Well, I’ll never see that again.” It became an ongoing family joke. 

During his last days in December 2023, Bill would often look up at his favorite scripture that he never forgot, which read: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).
 

To learn more about the The Rick Burgess Show click the LINK! And to purchase his new book Men Don’t Run in the Rain: A Son’s Reflection on Life, Faith, and an Iconic Father click the LINK! 

CREDITS

NY Times best-selling author, Men Don’t Run in the Rain: A Son’s Reflection on 
Life, Faith, and an Iconic Father (Iron Hill Press, 2025); Radio host, The Rick Burgess Show; Former co-host of The Rick and Bubba Show for 31 years; Founder, The Man Church; Married to Sherri since 1996; Five children: Brandi, Blake, Brooks, Brody, and Bronner. Bronner passed away from an accidental pool drowning in 2008. 

“While I’m laying in the ambulance and I’m trying to breathe and it’s just—it’s getting shallower and it’s getting harder, and I just couldn’t push air anymore.” Says David, “Like it just wouldn’t go through and I just looked up at them and I just whispered, this is my last breath. And that’s the last thing I remember.”

July of 2016, David lay dying in the back of an ambulance. The high school football coach was in need of several miracles, after a boating accident with his family on the Colorado River left him fighting for life. “I’d been up and down through that area, you know, thousands of times.” He says, “Each trip we would go, that was the only way to get in and out back to the –to where we were camping or where our house was. The sun was setting and it was coming down at an angle. And there was a glistening shimmer on the water, but you couldn't tell how deep it was.”

A sand bar had developed just inches under the water’s surface since the last time David had cruised this stretch of the river. He drove his boat onto the sand bar at nearly 40 miles per hour. “So we went from just going full speed, you know, with a boat full of people just having a great time, to zero within just a few feet.” He says, “The full force of the collision was right on my neck. I’d hit the steering wheel right at my voice box and airway. And immediately I could feel it was becoming difficult to breathe. my first concern was my family and my kids. But the inability to really, I physically couldn’t really do anything. Because I was in really bad shape, I knew that I was in trouble.”

Without medical attention he knew he would soon be unable to breathe.  David says, “It became very difficult to breathe very quickly. And I could feel it tightening up and I could feel my airway starting to close. That was the time that, you know, that you really cry out to God and say, you know, ‘I can’t do this. And I’m going to need You to see us through this.’ you know, whatever God’s plan was, that I was okay with it and the only way that I could have peace was knowing that I knew Who held my future.”

David and his family are Christians. As they prayed, they saw God’s hand in their time of need. “My wife tried to call 911, and we’ve been in that area a lot and could never get a cell phone to work from that area. And we tried many times in the past, you know, to call and check on something back home. And never gotten through. That day the phone call immediately went through to 911.”

First responders quickly arrived at a nearby boat ramp but had to wait for a sheriff’s boat that was still twenty minutes away. Thankfully, an off duty Sherriff heard about the situation and rushed to the sand bar in his personal boat.  David says, “If the sheriff, if the off-duty sheriff that came for me had not come, with certainty I would’ve died on the boat in front of my kids.”

While in transit to a hospital in Yuma Arizona, he sent a text to a friend from church. “I just said that we’d been in an accident and that I thought everybody else was going to be okay. And I said that I was in bad shape; pray for me.”

Hundreds of people began praying for David as news got out about the accident. Before he reached the hospital his lung collapsed and he passed out. Dr. Brian weeks explains the severity of David’s condition, “What David experienced was what’s called a laryngeal fracture, and it’s absolutely a life-threatening injury because of its effects on the airway and the person’s, who suffers it, ability to breathe. His vocal cord area swelled and when you swell in your airway you die.”

Doctors were able to insert a breathing tube through the damaged area in his windpipe, then he was then life-flighted to St. Joseph’s hospital in phoenix. David was placed in an induced coma for five days, giving his airway time to heal. David remembers, “The first trauma doctor, when I woke up, he looked at me and said, there’s only one reason you’re alive. G-O-D. And I knew it. I had been in that ambulance and I knew that I needed a miracle to make it.”

After his release from the hospital, David experienced intense pain and difficulty breathing once again.  He was re-admitted for an emergency tracheotomy due to a growth in his airway called a granuloma. Doctor Brian Weeks says, “We describe that in layman’s terms as ‘proud flesh’. It’s, you know, tissue that grows in the setting of healing. And, you know, those, again, in a small area like the airway, that can be very problematic.”

As doctors prepared to surgically remove the growth, they took another look in his airway and were surprised at what they didn’t see. David says, “He went in with the camera and the mass was gone. And he had never seen anything like it. He just looked at it and said, you know, it’s not there.”
Doctor Brian Weeks remembers, “It probably was divine intervention. I know a lot of people were praying for David and a lot of people were, you know, had –holding him up in their thoughts and prayers. David was very fortunate that his granuloma did go away on it’s own and that saved a lot of time and an additional procedure.

David says, “That’s an easy one to explain, you know. God still does miracles.”

Just a week later David had his trach removed and was calling plays for Christian high school football in San Diego, thankful for the answered prayers and the healing that kept him alive. He says, “I have a wife and kids and He’s given me the ability to continue to be a dad. I’m thankful for my friends who rallied for me incredibly. Just the prayers of school family, church family just the outpouring of love. You never really realize how much you’re loved until you go through a situation like this. You know, I think to think I’m a strong person, but there’s times where you know that the game is beyond your level. And this situation was certainly; I knew that I had no role in staying alive. I mean, it was –it was God’s hand and God’s mercy alone that would keep me alive.”

Seven-year-old Elpie  dreams of seeing the world more clearly.  He was born with juvenile cataracts and according to his mom, he has never seen anything clearly his life.   

“I noticed some white spots in his eyes. I’m afraid he might go blind,” his mother, Renalyn, said, with tears in her own eyes.”  “My son is such a loving child.  It hurts to see him like this.”    

Renalyn and Elpie live on a remote island in the Philippines.  He has never seen an eye doctor since his parents are too poor to take him.   

“My husband works hard as a fisherman, and is away from home a lot,” Renalyn explained.  “We even thought about selling our boat to take him to a doctor.”    

Then Elpie’s teacher, Christina, spent her own money to take him to a doctor on the mainland.  That’s when they all learned about his condition.  

“I thought all he needed was glasses, but the doctors said that it was cataracts and that it would cost $2,300 dollars to fix them,” Christina told us.  “We thought maybe we could all save and get one eye fixed, but we still couldn’t raise enough money.”      

Then the doctor connected the family with Operation Blessing.  Thanks to YOU, we provided Elpie with surgery in both eyes.  Now he can see clearly for the first time in his young life!    

Overflowing with gratitude, Renalyn said, “I’m so thankful to God for bringing Operation Blessing and for Elpie’s teacher.  And thank you to all the people who helped us by paying for his operation!” 

Elpie couldn’t be more excited about his future.  “Thank you, Operation Blessing!” 

What a beautiful example of how CBN partners share the love of Jesus around the world with people in need! If you’re not yet a partner, we invite you to join us today. Help bring God’s love through initiatives like clean water wells, medical missions, feeding programs, and so much more—all in the name of Jesus! Join us today and become a part of what God’s doing through CBN partners. 
 

Austin shares, “They ended up locking me in their goat barn overnight where I slept with the goats, cried and screamed.”

Austin Legg was four when he landed in a foster home. It was no better than the home he’d been taken from.

Austin remembers, “The foster dad, he never called me by my name. My name was bastard. It just reminded me or made me feel unloved.”

After two years, Austin went back to live with his mother where violence, neglect and drugs ruled the home. Then, at 8 years old he experienced another life-defining moment. His mom was murdered by her boyfriend.

Austins says, “My grandma looking over at me, just tears all in her eyes. And she said, ‘Honey, your mommy's dead.’ It was just like every bit of emotion within me just died.”

Sent to North Carolina to live with his aunt and uncle, Austin spiraled into rebellion. At sixteen, expelled from school, entrenched in the gang life and addicted to pills and alcohol he tried to kill himself.

Austin recalls, “I was in my room one night and I grabbed a bandana, and I tied it around my neck as tight as I could until I felt like my Adam’s apple was in the back of my spine. And at the very, very last minute before I faded out, I whisked out.”
Austin’s aunt and uncle checked him into a mental hospital where he was diagnosed as bi-polar. The sedatives they prescribed became his escape from the pain inside.  
Austin shares, “I would save them up and I would snort 'em or I'd pop 'em and I would stay high. I was so angry at myself that I didn't do anything for my mom. I was angry at myself that I didn't protect her.”

Austin’s mental issues, and rebellious behavior escalated leading to him being placed in a group home. While there, he caught a felony assault charge for fighting and was put on probation. He soon joined a gang, started selling weed, and popping pills – until his drug use landed him in rehab. By the time he turned 18, Austin had aged out of the system and was left with nowhere to go.
Austin says, “I'm sleeping in alleyways. I'm sleeping on staircases in, apartment buildings. And this one day I'm walking the streets and I'm just angry. I'm, I'm hollering at God. I just wanna die, ‘Lord, please take me out. I don't wanna live anymore.’”

Even then, Austin would wander in darkness for another ten years – living a life of addiction, crime and violence. He also had two sons by two different women. He knew he was destroying his life but felt powerless to change it.

Austin recalls, “When I would look in the mirror, what I saw was darkness. I saw a sad, miserable, angry, evil young man who just was lashing out at everything in anybody that would come near.”

Then at 28, he landed in jail after taking a plea agreement for domestic violence.  One night, a cell mate had a question for him.

Austin remembers, “Well what do you think about God?” And I looked at him and I says, “I know that there's a God. I know God's real.” I says, “but lemme tell you something. God doesn't have anything for me, and I don't have anything for God.”
Over the coming weeks, Austin says he heard God’s voice.

Austin says, “And I can hear my name in my heart being called like Austin, like a very small still whisper, peaceful and quiet Austin. And at first, I'm like, oh my goodness, I'm finally going crazy. I've been in here for almost 45 days. I am going crazy.”

The whispers, however, continued and Austin felt God compelling him to read the bible. 

Although resistant at first, he finally started reading and came across Matthew 11:28.
Austin shares, “Come on to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” And when I read that verse and the old King James version of it, I broke something inside of my heart, just broke. And tears were running down my face. And at this moment, I hit my knees, I threw my hands in the air, and I told Jesus I needed him, and then I gave my life to Christ On August 23rd, 2021, in the middle of a jail cell. In that very moment everything within me changed everything. Everything. I stopped cussing. I stopped desiring pornography. I stopped desiring drugs. I stopped desiring alcohol. I stopped desiring the evil of life.

Even then, Austin remained haunted by the life he’d live. Soon after he had a dream, he was chained in a prison cell with other inmates when Jesus walked up to him, unlocked his chains, and washed his feet.

Austin remembers, “He was renewing me, who's setting me free. And the Lord was telling me, I have forgiven you of all of these things, and I don't remember one of them. And it was that moment that I realized that he deemed me worthy of forgiveness. So, I'm worthy to forgive myself.”

Austin says God told him to read the new testament three times. It was late at night when he finished. Moments later, the guards called his name. The charges had been dropped, and he was released.
Austin recalls, “Legg pack your stuff, you're free to go with nothing less than a miracle.”

For the first time in his life, Austin was free from the pain that had ruled his life. 

Today, he’s a devoted husband, works a steady job, and shares joint custody of his second son. He’s also a youth pastor whose brand, “4-given skateboards,” spreads the gospel to the skateboard community nationwide.

Austin shares, “God will never give up on you. You could run a thousand miles over again. He'll still be right there beside you, waiting for the day, faithfully for you to come back. His arms are always open. He can and will forgive you. And He wants you to come and accept that love, the real love that you've been searching for. It resides in Christ.”