Akbar Gbajabiamila - American Ninja Warrior Host
Sports Spectrum Podcast
Sports Spectrum
4.9 • 685 Ratings
🗓️ 29 July 2019
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Episode 341
Akbar Gbajabiamila is the host of NBC's Emmy-nominated obstacle course competition series American Ninja Warrior. He also hosts Universal Kids' spin-off American Ninja Warrior Junior, as well as NFL Network's NFL Fantasy Live.
A former NFL player, Akbar was signed by the Oakland Raiders in 2003 after going undrafted out of San Diego State. He played 5 seasons with the Raiders, Chargers and Dolphins before retiring in 2008.
Akbar's book "Everyone Can Be a Ninja" was released in May of 2019.
On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Akbar about readers responding to his new book, how a dream he had challenged him in his Christian faith, having a platform to share about God with empathy and love, the greatest NFL lesson he learned, and his surprising 2019 NFL Super Bowl prediction.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Sports Spectrum, the Sports and Faith podcast that brings Jesus back into the conversation. |
| 0:17.5 | Here's your host, Jason Romano. |
| 0:20.4 | This episode of Sports Spectrum is brought to you by Compassion International. |
| 0:24.8 | For more information about how you can release a child from poverty, go to |
| 0:28.4 | compassion.com slash sports spectrum. |
| 0:32.0 | Compassion.com slash sports spectrum, 7,500 churches in 25 countries are working together to deliver God's loving care to children in need, one child at a time. |
| 0:45.1 | You can help make that difference by sponsoring a child with compassion and providing food, education, medical care, and vocational training, all done in Jesus name to a child in need. |
| 0:57.2 | Go to compassion.com slash sports spectrum and consider sponsoring a child today. |
| 1:04.2 | Today on the podcast, we welcome Akbar Baja Biamilla to the podcast, host of American Ninja Warrior on NBC. He's also an NFL |
| 1:15.0 | network analyst. You can see his broadcast work there. He played professionally in the NFL |
| 1:21.1 | for five seasons from 2003 to 2007 with the Raiders and the Chiefs and the Dolphins. |
| 1:28.3 | He retired in 2008. |
| 1:30.6 | And now you can call Akbar an author. |
| 1:33.9 | His latest book, his newest book, released in May of 2019, is called Everyone Can Be a Ninja. |
| 1:41.3 | Find Your Inner Warrior and Achieve Your Dreams. This was a fascinating interview, Akbar, Bhan. a ninja, find your inner warrior and achieve your dreams. |
| 1:45.6 | This was a fascinating interview, Akbar, Baja, Bia, Milla. |
| 1:49.5 | You'll love his journey. |
| 1:51.4 | I thought we were going to talk a lot more football, but we ended up talking a lot more |
| 1:55.2 | faith, and I like that as much as I can here on these podcasts to try and intersect both |
| 2:00.5 | of those worlds. |
| 2:01.3 | And we did talk a little American Ninja Warrior and certainly about the book and why he wrote it, |
| 2:06.3 | but even more his faith journey, growing up with a dad who's Muslim and a mom who was Christian |
... |
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