Jesse Bradley

This week's guest on Huddle Up with Gus is former professional soccer goalkeeper Jesse Bradley. He shares the journey that led to the end of his soccer career and his transition to becoming a pastor. Jesse is from Minneapolis and is a Vikings fan at heart--SHHH don't tell that to any Seattle fans. Jesse said his love of sports at an early age."At age three, I told my parents that I wanted to be a professional athlete." His parents divorced when he was 7, and he became more focused on academics and athletics during his teenage years. After graduating from Dartmouth College with a degree in Psychology, He was living out his childhood dream as a soccer goalkeeper. Jesse played soccer as a goalkeeper in the US, Scotland, and Zimbabwe. He currently leads faith and family night with the Seattle Sounders. Here is Jesse telling me an abbreviated version of his fight to stay alive and save his career. "In Africa, I took prescribed medication to prevent malaria, and it built up toxic levels in my system. I was fighting for my life for a year, and it took ten years to recover. During this time, my life was transformed in the most profound ways: identity, faith, mindset, habits, career, and relationships. The greatest blessings and growth in life can emerge from the worst situations." After denying God's existence throughout his childhood, he never anticipated deciding to follow Jesus. Thank you, Jesse, for sharing your story! You can find Jesse and everything he is doing on his website: https://jessebradley.org