<v Speaker 1>Wednesday, September 23rd, 2026. You are listening to the Daily

<v Speaker 1>Dose Sports Podcast. And I am your host, Clint Daly,

<v Speaker 1>coming to you from my high city here in Denver, Colorado.

<v Speaker 1>And we are back for another week of talking sports

<v Speaker 1>with a dose of common sense. Hey, happy Wednesday to you.

<v Speaker 1>I hope you had a good weekend. I hope your

<v Speaker 1>week is going well. Don't look now, but you are

<v Speaker 1>halfway to another weekend. and hope that you and your

<v Speaker 1>family and your friends are all staying strong and healthy

<v Speaker 1>right now. And we got maybe some of the most

<v Speaker 1>entertaining games of the young college football season this past weekend.

<v Speaker 1>We saw a few games that were very, very interesting.

<v Speaker 1>Number 13, Texas Tech, barely outlasted number 22, Houston, on

<v Speaker 1>Friday night. And I'll be honest with you, I wasn't

<v Speaker 1>all that impressed with either team. BYU looks to me

<v Speaker 1>like the best team in the Big 12 Conference. We'll

<v Speaker 1>see if they can keep that up. Kentucky came up

<v Speaker 1>short against Alabama in their last game. They got it

<v Speaker 1>right in College Station on Saturday. Kentucky upset No. 9

<v Speaker 1>Texas A & M. No. 23 Louisville upset No. 16 SMU,

<v Speaker 1>primarily because SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings seems like he can

<v Speaker 1>never quite remember what team it is that he plays for.

<v Speaker 1>the North Carolina State Wolfpack had the most embarrassing weekend

<v Speaker 1>of anyone. Did you see that? Leading 31-28, on their

<v Speaker 1>own 5-yard line, with just seconds remaining, Wolfpack quarterback C.J.

<v Speaker 1>Bailey was told, hey, just run into the end zone,

<v Speaker 1>kneel down, take the safety. Well, they obviously had never

<v Speaker 1>practiced that play. Or, Bailey just forgot what he was doing.

<v Speaker 1>Whatever happened, Bailey got hit in the end zone and

<v Speaker 1>fumbled and Vanderbilt recovered and won the game. My note

<v Speaker 1>to coaches, practice special situations or you're going to see

<v Speaker 1>things like this happen. You have to practice those all

<v Speaker 1>the time. My goodness, we practiced how to do our

<v Speaker 1>warmup layup lines. You've got to practice these things. How

<v Speaker 1>do you expect kids to know what to do? The

<v Speaker 1>Oregon Ducks actually might have had the second big embarrassment

<v Speaker 1>of the weekend. And how can I say that? They

<v Speaker 1>beat FBS School Portland State 84-0. But understand, that's like

<v Speaker 1>the equivalent of picking a fight on the playground, and

<v Speaker 1>then you get beat up. And so then you decide

<v Speaker 1>to go beat up the frailest, smallest, sickliest kid in

<v Speaker 1>the school. Really, Oregon? Oregon? Is that what we're doing?

<v Speaker 1>Beating up on Portland State? Go change your uniforms again.

<v Speaker 1>The next closest embarrassment I could put from college football

<v Speaker 1>here would actually be the University of Colorado, who went

<v Speaker 1>to Northwestern, walked out on the field, made fun of

<v Speaker 1>Northwestern's temporary field prior to the game, and then proceeded

<v Speaker 1>to get dragged up and down said field for 60 minutes. Oh,

<v Speaker 1>but the wildest game of the weekend was, of course,

<v Speaker 1>in Oxford, Mississippi on Saturday night, where Lane Kiffin brought

<v Speaker 1>his shiny, brand-spanking-new No. 7 LSU Tigers to face his

<v Speaker 1>former team, the No. 8-ranked Ole Miss Rebels, whom, of course,

<v Speaker 1>we remember he jilted at the altar last December prior

<v Speaker 1>to the college football playoff. And as it turns out,

<v Speaker 1>it seems the fans... weren't actually the only ones that

<v Speaker 1>were bitter and angry. Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Shambles seems

<v Speaker 1>like he might be the nicest boy in college football. Oh,

<v Speaker 1>and also, he has an arm like a cannon, and

<v Speaker 1>he seemed to be on a personal mission to ruin

<v Speaker 1>Lane Kiffin's return. Hey, Shambles made a solid Heisman candidate case,

<v Speaker 1>throwing for 363 yards and two touchdowns. Oh, and one

<v Speaker 1>additional side note. As emotional as that win was for

<v Speaker 1>Ole Miss, we know how much was involved in that win.

<v Speaker 1>They wanted that win more than anything. And yet, did

<v Speaker 1>you notice they didn't storm the field? Yet, do you

<v Speaker 1>know why? Because they expected to win. Keep that in mind.

<v Speaker 1>In college football, you don't storm the field. unless you're

<v Speaker 1>shocked that you won. And now, this week, we have

<v Speaker 1>an absolutely insane college football schedule. Look at what we have. Now,

<v Speaker 1>number four Ole Miss goes to number 21 Florida in

<v Speaker 1>a very dangerous game after that emotional win for Ole Miss.

<v Speaker 1>Those Gators are lurking. Not sure if that defense is

<v Speaker 1>good enough. That could be very good. Number one Texas

<v Speaker 1>goes to number 14 Tennessee. Is Tennessee that good? I

<v Speaker 1>know they haven't really played anybody, but we're going to

<v Speaker 1>find out. A scrappy Illinois team goes to number seven,

<v Speaker 1>Ohio State. Oklahoma, who right now looks a little bit

<v Speaker 1>like they're on life support, goes to number two, Georgia.

<v Speaker 1>And I will say this. Georgia might be the best

<v Speaker 1>team in the country, but how would we know? They

<v Speaker 1>haven't played anyone. And this week won't help them that much,

<v Speaker 1>but I do want to see what they look like

<v Speaker 1>against Oklahoma. Number 17, Iowa will visit number 18, Michigan.

<v Speaker 1>Michigan now on a mission to prove everyone wrong. We'll see.

<v Speaker 1>Number 19, Missouri faces number 24, Mississippi State. Not many

<v Speaker 1>people talking about Mississippi State. Keep an eye on them.

<v Speaker 1>They're better than people think. Number 23, Texas A &

<v Speaker 1>M coming off a loss goes to number 10, LSU

<v Speaker 1>coming off a loss. I don't know which team needs

<v Speaker 1>that more. I would think it's LSU. And then, number

<v Speaker 1>20 Oregon will face number 12 USC. Hey, go make

<v Speaker 1>sure the drinks are stocked, order the pizza, and get

<v Speaker 1>that couch ready. Because this Saturday is going to be

<v Speaker 1>absolutely insane in college football. But real quick, let's move

<v Speaker 1>over to the National Football League, because we are starting

<v Speaker 1>to see some very surprising things in that league, and

<v Speaker 1>we're only two weeks in. The Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals,

<v Speaker 1>Las Vegas Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings,

<v Speaker 1>Seattle Seahawks, and San Francisco 49ers are now 2-0. I mean,

<v Speaker 1>some of those teams we kind of expected to be there.

<v Speaker 1>The Raiders? The Vikings? Not sure about those two. And

<v Speaker 1>then on the other side, the Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans,

<v Speaker 1>Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans, Los Angeles Chargers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers,

<v Speaker 1>and Atlanta Falcons have yet to win a game. A

<v Speaker 1>few more surprises there. Hey, Miami, sure. Atlanta, of course.

<v Speaker 1>Houston and the Chargers? No, I expected them to maybe

<v Speaker 1>win a game by now. Very, very interesting. After a

<v Speaker 1>completely unpredictable week one, though, it seemed like week two

<v Speaker 1>was a little more normal. Unfortunately, week two did bring

<v Speaker 1>a slew of injuries. We saw Giants quarterback Jackson Dart,

<v Speaker 1>Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, as well as Eagles tight

<v Speaker 1>end Dallas Goddard. Ravens offensive lineman Ronnie Stanley, Patriots offensive

<v Speaker 1>lineman Michael Wenu, and then Commanders quarterback Jaden Daniels suffered

<v Speaker 1>a gruesome injury to his skinny little elbow. But then

<v Speaker 1>we have maybe one of the most interesting injuries of

<v Speaker 1>the NFL. Because then we have the case of Chicago

<v Speaker 1>Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. After scoring 59 points in week one,

<v Speaker 1>the Bears managed to score just three points on Sunday

<v Speaker 1>against the Minnesota Vikings. And remember, that game was at

<v Speaker 1>home in Chicago. Well, in the fourth quarter, the Bears

<v Speaker 1>were actually trailing 9-3, but they had driven to the

<v Speaker 1>Minnesota six-yard line. On first and goal, Caleb Williams takes

<v Speaker 1>a snap. He rolls out to his left. He outruns

<v Speaker 1>a defender, but then falls to the ground in a heap.

<v Speaker 1>He is rolling over. He is screaming. He is squeezing

<v Speaker 1>his face mask. He is clearly in a significant amount

<v Speaker 1>of pain. Did he blow his ACL? Did he snap

<v Speaker 1>his Achilles? No. Did he maybe succumb to a high-powered

<v Speaker 1>rifle shot from a sniper in the crowd? No, but

<v Speaker 1>he began immediately grabbing the back of his leg. Caleb

<v Speaker 1>Williams was in tears as the Bears doctors examined his hamstring,

<v Speaker 1>which clearly had to be torn from the bone and

<v Speaker 1>rolled up into his glute, right? So Williams is carted

<v Speaker 1>off the field. He has a towel over his head.

<v Speaker 1>As they drive him to the locker room, he raises

<v Speaker 1>the towel, and with his eyes glistening with tears, he

<v Speaker 1>pumps his fist to the home crowd. He lets them

<v Speaker 1>know that come hell or high water, someday he will return. Yeah,

<v Speaker 1>it turns out he simply tweaked the hamstring and his

<v Speaker 1>return is day to day. You are not paralyzed. I

<v Speaker 1>am so paralyzed. No, no, no.

<v Speaker 2>Rough on him now.

<v Speaker 1>No, he needs to know.

<v Speaker 2>Okay.

<v Speaker 1>He's always crying.

<v Speaker 2>Tough love it is.

<v Speaker 1>And you know, we can look at Williams as a

<v Speaker 1>weird guy that paints his nails and fries in the

<v Speaker 1>stands with his mom. And we can question his toughness.

<v Speaker 1>We can call him a drama queen. But I think

<v Speaker 1>we all know who's to blame for this sort of behavior.

<v Speaker 1>That's right. I'm looking right at you, LeBron. Hey, today

<v Speaker 1>on The Dose, I've got something a little bit different

<v Speaker 1>for you. We have a very important guest making a

<v Speaker 1>return appearance, and he has brought some friends with him.

<v Speaker 1>And unlike Caleb Williams, Or LeBron. These two kids are tough.

<v Speaker 1>Trust me on that. In fact, we have so much

<v Speaker 1>to get to today on The Dose, we need to

<v Speaker 1>jump into that right now. Joining us this week on

<v Speaker 1>The Daily Dose, we have a very special guest because

<v Speaker 1>Brady Kellogg is actually making a return appearance on behalf

<v Speaker 1>of a group called Positive Athlete. You know, we had

<v Speaker 1>Brady on the Dose a little over a year ago,

<v Speaker 1>I think it was, and I really like what he

<v Speaker 1>and his group are doing. Positive Athlete is a high

<v Speaker 1>school student athlete recognition and development program, and it is

<v Speaker 1>expanding nationwide. Positive Athlete is looking to find scholarship opportunities

<v Speaker 1>for young student athletes and And you know what? It

<v Speaker 1>seems like they're having some success at this. If you

<v Speaker 1>have a young athlete in your life, trust me, stick around.

<v Speaker 1>You're going to want to hear what we have to say.

<v Speaker 1>We've got a couple other guests here. They've got some really,

<v Speaker 1>really good information for you as well. But I want

<v Speaker 1>to say welcome to Brady. Welcome to Megan. Welcome to Jaden.

<v Speaker 1>Thank you for being here on The Daily Dose this week.

<v Speaker 3>Thank you for having us. Thank you.

<v Speaker 1>Brady, welcome back to The Daily Dose. I genuinely, I

<v Speaker 1>appreciate you stopping by. But I know that you have

<v Speaker 1>a few friends with you, and I want to get

<v Speaker 1>to their stories in just one minute as well. But

<v Speaker 1>first off, can you refresh listeners' memory just a little bit?

<v Speaker 1>How did you get involved with Positive Athlete?

<v Speaker 4>Sure. I came across this in the fall of 2024,

<v Speaker 4>late that calendar year. We're an organization that's been around

<v Speaker 4>for 12 years nationally, or 12 years in total, I

<v Speaker 4>should say, newly expanded nationally. So that came to Colorado

<v Speaker 4>in January of 2025.

<v Speaker 3>That's the time I came on board.

<v Speaker 1>Okay. And I hate to lob out this vague of

<v Speaker 1>a question to you. What kind of success are you seeing?

<v Speaker 1>What are you starting to see grow now?

<v Speaker 2>Oh, it's great.

<v Speaker 4>And let me take just a quick step back. So

<v Speaker 4>great introduction, but just as a reminder, we are dedicated

<v Speaker 4>to empowering and inspiring high school athletes based on character.

<v Speaker 4>So there are lots of other recognitions that come with

<v Speaker 4>scores and stats. We're more about off the field, off

<v Speaker 4>the court, off the track. So who you are as people,

<v Speaker 4>I think you nailed it, overcoming adversity, giving back in

<v Speaker 4>the community, just doing things the right way. So thankfully,

<v Speaker 4>there's a lot I should, thankfully, Colorado has been great

<v Speaker 4>to us as a state. There is a lot of

<v Speaker 4>need and opportunity for a program of this kind. So

<v Speaker 4>quick snapshot, we just finished our first school, full school year.

<v Speaker 4>in June of last year. So we saw nearly 1,000

<v Speaker 4>nominations representing 292 different high schools. That is roughly 78%

<v Speaker 4>of the CHASA membership. That's not a requirement. We take

<v Speaker 4>homeschool nominations. We take alternative schools. But that represents also

<v Speaker 4>64 of the 64 counties. So that's one of the

<v Speaker 4>things I'm most proud of is that whether a far-reaching

<v Speaker 4>rural corner of the state suburban, urban Montbello, you know,

<v Speaker 4>a community we all know is of great need, was

<v Speaker 4>our number one nominating school for the state. So all

<v Speaker 4>this led to, which is super cool for Governor Jared

<v Speaker 4>Polis to declare a positive athlete day in the state.

<v Speaker 4>So we'll get in a minute to Jaden and Megan,

<v Speaker 4>and they can speak about the awards experience. But it

<v Speaker 4>was nice to do that under the support of Governor

<v Speaker 4>Polis declaring positive athlete day across the state.

<v Speaker 1>For sure. That is outstanding. Okay. I've got to ask you,

<v Speaker 1>I know this is an athlete recognition thing. Who can nominate?

<v Speaker 1>Who can do this?

<v Speaker 4>Yeah, it's super simple. So any adult can nominate. Our

<v Speaker 4>most common source of nominators are coaches. They know student

<v Speaker 4>athletes the best, but we also see athletic directors, teachers,

<v Speaker 4>a growing number of guidance counselors, even community members. If

<v Speaker 4>you are running a club or sporting organization, you can

<v Speaker 4>do this. Or even a nonprofit, perhaps you have high

<v Speaker 4>school age volunteers or recipients.

<v Speaker 3>Of your service.

<v Speaker 4>Anyone can do that, Clint, even parents for their own kids.

<v Speaker 4>And some people are like, should I do that?

<v Speaker 3>Should I not do that?

<v Speaker 2>We see it all the time.

<v Speaker 4>I think what's most important is there is no limit

<v Speaker 4>to the number of students that we're able to recognize.

<v Speaker 4>Our platform scales very well. I think the awards process

<v Speaker 4>will remain quite competitive, but I say if there's a

<v Speaker 4>little carrot we can put in front of a kid

<v Speaker 4>to help pull them in the right direction, we're all

<v Speaker 4>about extending the resources and the recognition. For as many

<v Speaker 4>nominations as we've seen, that still represents just one of

<v Speaker 4>164 high school student athletes in the state, just counting

<v Speaker 4>the sanctioned sports. And I can guarantee you if you

<v Speaker 4>fill a room with that number of young people in

<v Speaker 4>this state, there are more who would benefit from recognition

<v Speaker 4>and there are more who are doing things to deserve recognition.

<v Speaker 1>No, you're absolutely right. There are so many times that

<v Speaker 1>kids just need that little boost to put them over

<v Speaker 1>and maybe accomplish something they would have never dreamed possible.

<v Speaker 1>I'm going to ask you this again at the end.

<v Speaker 1>How do you get the process started? Is this any state?

<v Speaker 1>Can anyone go do it? Who can go nominate from

<v Speaker 1>that respect and how do they do it?

<v Speaker 4>Yeah, great question. It is national. So grades 9 through 12,

<v Speaker 4>any sport, whether school sanctioned or not, can be individual

<v Speaker 4>and club. We see some great, you know, archery, we

<v Speaker 4>had a curler, rodeo nominee from Colorado, a lot of

<v Speaker 4>growing number of mountain biking cyclists. But just easiest thing

<v Speaker 4>is probably put in your favorite search engine positive athlete

<v Speaker 4>will be the first thing that comes up or go

<v Speaker 4>to positiveathlete.org.

<v Speaker 3>And those are great ways to find us.

<v Speaker 1>Perfect. That is a great way for people to get started. Okay, Brady,

<v Speaker 1>I think I'm gonna have to get to know your

<v Speaker 1>guests here just a little bit. I'm not trying to

<v Speaker 1>shun you here, I promise, but you've got some people

<v Speaker 1>here I want to talk to. I want to kind

<v Speaker 1>of get to know these two kids. All right, Megan Waters,

<v Speaker 1>you're first up. You're on the hot seat here. I've

<v Speaker 1>got a few questions for you, Miss Megan. First off,

<v Speaker 1>where'd you go to high school?

<v Speaker 2>I attended Lakewood High School.

<v Speaker 1>Lakewood High School. You're a Jeffco kid.

<v Speaker 2>Yes, I am.

<v Speaker 1>All right. What sports did you play?

<v Speaker 2>I was in soccer, so I was a goalkeeper for

<v Speaker 2>as long as I can remember.

<v Speaker 1>See, my daughter's a goalkeeper. I know some things about

<v Speaker 1>this whole goalie business. I'm going to say this. As

<v Speaker 1>a breed, y'all aren't always right, but we'll pass that on. Megan,

<v Speaker 1>what year did you graduate high school?

<v Speaker 2>I graduated just this past year, so 2026.

<v Speaker 1>Oh, you're just a baby. And where are you at now?

<v Speaker 2>I'm at Ruffin Road School, Colorado State University.

<v Speaker 1>That a girl. Outstanding. I love that. Megan, I need

<v Speaker 1>to talk to you a little bit when we get

<v Speaker 1>done recording here. I've got another question for you. Megan,

<v Speaker 1>I've got to ask you something, and I don't want

<v Speaker 1>to get too personal here. From what I could understand,

<v Speaker 1>you're really not supposed to be doing the things you're doing.

<v Speaker 1>You're an athlete at a level you probably should. Can

<v Speaker 1>you give me a little bit of your story? I

<v Speaker 1>don't mean to put you on the spot too much,

<v Speaker 1>but tell me a little bit of what you're dealing with,

<v Speaker 1>what you've had to overcome.

<v Speaker 2>Yeah, of course. So I had been playing soccer for

<v Speaker 2>my freshman, sophomore, and junior year. And in my junior year,

<v Speaker 2>I discovered a tumor in my right leg. And under

<v Speaker 2>further investigation, that tumor turned out to be cancer, stage

<v Speaker 2>three synovial sarcoma, which is a soft tissue cancer. So

<v Speaker 2>I went through eight rounds of chemo. 25 radiation treatments.

<v Speaker 2>And now I'm at, I think eight surgeries in total. So,

<v Speaker 2>and now, I mean, I didn't play my junior year

<v Speaker 2>for obvious reasons, but I got back out my senior

<v Speaker 2>year and I played my senior year on varsity and

<v Speaker 2>had a lot of fun.

<v Speaker 1>Megan, you are so much tougher than I could ever

<v Speaker 1>dream of being. Let me ask you a question. You

<v Speaker 1>were nominated twice for this award for a positive athlete award.

<v Speaker 1>Do you know who nominated you?

<v Speaker 4>I do.

<v Speaker 2>It was my coach, Coach Destiny.

<v Speaker 1>Okay. Yeah, for sure. Make sure you mention. Anyone that

<v Speaker 1>is going to nominate a kid and is going to

<v Speaker 1>push kids on, you got to make sure you say

<v Speaker 1>their name because that's important. Now, you ended up winning

<v Speaker 1>a few things. You've ended up winning some scholarships. I

<v Speaker 1>want to get back to that. Just being nominated, though,

<v Speaker 1>what did it mean to you?

<v Speaker 2>Well, see, the first year, I... was obviously going through

<v Speaker 2>a tough time and just like dealing with that. But

<v Speaker 2>then seeing that somebody recognized what I was going through

<v Speaker 2>and realized that like, hey, this kid might need some

<v Speaker 2>form of boost. And just to have my coach see

<v Speaker 2>that is just truly incredible. And it gave me such

<v Speaker 2>a confidence boost. Even though I wasn't playing, I still

<v Speaker 2>felt like I was seen by the team. which is

<v Speaker 2>a really good thing to have.

<v Speaker 1>Megan, you were nominated twice. You were also the winner

<v Speaker 1>of the Victory Good Soul Scholarship. Tell me a little

<v Speaker 1>bit about that scholarship situation. That's really cool.

<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so it was a scholarship for, I correct me

<v Speaker 2>if I'm wrong, Brady. Yeah. And just going into college,

<v Speaker 2>anything helps. And having that is amazing.

<v Speaker 1>That's outstanding. How did getting nominated, getting these awards, you

<v Speaker 1>said you came back for your senior year. What was

<v Speaker 1>it like when you came back? Tell me a little

<v Speaker 1>bit about your senior year playing.

<v Speaker 2>Well, I mean, it was rough because I had muscles

<v Speaker 2>moved in my leg and it was coming back. I

<v Speaker 2>did a lot of PT and a lot of like, just,

<v Speaker 2>therapy in general. So it was rough at the start,

<v Speaker 2>but just my coach working with me and the therapists

<v Speaker 2>working with me, it was, I felt like I had

<v Speaker 2>something to prove and I did prove it.

<v Speaker 1>That's absolutely amazing. Megan, you were recognized prior to a

<v Speaker 1>Denver Summit match this summer. How amazing was that?

<v Speaker 2>That was a lot of fun. I bet. With my

<v Speaker 2>other positive athlete, I guess, peers. Sure. It was a

<v Speaker 2>really amazing experience.

<v Speaker 1>Did you get to meet team members? Did you get

<v Speaker 1>to meet coaches? Did you get to go through the

<v Speaker 1>whole thing?

<v Speaker 2>We didn't get to meet anybody, but we did get

<v Speaker 2>to go down on the field during warm-ups, which was

<v Speaker 2>fun as well.

<v Speaker 1>It's really different when you're down on the field in

<v Speaker 1>a big venue like that. Just look it up and go, wow,

<v Speaker 1>this is a lot. I can't imagine playing in front

<v Speaker 1>of this every time.

<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's a big stadium and it's a lot of people,

<v Speaker 2>but I mean, props to the players because I don't know.

<v Speaker 3>If I'd be able to do that.

<v Speaker 1>It's a lot. It's a lot for sure. Megan, I

<v Speaker 1>don't want to put you on the spot and please

<v Speaker 1>don't feel like you have to give me a concrete answer.

<v Speaker 1>What are you doing now? Where are you at now?

<v Speaker 2>So at school, I'm studying animal science. I'm an animal

<v Speaker 2>science major and I'm on the pre-vet track, but unfortunately

<v Speaker 2>I am still having my battles with cancer and it's inevitable. It,

<v Speaker 2>never really goes away with the scans and the appointments

<v Speaker 2>and the, all of it, but I'm doing okay right now.

<v Speaker 1>Okay. So you are up at, uh, you're a Colorado

<v Speaker 1>state of Fort Collins.

<v Speaker 2>Yes. Yes, I am.

<v Speaker 1>Megan, I'm going to wave to you. I can almost,

<v Speaker 1>I can almost see you from here. Um, I want

<v Speaker 1>to thank you very much for, for your, your candid

<v Speaker 1>and your openness about, you know, discussing the things that

<v Speaker 1>you've gone through. Jaden, I'm going to put you up

<v Speaker 1>on the Daily Dose hot seat next year. I want

<v Speaker 1>to talk to you as well. Jaden, where did you

<v Speaker 1>go to high school?

<v Speaker 3>So I went to Elizabeth High School.

<v Speaker 2>Okay.

<v Speaker 5>Yeah, it's a smaller town, kind of near Parker and

<v Speaker 5>the Cass Rock area.

<v Speaker 1>I know Elizabeth quite well. Jaden, I hate to point

<v Speaker 1>this out again, but kind of like Megan, you were

<v Speaker 1>an athlete and I'm not sure you were supposed to

<v Speaker 1>be an athlete when you were born. Tell me a

<v Speaker 1>little bit about when you were born.

<v Speaker 3>That is correct.

<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

<v Speaker 5>So I was born about two months early and I

<v Speaker 5>stopped growing. I was growth restricted at about four weeks early,

<v Speaker 5>or sorry, about four months early. And so I was

<v Speaker 5>born at two pounds, three ounces. And yeah, so I

<v Speaker 5>spent I think it was like 20, 21 days or

<v Speaker 5>something like that, potentially more in the NICU, which is

<v Speaker 5>the ICU, but for newborns. Yeah, I spent the first

<v Speaker 5>couple of months on oxygen. And yeah, I mean, fortunately,

<v Speaker 5>I wasn't coherent enough to remember, but it was definitely

<v Speaker 5>a hard challenge, especially for my parents, too, to have

<v Speaker 5>to go through that.

<v Speaker 1>Well, I would imagine, and it sounds a little bit

<v Speaker 1>like maybe your parents were dealing with their own things.

<v Speaker 1>Your mom had her own battles too, didn't she?

<v Speaker 2>Correct, yeah.

<v Speaker 5>She got diagnosed with Lear-Marr Sarcoma when I was in

<v Speaker 5>about third or fourth grade. And similar to Megan, like

<v Speaker 5>she said, it's just kind of nonstop. The scans, the chemo,

<v Speaker 5>the back and forth to the doctor. And so that

<v Speaker 5>was kind of going on too, and that's been something

<v Speaker 5>I've been able to learn from her, you know, how

<v Speaker 5>to kind of get over, you know, hard things in

<v Speaker 5>your life.

<v Speaker 1>Absolutely. Jaden, you were also nominated for Positive Athlete Awards

<v Speaker 1>two different times. Do you know who nominated you?

<v Speaker 5>The first time it was my, my athletic director, John Everhart.

<v Speaker 5>And I believe the second time he did as well.

<v Speaker 5>And potentially there were some other coaches that I knew

<v Speaker 5>that also did. But I wasn't for sure on the

<v Speaker 5>second time who did it. But I know for sure

<v Speaker 5>it was my AD, John Everhart.

<v Speaker 1>I'll ask you the same thing that I asked Megan.

<v Speaker 1>Forget winning and actually getting the award. Because I know

<v Speaker 1>that percentages aren't always great. But what did it mean

<v Speaker 1>just to be nominated?

<v Speaker 3>It's just this.

<v Speaker 5>like feeling like it's like there's like this light bulb

<v Speaker 5>that turns on and like all of a sudden there's

<v Speaker 5>light on you and I think most nominees for positive

<v Speaker 5>athlete are not the people that need the spotlight but

<v Speaker 5>to be seen for the hard work and a good

<v Speaker 5>character that the positive athlete nominees have it's like a

<v Speaker 5>really good feeling it's like it's like this feeling of

<v Speaker 5>like it's finally working you know like I'm doing the

<v Speaker 5>work I'm you know doing all the things and there's

<v Speaker 5>this great organization that sees it for.

<v Speaker 3>Who I am and the people that nominated me actually

<v Speaker 3>see me.

<v Speaker 1>Jayden, it sounds like you have a lot of things

<v Speaker 1>going on right now. You've got a number of irons

<v Speaker 1>in the fire, as they say. What do you have going?

<v Speaker 1>Where are you going to school? What all are you

<v Speaker 1>working on now?

<v Speaker 5>So I am at Western Colorado right now in Gunnison.

<v Speaker 5>And I'm on the track team up here as a

<v Speaker 5>sprinter studying– a business admin. Um, so that's, that's my

<v Speaker 5>life right now, but I run a small, about a

<v Speaker 5>five man, a mowing and landscape company.

<v Speaker 3>And so that, that takes up most of my.

<v Speaker 5>Time pretty much from April to like November. Um, and

<v Speaker 5>more heavy during the summer months when I don't have school,

<v Speaker 5>but I'm still trying to balance that right now too,

<v Speaker 5>trying to run the crew, um, at home and still

<v Speaker 5>trying to balance school and track here.

<v Speaker 3>So it's definitely hard being far away, but yep.

<v Speaker 1>Jayden, you're doing more work than most adults are doing.

<v Speaker 1>You're just a young kid. What in the world are

<v Speaker 1>you doing? You're starting businesses, you're winning awards, you're still

<v Speaker 1>running track, you're going to school. My goodness. When do

<v Speaker 1>you have time to sleep? I hope you're at least

<v Speaker 1>taking care of yourself a little bit. I am just highly,

<v Speaker 1>highly impressed with both of you. Jayden, we didn't talk

<v Speaker 1>about it a whole lot, but in high school, what

<v Speaker 1>kind of athlete were you? What did you do in

<v Speaker 1>high school?

<v Speaker 3>I did football on track mainly. I did basketball a

<v Speaker 3>little bit. But then, yeah, during high school, I was

<v Speaker 3>mostly focused on football on track.

<v Speaker 1>What did you play in football? What position were you playing?

<v Speaker 5>I was like a slot receiver on offense and an

<v Speaker 5>outside linebacker on defense.

<v Speaker 1>Well, you definitely grew past your two pounds. So you're

<v Speaker 1>on the right track going on and playing football and

<v Speaker 1>going on and running track and doing it collegiately. And

<v Speaker 1>you know this. I don't care what level of college

<v Speaker 1>you're doing it at, it becomes a full-time job and

<v Speaker 1>it becomes a lot of work just doing that collegiately. Plus,

<v Speaker 1>you're running your own business and you're doing a lot

<v Speaker 1>of things. You guys got a lot of things going.

<v Speaker 1>I'm really, really grateful to both of you for being here.

<v Speaker 1>Outstanding work and both of your stories are stories that

<v Speaker 1>not only need to be heard And I'll tell this.

<v Speaker 1>I want to tell this story especially to Megan because

<v Speaker 1>I had another young man that was on the show,

<v Speaker 1>a friend of mine. And he was a young kid

<v Speaker 1>that was diagnosed with spinal cancer as a 15-year-old. And

<v Speaker 1>I don't say it to... to shine any more light

<v Speaker 1>on him because he really hates it when I do that.

<v Speaker 1>But he ended up getting, going through, you know, chemo,

<v Speaker 1>going through spinal, all these different surgeries and all this stuff.

<v Speaker 1>And the Colorado Avalanche reached out to him. We had

<v Speaker 1>him on the dose. And they said, would you come

<v Speaker 1>down and participate in a Colorado Avalanche, you know, beats cancer,

<v Speaker 1>fights cancer kind of night? And he tells me, he goes,

<v Speaker 1>I don't want to go. And I said, I totally understand.

<v Speaker 1>I totally get it. He's like, he's a big kid.

<v Speaker 2>He's like six, six.

<v Speaker 1>And he goes, I don't want people looking at me.

<v Speaker 1>They already look at me enough. And I said, I

<v Speaker 1>totally understand. I said, but, and this is what I

<v Speaker 1>want to stress to you both. You don't know that

<v Speaker 1>one kid that just got diagnosed with the same thing

<v Speaker 1>and is saying, I can't do this. And you never

<v Speaker 1>know who's going to hear your story later. and go, hey,

<v Speaker 1>you know what? They did it. Maybe I can do

<v Speaker 1>that too. I give you both a ton of credit

<v Speaker 1>because you don't know who it might touch. You don't

<v Speaker 1>know who it might affect, and there might be a

<v Speaker 1>kid out there that really, really needs to hear you.

<v Speaker 1>I commend both of you, and your story is absolutely incredible.

<v Speaker 1>I appreciate you coming by. I appreciate you bringing some

<v Speaker 1>guests in. But let me ask you this one more time.

<v Speaker 1>I want to make sure everyone knows what is the

<v Speaker 1>best way to nominate a kid and understand they could

<v Speaker 1>be doing great in the classroom. They could be doing

<v Speaker 1>great in the community. They could be doing great on

<v Speaker 1>the athletic surface. They could be just doing great in

<v Speaker 1>life in general. They could. Should probably get some recognition.

<v Speaker 1>We need to start seeing some young kids get recognition.

<v Speaker 1>We see way too many kids on social media getting

<v Speaker 1>recognized for the wrong reasons. We've got two kids here

<v Speaker 1>being recognized for the absolute right reasons. But Brady, remind

<v Speaker 1>us again where people can go.

<v Speaker 4>Yeah, first off. let's just steal the Nike and just

<v Speaker 4>do it. You know, you can sit here and talk

<v Speaker 4>and think about it. The important thing is you follow through.

<v Speaker 4>It takes as little as five minutes. But positiveathlete.org, you

<v Speaker 4>can throw in a slash Colorado if you want to

<v Speaker 4>get right there. Otherwise, the links are intuitive. Google it,

<v Speaker 4>use your favorite search engine, it comes up. But I

<v Speaker 4>think you really hit on a key theme there, Clint,

<v Speaker 4>that part of what we're trying to create is this

<v Speaker 4>community where folks like Megan and Jaden get to meet

<v Speaker 4>each other and, you know, make sure their stories are shared,

<v Speaker 4>but also heard and connected with other kids. I think

<v Speaker 4>that is all part of the much larger vision. The

<v Speaker 4>other thing, you've been such a great supporter of us.

<v Speaker 4>I wanted to just throw out this challenge to your

<v Speaker 4>audience that there is a, how did you hear us?

<v Speaker 3>Field uh when you.

<v Speaker 4>Nominate a student athlete if they want to put daily

<v Speaker 4>dose in there i will pick one of those at

<v Speaker 4>random and do a signed photograph from champ bailey he's

<v Speaker 4>our lead athlete both megan and jayden have met him

<v Speaker 4>guys like monte ball no sean moreno mark randall from

<v Speaker 4>the nuggets so these are all part of you know

<v Speaker 4>the group that's stepping up to believe in what we're

<v Speaker 4>doing here but i thought that was a special uh.

<v Speaker 1>Spin just for your audience I genuinely appreciate that. And

<v Speaker 1>if you are listening, and I know for a fact,

<v Speaker 1>I've got a couple of listeners out there that have

<v Speaker 1>some young kids playing athletics in their lives. You need

<v Speaker 1>to get out there and nominate those kids because I

<v Speaker 1>know of a few kids out there that are well

<v Speaker 1>deserving of being nominated. Hey, I want to thank you, Brady,

<v Speaker 1>for coming by. Genuinely appreciate what you're doing. Not just

<v Speaker 1>stopping by the Dose, obviously, but the work you're doing

<v Speaker 1>every day. It is so, so important that we are

<v Speaker 1>recognizing these kids. Megan, Jaden, thank you so much for

<v Speaker 1>being here, for sharing your story. And I know you probably, one,

<v Speaker 1>get tired of telling the same stories over and over again.

<v Speaker 1>We haven't heard it, and you both did a phenomenal job.

<v Speaker 1>But I would like to thank the three of you

<v Speaker 1>for stopping by the Daily Dose. Hey, I said it

<v Speaker 1>to Brady last time. Don't be a stranger. You ever

<v Speaker 1>want to come on? You ever want to talk something else?

<v Speaker 1>You ever want to just talk sports? You know where

<v Speaker 1>to reach me. Make sure you reach out. We would

<v Speaker 1>love to have you anytime. And you might have, you know,

<v Speaker 1>another friend that you say, hey, they would be great

<v Speaker 1>to stop by. We would love to have you back anytime.

<v Speaker 1>But I just I love what Positive Athlete is doing.

<v Speaker 1>And I really want to thank the three of you

<v Speaker 1>for stopping by.

<v Speaker 3>Thank you.

<v Speaker 4>Thanks for having us.

<v Speaker 2>Thank you.

<v Speaker 1>Hey, next week on the Dose, we just might have

<v Speaker 1>to take a look around at both college football and

<v Speaker 1>the NFL and see which of the trends that are

<v Speaker 1>kind of taking place are actually going to last. and

<v Speaker 1>try to see which ones might be a little bit fake. Plus,

<v Speaker 1>those Major League Baseball playoffs are coming quickly, so make

<v Speaker 1>sure you check out Badalidos, and be sure you let

<v Speaker 1>a friend know to do the same. I want to

<v Speaker 1>say thank you so much to Brady Kellogg, Megan Waters,

<v Speaker 1>and Jaden Francis for stopping by and sharing your stories

<v Speaker 1>with us. Hey, if you know a young athlete that

<v Speaker 1>might be deserving of some recognition, like Brady said, just

<v Speaker 1>do it. I encourage you. Go over to PositiveAthlete.org and

<v Speaker 1>nominate that kid. It is absolutely free. And, you know,

<v Speaker 1>feel free to enter Daily Dose for how you heard

<v Speaker 1>about Positive Athlete in that little square as well. Hey,

<v Speaker 1>you never know how much of an impact you just

<v Speaker 1>might have on these kids that are doing good things.

<v Speaker 1>It could be life changing. Hey, I also want to

<v Speaker 1>say thank you to each and every one of you

<v Speaker 1>for listening to Daily Dose every week. Thank you for

<v Speaker 1>the emails. Thank you for the text. Thank you for

<v Speaker 1>the tweets. But more than anything, thank you for sharing

<v Speaker 1>the show and for sharing the videos with someone that

<v Speaker 1>you know. We absolutely love it when you do that.

<v Speaker 1>Have to thank you to JSP. Could not do any

<v Speaker 1>of this without you. I will see you all next Wednesday.

<v Speaker 1>Have a great week, everybody. You are not paralyzed. I

<v Speaker 1>am so paralyzed.