Acts 4:20: Today's guest is Tyler Gates, an up and coming sports journalist. Having been raised in church, Tyler had an understanding of God from a young age and throughout his life has seen how God's favor changes everything. I hope you're encouraged by this episode of Acts 4:20. Tyler, it's great to have you on the channel. Thanks for coming on. I'll give you the floor to share just your background, how you grow up and how you came to know Jesus as Savior and Lord and what you've seen him do. And we'll go from there.
TYLER GATES: Yeah, man, I appreciate you have me on. I appreciate you have me on. It's definitely great to have the opportunity to talk about Jesus and talk about how he has had an impact in my life. One, for starters, everyone's path is different, whether that is career, whether that is life in general. But the path to Jesus, I feel like is the same. And a lot of people will look at you And they'll say, you're not Christ-like, or they'll say some of the actions that you do don't They don't go together that of Jesus or that of the Bible. Well, it also says that we have to come to Him as we are. We don't have to be perfect. And that's the one thing that I was raised on in my household. Once again, I was born into this, not coming out because of what He's done in my life. And I've seen what He has done in my friend's life, in my family's life, in my twin brother's life, in my mother's life. In my father's life, I have a testimony not only for myself, but for my family members around me. How I came to know Christ, I was seven years old. Once again, I was little, but I knew what it meant. And a lot of people will say, "oh you're that young, you're getting baptized, you don't understand what it quite means." No, if you go to church enough, you will understand at any age what it means to worship God and pray and fast and pray and fast again as they say because, with me, that was my first dream - I wanted to be a preacher. I wanted to preach the Word of God. to be I felt like I could I could do that obviously I could still be a preacher after my career that's something I plan on doing right but that wasn't my calling right God said no no I want you to focus on something else So I have a natural born voice of singing. And I thought that my path was singing because they found out I could sing from a very young age. A lot of my peers said that my voice was very unique, but it sounded very youthful. And all the events that I did when I was younger, whether it was the relay, for breast cancer awareness when I was 11 years old, had to sing the national anthem, or if it was just many events or different restaurants that I would go to and just seeing karaoke, I was trying to get my voice out there anyway I could. Once again, going to church while doing this, growing up, went to a Christian academy, Southwest Linda Christian Academy, basically my whole life. And that advanced. my knowledge on the Bible and Christ way more than I thought it would. singing church, singing church, that's really all I did growing up singing church. I was in the choir. I was in, I was in the youth ministry. So I was heavily involved in church, heavily involved. And the same thing with school, whether it was on the worship board at school, cause we had a worship board at school. So It's just different things that I look at now that I say, hmm, I don't regret that because that was, that was God aligning me to make sure that I'll stay on the straight and narrow, but at the same time, I did not get from him. I did not get from him. And once again, we talk about calling. Came to find out that wasn't my calling, right? Because of a situation that happened where It's always the fine print that you have to read because you never know what's in the fine print. You never know because they could be trying to trick you. And in that case, I felt like they were trying to trick me. And my mom, who's an educator, that's all she does that 24 seven when it comes to reading stuff. She reads the five prints. She reads it double or triple. She reads it over and over again to make sure that, Hey, this report is getting out. this school is doing this. she read the fine print. I just wanted to go ahead and sing and get big because I wanted to be a singer. She said, nope, that's not your calling. And for a minute I was discouraged because once again, I didn't know what I wanted to do because I felt like, Wanted to be a preacher? Not that. Wanted to be a singer? Not that. So what's going on? And for a minute, it felt like I was lost, but I felt like I was on the right track. And I don't really know how to explain it because I was a teenager at the time. Obviously, I played sports, playing basketball, thought basketball was going to be a calling, but that wasn't it either. And I figured that out pretty early because I wasn't getting any playing time, but I was good. I was good. I could hit shots. I could play defense. But. You start to see your true calling when you pursue it. that's like, you can pursue it, but if it's not your true calling, things won't happen. Doors won't open until you find out, hey, this is your true calling. Your doors are opening because this is what I want you to do. And when I found out what my true calling was, It almost was an instant change in my life. I started to see how friends either switched up on me or stayed. And it's not bad having a small circle. It's not bad having a small circle. especially a small circle in our case of men who are Christ-like and don't shy away from the fact that, I am a child of God and I'm going to let you know That right there sells me because in anything, in anything, I'm gonna give thanksgiving to anything, anything, because of what he has put in front of me, what he is going to put in front of me, and I already know what he has planned for me down the line 20 years from now. So when sports came along, it was, like I said, an instant change. I didn't know what happened. I was just, hey, hey. I tried it out. I did it. I was a podcast host for my school radio station, but it was for a course. So I just wanted to pass. I was like, man, I just wanted to pass. But once again, not knowing that this is a talent. My teacher, he saw something in me, I don't think he saw me getting this far in sports media. He was like, he's probably just, you know. One of the kids is probably trying to get a grade when in reality, I started to think about it more. I say, you know what? This is something I would like to do. This is something I would like to do. And how my talk show came along is I had to do a final project. I believe it's the spring semester of 23. So this is the semester before my last semester before I graduated undergrad. And we were trying to figure out what I wanted to do. Me and my mom, she was helping me with it. She was like you thought you talk about sports a lot. You should do something on sports. I said why not? talk show. Cool. We're gonna call it. Went down a list of names. Wrote down a list of names. I probably still have that paper somewhere. I just wrote down a list of names. I said, okay, hmm, should I use Sports Talk? No. Sports Summit? No. That don't quite sound right. And then I tried some NFL stuff. Gridiron? I said, nah, somebody already has that. Or On the Court? I was like... What is it? I slept on it. I woke up the next morning and I said, I got it. Tag live 205. Didn't make sense at the time, but I wrote it down. I was able to explain the reason why later on that I chose that name, but I felt like that was God saying, this is you. I'm putting doors in front of you. to make sure that, hey, you have finally found your calling. Now it is up to you to walk into these doors that I'm providing for you. So, and now we're at this point where I'm meeting people left and right from sports media, whether it's ESPN, Fox Sports, MLB Network, it doesn't matter. Whenever I see somebody in the space that I wanna be in, Now I'm not afraid like I used to. I used to be a very timid guy, very timid guy, podcasting and the sports media world has broken me out of my shell unbelievably. I was already an outgoing person, but the confidence that I have because of where I am today, it just makes it so much easier.
Acts 4:20: That's awesome. going back to you were a kid and you accepted Christ, got baptized at seven. What was your thought process there? Like as a as a kid, what guess what was intriguing to you about being a follower of Jesus and being baptized?
TYLER GATES: Yeah, well, definitely being a kid, you see people get baptized on Baptism Sunday. You're like, hmm, that's fun. I was one of those kids, but at the same time, me and my twin brother... And some people would say that "oh, you know, your grandmother is a staple of the church, so you you're kind of forced to do it." No, no, no. If you're gonna be a follower of Christ, can't like, like you, you have to be willing to say you accept Christ. Not anyone else told you to - no, no, you got to be willing to say "I accept Christ." And the fact that I was a 7 year-old being, being able to have that knowledge and, and, and understand what that meant, it was eye opening. It was eye opening and I could start to feel things change when I was little. obviously. I feel like being baptized, when you're, When you get saved, you see the world totally different. As you grow up, you see things different. You see different things that God puts in front of you. There's a couple of things right now in my life that God is putting in front of me other than sports media, like, just different things that I'm starting to see. It may not come all the time, but it's in different little spurts. And I'm like, hmm, what does this mean? Now I know what it means. So when I see it, I'm like, hmm, okay. And I feel like God has been giving me and my twin brother a heads up when it comes to... being men of God, being fishers of men, being a good husband when the time comes. Because especially in this world now of social media and... you start to see how women are being affected, especially domestic abuse, domestic violence, you're starting to see how they're being called out their name. I wasn't raised like that. I was not raised like that at all. I was very respectful to girls going to school, very respectful to women because I understood that when I was raised by 97 % women, like I was raised by my mom, basically my aunt and my grandmother. So I had nothing but respect for women and they taught me that, you're gonna respect women in this household and that's how it's been. But it's stuff like that that I say baptism changes you and I grew up in a church where "PCT" always sticks with me. "Prayer changes things." It does. It may not come when you want it, but He'll come right on time. People don't understand that. To kind of harp on that, A good example is when I was in my sophomore year, was COVID year, and I prayed for something. I don't remember what it was. and I prayed, I said, "Lord, we're in difficult times right now, but if this could just work, if this could come. Anything that You want me to do, in order to get here, anything that I have to sacrifice, let it be." One of those examples, it took a year, but He was waiting on me to let some things loose. You got to let some things loose in order to listen to Christ. And my biggest example of that is was in a previous relationship and I was struggling trying to figure out what I wanted to do. with my podcast. So I already had the idea, but how could I, how could I manage both at the same time? Right. Of course, we sin all the time. There are things that happened. I did. She did as well, but when you look at it, it's God warning you. He gives us warnings all the time. He will not just straight up punish you. He's going to give you warnings because He loves you more than enough to say, "hey, stop this." Or He puts people in front of you that you don't realize they say, "this is not you. This is not what I want you to do." And I had to, I had to let that go. in order to fully focus on my career. And if it had not been for me doing that, I don't think I would have got as far as I did. I think I still would have got far, but I don't think this far. And going on two and a half years and all the experiences that I've had journalism and sports media over my three year career. has been extraordinary and I thank God for it every day. I thank God for the things that haven't even come yet. And that's what people have to do because it's not always gonna be good. It's not always gonna be good. It's not gonna be easy. People think, accepting Christ, it's a breeze or accepting Christ is unnecessary. No, well, if you think that, hey, I'm here to tell you, I'm a living witness. Everybody has their own story everybody when it comes to accepting Christ you I'm pretty sure have a terrific story about how God changed your life you know and People have got to understand God is a just God. He is a fair God, but God is someone you don't want to play with because I'm telling you, he will strike you down. I have seen it happen. I promise you, I've seen it happen. And I'm not one of those guys that it has happened to, but I have had warnings. because I've stayed persistent in my Bible, I've stayed persistent in my daily studies. Even when I don't go to church physically, thank God that they have it on YouTube. And I sit there and listen. And I sit there and take notes because not only is my pastor preaching, but He's talking and telling people, hey, you may not see it. But that's why my pastor always says, hide me behind the cross, when he prays before he goes into his sermon, so that they can see and hear less of me and hear more of him. And that kind of sums up the baptism, because I've heard more of God through people. And that's how I've been able to keep the faith as long as I have.
Acts 4:20: Yeah. You were talking about fine print. I'm not sure I fully caught what you were referring to. Was there was there some sort of like deal or potential contract or what what were you talking about with that?
TYLER GATES: Yeah, you hit it spot on. there was a deal or like a contract on the table. It was about three or four pages. It wasn't big. I'm like, hmm, okay, interesting. Once again, I was just so gung-ho like, let's get started. Not knowing that it would literally take all my royalties. I probably wouldn't have, if that would have happened, I probably wouldn't be where I want it to be in terms of that career. I'm still thankful to this day that, yeah, I still have that gift of singing and I can use that on my platform, which I've done numerous times. Haven't done it recently, but... That's something that's different that people in the sports probably don't have. They don't have a natural born singing voice like I do. And my mother gave me a good idea to use it. So that deal literally saved me. And I feel like that was God talking through my mother saying, don't do this to him. You know, he like, and my mom already knew to read through the five print. Like she, She was excited for me too, but at the same time, my mom is my stronghold. She's not gonna, she teaches me, she's like, don't get used. Don't get used and don't let other people use you to make them look on the outer, make them look successful while you're on the back burner putting in everything when it's really you that's. being the one that's having all the success. So that deal saved me. I'm being like, like turning down that deal at the time I was kind of upset, but not knowing that, Hey, this was coming. So I'm thankful.
Acts 4:20: How old were you at the time?
TYLER GATES: I was 16. was 16. Yep.
Acts 4:20: Okay. How did that come about? were you were you making music or like how did they find you?
TYLER GATES: Yeah, so it was through a family friend. He was saying, you know, hey, we would like for you to come to our studio and meet this guy. I was, okay, cool. I went home and told my mom, got some more confirmation, got the details about it. We went, had a good studio session. He heard my voice for the first time. went through a couple of different tracks. We participated in like a... I'm trying to figure out the best way to put Because he was very music to the point where... He didn't even need the instruments. He was like, hmm, we could put the instruments up. Let's try this sound with our feet or let's try this with our hands. And I enjoyed it. That's the great part about that. I enjoyed the experience. But once again, it did seem off a little bit because I felt like in the back of my head, like, okay, there's other dudes in here recording, but what about me? You know, like, I thought you wanted to see me. I have that in the back of my head. Of course I didn't want to say anything, but it was just in the back of my head, like, hmm, this, this, okay, this is interesting. So I feel like that was the first red flag right there. Like, hmm, this, this, this, this may not be, you know, this ain't it. So, yep.
Acts 4:20: Interesting. Last question on the music stuff. So do you have any musicians, artists you really like or kind of like inspire you wanting to sing or like any music you like to sing?
TYLER GATES: I was a huge fan of Michael Jackson growing up when I was younger, because people call me young Mike because of my voice. Sam Cook is another dude. I really got into the soul side when I got about 12, 13. So Sam Cook was one of those guys. Marvin Gaye was one of those guys. started listening to old music like The Temptations. The OJ is the common. I can go down the whole list, but it's just, kind of the old school vibe, kind of the old school vibe. Yep. And R &B is very relaxing, very soulful, music also goes into that part of being a follower of Christ where you gotta watch it because there's a difference between regular music, smooth music, and secular music. I tell people that. You cannot blend the two. You just can't do that. So I've done a good job of watching. I pretty much listen to basically gospel music and a little bit of R &B from 2000s. That's the only air. Like Kim, Avant, that's it. know, cause I'm an old school cat. Like I, you know. I'm all about the old school love. I set the candles up for you. I'm that type of dude. yeah, that's just, that's it.
Acts 4:20: Okay, Yeah, I guess take me through since college pursuing sports media. Yeah, I guess take me take me to when you first started pursuing sports media. And yeah, what's kind of what's happened since then.
TYLER GATES: Yeah, so when I first started pursuing sports media, I I was a summer or fall of 2022. And I really didn't get started until that January of 2023, where I started to freelance write my own articles. And soon enough, I found out about UWG's West Georgian newspaper. And I spoke to, I forgot his name now, but I spoke to a guy. about my interest in writing. And he was like, what do you want to write? said, I would love to write about sports. If it's nothing else, I would love to write about sports. I can talk about it. He said, okay, nice. I'm going to give you a test trial just to see. Did that, sent like two articles in just to see how he liked it. And he loved it. He brought me on the team as an editor. I was the editor for, I want to say three or four months. So it didn't take me long to get to the... to get to the top position of chief of of editing chief excuse me. Then after that. I was freelance reporting for West Georgia. So I started doing my own takes on West Georgia sports, little audios. and then eventually started doing camera, camera stuff. And it was all an experience. It was all an experience to get me ready for this. So idea during the final project of my talk show, I was already prepared. I was already prepared to say, this is what I'm going to do. And I kind of put it on the back burner a little bit during my last semester when I was getting ready to graduate, because I wanted to focus on my grades and I wanted to make sure everything was right. So that way I had no problems. I was crossing the stage smoothly, but I was still doing that as well. Got opportunities. to cover the Hawks at one time, got an opportunity to cover the UWG baseball team. I literally knew nothing about baseball and it's probably my favorite sport because I understand it so much. And I understand why people go ballistic and they yell and they scream and they cry and they get mad behind teams losing. I see it, I understand it now. So after that, I started the podcast after I graduated and had all that stuff to put on my resume. So I started my podcast, wanted to just, just get it started up and running and start slowly. developed a love to talk about it on a daily. And I wanted to try to get a video out every day. That was the goal. Either that or shortreels breaking news that was current. I started doing the shortreels around May or June of 24 where I think my first news I broke was the Lakers either going to sign Dan Hurley or JJ Reddick. My hair at the time was not this short. it was kind of like an afro, you know, like a big afro of sorts. And that was one thing that I said, you know what, if I want to be on TV, this has got to go. I cut it off unexpectedly. Nobody, nobody knew about it. So it was one random episode where if you look at it, I had my hair long. And then the next episode you saw me, it was low to this day. It's been low. That's just how it's going to be. because it's a more professional look and it's cleaner, I can maintain it. So from there, I started wanting to really pursue sports media as a full on career. So I started looking up ways to contact people, whether it was ESPN or Fox Sports, but I felt like I jumped the gun a little bit. So I backtracked and I started looking for events, different events to go to, different job fairs to go to, different stuff to post content wise. So that way I could, I could have even more stuff to put on my resume. and even more connections, even more net networking possibilities. So when my love developed for baseball, I fully just used to say, you know what? Baseball is my favorite sport. Let me talk about that. But let me also see. With me, I want it to stay trendy. I want to stay trendy because when you tend to hop on a trend, you never know, especially with a video, it could go viral overnight. One of your reels could go viral overnight. hasn't happened for me yet. It will definitely because of my persistence to keep going. But I want it to stay very trendy. say if it was a trade deadline for MLB. I would make content about that for like two straight weeks leading up to the deadline. And then I would hop back on football because it was OTAs and training camp coming up. And that will be the trend at the time. Of course with college football, started learning more about college football, even though I knew about it. I'm a Georgia fan, so go dogs. But it was, it was that, kind of say, you know what, let's branch off into every sport. You know, basketball, you know, football already know let's branch off in every sport because That's something that they're not going to expect you to do. when I did that, I started to see a lot of friends fall off. I started to see a lot of people just fade, fade. And it hurt me inside, but I heard God say, this is okay. This is exactly what I want. This is exactly what you want. You want people to do this. And I felt like people were like, it almost felt like a video game. Like this person was going, this person, like it almost felt like a process of elimination. I'm like, why, why is this happening? And I look back on it now, why was happening is because while I was doing this slowly, they were doing this. And that's not to belittle anybody, but I wanted to put myself in a space where I knew I was going to be successful. And I know that if I want to be successful, had to let some people go, had to let some things go. I started wanting to travel. I started wanting to go to these events. In 2025, the first thing I did was attend an event in New York City. My brother had a Broadway play that he was working with as well. So we both had a trip in New York, thankfully. Mom flew up there with us. We were up there for about two weeks. And it was fun experience. I'd never been to New York before. So it was a, it was the first time experience that I say it was well worth it. The snow, the people, the people are not as crazy as they say, but it was fun. It was fun. It was fun. The people I networked with up there are still friends to this day, still friends to this day. And then leading on to that year. past January, we're talking about March now, where I was able to have ESPN's Mina Khans on my show. And one thing about me is I'm not ever going to be scared to contact you, email you, text you, because I want you to know who I am and to... that I am being very persistent in asking about what I want. And I'm being very serious about what I want. So me, me and me, I said, hmm, type the email, not knowing if she was gonna answer or not, but still you putting it out there. And she answered and she wanted to come on the show and I was excited. I said, wow, this is huge. Like, me and Conn, this is huge. So. Had her on, she broke down the drive. This was a pre-drive conversation because she went to the combine in Indianapolis, which I went to a year later. And it was a great conversation. She only had 20 minutes. I said, okay, gotta make these 20 minutes last. And I made a great impression. She wanted to come back on the show. She came back on the show a couple of weeks ago prior to the drive. And I felt like now that's... That's a forging relationship. it's also like a mentorship as well, where I say, I see this as a, as a building friendship, but I see this mostly as somebody who's been in this business, who's respected in this business and who's going to mentor me. And that's when I felt like my bit break was coming. Once I got her on the show, I said, okay, let me start getting serious. So I started posting cleaner content. cleaner content, made sure it was clean, made sure my thumbnails were clean. I made sure my words were clean. I made sure my vocabulary was up to par. And from there, kept climbing, kept climbing, kept climbing. NABJ convention is where everything just, me. Being in a room with journalists, it's a different thought pattern. It's a different thought pattern. And these are people who have done what you want to do for 10, 15, 20, 25 years, 30 plus. So they have the experience and me wanting to be a sponge. I was excited. I'm speaking to some of the people I see on television, like Stephen A. Smith's right there. Malika Andrews is right here. Like they're five feet away from me. I'm like, okay, inside I'm screaming, but let's be journalists here. Let's be professionals, calm down, put on a poker face. Even though inside you're anxious, you're happy, but you're in the same profession that they are in and you have to make them feel comfortable because they probably get that all the time. They probably get people. So you make them feel comfortable in that space. And that's what I did. And they complimented me for that every time I went up to to talk to somebody. And I feel like that experience alone has me where where I'm at now in terms of my vision for what I want to do with my podcast and my vision in sports media because of the things I was able to take and not only the experience, but the insight that I was able to gain from listening to a Stephen A. Smith, from talking with Malika Andrews or Kimberly Martin or Chris Haynes. So It's different things like that that I say, God has been opening the doors. Some doors got closed. Some doors got closed. I didn't get chosen to have the sports media experience for the SEC fanfare for young journalists. In my head, I'm like, you know what, God? That's probably you telling me I wasn't ready. You know, because he probably didn't want me to make a mess. He said, no, you need more time and your time is coming. And I felt like that's what that was. So yes, I get discouraged a lot when, when I get a lot of, unfortunately emails. And that has been a big part of my career as well. When I apply for jobs that I know that I'm well, way more capable than probably anybody who has applied for that job. Resume wise. And I still get the, unfortunately that just puts more feel in my body to say, Lord, I thank you in advance because what you're about to do for me is something way bigger than what that would have done for me. So now we're here where I have met some of the biggest people in my industry, still yet to meet other people in my industry, but it goes without saying that. If you trust him, he is going to make it you. He's going to make this scene worthwhile and it's not going to be easy. is not going to be easy. Trusting God is not easy sometimes. That's why we are sinners. It's not easy because yes, we may think sometimes, Lord, why me? Why did this happen to me? He's protecting you because he understands that his angels are not to be messed with. Those who actually follow him, those who actually love him with their whole heart, those who put him first and say, Lord, you take the wheel. Those are the ones who are going to win in the end. I know my reward is coming. I know my reward is coming, but persistence, patience and faith in him. will lead me to that.
Acts 4:20: So you've been you've been a Christian for most of your life and know I have a similar story to that. So I don't really have like the. I was in prison and that's where I met Jesus and my life has been radically changed since then. But I do have a lot of and I think every believer, you know, the the journey of sanctification. There are. things that God helps us learn and helps us I guess move like away from so we can be closer to him and be more and more like Christ. So what are some throughout your life? What are some of like the more pivotal moments where God revealed something to you of like, hey, this is an area of pride. This is an area of where you're not trusting me. know, whatever it may be. What are some of those like, kind of markers in your life and how did, how did God speak to you through those? And yeah, how did those go?
TYLER GATES: Yeah, the main one I would say is the previous engagement that I was in It didn't feel like I was putting God first in instance because I felt like I was just doing. I felt like I was just doing, I was just going. Even though I was praying, I did not pray enough. And that's where I felt like He snapped me back and gave me and revealed to me what I needed to do. And of course, Before that, there were some other instances as well with friends or in different situations, whether it was an event that my soul felt like I didn't need to be at or whether it was different. different things surrounding me at the time where it's like, these things are gonna end up destroying you in the long run if you don't get rid of them now. But I would definitely say my previous engagement was the big one for me. If it's not that one, then it's definitely my freshman year where I felt like where in that situation alone, what happened was just It could have been catastrophic. It could have been catastrophic, but it's those two that God gave me the warning and said, and revealed to me, this is not who I want you to be. And he revealed to me what my purpose was in school and what my purpose was career wise. And both of those came at very different times, but they both came while I was in college. So I find that significant because yes, in college I did struggle. I did struggle with different things. School was tough, barely struggled with school, but it was tough to the point where I'm saying, I always try to aim for an A. So that's why it was tough because I'm like, a B is okay, but I'm trying to aim for an A. So in that instance, yeah, but I felt like the previous engagement and my freshman year were those two. situations that happened opened up a whole new world that he said, I'm going to reveal this to you and you better take it with a grain of salt because this may not come again. And without me giving myself up fully without me being able to let loose of things and yield to him completely, I probably wouldn't be in this space today. So it's those two situations that I look back and say, you know what? I did right. I did right.
Acts 4:20: Expand on each of those. So previous engagement, what are you referring to?
TYLER GATES: the relationship that I was.
Acts 4:20: Okay, okay. Yep, okay. And then freshman year. What happened freshman year?
TYLER GATES: So, freshman year, there was some rumors being spread about me and I just got there. And I was, I had just moved in. I was getting along with people and I felt like people. it didn't feel like people were excited, you know, like, cause I had a big freshman class, so we were all trying to, we were all trying to find ourselves trying to make friends. know how that goes. But I felt like when I started to hear it, I get very concerned. I'm a very emotional guy, so I'm like, hmm, that's not true. Me being the 18 year old guy, I was trying to tell people and persuade people like, "no, that's not true," instead of being quiet and letting God work it out. That's where I feel like it got me even into more deeper water. You know I'm not that type of person or that type of guy, but the rumor basically was In a nutshell, people were hating on me because I was, I was an energetic guy and I had a lot of friends at the time and they, they, they saw me as like this guy who's always happy, jolly, laughing around, looked like he had no problems. I felt free. So when that happened, it was almost like, dang, what did I do to you? You know, I, First of all, I don't even know you. But second of all, I'm still gonna love you. That Once again, I was raised in church. I say, you know what? I'm still gonna love you regardless of what you guys think. And then, you know, as the deeper water is starting to get deeper, That's when I started to kind of question my own self like, there something wrong with me? But no, God said no. Nothing's wrong with you. They are just hating. They're hating on your personality. They're hating on your good energy. They're hating because you're basically a child of God and you always encourage them, hey, good morning guys, how you doing? I'm blessed today. I hope you stay prayed up. Those type of things that I used to do. whenever I saw them in the hallway, because we had a large dormitory. So I would see them in the hallway sometimes, or I would go to the cafeteria that was literally walking distance. Like I had that good energy. whenever people saw me, and to this day, whenever I go back to the school, there are people who are at the school now that weren't at the school when I was there, and they know me. I'm like, how is that possible? So that tells you the type of impact that I left on the school, not only sports related, but- the impact that I left spirit-wise when it comes to the school spirit and the campus culture. To kind of sum that up, being hated on, especially as a child of God in this society today, it's literally number one. Like you're going to get ridiculed. Jesus got ridiculed. Way worse than us. Way worse than us. And we can only imagine how it was for Him. We can only imagine. We may get a... a slight understanding, but we would never be in that setting to say. You know, like this is something He had to put up with and He still carried the cross. He still died for us. He still took all of our sins in with Him. So it's things like that that I say, I'm thankful because there's things that I've done, I don't think I ever would have been able to accomplish if I would have let things take me down instead of praying and saying, "God, You handle this for me." If I would have tried to do it myself, ain't no telling where I would be, instead of letting Him handle it.
Acts 4:20: Amen. Yeah. What school did you go to for college?
TYLER GATES: University of West Georgia. I'm back there now getting my masters.
Acts 4:20: Okay. Cool. And what did you study for undergrad?
TYLER GATES: I studied mass communications and journalism. I was a double major
Acts 4:20: Okay, cool. And then what are you getting your... Go ahead.
TYLER GATES: and my minor was sports management, which I'm doing now for masters.
Acts 4:20: Okay, Yeah, what's your what's kind of like your goal like your career dream job?
TYLER GATES: to be one of the top sports sports media personalities, to be one of the top sports broadcasters out there. and using and using my platform to not only be, be a rare specimen when it comes to breaking news and knowing every sport, because that's really my main goal when it comes to this is being a one of one, being somebody that, you'll see on. ESPN one day and then he goes and he's on SEC nation on Saturday and then he goes and he's on NHL the next day. Now it may not be like that but I have my own platform to where if you don't catch me on national television you're going to be able to come to YouTube you're going to be able to come to to Spotify you're to be able to get to hear me talk about the current events of the day the current events of the week the current events of what's going on in that moment for every sport but yeah that's that's That's it.
Acts 4:20: Is there anyone currently who, like, I guess, who do you most look up to in the space? And is there anyone in your mind who is doing something like that? Or not really.
TYLER GATES: Yes. So I've in terms of sports media, I've always looked up to Stephen A Smith, always looked up to him. And I've always, always looked up to Ryan Clark. Ryan Clark is somebody who's very intelligent, especially he's faith driven, not shy, not, not afraid to let, to let people know that he is a child of God and the way that he dresses is very smooth, very casual. He doesn't go over the top, but the one thing he does with his suits, they're very intentional. They're very intentional. you pay attention to not only the colors, but the material, he'll never go out his way to be like, I'm going to put on this way. So no, it's always a plaid or a regular. And I've always been good with my suits from when I was little to now. And I've always had the best suits, whether it was a seersucker suit, whether it's a normal suit, or whether it was a suit and a shirt like this because you gotta be able to mix it up. You gotta be able to mix it up. And I feel like now that I'm growing and I'm in this space, I have to look the part. I have to look the part because if I wanna stand out, I can't be like everybody else. I can't be like everybody else. And in terms of somebody else that I feel like is doing exactly what I'm doing and honestly, probably... Right there with me in terms of like next up is my good friend Justin Like he he is He's without a shadow of a doubt a one-of-one Nobody like Justin Stuckey. I've said that on my own show. I said this this this guy right here if You see me and him at the top, you know why because not only and that goes back to connections, that goes back to networking because I saw him at the beginning of 2025 on my Instagram and what he was doing and I wanted to interview him because I wanted to know his story and that interview is on my YouTube and I wanted to see, he used to be a track star and now he's in sports media. I wanted to know how that happened. how that turn happened. And he mentioned his faith. He mentioned how... track really wasn't his calling after he was so successful at it. Transferring from, I believe it was Sanford going to Auburn, like, and then our, our relationship has totally skyrocketed. Like now we, we pretty much talk to each other, if not every day, every other day or every week, just checking up on each other, seeing how each other's doing. But from afar, we totally cheer for each other and we let each other know that like hey man you're doing good my dog what's going on i see you just posted that great job and i i felt like god put justin in my life to be like hmm another god that's doing exactly what you're doing you guys are going to come up together you may not see it now but you guys i feel like are are the blueprint of what sports media is going to look like in this next era, this next generation of sports and sports broadcasting. But he is doing a terrific job with his Stuck in My Thoughts podcast. And I believe it's going on four years now. He has done things that a lot of people have not done. And I tell him that I say, you don't understand how how much people look up to you. And I don't think you understand how much people also try to say negative things about you, but you do not care. And that's one thing that he brushes it off and he keeps going. Like, the guy is literally in Connecticut one day, and then you see him the next week, he's at WrestleMania, and then the next week, He's back home and then the next week he's somewhere else. Like a guy that stays on his feet, but a guy that is faith driven, that is what you want. You want somebody like that. So he, he, he's right there with me, man. And I feel, and I feel thankful that I was able to meet him and able to connect with him when I did and building this friendship because I feel like it's going to be needed and it's going to be a long term. I feel like it's going to be a lifetime friendship because of what we are doing and the field that we're in. props to him because he's been doing terrific.
Acts 4:20: That's cool. That's and that's really kind. Those are some really kind words. How did you meet him?
TYLER GATES: Yeah, so I came across him on Instagram. I came across him on Instagram, believe January or February of last year, 2025. And I was very interested by what he was posting because it was similar to what I was doing. So I said, hmm, okay, let me try to build a relationship because I want to build relationships with people who's going to be in my field so that way I can earn the respect. don't expect respect. No, I have to earn people's respect. And when I hit him up on Instagram, he responded right back with, man, I'm definitely down to come on your show and talk about my journey. And when we did, it almost seemed too natural. Like it almost seemed like we've been best friends for years. And especially when we talked about WWE, both love WWE. that- that kind of excelled the conversation even further. Like, okay, he's a SINA guy. I'm a SINA guy too, but give me Randy Orton. He knows, he knows, like, it's small talk like that that we look at and we're gonna look back on when we are five, 10 years down the road and say, man, we were literally 24, 25 and now look at us. We're... 30 years old, 31 years old, and we have blossomed so much in the space that we garnered and the space that we have explored because both of our paths to sports media were different. He was an athlete in college and for me, it was more so of friends and family. So we look at it from that standpoint. But look where it has brought me, look where it has brought him, look where it has brought so many people in sports media. Like I said, everybody's path is different, but how are you going to get to the top? that's my goal. That's my purpose right now. How am I going to get to the top of this game? How am I going to be able to let people see my unapologetic takes about sports? How am I going to let people... be able to see my stylish side when I go on air? How do I let people feel engaged? How do I let my audience feel engaged in my podcast, in my shows, in my live shows that I have on millions? I always ask them to, share your comments. Share your comments down below. They could be featured in the show, and I've started doing that. So it's kind of something that I'm going to keep doing because I understand how important an audience is. But most importantly, I understand how big faith is also. So yeah, and it's been nothing but an exciting roller coaster ride. It's been exciting.
Acts 4:20: Cool. Switching gears. What would you say are some of the most compelling facts or reasons that to you make the Bible true? What's what's most compelling that you've heard of or if someone's like, hey, give me Give me some reasons why the Bible is true.
TYLER GATES: Of course, I always start with, if I do get asked that question, my main reason is because of the word you said last, true. I say the Bible is nothing but the truth. It has no lies in there. And we're living in the truth as we speak. Many people don't, I say, if you read your Bible, you will understand the times we're living in. Go to Revelations. That's what we're living in. If you see the verses that say there will be famines, there will be wars, rumors of wars, there will be people who claim to be the Christ. There will be people who claim to be prophets, but they're false prophets. Things are happening from the Bible. right now as we speak. So, and I've started paying attention to world news a little bit more because world news even, and I always go back and compare it to the Bible like That's happening on television. what, what was like, it's never going to be in plain view, like, this exact point. But if you really understand the Bible, the context is like, wow, this, this is happening. That's the one thing it's always going to tell the truth. Another thing that's compelling to me is the verses that was given to me and my brother by my grandmother. She gave me a verse that has always stuck with me. To whom much is given, much is required. And that has stuck with me and is going to stick with me for the rest of my life. And it's funny how grandmothers are always right. And it's really crazy how they're literally always right. And to look at it now, and she passed away three years ago, and to see the legacy that she left. but not only the legacy, but the factual things that she said, that you kind of think back on, it's like, wow, she was warning. She was warning us. She was telling the truth. whenever she said, Tyler, there's going to be so much required of you when you get into whatever space there is because of your bright light and people are going to be around you, but they're going to be so demanding, but watch yourself. And the reason why she gave me that verse actually, the reason why she gave me that verse and she explained it to me when I was 12 years old, I'll never forget it. She said, think about who you are as a person. You are very outgoing. You're very demanding. And You always want more. You always want more. And I did not know what that meant. Like, what did I mean? I want more. Like, how do I want more? And she said, well, you always want to be the center of attention wherever you go. You always want to be the center of attention. You always want to be the light in the room that's dark. You always want to be the person that cheers somebody up when they're down by just your charming smile. I said, OK. So to whom much is given? And I started to break it down years later. I said, to whom much is given? I've been given a lot. I've been given verses. I've been given anointings. I've been given various things. But what is required of me because of my growing stature and my ever glowing personality, you are required to be the person that I know you can be the best, bring the best out of you because it's a requirement for you. And I said, That makes so much sense to give me that verse because there's so much required of me in terms of not only sports media, but outside of that. There's so many expectations for me and... The expectation is obviously to succeed, even though there's gonna be bumps along the way. There's so much lingering on me. Not only just me, but my brother as well. And his verse is very different from mine. Very different from mine. That's why she gave us two separate verses, because we're not the same. We are the same because we're blood and we're twin brothers, we're fraternal, but we're not the same in terms of journey. Everyone's journey is different. The closest person to you journey is different and the farthest person from you, their journey is different as well. So the expectation that I have to continue my career and to continue on my faith journey and to be the best at what it is that I'm going to be. That's that. That's that. And that's why that verse sticks with me.
Acts 4:20: Have you ever had a time in your life where you doubted that the Bible was true? Or have you just been pretty much like, no, I believe it's true.
TYLER GATES: Yeah, to be completely transparent, I've never doubted the Bible. I've never doubted it. And I'm more so of the belief that just wait, let it play out. The Bible, like we just got finished talking about, has everything in there. Beginning to end, it is true. You look up, yes, we have the power of the internet now, so you can look up these things. But if you read the Bible, And you see the story of Mary Magdalene. You see the story of Jesus's birth. You see how Jesus turned water into wine. then, yes, they make great depictions of it. And they make great, great films about Jesus and the Bible. But reading it, it's just like you're looking at the words and then you're trying to relive it in your head. That's what I try to do. I try to relive the moments because Even though I couldn't be there, if I had a time machine to go back and see this man turn water into wine, I'm like, huh? He did that? Like, how'd that happen? So it's just stuff like that where I say. We serve such a great God and He didn't have to do anything that he had to do. but because He loves us and because he loved Jesus, he loved Jesus enough to send His only begotten Son down to this earth when it was almost at its worst. And then People, kept hearing about years, thousands of years, kept hearing about this new king coming. Did they really expect it was going to be a baby in a manger? Let's be completely honest. They didn't think it was going to be a baby in the manger. They thought it was going to be something like King Herod, you know, like, hey, it's a king and he's on a golden chariot. It's a baby. And that's what and it's the different stories that really attached to me that really got me like, wow, this is amazing. Like How? How? But at the same time, if you know the Son of God, if you are anything other than what Jesus wants you to be, you gotta revert that back. You gotta come back to Him. You gotta come back to Him. because... At the end of the day, you're going to be forgiven 70 times 7. Then you got people doing the math like, oh 70 times 7 No, no, no, no. That's not what that means. You're forgiven 70 times 7 because God's unwavering forgiveness and His everlasting love, regardless of what you do. That doesn't mean go back and do it again. And that's what I learned. That doesn't mean sin again, no. You have to work on it. We're not perfect. He knows that. He made us in His image, but He didn't make us perfect. Look, what happened to Adam and Eve is the reason we have sin in the world right now. Yes, people blame 'em. Fine. If you want to blame them. Yes, that's true. But guess what? Are you Adam and Eve? Did you have to make that decision in the garden? No, you have your own life. How you come to Jesus in that life is all up to you. And then You never want to hear, see, and one thing that I don't want people to say is, I never heard about him. You heard about him in some way. You heard about Jesus in some way. So that's why I try to spread the word as much as I can. try to share, whether it's social media, you know, share the gospel posts, but not only that, I try to spread what I have experienced. in terms of a change. A change. Most people come to Jesus when they're either a teenager or if they're lost in their their 20s. That's what we're starting to see now a lot. But my journey was I grew up in it, understood it as a child and said, this is what I want to do. I want to give my life to Christ. So everybody's path is different. We just have to stay focused on Him because if we stay focused on Him, everything else is gonna work out. for itself.
Acts 4:20: Yeah, that's good. Do you have anything else you want to I think that's it for me.
TYLER GATES: Not anything else man, the only thing that I really want to say is... Keep the faith. Keep believing. We're in tough times right now. I tell everybody that I pretty much come across, you know, who's having issues. And now I'm starting to kind of understand people's thought pattern. And I want to become a person that not necessarily can read people's minds, but can feel their soul and feel their thoughts. So I can share my experience and say, hey, God is love. God is love. He's not going to leave you nor forsake you. He will never do that. He's always by your side. It may not feel like it. Trust me, I have been there. Yes, I still at spurts, feel like that because of the opportunity, the job opportunity not coming or the shadowing experience not coming. But He has a plan for me. And that plan is going to lead me to where I want to be. So keeping the faith and keep believing and keep spreading the gospel, our reward in the end is going to be something hefty. I want to be one of those people that hears, "well done, thy good and faithful servant." I want to be one of those people that hears that. I want to, and I encourage everybody because when our time is up, when this life is over, on that judgment day, what are you going to stand before God and say? Are you going to stand before him and say, Lord, I tried, I knew you, but I didn't - no. You want to be able to say, Lord, I spread your word. I loved you with all my heart. I loved you from the last hair on my head to the soles of my feet. I gave it my all because I put You first and I brought people to you and I understood your word even though it took me time I still understood what your word was really about so keeping the faith keeping the faith and and even for you too you know what you are doing God is continuing to bless you man I'm being so serious like what what you're doing with your channel what you're doing in your life God sees that. And one thing that my old pastor used to say is, "God sees, God knows, and God cares." He's there. So for you, I just want you to keep going, man. Keep going, keep doing this despite what haters think, despite what people think, because God is there. There are gonna be things that come. There's gonna be haters that try to deflect you. Hey, Satan, not gonna have my soul today. Not gonna have me today. Cause I'm a child of the one who said that I'd be lifted up. I draw all men to me. So thank you man for having me. You keep going. As everybody who's probably listening to this, Keep going, keep the faith because you never know when your opportunity could come. Stay ready because God has the oath.
Acts 4:20: Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate that. yeah, thank you for coming on the channel. It's been been great to have you. Yeah, and I'll I'll be keeping an eye out for you and then praying for you. So.
TYLER GATES: Yes sir man, you as well, you as well. I appreciate you so much.
Acts 4:20: Thank you. All right, I'm going to end recording.
TYLER GATES: Yeah, man, I appreciate you have me on. I appreciate you have me on. It's definitely great to have the opportunity to talk about Jesus and talk about how he has had an impact in my life. One, for starters, everyone's path is different, whether that is career, whether that is life in general. But the path to Jesus, I feel like is the same. And a lot of people will look at you And they'll say, you're not Christ-like, or they'll say some of the actions that you do don't They don't go together that of Jesus or that of the Bible. Well, it also says that we have to come to Him as we are. We don't have to be perfect. And that's the one thing that I was raised on in my household. Once again, I was born into this, not coming out because of what He's done in my life. And I've seen what He has done in my friend's life, in my family's life, in my twin brother's life, in my mother's life. In my father's life, I have a testimony not only for myself, but for my family members around me. How I came to know Christ, I was seven years old. Once again, I was little, but I knew what it meant. And a lot of people will say, "oh you're that young, you're getting baptized, you don't understand what it quite means." No, if you go to church enough, you will understand at any age what it means to worship God and pray and fast and pray and fast again as they say because, with me, that was my first dream - I wanted to be a preacher. I wanted to preach the Word of God. to be I felt like I could I could do that obviously I could still be a preacher after my career that's something I plan on doing right but that wasn't my calling right God said no no I want you to focus on something else So I have a natural born voice of singing. And I thought that my path was singing because they found out I could sing from a very young age. A lot of my peers said that my voice was very unique, but it sounded very youthful. And all the events that I did when I was younger, whether it was the relay, for breast cancer awareness when I was 11 years old, had to sing the national anthem, or if it was just many events or different restaurants that I would go to and just seeing karaoke, I was trying to get my voice out there anyway I could. Once again, going to church while doing this, growing up, went to a Christian academy, Southwest Linda Christian Academy, basically my whole life. And that advanced. my knowledge on the Bible and Christ way more than I thought it would. singing church, singing church, that's really all I did growing up singing church. I was in the choir. I was in, I was in the youth ministry. So I was heavily involved in church, heavily involved. And the same thing with school, whether it was on the worship board at school, cause we had a worship board at school. So It's just different things that I look at now that I say, hmm, I don't regret that because that was, that was God aligning me to make sure that I'll stay on the straight and narrow, but at the same time, I did not get from him. I did not get from him. And once again, we talk about calling. Came to find out that wasn't my calling, right? Because of a situation that happened where It's always the fine print that you have to read because you never know what's in the fine print. You never know because they could be trying to trick you. And in that case, I felt like they were trying to trick me. And my mom, who's an educator, that's all she does that 24 seven when it comes to reading stuff. She reads the five prints. She reads it double or triple. She reads it over and over again to make sure that, Hey, this report is getting out. this school is doing this. she read the fine print. I just wanted to go ahead and sing and get big because I wanted to be a singer. She said, nope, that's not your calling. And for a minute I was discouraged because once again, I didn't know what I wanted to do because I felt like, Wanted to be a preacher? Not that. Wanted to be a singer? Not that. So what's going on? And for a minute, it felt like I was lost, but I felt like I was on the right track. And I don't really know how to explain it because I was a teenager at the time. Obviously, I played sports, playing basketball, thought basketball was going to be a calling, but that wasn't it either. And I figured that out pretty early because I wasn't getting any playing time, but I was good. I was good. I could hit shots. I could play defense. But. You start to see your true calling when you pursue it. that's like, you can pursue it, but if it's not your true calling, things won't happen. Doors won't open until you find out, hey, this is your true calling. Your doors are opening because this is what I want you to do. And when I found out what my true calling was, It almost was an instant change in my life. I started to see how friends either switched up on me or stayed. And it's not bad having a small circle. It's not bad having a small circle. especially a small circle in our case of men who are Christ-like and don't shy away from the fact that, I am a child of God and I'm going to let you know That right there sells me because in anything, in anything, I'm gonna give thanksgiving to anything, anything, because of what he has put in front of me, what he is going to put in front of me, and I already know what he has planned for me down the line 20 years from now. So when sports came along, it was, like I said, an instant change. I didn't know what happened. I was just, hey, hey. I tried it out. I did it. I was a podcast host for my school radio station, but it was for a course. So I just wanted to pass. I was like, man, I just wanted to pass. But once again, not knowing that this is a talent. My teacher, he saw something in me, I don't think he saw me getting this far in sports media. He was like, he's probably just, you know. One of the kids is probably trying to get a grade when in reality, I started to think about it more. I say, you know what? This is something I would like to do. This is something I would like to do. And how my talk show came along is I had to do a final project. I believe it's the spring semester of 23. So this is the semester before my last semester before I graduated undergrad. And we were trying to figure out what I wanted to do. Me and my mom, she was helping me with it. She was like you thought you talk about sports a lot. You should do something on sports. I said why not? talk show. Cool. We're gonna call it. Went down a list of names. Wrote down a list of names. I probably still have that paper somewhere. I just wrote down a list of names. I said, okay, hmm, should I use Sports Talk? No. Sports Summit? No. That don't quite sound right. And then I tried some NFL stuff. Gridiron? I said, nah, somebody already has that. Or On the Court? I was like... What is it? I slept on it. I woke up the next morning and I said, I got it. Tag live 205. Didn't make sense at the time, but I wrote it down. I was able to explain the reason why later on that I chose that name, but I felt like that was God saying, this is you. I'm putting doors in front of you. to make sure that, hey, you have finally found your calling. Now it is up to you to walk into these doors that I'm providing for you. So, and now we're at this point where I'm meeting people left and right from sports media, whether it's ESPN, Fox Sports, MLB Network, it doesn't matter. Whenever I see somebody in the space that I wanna be in, Now I'm not afraid like I used to. I used to be a very timid guy, very timid guy, podcasting and the sports media world has broken me out of my shell unbelievably. I was already an outgoing person, but the confidence that I have because of where I am today, it just makes it so much easier.
Acts 4:20: That's awesome. going back to you were a kid and you accepted Christ, got baptized at seven. What was your thought process there? Like as a as a kid, what guess what was intriguing to you about being a follower of Jesus and being baptized?
TYLER GATES: Yeah, well, definitely being a kid, you see people get baptized on Baptism Sunday. You're like, hmm, that's fun. I was one of those kids, but at the same time, me and my twin brother... And some people would say that "oh, you know, your grandmother is a staple of the church, so you you're kind of forced to do it." No, no, no. If you're gonna be a follower of Christ, can't like, like you, you have to be willing to say you accept Christ. Not anyone else told you to - no, no, you got to be willing to say "I accept Christ." And the fact that I was a 7 year-old being, being able to have that knowledge and, and, and understand what that meant, it was eye opening. It was eye opening and I could start to feel things change when I was little. obviously. I feel like being baptized, when you're, When you get saved, you see the world totally different. As you grow up, you see things different. You see different things that God puts in front of you. There's a couple of things right now in my life that God is putting in front of me other than sports media, like, just different things that I'm starting to see. It may not come all the time, but it's in different little spurts. And I'm like, hmm, what does this mean? Now I know what it means. So when I see it, I'm like, hmm, okay. And I feel like God has been giving me and my twin brother a heads up when it comes to... being men of God, being fishers of men, being a good husband when the time comes. Because especially in this world now of social media and... you start to see how women are being affected, especially domestic abuse, domestic violence, you're starting to see how they're being called out their name. I wasn't raised like that. I was not raised like that at all. I was very respectful to girls going to school, very respectful to women because I understood that when I was raised by 97 % women, like I was raised by my mom, basically my aunt and my grandmother. So I had nothing but respect for women and they taught me that, you're gonna respect women in this household and that's how it's been. But it's stuff like that that I say baptism changes you and I grew up in a church where "PCT" always sticks with me. "Prayer changes things." It does. It may not come when you want it, but He'll come right on time. People don't understand that. To kind of harp on that, A good example is when I was in my sophomore year, was COVID year, and I prayed for something. I don't remember what it was. and I prayed, I said, "Lord, we're in difficult times right now, but if this could just work, if this could come. Anything that You want me to do, in order to get here, anything that I have to sacrifice, let it be." One of those examples, it took a year, but He was waiting on me to let some things loose. You got to let some things loose in order to listen to Christ. And my biggest example of that is was in a previous relationship and I was struggling trying to figure out what I wanted to do. with my podcast. So I already had the idea, but how could I, how could I manage both at the same time? Right. Of course, we sin all the time. There are things that happened. I did. She did as well, but when you look at it, it's God warning you. He gives us warnings all the time. He will not just straight up punish you. He's going to give you warnings because He loves you more than enough to say, "hey, stop this." Or He puts people in front of you that you don't realize they say, "this is not you. This is not what I want you to do." And I had to, I had to let that go. in order to fully focus on my career. And if it had not been for me doing that, I don't think I would have got as far as I did. I think I still would have got far, but I don't think this far. And going on two and a half years and all the experiences that I've had journalism and sports media over my three year career. has been extraordinary and I thank God for it every day. I thank God for the things that haven't even come yet. And that's what people have to do because it's not always gonna be good. It's not always gonna be good. It's not gonna be easy. People think, accepting Christ, it's a breeze or accepting Christ is unnecessary. No, well, if you think that, hey, I'm here to tell you, I'm a living witness. Everybody has their own story everybody when it comes to accepting Christ you I'm pretty sure have a terrific story about how God changed your life you know and People have got to understand God is a just God. He is a fair God, but God is someone you don't want to play with because I'm telling you, he will strike you down. I have seen it happen. I promise you, I've seen it happen. And I'm not one of those guys that it has happened to, but I have had warnings. because I've stayed persistent in my Bible, I've stayed persistent in my daily studies. Even when I don't go to church physically, thank God that they have it on YouTube. And I sit there and listen. And I sit there and take notes because not only is my pastor preaching, but He's talking and telling people, hey, you may not see it. But that's why my pastor always says, hide me behind the cross, when he prays before he goes into his sermon, so that they can see and hear less of me and hear more of him. And that kind of sums up the baptism, because I've heard more of God through people. And that's how I've been able to keep the faith as long as I have.
Acts 4:20: Yeah. You were talking about fine print. I'm not sure I fully caught what you were referring to. Was there was there some sort of like deal or potential contract or what what were you talking about with that?
TYLER GATES: Yeah, you hit it spot on. there was a deal or like a contract on the table. It was about three or four pages. It wasn't big. I'm like, hmm, okay, interesting. Once again, I was just so gung-ho like, let's get started. Not knowing that it would literally take all my royalties. I probably wouldn't have, if that would have happened, I probably wouldn't be where I want it to be in terms of that career. I'm still thankful to this day that, yeah, I still have that gift of singing and I can use that on my platform, which I've done numerous times. Haven't done it recently, but... That's something that's different that people in the sports probably don't have. They don't have a natural born singing voice like I do. And my mother gave me a good idea to use it. So that deal literally saved me. And I feel like that was God talking through my mother saying, don't do this to him. You know, he like, and my mom already knew to read through the five print. Like she, She was excited for me too, but at the same time, my mom is my stronghold. She's not gonna, she teaches me, she's like, don't get used. Don't get used and don't let other people use you to make them look on the outer, make them look successful while you're on the back burner putting in everything when it's really you that's. being the one that's having all the success. So that deal saved me. I'm being like, like turning down that deal at the time I was kind of upset, but not knowing that, Hey, this was coming. So I'm thankful.
Acts 4:20: How old were you at the time?
TYLER GATES: I was 16. was 16. Yep.
Acts 4:20: Okay. How did that come about? were you were you making music or like how did they find you?
TYLER GATES: Yeah, so it was through a family friend. He was saying, you know, hey, we would like for you to come to our studio and meet this guy. I was, okay, cool. I went home and told my mom, got some more confirmation, got the details about it. We went, had a good studio session. He heard my voice for the first time. went through a couple of different tracks. We participated in like a... I'm trying to figure out the best way to put Because he was very music to the point where... He didn't even need the instruments. He was like, hmm, we could put the instruments up. Let's try this sound with our feet or let's try this with our hands. And I enjoyed it. That's the great part about that. I enjoyed the experience. But once again, it did seem off a little bit because I felt like in the back of my head, like, okay, there's other dudes in here recording, but what about me? You know, like, I thought you wanted to see me. I have that in the back of my head. Of course I didn't want to say anything, but it was just in the back of my head, like, hmm, this, this, okay, this is interesting. So I feel like that was the first red flag right there. Like, hmm, this, this, this, this may not be, you know, this ain't it. So, yep.
Acts 4:20: Interesting. Last question on the music stuff. So do you have any musicians, artists you really like or kind of like inspire you wanting to sing or like any music you like to sing?
TYLER GATES: I was a huge fan of Michael Jackson growing up when I was younger, because people call me young Mike because of my voice. Sam Cook is another dude. I really got into the soul side when I got about 12, 13. So Sam Cook was one of those guys. Marvin Gaye was one of those guys. started listening to old music like The Temptations. The OJ is the common. I can go down the whole list, but it's just, kind of the old school vibe, kind of the old school vibe. Yep. And R &B is very relaxing, very soulful, music also goes into that part of being a follower of Christ where you gotta watch it because there's a difference between regular music, smooth music, and secular music. I tell people that. You cannot blend the two. You just can't do that. So I've done a good job of watching. I pretty much listen to basically gospel music and a little bit of R &B from 2000s. That's the only air. Like Kim, Avant, that's it. know, cause I'm an old school cat. Like I, you know. I'm all about the old school love. I set the candles up for you. I'm that type of dude. yeah, that's just, that's it.
Acts 4:20: Okay, Yeah, I guess take me through since college pursuing sports media. Yeah, I guess take me take me to when you first started pursuing sports media. And yeah, what's kind of what's happened since then.
TYLER GATES: Yeah, so when I first started pursuing sports media, I I was a summer or fall of 2022. And I really didn't get started until that January of 2023, where I started to freelance write my own articles. And soon enough, I found out about UWG's West Georgian newspaper. And I spoke to, I forgot his name now, but I spoke to a guy. about my interest in writing. And he was like, what do you want to write? said, I would love to write about sports. If it's nothing else, I would love to write about sports. I can talk about it. He said, okay, nice. I'm going to give you a test trial just to see. Did that, sent like two articles in just to see how he liked it. And he loved it. He brought me on the team as an editor. I was the editor for, I want to say three or four months. So it didn't take me long to get to the... to get to the top position of chief of of editing chief excuse me. Then after that. I was freelance reporting for West Georgia. So I started doing my own takes on West Georgia sports, little audios. and then eventually started doing camera, camera stuff. And it was all an experience. It was all an experience to get me ready for this. So idea during the final project of my talk show, I was already prepared. I was already prepared to say, this is what I'm going to do. And I kind of put it on the back burner a little bit during my last semester when I was getting ready to graduate, because I wanted to focus on my grades and I wanted to make sure everything was right. So that way I had no problems. I was crossing the stage smoothly, but I was still doing that as well. Got opportunities. to cover the Hawks at one time, got an opportunity to cover the UWG baseball team. I literally knew nothing about baseball and it's probably my favorite sport because I understand it so much. And I understand why people go ballistic and they yell and they scream and they cry and they get mad behind teams losing. I see it, I understand it now. So after that, I started the podcast after I graduated and had all that stuff to put on my resume. So I started my podcast, wanted to just, just get it started up and running and start slowly. developed a love to talk about it on a daily. And I wanted to try to get a video out every day. That was the goal. Either that or shortreels breaking news that was current. I started doing the shortreels around May or June of 24 where I think my first news I broke was the Lakers either going to sign Dan Hurley or JJ Reddick. My hair at the time was not this short. it was kind of like an afro, you know, like a big afro of sorts. And that was one thing that I said, you know what, if I want to be on TV, this has got to go. I cut it off unexpectedly. Nobody, nobody knew about it. So it was one random episode where if you look at it, I had my hair long. And then the next episode you saw me, it was low to this day. It's been low. That's just how it's going to be. because it's a more professional look and it's cleaner, I can maintain it. So from there, I started wanting to really pursue sports media as a full on career. So I started looking up ways to contact people, whether it was ESPN or Fox Sports, but I felt like I jumped the gun a little bit. So I backtracked and I started looking for events, different events to go to, different job fairs to go to, different stuff to post content wise. So that way I could, I could have even more stuff to put on my resume. and even more connections, even more net networking possibilities. So when my love developed for baseball, I fully just used to say, you know what? Baseball is my favorite sport. Let me talk about that. But let me also see. With me, I want it to stay trendy. I want to stay trendy because when you tend to hop on a trend, you never know, especially with a video, it could go viral overnight. One of your reels could go viral overnight. hasn't happened for me yet. It will definitely because of my persistence to keep going. But I want it to stay very trendy. say if it was a trade deadline for MLB. I would make content about that for like two straight weeks leading up to the deadline. And then I would hop back on football because it was OTAs and training camp coming up. And that will be the trend at the time. Of course with college football, started learning more about college football, even though I knew about it. I'm a Georgia fan, so go dogs. But it was, it was that, kind of say, you know what, let's branch off into every sport. You know, basketball, you know, football already know let's branch off in every sport because That's something that they're not going to expect you to do. when I did that, I started to see a lot of friends fall off. I started to see a lot of people just fade, fade. And it hurt me inside, but I heard God say, this is okay. This is exactly what I want. This is exactly what you want. You want people to do this. And I felt like people were like, it almost felt like a video game. Like this person was going, this person, like it almost felt like a process of elimination. I'm like, why, why is this happening? And I look back on it now, why was happening is because while I was doing this slowly, they were doing this. And that's not to belittle anybody, but I wanted to put myself in a space where I knew I was going to be successful. And I know that if I want to be successful, had to let some people go, had to let some things go. I started wanting to travel. I started wanting to go to these events. In 2025, the first thing I did was attend an event in New York City. My brother had a Broadway play that he was working with as well. So we both had a trip in New York, thankfully. Mom flew up there with us. We were up there for about two weeks. And it was fun experience. I'd never been to New York before. So it was a, it was the first time experience that I say it was well worth it. The snow, the people, the people are not as crazy as they say, but it was fun. It was fun. It was fun. The people I networked with up there are still friends to this day, still friends to this day. And then leading on to that year. past January, we're talking about March now, where I was able to have ESPN's Mina Khans on my show. And one thing about me is I'm not ever going to be scared to contact you, email you, text you, because I want you to know who I am and to... that I am being very persistent in asking about what I want. And I'm being very serious about what I want. So me, me and me, I said, hmm, type the email, not knowing if she was gonna answer or not, but still you putting it out there. And she answered and she wanted to come on the show and I was excited. I said, wow, this is huge. Like, me and Conn, this is huge. So. Had her on, she broke down the drive. This was a pre-drive conversation because she went to the combine in Indianapolis, which I went to a year later. And it was a great conversation. She only had 20 minutes. I said, okay, gotta make these 20 minutes last. And I made a great impression. She wanted to come back on the show. She came back on the show a couple of weeks ago prior to the drive. And I felt like now that's... That's a forging relationship. it's also like a mentorship as well, where I say, I see this as a, as a building friendship, but I see this mostly as somebody who's been in this business, who's respected in this business and who's going to mentor me. And that's when I felt like my bit break was coming. Once I got her on the show, I said, okay, let me start getting serious. So I started posting cleaner content. cleaner content, made sure it was clean, made sure my thumbnails were clean. I made sure my words were clean. I made sure my vocabulary was up to par. And from there, kept climbing, kept climbing, kept climbing. NABJ convention is where everything just, me. Being in a room with journalists, it's a different thought pattern. It's a different thought pattern. And these are people who have done what you want to do for 10, 15, 20, 25 years, 30 plus. So they have the experience and me wanting to be a sponge. I was excited. I'm speaking to some of the people I see on television, like Stephen A. Smith's right there. Malika Andrews is right here. Like they're five feet away from me. I'm like, okay, inside I'm screaming, but let's be journalists here. Let's be professionals, calm down, put on a poker face. Even though inside you're anxious, you're happy, but you're in the same profession that they are in and you have to make them feel comfortable because they probably get that all the time. They probably get people. So you make them feel comfortable in that space. And that's what I did. And they complimented me for that every time I went up to to talk to somebody. And I feel like that experience alone has me where where I'm at now in terms of my vision for what I want to do with my podcast and my vision in sports media because of the things I was able to take and not only the experience, but the insight that I was able to gain from listening to a Stephen A. Smith, from talking with Malika Andrews or Kimberly Martin or Chris Haynes. So It's different things like that that I say, God has been opening the doors. Some doors got closed. Some doors got closed. I didn't get chosen to have the sports media experience for the SEC fanfare for young journalists. In my head, I'm like, you know what, God? That's probably you telling me I wasn't ready. You know, because he probably didn't want me to make a mess. He said, no, you need more time and your time is coming. And I felt like that's what that was. So yes, I get discouraged a lot when, when I get a lot of, unfortunately emails. And that has been a big part of my career as well. When I apply for jobs that I know that I'm well, way more capable than probably anybody who has applied for that job. Resume wise. And I still get the, unfortunately that just puts more feel in my body to say, Lord, I thank you in advance because what you're about to do for me is something way bigger than what that would have done for me. So now we're here where I have met some of the biggest people in my industry, still yet to meet other people in my industry, but it goes without saying that. If you trust him, he is going to make it you. He's going to make this scene worthwhile and it's not going to be easy. is not going to be easy. Trusting God is not easy sometimes. That's why we are sinners. It's not easy because yes, we may think sometimes, Lord, why me? Why did this happen to me? He's protecting you because he understands that his angels are not to be messed with. Those who actually follow him, those who actually love him with their whole heart, those who put him first and say, Lord, you take the wheel. Those are the ones who are going to win in the end. I know my reward is coming. I know my reward is coming, but persistence, patience and faith in him. will lead me to that.
Acts 4:20: So you've been you've been a Christian for most of your life and know I have a similar story to that. So I don't really have like the. I was in prison and that's where I met Jesus and my life has been radically changed since then. But I do have a lot of and I think every believer, you know, the the journey of sanctification. There are. things that God helps us learn and helps us I guess move like away from so we can be closer to him and be more and more like Christ. So what are some throughout your life? What are some of like the more pivotal moments where God revealed something to you of like, hey, this is an area of pride. This is an area of where you're not trusting me. know, whatever it may be. What are some of those like, kind of markers in your life and how did, how did God speak to you through those? And yeah, how did those go?
TYLER GATES: Yeah, the main one I would say is the previous engagement that I was in It didn't feel like I was putting God first in instance because I felt like I was just doing. I felt like I was just doing, I was just going. Even though I was praying, I did not pray enough. And that's where I felt like He snapped me back and gave me and revealed to me what I needed to do. And of course, Before that, there were some other instances as well with friends or in different situations, whether it was an event that my soul felt like I didn't need to be at or whether it was different. different things surrounding me at the time where it's like, these things are gonna end up destroying you in the long run if you don't get rid of them now. But I would definitely say my previous engagement was the big one for me. If it's not that one, then it's definitely my freshman year where I felt like where in that situation alone, what happened was just It could have been catastrophic. It could have been catastrophic, but it's those two that God gave me the warning and said, and revealed to me, this is not who I want you to be. And he revealed to me what my purpose was in school and what my purpose was career wise. And both of those came at very different times, but they both came while I was in college. So I find that significant because yes, in college I did struggle. I did struggle with different things. School was tough, barely struggled with school, but it was tough to the point where I'm saying, I always try to aim for an A. So that's why it was tough because I'm like, a B is okay, but I'm trying to aim for an A. So in that instance, yeah, but I felt like the previous engagement and my freshman year were those two. situations that happened opened up a whole new world that he said, I'm going to reveal this to you and you better take it with a grain of salt because this may not come again. And without me giving myself up fully without me being able to let loose of things and yield to him completely, I probably wouldn't be in this space today. So it's those two situations that I look back and say, you know what? I did right. I did right.
Acts 4:20: Expand on each of those. So previous engagement, what are you referring to?
TYLER GATES: the relationship that I was.
Acts 4:20: Okay, okay. Yep, okay. And then freshman year. What happened freshman year?
TYLER GATES: So, freshman year, there was some rumors being spread about me and I just got there. And I was, I had just moved in. I was getting along with people and I felt like people. it didn't feel like people were excited, you know, like, cause I had a big freshman class, so we were all trying to, we were all trying to find ourselves trying to make friends. know how that goes. But I felt like when I started to hear it, I get very concerned. I'm a very emotional guy, so I'm like, hmm, that's not true. Me being the 18 year old guy, I was trying to tell people and persuade people like, "no, that's not true," instead of being quiet and letting God work it out. That's where I feel like it got me even into more deeper water. You know I'm not that type of person or that type of guy, but the rumor basically was In a nutshell, people were hating on me because I was, I was an energetic guy and I had a lot of friends at the time and they, they, they saw me as like this guy who's always happy, jolly, laughing around, looked like he had no problems. I felt free. So when that happened, it was almost like, dang, what did I do to you? You know, I, First of all, I don't even know you. But second of all, I'm still gonna love you. That Once again, I was raised in church. I say, you know what? I'm still gonna love you regardless of what you guys think. And then, you know, as the deeper water is starting to get deeper, That's when I started to kind of question my own self like, there something wrong with me? But no, God said no. Nothing's wrong with you. They are just hating. They're hating on your personality. They're hating on your good energy. They're hating because you're basically a child of God and you always encourage them, hey, good morning guys, how you doing? I'm blessed today. I hope you stay prayed up. Those type of things that I used to do. whenever I saw them in the hallway, because we had a large dormitory. So I would see them in the hallway sometimes, or I would go to the cafeteria that was literally walking distance. Like I had that good energy. whenever people saw me, and to this day, whenever I go back to the school, there are people who are at the school now that weren't at the school when I was there, and they know me. I'm like, how is that possible? So that tells you the type of impact that I left on the school, not only sports related, but- the impact that I left spirit-wise when it comes to the school spirit and the campus culture. To kind of sum that up, being hated on, especially as a child of God in this society today, it's literally number one. Like you're going to get ridiculed. Jesus got ridiculed. Way worse than us. Way worse than us. And we can only imagine how it was for Him. We can only imagine. We may get a... a slight understanding, but we would never be in that setting to say. You know, like this is something He had to put up with and He still carried the cross. He still died for us. He still took all of our sins in with Him. So it's things like that that I say, I'm thankful because there's things that I've done, I don't think I ever would have been able to accomplish if I would have let things take me down instead of praying and saying, "God, You handle this for me." If I would have tried to do it myself, ain't no telling where I would be, instead of letting Him handle it.
Acts 4:20: Amen. Yeah. What school did you go to for college?
TYLER GATES: University of West Georgia. I'm back there now getting my masters.
Acts 4:20: Okay. Cool. And what did you study for undergrad?
TYLER GATES: I studied mass communications and journalism. I was a double major
Acts 4:20: Okay, cool. And then what are you getting your... Go ahead.
TYLER GATES: and my minor was sports management, which I'm doing now for masters.
Acts 4:20: Okay, Yeah, what's your what's kind of like your goal like your career dream job?
TYLER GATES: to be one of the top sports sports media personalities, to be one of the top sports broadcasters out there. and using and using my platform to not only be, be a rare specimen when it comes to breaking news and knowing every sport, because that's really my main goal when it comes to this is being a one of one, being somebody that, you'll see on. ESPN one day and then he goes and he's on SEC nation on Saturday and then he goes and he's on NHL the next day. Now it may not be like that but I have my own platform to where if you don't catch me on national television you're going to be able to come to YouTube you're going to be able to come to to Spotify you're to be able to get to hear me talk about the current events of the day the current events of the week the current events of what's going on in that moment for every sport but yeah that's that's That's it.
Acts 4:20: Is there anyone currently who, like, I guess, who do you most look up to in the space? And is there anyone in your mind who is doing something like that? Or not really.
TYLER GATES: Yes. So I've in terms of sports media, I've always looked up to Stephen A Smith, always looked up to him. And I've always, always looked up to Ryan Clark. Ryan Clark is somebody who's very intelligent, especially he's faith driven, not shy, not, not afraid to let, to let people know that he is a child of God and the way that he dresses is very smooth, very casual. He doesn't go over the top, but the one thing he does with his suits, they're very intentional. They're very intentional. you pay attention to not only the colors, but the material, he'll never go out his way to be like, I'm going to put on this way. So no, it's always a plaid or a regular. And I've always been good with my suits from when I was little to now. And I've always had the best suits, whether it was a seersucker suit, whether it's a normal suit, or whether it was a suit and a shirt like this because you gotta be able to mix it up. You gotta be able to mix it up. And I feel like now that I'm growing and I'm in this space, I have to look the part. I have to look the part because if I wanna stand out, I can't be like everybody else. I can't be like everybody else. And in terms of somebody else that I feel like is doing exactly what I'm doing and honestly, probably... Right there with me in terms of like next up is my good friend Justin Like he he is He's without a shadow of a doubt a one-of-one Nobody like Justin Stuckey. I've said that on my own show. I said this this this guy right here if You see me and him at the top, you know why because not only and that goes back to connections, that goes back to networking because I saw him at the beginning of 2025 on my Instagram and what he was doing and I wanted to interview him because I wanted to know his story and that interview is on my YouTube and I wanted to see, he used to be a track star and now he's in sports media. I wanted to know how that happened. how that turn happened. And he mentioned his faith. He mentioned how... track really wasn't his calling after he was so successful at it. Transferring from, I believe it was Sanford going to Auburn, like, and then our, our relationship has totally skyrocketed. Like now we, we pretty much talk to each other, if not every day, every other day or every week, just checking up on each other, seeing how each other's doing. But from afar, we totally cheer for each other and we let each other know that like hey man you're doing good my dog what's going on i see you just posted that great job and i i felt like god put justin in my life to be like hmm another god that's doing exactly what you're doing you guys are going to come up together you may not see it now but you guys i feel like are are the blueprint of what sports media is going to look like in this next era, this next generation of sports and sports broadcasting. But he is doing a terrific job with his Stuck in My Thoughts podcast. And I believe it's going on four years now. He has done things that a lot of people have not done. And I tell him that I say, you don't understand how how much people look up to you. And I don't think you understand how much people also try to say negative things about you, but you do not care. And that's one thing that he brushes it off and he keeps going. Like, the guy is literally in Connecticut one day, and then you see him the next week, he's at WrestleMania, and then the next week, He's back home and then the next week he's somewhere else. Like a guy that stays on his feet, but a guy that is faith driven, that is what you want. You want somebody like that. So he, he, he's right there with me, man. And I feel, and I feel thankful that I was able to meet him and able to connect with him when I did and building this friendship because I feel like it's going to be needed and it's going to be a long term. I feel like it's going to be a lifetime friendship because of what we are doing and the field that we're in. props to him because he's been doing terrific.
Acts 4:20: That's cool. That's and that's really kind. Those are some really kind words. How did you meet him?
TYLER GATES: Yeah, so I came across him on Instagram. I came across him on Instagram, believe January or February of last year, 2025. And I was very interested by what he was posting because it was similar to what I was doing. So I said, hmm, okay, let me try to build a relationship because I want to build relationships with people who's going to be in my field so that way I can earn the respect. don't expect respect. No, I have to earn people's respect. And when I hit him up on Instagram, he responded right back with, man, I'm definitely down to come on your show and talk about my journey. And when we did, it almost seemed too natural. Like it almost seemed like we've been best friends for years. And especially when we talked about WWE, both love WWE. that- that kind of excelled the conversation even further. Like, okay, he's a SINA guy. I'm a SINA guy too, but give me Randy Orton. He knows, he knows, like, it's small talk like that that we look at and we're gonna look back on when we are five, 10 years down the road and say, man, we were literally 24, 25 and now look at us. We're... 30 years old, 31 years old, and we have blossomed so much in the space that we garnered and the space that we have explored because both of our paths to sports media were different. He was an athlete in college and for me, it was more so of friends and family. So we look at it from that standpoint. But look where it has brought me, look where it has brought him, look where it has brought so many people in sports media. Like I said, everybody's path is different, but how are you going to get to the top? that's my goal. That's my purpose right now. How am I going to get to the top of this game? How am I going to be able to let people see my unapologetic takes about sports? How am I going to let people... be able to see my stylish side when I go on air? How do I let people feel engaged? How do I let my audience feel engaged in my podcast, in my shows, in my live shows that I have on millions? I always ask them to, share your comments. Share your comments down below. They could be featured in the show, and I've started doing that. So it's kind of something that I'm going to keep doing because I understand how important an audience is. But most importantly, I understand how big faith is also. So yeah, and it's been nothing but an exciting roller coaster ride. It's been exciting.
Acts 4:20: Cool. Switching gears. What would you say are some of the most compelling facts or reasons that to you make the Bible true? What's what's most compelling that you've heard of or if someone's like, hey, give me Give me some reasons why the Bible is true.
TYLER GATES: Of course, I always start with, if I do get asked that question, my main reason is because of the word you said last, true. I say the Bible is nothing but the truth. It has no lies in there. And we're living in the truth as we speak. Many people don't, I say, if you read your Bible, you will understand the times we're living in. Go to Revelations. That's what we're living in. If you see the verses that say there will be famines, there will be wars, rumors of wars, there will be people who claim to be the Christ. There will be people who claim to be prophets, but they're false prophets. Things are happening from the Bible. right now as we speak. So, and I've started paying attention to world news a little bit more because world news even, and I always go back and compare it to the Bible like That's happening on television. what, what was like, it's never going to be in plain view, like, this exact point. But if you really understand the Bible, the context is like, wow, this, this is happening. That's the one thing it's always going to tell the truth. Another thing that's compelling to me is the verses that was given to me and my brother by my grandmother. She gave me a verse that has always stuck with me. To whom much is given, much is required. And that has stuck with me and is going to stick with me for the rest of my life. And it's funny how grandmothers are always right. And it's really crazy how they're literally always right. And to look at it now, and she passed away three years ago, and to see the legacy that she left. but not only the legacy, but the factual things that she said, that you kind of think back on, it's like, wow, she was warning. She was warning us. She was telling the truth. whenever she said, Tyler, there's going to be so much required of you when you get into whatever space there is because of your bright light and people are going to be around you, but they're going to be so demanding, but watch yourself. And the reason why she gave me that verse actually, the reason why she gave me that verse and she explained it to me when I was 12 years old, I'll never forget it. She said, think about who you are as a person. You are very outgoing. You're very demanding. And You always want more. You always want more. And I did not know what that meant. Like, what did I mean? I want more. Like, how do I want more? And she said, well, you always want to be the center of attention wherever you go. You always want to be the center of attention. You always want to be the light in the room that's dark. You always want to be the person that cheers somebody up when they're down by just your charming smile. I said, OK. So to whom much is given? And I started to break it down years later. I said, to whom much is given? I've been given a lot. I've been given verses. I've been given anointings. I've been given various things. But what is required of me because of my growing stature and my ever glowing personality, you are required to be the person that I know you can be the best, bring the best out of you because it's a requirement for you. And I said, That makes so much sense to give me that verse because there's so much required of me in terms of not only sports media, but outside of that. There's so many expectations for me and... The expectation is obviously to succeed, even though there's gonna be bumps along the way. There's so much lingering on me. Not only just me, but my brother as well. And his verse is very different from mine. Very different from mine. That's why she gave us two separate verses, because we're not the same. We are the same because we're blood and we're twin brothers, we're fraternal, but we're not the same in terms of journey. Everyone's journey is different. The closest person to you journey is different and the farthest person from you, their journey is different as well. So the expectation that I have to continue my career and to continue on my faith journey and to be the best at what it is that I'm going to be. That's that. That's that. And that's why that verse sticks with me.
Acts 4:20: Have you ever had a time in your life where you doubted that the Bible was true? Or have you just been pretty much like, no, I believe it's true.
TYLER GATES: Yeah, to be completely transparent, I've never doubted the Bible. I've never doubted it. And I'm more so of the belief that just wait, let it play out. The Bible, like we just got finished talking about, has everything in there. Beginning to end, it is true. You look up, yes, we have the power of the internet now, so you can look up these things. But if you read the Bible, And you see the story of Mary Magdalene. You see the story of Jesus's birth. You see how Jesus turned water into wine. then, yes, they make great depictions of it. And they make great, great films about Jesus and the Bible. But reading it, it's just like you're looking at the words and then you're trying to relive it in your head. That's what I try to do. I try to relive the moments because Even though I couldn't be there, if I had a time machine to go back and see this man turn water into wine, I'm like, huh? He did that? Like, how'd that happen? So it's just stuff like that where I say. We serve such a great God and He didn't have to do anything that he had to do. but because He loves us and because he loved Jesus, he loved Jesus enough to send His only begotten Son down to this earth when it was almost at its worst. And then People, kept hearing about years, thousands of years, kept hearing about this new king coming. Did they really expect it was going to be a baby in a manger? Let's be completely honest. They didn't think it was going to be a baby in the manger. They thought it was going to be something like King Herod, you know, like, hey, it's a king and he's on a golden chariot. It's a baby. And that's what and it's the different stories that really attached to me that really got me like, wow, this is amazing. Like How? How? But at the same time, if you know the Son of God, if you are anything other than what Jesus wants you to be, you gotta revert that back. You gotta come back to Him. You gotta come back to Him. because... At the end of the day, you're going to be forgiven 70 times 7. Then you got people doing the math like, oh 70 times 7 No, no, no, no. That's not what that means. You're forgiven 70 times 7 because God's unwavering forgiveness and His everlasting love, regardless of what you do. That doesn't mean go back and do it again. And that's what I learned. That doesn't mean sin again, no. You have to work on it. We're not perfect. He knows that. He made us in His image, but He didn't make us perfect. Look, what happened to Adam and Eve is the reason we have sin in the world right now. Yes, people blame 'em. Fine. If you want to blame them. Yes, that's true. But guess what? Are you Adam and Eve? Did you have to make that decision in the garden? No, you have your own life. How you come to Jesus in that life is all up to you. And then You never want to hear, see, and one thing that I don't want people to say is, I never heard about him. You heard about him in some way. You heard about Jesus in some way. So that's why I try to spread the word as much as I can. try to share, whether it's social media, you know, share the gospel posts, but not only that, I try to spread what I have experienced. in terms of a change. A change. Most people come to Jesus when they're either a teenager or if they're lost in their their 20s. That's what we're starting to see now a lot. But my journey was I grew up in it, understood it as a child and said, this is what I want to do. I want to give my life to Christ. So everybody's path is different. We just have to stay focused on Him because if we stay focused on Him, everything else is gonna work out. for itself.
Acts 4:20: Yeah, that's good. Do you have anything else you want to I think that's it for me.
TYLER GATES: Not anything else man, the only thing that I really want to say is... Keep the faith. Keep believing. We're in tough times right now. I tell everybody that I pretty much come across, you know, who's having issues. And now I'm starting to kind of understand people's thought pattern. And I want to become a person that not necessarily can read people's minds, but can feel their soul and feel their thoughts. So I can share my experience and say, hey, God is love. God is love. He's not going to leave you nor forsake you. He will never do that. He's always by your side. It may not feel like it. Trust me, I have been there. Yes, I still at spurts, feel like that because of the opportunity, the job opportunity not coming or the shadowing experience not coming. But He has a plan for me. And that plan is going to lead me to where I want to be. So keeping the faith and keep believing and keep spreading the gospel, our reward in the end is going to be something hefty. I want to be one of those people that hears, "well done, thy good and faithful servant." I want to be one of those people that hears that. I want to, and I encourage everybody because when our time is up, when this life is over, on that judgment day, what are you going to stand before God and say? Are you going to stand before him and say, Lord, I tried, I knew you, but I didn't - no. You want to be able to say, Lord, I spread your word. I loved you with all my heart. I loved you from the last hair on my head to the soles of my feet. I gave it my all because I put You first and I brought people to you and I understood your word even though it took me time I still understood what your word was really about so keeping the faith keeping the faith and and even for you too you know what you are doing God is continuing to bless you man I'm being so serious like what what you're doing with your channel what you're doing in your life God sees that. And one thing that my old pastor used to say is, "God sees, God knows, and God cares." He's there. So for you, I just want you to keep going, man. Keep going, keep doing this despite what haters think, despite what people think, because God is there. There are gonna be things that come. There's gonna be haters that try to deflect you. Hey, Satan, not gonna have my soul today. Not gonna have me today. Cause I'm a child of the one who said that I'd be lifted up. I draw all men to me. So thank you man for having me. You keep going. As everybody who's probably listening to this, Keep going, keep the faith because you never know when your opportunity could come. Stay ready because God has the oath.
Acts 4:20: Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate that. yeah, thank you for coming on the channel. It's been been great to have you. Yeah, and I'll I'll be keeping an eye out for you and then praying for you. So.
TYLER GATES: Yes sir man, you as well, you as well. I appreciate you so much.
Acts 4:20: Thank you. All right, I'm going to end recording.
