University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Field to faith: two men who accomplish, and sacrifice, their dream in professional sports on the altar of full time ministry

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Field to faith: two men who accomplish, and sacrifice, their dream in professional sports on the altar of full time ministry

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Content FIELD TO FAITH: TWO MEN WHO ACCOMPLISH, AND SACRIFICE, THEIR DREAM IN
PROFESSIONAL SPORTS ON THE ALTAR OF FULL TIME MINISTRY .
by
Christian John Bradley
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR
COMMUNICATION AND JOURNALISM
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(SPECIALIZED JOURNALISM)
May 2023
COPYRIGHT 2023 Christian John Bradley
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Figures…….….…………………………………………………………………………iii
Abstract.…………………………………………………………………………………..…….iv
Chapter One: Upbringing……….……………………………………………………………….1
Chapter Two: Introduction to Sports…….………………………………………………………4
Chapter Three: Journey To The Promised Land………….…….……………….……………….8
Chapter Four: Humbled To Exaltation……………………………………………………….…14
Chapter Five: Dreams Change….………………………………………………………………17
Chapter Six: The Altar of Sacrifice..……………………………………………………………18
Chapter Seven: All Things New……………….………….………….…………………………21
References………………………………………………………………………………………24
ii
List of Figures
Figure 1. Rocky Seto as USC Football Coach…..…………………………………………….13
Figure 2. Jeremy Vuolo with New York Red Bulls……………………………………………14
Figure 3. Pete Carroll and Rocky Seto with the Seattle Seahawks……………………………17
Figure 4. Jeremy Vuolo preaching……………………………………………………………..22
Figure 5. Rocky Seto as Pastor………………………..……………………………………….23
iii
Abstract
We all seek purpose. Ideally, this pursuit is fulfilled in our profession. Professions like
teaching, being a lawyer or doctor. Striving to make an impact on others and for ourselves.
Chasing the affluence, acclaim and access that success brings. Few achieve it. The dream job.
Work that is both enjoyable and lucrative. According to careervision.org, 54% of Americans are
dissatisfied with their job. Just 20% are very passionate (CareerVision, 2022). Those who
achieve lucrative, meaningful work naturally yearn to keep it. The sacrifice, effort, practice and
perseverance render the struggle worth the joy.
What happens, though, when a higher purpose clashes with profession?
This elemental, profound question is explored through the journeys of two men: Rocky
Seto, a national championship — and Super Bowl — winning coach, now the lead pastor at
Evergreen Church of San Gabriel Valley, and Jeremy Vuolo, a professional soccer player, now a
full-time pastor at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California.
Earlier in their lives, both men had a dream, and achieved it. Their passion for sports was
unquenchable, a desire that drove them to being high performers. But, along their paths the seed
of full-time ministry was watered. It grew exponentially. Eventually, while living their dreams,
they felt driven to answer this call to ministry. How did they manage? How did they reconcile the
tension of having the world but risking their very souls?
Their testimony sheds light on these questions.
————————————
According to Athletes In Action, about one third of professional baseball, football and
basketball players are born-again believers. The number is higher in the NFL estimated at 35 to
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40 percent (Gary Scott Smith, 2018). Some men decide to work their faith professionally through
pastoral leadership and ministry. Most recently, Khari Willis, 26, shocked the world after retiring
from the Indianapolis Colts to preach the gospel. While very little data exists on how common
this trend is, the commonalities of Christianity and sports upholds; Discipline, sacrifice,
teamwork, perseverance, faith, hope, and love. These qualities reckoned Vuolo and Seto in seven
phases.
The reckoning started with a love-at-first-sight experience with their sport where their
sport was their world. Second, Introduction to Christ served as a seed planted to be watered by
experiences, trials, and teammates. Third, The Watering, where Christian teammates and others
bring encouragement and accountability for the seed planted earlier. Fourth, The Blossoming, the
phase where the desire for ministry and Christ become uncontainable and begins to cannibalize
the passion for sports. Fourth, The Humbling, this period consists of circumstances that inject
pain into the previous safe haven that led to a surrendering of self in sports to open up to the
possibility of full time ministry. Fifth, The Investigation, where Vuolo and Seto inquire to their
loved ones about the feasibility of their ability to pastor. Sixth, Confirmation, through their life
experiences, encouragement from other believers, and own investigation, these men could not
see themselves being anything other than a pastor. Lastly, the step of Faith, where Seto and
Vuolo laid their life down to answer the call of ministry.
v
Chapter One: Upbringing
Rocky Seto’s full name is Haruki Rocky Seto. Seto’s parents immigrated to Arcadia,
California from Japan after World War II, a conflict that left that nation decimated and poor.
Seto’s father, Akira, earned a living as a gardener and his mother, Emiko, as a seamstress. His
father was a huge sports fan. This sports fandom seeped into the middle names of their sons. The
oldest, Ichiro’s, middle name is Sonny, after Washington Redskins’ quarterback Sonny
Jurgenson. The youngest, Mackoo, is Johnny after baseball player Johnny Bench. The middle
child, Haruki, is Rocky, after boxer Rocky Marciano.
Father and sons attended many football games, especially USC games. Akira often
reminisced about the 1967 USC-UCLA game at which O.J. Simpson dominated — 30 carries for
177 yards, lifting SC to a 21-20 victory.
USC football was the mecca of football in Los Angeles.
“We didn’t have a religion,” Rocky said, “Other than do your best and don’t embarrass
the family.”
Rocky Seto attended San Gabriel Academy, a Seventh Day Adventist church and school.
He learned about Jesus Christ, sin and judgment. He felt guilt-ridden because the emphasis was
on doing, “Don’t eat this. Maintain the Sabbath.” Growing up in a Japanese family, he ate many
of the forbidden foods on the list. He didn’t like the burden of religious rules.
Meanwhile, he loved watching the Lakers, and USC on Saturdays. Around fifth grade,
Seto told his Sabbath day schoolteacher, “I think I'd like to be a pastor someday.” The influence
and impact of the pastor resonated with him.
The intimate workings of a pastor were clear for Jeremy Vuolo. He was a preacher’s kid.
1
Vuolo’s father — Charles but known to all as Chuck — was the pastor of Gospel of
Grace Community Church in Kinzers, Pennsylvania, in Lancaster County. Chuck and Vuolo’s
mother, Diana, made sure the family kept Jesus Christ its priority. Over sports, music, or any
other extracurricular activity, the church came first.
Vuolo’s first interest in sports was tetherball. Jeremy’s brother and sister, Charles Junior
and Valerie, played a year of soccer. Vuolo, who was seven at the time, made fun of them for it.
He didn’t want to play. That is, until he and Valerie played in the field adjacent to their
father’s church and a set of triplets, the Lesh brothers, walked over after finishing soccer practice
and invited Jeremy to a tryout. He ran inside and blurted out,“Dad, I just got invited to this
soccer tryout. Can I go?”
“Yeah, sure,” his father responded. Vuolo made the B-team but found A-level passion: in
soccer.
“I fell in love with it,” Vuolo said. “I became obsessed with the game. Couldn’t get
enough of it.”
Vuolo, it turned out, had natural talent and wanted to play soccer year-round. Indoor,
outdoor, fall and spring. He kept pressing towards more.
At 12 years old, Vuolo was at the United Sports Training Center. With better players
around him, he decided, “I am going to be a professional soccer player.” His decision prompted
unusual devotion. He woke up at 5:45 a.m. to start the first of three training sessions. He
constantly asked his friends to train, only to be met with responses along the lines of: “Jeremy,
we already have practice tonight.” Vuolo was aware; he wanted to train before practice. Futbol
was his safe haven. His home. When he was off the field, he daydreamed about being on it.
2
“If I am not going pro,” he would think to himself in middle school, “why even play at
all?”
3
Chapter Two: Introduction to Sports
Those same years, Seto tried out for the basketball team. He was cut. Next it was the
baseball team. The scissors were still sharp. Then came football. They kept him. He wasn’t a
starter, but he loved it because the team loved him. He found belonging, previously lost in the
challenges of being Japanese in a mostly white city.
The pigskin became his idol. The drive towards accomplishing his dream of playing on
the USC football team required payment from his body, mind and spirit. He generously made the
deposit.
Football was Rocky Seto’s way of earning respect from his father and peers. Throughout
his childhood, Arcadia's kids made fun of him and his father, which caused embarrassment. Seto
said he felt if he took care of football, everything will work itself out.
Occasionally, Seto assisted his father on his gardening route – a path that included some
classmates, a view of the Rose Bowl and many USC alumni. “They were great,” Seto says now,
“and really kind to my dad.”
Seto was tired after working with his father all day. They rode back in the gasoline-
smelling, junk-filled car as they passed the Rose Bowl: “Papa, I want to play in that game
someday. The Rose Bowl.” His father nodded and left it there.
On Thanksgiving Day, when he was 12, Rocky tried to do his best Barry Sanders
imitation by sliding under the family's garage door as it was closing. He got tackled. He lost his
breath. The weight intensified. Seto screamed, “Ah! Help!” He kept squirming to find freedom.
No one was around. No one responded. In a final attempt, he turned his focus upward and
pleaded, “God! Let me live! If so, I’ll be a pastor someday!”
4
The door reversed. It moved up. Rocky was free.
Yet, Seto’s devotion to football deepened with time. He viewed everything through the
lens of maximizing the talent he was given.
High school ended. “Is this it?” Seto said. He wasn’t an all-league player so there weren’t
many recruiting offers and, with a 2.83 grade point average, he didn’t have the academic
performance to be admitted into USC. His eyes were still set on the university, though, when he
met a player named Ken Grace, who transferred from Pasadena City College to USC, Seto
thought “onto PCC,” the closest community college to Arcadia.
College recruiting was also minimal for Vuolo. Competitions and tournaments ripe with
scouts were on Sundays and Vuolo couldn’t attend because his father didn’t want his children
active in sports yet neglecting church. Thus, Vuolo was never on the best teams. The family’s
priority and his passion were at odds.
“You’ll never make it professional without playing on Sundays,” Vuolo said he was told
multiple times in multiple ways by multiple people. “You’ll never be on the best teams. You
really don’t have a chance.”
“OK. I’ll show you,” Vuolo responded in his heart, doubling down on an already
extremely diligent work ethic. He had to take the narrow road in recruiting. He sent film to
college coaches and went to general scouting events. “Man,” Vuolo dejectedly said to himself,
assessing the vast difference in talent between himself and the other participants, “Why am I
here?” He then reminded himself of the college scouts who attended the event and performed for
them.
5
Vuolo went to the Dallas Cup tournament that the best teams attended. Real Madrid. FC
Delco. Barcelona. Vuolo tried out every year but was not able to participate because of the
Sabbath. His skill set, size and competitive nature shined and exceeded the other goalkeepers,
but the tournament happened while he was in church. He got word the goalkeeper there in his
place won the Golden Glove, the award for being the best goalie. With tear-filled eyes, Vuolo
approached his father and informed him of the news. His father lovingly offered consolation.
Vuolo excelled in soccer his senior year but his relationship with Christ decelerated.
Partying. Drinking. Hanging out with the “wrong” crowd. The flesh warred against his spirit on
the battlefield of life. Vuolo wanted to make an impact for Christ, but he also continued partying
and drinking.
He was still blessed with a scholarship to Hartwick College in upstate New York, a small
Division 1 school.
During freshman year, he redshirted. In sophomore year, he earned a starting position, but
his countenance fell. After drunkenly getting into a brawl, he was unceremoniously dropped into
a jail holding cell. As he sobered, he became sober minded: “I can’t live my life like this,” he
told himself. The wake-up call was loud and clear. He reached out to local pastors to conquer the
sins in his life, to be the change he wanted to see and rededicated himself to Christ. He took his
faith more seriously and started a branch of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes on campus.
“I think you might have some pastoral gifts,” a coach said to him.
“Naw,” Vuolo thought, “I am going to be a professional soccer player.”
6
Vuolo’s coaches left for Syracuse. Vuolo followed them and played there his final two
years. He played well. So well that he received MVP honors for his team and other league-wide
acknowledgments.
Vuolo signed a two-year contract with AC Oulu of the Veikkausliiga, Finland’s top soccer
league.
But, the first year professionally presented a dilemma for him. What came first, being a
Christian or a soccer player?
He looked for a good community of Christians and found it. Vuolo’s strong Biblical
understanding from the nurturing of growing up in a pastoral household edified the attendees.
They looked to Vuolo for spiritual guidance and counsel. He was the leader.
The promised land was on the horizon.
7
Chapter Three: Journey to the Promised Land
Rocky Seto heard about Mount San Antonio College Junior College, known locally as
Mt. SAC. Head coach Bill Fisk was an All-American at USC on the 1965 national
championship-winning team. “I know USC has a great network,” Seto said. “Maybe he can put
in a good word for me.”
Now, his parents asked: “Where are you going to school?”
Not PCC he told them, “I am going to Mt. SAC.”
“Why? Go to a Cal State,” one of the schools in the California State system.
Football? A pipe dream. Stability? That was desirable.
“No,” Seto said, “I need to play football.”
Seto played at Mt. SAC for three years. One as a redshirt, the other two sparingly on
special teams. Seto made his meat and potatoes in the heat of practice, not in the pressure cooker
of the game. He was a three-time Black Shirt Award winner, given to the best practice squad
performer of the season.
His teammate, Keith Leisure, became a Christian after being in the party scene. He began
ministering to Seto about Christ. “That’s great,” Seto said to himself. “I respect it. But, I am
thinking football here.”
His academic improvement mirrored his football practice performance. His GPA now
hovered around 3.6. He applied to the mecca and was blessed with admission. However, the
blessing came with ambiguity because he didn’t know if he was on the SC team.
In March 1997, Seto got in his car, drove to USC, parked and walked onto campus
feeling optimistic. No appointment. He arrived at Heritage Hall, the football facility, and looked
8
at the cluster of Heisman trophies. He peered up to the second floor and there was John
Robinson, the head coach.
“All that work at Mt. SAC for three years. All that dreaming. Begging. Sweating. Pain.
Injuries. Bruises. Come down to this one point,” Seto said to himself.
He walked up to the second floor and hid behind a brick corridor. “I have to make sure to
time this up to appear accidental,” he thought, an accident happening intentionally. Robinson and
Seto stood face-to-face.
“Hey coach, I am Rocky Seto,” he told the coach, “I play at Mt. SAC and I need to talk to
you.” A thick pause ensued.
“OK. Come on to my office,” Robinson said.
Seto sat on the couch across from Robinson’s desk. “What can I do for you?” the coach
inquired.
“Coach. I need to be on your team. I’ll do whatever it takes. I am already in the school,”
Seto replied.
Robinson saw the look in Seto’s eye and told him to write his address on a legal pad. A
few weeks later, Seto got a letter in the mail detailing the report date for the football team.
“Are you kidding me?! Are you kidding me?!” Seto exclaimed.
He made it.
Seto eventually landed as the scout team linebacker and embraced its-tryout-everyday
pressure. He built the trust of John Robinson and the coach’s son, Dave Robinson. There was a
primetime game on ABC against Florida State. Seto ran through the tunnel under the bright lights
9
wearing number 59. But, somehow felt hollow. “Man, there has to be more to it than this,” Seto
said. “In two years, I am going to graduate. Then what?”
Around this time another teammate, Rocky Brown, was showing how fired up he was for
Jesus Christ. Brown was joyful, carried his Bible around, loved people and practiced hard. The
gospel Brown spoke resonated with Seto: “I am hearing, ‘I am saved by grace through faith.’
That made sense to me.”
The message deconstructed the work mentality taught to Seto earlier in life. It took the
burden off his shoulders and put it on Christ’s.
On Jan. 20, 1998, Seto gave his life to Christ in the Heritage Hall locker room. “Start,”
Brown told Seto, “by reading John.”
Seto wasn’t an avid reader, but he loved learning about John Wooden and Magic Johnson.
Immediately, he went from reading about John Wooden to reading the gospel of John. The desire
to learn about Jesus expanded. “God allowed me to accomplish my dream. Then broke me gently
in it.”
He explored what it meant to be a Christian football player. What would Jesus have been
like on the field?
“Jesus is gentle. Jesus is wearing a white robe. Nice hair, like a lot of conditioner, maybe
soft hair, or soft skin,” Seto thought. “If he was a football player, I'd take him out.”
Then he realized his heretical view, understanding Jesus was both the lion and the lamb.
“Someone told me, he’d [Jesus] be the baddest dude on the field. Knocking dudes down within
the rules and helping them up while encouraging them, ‘You’ll do better next time,’” said Seto.
10
Seto learned how to worship God on the sanctuary of the football field: “As a Christian, I
am supposed to be throwing my body around. Being tough and accountable. That’s what would
honor God,” Seto said.
--
Seto studied to be a physical therapist because he felt it’d make his parents proud to have
a doctor in the family. He got into the doctoral program at USC. As he prepared to pay the $134
deposit, all of his coaches flashed before him. Coach Jean Smith. Coach Morgan. Coach
Ellsworth. Slocum. Wright. Bill Fisk. Rocky Carter. John Robinson, and now Paul Hackett who
had just replaced Robinson.
“These men had a great impact on me,” Seto said. “I want to impact people the way they
impacted me. I want to encourage young guys and football players.”
He marched in to see Hackett: “Coach, I got into the PT program.”
“That’s great.”
“But, I want to be a coach. Can I volunteer here?”
“No. Coaching is crazy. You get fired. You have to win,” Hackett said with care. “Get
your doctorate. It’s safer.”
Hackett was right. But Seto’s mind was made up. He wanted to coach so he turned down
graduate school. The determination landed him as a volunteer on Hackett’s staff which meant,
getting sandwiches and dry cleaning, and making copies of playbooks. He got promoted to
administrative assistant. He also met his love, Sharla Chiang, a soccer player.
Football is a business. Hackett got fired.
“What the heck!” Seto said, “He was right!” Maybe he should have gone to grad school.
11
In the meantime, Chiang went to her roommate, Janae Henry’s volleyball game. Besides
Christ, Chiang was the best thing Seto had going for him, so he went with her.
Providentially, former NFL coach Pete Carroll, sat behind him. Carroll was a dark-horse
candidate for the football head coaching vacancy. Seto said hello. Carroll was hired a few weeks
later and hired Seto as a graduate assistant.
Seto loved being around the team and helping players in any way he could. Star freshman
Troy Polamalu was assigned to Seto. “Shoot,” Rocky thought. “What am I going to teach this
guy?”
He had an idea. Seto created run-fit cards — a card detailing Polamalu’s gap
responsibility — weekly for the opponent's top-five run plays. Polamalu expressed how the cards
allowed him to play fast.
That conversation sparked a revelation: “As long as I am helping them be better at
something, to play better, I am coaching,” he said. His approach evolved to focus on discipleship
and mentorship.
The program started taking off. In 2001, SC lost to Utah in the Vegas Bowl, 10-6. In
2003, SC beat Iowa in the Orange Bowl, 38-17. In 2004, the Trojans defeated Michigan 28-14 in
the Rose Bowl. The promise Seto made to his father was fulfilled as a coach.
In nine years, Seto was elevated to safety coach, linebacker coach, defensive back coach
and, eventually, defensive coordinator. He received multiple offers to leave, two of them NFL
opportunities, but remained with Carroll.
With each promotion came an undercurrent of building tension: “Am I a USC football
coach or am I a follower of Christ?” Seto asked himself.
12
Rocky Seto, USC football coach // Photo by Bobak Ha'Eri. 2008.
Everyone knew him as the former walk-on, now defensive coordinator. His identity was
stretched to reflect the truth of what lay within, the promise blurted while he was trapped
underneath the closing garage door. He had the respect he desired but at what cost?
“Surely,” he figured during that span, “God forgot about the promise I made to become a
pastor.”
Soon, the idol would bow.

13
Jeremy Vuolo with the New York Red Bulls // Photo Richard Wolowicz/getty
Chapter Four: Humbled to Exaltation
Vuolo’s play caught the attention of the MLS club New York Red Bulls. They bought him
out of his contract in Finland. This was an exciting opportunity to live his dream. At the same
time, his desire for pastoral ministry grew, and he got involved in Bible study at a Redeemer
church in New York City.
The sanctuary of the field lacked peace. The coach wasn’t fond of Vuolo and it sent him
spiraling into a crisis. He wasn’t playing well. Not starting. The passion for ministry grew and he
devoured scripture daily.
Ministry was his desire and distraction: “I’ve got to stop focusing on ministry and focus
on my career,” he said.
14
Then came the offseason, and Vuolo was cut. He had a promising performance during a
tryout in Spain, and the coaches said enthusiastically, “We can’t wait for you to sign here.” But
management rejected the coaches’ sentiments and said no.
That was a response also common for Seto.
Pete Carroll accepted the head coaching position with the Seattle Seahawks. Lane Kiffin
replaced Carroll, and after a month, Kiffin relieved Rocky of his services. Seto received a call
from Carroll inviting him to join the Seattle staff -- not as a defensive coordinator but as a quality
control analyst, the equivalent of a graduate assistant in college.
Seto humbled himself and accepted the role. He was miserable for the first two years. He
watched his peers, Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian, enjoy head coaching positions, figuring he was
next. All the while he wrestled internally with a prosperity gospel: “If I follow Christ, I am going
to be the next head coach.”
Coaching defense required collaboration and camaraderie. QC analysts worked in
isolation. Seto was hidden. Often in the room by himself early in the morning. A shift happened
in the shadows. Seto altered his engagement with scripture from viewing it as a how-to manual
to how to deepen his relationship with Christ. At 3 a.m. he studied the scripture and sermons
before the game tape.
In his time alone, he devoured the word and online sermons. Preachers were now his
coaches. John MacArthur. John Piper. Alistair Begg. V oddie Baucham. He listened to sermons
about Christ and messages about preaching. He saw preaching as explaining what the Bible
means and coaching people to apply it to their hearts to know Christ more.
Seto’s ascension mirrored the Seahawks’ success.
15
"He's always been kind of the foundation of all of the teaching. “ Carroll told
seahawks.com reporter John Boyle in article — Rocky Seto enters 15th season under Pete
Carroll with a new title. “We can always go back to Rock, he's got all the background and the
reasons why—he's really the keeper of records for us” (Boyle, 2015).
16

Pete Carroll and Rocky Seto with the Seattle Seahawks // Photo Mark J Rebilas/USA TODAY
Sports.
Chapter Five: Dreams Change
Purpose and profession clashed. What anchored Seto and Vuolo to sport now held them
back. The practice. The sacrifice. The achievement. Their identity. The rug of the fantastic dream
pulled from underneath. Vuolo struggled to reconcile his changing desires.
“Tomer, I just don’t feel the passion anymore. I want to preach the gospel,” Vuolo said to
his best friend, Tomer Chencinski, another professional soccer goalie.
“That’s okay,” Tomer responded. “Dreams change.”
Seto saw many similarities between coaching and pastoring. Both are people businesses.
Leading. Caring. Discipling. Perseverance. Sacrifice. Humility. Edifying those you serve. “These
are at the heart of Christianity,” Vuolo said about the parallels between faith and sports.
“Selflessness. Love. Compassion. Discipline. Hard Work. Determination. These are all common
denominators with Christ himself.”
17
Chapter Six: The Altar of Sacrifice
In 2014, the Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII in dominating fashion, 43-8, against the
Denver Broncos. The next year, they lost Super Bowl XLIX to the New England Patriots, 28-24,
after Malcolm Butler’s game-sealing interception on Seattle’s last play on the one-inch line,
arguably the most famous play in Super Bowl history.
After the heartbreak, Seto focused on how to lead his family through it.
“Losing the Super Bowl,” he said with emphasis, “was more beneficial as a disciple over
the family than winning.”
He met his family at the hotel. Streams of tears ran down their faces. Seto embraced them
in prayer.
“Why can we pray right now?” Sharla, now Seto’s wife, and the kids were speechless.
“Does Jesus love us when we win?”
They nodded yes.
“Does Jesus love us when we lose?” They nodded yes. “That’s why we praise him.”
The soft soil of the heart is prepared through difficult times. Through the historic run of
the “Legion of Boom,” the defense that powered Seattle’s run to the Super Bowls, Seto thought
about what being a full-time pastor would be like, even speaking to Carroll for three or four
years about the transition.
Seto says Carroll told him, “you’ve been talking about being a pastor but I don’t know
how serious you are because you haven’t done it.”
18
Many saw Seto as potentially the NFL’s first Asian-American head coach. But his heart
and mind were in a different place.
Seto spoke to pastor Napoleon Kaufman, who left the Oakland Raiders to become a
pastor. Seto asked how he knew it was time to leave football.
“You’re right. I had a couple of years left and a couple million dollars on my contract
with Mr. [Al] Davis,” Seto recalls Kauffman saying. “I knew when I was in the tunnel before the
game staring at the Black Hole,” a reference to a section of the Oakland stadium dedicated to
Raiders super fans, “and crying because I wanted to minister to them.”
For the former Raiders running back, football had lost its shininess.
Coaching for Pete Carroll was an A. Seto found something that was an A-plus.
In August 2016, during Seahawks’ training camp, Cory Ishida, senior pastor of Evergreen
church in the San Gabriel Valley, offered Seto a position to succeed him after his retirement.
That season, Seto prayed for discernment and read scripture to see if pastoring was his
next step. He relied on the pastoral qualification outline in 1 Timothy 3.
“Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. 2 Now the
overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable,
hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not
a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and
he must do so in a manner worthy of full[a] respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage
his own family, how can he take care of God’ s church?) 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he
may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7 He must also have a
good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’ s trap”
(New International Version, 1 Tim 3:1-7).
He sought counsel from Pastor John MacArthur: “Rocky, if you could do anything else,
do it,” Seto says MacArthur told him. “But if you feel like you can’t do anything else but be a
preacher. Then, maybe you are called.”
19
Chiang resisted. She was from Seattle, and a wife of a key Seahawks coach, she was also
living the dream. The more he mentioned it, the more they argued.
“Lord, if you called us to do this you have to change her heart,” Seto prayed.
Chiang changed her mind after she took a walk with a mother whose daughter's health
was fatally declining. “She ran a good race,” the mother said. For some reason, this was the
confirmation Sharla needed. She was on board.
Seattle prepared for a divisional playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons on Jan. 14,
2017. With his rib by his side, he walked into Carroll’s office and laid his dream on the altar: “I
am leaving at the end of the season to be a pastor.” Carroll and Seto gave each other a last hoorah
embrace before continuing to gameplan.
Seto called Ishida to accept the position. The access, acclaim and affluence of
professional football weren’t enough to ignore the upward call.
“Rocky, people [congregants] are going to leave when you take over,” MacArthur warned
Seto. “But don’t worry. Hang in there. Like-minded people are coming.”
Atlanta defeated Seattle, 36-20. The transition stared him in the face. Seto started on staff
in August 2017. The old passed away. Behold, the new had begun.
20
Chapter Seven: All Things New
Vuolo finished at the top of the mountain by winning an NASL championship in 2014
with the San Antonio Scorpions. But he saw the city on top of the hill. Ministry. During his stint
with the Scorpions, his pastor, Tim Conway of Grace Community Church San Antonio, opened
his abode for Vuolo to stay and learn while playing. The best of both worlds. He received
mentorship, training and exposure into what pastoring entailed.
A week after retirement, an opportunity opened in Laredo, along the Mexico-Texas
border, where there was a branch of Grace Community Church. “Jeremy,” Vuolo remembers
Conway asking. “Would you be willing to oversee that group of people?” Vuolo prayed and
agreed to it. He traveled two and a half hours twice a week to fulfill the assignment.
After eight months of faithfulness, they called him to be the full-time pastor in 2015. He
also met his love, Jinger Duggar, one of 20 children in the acclaimed family from the reality
show 19 Kids and Counting. In 2016, Duggar and Vuolo were married, and while on their
honeymoon in Sydney, Australia, they walked into a bookstore. Vuolo was prompted to reach out
to the Church after seeing a Grace Community book on the shelf. They invited him to Shepherd’s
Conference, an annual Grace Community Church spring meetup in Los Angeles. He fell in love
with the LA group: “I need to do ministry with these guys.”
“You need to come to Seminary here,” Pastor Austin Duncan of Grace Community
Church said.
“I want to, but I can’t leave the church,” said Vuolo.
“How about you start online?” the pastor responded.

21
Jeremy Vuolo preaching // Photo: Jeremy Vuolo/instagram.
Vuolo agreed and soon realized he needed to go all-in on the full experience of Seminary.
He and Jinger made the tough decision to leave their church in Laredo for the Grace Community
Church headquarters in Sun Valley.
Similarly, Seto said about the immediate moments after transition, “It was tough,” he
said. “But it felt similar to what happened in Seattle. God was sanctifying and humbling me for
the work ahead.”
Upon Seto’s arrival, the predicted mass exodus among the congregation left him with
only half of the attendees. Seto took heed to his spiritual leadership and persevered. He was
promoted to Senior Pastor in May 2019. What MacArthur prophesied came to pass. Like-minded
people replaced those who left.
22
In pursuit of improving as the lead pastor of Evergreen SGV , Seto decided to get his
doctorate in preaching. He went to a Master's Seminary for two weeks. When he returned, he felt
a deeper peace: “This is our church now.” His appreciation of the faithful who have stayed and
the kingdom-minded who came deepened his affection towards his team. Love.
Vuolo is now balancing the weight of celebrity and the responsibility of ministry as a
full-time pastor at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA.
Seto is still coaching -- not for wins and losses, but for souls.
God remembered.

Rocky Seto as Pastor. Photo: Rocky Seto.
Rocky Seto preaching // Photo: Rocky Seto/twitter.
23
References
Bible, Gateway. "1 Corinthians 9:26." , www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/
1%20Corinthians%209%3A26.
Bible, Gateway. "1 Timothy 3:1-7." , https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?
search=1+timothy+3&version=NIV .
Boyle, John. www.seahawks.com, 28 July 2015, www.seahawks.com/news/rocky-seto-
enters-15th-season-under-pete-carroll-with-a-new-title-126461.
Brown, Ron. "GOD'S PROVISION IN TRANSITION." Fellowship of Christian Athletes, 2 Nov.
2015, www.fca.org/magazine-story/2015/11/02/gods-provision-in-transition.
Career Vision, The Ball Foundation, careervision.org/job-satisfaction-statistics/.
DeArdo, Bryan. "Colts starting safety Khari Willis abruptly retires at age 26 to pursue a new
calling." CBS Sports, cbssports.com, 16 July 2022, www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/colts-
starting-safety-khari-willis-abruptly-retires-at-age-26-to-pursue-a-new-calling/.
Harris, J. Gerald. "Pastor ministers to professional athletes through sports, music, other
means." thebaptistpaper.org, The Christian index, 11 Dec. 2022, thebaptistpaper.org/
pastor-ministers-to-professional-athletes-through-sports-music-other-means/.
Jirasek, Ivo. "https://oxfordre.com/psychology/display/10.1093/acrefore/
9780190236557.001.0001/acrefore-9780190236557-
e-149;jsessionid=3B0E909D898B1318E6CFF41371A16B71." Religion and Spirituality
in Sport. Oxford Research Encyclopedias, 2018.
O'Neil, Tyler. "5 NFL Stars Turned Pastor or Christian Minister." Christian Post, Christian Post,
14 July 2013, www.christianpost.com/news/5-nfl-stars-turned-pastor-or-christian-
minister.html.
Romano, Jason. Personal interview. 10 Oct. 2022.
Seitz, Matthew W. "https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/uf/e0/04/47/95/00001/
seitz_m.pdf." RELIGION AND COLLEGE ATHLETICS: PERCEPTIONS OF
FORMER STUDENTATHLETES ON THEIR RELIGIOUS WELL-BEING. University
of Florida.
Seto, Rocky. Personal interview. 11 Dec. 2022.
24
Shook, Nick. "Colts safety Khari Willis retires after three seasons." NFL.com, nfl.com, 15 July
2022, www.nfl.com/news/colts-safety-khari-willis-retires-after-three-seasons.
Smith, Brian. "Transitioning to Life After Sports: How Athletes Can Think Christianly About
Retiring." The Christian Athlete, thechristianathlete.com, www.thechristianathlete.com/
blog/life-after-sports.
Smith, Gary S. "Faith and the NFL." Faith and Freedom, Faithand Freedom.com, 5 Feb. 2018,
www.faithandfreedom.com/faith-and-the-nfl/.
TopEnd Sports, www.topendsports.com/resources/quotes-bible.htm.
Vuolo, Jeremy. Personal interview. 10 Dec. 2022.
Wise, Phillip. "https://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/75231.pdf." When Sports
and Religion Mix. Center For Christian Ethics at Baylor University, 2008.
25

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Asset Metadata

Creator Bradley, Christian John (author)

Core Title Field to faith: two men who accomplish, and sacrifice, their dream in professional sports on the altar of full time ministry

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Specialized Journalism

Degree Conferral Date 2023-05

Publication Date 04/11/2023

Defense Date 04/10/2023

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Faith,Jeremy,Jesús,Khari,MLB,OAI-PMH Harvest,profession,Purpose,Rocky,Seto,Soccer,Sports,USC Trojans,Vuolo,Willis

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Creator Email brad303@usc.edu,christianjohnbradley@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC113010394

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