Episodes

Episode 250 Thom Shea is a First Class Father, a Combat Veteran, Best Selling Author and Retired Navy SEAL. Thom Shea has served twenty-three years with distinguished valor. During his career, he toured three wars, ultimately leading a team of SEALs into Afghanistan. Shea earned the Silver Star, Bronze Star for valor, and multiple commendation medals for valor. In this Episode, Thom shares his Fatherhood journey, discusses his best selling book, Unbreakable: A Navy SEALs Way Of Life, which was o...

Episode 249 Nick Hardwick is a First Class Father and Former NFL Center. He played college ball for the Purdue Boilermakers and was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the 3rd Round of the 2004 NFL Draft. In 2006 he was selected to the Pro Bowl and Retired from the game after 11 seasons. In this Episode, Nick tells the story of his wife giving birth to their first child the day before a Nationally Televised game against the Baltimore Ravens, he shares his thoughts on young kids playing contact ...

Episode 248 Robert Peterson is a First Class Father and contemporary artist. Peterson’s raw and spontaneous abstract portraits are now collected by nouveau art collectors and fans worldwide, including professional athletes & celebrities. He has exhibited his works in some of this nation’s hottest art markets that include: New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami. In this Episode Robert Peterson talks about what it takes to make a living as an artist while raising a family. He offers great a...

Episode 247 Dustin Garneau is a First Class Father and Major League Catcher who was drafted in 2009 by the Colorado Rockies. He has played for the Rockies, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels and most recently for the Oakland Athletics. On July 12, he was behind the plate for the combined no-hitter thrown by Taylor Cole and Félix Peña. In this Episode, Dustin talks about the challenges and joys of playing Major League Baseball while being a Dad, how he disciplines his three boys plus he offers...

Episode 246 Matt Sapaula is a successful Military Veteran entrepreneur and Co-Owner of PHP Agency Inc. Matt takes complex leadership, management and entrepreneurial ideas and converts them into simple life lessons for today and tomorrow’s entrepreneurs. He is known as the Money Smart Guy! In this Episode, Matt talks about his transition from US Marine to Entrepreneur, how he built a seven figure a year income, how to teach our kids about the value of money, whether or not kids need to go to coll...

Episode 245 Chris Gomez is a First Class Father and Former Navy SEAL. He is a decorated veteran with twelve years in the Naval Special Warfare community serving as a medic and SEAL Instructor. Chris also has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas and is crushing it in the civilian world. In this Episode, Chris talks about his Fatherhood journey, raising three girls, his college experience as well as his thoughts on sending his kids to college, his plans for the future, ...

Episode 244 T.J. Houshmandzadeh is a First Class Father and Retired NFL Wide Receiver. He played college football at Oregon State where he won the Fiesta Bowl in 2001. Later that year he was drafted into the NFL by the Cincinnati Bengals. In 2007 he tied for most receptions in the league and was selected to play in the Pro Bowl. He is currently an NFL Analyst for Fox Sports. In this Episode T.J. shares his Fatherhood journey, talks about raising his four children, how he is preparing his daughte...

Episode 243 Mike Durant is a First Class Father and retired Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 Master Aviator in the 160th SOAR. In 1993 his Black Hawk Helicopter, Super Six Four, was shot down in Mogadishu Somalia in what became known as Black Hawk Down. Mike was taken prisoner and released after 11 days. His book, In The Company Of Heroes, documents his life and the incident in great detail. His awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze ...

Episode 242 Matt Brown is a First Class Father and legendary UFC Fighter known as The Immortal. Matt struggled with Drugs and Alcohol before finding his way into the octagon. Brown was a contestant on the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter television series and fights out of Columbus Ohio. In this Episode, Matt talks about how he discovered Mixed Martial Arts, how he involves his kids in his career, how he disciplines his kids, what his plans are for the future, he drops some great advice fo...

Episode 241 Chris Norton is a First Class Father who was paralyzed playing college football and given a 3% chance of ever walking again. That was unacceptable to Chris who began an amazing journey of recovery. Despite four paralyzed limbs, Norton pushed himself through grueling, daily workouts until four years later, Chris walked across the stage to receive his college diploma. Three years after that, the video of his next walk would be viewed over 300 million times and covered in People magazin...

Episode 240 Scott Taylor is a First Class Father and Former Navy SEAL. Scott is also a former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 2nd district and is currently running for The United States Senate in Virginia in 2020. In this Episode, Scott Taylor talks about some of the challenges of running for office while being a Dad, we hit on the recent mass shootings and how we can keep our children safe in school, we discuss the situation with his hometown of Baltimore, how he dis...

Episode 239 Kelly Pavlik is a First Class Father and World Class Boxer who held the WBO, WBC, Ring Magazine and Lineal Middleweight Titles. He retired from the game with a record of 40-2 with 34 knockouts. In this Episode, Kelly Pavlik talks about how becoming a Dad changed his career, his thoughts on youth boxing, how he teaches his kids to handle a bully situation, his podcast The Punchline, his plans for the future and much more! The Punchline with Kelly Pavlik and James Dominguez https://po...

Episode 238 Brian ‘Tosh’ Chontosh is a First Class Father and Retired United States Marine. He was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. His platoon was ambushed and Tosh aggressively attacked an entrenched enemy position killing at least 20 enemies and wounding many others. In this Episode, Brian Chontosh talks about becoming a young father while on deployment, how his parenting mindset has shifted over the years, his philosophy on raising children to be free ...

Episode 237 Tito Ortiz is a First Class Father and Legendary UFC Hall Of Fame fighter who is known as the Huntington Beach Bad Boy. He is a world champion who has been fighting for 22 years. In this Episode, Tito talks about his humble beginnings, his upcoming fight against Alberto Del Rio, how wrestling saved his life, his relationships with his ex wife Kristin Ortiz, the mother of his twin boys Jenna Jameson and his girlfriend Amber Nicole Miller. Tito opens up about his past and how it helped...

Episode 236 Scott Flansbaum is a First Class Father and Veteran of the United States Marine Corps. While undergoing routine surgery, he became paralyzed from the waist down. Doctors told him that he would never walk again. Over the last year since the incident, Scott has worked hard to overcome the odds and has since not only been able to walk but has completed a 10k race with the assistance of his wife and Former Navy SEAL Dom Raso. He now mentors other quadriplegics and is an inspiration to th...

Episode 235 Jason Gardner is a First Class Father and Retired Navy SEAL Command Master Chief. He is a combat veteran with almost three decades of service with the Navy SEALs. Jason has many awards including the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and a Purple Heart To name a few. He currently works along side Jocko Willink and Leif Babin as a leadership instructor for Echelon Front. In this episode, Jason reads an open letter to his daughter and discusses his parenting philosophy with regards to rais...

Episode 234 Trent Dilfer is a First Class Father and Super Bowl Winning Quarterback who played 14 seasons in the NFL with several teams including the Baltimore Ravens where he quarterbacked the team to victory over the New York Giants in Super Bowl 35. In this Episode, Trent talks about the tragedy of losing his only son at 5 years of age and how he handled being a Dad To his three girls while grieving his terrible loss. He also talks about his new role as High School Football Head Coach of Lips...

Episode 233 Titus O’Neil is a First Class Father and WWE Superstar. Titus (Thaddeus Bullard) has overcome very humble beginnings to become a positive source of inspiration for so many people around the world, especially children. He is the author of a recently published book, There’s No Such Thing As A Bad Kid: How I Went From Stereotype To Prototype. He is a philanthropist who has raised millions of dollars for charity and is a mentor to at-risk youth. In this episode, Titus talks about his mot...

Episode 232 Sean Parnell returns to the podcast! Sean is a First Class Father, a Former Army Ranger, a Combat Veteran, Purple Heart Recipient and New York Times Best Selling Author of OUTLAW PLATOON, MAN OF WAR and his newest thriller, ALL OUT WAR. In this Episode Sean talks about his writing career and some of the challenges of being an Author while being a Dad. We discuss the need for stronger Male/Father roles in stories, books and movies. He tells about the possibility of turning his books i...

NEW EPISODES DROP NEXT WEEK!! Here is the lineup for the first week of the New Season Of First Class Fatherhood Tuesday - SEAN PARNELL - Army Ranger, Purple Heart Recipient and Best Selling Author Wednesday - TITUS O’NEIL - WWE Superstar, Arena Football League Player, Best Selling Author Thursday - TRENT DILFER - NFL Super Bowl winning Quarterback, High School Football Coach FRIDAY - JASON GARDNER - Retired Navy SEAL Master Chief, Instructor at Echelon Fromt Let’s Go Dads! New Episodes Sep...

Episode 231 Troy Malesky is a First Class Father and combat veteran who served with the elite United States Navy SEALs. He is now a full time student and entrepreneur who has an awesome apparel company American Tribute Brand. In this episode Troy shares his Fatherhood journey and talks about the difficulties of serving with the SEALs while being a Dad. He talks about his transition out of the Teams and shares his plans for the future. Visit AMERICAN TRIBUTE BRAND - https://www.americantributebr...

Episode 230 Fox & Friends Interview from Father’s Day with Pete Hegseth. In this episode I detail my experience of being interviewed live on the set of Fox & Friends. You will hear my interview in its entirety as well as my explanation of why I chose to highlight the three Dads I discussed during the segment. First Class Fatherhood Merch is Now Available - https://shop.spreadshirt.com/first-class-fatherhood-/ First Class Fatherhood is sponsored by Game-Time Decision Making by David Meltzer is...

Episode 229 Marcus Kowal is a First Class Father and Former Professional MMA fighter. His 15 month old son Liam was struck and killed by a drunk driver. As a part of his grieving process, Marcus wrote a book titled Life Is A Moment and has also started a foundation called Liam’s Life which is on a mission to end alcohol related driving fatalities. In this episode Marcus talks about the senseless incident that took the life of his son Liam, he offers advice to other parents who have lost a child ...

Episode 228 Don Cherel is a First Class Father and Hollywood Cameraman who has worked on films such as “Resident Evil” and the soon to be released “Rambo: Last Blood”. He is also a musician who wrote a performs a song titled “Miracles Happen” which details the inspirational story of the birth of his twin girls, one of which was diagnosed with severe fetal hydrops during the pregnancy. Doctors and genetic counselors advised that the survival rate was below ten percent. This also meant both babies...