Jason Carthen (born November 16, 1970
) is a retired
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...
player, an
academic
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...
,
radio personality
A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...
, bestselling author, and
public speaker
Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech delive ...
. He was inducted into the Business and Leadership Hall of Fame in 2018. He was also named the 2018 Alumnus of the Year by Regent University for his contributions to entrepreneurship and business. He is president and CEO of Jason Carthen Enterprises LLC. and founder of Speak Life University and The I Speak Life Academy. Carthen is the creator and host of the hit radio show ''Discover the Leader in You'' that airs nationally each week on iHeart Radio and iTunes. He is the past host of the television show ''Joy in our Town'', and TBN's ''
Praise the Lord''.
Early life
Born in rural
Decatur,
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = " Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County
, LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham
, area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...
, in a single parent household, Carthen later lived in Toledo Ohio. He graduated from
Scott High School in
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and accordin ...
, in 1989.
Football
High school
Carthen played on the offensive side of the ball while in high school. As a tight end, he received All City, All Conference and Honorable Mention All State recognition. Carthen also lettered in basketball and tennis during his high school career.
College
Carthen selected
Ohio University
Ohio University is a public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and subsequ ...
where he played from 1989 through 1992. He was selected All-Conference in his Junior and Senior seasons. He was also voted team MVP his senior year and is the all-time leader in sacks (Record broken in 2016), tackles-for-Loss and caused fumbles.
Professional
Carthen had a three-year career in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...
from 1993 to 1995 as an
outside linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pla ...
. He was injured in 1995 after signing a
free-agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
contract offer with the
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...
. He played one more year in
NFL Europe
NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...
with the
Rhein Fire
Rhein may refer to:
Places
* Rhine, a major river in Europe (german: Rhein, link=no)
* Rhein, a village in the municipality of Morsbach in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
* Rhein (Ostpreussen), a former name of the town Ryn in Poland
Ships
* SM ...
(
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...
, Germany) from 1996 to 1997, where he led the league in special-teams tackles.
Entrepreneur
In 2002, Carthen formed Redeemed Management & Consulting, an organizational consulting firm.
Carthen served for over two decades in both the public and private sectors of Leadership and Business Management, specifically with the
National Football League Players Association
The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director D ...
and The Leaders of Tomorrow Initiative.
Radio and television
From 2009 to 2011, Carthen served as a host for
WDLI
WDLI-TV (channel 17) is a television station licensed to Canton, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland–Akron area as an affiliate of the digital multicast network Bounce TV. It is owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings alongside Ion Television ...
, where he regularly appeared on ''Joy in Our Town'' and ''
Praise the Lord''.
Prior to TBN, Carthen appeared as a guest on
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
and
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...
, as well as
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
, where he was a contributor to the ''
Outside the Lines'' television show. In January 2010, he created his weekly podcast ''The Leadership Minute''.
Philanthropist
Carthen is a proponent of
civic engagement
Civic engagement or civic participation is any individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern. Civic engagement includes communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to ...
,
social justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...
and
youth advocacy. He founded the ''Leaders of Tomorrow Initiative''https://thelotinitiative.org/, a
non-profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
aiming to educate underprivileged youth about leadership, character and civic responsibilities.
In 2008, he started a
mentoring
Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...
program that uses his own curriculum ''The T.I.E.S. that Bind'' to increase leadership capacities, character development, school engagement and reading skills among high school and college students.
Academia
In the fall of 2006, Carthen joined the faculty o
Bethel Universityas an adjunct professor of Leadership Studies.
Carthen's research focuses upon motivation, hope, optimism, and positive psychology.
Distinctions
Most recently Dr. Carthen was inducted into the Business and Leadership Hall of Fame in 2018. He was also named the 2018 Alumnus of the year by Regent University for his contributions to entrepreneurship and business. In 2017 Carthen was recognized by Forbes and other media publications as one of the top leadership and business coaches in the country. Carthen was recognized by the U.S. House of Representatives for his contribution to the leadership coaching profession. Carthen is a distinguished Fellow in the
Beta Phi academic & literary society and has been featured in Harvard Business for his consultancy work.
Books
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Journal articles
*
*
*
References
External links
Official websiteThe Leaders of Tomorrow InitiativeRedeemed Management and Consulting
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carthen, Jason
Players of American football from Decatur, Alabama
1970 births
Living people
Rhein Fire players
People from Aurora, Ohio
Players of American football from Toledo, Ohio