GLENNApril 11, 2017

Man Up: NFL Player Writes a Playbook for New Dads

When it comes to the unknown territory of having a baby, moms-to-be have nearly unending resources to plan and execute a healthy pregnancy and navigate those first months and years as a parent with confidence. New dads? Not so much. They want to get in the game too, but, says Super Bowl champion Benjamin Watson, "I could find clearer direction for putting together a baby swing than for taking care of a newborn child."

Watson, who is also an accomplished speaker and author, joined Glenn in studio today to discuss his latest book, The New Dad's Playbook: Gearing Up for the Biggest Game of Your Life.

His message to men? Man up. There are things you need to know before becoming a dad and knowledge is power. With 33 percent of children being raised without fathers, Watson's message is needed more than ever. Fatherhood is challenging, but it's worth it. And Benjamin Watson, father of five, is here to tell men they can do it.

Enjoy the complimentary clip or read the transcript for details.

GLENN: Benjamin Watson, welcome to the program. How are you, sir?

BENJAMIN: Doing well. How are you guys doing? Thanks for having me.

GLENN: Good. First, let's quickly talk, how is your injury?

BENJAMIN: It's going well. Tore my Achilles last year. Spoke to you guys a little while ago from the rehab field actually.

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.

BENJAMIN: And it's coming along. It's a seven-to-nine month injury.

PAT: That had to hurt.

BENJAMIN: Yeah, it did. It did. It's one of those things where it happens. And people who tear their Achilles always say, it felt like somebody kicked me in the heels. So I looked back. Who kicked me in the heel?

PAT: Yeah.

BENJAMIN: And nobody was there.

STU: Oh.

PAT: Yeah. Man.

BENJAMIN: I get up because I was going to get the pass, get the ball. And my foot is just kind of flopping, not connected. So it was painful. But I'm doing well.

GLENN: How frightening is that as a guy who does this for a living?

BENJAMIN: Yeah.

GLENN: And did it go through your mind, am I done?

BENJAMIN: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Of course.

You know, I've had a number of injuries over my career. You know, football has a 100 percent injury rate. That's why we try to do our best to protect players and provide, you know, those benefits for them.

JEFFY: No kidding.

BENJAMIN: But you never know when it's going to be in the game. It could be because of a younger player or because of skill diminishment or an injury, something like that. I've always been able to bounce back, so I'm trying to do it again.

GLENN: What do you think about the studies that show that rugby players don't get hurt, even though they have no padding, because we overprotect here. And so you just kind of -- you just kind of --

BENJAMIN: Yeah. I thought about that a lot, Glenn.

I mean, if you look at the two games, rugby is more like soccer, as in the game flows. You don't have these collisions where guys are at a standstill from 20 yards away and they're running full speed and colliding with each other.

So number one, the collisions aren't the same, as in football. Number two, when it comes to protecting players, you look at a helmet, right? If you don't have a helmet on, do you think you will use your head in a way to break it?

GLENN: No.

BENJAMIN: No, you won't. If you have a helmet on, though, you're more inclined to use your head in tackling, in defending, in blocking as a weapon. However you want to feel it. You feel this sense of security that you don't have.

GLENN: Correct.

BENJAMIN: However, your brain is suspended in fluid. So while your helmet protects your skull, it doesn't protect your brain. So when you look at rugby -- you know, that's a great point there -- they tackle differently because they don't have the equipment --

GLENN: They don't have a false sense of security.

BENJAMIN: Exactly. But also the game isn't set up the way football is. Football is a game of collision. That's why people watch. That's why we play it. That's why you like it.

PAT: Yeah.

STU: It's really nice to have someone who can not only talk sports, but also match the athletic ability of Glenn. Which is so rare --

GLENN: I don't think we need to go here right now. I thought it was a pleasant conversation. I was holding my own. And you went there.

So, Ben, talk to me a little bit about the book that you've written, why you've written it.

BENJAMIN: Yeah.

GLENN: You in some ways are a very controversial guy. And excuse me for not -- I don't follow football at all.

Are you controversial --

BENJAMIN: You're in Dallas and don't follow football?

GLENN: Yeah, I know.

BENJAMIN: My aunt would turn over.

GLENN: Yeah.

(laughter)

GLENN: And I used to work with Joe Theismann, and I still actually root -- and mainly only because I worked with Joe Theismann that I root for the Cowboys.

Are you -- the things that you say are controversial in society, only because I think they're rooted in common sense. And we're not a common sense place anymore.

BENJAMIN: Yeah. Yeah.

GLENN: Are you -- do you have problems with your -- your coworkers and your fellow players and --

BENJAMIN: Well, no. Not at all.

GLENN: Really good.

BENJAMIN: But I will say this. The thing I love about the NFL -- because I do have a group of 60 or so guys from different walks of life.

GLENN: Yeah.

BENJAMIN: Economic ethnicity. Geographical locations. They come together. And if it's done correctly, it can be a great place to bounce ideas. You have conversations that you probably won't have in any other setting because it wouldn't be -- it wouldn't be right for corporate guidelines so to speak. And so we're able to talk about these different things. And, you know, when I say things, whether it's about abortion, whether it's about race, whether it's about social justice, whether it's about something political -- or like, in this case, with the new book about fatherhood and men standing up and being dads. It could be something about domestic violence, you know. What happened two days ago with the murder-suicide. 94 percent of the victims are females in murder-suicides. And so whenever I step up and say something like that, it's amazing how many guys who say, you know, I kind of agree with that too. Let's talk about this.

GLENN: So let's talk about the -- the book. Do you get into a man -- and I'm sorry. But the book isn't even out yet. So I haven't read it.

BENJAMIN: Yeah, May 2nd.

GLENN: Does the book talk about the role of a man and the way he treats a woman?

BENJAMIN: It does. It does. My wife is really the one who got me to do it.

STU: Of course. That's the story of every project.

BENJAMIN: Of course. Yeah. Yeah. Us men drag our feet on things, and our women are the ones that make us do --

GLENN: No, it is the story -- it is what people mean, behind every successful man, there's a good woman.

BENJAMIN: Exactly.

GLENN: Yeah, because they're saying, get up and do that.

BENJAMIN: Yeah, the man is the head, but the woman is the neck. She will turn that head wherever she wants to go. So she's been trying to come employ me to write this book.

We have five children. The oldest is eight. And she's been employing me to write this book for a while, as a handbook to help dads through pregnancy, really, in supporting their wives, supporting the mother of their children through this process. Because a lot of dads -- when I had my first child -- she's eight now. But I didn't know what I was getting into. I didn't know what to do when my wife had morning sickness. I didn't know what to do when I went to the OB, and he's checking for the heartbeat.

You know, I had all this anxiety that we have as men. And so the reason for the book, number one, is to educate men. So men work best when we have information.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

BENJAMIN: So everything from areola to zygote terms will be covered in the book. Technical terms, so that men know what they're getting into when it comes to being a father, when it comes to their wives being pregnant.

But also, there's practical application. You know, things I messed on. Things I wished I would have done better. Communication.

GLENN: Like what?

BENJAMIN: Well, like I said before, I was very -- we're two type A personalities, my wife and I. So sometimes we butt heads. That leads to arguments. Our first couple years of marriage -- weren't the most pleasant, I'll admit that. But understand you're on the same team. Understanding that you have her best interests at heart. And number one, you need to be present.

The number one thing for a man that I implore guys in this book is that they need to be present, not just with their money providing for a roof over their head. But they need -- women need and the child needs their team. Needs their support.

We live in a time where there's 33 percent pretty much of kids grow up without a father. And that leads to a lot of the ills that we've been talking about. And so my goal is to educate guys, but also empower them and encourage them that they can do it.

STU: I'm a little concerned that one of the main things you seem to be advocating in the book is to store your baby inside of a football helmet.

GLENN: That's just the cover. Don't judge the book by the cover.

STU: Okay.

GLENN: That's just the cover.

STU: That's what that means. Don't judge a book --

GLENN: Yeah. The cover sometimes could be misleading.

BENJAMIN: But a lot of guys feel like -- and, you know, I've had these conversations before. And I've even felt a little bit that this time, when they're young, it doesn't really matter.

So basically the book goes from conception, up until the first few weeks when the baby is home. So kind of like conception being the preseason training camp in football. The Super Bowl being when the baby is born. And kind of the post game idea is when the baby is home, those first few weeks when the mother is extremely tired and you need to kick in and you might need to cook. You might need to wash dishes. You might need to do some clothes.

GLENN: Whoa, whoa.

BENJAMIN: You need to do some things to help out because, again, you guys are a team. And it's okay if you get out of your normal comfort zone, what you've been doing, for her.

GLENN: It's also really, I think a hard time when you have a child, because everything is geared towards the woman and the baby.

BENJAMIN: Yeah.

GLENN: And even -- even when you hold the baby, the baby is not looking at you like they look at the mom. Because, I mean, God placed that nipple right --

BENJAMIN: But that's not true. That's not true. That's not true, Glenn. Studies have shown that skin-to-skin contact is vital when the baby is born for the mother and for the father.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: No, no. I agree with that. I agree with that. What I'm saying is the guy can feel like it's not -- like I'm not -- I'm useless. I can't feed really.

BENJAMIN: That's true.

GLENN: I can't -- you know, I don't have that bond. There is that bond in early days.

BENJAMIN: Yeah.

GLENN: And the guy can just feel like --

PAT: Especially if they breast-feed. Part of that.

GLENN: Right.

BENJAMIN: That's true. That's true.

GLENN: I'm useless here. And it's a total lie.

BENJAMIN: And I felt that. One of the things I talk about is -- my wife nursed our children for a year, all of them for a year afterwards. And so one thing I would do would be -- she would pump some milk for me at night. And I would get up at night and do some feedings with the milk. And obviously, I can't nurse. But it was a way for me to bond with my children.

PAT: Uh-huh.

BENJAMIN: And kind of get tired too. Because you're going to go through that zombie stage. And me get up and let her sleep for a little bit is important. So that's one way. And, you know, one of the things I'm always fearful of -- and I think you touched on it -- was that I'm losing my life. I will say that with this child, I felt like, man, I don't know if I want to go through this because it's going to change the dynamics of our relationship. I'm losing her.

STU: Oh, yeah.

BENJAMIN: How long is she going to be gone? When is she going to be back? But I found that when I'm intentionally involved, those feelings start to go away sooner. But those are real things.

I mean, the reality of it is, when a child comes into a relationship, whether it's the first child, second, third, fourth, or fifth child, the dynamics change, not only for the children that are there, but for the husband and the wife. But that husband/wife relationship is one that has to remain strong, not only for its benefit, but for the benefit of the children.

GLENN: Yeah. And that's difficult to do. Because especially as the child grows, you have -- you have, you know, things that come up. And you're like, this child needs the attention right now. And so your relationship has to morph and change. And it -- to a guy at least, it does feel like you're losing your wife.

BENJAMIN: Yeah.

GLENN: You know, she's mom. And not my wife. And it's hard. It's really hard.

BENJAMIN: Exactly. Well, yeah. It is. One of the things -- you know, one of the things I talk about obviously -- every relationship talks about communication. But the main thing with communication is honesty. And so with my first, you mentioned something that I did wrong. With my first couple, I wasn't honest about my feelings. I wasn't honest that I felt like I was losing her, that I was hurt, those sort of things.

And the last few pregnancies, I've told her, you know, this is how I feel. How do we combat this? So that way she's aware of it. And one thing we always try to do is get back on schedule with our date nights.

I look forward to, after we have a baby, after the schedules get all messed up, one thing we try to do with our relationship is have scheduled date nights. During the season -- it's actually easier during the season because our schedule is very regimented. So we go on Mondays or Tuesdays.

But especially after having a child, reconnecting in that way. I talk about, you know, intimacy. You know, contrary to popular belief by men, sex isn't the only form of intimacy, right?

GLENN: Wait. What else?

BENJAMIN: There's something else? Hey, I felt the same way. Really?

So -- but I talk about those things. You know, how do you navigate her changing body, you know, when it comes to sex? How long afterwards? How do you rekindle that passion when all these things have happened and the emotions and the mood swings and the hormones and all those sorts of things? How do you make her feel beautiful through this process?

GLENN: Boy, I wish I would have had this book the first time, maybe even the third time.

STU: Does it say in there, well, don't be as out of shape as we are? Instead, be as in good shape as an NFL player is, and then the intimacy follows.

BENJAMIN: See, that's how guys think. Guys are like, man, in shape or intimacy?

But a woman will tell you something otherwise. She will say, you know what, I can deal with your beard, but if you're affirming me --

JEFFY: That's a lie. That's a lie. That's a lie. That's a lie.

BENJAMIN: If you know my love life. You're speaking to it.

GLENN: No, that's a lie.

BENJAMIN: That's a lie?

GLENN: I see the way my wife looks at Chris Pratt on the screen.

JEFFY: That's right. That's a lie.

BENJAMIN: She doesn't know him though. She doesn't have a relationship with him.

GLENN: No. And I'm glad she doesn't know him.

STU: Or she wouldn't have you anymore.

BENJAMIN: It's a totally different story.

RADIO

Energy Secretary reveals Trump's plan to LOWER your electricity bill

President Trump's Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, joins Glenn Beck to discuss Trump's plan to lower your electricity bill. While he says it can't happen every night, he assures Glenn's listeners that Trump is asking for updates on this "every single day." Plus, he reveals how the administration plans to cut red tape, use nuclear energy, and stop the immature closure of coal plants to boost American energy.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Okay. We have Chris -- Chris Wright on. US Energy Secretary. We are concerned about our energy, and thank God, Donald Trump. Can you imagine how bad this would be, if Joe Biden's policies would have continued? Thank God we're doing a lot of really good things. But I wanted to get a sense from Chris, on where we are, and what he thinks of what's happening in Maryland, and the warning, that Goldman is giving this week?

Chris, welcome to the program.

CHRIS: Thanks for having me on, Glenn. Yeah. You hit the hot topic, right away.

GLENN: Okay. So I would assume that you agree with what Goldman said?

CHRIS: Oh. Absolutely. In fact, we've released a report from the department, just a few weeks ago. And if you had continued the Biden policies, which are to permit and subsidize energy sources that might be there. Might not. They generally aren't there at peak demand.

If we had continued those policies, they would have shut down another hundred gigawatts of firm production capacity, that's there when you need it. And they have permits to improve and planned to add -- add 22 gigawatts of that. Check out 100, add 22.

So a net loss of 78 gigawatts, to an electricity grid that's already tight, that already delivers blackouts and peak demand. They were on a trajectory to increase blackouts by 100 fold, by the end of the first Paris term, if she had won that election.

It is just -- we were driving over a cliff, and they were hitting the accelerator to go faster. It's ridiculous.

GLENN: What really bothered me was the policy that when they shut these plants down, we would actually pay the power companies, to shut these down, if they dismantled the coal power plants. They actually could get subsidy. If they made sure, there was no going back into that.

Which I found terrifying, and horribly irresponsible.

CHRIS: Glenn, it's just crazy. An environmentalist melted down a few weeks ago, when I used my authority at the Department of Energy, to stop the closure of a one and a half gigawatt coal plant in southwestern Michigan.

Oh, you're going to post tax -- costs on the -- we don't know that coal plant. It's slated to close.

Two days later, there was a blackout in my zone, the Midwestern independent system operator. Two days later, that plant was running at full capacity. It would have been massively worse. Crisis would have been massively higher.

You just talked about Baltimore. We also stopped the closure of a very old power plant in Baltimore, but a critical power plant that keeps the lights on at peak demand, that's also running at full capacity as we speak today and has for much of the last few weeks.

Oh, no. We don't need it. We're going to close it. It -- it's just when politics gets in the middle of energy, it truly impacts people's lives.

At least the blackouts. Rising costs. You know, we had 30 percent rise in power prices during just four years of President Joe Biden.

And now we're going to launch the AI race against China? And we are going to have our lights going off, without data centers, without new industry in our country?

Just thank God, the American people, overwhelmingly elected President Trump. We brought common sense back. We're swimming seven days a week, to try to fix the train wreck they left us. So it's exciting. It's more stressful than I would like. But I can assure you, we're headed in the right direction now.

GLENN: So what really bothers me, is how dangerous nuclear power is, and how we can't use that.

Even though, that solves the global warming thing. We've never been able to have that. We have to reduce our power usage. You know, go back to the good old days in, I don't know, medieval times. And -- but now that AI is here. Now that the big tech companies step up and say, no, no, no. We -- we have to have power for AI. Now all of those rules are out the window.

Which -- which bothers me so much, because it is -- it's as if the left and the power structures, don't really care about the average person. And them having power.

They care about these big corporations, and -- and AI being able to have compute power.

But not the average person. And it's -- it's -- it's disgusting.

It's really disgusting.

CHRIS: I -- I think that's right, Glenn.

It also shows that they never really cared about incremental changes in greenhouse gas emissions. The climate change thing is mostly a classroom for power. We're going to decide the way the world works. And make rules for you.

Because you stupid rubes out there in America, you can't make your own decisions.

We must make them for you. But yet, they were never about a rational approach to reduce greenhouse gases.

They don't even know that much about greenhouse gas emissions.

You said, they hated nuclear then. Now they see we're on a train wreck. They don't want to admit their climate alarmism was wrong. And wildly exaggerated.

Now, nuclear power is okay.

Because we need. We need these data centers, these big companies need power. It's not just -- it's not just those crazy routes in Middle America, like you and I.

GLENN: So, you know, in your report, you said, you know, we will increase blackouts by 100 times in the next five years, if we don't keep more base load power online.

How rapidly are we going to see these nuclear power plants, et cetera, et cetera, being built?

And is it only to serve those server farms, or are we going to redo the American power grid, itself?

CHRIS: It will be across the grid. So it is an exciting development, Glenn.

But it's the government. It's this overweening, fear-mongering government that actually smothered and killed nuclear industry, for most of the last four decades. So since it's been my mothered for so long, it will take time to get that ball really moving. We will have an already closed nuclear power plant, back open in Michigan. Later this year, January. Hopefully, at the latest.

You know, there's some developments that will happen in the next few months.

But most of it, will take a few years.

Really, what's going to feed the data centers that are going to be built, and the reindustrialization of our country.

And keep the lights on, and our air-conditioning on in the summertime.

Most of that is going to come from stopping the closure of the coal plant.

GLENN: Right.

CHRIS: That the Biden administration and Obama administration wanted to shrink our ability to generate electricity.

And it's going to come from the expansion and rapid construction of new natural gas burning power plants. Natural gas is, by far, the biggest source of electricity.

It's by far the lowest cost -- source of new electricity. So we are doing everything we can, to permit, allow the construction of natural gas plants as fast as possible, and removing these ridiculous requirements.

That, well, if you spend a billion dollars to build a new power plant, within six or seven or eight years, you're going to have to capture all the carbon dioxide emissions, and eject them underground. No matter how much it costs. No matter how much it burdens our power sector.

The direction they were in, just didn't care about American people, or American business.

GLENN: How long before we see these things? I mean, you know, China is building at the speed of at least one coal power plant, a week. They are building nuclear power plants. They are on an energy surge right now.

They know what's coming.

How -- how -- when should we see this actually starting to happen? And how long before power prices come down?

CHRIS: Oh, man. That is -- that is the big question. President Trump asked me that, every single day. Every single day. Let's get oil prices down. Let's get gas prices down. Let's get electricity prices down. And it takes a while to build infrastructure.

Fortunately, quickly, we can stop the closure of coal plants and still have lots of lifetime left. We've already done that.

That's why we don't have much worse blackouts, already today. We do have new gas plants coming on this year, a lot more coming on next year. We will have nuclear plants on, later this term. We will have a whole bunch of them under construction. But yet, to turn the giant, you know, aircraft carrier that is the electricity grid, that's going to take a few years. But hopefully, we can watch the huge rise in prices.

We can build the capacity so that the United States can keep our lead on artificial intelligence over China.

We get behind China, and they control AI, our national security is at risk.

GLENN: Yeah. I know.

CHRIS: The whole administration is seven days a week, working on this effort.

I see dramatically fewer blackouts this summer, than you would have, had the election gone the other way.

And I think we will be in a little better situation next summer. And somewhere in between there, this winter. We're rapidly swimming the right way.

I wish, I could say power prices are going down 20 percent next year. But it's simply not possible to do that, in 12 months. But I will tell you, President Trump is seven days a week doing everything he can, towards that goal.

GLENN: What regions are the worst in the country?

As far as stability and prices?

CHRIS: The Midwest.

You know, the -- the -- where that Michigan coal plant was kept open.

Where that nuclear power plant will reopen later that year. The Midwest Independent System Operator, that's our tightest region.

The southeast and PJM, where Washington, DC, is in the mid-Atlantic states.

They're rapidly getting tighter as well. Everything in the inner connection cue that was new to come on, is a wind or solar project.

But when it's dark out, and when it's really hot, and you're in a high-pressure system.

And the wind doesn't blow. Those things don't help to meet demand. They just provide electricity -- well, you don't know when. But at some points in time, that's not very helpful for an electricity grid. But we're going to stop the closure of the firm capacity.

And we are doing everything we can. We are permitting and approving plants, every week. New construction, new plants, that will be built. And that be here to provide relief to Americans in the next 12 to 24 months.

GLENN: And the most stable region?

CHRIS: The -- the most stable region is actually Texas. Which is by far the biggest electricity grid. They produce more than twice as much electricity as California. And just -- just a little bit less nonsense in Texas.

They still went crazy on the wind stuff. They still have more expensive, and less stable grid than they had ten years ago.

GLENN: Yeah. They do.

CHRIS: But they also have the mindset and the regulatory regime to fix their problem. Texas is rapidly growing its firm capacity, and they will stay out of this crisis, probably a little faster than the more Biden-influenced rest of the country.

GLENN: Hmm. I can't thank you enough for everything you guys are doing. I'm -- I'm amazed at -- at how rapidly you guys have turned things around.

I'm just -- I'm thrilled at the work, you all are doing.

And, Chris, you really are leading us in energy.

And I really appreciate that. Thank you.

CHRIS: Appreciate you, Glenn. Appreciate all your viewers. We're doing everything we can.

We think about the American people. That's the only agenda we have.

GLENN: Thank you so much, Chris.

That's our US Energy Secretary, Chris Wright.

RADIO

The most COMPLETE look at the Deep State we've ever seen

Thanks to release after release of government documents by the Trump administration, we now have the most complete look at the Deep State - how it works, who's involved, and who's funding it - that we've ever had. Most recently, Just The News has released proof that former United States Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates told the FBI to shut down investigations into the Clinton Foundation. Glenn's head researcher, Jason Buttrill, joins to recap these latest revelations.

Watch Glenn Beck's full breakdown of the Deep State network HERE

Secret Docs Reveal the ENTIRE Deep State Network | Glenn TV | Ep 451

The recent declassifications from Tulsi Gabbard’s ODNI and the Durham annex give us a rare glimpse into something much bigger and deeper than the Russiagate hoax against President Trump. Glenn Beck heads to the chalkboard to connect the dots and map out how the entire deep state operation works. We reveal who the players are, where the funding comes from, and how they exert their influence. From international color revolutions to the Ukraine impeachment and the Russiagate hoax, everything is finally starting to make sense. John Solomon, CEO and editor in chief of Just the News, gives Glenn a sneak peek into a bombshell investigation that exposes how the deep state provided cover for Clinton Foundation corruption.

Glenn's Show Prep

Man Up: NFL Player Writes a Playbook for New Dads

Energy Secretary reveals Trump's plan to LOWER your electricity bill

Transcript

The most COMPLETE look at the Deep State we've ever seen

Will Trump-Putin Alaska Meeting END the Nuclear War Threat... For Now?