RADIO – This week on the Edge of Sports, Dave Zirin speaks with Will Witherspoon, veteran linebacker for the Tennessee Titans and one of the most diverse and interesting people you are ever likely to meet. He and Zirin discuss everything from the NFL, to the NBA lockout, to Witherspoon’s youth growing up overseas, to Shiregate Farms, where Witherspoon focuses on raising cows to produce organic, grass-fed beef.
His open-mindedness and global perspective grow out of living all over the world as he was growing up. Witherspoon’s father was in the Air Force, and they lived overseas for much of his childhood.
“One of the best things I think my parents did is my dad never put in for a state-side tour of duty. He always put in overseas,” Witherspoon said. “He joined the military for an opportunity to see the world.”
As they moved from country to country, they really engaged with the local culture. When the family was transferred to a new location, they only spent the first couple of months on the base, and then they would move out into the local town or city and get to know the local culture.
Witherspoon tells stories about living in foreign countries and having friends all over the world – in Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
And he made friendships that have stayed with him throughout his life. “Some of my best friends that I played ball with in high school, were guys I knew in Germany,” he said. And he learned to speak German as a kid, growing up and going to school in Germany. He is currently learning Arabic as well, with some help from his friends in Egypt.
In addition to his affinity for travel and languages, Shiregate Farms is a huge passion project for Witherspoon. He has been working on Shiregate for the last five years, and has grown it up to about 1,000 acre farm. They produce “grass-fed beef, no hormones, no antibiotics, truly as some would view it, organic.”
“When I started learning about how the industry really worked, it really didn’t make me happy knowing how animals are treated, how the beef that gets to your table 90 percent of the time is produced. And so I started looking for better ways,” he explained. He is working on perfecting better, healthier ways to raise cattle that result in a better quality of meat.
In addition to working on his farm, he is also working on getting his MBA, trying to brush up on his German in addition to learning Arabic, and in his spare time he plays linebacker for the Tennessee Titans.
For most people, just that last item – playing football in the NFL – would be enough to constitute a full time job, but Witherspoon definitely isn’t “most people.”
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