For 50 years, Big Oak Ranch has ministered to thousands of children in Alabama by providing a safe, loving environment for the abused, neglected and abandoned.
Brodie Croyle, a former Alabama football star and NFL quarterback, has been CEO of Big Oak for the last 10 years. His father, fellow Crimson Tide standout John Croyle, founded the ranch in 1974.
Brodie Croyle joined "1819 News: The Podcast" last week to give his perspective on growing up and serving in the ministry.
He told about how his dad took time out of his busy football schedule at age 19 to serve kids in need and how John Hannah, another Alabama star and NFL Hall of Famer, donated his NFL sign-on bonus to the ranch to help expand a few years after it was founded.
"There's this unreasonably accommodating spirit that seems to follow all the landmarks of Big Oak Ranch," Brodie Croyle said. "For a summer when he's [John Croyle] 19 years old, in the throes of playing college football for Coach Bear Bryant, to pick himself up and go serve at a camp, you know, for a week or whatever it was, whatever time he had off, most people go home and hang out with mom and dad. Most people go with their buddies on a trip. Most people rest. But this unreasonably accommodating man said, 'I'm going to go serve somebody. And I'm going to go show these kids, man, just maybe a different way of life.'"
Brodie Croyle grew up living and working on the ranch and became close friends with many kids who passed through. He said he learned many valuable lessons from his dad that helped him continue the legacy of service and success for the ranch.
"If we can show that family every day, not just by our words, but by our actions, if we can show them what love looks like, man, what honesty looks like, what perseverance looks like, ultimately, what discipline looks like as well," he said. "… If we can instill a value system in the next generation, guess what happens to the next? They might know about the past pain, but they didn't experience it. But guess what happens to the next generation? They don't even know about it. That's when generational change begins to happen."
While over 2,000 children have called Big Oak Ranch home over the last 50 years, the number of neglected young people in need is growing at an increasing rate. That's why Big Oak began teaching its ministry model to others to help plant more homes and help more children in states nationwide.
"We're going to be unreasonably accommodating the same way that John Croyle and John Hannah were years and years ago to whatever it is that they need. And the way that the Lord has blessed that, I'll just give you the end game," Brodie Croyle said. "Today, six and a half years later, we have either helped plant, start, or grow 114 children's homes in 34 different states that's currently serving over 6,000 children that don't call Big Oak Ranch home. We'll probably never meet them. But you know what? They are getting what the original vision was 50 years ago."
He continued, "It is something that's grown beyond what I ever imagined it would. We've had great people come on that were uniquely gifted to steward it, to grow it, to lead it. And man, it is an honor to get to be a part of it, and honestly, lock arms with these people scattered throughout the country. And to be able to have influence that might be beyond our walls, beyond our fences, but man, it's still children that desperately need a chance. And to be able to offer that, man, glory be to God."
To connect with the story's author or comment, email daniel.taylor@1819news.com or find him on X and Facebook.
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