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Tennessee Titan Jason Babin Talks Football, Family and Why He's Teaching His Young Sons to Hunt
Filed under: Sports, Celeb News & Interviews
Jason Babin and his family make time for fun. Photo courtesy of Jason Babin
Jason Babin, a defensive end for The Tennessee Titans, has three passions he loves talking about: sports, family and hunting.
Married to Sara Babin, his college sweetheart, and dad to two boys -- Maddux, 5, and Talan, 3 -- the 2004 first-round draft pick is known as #93 on football field, but he's also dedicated to the sport of hunting.
Babin owns and operates the Babin Ranch, 500 heavily wooded acres in Center, Texas, and home to a variety of animals, including zebras, rams, antelope, wildebeests, deer, elk and buffalo.
In a recent interview with ParentDish, Babin says he has been teaching his young sons how to hunt, and that it teaches them sons valuable lessons. An edited portion of the conversation follows.
ParentDish: Sorry about the season so far.
Jason Babin: Yeah, well, the season is not going according to plan and it does not look like we are going to make the playoffs this year. A couple teams will have to lose, which means we have to win, so, overall, I would say the playoffs are a slim chance right now.
PD: You have had quite a career with the NFL. Texas, Kansas and now Tennessee.
JB: It hasn't gone as planned, but we are on track right now.
PD: Is it hard to plant roots in one place knowing you can get traded at any time?
JB: It is uneasy, which is why I am excited to finally sign a four to five year deal. Now we can be somewhere for a while and finally start a life.
PD: How does your family handle each move to a new city?
JB: My wife has been amazing about it since she is stuck with all of the unpacking since I tend to be in training camp. As for the boys, they look at it as a long vacation.
PD: What's your take on Tennessee?
JB: We love it here because we love country music and the country scenery. We are ready to make it home.
PD: In addition to your role with the Tennessee Titans, you are also a dad.
JB: When I had my first child, Maddux, I was nervous. I was never a dad before and I knew what I did with Maddux was going to be a direct reflection of me in terms of how my wife and I parent him. Now that I have a second child, I am in the groove.
PD: Do you give your boys a special pep talk before you hit the road to play a game?
JB: (Laughs.) Yes, I do. Always. I sit them both down and say, "OK, Daddy has to go to the hotel now, which means you are the men of the house and have to protect Mommy while I am gone." They take it to heart and they take it serious when I am gone.
PD: How do you stay in touch with them when you are away?
JB: We use the iPhone face chat so we can see each other, or the webcam on the computer. I tend to read them stories when they are getting ready to go to bed.
PD: Speaking of children, when you were 7 years old, you started hunting.
JB: Yeah. I started hunting early. Actually, my mom's father was a professional fur trapper for a while and he used to hunt and fish, too. Because of that, they never went to the store for meat. They always hunted for their meals.
PD: So, when you were 7, you learned how to shoot a gun?
JB: They started teaching me with a bow and arrow because that requires more patience and you need to learn patience if you are a hunter.
PD: Don't you think that is too young to teach a kid how to fire a weapon?
JB: Absolutely not. My 5-year-old shot his first deer on a bye-week at my ranch in Texas, and then we made it into hamburger and sausage for the family. We are a pretty hands-on family.
PD: What did you hunt as a kid?
JB: Where I grew up in Michigan, it was deer, rabbit and turkeys.
PD: I find your take on kids handling weapons surprising since you graduated from Western Michigan University with a degree in criminal justice.
JB: Yes, that is true. I grew up in a small town and since it was rural there wasn't a whole lot to do and hunting was common.
PD: You don't think this sends the message to children that it's OK to kill an innocent animal for sport?
JB: We are a meat-hunting family and everything we kill we eat. Look, we have a rule in our house: You do not point a toy gun at anyone. We instill the basics to our kids and, in terms of hunting, we do it because it is how we get our food. We really educate our kids about this and if you teach them the right way, they will learn those lessons early on.
PD: When did you introduce Maddux to hunting?
JB: When he was 3.
PD: Three? My daughter only played on the playground and the beach at 3.
JB: He learned how to shoot a bow and a .22, as well as (my son) Talan.
PD: And you don't think that's way too young for a kid to handle a weapon, let alone learn how to use one?
JB: Maybe it was because my mom wouldn't let me have some of that cool stuff at that age. My mom was very over-protective of me. Look, before my boys did anything, they needed to learn the proper care, such as how to clean a gun and put it away. We always promote safety first.
PD: And your wife allows this?
JB: Yeah, she is on board with it. She knows what I am doing and how I teach them the basics before we do anything else.
PD: I'm stunned other parents haven't given you a hard time about this.
JB: They do, but I don't care.
PD: What are the benefits to teaching your kids how to hunt?
JB: There are three great benefits. One, I feel it teaches them patience. It taught my 5-year-old how to sit still and not move for two hours. It also teaches them life lessons, such as finding food for survival. And, three, we get to spend lot of quality time together, which I wouldn't trade for the world.
PD: You and your dad also run the Babin Ranch Center in Texas where you serve as the owner and your dad is the manager.
JB: He fills in for me while I am gone because we have a lot of corporate outings during the fall season while I am gone due to football.
PD: Do you let kids hunt there?
JB: Yes, we can set it up to be a family atmosphere.
PD: So, at what age can kids go there with their parents?
JB: At least 12, and their parents have to be avid hunters and they always have a guide with them at all times. We always put safety first.
PD: I'm shocked PETA hasn't come after you.
JB: Oh, yeah, and I love to antagonize them. I have even saved some of the letters they sent me -- how I have made the world a darker and gloomier place and my soul will be forever blackened.
PD: Your response?
JB: I invite them to come out, but they never have.
PD: I notice you give a lot of tickets away to needy children to attend a football game.
JB: Yes. I was lucky to have good role models when it came to my parents and, unfortunately, not every child has that. The more I can do to help out children is an amazing feeling.
PD: Do you work with a particular charity?
JB: No, but I am hoping to be in one place long enough to team up with someone. Since I get tickets at face value I purchase them for the children so they can go to a game.
PD: Is it true a lot of athletes follow the same practice?
JB: Yes, a lot of guys do. I think the guys get involved because, if you read some of the bios about these players, you see a lot of them came from nothing and, in the end, made it to the NFL. I think it is a great way to give back and teach other children you can do anything you set your mind to.
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ReaderComments (Page 5 of 8)
1-01-2011 @ 10:31PM
Howard said...I have a few hunters in my family and have seen plenty of others. I never said slaughterhouses aren't cruel, I'm sure most of them are (and yes, I've seen one), although there are laws about humane slaughter and none about humane hunting (neither is really humane). Stalking and killing wild animals has its own circumstances, including the effect on individual animals, animal families (yes, hunters shoot pregnant and nursing animals whether they admit it or not), wild populations (hunters often seek out the biggest and strongest "trophies," not the weak and sick animals natural predators kill), and the number of animals who are wounded and never recovered is huge (and yes, there are studies that track that). Don't say I'm ignorant just because you want to defend what you do. Substitute the word "dog" for "deer" and then see if your arguments sound sane.
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1-01-2011 @ 10:56PM
DCrockett said...I think you are lying Howard. Most hunting seasons are when the animals are either not breeding or are breeding, not when the anikmals are pregnant. In deer populations, it is often the "biggest" animal that has the least mount of life left as he has reached or passed his prime. removing him merely enhances the gene pool. I also doubt you can substantiate your claim about wounded animals either. You must have had "slob hunters" in your family and going dog hunting to get meat to eat just means you harvest more dogs or bigger ones.
1-01-2011 @ 10:55PM
D.Crockett said...If it weren't for hunting, most of you wouldn't be here now. No one forces you to hunt and the "innocent animals" is straight from the touchy-feely crowd that think animals are like their pet dogs. 560 acres of brush may sound sall until you try and walk through it. I never saw that the animals were caged, then released either. It may be a shock to many of you, but you can buy your own calf, raise it then kill it all by yourself and you have what you buy in the store. Stop and think two minutes, it won't hurt. I promise.
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1-01-2011 @ 11:03PM
trand1114 said...Unless any of you have never eaten meat, meat products including gravies and sauces, or ever worn leather goods, carried a purse, etc, your hypocrisy is despicable. It doesn't matter whether an animal was raised for food or shot out in the wild. I would rather eat something that was shot out in the wild feeding off natures green earth rather than eat something that was shot up with growth hormones and all that other crap. So when you rant on about your continued hypocrisy, just know you are making yourselves look like a bunch of fools, and it definitely shows.
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1-01-2011 @ 11:27PM
pokeyratso said...If I believed in reincarnation(which I don't) I would much rather come back as a deer romping freely through the woods until meeting
my ultimate fate at the hands of a hunter(human or animal) than as a steer or cow standing knee deep in my own s#!t in a feed lot for a couple of years before being herded to my death.
Factory farms are cruel.
Hunting is not.
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1-01-2011 @ 11:34PM
womensan said...All these upset people and accusations about not caring for animals, are the same people who eat at Mcfastfood's ( whose laying hens are kept so confined they cannot once stretch their wings or walk), or buy their meat for home from chain grocery stores that raise animals pumped on hormones and antibiotics, eating feed made from their deceased pen mates, and standing knee deep in manure their whole short miserable life until they are bulldozed alive into a chopper. All these facts published on the internet and TV expose' and everyone is mum, but quickly and honestly shoot a free ranging natural animal and now they weigh in???!!
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1-02-2011 @ 3:23AM
Joe said...The anti hunters who are so worried about animals being hunted are the same people who advocate killing babies as "a woman's choice".
1-02-2011 @ 10:48PM
Brandon Giuda said...Finally a man that is not afraid to stand up to the hypocrites that eat processed meat and tell them essentially to kiss his behind! Fantastic! My family eats meat from hunting and also raising our own, so who are these mind-numbing idiots who are complaining. What - missed you meal at McDonalds today. These are people who are so dependent on the government and others that they wouldn't recognize freedom if it hit them in the head.
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1-02-2011 @ 10:47PM
Brandon Giuda said...I love it - you say "civilized society" like you are some sort of superior human being - typical liberal crap. Why don't you say that in your little cocoon, "civilized" means dependent on everyone else for your survival. Get off your high horse you arrogant ass - your survival is dependent on others killing your meat for you - I would much rather (and did) teach my children how to take care of themselves.
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1-03-2011 @ 12:06AM
What?! said...I hate the anti-hunting leftists. They think their government would take care of them for life. I hope they would pet a grizzly bear in Yellowstone.
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1-02-2011 @ 1:35AM
GreatWhiteHunter said...Lol.
Buncha Crazies here.
Something I that just popped into my head. The animals hunted in their natural habitat are way healthier for us than the crap you buy at the store. as far as a hunting "Ranch".....that is pretty lame. Do it in a real forest like a real hunter.......WITHOUT BAIT PILES too.
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1-02-2011 @ 1:31AM
melissa said...You people are blowing this way out of proportion!!! Do you idiots have any idea how much area 500 acres covers? I am a hunter and when I go into the woods I might cover a 2-4 acre area. Yes its fenced but with plenty of room to roam. Anyone going to a ranch still has to hunt. I think its great that he is teaching his sons to hunt and I will do the same with my girls. It teaches them values that most of you treehuggers could never comprehend and most importantly firearm safety!! They know if they see a gun in the house that it is not a toy. Whatever...I'm done!! Venison stew is calling my name!!
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1-02-2011 @ 3:11AM
fredo said...you sound like a dumbshit redneck. how about if we meet in the woods with knives and hunt each other. i know i could eat you once i opened you up. could you do the same? white trash redneck.
1-02-2011 @ 3:08AM
fredo said...there is nothing wrong with hunting provided you eat what you kill. what he is doing is called "canned hunts" where the animal is trapped by a fence and cant really escape. eventually youll corner the animal and it will have nowhere to go. he's a jerkoff, not all hunters. hunters are really cowards, because they brag about being sportsmen and it takes a real man to kill an animal with a rifle from hundreds of yards away. try going into the wilderness with only a knife and trying to take down a grizzly on its turf.
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1-02-2011 @ 3:16AM
Joe said...What is sad is people who disagree with anything, trying to force their values and beliefs on everyone else, even though they may be in the minority. I learned to shoot and hunt at a young age, and I have taught my son to do the same. Children who are taught safety and responsibility, and hunting values at a young age are much better off than chidren who's fathers teach them it is ok to steal a gun and use it to rob and murder. THAT is where the outrage should be. Not against an American tradition of love of the outdoors and all it has to offer. My children respect animals, AND people.
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1-02-2011 @ 4:53AM
evelynb said...In the USA we consider sports people as our heroes. Jason and his family including his trophy wife are abomination of a true hero. You really want to be a hero, trying putting your children in a pen and use your gun to hunt them so they can understand the feeling of the hunted. That's what would make you a true man, you big jerk.
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1-03-2011 @ 10:30PM
evelynb said...Oh Mr Titan-Tennessee, peas for brain-idiot. Since you look like a baboon, better be careful in case a hunter mistakes you for a kill (BTW which I hope they do).
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1-02-2011 @ 4:54AM
Kevin said...Wow llyssa, do you think you could have done a more slanted, nonobjective interview? Hopefully you dont really plan on being a journalist.
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1-02-2011 @ 5:15AM
shempbat said...His only response to "critics" should be, mind your own f...ing business! Period! And to some of you so called men out there, grow a set of balls for crying out loud!
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1-02-2011 @ 6:08AM
James said...Jason Babin, you're a wise man. I recall a protestors song of a generation ago..."Teach your children well", he and his wife are. To all you peta, anti gunners, anti hunters, green peace nicks? Where do you suppose all the money comes from to keep your local, county, state and national parks open? Not from you! Hunters, Shooters, and Fisherman. Campers and Hikers, for your enjoyment, only pay a mere pittance.
As in the past, when the draft starts, these Neanderthals will be responsible for teaching your kid how to shoot, to defend his/her and that of their brothers at arms, lives, and yours, here at home.
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