Brian Montiel grew up with two devotions: sports and God.
Now, he is marking the one-year anniversary of a podcast intended to show how sports can glorify God — and he hopes to recruit other religious athletes at William Paterson to discuss their faith, too.
“I want this to be a business and get other Christian content creators and athletes to join,” he said.
Montiel, a broadcast journalism major, traces his love for sports to his family. His father turned him on to Real Madrid, while his mother, who grew up in the Bronx, introduced him to the Yankees. He grew up just 15 minutes away from the arena of the Philadelphia 76ers, sparking an interest in basketball, too. Montiel played soccer and basketball at Pennsauken High School before injuries derailed his dreams of becoming an NCAA athlete. Despite those health challenges, he has played every intramural sport at William Paterson from soccer to flag football to basketball. Last spring, he hit a walk-off single in the semifinals.
His family also imbued him with a strong connection with God. That inspired him last December to start a podcast with his friend, Geovaniel Serrano, named “TheCrossOver.” The podcast’s logo, designed by another friend, Caleb Smith, features the word “cross” intersecting the “o” in “crossover” to resemble a cross.
Montiel and Serrano never attended the same school. But their friendship blossomed were 10 and attending the same church. “We found kind of a common ground with sports,” Serrano said. They started playing video games together, especially EA FIFA. Serrano described Montiel as a humble player while acknowledging that Montiel is better than him.
Montiel and Serrano were nervous before launching the podcast last October, matching an unusual mix of topics in an episode named “Salvation/Eastern Conference predictions.” But the pair have overcome their initial anxieties and kept on. Each episode runs about an hour or two, with Bible study occupying more than half the conversation. Montiel and Serrano reflect on a verse and encourage their fans to leave their feedback as well. Then they cover basketball-related news such as trades, post-game analysis, and predictions. Toward the end of each episode, they sometimes play 1-on-1 basketball games. They promote the episodes on TikTok.
Last month, Montiel participated in the intramurals e-sports tournament on Oct. 9. He said his lack of practice led to him losing 4-1 in the first round. But he took the loss with a smile. “Brian is always the humble one,” said his friend Nick Owusu. “While I am the arrogant one, he tends to keep me humble as well.”
Beyond the podcast, Montiel covers William Paterson athletics for Brave New Radio. He covered his first sports event last December, a basketball game between William Paterson and Rutgers-Newark. “The energy was crazy,” he said. He has now risen to the role of assistant sports director at the radio station, training first-year students on how to commentate and produce a set. “A lot of them are learning fast,” he said. “They’re learning faster than I’ve ever learned. It’s incredible to see them learning and leading the future.”
