'Duck Dynasty' star speaks at first Brazos Valley prayer breakfast

The Eagle Newspaper-Bryan, TX
By Emma Watson
October 11, 2023

Louisiana native Willie Robertson was welcomed with open arms to Aggieland during the first Brazos Valley prayer breakfast.

The Brazos Valley Prayer Fellowship hosted the breakfast at the Legends Event Center in Bryan on Wednesday morning with a mission of fellowship, enlightenment and evangelism. Including keynote speaker Robertson, the event also featured Bill Brown, television voice of the Houston Astros, Christian musician Matt Linton and former Texas A&M football coach R. C. Slocum. The breakfast was catered by College Station restaurant 1860 Italia.

Slocum, before introducing Robertson, said how grateful he was to be in attendance.
“I went through a difficult time with cancer a couple years ago,” Slocum said. “I lost 30 pounds, lost all my hair. … Now, I’m extremely blessed to be with you today.”

Slocum, 78, said this wasn’t the first time he’s met the Robertson family — noted for starring 11 seasons in their reality TV show “Duck Dynasty” — and they have a shared past connection over football.

“When I was in McNeese State University, I played football, and one of our big rivals was Louisiana Tech,” Slocum said. “We played them during that time when Willie’s dad, Phil Robertson, was quarterback.”

Phil Robertson was a powerhouse in sports with experience in football, baseball and track, Slocum said.
“He was a good quarterback, and I’ll tell you how good he was. He had a backup. His name is Terry Bradshaw,” Slocum said of the Hall of Famer and former Pittsburgh Steelers signal-caller.

Slocum said he was proud of Robertson’s work both with his family and in his preaching efforts in the ministry.

“It’s a special honor for me to introduce his son, Willie Robertson,” he said. “He’s best known for starring in and producing “Duck Dynasty.” He’s the CEO of Duck Commander and really expanded his family’s small business. … He preaches on faith. It’s a real honor for me.”

To honor Slocum’s introduction, the 51-year-old Willie Robertson gave Slocum his own duck call, one of his specialty items from his family’s business.

“I’m gonna assume you have a trophy case, so you can put this duck call on one of your trophy cases,” he said. “Or just sell it on eBay, whatever, I signed it.”

The name of the prayer breakfast, “Where God Leads,” is meant to signify the importance of living a life where God guides decisions, Robertson said.

“I was just thinking about how we needed to live the type of lives where God leads,” he said. “He is amazing and I’m honored to be in his kingdom and I’m honored to lead you this morning.”

To share some lighthearted tales and give more insight to his life, Robertson discussed his adventures outside of “Duck Dynasty,” including being on “The Masked Singer,” a show where participants sing and wear outlandish costumes while judges guess who is underneath the costume.

“They said, ‘Oh, we have a costume for you and we really hope you’ll use it. … A duck,’” he said. “I cannot get away from the duck thing.”

Robertson also talked about the faith-based movie, “The Blind,” he worked on for three years and said he was grateful for the responses he’s seen from the community.

“Think about the movies you watch, the TV, the music, everything we listen to. It’s so powerful,” he said. “[Our movie] is a statement to Hollywood. People want to see movies like this and it’s been a great year for movies like this.”

Near the end of his speech, Robertson said he hoped people use their Christian teachings to connect with people instead of using their time to try and force people.

“Our calling is to give hope and our calling is to tell people about Jesus,” he said. “I think sometimes we get caught in yelling in the wrong place. … We need to get back to the gospel.”