I need You, Jesus...To come to my rescue...Where else can I go...  From the streets you could hear their song. The collection of voices grew louder as the sound of worship drifted down the newly cemented driveway and floated into the humid summer night breeze. Within the walls of the recently erected Gulf Coast home gathered a group of young adults from Church of the Good Shepherd — a group whose lives one year earlier had changed as quickly as the flood waters rose on August 29, 2005, the day Hurricane Katrina hit.

I wonder if NFL defensive linemen would recognize this Shaun Alexander. The Alexander they’re used to is a game-changing, offensive genius who makes his living carving up defenses for extra yardage. But this guy is so … disarming. He’s laughing with kids, putting his arms around them, and even praying with them. In this environment he certainly doesn’t look like the typical NFL megastar.

Believe it or not, this is Shaun Alexander — a man who loves God, loves people and loves life.

“I wasted a lot of years not giving God any glory,” says FCA’s Amy Marino as she reflects on her own college athletic career. “I didn’t want players on my team telling me about Christ. I didn’t feel I needed Him.” But seeing the joy that radiates from her face, you would never know there was a time when Marino’s heart wasn’t pursuing Christ.

Since her “Saul to Paul” conversion, Marino has dedicated her role as an FCA representative at the University of Illinois to leaving a mark on a new generation of athletes.

On paper, 15 pounds is just about all that separates John Smoltz, Mike Sweeney and Tim Salmon. All are accomplished, 6-foot-3 major league veterans who have spent their entire careers (all dating back to the mid-90’s) with one club. And if you really want to stretch out the comparison — as any true baseball follower would do — you could add to it the fact that all are right-handed men whose last names start with the letter “S.” Still, to find three men so alike is to contradict the rarity that they are in the league as Christian men serving in spiritual leadership roles in their respective clubhouses.