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Drew Brees rolls his eyes and smiles. By now, he expects it, even if he doesn’t believe he deserves it. But the parallels are just too easy to pass up. “You’ve been dubbed the Patron Saint of New Orleans by just about every media outlet in the country…” they always start. It’s only natural.
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At a typical San Diego Chargers practice or game, offensive coordinator Cam Cameron does a lot of pointing.
“That’s what we do as coaches,” Cameron joked. “We point.” And as cliché as it may sound, it remains true that the 20-year coaching veteran does more than just point out the plays he wants the reigning AFC-West Champion Chargers to run on the field. He also points his athletes to Jesus Christ through his life, which has been transformed since the day Cameron accepted Christ at an FCA Camp when he was 13.
In 2010, Henderson State University’s Rhonda Thigpen became the first volleyball coach to be inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame. Currently entering her 20th season as the Lady Reddies’ head coach, Thigpen also serves as the University’s Senior Woman Administrator and FCA Huddle Coach.
What to do for an encore?
After being chosen by the Minnesota Lynx as the first overall pick in the 2011 WNBA Draft, Maya Moore’s impressive first professional season will be a hard one to top. Not only did she and the Lynx win the league championship, but Moore herself also earned an All-Star selection and the Rookie of the Year Award. It was a summer for the record books—and one Moore will never forget.
It’s easy for athletes to claim Christ as their source of strength and point to the sky in victory, but to actively engage with Him on the field and bring Him into the game itself is another story. This month, STV talked to a group of Division-I college football players—many of whom you’ll see in bowl games—to find out how they stay focused on why they play the game.
Ben Zobrist has one of those stories. The ones that make kids play harder, dream bigger and aim higher. The ones that inspire even the most improbable of visions. The ones that seem to spotlight the magnitude and sovereignty of God. Undrafted and unscholarshipped out of high school, Zobrist thought his baseball days were over when he finished his senior season at Eureka High School in Eureka, Ill. Like a typical senior, he weighed his career options and college choices, and even looked into a Bible college in Kansas City. But midway through the summer, he still didn’t know where to go or what to do.
It takes the average frequent flyer 12 months to travel enough miles to qualify for Southwest Airlines’ companion pass. Les and Chris Steckel only needed eight.
In their first year of ministry, the FCA President and “First Lady” were on the road as many days as a typical person spends in an office during an entire calendar year. But it wasn’t without purpose. Both Les and Chris knew they were called to spend that time immersing themselves in the FCA field, learning from and building relationships with staff across the country.
Established in 1954, FCA celebrates its 60th year of ministering to coaches and athletes.
Every week, it seems like a new moral or ethical shortcoming tarnishes the reputation of yet another sports superstar. There's no need to name names or the charges. Enough ink has already been used reporting the allegations.
For better or worse, sports today provide one of the most visible platforms for modeling behavior. Yet, not everyone who stands on the pedestal wants the responsibility that comes with it. Some athletes even recoil at the idea of being a role model.
Still, there are others who give us hope. Men like University of Florida senior quarterback Tim Tebow, who welcomes and embraces the opportunity to make a positive impact.
It all began with a blind date.
As a graduate assistant on the coaching staff at Florida State University, young Mark Richt, who had been striking out in relationships, expressed his desire to meet a “nice girl.” Overhearing his statement, the girlfriend of Richt’s roommate suggested that she might know the perfect woman for him: her own roommate, Katharyn Francis. Immediately she set up a time for the four of them to get together.
Bobby Bowden has the attention of hundreds of high school boys. They’re listening because he has more wins than any coach in major-college football history — the head coach of the only program ever to appear in 14 consecutive bowl games without a loss, the only coach to lead his team, the Florida State Seminoles, to 14 straight seasons that ended with a top-five Associated Press ranking.
But they’re going to find themselves listening for a different reason. Bobby Bowden “The Legend” is about to become Bobby Bowden “The Evangelist.”
Matt Holliday has been around the block. As a 7-year major league veteran, he knows that the season is long and that patience is required. When the 2010 season didn’t start out as planned for the Cardinals outfielder widely known for swinging a hefty bat, he didn’t panic. In the face of low offensive numbers, Holliday stayed focused, kept working with his hitting coach (a fairly well-known former hitter named Mark McGwire), and, by mid-June, his perseverance was paying dividends. The three-time All-Star was again posting giant numbers at the plate. He slammed enough home runs and RBIs to earn his seventh NL Player of the Week award on June 21 and, in the process, earned a spot on his fourth MLB All-Star roster.
Hugh Freeze has rebuilt Ole Miss football on the firm foundation of faith and family.
Traditions run deep in the Swider-Peltz family—especially when it comes to speedskating and spreading the message of Jesus Christ.
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.
Immediately following her team’s overtime loss in the 2012 NCAA Division II national championship, Sue Ramsey prayed that God would use the disappointment for His glory. Tears of agony turned to shouts of joy one year later when her inspired Ashland Eagles won the school’s first-ever women’s basketball national title. Now in her 19th season with the program, Ramsey is focused on continuing their winning ways while teaching her team about an eternal purpose beyond the hardwood.
Brad McCoy has a favorite story to tell about his son Colt. It’s one that makes him more proud of his oldest boy than any touchdown pass ever could. Three years ago, Brad received a phone call on a Sunday afternoon from a man who had taken his 7-year-old son to church in Austin, Texas, earlier that morning. The man and his boy had taken seats directly behind Colt on the morning after the University of Texas quarterback had been injured in a road loss to Kansas State. Despite a trip to the hospital that revealed a pinched nerve in Colt’s neck and a late return to Austin, Colt was still in church at 8 a.m. for worship.
Growing up in Oklahoma City, or “the 405,” as I’ve always called it, I was in church 17 days a week, 100 hours a day. My mom was the choir director, my dad played the drums, and both taught Sunday school. That was my childhood.
We all want to leave a mark. It’s something God hardwired into us. It’s not uncommon to hear someone say, “I want to leave the world a better place.” By definition, the word “legacy” means, “something we receive from someone who went before us.”
Florida isn’t exactly the ideal childhood setting for a future ice hockey career, but that didn’t stop Bowling Green junior Ryan Carpenter, who started playing on the sunny streets outside his home in Oviedo. A move north and stops along the club team route landed him in Ohio, where his passions have changed from scoring goals to spreading Christ’s message through his sport.
It was a testament to the reputation of Tony Dungy. When STV approached athletes, coaches and members of the media — both Christian and not — about lessons they’d learned from the Indianapolis Colts’ head coach, the average rate of return on the quote request was less than a day. That never happens.
But when it comes to Tony Dungy, it seems that people are more than willing, even eager, to express their awe and admiration for him — a man who has been through so much in so little time.
It’s hard to decide what Kara Lawson is most known for.
SEC fans remember her as the All-American from the University of Tennessee who led the Lady Vols to three Final Four appearances between 2000 and 2003. Followers of the WNBA know her as a key member of the 2005 league champion Sacramento Monarchs and now as the starting point guard for the Connecticut Sun. Still more recognize her as a member of the ESPN college basketball broadcasting team through which Lawson serves both as a studio analyst for the NCAA women’s tournament and a color commentator for men’s games. And fans of the Summer Olympics would most likely know her for the gold medal she won with Team USA in 2008.
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