Our Connection to Pro Football

Paul and Heath Evans at the 2007 Next Level Weekend in Mobile

I played park league football at Crawford Park in the late fifties and early sixties. I was fast and could catch most any pass thrown in my direction. I loved the game and thought about playing high school, but I discovered girls and they did not bruise me as badly as defensive players did (or at least I thought so at the time).

I remember the Houston Oilers coming to Crawford Park to practice. They were the size of Goliath and about as mean and ugly. I did not know people could throw or kick a ball so far. I went home that night and dreamed of playing in the pro ranks. As I already told you, girls interrupted that vision.

Later in life, I have befriended several prominent pro football players because of my connection with Christ. Six players now know me personally and I know them and I especially know their heart for the Lord.

Myron King, cornerback for the Cincinatti Bengals, was one of my former paramedic students and also worked for me as a paramedic for a medical services contract I had with DuPont in north Mobile County. Myron is one of the most awesome guys you'll ever meet. He is humble. In fact, he is so humble, I didn't even know he played pro football until after he graduated from my paramedic class. I wish I had that humility. If I was Myron, I would still be paying for a billboard reminding people of my glory days. If I had been David and slew Goliath, Psalms 1 would have be titled "How to select smooth stones to kill giants in your life." Psalms 2 would have been "Slingshot your way to glory." I tell you the truth, humility is not my best characteristic.

My pastor at Cottage Hill Baptist Church came to us from West Plam Beach. While there, he pastored a young man named Heath Evans. Heath went on to play at Auburn, Seattle Seahawks, Miami Dolphins, and New England Patriots. He shared the backfield in Seattle with one of my all time Alabama favorites, Shaun Alexander. Pastor Thomas encourage them to put on a football camp for our little players here in Mobile and to share the good news of Jesus Christ along the way. I remember nearly two hundred kids raising their hands accepting Christ as their Lord and Savior after Heath, Shaun, and Pator Keith gave the invitation. Health and Shaun preached our Sunday service that week. It truly was a "Next Level Weekend" as the event was called.

Hurricane Katrina caused the event to be cancelled the following year as Shaun and Heath could not fly in due to the weather. I felt sure Satan knew the impact these two guys are having on the kingdom and did all he could to keep them away. They did make it again last year.

Shaun asked the kids during lunch and after a hard workout at Ladd-Peeples stadium all morning how many times they thought he kissed his wife before they got married? They jumped up and shouted 10, 100, 1,000s of times. Shaun replied, “None!” I punched Dennis Hayford, our Minister of Sports Outreach and said, “Wow, I can’t touch that!” Dennis nodded, “Me neither.” Shaun told these kids that it was more important to him to be obedient to God than to satisfy his fleshly desires. When the pastor said, “You may kiss the bride,” that was the first time Shaun had ever kissed his wife. Now that is a man of integrity.

Later that Saturday evening Sharon and I got to sit on a couch at pastor’s house and talk one-on-one with Shaun and Heath. Both of these guys are spiritually bigger than they are physically big on the football field, and they are huge in that arena. Shaun has a joy about him that surpasses money and fame. If he had been the rich ruler Jesus asked to sell all you have and give it to the poor and follow me, Shaun would have been that camel that went through the eye of the needle. He would choose being poor here on earth to store his treasure in heaven. What is phenomenal is the Shaun’s diet is basically Doritos’s and coke. He is truly gifted.

Heath, on the other hand, worked very hard to get to the pros and maintains that ethic to stay in the pros. He was extremely disappointed by having to leave Shaun to go to Miami. God moved him from Miami to New England and he is making an impact on and off the field.

I got to play golf with Heath and Alex Lincoln (San Francisco 49’s) last year. That was a sight seeing these muscle bound guys swatting at a golf ball. When they did hit it, they hurt it. Even in the midst of frustration with a silly game, never once did Heath or Alex lose sight of the presence of a holy God in their life. I truly experienced the truth that Jesus was the most important person in their lives.

This year our camp changed to a “Seven on Seven” event for high school athletes from the Gulf Coast. We had teams from Mississippi and Mobile. We are loaded with talent in Mobile and the surrounding areas. Shaun decided to stay home this Summer and give all of his time to his family. Once again, he shows great integrity.

Heath once again shared his faith with these young men and 224 of them accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. Halleluiah! I talked at length with Heath about his foundation that will impact the lives of many children and families who are being affected by sexual abuse. He has the call from God to make a difference in this arena too. I’ve added a link to Heath’s foundation. Please support it and get involved too. More than likely there is a child in our neighborhood being abused right now. That child may think there is no hope. We know better (Jeremiah 29:11).

Now we have a new connection to the Green Bay Packers and Defensive End Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (KGB) via the Leap of Faith-Lambeau event on 7-7-2007 at Lambeau Field. Kabeer is a walking testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is only 4.5 sacks away from breaking Reggie White's record for most sacks. Reggie was quite the man, but now Kabeer is God's man in Green Bay.

Maybe I should have focused on football instead of girls, but hey that is water under a very old bridge. The good news is God got me closer than I thought I could ever get to pro football. It is encouraging to see these fine young men represent Christ in a very dark arena. Please pray for all of them!