NFL COACHES TALK FAITH AND FOOTBALL
Washington Post
April 19, 2010
By Hamil R. Harris
A hush fell over the 4,000 men who gathered at the First Baptist Church of Glenarden on Saturday morning as former Washington Redskins coach Jim Zorn talked about the day last year when he learned that he could no longer call his own plays.
"When I got play calling taken away from me, I called Tony and asked his advice and he said, 'I wouldn't do it,' " said Zorn, who was sitting alongside his longtime friend, former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, as well as Baltimore Ravens Coach John Harbaugh and veteran sportscaster James Brown.
Brown told Zorn that during his stormy tenure as the Redskins' coach he was an example of "grace under pressure," but Zorn said the issue weighed heavily on his mind. "I had to pray about it....For the life of me, I couldn't bring myself to quit just because things were not going my way."
There was plenty of frank discussion of about faith, football and being better fathers at the Red Zone National Men's Conference, where three current and former NFL head coaches and more than a dozen current and former players talked about their faith to a sea of men sporting various jerseys.
The event was sponsored by Foundation for Manhood, a nonprofit group focused on "promoting biblical manhood," and even though the cheapest ticket was $25 to attend, event organizers had no problems selling out the venue before the doors to the event even opened.
"The goal of this conference was to partner with a local church to bring the message of Jesus Christ to men in a unique forum," said Marty Grainger, board chairman of Foundation for Manhood. "A lot of men are used to attending church conferences where they will hear speakers or preachers, but having these men who they all know and love from the sports world was an effort to help get them where they are to where God wants them to be."
Dungy told the men that he always has to set an example every Sunday afternoon. "There is always a camera waiting for your reaction," he said. "You can say that you are a Christian coach, but one reaction it can be gone."
Harbaugh used his time to encourage the men to study the example that Jesus set, especially when it came to dealing with children. "He got down on his knees, looked little kids in the eye and told them that they were special. Its about relationships," Harbaugh said.
Rev. John K. Jenkins, pastor of First Baptist Church of Glenarden, said that he is glad that his church had the opportunity to host the all-day conference, where men broke up into smaller huddles that were led by a host of NFL players, ministers and heads of Christian men groups.
"These NFL coaches are men who have accepted the Lord Jesus in their lives and we want to use their testimony to connect men who prayerfully want to see their lives change," Jenkins. "It is our hope that these men leave here being better Christians, better husbands and better fathers, many of them have brought their sons with them."
Brown, a CBS sportscaster who himself had a successful basketball career that began at DeMatha, quoted scriptures from the stage like a gospel preacher. "Matt 6:33 tells you to seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteous and all these things will be added unto you. There are tons of scriptures that if you read them, study them and apply them, they are the keys to success in the game of life."
On the day when the Redskins began their first minicamp under new coach Mike Shanahan, Zorn joked about looking forward to seeing his former team in August when the Redskins play the Baltimore Ravens, where he is now the quarterbacks coach.
"The Washington Redskins are practicing today, I wouldn't be here today if I were still head coach, but life goes on," Zorn said, adding that the most important thing that one can do is keep their good name. "Your name is valuable, what's important is what you do with that name. It takes years of living a consistent life ."
