In sports, God is always in the game

Alex Johnson Reporter • Profile

Mark Myerson is not God. And that’s not good enough for Terrell Owens.

Myerson, one of the world’s leading foot and ankle specialists, concluded that Owens, the Philadelphia Eagles’ All-Pro wide receiver, was not fit to play in this weekend’s Super Bowl. Myerson, who operated on Owens to repair a severely sprained ankle and a leg fracture he suffered just seven weeks ago, said Owens risked career-threatening complications.

Owens, however, had a different idea. He plans to be on the field for the National Football League’s championship game.

Ezra Shaw / Getty Images Terrell Owens of the Philadelphia Eagles, who said he believed God had healed his badly injured ankle in time for him to play in the Super Bowl, is widely criticized for showboating on the field. In private and among his teammates, sports ministers say, he is a religious man who is widely respected inside the NFL.

“What a lot of people don’t realize is that I’ve been doing a lot of rehab on my own, a lot of healing on my own, but spiritually God is healing me, and I’m way ahead of where a lot of people expect me to be, even the doctor,” he maintained last week.

Then, this week, he insisted: “If you believe in miracles, just wait until Sunday. God brought me here for a reason.”

Such expressions of faith are almost part of the background noise in American sports. Barry Bonds points to the sky after cannoning another home run into McCovey Cove. After his team advances in the playoffs because the opponents’ kicker misses two field goals, Hines Ward, a wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers, insists, “God was on our side.” Dwight Howard, the No. 1 pick in last year’s National Basketball Association draft, proclaims that he wants to use his faith to “raise the name of God within the league and throughout the world.”

Hunting the big game
The very public testimony of faith by athletes is no accident. It is only the most visible manifestation of a broad evangelistic campaign tentacled through all of America’s favorite sports.

The network extends far beyond the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Athletes in Action. Virtually every sport comes attached with one or more non-profit Christian ministries, many with budgets in the millions of dollars. They flock to sports because that’s where the people are: The Super Bowl this Sunday is expected to attract more than 90 million television viewers — many of them children.

Faith on the field     Sports ministries The International Sports Coalition says it has identified more than 100 sports ministries around the world. Among them: Athletes in Action Baseball Chapel Christian Anglers Association Christian Cheerleaders of America Christian Deer Hunters Association Christian Sports International Christian Surfers Christian Wrestling Federation Extreme Sports Missions Fellowship of Christian Athletes Fellowship of Christian Cowboys Hockey Ministries International Hoops of Hope International Christian Tennis Association Kurt Warner First Things First Foundation LifeAthletes.org Motor Racing Outreach National Association of Christian Athletes Professional Athletes Outreach Racers for Christ Rodeo Ministries Sports Ministry Outreach TheGoal.com Source: MSNBC.com research

Norm Evans won two Super Bowls as an offensive lineman with the Miami Dolphins in the early 1970s. Today, he is president of Pro Athletes Outreach, a Christian sports ministry in Issaquah, Wash.

While Evans welcomes that opportunity to reach enormous numbers of people, he also wrestles with its implications, because the influence of a famous athlete can be powerfully out of proportion with reality.

“I remember this one little bitty kid — he couldn’t have been more than 5, 6 years old — came and he looked at me and he said, ‘Would you sign my hat?’” Evans said in an interview, recalling his playing days. “And this little guy was looking at me like I was God, and it chilled me.

“It chilled me because I realized I didn’t want him looking at me like that. He should be looking at God like that, for sure, or his dad.”

In sports, an open door
Sports authorities differ on how closely to embrace the marriage of athletics and the Almighty.

The NFL at times has taken steps to discourage overt religious expression, fining Jon Kitna, a quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals, for wearing a cap bearing a cross during interviews. But it also sponsored explicitly religious events in its lead-up to the Super Bowl, including a competition among gospel music groups.

MORE FROM U.S. NEWS

U.S. news Section Front

NYT: Hunger in U.S. at a 14-year high Girl in prostitution-kid case found dead   Ill. townsfolk lobby for Gitmo inmates   Security threats inside and out for 9/11 trial Facebook’s ‘unfriend’ is Word of the Year Gitmo detainees finally get day in court Arrest at Walmart triggers charges of racism   Woman to plead guilty in Smart case Mich. caseworkers fear for safety Court won't hear complaint about Redskins name U.S. news Section Front   Add U.S. news headlines to your news reader: