Increasingly, Football's Playbooks Call for Prayer

New York Times ^ | October 30, 2005 | Joe Drape

[rhema]

Every preseason for 30 years, Coach Bobby Bowden has taken his Florida State football players to a church in a white community and a church in a black community in the Tallahassee area in an effort, he said, to build camaraderie. He writes to their parents in advance, explaining that the trips are voluntary, and that if they object, their sons can stay home without fear of retaliation. He remembers only one or two players ever skipping the outing.

Since becoming the football coach at Georgia in 2001, Mark Richt, too, has taken his team to churches in the preseason. A devotional service is conducted the night before each game, and a prayer service on game day. Both are voluntary, and Mr. Richt said he does not attend them.

On game days, Penn State players may choose between Catholic and Protestant services or not go at all. Coach Joe Paterno and the team say the Lord's Prayer in the locker room after games.

As in politics and culture in the United States, college football is increasingly becoming a more visible home for the Gospel. In the past year more than 2,000 college football coaches participated in events sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which said that more than 1.4 million athletes and coaches from youth to professional levels had attended in 2005, up from 500,000 in 1990.

Mr. Bowden believes that prayer and faith are part of the American way.

"Most parents want their boys to go to church," he said. "I've had atheists, Jews, Catholics and Muslims play for me, and I've never not started a boy because of his faith. I'm Christian, but all religions have some kind of commandments, and if kids would obey them, the world would be a better place."

[badpacifist]

With my seats I am close to God.

http://www.budlight.com/index.html?section=2,16

To listen enter fake birthday older than 21

[Old_Mil]

"I'm Christian, but all religions have some kind of commandments, and if kids would obey them, the world would be a better place."

Really. How enlightened of you.

[Iam1ru1-2]

"I'm Christian, but all religions have some kind of commandments, and if kids would obey them, the world would be a better place."

With the exception of Islam, which teaches that the infidels must be converted or killed. An Infidel to Muslims is anyone who is NOT a Muslim.

[Old_Mil]

My post was not a criticism of the linking of football and church, but rather an observation that the world is a better place if the believers in all religions follow their commandments more closely.

In fact, with the exception of Christianity and Judaism, the world tends to be a worse place - either for themselves individually or for others - when members of other faiths follow their commandments very closely.

[Timm]

That prayer is "increasingly" visible in public life can only be true if one looks in the shorter term. If one looks further back, prayer has receded considerably from public life.

If you ever have a chance to look back in detail at the records of the Apollo missions, for example, you'll be struck by the extent of the public prayer throughout those flights. Astronauts sometimes read Bible passages aloud to worldwide audiences. It's hard to see NASA being so unselfconsciously religious in its mission itineraries today.

For better or worse, then, these college programs seem better understood as hangers-on from a past, common practice, rather than a recent innovation.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Every preseason for 30 years, Coach Bobby Bowden has taken his Florida State football players to a church in a white community and a church in a black community in the Tallahassee area in an effort, he said, to build camaraderie.

Thou shalt not steal (shoes)...

[Eagle Eye]

That's a pretty cheap shot you took.

[MikeD]

college football is increasingly becoming a more visible home for the Gospel

Funny, Dean Smith used to mandate that his (basketball) players attend church. I guess things were different in the '60s....