Bob Howsam's Connection to the Broncos

I never knew this about the architect of the Big Red Machine, arguably the best team in National League history.

'Sports Illustrated' football writer Peter King's letter to NFL players

Read the whole thing.

Amid the Disgrace

There was this...

Moment of prayer goes viral after ugly Steelers-Bengals contest (Credit: @NickGrahamPhoto) https://t.co/VoYGxb48SM pic.twitter.com/04Opnp0iSU

— Dayton Daily News (@daytondailynews) January 14, 2016

I don't follow the NFL. Or the NBA, for that matter. I prefer the college versions of football and basketball.

But because the Bengals are in Cincy, where I lived for seventeen years, and because people around here are pretty much equally divided in their loyalties between the Bengals and the Steelers, I tuned into the last part of the fourth quarter.

It's sad that A.J. McCarron's leadership of an amazing fourth quarter comeback by Cincinnati was both marred and wasted by what happened shortly after I tuned in.

Nonetheless, the image of opposing players praying together to God after that madhouse, is encouraging.

The Golden Rule of the Internet?

Look, you don't have to be credulous or naive...in fact, you don't have to believe pro football player Golden Tate's denials of some of the sordid reports about him that have appeared on the Internet.

But his words in this article are right on in an era when gossip has gone viral and when a favorite hobby of many is to drag others down on the Internet, celebrities and even ordinary people whose only "crime" is that someone, for some reason, finds them mockable. (Think of the young woman that dozens of web wags thought had been caught on national TV stepping out during Ohio State's recent Sugar Bowl victory over Alabama. The video with scandalous inferences burned up the Internet. But very few people with whom I've spoken know that the inferences were wrong and the man whose head she had touched was not a side interest, but her boyfriend.)

Tate begins by writing of himself as pro player in the public eye:

You don’t know me.

Sure, by watching the NFL and playing fantasy football, you are aware of me as No. 15 on the Detroit Lions. You saw me win a Super Bowl last season with the Seattle Seahawks. You comment on my on-field celebrations and my perceived brashness. You frame what you think of me based on that, and how I perform, and what’s said and written about me by newspapers and magazines and blogs and talking heads. 

But you don’t know me, Golden Tate, the person. What I’m all about. You don’t know how much I care about my relationships with the fans and city in which I play.

Later, Tate suggests that people try to abide by the Golden Rule:

The false rumors about me served to open my eyes and sensitize me to what I read or hear in the media. Imagine, for a moment, walking in my shoes — having malicious and damaging accusations flying fast and furious, only you had no way of stemming the tide; no one person to call out and demand a retraction and an apology from. Now, imagine yourself squarely in the public eye, facing thousands of people lambasting you for something you didn’t say or do.

DeAngelo Williams was right. In the Internet era, stories like these live on — in search engines, in archives, and in the minds of fans watching the game. They will never fully go away, regardless of how I address them and how others debunk them. I actually learned something through all of this, it’s my Golden Rule, so to speak: “Treat others as you would like to be treated — especially on social media.”

Good idea! Read the whole thing.

In Martin Luther's Small Catechism, the Reformer explains the meaning of the Eighth Commandment, first given by God to the human race through Moses at Mount Sinai:

We should fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, or defame our neighbor, but defend him, [think and] speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything.

In other words, we human beings are called to strive to find to think and say the best about others whenever possible. 

Knowing that this is God's will for us should stop everyone in our tracks to confess our sins to God and turn to Him for the forgiveness and renewal He offers to us through Jesus Christ.

For Christians to know that this is God's will for us should motivate us, out of simple gratitude for Christ's cross and empty tomb and the grace that saves from sin and death all who believe in Christ, to ask God to help us always strive to "put the best construction on everything" done by our neighbors, whether they live next door, serve in the White House or Congress, or play in the NFL.

Tebow Jets Deal May Be a Disaster...But Not Because He's a Christian

Tim Tebow is going to the New York Jets.

There are legitimate questions about whether Tebow can be an effective quarterback in the NFL. It was because of those questions that the Denver Broncos were anxious to unload him once they had secured the services of Peyton Manning. The Jets' acquisition of Tebow may prove to be one of the all-time bonehead moves made by a National Football League team.

But the negative reactions of some sports journalists to the move seem to be go beyond legitimate questions about quarterback mechanics, leadership ability, the willingness to be a back-up, or Tebow's on-the-field potential.

For example, in this interview, New York Post sports writer Bart Hubboch raises legitimate concerns about how much help Tebow can provide to the Jets, the motives behind the trade, and the effect the Tebow acquisition may have on Jets starting QB Mark Sanchez.

It's when he's asked about Tebow's possible positive effect on the Jets locker room that Hubboch seems to lose his way.

By all accounts, Tebow is an upbeat and fiercely competitive "team" guy. Anyone who's seen the video of his half time rant to his Florida Gator teammates in the national championship game must concede that. And while we might rightly wonder if that sort of cheerleading is welcomed in pro locker rooms, the accounts that I read from the Broncos locker room this past season indicated that Tebow is a team guy. Period.

But Hubboch says he doesn't understand why Tebow would be regarded as a positive force in the locker room. OK, he says, "he's very religious, he's a virgin, and he's a model citizen."

Are these the kinds of things that people refer to when they applaud Tebow's positive locker room presence?

I do applaud Tebow's willingness to be overt about his faith in Christ and to put that faith in practice by doing things for fans that most players don't.

But that isn't what I would call being a positive force in the locker room. I don't think that most semi-knowledgeable sports fans would either.

To me, any athlete who is a positive force among teammates is someone who thinks team first, works hard, and is focused on winning. From what I know, Tebow fits that bill and you can never have enough people like that on your team (assuming they can play).

What Hubboch seems to be reacting to is Tebow's faith and his expressions of that faith.

Early in the interview he deplores the fact that Tebow will bring "divisiveness in the locker room and in the fan base." In part, Hubboch was referencing the "quarterback controversy" that may result from Tebow's mere presence in the locker room. His subsequent remarks make clear, however, that so far as he's concerned Tebow's overt discipleship doesn't suit his tastes.

Tim Tebow won't bring divisiveness to New York or to the Jets unless people like Bart Hubboch decide to reject Tebow simply because they don't like him for the manner in which he follows his Lord or professes his faith.

That would hardly be fair and I think it ought to be labeled for what it is: bigotry (intended or not).

The Jets' deal for Tim Tebow may prove to be a disaster. But if it proves to be so, it will be because Tim Tebow can't do on the field what the New York Jets need for him to do. It won't be because he's a Christian, a virgin, or a model citizen.

Real NFL Players Mentor the Detroit Lions

All in good fun, folks!



I loved the line, "It's so adorable."