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makers 'finding Jesus' diminishes devotion of true Christian athletes
MONTREAL I had to roll my eyes when I heard Michael Vick say he had "found Jesus" last month after pleading guilty to his role in a disturbing dogfighting case in Richmond, Va.
"We all make mistakes," said the Atlanta Falcons quarterback, who is suspended from the National Football League and faces a maximum of five years in prison when he is sentenced on Dec. 10. "Dogfighting is a terrible thing and I reject it. . I found Jesus and turned my life over to God. I think that's the right thing to do as of right now."
I had to laugh on my drive home from work that night while listening to former Montreal Expo Bill (Spaceman) Lee on a sports radio station. When asked what he thought about Vick "finding Jesus," Lee responded: "I never knew he was missing."
It has become easy these days to scoff at pro athletes and other famous people who suddenly find Jesus after getting into legal trouble. (Paris Hilton claimed she found God while in jail this summer after being held for violation of probation in a drunkdriving case.) That's sad, because it takes something away from the true bornagain Christian athlete. Someone like former NHL player Ryan Walter.
Walter, who played 15 seasons in the NHL and was part of the Montreal Canadiens' Stanley Cup team in 1986, began his religious journey not after landing in legal trouble, but following a scary experience on an airplane as a member of the Washington Capitals in the early 1980s.
"We had an airplane over top of New York that dropped for three or four seconds," Walter, 49, recalled in a telephone interview. "It's funny, because on that airplane all the big guys and the social conveners who usually sit at the back of the plane thought we were going down and for the first time in their life they called out the name of Jesus. For the first time, probably in their life, it wasn't a swear word in the dressing room.
"I got off that plane thinking, 'Gee, is life all about goals and assists and winning Stanley Cups?' " Walter added. "If the plane goes down, can you really know that you're going to spend eternity with the creator? That really began my search for looking at the scripture and the new testament and just really trying to understand what is the spiritual dimension that I feel in my life."
A true Christianathlete was born . again.
During the 1989 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Montreal Gazette's Michael Farber (now with Sports Illustrated) wrote a column about Walter being the only Christian on the Canadiens.
"I've known (Walter) for 11 years," Rick Green, a teammate of Walter's on the Canadiens in 1989, told the Montreal Gazette, "and his religious beliefs give him a sense of security. After a game, he might just go off and pick up the Bible or make his (Bible) study notes. Some guys might be blasting till 3 or 4 in the morning, but Ryan has his ways. And it hasn't caused any trouble here."
In today's world of professional sports, there is no shortage of money and temptation . a dangerous mix that might make it difficult to stick to Christian values. But Walter doesn't buy that argument.
"I don't get this,[url=http://www.sport.fr/smartphones/moncler.asp]moncler pas cher[/url], 'it's tough to be a Christian in hockey,' " Walter said. "It's tough to be a Christian in World War II when you're pointing a gun at somebody. Those are the hard decisions.
"I thought that the game of hockey was a great place to grow and to really live out a faith. I'm thankful to the Canadiens for the environment they allowed me to grow up in."
So, what does Walter think about Vick finding Jesus?
"It's not an easy subject, this Michael Vick stuff," he said. "Obviously, he's a troubled individual. Oh, my goodness, I can't believe the things that he did to animals .
"When life hits us hard, sometimes it's the only time that we pause and look up," Walter added. "So I don't discount that this is maybe a time in his life where he would go: 'You know what, I've got to stop here and I need help.'
"On the other hand, I think people probably should roll their eyes. None of us are perfect, but until what we do matches up with what we say, is it real?"