One of the big questions during last year\u2019s National Football League playoffs was whether Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts and Lovie Smith of the Chicago Bears would make it to the final game.<\/p>\n\n
It was the stuff of headlines. After all, it would make history if two African-American head coaches reached the Super Bowl. However, both men went out of their way to stress that it was also symbolic that two devout Christians were poised to compete, as friends, on their sport\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI?m so happy for Lovie, who does things the right way, without cursing and shows that things can be done differently,\u201d said Dungy, in a pre-game report by Baptist Press. \u201cWe give God all the credit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Dungy and Smith talked the talk and tried to walk the walk, while armies of mainstream journalists responded by ignoring most of the Godtalk.<\/p>\n\n
Sportswriters never know quite what to do when athletes and coaches turn into preachers and evangelists. It\u2019s an old tension, one that been around since the birth of what historians call \u201cmuscular Christianity\u201d in mid-19th century Victorian England.<\/p>\n\n
Then, in the early 20th century, the \u201cflying Scotsman\u201d Eric Liddell proved that \u2014 with the right blend of skill and charisma \u2014 a superstar athlete could hold his own in the pulpit. The Olympic champion, whose story was later told in the Academy Award winning movie \u201cChariots of Fire,\u201d inspired legions of athletes to dare to be evangelists, especially in youth rallies organized by Athletes in Action, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and similar groups.<\/p>\n\n
So what are journalists supposed to do when gridiron giants start holding hands and forming prayer circles at midfield? It\u2019s one thing to point in thanksgiving toward heaven after a touchdown. Most journalists think it\u2019s something else to mention Jesus Christ a dozen times a minute on live television.<\/p>\n\n
Take, for example, Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow of Florida. The first words he uttered in his nervous acceptance speech was: \u201cI\u2019d just like to first start off by thanking my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who gave me the ability to play football.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
This quotation didn\u2019t appear in any mainstream news reports, wrote sportswriter Kathy Orton at WashingtonPost.com. Her \u201cOn Faith\u201d column ran with this blunt headline: \u201cTebow Talks God, Media Ignores Him.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
Orton noted that columnist Michael Wilbon offered this explanation for why journalists ignored Tebow\u2019s testimony.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cPeople are entitled to express their religious beliefs whenever and wherever,\u201d said Wilbon, known for his work with the Post and ESPN. \u201cBut a newspaper (or network) has an obligation to serve a community of people that have all kinds of religious beliefs. \u2026 There are times when we explore the relationship of competition and spirituality \u2026 but I know I\u2019m not going to be hijacked by those feelings, to let someone preach their beliefs when they\u2019re not important to what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
In other words, one person\u2019s bold \u201cevangelism\u201d is another\u2019s pushy \u201cproselytizing.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
There are also political implications lurking in the background, in an age in which recent U.S. elections \u2014 decided by razor-thin margins \u2014 have pivoted on moral and religious issues. Thus, it was controversial when the late Rev. Reggie White and other black superstars began speaking out on issues of marriage, family and sexuality. Dungy has made similar, but more graceful, remarks rejecting same-sex unions. <\/p>\n\n
Finally, any mixture of rhetoric and hypocrisy is sure to repel many sportswriters who study locker room realities year after year. After all, it was quarterback Michael Vick who \u2014 when facing jail time \u2014 suddenly announced that \u201cthrough this situation I found Jesus and asked him for forgiveness and turned my life over to God. \u2026 I will redeem myself. I have to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Nevertheless, Orton has decided that her colleagues need to realize that faith is a crucial element in many dramas and, thus, it\u2019s wrong to edit that out of the new. It\u2019s appropriate to ask an athlete like Tebow hard questions and then quote his answers.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve also seen plenty of athletes who say one thing and do another, and it\u2019s hard for me to be anything but skeptical,\u201d she said. \u201cMaybe that is why so many sportswriters shy away from writing about religion. Because the moment we do, it comes back to haunt us when that athlete is discovered to be less than a man (or woman) of God.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the big questions during last year\u2019s National Football League playoffs was whether Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts and Lovie Smith of the Chicago Bears would make it to the final game. It was the stuff of headlines. After all, it would make history if two African-American head coaches reached the Super Bowl. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[128,1534,577,601,716,821,872],"class_list":["post-1471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-black-conservatives","tag-evangelicals","tag-muscular-christianity","tag-nfl","tag-reggie-white","tag-sports","tag-tony-dungy"],"yoast_head":"\n