More Important Than a Super Bowl Championship

    Do you mind if I brag on my Packers just a little bit? Not so much the fact that they just won their fourth Super Bowl and thirteenth world championship….(I believe the Bears have won one Super Bowl and nine championships :-). But I’m more proud of the team for some of the off-the-field conversations they have had and the character they have displayed.
    For example, Aaron Rodgers: I know some have been saying that they are tired of sportscasters making such a big deal over his ability and what he means to the Packers. But bear in mind, he’s a guy that was not recruited by any college out of high school, and did not receive a scholarship until he earned a starting position for Cal as a walk-on his Junior year. He says it only made him work harder and prepare better. Think about what he had to overcome in following Bret Favre and being in the spotlight amidst all that drama! But what I really love is his quiet testimony of faith. The team chose him to lead them in prayer before the Super Bowl. When asked during pre-game hype about his faith, he said, “As a Christian, I believe in taking the Gospel everywhere I go, and using words whenever necessary.”
    Then there’s Clay Matthews. His dad, also an NFL player, was his defensive coach in high school, who wouldn’t start Clay. “You’d think my dad would do me a favor. He didn’t. He made me sit on the bench.” He, too, had no college offers. He says now that it  taught him the narrow difference between those not quite good enough and those who stand out in their fields. He attributes it to inspiration and a “no-quit” attitude. I wish more Christians approached their ministries that way!
    Donald Driver spent part of his childhood on the streets as a homeless boy selling drugs to help his family pay for food. His grandmother took him in and introduced him to Christ. Today, he talks about the decision he had to make in those years to follow Jesus and in doing so, to get away from bad influences. Some of the kids he stopped hanging around with have since spent most of their adult lives in prison. Driver says he thanks God every day for rescuing him and giving him the life he has. He and his wife named their children: Christian and Christiana.

    Driver is a mentor to Greg Jennings. While Jennings is in every way the Packers #1 receiver, with twice the yards and three times the touchdowns than any other. After the Super Bowl, when talking about Driver’s injury in the second quarter, he said, “….when our #1 receiver went down….” I appreciate that rare example of humility from a professional athlete. Jennings looks up to Driver in many ways. The two are like brothers….as friends and fellow Christ-followers. Jennings is the son of a pastor and tries to live his faith out in life. When mic’d for for the NFL network’s FX, he could be heard shouting, “Glory to God, glory to God,” at the close of the game, even before he was aware that the world was watching and listening.
    Honestly, if these same guys played for the Bears, I’d still be proud of them!
    If they played for the Vikings? Well, it would be a little harder. :-)