The National Football League has always loved to name football plays of significant importance to the history of the NFL. From “The Immaculate Reception” to ‘The Drive” to “Miracle In The Meadowlands” to “The Catch”, these famous plays of football become further immortalized in history and in many ways, become further entrenched (either positively or negatively) into the mind of the diehard NFL fan.
What made me think about those famous NFL plays (and later on spending time re-watching them on the “miracle” known as YouTube) was a post I read that linked to an article about a former NFL player name Herb Lusk who 30 years ago, became the first NFL player to kneel in the end zone and pray after scoring his second touchdown of the game.
An act that has now considered to be ‘common’ in professional sports.
On this football play, tailback Herb Lusk took a pitch from quarterback Ron Jaworski and headed around the side and ran 70 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown. After crossing the goal line at Giants Stadium, Lusk was alone in the end zone and celebrated that touchdown by kneeling down in the end zone and prayed to God with approximately 49,000 people watching from the stands. Seconds later, Lusk went to the Eagles sideline.
Even though his coach Dick Vermeil vividly remembers the play with the name “48 Toss”, Lusk sees the play as a blurred memory…..
There is a reason why????
Because to Lusk (now the pastor of Greater Exodus Baptist Church in Philadelphia), getting down on his knees to pray was a normal part of his everyday life. Normal not in a derogatory since of stagnation and complacency, but normal as in what you saw done in public that day was master in the quiet times of the private. The only difference this time around was that what was done in his private time at church or in his home transcended the line between private and public and was done in open public for the first time in American athletics.
Lusk showed us on that Sunday, Oct. 9, 1977, how to be supernaturally natural. He showed America how to be a normal natural human who was supernaturally imparted with an gift from God to play sports and to make a living at playing sports. He showed us the pinnacle of Christian character of being thankful but also celebration without pompous arrogance. No, he did not sign a football with a sharpie marker and give it to his agent. No, he did not hide a cellphone in the field goal post pad and retrieved it to make a phone call. No, he did not go to the home team’s logo and spiked the ball on it. Lusk simply kneeled down, gave thanks to God, and went about his normal everyday business powered by God. Lusk did not say ‘thanks to God’ to garner celebrity attention and play the ’spiritual smoothie’ game to have five paternity suits show up weeks later. He did what we are expected to do, perform the task at hand, celebrate the accomplishment, and move onward and forward to the next task.
In todays NFL, we are seeing more and more of Christianity coming out into the forefront. The lifestyle (may it never be a trend) became revived when we heard Kurt Warner’s ashes to glory story from being a grocery store stock boy to Super Bowl winning quarterback. Last year, we saw the hard work ethic of Tony Dungy who showed us that a Super Bowl can be coached and won without excessive cursing and demeaning screams.
Now after every game, we see players from both teams go out to the 50 yard line and form a circle to pray and give thanks.
In summary, “The First Prayer” may never make the ‘Best of NFL Films’ list along with “The Immaculate Reception”, “The Drive”, “Miracle In The Meadowlands”, “The Catch”, “Music City Miracle”, “The Ice Bowl”, “River City Relay”, and “The Heidi Game”. However, the most important thing to take away from this is that before the pre-game shows start at 11 AM and before the games kick off at 1 PM, take the time to go to church, say your prayers, and listen to and put into practice the Sunday sermon that came from the pulpit.
Where “The First Prayer” was an one time event that occurred thirty years ago, we can pray and give thanks everyday. Whether it is in the car going to and from work, in the privacy of your own home, or at a restaurant saying grace before meals giving thanks is something we need to do everyday with humility. After we finish, we should be like Lusk and then go back to the everyday world and go onward and forward to the next task at hand.
