Sports Spectrum Magazine - Winter 2020

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CONTENTS

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16 — Building Brotherhood

Members of the Boston Bruins launched a Bible study in 2015 which was open to anyone on the team, a rare occurrence in the NHL. It caught on, grew, and represented the Christcentered community many players longed for. Now, those who have moved on via trade or free agency aim to establish similar fellowship in their new cities.

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21 — Totally New Concept

As a Bible study among Bruins teammates took off in Boston, the wives and girlfriends of those men thought, “What about us?” So they launched a women’s group, which, like the men’s, could potentially lead to other women’s studies around the NHL as players and families switch teams and cities. .

Web site: www.sportsspectrum.com/magazine/ Phone: 1-866-821-2971 Mail: 640 Plaza Drive, Suite 110, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 Email: support@sportsspectrum.com General correspondence, Letter to the Editor, or Writer’s Query No unsolicited manuscripts, please E-mail: support@sportsspectrum.com

24 — Dream Chasers

When Trey, Terrell and Tremaine Edmunds all played in the same game last year, it marked the first time in more than 90 years (and only second time ever) that three brothers shared an NFL field. The journey to get there was a testament to the family’s faith in each other and in God.

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28 — Grace All The Way

Brandon Carlo (AP Photo/Winslow Townson) David Backes (Photo by John Cordes/ NHLI via Getty), Adam McQuaid (Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI viaGetty)

Chiefs running backs coach Deland McCullough often wondered about his biological parents, but was unable to gain access to adoption records. When a state law changed, he found his birth mother, who revealed McCullough’s biological father — a mentor and coach he’d known much of his life.

“Heart of a Coach” and “Heart of an Athlete” are registered trademarks of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and used with permission.

PUBLISHER Sports Spectrum Media

32 — Breaking Shackles

PRESIDENT Steve Stenstrom

VP OF MINISTRY OPERATIONS Howard Haworth MANAGING EDITOR Jon Ackerman, jon@sportsspectrum.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Aaron Dean Sauer, aaron@sportsspectrum.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Becky York PODCAST HOST/PRODUCER Jason Romano CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Cole Claybourn, Kevin Mercer, Jimmy Page, Joshua Pease, Reza Zadeh CONTRIBUTING DESIGNER Lauren Atherton BUSINESS OPERATIONS Jacob House, Tricia Hudson COPY EDITOR Lori Stenstrom

Sports Spectrum Global is a multimedia ministry with the purpose to impact people by connecting faith and sports in a relevant way, ultimately directing people, with resources for discipleship, toward a personal, loving God who demands Christ-centered lives. Printed in USA. Copyright © 2020 by Sports Spectrum Media. Bible quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

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DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Rick Wright

Earlier this year, ESPN reporter Lauren Sisler felt God calling her to proclaim her faith. So she began sharing her story, detailing how, as a teenager, she lost both of her parents to prescription drug overdoses. Now, she wants to help others break the shackles of shame.

36 — Purpose Driven

Travis Hudson has survived cancer and a heart attack, and once steered a team bus to safety when the driver suffered a heart attack. The legendary Western Kentucky volleyball coach knows God didn’t spare his life to win games, but to invest in young student-athletes.

40 — Water Works

When the Greene family was struck by the massive need for clean water in various parts of the world, they found their family’s new mission. Soon thereafter, George and Molly Greene founded Water Mission, which now provides clean water to millions of people annually, with significant help from generous pro athletes.

45 — The Increase Devotionals Messages from professional athletes and team chaplains.

62 — The Pursuit: One Word To Change Your Life

By Jimmy Page

63 — Victory Beyond Competition: The Most Expensive Free Gift By Reza Zadeh + PLUS

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for current news and updates!

4 - By the Numbers | 6 - Around the Spectrum | 8 - SportsSpectrum.com 10 - Holiday Gift Guide | 12 - Heart of an Athlete & Coach | 64 - Gospel Message AP Photo/Charles Krupa

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BY THE NUMBERS Passing yards for Mississippi State’s K.J. Costello on Sept.

26 against defendingchampion LSU, an SEC record.

Postseason home runs for Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena, an MLB record. The rookie outfielder hit .377 in 20 playoff games, with 19 runs and 14 RBIs.

AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann, Gail Burton, Gerald Herbert, Matt Gentry, Ashley Landis,

Touchdown passes for Patrick Mahomes in his first 40 NFL games, the quickest a QB has reached the century mark.

Wins in Lamar Jackson’s first 30 NFL starts, which tied Dan Marino for the best start by a quarterback since 1966.

Years in the FBS, college football’s top level, and Liberty reached the top 25.

A Nov. 7 win over Virginia Tech put the evangelical school in both top-25 polls for the first time ever.

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22 2O 11 4 72 Consecutive wins in the WNBA Finals for the Seattle Storm, which swept the Las Vegas Aces in the 2020 WNBA Finals. Seattle hasn’t lost a Finals game since the franchise’s first appearance in 2004.

Career Grand Slam singles titles for Rafael Nadal, who defeated Novak Djokovic to win the 2020 French Open, tying him with Roger Federer for the most men’s titles all-time.

Age of Naomi Osaka when she won the 2020 U.S. Open, her third major title. Four other active women’s players have three or more majors, and each is in their 30s.

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, Chris O’Meara, Michel Euler, Seth Wenig

Number of games for each NBA team in the 2020-21 season, down from the typical 82 games each. The new season is slated to begin Dec. 22.

NBA titles in 17 seasons for LeBron James, after the Lakers defeated the Heat for the 2020 trophy. For those comparing him to Michael Jordan, “His Airness” collected six rings in 15 seasons.

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NBA FINALS After eight straight division titles and appearances in three of the past four World Series, the L.A. Dodgers finally snapped their championship drought. They won their first World Series since 1988, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays in six games. It concluded a pandemic-shortened 60game regular season and a World Series held at a neutral stadium, Globe Life Field in Arlington. Shortstop Corey Seager was unanimously voted the series MVP, Dave Roberts won a championship in just his fifth season as a manager, and pitcher Clayton Kershaw silenced those who doubted his postseason abilities with two wins and a 2.31 ERA in the series.

AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, Mark J. Terrill, Chris O’Meara

WORLD SERIES

Two weeks prior to the Dodgers claiming a championship, their NBA neighbors ended a less-lengthy drought. The Lakers defeated Miami in the NBA Finals for their first title since 2010, the franchise’s 17th championship overall. Thirty-five-year-old superstar LeBron James averaged 29.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists in the series, and became the first player to be named Finals MVP for three different teams. Capping a successful “bubble” experiment with the league playing all games in Orlando, the season ended Oct. 11. Little rest for the weary: The 2020-21 season is slated to start Dec. 22.

WNBA FINALS

In the WNBA bubble, the Seattle Storm swept the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA Finals for their second championship in three seasons, and fourth title overall. Same for legendary guard Sue Bird, who turned 40 a week after the title and has been with Seattle since it drafted her No. 1 overall in the 2002 draft.

Fourteen years later, the Storm again held the No. 1 pick and took Breanna Stewart, who set a WNBA record by scoring 20-plus points in six straight Finals games. She was named Finals MVP, the fifth player to win the award at least twice.

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STANLEY CUP FINALS

The first of the four major North American pro sports leagues to crown a champion since the start of the pandemic was the NHL, and the Stanley Cup went to the Tampa Bay Lightning. They claimed the franchise’s second championship by defeating Dallas in six games, as Brayden Point scored a playoff-best 14 goals but defenseman Victor Hedman won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. The championship mended some of the wounds left from Tampa’s first-round exit last year, when it tied the NHL singleseason wins record and won the Presidents’ Trophy, but was promptly swept by Columbus in the playoffs.

FEDEX CUP AP Photo/John Bazemore

Dustin Johnson won his first FedEx Cup, securing the biggest prize in golf ($15 million) with his three-shot victory in the seasonending Tour Championship. He became the first No. 1 seed at the final event to win the FedEx Cup since Tiger Woods in 2009, and it went down as his 23rd career PGA Tour win. Johnson’s 22nd career win came two weeks earlier at The Northern Trust, which he won by 11 strokes, the largest margin of victory since 2006 on the PGA Tour. His 30-under 254 made him just the third player in Tour history to finish at 30 under or better.

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ATHLETES UNLIMITED

Softball legend Cat Osterman came out of retirement to make a run at the 2020 Olympics once her sport was voted back into the Games, but that plan got postponed by a year. So Osterman, along with numerous other Team USA players, joined the upstart and innovative Athletes Unlimited softball league. It was a fiveweek tournament in which 56 players were ranked and drafted each week, as they earned points for their performances in games.

With 95 strikeouts and a 1.53 ERA, the 37-year-old Osterman (who appeared on the Sports Spectrum Podcast in May) was crowned as the inaugural champion.

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.COM

COLTS’ DEFOREST BUCKNER GETS BAPTIZED: ‘TODAY I SURRENDERED MY WHOLE SELF TO JESUS’

BY JON ACKERMAN, POSTED OCT 20, 2020

Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

SEEKING

to improve a defense that ranked 23rd in passing yards allowed last year, the Indianapolis Colts made a big offseason move in March by trading their first-round pick (No. 13 overall) to the San Francisco 49ers for defensive lineman DeForest Buckner. The Colts further showed their esteem for Buckner by immediately signing him to a fouryear contract extension that made him one of the NFL’s highestpaid defensive linemen.

The move appears to be paying off for the Colts. Through six games, Buckner leads the team with 13 QB hits (he had 14 all of last season) and four tackles for loss — including 2.5 sacks, one of which went for a safety in Week 2 against the Vikings.

Buckner’s pressure on quarterbacks has helped the Colts defense to move from 23rd in passing yards allowed to first; they’ve given up just 199.7 passing yards a game through six weeks. And the D ranks third in the NFL in total yards allowed (288.0), a category in which it finished 16th last year.

His best game as a Colt may have come on Oct. 18, when he posted five tackles, four QB hits and a sack as the Colts moved to 4-2 with a win over Cincinnati. They found themselves down 21-0 early in the second quarter before battling back for a 3127 victory.

On Monday, Oct. 19, Buckner’s great week continued. He was baptized at church as his wife Ashlyn, their young son Dominic, and some Colts teammates watched.

“Today I surrendered my whole self to Jesus and chose to trust Him with my life whole heartedly,” Buckner wrote on Instagram.

“My walk with Christ is only beginning and I am grateful for the support surrounding my journey of Faith.”

Buckner also included the verse Titus 3:5, which says, “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”

Buckner talked about his faith with Sports Spectrum prior to Super Bowl LIV in February. He said his wife, whom he married in 2018, has been influential in his walk.

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“One person that really helped me connect with my faith even more was my wife (Ashlyn),” Buckner said. “She really helped me connect with my faith a lot more.”

Ultimately, Buckner gave God the glory for where he’s at in his journey.

“You’ve got to put God first, man,” Buckner said. “Without Him, without His plan for me, I wouldn’t be here where I am today. I truly believe that. … Every day I give thanks because all my talent, all the things I’ve done in my life, all the glory goes to Him.” At 6-foot-7 and 300 pounds, Buckner was a big reason San Francisco rode its defense to Super Bowl LIV. He put up 7.5 sacks and 62 total tackles last season, one year after a Pro Bowl season in 2018 featuring 12.0 sacks and 67 total tackles. He compiled 28.5 sacks in four years with the 49ers before the trade.

Buckner looks to build on that on-field success as he continues to grow in his relationship with the Lord.

To read the entire story, search “Buckner” on SportsSpectrum.com.

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HEART OF AN ATHLETE

HEART ATHLETE

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven.”

OF AN

— Matthew 5:16

HIGH SCHOOL

TAYLOR SPENCER

HOW HAS YOUR FAITH IMPACTED THE WAY YOU PLAY YOUR SPORT? Faith is a big aspect in my life. Since I have always been very hard on myself — if I don’t have a good race or I don’t compete well in basketball — my faith helps me to realize that I’ve been blessed with a God-given ability, and if I do my best I’m glorifying Him. Because of my faith I can say that whatever happens is what God wants to happen. And as I hear other people’s stories about how God has helped them to realize their gifts and how they use them for His glory, it gives me confidence about how God can use me.

HOW HAS YOUR FAITH BEEN CHALLENGED THROUGH SPORTS? Sports are my favorite thing in the world. Recently, I had a bad race and I was really hard on myself. I was wondering, “Why is this happening to me now? Why did God let this happen?” I had been training so hard but I did not get the results I had hoped for. Then I started reading my Bible and I felt like God was telling me that I needed to rest. It was as if He was saying, “You need to spiritually and physically rest because you’re draining yourself.” It helped me realize I don’t have to push myself so hard, always going 100 miles per hour, even when it comes to reading God’s Word.

Even though rest is the hardest thing for me, I want to take my time and hear what God has to say.

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WAYNESFIELD-GOSHEN - WAYNESFIELD, OH

HOW HAS YOUR FAMILY BEEN AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO YOU? My mom and dad have always been encouraging me to stay close to God. My dad introduced me to reading the Bible more last year. And ever since, I’ve been reading the Bible every day. It’s been almost a year now and as a result, I’ve grown to understand God more — not just about who He was as a physical being, but how He helps people spiritually. I know if Jesus can go through the pain on a cross, I can finish a difficult race.

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Photos courtesy of Taylor Spencer

Taylor Spencer is a sophomore three-sport athlete — cross country, basketball and track and field — at Waynesfield-Goshen High School in Waynesfield, Ohio. As a freshman, she finished sixth out of 180 runners at the Ohio Division III State Cross Country Championships and earned AllOhio honors. She finished first in several other larger invitationals throughout the season as well. She also earned a varsity letter in basketball as a freshman, and was having a successful track and field season as well before spring sports were canceled due to COVID.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE VERSE AND WHY? Matthew 5:16 talks about shining your light and using the gifts you’ve been given to glorify God, as well as help others glorify Him. I believe if we all use the different gifts we‘ve been given, the world will be an even more diverse and beautiful place.

HEART OF A COACH

HEART COACH OF A

HIGH SCHOOL

CINDY NORDLUND

“I pray that out of His glorious riches He may s trengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” — Ephesians 3:16-17 HOW DOES YOUR FAITH IN CHRIST IMPACT HOW YOU COACH? One of the things my faith has changed is the foundation of how I see people — I want to see them the way Christ sees them. Likewise, my goal for kids is to help them understand who God is, and then also to help them see themselves as God sees them. To do this, I try to lead with respect. We had 24 girls on the team last year and they’re all at different places with different goals. In 2017, I had the state champion on my team, and then I have girls on the team who have never played before. There’s a big range of personal goals, but the overarching goal is for them to understand who they are in Christ and that their identity comes from Him. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FOR HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES TODAY? Each culture has a unique way of looking at the world.

Our cultural grid impacts how we see ourselves. In our culture, I see these kids struggling with who they are supposed to be. There is so much anxiety for kids today. As a psychologist and a coach, I see a lot of danger in this. I try to help them gain the sense of identity as something that has been given to them by Christ instead of being something that they achieve.

On my team, I see 24 people who are made in the image of God. Helping them see that in themselves and in each other is really important.

Photos courtesy of Cindy Nordlund

WHY DO YOU LOVE TO COACH? I love tennis; I’m still playing tennis. I also love high schoolers and kids. I work a lot with adolescents in my profession. Coaching them is just another opportunity to be in relationship with them, in a sport that I love.

It’s at a Christian school so I have the freedom to bring Christ into it and impact them in that way.

Cindy Nordlund is the women’s tennis coach at Westside Christian High School in Tigard, Oregon, as well as a clinical psychologist. Nordlund became a Christfollower at a tennis academy she was attending during her sophomore year of high school. Today, she looks to encourage young athletes to pursue Christ through their sport. www.sportsspectrum.com

please email us at heart@sportsspectrum.com.

HOW DO YOU ENCOURAGE CHRISTLIKE LEADERSHIP ON YOUR TEAM? I encourage the girls on the team to lead devos, teaching and sharing with the rest of the team. It’s important because each one of these players is made in the image of God, and each brings something to the table that the rest of us don’t have. I choose people who have leadership qualities in speaking and sharing to give them opportunities to use their giftings. And then in others, I see Christ in them when they’re serving; they are more likely to step in and help. For these girls, I try to verbally thank them in front of the team and encourage them in their gift.

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HEART OF AN ATHLETE

HEART ATHLETE

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”— Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)

OF AN

COLLEGE

CASON SUGGS

WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO GO TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI? It seemed like God was directing me toward Mizzou.

My faith was new, but it was strong. Even though this was a completely different sport and environment than basketball, I could feel God guiding me a certain way. I don’t think God always tells us we have to do something, but He makes it pretty obvious what the best situation would be. My identity was very wrapped up in basketball, so much so I didn’t really know who I was outside of that. God was beginning to open me up to so much more. It was a huge transitional time for me, both spiritually and athletically.

HOW DID YOUR FAITH IN GOD BEGIN? I grew up in a Christian household, so I always kind of knew God. I went to church every Sunday unless I had a game. But like most church kids, I had a lot of questions and not a lot of answers. I wanted to know why I wasn’t supposed to do certain things. I needed something deeper. In early high school, I drifted off but quickly found out that wasn’t the way I wanted to go. During that process it felt like the only thing that was consistent in my life was God, so I gave [my faith] one more shot.

Cason Suggs is a junior track and field runner at the University of Missouri, and his main event is the 400m. Growing up in St. Louis, Cason’s favorite sport was basketball. He didn’t begin running track and field until his senior year of high school, but when his teammates saw the success he was having as a runner, he found himself joining a few of them to compete at Missouri — not on the court as he expected, but on the track.

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CASON SUGGS - UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE VERSE AND WHY? Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (KJV). When things weren’t going well in my collegiate career and then when our last season was canceled because of COVID, I thought, “How can I find God in this?” The reason I have some sort of fight to do anything is because of my faith. It’s the substance of things hoped for. The reason I believed in God in the first place is because I saw Christians who looked so happy. I knew that had to mean something. That was evidence to me. I hope my faith is evidence to someone else that this is real.

Photo courtesy of Cason Suggs

HOW DID GOD REVEAL HIMSELF TO YOU? My seasons haven’t been going as well as I wanted them. But at every step, when you think I’d be broken, I was lifted. I had high hopes, but I wasn’t winning any races and I was very down about it. But somehow, some way, I was pointed back to God and He lifted my spirits so much. It’s in the low moments that you really see God.

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HEART OF A COACH

HEART COACH

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” — Psalm 23:1

OF A

COLLEGE

DAVID CASTLES

HOW CHALLENGING WAS IT TO GIVE UP COMPETING? After my concussion in 2019, I couldn’t walk for a couple of weeks. I was stumbling all over the place and couldn’t go to class. That’s when the team doctor shut me down.

I had been playing football since I was in second grade — it’s what I played every fall and trained for every spring and summer. Having that taken away was really hard, but I grew so much closer to God through the process. Yes, I miss playing and would do anything to get back on the field, but I also wouldn’t trade the lessons God has taught me through my injury.

HOW HAS YOUR TRANSITION TO COACHING IMPACTED YOUR FAITH? It’s gut-wrenching to not be able to play, but I know that the God I see in the Bible — the God who turned a killer into an apostle — is the same God who is in control of my life today. When I have my faith in the Lord, I can miss two college football seasons and know that God is using it for His purpose. If He is growing me closer to Him and trimming off the fat of loving the world, it’s worth it.

Now I get to stay with my people and help freshmen adjust to the playbooks and what college football life is like. Coaching isn’t what I wanted to do, but I’m happy to do it. You’re unbreakable when your faith is unshakeable.

Photo courtesy of David Castles

WHAT DO YOU HOPE YOUR TEAM REMEMBERS ABOUT YOU? I hope the legacy I leave is that I point them to Christ and reflect Him in all I do. When the current freshmen talk to the freshmen in four years, I hope they say, “Man, Castles helped me develop my faith and point me on the right track.” I hope they say, “Castles worked his butt off every day and loved everyone.”

David Castles is in his senior year at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, where he currently coaches the football team he formerly competed with. Castles played two years on the offensive line, helping the team to win the 2018 national championship, but he suffered a careerending concussion during the following fall training camp. Since then, Castles decided to continue with his team, returning as a coach to younger players. www.sportsspectrum.com

please email us at heart@sportsspectrum.com.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE VERSE? Psalm 23 — this is a passage I hang onto. When I was playing, I would read it about six times before every game and it would give me comfort. It’s the perfect analogy for sports. When you mess up in a play, you’re not going to have the best day, but you know God is going to pull you through. It’s about listening to that voice of truth and knowing you’re a child of God. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT COACHING? You can never go on cruise control in either sports or Christianity. In sports, as soon as you do, you lose a game, lose your spot, or screw up. The same is true in Christianity.

You can’t rely on the fact that you went to church camp last week. The Christian life is about taking up your cross daily and attacking every day. I’m going to attack each day like I did when I was competing and like I do when I’m coaching. It’s the same mantra, just in a different capacity.

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DAVID CASTLES - UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR

AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

Brandon Carlo Adam McQuaid

David Backes

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AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

BUILDING

Brotherhood Members of the Boston Bruins

launched a Bible study in 2015 which was open to anyone on the team, a rare occurrence in the NHL. It caught on, grew, and represented the Christ-centered community many players longed for. Now, those who have moved on via trade or free agency aim to establish similar fellowship in their new cities.

BY JOSHUA PEASE

randon Carlo never thought it would happen so fast. When he signed a three-year entrylevel contract with the Boston Bruins in 2015, he assumed he’d spend at least a year or two in the minors. Instead, six weeks before his 20th birthday, Carlo started opening night as a defenseman for a Bruins team that would end up making the playoffs for the first time in three years.

AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

www.sportsspectrum.com

Carlo quickly realized that achieving a goal he’d dreamed about since he was 5 years old — playing for an NHL team — was more complicated than he’d thought. Athletes are hesitant to talk about the pressure they face; they know they’re paid ludicrous amounts of money, and that they’re incredibly fortunate. But the dizzying amounts of expectation placed on young professional athletes is hard for anyone outside pro sports to understand, especially in a notoriously cutthroat sports market like Boston, which can turn on its most beloved athletes in a heartbeat.

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In a 2015 article in the Boston Globe, Adam McQuaid, a Bruins defenseman at the time, opened up about his journey of being more public with his Christian faith, and how stand-offish or directly hostile the hockey world can be to religion. The article caught the attention of leaders at Hockey Ministries International (HMI), who told McQuaid they’d long wanted to start a chapel with the Bruins, but never had a good point of contact.

“We had a chapel [when I was playing] in the minor league in Providence and that was the first time I’d even heard of having a chapel in sports,” McQuaid recalls. “There were quite a few guys that went, and it just was something that I missed when I moved up to play in the NHL. So when HMI reached out to me I jumped on board.”

Starting bottom left: Torey Krug, David Backes, Chris Wagner, Charlie McAvoy, Danton Heinen, Ryan Donato, Anders Bjork, Brandon Carlo, Dave Ripper, Kevan Miller

“It’s the ability to just check in with each other, to know the intimate parts or struggles that are going on outside the ice — personal family issues, an illness in the family, other things that are going on that without that setting, without that openness and that safe space, you don’t get to share those things.” — DAVID BACKES

McQuaid contacted the pastor of his church, David Ripper, and together the two of them waded into unfamiliar waters: McQuaid actively reaching out to his teammates, and Ripper going behind the scenes of a professional sports environment for the first time.

“I remember the first time I did chapel,” says Ripper, lead pastor of Crossway Christian Church in New Hampshire. “The Bruins used to be at this really rinky-dink, old practice facility … and it’s like, I have to knock on this back door. And this big and burly security guard kinda looks at me like, ‘Who the heck are you?’ And I said, ‘I’m here to be with McQuaid,’ and he says ‘Yeah, you’re on the list.’

AP Photo/Paul Vernon

“[Making an NHL team] is something that you think would be the most fulfilling thing that you could possibly achieve,” Carlo recently told Sports Spectrum. “And then when you get there, it is fantastic, and it’s such a blessing, but it’s not as fulfilling as you thought it would be. There’s a lot of days where you’re grinding and you’re having a tough time, and things aren’t going your way.

And it’s like, ‘What do you have to lean on?’”

Moments like this are crucial turning points for many young, successful athletes.

Some crumble under the pressure, while others let their ascendant fame go to their heads. Carlo, however, just so happened to play on one of the only NHL teams with a thriving Bible study. Outspoken Christian faith is still rare in NHL team cultures, and yet the Boston Bruins have quietly had Bible studies where 10-12 players regularly attend.

And when members of this Bible study are traded to other teams, they bring with them a passion not just for hockey, but to replicate this fellowship in their new city.

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AP Photo/Paul Vernon

“There’s a lot of loneliness and isolation [among professional athletes], and I really hope that these players will be able to take what God has done here with them, if they go elsewhere, to be able to bring this to their next teams.”

— PASTOR DAVE RIPPER

“I walk in and it’s all these big dudes skating around, and I’m just like, ‘What in the world am I doing here?’ And I felt God just telling me, ‘Dave, just so you know, it’s not gonna be about you.’”

The first year of the chapel consisted of just McQuaid and Ripper, and maybe one or two other players who would occasionally attend. Then, the following year, forward David Backes signed as a free agent with Boston.

One of the first things Backes wanted to do when he moved to town was meet up with McQuaid. In Backes’ previous three years with the St. Louis Blues, he’d tried to get a chapel program up and running, but it was always sparsely attended. Now that he had signed a five-year deal with the Bruins, Backes dreamed of something better.

Ripper said that Backes joining was the catalyst for the group’s growth, calling Backes “one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around.”

“It started with McQuaid and [Boston defenseman Kevan Miller], and myself,” Backes says. “And then all of a sudden it was like … next thing you know it’s eight to 10 guys at breakfast with a couple coming in and out based on whether they had treatment that morning; one of the trainers was getting involved. So it was just one of those things that I wanted to [pursue] ... I was being intentional with trying to make an impact in the Kingdom while I had this new group of men to influence with Adam’s and Kevan’s assistance.”

Ripper focused on creating a safe environment where a bunch of high-achieving, competitive athletes could let down their guard and be honest about their struggles. Many meetings would happen over breakfast, where Ripper would cut past superficialities and routinely ask players, “How’s your soul?” Ripper is quick to say there was no magic formula to the Bible study’s success, certainly not any brilliance on his part. Rather, he feels like God placed him in the right place, at the right time.

“[These players] are no different than anyone else,” he says. “Some of them will make more money in one www.sportsspectrum.com

season than I’ll make in a lifetime, but they’re not any happier … and I think there was a solidarity that was found amidst that. There’s a human hunger that we all have for that type of connectivity, and I think I was fortunate enough to be blessed to be in the role to help facilitate how the Lord wanted to build a solidarity amongst the guys. And I think that’s why more players joined, because they saw this connection that some of the players share together that was something more profound than even the best connection you can have on the ice.”

McQuaid also notes there wasn’t a magic formula.

While he is quick to compliment Ripper’s job, he also says there was an influx of players to the team who kept showing interest in the chapel. “It wasn’t anything any one of us was doing,” McQuaid says, “it just grew.”

And as it grew, the players noticed how it improved team chemistry on the ice. McQuaid says that every team he has played for wants players to have characteristics that mesh with what it means to be a follower of Jesus, and having a chapel program only helps facilitate that. Backes believes the trust and camaraderie a Bible study builds is absolutely integral to how a player performs on the ice, and with his teammates. He acknowledges it’s easy for locker rooms to become very competitive places, where players are always wondering if someone is out to get their job, or has an angle they’re playing in their interactions with other players. But the trust built in the Bible study created a safe space to both love and challenge each other, on and off the ice.

“It’s the ability to just check in with each other, to know the intimate parts or struggles that are going on outside the ice — personal family issues, an illness in the family, other things that are going on that without that setting, without that openness and that safe space, you don’t get to share those things,” Backes says. “To me, that’s such a great bond builder that does translate on the ice, but gives you some real familial relationships, especially when you’re in a town that’s 1,500 miles away from your blood family. So to me, that sort of impact on your day-to-day life and your professional life shows up, I SPORTS SPECTRUM

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AP Photo/Alex Gallardo

think, in the success that that group has because they’re willing to be open.

“There are times maybe during the game where you see that a guy, I don’t wanna say ‘checked out,’ but maybe is not as focused on the game, but you know what’s going on in his life. And you go wrap your arm around him and be like, ‘Hey, I know you got that going on, if you can just focus for another half hour or one more period, let’s grab a drink after and we can talk about it.’”

As the Bible study continued, it caught the attention of the Boston Globe and Christian media outlets. By year three of the group’s existence, the Bruins had officially established the most dynamic gathering of Christ-following players of any NHL team. When a member of HMI heard what was happening, he told Ripper, “You need to enjoy this, ‘cause this has never happened before, and it probably won’t last.”

The Bruins Bible study was able to last, in a way, throughout COVID. While players moved back to their homes to ride out the NHL’s shutdown, the study continued to meet over Zoom, helping players stay connected and engaged with God even in the middle of isolation. But

“You wanna do the right things, especially as a young guy looking up to these older guys. But right away, I felt very comfortable just being who I was … It was great to have that group to be able to go to.” — BRANDON CARLO the life of a professional athlete means rarely having deep roots in one place, and over time many of the players at the core of the Bruins’ Bible study moved on.

After nine years with the Bruins, McQuaid was traded to the New York Rangers heading into the 2018-2019 campaign, and ended that season with the Columbus Blue Jackets after another trade. He speculates that his hockey career might be at an end, though he isn’t closing that door yet.

This past February, Backes was traded to the Anaheim Ducks. And in October, defenseman Torey Krug, a regular Bible study member, signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Blues. While the relationships these players built with each other continues, the tight-knit community of believers that was formed has fundamentally changed.

When asked about whether they’ll try to keep Zoom Bible study meetings going, Backes says that might happen every once in a while, but that’s not what he’s focused on.

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similar connections in Anaheim with a few guys that I have identified as going to a chapel regularly there,” Backes says. “So I’m trying to build those same bonds on a new team.”

This is Ripper’s vision of the future as well. While the Bruins’ group will continue going strong, he hopes that the players in their community who experienced something special and then moved on to other teams will take that vision with them.

“There’s an old Frederick Buechner line that says that people might not remember what you say, they might not remember what you did, but they will remember how you made them feel. ... And I wanted to create an environment for these players to feel known and loved by God as best as possible,” Ripper says. “There’s a lot of loneliness and isolation [among professional athletes], and I really hope that these players will be able to take what God has done here with them, if they go elsewhere, to be able to bring this to their next teams.”

The hope being that more NHL players will get to experience a safe place to cement their faith as a Christian athlete.

“I mean, when you’re coming into the league as a rookie, it can be difficult at times to be completely yourself,” Carlo says. “You wanna fit in, you wanna do the right things, especially as a young guy looking up to these older guys. But right away, I felt very comfortable just being who I was … It was great to have that group to be able to go to, and I would say after the first season, I felt completely comfortable.”

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TOTALLY

New Concept Stephanie McQuaid (top-center) and Kelly Backes (bottom-center) with their Bible study group on a Zoom call.

wives and girlfriends

Photos courtesy of Kelly Backes and Stephanie McQuaid

As a Bible study among Bruins teammates took off in Boston, the of those men thought, “What about us?” So they launched a women’s group, which, like the men’s, could potentially lead to other women’s studies around the NHL as players and families switch teams and cities.

BY JON ACKERMAN

“There are so many things that connect us, whether it’s being mothers or having husbands that are playing or were active athletes. But [it’s great to] just to dive deeper and connect with one another and continue to grow that vertical relationship.”

— KELLY BACKES “Girls have opened up about what they’re going through personally or what’s going on in their family, bringing forth prayer requests. The fact that we’re able to pray for one another and follow up on those things, I think it’s just deepened a lot of relationships.” www.sportsspectrum.com — STEPHANIE MCQUAID

Kelly Backes first learned of women’s fellowship in the pro sports world in the spring of 2015, when her husband, NHL forward David Backes, played for the St. Louis Blues. She was invited to the home of Leslee Holliday, wife of then-St. Louis Cardinals star Matt Holliday, for a women’s Bible study. Holliday had invited Cardinals wives and girlfriends, as well as significant others from the Rams (the NFL franchise was still in town) and Blues.

“We would go to her home and we would meet, which was kind of my first taste of a women’s study with the commonality of the sports world,” Backes recalled recently. “Then landing in Boston (where David signed as a free agent in 2016), we didn’t have that until the guys started getting it going.”

“The guys” were her husband and other Bruins who met as one of the few, if not only, Christian fellowship communities in the NHL (see page 16). David was thrilled to join a men’s Bible study group with his teammates, and soon, the wives and girlfriends of those men desired something similar.

“Several of our husbands and boyfriends were doing [a group], but it was kind of like, ‘Why haven’t we?’” Kelly said.

The wheels on a women’s group started moving in the SPORTS SPECTRUM

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Kaitlyn Acciari, Stephanie McQuaid and Kelly Backes

summer of 2019. Stephanie McQuaid and her husband, NHL player Adam McQuaid, attended a conference hosted

by Pro Athletes Outreach (PAO). The event was shaped for NHL couples, aimed at creating a Christ-following community in a league where faith isn’t often at the forefront.

At the conference, the McQuaids met former NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and his wife, Sarah, who had long been a part of the PAO community.

They desired to share with NHL couples about the fellowship that had long existed in the NFL (PAO was founded in 1971 by NFL players), and when they met the McQuaids, they learned they lived only 20 minutes apart near Boston.

Sarah and Stephanie exchanged numbers, and with the help of PAO, Sarah offered to host a get-together the following September at her house for Bruins women to meet some Patriots women.

“It was kind of just to get the teams together, to kind of be like, ‘Look, there’s this Christian community in sports and this is what it could look like,’” Stephanie said. “I think most NFL teams have a pretty established wives Bible study, and that was just a totally new concept in the NHL for women, just something that hasn’t been done before.”

Adam had started the Bible study among the men, and after meeting many NFL wives, Stephanie wondered if she was the one to start something similar for NHL women.

“It was just a really encouraging day, and I left there feeling motivated and spiritually moved,” she recalled.

“And I think it was Kirsten Watson (wife of former NFL player Benjamin Watson) that said to me, ‘You don’t need to do 22

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Decorations from the get-together at the Hasselbecks’ home.

anything fancy to gather these women, you just need to set a time and a place.’

“I’d never led anything before and it made me so nervous, and I was like, ‘I don’t know.’ But she was like, ‘What are you doing next week? Pick a date and time next week and tell the girls to join you.’”

Mallory Brown and Natalie Wiesen, the women’s ministry leaders at PAO, offered up a devotional book on Colossians that numerous women’s groups around the NFL had studied the year before — thus solving any concern about what an NHL women’s group would be centered around.

“There’s this book already done, let’s just jump in,” recalled Kelly, who also attended the event at the Hasselbecks’.

“And let’s send it out to our wives chat and see who wants to jump in.”

When “seven or eight girls were super interested” right away, women’s ministry in the NHL found its start.

“Fellowship” and “ministry” events aren’t officially tracked anywhere, so it’s likely that women’s Bible studies or Christian small groups in the NHL have existed in some capacity in the past. But if they have, Stephanie, whose husband entered the NHL in 2009, hasn’t been privy to them. Same goes for Kelly, whose husband joined the NHL in 2006.

Whether or not their Boston wives/ girlfriends group was the first, however, is of little importance. What McQuaid and Backes are more interested in is continuing to build Christ-centered community in hockey.

Their group began in September 2019, and the women alternated hosting

at their houses. Sometimes babies and kids were there, other times they’d arrange for babysitters, knowing they could all focus a little better and dive a little deeper without having to be “mom” for a couple hours.

“There are so many things that connect us, whether it’s being mothers or having husbands that are playing or were active athletes,” Backes says. “But [it’s great to] just to dive deeper and connect with one another and continue to grow that vertical relationship.”

“Girls have opened up about what they’re going through personally or what’s going on in their family, bringing forth prayer requests,” McQuaid says. “The fact that we’re able to pray for one another and follow up on those things, I think it’s just deepened a lot of relationships.”

They finished the study on Colossians around the time the COVID pandemic hit, so in-person gatherings ceased. But like countless other Bible study groups around the world, they shifted to Zoom. Meetings continued every couple weeks and they began studying a new book, “In His Image,”

by Jen Wilkin. Around the time the puck dropped for the Stanley Cup Finals in mid-September, the women finished their second book study.

They’ve since taken a break, as the rest of the NHL goes through an uncertain offseason. The league announced a target start date of Jan. 1 for the next season, but as of mid– November, that still wasn’t official (even though voluntary workouts had begun at some team facilities).

In the meantime, some women joined in on another virtual study through PAO, virtually going through the book of TO SUBSCRIBE: CALL 866-821-2971

James every Friday morning. Others began preparing for moves to new cities.

As is common with all professional sports, trades and free agency happen. Defenseman Torey Krug signed as a free agent in October with St. Louis, meaning he’ll be leaving the Bruins’ men’s group and his wife, Mel, will be leaving the women’s group. David Backes was traded from Boston to Anaheim in February, so they’ll be moving west whenever the 2021 season begins. And Adam McQuaid is a free agent, meaning he and Stephanie could leave Boston too.

years,” Stephanie says. “So we’ll see. I don’t know what it’s going to look like, but we’re definitely going to keep it going.”

Yet, the beauty of what has been started in Boston is that it can be replicated anywhere. Whether it’s on Zoom or in small groups, Stephanie, for one, is now more confident in leading others, having been poured into

by Sarah Hasselbeck.

A group appears to be brewing in Anaheim.

When the Backes soon move to California, they’ll know Danton Heinen and his girlfriend, Julie Sternberg, who were a part of the Boston groups before Heinen was traded in February. And they’ll also know Josh and Julie Manson, who were at the hockey conference last year (the 2020 event was canceled due to COVID) and have been in Anaheim since he broke into the NHL in 2014.

“I’m not quite sure what it’s going to look like. But my husband and I are still in Boston and so I’m hoping to continue something. Sarah lives in the city too, which has been really cool. I feel like she’s been a huge help. I feel like because she’s been pouring into me, I’ve been able to pour into other people, if that makes sense; having that support from someone who’s been part of a lot of different Bible studies over the

Adam and Stephanie McQuaid

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“Steph McQuaid spearheaded it for us, and she was kind of our fearless leader where she really helped all of us; she just initiated everything and got that group chat going,” Kelly says. “I think you just need that one person that’s like, ‘I’m gonna do this.’

“And I think God’s working through me in this way.”

David and Kelly Backes with their children

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23 SPORTS SPECTRUM This story is also not indicative of future performance or success.

L-R: Tremaine, Terrell and Trey Edmunds

D R E A M Chasers Trey, Terrell and Tremaine Edmunds

When all played in the same game last year, it marked the first time in more than 90 years (and only second time ever) that three brothers shared an NFL field. The journey to get there was a testament to the family’s faith in each other and in God.

BY JON ACKERMAN

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of competitiveness to go with their athletic gifts.

The far-fetched dream was motivation during the early-morning workouts the parents would put the boys through, before school. And it remained an inspiration during the boys’ evening workouts, after practice with their school’s sports teams. When Ferrell and Felicia asked the boys at a young age if they wanted to play professional sports, and they all replied

affirmatively, the parents told the boys they would have to work — really hard.

All three boys accepted the challenge and followed through, even on family trips, on the other side of the country, when they’d find a nearby high school or track to get in workouts.

“Man, we worked all the time,” says Trey, the oldest. “We worked all the time. We had a great childhood, don’t get me wrong. We traveled, we played when we were kids, but at the TO SUBSCRIBE: CALL 866-821-2971

AP Photos/Gene J. Puskar

The pipe dream began early in the 2000s, when young Trey, Terrell and Tremaine Edmunds began showing signs of athletic ability. Some of that was inherited — from a father, Ferrell, who played seven years in the NFL, and a mother, Felicia, who was a high school state champion and college athlete in hurdles. But it was also ingrained — by those same parents who, like many elite athletes, harbored a healthy dose

same time, we also worked.”

The crazy dream started to seem a little less crazy in 2012, when Trey received a scholarship to Virginia Tech, two hours northwest of their hometown in Danville, Virginia.

Two years later, Terrell joined him in Blacksburg, followed a year later by Tremaine.

The unattainable dream began to seem slightly attainable when Trey joined the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2017. Then Terrell was drafted in 2018 by the Pittsburgh Steelers — 12 picks after the Buffalo Bills took Tremaine at No. 16 overall.

(They were the first brothers to be selected in the first round of the same NFL draft.)

Three brothers. In the NFL. At the same time.

A dream come true?

Absolutely.

But that was just one pipe dream. The more unfathomable dream was still out of reach. Yet, a sliver of hope arrived four months after Terrell was drafted, when the Steelers signed Trey to their practice squad. Then the 2019 schedule was released — Week 15, December 15, Pittsburgh would host …

Buffalo.

Three brothers. In the NFL. In the same game.

AP Photo/Adam Hunger

Trey, Terrell and Tremaine all remained healthy leading up to the contest, and it was actually flexed to primetime because of the playoff implications. The Bills were in

the midst of their best season this century, and the Steelers were struggling without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger but had battled back into playoff contention.

All that meant little to Ferrell and Felicia and the dozens of family members and friends who joined them that frigid night at Heinz Field. After years of dreaming and thousands of workouts, they were focused on their boys sharing an NFL field.

“That night meant the world to us,” Trey, a 25-yearold running back, recently recalled from Pittsburgh.

“Sometimes I ask myself, ‘Did it mean more to us or did it mean more to our parents?’

Just seeing the smiles on their faces, and just seeing them overfilled with joy and just lit up, I would trade everything I have to see moments like that.”

“Having the opportunity to do it on the biggest level, it was amazing,” Terrell, a 23-yearold safety, said moments before Trey. “It was a blessing in all forms … It was a night I’ll always remember simply because it’s something that you talk about when you’re younger but you never know if it’ll ever happen. And then it happened that one night.”

“Man, it was just a dream,” Tremaine, a 22-year-old linebacker, said from Buffalo. “I mean, we would be dreaming as children, but when it was actually here it was like, ‘Man, this is really true.’ So I kind of

“MAN, [THE THREE OF US PLAYING IN THE SAME GAME] WAS JUST A DREAM. I MEAN, WE WOULD BE DREAMING AS CHILDREN, BUT WHEN IT WAS ACTUALLY HERE IT WAS LIKE, ‘MAN, THIS IS REALLY TRUE.’ SO I KIND OF HAD TO CALM THOSE EMOTIONS DOWN GOING INTO THE GAME.” — TREMAINE EDMUNDS

“IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT ME, IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO IN CHURCH; IT’S WAY BIGGER THAN THAT. IT’S ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP YOU HAVE WITH GOD. THE QUICKER I WAS ABLE TO PICK THAT UP, I WAS ABLE TO FIND PEACE.” — TREY EDMUNDS

“WE DID PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING IN THE CHURCH GROWING UP, AND THAT WAS JUST OUR FOUNDATION, BECAUSE AT THE END OF THE DAY OUR PARENTS ALWAYS MADE SURE THAT WE REALIZED WE COULDN’T DO ANYTHING ON THE FIELD, IN THE CLASSROOM, OR JUST ENJOY THE FELLOWSHIP OF FAMILY WITHOUT GOD.” — TERRELL EDMUNDS

www.sportsspectrum.com

Trey Edmunds

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had to calm those emotions down going into the game.”

Buffalo won, 17-10, and went on to secure double-digit wins for the first time since 1999. The loss sparked a three-game losing streak that ended Pittsburgh’s season. But on that night, a pipe dream became reality. It marked just the second time in NFL history (the first was in 1927) that three brothers played in the same game.

Even if the boys didn’t show athleticism as youths, it would have been tough for them to avoid sports. Ferrell was a third-round draft pick for the Dolphins out of Maryland in 1988, playing five seasons as a tight end in Miami, earning two Pro Bowl trips (1989, ‘90) before two final seasons in

Seattle. He then got into coaching, eventually becoming the head coach at Dan River High, where he coached all three boys.

Felicia, meanwhile, was a star hurdler at Southern Illinois, winning three Missouri Valley Conference championships after a state title in high school. She eventually ventured into teaching, and is now a P.E. teacher at Johnson Elementary in Danville.

Yet, as involved with athletics as the Edmunds family was, they also served in the church. Along with cousins, aunts and uncles, they faithfully attended Right Touch Christian Church in Danville.

“We did pretty much everything in the church growing up, and that was just our foundation, because at the end of the day our parents always made sure that we realized we couldn’t do anything on the field, in the classroom, or just enjoy the fellowship of family without God,” Terrell says.

Faith in Christ was often talked about in the house, it remains a frequent topic on family text chains, and all three are participants in chapel services with their respective NFL teams. Faith was also a driving force in launching the 3 Eboyz Foundation. The brothers “believe that through Christ, all things are possible,” according to their website (which is currently undergoing a re-launch). “With a focus on Faith, Family, and Football, the brothers are active role models for young people in the world of sport and beyond by promoting positivity, faith, resilience and hard work.”

Tremaine Edmunds

Those qualities were certainly tested on their journeys to the NFL. Though each brother was recruited by numerous Division I schools, and each chose to play for Virginia Tech, a perennially strong ACC program, none were surefire NFL prospects. Rivals, a leading recruiting service, ranked Trey as Virginia’s No. 9 prospect coming out of high school; Terrell was listed No. 30 when he came out, and Tremaine at No. 12.

Trey Edmunds

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Terrell Edmunds

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Terrell (top) and Tremaine at the 2018 NFL Draft

But through growth as players and men at Virginia Tech, Terrell and Tremaine developed into first-round picks. Trey’s journey featured a few more obstacles, but was an inspiration to his little brothers.

Trey starred at running back and linebacker for Dan River High, where he also scored more than 1,000 career points for the basketball team and won a 200-meter state title in track. After a redshirt season at Virginia Tech, he led the Hokies in 2013 with 830 yards all-purpose yards and 12 touchdowns in 13 games. But in the final week that season, he broke his left tibia. He battled more injuries the next two seasons, then transferred to Maryland, and again battled injuries.

But he never quit. In his toughest moments, he turned to God.

AP Photo/Winslow Townson, File, AP Photo/Adrian Kraus, File, AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File, David J. Phillip

“Everything that I ever knew was basically stripped away from me,” Trey says. “I was basically helpless; I couldn’t do anything on my own. For so long it was me thinking that I was doing all of this and I had gotten myself to different situations and certain points in my life …

“I had a whole lot of time to myself, I had a whole lot of time sitting down and time looking at things from afar. So I was able to develop different perspectives just to real life, and I was actually able to dig into my [Bible] and really see that, ‘Hey man, this thing is not just about us, it’s not just about me, it’s not just about what you do in church; it’s way bigger than that. It’s about the relationship you have with God.’ The quicker I was able to pick that up, I was able to find peace.”

It was in college that Trey truly discovered — as did his brothers; as do many people — that he needed to make his own decision to follow Christ. He couldn’t rely on the faith of his parents.

Trey was guided in that process by two different chaplains at Virginia Tech, as well as another one he spent time with after transferring to Maryland.

He now says his favorite verse is 1 Timothy 4:12: “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (NKJV).

In battling injuries through college and fighting to keep a spot in the NFL, Trey has been an example to his brothers.

“A guy that’s determined to reach www.sportsspectrum.com

a certain point and that’s just a true testament to him, and his story just impacted me a lot,” Tremaine says of his oldest brother. “ Just seeing someone that’s focused like he is and has faith like he has, because he went through a lot. … Obviously he was frustrated (with the injuries), but at the same time he found a way. And that’s what it is at the end of the day, whether he’s dependent on his family, dependent on faith, dependent on a lot of things, he’s found a way to overcome those things, and I take my hat off to that.”

“He was the model of bigger brother, the model person that you want to look up to,” Terrell says of Trey. “You could see that his peers looked up to him; me and my younger brother, we looked up to him. My dad just pretty much let him be the big brother and just let him direct us and guide us in that right direction. And he never failed me or my dad.”

Terrell battled his own injuries, eventually needing left shoulder surgery in 2017 that ended his redshirt junior season after 10 games, and ultimately his college career. He and his younger brother announced in January 2018 that they’d enter the NFL draft together.

“It was more so you can’t really let him down,” Terrell says of Trey, “because he was hurt every year in college. But just seeing how he overcame all of those hills and how he faced adversity with a smile on his face, it seemed like he was never upset, and in those situations it’s easy to get upset. … He could have quit any day. He could have just threw in the towel and he could’ve been like, ‘All right Terrell and Tremaine, this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to switch my whole lifestyle.’

“But I think he knew that we were looking up to him so much that he just kept pushing and he never threw in the towel. He never even nudged at all. It didn’t seem like he lost any faith, he didn’t lose any type of drive or bite to him. He just continued to be himself.”

Terrell left Virginia Tech after starting for three seasons, and was named thirdteam All-ACC in 2017. With the Steelers, he started 37 of his first 40 games at strong safety, and was second on the team in tackles in 2019 with 105.

Tremaine left Virginia Tech after starting every game his sophomore and junior seasons, and was a third-team All-American in 2017. With the Bills, he’s started every game of his NFL career (halfway through the 2020 season), and

was named to the Pro Bowl for 2019 after leading his team in tackles with 115.

Coupled with 121 tackles as a rookie, he became the first player in NFL history to post two seasons of 100-plus tackles by the age of 21.

Trey, meanwhile, has been on the practice squad, on the gameday roster, cut and waived, all this season. But he continues to fight. And you can be sure he’ll do everything in his power to remain on the roster for Week 14 — when the Steelers meet the Bills again, this time in Buffalo.

Another game on the same NFL field would be another dream come true for a trio that has always been close, but grew even tighter during 2020’s pandemic. They quarantined together in their own house in Danville, and also spent time with their parents. It was the most time they’d spent together since Trey left for college. They worked out together — like the old days — but also talked with each other as men.

The “model big brother” is always looking out for his younger brothers, but they’re also doing the same for him.

“We’re real close and we try to do most things together,” Trey says, “but I definitely think we’re always all looking out for each other.”

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Chiefs running backs coach Deland McCullough

Deland McCullough

often wondered about his biological parents, but was unable to gain access to adoption records. When a state law changed, he found his birth mother, who revealed McCullough’s biological father — a mentor and coach he’d known much of his life.

Grawcaye

BY KEVIN MERCER

As Deland McCullough clutched his phone, he felt nervous, excited, emotional, hopeful — all at once.

The year was 2017. McCullough was the USC running backs coach at the time, by then a coaching veteran. He had been a part of heartbreaking finishes and last-second victories. Every week in the fall, thousands of fans cheered for or against his players. Yet nothing compared to this quiet moment.

McCullough picked up his phone and, with a racing heart, dialed a familiar number — one he had dialed hundreds of times before. But this time, it was different.

The magnitude of this call would reverberate for the rest of his life.

How would the man on the other end react to this news?

McCullough had listened to and learned from that voice for decades. It was his coach, his mentor, his friend. But now, after years of unanswered questions and dead ends, he knew for the first time this fall day that the voice on the other end would also represent a missing piece in his life — his biological father.

Sherman Smith, who had recently retired from coaching the Seattle Seahawks’ running backs, knew McCullough well. They shared a love of football, coaching and Miami (Ohio) University. He had no idea they shared a past as well.

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Sherman Smith

AP Photos/Elaine Thompson

all the

Sherman Smith in 2015

AP Photo/Elaine Thompson

Deland McCullough

“Even when I was disappointed about my being irresponsible, there was gratitude; I was fortunate I was in his life. And that’s what Deland said to me: ‘You’ve been in my life, w w w . s p o r t s s p e cmentored trum.com you’ve me, you’ve made a difference.’” – SH ER M AN SM I T H

McCullough’s roots in Youngstown, Ohio, run deep. Now the running backs coach for the Kansas City Chiefs, he was born in Pennsylvania but raised by his adoptive mother in Youngstown.

(His adoptive parents divorced when he was 2.) He often found himself in church, as his grandmother was a pastor.

“Being adopted and some of the things that I experienced growing up, without a doubt, I know it was God’s hand on my life,” McCullough told Sports Spectrum this fall, “just guiding me through those things and putting me in a position to be blessed and be able to be a blessing to other people.”

The football field became a saving grace for young Deland, who found his niche as a running back.

His tenacious running style soon began to garner the attention of some college programs.

Smith had traversed a similar path almost two decades earlier, only as a quarterback. After four successful seasons at Miami, Smith was drafted as a running back by the newly-formed Seattle Seahawks in 1976.

In the NFL, Smith grew not only in his knowledge of the game but also in his understanding of what it means to be a follower of Christ. Smith, too, grew up familiar with Christianity, but many who spoke of Christ did not reflect Him in their lives. By his own admission, Smith soon became that hypocrite.

Then he met linebacker Ken Hutcherson, a Seahawks teammate.

“God had a spiritual appointment for me in Seattle

with Ken Hutcherson, and Ken Hutcherson became my sycamore tree,” Smith said over the summer on the Sports Spectrum Podcast, referencing Luke 19 and how a sycamore tree helped Zacchaeus see Jesus. “He showed me Jesus, lived Jesus in front of me, loved me, mentored me, taught me, did all those things for me.”

Hutcherson went down with an injury during Smith’s rookie year. When Smith visited the injured linebacker in the locker room, to his immense surprise, Hutcherson was excited for what God had planned for his future.

Right then and there, Hutcherson shared the Gospel.

“I understood in that moment that my identity was the key to my spiritual growth, and me understanding who I was and Whose I was,” Smith said. “That’s what changed me right there. …

[Hutcherson] never condemned me, but he never condoned what I did. He always encouraged me in Christ.”

As a new man in Christ, Smith set out to glorify God, first as a player until 1983 and then as a coach. Smith’s coaching career eventually brought him back to Miami, just as McCullough was making his name known as a promising running back for Campbell (Ohio) Memorial High School.

“I was in my English class,” McCullough remembered. “He pulled up at the school and I didn’t know who he was, I’d just seen his car. I went downstairs and he introduced himself and he was recruiting me for football. ‘I’m RTS SPECTRUM Sherman Smith,S P Orunning backs 29

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coach at Miami University.’”

The chemistry was immediate. He convinced McCullough to attend Miami, and although Smith left after McCullough’s first season, McCullough was a starter for four years. He set a school and conference all-time rushing record, and signed with the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 1996. A right knee injury soon derailed his dream of playing in a regular-season NFL game. Yet, like his mentor, coaching NFL running backs was his destiny.

After getting into high school coaching in 2001 (then becoming athletic director and principal at the same school), McCullough found himself at Indiana in 2011. As he sought to advance in the coaching ranks, he was offered an internship in 2014 with the Seattle Seahawks. Smith, then with Seattle, was the one who helped him secure it.

“We always had a good relationship,” Smith said. “I was Coach Smith and that was my guy, Deland. … The fact that he was a running backs coach made it fun.”

The two connected, as a mentor connects with a mentee, on football coaching philosophies, on parenthood and on faith. Little did they know that God had planned much more.

Deland McCullough with his mother, Carol Briggs, and father, Sherman Smith

After McCullough became a husband and a father of four, his intrigue about his own beginnings resurfaced. He had been wondering throughout his life but seemingly came to a dead end when he learned of Pennsylvania’s closed adoption records. However, in the spring of 2017, the state changed its laws.

“When I decided to look, God opened up some avenues,” McCullough said. “Obviously, I was ready for that and it seemed like it kind of fit for everybody.”

McCullough was able to see his given name at birth: Jon Kenneth Briggs. He also saw his mother’s: Carol Denise Briggs.

McCullough searched and found his mother on Facebook, and eventually mother and son spoke on the phone. Conversation flowed smoothly, and McCullough was surprised to learn that Briggs lived in Youngstown, only a short drive from where he grew up. Yet it would pale in comparison to the shock that came next, when the conversation shifted to the other parent.

Your dad is a man named Sherman Smith.

“I was very excited. I was stunned,” McCullough said about the moment that left him speechless. “It was pretty surreal. I was blown back.”

Briggs knew Smith in high school, but when he went away to college, she never told him a son existed. Smith went on to marry and become a father of two, with three grandchildren. Knowing this, McCullough quickly realized the news he would soon deliver would be shocking and life-altering for Smith as well.

When Smith answered the phone that autumn day in 2017 and McCullough began explaining the yearslong process of finding his biological parents, Smith was happy for his coaching protégé. He was thrilled to hear that McCullough had found his mother and even talked to her.

“And then he said her name,” Smith remembered.

“And when he said her name, my heart dropped because I knew her. … I just felt terrible. I felt bad. I felt bad because I felt irresponsible. At that time when Deland called me, I was 63 years old, and you see things differently at 63 than you do when you’re 16 or 17 years old. I just felt so irresponsible.”

McCullough, now 47, would have none of it. He was eager to forgive, eager to give thanks.

“Even when I was disappointed about my being irresponsible, there was gratitude; I was fortunate I was in his life,” Smith said. “And that’s what Deland said to me: ‘You’ve been in my life, you’ve mentored me, you’ve made a difference.’”

Smith later added, “God gave grace through all of it, starting with my wife. She was just awesome — she didn’t have to regroup. When I told her that night about Deland telling me that I was his father, my wife said, ‘Well, if it’s true, then our family just got bigger.’”

Deland, stepmom Sharon, Sherman, half sister Shavonne, and half brother Sherman Jr.

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Deland McCullough (right) after the Chiefs won Super Bowl LIV

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“Being adopted and some of the things that I experienced growing up, without a doubt, I know it was God’s hand on my life, just guiding me through those things and putting me in a position to be blessed and be able to be a blessing to other people.”

– SH ERM AN SMITH

www.sportsspectrum.com

Deland and Sherman at Miami University

Just to be sure, Smith and McCullough agreed to do a paternity test.

It came back conclusive.

“Our relationship just became a deeper one,” McCullough said. “We already had a good relationship but it was kind of a coach-player or mentormentee type of deal. So just crossing over into being father and son, it was pretty seamless because there already was a foundation there.”

Now, when the wives and kids of the two coaches gather as one big, happy family, Smith and McCullough are often found in conversation. They connect on faith, on parenthood, on football, and on the Super Bowl championships they won (Smith in 2013, McCullough in 2019) – like they always did. Only it’s more meaningful than it ever was. It’s as father and son.

“Just looking and talking to him, man, I’m just so proud of the type of young man that he is — how much he overcame,” Smith said. “... We call each other now and instead of calling me ‘Coach,’ he calls me ‘Dad.’”

McCullough’s years of wondering ended with immeasurably more than he could have asked for or imagined. His biological father, Sherman Smith, was by his side all along, with his Heavenly Father perfectly ordaining every step in the journey.

“No doubt, this is a God story,” Smith said. “And God’s grace in how God prepared me for this, in how God prepared my wife for it. God’s timing was perfect in how this worked out. Just understanding God knew where I was at in my heart as far as how it grieved my heart when he told me, but God brought me through that. I had to forgive myself knowing that God had forgiven me.

“It’s just a grace story, a story of grace all the way.”

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Breaking Shackles

EARLIER THIS YEAR, ESPN REPORTER LAUREN SISLER FELT GOD CALLING HER TO PROCLAIM HER FAITH. SO SHE BEGAN SHARING HER STORY, DETAILING HOW, AS A TEENAGER, SHE LOST BOTH OF HER PARENTS TO PRESCRIPTION DRUG OVERDOSES. NOW, SHE WANTS TO HELP OTHERS BREAK THE SHACKLES OF SHAME.

BY JASON ROMANO

Lauren Sisler is a sideline reporter covering college football for ESPN. The former Rutgers gymnast also covers SEC football for AL.com in Alabama.

In 2003, while a freshman at Rutgers, Sisler unexpectedly lost both of her parents, George and Lesley Sisler, to prescription drug overdoses within hours of each other. Today, Lauren is dedicated to spreading awareness about the dangers of addiction and the devastation it can cause for the addict, their loved ones and the community. She currently serves as a board member for the Addiction Prevention Coalition in Birmingham, Alabama, and is on the Speakers Bureau for the Shelby County Drug-Free Coalition.

We talked to Sisler about being a sideline reporter during the pandemic, getting married and being baptized in 2020, the powerful story of losing her parents to addiction, and how she came to the realization that her story could help and encourage others.

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To listen to the entire interview with Lauren Sisler, visit SportsSpectrum.com

Lauren with her husband John

WHAT HAS THIS YEAR BEEN LIKE FOR YOU AS A REPORTER AT GAMES WITHOUT MANY FANS IN THE STANDS, IF ANY AT ALL?

It’s definitely a different deal. I will say on the front end of it, as I’m driving to the stadium, it is nice to be able to get into the gates and not have to deal with traffic, but obviously the atmosphere is so different. I’m used to driving in, seeing the fans tailgating, the tents all popped up, everyone grilling out. And now, with fans spreading out, the capacity of fans being around 20 to 25 percent, and not having the fans sort of right there on top of you with the energy is definitely different. When you don’t have the 80,000 to 100,000 screaming fans, it definitely makes for a different environment.

Photos courtesy of Lauren Sisler

BEFORE FOOTBALL SEASON, THIS YEAR WAS A BIG DEAL. YOU GOT MARRIED IN MAY AND YOU GOT BAPTIZED A COUPLE MONTHS BEFORE THAT IN MARCH. WHAT WAS THE REASON YOU DECIDED TO GET BAPTIZED AND TAKE THAT STEP OF FAITH?

When I was younger, I was baptized. I think I was probably 10 or 11 at the time. I think when you’re young like that, you don’t quite comprehend it. I grew up in the Church and was very much a go-tobed, pray-to-God [child], my parents always tucking me in until I was 17 years old going to college. It was something so special to me.

But I just felt that in my walk with Christ, my faith has grown so exponentially ever since my husband and I met a few years ago, and really proclaiming that faith. I think sometimes we get caught up in the [idea] of “we don’t talk religion and politics.” Those are the two things that you don’t talk about. But I felt like my faith was almost starting to seep out of me. Not that it hadn’t before because I was always vocal about my faith, but I just felt that I was at a place in my life and at a crossroads where I feel that I can be such a servant to others. And then I can use my story and use my skill set and use all the blessings that God has given me to bless others.

And I wanted to proclaim that. And my husband, John, wanted to proclaim that.

We had been talking to our pastor, Pastor Lane, and he told us he believed it was time to take that next step and it was just an amazing feeling to [be baptized] at the church in front of people and really just to have that moment to share, not only with the church, but obviously our followers on social media, and our family. And I hope it’s a strong message to others to have that faith to step out and to proclaim their covenant and their relationship with God, and what they hope to achieve in their life with God being at the center.

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AND THEN YOU GET MARRIED, IN A PANDEMIC. I’M GUESSING THERE HAD TO BE A PIVOT TO CONTINUE TO HAVE THE WEDDING AND CONTINUE TO MAKE IT HAPPEN?

Oh my goodness, yes. Let me tell you. We got baptized at the beginning of March and things shut down a week or two later. We had a wedding shower and that’s where things started to happen. But we didn’t understand the magnitude of it at the time. We thought it just might be a few weeks — OK, no big deal. And then suddenly the mask mandates started happening and then they shut down restaurants and all this stuff started happening, but in my mind I thought, “It’s just the middle of March, we’re not getting married until May, we’ll be fine.”

But then the governor of Virginia had mandated a stay-at-home order until June, and really that was the decision. I prayed about it. “Should we get married? Should we wait?” I was sad, cried; every girl grows up dreaming of that big traditional wedding. We had upwards of 200-plus people that were supposed to be at the wedding. But all of a sudden, all these dreams were crumbling right before our eyes.

It was a pivot for us, though. We knew we were ready to tie the knot and be married. What is so crazy is that we were going to get married at the resort where “Dirty Dancing” was filmed; it’s up in the mountains of Virginia. We ended up getting married in the church where we got baptized.

T O S USBPSOCRRTISB ES:P CE CA TL RL U8M6 6 - 8 2 1 - 2 9 7 1 33

“I felt like my faith was almost starting to seep out of me.

Not that it hadn’t before because I was always vocal about my faith, but I just felt that I was at a place in my life and at a crossroads where I feel that I can be such a servant to others.”

YOUR STORY IS EVEN MORE POWERFUL THAN BEING BAPTIZED AND MARRIED IN 2020. GOING BACK TO WHEN YOU WERE COMING OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL, YOU END UP AT RUTGERS, CAPTAIN OF THE GYMNASTICS TEAM AND YOUR FRESHMAN YEAR, YOU GO THROUGH A REALLY DIFFICULT TIME. TELL US WHAT HAPPENED.

I’m off to college, I’m 17 about to turn 18 years old, my freshman year. Of course it’s an adjustment, like anything else, but I’m living out my dream in gymnastics. And you always hear parents say they don’t talk to their kids after they leave for college. Well, I was burning up the phone lines. Every single day, I was talking to my parents.

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It was my second semester, in March, and I picked up the phone and called my parents like I always did. I was talking to my mom for a few minutes and she always wanted to know how practice was going, how my bar routine was coming along. I talked to my dad for a few minutes and then hung up the phone, said “I love you,” they said “I love you,” and that was it. It was like a normal conversation.

I went to bed that night and woke up to a phone call just after 3 o’clock that morning and it was my dad on the phone, and he told me my mom died. I remember thinking, “How was this possible?” I said, “Dad, what’s wrong?” He really couldn’t give me an explanation in that moment and just said, “Lauren, I need you to get on the next plane you can. I’ll be at the airport to pick you up.”

So of course, I’m frantically packing my bags, trying to get things together. I get on a plane and fly home to Roanoke, Virginia, my hometown. I remember questioning so many things. I want answers. I want to know what’s going on.

But ultimately, I wanted to run and jump in my dad’s arms and hear him tell me everything was going to be OK.

When I got to the airport and went outside, and was looking everywhere for my dad — unfortunately, he never did show up at the airport to pick me up. It was my uncle and my cousin who were there and they had to tell me that my dad had also passed away. As you can imagine, hearing that, not only your mom but your dad had died, just within a few hours of each other, and [trying] to process that. And to this day, it’s been 17 years and I can’t believe that I’ve been in this world and lived my life almost as long without them as I did with them.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM?

What’s crazy about the story is that it would actually take us many months to learn, and for me, many years to come to terms or at least accept what happened to both of my parents. My mom had been diagnosed with degenerative disc disease, which required multiple surgeries over the course of time.

My father had back surgery and one of those permanent TENS units (an electrical nerve stimulator) in his back, and suffered with some depression. He was in the military, had some PTSD and things he dealt with.

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AP Photos/Elaine Thompson

We always have a Plan A, and then there’s Plan G, as I like to call it — God’s plan — and sometimes you have to just let it be. We had eight people in the chapel, a photographer and a videographer, and that was pretty much it. It was simple and better than I could have ever planned it myself. I felt like I was drawn to the moment, the reason I was there. I look back and I would have not changed it for the world.

To listen to the entire interview with Lauren Sisler, visit SportsSpectrum.com

Lesley, Allen (Lauren’s brother) and George Sisler

Both of my parents had been going to a pain management doctor for about three or four years before their passing, and getting prescription drugs to help them cope with their pain. As a kid in high school, I knew the medication was there, I saw it. But it’s prescribed by a doctor, so it was OK, right? And that was sort of the thought process. They’d wake up every day with a smile on their face, they’d go to work, involved with church, taking me to practice.

That’s what I knew their life to be. But I had no idea that they began to abuse those prescription drugs.

Unfortunately, I think both of them ultimately were addicted and they had to manage the pain and the addiction, and it wasn’t something they were very vocal about. I think looking back, they were ashamed of this. There was a lot going on behind the scenes and they did a great job sugar-coating and not letting anyone else in on their personal battle. The words “addiction” and “overdose” I couldn’t use in the same sentence, as I was afraid people would judge me. We found out 90 days after their death that they overdosed on fentanyl.

“KEEP THE FAITH AND ALWAYS KNOW THAT NO MATTER WHAT LIFE THROWS YOU, YOU CAN GET THROUGH IT. KEEP THE FAITH, AND WEATHER THE STORM. THERE ARE GOING TO BE BRIGHTER DAYS.” WHY HAVE YOU DECIDED TO SHARE THIS STORY PUBLICLY?

There was such a powerful release. I call it the shackles of shame. When I shared their story and it became more public, I had my dad’s colleagues reaching out to me on Facebook, saying how thankful after 10 years that I had shared their story, because they could have peace now knowing how they had died. It was almost a sense of relief.

AP Photo/Elaine Thompson

I truly believe a lot of times that the truth will set us free.

I think the truth had not only set me free, but so many people that had loved and cared for my parents. Once I started sharing with one person and then two people, and then five people, and then the opportunity to get in front of a group, and now I can stand in an auditorium in front of 500 people, students, student-athletes, businesses, to share my story and encourage others to get up, keep moving and put your faith first.

I think that now more than ever, we have this opportunity to sort of break those shackles of shame, break the stigma and give people a place that they feel safe and not feel judged for what they have gone through. I want to encourage anyone that is listening or reading this to please keep the faith, and always know that no matter what life throws you, you can get through it. Keep the faith, and weather the storm. There are going to be brighter days. You can reach out to me on social media @LaurenSisler if I can help in any way. www.sportsspectrum.com

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Purporsieven D

TRAVIS HUDSON HAS SURVIVED CANCER AND A HEART ATTACK, AND ONCE STEERED A TEAM BUS TO SAFETY WHEN THE DRIVER SUFFERED A HEART ATTACK. THE LEGENDARY WESTERN KENTUCKY VOLLEYBALL COACH KNOWS GOD DIDN’T SPARE HIS LIFE TO WIN GAMES, BUT TO INVEST IN YOUNG STUDENT-ATHLETES.

BY COLE CLAYBOURN

There have just been too many close calls in Travis Hudson’s life for him to deny that Someone is looking over him.

First, it was the two surgeries for melanoma that, if caught just a few weeks later, would’ve entered his bloodstream. Then in 2010, he saved his Western Kentucky University women’s volleyball team from a possibly horrific bus crash. The driver suffered a heart attack while driving, so Hudson quickly grabbed the wheel to bring the bus to a stop before it entered oncoming traffic.

In 2018, Hudson suffered the scariest of heart attacks — the widow maker, as it’s called — and nearly lost his own life.

As he embarks on his 26th season at the helm of the Lady Topper volleyball program in what has become a storied career, his response to these and the countless other trials he’s faced, both on and off the court, has remained the same: God has him here for a purpose.

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“My purpose cannot possibly be to win another game,” Hudson says. “That can’t possibly be what I was left here to continue to do.”

That’s not a cliché, either, says Gregg Farrell, pastor at Crossland Community Church in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Farrell has worked with the Lady Topper volleyball team for six years in what he calls a “Chief Encouragement Officer” role, where he pours into the mental and spiritual health of those in the program.

“[Hudson] understands there’s a sovereign design in that God could’ve called him home any time He wanted, but He hasn’t,” Farrell says.

It’s an impossible story, Hudson says. All of it, including how it all even started.

At 17, Hudson joined the WKU volleyball program as a student manager just doing laundry and shagging balls. It was the first time he’d even touched a volleyball.

Photos courtesy of WKU

At 24, he became the youngest head coach in Division I, and all these years later he’s built WKU into a perennial top-25 program that consistently wins its conference championship, and has been to 12 NCAA Tournaments under his watch.

Hallie Shelton

He’s won 14 different conference or region coach of the year honors, and has coached countless AllAmericans. In 2019, after a 31-1 regular season, WKU hosted an NCAA Tournament game for the first time.

He was inducted into the WKU Hall of Distinguished Alumni in October 2020.

On the court, he’s created what athletic director Todd Stewart says is “the perfect template and the perfect blueprint for what a successful athletics program on and off the court would be.”

Katie Isenbarger

“I INVESTED IN THEM AS PEOPLE. IF THEY WALK AWAY FROM HERE AND WE’RE NOT CONNECTED AS FAMILY FOR A LIFETIME, THEN I DON’T KNOW THAT I’M DOING A VERY GOOD JOB.” — WKU COACH TRAVIS HUDSON wwwwww. s. sppoor rt st ss sppeecct rt ruumm. c. coomm

All that success and still Hudson wouldn’t say that’s his purpose. He just wanted a job that allowed him to work with young adults and see them grow.

He’s received plenty of offers to leave for bigger jobs, but he doesn’t need a different school’s name on his shirt to feel like he’s doing his job well. In his office you’ll find nearly 20 pictures of Hudson with his former players at their weddings. It’s the same office where he speaks from the heart to recruits and their families about why they should come to WKU.

There are no smoke-and-mirror games with Hudson. No figurative mask. He tells parents the same simple message, and he means it.

“While I was sitting in his office on my visit with my parents, he looked straight at my parents and said, ‘I will take care of your daughter like she’s my own,’” senior Hallie Shelton says. “‘Anything she needs I am here for her.’

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“I just thought, ‘This dude is going to be like my second dad,’ and it just really clicked.”

The on-court success of the Lady Topper program under Hudson is undeniable, but perhaps the most impressive statistics — and the ones he’s most proud of — are these: The program boasts a 100-percent graduation rate, and just two players in Hudson’s previous 25 years have transferred. In the college athletics world where transfer numbers are soaring, that’s a rather impressive feat.

“I think that speaks volumes to the culture that he has here,” Stewart says. “A culture that exudes success in every respect.”

The players can all sense the genuine humanity Hudson exhibits and, as Farrell puts it, he’s just able to connect with the humanity of other people well.

“I think that’s why our alumni base is still so connected here because I didn’t just invest in them as a volleyball player,” Hudson says. “I invested in them as people. If they walk away from here and we’re not connected as family for a lifetime, then I don’t know that I’m doing a very good job.”

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Perhaps no better example is that of Heather Friesen. In 2016, a year after her career at WKU came to an end, Friesen was on a hike near a waterfall in Hawaii when she slipped and fell nearly 50 feet — suffering injuries that could’ve killed her. Friesen doesn’t remember much from the time shortly after the accident, but what she does remember is Hudson calling her on her hospital phone every day to check on her. At one point he was contemplating even flying out to be with her.

“I don’t even play for him anymore,” she said. “I’ve been gone from Bowling Green, Kentucky, for over a year and he cares about me so much to call me on the phone every day, when I can barely even talk because I had a collapsed lung, I broke 10 ribs, I fractured my scapula, so I was in a lot of pain.”

There was also one of his former All-Americans, Alyssa Cavanaugh, who needed a bone marrow transplant after being diagnosed with leukemia. Hudson came up with an idea that if a WKU student got tested and was found to be a match for Cavanaugh, he would pay for their next semester of college (Cavanaugh’s father ended up being the match.)

“MY PURPOSE CANNOT POSSIBLY BE TO WIN ANOTHER GAME. THAT CAN’T POSSIBLY BE WHAT I WAS LEFT HERE TO CONTINUE TO DO.” — WKU COACH TRAVIS HUDSON

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In 2011, Hudson and the Lady Topper team befriended a local girl, Harlie Bryant, who was diagnosed with a tumor behind her eye, and began to raise support for her. She’s now an honorary member of the program.

“What I’ve always believed has been the key to our success, you can’t buy it with money,” Hudson says. “It’s about kids that really, truly are connected to one another — kids that understand I’m going to love them whether they get the game-winning kill or they don’t, whether they turn out to be an All-American or they don’t. This journey we’re on together is way bigger than just volleyball.”

The stories of Hudson’s care for people go on and on.

Such as, he asks his players to carry notecards so they can write letters to people in their life that they’re grateful for, or to thank someone for an act of kindness.

His faith and principles shape everything about his philosophy, says junior Katie Isenbarger.

“He’s so consistent,” she says. “He knows exactly where his head’s at. He just always seems like he knows the right thing to do in every situation.”

Farrell says Hudson is simply a gifted human being capable of extracting the absolute best out of his players in every aspect, and approaches everything with a level of humility that’s almost beyond description.

“I just think he’s got a really good grasp of who he is, who God is, and why God has him where he is and what he’s doing,” Farrell says.

His players speak of his discernment and ability to keep things in perspective. Getting to host an NCAA Tournament

match was, aside from winning a national championship, the one major accomplishment Hudson wanted to experience.

He’d witness a full crowd at Diddle Arena for basketball games and wondered what it would feel like to see a crowd like that for a volleyball game.

He got his wish last year when the 19th-ranked Lady Toppers faced off in the second round against in-state rival, and fellow powerhouse program, Louisville. Diddle Arena was nearly sold out and the buzz around town for the game was palpable.

WKU lost a heartbreaker in five sets. Where it would’ve been easy to focus on the what-ifs and dwell on the loss, Hudson spoke in his postgame press conference of going home to hug his kids, his wife, tell them he’s missed them, and thank God for the blessings he experienced over the previous year.

“You know, I walked away thinking to myself, and I think that’s what I said that night, ‘At what point do you quit asking for more?’” he said. “Like, at what point are you just grateful?”

Through everything he’s done and been through, because he does it with such gratitude, it’s easy to forget how serious the events were that Hudson has endured. He could’ve lost his own life in any one of those instances — the cancer, the bus crash, then the heart attack.

“HIS PURPOSE IS TO HONOR GOD AND ADVANCE THE KINGDOM. HE JUST SEEMS TO KNOW THAT HE’S HERE ON PURPOSE AND FOR A PURPOSE.” — PASTOR GREGG FARRELL www.sportsspectrum.com

“He sees his tragic events as adversity. The adversity for him becomes an accelerant — to drive him deeper into what he sees as a purpose,” Farrell says. “And that purpose is fulfilled through being a coach and an ambassador for Western Kentucky University. But he realizes that’s really not his purpose. His purpose is to honor God and advance the Kingdom. He just seems to know that he’s here on purpose and for a purpose.”

As he was being rushed to the emergency room to be operated on for his heart attack, Hudson remembers feeling a calmness over him. He knew God still had work for him to do.

His purpose is still being fulfilled. He’s got lives to invest in.

“People talk about it being a gift, and in many ways things like that are a gift because, A) It makes me believe that my time here on this earth, I’m doing it the right way, and I hope that’s the case,” he says. “B) It tells me that I’ll be ready when that moment comes, and C) It tells me that I’m still here through all these things because I still have work to do. I try to remember that constantly.”

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Works When the Greene family was struck by the massive need for clean water in various parts of the world, they found their family’s new mission. Soon thereafter, George and Molly Greene founded Water Mission, which now provides clean water to millions of people annually, with significant help from generous pro athletes.

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Photos courtesy of Water Mission

Molly and George Greene during a trip to Uganda.

When was the last time you offered up a prayer of thanksgiving after washing your hands or drinking clear water from a clean glass? There are 2.1 billion people, about onethird of the world’s population, who do not have safe water.

This results in 842,000 deaths per year, just from not having access to safe water and sanitation.

“This isn’t cancer research. We don’t have to find a solution, we just have to carry it out,” says George Greene IV, the current CEO and president of Water Mission International, a nonprofit organization that fights this battle globally. “Jesus said that we’ll always have the poor with us.

We shouldn’t give up or get frustrated. We’ve been given gifts and skills to do something about this. We believe this is something that can be solved in our lifetime.”

Greene’s parents, George and Molly, founded Water Mission in 2001 as a Christian engineering ministry that “builds sustainable clean water solutions in developing countries and disaster areas.” After establishing a very successful for-profit environmental laboratory and engineering firm in South Carolina, which doubled in size every two years until it became the largest privately-owned lab in the United States, this power couple sold its lucrative business to go into ministry.

Why? The Greenes’ world turned upside down after responding to a call to help with the 1998 Hurricane Mitch disaster relief in Honduras, where they helped bring clean water to six communities. It became clear at that time that God was not calling them to retire and live comfortably, as many may expect folks in the Greenes’ shoes to do. Instead, they were called to do more.

Neither Molly nor George had a background in water treatment, but with a fire lit within them and a test lab at their disposal, they had a mission in mind to bring more clean water to more communities in need. Now, 19 years later, Water Mission has helped bring clean water to approximately www.sportsspectrum.com

“Jesus said that we’ll always have the poor with us. We shouldn’t give up or get frustrated. We’ve been given gifts and skills to do something about this. We believe this is something that can be solved in our lifetime.”

— WAT E R M I S S I O N C E O G E O R G E G R E E N E I V

5 million people worldwide. With 85 full-time employees at its headquarters in Charleston, S.C., and more than 400 full-time staffers across an additional nine countries, Water Mission has completed 2,800 projects since its inception.

Seven years ago, Scott Linebrink, a former Major League Baseball pitcher, was introduced to the mission and vision of Water Mission by his financial advisor, Don Christensen at Ronald Blue Trust. As a recently-retired professional athlete, Linebrink was seeking a worthwhile charity to support and partner with. After he and his wife, Kelly, became involved with their first Water Mission project, which took place in Uganda in 2013, he knew he would never be able to walk away from the work this organization is doing.

“Lepers who didn’t have safe water were being treated,” Linebrink remembers. “You take a problem that is already very serious, and then [add the fact that] they didn’t have clean water to drink and it seems hopeless. Water Mission came in and, with the help of our funding and others’, they put in a system that provided safe water.”

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A short time later, a photo book arrived at the doorstep of the Linebrink home containing moments from the mission’s efforts in Uganda. One photo displaying the image of Molly Greene hugging leper patients stole Linebrink’s breath away.

“This was a picture of the hands and feet of Jesus,” he says.

“She was loving them, not just in the immediate moment, but was providing the long-term care they deserved because they are loved by Jesus just like everyone else.”

That remains the heart behind every project started and completed

by Water Mission. Now a stewardship coordinator for the organization, Linebrink watches new partners experience the same “aha” moment he had the day he received the photo book.

“We show people we care about them,” Linebrink says. “They deserve safe water; they deserve to hear about the love of Jesus. Jesus, at the most basic level, served people. He healed people and touched them physically, taking away the one thing that was crippling them before giving them the message of hope. We see lives transformed after we meet people’s basic level of care.”

and many church and nonprofit partnerships, Water Mission has earned a reputation of excellence — one of its core values within the organization.

Charity Navigator, the most-utilized charity evaluator in the U.S., has given Water Mission the highest ranking of four stars for the past 13 years.

“As a nonprofit, our customer doesn’t pay for the work we do,” Greene explains. “If we do a water project and at the end of the day it fails, we can still have a good marketing program and experience growth. To know if you are actually making a difference, you have to hold yourself accountable.”

With the full knowledge that they are answering to God for the work they do, Water Mission employees never allow for anything short of excellence.

This is what sets them apart from other relief organizations. What they build, they build to last.

With more than 50,000 individual supporters, 15 corporate partnerships,

“We have developed a remote monitoring system that allows us to zoom into each community where we have put in water systems,” Greene says. “We can pull up the data at any time and see how [each system] is performing.”

With a mission to help other organizations reach the same level of accountability, Water Mission is in the process of starting an additional nonprofit organization called The Global Water Center, which will be focused on driving standards of accountability throughout the entire spectrum of nonprofits. Many may overlook such a basic need as clean water, but Water Mission admits that without this fundamental need met, no other need — such as establishing orphanages, hospitals, educational initiatives or Bible translation methods — can be fully addressed.

“We show people we care about them. They deserve safe water; they deserve to hear about the love of Jesus.

Jesus, at the most basic level, served people. He healed people and touched them physically, taking away the one thing that was crippling them before giving them the message of hope. We see lives transformed after we meet people’s basic level of care.”

— FORMER MLB PITCHER SCOTT LINEBRINK

Some pro baseball players and their families on a trip to Haiti.

“Safe water and sanitation issues were solved in the United States over 100 years ago,” Greene says. “There are standards and guidelines that drive that now. We hold ourselves to the same standard. Jesus told us the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, but He didn’t stop there. Then He said we are to love our neighbor as ourselves.

With the work we do with water, we are loving our neighbor as ourselves.”

The mission to bring clean water to the world isn’t just a humanitarian project. For Water Mission, it is a calling to obey God’s desire for us to be His hands and feet on this earth.

“An empty stomach has no ears; the same goes for a thirsty stomach,” 42 42

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Greene says. “The idea of preaching the Good News to someone who is starving — trying to get their attention and talk to them about eternity — is not practical when they are trying to figure out how to live today or tomorrow.”

The mission certainly grabbed the attention of Linebrink and many others who have joined the efforts of Water Mission over the years. And Linebrink wasn’t the only pro athlete influenced to consider Water Mission a worthwhile investment. St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright also discovered the life-changing, worldtransforming work being done globally, and jumped on board, dedicating his own time, money and efforts.

“It’s so empowering and rewarding to know that we are able to give water to people, many of whom have never had one glass of clean water in their whole lives,” Wainwright told TheIncrease.com in a 2018 interview.

“There are too many people out there who need help. They haven’t heard the truth of the Gospel. There are people out there who need food, water, shelter, medicine and hope for life. I know that one of the things I’m supposed to do in this world is to help those people. Whenever I do leave this life of baseball, what I have been granted with in life will only spur me on to go harder and serve further.”

Other athletes who have partnered with Water Mission include MLB’s Luke Weaver and Nick Ahmed, as well as the NFL’s Benjamin Watson and Drew Stanton. With the help of these athletes, among many other individual and corporate partners, Water Mission was able to bring clean-water sources to 1.5 million people around the world just in 2019 alone. But these numbers only put a dent in the need for clean water and sanitation that is devastating our world.

In response, Water Mission continues to seek partners and advocates to link arms in these efforts.

“Financial giving is what allows the resources for work to go forward, but if we stop there, we stop short,” Linebrink says. “We want advocates out there, people who can help share the message and create that ripple effect.

Then there are those who sacrifice their time, spending time at a local community event where they can advocate, or in the field on a vision trip. Lastly, we need prayer warriors.

Prayer works, it changes things. God has been faithful to this organization for so long.”

With story after story of how God has miraculously provided for and blessed Water Mission, so it can in turn bless and provide for millions of lives around the globe, the organization continues to grow rapidly. As Greene says, “success breeds success.”

For Water Mission, ultimate success lies in alleviating this crisis once and for all.

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DEVOTIONALS Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You.” Like the psalmist says, it’s important for us as Christians to know God’s Word so that we stave off sin in our lives. But the Bible also has many other vital benefits. As Paul told Timothy, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

These devotionals come directly from The Increase, a community of athletes all pressing toward the goal found in John 3:30: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

For more first-person testimonies and stories from the lives of Christian athletes, visit TheIncrease.com.

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YOU CAN KNOW CHRIST PERSONALLY

OUR PROBLEM, GOD’S SOLUTION

God created mankind in His own image … God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.” Genesis 1:27, 31 God made human beings with personal and relational qualities like His own (Genesis 1:26) and desired to have a delightful relationship with them. But something went terribly wrong. When Adam and Eve chose to follow Satan’s advice in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), sin poisoned the world and now we are all born with the desire to do things our own way, not God’s.

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For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 Our sins against a good and holy God have distanced us from Him (Isaiah 59:2). God “cannot tolerate wrongdoing” (Habakkuk 1:12). Through sin we forfeit a relationship with God, and along with it our happiness. The result of all this is death. Spiritual death is separation from God in a very real place called hell. Physical death marks the end of our opportunity to enter into a relationship with God and avoid eternal condemnation (Hebrews 9:27).

If these words reflect your heart and you would like to receive salvation through Jesus Christ, say this prayer to God. It's as simple as A-B-C: Admit, Believe, Confess.

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The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 6:23

There is absolutely nothing we can do to restore ourselves to God. He is holy, we are not. In fact, He says even our good deeds are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). But God loved us so much He sent us His Son Jesus, fully God and fully man, to deliver us from death and give us life (John 3:16). "God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

Jesus went to the cross to pay the price for our sins. He did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves. When Jesus died for us, He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). The Greek word translated “it is finished” was written across certificates of debt when they were canceled. It meant “paid in full.”

Jesus then rose from the grave, conquering sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

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David Backes, Anaheim Ducks

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 God’s greatest gift is a restored relationship with Himself, delivering us from hell and granting us entry into Heaven (John 3:36). This gift depends not on our merit but solely on Christ’s work of grace for us on the cross (Titus 3:5). He is the one and only way to God. He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

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remember how draining it wastototrylive performance-based "Choosing to“Ifollow Jesus Christ is a decision to alive like He did — to putlifestyle before I accepted as Lord of my peace of being others first and to serve them, toChrist care for the sick andlife. helpThe those in need.

By unconditionally loved by a Savior who paid the price for my salvation changing our mindset and who matters to us, we change the rules of the gameisof humbling and uplifting at the same time. no greater life. The pressure to accomplish and acquire is gone, andThere’s the desire to be of joy than knowing that I can abide in love instead of having to work for it.” service and show compassion for God to be glorified rise up. For making this choice, we receive boundless forgiveness, unending grace and eternal life!”

If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Whoever hears My Word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24

To be right with God, we must admit our sinful hearts and actions, and ask God’s forgiveness. If we do, He graciously promises full forgiveness: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”(1 John 1:9). Then we are to affirm to others that the resurrected Jesus is our Lord.

The life we long for is freely offered to us in Christ. We can believe His promise and call on Him to save us, humbly accepting His gift of eternal life: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). God’s Holy Spirit indwells us and helps us obey Him (2 Timothy 1:14).

Romans 10:9

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“Dear God, I ADMIT that I’m a sinner and the penalty of my sin is death. I BELIEVE that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that He died and rose from the dead for my sin. And I CONFESS Jesus as my Savior. Please forgive me. I repent of my sin and surrender my life to You. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen." — Miles McPherson, senior pastor & former NFL player

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