Sportswriter's views on religion promotion in sports

[Pro-Humanist FREELOVER]

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Ran across a mention of this article in
the Cowboys Blog (at DMN) this morn-
ing. The following, basically comments
by a sportswriter who objects to religion
(and positive deeds) being promoted by
christian athletes (at least he objects in
the mentioned instances).

A lot of examples given, including 3 Cow-
boys players (Roy Williams, Terrell Owens,
Pacman). Most of the examples for non-
Cowboys not included in the following
excerpts.

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June 8, 2008

by Gregg Doyel
CBSSports.com National Columnist
http://www.sportsline.com/columns/story/10858796
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Excerpts:

Dallas Cowboys safety Roy Williams
sucks at zone coverage, but Jesus loves
him.

No, wait. Sorry -- I made a mess of that
sentence. Let me try it again:

Roy Williams sucks at zone coverage
because Jesus loves him.

Yes, Roy Williams, you've had on-field
problems. But God isn't getting involved.
(Getty Images)
http://images.sportsline.com/u/photos/football/nfl/img10858794.jpg

There. Better.

Why are you looking at me like that? Don't
blame me. I'm not the latest athlete to play
the God card so clumsily and self-centeredly.

I'm not the "role model" who told an Okla-
homa newspaper that a direct line can be
drawn from his football struggles to his
new-found faith in the Lord. That was all
Roy Williams, who had been having a tough
year before opening his mouth and inserting
his Bible.

Williams went through the entire 2007 sea-
son without a sack. He struggled in Wade
Phillips' 3-4 defensive scheme to the point
Phillips didn't start him in two games. There
was talk of a feud between Williams and
coaches and even some teammates after
Williams -- whose horse-collar tackles led
to a rule banning them -- got himself sus-
pended by horse-collaring the Eagles' Don-
ovan McNabb.

Two Cowboys questioned him recently in
the media. Greg Ellis said Williams has been
whining and distancing himself from team-
mates. Terence Newman said Williams "had
a bad season" in coverage thanks to his "deer
in headlights type of reaction to some plays."

With that as context, here's what Williams
told the Oklahoman last week:

"Ever since I've rededicated my life to Christ,
I've caught way more persecution now," he
said. "But it's a beautiful thing because I know
it's a breakthrough coming for me. I welcome
it. What makes me any better than Christ? He
was persecuted and I've been persecuted. My
teammates know where my heart is. They know
where my mind is at."

Williams' heart may be in the right place, but
his brain needs work if it sees parallels between
the persecution of Jesus and the persecution of
a $25 million safety.

...

I've not been to church in a year, but for a decade
before that, I went weekly and tithed 10 percent
of my salary, such as it is, to the church. There's
my story.

Lots of Christians tithe. Nothing special about
me. Hell, Darryl Strawberry told reporters he
was tithing in 1991. In later years, he was strung
out on coke and indicted for tax evasion and
charged with soliciting prostitutes and assault-
ing a girlfriend and failing to support his kids.

...

Not that Christians are, or are supposed to be,
perfect. They're not. On the day before Super
Bowl XXXIII, Falcons safety Eugene Robinson
was awarded the Bart Starr Award by the Chris-
tian group Athletes in Action for his "high
moral character." That night he was busted for
soliciting a prostitute. It happens. Christians
are fallible too, you know.

But when Christian athletes are fallible or
narcissistic or just stupid, there are thousands
of easily influenced people taking note. So
when a whining malcontent like Roy Williams
starts comparing himself to Jesus, he's not
helping the bigger cause. He's hurting it. And
he's just the latest in a long line of athletes to
do so.

...

Before the 2005 Super Bowl, receiver Terrell
Owens said God had healed his injured ankle.
Doctors had inserted two screws and a metal
plate into the leg on Dec. 22, 2004. Four days
later, Southeast Asia was decimated by a tsu-
nami that killed more than 200,000. Maybe
T.O. really does think God was healing an
ankle at the same time He was allowing such
death and destruction. Fine. But don't tell us.

Just the other day, Paul Pierce said God dis-
patched an angel from heaven to uplift him
after Pierce went from a heap to a hero in
Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Said Pierce: "I
think God sent an angel down and said, 'Hey,
you're going to be all right. You need to get
back out there and show them what you've
got.'"

God is a Celtics fan. Good to know.

These athletes don't get it. After Kobe Bryant
is accused of sexual assault, we don't want to
hear him tell us, as he did then, "we need your
prayers now more than ever."

After Michael Vick is sentenced to jail for the
killing of dogs, we don't want to hear him say,
"Through this situation, I found Jesus and asked
Him for forgiveness and turned my life over to
God." After Pacman Jones made it rain in Las
Vegas, triggering a melee that left a man para-
lyzed, we don't want to see him handing out
boxes of food in a staged photo-op at an Atlanta
church.

...

- - - end excerpts - - -