Friday, January 28, 2000
In God they trust; do we believe them?
BY PAUL DAUGHERTY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ATLANTA — God saved Isaac Bruce. This is what Bruce says. A few months ago, the left rear tire on Bruce's Mercedes-Benz blew, and the car spun out of control at 70 mph. In the middle of the chaos, Bruce took his hands off the wheel, raised them to the roof and yelled for Jesus.
He wasn't wearing a seatbelt. His air bags didn't deploy. The car flipped twice and landed upright in a ditch. The glass from the broken windows littered Bruce's lap. He practiced the next day.
Believe what you want, the St. Louis Rams All Pro wideout says. You are entitled. Bruce believes he was not going to die, because he asked for Jesus' help. “There's no other name to yell when you want to be saved,” is what Bruce says about that.
There's no harm in what Bruce says. In fact, given the junk pro jocks involve themselves in, we should thank Bruce for his example.
So why don't we?
God's anti-Buffalo?
Talking about religion makes us squirmy. When we say we have faith in our sports heroes, we mean we believe they'll come through when it matters. When we want an opinion on an issue of faith, we go to church, not a football game.
For most of us, religion is a private matter. There is nothing private about Super Bowl week except the game plans. Maybe we resent being preached to by athletes who claim they won a game because God was “working through them.” God wanted them to win.
In 20 years of doing this, I've never heard God mentioned in a losing locker room. Nobody has said, “God wanted us to lose.” His will has only been done in winning dressing rooms, which seems curious.
The other day, Tennessee Titans Pro Bowl guard Bruce Matthews said, “I can see God's work with us. Take the end of the Buffalo game.” That was when Tennessee beat the Bills on the last play, with that crazy, lateraled kickoff return. If you've seen that play, you'd have to believe God has a serious problem with Buffalo.
That's the fundamental contradiction in this. If God has a hand in one team winning, he must also participate in the other team's defeat. I don't even know if God is a football fan. I never asked.
Religous background
Isaac Bruce is an admirable man. You don't have to sit with him long to trust his sincerity. His calm presence suggests he has found peace.
Bruce is the 13th of 15 children. His mother read Proverbs to the kids at the breakfast table while they were growing up. Everyone spent Saturday morning at Bible study and Sunday at church.
Said Bruce, “Just like some people may read the Wall Street Journal to their kids while they're still in (the womb). She read the word.”
When I asked Bruce if he expected to become a minister after football, he said, “I'm ministering right now.”
Bruce believes Payne Stewart, the late golfer and born-again Christian, would have survived the plane crash that killed him last fall, had Stewart asked for Jesus' help. He thinks the accident last week involving Derrick Thomas would not have left the Kansas City Chiefs linebacker partly paralyzed had Thomas asked for Jesus' help.
You believe what you want, Isaac Bruce says. “I called on Jesus Christ. I know He saved me,” Bruce said. “I don't think. I know.”
On Sunday, they'll play a football game, the outcome of which will have no deeper meaning than its final result. You'd hope God wants us only to do our best and to be good people, win or lose. You'd hope he isn't choosing between two men as fine as Isaac Bruce and Bruce Matthews.
There is this, though:
When Bruce's mother was six months pregnant with Isaac, she lost control of her car when a tire blew. The car spun into the opposite lane and into the path of an oncoming truck. Bruce's mother threw up her hands and yelled for Jesus. The truck was able to stop.
Believe what you want, Isaac Bruce says.
Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty welcomes your comments at 768-8454.
Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty welcomes your comments at 768-8454.
DAUGHERTY ARCHIVE
