Hello, old folks who are National Football League fans.
If you are a young reader and podcast listener, hang in there with me. I am going to work my way into a discussion of the fascinating and poignant explosion of public prayer and mass-media Godtalk that surrounded the stunning injury and recovery of defensive back Damar Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills. This was the hook for this week’s “Crossroads” podcast (CLICK HERE to tune that in).
The Big Idea? The “Pray For Damar” story got “out of control” because it happened on live TV. Hold that thought, as we begin a newsy flashback.
Back in the 1980s, NFL fans regularly saw something symbolic at the end of games, something so obvious that it even appeared in the background of sideline interviews on telecasts. What was happening? Players from both teams formed circles — often at the midfield logo — on their knees. Mostly, they offered prayers of thanksgiving for a safe game or prayers for anyone who was injured.
I remember that because I tried to write about this phenomenon during my Rocky Mountain News (#RIP) days. Team chaplains and parachurch leaders linked to this movement asked me, quite candidly, not to write about this subject — because it was so controversial with NFL officials.
Soon, TV images of the kneeling players vanished, although I believe that these rites continue to this day. But NFL fans no longer see them, unless they have tickets to the actual games.
In 1988, this topic broke into headlines during the media circus surrounding the Super Bowl. That was the year when I — prophetically, if I say so myself — wrote a memo to my editors detailing why I should be included in the Super Bowl coverage team. To be blunt, I argued that devotion to the Denver Broncos was so intense that it functioned as an organized religion.
Lo and behold, that was the year when the head coaches for the two teams, both outspoken Christians, unleashed a media storm by planning a two-team prayer meeting the day before the contest. I ended up assisting in the coverage — long distance, of course. The New York Times shock headline: “SUPER BOWL XXII; Rivals Will Pray Before They Play.”
Oh. My. God. Here’s the overture:
Most of the Denver Broncos and the Washington Redskins will join Saturday in a prayer meeting that is believed to be the first to bring together National Football League players from opposing teams on the eve of any game — much less a Super Bowl.
The meeting has created a sensitive situation. Front-office executives of both clubs are reportedly against the joint meeting, which they feel could diminish the competitive fervor the teams should take into such an important game.
John Beake, the Broncos' normally expansive general manager, was abrupt when asked about it this morning.
''I can't say anything about it,'' he said. …
What is my point? To be blunt, there is nothing new about NFL players praying, even in organized networks (often with a variety of team chaplains). At the same time, there is nothing new about this topic being controversial.
Why is prayer controversial? Well, it’s controversial when linked to Tim Tebow, who made headlines as a pre-marriage virgin who was openly pro-life.
Prayer was also controversial (when journalists bothered to notice) when a former prayer-circle participant named Colin Kaepernick linked kneeling with pleas for social justice. See also the case of Ray “God’s linebacker” Lewis, back then. Quite a few players involved with the real Black Lives Matter movement stressed that prayer was part of their protests.
Prayer is controversial because Christian teachings about marriage and sex are controversial, as seen in the Tebow case. But does anyone remember the media coverage of tensions in the Seattle Seahawks organization when some players hinted that quarterback Russell Wilson was not “Black enough”? It was hard to avoid seeing references to his faith and “square” private life.
With the Damar Hamlin injury — live on “Monday Night Football” — it was impossible to avoid the images on the field and the explosion of social-media commentary by superstar athletes, coaches and others.
Could ESPN have turned off the camera when Dan Orlovsky paused to prayer? Live. On. The. Air.
This brings me to the main New York Times story about the Hamlin case. The original report about the injury wasn’t bad. The follow-up — from the religion desk — was very solid and should be filed for future reference. That headline: “Prayers for Damar Hamlin Show Bond Between Football and Faith — Christianity is embedded in N.F.L. culture in a way that goes beyond most sports; ‘Lord, I need you, please be by my side.’” And here is a key block of summary material:
The invocations on behalf of the 24-year-old have gone beyond the pro forma “thoughts and prayers” often offered by public figures after a tragedy. The outpouring reveals the way that Christian faith has long been intertwined with American football culture, tied to the sport through its popularity in the Bible Belt. Strengthening the bond is the closeness of players whose risk of physical danger in the high-impact sport has attracted more publicity in recent years.
I have to admit that I laughed out loud when I hit the “Bible Belt” reference. Yeah, that explains Notre Dame. That explains chaplains in almost all American professional and college sports locker rooms. And that explains the long history of debates about “muscular Christianity” — see the Oscar-worthy movie “Chariots of Fire” — throughout the 20th Century.
What needs to be mentioned, during discussions of this topic, is the strong presence of African-American players and coaches in these dramas. By the time Orlovsky bowed his head to pray, quite a few athletes and journalists — I’m thinking people like Marcus Spears and Stephen A. Smith — had already put religious language and concerns in the middle of this life-and-death drama.
Check out this overt testimony — just short of an altar call — by former NFL tight end Benjamin Watson on CNN:
I’ll cite one other missed opportunity for context and relevant information in that fine Times religion-dek report:
“Please pray for our brother,” the Bills’ quarterback, Josh Allen, wrote on Twitter, where players and coaches across the league shared similar messages. All 32 N.F.L. teams changed their Twitter profile pictures to a message reading “PRAY FOR DAMAR,” in the style of Mr. Hamlin’s blue jersey. Fans huddled in vigils outside the hospital in Cincinnati and outside Highmark Stadium in Buffalo, where Jill Kelly, the wife of former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly, led a crowd in prayer.
“I think we all have to recognize the power of prayer from coaches, players, the staff and the fans that was in that stadium, and the people watching from around the world,” Troy Vincent, the executive vice president of football operations at the N.F.L., told reporters Wednesday afternoon. “There is power in prayer.”
Why was Jill Kelly leading that Bills congregation?
Maybe it had something to do with her Hall of Fame quarterback husband — a legend in Buffalo’s close-knit sports culture — constantly citing her strong Christian faith playing a major role in his own personal transformation, even “healing,” during his decade-long fight with cancer (CLICK HERE for background).
Simple stated, journalists cannot cover the NFL without running into this story, even if raising this subject tends to turn editors into pillars of salt.
This is old news. It is valid news. In the case of the “Pray For Damar” drama, it was news that began on live television, during the only NFL game that was on the air. Thus, it was news that couldn’t be denied.
Enjoy the podcast and, please, pass it along to others.
FIRST IMAGE: Former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky paused for spoken prayer during a live ESPN broadcast.