http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS8qqNnR3aM (Tim Tebow answering a question about saving "himself," for marriage)
In today's era it is not uncommon to see players show their religion on the field, before, during, or prior to the event. A sport where you see religion most commonly "center staged," is in football, both at the college and professional level. Players such as Tim Tebow, and Sam Bradford really took the next step in showing their religion on the field. Tebow, who is now back up quarter back for the Denver Broncos really changed how religion was seen in college sports. He wore eye black under his eyes and wrote verses from the Bible that really motivated him. Sam Bradford, now the starting quarterback for the St. Louis Rams, wore his verses on his tape like most athletes do.
You see a lot of uses too in football of guys crossing the goal line for a touchdown and instantly either kneeling to the ground and saying a small prayer and signing themselves with the cross, or pointing straight up to the heavens as a token of appreciation of letting them get that score. Across the NFL as well players are not afraid to show their religion, players like Troy Polamalu, Deion Sanders, Reggie White. Religion has become a part of celebration, a way to glorify God fro the gifts these people were given.
Christianity isn't the only type or religion practiced in sport today. Recently ESPN did a story on the Abdullah brothers, two brothers who play safety in the NFL for the Arizona Cardinals, and Minnesota Vikings. Hamza and Husain practice Islam and this past preseason Ramadan (the holiest month in the Islamic calendar) fell during mini camp. Ramadan is the month where the Koran was revealed to the prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him.(Farrar, 2010) During this time Muslims throughout the world fast. "From sunup to sundown, we abstain from food, water, anger, fighting, and were also supposed to maximize our good deeds," (Farrar, 2010). During mini camp, where football camps run all day the brothers were not able to eat or drink anything during the day and during practice. The taxing that hits takes on a person body is incredible and dangerous, but to be true to their religion the Abdullah brothers practiced Ramadan as if it were just another month.
Michael Irvin: 2007 Hall of Fame enshrinement speech: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/halloffame07/news/story?id=2961687
These athletes face many challenges and ridicule. Shirl Hoffman describes Christianity as being based on an ethic that emphasizes the importance of means over ends, process over product, quality over quantity, and caring for others over caring for self. But power and performance sports emphasize winning, final scores, season records, personal performance statistics, and self display (Coakley, 2009). Where do athletes draw the line? Every athlete wants to be the best that they can be and to win the game they participate in. Athletes with serious religious beliefs do more than try to make just themselves better but to improve the entire team even the team they are competing against. This is a good quality to possess as a teammate, but does this take away from the ultimate peak a religious athlete can reach? These are challenges religious athletes face on a day to day basis. Another challenge is ridicule, as shown previously in the Tim Tebow clip. Soft spoken, spiritual players may be categorized as too soft or mean enough to play at high levels. This is proven wrong by Troy Polomalu. Year in and year out, the soft spoken safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers is one of the top players in the NFL. He does so while staying true to his spiritual beliefs and not playing dirty and taking cheap shots. It is proven that athletes can both be religious and successful.
Coakley, J. (2009). Sports in society. New York, NY:
The McGraw-Hill Companies.
Farrar, D. (2010, August 21). Abdullah brothers balance faith, football, and fasting. Retrieved from
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/A-brothers-balance-faith-football-and-f?urn=nfl-264192
In today's era it is not uncommon to see players show their religion on the field, before, during, or prior to the event. A sport where you see religion most commonly "center staged," is in football, both at the college and professional level. Players such as Tim Tebow, and Sam Bradford really took the next step in showing their religion on the field. Tebow, who is now back up quarter back for the Denver Broncos really changed how religion was seen in college sports. He wore eye black under his eyes and wrote verses from the Bible that really motivated him. Sam Bradford, now the starting quarterback for the St. Louis Rams, wore his verses on his tape like most athletes do.
You see a lot of uses too in football of guys crossing the goal line for a touchdown and instantly either kneeling to the ground and saying a small prayer and signing themselves with the cross, or pointing straight up to the heavens as a token of appreciation of letting them get that score. Across the NFL as well players are not afraid to show their religion, players like Troy Polamalu, Deion Sanders, Reggie White. Religion has become a part of celebration, a way to glorify God fro the gifts these people were given.
Christianity isn't the only type or religion practiced in sport today. Recently ESPN did a story on the Abdullah brothers, two brothers who play safety in the NFL for the Arizona Cardinals, and Minnesota Vikings. Hamza and Husain practice Islam and this past preseason Ramadan (the holiest month in the Islamic calendar) fell during mini camp. Ramadan is the month where the Koran was revealed to the prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him.(Farrar, 2010) During this time Muslims throughout the world fast. "From sunup to sundown, we abstain from food, water, anger, fighting, and were also supposed to maximize our good deeds," (Farrar, 2010). During mini camp, where football camps run all day the brothers were not able to eat or drink anything during the day and during practice. The taxing that hits takes on a person body is incredible and dangerous, but to be true to their religion the Abdullah brothers practiced Ramadan as if it were just another month.
Michael Irvin: 2007 Hall of Fame enshrinement speech: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/halloffame07/news/story?id=2961687
These athletes face many challenges and ridicule. Shirl Hoffman describes Christianity as being based on an ethic that emphasizes the importance of means over ends, process over product, quality over quantity, and caring for others over caring for self. But power and performance sports emphasize winning, final scores, season records, personal performance statistics, and self display (Coakley, 2009). Where do athletes draw the line? Every athlete wants to be the best that they can be and to win the game they participate in. Athletes with serious religious beliefs do more than try to make just themselves better but to improve the entire team even the team they are competing against. This is a good quality to possess as a teammate, but does this take away from the ultimate peak a religious athlete can reach? These are challenges religious athletes face on a day to day basis. Another challenge is ridicule, as shown previously in the Tim Tebow clip. Soft spoken, spiritual players may be categorized as too soft or mean enough to play at high levels. This is proven wrong by Troy Polomalu. Year in and year out, the soft spoken safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers is one of the top players in the NFL. He does so while staying true to his spiritual beliefs and not playing dirty and taking cheap shots. It is proven that athletes can both be religious and successful.
Coakley, J. (2009). Sports in society. New York, NY:
The McGraw-Hill Companies.
Farrar, D. (2010, August 21). Abdullah brothers balance faith, football, and fasting. Retrieved from
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/A-brothers-balance-faith-football-and-f?urn=nfl-264192
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