The other night, my wife and I joined about 30 million of our closest friends and watched “Monday Night Football.” The Cincinnati Bengals were hosting the Buffalo Bills in a clash between two of the finest teams in the league. The matchup promised to be high scoring and full of aerial attacks from both teams.
With just over half of the first quarter played, a Bills player stopped a Bengals runner, got to his feet then collapsed. Damar Hamlin lie motionless as his team surrounded him and medical help rushed to his fallen body.
The scene is common on the NFL gridiron. A player is injured, medical help rushes out, they carry him off or cart him off, and play resumes.
This was different.
Minutes passed and Hamlin remained motionless. Teammates began to shed tears. Some crumbled to their knees, bowed their heads, and moved lips in unheard prayers. The packed stadium, filled with Bengals and Bills fans and the entire NFL world fell silent.
Officials met with coaches and the game was suspended for a period for the teams to regroup. An ambulance slowly drove off the field gingerly carrying the lifeless body of a man who, merely minutes before was a physical specimen, a model of health.
Ultimately the NFL made the decision to cancel the game. Neither team cared much about
football anymore.
During the drama, announcers grasped for words that could not be found. Desperate to fill air time with content, the directors shifted camera shots from desk to desk to field to any shot that was screen-worthy.
In the midst of the emotion, an announcer said, “Football is important. Then it
isn’t.”
I call it: perspective.
For the first time since Sept. 11, 2001, announcers begged for the prayers of all those watching. Cameras zoomed in on massive men in numbered jerseys as they knelt, wept and prayed. Suddenly, calling on God was all that was left.
I think God gets it.
Faith is singularly the most important thing in my life. In fact, faith informs my opinion, philosophy, and world view on every topic. Faith is central to me and my life. Not everyone is like me. And I believe God understands us.
Some people pray almost continually in a variety of ways. Others treat prayer like a spare tire. It stays locked away in the trunk until needed.
I tend to think prayer needs to be practiced long before it is needed.
On Sept.19, 2011, our 22-year-old son fell from a scissor lift from the height of 36 feet, onto a tennis court. In moments like this, prayer is all you have. In that moment the only solace was my prayer life.
Through almost three months of nightmarish surgeries, and rehab at Atlanta’s Shepherd Center, our son lived, he walks, and we are grateful. We are grateful for every prayer prayed for us during those dark days of uncertainty.
Even the spare tire prayers.
Reggie Ragland earned a reputation for being a no-nonsense, big-hitting linebacker during his time at the University of Alabama. During his senior season, Ragland racked up 102 tackles on his way to All-American honors and a College Football Playoff National Championship. As a result, he’ll be suiting up for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills next season.
But while the Crimson Tide engulfed countless opponents during Ragland’s time in Tuscaloosa, the star linebacker allowed himself to be immersed beneath a different kind of Tide this past Sunday.
Ragland announced on Twitter that he committed his life to Jesus and gotten baptized.
“Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins and rose again on the third day?” The pastor can be heard asking Ragland in a video he posted on Twitter.
“I do,” he replied.
I'm happy I made the best decision of my life by getting baptized this morning!!! He not done with me yet. pic.twitter.com/qBzo4CE3N1
— ReggieRagland(bama) (@reggieragland) June 26, 2016
Fans responded with as much — and in some cases more — excitement than when the Tide defeated Clemson 45-40 to secure the team’s sixteenth national championship.
@reggieragland You just joined the BEST TEAM you will ever be on, brother! Now go be a pro bowler for HIM!
— Jason Quick (@jquickBJHS) June 27, 2016
@reggieragland Best play you will ever make!
— b blanks (@pavbama) June 26, 2016
@reggieragland Amen Reggie. So happy for you and the man you have become. Be the example for all the young people out there. God Bless You!
— Grant Lee (@GrantLee2) June 27, 2016
@reggieragland hard to believe something better than a National Championship but I think you have topper there Reggie! Congrats
— J. Derrick Bryant (@JDomin8r) June 29, 2016
@reggieragland I am so proud! To God be the glory!
— Denise Adcock (@denise_adcock) June 27, 2016
@reggieragland AMEN!!! You're just getting started. Go make an difference in this world Reggie!
— David Smith (@DavidS81189) June 26, 2016
@reggieragland that's awesome! Best decision you'll ever make is following Jesus!
— Grantkeel (@grant_keel) June 26, 2016
@reggieragland You inspre me Reggie. I was baptized as a child but i no longer attend my childhood family church. I think it's time.
— Deatrea Richards (@MrsDeRichards) June 27, 2016
Ragland’s NFL career will begin when the Bills take on the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1 of the 2016 pre-season August 11.
By Nathan Turner Jr.
A tall, brawny young man patrols the hallways of Putnam Middle School on Montclair Road in east Birmingham. The towering figure greets children by name. At one point, he offers words of encouragement to a seventh-grader who recently lost a sister to cancer.
Jeremy Towns, 6-foot-4-inches and 280 pounds, is a former professional football player and future medical student. Now, he strives to make a difference as a mentor to students in one of the city’s academically struggling schools. These endeavors are parts of Towns’ commitment to making the community better – one step at a time.
Towns, 27, an intern in Samford University’s Mann Center for Ethics and Leadership, is helping to build a mentoring program between Samford and Putnam. His goals are to aid students with conflict resolution and career planning, and to make positive decisions in their young lives.
The 2014 Samford sports medicine graduate believes that a need for role models is essential.
“Kids mimic the actions of those they encounter,” he said. “If the only people they see are criminals, then they will copy that behavior.”
One day a week, Towns leads First Priority, a Bible study at Putnam before school hours. The sessions last about 15 minutes and are designed to teach and motivate students.
When Towns was about 9 years old, the Dolomite native’s mother, Janice, gave him a stethoscope for Christmas. She said to use the device, he would have to do well enough in school to become a doctor. In a quest to make that happen, he graduated from Wenonah High School in 2008 as valedictorian.
A stellar student at Samford, Towns was also a Bulldogs star defensive end who overcame a sports hernia and a high-ankle sprain. He tried out at a New York Jets minicamp in May 2014. A day before he was to depart for the University of South Alabama College of Medicine that year, he made a detour to a tryout camp for the Washington Redskins, who signed him to a free agent deal. From there, he played for the Buffalo Bills and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Towns places his brief career in the National Football League in perspective. It’s a business, he said, with an emphasis on profits and retaining the players who keep the team winning. “Even the team equipment manager’s job can be on shaky grounds,” he said.
In August, Towns will resume his path to a career as an orthopedic surgeon when he enters the USA medical school.
Towns is appreciated at Putnam Middle, where he’s known as J.T. Most of the school’s students come from low-income areas such as Marks Village, Harris Homes and Southtown.
“Mr. Towns is a natural fit for our campus: a gentle giant,” said Putnam Principal Brenda Dial. “He has earned a lot of respect among students and teachers. He has a spirit of love and giving; a special gift delivered with a quiet tone.”
One of his mentees is Calvin Haggins, an eighth-grader who says the former ballplayer helps him with anger issues.
“In the mornings, sometimes I am real mad. J.T. will talk with me to calm me down before school starts,” said Calvin, 13, who said he’s torn between a career as a mechanical engineer or as a poetry rapper.
Calvin’s mother, Velma Elston, is a single parent and cardiovascular technician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Most kids need a mentor to keep them on the right track, Elston said.
Towns argues that youths are shaped by their environments. And it is essential to replace negative images with positive ones. Sometimes, he brings professionals such as financial planners to meet students. He hopes to take them to visit others, such as firefighters and Air Force pilots.
The future doctor believes “life on life” mentoring can curb the so-called school-to-prison pipeline, a phenomenon in which students are suspended or expelled and then arrested for minor offenses that lead toward crime and long-term incarceration. Statistics suggest the trend disproportionately affects students of color and those who have experienced abuse, neglect or poverty, or have learning disabilities.
“Life on life means you are more accessible to a child in the at-risk population and they can call you at any time,” Towns said. “This approach can work with trust from parents.”
Towns contends that poor choices can derail youths and prevent them from reaching their full potential. He advocates an integrated effort to assist teens, involving government, faith-based initiatives and education. The venture, he said, needs more people who are working for the benefit of youths rather than personal advancement.
A person who shows sincere interest in youths can help them become change agents, as well as influential and critical thinkers, Towns said
Drayton Nabers, director of Samford’s Mann Center, said Towns is a splendid role model, especially for young men.
“Jeremy is a large, strong, attractive man who kids immediately look up to and are inspired by,” said Nabers, a former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice. “He is also very physical, with a bright mind, strong character and deep faith.”
Towns said a theme in his life is helping people beat the odds. As a mentor, he wants to boost youths’ chances of avoiding gang life and becoming dropouts. As a physician, he wants people to gain the upper hand against heart disease, hypertension and diabetes.
Towns has built other outlets to sow faith and rich futures for marginalized youths. As a Samford University undergraduate, he began a ministry called RANSOM, or Radical Athlete and Student Oasis Ministry. Chapters have spread to the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Campbell University. His one-day football camps are designed to enhance youths in faith, academics and athletics. One event was sponsored by Towns’ former Samford Bulldogs teammate Nick Williams, now of the Kansas City Chiefs.
“We can’t change the world unless we first impact the people closest around us,” Towns said.