The Giants were 2-0. In his sixties, Coach Tom Coughlin had never won the big one and questions nagged about his young quarterback. Would Eli ever measure up to his big brother? The Giants faced their NFC rival Washington, Redskins in Washington. No one talked Super Bowl.
On Saturday night before the Washington game the Giants had a team meeting. Coughlin briefed his two captains, afraid that the team might be shocked by the speaker that evening.
Mike Sullivan, the Giant’s wide receiver coach, was a West Point grad, class of 89. Greg Gadson played linebacker for three years with him for Army. When his teammate, No. 98, landed in a bed in Walter Reed Hospital, it was time for his old Army team to pull back together and remember that they were brothers.
When Sullivan returned to visit his friend in June, he had a Giant No. 98 jersey with him signed by the Giant players. “Is there anything else, I can do for you.” Gadson smiled, “I sure would like to bring my family to see the Giants play the Redskins when you’re in town!” Sullivan supplied the tickets and told his head coach about his friend. Coach Coughlin thought it would be a good idea for his players to hear the story.
Gadson addressed the players from his wheel chair the night before the big game. He was serving in Iraq with the Second Battalion and 32nd Field Artillery. On May 7, 2007 returning from a memorial service for two of his soldiers, an IED (improvised explosive device) hit his vehicle, the explosion put him in Walter Reed. When a former athlete who now has no legs talks to you about bad times and the need to keep your poise and fight through it, you listen.
He spoke to them about life opportunities, about how special and privileged they were and about their need to understand what they had. He told them about soldiers who got up in the middle of the night after a 12-hour shift to watch them play. He told them that players play for themselves, but eventually they needed to learn to play for each other.
“My old teammates met my need. When my family and I needed them, they reminded me of the power of a team. A team can find a way to do things greater than they thought they could do individually. A bond is formed that lasts forever. Great teams form the bond by going through something together. Success never comes easy, and nothing is promised to anybody in this life, starting tomorrow.”
The Giants beat the Redskins the next day and began a six-game winning streak, and a road winning streak that took them all the way to victory in Super Bowl XLII.
A wounded soldier inspired my old childhood team to the epitome of gridiron glory. As I heard the Colonel's story, I asked myself, Will I be inspired by the Savior who was wounded for me and yet now rules as the resurrected King to give everything for His glory and the ultimate team--His Church?
"I strongly urge you brothers through God's mercy to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your reasonable act of worship." Romans 12:1
Monday, April 7, 2008
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