Rod Woodson Hall of Fame Speech – Excerpts

I really appreciated Rod Woodson’s NFL Hall of Fame induction speech. So much so that I typed some of his words here.

Rod_Woodson_20010607-4You may remember Rod when he played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Baltimore Ravens, and the Oakland Raiders. He played with such excellence that the Steelers named him to their 75th Anniversary Team.

“‘… I want to thank my Lord Jesus Christ. He’s my Savior. He died for my sins and my salvation and no really without him I would not be here. He believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself…. I truly thank him for guiding me for so long and keeping me safe, even when I didn’t realize it was him. I really thank him and really, without his mercy, without his love, without his compassion for me as a person, as a human being, as one of his children, I wouldn’t be here. So I say thank you Jesus….

“God has given us a gift — to choose. It’s a power that we normally don’t talk about. I leave you today with these thoughts. Choose. Choose to love rather than hate. Choose to create rather than destroy. Choose to persevere rather than quit. Choose to praise rather than gossip. Choose to heal rather than wound. Choose to pray rather than curse. Choose to live rather than die. Choose Jesus Christ over the world.” ~Rod Woodson at HOF Induction

Rod’s pictured here from his visit to the White House in 2001.

Faith Is What Runs Deepest w/ Dungy…

While there are many things that identify who a person is, for the Christian nothing is deeper than his or her identity in Christ. Tony Dungy demonstrated this after winning the Superbowl last evening when he had this dialog with the reporter.

Jim Nantz of CBS Sports: This is one of those moments, Tony, where there is also social significance in this victory, and to have your hands on the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Tell me what this means to you right now.

Tony Dungy: I’ll tell you what. I’m proud to be representing African-American coaches, to be the first African-American to win this. It means an awful lot to our country. But again, more than anything, I’ve said it before, Lovie Smith and I, not only the first two African-Americans, but Christian coaches showing that you can win doing it the Lord’s way. And we’re more proud of that.

Look at some of the words he used: more than anything and we’re more proud of that. It shows you that the most important thing about Dungy, in Dungy’s estimation, is his Christian faith. Continue reading