2005 Soap Box Archives

Bigger Than Life 01/03/05

One of my treasured memories is of a night a few years ago when I was singing the National Anthem at a Monday Night Football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers.

I had just walked out to the center of the football field to sing the anthem where the teams had been warming up on opposite ends and as I took the field they were leaving it, each team running past me going to their dressing rooms.

I felt a presence behind me and turned around to find Reggie White standing there. Of course I was flabbergasted. He said something to the effect of, “I remember when you used to come see us when I played at Tennessee,” gave me a hug and ran off to join his team.

Now why would the minister of defense, who was the all-time sack leader in the NFL, who was getting ready to go out and play his own brand of smash mouth football take the time to stop and say a few words to a fat fiddle player like me?

The answer is simple, because he was a great guy and a wonderful human being.

He may have made life miserable for NFL quarterbacks for a lot of years but when he took the shoulder pads off, Reggie was a husband, a father and a preacher of the gospel who stood his ground against whatever he felt, was wrong, criticism and dissenting opinions notwithstanding.

He set the bar high and lived up to it while a Philadelphia Eagle and a Green Bay Packer. He was almost unstoppable and we are not likely to see his equal in desire, performance and class.

In this day and age of failed drug tests and athletes who go into the bleachers to fight with fans, Reggie White stands head and shoulders above the crowd in the role model category. He was an icon, a legend and a shoo in Hall of Famer.

Reggie has gone to be with the Lord now. His life was short but incredibly productive and his memory will be a part of NFL football as long as the game is played.

So I pay homage to the memory of Reggie White for the kind of football player he was, but most of all for the kind of human being he was.

Rest in peace Reggie White.

Pray for our troops.

What do you think?

God Bless America,