Former NFL player Jason Wright offers insight on how a professing Christian got caught up in NCAA infractions and he thinks we are partly to blame:
I believe Jim Tressel loves God. I believe he has faith that Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. I also believe that he has a real personal relationship with the one true God. During my time playing for the Cleveland Browns, I was repeatedly told of the stellar job he did representing the faith at churches, parachurch fundraisers, and other Christian gatherings. I’ve heard equally positive reports from his former players. And I don’t think he was faking.
Yet his very public moral failure, culminating in his resignation late last month as head football coach at Ohio State University, has caused big headlines and, for those who championed his faith, even bigger disappointment. Before this plank-eyed sinner begins to point out the speck in Coach Tressel’s eye, however, I need to make a clear statement: Coach Tressel’s fall is our fault. Yes, the church bears responsibility for this public debacle; or, at least the portion of the church with more than a surface knowledge of college football’s inner workings.
Those of us who have been a chaplain, coach, or player at the collegiate level know that, in certain programs, players get paid. And I’m not talking about that rinky-dink stipend check for off-campus living expenses. Because many college athletes and high school prospects are unfairly denied free market value for their services (a peripheral debate better left for another time), the “corporate” arm of many major athletic departments finds a way to reimburse them. Those of us believers engaged in sports ministry know this for a fact. For some reason we have ignored it as a non-issue. For some reason we deactivate our moral compass when confronted with it. I have an idea why.
