Tennessee Titans

, , ,

Playoffs weekend NFL think piece: Ray Lewis, Eddie George and the faith ties that bind

, , ,

Over the years, there have been two or three sports fans who have worked at GetReligion.

I have even seen evidence that several dozen (cough, cough) GetReligion readers are interested in sports. Maybe there’s something about people who care about religion and journalism that blocks an all-American interest in sports? Beats me.

Anyway, from time to time some of us (looking at you, Bobby Ross, Jr.) have soldiered on, producing posts about mainstream coverage of sports stories that skips over (that’s putting it mildly) relevant religious content in the lives of star players and sometimes entire teams. I could write a whole book on ESPN and Baltimore Sun stories about the Baltimore Ravens that contain massive God-shaped holes, in terms of important facts about the lives of players, coaches and staff members.

Now it is time for round two of the National Football League playoffs and this round of games includes a renewal of one of the fiercest rivalries in the league, dating back to when the Ravens and the Tennessee Titans were in the same division. Yes, this means that one of my two NFL teams will knock the other one out of the Super Bowl race tonight.

With that in mind, let me recommend a story at The Athletic website (which is really worth its modest price) with this headline: “ ‘We gotta tell this story’: Eddie George, Ray Lewis and a friendship fueled by rivalry, marred by tragedy, saved by love.”

That last word — “love” — is linked to faith-based ties that bind.

We are, of course, talking about iconic players here. It also helps to know that quite a bit of this long story focuses on ties between George, Lewis and the late, murdered quarterback Steve McNair, who played for both franchises. Here is the overture, set in the present:


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , , ,

Monday Mix: Church vs. football, religion in schools, scandalized bishops, His (Islamic) Holiness

, , , , , , ,

Welcome to another edition of the Monday Mix, where we focus on headlines and insights you might have missed from the weekend and late in the week.

The fine print: Just because we include a headline here doesn't mean we won't offer additional analysis in a different post, particularly if it's a major story. In fact, if you read a piece linked here and have questions or concerns that we might address, please don't hesitate to comment below or tweet us at @GetReligion. The goal here is to point at important news and say, "Hey, look at this."

Three weekend reads

1. "I think we can all thank the Lord for Saturday night services and TiVo." The Tennessee Titans played the Los Angeles Chargers at 8:30 a.m. CDT Sunday in London (they lost a heartbreaker).

In advance of the odd kickoff time, religion writer Holly Meyer of The Tennessean had a timely, interesting feature on the clash between Sunday morning church and football:

While the extra-early Titans game is atypical, it is not uncommon for late Sunday morning worship services to run past the usual noon-or-later kickoffs in the 17-week regular season.

Die-hard, church-going Titans fans devise game-day routines that ensure they can watch their team and worship their God.

2. "(T)here is more student religious expression today in public schools than probably anytime in the last hundred years." For two decades, Charles Haynes has been a go-to source for journalists (including myself) reporting on the intersection of religion and public schools.


Please respect our Commenting Policy