For those who don’t know me, I’m a Nebraska football fan.
One day I was lucky enough to have lunch with Turner Gill, who was an All-American QB at Nebraska. He was the QB when Nebraska failed on a last minute two-point conversion in the 1984 Orange Bowl against Miami. They lost the game and Miami won the national title. That play is shown to this day on sports highlight shows talking about “best ever” games.
One day I had lunch with him and among other things, got to ask him about that moment. I was shocked at what he had to say – which was that missing that conversion and losing the national championship was the best thing that ever happened to him. He said that he did a lot of soul searching in the months after that play, and it all led him to Christ. He was very eloquent in how he talked about how prideful he’d been, and how he’d realized that he couldn’t do everything himself, and that he needed to turn over control to God.
Think of that – a former All-American QB thinks losing the national title, and everything he’d worked for and been focused on for most of his life leading to that point. And he says it’s the best thing to ever happen to him, because it led him closer to God.
When he signs autographs, he also adds “Proverbs 3:5-6,” which he focuses on almost daily:
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Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not;
6 In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths.
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Impressive guy. He’s the head coach at Buffalo University now, and was MAC coach of the year last year. I’d send my kid to play for him any day.
