Gridiron: "A God Thing"

By Cara Miller

It might be hard to imagine that a group of 50 football players would come together to wash each other’s feet or to share personal testimonies about their struggles and faith. Then again, Gridiron is not your typical group of football players.

Looking to rejuvenate the half-hearted Bible study that had been in place, a group of seven guys on the AU football team came together before the start of the school year last year and brainstormed ideas. What they came up with was a weekly devotional time for the team that would have meaning in their lives and forge stronger relationships. They called themselves Gridiron.

Josh Deeter BA ’08 explains, “Our vision came from Proverbs 27:17: ‘As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.’ And that’s what we focused on — being able to keep each other accountable, sharing experiences in each other’s lives, and just being able to be real with each other.”

Before the Wednesday night meetings, a planning council gets together on Mondays to plan the activities and discussion topic. A typical Gridiron meeting includes a wedge breaker (a football term for icebreaker), a video that leads into the topic, a time for open discussion and testimonies, small-group activities, and prayer.

“Gridiron is not someplace where one of us will preach or just read straight from the Bible,” sophomore Jake Duke explains. “It’s more of an open discussion where every single person in the place will get involved and feel a part of it …. It is a safe place, and it’s a place where God is.”

And though the planning council puts a great deal of effort into every meeting, the Gridiron leaders are the first to recognize that it is a “God thing.”

“Whenever we have just a phenomenal Gridiron, we’d always joke, ‘Man, we did really good today,’” says junior Chance Benbow. “But all of us understand that it’s not anything that we do. It’s a God thing. The fact is that we organize this to the best of our ability, and then we let God take over.”

With that attitude, the leaders have planned various activities for team-building. Last year, Gridiron went on a retreat to a team member’s house, where they went on a hayride, built a bonfire, played games, and sang worship songs. They also planned a foot-washing ceremony, though they were skeptical about how the guys would respond.

“Half of us [on the planning council] were for it, and half of us were against it,” Benbow explained. “But we decided to do it. A lot of guys have said that the most memorable service was the foot-washing.”

Through their involvement with Gridiron, more than one member has come to know Christ. “When the first person was saved, it was all worth it,” says Benbow.

Many of the other members have been impacted as well. Sophomore Ryan Deeter says that he’s been amazed by how loving the guys have been. “They’ve served as witnesses to me and to the rest of the team,” he says. “It’s brought us closer together.”

Junior Chris Russell agrees. “On the field before a game, we all get together and just pray to God to bless us and let us glorify his name. And I know that the people in the stands look on and see that we have been impacted.”

Several members of the football coaching staff have also participated in the group, sharing their personal experiences and testimonies. Head Coach Jeff Judge attends each Gridiron and says he has been deeply moved by the group.

“In 25 years of coaching, I have never seen a group of peer student athletes impact one another like this group has,” he says. “Those guys renew my heart for Christ every week, not just by the message but by their actions.”

In addition to the Gridiron meetings, the members have also participated in service projects, such as collecting clothing items and canned food from campus for charity. Several members of Gridiron are also involved in Jireh Sports in Indianapolis, where they travel every other week to mentor kids. “It’s a ministry for inner-city kids where they can come for different sports like wrestling, gymnastics, and rock-climbing,” says sophomore Zach Duke. “We mentor them, and we also tutor them in schoolwork. Ninety percent of these kids don’t have fathers [present in their lives], and every time we go, they love to see us and talk to us and just get a hug from a father figure.”

Not only has Gridiron had a positive impact on the personal lives of the players as well as the people they’ve served, but it has also impacted the team’s confidence on the field. After starting out the 2006 season with only one win out of six games, they finished strong in 2007, winning three out of their last four games.

“It is evident to me that those guys [Gridiron] had a huge impact on our success at the end of the year,” Judge says. “The guys leading this group do not have to go anywhere to participate in missionary work. When they enter our locker room, they enter the missionary field.”