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Dallas Cowboys safety Roy Williams sucks at zone coverage, but Jesus loves him.
No, wait. Sorry -- I made a mess of that sentence. Let me try it again:
Roy Williams sucks at zone coverage because Jesus loves him.
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| Yes, Roy Williams, you've had on-field problems. But God isn't getting involved. (Getty Images) |
Why are you looking at me like that? Don't blame me. I'm not the latest athlete to play the God card so clumsily and self-centeredly. I'm not the "role model" who told an Oklahoma newspaper that a direct line can be drawn from his football struggles to his new-found faith in the Lord. That was all Roy Williams, who had been having a tough year before opening his mouth and inserting his Bible.
Williams went through the entire 2007 season without a sack. He struggled in Wade Phillips' 3-4 defensive scheme to the point Phillips didn't start him in two games. There was talk of a feud between Williams and coaches and even some teammates after Williams -- whose horse-collar tackles led to a rule banning them -- got himself suspended by horse-collaring the Eagles' Donovan McNabb.
Two Cowboys questioned him recently in the media. Greg Ellis said Williams has been whining and distancing himself from teammates. Terence Newman said Williams "had a bad season" in coverage thanks to his "deer in headlights type of reaction to some plays."
With that as context, here's what Williams told the Oklahoman last week:
"Ever since I've rededicated my life to Christ, I've caught way more persecution now," he said. "But it's a beautiful thing because I know it's a breakthrough coming for me. I welcome it. What makes me any better than Christ? He was persecuted and I've been persecuted. My teammates know where my heart is. They know where my mind is at."
Williams' heart may be in the right place, but his brain needs work if it sees parallels between the persecution of Jesus and the persecution of a $25 million safety. Beaten by Roman soldiers, beaten by Randy Moss -- what's the difference?
Athletes turn to God, and God loses. Have you ever met someone who was turned on after watching Jon Kitna thank God for a touchdown pass? Doubt it. Have you ever met someone who was turned off? Sure you have. There's a saying: Christianity would be great if it weren't for all those, you know, Christians.
Just so you know, I've walked both sides of this fence. Some of you might wonder, so here goes: I've not been to church in a year, but for a decade before that, I went weekly and tithed 10 percent of my salary, such as it is, to the church. There's my story.
Lots of Christians tithe. Nothing special about me. Hell, Darryl Strawberry told reporters he was tithing in 1991. In later years, he was strung out on coke and indicted for tax evasion and charged with soliciting prostitutes and assaulting a girlfriend and failing to support his kids. I'm not sure he was still a Christian, but I'm positive I wasn't the only one to remember his tithing and wonder what happened. And I'm positive that's not good.
