In 1973 in Birmingham, Alabama, racism was the backdrop for one of the most inspiring stories about a Black American high school football star and his impact on the desegregation issues in his racially torn southern state. His name was Tony Nathan, and he worked his way through very difficult decisions pertaining to his development as a Christian young man. Through the courage of a Christian youth counselor, Tony was challenged to play football for something higher than himself. As he began realizing his dreams, he began to understand that he was talented because God wanted him to be. Jesus Christ was “the way, the truth, and the light.”
At the same time this young man was facing the pain of racism, I was beginning my teaching career in Wilmington, Delaware in a school with a student population of 99% Black American children. I lived in a racially diverse neighborhood, but I grew to also understand how racism can change neighborhoods into war zones where hatred controlled people’s actions and love became non-existent. I still remember how shocked I was to be laid off because of desegregation school rulings by the federal government and how hard it was to be unemployed for a short while. I also remember waking up on one Easter morning to see a cross burning on a neighbor’s front yard. Racism was prevalent in Delaware and so was white supremacy. At that moment, I decided to move to Pennsylvania; unlike Tony, I wasn’t putting my faith in God that He would change things for the better.
Tony’s coach wondered why his team was not a winning team, so he decided to put a black boy on his all white team while the school was battling desegregation rulings and while realizing just how racist Alabama’s governor, George Wallace, really was. Selfishly, the coach knew that Tony could beat anyone at the run, but he also realized that his all white team as well as any other all white team could possibly kill Tony. The youth counselor challenged all of the team members to believe that God is alive if only they would let Christ into their lives. Tony responded to that challenge by placing the words, “Believe-No Fear,” on the back of his helmet. Unfortunately, those words placed a target on Tony’s back from anyone who did not believe in God. Seeing these words myself, I wondered how much pain I could endure to proclaim my faith in God.
After the whole team opened their hearts to Christ, the coach brought his family to Tony’s church in his Black neighborhood. He spoke about seeing the mistreatment of many of his students. He realized that love really can conquer hatred and wanted what his students had. He asked to be baptized and said, “I believe.” He also realized that to be a strong, loving father, you need to be in your children’s lives; you cannot let your obligations be more important than being a role model for those you love. As the team began winning games, they began each game with “The Lord’s Prayer.” The coach, like the father he wanted to be for his own children, told his team how much they meant to him, to the school, and to the community.
A second story line revolved around Tony’s girlfriend who would rather militantly fight back against racism than to make a Christian response to the racism she was experiencing. Tony’s response was that he believed “we should rise up to the purpose that God has given us. My purpose right now is to win this race with my team mates.” Tony was threatened by another militant student in the school to stay away from this girl. He was not fazed when he met her alcoholic father later that evening. and in a show of courage, Tony took the father’s baseball bat away from him. From that moment on, he protected his girlfriend from her father’s beatings and his self-loathing.
As the 1973 season proceeded, two of the most outstanding football players emerged from the top two teams in the state. One of those two players was Tony. When he refused to shake hands with Governor Wallace at an awards dinner, his family’s home was damaged when a brick was thrown through a front window as his younger brother was playing in the room and a cross was burned on their front lawn.
The coach of the University of Alabama, Bear Bryant, heard about the incident and came to talk to Tony about college. He said, “If you only love those who love you back, what kind of love is that?” Tony questioned whether he had what it takes to attend “Bama” where racism was rampant. Bear Bryant said, “There are good white players and there are good black players. Molding men is my job, and you are not a coward, Tony. Those people who hurt your family are cowards.” Tony’s father also told him to do the right thing, to use the great power God had given him to stand up to racism in whatever form he encountered.
The 1974 football season opened with the top two teams in Alabama working out together in the summer. All of the team members realized that God does help you overcome society’s most vicious problems, but you have to believe in the strength that He gives you. We all need hope like we need air; there is something bigger than winning. It’s called Christian love. All the trophies in the world mean nothing, but love…love fills up the holes in our lives like nothing else. All of the members of both teams pledged to be that hope for their communities.
As Christian love would have it, the two teams met for the championship game in November. All the team members and their coaches led the entire 42,000 people attending the game in a pre-game rally for Christ. “This is what happens when God shows up;” our students lead us to a better understanding of who we should be. The game made history as both teams began saying “The Lord’s Prayer” after “The Star Spangled Banner” was sung. The students found a way to say what they thought they couldn’t say. The Alabama superintendent of schools heard the prayer and rushed to turn the microphone off and had the lights turned off in the stadium. In that moment of unified love, there was a silence like none had ever heard before. In the silence, God spoke as the stadium began again to say the prayer in unity. As a sign of the power of one light shining in the darkness, one candle was lit, then another, then another, until 42,000 candles and Bic lighters were seen throughout the stadium. From Tony in the field came the sign of love; he raised his right index finger up towards the sky. To this day when you see a sports figure do this sign, it means “there is only one way.”
Billy Graham began this tradition in a revival meeting at the Cotton Bowl stadium several years before. He used it to say, “My life is not insignificant. My life matters.” There is only one way to change our society. It is through believing in Jesus Christ. One person’s light can overcome the darkness; we need to speak the truth even when it’s not safe. There is much at stake and not only our lives. It’s our souls. When your children say to you, “I’m proud of you, dad, mom. You gave us hope today,” know that they are giving you what we all need…love. Love will overcome hatred. Forty-seven years later, as we struggle with racial turmoil and violence, we need to hear our children say, “ALL LIVES MATTER!”
Anna Hartt
