Monday, February 26, 2018
Training for FCA Sports Chaplains and Character Coaches
Earlier
this week I delivered a presentation to the F.C.A. International Capacity
Conference in Orlando, Florida. This conference included 125 people from 43
nations of the world. A few selected slides from the presentation are below. If
you would like to see more, simply email me for more information. rlipe@fca.org
Friday, February 16, 2018
2nd Global Congress on Sport and Christianity
Below, please find information on
the
2nd Global Congress on Sport and Christianity that will be held at Calvin College, USA,
October 23-27, 2019. I participated in the inaugural congress in 2016 and it was outstanding. It contains a track specifically about Sports Chaplaincy. I highly recommend this event. Please put yourself in their information loop for more information
as it becomes available.
2nd Global Congress on Sport and Christianity
Location and Dates:
Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA,
October 23-27, 2019
Co-Conveners/Directors:
Professor Brian Bolt, Calvin College, Grand Rapids Michigan, US, email:
brb8@calvin.edu
Professor Chad Carlson, Hope University, Grand Rapids Michigan, US, email:
ccarlson@hope.edu
Sponsoring Institutions:
Calvin College and Hope College
Conference Administrator:
Emily Dock
Link to the website:
https://calvin.edu/events/2GCSC/
Congress Twitter Account:
@SportTheology
Friday, February 2, 2018
Is the Patriots' secret weapon their character coach?
A football coach sent me a
link to this article from today’s USA Today. Please give it a read. It’s a good
example of how a character coach serves a professional (NFL) American Football
team.
Is the Patriots' secret
weapon their character coach?
BLOOMINGTON,
Minn. — A Patriots media relations staffer finished counting and happily
proclaimed, “Every one’s here. Perfect attendance.”
It was
Wednesday’s media session, four days before New England confronts the
Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII. Perfect attendance was good news.
Receiving it was Jack Easterby, whose official title — character
coach/team development – is as surprising to see in an NFL front office as his
role has become indispensable for the longest-running dynasty in NFL
history.
A review of the
media guides of the 31 other NFL franchises revealed New England is the only
one to employ a character coach.
“I always make sure everybody’s here,” Easterby told USA TODAY
Sports. “If someone wasn’t on time, or was taking too long in the bathroom, or
skipping, I need to know. I like to get ahead on any issues.”
Easterby won’t be considered for any head coaching jobs and goes
mostly unnoticed by those on the outside, but he may be the most crucial
member not named Bill Belichick on the coaching staff.
“Character and the kind of people you hire is something that our
country is in desperate need to get back to evaluating,” Easterby said.
“Unfortunately, sometimes it matters most when we count it the least. And when
we evaluate it the least, it matters most. It’s tough, but we have seen a lot
of businesses and industries fall because of a lack of character.
“One of the things we’ve seen come up in our culture lately — from
the (Harvey) Weinstein case and so many others – we’ve seen that choices
matter.”
Easterby was
hired in 2013 to help the team manage the fallout after tight end Aaron
Hernandez was charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd, a member of
the organization told USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on the
condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to comment on the
matter.
One described the
locker room then as reeling, something not unfamiliar to Easterby.
He served as the team chaplain of the Kansas City Chiefs from
2011-12. On Dec. 1, 2012, linebacker Jovan Belcher, 25, fatally shot his
girlfriend at their home before he drove to the Chiefs facility and committed
suicide.
Easterby’s first
role in the NFL was as the assistant director of football operations with
the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2005, consulting on salary cap issues. The
following year, he headed home to Columbia to act as the University of South
Carolina athletic department’s character coach from 2006-11.
“I was just figuring it out,” he said, “but I quickly realized we
can’t just talk about problems; we need to work toward solutions.”
Easterby has an
office with “an unbending open-door policy.” Walk-ins and appointments are
welcomed. Discussed are issues big and small. If Easterby thinks a certain book
will help a player, he’ll drop it off at his locker. He writes personal letters
and provides motivational quotes and posters. He often shares scripture and holds
Bible study. Though he tries not to get too involved in personnel decisions,
Easterby has been involved when Belichick has sought his opinion.
“Jack has been huge in my life,” left tackle Nate Solder, who was
treated for testicular cancer in 2014 and whose son is currently being
treated for a rare form of kidney cancer, told USA TODAY Sports. “He’s one
of my close friends. I call him about everything. I really, really appreciate
his friendship.”
“I had a problem at home,” safety Duron Harmon told USA TODAY
Sports. “I didn’t know how to leave work behind so that when I came home, I was
just Dad, not the football player no more. Meeting with him, he helped me find
peace to let me know how to deal with it.”
As fullback James
Develin told USA TODAY Sports: “Before every game – and I mean every game – he
comes up to each of us and tells us he appreciates us.”
Easterby joins
the squad at practice. He’s not limited, however, to the sidelines. He has led
drills – “throwing passes to fat, defensive guys” — and has even played
scout-team quarterback in a pinch.
Easterby was a guest at safety Devin McCourty’s wedding. He
invites players to breakfast, lunch, and dinner – often at his home with his
family. He has hosted Wiffle ball games in his backyard. He opens up about his
past, doles out high-fives, fist bumps, and hugs.
“Around other
teams, you have people like that, but from what I’ve seen, they’re all
pretenders,” defensive end Ricky Jean Francois, who joined the Patriots in
November, told USA TODAY Sports. “Just because they want to be around football
players and get things. This guy here, every day, he walks up to us and feeds
us positivity. Every single day. This dude is not pretending.”
And it’s not only players whom Easterby counsels.
“Sometimes it’s actually working with a guy who wants to be a head
coach and talking about leadership and growth,” Easterby said, before he
paused, looked, and pointed in the direction of defensive coordinator Matt
Patricia, who is expected to be named head coach of the Detroit Lions after the
Super Bowl. “It doesn’t really matter who it is.”
Easterby speaks
in short, sequential sentences. He lists examples to prove his points. He’s
tall, balding and lanky. He wields a syrupy Southern drawl and brims with
seemingly endless positive energy.
But he’s a white character coach in a league with a majority of
players who are black.
Yet, based on
numerous interviews with white and black players, none said it prevented them
from sharing personal matters. Each said his authenticity made it easy to
relate to him.
“We’ve been
through some things recently — things that have gone on in our country and
things that have gone on in the league,” Easterby said of the political climate
and social activism in the NFL. “I just think that love wins. Communication
with others wins. Servanthood wins. That’s why when we went through some of the
stuff we went through earlier this year, it was a conversation, not a
judgment."
By Wednesday night, back at New England’s team hotel, Easterby was
gathering a group of players for a Bible study. His background is religious,
but Easterby is careful not to force it on anyone. He sometimes swaps out “sin”
in conversation with “mistakes” in an attempt to appeal to all.
NFL locker rooms are complex. Personal issues and problems abound,
and there’s no manual for how to best navigate sensitive topics. Complicating
matters further, what works for one may not help another.
“My role is to
simply serve,” Easterby said. “To help them create healthier relationships,
healthier viewpoints, so that they can become the kind of people they want.
Doing that would make them more sustainable in just about everything.”
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