(RNS) Religion and sports have always been intertwined, especially when players and coaches use Scripture and prayer in an attempt to gain victory over their rivals. The problem is that while the devil can quote the Bible, so can opposing teams. God is an equal-opportunity sports spectator.
In his four amazing years as the University of Florida’s Heisman-winning quarterback, Tim Tebow significantly tightened the knot between faith and football. On game days, Tebow painted Bible verses below his eyes in letters large enough to be seen by the TV audience.
Some critics called Tebow’s face-based evangelism improper, worried that they could pave the way for athletes from other religious and political groups to decorate their faces and uniforms with their own favorite texts or symbols.
In Florida’s loss to Alabama for the SEC championship, Tebow had John 16:33 on his face: “… In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Unfortunately, No.2 Alabama also overcame the No. 1 Gators by a score of 32-13.
As Florida crushed Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl on New Years Day, Tebow chose a less triumphant selection, Ephesians 2:8-10: “… For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God …” Maybe the more modest words did the trick as Florida battered Cincinnati, 51-24.
Tebow’s super-facial use of Scripture set me thinking how his example might be applied to other individuals and teams:
— Brett Favre, the Minnesota Vikings quarterback, recently turned 40, an advanced age in the NFL. As he prepares for the playoffs, Favre might want to paste these biblical words on his helmet: “And now, in my old age, don’t set me aside. Don’t abandon me when my strength is failing.” (Psalm 71:9).
— For fervent New York Mets fans (including me) who are crushed every year by the team’s failure to win a divisional championship, God’s words to Joshua should be recited before each of the Mets’ 162 games: “Be strong and of good courage” (Joshua 1:6).
— The NBA’s New Jersey Nets set a league record this season by losing their first 18 games in a row. Although the Nets finally broke the horrific streak, they remain trapped as prisoners in the NBA’s Atlantic Division cellar. Even the call of Zachariah 9:12 to be “prisoners of hope” may not be enough for the hapless Nets. Then again, it can’t hurt.
— For decades the University of Notre Dame football team was a national icon and a gridiron dynasty. But during the past three seasons, the once mighty “Fighting Irish” have won only 16 games and lost 20. 2 Samuel 1:27 has the best description of that decline: “How the mighty have fallen.”
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” describes how the letter “A” was on the breast of Hester Prynne who was ostracized in colonial Massachusetts for adultery. While we no longer banish adulterers — indeed, sometimes we idolize them — I do have a modest proposal.
If and when Tiger Woods returns to the professional golf tour, he may want to place a specific verse — Exodus 20:14 — on his cap instead of his initials. The same verse could also serve a useful purpose for former Sen. John Edwards, Nevada Republican Sen. John Ensign, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and former New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer.
The words of that verse from Exodus? In the immortal words of Yankees manager Casey Stengel, “You could look it up.”
(Rabbi Rudin, the American Jewish Committee’s senior interreligious adviser, is the author of “The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right’s Plans for the Rest of Us.”)