NFL Hall of Fame Inductee Uses Acceptance Speech to Share Gospel Message

@ThChrstnWrldvw/X screenshot
@ThChrstnWrldvw/X screenshot
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Editor

Randy Gradishar — the latest inductee into the NFL Hall of Fame — used his acceptance speech Saturday to succinctly and powerfully share the Gospel with those listening.

The Ohio native earned his acclaim as a linebacker for the Denver Broncos in the 1970s, when he was part of the so-called “Orange Crush” defense team. At one point in his speech, Gradishar heaped praise on his wife and his pastor for being his “key prayer warriors.”

But it was former NFL running back Archie Griffin, with whom he attended Ohio State University, that he credited with extending the “best invitation I ever had,” which was to join him for a Fellowship of Christian Athletes Bible study on campus.

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Gradishar said, despite growing up in church, he never sat through a Gospel presentation — until attending that FCA meeting, where the message of salvation was explained to him.

“At age 22,” he told Griffin from the platform, “I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.”

The newly minted Hall of Famer said he learned “four simple truths” at the FCA meeting in 1974:

  • Human beings were made in the image of God, according to Genesis 1:27, and the Lord “loves us and offers a plan for our [lives].”
  • The origin of humanity’s problems is they have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, he explained, referencing Romans 3:23. “Therefore,” he said, “we cannot know and experience God’s love and plan for our lives” apart from a salvation relationship with Jesus Christ.
  • But God “made a way” for human beings to be reconciled to Him, as it’s written in John 3:16. “Jesus Christ’s death on the cross — the darkest day in history — and Jesus’ resurrection earned Jesus the right to proclaim, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes the Father but through Me,” a reference to John 14:6.
  • And lastly, salvation comes only through surrendering to God, repenting of sin, accepting His forgiveness, and “asking Jesus by faith to be your personal Lord and Savior.” That, he said, “is the only way to be right with God and to live out His plan for our lives — not ours.”

During his speech, the camera frequent panned over to Griffin, who was smiling during Grandishar’s speech. And many in the crowd were cheering the former Denver Broncos player for his Gospel message.

Please pray the Lord will use Grandishar’s speech to draw unbelievers toward Himself.

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