More than a game — what football taught me about a life that heals
As a former BYU and NFL football player, sports served as a classroom that taught life-changing lessons. Are young people today experiencing sports the same way?
Former BYU defensive back Derwin Gray in 1991. | Mark Phillbrick, BYU Photo I recently received the Distinguished 2026 Alumni Award from Brigham Young University. I’m deeply grateful.
Not because of the recognition itself, but because of what it represents. The award for me is a reminder that the story God is writing in our lives is always bigger than the football field I picked off passes on. When I arrived at BYU as a young football player in the fall of 1989, I thought the goal was simple: perform well, win games and maybe make it to the NFL.
And by God’s grace, I did play professionally for six seasons. But what I didn’t understand then is this: Football was never the destination. It was a classroom.
A classroom where discipline is forged, perseverance is tested and sacrifice is curriculum. I wonder, is that what sports is functioning as for young people today? Football taught me that when a group of men from different backgrounds partner together in unity and love, they can accomplish some incredible feats — like beating the 1990 defending national champion, the Miami Hurricanes, for example.