The Man with the Smile
Be angry. Be cocky. Be defiant.
That’s what face-painted football fans want as Shaun Alexander zigzags upfield, following the block of a pulling guard. That’s what they want as he nears the end zone, with a linebacker between him and the goal line.
But Alexander, the NFL’s 2005 MVP and leading rusher, doesn’t fit the mold. There’s no attitude, no anger, no trash talk in his game. Instead, Alexander, the Seattle Seahawks’ all-time leading rusher who holds the NFL single-season record for touchdowns, plays with a controlled fury, a passion mixed with sportsmanship.
He’s the NFL’s contradiction in cleats. “I’m always the oddball compared to everyone else,” he says. “That’s because I don’t live by their rules. I go by God’s rules. I think if I was always angry and mad, I’d play angry and mad.”
Smiling But Serious
Wherever Alexander is—on the sideline, in a post-game locker room, or on the phone with a reporter—every worry is lighter, every conversation brighter. Friendly, funny and always quick with a mega-watt grin, Alexander is good company.
But the smile Shaun flashes in games doesn’t fit the tough-guy image… “because in this day and age if you don’t have a bullet wound and aren’t tattooed up, then there’s something wrong with you,” says Durran Alexander, Shaun’s brother.
Alexander’s disposition is a reflection of who he is—a Christian. At age 10 he understood the significance of Jesus’ death on the cross and accepted Jesus as his Savior at an Easter service. He has a peace and joy that spills over, including when he’s on the football field.
“The smile doesn’t mean I’m not trying,” Shaun said. “But I think people see me run for 150 yards in a game and see me smiling and they think I’m not trying.”
Statistics prove he is. In the 2005-2006 season when the Seahawks won the NFC title but lost in the Super Bowl, Alexander’s numbers were indeed worthy of an MVP as he rushed for a league-leading 1,880 yards, averaging 5.1 yards a carry. His 28 touchdowns broke Priest Holmes’s season record by one. Alexander topped 100 yards rushing in 11 of Seattle’s 16 regular-season games.
“Because he’s so smiley and comes across as being nonchalant toward the game, some fans question his passion,” Durran said. But teammates know what winning means to Shaun. Just because he’s a Christian doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about the final score.
“Shaun isn’t pumping his chest and gnashing his teeth every time he runs the football, but he’s probably the fiercest competitor on the team,” comments Mack Strong, the Seahawks All-Pro fullback and Alexander’s close friend. “That’s what you want out of your star running back.”
Going beyond Predictions
Statistically, Alexander is off the charts—on or off the football field.
His parents divorced when he was in fourth grade. Raised in a single-parent home, statistics say he could have become a three-time offender doing jail time. But Carol Alexander raised her sons with tough love and always made sure both of them were in church each Sunday.
Today Shaun offers a helping hand through his foundation, meeting needs of single-parent families and mentoring young men. “To whom much is given, much is expected,” Shaun says. “Now that I’m tremendously blessed, I want to do what my mom always has done.”
Shaun has had a life of days filled with headline-moments on the football field. He rushed for 345 yards in a game as a junior in high school. He broke loose for 291 yards and two touchdowns in a little over two quarters as a redshirt freshman at the University of Alabama. He went on to become the Crimson Tide’s all-time leading rusher and holder of 15 school rushing records.
At Seattle, Shaun is already the Seahawks’ all-time leading rusher. Against the Minnesota Vikings in 2002, he ran for five touchdowns in the first half, setting another NFL record. In his first six seasons as a pro, Alexander scored 100 touchdowns in 96 career games, three fewer games than it took Jerry Rice.
When asked what’s been the best day of his life, Alexander reflects on his record-setting career, then says, “I think it was the first time I led someone to Christ”! [What does that mean? See “The Best Day.”]
That’s not what you’d predict he would say! But success hasn’t become a substitute for his faith. “No matter what’s going on, his relationship with God is the most important thing,” says Ben Brown, Shaun’s cousin and high school teammate. “He loves football. And he combines his love for God and his love for the game…and that keeps the smile on his face.”
The Best Day
“Leading someone to Christ” means showing that person how to know Jesus Christ personally. Everyone must come to Jesus the same way… by following God’s eternal “Play Book,” the Bible. It clearly says that we’ve all got a problem, called sin: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Sins are actions or attitudes that come up short of what God says is right. And our sins result in a major penalty—eternal separation from God: “The wages of sin is [spiritual] death” (Romans 6:23).
Thankfully, the Bible offers a solution. God sent in a “Substitute”—Jesus, his only Son—to take the punishment for our sins! Jesus “suffered once for [our] sins, the righteous [Jesus] for the unrighteous [us], that he might bring us to God, being put to death” (1 Peter 3:18). Because Jesus lived up to every standard that God had for mankind, that qualified him to take our punishment. The proof of his full payment was his resurrection three days later!
Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
You must choose to trust in Christ to forgive you and to save you from the consequences of your sins. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Do you believe in him? If so, tell him today and then let us know about your decision. Today could be the best day of your life!