The Christian Broadcasting Network
Watch Pat, Terry, and Gordon on your iPod as they bring you amazing stories and celebrity interviews.
Have you experienced the presence of God?
Ron DiCianni: Painting the Resurrection?
Become a CBN partner and receive The Transforming Word: Verses to Overcome Fear and Experience Peace, our special DVD/CD gift to you.
CBN Partners are making a difference sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Find out how.
CBN.com – Game winning kicks highlight his career. Denver Broncos kicker, Jason Elam is as sure-footed as they come. Only six players in NFL history have more points. Jason admits that for most of his life, football was everything.
"Football was really what defined me. Yeah, definitely, football was number one, and my priorities were pretty messed up," Jason tells The 700 Club.
Jason gave his life to Christ at a young age, but his college years spawned doubt in his mind.
"I had been a Christian for a long time, but I had really never grown and to be honest with you, I wasn’t completely convinced that it was true. It really made me question not only what I believed, but why."
He began searching for answers.
"I just started from scratch. I said, 'Why do I believe what I believe?' And after I studied the manuscript evidence, the archaeology behind Christianity, and the prophecy behind it, I just decided, I believe that this is true. It was then that I decided to rededicate my life to Christ, and I was pretty sold out at that point after a successful career at the University of Hawaii."
Jason was drafted by the Broncos in 1993. He helped lead the team to back to back Super Bowls in ‘97 and ’98. The 1998 season brought Jason’s crowning achievement… he kicked a 63-yard field goal, tying a record for the longest kick in the NFL. It seemed that Jason controlled his destiny. That is until 2000. The 2000 season began like any other for Jason Elam and the Denver Broncos. But it was a possible career ending injury that made Jason realize he was no longer in control. It happened when Jason tried to make a tackle during kickoff return against the Falcons.
"I just lie there and really couldn’t move my right side, and I didn’t know what had happened, and they took me off the field. I was just laying in the hospital overnight and thought, 'Hey God’s in control, and He’s got a perfect plan for us.' "
The doctors told Jason he had broken his back in three places and would miss the rest of the season. But miraculously, he ended up playing three weeks later.
"Yeah, I just started coming back, doing the rehab, and started feeling a lot better. I went out and started kicking one day, and it didn’t bother me. It hasn’t bothered me since. Some may say, well it’s completely coincidence. But I’m not a big coincidence believer. God says that one of his biggest desires is for us to know Him. That’s the will of God to know Him ... the real Jesus."
Jason’s desire to know God is opening doors off the football field and all around the world. He recently co-wrote a Christian fiction thriller based on football and terrorism, entitled Monday Night Jihad.
"We honestly didn’t really care too much about book sales and all of that. Our hope was that maybe there would be a football fan out there who is not a believer. And maybe he picks this up because of all the fun, silly football stories that he wants to read about, and through this story he gets confronted with truth."
You might say Jason Elam has come full circle. But Jason would say his life is just beginning. And he owes it all to Jesus Christ.
"The Super Bowl rings are very special to me, but that’s where it ends. Football is just something I do. It’s not who I am. My Christianity and my faith ... that’s what defines me, that’s who I am. He’s the reason I’m doing what I’m doing. I look back, and He died an unbelievably cruel brutal death for me. And if I were the only one who had been a sinner out there, He would have died for me. Because of that, I’m completely convinced. And because I’m completely convinced that the Bible is true and reliable, then I have to give my life back to Him, not because I have to but because I want to."
A caring friend will be there to pray with you in your time of need.
