Brett Honeycutt

Airing It Out: Love Through Life

When I was a child, my mom would take me and my brother to youth baseball and football practices at the nearby elementary school. She took care of us, joyfully, because we were her young children, but it was also laborious, because it required doing something else after a long day of work. I’m sure she would rather have rested, or done something different, but she knew we enjoyed it, and she liked things that we liked...

Clint Dempsey - Finding Strength In The Lord

Clint Dempsey was in kindergarten when he discovered that he loved soccer. The exhilaration of scoring goals was exactly what he needed to deepen his love for a game that has taken him all over the world and allowed him to play at soccer’s highest level in Europe and in the United States…

Life In The Fast Lane

Peace eluded reigning Olympic and world 100-meter track champion even after she became a Christian,...

Devotional of the Week -- Impact Through Defeat

Different isn’t always easy. Remember the Jamaican bobsled team in the 1988 Calgary Olympics? Seems like an oxymoron, right? Jamaican bobsled? To cement their involvement in the Olympics, a movie, Cool Runnings, was made about their exploits. The foursome of Devon Harris, Dudley Stokes, Michael White and Nelson Stokes...

Devotional of the Week -- Do You Believe In Miracles?

Al Michaels’ phrase, “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” will be forever remembered as the most famous call in Olympic or sports history. He uttered those words at the end of one of the most shocking upsets in sports history, a 4-3 U.S. victory against the Soviet Union in men’s ice hockey at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. It wasn’t the gold-medal game (that would come a game later against Finland), but it was stunning and unbelievable because the Soviets had routed the U.S., 10-3, in an exhibition less than two weeks prior to the upset...

Airing It Out -- Humility, we need more of it

Richard Sherman’s post-game rant after the NFC Championship game has been a lesson in believability, apologies that carry no weight and a reminder that humility is difficult, but that it’s what God says He desires. He reminds us of this in Matthew 23:12 and tells us what will happen if we don’t, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted...”

Feature Story -- Michael Robinson: Peace Within The Storm

Dehydration. Kidney failure. Liver failure. Rapid weight loss. Job loss. All were part of a whirlwind of bad news for Seattle Seahawks fullback Michael Robinson. And though the seeming chaos would likely have been too much to handle for most, Robinson never feared in the midst of his trial. Jump back to the morning of August 17, just before Seattle was to host a preseason game against the Denver Broncos, the same Super Bowl XLVIII opponent of the Seahawks...

Super Bowl Predictions -- Clyde Christensen: The Keys to Beating Denver and Seattle

Clyde Christensen is the quarterbacks coach for the Indianapolis Colts, the only team this season to beat the Denver Broncos (the NFL’s best offense of all time) and Seattle Seahawks (the NFL’s best defense this season). Sports Spectrum asked Christensen, “What are the keys to beating Denver and Seattle?”...

Devotional of the Week -- Are You Ready?

PGA golfer Tiger Woods once said, "Everyone knows what the Masters is, even if you're a non-golfer. People know what Wimbledon is. They know what the Super Bowl is. There are certain events that people just know about." That's true. Some events are just known, especially the Super Bowl. As Christians we know about certain events that have taken or will be taking place, with one of them being the rapture of believers. However, I think we take it for granted that everyone knows...

Airing It Out -- Memories etched in stone

I have an odd recollection of names like Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Ted Williams and other baseball greats from the 1940s, 50s and early 60s, even though I was born well after they played the game. Sure, I remember watching 1970s greats like Mike Schmidt, Tom Seaver, Willie Stargell, Reggie Jackson, and Nolan Ryan play on TV, where I also saw the Big Red Machine, the “We Are Family” Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers in those great World Series match ups...

Devotional of the Week -- Treasuring What Matters

Winter Olympics great Eric Heiden was very practical in his view of gold medals. In essence, they’re nice to look at, but not very useful. “I’d rather get a nice warmup suit. That’s something I can use. Gold medals just sit there. When I get old, maybe I could sell them if I need the money,” said Heiden, winner of five gold medals at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y. He understood the triviality of the medals, which are much like the trivial nature of wealth or stockpiling things because we just have to have them. When it came down to it, Heiden needed equipment to train more than he needed the medals. And when it comes down to worldly things compared to spiritual things, we should see the disparity between the two and store up treasures in heaven. As Matthew 6 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also...”

Airing It Out -- Why the NFL matters

Sports are popular in America. How popular? Of the top 50-most watched television programs in America in 2013, 45 were sporting events. Of those top 50 programs, the top 26, and 42 of the top 50, were NFL games. The rest of the top 50 were the BCS National Championship Game (No. 27), NBA Finals Game 7 (No. 29), NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship Game (No. 39) and five episodes of NCIS (ranking anywhere from No. 40 to No. 50)...

Devotional of the Week -- Getting Up When You Fall

A year after John Elway drove the Denver Broncos to victory in the AFC Championship Game against the Cleveland Browns, the two teams met again to see who would go to the Super Bowl. Late in the game, with a little more than 1 minute left, it appeared that Cleveland running back Earnest Byner would tie the game, but the ball was stripped from his hands at the 2-yard line, Denver recovered, and the Broncos held on for the victory in one of the greatest games in AFC/NFC Championship history. Unfortunately, Browns fans remember Byner for what they called “The Fumble” instead of his solid years as a running back for Cleveland. Byner, though, didn’t wallow in his misery. After being released by the Browns the following season, he spent five years with the Washington Redskins...

Airing It Out -- From Africa with love and encouragement

As I spoke to LPGA legend and World Golf Hall of Famer Betsy King recently, I was encouraged. I was encouraged by what she’s doing in Africa to help the people spiritually and physically through her organization, Golf Fore Africa, and through a partnership with World Vision. But I was even more encouraged that 30 years after she was featured in the first issue of Sports Spectrum (then known as Sports Focus), she is still walking with Christ...

Airing It Out -- Let your actions speak

Johnny Manziel, you don’t have to point fingers and brag. You’re good enough, I promise. You don’t have to prove it to a defender or remind them how good you are by yelling and pointing at them after running and passing the ball over them into the end zone...

Airing It Out -- Sharing our hope

(Originally published in Sports Spectrum's April 2013 DigiMag) We heard the same sermon twice on the Wednesday night we went to West Monroe, La.—and both were unexpected. We had just finished our interview with Miss Kay, Al, Willie and Phil Robertson, cast from the popular TV show, Duck Dynasty. It was interesting listening to Phil talk about sex and relationships, Willie talk about his early days when he and his wife, Korie...

Devotional of the Week -- Tony Romo's Greatest Success

Tony Romo has undergone a spiritual transformation the last few years (which we talk about on pages 40-43 of this issue). During that time, he has been mentored by godly men, gotten married, become a father and has seen what's most important in life. "One thing as I grow into a husband is being a spiritual leader of my family, my wife and the people I surround myself with," Romo told Sports Spectrum. "I heard John Wooden, the UCLA basketball coach for all those years, once said success is peace…"

Devotional of the Week -- Christ Reflector

Fresno State quarterback and Heisman Trophy hopeful Derek Carr said his faith in Christ was the No. 1 thing in his life. “You can ask anyone who knows me, that’s the first thing they should tell you, and if they don’t, then I’m not doing the right thing,” he said. “Derek Carr is not the Fresno State quarterback. First of all, he’s a Christian and then he’s the Fresno State quarterback; that is what’s the most important thing to me, to be noticed as a Christian first and a quarterback second...”

Airing It Out -- Freely pardoned

Parents, in general, rear their children to get an education, excel at sports, and excel at life, sometimes in that order, and sometimes with sports before education, but usually, excelling at life seems to come last on the importance meter. Strangely, those same parents wonder what happened when their children fail at life. Questions abound like: Why did they disobey? Why did they get involved with the wrong crowd?

Back to Fresno

The phone rang. It was sometime in 2008 and Pat Hill, then Fresno State’s football coach, was calling to see how David Carr, the oldest of son of Rodger and Sheryl Carr, was doing. David was a former Fresno State record-setting quarterback who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 NFL draft by the expansion Houston Texans and was featured on the cover of Sports Spectrum that year...

Devotional of the Week -- Built for Pittsburgh

The success of the 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates, who broke a 20-year losing streak and made the playoffs, began because Pittsburgh Manager Clint Hurdle wanted to make a difference by choosing something other than what people told him to do. Hurdle recounted his decision to Sports Spectrum in the 2013 Spring issue. “Everyone told me that I had to go to New York,” recalls Hurdle, who says that people advised him to take that job because of his connection with the Mets as a player and minor league manager...

Airing it Out -- Someone else's responsibility?

Parents, in general, rear their children to get an education, excel at sports, and excel at life, sometimes in that order, and sometimes with sports before education, but usually, excelling at life seems to come last on the importance meter. Strangely, those same parents wonder what happened when their children fail at life. Questions abound like: Why did they disobey? Why did they get involved with the wrong crowd?

Devotional of the Week -- Hope-Inspired Moments

Marshall beat Xavier 15-13 on Sept. 25, 1971, in a college football game. Nothing about that seems spectacular, noteworthy or would make anyone have goose bumps—except a Marshall fan or someone who knows college football history. That game was memorable and spectacular, not because Marshall quarterback Reggie Oliver threw a touchdown pass...

Devotional of the Week -- Breaking the Mold

Doug Flutie was someone who didn’t fit the prototypical quarterback. He only stood 5-feet, 9 inches tall, but he had a strong arm, a huge heart and a belief that his team could win. On Nov. 23, 1984, with six seconds left on the clock, and Flutie’s Boston College team trailing the defending national champion Miami Hurricanes, fans saw all of Flutie’s qualities and more...

Airing It Out -- Michael Vick forgives; why can’t you?

If the statement below came from anyone else other than Michael Vick, we would glance over it, miss the potential lesson that we could learn (or be reminded of) and not think about how impactful it could be if we all did what Vick did. When asked about his teammate Riley Cooper, who used a racial slur while at a concert, Vick told reporters this: “As a team we understood because we all make mistakes in life and we all do and say things that maybe we do mean and maybe we don’t mean. But as a teammate, I forgave him...

Devotional of the Week -- Miss Kay, An Example of Patience

Kay Robertson looked out in the parking lot of the place she was working and saw her husband, Phil, slumped over in his car, his head on the steering wheel. Several months prior, Phil had said he didn’t want to be around his wife or his children. He told them this, then he left. Alcohol was his love, and his wife and children were a distant second...

Devotional of the Week -- Being Open With God

R.A. Dickey, last year’s National League Cy Young winner, has been through some difficult times. In our cover story on pages 42-47 of our most recent print issue (log in here to read), he says: “I remember really being angry with God, like, ‘How can You take me to the precipice of a new start and then allow this to happen?’ You want answers, and I talk to God like He’s real. He already knows what I’m feeling, so why hide it? I’m not going to sugarcoat it, and so if I’m angry, I’m angry. If I’m sad, I’m sad. I’m not going to pretend to be somebody I’m not. I did that for too long...”

Airing It Out -- Offending the few

We are a hyper, oversensitive, society that cares about offending a few as opposed to offending the many. And we do it in the name of diversity, tolerance, and, in the case of St. Louis Cardinals fan Michael Vines, being neutral on religion (or, in essence, being pro-atheist)...

Devotional of the Week -- Inspiring Heroes

Eric Liddell is one of my favorite athletes, not because he was a runner (track and field is one of my favorite sports) and not because he was a winner (he won the 400 meters at the 1924 Olympics) and not because he was a world record holder (his winning time in the Olympics broke the previous world record). It was because he was able to compete in the sport and accomplish all of his feats while honoring God. His story is inspiring, and should be for any Christian, for all of those reasons...

Airing It Out -- Sports, culture, politics – not always bad

I recently wondered if sports as a safe haven, the sanctuary we so often escape to avoid the media’s political boxing match every day, exists any longer because it seems to have become entangled with 21st Century politics. Current and former athletes speaking out for and against guns, gays, certain politicians and Christians sharing their faith openly, are only some of the hot-button issues invading our sports culture today. On the surface, this could cause some to worry that our escape has been turned into a battlefield by the politically motivated or by those who could care less about the pureness of sports...

Devotional of the Week -- We are limited, but God is not

Tampa Bay Rays star Ben Zobrist was on the world stage recently when he played for the United States in the World Baseball Classic in March. But Zobrist was on an even bigger stage in 2008, when the Rays faced the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. Zobrist saw it as an opportunity where he could give God the glory if the Rays could win. When his team lost, though, he was baffled—but only for a short time...

Devotional of the Week -- Dwelling on joy

Major League Baseball knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey had the best year of his career last season. He made his first All-Star Game appearance, had career-bests in victories (20), ERA (2.73) and strikeouts (230), and he won the National League Cy Young award—the highest achievement for a pitcher. And all of that came after releasing his autobiography, Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball...

Toby Mac talks golf at K-LOVE Fan Awards

Airing It Out -- Disagreement equals hate?

It’s official. The media is the new czar of morality. Your Bible? They say it’s no longer valid. And what you individually believe? It’s no longer relevant either. If you go against the media’s moral code, whether you are a liberal or a conservative, you are now bigoted and hateful...

Devotional of the Week -- Sovereign control

Los Angeles Dodgers star Adrian Gonzalez realizes that God’s sovereignty, His control, can’t be usurped. But he doesn’t use that as an excuse to not work hard, as he told Sports Spectrum in an interview. “My relationship with Christ allows me to take a step back from things and not put too much pressure on myself...”

Devotional of the Week -- Enduring Love

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” I Corinthians 13:4-7 Enduring Love My mom and dad would drive my brother and I to Little League practice and games a lot when we were growing up. They seemed to never tire of the early Saturday mornings or the late practices during the week or the hours spent practicing with us...

Devotional of the Week -- A New Day

Major League Baseball’s Opening Day has no comparison. The excitement, hope and freshness of that day can’t be matched by any other sport. It’s likely because it signifies, for most, the beginning of sunny days and warm weather after spending the winter fighting icy and snowy conditions, unless, of course, you live in a tropical climate. That’s what it felt like when I understood what it meant to follow Christ. The newness and hope were overwhelming because the worries of this life became insignificant when thinking what eternity with or without God would be like. The burden of fear, in regards to eternity, had been lifted...

Airing It Out -- Why we stand with Robert Guerrero

When I read about Robert Guerrero getting arrested, all sorts of emotions welled up—at first. Then I read what happened and I thought, “No big deal.” Yes, No. Big. Deal. We have a logic fail by anyone who thinks otherwise, including people like ESPN’s Dan Rafael who, unfortunately, have essentially equated it with crimes like domestic violence...

Devotion of the Week -- Sin and defeat

“So about three thousand men went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted and became like water.” Joshua 7:4-5 The year was 1991 and the Duke men’s basketball team was in the Final Four, facing an undefeated and defending NCAA champion UNLV team that had beaten Duke 103-73 for the national championship the previous year in the most lopsided title game in NCAA history...

Airing It Out -- Winning = Happiness?

Mountaintop experience. Overwhelming. Elation. Joy. Happiness. Freedom. Those words would aptly describe the feelings of most players and coaches who win the Super Bowl, the most popular sporting event in the U.S. as evidenced by the record-breaking number of television viewers the last three Super Bowls (more than 111 million watched last year’s game making it the most-watched TV show in U.S. history)...

Can Politics, Faith and Athletics Mix?

Some Christians are familiar with the faith of our nation’s Founding Fathers like Samuel Adams, Benjamin Rush and John Jay. They weren’t afraid to express their faith, like when Adams, signer of the Declaration of Independence and Father of the American Revolution, wrote this while Governor of Massachusetts in a Proclamation of a Day of Fast on March 20, 1797: “That wars may cease in all the earth, and that the confusions that are and have been among nations may be overruled by promoting and speedily bringing on that holy and happy period when the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and all people everywhere willingly bow to the sceptre of Him who is Prince of Peace...”

Airing It Out -- The way sports should be

With all of the scandals, shootings, ill-advised comments (verbally and in social media), and general negativity surrounding today’s sports world, I wondered if sports had finally lost its safe-haven reputation it once enjoyed...

Airing It Out -- Culture wars

There is a culture war going on and Yunel Escobar is in the middle of it. So is U.S. gymnastics Olympic star Gabby Douglas. The culture war involves an array of social issues involving Christianity, but we’ll address Gabby Douglas first. Her story deals with an attack directed straight at her faith...

Airing it Out -- Oh, when the Saints go cashing in

"Cart-offs” and “knockouts” aren’t terms that normally produce thoughts of leadership and the NFL. If anything, they make me think of the anything-goes-world of boxing. But that terminology, made infamous this past spring because of the connection to the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, or “Bounty Gate” as it’s been dubbed, is actually synonymous with the NFL and a lack of leadership...

Stephanie Brown Trafton: 'God has been preparing me for this'

For Stephanie Brown Trafton, a year made a world of difference; not only in the discus ring, but in her personal faith, as well. The track and field standout who had never won a U.S. track and field title or even an NCAA championship while at Cal Poly, won the discus at the 2008 Olympics. She followed that with three U.S. titles (2009, 2011, 2012) and an American record this year in the event...

Airing It Out -- A true hero

When the Olympics come to mind, I generally think of one thing: track and field, the oldest sport in the Olympics, which date to 776 BC when the first games were held in Olympia, Greece. Actually, track was the only sport in that first Olympics and there was only one event—a race of approximately 192 meters (210 yards). Like most people who think about track, the names of Olympic greats like Carl Lewis, Usain Bolt, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Ben Johnson and Allyson Felix come to mind. But, given enough time, I end up thinking about Eric Liddell...

Musings -- Thoughts from around the world of sports

If you wondered why Kansas City Royals fans were booing New York Yankees All-Star Robinson Cano last night and also on Monday night during the Home Run Derby, it was because he seemingly lied. Most commentators, writers, etc., failed to mention that fact when they derided the Kansas City fans for booing. The booing was merciless and constant...

Musings -- Thoughts from around the world of sports

Musings about the world of sports... Contracts, new jobs, difficult situations, working behind the scenes, slander, forgiveness. Some of that sounds like what people deal with on a regular basis, but those things were evident in the world of sports this past week...

Musings - Thoughts from around the world of sports

* On Sunday, we saw where some zany fan breached "security" at the U.S. Open as they presented Webb Simpson the trophy (read a great feature on Webb Simpson by Sports Spectrum writer Stephen Copeland). Some may ask how something like this could happen, especially in a sport like golf where fans are supposedly more well-mannered than fans in other sports. Well, look no further than our society...

With Everything

Jeff and Natalie Storment’s lives had seemingly been changed overnight. Jeff had just become a Christian. He was a successful businessman in North Carolina, overseeing 350 employees in the southeast, and his wife, Natalie, had a successful business, too. But they desired God in a way that seemed to trump worldly desires. They didn’t want comfort by the world’s standards. They wanted comfort by God’s standards. And that meant doing what God wanted...

NCAA Baseball Profile Closeup (Summer 2012 DigiMag): Mark Appel

Yesterday, Stanford's starting pitcher, Mark Appel, was selected 8th overall in the MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Stanford is currently competing in the College World Series and just advanced to the super regionals and will play Florida State. Appel is featured in our current DigiMag, read his story below: It would be easy to sympathize with Stanford’s Mark Appel if he felt pressure. He is the top pitcher on one of the nation’s best college baseball teams, and he is taking classes at one of the nation’s toughest academic institutions...

The Scapegoat: Dealing with Blame and Defeat

On Championship Sunday, both the AFC and NFC title games were marred by mistakes in the final moments. Baltimore Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff shanked a game-tying field goal against the New England Patriots, and San Francisco 49ers returner Kyle Williams fumbled on the punt return, giving the New York Giants a game-winning field goal. But that's life. We're human. And we mess up. How do you react when you're the one to blame for defeat? How do you respond to God when you lose? Former Indianapolis Colts and Washington Redskins punter Hunter Smith, who is featured on this year's Power To Win DVD, dropped the snap on a game-tying extra point, which ended up being the last play of his otherwise successful career. But as a Christian, he used the moment of blame, shame and defeat to lead people to the Cross. It was drizzling rain at Washington’s Fed Ex Field on Dec. 12, 2010, and seven seconds remained on the clock...

From the Archives: Meb Keflezighi

At 36-years-old, Meb Keflezighi won the Olympic marathon trials last weekend. Keflezighi's story below was featured in the Winter 2010 issue of Sports Spectrum. Nearly two years ago Meb Keflezighi couldn’t walk. Even moving around in his bed required help from loved ones. His predicament was the result of a fractured hip he incurred Nov. 3, 2007, at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in New York City...

Musings: Does God Care About Tim Tebow?

With the recent success that Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos have had since Tebow took over as the starting quarterback eight weeks ago (he has gone 7-1 as a starter after people in the media said he couldn’t play in the NFL), several questions have arisen among believers as well as non-believers. They are: Is God showing favor on Tim Tebow or the Broncos? And does God care about the outcomes of sporting events, and in particular NFL games, or does He choose one team over the other? This topic has multiple levels of discussion, but below are a few. However, before we tackle (no pun intended) these topics, let’s remember this: We let God’s Word form our opinion and our theology. We don’t find Scripture to support our opinion or our view just because we believe it (which, in essence, would be man-made theology)...

In the News: Jesse Williams

High jumper Jesse Williams was honored on Tuesday as a recipient of the Jesse Owens Award. This season, Williams became the first American to win a world high jump crown since Charles Austin in 1991. Managing editor Brett Honeycutt's story on Williams was featured in the Spring 2011 issue of Sports Spectrum. U.S. Olympian. Three-time U.S. champion. Four-time NCAA champion. NCAA field athlete of the year. Those are Jesse Williams’ accomplishments. But it’s not what defines him...

In the News: Landry Jones

From birth, Landry Jones seems to have been groomed to play football and play it at a high level. However, despite setting several school records for the storied University of Oklahoma football program last season as a freshman, when he filled in for Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Sam Bradford, Jones didn’t get lost in all of the glitz and glamour that comes from playing big-time college football. Sure, Jones (6-foot-4, 219 pounds) has aspirations of playing in the NFL like anyone who plays for a major college football program...

In the News: Andy Dalton

One morning this season TCU quarterback Andy Dalton received a text from his dad, Greg. “God says that He is with us in the midst of pain,” the text began. It continued, “Weeping may last for a night, but a shout of joy follows in the morning. God is able to cause something good for the bad for those who love Him and follow Him. Thank God alone for the things He alone can do.” Texting to Andy is something Greg does every morning. This time, though, the text dealt with the death of Andy’s grandmother...

Musings: Tebow, Calvillo, Uh-Ohs and the Nicest in the NFL

"Musings" is a column-like blog written by Sports Spectrum Managing Editor Brett Honeycutt. It covers current sports issues and how they relate biblically. *Tim Tebow is now the starter of the Denver Broncos…again. But I know that news in Tebow Nation is about as old as who won last year’s Super Bowl. Denver announced it on Tuesday after Kyle Orton’s abysmal game this past Sunday. I’m a fan of Tebow. And, yes, it’s because he’s a Christian. But it’s really because he stands for something. He stands for Christ in the midst of adversity, and he is bold in his witness. No matter what team you root for in the NFL, you have to like someone like Tebow if you’re a believer in Christ...

Airing it Out -- The Whole Story

It was a great story and most of the major print media outlets like ESPN.com, the Associated Press, The New York Times, L.A. Times and Yahoo Sports picked it up and wrote about it. Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw and his new bride, Ellen, went to Zambia on a goodwill trip to help orphans by building a schoolhouse and providing education for them...