Fran Tarkenton Rips Mark Richt For His Faith

I’ve been in Atlanta all week taking a class on Worship Leadership (hence my lack of blogging). I must say it was one of the best classes I have taken at NOBTS thus far.

Going to Atlanta always serves to remind me of a few things. I am reminded to thank God that I do not live in Atlanta. Please don’t get me wrong, I miss Georgia and have great memories of Atlanta. A notable one being our family spending almost every July 4 in the ‘80’s at Fulton County Stadium watching the Braves get drubbed followed by some awesome fireworks - and a really late night burger at Steak and Shake in Marietta. But Atlanta has become a human ant farm; 7,000 people per square inch. While in Atlanta I am also reminded what sports radio is like without Alabama and Auburn; really nice!

This morning Fran Tarkenton, former UGA QB great, was interviewed on a radio show called “The Rude Awakening.” For about ten minutes Fran went on a rant about UGA coach Mark Richt. One of his early rants was that while Richt is a, “great Christian man,” no one really cared about his religious views, “he was hired to coach football.” Tarkenton demonstrated his point by asking the hosts of the radio show if they knew the religious views of either coach in the BCS National Championship Game, Nick Saban, Paul Johnson (Georgia Tech), or Mike Smith (coach of the Atlanta Falcons). Tarkenton’s point (amongst other things) was that when it came to the religious views of our football coaches, we shouldn’t hear of it or even care. He insinuated that Mark Richt’s dedication to Christ may be connected to two seasons of bad football. My interpretation of Tarkenton’s comments is that he was suggesting that because Richt went on “missions” and did so much to live out his faith that he was failing as the University of Georgia’s football coach.

While UGA football hasn’t done so well over the last two seasons, I am still a Mark Richt fan. I appreciate the fact that he is an outspoken Christian, faithful to his family, and missional with his life. I am grateful that he is a man who has made football a great part of his life, but who lives for Someone greater.

What Fran Tarkenton, aside from his idiotic connections between bad seasons and faith, did for me, was to remind me of what many people don’t understand about the Christian faith. That if you truly live for Christ, people will know your religious views. If any of the men Tarkenton mentioned profess to be Christians and their fans, the media, and radio hosts do not know it, their silence is not a success, but a miserable failure. Even within the church, men have been deceived to believe that while they may be open about their faith on Sunday, they are free to go incognito the rest of the week. This is not merely deception, it is blatant disobedience to Christ. If a man is in Christ, it will be obvious. He will be faithful to his family, missional with his life, and vocal about his faith. We say and do what we believe.

Let me share with you what is important to the Atlanta sports radio station that I listened to (of which I do not know the name) during my ant farm commutes this week: marijuana, beer, comedic homosexual innuendoes, and half naked women. These were the themes the hosts seemed to freely weave into each of their conversations. With that I ask a simple question, Mr. Tarkenton, who is failing?