Last night I went to the legendary Cliff House in Folsom, CA overlooking Lake Natoma to watch Monday Night Football. The Niners had training camp in town growing up and I went to have French Dip sliders and a pint at the same bar my brother and I saw Joe Montana as a kid.
At 5:55p the night changed. Darmar Hamlin and Tee Higgins had a routine play that created a moment in sports that had never happened before on primetime TV. The broadcast wouldn't replay it, so everyone went to Twitter and watched the uneventful tackle. The whispers started to come across the room: "He's dead", "It's an aneurysm", "It's a heart attack", and even "It's the vaccine, look at the Jax Jags Uche Nwaneri today!"
My attention was quickly drawn to what the broadcast was showing...grown men helpless on their knees in prayer with hands on each other. Group prayer was the most notable image of 2023 so far and I was reminded of a quote I once heard "There are no atheists in the foxhole."
I was relieved to hear of the hope for Damar this morning and I thought the NFL was slow but ultimately did the right thing to shut it down. I pray that something good will come of this tragedy for the safety of the players. Prayer and worship are our greatest gifts from God, even if it is the last resort or you have Jericho (Tell es-Sultan) walls in front of you, so use it as often and frequently as you can!
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