Former NFL player talks to local athletes about making right choices

Of the 2.5 million people locked up in U.S. jails and prisons, nearly 1 million of them are between the ages of 18 and 29. The majority of prisoners are doing time for drug-related crimes. Alcohol is a factor in about 30 percent of suicides.

Former professional football player Rich Garza hit the Southeast Missouri State University baseball team with some heavy statistics Monday afternoon at Capaha Field, all to drive home the message that life is about choices. What's at stake, Garza said, is freedom.

"Freedom is not about doing what you want to do; freedom is doing what you ought to do," he told team members before their afternoon practice. "If you're breaking the law, you're not going to have your freedom."

Garza, former offensive lineman for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos and teams in the now-defunct United States Football League, is in Southeast Missouri this week to spread his faith-centered message to students. He's one of several former professional athletes from the not-for-profit motivational speaking organization Sports World Ministries. Local business contributions have made the annual speaking stops in Southeast Missouri possible for more than 25 years.

Garza has delivered his message more than 5,000 times to students in classrooms, fields and gyms throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and South Africa. He opened Monday with: "You're not a born winner, you're not a born loser, you're a born chooser."

Garza, who played professional football for five years, said student-athletes are better trained in body and mind than ever. It's the heart where many are lacking, he said.

"That's where they make the moral and character decisions that get them into trouble," he said, exhorting his college audience to "obey God."

Beyond the adolescent pressures of using drugs and alcohol, student-athletes face the daily stress of performing in the classroom and on the field.

"They have to find enough time to get their homework done, their papers done and study for their tests, and that can be difficult when they have several games throughout the week and they're practicing right after school," said John Martin, athletic director for the Jackson School District. He said balancing and prioritizing are critical in the life of the student-athlete. Martin estimates more than a third of Jackson High School students participate in a sport.

For student-athletes, temptations can come from trusted sources -- star athletes, hall of famers, entertainers pitching products for an alcohol industry that spends more than $1 billion a year on advertising. Garza pointed to a Miller Lite sign on the outfield fence of Capaha Field, castigating the NCAA for its embrace of such advertising.

"I think they're the biggest hypocrites in America," he said. "Most of these children on this team are underage."

Garza plans to be at Jackson middle and high schools and Oak Ridge High School today and at Central Junior High School in Cape Girardeau on Wednesday, among other stops this week.

mkittle@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent Address:

Capaha Park, Cape Girardeau, MO