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Giving God All the Glory
By TODD LEWYS
It was an odd sight to see.
After all, it's not often that you see the Canadian Football League's all-time touchdown leader standing on the sidelines in sweats, looking more like a coach than the deep threat that he is. Even at age 38, a rarity for receivers.
However, there was a reason for the inactivity - an enforced hiatus from competition due to arthroscopic knee surgery. Turns out that the Turtle Man, Milt Stegall, isn't chiselled from granite (although it still looks as if he is; the man is in impeccable condition from head to toe; hence the Turtle Man moniker).
Seems that even the ultra-fit Stegall isn't immune to the inevitable march of time; a knee that has endured going on 17 years of pro football (his three-year NFL career included) needed a little maintenance so it would be good to go for (hopefully) 16 regular season games, playoffs - and, if all goes well - one more shot at the Grey Cup.
While some have been calling the surgery an inconvenience, even a trial, Stegall sees it in an entirely different light.
"It's not a trial at all," he said on a warm, sunny June day in the midst of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' 2008 CFL training camp. "In football, you're going to get hurt. It's part of the game, something that had to be done. The way I see it, if I don't play another down, I'm blessed."
As he rehabs his knee and prepares for his 14th - and likely final - season with the Blue Bombers, there isn't much Stegall hasn't accomplished. The CFL's career leader in touchdowns with 144 and a raft of other records, he is arguably the most explosive receiver ever to lace up a pair of cleats in Canadian football.
Next to fall is former Stampeders' standout Allan Pitts' all-time receiving yardage record; Stegall is only 196 yards shy of adding that to his collection. When that happens, Stegall's place in CFL history will surely be cemented. Yet, as proud as he is of his seemingly endless list of on-field accomplishments, he's not about to let it all go to his head.
His level-headed approach to a game in which even a little bit of fleeting success can spawn massive egos, he says, can be attributed to his relationship with Jesus Christ.
"That's what, always has, kept me grounded. First and foremost, I'm a man of God. I give Him all the glory, no matter what," explains the man who the Bombers fortuitously signed as a free agent in September 1995. "People look at us as superheroes, but to me, that isn't the case. This is my job. My only goal is to go out, play hard and use the skills God gave me. When I'm on the field, I play every play hard to glorify Him."
Stegall says while his parents embedded Godly values in him as a child, they didn't force the issue. Consequently, while he knew about the concept of faith in God through Jesus Christ, the seeds his folks planted in him didn't begin to blossom until his sophomore year at Miami of Ohio.
"Even though they gave me a foundation, I didn't always live it out," he says. "During my sophomore year, I went to a bible study. Someone asked the question, 'what's your chance of going to Heaven?' That really woke me up. Until then, I didn't know what was involved. That's when I accepted Christ and made the change."
Immediately, Stegall noticed a huge change - for the better - on his perspective toward football, and life.
"Accepting Christ as my lord and saviour took the pressure off me - God was handling everything. I just went out on the field to do my best to serve Him. Do that and I think He's happy," he says. "It's pretty simple - when there's no pressure, it's easy to go out and perform. It put things into perspective. Football, that's all you're doing. You're meant to have fun doing it, and that's what accepting Christ did for me - it freed me up to perform my best. When I do that, I glorify God."
Another by-product of his faith is a strong commitment to his family. For the last several years, each season has concluded with Stegall saying that he would have to speak with his family - in this case wife Diane and son Chase - about seeing if they were willing to let him spend another summer away from their Atlanta home to play some football.
"You have to have your priorities in order," he says. "Eventually, you'll be forgotten, but you always have your family. So once a game finishes, I leave it on the field. Even if the team didn't have a great game and I didn't perform up to my standards, I know that my family loves me no matter what. For me, God and family are my main priorities. Football is maybe third or fourth on the list."
Teammate Barrin Simpson - one of the CFL's most ferocious defensive players and perennial contender for the lead in tackles - says Stegall's walk makes him a respected figure both on the field and off.
"He's one of those guys you really respect for his walk, the way he lives his life for Christ," says the former B.C. Lion standout, who himself found freedom in Christ 11 years ago. "As Christians, we're always being watched. We have to be that light for Christ, and you couldn't find a better example than Milt. He works as hard or harder than anyone, yet still has fun. He's going into his 14th year here and has accomplished everything, yet he still works hard. The young guys on the team look to him to see how things need to be done."
With his playing career likely to end after the 2008 CFL season, Stegall is facing the prospect of retirement with an air of calm. It's not as if he hasn't prepared for the eventuality. He's been involved in real estate (in both Atlanta and Cincinnati) since 1994, and wife Diane owns her own shoe store.
For the time being, Stegall is concentrating on doing what he has to do to get ready for the upcoming season. Once it's over, he'll then turn matters over to God to see what the next chapter in his life will be.
"I'll pray to God and ask for his direction for me and my family," he says. "I've got some things in the works - maybe broadcasting, speaking, business. Whatever I do, I go all out, 100 per cent, and that focus is football right now. In life after football, I'll do the same thing - and give all the glory to Him, no matter what I do."
Pullout quotes
“First and foremost, I'm a man of God. I give Him all the glory, no matter what.”
“Eventually, you'll be forgotten, but you always have your family.”