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Former NFL coach speaks at Robins

  • Published
  • By Wayne Crenshaw
  • 78 ABW/PA
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  Dan Reeves, longtime NFL coach and well known for his Christian faith, had a "drug problem" as a child, he told those gathered Tuesday for the National Prayer Luncheon.

"My mom and dad drug me to Sunday school; they drug me to church; they drug me to Wednesday night prayer meeting," he said. "Every time I turned around, I was being drug to church for something."

As he got older, however, he came to appreciate the Christian values his parents instilled in him and leaned on his faith during what seemed like hard times. He choked back tears several times as he told stories about how his faith had impacted his life and the lives of others.

It was through his faith also, he said, that he learned sometimes things aren't as bad as they seem. Before he became a coach he was a running back for the Dallas Cowboys, and he recalled suffering a severe knee injury in 1968. He was feeling sorry for himself, he said, when Coach Tom Landry invited him to go on a trip to Vietnam to visit soldiers.

"I remember going to hospitals and visiting... there were eyes missing, legs missing, arms missing, and every one of them was thanking the good Lord they were still alive and would be able to go back home and see their families," he said."I remember coming back and telling my wife Pam, 'If you ever see me feeling sorry for myself, please kick me in the rear end.'"

Although it never occurred to him at the time, it turned out that "God really knew what he was doing," when Reeves suffered the knee injury. It hastened the end of his playing career and led to an invitation from Landry to be an assistant coach.

Reeves would go on as a head coach to lead the Denver Broncos to three Super Bowls and he later led the Atlanta Falcons to its only Super Bowl appearance.

Several hundred people attended the luncheon, at the Museum of Aviation Century of Flight Hangar. Before Reeves spoke, Robins Airmen representing Hebrew, Christian and Islamic faiths spoke and offered prayers.