Sep/Oct 2006

Alexander The Great

By Gail Wood

NFL MVP Shaun Alexander played in the Super Bowl andis the highest-paid running back in history. But his burning desireis to have a great impact for Christ.

Behind the wealth—he signed an eight-year, $62 million contract in March, becoming the NFL's highest-paid running back in history. Behind the game—he scored 28 touchdowns last season, a single-season record, was named league MVP and led the Seattle Seahawks to Super Bowl XL.

And behind his megawatt smile that simultaneously provokes and inspires, Shaun Alexander is a giddy little boy who used to lie awake late into the night sharing his dreams with his older brother, Durran. Unfazed. Unchanged.

Growing up, Alexander lived in a two-room apartment in Florence, Ky., where he shared a bedroom with Durran for 17 years.

"I've always been the one with the big dreams," Alexander, 29, tells New Man. "The big goals. The let's-go-to-the-moon sort of thing. My brother was the guy who says, 'OK, this is how we're going to do it.'"

That hasn't changed.

Durran, one year older and Alexander's twin look-alike, is still the organizer and put-it-to-action project manager. Just as he did when he was a kid dreaming of one day running for touchdowns in the NFL, Alexander hasn't stopped thinking big.

The two also haven't stopped sharing and caring. That's the way their mother, Carol, a big-hearted woman who raised her two sons by herself, taught them to be.

After his NFL rookie year in 2000, Alexander opened a foundation in his hometown (shaunalexander.org) that gave single-parent families a hand up, providing money to pay for heating, food and housing bills.

Last year, he spent $1.8 million to buy the old YMCA building in Florence that he and his brother couldn't play in as kids because they didn't have enough money. Durran, a Notre Dame graduate who left a management job with the Campbell Soup Company to work for his brother's foundation, manages the project.

Mentoring Great Leaders For the Future

In Seattle, Alexander has started a young men's mentoring program.

"I love mentoring young men to change the world, trying to grow young men to be great leaders for the future," says Alexander, who also helped start Club 37, a nationwide program that allows young men from every state, ages 14 to 24, to hold each other accountable for their decisions to follow Christ. "I'm all about helping young men understand they can be examples to the people around them."

Alexander, whose parents divorced when he was in the fourth grade, sees a generation of young men growing up without a male role model because of the country's high divorce rate.

After re-signing with Seattle, Alexander says he planned to "change this whole city forever" through his outreach to young men and hoped to partner with billionaire team owner Paul Allen.

Those who grew up with Alexander aren't surprised he's involved with providing role models through programs that teach leadership, character and Christianity.

"Shaun has always been a leader," says Bob Brown, Alexander's cousin. "He sees that there are so many who aren't stepping up to be good fathers. He knows that if you strive to be good when you're young, it will follow you into adulthood."

Alexander's male mentors in his life were his coaches, including Gene Stallings, a devoted Christian and former University of Alabama coach. But his biggest influence was his mother, who squeezed rent, food money and car payments out of her customer service job with Protector & Gamble. Somehow, Carol, though she struggled financially, always had enough to help others.

Following Mom's Giving Example

The holidays were a time for giving in the Alexander home. Shaun Alexander remembers during Thanksgiving and Christmas driving across town with his brother and mom to help serve turkey at community gatherings and pass out presents on Christmas. Alexander's mom also made sure the siblings were in church on Sunday.

"My mom was always giving and helping others," Alexander says. "That's where I learned about giving. So now that I'm so tremendously blessed, I wanted to do what my mom always has done."

He hasn't forgotten that helping hand and godly upbringing. Alexander's big contract, numerous accolades and magazine covers, including Sport Illustrated, haven't morphed him into a selfish, self-absorbed rich man.

"He's the same kid I played with when I was in second grade," Brown says. "He's the same kid I played high school football with. Money hasn't changed him. Fame hasn't changed him."

Success hasn't compromised his faith.

"I believe that to [whom] much is given, much is expected," says Alexander, who was named the Seahawks Man of the Year for his community commitments. "The money isn't what drives me. It never has and it never will."

Instead, he plays football so he can help others. The 5-11, 225-pound running back plays the game well—he's the first player in NFL history to score 15 or more touchdowns in five consecutive seasons. Last season, he became the Seahawks all-time leading rusher. In his six seasons in the NFL, Alexander has scored 100 touchdowns in 96 career games, three fewer contests than it took future Hall of Fame shoo-in Jerry Rice.

A Fierce, Smiley Competitor

Yet for all of his accomplishments on the field, there are some misgivings about his running style among some fans. They want him to be defiant, arrogant and cocky. In a game of grit, Alexander often smiles, whether he's on the bottom of the pile, on the sideline or in the huddle.

Because of that smile, fans perceive him as nonchalant—that he's not trying hard. "The smile doesn't mean I'm not trying," Alexander says. "But I think people see me run for 150 yards in a game and [they] see me smiling. They think I'm not trying."

Alexander's disposition is a reflection of his passion for Christ. At age 10, he understood the significance of Jesus' death on the cross and received Christ at an Easter service. But the smile Alexander flashes in the gridiron doesn't fit the sport's tough-guy image.

"Because in this day and age if you don't have a bullet wound and [are not] tattooed up, then there's something wrong with you," Durran says. "It's also his style of running that they don't like. He has a style that you can call his own."

Dick Vermeil, the veteran NFL coach, says he's never seen a running style like Alexander's. The retired coach called it peekaboo style—Alexander hides behind a pulling guard, then surges when he gets around the corner.

"Because he's so smiley and comes across as being nonchalant toward the game, then fans say, 'Let's question his passion for the game,'" Durran says. But teammates and family know the real Alexander.

"Shaun isn't pumping his chest and gnashing his teeth every time he runs the football, but he's a fierce competitor," says Mack Strong, the Seahawks fullback and Alexander's close friend. "He's probably the fiercest competitor on the team. That's what you want out of your star running back."

Durran adds: "Fans say, 'All right you have a little spirituality, but make sure you don't carry that through the entire game.' But they also want you to have that anger, that fire. They want you to run over this guy when they want you to. Bring your head down and go for that extra 2 yards."

On third-and-1 last season, Alexander converted on an NFL-best 14 of 15 times, contradicting the notion that he's soft.

"I'm a terrible loser," he admits. "I don't even want to get comfortable losing. It doesn't matter if I'm playing cards with the guys in the hotel or if we're on the biggest stage in the world. Losing is not something that I'm going to allow myself to get comfortable with."

Keeping Priorities In Right Order

Coming off his MVP performance and the Seahawks' first trip to the Super Bowl during a 15-4 season, Alexander has a lot going on right now. Winning equals endorsements. He has a new Nike shoe named after him that's about to be released; Touchdown Alexander: My Story of Faith, Football, and Pursuing the Dream (Harvest House), his autobiography, was published in August; and he's on the cover of the video game Madden NFL 07, which sold more than 6 million copies last year.

Alexander recognizes the pitfalls of his busy schedule.

"Here's the trial: Can you stay focused on the things God has for you to do?" he asks. "Or are you going to start just hanging on and are you going to just start doing what you want to do? Both of those things are very dangerous."

To avoid that trap, he keeps his priorities in the right order. Besides his personal Bible study time, Alexander, his wife, Valerie, and two daughters—Trinity, 3, and Heaven, 1—are regulars at a Seattle church. Autographs are a no-no during worship services at Alexander's pastor's request.

His family isn't an inconvenience, lost somewhere behind practice, game day and contract negotiations. When his first daughter was born on Sept. 21, 2003 just 30 minutes before kickoff of the Seahawks game with St. Louis, Alexander was by his wife's side in the hospital. He hurried to the game after Trinity's birth and rushed for 58 yards in the Seahawks' win, despite missing the first quarter.

"Shaun is a guy who understands what's important in life and what his purpose is," Strong says. "It's not just on the football field. That's something we do to earn a living. There are opportunities that extend beyond this [game] and Shaun understands that."

Alexander considers himself blessed for the opportunities to know some of the spiritual giants of this generation, including Billy and Franklin Graham, T.D. Jakes and Reggie White. He has been given the key to many cities, had a street named after him and had his own TV show for a while.

So what's the best day of his life? Was it the day he scored five touchdowns in the first half against the Minnesota Vikings in 2002, setting an NFL record? Was it the day he graduated valedictorian of his high school class?

"I think," Alexander says, pausing as he pondered the question, "it was the first time I led someone to Christ."

A Psalm 37:4 Man

As a sophomore in high school, Alexander wanted to wear jersey No. 44, but an all-league linebacker was already wearing it. His coach told him to pick a number nobody had and one that whenever fans saw it, they'd think of him. He chose 37. Now, whenever Alexander signs his autograph, he writes Psalm 37:4—"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart" (NIV).

"That's one of the first Bible verses I learned on my own and wasn't the church-taught stuff," Alexander says. "I decided this was going to be my lifelong verse. When you really take time and enjoy who He is, when you really take time in learning who He is, that's called delighting yourself in Him. My desire is to have an impact for Christ."

Despite his superstar status, Alexander hasn't lost his way. He still walks his talk, just like he did while growing up in the little town of Florence.

"My success and values have come from God, and I must honor God," Alexander says.

A sports reporter at The Olympian (Washington) for 18 years, freelance writer Gail Wood has written for Charisma, Guideposts and Sports Spectrum.

Raising Timothys

I'm grateful for business, football and spiritual mentors who have helped me grasp the important things in life and have made me the man I am today. Being mentored by them has enabled me to see the powerful effect I can have in doing the same with others.

Because of my mentors' encouragement and help, I have a solid base for the structure God has given me. One of the fruits of that solid structure is the Shaun Alexander Foundation, which empowers young men through education, athletics, character programs and leadership training. We want to inspire kids to reach their full potential as mentors and then act as role models for the next generation. In short, we mentor young men to change the world.

I want to develop Timothys—the students of life—worldwide. That vision came from seeing the impact Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) camps had on some of the high school kids when I was an FCA huddle leader. Some of those young men have gone forward for God and are being used by Him today. I know I'm not the only person who reached out to them, but I was given the opportunity to help them go in the right direction.

When the film The Passion of the Christ came out, several of the Seahawks and I bought out a local theater for three showings. That morning as I was praying, I felt God say to me, "You'll meet a new little brother today, and you're going to mentor him and teach him what to know."

"All right, God," I prayed. "What does this boy look like?"

God didn't answer then, but I knew I'd find the boy.

At the end of the film, a pastor stood up and talked to those present who weren't believers. Several of us stood at the back, available to speak further to anyone who wanted to talk about the movie, God or anything.

A young man named RaViel came up to me and started telling me about his cousin. I was enjoying our conversation—and then it hit me. I knew.

"You're him!" I said.

RaViel probably thought I was crazy, but I knew this was the boy God had sent my way.

In the weeks following, RaViel and I got together regularly to talk about life, God and the future. I taught him the value of knowing the Bible and making wise decisions. RaViel is now a college sophomore. He loves God, and I believe that in the future he will become a great leader in whatever he undertakes.

Right now I have about 30 Timothys in my life. I call them my little brothers, my mentees and the future.

This article was adapted from Shaun Alexander's autobiography, Touchdown Alexander: My Story of Faith, Football, and Pursuing the Dream (Harvest House).