Faith and Football for Shaun Alexander

Blogcasting the National Football League, Blogcasting the NFL

Like Kevin Jones, Cedric Benson and Ron Dayne, Shaun Alexander is a high-profile, veteran running back looking for a job in the National Football League. Hard to believe — especially in Shaun’s case — considering he led the Seattle Seahawks to the Super Bowl and was the NFL’s Most Valuable Player just three years ago. Some reports are saying that teams are shying away from Shaun because he’s more committed to his faith than he is football, but I’m not buying that. Anybody that knows Shaun knows that he will give 100% to whatever he is doing in life. But his faith is obviously important to him:

“I’m asking God to close doors that need to be closed and open up whatever needs to be open so I can go there, win a Super Bowl, impact the team, impact the community. That’s been my goal.”

Apparently, Shaun is in contact with seven teams but did not identify who they were. I can understand the interest in Shaun’s services, but I also understand the concern. And it has nothing to do with his faith. Shaun’s a 30-year-old running back without a lot of tread left on his tires. And his durability and numbers have dropped off the past two seasons. Not that it’s entirely his fault, but there is not a big market for aging running backs. The shelf life isn’t a long one and every running back knows this going in to their NFL career. Shaun will find a suitable home in 2008, but he’ll most definitely split time with another back (or two). Which is exactly what he needs at this point in his career. Divine intervention? Yes, I think so.

Source: Boston Herald