Tommy Mann

The NFL has received a black eye, and I’m not just talking about a punch from Ray Rice. The National Football League has always had a few bad boys, but they were isolated events. Michael Irvin had drugs and Michael Vick had dogs; there were off the field issues with Adam “Pac Man” Jones and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson. But today’s NFL seems to have given way to the thug culture, where violence, substance abuse, and fathering babies out of wedlock has become the norm. Ray Rice sucker punched his then-fiancée, and his team may have tried to cover it up so he could play. Greg Hardy assaulted and threatened to kill a former girlfriend. Adrian Peterson beat his toddler with a switch to the point that he had lacerations on his legs and buttocks. And although Ray MacDonald maintains his innocence, he was just arrested for hitting his pregnant girlfriend. These recent stories follow last summer’s unfolding drama of the alleged murders committed by Aaron Hernandez. The NF...

I was disappointed with Ted Kluck’s biography of Robert Griffin III. It is a Thomas Nelson book, sold in Christian bookstores, and is sub-titled “Athlete. Leader. Believer.” But there was very little Christian content in the book, and the author seemingly praises RG3 for keeping his faith to himself (calling him “a refreshing change from the nonstop evangelism of the Tebow brand”), and the book even contained a curse word.* I chose this book as a football fan who knows little about RG3 as a person, and after reading it I still know little about the person. It became evident that the author has never spoken to the quarterback, which leaves a biography like this lacking. When talking about Griffin’s decision to play football at Baylor, he says, “We may never know why he chose Baylor.” I’d bet that we could know if someone asked him. I’d also bet that this information is available if the author did some looking. It’s hard to believe that he would never be asked about how he chose...

For more than a week now I have been haunted by the 6 turnovers that Florida committed in their 17-9 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs. Florida, who was ranked #2 nationally and leading the SEC East at the time, controlled their own destiny; win their games and go to the championship. Following the loss Florida must now add another element to their title hopes: win their games and hope for 5 teams ahead of them to lose. That is a big and. That loss was a tough one for me. Well, technically all losses are tough for me. I am not a fair weather fan. I followed the Gators chess team even through their rebuilding years. I bleed orange and blue. If there is a Gator on the uniform then I whole-heartedly pull for them. For whatever reason, I have emotionally invested myself in the University of Florida, a school that I did not even attend. I know just how hard it is to win a national championship in college football. I have watched three times where the Gators ha...

You’re probably surprised that it took me this long to do it, but I am finally going to blog about one of my favorite people, Tim Tebow. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the 30 second commercial that Tebow will appear in with his mother, Pam, during the Super Bowl. The ad is sponsored by Focus on the Family (who did not put any money into the project). Naturally, many women’s groups have been upset about the ad, which is a little funny since it has not aired, and only a select group has seen it. There has been no transcript released, except that CBS has said the words “abortion” and “pro-life” do not appear in the ad. Every fan of abortion pretends that they view their sacred right as a necessary evil, claiming that they want to limit the number of abortions (while making it cheaper, easier, faster, and available to minors without parental consent—you know, all the things that will limit the number of abortions). They want the undecided segment of America to think they on...