This month I had the privilege of speaking once again at the annual Men of Faith Conference in London, Ontario. Hundreds of brave men braved a pretty decent snowstorm to join us at St Michael’s Church. And, as a lifelong sports fan and NFL nut, it was a special treat for me that the other speaker at this event was none other than Elvis Grbac!
For those of you who don’t know Elvis Grbac from, well, that other guy who made the name famous, Elvis Grbac was a well-known quarterback throughout the 1990s. When I was in high school, Elvis was the QB of my favorite college squad, the University of Michigan Wolverines (and, unlike modern-day Michigan signal-callers, I might add, he never once lost to Ohio State). Grbac’s Michigan (and high school) teammate, Desmond Howard won the Heisman trophy (given to America’s best college football player) while receiving Grbac’s passes and running back kicks in ’92.
After his college career, Elvis played — and started — for the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs (the two teams who will meet in this Sunday’s Super Bowl — Elvis really can’t lose when it comes to this matchup), finishing his career with the Baltimore Ravens.
Like me, Elvis has also been a guest on The Journey Home Program on EWTN, hosted by Marcus Grodi. Check it out if you want to learn more about his rediscovery of his Catholic faith.
I really enjoyed having the chance to sit down with Elvis for breakfast the day of the conference and get to know him a little bit better. As you can see from the picture above, I’m more along the lines of Doug Flutie, stature-wise, next to Elvis (who’s 6’5″).
Elvis began his presentations by holding up his Super Bowl ring (he was the backup to Steve Young for the 49ers’ win over the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX) and saying “This is the golden calf, fellas! Men give their lives for this…” Great stuff.
For my part, I spoke about how to evangelize in the context of personal friendships, much like the early Christians did. It was a great day, and my thanks go to the Family Foundations institute for inviting Elvis and me to share our faith journeys with these awesome guys.