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The Dungy Code
Colts winning as they turn the NFL
playoffs turn into NFL pray-offs
By
Cyd Zeigler jr.
Watching
the AFC Championship game literally in a thatched hut on the
side of a hill in Honduras with a half-dozen Colts fans, I
had no idea that what would determine the outcome of the
game weren't the dropped passes, the touchdowns, the kick
returns, the refs' calls or the sacks. In fact, nothing
actually happening on the field determined who would win or
lose that game. Which team would represent the AFC in the
Super Bowl would be the team that won the battle that was
raging on the sidelines.
While New
England Patriots coach Bill Belichick was focused on calling
plays, while defensive players were trying to recover after
long Colts drives, and while Tom Brady was looking at
pictures of the plays of previous drives, the Colts weren't
worrying themselves with meaningless tasks like these. They
were on their sideline doing what any team that really wants
to win would do. They were laser-focused on finally beating
the Patriots, and they knew there was one sure way to
finally overcome their arch-nemesis.
They were
praying.
"I said,
'Lord, don't let these guys celebrate on our field,'" Colts
coach Tony Dungy said after the game. Dungy has been a vocal
Christian for years and will be honored at a fundraising
dinner in March for the Indiana Family Institute, an
organization that focuses on preventing gay marriage and
adoption rights in Indiana.
The senior
pastor at Dungy's church was praying that Dungy would have
an even larger stage to preach his Christian beliefs. He got
what he wanted.
"We wanted
God to bless Tony to have the opportunity to get into those
very visible games, especially the Super Bowl," Moore told
the Indianapolis Star. "We knew that he would give his
Christian testimony. We prayed for that. And that is exactly
what he has done.
With every
passing victory, Moore expects Dungy to talk more and more
about Jesus and God and the miracles of prayer.
"To have a
man of faith walking the sidelines is a sermon in itself,"
Moore said. "Tony will reach millions for Christ. He will
reach people for Christ that we could never begin to reach
in our pulpits."
Colts
kicker Adam Vinatieri agrees.
"It gives us a big
podium and great opportunity ... to be out there and glorify
Him," Vinatieri said of Super Bowl XXXIX, in which his
Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles.
After the
game, both Dungy and Colts owner Jim Irsay thanked "the
Lord" for their team's victory. Not their players. Not their
fans. "The Lord." (This was, of course, 12 months after they
had burned their Bibles following last year's crushing
defeat on the same field of the playoffs, when God had
picked the Pittsburgh Steelers to win that game.)
Colts
center Jeff Saturday was also praying on the sidelines.
Against the Patriots, Saturday became one of the very rare
offensive lineman to have scored a touchdown in the NFL
playoffs. And he said it was all because of God.
"There's no
rhyme or reason why, but God gets the glory because he did
it," Saturday said.
Colts
quarterback Peyton Manning was praying, too. As was wide
receiver Reggie Wayne. It was a regular revival in the RCA
Dome last Sunday, and God obviously had taken the Colts
laying the three points. If only Belichick and Brady had
taken a knee, bowed their heads, and had a moment of silence
with two minutes left in the game, maybe they would have won
instead.
Why has God
suddenly shone His light on a team that has been known for
years as a pack of choke artists? Surely the Colts had
prayed before and been crushed by defeat. Why did He, the
Lord Almighty Our Savior, choose that game to shed His glory
on His Colts?
You have to
look no further than the team's two big changes since their
embarrassment at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers, whom
God went on to help win Super Bowl XL.
First, they
got rid of Edgerrin James, who is surely a non-Christian (or
if he is, he's probably an Episcopalian, for heaven's sake).
You wonder if James is a true Christian? Just look at what
God has done to him to punish him for failing to believe in
His plan for His Colts: With the Cardinals this year, James
was reduced to his worst per-carry yardage in his career and
his fewest touchdowns since 2002. Plus, he was on a team
that lost over twice as many games as it won.
Putting His
Colts in the Super Bowl the season after James left was just
throwing salt pillars on his wounds.
The second
was the title-clincher. It changed the power structure of
the entire NFL. What looked like the signing of a position
considered lowly among NFL experts has become the most
significant acquisition in league history.
The Colts
acquired Adam Vinatieri, the Messiah returned, the Son of
God, Jesus Our Lord and Savior.
|
Male
Female |
Consider
this. The archaic symbols for male and female are to the
right. The entire book "The Da Vinci Code," about the
bloodline of Christ, is based on these symbols. If these two
symbols were letters, they would be the letters A and V:
Adam Vinatieri. The inheritor of Christ's blood. The holy
grail. Our savior.
Call it
"The Dungy Code."
Coincidence? Believe it or not, there's more!
Revelations
19:14 discusses what will happen when the King of Kings and
Lord of Lords, the son of God and Christ Almighty, returns
to earth: "The armies of heaven were following him, riding
on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean."
Three of the four horsemen of the apocalypse in
their white uniforms. The end is near. |
The uniform
of the Colts is white. A colt is, afterall, a horse. And
"clean": The Colts play indoors on a manmade surface with no
dirt.
Victory for
the Colts is not just determined by God; It was decided by
Him over 1,500 years ago when the New Testament was written:
Vinatieri is the Messiah and the Colts are the horsemen of
the apocalypse. Get your life insurance while supplies last.
If only
Bill Belichick had read the New Testament, he would have
given Vinatieri all the money he wanted. Instead, Belichick,
by allowing Vinatieri to go to the white-clad Colts, assured
the destruction of humanity.
So will a
Colts victory, as happens upon the return of the Messiah in
the Book of Revelations, signal Armageddon and the end of
life as we know it? While it's entirely likely, we can't be
sure.
But one
thing is for sure: If the Indianapolis Colts win the Super
Bowl, we can expect a heck of a lot more of "God," "He,"
"Him," "The Lord," "My Savior" and "Jesus Christ" in the
post-game interviews.
Jan. 30, 2007 |
