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You are here: Home > Newsroom Home NewsroomFootball Team Joins PK's 'Manhood' Movement
Typically, on Friday night, whether at home or away, college football coaches gather the team in a hotel for a meal, maybe a motivational movie, and a peaceful night’s sleep. That’s where Abilene Christian University plays a different game. They’re not watching sports movies or war flicks to get the guys pumped up. These Wildcats huddle around more directly spiritual matters. “We started last year on Friday nights to address real manhood,” said Chris Thomsen, head football coach at Abilene Christian. “There are a lot of different things that we talk about, but manhood seemed to be the issue that had the most impact on our players. “On Friday nights, whether we’re at home or on the road, we take our team to eat about 7:00 p.m., check them in to the hotel, and then we have a 30 minute team meeting that has nothing to do with football. That Friday night meeting is on anything that we feel God is putting on our heart to talk about related to real manhood. “We want to get them out of their environment, get them away from their girlfriends and family, get them away from everything that would be a distraction and get them to focus on the real battle. We want that time for them to grow as men and see what God has for their lives. “Our athletic department does an exit interview with all of our seniors at the end of the year and almost all our seniors to a man commented to our athletic director that the ‘real manhood’ stuff really changed their perspective on what a real man is and what a man’s role in society is and what it should be.” On the Road to Dallas This year, the Promise Keepers conference in Dallas (Aug. 15-16) falls on the second weekend of training camp, perfect timing for the ACU Wildcats. The entire team will make the three-hour trip to Dallas to attend PK as a group. Coach Thomsen calls it a spiritual kickoff for the rest of the season. “The title of this year’s Promise Keepers event - ‘Manhood: Let the Truth Be Told’ - gets us pretty excited. I know God set this whole thing up, and we’ll carry this message for the rest of the year on Friday nights.” Thomsen, who does not believe in coincidence, says Promise Keepers’ new emcee for 2008, Don Davis, will keep the players' attention as well. Davis is an 11-year NFL veteran, and has a pair of Super Bowl rings from his time with the New England Patriots. The Opponent “We recognize in our own lives and in our players’ lives that you go through the whole week and you get pretty beat down with what the world is telling you,” says Thomsen. “John 10:10 reminds us that the thief comes to kill, steal and destroy. All week we’re getting inundated with messages from the world, so Friday night is powerful time to get refocused. “The Scripture we hang our hat on in this program is Jeremiah 29:11 through 13, that God has plans to prosper you and not to harm you, and plans to give you a hope and a future. A lot of our guys don’t come from backgrounds of faith and they don’t know a lot about God. But we want them to know that God has brought (them) here for a purpose, and for more than what the average man experiences. God has an abundant life for these young men. “When we recruit, we don’t ask ‘who’s your best Christian kid?’ We ask ‘who’s your best football player?’ When you recruit that way, you get people from all backgrounds, and that’s what makes this atmosphere so unique. “Friday nights we’re really trying to encourage them and pump the truth into them, not beat them over the head with the Bible. We want to ‘love them up’ and encourage them. To our staff, it’s all about grace and love. We’re not perfect, we fail often, but we want God to lead us in the direction He wants us to go.” The Mission Abilene Christian University was founded in the early 20th century to educate students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world. It’s encouraging that ACU graduation rates, both for the general student population and for student athletes are an above average 55 – 59%.
“We want to develop players physically, win games, help them get a degree, but more important is what kind of man are you going to be. To me, that’s what PK is all about, what kind of husband and father are you going to be. What kind of teammate are you right now. “We’re excited for the season, but we’re very, very excited for what’s going to happen off the field also.” - Steve Chavis |
It’s the night before the big game. All week, more than 100 players and coaches have poured out every drop of effort and sweat on the practice field in preparation for Saturday’s contest. Even in NCAA Division II football, the hits are hard, and the players are fast. 
Thomsen, in his fourth year as head coach for ACU, led the team to the NCAA Division II playoffs last year. This year the Sporting News top 25 pre-season poll puts the Wildcats at fifth in the nation. The upcoming Lone Star Conference ten-game season (plus playoffs, hopefully) requires perseverance, says Thomsen. “The season is a grind. We would appreciate the PK guys praying for us.”