It was a first that went unnoted at the time -- but which began a practice that is quite common today.

The play was 48 Toss, and 30 years later, Dick Vermeil remembers it as if he called it last Sunday. Herb Lusk took a pitch from Ron Jaworski, headed around left end and breezed unscathed 70 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown. Four steps over the goal line at Giants Stadium, the Philadelphia Eagles' running back rewrote the playbook. Alone in the end zone, with a crowd of 48,824 looking on, he celebrated with a gesture in what has since become a watershed moment in American sports.

With little ceremony and no advance warning, Lusk kept his eyes straight, dropped to his left knee and bowed his head in prayer. A few seconds later, he stood back up and returned to the sideline, his legacy sealed.

"Herb Lusk was the first NFL player to kneel in the end zone and pray," said Steve Sabol, president of NFL Films, which has footage of more than 9,000 games played since 1894.

No one doubts the sincerity of Lusk's action -- his faith was well-known to others in the NFL. The prayer was not particularly noted at the time. But it opened the floodgates to such religious moments -- something about which I have mixed emotions.

I'm glad to see folks be open about hteir faith.

I'm less pleased about the fact that some of those who engage in such public prayer appear to "talk the talk" during the game but don't particularly "walk the walk" off the field.

Posted by: Greg at 09:42 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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