Today, Wednesday November 20, East’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) welcomed former NFL running back William Green to East.  Green told his life story and spoke about his faith to a group of about 50 students during LB1 and 2 in Lecture Hall 2.

Green, a native of Atlantic City, played football for Holy Spirit High School, then went on to play the sport with a scholarship for Boston College, where he received All-American honors. After college, the Cleveland Browns drafted him into the NFL in 2002.

Green shared his story, starting with his childhood, which was anything less than ideal.  At the age of 13, his father died of AIDS, and the following year, he mother passed away.

“I grew up thinking the tangible things of the world, or the things you can touch in life, were going to be the things that make you happy,” Green said.

Distraught by the loss of his parents, he didn’t know where to turn. He thought that getting to the NFL would fill the void in his heart.

“I remember reaching a point in my life where I was no longer running from my opponents on the field, but I began to run from myself.  My whole life I told myself that if I get to the NFL, it will be the thing in my life that will fill the void in my heart. And if I finally make it to the NFL, it will be the thing that makes me happy; it’s going to take the pain away,” Green said.

However, once he did make it to the NFL and helped the Browns make the playoffs, he still had that void in his heart.  Green turned to drugs, alcohol, partying and materialistic wealth in attempts to fill his life.

When looking back on this time in his life, Green said, “The enemy, Satan, who has come to steal and destroy, obviously had me right where he wanted me—out of touch with God, angry at God, headed to a real place called hell.”

One night, when his wife sat down with him, she made him think about his faith.  Green called himself a Christian, but his wife made him think about whether he was really living it.  She asked him if he had ever really given God a chance and truly asked the Lord into his heart as his Lord and Savior.  She made it clear that being a Christian was “not [about] what He can do for you, but what he has done for you on the cross.”

He couldn’t answer the question, but thought about it.

“I realized what I told myself my entire life was a lie. The Bible clearly states over and over again so many different examples of so many different men, kings, daughters, sons, men, women, so many different people who put their trust and hope in the things of the world. The Bible clearly states that the only thing we are supposed to put our hope in is the things above.  We put our hope in God and His Son. That is the only thing you put your hope in.  The Bible clearly states that man will let you down every single time,” Green said.

After realizing that neither football nor anything on this earth could fulfill his life the way God can, Green repented of his sins and committed his life to Christ.  Green turned his life around and now, Green said, “is living it for the Lord.”

In order to demonstrate repentance, Green had two students try to rip a phone book in half.  He explained how it is not enough to just be a good person, but in order to be noted in God’s Book of Life, one needs to repent and accept Christ.  After the students failed to rip the book, Green ripped it, which garnered cheers from the students watching the feat.

Before singing autographs and posing for photos, Green closed his testimony with prayer and offered an invitation to the students to repent of their sins and come to Christ, just like he did.

The students enjoyed the event, and left the room smiling and laughing.

Rachel Adap (’14), one of the presidents of FCA said, “He’s a great speaker. I really hope we have other speakers like this for FCA and that it keeps growing in this way.  A lot of people were able to come [today] which was great.”