This week’s Faith, Family, & Football feature is: London Fletcher, Current Washington Redskin.
Why is Faith important to you?
Fletcher: Faith is important to me because it guides me in everything that I do in life. My belief in Jesus Christ has changed the way that I live life. It has brought a great deal of peace and joy into my life, removing a sense of restlessness and unhappiness. My faith has made me more concerned about the well-being of others and a less selfish person. It has allowed me to see things in a totally different way...a more refreshing way.
Tell us about your family and the impact they've had on your life?
Fletcher: My family has had a tremendous impact on my life, in particular my mother. I come from a family of 5, I'm the middle child with an older brother, sister and two younger sisters. My older sister was murdered at the age of 18, as you can imagine this devastated my mother. As a coping mechanism to deal with her pain she turned to drugs. From the time I was 14 years old until her death when I was 31, she battled drugs. During that time, I was driven to bring happiness back into her life. This led me to graduate college and eventually make it to the NFL.
What does being a father mean to you?
Fletcher: Becoming a father means that I get to experience the greatest joy in life every day. My three children mean the world to me. Everyday I'm focused on how I can be a better man and father for them. Every decision that I make takes them into consideration. Being a father comes second to none. There's not a greater joy that I get than watching them achieve something in life. As a father I get to express love in its truest form.
How has your Faith and Family helped you develop off the field?
Fletcher: My faith and family keeps me grounded and very humbled on and off the field. It's very easy to get caught into believing you're this superstar player. However, you need people in your life to keep you focused on the important things in life: faith and family!
How do you balance Faith, Family and Football?
Fletcher: Balancing faith, family, and football was difficult when I first gave my life to Christ...it was difficult because I always felt I had to play the game with anger & hatred in my heart in order to be successful. However, these things don't align with Christ, therefore I struggled with how to live for Christ and play great football. Soon I realized that the more I focused on my relationship with Christ I actually played better football. By focusing on Christ I removed all the other distractions from my life that were keeping from become the best person and player that I could be. Faith, family and football are easy to balance now as long as I keep God at the center of everything. When I don't put God in the center that's when things get out of order.
What advice would you give to student athletes and current professional athletes in regards to their faith, family, and football?
Fletcher: The advice that I would have for student athletes or current professional athletes on how to balance faith, family and football is first and foremost spend time with God daily. Spending time with Him will allow you to have the proper perspective and response to situations that will occur in each one of these facets in life. Secondly, find other men who are walking the same walk as you or have traveled the road that you wish to travel. It's great to have someone you can talk to about the different things that you're faced with. Lastly, don't feel the need to compromise your beliefs in order to fit in, be respectful of others yet rooted in your relationship with God.
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