“...‘Christ came into the world to save sinners’—and I am the worst of them. But I have received mercy because of this...” – 1 Timothy 1:15-16
 Anthony Hargrove - #69 |
| Position: DT Born: July 20, 1983 Hometown: Punta Gorda, Fla. College: Georgia Tech University Height /Weight: 6-3/290 lbs. Career: St. Louis Rams (2004-06) Buffalo Bills (2006-07) New Orleans Saints (2009-Present) |
After her death, our aunt and uncle adopted us, and we moved to Florida to live with them. Life in Florida was completely different. We’d never had a constant place to live in New York; we’d just lived in shelters or on the streets. When we got to Florida, we finally had a place to be a family again, but it was hard because my mom was gone.
I think my mom’s death kept me from growing closer to God. We went to church with my aunt, and I always felt I had an open line of communication with God, but I was constantly questioning why He would allow certain things to happen or why I was going through something. I felt like He was calling me to trust in Him, but, because of how my life started in New York, I was just mad at Him. When I look back now, I can see that was all part of the plan to get me where I am with Him today.
Florida proved to be good for me because I was able to get involved in sports, which really took the edge off of things. After high school, I received a football scholarship to Georgia Tech where I played as a true freshman and even started as a sophomore. My college career was short-lived, though, as I flunked out after my sophomore year and had to focus on my job.
I had been working with Delta Airlines at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport parking airplanes and handling baggage, and I kept that job while I worked out in the evenings at a local gym. I had signed an agent, Phil Williams, who was a Christian man, and he helped me focus on preparing for the upcoming NFL Draft.
In 2004, the St. Louis Rams selected me in the third round, and during my first two seasons, I saw plenty of playing time. Unfortunately, though, the NFL opened the door to many new things, and I started living a bad lifestyle.
At that point, I was running with the devil, and it started to catch up with me. I got into drugs and alcohol, and, after two years of making bad choices off the field, I was traded to the Buffalo Bills. While there, I was suspended for four games and later given a one-year suspension for breaking the NFL’s substance-abuse policy.
Finally, I began trying to do things differently by going to Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. Eventually I checked into rehab where I stayed for 13 months. One day, I was just sitting in my rehab room, and I realized that I was lost and had no idea what I was going to do. I sat down and just felt God as clear as day outlining a plan for me and telling me exactly how things could go if I would just follow Him.
Everything changed after that. I finally understood what it was to have a relationship with my heavenly Father. I realized I had someone I could trust and go to no matter what. I started getting into the Word and understanding what it meant to live by faith.
After rehab, I was reinstated by the NFL, but no teams were biting. My agent helped me put together a video testimony to send to teams telling what had happened in my life and how I’d grown. The video grabbed the eye of Ryan Pace and Mickey Loomis of the New Orleans Saints, who brought me in for a workout and eventually signed me.
This time, I was going to play football the way God wanted me to play and be the player He wanted me to be. That would take trusting Him and understanding that He had blessed me with my gifts and talents.
My first season back in the league ended well with us winning the Super Bowl, but the best part about it was knowing there was so much more to life than winning the championship. Just six days after the game, I had the opportunity to go to Africa to help people who were starving and had nothing but an unbreakable faith. I was also baptized and now have really accepted the Holy Spirit and His true power into my life.
God sent His Son, Jesus, as a perfect example of what we are supposed to do, and that is something I try to embody. I want to go out and tell what He has done for me. Through my actions and leadership, guys are able to see God’s work. His hand has been on my life in so many different ways, and it is still opening my own eyes today.
God wants us badly. He wants His Kingdom on Earth to be restored. He’s redeeming souls and raising sinners to saints every day, and He wants us to spread the Word. Football is not my platform; I am on God’s platform, and there is no higher place to be. 
-For more stories about faith and sport, visit www.sharingthevictory.com, the official magazine of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. To subscribe to STV, click here.
