Those who have read Joe Gibbs’s book “Racing to Win” written with Ken Abraham will find an uncanny similarity between his first retirement from the Redskins and his most recent one.
In the book published in 2002, Gibbs writes: “When the boys [J.D. and Coy] were young, I used to tuck them into bed each night, read a bit from the Bible, talk with them about what it meant, and pray with them before turning the lights out. Then one night I went up to read and talk, and my baby, Coy, was already asleep. I leaned over to give him a kiss and reared up in shock. Oh my gosh! My boy has a beard! I looked closer and saw to my surprise that my youngest son weighed 220 pounds!
“What had happened? I realized that my sons were growing up with an absentee father, even though we were living under the same roof. I was a football recluse, spending far more time with the Redskins than with the people who mattered most in my life, my wife and children. I was time to make a change.”
Those words were as true today as they were in 1993. In both cases, Gibbs’s desire to be with his family led to the decision to retire. Yet, many people were shocked that he would walk away from such a high-profile, lucrative career, especially now that the Redskins seem to be headed in the right direction.
Redskins chaplain Brett Fuller wasn’t surprised.
“I think these last four wins were extremely important, not so much in making the decision but in allowing him the right atmosphere in which to make the decision because I know this: Every competitor, and Joe is a fabulous competitor, nobody wants to feel like they are quitting on an organization. If we tanked the last four games, it would have been another 5-11 season, and Joe would have felt like how can I leave the organization like this? But because we won, it provided an atmosphere of conquest and a sense of accomplishment that allowed him to make a decision in a very good environment.”
In interviews leading up to his retirement announcement, Gibbs suggested that he underwent a spiritual transformation recently. He talked about how Sean Taylor’s death and his blown call against Buffalo had forced him to reexamine his faith. He didn’t question his belief in God. Rather, as Mike Wise put it in his Jan. 5 story in The Washington Post, “He began to look hard and long at his own motivation behind spreading the message of his faith.”
Wise quotes Gibbs as saying: “I kind of had gone through these four years and I found myself sayin’, ‘Hey, Lord, you know, I really want to win football games and wind up coming out of this with a platform that I can honor you.’ That’s what I was trying to say to the Lord. And it really caused some soul-searching for me because I realized probably in there that I was probably kidding myself and kidding the Lord.
“What I was doing was probably wanting it a lot for myself and not really being honest with the Lord. And I think I needed to ask him for forgiveness on that. What I should be sayin’ is what He wants. I should be sayin’, this is what God wants, not what I want.’
But how does Gibbs know what God wants him to do?
“I’m convinced that everybody is put on the planet for a purpose, not just for a reason,” Fuller said. “There is some specific thing they are supposed to do, not just absorb or go through, but something they are supposed to do in order to make the world a better place. In order to determine what that is, I think it takes a pretty skilled prayer life, that you spend time in contemplation with your maker understanding what His will is as it is expressed through the Bible.”
Gibbs always says his three priorities, in order, are: God, family and his profession. He seems to imply that somewhere along the way the order got mixed up, with him putting his profession first. Fuller doesn’t believe that was the case.
“I don’t think that he got his priorities wrong,” Fuller said. “I think that the life he was living was fine as long as there weren’t major issues at home. . . . [His 3-year-old grandson] Taylor did not have leukemia. There were no issues. Now three years into the thing, all of a sudden his little grandson comes down with leukemia and he’s stuck because it’s in the middle of the offseason and they can’t get a new coach. He can’t leave [the Redskins]. They just went 5-11, and he’s thinking, ‘Wow, this is a really bad time. I can’t leave now.’ And that’s when the needs became greater at home where he began to feel like I’m not living up to my values system. But he couldn’t just leave. So that’s why he felt that way, but it wasn’t because he misprioritized. He had to fulfill his commitment to the organization.”
There is no question this was a difficult decision for Gibbs to make, and yet he seems at peace with it.
“Gosh, I haven’t seen him this happy in a long time,” Fuller said. “I mean a long time. He is very content.”
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Comments (10)
Might I suggest that if Joe Gibbs wants to seek God's forgiveness he begins by dealing with his long association with an organization the very name of which demeans an entire people.
What do you suppose the Lord has to say on that score?
And perhaps chaplain Fuller would like do do some soul-searching of his own.
January 14, 2008 9:48 AM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on January 14, 2008 09:48
To say that Coach Gibbs is "godly" is not to deify him. On this day that Christians commemorate the Baptism of our Lord, I am reminded that the Lutheran baptismal rite calls on those who receive the sacrament to "lead a godly life until the day of Jesus Christ."
From an admittedly distant observation of Gibbs via the media (but hearing his own words at Sean Taylor's funeral, at his retirement press conference, etc.), it seems to me that he is a righteous man. He indicates he has a right relationship with God -- though that is between him and God. He seems to have a right relationship with his family. And he kept a right relationship with the team, leaving only after he helped them get back on the right track.
I am sure he is not perfect. But I was proud to be a fan of a team coached by Joe Gibbs, and especially so over the past several weeks. May God bless him and his family.
January 13, 2008 3:09 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on January 13, 2008 15:09
JoJo - Walk in his (Gibbs) shoes for just one day.
January 13, 2008 11:57 AM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on January 13, 2008 11:57
Yes, the comments from JoJo were disrespectful and moreover, inaccurate. However, it's also dangerous to be calling Gibbs a "legend" and "Godly" man. He was simply a very good, very consistent NFL head coach who also treated many people around him well and remained personally humble in the public eye. Basically he was only doing what more people already SHOULD be doing. As a decent human being I'm glad he was such a large part of the Redskins' recent identity but it doesn't make you a lonely, bitter person to not deify this man. He had his limitations as a coach, father and person just like we all do.
January 13, 2008 11:42 AM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on January 13, 2008 11:42
RE: JoJo
I love it when a Cowboy fan enters the room.
January 13, 2008 11:09 AM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on January 13, 2008 11:09
Thank God for freedom of speech..for the person who just posted that last one. Because the also have the freedom to be an idiot. Joe Gibbs is a legend and Godly man. Embrace it and don't be a hater. You'll only wind up miserable and lonely.
January 12, 2008 6:02 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on January 12, 2008 18:02
Thank God for freedom of speech..for the person who just posted that last one. Because the also have the freedom to be an idiot. Joe Gibbs is a legend and Godly man. Embrace it and don't be a hater. You'll only wind up miserable and lonely.
January 12, 2008 6:02 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on January 12, 2008 18:02
Thank God for freedom of speech..for the person who just posted that last one. Because the also have the freedom to be an idiot. Joe Gibbs is a legend and Godly man. Embrace it and don't be a hater. You'll only wind up miserable and lonely.
January 12, 2008 6:02 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on January 12, 2008 18:02
how about just telling the truth...that Joe Gibbs was a total loser and couldn't get his team to win any games, and he retired just in time when the redskins would get mad and can his behind. At least you can say that he had the smarts to know when he was out of ideas and was going to destroy the team and quit before things got too hot.
January 11, 2008 5:09 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on January 11, 2008 17:09
i have never met Joe Gibbs but i have met a lot of great spiritual men and women in some of the jobs i have done. i was blessed at killern country club in tallahasse to get to know quite a few people when i was the lockeroom attendand and shoe shine boy. it was my job to provide a quiet "safe envirnment behind closed doors for the vips and chit chat if they seemed interested.. It's amazing to me how many of these men were not only highly sucessful but also some wonderful human beings. i think you can tell more about what a man or woman is really about is how they treat the little people when they think noone is looking. coaching would have to be a profession to where ther were many temptations to succomb to vanities of the spirit as well as the adulation some desreved ....some solely the result of the combined efforts of specially physically gifted human beings trying to overcome thier own limitations as individuals and as a group in a way
that when they win they have not prostituted enough of thier own invidual feelings, goals or of personal conduct to make the victory ....meaningless in the scheme of human personal values that at some point is the true arbitor of just what success and failure mean 2 the individual individual. there is also luck and maybe in rare cases provadince, or destiny.
2 know where a person is truely serving thier God and thier fellows... is a very individual thing.... something that it would seem ...can... and does... change. one could wonder if mr' gibbs leadership was one of the factors in a young man or many young men, finding his path before a sad ending in this life.... they say in life when the pupil is ready the teacher will appear... in real life we are i think the student and the teacher... something tells me mr. Gibbs has not finished teaching....or trying 2 make a difference. sometimes it is God himself who places people where they should be.... mr. gibbs eye would assume will be coaching where ever he is... and whatever he thinks he might be doing...and it will alos consume huge amount of his time because maybe... perhaps that is the way God himself made him... thank you God.. but i'm just an artist you might better check this 4 truth
January 11, 2008 1:38 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on January 11, 2008 13:38