CSU Welcomes Jad Dean For Third FCA Meeting Of The Year

CHARLESTON, S.C.: Student athletes, coaches and administrative staff joined together for a night of worship and reflection during the monthly Fellowship of Christian Athletes retreat held on the campus of Charleston Southern University on Nov. 7.

The meeting began with the tallying of a poll conducted during last month’s FCA meeting to determine which coach was the funniest on campus. The student athletes voted and chose defensive coordinator Thielen Smith; Smith received a gift certificate for the honor.

The mood quickly changed as a video began to play over the projector. In the video was of former Clemson placekicker Jad Dean. Dean described his illustrious career at Clemson (finished junior year ranked second amongst kickers), and some of the trials and tribulations he faced. In the video, Dean spoke of attending FCA meetings every month and going to church every Sunday, but how his reasoning for these acts was skewed. Dean, like many student athletes acted a certain way in season with hopes that God would reward him with a quality athletic performance on Saturdays. Dean described God as a “good luck charm” and talked about how he would praise the lord when things went well but would question him when his performance was less than stellar.

The video was part of a short documentary called “Wide Left Saved My Soul” which describes the journey of Jad  after a missed field goal opened his eyes to God’s salvation. Once the video ended, Jad took the stage to explain his story and field any questions that the student athletes had. “God needs to be the number one priority in your life, I know as athletes you tend to put sports first, but without God you will never be satisfied,” he commented.

A person in the audience asked Jad if it was tough to quit playing football, Jad responded by saying, “it was not football that was tough to give up, I did not love football, I loved the attention and approval and fame…It was tough giving that stuff up, but then I realized that God’s approval is the most important, and without it you will never be satisfied.

Pastor John Davis ended the retreat with a prayer which touched on the points that Jad brought up throughout his talk, “Eternal salvation is way more important than fame or money, without salvation you will never be satisfied,” he commented.