The “dog days of summer” are quickly turning into the “Dawg days of autumn” for the Bulldog nation. The University of Georgia football team has plowed through a rigorous regimen of practices for the better part of four weeks in preparation for the demanding 2005 football season.

Coach Mark Richt’s latest edition of gridiron warriors have been specifically preparing for Saturday’s clash with the Boise State University Broncos, a team that finished 11-1 last year losing only to the Louisville Cardinals in the Liberty Bowl. The Boise State team has a talented offense that figures to be even better than last year’s, which finished second in the nation and set a school record in scoring.

Georgia finished the 2004 campaign ranked seventh in the nation, but lost defensive end/linebacker David Pollack, who signed in the first round of the NFL draft with the Cincinnati Bengals, and quarterback David Greene, who signed in the third round with the Seattle Seahawks. In the Coach’s Preseason Poll both Georgia and Boise State are ranked among the top 20 college football teams in the nation; and Boise State is third and Georgia sixth in winning percentage since 2001.

The big game is scheduled for 5:30 P.M. in Georgia’s Sanford Stadium. Recent expansions bring the new stadium capacity to 92,746, making it the fifth largest on-campus stadium in the country. The contest between the Bulldogs and the Broncos in this beautiful and electrifying football arena will be a great way to launch the 2005 season.

In addition to the headline stories that will emerge regarding Saturday’s battle at Sanford Stadium, there are heartwarming stories about individual players. Among the combatants that will face each other between the hedges is the starting Boise State safety Marty Tadman and Georgia center Russ Tanner.

 

Highly recruited

Tadman, from Mission Viejo, Calif., was a high school All-American Selection (one of the top 300 players in the nation) by Prep Star Magazine. He was the captain of his high school team, the team MVP, named the Orange County Player of the Year by the Los Angeles Times and was an honor student as well.

The California high school athlete was highly recruited from major football programs across the nation, but chose BSU over such schools as Notre Dame, University of Southern California, Colorado and Arizona and became only one of two Broncos to play as a true freshman last year.

The Broncos had intended for Tadman to be a redshirt freshman last year, but when Boise State safety Chris Carr was injured last season Tadman was brought off redshirt status midway through the season and finished with 14 tackles, half a tackle for a loss and one interception.

This year Tadman, who is 5’ 11” and weighs 176 pounds, will start at safety to help fill the loss of three starters in the defensive backfield.

Tadman was raised in the Jewish tradition, had a bar mitzvah and went to the temple two or three times a week. He commented, “I never knew God in Judaism. Going to the temple made me feel like I knew Him, but it wasn’t real.”

As a youth Tadman became interested in sports, stating, “I didn’t have many friends growing up. I played basketball on Friday nights instead of going out like others did. Sports became my life.”

Tadman explained, “I was cocky in high school and very arrogant. Almost no one liked me at school. Most were jealous of my athletic ability. In an effort to be accepted I started emulating the example of my older brother and some of his friends. I got a fake ID at age 15 and began to frequent some of the local bars. I was drinking quite a bit and also got involved in drugs. In fact I was selling drugs at age 16 and making a lot of money.”

 

A talk with God

Tadman’s lifestyle of carousing, riotous behavior, frequent arrests and infrequent school attendance did not seem to stymie his ability to perform athletically or academically. However, one night after a fight with a friend, being estranged from his girlfriend, and not being able to connect with anyone else he knew, Tadman ended up on the beach by himself.

He testifies, “I had nothing. I felt like a loser. I sat there thinking about my life and began to talk out loud. No one was there, but God was listening. For two hours I questioned why my life was the way it was, why I was so empty and depressed. I was crying and screaming until I had nothing left in me; I believe God spoke to me.”

Tadman continued, “There was a voice, a sound, a person. I can’t tell you what it was and I don’t remember what I heard, but I do remember what I felt. Like the Apostle Paul who was blinded and somewhat confused as to what happened to him on the Road to Damascus, I was not sure what had occurred in my life at that moment, but I left the beach that night fulfilled and with a sense of purpose. I was no longer empty or depressed.”

 

Finally, an eternal answer

Tadman explained, “Two weeks went by and I had a feeling pushing me to read the Bible for some reason. I asked my Jewish mother if she had a New Testament in the house and she had a little pocket Bible. I read to Matthew 6 and while reading the Lord’s Prayer realized that I had Jesus Christ living inside of me. I had hated Christians and made fun of them, but now Jesus was living inside of me. It was too powerful for me to deny.”

The Boise State defensive back added, “I kept reading the Bible and got through with it in a couple of weeks. I wanted to know the significance of “Christ in me.” I had finally found something worth being addicted to. I finally found an eternal answer to my sin and rebellion. Christ is amazing! I wish I could have heard about him earlier, but I know God is real and has a plan for my life.”

Tadman has been a Christian for only 16 months, but has grown exponentially in his walk with Jesus. He is preaching on Sundays, has started a college service on the campus of Boise State and joyfully shares his testimony at conferences and meetings.

 

Christian maverick

The All American from Mission Viejo declared that God has “put ministry on my heart,” but is hardly your typical preacher or ministerial student. In fact, he is a Christian maverick of sorts, with great portions of his body covered with tattoos. His tattoos include pictures of Christ, a cross, a dove representing the Holy Spirit, Scripture verses, etc.

Tadman explains, “My body is not my own. I have given it to Christ. With tattoos down to my hands on my left arm and soon to be on the right, Satan and the world knows what I stand for whenever they see me. I will probably be the first pastor you will ever see with full sleeve tattoos. I am a walking evangelism cube. It is a great outreach toward the world. Not a day goes by that someone doesn’t ask about my tattoos, and since my tattoos are all of a Christian nature, I get to witness to those who inquire. The tattoos have started many conversations that have led to conversions.”

Tadman recently gave his testimony at the South Utah Regional Evangelism Conference in Price, Utah, where J. Robert White, GBC’s executive director, and this editor preached. His testimony was crystal clear, his love for Christ blatantly obvious and his faith remarkably genuine.

 

Believing bulldog

Squaring off against this unashamed and unconventional Christian from the West Coast will be Russ Tanner, the Georgia Bulldog center, who is also a devout Christian with a faith experience as solid as pure gold.

Tanner, a native of Wrightsville, played at Johnson County High where he earned All State honors all four years of his high school career. He also was on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Super Southern 100 and SUPERPREP All-America and All-Dixie Teams.

At UGA Tanner has started in 27 straight games and last year was named as one of six finalists for the Rimington Award which goes annually to the nation’s top college center. The 6’ 4” 295 pound offensive lineman was on the 2004 SEC Academic Honor Roll and has been a vital part of the Georgia football program that has posted a 42-10 record from 2001 to 2004 (sixth best in the country), three straight seasons of 10 or more wins, three straight bowl victories and three consecutive national top six finishes.

After ordering his 12 ounce, medium rare Renegade Steak at Longhorn’s Steak House (his favorite eating establishment) in Athens, Tanner rather modestly admitted that he had some rather high profile college coaches come to his family home in Wrightsville for a recruiting visit.

Among those who made the trek to Johnson County to see the most heralded athlete to come out of the middle Georgia town since Hershel Walker were Bob Davies (Notre Dame), Tommy Bowden (Clemson), George O’Leary (Georgia Tech), Phillip Fulmer (Tennessee) and Steve Spurrier (Florida).

Tanner confessed, “For a long time I had dreamed of playing for the University of Georgia, but when Coach Richt came to visit in our home I liked his overall demeanor and I could tell that his desire was to develop a Christian atmosphere so that people would have an opportunity to grow in that area of their lives.”

Tanner grew up in a Christian home and was saved at age 15 and baptized shortly thereafter in Ivey Baptist Church in Wrightsville, but rededicated his life to Christ as a sophomore at UGA. He admitted, “At that time I became determined to be more than a Sunday morning Christian and made a commitment to live for Christ seven days a week.”

The Georgia center indicated that it helps to have Christian friends who provide encouragement and accountability. He commented, “I have so many people in my life who are rocks. There is ‘Chappy’ (Kevin Hynes), who is the UGA team chaplain and David Pollack, who was my roommate. Being around him, as strong as he was, pumped me up spiritually. We grew together in our relationship with the Lord.”

Tanner stated, “And, of course, I can’t leave out my parents. They gave me a good foundation. My mother has sent me a verse of scripture a week. One passage that really means a lot to me is Isaiah 40: 29-31: “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Tanner admits that his wife, Shelley, has also had a great impact upon his life. He related, “She is a wonderful Christian. She was very much involved in the Baptist Student Union here at school. We just got married in June, so we are newlyweds. But we read our Bible verses and talk about them every morning, have a prayer then and also before we go to bed at night.” The Tanners are now attending Watkinsville First Baptist Church, where Carlos Sibley is pastor.

Scott Shepherd, campus director of Athletes in Action and the teacher of the Sunday School class Russ and Shelley attend, praised Russ for his faith and character. Shepherd commented, “Russ is a fine young man who wants to please God in his marriage, his school work and his football career. He is a hard worker and a genuine man of integrity.”

When asked about his goals for the future Tanner admitted that he would like to see the Bulldogs go all the way this season. He declared, “We have won the SEC Eastern Division, the SEC Championship and some great bowl games, but we want to go the Rose Bowl in January and win the national championship.”

The match-up between Georgia and Boise State promises to be a thrilling contest, but you might want to pay special attention to the game within the game as Georgia’s number 50 and Boise State’s number 20 meet head to head before an expected crowd of nearly 93,000 fans.

Tadman and Tanner have never met, but they are destined to meet in storied Sanford Stadium on Saturday. They are admittedly on different teams, play on different colored home turfs (Boise State’s is blue) with different colored uniforms, have different personalities and different ways of expressing their faith, but both have the same Father, are in the same family and will share the same ultimate destination.

Most folks in Georgia expect the Bulldogs to begin the season on a note of victory, but the Broncos are enjoying their first preseason ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll since moving to Division I before the 1996 season. It should be a good game, but regardless of the outcome, Tanner and Tadman are both winners and you may be assured that their faith and witness will remain strong.