Every single yard he ran represented something larger than football. He is playing a game that children dream of playing when they're "grown up." Those children who's dreams he is living out, look up to him. He is a hero in some ways to these kids and even sometimes their parents. As a parent you want to find at least one human that you're ok with your kids looking up to. It's hard to find humans to fulfill this role, because we are all human. But every yard opened up doors to keep serving the community and loving on people. Every yard has meant a little more love and a little more Jesus gets to be spread. Every yard represents more glory given to God. That is why parents don't mind their kids looking up to Alfred. If a kid is really looking up to him, they're watching Him give football and the community all he has.
These children's dreams of the NFL are nothing what it's really like. The stress, the pressure, the drama & dealing with the media is almost incomprehensible to people who never played professionally. But all of that is worth it because of the people impacted in positive ways by every single yard. To play in this league you are given an automatic platform and what you do with it is up to you. On Alfred's off days we sacrifice precious time for community events because we recognize that there is something much greater than a few hours of family time at stake here.
One day Alfred will be just another guy to any kids who see him and that might secretively be something I look forward to when he "retires", but for right now he has to use that to His advantage. Alfred's job is to touch lives, not just play football. I feel so blessed to get to be there with Alfred to love on folks and encourage his use of this platform in a positive way. It's truly the little things that make this crazy NFL ride worth it. I know those little things add up to be huge incentives for Alfred to keep grinding, pushing for yards, and ultimately playing for wins on and off the field.
