How NFL Star David Garrard Relied on God Amid Crohn’s Disease Battle
By Movieguide® Contributor
Former National Football League quarterback David Garrard opened up about how he trusted God with his future amid his struggle with Crohn’s disease, a battle he fought during his time in the NFL.
“One minute I was sitting in my lounge chair at home watching TV, the next minute I was doubled over. Not even Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis hitting me from the blind side hurt that bad. For a few minutes, I could hardly breathe. Finally, the pain went away,” Gerrard said in an essay for Guideposts.
Eventually, he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.
“The doctor explained that Crohn’s is a chronic autoimmune disease that causes inflammation of the small intestine, making it all but impossible for food to pass through,” Garrard explained. “‘No one knows exactly how or why you get it,’ the doctor said. He’d put me on medication to control the inflammation, but there was no cure. It was a disease I’d have to live with.”
The football star’s mother died when he was 16. During his time in the hospital, he reflected on her faith and began to pray.
“I wasn’t talking to my mom so much as praying to my heavenly Father, trusting him with my life the way Mom did with hers. I told Mary [his wife] about my prayer. ‘I think I finally understand what Mom meant about strength coming from faith,’” Garrard said.
Even though he was suffering from a life-threatening disease, he knew he had more football left.
“I ended up having surgery to remove a section of my diseased intestines. Six weeks later I was on the field again, practicing hard, getting back into game shape. ‘I don’t know what’s in store for me,’ I said to Mary, ‘but I know in my heart I can play.’ When Byron Leftwich went down with an injury in November, I was ready to step in,” Garrard said of his moment to return to football.
“On game day, I jogged out of the tunnel onto the field at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium,” he described. “The roar of the crowd fired me up. We played Detroit. The game had plenty of drama. We pulled ahead early, then the Lions caught up and sent us into overtime. I threw a touchdown pass to win the game. The crowd roared even louder. It was every bit as magical as the day I discovered football.”
Garrard spent most of his NFL career with the Jacksonville Jaguars after being drafted during the fourth round in 2002. In 2010, he was unexpectedly cut from the team.
But throughout the highs and lows of his career, he found his foundation in God.
“I think that’s the way that I’ve been able to handle so many things in my life is that knowing that God gives me so much peace in my life,” he told CBN. “Having Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior gives me so much peace. It’s still tough. It’s still hard sometimes, but you always can count on the Lord to be there for you, to never leave you, to never forsake you.”
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