A Christian can’t be greedy because everything he does is to help others. … My idea of what a Christian is can’t be greedy. They can’t go out and win the game, and they have to be poor. Somewhere in the world’s mind, Christians have to be weak. But if a Christian man makes the same decision, he gets called greedy. SA: I think that if a person is not saved and he makes a good business decision, then he’s called a great businessman. Q: Are you ever concerned that people might confuse your deliberate style of contract negotiations for greed? But at the same time it really humbles me to say, “OK God, I want to make sure that I’m Your MVP first.” … I wouldn’t mind being called MVP again next year. Make your first choice Jesus Christ and then let God do the rest. That’s what I want everyone to understand. He’ll give you the big contract if it is designed for you to have the big contract. SA: People need to understand that God plans even for the financial things. Q: Why was it important for you to address financial issues from a professional athlete’s perspective? But, if it could be wrong to somebody else, then it is wrong. Sometimes you don’t think it’s wrong because you didn’t do anything that looks wrong in your tradition or your core beliefs. I think that’s a valuable lesson to learn. … I learned that if it could be malicious to you, then it’s wrong. I think that the people who are in Seattle and everybody who was there for that whole situation—the ones who know me—knew that if anything, my slang was taken out of context. SA: I tried to not make it look like it was because I was a Christian that it was so blown out of proportion. Q: What did you learn from the experience in 2004 when you were left one yard short of the rushing title and a reporter manipulated you into saying that Coach Mike Holmgren had stabbed you in the back? But nowadays, it seems like everybody tells them, “It could be brown or green or yellow or red. Because then they can make a true choice. If it’s red, give it to me that it’s red. If a person’s missing this and they can get the answer, they would want it straight. SA: I just think that in today’s society, the young people just need some really true, authentic, direct love and obedience. Q: What message do you hope your book sends to the youth culture? … Even still today, cousins and friends still go back to our house, hanging out with my mom … and it’s because she always brought that authentic unwavering love that can only come from God. … My mom almost made us feel like we weren’t missing that male influence because she took on both roles so powerfully even though there had to have been times of loneliness. You’d walk in and you’d see her on the balcony just reading the Bible. …We lived in a two-bedroom apartment and my parents were divorced about the time I was in sixth grade. Shawn Alexander:: My mom was just a strong woman of God. Q: How much influence has your mother had on your life? In the following interview, Alexander reflects on his life and his faith. “Christians can’t be greedy,” says Alexander, who has big plans to use that money to help others, including his Shaun Alexander Foundation and Club 37, a teen mentoring program that is named after the number on his jersey.
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