The walls of the jail cell were built from stone, providing the perfect place for David Tyree to hit rock bottom. Arrested for drug possession after the police found half a pound of marijuana in his car, caged between stone walls and steel bars, Tyree covered his face with his hands.
Those hands, with awkwardly bent fingers and mangled knuckles, grabbed national attention years later. During the Giants’ improbable Super Bowl victory over the undefeated Patriots, Tyree caught a desperation pass on the winning drive by pinning the ball against his helmet.
The catch introduced the 28-year-old Tyree to the world. He made the cover of Sports Illustrated and flew last week to Los Angeles to appear on national talk shows.
“What looked to be the lowest point in my life ended up being the greatest thing that ever happened to me,” Tyree, speaking of his arrest in 2004, said Saturday morning while sitting at his kitchen table.
From special-teams demon to Super Bowl deity. From moonlighting drug dealer to born-again Christian. From a child who drank alcohol and smoked marijuana with his family to a sober father and husband who started his own nonprofit organization.
This is Tyree’s version of his transformation.
What a wonderful story! This shows the power of God’s “2X4.” I’ve seen and felt that power in my life more times than I can imagine. I’ve seen that power in prison where men realize that what they’ve been doing isn’t working and they need something. That something is the love and power of Jesus Christ and God’s grace. That power fills them, changes them, and makes them new.
I hope that Tyree can use his story to show the power of Jesus Christ to change lives and make all things new!
YBIC,
Phil Snyder
I caught him on ESPN and it was interesting to see how he inserted Christianity into the interview. The reporter seemed a bit flummoxed….
Wow. And in the New York Times, of all places. I’m impressed.
What a great testimony from a Christian brother.
Nice. Thanks for posting Kendall. May God grant grace to Tyree to continue to live for Him and to withstand the heightened glare of the media spotlight and fame. How tough to be a “celebrity” Christian. It’s tough enough just being an ordinary one…!