It’s a God-Fearing Society

Top three things that make sports journalists squirm:

3) Chit-chat on deadline in a press box.

2) An urgent message to “call the office.”

1) An athlete talking about religion.

Nothing triggers writers’ cramp faster than the juxtaposition of deadline, locker stall, born-again shortstop and a reading from Ecclesiastes.

“I think the media is squeamish because any time someone stands up and proclaims the truth, they don’t want, in some ways, that to be brought out, particularly if they don’t believe in it,” former NFL star Reggie White said.

Fair comment or complete misunderstanding of the separation of church and plate?

Most reporters would argue their job is to report on the games they cover, not provide athletes a forum to express their views on God.

Most reporters come to this view independently and honestly.

Most also know this is the prevailing opinion of their bosses.

“I think we think it doesn’t belong,” Times Sports Editor Bill Dwyre said. “We think its place is in church, with the smell of incense in the air, and people kneeling with heads bowed . . . not in the aftermath of 2 1/2 hours of pushing, biting, spitting, slugging and cursing.”

The Times has no written policy on quoting religious athletes, yet anyone who has worked for Dwyre knows where he stands.

“There may be some sports editors in the Bible Belt that are looking for that,” Dwyre said, “but the likelihood here is . . . that stuff is not going to fly.”

Newspapers have a “safety net” to make judgment calls on content. Each story is subjected to a chain of command, edited more than once before reaching print.

The real “Wallendas” of God-dodge journalism are broadcasting’s field reporters, who stand naked with live microphones before God and man.

Athletes with a postgame religious agenda are well aware of differences between print and broadcast media.

“We’re live,” NBC reporter Jim Gray said. “You guys will never print it, but we’re stuck.”

Gray says he uses his discretion in post-event interview situations.

“If it’s done tactfully by the person responding, fine,” Gray said. “If you want to thank God, I’m in no position to tell people to have beliefs or not have beliefs. I have a healthy respect for God. But if it goes beyond one time, it’s not appropriate . . . it’s not what we’re there for.”

No one has slipped more post-fight questions than heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield, a master of using a microphone to communicate his beliefs.

The athlete’s agenda is often at conflict with the reporter trying to do his or her job.

“It’s a tough thing,” Gray said. “Evander Holyfield is a really courteous and gracious man, but you know he’s going to get in his message about his religious beliefs. You have to ask, ‘Evander, how about the question? How about the fight?’

“It just makes you uncomfortable. I don’t know what the audience does. I guess the people who believe in that are thankful for that. Those who don’t say, ‘There they go again.’ ”

Not allowing athletes a forum is more than a question of surrendering air time and newsprint.

The media also have credibility concerns.

Anyone who devoted time or space to Atlanta Falcon safety Eugene Robinson’s religious convictions during Super Bowl week had to have felt duped after the player was arrested in Miami the night before the game and charged with soliciting sex from an undercover officer.

“I don’t know if the word is ‘burned’ or ‘stupid,’ but both of them work,” Dwyre said. “It adds to your basic cynicism.”

Dwyre, however, concedes that with the increase of religious athletes in sports, more stories with religious overtones are making it into his sports section.

“Over the years, there have been religious-bent stories that have gotten into the paper because they smelled real and felt real,” Dwyre said.

White, the outspoken leader of the religious movement in athletics, might not ever understand.

“When we start talking about God and Jesus, that makes them uneasy,” White said of the media. “The truth of the Gospel makes any man uneasy when he’s living his life the way he wants to live it, not the way God called him to live it.”