Derwin Gray

My proudest football moment happened on May 23rd, 1995. It was my fifth-year wedding anniversary and my wife and I were at a restaurant in Indianapolis. When we walked in, we saw Dan Marino and Tony Siragusa were at the same restaurant. My wife asked if I was going to go say hi to them, but I said, ‘No way, Marino wouldn't know who I am.’

When we were getting ready to leave after eating, she encouraged me again to go over and say hello. I made it past the security and said, ‘Mr. Marino, my name is…’ Before I could finish, he stood up, gave me a big bear hug and said, ‘Everybody, this is Derwin Gray! I've never been hit so hard in my entire career. I had to get blood drained out of my hip, and cartilage was torn in my knee because of him. Sit down and eat with us!’ I remember watching him when I was in middle school. He was one of my favorite players, so for him to respect my game was pretty cool.

Another proudest moment was being nominated in 1995 as a team captain for the Indianapolis Colts.

The way I was raised, I knew I was going to do something after football. One of the reasons I went to Brigham Young was to get a quality education so when I got done playing I could secure a good job. At first, I wasn't really sure what I was going to go into. I had developed a passion for investing, so I considered going to work for Merrill Lynch.

In 1999, as my wife and I were contemplating what was next, I got invited to speak at a youth event in Columbia, South Carolina. The problem with that was I was a compulsive stutterer. I had to ask, ‘Okay God, why would you send me to go speak somewhere, and I can't really speak?’ It was during that time of intense prayer I sensed God saying, ‘If I can raise my son from the dead, I can teach you how to talk.’

Neither my wife nor I grew up as Christians or people who were committed to Christ. It was through one of my teammates, Steve Grant, that I actually became a Christian in 1997.

It felt like my wife and I left the very multi-ethnic NFL world, and then we became Christians and could either go to the black church because I’m black or could go to a white church because my wife is white. I said, ‘Where's the church where there's diversity?’ The longer we were Christians, we recognized there were not very many. There are hundreds of thousands of churches and at that time, less than 4% of those were multi-ethnic.

As I traveled and spoke around the country, I sensed God continuing to put that on my heart. As you read the Bible, you see it was an incredibly diverse church in Jesus' world. He was saying to me, ‘I want that in today's world, and I want you to help do that. I said, ‘Okay,’ and that's how we started Transformation Church. We wanted it to be a church where people who had never heard of Jesus could understand. We wanted to be a church where black people, white people, Asians, Latinos, young, old, poor, and middle class could all have unity to show the world what love looks like.

Coming out of high school, in order to accept my scholarship to BYU, I had to score 16 on my ACT. Even though that’s pretty low, finally after taking it three times I was able to get that score. It was not that I wasn't smart, it was just I came from a family where education wasn't really valued.

I was one of the first high school graduates and one of the first to actually go to college in my family. I didn't know how to study, so when I went to BYU I learned. My wife who was valedictorian in high school and college taught me how. When I became a follower of Christ, I had this passion I was learning and wanted to share with people. Someone told me I should write a book and I said, ‘I don't even like reading books!’ God gave me this desire to write, and I became a really good writer. I've written four books, and my doctoral thesis was nearly 50,000 words. The cool thing about how God works is he will use your background and where you came from to take you where you're going.

It was actually my friend Steve Grant, the one who was instrumental in me becoming a Christian, who told me about The Trust.

The Trust paid for me to get my doctorate, it didn't come out of my own pocket, it didn't come out of our church budget, The Trust paid for it. I'm super, super grateful The Trust is doing things to help players transition. Football is not a career, football is a stepping stone and a platform of influence. The Trust is doing a great job of helping us. I'm a huge beneficiary and a huge fan. I'm spreading the word to other players, ‘Here's an opportunity to educate yourself and better yourself so your football career isn't the highlight of your life.

I think it's important for people to know The Trust is doing an incredible job. I, along with many others, benefit from The Trust. For players hesitant about reaching out, I would respectfully say, ‘Are you kidding? This is a great opportunity to partner with The Trust to better yourself. The same way we got better at football, we can get better at life and in education. Taking advantage of The Trust is a prime opportunity to do just that.’

I’m proudest of my marriage and my kids. I've been married for 26 years, and my wife is awesome. My 22-year-old daughter is on the pre-med track at UNC Wilmington. My son is an incredible young man. My proudest moments are being with my family, being able to be a husband and a dad. That’s not to discount some of the amazing things I've been able to do, but the thing that is going to last the longest is the influence on my family.