04/25/24
March 31, 2007
Hidden: Football hero at Gustavus to pray, not play: We need more role models like this.
Weird, I live in Mankato working at the Catholic school here and haven't heard about this till now. The Mankato Free Press is indeed a local paper and I don't think they write it for outsiders. I also don't read it on a regular basis because it's not interesting. St. Peter is a small town of about 2-thousand people where Gustavus Adolphus college is located. The town's around 10 miles from Mankato. It is a Christian school and St. Peter is very Christian, so there's your connection. I also agree that pro athletes do this all the time. When I subscribed to ESPN the magazine, I remember one of the issues being centered around Deion Sanders and his newfound faith.
posted by jmd82 at 05:07 PM on March 31, 2007
Would be better posted on Christfilter.
posted by bobfoot at 09:12 PM on March 31, 2007
Heh,now thats funny,bob. Probably because its true.
posted by sickleguy at 10:10 PM on March 31, 2007
St. Peter is a town of about 10,000 people, actually, and it's twelve miles from St. Peter to Mankato, not ten. I haven't lived their since 2nd grade in 1982 and even I know this. :)
posted by hootch at 10:53 PM on March 31, 2007
I wonder what variety of Christian he is.
posted by Hugh Janus at 11:22 PM on March 31, 2007
10,000? OK, I underestimated a little bit. Still learning about the barren wasteland. Besides, 10 is the new 12.
posted by jmd82 at 11:33 PM on March 31, 2007
Geez, how many Mankatoans do we have here? (Speaking as a native of the place myself.) Yes, St. Peter is about 10,000, and about 12 miles from Mankato. And a fine place it is...it was almost the capital of Minnesota. And as a Gopher alumnus...hey, a guy from my school went to visit someplace near my hometown. Cool. But is this a SpoFi thread?
posted by TheQatarian at 12:27 AM on April 01, 2007
It might be a nice story, but there's nothing here sports related to discuss.
posted by justgary at 12:36 AM on April 01, 2007
I guess the Mankato Free Press is only a local small town paper, but that article was so poorly written, it gave me a headache to read. I still have only the vaguest idea who Ben Utecht is, other than he plays for (coaches for?) the Colts, what St. Peters is and its connection to Gustavus Adolfus College (is that a religious school?), if he's giving up football to preach full time, and why his going to these churches is really any big deal to anyone since he's speaking to the already faithful, rather than volunteering to help the needy or something. I'm sure he's a great guy, but seems like professional football players and coaches do this kind of thing all the time.