Jason Brown: From football to farming

Professional athletes are often held up as role models for our youth, and on occasion they actually should be.

After a stellar collegiate career at North Carolina and four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, 6’3”, 320 pound Jason Brown signed with the St. Louis Rams in 2009 and became the highest paid center in the National Football League.   As one of the best linemen in the game, he’d seemingly reached the pinnacle of his career at 26.  But it didn’t give him the satisfaction he desired. And three years after his record setting contract, Jason chose to walk away from the game. 

He was not injured, he was not in trouble, he was not out of options.  But he’d reached the conclusion that seven seasons of football, too much time away from his family, and life in the spotlight had distanced him from his values.  Brown, a deeply religious man, felt God calling him to something else…something totally different. Even a new contract offer from his hometown Carolina Panthers could not tempt him to stay.  His agent told him he was making the biggest mistake of his life, but this gentle giant disagreed.

And Jason Brown, professional football player, became Jason Brown, farmer.

Farming.  Not the typical second career for a multi-millionaire, let alone one who had no prior experience farming.  O.k., so he’s going to be a ‘gentleman farmer’, right?  Own the property and hire laborers to do the dirty work?  No.  Jason is out there on a tractor, and occasionally on his knees working as hard as any of his crew.  And here’s the real kicker---he’s not even doing it for the money.  He sees this as a ministry opportunity.  Again, not typical---but you’ve probably figured out by now that Jason Brown is not typical. 

After he’d decided to make a difference for the good in a profession he knew nothing about, Jason threw himself into this new venture with as much passion as he had his football career.  He began by watching Youtube videos, and then talking to farming friends in Louisburg, North Carolina, where he’d decided to open “First Fruit Farm.” 

Here, on his 1,000 acre property, Jason has committed himself to the mission of eliminating hunger in North Carolina.  He donates the first fruits of every harvest to local food pantries.  And in his very first harvest he gave away 46,000 pounds of sweet potatoes and 10,000 pounds of cucumbers. His motto is, “Never stop giving, never stop loving, never stop growing!”

In explaining his decision to leave football for the farm, Jason smiles, “When I think about success I think about a life of service.”

From success to significance…

Jason Brown is a hero you should know.  And I’m Dr. Ross Porter.

Heroes You Should Know: Robert Smalls

Robert Smalls was born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina.  And at age 12, his master hired him out to business associates in Charleston where Smalls worked in a hotel, and later as a lamplighter.  But his real love was the sea, so he found a way to work on the docks, then as a rigger and a sail maker, and eventually as a wheelman (basically a pilot, although slaves were not allowed to hold that title).

Although a slave, when the Civil War began Smalls was assigned to serve on the CSS Planter, a lightly armed Confederate transport.  And on May 12, 1862, the three white officers of the Planter decided to spend the night on shore.  Smalls, and seven other enslaved sailors, decided to steal the ship and sail it to freedom.  So, dressed in the Captain’s uniform that included a straw hat, he sailed out of the harbor, and then stopped at a nearby wharf to pick up his wife, children, and the families of the other crewman who were hiding there.  Having learned the secret Confederate codes and signals, Smalls, sailed the Planter past five different Confederate forts that guarded the harbor without ever being stopped.  And by morning, flying a white bedsheet as a sign of surrender to avoid being fired upon by Union ships, Smalls was home free.  He turned the ship over to the United States Navy, along with the valuable cargo that included canons, artillery pieces and ammunitions earmarked for Confederate forts, and the secret Confederate signal book.

For his exploits, Smalls was celebrated in Union newspapers and was invited to a private meeting with President Lincoln.  There, he was able to persuade the President to allow African-American men to serve in the Union Army as soldiers.  When Lincoln agreed, Smalls joined the Army.   He was later transferred to the Navy where he would be named the first black captain of a vessel---ironically the same one he’d commandeered two years before, the Planter, now a ship in the Union Navy.  By the end of the War, he had been involved in 17 different battles.

Now if he did nothing else for the rest of his life, Robert Smalls would be a hero.  But there was more.

After the war, Smalls returned to Beaufort and purchased the home he’d been a slave in.  And in an amazing act of charity, he allowed the aged widow of his former slave master to live there with him and his family until her death.

Smalls would go on to become a successful businessman, opening a store where former slaves could work, and was elected to the South Carolina State House of Representatives and State Senate, and finally the United States House of Representatives where he would serve for five terms.

This legend of a man would die at 75 years-old in the same town he was born in as a slave.  But because of his life Beaufort, South Carolina, and indeed America, had become a very different place.

Robert Smalls is a hero you should know.  And I’m Dr. Ross Porter.

James Harrison: The Man with the Golden Arm

James Harrison is a typical 79 year-old man in most every way.  A widower now, he likes to spend time with his daughter and grandson, take walks, and collect stamps.  But just below the surface, literally, he is very unique.  He first learned this at age 14, when he needed to undergo an emergency surgery to remove a lung---and then needed roughly three gallons of donated blood over the next three months of recovery.  In gratitude he made a pledge to give blood himself as soon as he could.  He says it was the second most important pledge he’s ever made, behind only his marriage vows.

So at 18 years-old, James started donating blood.  It was then that doctors realized his blood contained very rare antibodies that could fight Rhesus disease, which caused women to miscarry or give birth to brain damaged babies. At the time, this disease was affecting thousands of babies in Harrison’s native Australia alone.  So, he agreed to undergo further tests in addition to giving blood, and sure enough doctors were able to use James’ plasma to develop a life-saving Anti-D vaccine. 

Since then, Harrison has donated plasma on average once every three weeks---possible because one can give plasma more often than blood.  That’s more than 1,100 donations over the past 61 years, and counting.  And what does that mean in lives saved?  Doctors estimate that Harrison’s generosity has saved over two million babies---including, ironically, his own grandson Scott, when his daughter Tracey ended up needing the vaccine herself.

James loves to travel around Australia in his camper, but always knows where the nearest donation center is so that his giving routine isn’t affected.  Although he holds the world record for donations, Australian law says he’ll need to stop giving at age 81.  Harrison is disappointed that he’ll fall short of his goal of 2,000 donations but is hoping others will step up when he is no longer allowed to.

In 1999 Australia awarded him the Medal of the Order of Australia for his incredibly consistent generosity, but for Harrison the knowledge that he’s saving lives is all he needs.  “I’m in it for the babies.”

So, the next time you hear about a quarterback or a pitcher with a “golden arm,” remember the man who has truly earned that nickname!

James Harrison is a hero you should know.  And I’m Dr. Ross Porter.

Richard Kirkland: “The Angel of Marye’s Heights”

Richard Kirkland was a young man of eighteen when he enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861.  He was assigned to the 2^nd South Carolina infantry and would survive some of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, including the First Battle of Bull Run and Antietem.  But it was at the battle of Fredricksburg that Kirkland’s courage and humanitarian actions guaranteed him a lasting place in American history.

There, at Marye’s Heights on December 13, 1862 Kirkland’s unit withstood a fierce Union attack, and by morning of the next day hundreds of Union soldiers lay wounded or dead on the other side of the great stone wall the Confederate soldiers had used for protection.  Both sides listened helplessly to the cries of agony from the wounded, but no one dared to do something about it.  At some point, however, Kirkland approached Brigadier General Joseph Kershaw and requested permission to help the Union soldiers.  At first Kershaw refused, stating that Kirkland would almost certainly be shot by Union soldiers.  However Kirkland insisted, and eventually was granted permission.  However, Kershaw forbade him using a white handkerchief to signal the Union army not to fire on him. 

Quickly Kirkland gathered all the canteens he could find and filled them with water.  Then, as his unit watched, he left the safety of the wall and ventured out onto the battlefield to care for the wounded.  Again and again he went back to refill the canteens and then return to the battlefield and the wounded.  He also brought warm clothes and blankets to the soldiers, to combat the frigid winter temperatures.  No one from either side fired a shot as this amazing scene unfolded.

For two hours Kirkland worked tirelessly and alone until each and every one of the Union soldiers had been ministered to.  Six weeks later the great poet Walt Whitman, who at the time was working in a Washington D.C Hospital as a nurse and a war correspondent reported being told this story by a Union soldier who had been wounded at Fredricksburg.

Kirkland continued to distinguish himself for bravery at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, and was eventually promoted to Second Lieutenant.  However, less than a year after he became “the angel of Marye’s Heights”, Kirkland was shot and killed at the Battle of Chickamauga.  He was 20 years-old.

In 1965 a monument was finally erected in front of the stone wall at Marye’s Heights, memorializing Kirkland and his singular act of compassion there….given not to enemies, but to brothers.  He embodies for all time the “better angels of our nature.”

Richard Kirkland is a hero you should know.  And I’m Dr. Ross Porter.

Gino Bartali:  Cycling for Humanity

Gino Bartali was enough of a cycling star to win the Tour De France twice---ten years apart---and be personal friends with Pope John the XXIII, to whom he gave lessons on how to ride a bike.  But what Gino did on and with his bike, was about so much more than fame.

Due to his racing success Bartali was already a European celebrity when the dark clouds of Nazism and Fascism began to shadow his world.  Because of his standing as a sports hero, though, he could have easily avoided the politics and suffering around him and waited out the war.  But Bartali loved what was best about his country and humankind too much to avoid engagement.  And when a friend asked him to become involved in the Italian Resistance, he agreed.

He began using his cycling workouts as a cover for his new calling.  He’d don his racing jersey with his famous name emblazoned across the back and ride hundreds of miles between Florence and Rome carrying secret messages, photographs, and documents---hidden in the handlebars and frame of his bicycle---to the network of safe-houses, churches, and convents in the resistance. His fame allowed him to ride without harassment.

In addition, Gino Bartali also hid a Jewish family in an apartment he’d purchased with his cycling prize money until the end of the war.

By 1943, he had also begun to literally pull Jews to safety by attaching a wagon with a secret compartment to the back of his bicycle and riding for the Swiss Alps with them in tow.  He told patrols that occasionally stopped him that the wagon was part of his new ‘training regimen.’
After the war, Andrea Bartali wanted to tell others about his father’s heroism, but Gino forbid it.  “You must do good, but you must not talk about it. If you talk about it you're taking advantage of others misfortunes for your own gain."

Gino Bartali was a remarkable athlete who cycled for Italy…but even more for humanity.  And that’s what made him not just a true champion, but an eternal champion.


Gino Bartali is a hero you should know. And I'm Dr. Ross Porter.

Irena Sendler: The Ghetto and the Glass Jar

Irena Sendler was a social worker, and personally responsible for saving 2,500 Jewish children during the Nazi occupation of Poland.   

In 1939, 450,000 Jews were rounded up in Warsaw by the Nazis and crammed into a tiny section of the city, behind seven foot high walls, and Sendler knew that time was precious.  As the head of the children’s bureau of Zegota, a social service program responsible for monitoring the threat of typhus in this newly established ghetto, she was given unlimited access by the Nazis in order to insure “sanitary conditions.” 

What the Nazis didn’t realize was that Zegota was also the cover for an underground resistance movement committed to saving Jews from death, and Sendler was at the heart of this effort.  For nearly five years, using health inspections as an excuse, she entered the ghetto again and again and smuggled infants and children to safety;  in coffins, burlap sacks, tool cases, wrapped packages, and even beneath the floor boards of an ambulance. 

And as parents gave their children to Sendler, she collected names.  New identities had been created for the children, but she wanted to make sure their original identities were not lost.  She buried this list of names in a glass jar in her backyard in case she was arrested.

In 1943, the Gestapo did finally catch Sendler.  She was imprisoned, tortured, and sentenced to death.  However she was able to escape, and went into hiding.  As soon as the war ended, she dug up the jar, grabbed the list, and went to work trying to re-connect the children she’d saved with their families.

In gratitude, Israel made her an honorary citizen in 1991.

Irena Sendler is a hero you should know.  And I'm Dr. Ross Porter.

Heroes You Should Know: Vasili Arkhipov

“The man who saved the world” is a pretty impressive title.  But that’s exactly what Vasili Arkhipov did.  Arkhipov was second in command on one of the Soviet Union’s four B-59 attack submarines, sent to Cuba in October of 1962.  Arkhipov’s submarine carried 22 torpedoes, one of which was nuclear---and as powerful as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

Each of the captains had been given permission to fire their nuclear torpedoes as long as they had the blessing of their on-board political officer.  The only other officer with veto power was Vasili Arkhipov, who was in charge of the submarine flotilla.

Because the submarines had been so deep under water en route to Cuba they did not receive radio transmissions from Moscow about the United States’ naval blockade of Cuba.  So on October 27, when eleven U.S. destroyers and the USS Randolph located the submarine Arkhipov was on and began dropping depth charges to force it to surface and identify its self, Soviet captain Valentin Savitsky mistakenly believed war had begun. He and the political officer on board wanted to respond by launching their nuclear torpedo.  Arkhipov forcefully disagreed, arguing that no direct order had come from Moscow and such a response would be catastrophic.  He suggested the sub surface and find out for sure what was going on.  A heated argument reportedly ensued between the three men in charge, but Arkhipov held his ground against the other two officers.  Eventually, he prevailed.  The submarine surfaced, was told by the Americans to return to the Soviet Union, and a nuclear war was averted.

It is believed that Arkhipov’s position eventually carried the day because of his prior heroism.  You see, a year before the Cuban Missile Crisis, he had been present at another near-catastrophic nuclear disaster! 

In July of 1961, the K-19 nuclear submarine Arkhipov was on, complete with a nuclear missile, sprung a leak in the reactor coolant system and was in real danger of a nuclear meltdown.  Engineers on board the sub built a make-shift cooling system and were able to contain the overheating reactor. But the first-responders, along with many crewmen, died of radiation exposure and in response the crew of the K-19 almost erupted in mutiny.  Arkhipov himself was seriously irradiated, but stood by his captain, was credited with helping to quell the revolt, and was later awarded a medal for valor.   

Arkhipov would go on to serve another twenty years, retiring as a Rear Admiral.  He died in 1998 at the age of 72, and his exposure to radiation on the K-19 was cited as a contributing cause of death.

A man who was in the right place at the right time---twice!  And the world should be very grateful.

Vasili Arkhipov is a hero you should know. And I’m Dr. Ross Porter.