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Do you know me? Fans don't recognize him. Peers don't give him enough love. Shaun Alexander is the NFL's most underappreciated, underrated and underexposed superstar
Sporting News, The, Dec 23, 2005 by Dennis Dillon
At the end of his MNF intro, Alexander looks at the camera and says, "Still don't know me? Well, after tonight"--through cinematic magic, he morphs from his blue suit into his football uniform--"you will."
Scene II: Lake Washington High School
On a spring day in Seattle, Alexander is running on the football field at a local school under the guidance of Joe Gentry, his longtime speed, agility and quickness coach. The two have worked together since Gentry help Alexander prepare for the NFL Combine in 2000. Gentry, who lives in Colorado Springs, meets Alexander several times during the offseason--usually in Seattle or Florence--for training exercises and drills.
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On this day, Gentry notices something revealing about Alexander: When he runs, he holds his breath. That explains the dizzy sensations Alexander felt after some of his long runs in 2004. "Honestly, I thought I was going to pass out sometimes," he says.
Gentry encourages Alexander to relax his facial muscles and expel air when he runs. "When you're holding your breath, you stop everything," says Alexander. "It's just a matter of time before you don't pick up your legs as high, don't pump your arms as hard."
To some observers, it might look like Alexander is running harder this season, but really be is running more efficiently and exploding through his longer runs. He leads the league in runs of 10 yards or more with 44. One of them was an 88-yard touchdown against Arizona during which he made two cuts, then accelerated past two defensive backs. He couldn't have done that last season.
"This year has probably been the best I've felt in my whole life," he says.
Scene III: Christian Faith Center, south Seattle
It's just after 7 p.m., and the sanctuary is jumpin'. Nine singers, each with a microphone, belt out a succession of Christian songs. Three guitarists, a pianist, a keyboard player, a saxophonist and a drummer accompany them. There must be at least 200 worshipers, and most of them are on their feet, swaying to the music, clapping their hands, raising their arras to the ceiling.
This is a nondenominational, Bible-based church open to people of all ages and races. It is where Alexander and his wife, Valerie, worship. Tonight, they sit in a back row on the left side.
After the songs, a few prayers and a collection, Wendy Treat, wife of pastor Casey Treat, takes the stage and addresses the crowd. She laments how commercialization is taking the word Christmas out of the holiday season and robbing it of its true meaning--a celebration of the birth of Christ. She reads from the gospel of John, Chapter 14: "Let not your heart be troubled."
Treat asks those in the audience with heavy hearts to stand. She then invites others to reach out to these people, pray with them and help reduce their pain. Valerie stands and lays her hand on a woman near her. Shaun lays his hand on Valerie's shoulder.
After the service, Alexander retreats to an office in the back of the building, where he spends the next hour autographing pictures and answering mail from fans who have written to his Shaun Alexander Family Foundation. He accompanies each signature with the addendum of "Ps 37:4." One of his teammates at Alabama thought it meant: P.S., No. 37, 4 touchdowns. Actually, it refers to Shaun's favorite scripture--one he selected when he was in college--from Psalms 37:4: "Delight yourself in the Lord and He'll give you the desires of your heart."
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