Phil Savage, Lennie Friedman and Jason Wright came from different backgrounds, took varying routes to the Browns and have distinct roles with the team. They all have deep thoughts, spiritual histories and unique opinions on personal faith and religion in the NFL.

The GM

General manager Phil Savage believes in finding a balance between football and faith.
“You’re in football. Your job’s not to save the world, but you can plant some seeds and someone else is going to come along and water those seeds,” he said. “The availability of that is here.”
Savage, a devout Christian, has a larger sphere of influence than many and doesn’t want to waste the platform.
“What keeps me centered is my relationship with Christ,” Savage said. “I’m not ashamed to say it, but I don’t want to go out there and advertise it.
“It’s not only a responsibility, but it is an opportunity. If someone else hears something I said that maybe helps them, then what’s wrong with that?”
Savage sees a fascinating example in Colts coach Tony Dungy, who has put his Christianity front and center. Dungy speaks of God often, including before and after his Super Bowl win, and received some backlash after speaking out against same-sex marriage.
“It is interesting how he has been so out there,” Savage said. “I don’t know that he catches a lot of grief now because he kinda survived it. People know when you see Tony Dungy that’s what you’re going to get.
“At this juncture he’s seen in such high regard, by people of faith and non-believers. I’d love to talk to him about that some day.”
Savage is a talker and does countless speaking engagements. They vary if he’s talking to a civic group (all Browns) or a church group (lessons of faith).
“I’ve seen having a faith, it does help people,” he said. “It helps you get through and persevere sometimes when it’s not always perfect.”

The outsider

As a center and guard, Lennie Friedman is always in the middle of the action. As one of the few Jewish players in the NFL, he’s usually on an island.
He doesn’t mind.
“Being Jewish in the NFL is fine,” he said. “If you’re a person who goes to temple quite often, then college is going to be more of a challenge because your games are played on Saturday (the Sabbath).
“I always thought it was fun being different because people ask you questions and you get to meet people that way and explain your beliefs.”
In an NFL culture supportive of Christianity, Friedman doesn’t feel ostracized.
“We play on Christmas,” he said. “The NFL doesn’t show deference to anyone.”
When Friedman decided to attend Duke on a scholarship, he knew football would come first.
“While I’m very proud of being Jewish I wasn’t an overly religious person. So that was the choice I made,” he said. “For an Orthodox Jewish person, I think playing college football would be very difficult.”
Friedman said he hasn’t played with too many other Jewish athletes since high school, so he hasn’t seen many situations where a teammate has had to choose between observing a holiday and playing a game.
“In New Jersey there were several very religious Jewish families I was around that chose not to play on Saturdays or on Jewish holidays,” he said.

The Jesus Lover

Jason Wright had a simple answer when asked his religious denomination.
“I’m an unashamed Jesus lover. Period,” he said.
Wright, a running back, is among the most open Browns when it comes to discussing his faith. Tight end Darnell Dinkins described him as a “powerful man of God,” and Wright has thought about a life in the ministry after football.
“To me, when faith is central to your life, everything you do is really ministry,” he said. “Everything I do is with that in mind.”
Despite wearing his faith on his sleeve, Wright doesn’t do much preaching in the locker room.
“I’m not sure the soap-box approach is ever effective,” he said. “The most important thing anyone of faith can do is be authentic and walk out your faith.”
Wright said he became a Christian during his junior year at Northwestern University. A high school teammate died, he wasn’t happy with his playing time on the football team and he was homesick.
“I hit rock bottom,” he said of the aforementioned struggles, self-described sexual addiction and partying. “I was very alone and feeling tons of shame because I couldn’t deal with all my junk on my own.
“So I hit a point where I said there’s got to be something else here. I realized (Jesus) is really real. I realized I had no other place to turn in the end if I wanted things to change.”
Contact Scott Petrak at 329-7253 or spetrak@chroniclet.com. 

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