精神教练和顾问:安东尼·约翰逊，MA '19

安东尼•约翰逊, MA ' 19享受了三个职业生涯-一个是成功的NFL跑卫, 另一位是长期担任NFL球队牧师, 现在, 在…的帮助下 汤森研究所 在欧文的康考迪亚大学, as a counselor with a burgeoning practice in Florida.

“上帝改变了我。 汤森德研究所的咨询项目这位11岁的职业运动员说. “当有人走进我的办公室, 不管是什么问题或诊断, 我现在有能力活在当下 with them in whatever they’re experiencing. 这说明了我从康考迪亚·欧文那里学到的咨询方面的知识.”

作为一个职业中期的专业人士, Johnson wasn’t eager to pivot to another assignment and go back to school — at least, 一开始没有.

“我当时的想法是，‘不用了，谢谢，我已经做过了，’”他说. “尤其是在网络环境下回到学校. 我想，‘不可能.’” But he took the plunge with the 汤森研究所 and found himself in a life-changing experience.

他说:“这始于第一批学生。. “我们在那里讨论了真实的事情, 你通常不会向初次见面的人透露的事情. The Institute’s professors did an awesome job in our cohort modeling that process. 他们也经历了同样的过程，并带领我们走过这段路... 你不能把别人带到你没去过的地方.”

But before he was a counselor or a team chaplain, Johnson played football at the highest level.

国家冠军企业

约翰逊出生于印第安纳波利斯，在南本德长大. 他父亲在他很小的时候就去世了. 他母亲在他10岁时改嫁了, 在这个混合家庭中，他是九个孩子中的老二. Johnson attended Notre Dame University on a scholarship and played running back and fullback for the Fighting Irish at a high point for the football program. 他帮助球队赢得了全国冠军, 还有未来的NFL球星托尼·赖斯, “火箭”伊斯梅尔和蒂姆·布朗. 约翰逊说:“作为爱尔兰人，那是一段有趣的时光。.

Though he had been brought up in a Reformed Presbyterian church and given his life to the Lord at age eight, 约翰逊偏离了上帝，“挣扎着”, big-time” until one particular day at training camp heading into his sophomore season.

他表示:“我的第一年还算不错，有一半的游戏是在后备状态下开始的. “我们是后起之秀, 但我很痛苦, 不仅因为卢·霍尔兹的训练很艰苦, 这就是生活. 我应该站在世界之巅, 但我记得走出训练场时，我真的告诉了上帝, “我做的. 我希望你现在就来接我.我准备好了.”

上帝通过汤森德学院的咨询项目改变了我. 我现在有能力活在当下...

God showed Johnson that he was living disconnected from a relationship with his heavenly Father. 为约翰逊, change came immediately: he began spending hours every morning reading the Bible and finding his way back to communion with God.

“这是真的，毫无疑问，”他说. “当我被判有罪时，我会全力以赴.”

他又开始去教堂做礼拜，并在那里遇到了他未来的妻子谢莉. 他们在全国冠军赛之前结婚了. 作为一个前途光明的年轻人, 约翰逊设定了自己的优先顺序:“先是上帝，现在是我的家人, 我的职业. 我要尽我所能，”他说.

1990年在第二轮被印第安纳波利斯小马队选中, 约翰逊“不会在这件事上乱来,他说. “我想尽可能做到最好.”

他和四分卫杰夫·乔治一起打球, “可能是我玩过的最好的投球手, 到目前为止,约翰逊说. 但总的来说，他在小马队的日子令人沮丧. “这不是我所希望的进入联盟的机会，”他说. “就我个人而言，我在挣扎，用牙齿和指甲的皮肤来支撑. 如果我不是在第二轮被选中，我肯定会被裁掉.”

美国国家橄榄球联盟的系统与他们在圣母大学运行的系统非常不同. “When I got to the league, I had to learn a whole new game, and it was difficult,约翰逊说. “我努力.”

到了第三年，事情开始好转，然后约翰逊“学会了如何跑步”.”“我没有跑跑道, so I hired an athletic development guy in my fourth year and he taught me how to run,约翰逊说.

训练使他跑得更快，他跑得很低.即使在他职业生涯的后期，40码冲刺中也有4次.

“It was rewarding to feel like I could be a thousand-yard runner and feel like I could be faster,他说.

也许他给球队带来的最有价值的东西是强大的心理游戏.

“I always knew what I was supposed to do, and when I was supposed to do it,他说. “That’s partly what got me into the league and definitely what kept me in the league.”

These young guys had such needs… In some cases, they didn’t realize what they were missing. 他们会抓住对基督的追求，跳进去.

他在纽约喷气机队待了一年, 另一个是芝加哥熊队, four years with the Carolina Panthers and one with the Jacksonville Jaguars — 11 years total, 对一个跑卫来说是永恒的.

“那段时间我没有受到任何严重的伤害. 我真的很幸运，”他说.

In one game in 1997, he racked up 142 yards, feeling “as good as I’ve ever felt,他说.

他职业生涯的高潮是1996年的NFC冠军赛, 黑豹队第一个赛季的对手是谁.

“我们离超级碗还差一场比赛, 我们在兰博神圣的大厅里被包装工队打败了,他回忆道. “那是神奇的一年，有趣的一年. 化学作用使它起作用. 这是一个团队的经历.”

The team unity he experienced with the Panthers organization helped lead to his next career as a chaplain in the NFL.

“The core of our team that year was guys who had a strong faith in Christ,他说. “他们不仅与个人紧密相连，而且与家人紧密相连. 这是那次经历的核心, 它迫使我成为一名牧师, 在每个人的生活中创造和培养这种精神.”

从玩家到精神教练

In 2000, 当他等待一个从来没有来自一支想让他上场的球队的电话时, 约翰逊每天早上都向上帝寻求他的职业前途. 在马太福音28章中，主把大使命引导到他的思想中.

“我知道他在召唤我，让我成为他的门徒. 所以我说，‘天啊，我加入了.’”几个月后, 黑豹队的长期牧师, 迈克·邦克利, 邀请安东尼做他的学徒. “迈克不仅在我作为球员的经历中发挥了重要作用, 而是在指导和挑战我成为一名牧师,约翰逊说.

但很快, Johnson got a call from Jack Del Rio who was looking for a chaplain for the team he’d just been hired to coach: the Jacksonville Jaguars. “Without question, I heard God’s call, so we came down here and filled that role,”

约翰逊说. He and Shelley did that for 15 seasons, serving essentially as “domestic missionaries,他说.

“Someone told me the first couple of months I was there, ‘You’re like a pastor to the organization.’我说，哦，天哪，我想我是。”约翰逊说. “就圣经而言，有很多东西需要学习, 如何沟通, 如何布道, 怎样学习圣经. 所有这些事情，还有更多，我想，哦，天哪，我不知道我能不能做到. 我必须学习.”

然后他意识到他一直都在做门徒训练. “You’re a person who’s following Christ, following someone else who’s following Christ. 我惊喜地意识到我已经在这么做了，”他说. “I’d gotten a picture of that from the chaplains I’d been in contact within the league, 特别是迈克. It was a huge relief and a great motivation because then it was like, maybe I really can do this.”

15年来, 约翰逊“在球员们打球的时候把基督带到他们的经历中, and looked for opportunities within the rhythm of an in-season schedule and off-season schedule, 注入基督和基督的东西, 查经信息, 还有一次令人鼓舞的坐下来交谈.”

他的工作不仅包括100多名球员, 但是20多个教练, 前台人员和许多体育场员工. 他的日程表上满是圣经研究和球员教堂, 教练, 夫妻, 加上大量的个人互动-包括在比赛期间的场边.

“这些年轻人有这样的需求，”他说. “在某些情况下，他们没有意识到自己错过了什么. 他们会抓住对基督的追求，跳进去, 说我全心投入, 尽他们最大的努力与旁边的人分享基督.”

莫里斯·威廉姆斯, 在美洲虎队做了九年的右截锋和右后卫, 我在约翰逊人生的关键时刻遇到了他.

“当我开始获得成功、金钱和一定程度的名声时, 意识到这些并不能让我完整, 我越来越热爱的是我的信仰,威廉姆斯说. “I didn’t grow up in the church and didn’t have the understanding of what it looks like to be a Christian, 所以安东尼对我来说是至关重要的关系, 特别是精神上. 有一个上帝的人，一个正直的人的榜样真的很强大. 他在那里回答我所有的问题，并鼓励我的礼物. 这是他的优点之一——理解他人并与之合作. 这是我需要的一个锚点，让我有正确的视角.”

后来，约翰逊邀请威廉姆斯参加一个运动员行动会议 约翰·汤森 发表讲话, and Williams decided to become the chaplain for the Jaguars when Johnson went into full-time counseling.

“作为牧师和兄弟，安东尼对我来说是一个巨大的祝福,威廉姆斯说。, 谁也是教会的牧师.

更深入地帮助别人

但在约翰逊开始他的咨询事业之前, he sensed a need to acquire additional skills to help guys with real-world struggles. 他们可能把约翰福音3:16背得很熟, but they’re still wrestling with wounds and losses and life issues and experiences,他说. “我发现自己在某些方面不知所措. 应该更像约翰福音第4章，耶稣在井边对女人说话. 我和男人一起走得够多了，但我需要更多的工具.”

他四处寻找资源，最终找到了汤森研究所.

“雪莱是这一切的催化剂，”他回忆道. “There was an opportunity that Townsend and [Henry] Cloud provided to be part of a one-week intensive. 我听说了一些事情，所以我鼓励谢莉去.”

谢莉回来后对这次经历赞不绝口. 最终, Anthony took her advice and he and Shelley met with 约翰·汤森 at an NFL owners meeting.

“He touched on things in my life that for 46 years I did not realize how much that was impacting me, 就像失去父亲一样,安东尼说。. “I went to the one-week intensive the next month and had the same thing Shelley experienced: dramatic transformation. 我称之为挖掘我内心的某些东西.”

He enrolled in the 汤森研究所 and “saw God doing things in my life in a deeper way than even that meeting with John, 我不知道他能做到,他说. “这真的是一种转变.”

Every online class gave him “some type of connection that in some way encouraged or equipped me.这也帮助他照顾受伤的职业球员, 减少天数和其他不良生活事件.

“I loved being a salve to whatever degree I could when guys were cleaning out their lockers and walking out the door,约翰逊说. “Getting injuries is really difficult, particularly career-ending or season-ending injuries. I learned [in the 汤森研究所 program] that it’s just being present even if you don’t have a word to say.”

约翰逊很快就觉得自己被召唤去做全职咨询. 2019年从汤森学院(汤森研究所)毕业后，他敞开了心扉 金合欢咨询 2020年初提供个人、夫妻、团体咨询服务. 今天, he and Shelley have five children and six grandchildren — and Anthony is embarking on his third career.

“我很享受看到人们的改变，”他说. “我希望他们能像我所经历的那样发生深刻的变化. 而是要把基督的生命带给他们.”