Strength of a Champion Finding Faith and Fortitude Through Adversity

O. J. Brigance, Peter Schrager, Sean Crisden

eAudio - 2013

As the Baltimore Ravens made their improbable march to victory in Super Bowl XLVII, they turned to their senior advisor of player development, O. J. Brigance, for inspiration each and every Sunday.Following a stellar twelve-year career as a linebacker, including a Super Bowl win with Baltimore in 2000, O. J. "Juice" Brigance joined the Ravens' front office. But in 2007, Brigance was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis—also known as Lou Gehrig's disease—and told he had only three to five years to live. As a player, he'd battled hundreds of injuries and setbacks. None of them prepared him to face ALS.With faith and determination in his heart and his wife, Chanda, praying by his side, Brigance fought back ...against the debilitating disease, even as ALS robbed him of the ability to walk and speak. He kept working, smiling, and touching his players' lives all the way through their remarkable Super Bowl run—more than five years after his... more