Recently a friend asked, "Who is the greatest NFL football quarterback in history?" His answer brought a paradigm shift in my thinking.
His pick for all time great NFL/QB offered the following statistics:
He was the second pick of first round draft his beginning year.
His team had nine losing seasons, breaking .500 once - the only time during his career that they finished higher than 3rd in their division.
During his 13 year career, he was sacked 340 times. Members of some opposing team actually "took it easy" on him and reporters offered that he should have gone down many more times than that, but his "swiftness in the face of no protection often saved him."
His record as a starter was 35-100-3: the worst for a quarterback with at least 100 starts.
None of his teams ever won a Super Bowl or even made the playoffs.
Yet: leading his team to a 7-9 record in 1978, UPI named him Player of the Year and later, UPI and Sporting News named him All NFC.
He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1978-79.
He had 125 touchdowns in 3,642 passes; 2,011 of which were completed for a career total of 23,911 yards. Additionally, he rushed 2,197 yards for 18 touchdowns. At his retirement, this ranked him 17th in NFL history. And, while the New Orleans Saints do not officially retire a number, they have never reissued a number 8 to another player.
If you are a football fan, by now you have figured out that the quarterback is Archie Manning.
You may be wondering, "Why would you pick a guy who ranked 17th, who never won a Super Bowl or even a playoff?"
The answer is simple.
Your success cannot always be measured by the numbers. If you have the best arm in the league, it is still only as effective as the guys catching the ball. If you have the fastest reflexes, they are still subject to those who are supposed to defend you against the guys coming to take you down.
If you execute the play flawlessly, you are still subject to the coach who established which plays are available to be run.
In short, your "stats" are in the hands of - and at the mercy of - many others around you.
However, what is in YOU is not! In spite of being on failing teams, Archie Manning still made player of the year and was chosen twice for the Pro Bowl. He had the respect of his colleagues and his fans for a job well done against insurmountable odds.
What made him the best? Legacy. What Archie Manning had inside of him that caused him to fight his good fight was passed down to two sons: Peyton and Eli Manning. Both brothers carried their father's determination, life lessons and legacy into their own NFL careers. Both sons have two Super Bowl rings each to show for it.
Without an Archie Manning, there would be no Payton nor Eli Manning and football in the last decade would have missed a tremendous gift.
Success is not measured by stats. It is measured by what you put in - by how much you leave out on the field.
This sounds like a story about Archie Manning but in reality, it is about another of the greatest men in the world.
My Dad, Dr. Philip Byler, was an Archie Manning. When he was ordained into ministry, he was like a first round draft pick. Where most of his peers would see a couple of ministers sign and witness their ordinations, my father had about 100 men stand with him and sign his.
He was a "rising star" within his church denomination. Pioneering his first church, he worked with a mobile home company to develop and build a modular church building - a pattern that would be followed by church plants throughout the denomination for the next decade and beyond.
Dad found himself swimming in the headwaters of what would be known as the "Charismatic Movement", leading people to a deep and sincere power filled relationship with the Holy Spirit. He prayed for people and saw many miracles. His stance on healing prayer caused him to face the rejection of those who had a year before, seen him as the future. Yet, undaunted he pursued what God showed him - even at great personal cost.
He served in the wings of great men and movements. We led worship for National Leadership Conferences with leaders that later launched People of Destiny He was in the head waters of the Discipleship Movement. When some of the founding leaders of that movement crossed lines which led to abuse of power, without showing dishonor to those leaders, God allowed Dad to be a voice of reason and healing to many who had suffered damage.
Dad broke cultural barriers in the cities and communities of all of the churches he served or pioneered, settling racial and cultural tensions by choosing not to be "multi-cultural" but instead opting to lead his congregations to be "kingdom-cultural".
With the advent of the 90's revivals - the Toronto's, Brownsville's and Cornfield's - Dad's ministry saw many similar manifestations. He saw a man with no eyes see through an empty eye socket. He saw barren women find healing that allowed them to have children. He saw cancers disappear, holes in hearts sealed up, and even once in Maryland, saw a man raised from the dead during one of his Sunday services. He was doing as Jamie Buckingham used to say: "He was blooming where he was planted."
Serving near Annapolis Naval Academy and later Fort Stewart, Georgia, heh ministered to lives and families of Sailors, Marines, Coastguardsmen and later Army as they faced two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Then, there was a new movement - the New Apostolic Reformation. Dad took a manuscript he started in the 1980's - a manuscript that was a doctorate level of education from the school of hard knocks - a document that reflected on all of the lessons learned along the path of ministry orchestrated for him by God - and he turned it into a book: "The Changing Church and the Unchanging Kingdom". The year it was released, C. Peter Wagner, then President of the International Coalition of Apostles held that book up during the International Conference and stated, "This should be required reading for every person in this room. This is a textbook of what the Apostolic Movement is supposed to be." It was a powerful moment, and having lived out what was printed in that book, I was so proud of my Dad and that what he had lived and written so clearly identified with what God was doing.
On a train ride through India, a dear friend, Moses Choudarry said to me concerning my father, "He has been in the headwaters of every movement God in which has placed him. He is a forerunner and because of that, people do not understand him. He sees what they cannot yet see and as a result, they cannot relate to him. Too late do such people realize the blessing such a man is to their lives."
That is his record. Those are his stats. Through the years, many of the players he trusted let defenders through the line and he got sacked. Some of those players even did so intentionally, and relished seeing him hit the ground. Yet every time, Dad got back up, grabbed the ball and called the play. He did not build a single mega church. Yet to this day, Pastors in the cities where he "bloomed" know his name and attribute his leadership to those who served under him who now make a vast difference in their organizations. There are people alive today and some who would never have been born, except that Dad took time to minister, pray and believe with them for a miracle.
And...he produced a son and a daughter. Both of whom have gone on to continue what he placed in them. They have been graced to be among teams that can make the playoffs. As for Superbowl rings - who knows? But honestly, for those two kids - who's counting. Both have become fully embedded into what God is having them do for His kingdom and have learned from their father that you accomplish more with hour eye on the goal post than you ever will with your eye on the scoreboard!
Here's to Philip Byler - "Dr. Phil" - the greatest quarterback in God's Football Hall of Fame. Welcome to the NFL!
Archie Manning stats from Wikipedia
© 2016 Timothy Byler - All Rights Reserved.
His pick for all time great NFL/QB offered the following statistics:
He was the second pick of first round draft his beginning year.
His team had nine losing seasons, breaking .500 once - the only time during his career that they finished higher than 3rd in their division.
During his 13 year career, he was sacked 340 times. Members of some opposing team actually "took it easy" on him and reporters offered that he should have gone down many more times than that, but his "swiftness in the face of no protection often saved him."
His record as a starter was 35-100-3: the worst for a quarterback with at least 100 starts.
None of his teams ever won a Super Bowl or even made the playoffs.
Yet: leading his team to a 7-9 record in 1978, UPI named him Player of the Year and later, UPI and Sporting News named him All NFC.
He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1978-79.
He had 125 touchdowns in 3,642 passes; 2,011 of which were completed for a career total of 23,911 yards. Additionally, he rushed 2,197 yards for 18 touchdowns. At his retirement, this ranked him 17th in NFL history. And, while the New Orleans Saints do not officially retire a number, they have never reissued a number 8 to another player.
If you are a football fan, by now you have figured out that the quarterback is Archie Manning.
You may be wondering, "Why would you pick a guy who ranked 17th, who never won a Super Bowl or even a playoff?"
The answer is simple.
Your success cannot always be measured by the numbers. If you have the best arm in the league, it is still only as effective as the guys catching the ball. If you have the fastest reflexes, they are still subject to those who are supposed to defend you against the guys coming to take you down.
If you execute the play flawlessly, you are still subject to the coach who established which plays are available to be run.
In short, your "stats" are in the hands of - and at the mercy of - many others around you.
However, what is in YOU is not! In spite of being on failing teams, Archie Manning still made player of the year and was chosen twice for the Pro Bowl. He had the respect of his colleagues and his fans for a job well done against insurmountable odds.
What made him the best? Legacy. What Archie Manning had inside of him that caused him to fight his good fight was passed down to two sons: Peyton and Eli Manning. Both brothers carried their father's determination, life lessons and legacy into their own NFL careers. Both sons have two Super Bowl rings each to show for it.
Without an Archie Manning, there would be no Payton nor Eli Manning and football in the last decade would have missed a tremendous gift.
Success is not measured by stats. It is measured by what you put in - by how much you leave out on the field.
This sounds like a story about Archie Manning but in reality, it is about another of the greatest men in the world.
My Dad, Dr. Philip Byler, was an Archie Manning. When he was ordained into ministry, he was like a first round draft pick. Where most of his peers would see a couple of ministers sign and witness their ordinations, my father had about 100 men stand with him and sign his.
He was a "rising star" within his church denomination. Pioneering his first church, he worked with a mobile home company to develop and build a modular church building - a pattern that would be followed by church plants throughout the denomination for the next decade and beyond.
Dad found himself swimming in the headwaters of what would be known as the "Charismatic Movement", leading people to a deep and sincere power filled relationship with the Holy Spirit. He prayed for people and saw many miracles. His stance on healing prayer caused him to face the rejection of those who had a year before, seen him as the future. Yet, undaunted he pursued what God showed him - even at great personal cost.
He served in the wings of great men and movements. We led worship for National Leadership Conferences with leaders that later launched People of Destiny He was in the head waters of the Discipleship Movement. When some of the founding leaders of that movement crossed lines which led to abuse of power, without showing dishonor to those leaders, God allowed Dad to be a voice of reason and healing to many who had suffered damage.
Dad broke cultural barriers in the cities and communities of all of the churches he served or pioneered, settling racial and cultural tensions by choosing not to be "multi-cultural" but instead opting to lead his congregations to be "kingdom-cultural".
With the advent of the 90's revivals - the Toronto's, Brownsville's and Cornfield's - Dad's ministry saw many similar manifestations. He saw a man with no eyes see through an empty eye socket. He saw barren women find healing that allowed them to have children. He saw cancers disappear, holes in hearts sealed up, and even once in Maryland, saw a man raised from the dead during one of his Sunday services. He was doing as Jamie Buckingham used to say: "He was blooming where he was planted."
Serving near Annapolis Naval Academy and later Fort Stewart, Georgia, heh ministered to lives and families of Sailors, Marines, Coastguardsmen and later Army as they faced two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Then, there was a new movement - the New Apostolic Reformation. Dad took a manuscript he started in the 1980's - a manuscript that was a doctorate level of education from the school of hard knocks - a document that reflected on all of the lessons learned along the path of ministry orchestrated for him by God - and he turned it into a book: "The Changing Church and the Unchanging Kingdom". The year it was released, C. Peter Wagner, then President of the International Coalition of Apostles held that book up during the International Conference and stated, "This should be required reading for every person in this room. This is a textbook of what the Apostolic Movement is supposed to be." It was a powerful moment, and having lived out what was printed in that book, I was so proud of my Dad and that what he had lived and written so clearly identified with what God was doing.
On a train ride through India, a dear friend, Moses Choudarry said to me concerning my father, "He has been in the headwaters of every movement God in which has placed him. He is a forerunner and because of that, people do not understand him. He sees what they cannot yet see and as a result, they cannot relate to him. Too late do such people realize the blessing such a man is to their lives."
That is his record. Those are his stats. Through the years, many of the players he trusted let defenders through the line and he got sacked. Some of those players even did so intentionally, and relished seeing him hit the ground. Yet every time, Dad got back up, grabbed the ball and called the play. He did not build a single mega church. Yet to this day, Pastors in the cities where he "bloomed" know his name and attribute his leadership to those who served under him who now make a vast difference in their organizations. There are people alive today and some who would never have been born, except that Dad took time to minister, pray and believe with them for a miracle.
And...he produced a son and a daughter. Both of whom have gone on to continue what he placed in them. They have been graced to be among teams that can make the playoffs. As for Superbowl rings - who knows? But honestly, for those two kids - who's counting. Both have become fully embedded into what God is having them do for His kingdom and have learned from their father that you accomplish more with hour eye on the goal post than you ever will with your eye on the scoreboard!
Here's to Philip Byler - "Dr. Phil" - the greatest quarterback in God's Football Hall of Fame. Welcome to the NFL!
Archie Manning stats from Wikipedia
© 2016 Timothy Byler - All Rights Reserved.
