Ray Farmer

Good deeds have a way of leading to good things. When Ray Farmer was between his junior and senior years at Duke, he decided to take his mother up on her wish to get a dog. A co-worker at the investment firm he was working for put him on to a lady in town with a puppy, and before that pooch had time to settle in with mom, Ray had found the woman of his life, Vernet. "I went by and picked up the puppy and when I got there, here is this lady sitting on the couch and I'm like, 'Wow.'"

Good deeds have a way of leading to good things

"Wow" might also be a way to describe Ray's dedication to following the Christian path Ray, a linebacker with the Philadelphia Eagles , was raised in White Plains,N.Y., and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In both places, the local Baptist church was the center of much family activity; as many as three nights a week were spent in Bible study and other church functions. At 10, he took Christ into his life.
Going away to college presented some new challenges. "I lived a substantial Christian life until my freshman year in college. When I got that first taste of independence and freedom, I kind of strayed for a hot minute."

Fortunately for Ray, at the end of his freshman year he met Mike Thompson, who was starting a program at Duke called Athletes in Action. With that and with meeting Vernet a couple of years later, Ray's path became ever more certain. Vernet's North Carolina family weren't major church-goers, so it was Ray who turned his wife toward Christ.

Ray believes that teams are beginning to see that a squad of strong Christians is one of the best signs of good "chemistry" a team could have. Says Ray: "I think a lot of guys say, ‘Well, you can't be tough. You can't go out and crack skulls on Sunday saying, ‘I love the Lord'. We tell guys to look at Reggie White, who definitely has a zeal for Christ but is probably one of the greatest players of all time."

"And look at Green Bay when they won the title and look at Denver. Their teams are full of Christians. These are teams where like 35 guys a night go to Bible study, pray together, on the field, before or after practice. Not just trying to save face in front of the media, saying, ‘Okay, I was in trouble for whatever I did a year ago and now I'm going to pretend to be a Christian so the media will lighten up on me' But, I mean where guys are actually devoting themselves to God."

For Vernet, Ray's devotion has been a blessing itself. "Bible study is important not only for the guys but for the wives, too. But you can't make people want to go to Bible study or want to learn about God."