26 Feb NFL Great Speaks to UB Teens

Former NFL receiver Irving Fryar spoke to over 200 persons during a dinner at Atlantic Avenue UB church (Franklin, Pa.) on February 23. Fryar spent 17 years in the NFL, and scored the Patriots’ only touchdown in Super Bowl XX against the 1985 Chicago Bears, before retiring in 1997. He reached the Pro Bowl five times.

The occasion was the church’s second annual charity dinner and sports auction to benefit World Vision. Last year’s speaker was former Pittsburgh Steeler Mel Blount.

The dinner coincided with the youth group’s 30-hour planned famine. Teens college pledge money for each hour they go without eating, and the money is donated to World Vision. About 70 youth from Atlantic Avenue, plus 20 from another church, participated in the fast. Those same teens, while fasting, served dinner to over 125 guests.

Fryar says he never prepares speeches in advance, but let’s God guide him toward the right thing to say. “Whatever I’m saying, it’s always going to lead to the gospel,” he said.