Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards was not the most likely athlete. After his brief heyday as captain of Yale's Div. III champion curling team in the 1720s, he slowly moved towards the club sport of fire-and-brimstone preaching. Edwards overcame a brief bout with an opium addiction, but then succumbed to death. But even this seemingly insurmountable obstacle could not stop him; he clawed his way out of his grave, and then he clawed his way back to the pinnacle of sports. A horde of patriotic athletes are following behind, with swelling, heartwarming music playing and a flag waving slowly in the background. JE's men's soccer squad, 28-men strong, defeated the evil Communists from Stiles, despite the shock of learning, just two days before, that all of their dogs had been struck and died in a freak encounter with an oncoming train. "The loss of my golden retriever Sir Barks-a-Lot inspired me to play even harder for my grieving teammates and the entire nation of JE," Brian Bergstrom '03 said. Walter Stern '01 dealt with the adversity differently, repeatedly barking, "Keep!" to drown out his sorrows. Andy Graham '02 is another portrait in resilience. Less than three hours after open-heart surgery, and still coping with his recent loss of a right arm, Graham reached deep down inside himself to help JE volleyball squelch the Fascists of Branford and Silliman. Plus, he's tall. Jonathan Edwards: overcoming adversity daily, tape-delayed on NBC.

(Compiled, with heartwarming music playing in the background, by Bob Costas.)

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