Not too long ago they held the Christian Leadership Prayer Breakfast in Dallas and, as they do with everything in Texas, this was the biggest one they ever had. The reason was because the fabled Texas quarterback, Colt McCoy, and his daddy, Brad, were the guest speakers. But Colt, maybe the best college football player in the country last year, got a last-minute stomach bug and Brad had to do it by himself.

Then the gathering really did become “the best ever” because Colt McCoy's daddy gave away the secret of raising three sons. Oh, it was pretty transparent the night of the national championship, down inside the Rose Bowl locker room just after Colt had gotten hurt early. You may remember that Texas was playing Alabama when, on the fifth play of the game, Tide defender Marcell Dareus tackled McCoy to stop a simple option run.

It was a simple tackle, no big thing, but this time Colt didn't bounce up. Obviously hurt, the Longhorns’ ace was instantly whisked into the locker room where a phalanx of trainers and doctors stood in bewilderment and horror. Colt’s passing arm was hanging listless by his side.

Colt promised he could still play, but, by then, his daddy had squirmed through the crowd and, handing his son a football, quietly told the All-American to throw it to him, just as he’s done “maybe a million times” since he could first walk.

Colt, the winningest college quarterback of all time, then attempted a soft pass and the ball skittered to the side. "Let me try again." The ball went wide. "Again!" But this time nobody picked up the ball. Instead, grown men who love what Colt McCoy did for Texas abruptly turned away as his father took the crying boy in his arms and held him every bit as gently as on the very first day he was born.

Well, to people in Texas such things matter so when Brad McCoy spoke at the Prayer Breakfast the hushed crowd leaned in close to hear what the high school coach had to say. A man named Paul Jackson, who has something big to do with selling equities in Dallas, happened to take some notes and I happened to get a copy of them.

Brad started by saying you "Prepare your child for the path - not the path for your child." He explained the road is rough, narrow, and hard to find so you'd better have a map (the Bible) and a guide (God) for those moments in life when doors open and close.

He called out Proverbs 22:6 - "Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he won't turn from it." He also recited Proverbs 23:13 - "Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod he will not die." Then he added a touch of Brad McCoy 101 - "Dads, fight for your kids, prepare them!"

There was a time when Coach McCoy would drive Colt and his younger brothers, Chase and Case, to elementary school and, as they would troop out of the back seat, he would yell the family's motto "Do your best and be a leader!"

Soon the boys tired of the saying, coming back with "Yeah, yeah, yeah!" but that was after each had memorized I Corinthians 9:24 - "Do you know that in a race all runners run but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way to get the prize."

The coach's third point was simple. "Be a Leader." The All-American from Texas would later rephrase that, instead using, "Thoughts become things. The great leader Gandhi once said, 'I will not let anyone walk through my mind with dirty feet.' You can't talk like that or think like that, because thoughts become things that play themselves out in your life."

The final point in the prayer-breakfast talk was "Prepare for open and closed doors." The Rose Bowl game, playing for the national title against top-ranked Alabama, had been a childhood dream and, just as Texas took its opening drive all the way down to the Alabama 11-yard line, Colt McCoy's dream turned into the same kind of a totally numb noodle his passing arm had suddenly become.

Minutes after the game had ended, and mighty Alabama had become a 37-21 winner against Colt-less Texas, the crushed McCoy had said, "I've given everything I had to Texas,” he paused and then added, “I’ve given everything I had to college football. I did everything I could. I worked my whole career to be put on this stage. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be taken away like that.”

Months later, his father would tell those at breakfast, "After the game was over, I waited until the interviews were over and all the crowds were gone and made my way to Colt's hotel room. I prayed God would give me the words to say. When I got there, Colt had just finishing reading a quick devotional.

"It read, 'My positive energy must be better than my negative energy. My certainty must be stronger than my doubt. The battle is won before I ever start the fight. I chose faith over fear. Leave a legacy of excellence, love, dedication and service. Jeremiah said, 'Blessed is the man whose trust is in the Lord.'"

So what Brad McCoy told Colt in the wee morning hours after his son's dream fizzled was just one word - "Wow." Then his father unashamedly admitted that he sat in a corner of Colt's hotel room and cried in gratitude for the maturity of his boy. He knew then that Colt, just drafted by the Cleveland Browns, is now prepared to open and close some doors.

Now you know why this year's Christian Leadership Breakfast in Dallas, started 40 long years ago by the Cowboy coach Tom Landry, was the biggest and best ever, this despite the fact the amazing Colt McCoy was sick and couldn't even show up.

And then there is one more. A colt, of course, becomes a horse and we are taught in Proverbs 21:13, “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord.”

Selah.

royexum@aol.com