Hard Fighting Soldier: Finding God in Trials, Tragedies, and Triumphs

The power of God is dramatically changing lives through college football.

A wide receiver scores an 80-yard touchdown, and instead of celebrating, he drops to his knee in prayer. A defensive end relies on the prayers and support of teammates and fans when his family's home in New Orleans is washed away by Hurricane Katrina. An entire team locks arms and walks onto the football field and becomes "Hard fighting soldiers bringing souls to Jesus."

In Hard Fighting Soldier: Finding God in Trials, Tragedies, and Triumphs, Rev. Chette Williams, full-time chaplain of the Auburn University football team, tells how God transformed his life and how God continues to use him to influence football players at Auburn and beyond. As a player in the 1980s, some of Williams' Auburn teammates said he "wasn't worth praying for." He was a mean, bitter, angry young man, and when Coach Pat Dye kicked him off the team, nobody was surprised. With God's help, Williams turned his life around and he vowed to help others to do the same.

Throughout Auburn's perfect 13-0 season in 2004, Coach Tommy Tuberville gave Williams credit for leading the team through adversity to success. "He was the rock we held on to," Tuberville said. Hard Fighting Soldier reveals how God used those difficult times to transform players and coaches.

Rev. Chette Williams serves as the Auburn University football team chaplain and is the Auburn campus director for Fellowship of Christian Athletes as well as State Director for Urban Ministries for FCA. A three-year letterman on the Auburn football team from 1982-84, Williams earned his Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 1993.