8/9/19
By Riley Zayas
As we walk through life, we cannot see what lies before us, but with every step we take in faith, we accomplish God’s plan and purpose. No one is more aware of that then Ben Malcolmson, a reporter turned college football player and now a right hand man to Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll.
It was a brilliant day in Southern California on the practice field of top-10 ranked football program, USC. Amongst the crowd of hopeful walk-ons, a nervous looking journalism student stood, not knowing what lay ahead of him. In his words, he was a fish out of water. He didn’t have anything to prove, he was just there to write a story, but yet he was still quaking in his cleats.
Ben had always been fascinated with the game of football, spending many Saturday and Sunday afternoons watching the stars of the gridiron. However, after a discouraging experience on a youth team in 5th grade, he vowed to never play the game again. But his passion for the sport still remained, leading to a job with the Daily Trojan, USC’s student newspaper. He secured a front row seat to watch the football program flourish under the direction of head coach Pete Carroll, covering the team at both home and away games. In an attempt to write a final piece that was funny, enjoyable and unique, he came up with the crazy idea to “try-out” for the USC football team after seeing an ad for Walk On tryouts in the Daily Trojan. After all, he had already done a few participatory articles, writing “A Day In the Life of Pete Carroll” and running a workout with the women’s cross country team.
“It was the next thing in the line of these interesting stories, and it seemed like a cool idea and pretty unique,” Malcolmson recalls.
Inexperienced, and expecting to make a complete fool of himself, he began the tryouts along with over 40 other hopefuls who all had more experience on a football field. Yet, the former cross country runner wasn’t going to back down from a challenge and ended up settling into a groove, diving for passes and sprinting as if his life depended on it. He was enjoying the experience, not thinking of anything more.
But the coaches were. Much to his surprise, Malcolmson was added to the 2006 Spring roster as a wide receiver.
When he first heard the news, he was sure it was one of Carroll’s famous pranks.
“It was funny because it never crossed my mind, ‘What if I make the team?’”, Malcolmson said. “It was impossible. It’s like if someone walked in and handed you a million dollars, what would you do? Like, it wasn’t going to happen, it didn’t seem possible.”
But after meeting with Carroll himself, he realized this was no joke; he was a full-blown college football player for the top ranked team in the NCAA, an idea that was tough to wrap his mind around.
As he thought on it more, he realized he was on this team for a bigger purpose than to just be a tackling dummy for the starters. God had placed him on this team for a reason, only he had no idea what that reason was. While he wouldn’t find out his true purpose for being on the team until four years later, he did know one thing. It’s not everyday that a newspaper reporter, especially one without a football background, walked onto a D1 football team.
“I think it speaks to God that He does the impossible and He does things that we never even dream of or fathom ourselves,” he said in an interview back in July. “Having this sense that God had a purpose for me, even if I couldn’t see it in the moment. I think we all crave that purpose and we all really want to know that there’s meaning for our lives. When we walk with God there is incredible purpose for us.”
Over the next several weeks, he experienced life as a football player, some experiences definitely more enjoyable than others. In his recent book, “Walk On”, he speaks of the awe he felt as he saw his name above his locker for the first time, and walking down the tunnel to practice, taking in the electrifying atmosphere. Just as everything seemed to be moving in the right direction, injury struck. During a routine drill in which he was to block the opposing cornerback, his arm got jammed in the opponent’s pads, dislocating his shoulder and leaving him without a spot on the team. Shocked at the idea of being cut, Malcolmson says he was frustrated but didn’t lose heart. Instead he gained perseverance and rehabbed with a determination to be cleared to play before the doctor’s nine month prediction which would come after the season finished.
“Rehab was really hard because you don’t know how it’s going to play out, so in those moments, when I was in pain and coming off of surgery, I didn’t know how it was going to play out. There were some really discouraging days where I thought it was over, and had no chance to make it back on the team,” he said. “The most misleading thing I could say is that I had perfect faith through it all. There were a lot of days, and I think we all go through it, where there’s some discouragement that is kind of weighing you down. It was really hard. But no matter how discouraged I got, I kept walking with the Lord. Some days I was excited to walk with Him, some days it was like,’ God, why did you do this?’ But that constant, ‘God I’m going to keep walking with you through this because you know much more about how this is going to end than I do’ and He can turn really good things out of really bad things.”
Amazingly, thanks to his daily grind, desire to make it back onto the team, and God’s will, he was cleared to play again, a week after the season had started. In his words, “It was a miracle.” Although he was physically ready to play, he still didn’t have a team to play for. USC had already started practice and the roster was full. Facing this challenge with an increased motivation, he lobbied for weeks with Carroll and Dennis Slutak, the manager of player relations and the roster, to let him back onto the team. In fact, he was so eager to get back that he asked to sit in on team meetings, even though he wasn’t a full-fledged player. Finally everything paid off. After months of rehab, hard work and prayer, he was once again named a USC Trojan. Words couldn’t even describe the excitement he felt.
Slowly but surely, he developed into an athlete over the course of the next four months, taking every hit with pride and enjoying each game from the sidelines. However, there was one small thing he hadn’t experienced during his time as a player, getting into a game. That was soon to change however. In a turn of events similar to those in the classic film Rudy, Malcolmson found his way into the final game of the season against Notre Dame.
It all began with a campaign headed up by one of his good friends, Mike. Always a leader, Mike went all out, to the point that the entire student section began chanting “Get Ben In!” during the fourth quarter of the final home games of the season. Although he was embarrassed, after all, he was one of the lowest on the depth chart, it is every player’s dream to see the field at least once and he secretly hoped that dream would come true. When his number was called in the final seconds of the blowout win over the Irish, he practically “raced off the sidelines”. This moment only fueled his confidence more to put into action what would be his most meaningful contribution to this team.
Filled with anticipation, Malcolmson walked into the USC locker room on the morning of December 26. The previous evening, he had snuck into the locker room and placed a bible along with the message “The greatest Christmas gift you’ll ever receive” into each one of his teammates’ lockers. As he opened the door on this morning, he was half-expecting to see bibles being read and his teammates diving into the Word. This, he felt, was what God had called him to do on the team. His dreams were soon crushed once he got a glimpse of the room. On the floor, pages of the bibles were ripped, stepped on, and thrown in the trash can. Dejected, he got ready for that day’s practice, emotionally drained. However, little did he know that his decision was going to change one man’s life. God’s plans are not always revealed to us and that is where Mario Danelo comes into Ben’s story.
Danelo, star kicker and always a jokester, held to the motto of “Livin’ the Dream”. He was on the path to graduate that spring and hoped to go on to the NFL. That day, he quietly put that bible in his locker. His close friend and punter Taylor Odegard began to walk with him on his spiritual journey, one he realized he was hungry for. Each time Odegard saw him, Danelo was in the Word, soaking up all he could. So, while Ben was questioning God’s purpose for him as a Trojan; that plan had already been put into action. Years later Malcolmson would have his eyes opened to see all that God had done with his one step of faith.
On New Year’s Day 2007, USC destroyed the Michigan Wolverines in the Rose Bowl. It was a fitting end to a memorable season for the team and especially Malcolmson, who at the beginning didn’t even have a spot on the roster. As they headed out in their different ways following the season, nobody expected to hear the news that would break less than a week later.
“Mario died”. Those were the words that came over the phone on the date of January 6, 2007. Malcolmson was stunned. So was Odegard. Both had been close friends of the late kicker and Odegard had been mentoring Danelo in his newfound faith. When they attended the funeral and the casket was walked out, both noticed something that made their hearts nearly skip a beat; the bible. For Odegard, who had been questioning “What if I didn’t do enough”, he instantly felt peace. For Malcolmson, it was the first time he knew someone had actually kept the bibles. Both felt triumph and sadness at the same time.
Malcolmson’s playing career at USC may have ended in 2006, but his football career certainly did not. For the next three years, the former journalism student successfully managed USC Football’s new Ripsit blog, while also managing the school’s social media accounts. Because of his efforts to explore new ways to connect with the fans, USC was one of the first teams to give their fans and up-to-date, inside-look at the program on a daily basis. When it was time for Carroll to move on, taking the head coaching job in Seattle, Malcolmson moved with him, taking a job as his special assistant. When he arrived and began getting involved with Fellowship of Christian Athletes he came in contact with Odegard again, who was also training to become a leader in FCA. As the two talked, Odegard brought up Malcolmson’s bibles.
“Do you remember the last week we were on the team and someone put all those bibles in our lockers?
Not knowing what his former teammate would say next, Malcolmson said, “Yeah, I kind of remember that.”
Odegard went on to relate his memory of that fateful day in the USC locker room. With bibles strewn everywhere and the locker room quiet with practice already starting he heard a voice from behind him, “Anyone know how to read this thing? It was Mario. Torn between making it to practice on time or helping out a friend, he chose the latter of the two and dove into the Word with Danelo. As they continued to study together something else happened ...Odegard found his way back to Christ. A strong Christian in his youth he had distanced himself from God once he got to USC getting caught up in college life. But, God and Mario were leading him back. As he taught Mario what he knew, God was teaching him.
Mario’s life was saved that day by two friends, neither aware of the part they were playing in God’s plan. Ben always feared he missed his purpose during that opportunistic time and Odegard worried he didn’t do enough but, God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours and each listened to that still small voice. Each were changed and each changed. With each step and decision we make our faith has to come before for our fear. When we walk in faith as both Ben and Taylor did, God can use big or small acts to accomplish his plans. Ben did a really big thing, giving each of his teammates a bible. Tayor did a small thing, sitting and talking with a friend. Through both of those acts however, they helped change a life and accomplish God’s plan for Mario.
When Ben finally found the words to speak after Taylor’s story, he told his friend, “What’s even crazier is that I was the one who gave those bibles out. To this day, I thought it had never made a difference.”
As the two former players stood in awe of what they had just realized, both knew that it was a testament to the power of God’s amazing plan. As Ben looks back on the amazing events that happened over the course of the past few years, one of his biggest messages is to step out in faith. even when you may not know what will happen.
“You have to keep taking those steps, even when we go through discouragement like me putting bibles out for my teammates and they get shredded and ripped up, it was crushing,” Malcolmson said. “But I just kept holding onto this hope that God did have a purpose for me and four years later, I find out He did. Only God can make all those things happen.”
Learn more about Ben: https://www.benmalcolmson.com/
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