Training camp has come and gone and the pre-season of the NFL is in full swing. Press releases and news stories are one thing that is not slowing down one bit. Brett Favre has come out of retirement again to lead the Vikings in the NFC North which is a conference that he is no stranger to. Michael Vick is on his way back to the field as a remorseful man who knows he did wrong and currently takes responsibility for his actions as mentor, former Indianapolis Colts head coach, Tony Dungy continues to be a great accountability partner. Most men who know anything about football remember coach Dungy taking the Colts to the Super Bowl just a few years ago, but there was a special man on that team that was also mentored by Tony and then went to play for him in Indianapolis, Ben Utecht. Ben is a tight end who now wears a Cincinnati Bengals jersey but more importantly he is a man who is not afraid to take a stand for God on and off of the football field and has recently released his self titled CD entitled Ben Utecht. I had a chance to catch up with Ben one afternoon after a training session and he had great things to say.
LIFE
JV: Ben, were you raised in a Christian family?
BU: Yes, my father was a United Methodist Minister going on 30 years now and my mom was an amazing woman of faith. I was fortunate enough to be raised in a family where the love of Christ could be seen in my parents relationship and both my sister and I responded well to that and we were saved at an early age.
JV: How have your childhood experiences have affected your decision to live for Christ?
BU: Growing up in a Christian family and seeing the Word of God as truth and how important the Bible was to my family set a tone for me. Going into middle school, high school, and even college, I was aware of temptation and to have that biblical foundation helped me through those times.
JV: Who were some of your influences as a young person and why?
BU: Well, family is huge in my life. My sister was a huge influence on me. When I met my wife in college, she became a major influence on who gave me accountability as a man of God and to keep me focused on the goal at hand which was to serve Christ. In sports, I looked up to guys like Chris Carter, Tony Dungy who also went to the University of Minnesota. He became a friend, a coach, and a spiritual mentor when I played with the Colts.
JV: How long have you been married?
BU: 3 years and we had a little girl in March whose name is Elleora Grace.
FAITH
JV: Share a brief testimony.
BU: I was saved at a young age, 3rd or 4th grade and asked my dad to help me pray the prayer of salvation and it was a wonderful time for the both of us. In high school, I went to an Acquire the Fire conference and I have never experienced Christian faith like that. This engulfing, all consuming fire of Christ and I would have to say that even know I accepted Christ at a young age that it wasn’t until the 9th grade until that conference that I got on fire for God. It took my faith to a new level.
JV: How do maintain your character, integrity and walk with God in an arena where God is not necessarily honored.
BU: Accountability. The guys on the team that are Christians constantly keep each other accountable so that we can focus on God. The other thing is the Ultimate playbook, the Bible. I know that I start to struggle when I lose sight of how important my quiet time and my prayer time with the Lord is so when those start to fall, is when I struggle. I need consistency to spend time doing those things that keep me close to Him.
JV: What is the major struggle in this culture that makes men struggle?
BU: Fear, I think Satan strategically uses fear to take away our courage and to take away our boldness. Lust, as men we can be tempted by watching it in different forms but we need to flee from it as the Bible says and try to live blameless especially in that area. One of the songs on the new album RUN TO ME which I co-wrote with Jeremy Camp. We wanted to write a song with man’s struggles especially lust and how being at a point that Jesus Christ is our Savior and He is here to rescue us out of that sin. We can always run to Him for that and understand that He is here.
MUSIC
JV: How long have you been singing?
BU: The fourth grade. My dad was a vocal music major before he went into the ministry and my mom has a tremendous voice so music was an integral part of our family so my sister and I both grew up singing in church and things. In college, I was able to do the National Anthem and fun things like that but music was a big part of my life since I was a little kid.
JV: Do you have a radio single off of the new album?
BU: Actually, we have 2 songs that we are promoting at the same time. WE ALL BOW DOWN is a song that I had the chance to sing with Sandy Patty on. It’s an awesome song written by Mark Harris formerly of Four Him. The other song is called YOURS is adult contemporary where WE ALL BOW DOWN is more of an inspirational song.
JV: What is your favorite song on the album?
BU: That is really a difficult question because I had part in writing 10 of the 12 songs but I would have to say the last song on the album PASSION which was taken from the idea of The Passion of The Christ. It was an eye opening, soul awakening movie for me, I was in tears and I bowed on my knees in prayer and the Lord gave me this song. It was written very quickly in about 10 minutes and it is a God breathed song about His sacrifice. I really believe God gave it to me because He wants people to have a relationship with Him and to see what His heart is all about.
Preview and buy the album here
FOOTBALL
JV: In what year were you drafted?
BU: I had a serious injury my senior year in college so I went from a second round draft pick to not getting drafted at all. It was devastating but if that wouldn’t have happened, I wouldn’t have signed on with the Colts and been on a championship team so God is great! I was pretty doubtful and angry at the time with God but He has a way of showing you that His way is better.
JV: What were some feelings, emotions, and experiences as part of being on a championship team?
BU: The Super Bowl is hard to describe. It is so big and massive and I watched it on television in previous years but I never realized how big it was. We were at practice in the Miami Dolphins facility and the road was closed from the practice facility to the hotel. It was then that I realized how big it really was. There were 101 people who watched that game and to me it was surreal. So many emotions were running through us excitement, being anxious things like that. Once we were at the game we knew what we had to do and it was business as usual.
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