Leap of faith

By PATRICK E. LITOWITZ
plitowitz@ncnewsonline.com

Daniel Sepulveda recalled the moments after the Pittsburgh Steelers won the AFC Championship Game.

“Everybody’s high-fiving one another,” he said of the Jan. 23 clash with the New York Jets. “We’re all excited. They’re playing ‘Pittsburgh’s Going to the Super Bowl.’ It’s just incredible.

“And I’m sitting there in sweat pants and a sweat shirt. It’s just eating me up. I knew this moment was coming. I’d been there before. It’s a hard place to be.”

Injuries to his right leg have knocked the Pittsburgh punter out of two Super Bowls.
The first occurred in 2009 when the Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII. The next one, Super Bowl XLV, will take place Feb. 6 when Pittsburgh plays Green Bay at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Sepulveda talked about the experience last night at Westminster College’s Wallace Memorial Chapel. The event was presented by the college’s Office of the Chaplain and Church Relations and Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

A reporter reminded Sepulveda of his “misfortune” during an interview yesterday, he told the audience of approximately 250.

“You must feel like the most unlucky guy in football,” the Baylor University graduate was told.

He disagreed.

“God’s been so good to me in my life. I’ve been able to play football since fourth grade, and I’m still playing now. There’s nothing unlucky about my life.”

Sepulveda entered the NFL in 2007. A damaged anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee shelved him during the Steelers’ Super Bowl title run for the entire 2008 campaign.

He played 12 games this season before suffering the same injury in a 13-10 win against Baltimore.

“Sure, if you look at my circumstances, what a bummer,” he said. “I can’t turn around without being reminded of that truth.”

Faith in God has allowed him to maintain his Christian attitude and perspective. He credited his parents for placing him on that path.

“They are, and have been, an incredible blessing,” he said. “They raised me and my three brothers in a Christian home.”

Sepulveda referenced 1 Samuel when talking about what God sees compared to humankind. He said the world’s eyes will be on the players and their jerseys when the Super Bowl takes place.

God ignores the outward appearance and looks at one’s heart.

“That verse is going to hit so close to home for me the next couple weeks of my life,” he said.

“I desperately wish I could wear that jersey. That’s just not God’s will for my life right now. It wasn’t a couple of years from now, and it’s not now.”

The one thing he won’t accept is that he’s unlucky.