Catholic Transcript Online

Chris Godfrey, a lawyer and former pro football player, will be the special guest at the annual 

As founder and president of Life Athletes Inc., Mr. Godfrey teaches virtue, chastity, abstinence and respect for life with the help of some 300 professional and Olympic athletes.

"My core message is that relationships are the key to our happiness," Mr. Godfrey said by phone recently. Our relationships with God, our spouse and with other people underpin the meaning of life, he added.

A Catholic, Mr. Godfrey said he plans to draw upon his own experience with Catholic education when he speaks at the breakfast, which is hosted Archbishop Henry J. Mansell in conjunction with FACS.

"Certainly, my Catholic education prepared me for what I’m doing now," he said.

Life Athletes is open to all people, couch potatoes included, who make the Life Athletes Commitment. The Life Athletes commitment is this:

"I will try to do what is right, even when it is difficult;

"I will give myself only to the special person whom I marry as my partner for life;

"I will respect the lives of others, especially the unborn and the aged;

"I will not quit or make excuses when I fail. I will try again."

Life Athletes aims to lead people to ways of overcoming the obstacles they face in the secular world, he added. The organization produces curricula and a variety of other educational materials to spread its message.

In one DVD, Mr. Godfrey; pediatrician Dr. Meg Meeker; Rebecca Lobo, pro basketball star and former UConn basketball standout; and Trot Nixon of the Milwaukee Brewers provide a vehicle for parents to talk comfortably to their children about sex. Both Ms. Lobo and Mr. Nixon are members.

Before graduating from the University of Notre Dame and joining the Indiana bar, Mr. Godfrey played nine years of professional football. He was the starting right guard on the 1987 Super Bowl XXI champion New York Giants.

He said that because athletes often are invited to speak to groups, he realized that such invitations could be, for him, "nice opportunities to talk about things that were a little more important."

Such conversations eventually led to the creation of Life Athletes in 1980.

Mr. Godfrey speaks at schools and other venues, frequently in support of the Life Athletes curriculum. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and Order of Malta.

He lives in South Bend, Ind., with his wife, Daria, and six children.

Proceeds from the breakfast support the ongoing efforts of the Foundation for the Advancement of Catholic Schools, which supports and assists parish schools and archdiocesan high schools by funding scholarships and special projects.

Information about FACS is available at its Web site: http://facshartford.org.

Maureen Kerrigan, chair of the breakfast, said that event, which typically draws 1,000 guests, is a good time and for a good cause.

She said that bagpipe music and performances by Irish stepdancers and the East Catholic High School choir make it "a great way to start off St. Patrtick’s Day."

Ms. Kerrigan also said that Matt Velasquez, a graduate of Northwest Catholic High School in West Hartford and a beneficiary of a scholarship from FACS, also plans to be on hand. He now is a senior at Columbia University and scheduled to graduate this spring.

"The effort that we started nine years ago, the fruit is starting to bear," said Ms. Kerrigan.

Cynthia Basil Howard, director of development for FACS, is handling requests for information, inquiries about sponsorships and ticket sales by phone at (860) 242-4362, ext. 137, or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .